She's Here

Julia Karen arrived on the 17th of this month. She was 7 lbs and 9 oz. She was 21.5 inches long and she is BEAUTIFUL. We are all so excited to have her here. She is the sweetest baby - she rarely cries and has taken to a pacifier, nursing and bottles like a champ! The boys were hesitant in the hospital to touch her but now they love to give her kisses and pat her head. She and grandma have become best friends - especially during the 4 o'clock am feedings (thank you grandma)!

I hope to be better on keeping up this blog - she will make for some great posts!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes!

Crock Pot Love

This post is in honor of Miss Elizabeth, Trey's teacher and my great friend.

During the fall and winter I LOVE using my crock pot because it is easy and provides warm homemade meals with out a lot of fuss. And seeing as how I feel ok in the mornings and terrible in the late afternoons and evenings, a crock pot meal is just want the Dr ordered, so here are a few of my favorite recipes:

Creamy Chicken

4-5 Frozen chicken breasts
1 packet Italian Salad dressing seasoning packet
1/2 cube butter

Let all of these cook in crock pot on high for 4 hours - then shred chicken and add

1 can cream of chicken
1 brick of cream cheese

Let these cook together for another half hour. Serve over rice or egg noodles

Italian Beef

1-2 lb. Beef chuck roast
1 (4oz.) can green chilis
1-2 beef boullion cubes dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1 onion chopped (I am pretty sure you could use dried minced onions)
1 Tbls. minced garlic
1 tsp Adobo seasoning
6-8 peppercorns
1 tsp dry mustard

Put all this in crock pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred and put on some crusty bread with provolone melted over it. This recipe is from my freezer meal group here. We all loved it.

Crock Pot Lazagna

1 Jar Pasta sauce
1 Jar Alfredo sauce
Uncooked Lazagna noodles
Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese

Put 1/3 of pasta sauce on bottom of crock pot. Put a layer of noodles on top of that (will have to break them to fit). Then layer 1/3 of pasta sauce with 1/3 of Alfredo sauce on top of that. Place another layer of noodles on top of that and follow with 1/3 of pasta sauce and then 1/3 of alfredo sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top of that and cook on low in crock pot for 4 hours. If you want this meaty, I have added sausage of hamburger to my pasta sauce.

Tag

**8 Favorite TV Shows - in no particular order
1. The Office
2. How I Met Your Mother
3. Bill O'Reilly
4. New Adventures of Old Christine
5. 90210 and Priviliged
6. House Hunters
7. Arthur (my kids love it, so I love it)
8. Lost

**8 Favorite Restaurants - in no particular order but based on where we have lived
1. Cheesecake Factory - my favorite will always be the one in downtown Chicago
2. Bandera - Another favorite in Chicago
3. Brick Oven Beanery - Boise favorite
4. Roasted Artichoke - Center Street in Provo
5. La Madeleine - the one next to the hospital in VA where Toby was born will always be a fav
6. San Fransisco Brick Oven - Next to our home in VA
7. OK Cafe - Atlanta and Julia favorite
8. Panera - an everywhere, especially here in Montgomery favorite

**8 Things that happened yesterday - in order
1. Took Trey to Preschool
2. Came home with Toby and cleaned the bathrooms
3. Met Lars for lunch at his favorite mexican restaurant
4. Went to Lowes for craft projects
5. Wasted time on blogs while kids watched cartoons
6. Played outside with the boys
7. Made dinner for boys - Lars ate candy for dinner, his choice
8. Watched the office with Lars

**8 Things to look forward to - in no particular order
1. Julia Karen's arrival
2. Black Friday Shopping (planning on Thanksgiving is half the fun.)
3. My mom coming and staying for three weeks - thank you!
4. Thanksgiving with family - mine, my mom, Jan and Kim etc.
5. Christmas music
6. Finishing baby girls room
7. Mardi Gras - anyone is welcome!
8. A trip back to Boise to see my families "new home"

**8 things I love about Fall - in no particular order
1. The weather
2. Bright, beautiful colors of the leaves
3. Jeans
4. Halloween and Thanksgiving
5. Kid parties
6. Football games (not that I actually watch them - but Lars loves it)
7. Pumpkin Cake, Caramel Apple Cider, Homemade Soups
8. The smell of a chill in the air

**8 Things on my Wish list - in no particular order
1. Good Health for my family
2. A safe C-section and easy recovery
3. A flat stomach - HA, is that possible after a C-section
4. An easy and happy baby girl
5. Money to travel as much as I want
6. My family will be happy and good people who serve in their communities and the Lord
7. That I will know Gods plan for me and fulfill it
8. That we lived closer to all of our family so that my kids would never have to say goodbye to their cousins/aunts and uncles/grandparents

Two Weeks

So Julia Karen is coming in two weeks and take a look at her room. Are you embarassed for me that I am even posting such a wreck? You would think this is quite an improvement if you saw the tools that were in there a week ago. Her room has been a storage area for the last bit while Lars has finished up the kitchen and built bunk beds etc. So here we are two weeks to go - wish us luck - oh and before forwarding this on to DCFS remember the post of the boys room, I promise I would never let a baby sleep in this trap (I don't even let the boys go in there).

And in case you thought we were totally unprepared for her, check out the pictures of her closet - first things first right? The picture of the closet is all of her new dresses, her drawers are filled with onsies, sleepers and little outfits - oh the fun of a girl!

Trick or Treat

We had a fun Halloween around here. Friends from our neighborhood came over for soup and then we were off to Trick or Treat. The kids loved it and went for a long time before getting tired. Lars and I both commented that Halloween really is a great holiday for kids. After they were done they came to our bedroom, dumped out their candy and just looked at it all. Lars and I both have vivid memories of doing that as kids. In fact I remember sitting in my home in our upstairs living room (before our basement was finished and the family room addition was put on) and Ben, Aimee and I dumping our candy out and trading. I had the good candy piles, the ok piles, and the bad. We had a grey swirl carpet and as I watched my kids looking at their candy pile, I swear it was like I was looking at my pile on that grey carpet all over again. I missed my siblings last night too. There is something about coming home after all is done with your friends and just being around your siblings and talking about your night - good times.

So as I am lovingly referring to myself as gigantor, I am also happy to be bringing another sibling into this world for my kids to be able to trade candy with some day....

Shool Parties

The boys had fun at their Halloween parties this year. The school did a pumpkin patch that each class took turns going to and picking out their pumpkins. Toby's class decorated them, had treats and played outside. Trey's class had lunch included in their party - I think the highlight for each of the boys was having their daddy come to their party - Lars was one of two men there. Have I mentioned how terrific Lars' job is? Well it is fantastic, they even had a little 'party' for us this last week at the Judge's house and spoiled this baby girl with beautiful outfits and blankets - spoiled the boys too with treats and sundeas!

Hope your Halloween was great!