Thursday, April 28, 2011

Sausage Loaf

This is such a yummy, easy recipe! It is perfect to take somewhere for breakfast, and it is also a wonderful appetizer for an evening party. This recipe belongs to Aprile Fields--the librarian at my school. Whenever she would bring this to school, I would almost make myself sick because I would eat so much. I never asked for the recipe because it was so good and pretty that I assumed that it would be difficult, but I was wrong.

Ingredients:
1 pound of sausage-I use mild, but use whatever you want
2 cups of sharp, shredded cheese
8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
8 oz. sour cream
1 can of small green chilis--You will find these on the aisle with the Mexican food.
1 french loaf--Wal-mart has the big one like I have pictured. Publix carries long, skinny loaves, so buy 2 of those.
Salt and Pepper to taste
You will also need whatever you want to eat it with. I like tortilla chips, but some people just like the bread.
You will need aluminum foil, too.
Brown and drain your sausage.

Mix together all of the other ingredients in a bowl. See, I told you that it was easy! Save just a little bit of the cheese to top the loaf with at the end.



Add the sausage, and mix it well.



Put your bread on a cookie sheet and cut around the edges. Then, I always make a cut down the center because I find that it is easier to remove the bread in the middle that way. Do whatever works for you!

Carefully start removing the bread in the center to create a bowl to hold your sausage mixture.



Spoon the mixture into the bread bowl.

Cover it with foil, and bake it for 35 minutes at 350.

Save the bread that you pulled out from the center to use as dipping pieces.

After 35 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. When you take it out of the oven, top it with the remaining cheese.DELICIOUS


Advice: Check that you have a serving piece large enough for this dish before you make it:)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy Birthday, Joey!

Joey is 33 years old today! Happy Birthday! We all love you so much:) We have a BIG SURPRISE planned for him this weekend, so I will post more about his birthday next week.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

12 Weeks

We are 12 weeks pregnant today! By now, the baby is taking on a more human-like form. His/her tooth buds are forming and all major organs/structures are in place. He/she is about the size of a lemon. Here is a picture of what a 12 week old should look like.




Baby bump at 12 weeks:



I am still feeling alright. I am tired, but I hardly ever get sick. Certain smells really bother me, but I am doing great overall! The bump does grow much quicker the second time around!






Also, my sister found out that she is having a GIRL! I am so excited to buy some pink! Sweet Amelia Karen will be here in September.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!



We had a wonderful first Easter with Andrew. However, our weekend did not go as planned. Here were our plans for the weekend:
Friday night-Joey's birthday dinner with friends
Saturday-friend's wedding
Sunday-church and then dinner with Joey's family

Daycare called me at work on Friday and told me that Andrew had a fever. So, we ended up staying home the entire weekend. We called all of our friends and told them that we would not be going out for Joey's birthday. I tried to get Joey to go without us, but he said that he wasn't leaving us. We missed my friend's wedding, and we did not go to church this morning. I have never missed Easter morning, but he had not been fever free for 24 hours. We did have Joey's family over for dinner because Andrew had not had any fever since Saturday evening. Despite all of this, Andrew still had a great time celebrating Easter.

The bunny came!
I just had to put him in his Easter outfit even though he wasn't going to church.


He loved looking at everything in his basket.


Then, he started pulling all of it out and trying to eat it.


The Easter bunny brought him a new duck towel, books, pacifiers, rattles and then several things that he needed for his beach trip this summer--swim trunks, swim shirt, hat, and....
sunglasses! I was shocked that he actually liked wearing them. The bunny brought his best buddy (Jon Ivan) a matching pair!







I was surprised at how excited he was about all of his new stuff. I didn't really think that he would care, but he wanted to play with it some more after I took off his outfit.


This afternoon, we just relaxed around the house. I cooked a little for the family to come over, but we mainly just watched tv and played. Andrew can entertain himself for quite a long time with my toes.


These are so fun!


Around 5:00, family started coming over to eat supper. Aunt Debbie (Joey's mother's sister)and Andrew:


Uncle George (Joey's mother's brother), Aunt Debbie, and Andrew


Always a sucker for facial hair:


Aunt Debbie, Andrew, Cade, and Jan:


The cousins play on the floor with George's wife, Laura.


Cade and Cole read a story to Andrew.


Laura's daughter, Lena, with Aunt Debbie and Andrew:


Paw Paw watched The Berenstain Bears with Cade and Cole.


Whenever we are with Aunt Laura, Andrew seems to absolutely love her!
Happy Easter, everyone!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Things Only We Know

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you already know that I don't blog for you! As much as I appreciate your interest in our family, I carve time out of my week to blog for my children. I blog to store our family's memories for them one day. I blog in case it is the Lord's will that I am not around as they grow up. I want them to have their mother's words and stories saved. So, this post is for you, Andrew. Here are three things that I bet no one knows but the two of us:


1. The first words that I ever said to you were, "Hey, Buddy!" By the way, this was a few minutes after you were born. This was when you were actually handed to me. The first words I said immediately after birth were. "Thank you, Jesus." Then, your dad and I kissed and told each other that we loved each other. We were both crying and overwhelmed with love for you.


2. Whenever I rock you to sleep (both naps and bedtime) I always hum "Because He Lives." I don't know why I never change it up, but I don't.


3. When I lay you down in your crib, I say the same three things each time.
Night Night***Sweet Dreams***I love you
They are always in that order, too.


I love you, buddy!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Long Day



Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Letters From Students

How many people are lucky enough to work somewhere where their desks are flooded daily with sweet notes? It is just another perk of being a teacher! Here are some notes from my students lately. One day, I had to miss school because Andrew was sick. When I came back, this card was sitting on my desk.

Here are some "just because" notes. Double click to enlarge them.



This is a close up of the previous note. This one might be my favorite:)

Friday, April 15, 2011

8 months

Happy 8 months to our sweet Andrew! He is still a wonderful baby. He laughs all of the time and enjoys being silly. He loves when we sing, dance, make silly faces or noises. Joey and I always say that he is an "easy audience" because anything that we do is hilarious to him. Here is his 8 month picture along with his 1 month picture for comparison.
Andrew LOVES to eat. He gets so excited during meal times that he makes crazy noises. He opens his mouth immediately for his next bite. He did get his first "no, no" during dinner the other night. He likes to put the straps from his highchair in his mouth while he has a mouth full of food. I, on the other hand, do not like this because the food gets all over the white straps. I know that he is just in a phase where everything goes in his mouth, but I sure do wish that he would stop doing this. I am still making all of Andrew's food for him. I am excited about his 8 month birthday because he is now allowed to have several new foods. So far, he has had:


Bananas

Pears

Mango

Apples

Green Beans

Sweet Peas

Squash

Carrots

Avocado

Sweet Potatoes


Some foods that I have made for him to try now that he is 8 months are:

Broccoli

Blueberries

Kiwi


I love that he enjoys eating so much. Also, the food makes him a wonderful sleeper. He hardly ever gets up during the night. If he does, it is normally for less than 2 minutes.



My Uncle Bobby and Aunt Barb sent me this Easter Donald Duck last year. We let the two bunnies pose together tonight!


Here are some pictures of our very happy 8 month old!

The only bad thing about this age...teeth:( Here are his first two. He is working on the top two right now.