5 Years!

Aug 27th was our 5 yr anniversary. My mom watched Jase so the two of us could have a little "getaway." I had SO MUCH FUN. Thought I'd post a few pics from our wedding just to reminisce a bit...this is one of my favs:
Our first dance. We waited a loooong time to get married. I was so happy that I couldn't stop crying. This would explain why I am not looking so cool in this pic! Ha!
Cake feeding time!!! It was so yummy, too! My ol' boss made it for me as a wedding gift. It tasted and looked amazing (mom do not look too hard at this picture).
This was taken at our sit-down dinner (I really wanted to do one of these for some reason) before our reception. The food was excellent. And we were surrounded by close friends and family. Some great toasts were made that night. It went by too quickly for my liking! I was having a ball!
This is a pic of our hotel room we stayed in this weekend. It was sooo cute! And the bed was SO COMFY. Everything was clean, nice, warm neutral colors--I wanted to move in! We also tried a new fun mexican restaurant a friend recommended that was excelente (if I do say so myself). Roob was such a gentleman--opening my car door, being so sweet, and even surprising me with a cool pair of diamond stud earrings! I was so surprised I could barely talk! He got me good. I had so much fun this weekend. I want to go do it all over again. Here's to 5 years, babe. I love you!!!

Jasey is getting SO BIG

Jase found my cowgirl hat and was running around with it sitting sideways on his head. It was so funny!
I love this picture of him. He looks more like a boy than a toddler in it. And he is definitely all boy! Look at those dirty hands!
Jase has been surprising both of us lately with his vocabulary and speaking in mini sentences. He says things like "I got it," "Pippie barking (haha our dog barks a lot)," etc. One of my favorite things he says is "hamburger." He says it so cute! And he's learned that if we go to Walmart during lunch time I will get him a cheeseburger to eat while I shop. It's great b/c I can do 2 things at once. He is really starting to associate things with places we go--he recognizes when we are close to Grandpa's house, our house, the store, grandma's house, etc. When I take him to the local market by my house, he starts asking for a succer (they give dum dum's to the little kids). The other day he was running down the driveway and yelling "slow down, too fast" at the top of his lungs. I was cracking up (that is what I normally say when he runs bc he trips a lot)!

He has learned what "heavy" means. He says it whenever he carries things around. However, he has somehow associated "heavy" with "exertion" bc when he climbs up the stairs he'll say "heavy heavy" and we just laugh.

I weighed him the other day--he's 32 pounds. I think he's about 36" tall. I'm guessing. He's still in a size 4 diaper and wears 2T shirts and 24 month pants. However it does depend on the brand. Oh and his shoe size is about 6.5 - 7. He has a really long, big toe!

He has pretty much mastered eating with a fork & spoon. He will still drip a bit if it's something runny, but he does great with things like beans or grits. One thing he still hasn't figured out well is how to bite food. I still have to cut it into 1" pieces. I think it might be bc his front teeth are still a bit high and might be making it difficult to cut all the way through a piece of food.

Lately we've been singing him lots of songs and he loves that. We've started a little tradition of singing a few to him before we put him to bed. He's getting good at picking up on the words and trying to sing along. He does really well with "Twinkle Little Star" and also loves to sing the end of the "Moon Song" that goes "oh yes he does!" (but Jase just sings "oh does!!!") It's our favorite. He is also liking songs that have hand motions, like "Itsy bitsy Spider." He will do them with us.

I just can't believe how grown up my little boy is! He will be 2 years old in less than 3 months! I am planning on doing a "Veggie Tales" themed party for him since he LOOOVES those shows. If you're not familiar, they are animated vegetables that have funny voices and they teach some sort of principle like handling peer pressure, how to be confident with bullies, patience, self-esteem, etc. They are super cute & funny and filled with silly songs. I love them, too. Some of the longer films are loosely based on Bible stories, but done in a funny way. Anyways, the main characters are Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. He'll run around the house saying "Bob & Larry! Bob & Larry!"

Jase has gotten really good at going down slides, swinging, and climbing things at the park. He is way more brave than I'd prefer! Sometimes the lil' daredevil trys climbing up the monkey bars or other "big boy" things and I'm afraid he'll fall and break something. He can even climb up a ladder to go down one of those old metal slides. We have a great park just a few blocks from our house. If I drive by anywhere close he'll say "park! slide! swings!" and want me to take him there. It's cute.

He also LOVES to go on bike rides with us. We have a bike trailer that we pull behind one of the bikes and we strap him in and go. He also loves to ride on the lawnmower when dad cuts the grass. As soon as he hears it, he'll run to the door and say "lawnmower. ride!" so I'll take him outside to ride.

He's pretty good at following basic things I ask him to do like "throw this in the garbage," or "throw that diaper away," "put your toy back," etc. I have been trying to teach him how to "help" do things as much as he can. When I mop he'll grab the mop and push it around the floor. Same with the broom. He even had a paper towel and was pretending to wipe counters when I was cleaning them. Ha ha. And everyday he repeats/says a few new words. He can really repeat almost anything you say! (Time to watch what I say around here). It's so fun to hear him talk. I love it. I really love the stage he's in right now. I love laughing at all the cute things he will say and do. It's so awesome.

Well, if you read all this you deserve an award. I have just been lamenting how much I've slacked on his baby book--so this is my way of trying to catch up!

Local County Fair Talent Show

I signed up for a local county fair's version of "America's Got Talent." They had varied acts of all kinds (well most of them were singing AND most of the performers were really young), and a panel of judges. I found out TODAY that I'd be the first to perform! Oh nooooo. First is always the worst. But I was glad to be able to get out there and shake the nerves quickly. My goal for this event was to improve my energy level with the audience and keep them entertained. I think I finally did that--though I don't have that part on camera. Oops. Anyways, mission accomplished!

EASY Shrimp (aka BBQ Shrimp)

There are many variations of this popular New Orleans dish. I have never tried making it before until today. In the south, we call it "BBQ Shrimp," even though there really isn't any BBQ sauce in it at all. Not sure how it got that name? But anyways...I wasn't able to copy and paste this recipe so you'll have to go "Pioneer Woman"to get it. But it's SO EASY and it was delicious! Roob and I wiped them out! You probably already have everything you need to make it, too-- lemons, salt, pepper, tabasco, worscestershire sauce, EVOO, and butter. WORD UP. I hope you like it as much as we did. Oh, and for you westerners, you must buy RAW shrimp with the shell ON. I'd recommend about the 31-40/lb size. I used smaller ones and they were a little hard to peel. We just ate them right off the cookie sheet and dipped french bread in the sauce. Amazing. With some sauteed zucchini (from my garden, thank you) and fresh tomatoes on the side. MMM.

VOTE for Jeanine!!!!!!

I must say that this show (so you think you can dance) has become one of my very favorites! What these dancers do is uhhhmayzing to me!!!! Jeanine has been my favorite from the start! I totally think she killed it tonight in the finale! If you watch the show, VOTE!!! Good luck Jeanine!

Baked Ziti Pasta

This turned out to be exactly what I wanted--creamy, cheesy pasta with a nice italian kick to it. Takes a bit to prepare it, but it's worth it for this comfort food. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 lb. whole milk or 1% cottage cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups), divided
Table salt
1 lb. ziti pasta
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
20 oz. turkey Italian sausage (I used a 16 oz. package of pork Italian sausage)
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
green bell pepper, finely chopped (I added this ingredient just because)
5 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce (FYI, this is NOT spaghetti sauce, just plain tomato sauce!)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves, divided (I used half fresh, half dried)
1 tsp. sugar
Ground black pepper
3/4 tsp. cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk) (I used cream)
8 oz. low-moisture mozzarella, shredded

Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs, and 1 cup Parmesan together in a medium bowl; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta; cook until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5-7 minutes (mine took about 9 min but I’m at high altitude). Drain the pasta and leave in colander.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Crumble in the turkey sausage and cook until nearly browned. Add in the onion, garlic, (and bell pepper!) and continue to cook until the onion is softened and the sausage is completely browned. Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Off the heat, stir in 1/2 cup basil and the sugar, and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and heavy cream. Transfer the mixture to the now-empty stockpot (the one you cooked the pasta in) over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cottage cheese mixture, 1 1/2 cups of the tomato sauce and 3/4 cup mozzarella to the cream mixture. Stir to combine. Add the pasta and toss to coat thoroughly with the sauce. (I was using my big dutch oven pot so I just tossed it all in there, then baked it in the oven in that same pot. It made so much I have no clue if all that would even fit in a 9x13 pan).

Transfer the pasta to a 9×13″ baking dish and spread the remaining tomato sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over the top. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil from the pan and continue to cook until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons basil and serve. (I just sprinkled it with parsley).