Austin is 3 months!

Yeaterday Austin turned 3 months old!  I had a mini shoot with him and captured some of my favorite faces he makes now!  I know I say this ALL the time but he's the BEST baby! He sleeps consistently (around 9 hrs at night), he's always happy, he has the softest cry (probably because he doesn't ever cry!), and he's so predictable! If he fusses a little it's usually caused by a burp or him being tired.

He loves his swing and takes most of his naps in it.  He sleeps on his back at night.  Our normal routine is Kevin puts him to bed (I lay down right after Kevin gets home) and I get up with him (and the other kids) in the morning.  

He's still eating 6oz of formula.  He is most comfortable in 9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.  He's big but not chubby.  There's not a fat roll in his body, he's just solid!  Maybe he will be our athlete?  

He adores Kevin and Hayden.  When either talk to him his face lights up and he tries to talk back to them.  I'm only slightly jealous of this.  He does smile and talk to me too, but he must be use to seeing my face all the time!

He doesn't care if he has a pacifier not.  He thinks his hands are a great back up if there's not a paci around.  He likes to sleep with an arm covering his face.  He's just discovering he has toes but they haven't made it into his hands or mouth yet.

His cradle cap is pretty bad like the other three kids.  He lost quite a bit of hair during the last month trying to get it under control.  His nails grow at record speed and he constantly has toe jam and hand jam.  

He's holding little rattles (mostly soft ones since he whacks himself in the head with them).  He doesn't love tummy time unless I'm on the floor talking to him the whole time.  We are trying to use his bumbo seat a little bit so he's not constantly laying on his head.  We don't want a flat headed baby!  

We are looking forward to him turning 4 months old so we can start feeding him cereal!  Nummy nummy.

Here are some of my other favorite pics of him during the last month!

Weekly Happenings March 15-21

1.  My in-laws got a new puppy.  His name is Buddy and we all got to meet him on Sunday.  He's a little shih tzu and he seemed to really like the kids.  Allie and Hayden were in love with him and Krissy didn't seem to care much.  Austin slept through the whole visit but I bet he will like him :)

2.  Krissy got sick towards the end of the week.  It started out as just a runny nose and about a day later I knew she was needing breathing treatments.  She is doing really good with them!  She also is sleeping on a pillow now at night and that's helping her breathe better by keeping her head elevated!  She also said "CeCe" and "Arry" (Harry) this week!

3.  Kevin bought the movie Frozen for the kids (and me) this week.  I heard good reviews about it so I was excited to see it!  We had a "family movie morning" on Wednesday.  The movie didn't disappoint!  We've probably watched it a dozen times over the last few days!

4.  We had a little family get together with my brother and his family Tuesday night.  The kids always love playing together so it's fun to get together!  Krissy and Elenor are just starting to be little playmates :)

5.  Overall we had a great week!  Allie was slightly attached to my hip all week, I got my new glasses, I had breakfast and a shopping date with a friend, Kevin bought me a new purse to take to Florida, my new recipes this week were all good, we got to play outside and enjoy the weather, we are on the home stretch of finishing kindergarten and Austin is sleeping like a champ!  Life is pretty good right now!

Hello Spring!

The kids and I (minus Austin because he was snoozing) enjoyed some sunshine today!  It was a pretty start to Spring!  We are looking forward to more time outside as it warms up!  Here are some pictures I took of the kids while we were out!

Asian Beef & Noodles

I'm trying recipes that are a little out of my comfort zone.  This recipe was one of them!  I found it on Pinterest, it looked good, seemed like something I could eat if I talked myself into it, so I decided to give it a try!  The original recipe can be found here.

My recipe for Asian Beef & Noodles

Ingredients:
2 packs of beef reduced sodium ramen noodles
1 Tbsp toasted seaseme oil (divided)
1 package (5C) broccoli slaw (found in the produce section; by the bagged lettuce)
1 trimmed sirloin steak (9oz)
1 1/2 C water
Low sodium soy sauce to taste (start with 1 Tbsp)

Directions:
In a skillet, heat 1 tsp oil.  While oil is heating, slice the steak into thin strips.  Once cut, add to the skillet.  Cook about 1 minute on each side.  After the meat has browned, take the skillet off the heat, and set aside.  The meat will keep cooking while you make the rest of the dish! (I don't like pink meat, and I promise this will cook to medium well {no pink} by the time you're ready to add it!)

In a large pan, add the water and both seasoning packets from the raman noodles.  Cook on high heat to get the water boiling.   

While waiting for the water to boil, heat 2 tsps oil in another skillet.  Once the oil is hot, add the entire package of slaw.  Toss and stir the slaw so it cooks evenly.  After about 2-3 minutes, take the skillet off the heat and set aside. 

By now your water/seasoning mix should be boiling.  Break the ramen noodles apart and place into the water.  Stir frequently until all the water is gone.  (It will just take a couple minutes).  Next, add the cooked beef and slaw, and about 1 Tbsp soy sauce.  Stir together.  Serve immediately.

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This is a super quick meal to throw together and Kevin and I really liked it!  He gave it a thumbs up and said the leftovers were great too!  The kids were a bit leery of it, but I have never made a dish quite like this before so they didn't really know what to think of it.  Kevin added more soy sauce to his.

I calculated WW points+, and if you divide the pan into fours, each 1/4th is 6 points.  It's a lot of food for 6 points! Enjoy!

Weekly Happenings March 8-14

1.  Last Saturday I recruited some help, and went to Hobby Lobby with one mission:  find material for the girls Easter dresses!  I'm happy to report that after a good 45 mins of walking around the fabric section, mixing and matching, and discussing way too many details that probably don't matter, I came home with two adorable fabrics!  I'm ready to transform this pile of material into dresses for my girls!

2.  I had my brain focused on Easter most of the week.  Kevin and I popped into Old Navy to browse around and I found a cute dress for Easter that coordinates with the girls.  I left the tags on and I'm keeping my receipt just incase something better crosses my path.  I'm happy I didn't wait until the very last minute to think about what I was going to wear!

3.  Kevin, Hayden, and I had eye appointments this week.  We were thankful Hayden didn't need glasses yet! That meant the money we had set aside for glasses for him could be spent on glasses for me!  I have had the same pair for about 8 years.  I don't love how they fit my face but I only wear them at night or when I have pink eye and I couldn't justify buying a new pair.  We decided with tax refund money to make that happen.  We went to Rose Optical and I loved how helpful the staff was.  They helped me pick a frame that would look nice with my really strong prescription and a color that looked nice with my hair color.  I'm not ready to quit wearing contacts, but I'm hoping to wear my new glasses a bit more than I have in the past!

P.S. I loved Dr. McWilliams at Rose Optical!  She was so sweet and told me more about my eyes and vision than any other doctor ever has.  She also suggested a new brand of contacts for me.  We will most certainly be going back!

4.  The weather was absolutely beautiful Monday and Tuesday.  We spent a big chunk of our time outside!  Austin got to meet several neighbors for the first time and CeCe LOVED having us outside to play with her.  

5.  My first week back to Weight Watchers was a success!  I lost 4lbs.  In the future, I won't bore you weekly with how I did, but I'm happy about the self control I had my first week, and I'm excited to try/share new recipes we like!  The big change was portion control, which is where my problem lies!  The whole family is on board with eating lighter/healthier, which makes this process seem a lot easier!  I did eat birthday cake, fudgey Popsicles, and brownie cookies this week too. :)

Weekly Happenings March 1-8

1.  You know that saying, "Less is more"?  I hate it.  Why you ask?  Because I figure out what is too much when it's too late!  I struggle with the happy medium.  Cake decorating is the perfect example.  Too much icing/decorating looks tacky, but not enough looks plain.

With that said, I've looked at my shamrock handprint canvas since I finished it and kept thinking I wanted to tweek it some.  The clover leaves looked too small (compared to my stem) and my "ucky" looked puney.  I questioned if I should just leave it alone.  I wondered if trying to add to it would make it look worse, but I decided to just do it!

I'm soooo happy I decided to change it! My clover looks more like a clover and my "lucky" looks more consistent! I'm happy with my final, finished, result! :)

2.  I tried a couple new recipes this week! Both were a success but I need to play with one a little more.  The one that was a huge hit was red mashed potatoes with peeling! Kevin declared them as the best potatoes I've ever made.  They are some of my favorite too!  I'll post the recipe in a few days!

3. I joined Weight Watchers this week.  Our summer vacation will be here before I know it, so I'm hoping to lose most of the weight I gained the last two pregnancies that I'm still carrying around! I like the weekly weigh in and accountability!

4.  Allie has been eager to help me in the kitchen so I am trying to think of things she can do to help me.  I want her to love cooking and baking as much as I do!  She learned how to butter rolls this week :)

5.  Austin tried out the bumbo seat for the first time this week.  He was still pretty bobbly headed but I think he liked it!