6 Months (just a little late)!

Kyran is 6 months (actually he's almost 7, but I'm just a little behind)!

He had a great visit to the doctor.  He is 25 1/4 inches and weighs 19 lbs. and 4 oz.  He's in the 75% for weight and 95% for height.  He had to get some shots, which he did not like at all, but he recovered quickly!

 Grandma Queenie and Kyran, just hanging out

Not only is he growing, he's also moving.  Since turning 6 months, he's discovered the army crawl, the wiggle crawl, the throw your leg in the air crawl, and an actual hands and knees crawl.  He's definitely a mover and he loves to get into everything.  I think we had the whole house baby-proofed before Ben was a month old...of course, Ben never touched a thing.  Kyran, unfortunately, is not following in his brother's footsteps.  If he sees it, and he can reach it, he's into it!

Not the clearest picture...but evidence of the mover we have.  Andy takes the boys to breakfast on Saturday's, and he's now resorted to taking the walker so that Kyran can stay entertained...he's not one to just sit on our laps and play.  I love our small town restaurant!!!

He loves all food, is having lots of fun trying to figure out how to get cheerios into his mouth, and we're working on a sippy cup.  He's really growing up!

Welcome to the world, sweet Lucy!

My sister and her husband welcomed their third daughter, Lucy Anne, on September 26th.  Little Lucy entered the world weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces and is 20 inches long.   We are so happy for all of them!

Bye Bye Summer!

This past weekend, we loaded up the boys and headed to Raccoon lake for a last minute camping trip.  Our friends, Chad and Callie, invited us to go, and we actually had a weekend with no plans...so, why not!  We were able to borrow Andy's, Uncle Ed's pontoon boat, and let me just say, THAT is the way to go on the lake with kiddos!  It was so easy to get in and out of the water, we could put Kyran in his exer-saucer in the back, and there was plenty of room to walk around and enjoy each other's company!  The weather was perfect and I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the adults...we were just sorry that we had to pack up and head back home.  What a way to cap off a fantastic summer!

The cutest little skipper I've ever seen :)

Nap time!

These boys had SO much fun together!

Brian and Taylor came down on Saturday afternoon and joined us on the water.  Kyran found a nice spot to nap!

When we weren't on the boat, we were lounging back at the campers...don't the dads look comfy :)

Fun at Aunt Stacey's!

We loaded up and headed to my sister's house the other day to visit with them for the afternoon...they are preparing for baby #3's arrival in a few weeks, so we thought it would be easier to head their way!  Andy's sister and her family went with us to help deliver a sofa-sleeper (anyone that has ever had to move one of those, knows that you definitely need help)!  Mom and Dad also stopped by, so it made for a very nice afternoon!

Freezer Meal Marathon!

Last night, my sister and I decided to do a freezer meal marathon.  Stacey's expecting in October, and I'm headed back to work next week, so we thought it would be nice to stock our freezers...somehow our cooking takes a backseat to work and parenting, lol :)

This is what the kitchen looked like before starting!

I had done this before (you can check those recipes out here), so I decided to use a few of those that I liked and then I also found another website with some recipes that I wanted to try.  Throw in a meatloaf recipe from memory, and we had 38 meals done in about four hours!

I always want to give credit where credit is due, so here are the original websites with the recipes:

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-freezer-meals-make-8-meals.html
From this website, we made:
Chicken broccoli alfredo
Chicken cacciatore

I've made all of the recipes from this link though and can vouch for all of them...they're yummy!

http://joelandkitty.com/4o-freezer-meals-in-about-4-hours/
From this website, we made:
Manicotti
Sweet and sour chicken
Chicken tacos
Orange teriyaki chicken 

The rest of the recipes looked good, but we were going for fast recipes!  The ones we didn't make seemed a bit time intensive for our evening, so we thought we'd do those another time.

We also added Teriyaki Pork.  I'm not sure where I found this recipe at, so I'm not sure who to give credit to.

Teriyaki Pork

2-3 lbs boneless pork chops cut into small pieces.
1 medium onion sliced
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 cup water

Step 1: After chopping the meat into bite sized pieces add it and all the ingredients to a gallon sized freezer bag.

Step 2: Freeze and then defrost in fridge the night before serving. Cook on high for 4 hours. Serve over rice with veggies.

We also made our favorite meatloaf recipe.  We use ground beef, ground pork, bread crumbs, eggs, liquid smoke, and salt and pepper.  Mix it all together and form into loaves.

We multiplied the recipes this way:
Chicken broccoli alfredo x 6
Chicken cacciatore x 6
Manicotti - this recipe makes enough for 6 (no need to multiply it)
Sweet and sour chicken x 4
Chicken tacos x 4
Orange teriyaki chicken x 4
Teriyaki pork x 4
Meatloaf x 4

Celebrating Ben!

Today, we celebrate Ben!!!

It's hard to believe that we welcomed Ben into our lives four years ago!  Where has the time gone???  It seems like yesterday we were looking at each other wondering "what in the world have we gotten ourselves into?", and now we look at each other and wonder "what in the world did we do before we had these kiddos?"

From the moment Ben was born, our lives were changed forever...and for the better!  I find myself laughing every day at something he says or does; his comedic timing is spot on!  It makes my heart melt to see how he interacts with Kyran and for the love that he has for him (obviously we haven't gotten to the toy stealing stage yet with Kyran...I'm sure that love will change then) :)

Happy, happy birthday Benner Boo...we love you so much and we can't wait to see all that this year has in store for you!

Day one...we just couldn't believe you were finally here!!!

 

One year...you kept us on our toes!

 

Two years...you started talking at 22 months and never stopped!  You still amaze us with your vocabulary!

 

Year three...started sports, loves anything Cars, can't get enough of the tractors and combines, and your dimpled smile still melts your mommy's heart!

 

Our bright eyed four year old! 

My boys!

Just thought I'd post some random photos from the past week...love these boys!!!