Great Outdoors!

Last week was so nice!!! I was able to take the dogs and baby for walks most days. Lydia even got to take her first swing. She LOVED it!

The only problem about it being so nice is all the snow is gone. Which I love, but now you can see how nasty my flower beds are. I never cleaned them out in the fall and they are looking pretty bad now. I suppose I could clean them out now but I may procrastinate a little longer until its warmer out again.

Saturday night we were having quite the tough time with Lydia. She kept waking up all night and was fussy. That is not usually like her. Well low and behold her top two front teeth came in. I don't know why I didn't figure that out, poor baby. I blame it on being new parents.

Below is a picture of Lydia and the bows her Aunt Magdalena Battles sent her in the mail. We love bows!

Have a great week everyone!

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

Love and a lollipop

Just celebrated a wonderful Valentine's day. It was pretty much like every other day but I think there was a little more love. I had a talk with my three-year-old about the meaning of Valentine's day, and he would repeat that "Valentine's Day is about love." However, I think what he'll remember most about this day is that he got a giant rainbow lollipop!

My husband and I talked about what to give Maddox for Valentine's Day and we decided against any sort of toy. We don't want to make the holiday about giving presents. We want it to just be a special day where you share something small and thoughtful from the heart. Maddox has been obsessed with lollipops after reading a certain Berenstain Bears book about junk food so it was the perfect little something for him.


Little Mercer got lots of love too, but not in the form of lollipops... just hugs :)

Hope you had a great Valentine's day!

What's for Dinner?

Last week in our 5pm newscast our medical minute talked about Body Mass Index and children. The study found kids with working moms had a noticeably higher BMI. They attributed it to a couple of things, one kids are alone and so mom isn't there to monitor their food intake. The second reason is busy moms tend to not cook home made meals and instead resort to take out or fast food.

This scares me. When Lydia starts eating meals with us, I want us to already be in a good habit of eating healthy at home together. And the study kind of re-enforced what I was already doing. I plan out to make at least four meals during the week. The left overs hold us over for at least two more days and we eat out usually one meal. What the study made me do was to start looking for new and healthy recipes. Nothing I make is terrible difficult and many recipes involve a crock-pot. Since I work evenings I usually make our evening meals in the afternoon and either have my husband finish it up or we re-heat it.

One of our favorites is chicken/shrimp/tofu coconut curry. That ones easy because I buy pre-made sauces from Target. We also love Shrimp/Tofu Pad Thai, Swiss cheese chicken casserole, lasagna, peanut sauce chicken, pulled pork, beef stew and the list goes on.

Here's a recipe I just made for Tortellini, its easy and sooooo good:

1 (1 ounce) packet of white sauce mix (I used Alfredo, its by the pasta sauces)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I actually used 5)

1 (14 ounce) can of chicken broth

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 cayenne pepper

1 (8 ounce) package of cheese tortellini, I just used a frozen bag from hyvee

1 1/2 cups of half and half
6 cups of fresh baby spinach

Spray your crock-pot or slow cooker with cooking spray, put in the white sauce and mix in 4 cups of water until mixture is smooth

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Add chicken, broth, garlic, basil, oregano, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours (or on high for 3 hours)

Stir in tortellini, and cover and cook for 1 more hour on HIGH

Stir in cream and fresh spinach and you are done.

Whats really good to is to sprinkle shredded Parmesan on top of each serving.

Happy cooking everyone!

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

Superbowl!

We aren't much of sportsfans in our house...but we LOVE the Packers! Being from Wisconsin its just in my blood. We are so excited for the big game. We usually host Superbowl parties. This year we are a little more selective about who we invite, well there's one condition, you have to root for the Packers. I think that's only fair, right? I mean this is huge, the last time the Packers went to the Superbowl I was in high school (not to date myself).

Go Pack Go!

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

Grandmothers are special.

It's been a rough couple of months for my family. I lost my Grandma Krenz (pictured on the left) the first of December. She had Alzheimer's. I lost my Grandma Moore (pictured below) January 12th. She had cancer. I feel so grateful to have had a close relationship with both of them, and I'm thankful I got to say "goodbye" to them during their final days.


In my experience grandmother's are simply, really neat to have in your life. When I was growing up I looked so forward to seeing them. They always had small gifts ready, their houses were so tidy and full of lots of cool/antique/breakable stuff, and they cooked amazing food. Isn't that everything that grandmothers should be?

I've never lived in a world without my grandma's so this is definitely going to feel like a new chapter in my life. Although I wish they were still here and I miss them, I will cherish the time I had with them and hold a ton of precious memories close to my heart.

As always, thank you for reading. -Amanda

Snowbirds

Lydia on her first boat ride, we went out in the Gulf of Mexico

Magdalena Battles, Rachel Pierce and Lydia, Picking up shells

My husband, Lydia and I acted like snowbirds this past weekend and went to South Florida to visit my sister Magdalena Battles and her husband Justin. We had a blast! The weather was perfect mid to upper seventies and sunny! Over four days we a lot. We went boating in the Gulf of Mexico, went to Santibel beach and picked up shells, went on walks, shopped and then shopped some more, went out for sushi, played games and more!

Really we didn't need to do anything but sit outside and get a break from the Iowa winter for a few days and spend some quality time with my lovely sister and brother-in-law. But, I'd be lieing if I didn't say it was tough to get off the plane in Iowa this morning to all the wet, snowy, slushy weather.

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

We saw tons of dolphins!!!

Justin Battles watching dolphins from shore.

Enjoying walking in water, little too cold to swim.

Aunt Magdalena taking Lydia for her first dip in the Gulf of Mexico.

Lydia turned nine months old on the trip.

Magdalena Battle and I LOVE pageants and enjoyed watching Miss Nebraska will the title this past Saturday on ABC. My sister was in pageants so we decided it will be the perfect time to bring them out.

Pierce Family Update

(Lydia was a lucky girl and got lots of toys and clothes)
(Lydia with Pops and Nana) (My Dad, David Licht playing around with Lydia)

(Asleep on Daddy on New Year's Eve, although she rallied to ring in the New Year with us)

Christmas at the Pierce household was better than great. It was AWESOME. We had a fabulous time with my husbands Dad and Stepmom. They spent most of the time lovin' on Lydia and chilling out with us. Plus they are from Mississippi and really enjoyed our white Christmas. We loved having them here for Lydia's first Christmas!

Then after Christmas we went up to Wisconsin to see all my family. We got to see my folks, one of my brothers and one of my sisters and her husband. My sister Magdalena and her husband Justin also had a fun New Year's Eve party. We played games and had so much fun. Lydia was even up to ring in the New Year (see slept until 11am the next day!).

New Years Day we had our Licht family Christmas Party at the YMCA. We played games, volleyball, card, talked and ate whole lot of food.

Now we are back into the swing of things. Lydia over Christmas break started crawling and now we are frantically baby proofing the entire house. I joined Kosama and I'm trying to work off all those holiday goodies.

Hope the New Year is treating all of you well!

Best!

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

(Lydia and I on New Year's Eve)

(Opening presents at Grandpa and Grandma's house, they spoil her too much!)

(Asleep on Grandma, my mom Jenny Licht has the magic touch with babies!)(Magdalena and Justin Battles playing with their niece)
(Christmas Party at the YMCA, we are eating our veggies)

(Some of my little cousins)