Menu Plan Monday~ 8/20/12

School starts in 2 weeks so I can consider it Fall right? Ok maybe not with our 100 degree days...

I'm 37 weeks pregnant with our 4th baby and thankfully started Maternity Leave last week. After a year and a half of working fulltime on the evening shift, I am super excited to be able to cook dinner for my family and spend evenings with them. It's even better that I'm off during my favorite season (Fall obviously...). I can't wait to try a bunch of new recipes!

Jason started a new job last week and doesn't always get home in time for dinner.I'm trying to make sure whatever I make for dinner has plenty leftover that tastes good warmed up when he gets home.

Pinterest is awesome and I've been letting the girls pick a recipe that looks good for dinner the next week. Hannah's pick this week was: Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna. We substitiuted canned diced tomatoes for the sundried (much cheaper!) and added extra milk since we had no-boil noodles. It was so yummy! Hannah and I aren't fans of tomatoes and the diced were pretty big chunks. I think we'll use crushed next time...and we definately will make it again!

Here's this week's menu (trying to keep it easy in case I go into labor or something...)!

Monday 8/20- Hamburgers, Mac & Cheese, Corn

Tuesday 8/21- Avery's Pinterest Pick: Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce and Bowtie Pasta

Wednesday 8/22- Make Your Own Frenchbread Pizza (pepperoni,sausage, pinapple, olives, ham etc)

Thursday 8/23- Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage or Bacon, Fruit

Friday 8/24- (Girls at Nana's) Takeout

Saturday 8/25- (Girls at Nana's) Steak and Mushroom Fajitas, Salad

Sunday 8/26- Lemon Galic Tilapia, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans

Head on over to OrgJunkie for more menu plans!

Cloth Diapering Momma!

I toyed with the idea of cloth diapering when Noah was born (almost 2 years ago!) but couldn't get Jason on board. As soon as we found out we were pregnant again, I decided we were going for it this time. I feel awful about all of disposables we have tossed in the the landfill (and I'm sure Hannah's are still there!) with 3 kids. Add the fact that we're going to have a tight budget after the baby arrives AND the fact that Noah is still in diapers and Avery wears pull-ups to bed, cloth diapering is a smart financial choice for us.

I've been stalking the Cloth Diapering board on Baby Center and have started a Newborn stash for when the baby arrives. The start up costs are a bit much but over time we'll save money. Plus good condition diapers have a decent resale value. Since this is our last baby, I plan on selling everything once the baby is out of diapers.

I've decided to go with a mix of different types of diapers. Prefolds and covers seem to be the go-to for most mom's CDing a newborn. So I got some of those. I also figured some All In Ones (like a washable disposable...no need for inserts etc) would be easier for Jason get used to and will be better for middle of the night, half asleep changes!

This is what we've bought so far:

(Flip cover, BumGenius AIO, GroVia Newborn AIO, Swaddlebees Simplex Newborn AIO)

(3 Thirsties Duo Covers, Swaddlebee Capri Giraffe Cover)

(3- Blueberry Econappi Pockets)

(Inserts, Green Mountain Diaper Prefolds/Workhorse Fitteds, Cloth Wipes, Fleece Liners)

I'm so excited to see all of these on the little Sweet Pea's tushie! :)

Menu Plan Monday~ 3/12/12

Menu plans aren't as fun for me anymore...I typically work 3p-11:30p M-F (with the occasional Sunday morning thrown in) and don't get to cook for the family anymore. Add in the 1st trimester blah-ness and I didn't even want to think about food! I still planned for the family but didn't put much thought. We really need to start focusing on our budget and elimating fast food. So I plan for this to be the last thrown together menu plan. I need to start prepping during the day and using the crockpot again so I feel like I'm helping Jason out at night. I can't wait to cook every night again this Fall while I'm on leave!

Monday 3/12: Eggs, Bacon, Toast

Tuesday 3/13: Tilapia, Rice, Green Beans

Wednesday 3/14: Spaghetti, Rolls

Thursday 3/15: Ham, Stuffing, Broccoli

Friday 3/16: Chicken Taquitos, Spanish Rice, Refried Beans

Saturday 3/17: Steak/Mushroom Fajitas, Corn, Leftover Spanish Rice

Sunday 3/18: Laughing Cow Chicken Cordon Bleu, Noodles, Broccoli

Check out OrgJunkie for more menu plans and ideas!

Changes, Changes, Changes...

I'm constantly falling off the blogging bandwagon...time to try again!

How about a quick update?



Miss Hannah is do amazing in in school. She was doing so well in reading in the Fall that they allowed her to have her reading level tested...even though they don't normally do it until 1st grade! My smartie-pants Kindergartner is reading at a 2nd-3rd grade level! She's been able to check books out at the school library since January and loves it! Recently she started taking tests on the books she checks out. This past week she decided she would get a new book every day and test on it the next day. I'm excited that she loves reading as much as I do!



Miss Avery is a ball of energy. She goes to preschool 2 days a week and stay home with me the other days. She's really started to learn a lot the past few months and will be ready for Kindergarten in the fall! She's definitely my goofball kid and always doing silly things or telling jokes. She's very insistent lately that she's my baby...more on that later!



Mr Noah is such a big boy now! We're just a few days over 2 months until his 2nd birthday! He's still not talking much which I think is partially because he still has a binky in his mouth most of the time. We're starting to work on weaning him off those. He is most definitely a boy and loves "Choo-choos" and cars. Yesterday he was captivated by Caillou. I think that's the first cartoon I've seen him really pay attention to.



The big news is this little one that's Due in August/September! Our New Year's surprise Baby #4!! The timing isn't perfect but we're already in love with this little one. We've decided not to find out the gender until the birth. This baby was a surprise from the start and we figured we might as well keep it that way! Another decision I made is to cloth diaper this time. This baby-wearing, co-sleeping, breast-feeding, baby food-making is getting a bit crunchier! I'm actually really excited to not add a bunch more disposables to the landfills!

Jason started school in January for Solar and Wind Technology. He's doing amazing and has about a 3.8 GPA. I am SO proud of him and hope he continues to enjoy school. He'll graduate next May and be able to get a really great job. It will hopefully make things easier on us financially!

I'm just trying to keep up with everything! I'm finally starting to get a bit more energy now that I'm in the 2nd trimester and hopefully I can keep it up. I'm counting down the days until my Maternity Leave when I can spend some time at home with my kids!

Baking!

I've been baking a lot of cakes this past year and I made the best one for my sister in law's baby shower. I thought I'd post it here to add to Pinterest!

Christmas Challenge~ Week 1 Weigh In

This week went really well! I even stayed within my points on Saturday when we went to Red Lobster for dinner. I'm not expecting to lose this much next week because the first week on plan is normally a high loss. It's a great start to my Christmas challenge. I'm sticking to the No Fast Food and No Starbucks policy. It's too easy to go overboard...

Starting Weight 6/10: 265
Starting Challenge Weight 11/2: 226
Current: 221
Change: -5!!
Total: -44
Left until Christmas Goal:
6
Left until Ultimate Goal: 46

Off to a great start!!

Halloween Candy...

Halloween candy is a pain. I wasted way too many points on that yesterday. I don't even eat candy often. We don't buy it frequently and it's not a big craving. But for some reason I can't stay away from it! I told the girls they each get to fill up a sandwich baggie with their favorites tonight and the rest is being donated. None of us need all that junk!

Even with the candy yesterday, I'm still down a pound. Hoping I can keep it up. Monday will be tough because we're having a potluck at work. I'm going to eat low point for breakfast and lunch to save for the evening!

So far I've stayed OP and tracked for 3 days. Woot!