Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Greg had a four day weekend and although we didn't have any family come up for Thanksgiving and we didn't go anywhere, it was nice to have a long weekend to spend together. Thanksgiving day Greg played with the boys while I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Evan rolled over on his own for the first time, which unfortunately missed since I was stuffing the turkey. :( I'm with him all day every day and of course he does it when he's with Greg, but I'm still very excited. The dinner didn't turn out the way I had hoped, especially my gravy, it wouldn't thicken and we ended up using a jar of gravy, but it wasn't too bad. We ate pretty early and cleaned up the mess while the boys were napping and then spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing with Evan and Carter.

On Friday morning, Greg got up and headed out to do some Black Friday shopping. We found a few deals that he felt were worth getting out for. We got some new flannel sheets, some 700 ct sheets, a cordless drill and some toys for the boys.

Saturday and Sunday we got some things done around the house. Greg worked on getting some stuff I wanted hung (he got to use his new drill) and a few other things. I was able to clean the entire house and make a few things with our Thanksgiving leftovers, like Paula Deen's leftover turkey minestrone soup. On Sunday, we took the boys to the mall to see Santa. We got there right when he did and only had a few people in front of us, so it worked out great. The boys did great and the Santa was really good with them. He was so nice.

It was so hard for both of us for Greg to go back to work this morning after having a short week followed by a 4 day weekend. I really enjoyed having him here and spending time with the boys together.

Here's some pictures from Thanksgiving Day.

The boys in their pajamas playing while I cooked.

The boys in their Thanksgiving outfits next to my turkey. (yes, it does look pitiful and a little burnt)
Evan in his Thanksgiving outfit
Our little turkeys.
Our Thanksgiving dinner. It's weird seeing a thanksgiving dinner set up for just two people. We don't even have nice china, we just used our normal everyday plates.
Our jar gravy. So sad. hahaha

With the holidays coming up, we're staying very busy. It seems like we have errands to run every day, there's a few house projects were trying to get done, as the boys are getting older, they are napping less-which means that I'm staying much busier with them, so until the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, I will probably not be blogging as much and the blogs I do post will probably be mostly pictures and a quick recap of how things are going, so I'll have documentation for me on how these first several months went with the boys.

Sales

I left Greg with the boys for a couple of hours so I could go out and get diapers and 3 pairs of fleece pajamas for the boys. They were having a sale at JcPenney, but I stopped at Target first to see what their selection was. Somehow, I came home with all this. 8 sleepers, 7 long sleeve onsies, and two 3 piece sets from Carter's.


Shopping without the boys is going to get me in trouble. When I don't have to worry about getting home before their next feeding, one of them getting fussy in the store, or trying to carry items along with pushing a double stroller, I can manage to get a lot of stuff. I'm sure the boys didn't need all these, but I did get some great deals and along with coupons, I didn't spend that much. I got 2 fleece sleepers, two 3 piece sets (long sleeve onsie, short sleeve onsie, and pants) and four long sleeve onsies--all Carter's brand for $40.00 at JcPenney, thanks to their sale and my coupon.

I also decided to go ahead and start getting some stuff for the boys for Christmas. This Fisher Price Learn and Play Kitchen (that talks in english and spanish)is normally 39.99, it was on sale and I had a coupon, so I saved almost $20.00 and it was something I was going to get them anyways. I love finding great deals!!

March 6

I know where I'll be on March 6, 2011.



The Grand Opening of Kohl's in Charlottesville. Very exciting. We live in a small town that has very, very limited shopping and Kohl's is one of my favorite stores. It'll be about 7 miles south of where I live. No more late night road trips after the boys are in bed to a Kohl's that's over 40 miles away. Kohl's has the best sales! I love them for everything--home decor, holiday decorations, bedding, pajamas, clothes, purses, jewelry, and most of all baby clothes! They have such a great selection of Carter's brand clothing and they always have great deals on them. They also have 4 books at the check out with coordinating stuffed animals. They change these out periodically. The books and stuffed animals are $5.00 a piece and all the profits go to charity! I love it. I can't wait until the grand opening. I better start saving now. :)

I'm a Winner!!

I won a giveaway over on Kelly's Korner. I'm so excited. I never win anything. I've only entered these giveaways on blogs a few times, when I actually want what they're giving away. I won this book.
I should be receiving it the week after Thanksgiving, which gives me plenty of time to finish reading this book.
It's so good. I love Jodi Picoult. My friend, Brandi, got me reading her books. I haven't read one by her yet that I didn't like. She's the author of "My Sister's Keeper" which by the way, if you haven't read, the ending is different in the book than it is in the movie, so you should definitely read it even if you've seen the movie.

Weekend with Brandi

A couple of weekends ago, one of my oldest friends, Brandi, came to visit me from California. I've known Brandi since we were in 6th grade together in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Since then, we've both lived in Georgia and back in Arizona again and now we're on opposite coasts. She lives in California and I'm in Virginia. I went to visit her about 2 years ago when Greg had to go to LA for work and we always meet up in Arizona when we both go back there for the holidays, but this was the first time she's been able to come out and visit me. She arrived 3:30 in DC, so I left the boys with Greg to go pick her up. It was the longest I'd been away from them and the longest Greg has been with them without me. He was lucky enough to have a friend from work, Bill and his girlfriend Robyn, come over to help him. Robyn cooked them dinner, they helped feed the boys and helped Greg put them to bed.

Friday night we stayed up talking and catching up. Saturday we went grocery shopping and Brandi cooked for us Saturday afternoon. She's a great cook and I always love what she makes. She made homemade salsa, bean dip, buffalo chicken dip, and then for dinner she made shrimp and noodles. Mmmm. On Sunday, we all went to Wild Wing Cafe for lunch and then we showed her around the University of Virginia campus. Monday, we went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and then went shopping. We bought stuff to redo my bedroom. I'll post before and after pictures, but I'm waiting on Greg to hang some things first.

Evan at Chick-Fil-A


Carter's first trip to Chick-Fil-A
Taking a break from shopping at the mall to feed the boys
At the University of Virginia
Brandi with Carter aka "Hercules" She nicknamed both the boys. Evan's nickname is "Eegee"
Brandi cooking
Tuesday afternoon, I drove back to DC to drop Brandi off at the airport. My mom drove up that day so she could help Greg out with the boys. The traffic wasn't that bad and I was actually home before the boys went to bed. My mom stayed for a week and half and just left this past Saturday. I needed to get some things done and having another person here during the day to help with the boys really helps out.

3 months old

Evan and Carter are 3 months old today. There is never a dull moment with these two, they definitely keep us busy.

Carter. You are too long for your 0-3 month sleepers and now have to wear 3-6 months or 6 months. You still fit into almost everything else that’s size 0-3 months, but you also fit pretty well into some 3-6 months and 6 months outfits. Although you’re only 12lbs 9oz you seem like such a chunky monkey to us because you are twice the size you were when we brought you home from the hospital. I cannot believe you were once 5lbs and 14oz. You sure do love to eat and will not miss a meal. You’ll go a little longer at night between bottles but, you are not sleeping through the night. You are not ready to give up those nighttime feedings. I tried to encourage you to go a little longer or give up one of your bottles, but it didn’t go so well, so I’ve decided to back off and give you a few more weeks (maybe longer) before we try again. I don’t want to rush you. You eat around 5:00 at night, then again between 9-10, again around 2:00, which isn’t bad. You are getting better at tummy time, but still get frustrated pretty fast. You do not seem as interested as Evan about moving around. You are quite content laying in the floor playing with your baby gym. You love the baby gym and can play on it for quite awhile. You easily entertain yourself and love to make noise. You are constantly cooing, blowing raspberries, squeling, etc. You are so close to laughing. You like to be apart of whatever is going on, you don’t want to miss anything. You usually stay awake in the car and when we’re in the store, trying to take in all the new sights. You are such a happy, easy going baby. You’ve started reaching for toys and grabbing them. It seems like everyday you are doing something new. You love your fingers and hands and they are constantly in your mouth.

Evan. You fit perfectly in almost all 0-3 month clothes except for sleepers. You need a 3-6 or 6 month sleepers because your 0-3 month ones are too short when you stretch out. You are 11lbs 10oz and you seem so much leaner than your brother. You are a good eater, but also really like your sleep. You go 6-8 hours at night between bottles, which means we only have to get up once with you. We put you to bed about 6pm, so if your bedtime was a little later, you’d be sleeping through the night, but you are tired at 6pm, which is fine. You are so good at tummy time and rarely seem to get frustrated. You love to move. When we put you on down on the baby gym, you can be off of it in just a few seconds by scooting on your back. We call you our little squirm worm. You are always smiling. Even when you’re crying, you will stop for a second, give us the biggest grin and then start crying again, you just can’t resist smiling back when somebody is smiling at you. You are a happy baby but you love your routine, and aren’t so happy when it gets too off. We’re able to go out to eat, shop, run errands, etc. but you have your limit. You’re not too fond of being in the car unless it’s moving. If I slow down at a red light or to turn, you will holler to let me know that I need to speed it up. You’ve started reaching for toys and grabbing them and you love to hold our fingers. You like to eat your hands and blow raspberries.

We are so lucky to have such happy babies and can’t wait to see what the next month brings. We can’t wait to celebrate your first Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even though you two won’t have a clue what’s going on, it’s still special and I’m really looking forward to the holiday season with you two.

Evan

Looking at Granny. She was trying to get him to smile for the camera.
Success! Laughing at Granny.

We waiting too late in the day to take a picture of Carter, I guess he was all smiled out.

Carter, look at those rolls on his thighs. Such a cute, chunky monkey.


This is how most of these pictures turned out. Granny was trying to make them smile and they would not take their eyes off her, it was hard to find pictures that they were actually looking at the camera.
The boys wearing my favorite outfit. I got these onsie polos at Old Navy on clearance for $1.50.



What a difference a year can make. This time last year Greg and I hadn't even started trying yet and now we're parents to two 3 month old baby boys.

New Discovery

Just a quick update and pictures for the grandparents.

The boys discovered their hands a while ago, but now they are obsessed with putting them in their mouths. They spend all day with their hands in the mouth, and Carter is intent on getting his entire fist in his mouth. Greg has told him that he doesn't think it'll fit, but that doesn't stop him from trying.

Trying to get some pictures of Carter, but he was too busy eating his hand. He's actually using both hands to try and shove it in there.
Nom, nom, nom.
Taking our daily pictures of the boys. I try and get a picture of them everyday. Plus, I thought their outfits looked so cute and they were just both so happy.

However, in the middle of me taking pictures, Evan decided he wanted to munch on his hand.
Look at the way Carter is eyeing Evan's hand!! Evan better watch out, Carter may try and get Evan's whole hand in his mouth.

Tummy Time

I've been working on giving the boys plenty of tummy time everyday. Evan seems to love it and it seems so easy for him to lift his head up and keep it lifted. He does so well, and doesn't get frustrated at all. Carter on the other hand is not interested in tummy time. When he's laying flat, he thinks it's a time to sleep, when I put him on the boppy, he spends the entire time trying to eat it instead of lift his head. When he does try and lift his head, he gets frustrated a couple of seconds into and starts hollering. However, when I have the boys in a sitting position on our laps, Carter seems to hold his head up with no problem. Evan does really good at holding his head up in a sitting position, but not as good as Carter yet. You would think Evan would be better at it since he's "better" at tummy time, but that's not the case. It's fun to see the differences in the boys everyday. They have such different personalities, but both are so sweet and I'm not just saying that because I'm their mom. :)

Here's some pictures of tummy time.



I placed the mirror in front of Carter hoping it would encourage him to lift his head up.

Eating his hand. He would alternate between his hand and the boppy.
Evan taking a break and munching on his hand

Evan is so happy during tummy time, he kept hamming it up for the camera. I got a ton of pictures.
This is what Evan does most of the time when we do tummy time on the boppy.

Monday's Meals

It's that time of the week again, it's Monday's Meals over on "A Love Worth Waiting For". This week's post is all about a quick and easy meal. Right after the boys were born (when they slept all the time) and I had my mom here to help me with them, I made several meals and froze them so Greg and I could just take them out of the freezer and cook them when we were pressed for time. I'm so glad I did that, it's really come in handy. I will always try and keep a prepared meal in the freezer now because they are perfect for lazy Sundays when we just want to relax and hang out with the boys or on Mondays when we're just too busy with everything else and want something we can just heat up and eat on all week.

I got this recipe out of a Freezer Meals recipe book that I picked up at the grocery store. It's called Beef Taco Lasagna and it's super easy to make. I was afraid that it'd taste a little bland, so I used "hot" taco seasoning and "hot" salsa to spice it up. It was so delicious with the perfect amount of spice. Greg loved it too.

Beef Taco Lasagna
12 lasagna noodles
1lb of ground beef
1 envelope of taco seasoning
2 egg whites
1 carton (15oz) ricotta cheese
4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 jar (24oz) chunky salsa

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning. In a small bowl, combine egg whites and ricotta cheese. Drain noodles.
2. In a 13x9 baking dish, layer 4 noodles, 3/4 cup ricotta mixutre, half the beef mixture and 1-1/3 cups cheddar cheese. Top with four noodles 3/4 cup ricotta mixture, 1-1/2 cups salsa and 1-1/3 cup cheese. Repeat
3. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 8 hours and then bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

I wrote on the top of my disposable container in permanent marker how long to cook the casserole and at what temperature, so I wouldn't have to get out the recipe.

I served this casserole with Old El Paso black beans. They come in a pouch that you put in the microwave for 60 seconds and they're ready to serve. So easy!! They also carry a spanish rice that's microwavable. They are the perfect, quick side dishes for busy nights.
We had chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Keeping with the quick and easy theme, I used the breakaway cookie dough that you buy in the refrigerated section. Baking doesn't get any easier than this.
It's nice to spend time making homemade sides, desserts and eating casseroles fresh, but sometimes when you're pressed for time, it's nice to have these types of foods on hand so you can eat a delicious homecooked meal at home without having to go through a drive-thru.