Quick & Easy Dinner: Taco Mac

Rick does all the grocery shopping in our house.  So sometimes he shows up with some random buys that I wouldn't typically purchase.  So Sunday he shows up with about 10 boxes of various mac & cheese boxes, including this one by Velveeta with Rotel.

When I saw this I thought, hmmm, this is interesting.  What can I do with this to make it into a good meal.  I happened to have ground turkey in the fridge that needed to be used.  So I thought this could be interesting but it still needs something.  Add some taco seasoning and we have a fun taco cheesy noodle dinner.

Ingredients

1 box Velveeta Shells & Cheese with Rotel

1 pound ground turkey/chicken/beef (we use turkey)

1 package taco seasoning

Make the shells & cheese as instructed on the box.  Prepare the ground turkey with taco seasoning as instructed.  Once shells & cheese are done and ground turkey with taco seasoning is complete, add ground turkey as you prefer.  I only used about half the ground turkey mix to add to the shells & cheese so we had leftovers the next evening for tacos and I've been using a little in my salads each day for lunch.

So tasty, so easy and quick and it's now on rotation in our house.

-stephanie

To Double or Not to Double...

That is the question.  Addie will be nearly 3 when this little guy is born so I'm having this internal debate.  Do we buy the double stroller or pass on the double?  I go back and forth because a) this guy will be itty bitty for a little while and I'll likely be wearing him anywhere we go for the first few months and b) by the time he's big enough that I'd put him in a stroller it will probably be the dead of winter.  So will I actually need a double at that point?  Eh, probably not.  So at this point my thought is that if we do go double stroller, it has to be a cheap purchase.  Right now I have my eye on this one.

The Baby Trend Sit N Stand Double Stroller.  I think what I like about this is that both kids can sit down and see out while we're trucking around.  The second tier is slightly elevated so they can also see out a bit more than if they were level.

You also have the option to do an infant carrier and the regular seat.  The infant carrier can be on the front or the back.  I'd put them on the back so Addie could sit on the front and could see out easier.

This is how the stroller typically looks, which is actually the only option I thought the Sit N Stand came in.  I kept thinking, why would anyone want the older child to be free to jump on and off as they please.  And what happens when you're using this stroller at the zoo or on a long day and the older child gets tired?  So I love that this stroller has so many options.  

At a price point under $140 it's super affordable.  You would have to purchase the infant carrier that the stroller accepts which would be an additional cost but it's about the same cost of a travel system with all those additional pieces.  

I'm not sure that we're ready to pull the trigger on the purchase yet, but it's the best option I've found for what we would need.  What are your thoughts?  Do you have a double stroller?  Did you use it often?  I need advice!

-stephanie

Little Hipster

In my Friday bump update I was most looking forward to the weekend and I think this post of pictures will explain it turned out to be everything I was hoping for.  Friday night we went to my brother & sister in laws house for a little get together.  Jean weather is here in the first week of August!  Crazy.  I love this weather but it's making me nervous that my maternity leave will be cooler than it should be at that time of the year.

The girl loves a smoothie.

I love it.

Her outfit kills me.  Now that she's like a little girl she looks cuter and cuter in her clothes.  Like a little lady.

Saturday morning when had plans for a Home Depot workshop event.

Unfortunately, we didn't do so well on this one.  We put the car together upside down and didn't realize until we were putting on the tires.  Whoops!  Luckily the lady running the event took pity on Rick as he tried to disassemble the car for 15 minutes to fix our mistake.

How cute is that little slide?  Addie could have done this all day long.  We may have to make a mini version for the basement.

She even enjoyed sitting underneath the ramp.

After our Home Depot workshop we decided to check out some garage sales in the area and bought Addie a couple books.

I love how serious she looks when "reading" the book.

Sunday we decided to hang out as a family at our favorite Mexican place to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary.

That's Rick's beer, not mine.  :(

And we walked around the mall, unfortunately I didn't get a gift from this place.

Still looked gorgeous Sunday evening.

And the picture of the weekend...

OMG.  I die.  Seriously. I. Die.  Love her to pieces.

-stephanie

32 Week Bump Update

Oi, it's 3pm and I still haven't posted my bump update.  What a week it's been.  I'm working on filling a difficult role so I'm feeling a little stressed which is why it's now 3pm and I'm just posting my easiest post of the week.  So, let's keep it simple because it's effing Friday!  Here's my update and don't forget to enter the giveaway which ends on Sunday evening!

Due Date? Scheduled c-section date of September 20th.  I imagine this chunk will arrive before then.

How far along? 32 weeks

How big is baby? The baby is the size of a large jiacama about 16.7" and about 3.75lbs.  Now we know the baby is larger than that estimate but that's from my baby app and it's an average.

Weight gain? +26

What's going on with baby?  Baby will gave almost half his body weight by delivery.  This additional fat will keep the baby warm on the outside.  The soft lanugo hair is starting to shed.  Over the next few weeks his real hair and skin will become soft and smooth.

Stretchmarks? Nothing new from what I can tell at least.  I'm sure they're there but the amount of stretching going on, I'll likely not know until after he's out.

Sleep? Great sleep, waking once to use the restroom and can generally get back to sleep easily.  I'm finding myself waking up almost completely on my stomach so I think I need to get out my snoogle.

Best moment this week? Hanging out at the fair last Friday with Addie and Rick.  She seemed to enjoy it and loved all the food she got to experience.  She also got to go to her first movie Saturday morning which was fun to go through, but also stressful.  We were super aware and sensitive to her being loud and needing to leave.  We nearly made it the entire movie but had to duck out about 10 minutes early.

Movement? A lot of really intense jabs and shooting pains that I didn't have with Addie so I don't know what's normal and what's not.  From what I've heard from other moms this is completely normal.

Food cravings? Not a whole lot really.  I had my share of fair food last weekend but I could do with another gyro and fair fries.

Gender? Boy!

Labor signs? none.

Belly button in or out? Slowly thinning but still in.

What I miss? Having a drink.  It's been a rough couple of weeks in my new role and I'd like to enjoy one glass of whatever when we go out for dinner.  It's just that time of year when you get to really enjoy it and I get to watch everyone do it.

What I am looking forward to? I left this blank last week somehow...whoops!  I'm always looking forward to the weekend so we're nearly there again.  

Milestones? I'm halfway through the 3rd trimester so it's become a countdown.  I have officially 7 weeks until I get to hold my little guy, maybe sooner if he decides to surprise us.

Next doctor's appointment? August 15th and then my biweekly checks begin!

-stephanie

Ohio State Fair 2013

One of my absolute favorite times of year is going to the Ohio State Fair.  The food.  It's really all about the food.  So Friday evening we headed over to the fair with the thought that most of the night we'd be taking Addie back and forth to all the rides.  That didn't turn out as planned.  First we headed over to the petting zoo.  She wanted to feed them french fries.

So we headed over to the kiddie rides fully expecting to spend our entire night in that area but quickly found out that Addie is about 2 inches shy of riding nearly every ride solo.

I love those little pigtails.

She spent the entire ride trying to touch the water, I imagine this is what she's doing.  There must be water in that gator.

The other ride she was able to ride was this motorized bumper boat ride.

She spent most of the ride spinning in circles but she loved it.

I always forget to capture the food pics but we did manage to get these somewhat family pics.

I love this picture of us.  She's just chilaxing watching the helicopter take off.

It was 8 when we left and Addie was getting restless, but she quickly livened up when she heard the music playing.

She's got moves like Jagger!

-stephanie

PS.  Don't forget to enter the Kidz Gear headphones giveaway.