3 months old

My little Jack in the bean stalk is 3 months old today! I can't believe time has gone so fast, and will continue to keep going just as fast. He's learned and grown so much in these 3 months, I'm excited for what is to come. 


He's now sleeping 8 hours a night and has been for about a month now. Has gotten MUCH better about taking naps during the day and now has almost 3 good naps, one is over an hour long!


He's almost out of 0-3 and 3 month clothes. Still wearing size 1 diapers but won't be long until we switch to 2's. 


He's laughing and giggling and smiling. He knows when his mommy and daddy are talking to him. He has even been able to fall asleep on his own a couple times, but I still love rocking & cuddling him to sleep!

I just love this face!

It's beginning to maybe feel like Christmas? [late post]

[another 'started but didn't finish' post. here it is anyway!]
With just returning to work recently, getting the hang of taking Jackson to daycare everyday, running on little to no sleep everyday and still running around doing EVERYTHING, it hasn't really hit me that Christmas is in a FEW DAYS. 

We finally got a Christmas tree last weekend. I know, finally right?! Decorated it, got some gifts wrapped (in between other chores and while Jackson was sleeping) and semi tried to clean the house. I haven't made Christmas cookies, though I was able to send out Christmas cards at the last minute. 

I'm lucky enough to have Christmas eve and day off this year. Haven't taken Jackson to see Santa yet this year. Even though he is so small he will likely not remember it, it's his first Christmas. So I'm going to do my best to get him to see Santa. Though, if it doesn't happen, next Christmas he will be a year old and it should be a bit more fun.

I'm realizing how much there is to do being a mom during the holidays. WOW! So much respect for the other Mom's out there!


And of course, I didn't finish this post and get it out before Christmas, so I'll post it now. Who cares. Just adding more to the busy of the season.

I hope your Christmas was a very special one. I hope you spent lots of time loving those close to you and enjoying little things in life with friends and family. 


Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas & Happy New year from my little family to yours :)

Many Faces of Jackson

Yes, I'm that mom who takes a million pictures of her child. Do you blame me? When he's this cute, you have to take lots of pictures!

This little guy melts my heart. Absolutely love him. It's been a rough week back to work, just missing this guy tons. I truly adore him and our time together. 

Getting back on my feet of blogging (been WAY too long!), uploading pictures, sent out birth announcements only 6 weeks after he was born, got Christmas shopping done BEFORE Thanksgiving (go me!), sent Christmas cards...whew! It is definitely a learning curve how to manage time with a little one. Thinking ahead is a whole new thing. I always thought of myself as a planner, but now I have to plan extra far in advance especially when going somewhere and getting things done. And I can function just fine on 4-5 hours of sleep. 6-7 hours is heaven! Sleeping in until 5:30am is FABULOUS! 

Here's to a wonderful Tuesday!

How Time Flies

It is extremely hard to believe that it is the middle of December already. But it is. My little man is almost 3 months old. Can we make time stop please?! I've been busy loving him and spending precious time with him and now I'm back to work, day 3. So far, so good. I've cried, yes. But Jackson is doing well!

Yes, this feels like me. Especially with all the emails I had to go through (still have to go through) at work and the catching up I'm doing. I need to post pictures and updates and everything, but have been busy. Soon though, I promise. I have not forgot about the blog. And I haven't had time to read all of your other blogs :( Soon, I promise.


Hope you all are doing well and getting ready for Christmas.

Love this little guy! So glad Joshy takes so many pictures of us :) I'll have some family pictures to share soon as well :) 


Have a wonderful weekend!

Hibernation

Yes, I'm still here. And I'm finally catching up reading all of your blogs/posts. WOW has it been a long time since I've blogged! I've been enjoying my little man as much as possible, since I will be going back to work in a couple short weeks :(

{Lots of cuddle time!}

{He's getting such a personality!}

{And he loves his daddy}

I have also been cooking up a storm, well when I can. But new things for sure. Some good. Some I won't try again. Ha! I'll do my best to post some of the amazing things I've been coming up with.

Hard to believe its nearing Thanksgiving already. Man how this year flew by. Especially since I was pregnant for over 75% of the year! Jackson's first Thanksgiving and Christmas may not be real exciting for him, Halloween wasn't, but next year will be so fun. I think we, as his parents, will be more excited for it this year than he will be. I was informed, and now have been thinking about it, the other day how this will be the last Christmas that we won't be up late or super early due to kids waking us, or putting together gifts for under the tree. Life as a Mom & Dad :)

The Story of Birth: Jackson

I've finally got some time to sit down and write up Jackson's birth story. At least I can start it and finish it later, and finally publish it out! Amazing how fast a day goes by when you are watching the clock for the next feeding and timing things, or trying to. My whole world is soaked up into Jackson and his needs. I love that little guy! He is so fun and I love watching him try to learn things, even watching his eyes as they follow me from side to side and watching as his tongue learns to wiggle around in his mouth.

So here is the journey that led to his birth.

Starting with a regular doctor appointment on Wednesday showed I wasn't even dilated. And here I was 4 days overdue. After putting a balloon in place, I began to have contractions, BAD ones. We headed back home to have lunch and by the time we were finished we decided to grab the bags and head to the hospital. We had to wait for a triage room, this was the day everyone was having babies! After getting a room and being there about an hour the nurse admitted us, at 4:30pm, and then my water broke (just felt like I peed my pants). It was baby time for sure! The whole shock factor was really setting in. We were going to have a baby.

Just after being admitted I was checked and already at 5cm dilated. Pretty quick, seeing as how 4 1/2 hours ago I wasn't even dilated. Fast forward to about 2am. My brother and husband asleep on the floor and couch. I had a yoga ball between my knees all night long and kept having to be turned from side to side. Baby was face up and should be face down. The nurse came in at 3am and checked me. 10 cm, fully dilated and ready to go! Now we were just waiting on my doctor, who was next door delievering another baby. At 4:30am my doctor came in and decided we would start pushing. We pushed and she turned Baby's head so he was faced the right way. This hurt! We were ready to go. At first it was just Josh and a nurse. We pushed for a while and then my doctor and a whole bunch of other nurses came in and we were ready to really get going. Josh was SUCH A GREAT COACH!! After every push he would tell me how good I did and how I could do it.

Then it got to where I was just pushing on my own, not waiting for them to tell me I was having a contraction. I just felt the need to push. As he was coming out I swear there was no liquid left, he did not slide right out! When he came out he just kept coming, and coming.  He was long! They laid him on me and I was just in shock. I couldn't cry because I was just in awe that this little....or rather large, person just came out of me. We created this person and now here he was to come into this world. It was so beautiful. He was born at 5:59am on Thursday September 22.

He was so big! 9lbs 6.8oz and 22 inches long!! We were later told by EVERYONE that I should have had a C-section because he was so large. When I was told I would have a big baby the week before, I was thinking 7-7 1/2 lbs. I hadn't even envisioned 9 lbs. It was not even part of my vocabulary. Ugh. The recovery process is still going on, and I'm doing much better. What a toll it takes on your body to have a baby, but so worth it! He is changing and doing things each day that I couldn't have imagined I would be a part of.

Still getting used to being called Mommy, but I absolutely love it! He is amazing and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I'm thankful for a healthy and smooth pregnancy and a fairly quick and smooth delivery.

This little guy is loved by so many people. I think he really was brought into this world for a reason. There are people that he won't get to meet but I know they would be so proud and would love him to pieces. I'll have to love him extra good for them too :)

Back in the kitchen

Yes, you read that right. I've been trying to cook some more here and there, when I can. Multi-tasking is a whole new thing when you have a little person to take care of. Hoping my scatter-brained-ness calms down a bit and I can come up with some things to cook up. Definitely planning meals ahead will be key to being able to manage multiple things at once.

Here's last night's dinner:

Taco Salad (or a version of one)

1 lb ground meat (I used beef)
Cumin
Chili Powder
Salt & Pepper
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 can Rotel
1 small can green chilies
chopped lettuce
chips (tortilla, fritos, etc)
shredded cheese (optional)

Brown meat until cooked. Add in black beans, corn, Rotel and green chilies. Season meat to liking. I used enough to my taste, but didn't measure it, oops! Put the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl and serve. Yum! Kind of a quick & easy meal. Just threw together what I had available. Would also be good with tortillas, or made up like a burrito.

Jackson's Room

Here are some photos of Jackson's room. I thought I'd share with everyone. It was a lot of fun putting together and shopping for this, Josh and I really enjoyed it!

I took these pictures back in August, so a few things have changed. We now have Jackson's name on the wall with letters my mom made for him.

{DIY: No Sew Tie Blanket}

Now I can finally share the blanket that I made back in August for Jackson. I didn't share it because the gender was a surprise. I had fun making this. I have a couple homemade fleece blankets that my sister Steph has made, so I wanted to try my hand making one. Super easy!

I used two pieces, each 1 yard in length I believe

Items needed:
two pieces of fleece the same size
measurimg tape
sissors
4x4 inch piece of paper

1. Take your two pieces of fleece. Put one piece on top of the other. lining up the edges so they are even. (one side will be the front and the other side will be the back of your blanket)
2. Trim off any selvage around the edges of your fleece (try not to cut in more than 2 inches) * Remember you need to try to cut straight, but it doesn't have to be.
3. Take your piece of 4"x4" paper lay it on the corner of your blanket. Then cut out the corner through both layers. Proceed to do this on all four corners.
4. Now you are ready to cut your fringes. Cut 4 inches into both fleeces at 1" wide. I found it easier to lay a tape measure across from the corner of the cut out corner to the other.
5. Your fringes don't need to be 1" exactly, just try to keep them the same size.(You don't want to have one fringe 1" and the next one 2".)
   Proceed to cut 1" intervals on all four sides.
6. Starting on one side, tie over hand knots (using one fringe from each fleece.) Tie these knots on every other fringe around the entire blanket.
7. Then flip the whole blanket over and tie the remaining knots until your blanket is complete. (This helps your knotted ends look perfect)
8. Some prefer to only tie one knot, but I like to double knot them. This helps them from coming untied especially in the wash.

http://www.allkindsofbabystuff.com/no_sew_fleece_blankets.html

These are great gifts to give andcan be so fun with so many different color and pattern combinations!

Jackson Joshua Dewey

Just wanted to post a few pictures of this cute little guy. Er, not so little anymore. He's 1 month old today, man how time flies! Especially when you are looking at the clock hour by hour until the next feeding and up all night. This little guy is worth it, so worth it. He's even starting to smile and giggle and has been lifting his head up for almost 2 weeks now! So strong!

He's already starting to change a little bit, I can not believe it!

Birth Day Party for Baby Dewey

May I introduce to you, the world, Baby Dewey who is now formally known as Jackson Joshua Dewey. He made his appearance to this world on Thursday September 22, 2011 at 5:59am weighing in at 9lb 6.8oz and measuring 22 inches long (which we later found out was wrong, and closer to 20.5 inches).

I apoligize for not writing this sooner, but it has been BUSY, BUSY with this little man. And trying to adjust to his every needs and just purely watching him has taken all of my time. I am very thankful to have this time to care for and learn EVERYTHING about him.

Yes, this was minutes after birth. I don't really look like I just gave birth, do I?!

This is a pretty proud Daddy. He did GREAT coaching me through the entire process :)

Our first family of 3 photo, just hours after birth.

We have really enjoyed this little guy so far. Our whole world has been turned upside down, but in a good way. Yes the sleepless nights are among us, and the long days are here filled with poopie diapers, being peed on (and pooped on), thrown-up on and crying (both mommy and Jackson) but seeing the changes each day and watching him look up at me and look around the room to explore this brand new world to him makes it all worth it.

I'll post the birth story later, along with more pictures. Thanks for being patient everyone, and for checking back often. The Dewey Family is growing :)

{09.19.09} I'm his Mississippi Princess

No, I'm not from Mississippi. And I'm not really a princess. I believe this came from a lyric from a song we heard back 4 or 5 years ago. The artist's name isn't coming to me. That's not the important thing here. This is one nickname Josh has given me over the years of us being together. Another is Buger Bear. Now that one I'm really not sure where it came from. 

Hard to believe our 2 year wedding anniversary is here {9.19.09}. I still remember that day so well. So many great friends and family members were a part of it, and I cherish all of those memories. Josh and I have been together for 6 years now. Wow! And soon (like a matter of days even) our little family will become a family and we will grow by one more person.

I'm so lucky to have met Josh and to have gotten to know him so well. We really go together well, don't ya think? He has taught me so much and I only hope I've taught him some stuff along the way.

I was trying so hard not to cry, can you tell?!

I love that we can be goofy together and have so much fun.

He's my Joshy :)

Here's to 50+ more years together being goofy, silly, lovey, best friends, partners and more in life. I can't wait to explore more and have many more adventures together. He is my rock and my world. One of the strongest men I know and so smart. He takes care of me and makes sure I am happy.

I can't wait to see him in the role as a Daddy and to love another person, who we created together. I know he'll be a great teacher, role model and father to our little Dewey. I'm excited to watch our family grow!

Happy 2nd anniversary to my Joshy, I love you with all my heart!

Baby Dewey Update

Still waiting patiently for Baby Dewey to make an appearance. I keep talking to Baby and say how fun a birthday party would be, but I think Baby is a bit shy right now. Official due date: Saturday. 

As uncomfortable as I've been in the last 2 weeks, I really do enjoy having Baby with me all the time. It has been a great journey and a great way to get to know someone. Even if the conversations are one-sided. 

After my doctor's appointment yesterday: no new progress. From last week, I am about 1 cm dilated but other than that, no signs of labor yet. Have lost the plug (sorry, TMI?! but once we get down to the labor part of pregnancy it usually is!) and have been having quite a few contractions. False contractions though I believe. Some are pretty painful, not agonizing but very uncomfortable, and then they go away for hours at a time. I think Baby is messing with me.

I'm proud of myself for not having gone to the hospital yet, with false labor. I know that is always hard to know "when is it time" and trust me, I've thought that a few times. Only time will tell I suppose. I know every time I call Josh or my Mom they really listen to the sound of my voice and try to tell if "this is the call". So I try not to call too often. 

Let's see, what else. Last night during dinner, (fettuccine alfredo with bacon and garlic-parmesan-rosemary bread...YUM!) I made a comment that I think the one thing I've craved more than anything this entire pregnancy has been garlic bread. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved garlic and garlic bread, but for some reason I've wanted it with almost every meal. Not in a gross kinda way. I don't want it with cereal in the morning. But for dinner, I could eat it every night. YUM!

Josh has been a HUGE help. He's done so much around the house to help out and it has been amazing. He really is taking to this nesting thing too. Cleaning, help make dinner. He made french toast the other night for dinner. AH-may-ZING!

So no Baby yet. We'll see what this weekend brings. I'll also do a post later with pictures of the nursery and a blanket I made. It gives the gender away, so can't show it yet!

Happy Weekend!

What is bigger than a watermelon?!

{this was the middle of the week, so 37 & 1/2}

 Notice, not many of my shirts fit anymore. Plus, my belly button is just about poking out. I think I'm just about done!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 38 Weeks Today (2 weeks to go, 14 days!)
Size of baby: size of a Watermelon! (and weighs 6-8lbs and is 18-20 inches long) Ok, we can stop growing now, I want you to fit coming out!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Officially 20 lbs, yikes! Plus a little more, eek.
Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity pants and shirts.
Gender: Baby Dewey is either a Girl or a Boy :)
Movement: Kicking & hiccups! Now I can start feeling when Baby is changing positions. And the kicking downward is uncomfortable!! Head is down.

Sleep: Starting to get less and less sleep, but still tired.
What I miss: Nothing really...my regular clothes?! Being able to bend over?!
Cravings: Food?! Fruit & Veggies...and cookies! Also, cheetos. However,the size of my meals is pretty small now.

Symptoms: Have some pretty strong heartburn/indigestion, hiccups for both baby and me. Can now tolerate dairy?! And some swelling in the feet. :(
Labor Symptoms: I think this week I officially had some real contractions.
Milestone: Another doctor appt this week, now going every week.
Best Moment this week: Pedicure?!

What I'm looking forward to: My belly growing (more)...though not sure how much bigger it can get...and to meet baby!

{Just because I thought it was appropriate!}

This week I went to get a pedicure on Monday. Man did that feel awesome! What a nice thing, food rub, cleaned up the tosies a bit and some ORANGE nail polish. I don't know why I'm so excited that it's orange, maybe because I've never had orange toes before, but I just love it! It's the little things really people, stay with me here. The lady asked me how far along I was and I told her. She then asked, "So it's ok to rub your feet and if you go into labor  you're at the right point?". I smiled and said "Yep!".


However, nothing really happened after that. Except....Later that day and since then (all week) I've had some here and there painful contractions. Wooohoo! Let's get this going. I've timed a few and there is no real pattern to them...yet. Just keeping an eye out. We're on baby watch people, it's go time, er...or close to. 


I posted on facebook asking what other's thought my due date would be. I got a wide variety of answers. Most hoovering around Sept 10-11, 16, and then past my due date (which is the 17th). So we'll see what actually pans out. 


We have our bags packed and ready by the door just in case.

{Homemade} Chicken-Broccoli Bake

I've had broccoli for a while (or been eating it off and on for a while) and wanted to make something with it. So I came up with this dish by what I had in the kitchen. Man was this good! I made a side of cornbread which went great with this! I must say that EVERYTHING that I made was homemade from scratch. That is right, nothing was out of a box. Except the noodles in the chicken bake dish.

Chicken Broccoli Bake with Cornbread

6 chicken tenders (or chicken breasts, however much you want or have)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (small)
2 cans of water (from the soup can)
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1 medium can diced green chilies
1/2 box or pound of elbow noodles, whole wheat (you can use whatever noodles you want)
salt and pepper to taste
garlic salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F. The chicken tenders I used were frozen, so I took those out at the very end and topped them on the rest just before putting in the oven. First, open the cans of soup and empty in a 9x13 inch casserole dish. I used just under 2 cans of water, mix this in. Next, add green chilies. These were not spicy at all, but gave it a great flavor! Mix in the chopped broccoli. Again, add more if you want/have it. Next, I added the noodles, uncooked. The added water will help cook these through. Last, add chicken, raw. I suppose you could pre-cook the chicken and it would be fine. But this worked out just fine for me, and I checked to make sure the chicken was cooked through. Salt, pepper and garlic salt to season the chicken to taste. I didn't use much of any seasoning. I mixed the noodles down just under the surface of the liquids to help cook the noodles, and pushed down the chicken so it would help cook them too. Put in the oven for 50-60 minutes. I checked at 45 minutes and turned the chicken over to make sure it cooked thurough.

This turned out perfect! Seriously, the broccoli with the green chilies and soup mixture had such a great flavor, and the added noodles gave it some more filling. Of course the chicken was good too!

On to the Cornbread.

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
**bonus: 2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine all the dry ingredients. Combine the egg, sour cream, milk and butter and stir into the dry ingredients. I didn't use an electric mixer, it was pretty simple to mix with very little effort. Add in honey at last, and by all means add a bit more if you like. I noticed that the 2  tablespoons I added didn't quite give it the "honey" flavor once baked, but you could tell it was there. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 inch baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Ta-da!

This whole meal was GREAT. While it took a little time to make, a little longer than some of the dishes I've made, it was worth it. Really tasted like a great home cooked meal. And the left overs? Won't last long...as we're having this for lunch today as I speak.

Happy Weekend!

Can A Watermelon Really Fit In There?!

22 days and counting. Seriously?! The time feels like it is flying by, and I have to keep telling myself that when those days come that will never end!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 37 Weeks Today (3 weeks to go to due date!)
Size of baby: size of a Watermelon! (and weighs 6-8lbs and is 18-20 inches long) Ok, we can stop growing now, I want you to fit coming out!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Officially 20 lbs, yikes! Plus a little more, eek.
Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity pants and shirts.
Gender: Baby Dewey is either a Girl or a Boy :)
Movement: Kicking & hiccups! Now I can start feeling when Baby is changing positions. And the kicking downward is uncomfortable!! Head is down.

Sleep: Starting to get less and less sleep, but still tired.
What I miss: Nothing really...my regular clothes?! Being able to bend over?!
Cravings: Food?! Fruit & Veggies...and cookies! Also, cheetos. However,the size of my meals is pretty small now.

Symptoms: Have some pretty strong heartburn/indigestion, hiccups for both baby and me. Can now tolerate dairy?! And some swelling in the feet. :(
Labor Symptoms: Have continued to have braxton hicks more regular now, but not painful and back pain.
Milestone: Another doctor appt this week, now going every week.
Best Moment this week: Still working on a name. I know I know, time is coming close. We may just have to wait to see Baby!

What I'm looking forward to: My belly growing (more)...though not sure how much bigger it can get...and to meet baby!

My work was so sweet and threw me a baby shower this week. It was a lot of fun! Sad that Josh couldn't make it, since it was in the middle of the day, but it was great. Baby and I sure were spoiled. We played a fun game, taste testing baby food and had to guess what it was. It was so funny seeing people's faces! Spinach is definitely not good pureed as baby food!

I couldn't show you too many pictures since some of the decor may give away the gender :) The cake was great, some sort of raspberry filling, YUM! Many thanks to EVERYONE for putting this together and making me feel loved :)

We're on baby watch now, being officially 37 weeks. Josh and I both think we'll go early, but who knows at this point. It's really just a guess. Still the same due date, Sept 17th so we'll see. My goal is to make it to atleast 38 weeks, which puts us at Sept 3rd. Then all is fair game as far as I'm concerned.

I have days where I feel great, and days that I just feel huge and miserable. My feet really do bother me, swelling. I get uncomfortable sitting for too long, so work is kinda rough there.

As my doctor put it to me at my appointment on Wednesday, "Here's to an UNeventful week!".

36 weeks = 9 months = three quarters of a year

Look who's large and ...in charge?! Ok, maybe not the latter half of that because essentially baby is in charge of when the debut is, but definitely feeling large. I've had many people tell me I'm beautiful, and I really do think I look fairly good for being {9 Months Pregnant}, but still I can feel large can't I?! If you stop and think about it, which obviously I have, I've been pregnant for three quarters (3/4) yes that is 75% of an entire year. When you put it that way, it sure sounds like a long time. But, it does take time to grow a person, thank you very much!

Image via Baby Center

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 36 Weeks Today (4 weeks to go to due date, that's less than 30 days!)
Size of baby: size of a Crenshaw Melon! (and weighs just over 6lbs and is 18 inches long) Ok, we can stop growing now, I want you to fit coming out!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Officially 20 lbs, yikes! Plus a little more, eek.
Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity pants and shirts.
Gender: Baby Dewey is either a Girl or a Boy :)
Movement: Kicking & hiccups! Now I can start feeling when Baby is changing positions. And the kicking downward is uncomfortable!! Head is down.

Sleep: Starting to get less and less sleep, but still tired.
What I miss: Nothing really...my regular clothes?! Being able to bend over?!
Cravings: Food?! Fruit & Veggies...and cookies! Also, cheetos.

Symptoms: Have some pretty strong heartburn/indigestion, hiccups for both baby and me. Can now tolerate dairy?! And some swelling in the feet. :(
Labor Symptoms: Have continued to have braxton hicks more regular now, but not painful and back pain.
Milestone: Another doctor appt this week, now going every week.
Best Moment this week: Still working on a name. I know I know, time is coming close. We may just have to wait to see Baby!

What I'm looking forward to: My belly growing (more)...though not sure how much bigger it can get...and to meet baby!

After my last ultrasound yesterday, I will know on Wednesday, my next appt, if my due date has changed much. The doctor said Baby looks good and is growing well. Let's just hope for a smaller Baby so we can fit coming out of mommy!

As I'm writing this up, Baby is dancing away in my belly. Shifting side to side and poking out legs and hands, I think. I do know the head is down, thanks to a final ultrasound yesterday. Getting ready for the big day.

On close watch these last few weeks. Josh has not allowed me to do the grocery shopping anymore, atleast not carry anything. What a sweatheart! Also, Lucy has not left my side while I'm home. She will follow me EVERYWHERE, even the bathroom if I leave a room for more than 20 seconds. I think she's keeping an eye on me too. If only she were able to drive me to the hospital if I need it, then we'd be set :)

My energy levels flucuate from day to day, so some days I get more done than others.

I'm really enjoying these last few weeks having Baby in my belly. Such a bonding time. I mean the whole pregnancy has been a bonding time, but just talking to Baby and feeling Baby move and talking about different things. I refer to myself as mommy, of course I've done this with Lucy too, and to Josh as daddy, but again we did this with Lucy. I know it will be different when we get to see Baby and become parents

Tuna Noodle Casserole...with a twist!

With some inspiration to make this dish more than just tuna and noodles, comes this version of Tuna Noodle Casserole. This was great and added so much more flavor to the dish than just tuna with noodles. Give it a try and add your own "stuff" to make it your own!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 lb of rotini noodles (or whatever your noodle of choice is)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 stalks of celery diced up
2 quarter inch thick slices of onion diced up (add more onion if you like, I am not a huge fan)
2 cans tuna, drained
1/3 -1/2 cup bread crumbs for topping

Cook noodles, and drain of water. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour noodles into a large bowl. Add both soups, diced celery, onion and tuna and mix together. Pour into large casserole dish. I used two round pans since I didn't have a large casserole dish clean. Put in oven for 10-20 minutes or until bread crumbs on top are crispy to your liking.

Optional: add cheese to top to let melt/crisp up in oven, add in peas or other vegetable.

This was great and added so much more to the meal than just tuna with noodles. Definitely a good combo!

Maple Chocolate Chip Bars

I know it's been a while since I've posted any cooking or food. When you're 9 months pregnant and it's 112+ degrees outside, the creativity to come up with something to cook isn't always there. A lot of what I've made lately has been regular stuff and has been last minute. However, tonight after I got home from work I wanted cookies...after dinner of course :) I made a little twist to the recipe and actually made bars instead of cookies. Who says you can't have dessert first?!

Also, I'm linking up with my good friend and fellow blogger {bouffe e bambini} for her linky party the handmade hog. She hosts this almost weekly, if not more often, and I've been wanting to link up for a while!

Enjoy!

Maple Chocolate Chip Bars
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups flour
12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer (this is the method I used) cream together sugars and shortening. Next, add eggs, vanilla and maple extracts. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer. The batter will be pretty sticky. Mine stuck to the mixer paddle. Add in chocolate chips.

From here, you could make cookies on a cookie sheet if you prefer. I thought bars sounded better. I spread the batter into a 9x13 ( i think that is the size?!) casserole pan/enchilada pan/cake pan. Get the idea? Put in the oven for about 15 minutes, check after 10-12 minutes to make sure not to burn, after all every oven is different.

Man oh man were these good! I bet they would be good with some ice cream on top too :)

My Beautiful Momma :)

Here's a big Happy Birthday to my wonderful Momma. She's my best friend and SUCH a big influence on my life. I look to her for guidance, advice and great conversation. She's an amazing role model and exactly what I want to be when I grow up.

{Happy Birthday Mom!}