Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Random Pictures

These are some random pictures of my sweet boy over the last 3 weeks!























Emmett's First Christmas

Obviously he had no idea what was going on, but we had fun celebrating Emmett's first Christmas. He was pretty spoiled by family! I took a bunch of pictures on Christmas Eve when we celebrated at our house with my side, but forgot my camera at home on Christmas Day with Justin's family. Mommy fail! :(









Our new stockings!



The Christmas tree, that the dog peed on Christmas night. Good thing we had already decided to get a real tree for next year!



Emmett loved staring at these lights along the ceiling beam. He lays on the ottoman and stares up at them in wonderment. :)

Emmett's Birth Announcement & Newborn Photos

This is Emmett's birth annoucement that we ordered through tinyprints. It doubled as our Christmas card this year. I love the way it came out!

Front



Back



His newborn picture session didn't go so well. He was not a happy baby that day! We did get a couple cute poses though, which are the ones we put on the birth announcement. We plan to do another session at 3 months to get some better pictures.

Santa hat



Teddy bear

Whoa Baby! He's here!

Emmett was born December 7th at 2:14 PM. He was 20.5 inches long and 8 lbs 8 oz. It was the most amazing day of our lives and we could not have been more blessed. :)











Thursday, November 17, 2011

Stocked Freezer

About a week ago, Justin and I made a big shopping trip and then spent the day cooking up some meals to have in the freezer. I like the idea of just being able to pull out and thaw something rather than be bothered with cooking those first few days home with baby. We have a tiny freezer so we didn't get too crazy.

I froze most of it flat, so it would only take up one shelf of our limited space.



Our freezer stash includes:
-Big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup, divided into 2 meals. I need to share this recipe soon because this stuff is amazing!

-Blue Ribbon Chili, divided into 2 meals

-Sloppy Joes(I just used the canned stuff)

-A meatloaf that is ready to just be tossed in the oven. I will share this recipe later as it is our go-to meatloaf.

-Beef Stroganoff, divided into 2 meals

-Burger patties and buns, enough for two meals

-Cooked & shredded chicken and flour shells because we love having chicken tacos

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Memory Lane

We were cleaning out Justin's childhood dresser for Emmett, and found quite the mix of random things. One of the drawers was lined with a newspaper from 1968, which is 9 years before Justin was even born. We had some fun checking out the prices of groceries and comparing them to current prices.

We also found a Bazooka Joe wrapper, a "hen laying eggs" which Justin said is some kind of fireworks, and some cassette tapes. Eric Clapton, Ozzy, and Warrant. Who doesn't love some Cherry Pie?!







Crockpot Italian Chicken

We had this one last week, and I thought it was just OK. It tasted a little on the salty side to me, but I was unable to find the reduced sodium soup that I usually use for recipes like this, so that could have been the problem. Justin really liked it though.



4 chicken breasts
1 packet dry Zesty Italian dressing
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1-2 cans cream of chicken soup

Place the chicken in a crockpot and sprinkle Italian dressing over it. Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat and pour over chicken. Cook on low for at least 4 hours. Serve over pasta.

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A little bit of randomness

We got new dining room furniture awhile ago. We had outgrown our smaller table, but didn't plan on replacing it until next year or later. We got bored and walked into Tenpenny to check out a sale and fell in love with this dining set. I love it! It is a nice big table that seats six as is, and has a leaf to expand. I need to get a new rug eventually, but here is our improved dining room.



The flowers on the table were from Justin for our 5 year anniversary that was Sunday. I had to work second shift on Saturday and didn't get home until after 11 pm. He surprised me at midnight with a kiss and the flowers that he had hidden so I wouldn't see them until it was "officially" our Anniversary. :)





Friday, October 14, 2011

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Yup. Another crock pot recipe! I had all of the stuff to make this and got bored today, so thought I'd give it a shot. It is so yummy when you eat it warm with some whipped cream!



1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup biscuit/baking mix
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whipped topping, optional

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours(if you have a larger crock pot it doesn't take this long) or until a thermometer reads 160°

Source: Taste of Home

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

This was delicious! I added a spoonful of sour cream and sprinkled some cheese on top. Justin isn't a big bean fan, so I may cut back on the beans next time. He chowed it regardless and I thought it was great as is. I used a can of reduced sodium black beans, and also used reduced sodium taco seasoning. I did not add any additional chilies like recipe calls for.



1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
24 0z. (3) boneless skinless chicken breasts
chili peppers, chopped (optional)
chopped fresh cilantro

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

I tried this recipe for stroganoff yesterday and it was delicious! It tasted great reheated today too. I have a whole stack of crock pot recipes to try over the next couple weeks!



2 pounds lean cubed stew beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 package mushroom gravy
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Combine beef, soup, mushrooms and gravy in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Blend sour cream with flour; stir into beef stroganoff. Cook about 15 minutes more, or until well heated.

We had this over egg noodles. :)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

New ultrasound pictures!

First we had our elective 3D ultrasound on Saturday. Unfortunately it was a big disappointment because he kept his face smushed up next to the placenta. We only got a few glimpses of his features. We did get to watch him have the hiccups and suck his thumb though. Here are those pictures...







Next was a 30 week growth scan today. I have had some BP issues and they wanted to make sure that it wasn't slowing his growth. They have nothing worry about. He is a big boy! Measuring almost 33 weeks already and they placed him in the 90th percentile. It was too bad that their machine didn't have 3D because the little stinker was looking right at us for most of the ultrasound. He looks perfectly healthy!