Tummy Time, Laughing, New Park, and Pork Roast

On the plate:  Pork Roast

Soundtrack to cook to:  Motown's #1's.  It's definitely one of my favorite albums because it's filled with some really great and soulful jams that will encourage you to get up and dance.  It reminds me of my childhood when my mom would play these songs and my sister and I would have an impromptu dance party with her in our basement.  I put on these songs during Alexander's play time at home, and we've had some dance parties of our own.  I love carrying this on with our boys.  Some of my favorites on this album are:

• Ain't Too Proud To Beg by the Temptations
• Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing by Marvin Gaye
• Rhythm Of The Night by Debarge
• Ain't No Mountain High Enough sung by Michael McDonald (but I personally prefer the Marvin Gaye version better)

HA!  Now that I look at it, apparently I love songs that start with "aint" in the title.  Too funny.

Here's our William Billiam at 11 weeks old.
It's been pretty chilly here, so we've made sure
to keep our little guys in their warmest clothes.
William is wearing a thermal onesie with some sherpa booties.

Here's William getting in some quality tummy time
with his big brother Alexander helping out.  William's
doing pretty well with holding his head up.

William has been laughing up a storm ever since he turned
about 6 weeks old.  But of course, I've never been able to
catch it on video until now.  This is one of my favorite videos
because William is rocking some pretty great belly laughs.
This one makes me smile every time I see it.

This past weekend, our little family ventured out into
the cold, since it stopped raining for a minute.  There
was a HUGE park renovation right down the street from us
and this video is of Alexander and Joseph checking out
the tire swing for the first time.

Lately, I've been having to depend on my slow cooker to cook our meals.  I've needed something quick, easy, and didn't require a lot of time to do the prep work.  

I had a 3 1/2 lb pork tenderloin that I patted dry,
seasoned with salt and pepper, and seared all of the sides.

Then, I cheated.  :-/  Normally I would mix up my own seasonings,
but I absolutely love this brand of seasonings because it always turns
out the most flavorful pot roast or pork roast every time.

Place the seared pork roast into a crock pot along with the seasonings
mixed with 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock.  (The instructions say to use water,
but I used stock in order to add a little more flavor.)
I then cut up 1 lb of new potatoes, sliced 1 onion, 4 stalks of celery,
and tossed in about 2 cups of baby carrots for good measure.
Then cook the pork roast and veggies on high for 4-5 hours.

The result is a delicate, savory, and delicious pork roast that melts
in your mouth and warms your soul.  It's comfort food at its finest
and is very lean and good for you.  We served it over a bed of brown rice.

It was very chilly the past weekend.  My sister had brought over these "magic beads" that you soak in water and they become these squishy little balls (that you would normally use for floral pieces).  I poured those balls into a container and Alexander's dinosaurs had an adventure in the "land of grapes" (because the balls were purple) as he called it.

Here's Alexander playing with his dinosaurs in the land of grapes.

He had a lot of fun driving his cars through the grapes as well.

Here's a little picture of our beautiful boy, William.

I love that gummy little smile and his gorgeous blue eyes.

Our big boy at 11 weeks old.

Awww, look at our chunky little guy getting in
some quality snuggle time with mommy.  :)

Alexander and Mommy making silly faces.

Me and my boys.  I'm absolutely loving this time
that I've been blessed to have with them.

Here's William mimicking what I'm saying.  He's

Mr. Ah-goooooo.  :)

That's all for now.  Stay warm and have a great rest of the week!  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki