What's for Dinner - Creamy One-Pot Pasta

We had this for dinner tonight, and it was so yummy! 

I used these noodles, just to get some veggies into a certain three year old that refuses to eat veggies. 

And they tasted great! 

Please excuse the picture, but I forgot to take a picture until dinner was put away. 

Our Disney Vacation

I know this is about 3 months overdue, but I finally got around to blogging about our Disney Vacation. 

We had a great time, and you can read all about it.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7 

Big Boy Bed Part 2

First, Michael and I went shopping for a blanket for his bed. I wanted something classic and that will grow with him. I don't want to be buying a new blanket every couple of years for him. 

I really liked several from Pottery Barn, but I just cannot justify paying $125 for just a quilt!

So, we went to Marshall's and found just what we were looking for! There were two different ones I liked, so I let Michael pick which one he wanted. 

I'm glad he picked the one he did, cause that was the one I would have picked too. 

I love all the blues, and the bright green gives it a little something. 

Best part, it was only $40 and included the sham! 

Now for an update on how he is doing in his new bed:

Well, Michael has been in his new bed for a week now and it has completely changes his sleeping patterns. I was not expecting this at all. He usually would go to bed really easily, go right to sleep and sleep till 8 or 8:30. Now, he wants to play at bed time, is getting out of his bed when he is supposed to be sleeping, and he is waking up at 7:00! His naps are also getting shorter. He used to nap for 2+ hours, and yesterday, it was only an hour. 

Last night, I kept hearing walking around, so I went to check on him and he had every light on upstairs and was playing in the extra bedroom! I think tonight we will be putting up the baby gate outside of his room, so he at least he will stay in his room. We don't really mind if he is in his bed looking at books (which he was also doing last night), because he will eventually fall asleep. We just don't want him wandering around the house. This morning, when I went downstairs, the lights were on, and his toys were out. So, who knows when he was down there playing! 

This probably has a lot to do with him testing his boundaries. He has been doing that a lot lately, and this is just one more area where he wants to see what he can get away with. Hopefully he will figure it out quickly. 

Planes!

One of Michael's birthday presents from us, was going to see the new movie, Planes. Every time Michael saw anything to do with the movie, he got so excited, so I knew he would love the movie. 

We went last Tuesday night and Michael had a great time. He didn't move from his seat almost the entire time. He did have to go the bathroom, but other than that, he just sat and stared at the movie. 

Since then, he has told anyone who will listen, that he saw the planes movie. I am actually thinking about taking him to see it again, because he liked it so much.

Slimy Worms

If you know anything about Michael, you know that he does not like to touch slimy things. Like worms or lizards or snakes. When we were at Disney in January, he had the chance to be the first one to touch a skink, and he refused. He only wanted to look at it. He will look at them all day long, but do not try to get him touch them. 

Well, slowly, he has taken an interest in actually touching/holding worms. 

It started with just touching them. Then it went to him actually picking up a dead worm off the driveway. 

Well last week, he picked up a live, wiggling, squirming, slimy worm! An was so proud of himself! 

Maybe next time he has the opportunity to pet a skink, he will! 

Three year check-up

Michael had his three year check up today. He did great! Even when he had to get his finger pricked. 

He is now 39 1/4 inches tall and weighs 33 lbs.  

He is a tall and skinny! The doctor wasn't too concerned with his weight. She said to try to get him to eat as much protein as I can. 

She was impressed with how much he knows, and said to keep working with him, because he will learn so much so easily. 

We are going to start doing a new letter every week. And hopefully he will learn them all really good. He knows a lot of letters, but it's something I want to be intentional about. 

Anyway, he did great as the doctor, and hopefully we won't need to go back again until next August. So far, he has only been to the doctor for his well child check ups. I've got one healthy little boy! 

Big Boy Bed

Today was the day. We moved Michael into a big boy bed! I know most kids are moved out of their crib before their third birthday, but for Michael, he just loved his crib. It was a his space, that he was comfortable in. And he was in no hurry to move out. We had started talking about a new bed months ago, but his response was always the same, "I have a bed!" Well, one day I showed him the twin bed that we had for him, and that was all it took. He talked all the time about moving to a big boy bed. So, for his birthday, Andrew's  parents got him a mattress and some buzz and woody sheets. The mattress was delivered on Friday and I asked Michael if he wanted to sleep in his new bed, or in his crib one more time. He said he wanted to sleep in his crib, and I was thankful. You never know when something will be the last time, until it had past, but I knew that Friday night, would be the last night my baby boy would sleep in his crib. Yes, I took pictures.  

Anyway, this morning, we went to Walmart to buy a mattress cover and some extra sheets. When we got home, I set out to transform his room. I took the crib apart, moved furniture, put the twin bed together and set it all up. 

And yes, I did it all myself. Michael was there to help too ;) 

He was so excited! 

From the time I started setting it up, he asked constantly if it was nap time yet. He was so excited to take a nap in his new bed.  

At last it was time to take a nap, and he climbed right in, pulled up the covers and laid down. Of course he did talk to himself for 30 minutes all about his new bed and sheets. And when he woke up, he stood at the top of the stairs and yelled down, "Momma, I'm awake!" 

He was just as excited to go to bed tonight. 

Hopefully we won't have any visitors in our bed tonight. 

We still have to get some blankets for his bed, but for now, we are using an extra one we had in the closet. 

I can't believe he is old enough to be in a big bed. 

Michael's Monsters Inc Birthday Party

We had a wonderful time celebrating Michael's third birthday. We decided to have it at the local park and it worked out great.

I was so worried that it would rain, since it has rained almost every day this summer, but it didn't rain at all. In fact, it was clear skies and HOT and HUMID!! It's a good thing we had lots of water and juice!

All of the kids had a great time on the playground! 

As far as food goes, we had cupcakes, watermelon, cheese-its, and rice crispy treats. Since it was at 10:00 in the morning, we could get away with not serving a meal. 

Michael got so many wonderful gifts, and was spoiled rotten! 

I made up the cutest little party bags for all the kids, and forgot to give them out till there were only a couple of kids left. Luckily, most of the kids were cousins, so we were able to get them their bags. 

Inside each bag was a bag of monster gummies, a lolly pop, 3 gum balls, 3 packs of sixlets, and two sour punch licorice pieces. Everything was color coordinated, blue, aqua, and green; To match the theme, of course. Party City has all of their candy color coordinated, so it was really easy to just grab 15 pieces of each candy, in each of the colors. Then each bag was tied with a aqua and green ribbon. Super easy , and super cute. 

I would say the party was a success! Michael was having so much fun, and loved having all of his friends and cousins there. 

Monsters Inc Birthday Party Prep

When Michael said he wanted a "Mike Wazowski" Party, I went straight to Pinterest to find some ideas. I found these cupcakes and knew immediately that I wanted to make them.

I also found these "Sully" cupcakes and thought they would be cute. 

A couple of days before the party, I had to do a little prep for the cupcakes. 

I had to make the eyes

And the mouths 

Then the night before the party, I made the cupcakes, decorated and assembled them all. With help from my momma! 

I think they turned out Great! 

So, you want to know how to make them, here you go. 

For the Mike Wazowski cupcakes: 

The eyes are a white candy melt, with blue cookie icing, and a brown mini M&M. That's it. I got the candy melts from hobby lobby and the cookie icing in the baking aisle at the grocery store. Just a note, you don't need that much icing. You can see in the picture of the eye balls, that I started with too much icing, and cut back a lot as I went. 

For the mouths, I used a tootsie roll that I rolled out and cut with a cookie cutter into a mouth shape. For the the teeth, I used the same cookie icing. If I had to do it over again, I would wait till the morning of the party to put the mouth on. Because the tootsie roll got very soggy and started dripping by the next morning. 

The antlers were just slivered almonds, bought in the store that way. 

For the "Sully" cupcakes, we used a "grass" frosting tip. Very simple. 

I am very happy with how both of them turned out. 

August 10th

This day is significant for so many reasons.

31 years ago, I was born

10 years ago, I said "yes"

And

3 years ago, I saw this face for the first time.

And it was love at first sight! I knew that this was my son, the one God chose just for me. 

August 10th is one of my favorite days! 

This year, I celebrated this day with a very special Monsters Inc Party for a very special little boy! 

Then that night, we went to Maggiano's for dinner. 

It was a great day, full of celebration! 

Got Bubbles

First thing this morning, Michael asked if we could go outside and play with his bubble gun. I'm thinking we did good with that gift!

A day of Celebration

Here is how Michael celebrated turning three: 

When he woke up, he got to snuggle in bed with Mommy, while we sang Happy Birthday to him, before Daddy had to go to work. Then he watched a movie in our bed, and got to drink chocolate Milk! After his movie, we got ready and went to go get donuts! 

He chose the bag of donut holes. I'm sure he has figured out he gets a lot more donuts that way ;) 

Then we went to see Grandma and Papa at work. 

Then home to nap. 

After nap time I kept asking him what he wanted to do, or where he wanted to go, and he just wanted to stay home and play. 

Daddy came home from work early and Michael opened his presents! 

- New Monsters Inc shirts & socks

- New pajamas 

- A Bubble gun

- Play dough toys 

- Monsters Inc Gummies & stickers

He was very excited about the bubble gun, so we went straight outside to play with it.  He had a blast! 

Then it was dinner time. Nothing special, just spaghetti. But I did make the sauce from scratch! And it was delicious! 

After dinner, we took Michael out for ice cream. This is something we started last year and I want to continue. Since his party isn't on his actual birthday, I want him to have a special treat, but don't really want to make two cakes in one week. So ice cream makes sense. This year we went to Dairy Queen and Michael got the chocolate dipped come! 

As you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed it! 

And yes, he ate it all! 

He had a great birthday, and we can't wait to celebrate at his party this weekend! 

Happy Birthday Michael!

I can't believe my baby boy is three today! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday, he was a tiny little baby!

And now, he is a running, jumping, big boy! 

I am so proud of him! Just ask any of my friends or family. I can't stop talking about how wonderful he is. He is so funny, and keeps us constantly entertained. He is so smart and is always surprising us with what he knows. But the biggest surprise, is his imagination. He has quite a wild one. 

Michael, we love you more than you will ever know. You were and still are, our biggest blessing. 

How is it possible, that out of all the little boys in the whole world, God gave us the very best one? 

Happy Birthday Michael! 

We love you!