Written by Jessica on Tuesday, September 30, 2008

My 1st homemade baby food - Pears from Mom's tree

Pears mixed with cereal

Tucker tasting the pears for the first time

Brayden eating cereal with pears

Carter tasting just pears for the first time
I think it was a hit! The boys seemed to enjoy breakfast this morning. It was so easy. I took 3 cubes from the freezer and microwaved them for 1 minute. Then added them to the cereal I already had mixed up. Viola! Then, the hard part - feeding 3 boys. I tested Carter by feeding him in the excersaucer to see if he could hold his head up and eat. He did really good. I think we'll set their triple highchair table up this weekend. They'll be 5 months old in a few days, so I guess it's time!

Here are some pictures of the boys in their excersaucer. They have so much fun exploring all the things around them. They grab them, look at them and smile, they attack the toys at times and they try to eat them occasionally. They are so much fun to watch.






















Carter had too much fun...









Written by Jessica on Sunday, September 28, 2008
Categories: ,

Jumbo Stuffed Shells
This is another dish mom made us growing up. I'm not sure if she used Ragu, but it's a quick shortcut and it tastes so good, you can't tell a difference!
Jumbo Shells - prepare per pkg directions
1-1 1/2 lbs hamburger meat
small onion, diced
medium bell pepper, diced
minced garlic to taste
jar of mushrooms
16 oz cottage cheese
large jar of Ragu (save a little as extra topping)
mozzarella
Cook meat, garlic, bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms. Drain grease if necessary. Add cottage cheese and Ragu. Stir and turn eye off to allow mixture to cook a little. When noodles are done, drain and rinse with cold water. When they've cooled enough to handle, spoon mixture in. Cook in the oven on 425 for 20-25 minutes. Top with mozzarella and leftover Ragu.
Serve with garlic bread and salad.



Written by Jessica on Wednesday, September 24, 2008

While I'm talking about my little Tater Bug, I should add, he told me yesterday he wants to be one of those people that drive the airplanes when he grows up... a pilot. Maybe he will be and then he can take us around the world. Wait...I need him to be the plastic surgeon...

Written by Jessica on Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Taylor very rarely gets his own post. So, this is devoted to Taylor news. = )

Taylor is enjoying school. He's learning SO SO much. So much more than I learned my first three years of school! He can count to infinity, sound out and read simple words, recognize many sight words (frequently used words like I, my, the, etc ), count syllables in words, add (even double digits although he makes mistakes with larger numbers sometimes), subtract small numbers he can use his fingers to figure out, he knows all his colors, shapes, days of the week, months of the year, he can write the date, he knows our address and phone number, he can cut and paste, color in the lines(most of the time), he's starting to draw things he sees, he can summarize a story read to him, and so so much more. When I sit and think about all that he knows and all that he's learned I'm simply blown away. And this isn't just Taylor, these are things that all first month kindergartners can do nowadays, it's absolutely amazing! Taylor has a wonderful teacher that keeps us informed and she really seems to have complete control of all 18 kiddos; it's awesome to see the organization and schedule she has. The only downside to Taylor's knowledge: he has acquired quite a sassy little mouth and he will argue emphatically no matter the consequences. Don't know where he could have gotten that from... Don't say a word mom.
On that note, they have a behavior monitoring system at Lakewood. Green light = good. Yellow and Red = not good, red being worse.
Taylor brought home his first yellow light today. Now, I'm not shocked. I knew this was coming. Boys are going to be boys and that often involves mischief, it's in his DNA. He's had a sub for 3 days, I'm sure this contributed to the boyish impulse to rebel and push the limits. On his calendar with his yellow light, it said "hitting." Now, when I ask Taylor about the situation, he 'can't remember.' This from the child who remembers to call you out on every bad word that may slip out in his presence, he remembers the names of toys and their features from commercials and then recalls them in the store - you'd swear he was reading the box to hear him rattle this stuff off - yet, he hit someone in school and can't recall a thing about it, to include the child's name whom he hit. Since he was having memory trouble, I decided the best way for him to 'remember' not to hit his friends in school would be to write the following sentence 20 times: "I will not hit my friends." I think this worked pretty well. He certainly didn't like it. It took him 2 hours (with about a 30 minute nap included in that total) to write the sentences. He cried and complained, then wrote. He told me how much he didn't like it and how he NEVER wanted to do it again, then wrote some more. He went on strike and fell asleep, and then awoke to write some more. Hopefully this will work... for at least another month or so...

He's counting to see how many more he has to write

He's on strike!

After school each day he gets a snack. I let him get his own today. Here's evidence:

Fall is here and we're painting spring bird houses! You can look at this one of four ways. 1. We're confused. 2. We're really late. 3. We're really early. 4. We're methodically planning ahead.

Really, we just wanted to paint birdhouses. No rhyme or reason. This was the first time Taylor has painted with non-washable paint. I did make him change out of his Bama jersey and put on an old t-shirt. I thought that would be enough. He never gets the washable paint on himself anyhow. Of course not, it's washable! That wouldn't be any fun. But acrylic paint, now that stuff is fun to wear! Yes indeed. We got it on the floor, the chair, his shorts, his shirt, and then to top it off - down the side of the wall as he went to the bathroom to wash up. GREAT! Luckily I got most of it quick enough I was able to get it cleaned up. It didn't come out of his shorts though. I'm going to try fingernail polish remover or something... Oh well. The bigger the mess, the more fun I guess! He did manage to get some on the birdhouses too:

Last Friday we sent Taylor to school with a dollar. He could choose to buy a pickle, a water, an ice cream, or a tatoo. Can you believe he chose a Bama tatoo over ice cream!?! Roll Tide!

He's been taking special care of that cheek to keep it all week!

Written by Jessica on Monday, September 22, 2008

How cute would the boys be in something like this for their 6 month pictures in November. Since they're $60 a peice (and hard/impossible to find for much less than that..), I HAVE to learn how to sew these! It doesn't seem that hard.. I don't think...Anyone know how? This mom sewed some shortall's for her son. I need pants for November pics though.. Maybe I'll ask her anyways. Hmm.

Written by Jessica on Sunday, September 21, 2008
Categories: ,

Pork and Bell Pepper Stir fry
Recipe from Everyday with Rachel Ray
Serves 4 - Prep 20 minutes - Cook 15 minutes

1 pound boneless pork loin (I used beef)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used EVOO)
1 bunch scallion, trimmed and sliced
4 cloves garlic (I used 2 spoons of garlic minced in water)
2 eggplants (I used 1 large)
1 red bell pepper (I used green)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup store bought stir fry sauce

1. Cut the pork into 1/4 inch thick slices, then cut the slices into 1/4 inch slivers. Toss with 2 tbsp cornstarch.
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic; cook, stirring, until golden, about 2 mins. Add the pork and cook stirring until no longer pink, about 3 mins. Transfer to bowl.
3. Add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to the skillet, add the eggplant and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 mins. Add the bell pepper, cook until crisp tender. In a small bowl, stir together chicken broth, stir-fry sauce and remaining 1 tbsp cornstarch; pour over vegetables and cook, stirring until sauce is thickened, 1-2 minutes. Return the pork mixture to the skillet and stir until heated through, 1-2 minutes.

TIP - You can skip the store bought stir fry sauce and mix 1/4 cup soy sauce with 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger.

Serve with rice.

ENJOY!

Written by Jessica on Sunday, September 21, 2008

I'm upset for a few reasons.

1. Taylor wasn't here (and I thought he would be).
2. These outfits BARELY fit the boys and this is the first time they've worn them! They're size 6 months and I thought they were size 12 months... Regardless, I didn't think at 4 months that they wouldn't fit into them. They wouldn't fit with their cloth diapers, I had to grab a thin disposable to put on them and they still barely snapped up. They must have long torso's...
3. I put the wrong numbers on Carter and Brayden and didn't realize it until after I had them in their bumbos and ready to go. So, they're sitting in birth order, their outfits are mixed up!

We'll have a re-do soon. They so enjoyed being outside sitting up. It feels SO good outside! This is probably the only week of 'fall' weather we'll have, so we're enjoying it. It will get hot again for a while and then it'll be winter before ya know it!



















Written by Jessica on Saturday, September 20, 2008

Carter stay's on his tummy like this now.

These are their 'night' diapers, Carter is eating Tucker's hand.

Carter, mirror mirror on the wall, who's the cutest babe of all?

The boys with my doc


Getting a work out in their bumbo's.


Carter, again.


Tucker


Brayden