Sunday, February 27, 2011

Monday's Meals--Red & White Tortellini

I'm linking up with Lindsey on "A Love Worth Waiting For" for Monday's Meals. I had to post this recipe, it is the easiest dish to make! I made it last month and froze it and we just baked it last night and it was delicious! I didn't get any pictures because I didn't have any time before Greg dug into it. He was waiting in front of the oven, watching it bake the last couple of minutes and the second the timer went off, he dug in. I made this dish in less than 5 minutes, you just mix the ingredients and bake (or freeze), it's that easy. I did add frozen meatballs to mine even though it's not listed on the ingredients. enjoy!

Red & White Tortellini
Ingredients:
•2 (10 oz.) pkgs. refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini, uncooked
•28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
•1 cup water
•12 oz. jar Alfredo four cheese sauce
•1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In 3 quart glass baking dish, mix tortellini, spaghetti sauce, and water. Make sure all tortellini is coated with sauce. Drop Alfredo cheese sauce by spoonfuls over casserole. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, until tortellini is tender

Dr. Appt

I forgot that I took these pictures at the boys 6 month check up last week. When we put them on the exam table to wait on the doctor, they realized the paper liner makes a fun noise. So, they pulled on it, kicked it, pretty much anything to get it to make as much noise as possible. Greg kept taking the destroyed part off and throwing it away and by the time the doctor came in, we'd probably gone through several feet of the paper liner that covers the exam table. Oh well, it kept the boys occupied while we waited.




Friday, February 25, 2011

April 15

Yesterday in my blog post I mentioned that I love getting the boys outfits for all their "firsts", like first Halloween, first New Years, etc. I found the onsie that I'm going to get them to wear on April 15th.



Haha, I love it! I hope everybody has a good weekend. We're going to Target tomorrow morning for the Dr. Seuss storytime. They're giving out goodie bags, discounts on Dr. Seuss books, etc, should be fun.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

6 Months

The boys turned 6 months old on February 18. It seems like we just brought them home from the hospital and now we're celebrating their 1/2 birthday. Oh, and a sidenote, I saw this cute shirt from SheSheMade yesterday and wanted to cry--how did I not know about this before?! It's a half birthday, personalized onsie!! I'm obsessed with getting the boys outfits for all their firsts (first Halloween, Christmas, New Years, etc) I'm so upset that I didn't know about this before.

Anyways, back to the boys being 6 months old. There's nothing that I can say that's not going to sound so cliche, but just the past couple of weeks Greg and I have suddenly realized they're not tiny, little infants anymore. They are growing so much and have such personalities. Yesterday at their 6 month appointment Carter weighed 18lbs and 2oz and was 27 inches long. He was in the 50% percentile for weight and 50-75% for height. . Evan weighed 16 lobs 10oz and is also 27 inches long. He was in the 25% for weight.




They are both in 9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

They are both sleeping through the night from about 5-6pm to 4-5am the next morning, with the exception of a week where Evan woke up all night and now Carter is doing it. We know it's short term and we think it's related to teething and some new developmental milestones.

Both are rolling over from stomach to back and back to stomach. Carter usually only uses rolling over to get out of tummytime and to reach a toy. Evan is using rolling as a way to get from point A to point B

They are both on a 4 hour schedule, which is means we are only having to do 4 feedings a day. Around 5am, 9am, 1pm, and 5pm. It's so nice!

We introduced solids and they have gone through the entire Gerber First Foods series. They've liked everything except for peaches! Peaches! They like all the vegetables and love prunes (yuck) but don't really like peaches. Carter seems to like the vegetables more than the fruit, but will eat it all. I think he may be a meat and potatoes boy--we'll see. They have oatmeal with fruit in the morning for breakfast and some veggies and fruit for dinner

They are both finally on a really good routine, they have become such good nappers. They take 2-3 a day depending on whether they take the afternoon nap. I've put them in seperate rooms for their naps which has really helped a lot.

They both love bath time, tummytime, playing on the exersaucers, standing, storytime, and any play with mommy or daddy.

Both can stand, Carter can stand while. Evan still needs us to hold his hands while he's standing.

Carter can sit by himself for a several minutes, Evan isn’t quite there yet.

They have started to notice each other even more and play together some now. They each love to touch the other’s face and Carter likes to pull Evan’s hair, but neither of them ever seem to mind.

They love to be out and about. We take them out pretty much everyday and run to the store just to get out of the house. They love it. They're really good when we go out to eat and we even took a trip to a town about 30-40 minutes away and they did great.

Evan is still more social than Carter when it comes to strangers. Carter will smile, it just takes longer.

Evan no longer likes to be rocked to sleep. It breaks my heart, apparently he thinks he's a big boy now. He likes to be put in his crib to fall asleep on his own. So sad. :( It's good, we know that's what they should be doing, but we just love to cuddle with them at the end of the day when Greg and I can each have a baby and just relax with them. At least Carter still lets me rock him, but I don't know how much longer he'll let me. We'll see.

They had their first Valentine's day.

It's so crazy that we can be so happy and excited about all they're doing now but at the same time be sad that they're growing up so fast. We're trying to enjoy every moment and it's so much easier now that we've been able to get into a nice routine and they're sleeping and napping good. I can't imagine what kinds of things they'll be doing this time next month.

Here's some of their 6 month pictures.


Evan loves putting his toes in his mouth.

Carter in his new hat.
Evan loves his new hat!
I thought he looked so precious.
My cute little boys on their 1/2 birthday.
Carter loves his toes too, I think he'd put them in his mouth, but being the rollypolly he is, he has a harder time than Evan putting getting them in there.

Big boy, standing.
Standing
Can't sit still for long before they're playing with their toes, trying to roll, etc.
So happy! I have so few pictures of Carter smiling and looking at the camera.
Evan looks so happy in this picture, I love how they're holding hands.
Carter checking out Evan's head, he loves playing with Evan's hair and Evan doesn't mind a bit.
I thought this picture was so funny. He looks like he's up to something.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Survivor-Redemption Island

Greg and I love watching Survivor. It's one of the few shows that we watch weekly and never get behind on. This season, they're doing things a little different. When somebody gets voted off, instead of leaving the show, they go to an island by themselves where they will stay until the next person is voted off. When the next person joins them on the island, they have a competition and the winner stays. Eventually, the remaining cast member is able to rejoin the others back at the game. This makes things a little more complicated since the players have to worry about the person they're voting off coming back into the game. I think this is definitely going to be interesting, but I'm not sure if I like the idea. We'll see.

Since we're only one episode into the season, I'm not sure which players I like yet, but one thing I do know for sure is that I think Phillip is CRAZY!! He's the one who keeps claiming he was a former special agent, but underneath his name where they normally put their occupation, there's a question mark behind it, which I think is hilarious. I think Phillip is this season's "Coach".


I'm looking forward to tonight's episode and can't wait to start learning more about the players so I can figure out who else I like and who else I'd like to see go home.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Baked Spaghetti

While my mom was here last, I made some meals and froze them. I love having meals already made and all we have to do is take them out and bake them. Of course it's nice to have fresh, homecooked meals, but freezing them really saves us a lot of time and makes our week nights go so much smoother. I made a few recipes that we haven't had before, so it's been fun trying some new things. Tonight we had Paula Deen's Baked Spaghetti. It was so easy to make and it's basically spaghetti with some melted cheese--what's not to like? Greg and I will definitely be having this again. I've linked up with Lindsey for her "Monday's Meals" post. And I apologize for the picture quality, it was dark in our kitchen and I just could not get a decent picture.

Paula Deen's Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
1 lb browned and seasoned ground Beef (Italian sausage can be substituted)*I used hot Italian sausage
3/4 lb.spaghetti, cooked
1 jar (approx 15 oz) of your favorite pasta sauce
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large sauce pan, simmer meat and tomato sauce together. Toss the cooked noodles in the sauce.

To Assemble: Spray a casserole dish with non stick cooking spray. Spoon half of the noodle mixture into the dish. Pack it down lightly and sprinkle on half of the cheese. Add the other half of the spaghetti, pack down lightly and top with the rest of the cheese. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve with a green salad and crusty garlic bread.


Monday, February 21, 2011

Ninja Babies

The boys have recently mastered the skill of rolling over effortlessly. Evan now uses it as a means of getting from point A to point B. Carter will only do it when nobody is looking. The other day I had to run upstairs and grab something. I placed Evan on the middle of the blue blanket, ran upstairs for a minute or two and came down. This is where I found him.


I stood there for several minutes to see how far he was going to go and he didn't roll over, he just stayed in the same spot. I finally turned around for less than a minute and when I turned back around, he had rolled over a few more times.

Carter is even more secretive when it comes to his moving about. Last Friday, I placed him in the middle of the baby gym to let him play. Evan woke up from a nap, so I went upstairs to get him. I came back down and Carter was in the exact same position playing with Sophie. I didn't get a picture, but I took one of just the baby gym and where Sophie is kept. How did this happen? How did he get her and back in his original position before I came downstairs?

I wish I had better pictures to show you, but Carter was in the middle of the baby gym with his head the the end closest to the couch. You can see how far away Sophie the Giraffe is and that there's a mesh net in the way, but he managed to get her and get back to the exact position I left him in. I realize this may seem like no big deal to some people, and it wouldn't be to me if I ever actually got to see him doing things like this. But, the fact that they are so secretive about their movements really has be going crazy. I'm now on a mission to catch my ninja babies in the act of rolling. ;)

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Saturday Recap

Today was the first day of Greg's 3 day weekend. I love when he has 3 day weekends. From now on, he'll be working an extra hour a day and he'll get a 3 day weekend every other week. I'm really looking forward to it.

We decided to go up to Culpeper, which is a town about 30-40 minutes away. There's several towns about that same distance that have better shopping than ours does and we picked Culpeper because we thought it'd be the easiest drive and we've only been there once or twice. This was our first "out of town" trip with the boys, even though I don't really think it counts as going out of town. We started our trip at Sheetz gas station so I could get a frozen banana mocha coffee. They are so delicious and they'll make them with skim milk and sugar free chocolate if you request it. When we got to Culpeper, we went to the JC Penney's so we could look at some clothes for Greg (and obviously browse the baby section to see if they had any cute clothes on sale). The JcPenney was so small. Smaller than ours, so we were pretty disappointed. It was right next door to a Dollar Tree, so we ran in so I could look for a $1.00 wreath to practice decorating. Our last shopping stop was Kohl's. The Kohl's in our town doesn't open until March 6, and you can bet I'll be there bright and early ready to shop till I drop. I was looking for a St. Patrick's Day outfit for the boys, I found the cutest shirt for only $4.00, but they only had one. :( I was also looking for something to go in our bathroom nook, a wallet, a quote to put on the wall above our bed, and a hoodie for Greg. We didn't end up getting anything except 2 books for the boys. I love the $5.00 books that Kohl's sells, the proceeds go to charity-plus $5.00 for a hardcover children's book is a good deal. Afterwards, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. We got some fried pickles as an appetizer and they were yummy. When we got home, the boys played for the longest time, I thought they'd never run out of energy. I guess they had some saved up since they were stuck in the carseat and stroller for the whole trip.

Evan at lunch. He has like, 5 toys in his carseat because he started to get a little antsy while we were eating. Our fried pickles. Mmmm....
Carter at lunch. He never needs any toys because his favorite thing in the world is the carseat straps! He loves them, he plays with them, put them in his mouth, etc. He can entertain himself in the car and while were out for the longest time. It worries Greg to death about all the germs on the straps, which is funny because I'm the germaphobe and it doesn't really bother me that much.
I found this a Kohl's for 50% off and loved it! I thought it would look perfect in our bathroom nook (which I'll take a picture of and post later) Greg hated it. So, I decided to hold off and when our Kohl's opens on March 6, I'll check there. If they have them and they're 50% off, I'll take it as a sign that it belongs in our bathroom. ;)
After we put the boys to bed, I ran up to Harris Teeter to take advantage of their Double Coupon Days. I was able to get some really good deals. It would have been even better if I stuck to my list, but I made a few impulse buys. I still only spent $25.00 for all of this.
The rest of the weekend is going to be pretty low key, grocery shopping and some home projects tomorrow and the boys 6 month pictures on Monday. I'm really trying to do better about taking pictures and videos of the boys and blogging about our life. I'd love to have it later when I forget what these days were like. So, when I don't have anything better to blog about, I'll be trying to do a recap of our days/weeks. I know this must be very boring, so I apologize to those who read my blog (all 3 of you) but I really want this to look back on later.

I hope everybody is having a great weekend.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Show Us Your Life-Alma Maters

Kennesaw State University-Go Owls, Hooty, Hoo!!



I went to a community college in Tucson, Arizona for my first two years and then transfered to KSU when Greg and I moved to Atlanta. KSU is the 3rd largest university in Georgia and it's located in north metro Atlanta. I loved my time at KSU. It's a 4 year university in a big city, but it has such a small town, cozy feel to it. The classes weren't too big, everybody was friendly. I lived less than a mile from campus, worked on campus in the Career Services Center while I was a student, and then got a job as a leasing agent in an apartment community less than 3 miles from campus when I graduated. Kennesaw is such a wonderful community, it has everything you need, tons of restaurants, stores, a nice mall, lots of great apartment communities, and it's in metro Atlanta. The list goes on and on of great things Atlanta has to offer.

The only thing KSU didn't have was a football team, but I read that they may be getting one soon. Yay! It is a division one school with a great athletic department. It had a great on campus gym for the students, brand new dorms, and tons of activities. While I was there Dr. Drew, Spike Lee, and some other famous people came to KSU to speak to the students. There were always activities going on. I was a member of Psych Club and Psi Chi. I loved the psychology department and thought the professors were great. The campus is beautiful. I really cannot say enough great things about this college. When I first enrolled I wasn't sure about the school since it wasn't a big name university like UGA or GA Tech, but I ended up having a great experience and would recommend it to anybody.

One of my favorite friends and I met her at KSU.
Graduation
Rachel and Veronica from RW/RR Challenges came to KSU to speak to the students about body issues.
At one of our favorite restaurants in Kennesaw, Johnny's Pizza. Los Reyes, right next to campus and they had awesome beer specials, which is very important when you're in college. ;)
A picture of the campus that I got from their website.

Walking

Ugh, I hate coming up with titles for my posts. I'm not very creative.

When the boys were first born, Greg and I would go on walks with them almost every night until the weather got too cold. I've been waiting all winter to go on our walks again and it's finally warming up! I'm so excited. It's going to be in the 70's today and tomorrow and then in the low 50's until next Wednesday. I'm so looking forward to spring. The other day Greg and I bundled up the boys and took them for a walk even though it was chilly outside, but it's just not the same. I like going on walks as a family, and some days the boys and I just need to get out of the house while Greg is at work. Since it's been so cold, this usually means a trip to the store or the mall just to browse, which usually ends up with me buying something. So, warmer weather will probably save us a little bit of money. :) Although with warmer weather I'll have to buy the boys some cute hats, shorts, bathing suits, a little pool for the yard, and I'm sure I'll think of some other "necessities" that the boys need for warm weather. So, maybe it won't save us money, but I'm still looking forward to it.

Here's some pictures of our attempt at a walk in the cold weather. I think the boys look pitiful. :(




The boys are 6 months old today!! They have their 6 month check-up next Wednesday, so I'll wait and post their 6 month pictures and stats after that appointment. They have to get several immunizations plus a flu shot. :( Poor little guys.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesday


I've seen "What I'm Loving Wednesday" on several blogs and thought I'd participate this week. I'm linking up with This Kind Of Love.

I'm absolutely loving my Ipod Touch. I've had it for over a year, but I've really become addicted to it lately, it's so easy to check my email and google reader from anywhere. It's perfect when I'm rocking a sleeping baby, I can catch up on reading blogs at the same time. Also, I downloaded a free Kindle application and I can read books on my Ipod Touch.


So, the second thing I'm loving is the Kindle app. I was so, so, so against the Kindle. I didn't understand the appeal, I love "real" books and swore I'd never use a Kindle, but after trying it on my ipod touch, I'm hooked. I've already put it on my Christmas list. I can read a book anywhere, anytime. I can read with one hand. It's silent, no loud page turning. I can read in bed in the dark since there's a light on the ipod touch, so I can turn off my lamp which makes it easier for Greg to sleep. It is seriously the best thing ever! If only I could add the books I already own to it for free (I'm not paying twice for the same book), then I could easily reach my goal of reading all the books I own.


That a brand new Dollar Tree opened up on Sunday. I love the Dollar Tree. I don't like all dollar stores (dollar general-yuck) but I love the Dollar Tree, especially new ones. I've always liked looking around there, but with my new craft obsession, it's the perfect place to pick up suppplies.


I'm loving that Greg only has 2 more days of work and then a 3 day weekend. I love it when he has 3 day weekends.

I'm loving that the weather is warming up. I am so ready for spring.

I hope everybody is having a great week!