100 Reasons Why

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, can you believe it? Jeff and I normally go for a nice dinner at Capital Grille and that's our gift to each other. We get to dress up a little bit and enjoy some really delicious food. We're still doing that this year while my parents watch Landon for a couple hours, but I wanted to do something else too. A friend of mine said she was going to type 100 reasons why she loves her husband and give it to him, so I decided to do it too. It was amazing how fast I was able to come up with over 100 reasons! Once I got started, more and more ideas kept coming to my head. Some are dumb, some are sentimental, some are inappropriate for this blog lol, but it was a lot of fun! I'm pretty excited for Jeff to read them all. If you are like me and have a husband who has everything, do something like this for him. It's thoughtful, sweet, completely free, and there's no way he won't like it!

Happy Wednesday!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

*Pic from This Way To His Heart

I found this on Pinterest (of course) months ago and decided to finally give it a try. It's DELICIOUS and so easy to make! I actually did everything today while Landon napped, put it in the fridge all day, and then just popped it into the oven and added cheese for the last 10 minutes of heating. I used ground turkey instead of beef, and I've heard it's also great with chicken. I also used a Mexican blend of cheese instead of whatever the recipe tells you to do.Yum!

Do yourself a favor, go here for the recipe, and make them for your family. You won't be sorry.

"Cousins"

Today we went to Long Island for the day for Jeff's Uncle's surprise 60th birthday party. It was held at a restaurant that the family loves and it was a lot of fun. It was nice to see all of Jeff's family, and they loved seeing Landon. Some of them hadn't seen him since July, so they were surprised by how big he is and how much he's changed!

One of Jeff's cousins' cousins Caitlin, so not blood related to us at all, had a baby girl 8 days before I had L. It's funny because she was due 4 weeks before me, but she had her daughter 2 weeks late, and I had Landon 5 days early, so they're closer in age than we expected. Anyway, I love going to Jeff's family functions because we always get to hang out with them and watch the babies play. Caitlin's daughter's name is Wyatt. She's absolutely adorable, tiny, and dainty. She weighs like 14 lbs and Landon is 23-24 lbs, so it's really funny to see them next to each other because Landon looks like he could squish Wyatt!. Wyatt LOVES Landon and grabs for him, squeals when she sees him, etc. It's super cute. I love chatting with Caitlin because our kids are so close in age and it's nice to hear what she does and how she handles certain things. Here's a picture that someone took of them today:

Happy Saturday!

Friday!

When I was working, Friday was my second favorite day of the week (after Saturday of course. That was the day I got to sleep in, not worry about lesson planning, and not have to go to the work the next day.) Even thought I stay home now, my job is never done, and my sleep is dictated by a 7 month old, 23 lb bundle of cuteness, I still love Fridays! Jeff usually gets out of work earlier, and we often go out to dinner or have friends over.

Tonight we are having a couple from church over, which means I have to watch my terrible potty mouth because the guy is a pastor. They're expecting their first baby next month and they don't know the gender. I can't even imagine not finding out. Waiting until 20 weeks killed me because I wanted to plan everything! Anyway, I am making dinner, which would be really scary if I didn't have my crockpot. I am making this delicious meal, which is a favorite around here and I know I won't screw it up. We just put chicken and corn in ours with poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper because we're picky eaters. The biscuits on top are so delicious when combined with the chicken and sauce. This is hands down my favorite meal (aside from my mom's amazing tortellini). Do yourself a favor and just make this. You won't be sorry.

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Pinterst Recipe Successes

I'm a pretty crappy cook. I don't do well with complicated stuff, and I need things that are really fast and easy. I'm a huge fan of my crockpot because I can dump a bunch of stuff in there, let it cook all day and we have a delicious meal by dinnertime. I feel bad because a lot of the time my poor husband comes home to yet another meal of chicken nuggets or hot dogs with Rice A Roni or mac and cheese. There's nothing wrong with these meals, but they get old pretty fast.

I've become pretty obsessed with Pinterest and my food board is full of dinner and dessert ideas I want to try. I've tried a few things to far and they've all be successful, so I thought I'd share (all pics are from the sources I got the recipes from):

1. Lime Chicken Tacos in the crockpot

I just discussed why I love the crockpot, so no need to repeat myself. These were really good! I made enough for leftovers, and they were just as delicious the next day eaten with Tostitos Scoops.

2. Crockpot Italian Chicken (The link I have pinned has a different recipe, but the recipe I used is in the description. Not sure why that happened.)

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.

This was really good, but very rich and heavy. It's not something I could eat all the time, but I enjoyed it and would make it again.

3. Sopapilla Cheesecake

I made this last week and holy crap is it good! It's definitely not healthy, but it is so, so delicious! It would be great to bring to a pot luck or it's just a nice treat for you and your family. I will be making this a lot. It was incredibly easy and so freakin good.

4. Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Surprise! Another crockpot dish! My husband is a huge fan of spicy foods. I'm not so much, but I can manage sometimes. I made this in the spicier side using my husband's homemade salsa (he uses a recipe that copies the salsa from Chili's) and we enjoyed it a lot. I had leftovers the next 2 days with extra shredded Mexican cheese mixed in and I ate it with Tostitos Scoops.

That's all I've tried for now. I have several other recipes I plan on trying soon, and I'll be sure to post some of our favorites!

If you're on Pinterest, follow my pinboards!

Sensory Bottles

I saw this idea on Pinterest months ago and I pinned it on my "For The Kids" board for when Landon was a bit older. I decided Landon is now at an age where he would enjoy playing with the bottles and seeing all of the stuff inside move around. This was such an easy project and I will definitely make more in the future.

I used the Voss water bottles because they're smooth plastic and it's very easy to see what's inside. You can really use any bottle you want, but I thought these were pretty. I ordered ours off Amazon, but a lot of people have found them at Home Goods, Marshalls, or TJ Maxx. I had no luck at any of those stores here in CT.

Left to right: Water with a tiny bit of light corn syrup and glitter, colored water and a little bit of dish soap, colored water and vegetable oil, baby oil and colored water with monster critters inside (kind of hard to see them here tho), water with plastic beads, light corn syrup with sequins. I crazy glued all of the lids and they're not coming off, but I do plan on adding a bit of clear tape to each lid for extra protection too.

Landon seems to really like these, especially the glitter one. He's too young to understand the science lessons, such as why the oil floats on top of the water, but he likes shaking the bottles, looking at everything inside, and trying to eat the bottle (of course). These were fun and easy to make and I think Landon will like them even more as he gets older.

Here are the sites I used for ideas for the sensory bottles:
Kid's Crafts
Pre-school Play
Discovery In Water Bottle

Landon Is 7 Months Old!

Dear Landon,

Today you are 7 months old. I say it every month, but I can't believe how fast the time is going! You are growing up so fast and while I love seeing you learn new things, I'm sad at how quickly we are approaching your first birthday.

A few days after you turned 6 months I noticed 2 teeth! You were a champ and barely gave me any problems. I didn't even know there were teeth until they were practically through your gums! I'm pretty sure you're teething again, and this time you are suffering a bit. It makes me so sad to see you in pain and I really hope the tooth/teeth pop through soon and give you some relief. You also caught your first cold and it seems to be taking forever to go away! You've been in pretty good spirits considering how much you're dealing with right now.

Your sleep has taken a big hit due to this cold and teething. You are getting up every 3 hours and it's hard to get you settled for the night. I think you're also having some separation anxiety because you cry when I leave the room. Lately you've been wanting to be rocked to sleep the first time I put you down for the night or before a nap. I love that you're snuggly and I'm happy to cuddle you a bit, but I do hope your night sleep gets better again soon. You take a really good 2 hour nap about 2 hours after you wake up. Your second nap tends to be shorter and you often fight it. I keep telling you someday when you're older you're going to wish you could have all of these sleep opportunities back!

You are sitting up so well on your own now! You will topple over if you get really into a toy because you forget to keep your balance, but that's happening less and less. It's been really fun to play with all of your new toys now that you can sit up! You were very spoiled for Christmas and got some great new toys to play with!

You are very alert and like to play with and grab at everything! Most things still wind up in your mouth, but you are also starting to interact more with your toys. You enjoy shiny things and things that light up the best.

You are great out in public and I can take you almost anywhere. We took you to Buffalo Wild Wings recently, which is nothing new, but we put you in one of their high chairs for the first time! You loves sitting at the table with us and you got a much better view of everything around you. You also tried to eat the table! (mommy wiped it down first, don't worry)

You're still a great eater and like most things you've tried. You aren't a fan of green vegetables or blueberries, but everything else has been great! You are showing you're ready for finger foods (you've only had purees) because you grab at your spoon, any food that gets on the tray, and at the container. You eat Baby Mum Mums well and we're going to try puffs soon. Mommy is nervous about giving you finger foods due to choking, but it will be OK. You also like eating fruit through your mesh feeder. You are nursing every 2-3 hours and it's been nice to be able to take you places and know you most likely won't be screaming with hunger if we're gone more than an hour. You do tend to nurse more when we're at someone's house  and you're uncomfortable, or if you get fussy in the evening.

We're working on getting you to drink water out of a sippy cup. You understand the concept of the cup, but I'm not sure you're getting much water out yet. We've also tried sippy cups with straws, and you know the straw goes into your mouth, but you don't really suck it yet. You'll get the hang of it soon.

You celebrated your first Christmas and New Year! Christmas was a bit crazy and you didn't sleep so well away from home, but you handled all of the people and running around very well. You were actually asleep when the clock struck midnight and it turned to 2012, but you woke up an hour into the new year to eat hahaha.

Stats:

You wear a size 3 diaper (Luvs)
You are in size 9-12 month clothes, depending on the brand
Weight: My guess is 23 pounds, but I don't know.
Length: No idea and you don't see the Dr. again until you're 9 months old. You were 27 inches long at your 6 month appointment.

The comments I get about you anytime we go anywhere or people come to see us is how beautiful your big blue eyes are, and how happy you are. You smile at everyone and just love people watching. You have such a great personality and you are pretty laid back unless you're tired or hungry. You're such a fun little guy and I love that I get to spend every day with you!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Happy 2012! My Resolutions

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had fun last night!

I have several resolutions that I think I can manage this year :)

I want to be on the internet less, especially when L is awake. I think having an iphone makes it so easy to hop on as I'm playing with my son. He deserves my undivided attention, so unless he's nursing, napping, or I am purposely giving him some independent play time, I will not be on the internet. I need to be off of Facebook and Twitter more and spend time with my family and friends.

I want to watch less reality TV. The "Real Housewives" of wherever are quickly losing their appeal to me. I have them on as background noise sometimes, but I don't DVR them anymore, nor do I care if I miss an episode. I'm pretty much over the Kardashians as well. I will keep watching Bethenny and Top Chef though.

I want to read more for fun. It's better for me than TV.

I want to exercise and eat better. I don't need to lose weight, Landon nursing every hour for almost 6 months took care of all of my pregnancy weight and then some. I would like to tone up and exercise because it will keep me healthy. There will not be a pregnancy in 2012 (or for a couple years after that hopefully), so I want to keep myself looking and feeling good. I also want to set an example for Landon that fitness is important as he grows up. I'm happy with the way I look right now, but I know that I will pack on weight again after I'm done breastfeeding if I continue to eat the way I do and not exercise.

I want to keep my house cleaner. It's not bad at all now, but I get lazy sometimes. I need to keep us more organized as well.

I want to make it a point to spend more quality time with my husband. We need more date nights, and we have great babysitters in my parents who will watch Landon any time. We've had 2 date nights since Landon has been born, and they were months ago. I also want to dress up for him more. I do hair and makeup almost daily, but I am in yoga pants constantly.

Get our house organized and ready to sell. I have a lot of cleaning things out, donating, and putting things in storage to do.

Stop spending money so frivolously. I am lucky that I can spend a little freely, but that doesn't mean that I should all the time. I have always been an impulse shopper and it's not good. Sometimes I'm happy with my purchases, other times I regret them. I want to really think about it before I buy something and decide if it's really worth it or not.

Go to church more. We've been terrible about this since Landon was born because he doesn't sleep well, therefore, I don't sleep. We just need to suck it up and go. I can always nap when Landon does once we get home.

What are your resolutions?