January

January is already over. It went by very quickly for not a lot happening. I'll try to recap the highs and lows though.

First, this is a picture of BrookLynn and JJ on their blessing/baptism day and then on my birthday when Shar watched JJ. This just shows a little how much he grew in less than 2 months.

 In keeping with our new year's resolution to wear less onesies this was one outfit Bug wore. I think the worst part is the socks. I don't know if I have the wrong size socks or he has giant feet or what but they never seem to stay on.

The weekend after my birthday we went to Sophie's blessing. It was fun to see all the family that was there to support Nathan and Erica and Sophie. I didn't get a lot of pictures but a few. JJ did really well during sacrament and slept through pretty much all of the meeting I think. After we took a few pictures outside and then went to Nathan and Erica's for a brunch.

 JJ had a cute outfit on for the blessing but we changed him right after. He wasn't a fan of the button up shirt and if I remember right he peed on his pants.

 Aunt Annette got to hold JJ so we could make JJ's grandma jealous. I think it worked.

 This picture shows just one night of many that I spent on the phone with Qwest during January. It's a long drawn out story but basically NEVER use them for anything.

This little Bug hit 4 months in January. He's definitely changed so much. I don't even see the baby he was when he was born. Either way though he's still so cute.

 Some of his faces just kill me. So expressive with his eyes and eyebrows.

So one weekend in January was my birthday, one was Sophie's blessing, and then the next was spent at the Urgent Care. JJ had gotten over his sickness from December but it came back with a venegence. We finally took him to Urgent Care on Saturday. Its an Urgent Care through PCH (Phoenix Children's Hospital) so they specialize more in pediatrics. The doctor wanted to do a breathing treatment to see if it was croup or RSV. I think they decided croup. But he was running a fever and coughing with a lot of congestion and chest rattling. He is not a fan of the breathing treatment.

 Amazingly, this picture was taken the evening after the Urgent Care. He's still a cutie even when he doesn't feel good. John and I were trying to have a date night but that got cancelled to deal with sick baby.

I had MKL day off work and planned to spend the day doing another batch of freezer meals. Last minute, Nick asked if I wanted to do a round of 9 holes with him and Ashton so I did. I haven't golfed in probably 5 years. It was so nice to be outside though and do something that isn't laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. It was Ashton's first time on a course instead of just the range. He did pretty good but once he got to drive the cart that was a lot more fun than golfing I think.

 He hit his ball right into a gaggle of geese and it was so funny watching him go out there as they were pretty big. They didn't even care that he was there.

After golfing I came home to make the freezer meals. I thought I'd planned ahead getting all the ingredients but I had to make 2 or 3 runs to the grocery store which sucked honestly. Below is my kitchen while I was laying out all the stuff to get them made. I think I ended up with at least 10 meals. I try to make them bigger so we have leftovers for lunches.

 On Tuesday after MLK we had JJ's 4 month appointment which worked as a great follow up to his Urgent Care visit. I decided to make him a big boy and wear a 3 piece outfit. That didn't last long. But I did get a few pictures of him in it. For his 4 month mark he was 13 lbs 12 oz. which is the 13%, 25 1/2 inches tall which is 59%, and 16 1/2 inches head circumference which is 53%. The doctor said his lungs sounded fine and everything else looked good so he got 4 awful shots.

 Well....by the next day the shots took their effect and baby was running a fever. I called out because I was afraid daycare wouldn't take him and spent the day with him. He just overall didn't feel very good. He took a few naps with mom holding him which I didn't mind because I don't get to cuddle him enough.

 Then the last weekend of January. We didn't do anything. Literally I don't think I left the house but maybe twice. Once to walk to Wal-greens because I was going stir crazy and once to go to the grocery store for a few things. When we walked to Walgreens Uncle Nick went with us. I put JJ in his bowtie outfit because I wanted to see how it fit since the last time he wore it at Juan's wedding. It definitely fits differently than in October! Bug and I also picked lemons off the tree that day.

 We had several first that weekend. One is that mom let him take a nap on his tummy. Of course, the doctors say not to do this, but then it seems everyone else says to let them do it because they'll sleep better. I don't mind so much letting him nap that way because I am up to check on him but I'm not comfortable enough letting him do that at night yet. Once he starts rolling then maybe. He actually took a really good nap so I might be persuaded to do it more often.

 I tried the baked/fried rice recipe from my last post that weekend too. We'd had the ham earlier in the week so I wanted to use the leftovers before they were bad. The finished product picture is below.

That same weekend we let Bug have some cereal from a bowl. The pediatrician says between 4 and 5 months we can start rice cereal so we did. He wasn't sure at first but he loves it! I think the only thing he would like better is if we poured the cereal in his mouth to get it in there faster.

We've also moved Bug from his sink bathtub to the big bathtub. He loves bath time and kicking and splashing.

I can't remember what morning we got to see this sunrise, but I guess that is one of the perks of a newborn who is trained to get up early.

 Then the last few joyous days of the month. This actually carries into February but I'll put it here. It was a Wednesday and started to feel like I was getting pink eye. By Thursday I knew for sure I had it. I went to the Urgent Care Thursday after work and the first picture below is my eye then. They gave me some drops and I went on my way. Friday when I woke up for work I told John my eye was stuck shut. I went to work anyways. The bottom picture is me on Saturday morning. Obviously not getting better. It's now 2/5 and the swelling is mostly gone as is the redness but not entirely. I'm still on drops from the 2nd doctor trip to the ophthalmologist.

These last two pictures of Bug got tagged on the bottom but it's just my cutie in the bath and then his outfit for Sophie's blessing. He looked like such a little boy in the button up and khakis.

Recipes

This post will be different than my normal posts. This is a collection of pictures and screen shots I've taken of recipes that I wanted to make. I wanted to get them all into one location. A lot of these are crock pot meals because that is my new favorite way to cook with working full time and a baby. I'm putting the recipe name in red for easy visual reference for future.

The top one is for baked tacos. I've made these a few times and John really likes them.

This is a recent addition, Crock pot pork chops, and we both really liked them. Super easy and flavorful! I just made some of these today as freezer meals. We'll see how they work that way or not!

I just tried this one tonight; a complete steak dinner in the crock pot. It was okay. John's steak must have been the top one in the crock pot because his wasn't as done as mine and so his looked better. I started it late so I didn't have the full 6 hours to let it cook therefore I alternated between high and low on temp. Everything was cooked except the potatoes which I finished off in the microwave.

These Crown Royal recipes are on a deck of cards we got at a Nascar race. I haven't tried the hot wings, but I've always wanted to but I have done the grilled salmon and it's good. For the bottom ones I've done the sausage but not the BBQ sauce. The sausage is good, but it always overcooks in my crock pot.

This one is for Mexican casserole. I haven't made it and I'll have to alter it for John, but that shouldn't be too hard and it sounds good. 
 

Another one I haven't tried yet. It's like a fried rice sort of. I bought a ham this last grocery trip and just haven't cooked it yet. I have a few recipes that I need leftover ham for....

Red velvet cake. I did make this once. It's not the easiest recipe (although it's not hard) and I only thought it was okay. 
 

Dijon Chicken. I have made this but I don't remember what I thought of it. I think it was alright. I have a recipe for a dijon chicken from Annette I think and I like it better. 

Lemon Bars!! I make this a lot! It's requested from work quite often. It's a pretty quick and easy recipe and they seem to be well received. 
 

This is for a chicken enchilada or chicken quesadilla. I haven't made it yet so I'm not sure how it tastes, etc.  The recipe continues below.

Cauliflower casserole. I made this while I was out on maternity leave. I liked it pretty well; John not so much. It kept pretty well for leftovers also. 

 Potato crock pot dinner. I made this one a few weeks ago. It turned out almost like a soup. I liked it but we decided it needs something more to make it a meal so my plan is to add ham to it for the next go round.

Crock pot french dip. I haven't made these yet. I have the ingredients but haven't tried it. Honestly it is one that requires a little more work than I want to put out most nights to shred the roast.

Below is cinnamon roll casserole. If you want to see what this looks like check out my Christmas post. I made this Christmas morning. First, this says to cook it 2.5 hours but it took us 4 hours to cook. Then to me it came out with a weird consistency. John said it was good but I noticed that neither of us got into the leftover so...... 

Cooked cabbage. I don't know why I decided I wanted some cooked cabbage. I remember having it when I was a kid; along with cream tuna on toast (don't ask). I figured it was easy to make but I googled it just to be sure and I only loosely follow this recipe. Honestly, I love cooked cabbage and it's so quick and easy. Plus cabbage is super cheap at the ranch market!
 

These next two I've made only once. It's for Pecan caramel cheesecake cookie cups. They were yummy but took a while to make if I recall. Also they were very rich. 
 

 TV dinners. I made these the other night. They were pretty easy to prepare and would be good to make beforehand and throw in the oven when I get home. There were a lot of leftover potatoes and go light on the oil!

 Burrito casserole? I can't remember what this was actually called. I made it a few nights ago. I thought it was only okay but John said he liked it. I did take it for left overs and it was okay. I added some salsa after so I could have onions and tomatoes that John won't eat. 
 

 Cauliflower patties. I just got this a few days ago and haven't tried it yet. It sounds good though!!

 

Peanut butter fudge. I found this tonight so I obviously haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to when I do!

I did a round of freezer meals today. My mom sent me this site and we've liked the crockpot freezer meals. We haven't tried all of them yet, but I've really liked the creamy italian and the cafe rio. The pineapple chicken reminds me of a sweet and sour sauce a little. My mom made the french chicken when she was here and I liked it. John caught onto the fact that there is the onion soup at the end so he didn't like it so much.

http://www.overthebigmoon.com/super-fast-chicken-freezer-meals/ 

and

http://www.overthebigmoon.com/freezer-meals/