Dave's latest project

Here's the latest "improvement" I've made to my firehouse... As soon as I got placed there I noticed that our trucks lacked that COOL factor, so I decided to put my skills to good use and made acouple of fire engine decals from sheet metal. I worked on it alittle bit each shift and it ended taking me acouple of months but the patience was WELL worth it... I also did the truck next to it, as well, an will post those pics later... But the finished project ended up looking pretty darn good and my Loutinent was SO PROUD!



If you see us comin', MOVE OVER!

Sunday Best

My Mom (Gigi) loves to know what McKenna wears on Sundays. This past Sunday McK looked so sweet that I had to take a picture to show Mom...So here you go Gigi!

She looks so surprised here...like she's never had her picture taken before...lol!

I love how she puts her little hands together...

This one cracks me up b/c her pinky finger is always out like this...such a lady.

Outside Fun

We took full advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend...we threw a big blanket out in the back yard and played.


Daddy thought this was hilarious :o)


Daddy and his girl

She loves to be outside!

More smiles!

Mommy's girl

Fun with the Bumbo Seat

I did get a tray for McK's bumbo seat. She's getting better and better about holding her neck up.

McKenna is checkin' out her toy!

"OK, so I'm allowed to play with this?"

Have a staring contest with the tiger

She got it!

And...now she's eating it :o)

Visit with Lacy

My sweet friend Lacy treated me to lunch after church during her visit here in Jax. Her precious family now lives in South Carolina and we miss them terribly! She used her spiffy new camera to shoot some good pictures of McKenna. Thank you Lacy for spending time with us, loving on McK, and sharing the pictures! We love you!

Talking so big

Dave was talking to McKenna and she was talking back...it was too funny. I think we had a small glimpse into our future with her as a teenager...I think we might be in trouble ;o) He was being silly and telling her she was grounded and she was talking back...uh-oh.

Super Duper EASY Recipes

Since I'm staying home with McKenna, I have really been doing some major cooking. I'm always on the look out for new, EASY, yummy recipes. I don't like those recipes where you have to go and get special ingredients...I like the ones that use stuff I actually keep in my kitchen. Between some Badgett family favorites and ones I've found on my own, I wanted to share some of the delicious goodness with those who are interested. I just know how so often it is easy to feel like you're in a "rut" with cooking the same things...hopefully this might freshen up your recipe box. Feel free to share some of your family's favorites with us!!!

Great Crock Pot Ideas:

Pork Tenderloin
1) Coat tenderloin in flour and brown on both sides in skillet with olive oil.
2) Put ¼ cup water in crock pot.
3) Put tenderloin in crock pot.
4) Put whole jar of blackberry jam (or any jam) on top of tenderloin. (The Burkes used one of the smaller jars of blackberry jam)
5) Cook on low for 4 hours.

Mexican Steak
1 ½ to 2 pounds boneless round steak
2 T. butter or margarine
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained (The Burkes don't do chiles)
1 (8-ounce) jar taco sauce
½ c. (2-ounce) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Trim excess fat from steak. Cut steak into 4 pieces, and pound to ¼-inch thickness. Brown steak in butter, and place in a lightly greased shallow 2-quart casserole. Top with chiles and taco sauce. Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Sprinkle steak with cheese, and bake, uncovered, an additional 5 minutes.

Maple Glazed Turkey Breast
1 pkg. (6 ounces) original-flavor long-grain and wild rice mix
1 ¼ c. water
1 boneless turkey breast (about 1 pound)
¼ c. maple syrup
½ c. chopped walnuts (The Burkes didn't do walnuts)
½ tsp. cinnamon

~Mix uncooked rice, seasoning packet from rice mix and water in slow cooker.
~Place turkey breast, skin side up, on rice mixture. Drizzle with maple syrup. Sprinkle with walnuts and cinnamon.
~Cover and cook on low heat setting 4 to 6 hours or until juice of turkey is no longer pink when center is cut.

Easy Pork Chops (Oh my gosh...so good)
6 - 8 pork chops
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ c. flour
2 T. cooking oil
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 c. water

~~Season pork chops with salt and pepper; dredge in flour. In skillet, brown pork chops in oil. In a slow cooker, layer pork chops and soup mix. Add water. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Other EASY Favorites:

Poppy Seed Chicken (From Kathy Badgett's Kitchen)
4 - 6 chicken breasts (or 3 cups chopped chicken)
1 16 oz. sour cream
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
2 sleeves of Ritz crackers - crushed fine
1 stick butter
2 T. poppy seed

Boil Chicken breasts and cut into chunks sizes. Mix chicken with soup and sour cream. Put in 9 x 13 pan. Mix Poppy seeds into cracker crumbs, then spread cracker crumb mix over creamy chicken mix. Drizzle butter on top.
Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

Hamburger Stroganoff (Also a Badgett Family Favorite)

Brown 1 lb. ground beef in skillet. Drain fat off. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic power and dried onion flakes.
Mix together 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup and ½ can milk. Pour over cooked hamburger and simmer on low till warmed through. Serve over noodles or rice.

Hamburger Carrerole
1/12 lb. Ground beef
1 c. chopped onion
Salt & pepper
¼ t. garlic salt
¼ c. Worcestershire sauce
8 oz. elbow macaroni
2 cans Tomato soup
1 c. Grated Cheddar Cheese
½ can water (soup can)

~~Cook macaroni according to box directions. Brown beef and onion. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt. Drain meat. Add soup and noodles and ½ c. cheddar, water and Worcestershire sauce. Top with remaining ½ c. cheese.
Bake 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Beefy Italian Ramen Skillet (The Last of the Badgett Family Favs)
2 packages beef-flavor ramen noodle soup mix
1 pound ground beef
35 slices pepperoni
2 cans (14 ½ oz. each) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, untrained
1 cup water
1 small green bell pepper, cut into ½ inch pieces (½ cup)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)

~~ Break blocks of noodles in half, reserve one seasoning packet; (discard second packet); set aside. Cook beef and pepperoni in skillet over medium heat 6 - 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain.
~Stir tomatoes, water and reserved seasoning packet into beef mixture. Heat to boiling. Stir in noodles and bell pepper. Cook 3 - 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender.
~Sprinkle cheese on top of noodle mixture.. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Chicken Parmesan
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
egg and milk mixture
Italian bread crumbs
Spaghetti sauce
2 pkgs. Mozzarella cheese (slice or shredded)
Garlic salt.
Sliced pepperoni
~~Dip chicken in egg/milk mix. Roll in bread crumbs. Brown in olive oil. Arrange in 9 x 13 pan. Top with sliced pepperoni. Cover with sauce. Add cheese. Bake 350 for 1 hour.
*Throw a side of pasta, salad, and garlic bread and ENJOY!
*If you are making less than 8 chicken breasts, you probably won’t need to bake it for an hour. It will most likely be more towards 30 minutes.

Chicken and Rice
1 ½ pound chicken, boiled (The Burkes used Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts)
½ stick margarine
½ pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 ½ c. instant rice
2 ½ c. broth (from cooking chicken)
~Boil chicken and reserve 2 ½ c. broth. De-bone chicken and cut in large chunks. Mix all ingredients in bowl. Put into 9 x 13 dish and bake 350 for 20 minutes

a few more...

These were the thumb-sucking pictures I meant to post on her 3 month update...so sweet.





McK is so happy when she wakes up...I had to catch it on film...her smile just melts our hearts!

McKenna is 3 months

Our sweet little McK-K is 3 months old. It has been another month of firsts and fun. We continue to treasure her and praise the Lord for trusting us with her.

McKenna is a healthy, happy, growing girl. She is still in her 0-3 months clothes. We haven't moved up to the big girl 3 months yet. McKenna is not so much a rolly polly...she's long and lean (just like her Mama) :o) Ok, ok, don't laugh TOO loud at that joke ;o) We don't go to the doctor until her 4th month check up, so my guess is that she's weighing around 11 or 12 pounds. She's gotten longer too for sure...can't wait to know how much!

As you've seen in previous posts we took her first trip to Oklahoma. She rode on her first airplane and did beautifully. People stopped us in the airport to tell McK how pretty she is. Of course Mommy argreed. In OK she got to meet her Uncles for the first time with serveral other family members and friends.


Uncle Kevin

Uncle Keith

Jennifer and Ty Eidemiller

McKenna is old enough to try out her "Bumbo Seat." Pop and Gigi had one while we were in Oklahoma. McK did a swell job sitting up like a big girl. We got home and she's enjoyed sitting in her very own Bumbo Seat. Mommy wants to get a little play tray for it so we can put her toys there to where she can play.




Mommy and McKenna....so sweet

Big girl holding her head up big!

Pretty girl with pretty bows!

Those arms are ALWAYS going!

Daddy just got home from work and loves to play with his girl. She loves her Daddy!

McK is officially a finger sucker :o) She sucks her thumb on her left hand and her index finger on her right hand. It's so funny to be standing in the kitchen and hearing her sucking her fingers while she's in her room. The first time I heard her, I had no idea what the noise was and where it was coming from. I went searching all over the house and it led me straight to her crib...too funny!

McKenna has started rolling over more from her tummy to her back. I'm pretty sure she does it on accident, but the other day I caught her in the act. She pushes herself up with her arms, her head leans one way and her body just follows. It's kinda funny. It only seems to happen when she's in her crib...it won't be long now until she's rollin' all over the place.





McKenna is "talking" and smiling so much more. We've been able to capture her talking on Dave's little voice recorder, but EVERY time we get out the video camera, she gets camera shy. There are times that she really goes to town and talks up a storm...it's hysterical. She sounds like a little bird :o) She is also starting to move her arms a LOT! She's finding her toys with her eyes and is starting to bat at them with her hands. I promise if you'd hook McK up to a generator her little arms would power the whole thing!



McKenna is starting to stay awake for a lot longer. Icluding her feeding time she's awake for about 60-75 minutes. Her naps are still about an hour 1/2 to 2 hours. We also dropped her "dream feed" at 10:30pm, so our girl is sleeping about 11-12 hours through the night. She still eats at 8:00, 11:00, 2:00, 5:00, and 7:30. Bedtime is 8:30pm. It seems as if she's about to move into a 3.5 hour schedule instead of eating every 3 hours. She is such a good eater! She's started a new thing this month when it comes to eating habits. When we have to break and burp, she cries (and snorts) until feeding ressumes. She's our little piggy! It's funny!

She's doing a great job with being in the church nursery. I haven't cried anymore when dropping her off (she's not the only one that's growing up). She's done great with her big girl earrings too. We get to change them in a couple of weeks. She still LOVES her bath time and cries when we take her out!

I think that about does it for her 3 month update. She's a pure joy to be around. We love her more and more each day. She's so funny and it's so neat to see her personality forming and coming into play. It's so much fun to be parents.

The Last of the Wedding Weekend Pictures

OK, so I still don't quite have it worked out to where you can watch it on my blog page. I'm pretty sure this link will take you straight to it. You have to copy and paste I do believe. It was a great weekend and a great week in Oklahoma. It was hard for me to take McKenna away from my folks, but we sure were happy to be back in Jax with Dave. He was waiting for us with roses! He's a keeper I tell ya! Enjoy the last of the pics!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=6f0085688d661c917af310

YouTube

This is video footage from the rehearsal dinner. Keith and Hannah sang together. Hannah ended up crying (and so did everyone else) and Keith kept singing...Too sweet.

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=jKBeHVOxc2A

A few more wedding pics...

More beautiful pictures from a beautiful day....


Hannah's Dad giving her away...


Listening...


Giddy!


Pronounced husband and wife


The kiss


Waiting for his bride


My Dad telling their love story...
"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord..."


Signing their family Bible (in place of unity candle)

Keith's Wedding Weekend...

OK...This is the first time I've tried to do a slideshow, so we'll see how it goes...

McKenna and I flew up to Oklahoma to see my sweet little brother get married. There are more pictures to come, but wanted to share the first batch. The wedding was beautiful and our time with family was wonderful!

Congrats to the newlyweds! We love you!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_view_player?p=6eab26406f2d2106c497a3