5 Months!

What a wild 5 Months!

I tell people God intends for us to have more children because Alex is SUCH a good baby! We're truly blessed! He sleeps from 8:30-7:30 and takes two naps and eats 3 times a day. He plays and rolls and semi-crawls. We don't have a crawler yet, but we do have a mobile baby! Last night I was in his room sorting his clothes (Pulling out the 6-9 month stuff!) and he scooted about 3 feet towards me then pulled himself up into my lap! Here are his 5 month pictures.

He usually goes back down after his 7:30 bottle for an hour or so. He was awake but playing in his crib this morning when his monitor started beeping in our room. I went in his room and he had pulled the monitor from the top of the crib rail and this is what I found!

Guess it's time to lower the crib mattress!

What's for Dinner?

Sam and I have a running joke that he eats the best when Hayden is here...sometimes that's the only time during the month/6 weeks that he eats home cooked meals!

In an effort to remedy this, I decided to start Once-a-Month Cooking! (Also, I HATE to cook in the summer time!) With OAM cooking, I can pick up fresh ingredients for sides and snackes/staples at the grocery, and stop randomly going and buying things we don't need!

I started planning Wedensday morning when the new Kroger ad. came out. I had a list of meals I wanted to cook and tailored it slightly based on the sales. I also used every coupon I could find, since I most likely won't buy some of the items again for a month or more. We had two freezers full when I started, so I had to be creative! We had lots of Free Range Chicken, Deer and Duck Smoked Sausage and Ground Deer Meat from last season, so that helps. (We still have lots of quail and bacon wrapped dove if anyone is interested!)

I boiled and shredded 2 whole chickens +  4 Chicken breasts on Wednesday. This was a time saver because I only have 2 large stock pots and needed them for several other dishes.

I shopped on Friday and put the rub on the pork shoulder to sit overnight. Here's what a month worth of meals looks like in our house! (I used everything with the exception of a few ingredients that I've not made anything with yet. )

Here's the list of Recipes I compiled from Pinterest, Google and Other Blogs. I don't want to steal anyones ideas, these are NOT my recipes! If you'd like any of them, please let me know. I'll try and go back and add links in later. Each of these were doubled, so they make at least two meals for the two of us, most of them will make more.

Lasagna Chili

Chicken and Black Bean Chili

Chicken Spaghetti

Pulled Pork BBQ

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

Baked Ziti

Cheddar and Cracker Coated Chicken

Stuffed Peppers

Chicken Tortellini Casserole

Beef Stroganoff

Olive Garden's Minestrone Soup - These are in smaller ziploc bags for lunches/single meals

Macaroni and Cheese - These are in smaller ziploc bags for lunches/single meals

Breakfast Burritos (24 Burritos)

Breakfast Muffins

Sam went to Memphis Saturday to visit his friend Brian, so I knew it's be a great time for the A-Man and I to have a work day! We started about 9 running a few errands, including one to Lowe's to pick up some things for our Patio Renovation...more on that later!

With Alex in his johnny jump up, I got started around 10:45. I started with the Chicken Spaghetti and Lasagna Chili and just progressed. I didn't clean as I went unless it was neccessary because I ran out of pot/spoons/bowls, etc. Here's a photo mid-way through. I'm a good cook, just not a clean one!Don't Judge!

I cooked until about 7:30, feeding an playing with the baby in between. It was work! But at 8 last night when Sam got home, It felt food to see all the progress I hadn't taken time to look at all day! I froze everything I could flat in gallon ziploc bags. The baked Ziti, Chicken Spaghetti and Chicken Tortellini Casseroles were in pans. I laid plastic wrap in the pans first, then flash froze them. I took them out, wrapped in foil and put them in ziploc bags with labels. When we cook those, I'll just unwrap them and pop them back in the pans! This is what the freezer looked like at about 5. I can't tell you how happy I am to be done for the month! To top it off our sweet neighbors were smoking food all day long, and they called us to comeover about 8:30 last night and gave us a smoked pork shoulder, which we ate for dinner. It was delicious! Alex was some kind of trooper! He played in his johnny jump up or his other bouncy seat in the kitchen when he was awake.

I'll post his 5 Month pictures and what I found this morning when I went to get him up later! We've got to get ready for church!

What a Week!

This week was GREAT!

Saturday morning Alex, Hayden and I went to Another Broken Egg Cafe for
breakfast to let Sam rest. They didn't get home until 2 am Saturday morning!

We came home and went down to the reservoir to fish. Hayden caught a 4 lb. Catfish! And, Priscilla chased a Canadian goose, and almost ended up in the water! Alex and I played on the quilt for awhile, then walked home and let the boys finish up. We had crock pot Pork Roast for dinner. It was fantastic! I took the roast, 1 pack of Ranch dressing, 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup and one can of Water and let the crock work it's magic! (I served it over rice. The recipe is on my Pinterest!)

Sunday was Alex's first trip to the Nursery. They said he was great and wanted him back! So far, he's not gotten sick...yet! The afternoon brought more fishing for Sam and Hayden. They went to a friends house and caught several bass. They cleaned the fish Sunday night and we fried them up Monday. Hayden was super excited about eating something he just caught!

Monday we started our Landscaping renovations...its great to have a strong child willing to help! :) (And cheap labor too! I paid him $.50 per plant and he went to work!) We got 12 shrubs in the ground before the flood gates opened and we got a horrible storm! The front yard is starting to look really good. I'll post pictures soon!

Tuesday afternoon Hayden went Turkey hunting for the first time! They didn't see anything, but he perfected his turkey call.

Wednesday we prepared for The Garners visit. Hayden's mom Catherine, his brothers Gavin (4) and Lawton (2) and Sister London (6) came over for the first time. They all had so much fun. It was great for the kids to see where Hayden stayed and what he did while he's here. He had to adjust to sharing his space here! Thursday we took all the kids to get their pictures made during Alex's 4 month session. I cannot wait to see the photos, Amy (Amy Johnson Photography) is so patient and kind, I highly recommend her for kid's and family pictures!

Thursday afternoon, Sam took Hayden, London and Gavin to the pool, and sent Catherine and I to get our nails done! (Em kept Alex and Lawton) He's a keeper for sure! They were all worn out and took naps while I got dinner ready. Teresia, Greg and Mamo came over for dinner Thursday night and the kids had movie night.

Friday they left for home and we got the house in order and started stripping beds/doing laundry. This weekend We were able to visit with our great friends Kimberly and Lex! It's always great to see them.

Church this morning was great, Pastor Rob did a fantastic job as always, feeding us the truth. We went to Sam's aunt Liz's this afternoon for too much food and a great family visit. The weather has been so good this weekend we've spent alot of time outside.

Here are some recent random shots. Alex loves his jumpy. The best part about it is the mirror, which is also his favorite snack!

And last, but not least, mother Priscilla! She used to lay in front of Hayden's door if Sam wasn't home and he in his room sleeping. With both boys here, she got confused about where to lay, so she lays on the rug in the living room so she can look at the hallway to both their rooms!