Friday Photos

LOVE those fat cheeks!

Lachlan - 8 Months!

                 

 

What's going on at 8 months?

• Wearing mostly all 12 month clothes, but they are getting snug.  Still put him in some 9 month stuff just cause I don't have enough clothes otherwise!  Daycare twice has had issues with his clothes being too tight this last week-- one day he came home with no shorts cause said they were cutting into his belly.  The other time he came home in something else and they said they couldn't get his onesie buttoned over his diaper.
• Not crawling or appearing to be any closer to it.  He will just pivot around while sitting and reach and lay/roll, etc. to get where he needs....or just whine until one of us helps him out.
• Overall just really happy.  Enjoys entertaining himself with exploring his toys- still loves to taste everything.  Loves books, but only certain ones- Peek-a-Who and Baby Faces still the faves.
• We went to Canada this last month to visit Dustin's family.  Af the last minute we decided Lachlan was not going to do well for a 15+ hour car ride, so I flew with him to Detroit where Dustin picked us up and we drove the remaining 5 hours.  That was best decision ever made- he did AWESOME on the plane.  Both times he slept a good portion of the trip.  The only semi-disaster was that he pooped while I had him in the baby carrier in the security line....and when I went to the bathroom to change him, I noticed it leaked out everywhere and was ALL OVER MY SHIRT!  Luckily I ran it under some serious water and was able to get most of it out.
• I discovered that Buy Buy Baby is truly wonderful to work with.  We had bought our crappy First Years TruFit Recline carseat from there and been using it this last month, but really really really hated it.  They actually let me return the carseat and get a much better one- Britax Marathon!  This seat was only about $60 more and SOOOOOOOOO worth it.
• Daycare has been an adventure lately.  They have decided to move Lachlan up to the next room and this completely caught us off guard cause was much sooner than expected.  In a nutshell they have a lot of new babies starting, so they are taking about 4 kids in the baby room and moving them up.  We were not impressed with the teacher in this new room - we had many issues with them overfeeding him and not listening to a general schedule we requested.  Long story short, the teacher is leaving and one of his teachers from the old room (who we love) is most likely going to take over teaching in the new room.  So let's just hope this all works out!  We love our daycare for the fact that they always listen to our concerns and work quickly to fix the situation.
• We bought a sippee cup and will give Water sometimes at dinner.  It occupies him to play with the cup for a while, but he doesn't drink much out of it.  He has much more fun when I let him drink out of a real cup!

We have finally developed a pretty good routine with both eat and sleep!

• 6:30- Rise and Shine!  He just happily plays in his bed waiting for us to come get him.  I love going to get him cause he gets a HUGE smile on his face when he sees me.
• 6:30- Takes a 6 oz bottle while we get ready for work...or if is the weekend he'll lay in bed with us and take his bottle. 
• 8:30- Oatmeal
• Morning nap for 1.5-2 hours
• 10:30- 6 oz bottle
• 12:00- Fruit or Veggie
• Afternoon nap for 1.5-2 hours
• 2:30- 6 oz bottle
• 5:00- 6 oz bottle (think we will cut this down to more like 3-4 oz)
• 6:15- Fruit or Veggie
• 7:30- Bath
• 8:00- 6 oz bottle (although the last few nights has not been finishing this)

Pics from last month:

At the airport!

Used my duck tub as a swimming pool outside!

Food finds

Here are a few items we have been enjoying... 

Walking through the grocery store last week, this Vlasic Farmer's Garden line caught my eye.  I decided to buy a jar of the Zesty Garlic Chips and give it a try....Man oh man, this is such a delicious summertime treat!  I can't wait to try more flavors!  I believe each jar has Cucumbers, Carrots, and Red Peppers, and the Zesty Garlic contains Garlic Cloves. 

We happened to stumble upon a popcorn booth at Sam's Club one Saturday morning from a company called Popcornopolis...and they had the free samples of popcorn....and we were suckered in.  This popcorn was so delicious and they had some really interesting flavors!  Check out their site here with all the flavors.








In the freezer section you can find these bags made by Yoplait for Smoothies!  I realize you are really paying for the convenience factor here, but it is so worth it!  They have a few different flavors and each bag contains frozen fruit pieces and frozen yogurt.  You place in blender with 1 cup skim milk and you have a delicious smoothie a minute later!  It makes 2 servings per bag...or if you are like me, then just 1 big serving!

Baja Lasagna Casserole

And I have yet another very easy, delicious recipe for Baja Lasagna!  We had this recently on vacation with my husband's family and I loved the fact that you can make the casserole with almost all ingredients out of your pantry, so you can buy the ingredients ahead and not worry about it expiring.  There are also so many variations you can do with this casserole to always change it up.  So....you may be wondering what's up with the goofball on the left.  Believe it or not, this recipe is actually inspired from Richard Simmons....but please don't let that deter you from trying it!

Below is how I made it--.

Ingredients:
2 Cans Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis (30 oz. total)
1 Can Sliced Mushrooms (drained)
1 Onion chopped
1 Can Pinto Beans in Mexican Flavor
1 Can Kidney Beans (rinsed, drained)
1 T. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Cumin
1 Pkg Flour Tortillas (I had 10 and cut into strips)
1.5 Pkg Shredded Cheddar or Mexican Blend Cheese
1 Can Jalepenos- Use as many or few as you like
To garnish- Fresh Cilantro and Sour Cream

Alterations: 

• The original recipe calls for corn tortillas, so could substitute those. 
• Can play around with using different kinds of beans.  Would also be good with black beans.  I'd also like to try layering in some refried beans
• Can play around with using different kinds of tomatoes
• Could add fresh green, red, yellow, orange, peppers
• Could add some hamburger or chicken
• Could add a layer of mexican rice

Directions: Preheat over to 350 degrees.  In a pot on the stove, saute onions until soft. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, jalepenos, chili powder, and cumin. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. 


Sprayed 9x13 pan with non-stick butter. Place 1 layer of the tortillas on bottom of pan.  

 Next add some of the tomato/bean mixture followed by a layer of cheese. Repeat until ingredients are gone. (My final layer was just tortillas with the cheese on top). 


Bake for 30 minutes. I added fresh cilantro when I took it out of the oven. Serve with a dallop of sour cream on top of each slice.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Here is another great recipe to use when it's too hot to cook- Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches.  This is one of the EASIEST things ever to make.  I had seen this on pinterest and so glad that I gave it a try!

In the morning I dumped a 3lb bag of frozen chicken tenderloins into the crock pot.  Cover with a 12 oz bottle of Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce.  Sprinkle a 1 oz. packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing on top.  Close her up and let cook for 6 hours on low or until chicken is shreddable.  Take 2 forks and just shred the chicken in the pot.  I added 2 T. of margarine/butter at this point, but you could probably omit that to make it healthier.  Let cook for another hour or so.  Serve on hoagie roll and enjoy!

We topped ours with some Blue Cheese dressing and Blue Cheese crumbles.  Also would be good with some ranch dressing instead.  I was definitely worried that this was going to be very spicy based on the amount of wing sauce and what I was smelling....however, it was very mild.  Next time I may try making half of the sauce a spicier brand. 

Chicken in the Crock Pot

Delicious Sandwich