Congratulations, Daddy!!!

Mommy and I went to Daddy's Regional Swim Meet last night. His kids swam really well (or at least that is what Mommy and Daddy tell me). I was such a good girl that someone even told Mommy that I was...and I quote..."an exceptional baby".

Daddy will have 4 girls and 1 boy at the State Swim Meet in Austin in two weeks! Isn't that awesome? They will be competing in 2 relays and 3 individual events.

That reminds me...while Daddy is in Austin with his athletes, Mommy and I will be in Wisconsin visiting Grandma and Grandpa and the rest of the family. I can't wait to see my cousins again! They aren't going to believe how big I have gotten and how much I am talking now (not to mention the vocabulary and typing skills I needed to post this message). Mommy thinks she is so funny sometimes :)

That is all for now...Just wanted to brag on my Daddy a little. Oh, and I almost forgot that a couple weeks ago he was voted District Coach of the Year! I have the coolest Daddy ever!!

Kennedy's Snow Day

It has been snowing here since about 3am Thursday morning. Now, when I say snowing I mean "really snowing" and not a "Texas snowing." When people say it's going to snow down here it usually means a few flakes here and there and maybe a few blades of grass hang onto a few of the flakes. That is not what happened today. We probably have about 8 inches on our patio furniture and it is still snowing. It has been around 32 degrees all day and the weatherman said that if it was a few degrees colder we would definitely have more than a foot of snow, but it was melting some so it wasn't accumulating like it could have. Needless to say I had to bundle Kennedy up so she could experience the weather and I could take some pictures (I even learned how to use the timer feature). I put her bouncey seat under the covered part of the patio while I built a snowman in our backyard. As you can see in the pictures she wasn't very happy about sitting on our swing or making a snow angel. She did okay when I sat her by the snowman, but my camera battery was going dead so I only got one picture of her by it.

If you click on the picture it will open it and make it larger so you can see the smaller pictures on here.

Had to share another one

I had to share the one I made for Danny to put on his desktop computer at work. This digital stuff is too much fun!

My First "Project"

I got my new digital scrapbooking software in the mail today. I couldn't wait to get it installed and play with it. Here is my first project!! This will be February 3 (hence the 3 in the corner) in my daily picture scrapbook I'll be making.

GO COLTS!!!!

Yummy!

Just had to share the recipe I have found from Kraft for Slow Cooker Lasagna. As I was putting it together this afternoon for dinner tonight I thought...I really need to share this. It is so easy and tastes so good. I have made it several times and we even had it for Christmas Eve dinner at Mom and Dad's this year.

Slow Cooker Lasgana



Prep: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 4-6 Hours

What you Need:
1 lb Ground Beef
1 jar (26 oz) Spaghetti Sauce
1 cup Water
1 container (15 oz) Ricotta Cheese
1 pkg (7 oz) Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 Egg
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I never have this on hand so I just throw in some italian seasoning)
6 Lasagna Noodles, Uncooked

How to Make it:
Brown meat in large skillet, drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and water. Mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 Tbsp parmesan, egg and parsley (seasoning).

SPRAY slow cooker to keep it from sticking.

Spoon 1 cup meat sauce into slow cooker; top with layers of half each of noodles, broken to fit and cheese mixture. Cover with 2 cups of the meat sauce. Top with noodles, broken to fit, cheese mixture and remaining meat sauce. Cover with lid.

Cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; let stand, covered, 10 minutes or until melted.

NOTE: For best results, do not cook on the HIGH heat setting.

4 Month Update

Kennedy had her 4 month check-up this morning. I wasn't really thinking when I made the appointment because I made it for 8:20. Lately she has been sleeping until about 8 or 8:30 which meant this morning I had to actually wake her up so I had time to feed her. Poor girl...that is one of the advantage of having your Mommy stay at home - you get to sleep until you wake up most of the time. Anyway, back to the appointment. She weighs 11 pounds 5 ounces and is 24 inches long. As the doctor said, "She is long and skinny." She is still within "normal ranges" just tiny. He told us that we could start giving her solids, so we will probably start with rice sometime this week. I was actually surprised that he said we could try any stage one foods (introducing one at a time, of course)....I figured she would adjust to the rice for awhile before we even thought about Peas or Blueberry Buckle. For those of you saying "Blueberry Buckle??" - it was a favorite of my niece and nephews and I have to admit I have tasted it and it is pretty yummy :) He also said that I need to just suck it up and let her fuss with Tummy Time more. She has never liked it and apparently I have given in too easily because she still has a little bit of a bobblehead. We will be working on that!

At 4 Months Kennedy....

...smiles all the time.

...loves to reach for things.

...has become quite attached to her purple bear that her Daddy has named "bukie."

...has lots of Coo's and Gaa's for us.

...goes to bed between 9 and 10 every night without a fuss and will sleep until 7:30 or 8:00.

...still doesn't like to nap, but just put curtains in her room that might help.

...moved to her big girl bed upstairs. Mommy and Daddy (well, mostly Mommy) ended up sleeping upstairs in the spare bedroom for about a week and a half. Everyone is in their own bed now.

...has Violet (Leapfrog) that plays her a lullaby every night.

...enjoys going to swim meets and basketball games.

...will play so hard on her playmat that she falls asleep (see previous post picture)

It's hard to believe she is already 4 months old.

On another note - I haven't done any scrapbooking for a LONG time, but a friend of mine had a Creative Memories party last Friday. The consultant showed us a book she started on January 1st. A friend of her's challenged her to take a picture every day and then do a two page layout every week (7 pictures). She is using the Multi-Pocket Sleeves and digital scrapbooking so she just prints the pictures after she has done all the editing and scrapbooky stuff and slides them in the slots. I wish I would have went to the party before Kennedy was born because I would have been sure to take a picture every day. My camera organizes my pictures by date when I upload them to my computer so I am going to try and do this for the 1st year of Kennedy's life even if I have to fudge on some days to make up for October 1st - January 28th. I am super excited about it and have been taking my pictures (not always of her, like today when I took a picture of the Cook Children's sign outside the doctor's office) and saving my money so I can get the picture manager and digital scrapbooking stuff from Creative Memories.

That is all for now, here are some pictures (the real reason you're all here).