Day 209

 

July 28th, 2010

 

July 28th, 2011

This morning, I got up around 7 and Gus was still sleeping, so I headed downstairs to clean the dining room. It's the one room that we didn't get to yesterday, and it was a MESS!I was able to get it clean, do some dishes, make my ham and cheese hashbrown casserole, do those dishes, and then Gus started to stir.

I grabbed a quick shower and then brought him down to play while I got stuff out for the playdate. Kristen and Grace came over, then Melony and Oliver, and then Lacey arrived with the girls. We had a great morning!

After everyone left (around 12), we decided to head upstairs and do nap-time. Gus was more than ready for a nap, and ended up sleeping for almost two and a half hours. :)

Once he was up, we went downstairs and had lunch. Gus ate like he had a bottomless pit in his belly today. He ate a ton at breakfast, and then had a HUGE lunch!!!

 

Picking through the recycling after lunch (Hmmmm... maybe Steve's rubbing off on him!!)

 

Quite upset that I wouldn't let him grab the mustard in the fridge...

While Gus was eating lunch, I started to make some pretzel samoas. I saw the recipe the other day and immediately decided to make these!!! Here's what you need:

Then take some wax paper and cover it... and I mean over saturate it with PAM:

Then put the caramel in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute. Then start dipping the pretzels in the caramel (WARNING... this is VERY sticky and HOT)!!! I used a knife because I burned myself on the HOT caramel!!

As you can see... the pretzels don't have to be pretty at this point. They just need a solid base of caramel.

Next you're going to sprinkle/coat the pretzels with the coconut!

 

After you've generously coated the pretzels with coconut... put them in the freezer or fridge to set.

I pre-heated my oven to 350 when I started the whole thing and by this time it was ready for me. I put some coconut on a piece of foil and toasted it in the oven for between 5-10 minutes (just keep an eye on it and when it starts to brown... it's done)

 

Before the oven

 

After the oven

Then I melted some chocolate in a bowl (took about a minute) and then brought out the pretzels from the fridge/freezer.

I then used the same knife that I used with the caramel, and I covered each piece with melted chocolate. This part was REALLY messy and I couldn't "dip" the pretzels in the chocolate because they were covered with coconut...

Once you have all the pieces covered with chocolate... sprinkle on the toasted coconut.

 You'll have a bunch of messy-looking pretzels, but trust me... they'll be beautiful after you put them in the fridge for a bit to set (not the freezer). When you've let them cool for a bit... here's how awesome they look:

 

SOOOOOOOOO easy and delicious!!!

When I finished making these, Gus and I went into the living room to play:

 

He decided to spin around in circles...

Steve got home and we decided to go grab Mexican for dinner. We went to Fiesta Mexicana and each time we go, I'm reminded of "Casa Bonita" from South Park. LMAO

 

Such a silly boy!!

 

Munching on chips and reading a book

 

LOL

 

Totally loves learning about colors!

 

I introduced Gus to salsa tonight and he LOVED it!! He quite enjoyed dipping his chip in the salsa and then sucking the salsa off. :)

I talked to my dad tonight... it was so good to talk to him! It's been FOREVER since I heard his voice and I have been thinking about him a lot lately. Anyway, we talked for a bit and now I'm going to think about heading to bed. We've got Gus's 15-month well-baby appointment tomorrow at 9:35!! I can't wait to see how much he has grown. I'm going to guess that he weighs 24 (maybe 25) pounds and is 32 inches tall. His head... maybe18.5 or 19 inches.

Here are some pictures from a year ago:

And two videos:

See you tomorrow!!

>^..^<