What to do for dinner?

Yesterday I was really craving something Italian.  We make homemade pizza usually once a week or so, but that's not what I was wanting.  I make lasagna frequently, but again, that's not what I was wanting.  I texted Tim and told him I was wanting something creamy and garlicy, but wasn't quite sure.  I looked at what I had in the fridge and the pantry: spaghetti noodles, garlic, cream, and ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I started with making a basic alfredo sauce.  Then I mixed the ricotta cheese with some parsley, salt, pepper, shredded mozzarella and an egg.  I cooked the spaghetti noodles.  Then I just mixed everything together in a big bowl, dumped it in a casserole dish, topped it with sliced mozzarella cheese and baked it for a bit.  I didn't know how it was going to turn out, but all the things I put into it sounded good at the time!  The result was what Tim called the best Italian dish I have ever made.  I think I will need to come up with a name for it because I think it will be a regular in our meal rotation!

This week has been nice for us.  Tim has been home before 6pm every day, which has been absolutely wonderful.  Monday night I started having some major contractions.  I drank extra water, walked around, changed positions and nothing helped them go away.  Finally about 3am the next day they went away.  I was pretty uncomfortable for a while, but I eventually got a bit of rest.  Robby has been sleeping and napping so well.  The past two days I've had so much energy.  I don't know where it's coming from, but I'm taking advantage of it while I have it.  I organized Robby's closet and got clothes ready for Charlie to be able to use.  I also organized my desk and our pantry.  I'm on top of all the laundry and cleaning, which is really nice.  I guess the nesting has just started early this time!  When Robby is awake, he is moving.  He isn't satisfied sitting and playing with any toys now.  He's either crawling around following me, or walking around every piece of furniture.  Usually he does this but is happy taking a break to play with things.  Not this week!  He's definitely keeping me on my toes much more than usual!

Mandy gets in tomorrow morning.  I'm so excited for her to be here!  We always have a blast when we're together and it's always nice to have her help with Robby.  We have some Groupon movie tickets that expire next week so she and I are going to the movies tomorrow night and Tim and I are going Saturday night.  We haven't had a date night in well over a month and a half.  It will be fun to have some "us" time!  Tim is leaving Sunday for a meeting in Dallas and will be gone until Friday.  Mandy will be here until Wednesday, so I only have to be by myself for three days and two nights.  I'm so thankful for that!

I didn't get a 21 week picture taken but I will get a picture-less 21 week pregnancy highlight post up soon!  I hope everyone's week is going well!

Wordless Wednesday: Little Poser

Coupon Code Giveaway

Scoot on over to my sister-in-law's blog and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a coupon code for Shutterfly!  We have used their cards at Christmastime and love the gift options, as well!

Robby's First Trip to the Zoo

This morning Robby and I met up with some other moms and kiddos to go to the zoo.  it was Robby's first time.  He did great!  He enjoyed the fish the most, I think, because he could see them so much better. It was hard to get pictures of him looking at the animals because by the time I got out the camera or my phone, he got distracted by the plants or other kids!  :-)  I think next year we are going to get year passes to the zoo.  Robby and Charlie will both be free, so we can go as much as we want.  It might be a nice thing to just get out for a little bit with them.  Plus, we won't feel bad if we only make it an hour or so!

I have other pictures, but I am having issues uploading them.  Oh well!  I hope to be able to go back with Tim so we can explore more and get some better pictures!

Robby's First Haircut

We had originally planned to wait until Robby was at least a year old before we gave him his first haircut.  But about a month ago, we realized how ratty he was looking.  His hair would go over his collar in the back and look like a mullet.  So we decided to go ahead and do it today.  Daddy was the barber and Robby was an excellent customer!

Some before shots:

During:

After:

My handsome little man!

Cloth Wipes

I've mentioned on here before that we cloth diaper.  Well, recently, I decided to cross over in to the cloth wipe territory as well.  It just made more sense to me.  When you change a disposable diaper with a disposable wipe, you just put it all together and toss it.  When you use a cloth diaper with a disposable wipe, you have to separate it (doesn't sound that complicated, but those few seconds could be a lot with an incredibly wiggly, half naked boy!).  When you use a cloth diaper and a cloth wipe, you put it all together and toss it in the bag.  At first, while I was just experimenting, I used baby washcloths as well as a few of Robby's old receiving blankets from the hospital that I cut up.

The problem with those were they weren't the softest on his bum and they were a bit thin for my liking.  There are specific cloth wipes that can be purchased, but I didn't want to spend $12-20 for 10 wipes.  I talked to my mom to see if she could make some for me.  She just got some flannel fabric and cut them into 7 1/2 inch squares, doubled them with wrong sides together, and stitched around the edges to make 7 inch squares.

I put the wipes in a pop-up wipe container that I used before.  In order for them to pop up correctly, I fold them a certain way.  Here is a picture-by-picture of what I do:

 Lay two wipes together, overlapping halfway over.

 Fold the bottom wipe over the half that is overlapped.

 Top with the next wipe, overlapping halfway. (I'm almost as good with directions as I am with recipes, huh?! :-)

 You end up with a stack like this.  There are about 15 wipes wipes here.

 Here are the "ingredients" for the solution I use, as well as the wipes and the container.

You will need:

2 cups water

2 Tbsp baby wash

2-4 drops tea tree oil

Mix all together in the bowl.  Pour over wipes in the container or put in a spray bottle to spray on the wipe each time you change a diaper.

 Set the wipes in the container (I can't tell you how excited I was when these fit PERFECTLY in the container!)

 I pour about half of the solution on top, press down to get the middle wipes wet, then flip the stack over and pour the rest on what was on the bottom.  

 If the middle wipes aren't getting wet, you can lift up to expose the middle wipes and pour some solution, then press down.

Close the the first part of the lid, lift the first wipe through, and close the top.  They come out just like disposable wipes!

If you don't want to use cloth wipes but you do want to make your own wipes, you can use a roll of thick, deluxe paper towels.  Just cut the roll in half with a sharp, cerated knife, then pull the cardboard tube out.  At this point you can either put them in the container like that and pour the solution over them or you could tear each one apart and fold like I did the cloth wipes, put in the container and pour the solution over them.  I considered doing this but I really wanted something that will not cost us anything at all.  The baby wash is something we already have and the tea tree oil was given to us.  The oil will last a long time, as I only use a few drops (it is a natural cleaner and astringent so it keeps the wipes from mildewing while in the container).  This container of wipes lasts 3-4 days (I don't always wipe him for wet diapers).  I hope this helps anyone out there thinking of making the change to either cloth wipes or homemade disposable wipes!

Too Precious!

On Tuesday, while I was feeding Robby his breakfast and we were watching the news, they shared this video.  Robby stopped eating and just watched the video and got the biggest grin on his face!  I couldn't figure out what was more precious: the old couple (complete with the sweet booty pats) or Robby's reaction!

I hope it makes you smile as well!

Wordless Wednesday: Sleep Runner?

20 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 20 weeks

Size of baby: 7 inches, 11oz (about the size of a banana)

Maternity Clothes: Yes! Although, I think I'm about to outgrow my maternity jeans!  I'm trying to get things to work as long as I can!  Thankfully, it is beginning to cool off a tad here, so I can pull of wearing cardigans and things over shirts.

Movement: Yes, many precious kicks and rolls!

Sleep: I'm sleeping better, thank goodness!

Symptoms: Just the usual aches and pains, but other than that, not many symptoms.

Food cravings/aversions:  This past week I've really been wanting cheetos.  At one point I was craving a juicy steak, but that wasn't in our "no eating out" budget.  As long as my cravings stay on the cheap side, I'm ok!  Haha!

What I am looking forward to: We are hoping to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done in several weeks, like we did with Robby.  I can't wait to see what he looks like then, because Robby looked just like his 3D ultrasound pictures!  It will be fun to get an idea of what to expect.  I often wonder if he will look just like Robby (I have a feeling that he will) or look completely different.  I can't wait to be able to take pictures of Charlie and compare them to pictures of Robby at that age.  It's going to be so fun having two boys!!

Baby Steps!

A New Place to Sit

We knew the time was coming when Robby would no longer be able to use his bumbo seat. I feel that using it from a month and a half until 9 months was some pretty good use of it! This week he's been leaning over the side, trying to flip himself out of it when he was ready to be out, so the time was definitely now! I had been researching our options, knowing that I didn't want a traditional highchair. There are quite a few booster seat combos out there but I decided on the Fisher Price Deluxe Booster Seat. It will work great with our table once he no longer uses the tray. And for now, it's perfect to just pull the chair away from the table, attach the tray and feed him in it like it is a regular highchair. Robby got very excited when we put him in it and didn't act anxious to get out of it when he was done with his cheerios! So I think we have a winner!

We set up in the living room because we were watching football!

Robby and Annie both checking it out!

I think he approves!

Pretty content!

I was in the way of the game!

Works perfectly!