Beach Fun!

Bailey, Grammie and I went to the beach on Friday. We had a blast! On the way home, we got to stop and eat lunch at Andy's with Daddy on base :). Still no arrival of Taylor. I will be 40 weeks on Tuesday, so it really is only a matter of time either way (at least that is what I try and tell myself).

Her is Bailey. She didn't want to get off the towel at first and kept trying to get the sand off her feet!

Her she is checking out the sand
Oh! I kinda like this place!
Checking out the water....she DID NOT want to touch it though. We ended up carrying her around after this.
Her is Grammie taking her to meet some other kids.
Picking up shells with Grammie (we brought a whole bucket full home for our yard!)
Building sandcastles with Mommy
Video of Bailey playing in the sand



Collecting shells-

False Alarm

Tuesday evening we thought was going to be Taylor's birthday. I was 3cm at the OB's office earlier that morning and the contractions really hit about 6pm. At 7pm we headed to the hospital in discomfort....contractions every 3-4 minutes. After another hour the contractions unfortunately they slowed. They checked me and I was 3 1/2 cm.....so I was sent home to see if things would continue throughout the night. They didn't. :(. It is now Friday......and I have been having contractions (real ones) for 9 days now on and off. Only God knows at this point when Taylor Annaleigh will decide to make her arrival. We are anxiously anticipating it!

Here is Taylor and I "walking" the hospital corridor 39 weeks exactly!

Catching up.

I have been very delinquent on my posts as of late. Don't really have an excuse :). Here are a few from the past couple weeks.

Bailey enjoying the nice weather (Do you know how hard it is to get a pic of Bales with her smiling, looking at the camera with her eyes open? VERY hard!)

Weeee!
I LOVE the outside.
Jace came over for a little bit and we played very well together (and caused massive destruction)
Do you want me to read to you?

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! We had a great morning at church and a fantastic lunch at our house with some friends. The ham in the crockpot was a success- highly recommend it for future holiday meals.

Here are a few pics of Bailey in her pretty Easter dress from Grammie C. and her Easter bag from Grandma P. Thanks guys! I think she looked very cute :).

Bailey Uh Oh

Bailey's newest favorite phrase :)

Menu Planning

Blair and I have started using Dave Ramsey's Envelope system for our budget. You can read more here. That means, that for the month I have a set budget of CASH for my groceries. I include all toiletries/diapers/food in this category, as well as my weekly trips to CVS to snag those good deals. Because of this, menu planning is a must! So far, the budget is going very well. It has taken some getting used to to carry cash around, but I must say it is more difficult to lay down $80 cash then just swipe the debit card.

Meals:
Homemade Chicken and Biscuits (quick chicken pot pie like recipe-I made up:)).
BBQ drumsticks with Basil pasta and veggie
Meatloaf and mashed taters
Southwest Layered salad with chicken
Easter (hosting at our house): Slow cooker ham, deviled eggs, veggie plate, crackers with dip.
Pork Fried rice
Leftovers :)

Bailey is 19 months old!

It is hard to believe that Bailey is 19 months old today. It is also startling that she was born at this exact point in my current pregnancy. Very soon she will have a little sister! She has been doing so well since Dada came home and loves every minute. We got her a slide and tricycle this month and she is a fast learner on both. Her feet can't reach the pedals quite yet, but she is learning to get around :). Notice the "Bow band" on her head- she loves her accessories! I think Daddy has a lot of jewelry and nail polish in his future.

This month she has been consistently sleeping until at least 7am- Such a BLESSING! I pray this continues once Taylor is born. She is eating fairly well, although she could live off of Mac n Cheese, Pizza and fruit. She also loves her cereal with soy milk in the morning. Her fav is Shredded mini wheats and whatever sugary cereal Daddy is eating (he has introduced her to cocoa puffs, cinnamon toast crunch and PB and Choco balls)!

Chicken Enchilada's- YummO!

The other night I attempted enchilada's for the first time. I have been in a major cooking mode- I guess it is because I am always so hungry and thinking about the next meal :). This was a major hit with both Blair and I. We didn't give any to Bailey b/c it ended up being fairly spicy.

Betty Crocker Chile-Chicken Enchiladas

I also made a healthy Corn and Black Bean Salad to accompany the enchilada's. It was VERY good as well :). They both got the "add these to the rotation" comment from Blair. He never says he doesn't like things, he just says "this was good to have one time" :). Another sign we liked it? I made these 2 days ago and the whole pan is GONE.

Betty Crocker Corn and Black Bean Salad

CrockPot Lasagna

Today I made CrockPot Lasagna for supper. It was so good I just had to share. Shockingly, I don't ever remember making "classic lasagna" and it seems like a lot of work to do all the steps required. I LOVE my crockpot and use it at least once a week, so when I found this recipe I knew I had to give it a try! It is easy and quick.

Pic of it when done.
Plated :)
Bailey gives her stamp of approval!

Ingredients (adapted from RecipeZaar- made some changes)

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• Garlic Powder
  
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
  
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or asiago cheese
• 12 ounces lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in frypan.

2. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil and oregano.

3. Cook long enough to get it warm.

4. Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of a greased slow cooker. (I used my smaller one 4qts(?), but think a 5-6 quart might even work better since mine was very close to the top)
   

5. Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with cheeses.

6. Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up.

7. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. (mine did well at 5 hours)
   

8. Enjoy!
   

Grandma and Grandpa visit from Florida

My parent's came up to see Blair (and Bailey and I) to welcome him back to the States. They were gracious to watch Bailey for 24 hours so Blair and I could take a quick trip to Raleigh. We stayed in an AWESOME hotel (Hyatt Place) and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Being pregnant and all, I fully took advantage of my meal there (You know the portions are big when I at 36 weeks preggo can only eat 1/2 my meal and 1/2 my dessert!). Unfortunately, Grandpa was sick most of the weekend with a bad cold....we tried to have as much fun as we could just hanging out though. Get better BaPA!
Bailey loving her new slide
Grandma and Bales having some fun
Watch me Grandma, I'm a big girl now!
Bailey loves being pushed by her Daddy on the swing.