8.27.11

And Happy 27th birthday to the best sister and friend I could ever ask for... and the newest, cutest little mommy. I'm thinking 3 more years to plan the 30th birthday sissy travel time!!!

Love you lil' sis peepiters!!!

Lentil Skillet

I got this recipe from a friend and tried it out the other evening for a quick, meat-free dinner. I changed a few things from the original and it is a great base to add whatever veggies you have on hand. Next time I will probably add some chopped spinach as well. We all loved it. Grey even asked for it for lunch the next day.

1 onion, diced
2-3 carrots, diced or shredded
1 cup lentils
1/2 cup brown rice
1 zucchini or squash, diced or shredded
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 - 1 cup water as desired
salt & pepper to taste

Saute the onion and carrots in a small amount of olive oil until softened. Add lentils and rice and saute for another minute. Add zucchini, tomato sauce and broth and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until lentils and rice cook through. Add more water for a thinner consistency. Serve with a squeeze or two of lime juice and cilantro.

Starting School

Grey started preschool on Friday! He was supposed to be in the morning class so that Jared could help with drop-offs and I could run errands with only two kids while he was at school. I found out two days before that they had put him in the afternoon class and there was no hope of changing it. It gave me a little panic when I found out. I had barely wrapped my head around hauling three kids out once every day to and from the school. Now I drop him off, hurry home to get Elise down for her 2 hour nap, wake her up and head out to pick him up again. I will get the hang of it--I am just not excited about it.

We aren't off to a great start, so I am hoping things start looking up. On Friday (the first day) the teacher talked to me because another boy punched him in the eye. And today I got a phone call from her just after I finished my lunch that he was throwing up and I needed to come pick him up. I hurriedly woke up both napping kiddos and rushed over to get my sick G. He was passed out on a big pillow in the room. We made it out of the school after one almost disaster. Luckily he kind of sort of made it to the bathroom....

Anyways... in honor of Grey starting school, I took him for a little Mommy & Grey date to Dairy Queen the night before. He picked out a blizzard with m&ms. I had him choose a lunch before he went to school the first day and he chose whole-wheat pancakes, pears, kiwi and edamame. Funny and random. Unfortunately he came home starving!

He is so handsome and definitely looks so grown-up! It is a strange realization that I will never have my boy home with me again. It goes way too quickly. I finally enjoy him and want to spend time with him and I have to send him to school!

Two-weeker

Hard to believe sweet Cole has been with us for two weeks--and especially hard to believe I gave birth two weeks ago! Other than being tired and my leaking eyes, my body feels so great! This recovery has been awesome. Now just four more weeks to get the dr. okay to work out. It is nice to be on the third baby. Jared & I have our system down and it is so much less stressful and worrisome. Let's hope it sticks.

Cole is such a delight! He hardly ever cries--mostly just grunts and barks. I have soaked up every possible minute snuggling and kissing his tiny lips and nose just in case this is our last baby.

Jared went back to work on Monday and since then, I have survived taking all three kids on a trip to Sunflower Market and Target, a picnic at the park, sitting at a Labcorp for an hour to get blood drawn for Cole, and filling out paperwork at Grey's new school. I only lost my mind briefly a couple times! The real trouble is always the toddler--Elise already has spunk and it is coming out in full force now.

Grey's comment about Cole today: " Mom, I just love him so much that you need to stop feeding him. I want him to stay small because he is sooooo cute!"

I will definitely keep feeding him, but we are all so in love with this little guy!

Rub-a-dub-dub

The kids were so excited to help with Cole's first bath. They got their stools out to reach the counter and helped clean him with the washcloths. Poor Grey thought they could take a bath together... Cole is such a sweetheart! No crying at all. He was very relaxed and almost asleep. And mmmmmm he smelled so yummy afterwards.

The big brother helper

All snuggled up with fuzzy hair after