{Fall Family Outing}

Get ready for a TON of pictures.

Since my husband works crazy hours...and I mean CRAZY, it is awesome when we can all attend an outing together. This past outing is brought to you by LECPTA.

RoCkiN "R" rAnCh

Kayleigh absolutely loved this place! There was so much to do and see. First, we saw this pretty cheesy show that had bad guys and...Sponge Bob?

I guess they knew what they were doing. Event though Kayleigh doesn't watch Sponge Bob, you better believe she knows who he is. You also better believe she will wait in line to get her picture with him too.

There were hayrides, pumpkin patches, jump house caterpillar things, petting zoo, horsey rides, face painting. You name it, this place had it.

They also had rain, which is why there are no pictures of the horsey rides, petting zoo or face painting. I ran back to put my OH-so expensive camera in the car. Then the sun came out. Gotta love Murphy's Law. No worries, Riley pretended to be a duck that day:

Cutest. Face. Ever.

Where does she get this serious face from? Oh wait.

Thank you stranger, you took a magnificent picture!

Dan was very helpful on the outing...carrying all three pumpkins (one is on his back. lol). To think we had THREE pumpkin vouchers!

<3

<333333

 

I know you here it all the time...but these two light up my life. Their Daddy is awesome too. Happy ten year anniversary my love. Here is to ten more. NO I AM NOT DRINKING. Yet.

Meal Plan Monday: 10/22

I am so excited to use my new crockpot this week. I scoured my food board on pinterest and got mostly new recipes. I have three ham bones in the freezer so expect to see some ham recipes over the next few weeks. So here we go:

MONDAY

Slow Cooker Ham  and White Bean Soup, Cornbread and Ranch Crackers

TUESDAY

Rotisserie Chicken in the Crockpot, Home made stock from left over bones and skin.

WEDNESDAY

Chicken Salad sandwiches

THURSDAY

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup with home made stock!


FRIDAY

Left Overs

SATURDAY

Crockpot Italian Chicken: Holy Moly It Was Good! Crockpot Italian Chicken: 4 Chicken Breasts, 1 Packet Zesty Italian Dressing Seasoning, 1 8 Oz. Cream Cheese (softened), 2 Cans Cream Of Chicken Soup; Cook On Low For 4 Hours. If Sauce Is Too Thick, Add A Little Milk. Serve Over Pasta. Wowzers!

SUNDAY

Slow Cooker Ginger Chicken and Veggies served over rice

Riley: 7 months

Complete mommy fail for month seven my little koala bear. I totally did not get a sticker picture of you the day before you turned eight months. Instead mommy went out drinking with her mommy friends. Priorities.

Anyways. You are sooo NOT a baby anymore. You are so happy to just crawl around the living room eating all the discarded toys your sister doesn't want to play with at that moment. 

• You can go from your belly to sitting
• You are pulling yourself up to a standing position
• You are getting your bottom front teeth - You have one now.
• You love Mickey
• You point at everything
• You play so big
• You sign but not correctly- You do "so big" for all done but you have more down.
• YOU got your first tooth!! Nursing should be fun now.
• You love books. We have another reader on our hands!
• You are so lovey. I will miss the way you put your head on my shoulder right after you get up from a nap and pat my back. 
• You give kisses now. LOVE the loviness.

I am so proud of myself for all the babyfood I have made for you. So far: sweet potatoes, pears, butternut squash, acorn squash, zucchini, peas, peaches, mangos.

I have to mix some things with oatmeal or applesauce because sometimes the flavors are overwhelming. Icannot believe you are eating three meals a day now! You usually have greek yogurt in the am, a fruit and veggie combo for lunch, then I usually mix oatmeal with the leftovers for dinner. You also eat anything and everything I have for dinner. You LOVE pasta and feed yourself baked ziti whenever we have it. Your very well coordinated with those little pinchers for such a young lady. You also love chicken, broccoli, rice, potatoes..and pretty much anything else I eat. You are a fantastic eater.

You are still nursing! Yay free milk.

So here are some pics of you from Month 7:

If you want to make God laugh...

.....make plans. Yep. If you read my meal plan yesterday then you know I made a list of meals that I don't have to use the crockpot for since mine bit the dust last week. Post blog, then theres a knock on the door and what do ya know:

I know, there are way bigger problems in the world than my crock pot drama but maybe I just have writers block, ok? Maybe I am hesitating posting the political rant I have drafted. Sounds interesting doesn't it. I guess you will just have to keep an eye out for that one.

So, dear-sweet-new crock pot, I promise to use you every day next week. So if you are looking for some awesome crock pot recipes check back Monday.

So long.

Meal Plan Monday

So here is a challenge. My crockpot died last week and I have yet to receive my new one. Although I got confirmation that it shipped. So since I have been horribly off budget lately with food, I need to make easy, yummy, semi-healthy, cheap meals without the crockpot. So here we go:

MONDAY

Sausage and Kale soup - Dans aunt made this while we were at the beach and it was AWESOME. Great way to get Kayleigh to eat Kale.

TUESDAY

Sausage and Potatoes - My MIL actually makes this a lot and it is awesome.

WEDNESDAY


We recently purchased forty pounds of fresh, boneless skinless chicken, that is supposed to be free range and antibiotic free for a really good price. So chicken is on the menu for a while.

Thanksgiving in a bowl - Recipe below

THURSDAY

Chicken Spagetti

FRIDAY


Chicken Parmesan Bake

SATURDAY

Chicken Tagine with Olives

SUNDAY

We are going to attempt to make our own pizza with whatever we have in the house. Wish us luck!

Thanksgiving in a bowl:

- 1 box stuffing
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 bag frozen mixed veggies

1. Preheat oven to 400. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package and set aside.
2. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream and veggies in baking dish and top with the stuffing
3. Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through

Embrace the Camera: 10/11/12

I just noticed how awesome the date is: 10/11/12!!

How cool is that? Maybe that is why today was such a good day. Yesterday was not. It was one of those trying days where you sit back and wonder if you should even stay at home because you are pretty sure your children will be in therapy for the happenings that occurred. Then there was today. The girls were well behaved, we took a family nap and read books together. The stars seemed to line up and I got a well needed break from the crankiness of teething and the mischief's of a toddler.

So here we are embracing the camera again. I cannot wait until my children are older and get to see all the fun stuff I did with them. Today I am sharing some pictures from a pumpkin patch that we recently visited with the lakewood early childhood PTA. It was SO much fun.

We spent about twenty minutes trying to find our way out of this huge corn maze. Kayleigh thought it was awesome but I felt bad that corn was smacking Riley in the face as we went through since I had her in the backpack. She didn't seem to care..I'm sure she ate some along the way. Then when we finally made it out Kayleigh was given some pretzels and some apple cider which was amazing!! I LOVE FALL!

Then we went on Kayleigh and Rileys first HAYRIDE!! It was being pulled by a big green tractor that Kayleigh thought was "SO COOL." The tractor took us to where we got to pick out a pumpkin right off the vine. Kayleigh just kept saying "This is so cool mommy."

So another day that I got to spend with my girls exploring life and all its wonders. I am one lucky momma with one lovely husband who helps to support our adventurous ways...

She kept telling her pumpkin how much she loved it

"This way mommy!"

Kayleigh, her pumpkin and my pumpkin

How to get your baby to sleep through the night

Is something that every parent would like to perfect. After all that is definitely the number one thing that changes when having a baby. At least in my experience. SLEEP. I am not here to give you the secret, but a few tips that helped me. I figured I should also jot these down for the next baby as well. Both my kids slept through the night almost instantly. Riley was amazing and was sleeping 10+ hours in the first week.

1. NEVER wake a sleeping baby. I remember when I had my first, Kayleigh, she was a day old and the hospital took her to the nursery so I could get some rest. I woke up five hours later completely panicked! Where was my baby? I was nursing so I thought I had to nurse her every two hours. Five hours had gone by something MUST be wrong. I called the nurse who came in a few moments later with my baby. "She just woke up." The nurse said. When I inquired why she hadn't been brought to my room earlier the nurse smiled and said "never wake a sleeping baby." "You were both sleeping so soundly so I didn't want to bother either of you." I never woke Kayleigh to eat. A few times I would give her what is called a twilight feeding, where you nurse them when they are sleeping, but only because I was engorged and too lazy to pump.

*Please note that if your baby is premature or special needs in any way and your doctor instructs you to wake the baby please do. Both my babies were full term and gained weight from the beginning. If you baby is gaining weight and your doctor is telling you to wake them for a feed that doctor is a sadist.

2. Nurse on demand and often during the day. The more they get during the day, the less they will want at night

3. When they do wake to nurse at night DO NOT do the following...this is very important: NO talking to the baby, NO lights on, NO diaper changes unless it is poop.

4. If it is poop and you have to change the baby and there is an explosion, NO baths. That will surely stimulate the baby and good bye sleepy time.

5. I gave both my kids baths every night to signal bedtime. Then we take fifteen to twenty minutes for storytime and then into bed. Routine is key but this doesn't usually start until they are a few months old.

So there are some tips that I have used. Both my kids were great sleepers until about six months old when they start teething and everything goes to hell. When I figure out what works during that fun time, so far nothing, I will let you all know! Hope this helps someone out there!!

Until next time....