Barbeque Chicken Pizza

Tonight I am featuring a recipe from my friend Sarah.  She is not a blogger but I met her while both of our husbands were in flight school and her barbeque chicken pizza always made the men drool!

First start with some pizza dough.  You can make your own, but I just use the Wal-mart brand and we love it (you'll probably need two cans).

Once you have spread the dough on your cookie sheet or stone, add your favorite barbeque sauce.  We love Sweet Baby Ray's brand, but I think we got it the first time just because the hubs thought it sounded cool ; )

Spread it all over!  As you are doing this you'll need to be cooking chicken.  I just cut a couple of chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and cook over the stove top with some everyday seasonings.  

Take your chicken from the stove and add to the pizza.  Now, this is a ton of chicken for one pizza!  Once our family grows more and I have more mouths to feed I'll probably still use the same amount of chicken, but make two pizzas out of it.

Then add cheese.  You'll want to add the cheese last so it can adhere to the chicken and the dough.  Otherwise some chicken pieces will roll off while you or your guests are trying to eat it.

Then cook according to dough instructions and...

Viola!

Pair with some green or baked beans and you've got a complete meal that you and the hubs will love!

http://kaylawilkes.smugmug.com/

Please take a moment and check out my photography website.  I've been working hard on it this weekend to make it easier to navigate.  Let me know what you think and what I can work on.  Keep in mind I have NO design training and am doing all of this myself, so don't expect too much!  

All there is left to do now is to upload recent photos from numerous photo shoots.  

If you are in the SC area and need a photographer please keep me in mind!

http://kaylawilkes.smugmug.com/

A Day In The Life...

Hi, Emmy here.  I had such a great day yesterday and wanted to share it with all of you!

I started the day off by playing video games after breakfast.  Dad was gracious enough to let me take the controls.

Then, I went to Aunt KB's house to cheer her up since she has to sit at home for so long.  She had surgery on her knee, but I think she liked playing with me.

Then, mom and dad took me to the park and pushed me on the swing.  I loved it!

And I got a front row seat on Dad's shoulders during our walk.

We took a break by the creek and Daddy got a hold of mom's new camera and started snapping!

While Dad and I were playing on the play set, Mom was busy taking pictures of the new buds that were starting to form.  She was so excited about the first signs of spring!

So, life has been pretty good lately.  I mean despite me sitting in my own pee until mom actually changes my diaper : )

LOVE these two!

I can't recall what they are watching, but I just love how Caleb is touching Emmy's foot and how he is telling her about whatever it is that they are watching.

No words can describe...

...what I'm feeling.

As I sit and stare at this blank canvas on which I'm supposed to type my thoughts, and even though there is so much on my mind, I still don't know how to put what I'm feeling into words.  I can't sleep.  I'm dreading D-day which happens to be the first of a few to come in the next few months.

If you don't know what I'm talking about I'll try to fill you in.

I'm an army wife and I'm about to embark on my first deployment as one and I'm terrified.

My husband and I have been together for nine and half years and even though I have been without him before, never for as long as this deployment and never with a child.

I will say that I'm very glad that I am a believer of Christ because I know that I would not make it through without the strength of Him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation; My fortress. I will not be shaken. 

Psalm 62:6

Some memories...

Playing around in NC when we were 16

After a date one night when we were 17.

College football!

A spur-of-the-moment ski trip freshman year of college!  What a great day!

Caleb's 21 surprise birthday party that I threw him!

Charleston, SC!

Best day of my life!!!

About to embark on the military life. Photo by Sara Parker.

Proud army wife!

Love this soldier!  Photo by Sara Parker.

Swimming with the manatees!

Living in Alabama!

The night we told our families of our expected arrival in six months!

I'll miss him so much!

Weekend Glance

This weekend was great!  On Friday night we had some friends over, cooked out, watched The Time Traveler's Wife, and played Scrabble.  As you can see, it was late when we were playing and our brains were not working up to par.

On Saturday I planned a shoot at a nearby pond to take pictures of "Porter Pounder" (our friend's six month old) to practice with my new camera!  The shoot only made me fall even more in love with it!  Before Porter and his mama got to the location I took some shots of Emmy.

She loved the grass!  And these pics are straight out of the camera!  Have I mentioned that I LOVE my new camera?

This is the infamous "Porter Pounder!"  I'll be posting a few more of the photos from the shoot on my photography blog!

After the shoot we headed over to a dinner date with the Austin twins and their husbands.  We ate fish tacos and let Emmy and April's little girl, Ansley play together until bedtime.  Ansley is five days younger than Emmalyn and such a sweetie.  It will be interesting to see how our playdates differ in a year or two.  It was so good to catch up with these guys and we are already planning our next date!

A new love!

Valentine's Day has never been a big deal for my husband and I, but due to some near future circumstances this year is different.  On February 14 I woke up to my husband cooking homemade banana pancakes for us and a day of just family family planned.  It was so great.  But that wasn't all he had planned.  He told me that on Wednesday night we would be dropping Emmalyn off with my parents and having dinner together.

So, Wednesday came and we dropped Emmy off (with a very excited pair of grandparents : ) and went on our way.  I had no idea where we were going, but was very surprised to find out we were heading toward our very favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot.  After a wonderful fondue meal, I was given a beautiful pearl bracelet (which is Emmalyn's birthstone).  Needless to say I was so surprised and excited.

On the way to pick Emmalyn up, Caleb took a detour to a park that we have gone to countless times in our nine and a half years together.  He said we were going to go for a walk and reminisce.   As he got out of the car he told me to close my eyes and not to open them until he told me to.

When I was finally instructed to open them, I saw him holding a Canon 60D!

I have had my eye on this beauty for about six months and was in the process of saving up the money to get it and take my photography to the next level.  I was still a few weeks away from having enough funds to get it, but my hubby went ahead and got it anyway.

I feel a little more professional now!

As you could guess, I've been taking so many pictures lately (more than usual) and I'm in LOVE with the capabilities of this camera.  Plus, it captures my favorite beauty so well!

Eight Months

I know I'm a few days late on this post, but our little Emmy is now eight months old!

Emmalyn's Eight Month Stats

Weight - 15lbs (8th percentile)

Height - 26in (20th percentile)

Head - 17in (35th percentile)

Size of clothes - Her clothes range from 3-6 month, 6 month, and 6-9 month.  

Eye color - brown, sometimes lighter which looks a little green (like her daddy)

Sleep -GREAT!  Now that we are settled in our new home she sleeps so well!  

Food - Anything we give her.  She loves oatmeal, pancakes with applesauce, yogurt, puffs, crackers, carrots you name it she'll eat it!  I made a roast the other day and put a few extra carrots in it for her and she ate all of them!  She loved it!

Milestones -  Trying to pull up on things now.  Still hates her belly so there is no sign that crawling is in the near future, nor does she have any teeth or any sign that even one will poke through any time soon!

Favorite activities -  Playing with my makeup, petting the dogs, trying to type on my computer, standing (as she holds on to something), playing with her "cookie jar" (a toy she got for Christmas), seeing how many times she can take her pacifier out and put in back in her mouth, laughing at me whenever I'm on the phone, reading tearing up magazines, and experimenting with her voice.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Hello blog world!  This is my 300th post!  Life has come such a long way since post #1.

Things have been pretty busy in our household lately.  I've had a few photo shoots that I've done and have yet to do, been spending a lot of time with Caleb and catching up with old friends.

Our little Emmalyn has been so silly lately and it has kept a smile on my face!  Here's  a little video to give you an idea of what life with Emmy is like.

I love this kid so much!  She is such a good child and I can't get enough of her!  

Cousins & Kisses

This week we were very pleased to spend time with four of Emmalyn's cousins.  All of her cousins love to spend time with Emmy and are very concerned anytime she is upset.  I wasn't able to get too many pictures due to (1) Emmy being sick and needed lots of mommy hugs and (2) trying chase after four kids takes a lot!  But here's what I got!

Emmalyn was not feeling too great the first night so the very loving Liya came to comfort her with her favorite doll, Molly.

Such a sweetheart!  Liya is the fifth grandchild and Emmalyn is number six!

After Emmy caught some much needed Zzzzzzz's, we ventured outside to play on the awesome set that Caleb's dad planned and built for all the grandkids.

Emmalyn loves the swing.

And apparently so does Lynsey.

After having a much needed night at home to rest from the past week and a half.  Before heading to bed Caleb decided to snuggle with Emmalyn and I thought it was so heartwarming - so I had to get a picture!

Playdate & Photoshop

This past week Emmalyn had her first play date with Miss Ellasyn.  She is the nine month old daughter of one of my college roommates - oh the runny memories!  During the playdate Ellasyn's mommy, Elizabeth, took some great ones to document the "fun" the girls had!  You can check out the whole story here.

Also, I made a watermark for my online photos with photoshop!  Now, if you know anything about my relationship with photoshop you know this is a huge deal!  I've been so busy researching so much about photography and photoshop lately and am so excited and eager to shoot (the weather has really put a damper on my shooting the past few days).  Here is an example of my new watermark.

I LOVE it, however I'm not a designer, nor do I even pretend to know what I'm doing with photoshop, so give me your opinions!