August Update of Cy

August updated picture of Cy!  He is so darn cute and tiny! He really melts my heart every time I get updates from our agency. He is a thriving little boy. He is already walking at 14 months. He seems to really like yogurt and likes to imitate adults too. Jeremy and I better start behaving better, just kidding.

Sarah's Is A Fan!

I will be sharing with you often some of my favorite picks for anything from food,kitchen products,  children's products and clothes, furniture, blogs I enjoy, etc...  Pretty much anything and everything that I love...and I love a lot of stuff!

I have really become a HUGE fan of Skip Hop products! I just got these cute owl bookends for Cy's room and I have to share them with the world! They have so many cute things through out the Skip Hop site so check it out! I am a FAN!

http://www.skiphop.com/product/zoobookends.html

Decision to be Three

Jeremy and I decided to adopt from Korea back in early 2010.  We had looked at other countries but at the time we really liked the Korean adoption program and the fact that in Korea the children live with a foster family before our child is in our arms. I get asked A LOT why we didn't choose domestic. At the time we weren't a fan of an open adoption and the United States no longer does closed adoptions. Also, the fact you have to put together a picture book selling yourself REALLY did not appeal!  So...Korea it was and we went full steam ahead!

It took us about 6 months to get matched with Cy.  They had estimated based on previous years it would be about 10 months.  However, it is starting to look like about a year and a half. When we got the call about Cy I was at work and literally couldn't have be happier. I was so full of joy and tears. One of my co-workers told me later they found my joy a disruption, but who cares right!! This would be one of the biggest and greatest moments of our life and I didn't care that a co-worker had an issue.  I frantically tried calling Jeremy at work and of course he was impossible to get a hold of, so I went through many back doors to find him.

Cy wasn't perfect. He was born with a heart murmur.  After an echo-cardiogram he had been diagnosed with Atrial Septal Defect, 2 small holes in his heart.  We spoke with our pediatrician and two pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital and learned this is the #2 birth defect and actually quite common, easy to fix and actually worst case scenario would be open heart surgery with only 4 days in the hospital.  Which I know sounds crazy to think, "Oh just open heart surgery" but it literally was that way! The cardiologist were so experienced and confident it eased our minds. So after a frantic 24 hours we made the decision to accept our referral and Cy was ours!!!  Good news was around his 8 month check up they had ruled his holes had closed, however it doesn't mean it is perfect. When he comes home we will have monthly visits to Children's to monitor for about 6 months.  I never thought holes in our child's heart wouldn't be a big deal, but we didn't even think twice.

There are a lot of good things about adopting from Korea and I am such a fan! One is that we get a lot of updates on our son. So when he is older he will always have baby pictures and information on his early childhood.  That is such an amazing and wonderful part of the process.  Since accepting our referral though the process of getting him home has slowed down dramatically with various changes in adoptions policies. However, knowing he is loved every day by his foster family makes it so easy on the heart. Everything happens for a reason. People who know me know that I am not patient and with children you need to be patient, so this is my life lesson.

An old friend who is adopted herself told me, "No matter when he comes home as he grows older he will only remember the love that Jeremy and I give him."

I hope to fill you in more with updates, pictures and information!

"Cluck, Cluck, Cluck, CLUCKAAAAAWWWWK!" TREATS?

Raising Rhode Island Reds. 

What is a Rhode Island Red? They are one of the more famous and all time popular breeds of truly American chickens. Developed in the early part of this century in the state of the same name, they have maintained their reputation as a dual purpose fowl. They are known for being an excellent brown egg layer. They are very mild mannered and are fairly hearty birds. Excellent I feel for Colorado!

Our chickens have quite the area for a backyard operation!  They reside in a luxurious double-decker coop on the south side of Barnwood with a play area below their nesting and roosting area. The ladies use to be pretty good at sharing the roosting bar, but not so much anymore. About 4 of them sit on the roosting bar, but the other two must reside in the nesting boxes. Jeremy installed another rooster, but they haven't quite figured that part out. I am quickly learning the meaning of "chicken head."  They are not the brightest and I swear all they do is eat and more eat and eat some more!! I could watch all day as they try and figure out how to go up the ramp, silly chickens.

One thing I have learned is that chickens love TREATS!!!  But seriously who doesn't! Here are some of my ladies favorite:

• Bread
• Acorn Squash
• Spinach, Lettuce, LOVE Kale
• Oatmeal
• Greens (carrot, beet, etc)
• Apples
• Carrots
• and their most favorite...WATERMELON!

Here is a picture of the ladies eating their favorite snack!! The only thing left will be a little bit of the green (and I mean little!

Here is a picture of our favorite chicken. She is one of the leaders of their little clan as she gets the rooster spot every night. However, what I love his her red comb! It is so large it just flops over.

The ladies are excited to share their stories with you and I am excited to share the journey Jeremy and I have with them!

Nelsetti's Famous House Pizza!

Jeremy and I have become quite novices on the homemade pizza making front!  For my bridal shower I received a Pampered Chef pizza stone and who would of known what wonderful things it would have brought us!!!  We have become pizza making machines, having it about once a week. I have started calling it "Colorado Goulash", because you can simply put anything and everything on it.  Whatever leftovers we have in our fridge, we throw it on a pizza. First, it is simply something Jeremy and I truly enjoy doing together! It has become very bonding and an event I look forward too!

Jeremy is the king of the crust! I don't know what he does but it is thin, crisp and simply wonderful!  He has it nailed down! Now we just need to figure out a yummy wheat crust.  I am the master of our secret sauces we put on all our pizzas and I have to admit that I am pretty good. I am pretty secretive when it comes to our pizza recipes, however I don't mind sharing with you our house pizza. You will probably see a lot of reference to our wonderful pizza's throughout the blog so I wanted to give you a little background.

Nelsetti's House Pizza

• 1/2 lb of Hazel Dell Mushrooms (I really like the Shitakes and Cinnamon tops) sauteed - I would recommend some local mushrooms but any will do.
• 1 whole sweet onion (Vidalia or Walla Walla) caramelized
• I use my secret red sauce for the base
• 1 cup of Mozzarella
• 1/4 cup of Fresh Parmesan grated

Bake at 500 degrees on your pizza stone! MAKE SURE TO PUT YOUR STONE IN THE OVEN AND THEN PREHEAT AT 500 degrees.

I think pizza night is so much fun at any age!!!! We have picnics in our backyard, movie nights or friends and family over!






 

The Beginning...

Welcome to our lives! I hope this blog brings you laughter, knowledge, and enjoyment as you follow my and my family's everyday journey. I had a blog awhile back that was just focused on food, however I realized I had so much more to talk about and needed to expand my content. Our family keeps growing and learning and I realized that some people out there might be interested in this journey.

My husband and I recently became chicken owners! We are the proud parents of 6 adopted Rhode Island Reds! I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to get them! I do not live on a farm or out of city limits. I live right here in suburban Fort Collins. About a year ago Fort Collins passed an ordinance that allowed everyday people like myself, living in suburbia, to have backyard chickens. I honestly think I could do a daily blog on chickens alone they are just so much fun and interesting. You will hear a lot of stories and information about the chickens as we move along this journey.

Aside from the chickens I love to eat, cook and garden. I believe in whole foods as much as possible. My goal for my family in my last blog was to make us as limited as possible on processed food and we were successful. I would say only 20 to 30% of our food is processed. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE going out to eat and I can wait to share with you some fun and interesting places in and around Colorado. The main way to eat healthy (and cheap) is to learn how to grow your own stuff. Whether you live in an apartment or house, there are ways that you can eat healthy year round and I hope to share those with you.

I am by no means a vegetarian, vegan or anything such! What I am is a locavore and a foodie! What is a locavore you ask? "Someone who seeks out locally grown and produced foods", New Oxford American Dictionary. I try my hardest to eat grass fed beef, chicken from places where I know the bird has lived a happy life, like Jodar Farms (http://www.jodarfarms.com/pages/farm), black raspberry jam from my mother-in-laws wild bushes, honey from Copocos Honey (http://www.copocoshoney.com/), veggies from my garden and yummy breads (http://www.facebook.com/goodseedbakery) and so on and so on. I believe what grows together goes together, however I am not perfect and you will see I do use food weekly from the grocery store, packaged, etc...because let's face it...I live in Colorado. Our growing season is short and I seriously love avocados!

Another big part of this blog is Jeremy's and my journey to get our son Cy. We are adopting from South Korea and couldn't be happier!! I hope you join me in the journey to bring Cy home and and once he is home. Adoption can be a very long and arduous rode with an outcome so wonderful it changes your life forever. There are so many products, information, books and just regular baby information I can't wait to share with you. I am sure this blog is more for me, but I hope you enjoy!

Peace and Love,
Sarah