Crock Pot Dishes

I've mentioned before I never used the crock pot much since my husband thinks it's bound to burn our house down if we aren't home. Well, now that I am home I decided I need to start using this handy little gadget.  Last week I tried out 2 Pinterest recipes and both were AMAZING, and of course easy.  I thought I would pass them on for yall to enjoy! :)


First off I tried this Cheesy Tortellini Soup.  After I already got the ingredients, I read the comments and saw how a lot of people added sausage to it.  I am definitely going to try that next time to add a little kick.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

16-19 oz bag of frozen tortellini

1 small bag of spinach  (I used fresh spinach)

2 cans (15 oz) Italian style diced tomatoes

1 box (4 cups) Vegetable broth

1 block (8 oz) cream cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

 

Put all ingredients in the crock pot (breaking up the cream cheese) except the tortellini, and set on low for 4-6 hours.  I think I did closer to 6.  The last hour is when you will want to add the pasta so it doesn't get too mushy.  This made enough for us to have dinner, 2 more days of lunch for me, and a big Tupperware bowl to freeze.

 

 

 

 

Next, I tried out these Smothered Pork Chops.  I only got a finished product pic here because Tilly was waking up so I was just throwing everything in quickly! haha

 

 

Ingredients:

 

4 pork chops (I used boneless)

1 envelope (1 oz pack) Onion soup mix

1 (14 oz) can low sodium Chicken broth

1 (10.5 oz) can low sodium Cream of Chicken soup

1 envelope (1 oz pack) Dry Pork gravy mix

Garlic Powder

 

Mix everything into the crock pot except the garlic powder and stir well.  Sprinkle both sides of each pork chop with the garlic powder and place in the crock pot.  Make sure all pork chops are completely covered with the sauce.  Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.  I did around 7 hours.

 

These turned out delicious, and I am not a big meat eater! We ate 2 for dinner with some seasoned butter beans, and then reheated the other 2 the next night.  They were just as good reheated as they were the first night!

 

 

 

Enjoy! :)

 

Any other easy crockpot favs you want to share?  I am always looking for new ideas!!

 

 

Tilly - 6 Months

 

 

 

 

and we're down... 

 

 

Oops, we found the sticker.. and want to eat it! Photo shoot is over! :) 

 

Month:  6 - December 21, 2014

Height:  25 3/4th inches - 50%

Weight:  13lbs 9oz - still Ms Itty Bitty in the 10%. But she is staying consistent, so all is well! :)

Diaper Size:  Size 2

Clothes Size:  Moving on up! PJ's & pants are all in the 6 month range.  Onesies can be anywhere from 0-3, 3-6, or 6 month.. just depends on the brand.

Sleep:   She is still our little champ here, thank goodness.  Bedtime is around 8pm and she sleeps 11-12 hours at night.  Then she takes around 3 naps a day that range from 45-an hour and a half.  She is also a belly sleeper now.  Once she made that first flip, she must've realized how much she liked it!

Eat: Her morning bottle is between 5-6oz, and then mainly 5oz bottles throughout the day around every 3 hours.  An average day now is 24-26oz.  We also started solids on her 6 month with some sweet potatoes.  She loved them, and sucked down a ton!

 

 

Likes: 
She still has to have something in her mouth at ALL times. No teeth yet, even though everyone that sees her says "Oh, she's teething!"  No.. she's not.  The doctor checked this morning and still no signs!

Also, I mentioned before she had only rolled once or twice, well literally on her 5 month she became a super roller and never stopped! She rolls every way possible.  Now she loves to roll herself over and over across the whole floor.  You can't leave this baby for long by herself anymore unless she is securely strapped into something, or you don't know where she'll be when you get back. She is FAST!  If she sees something she wants, she'll roll her way right to it.. it cracks me up!

Oh, and she loves to grab at your face and hair.  I guess we shouldn't have let her get so excited by pulling Lance's beard, because now she wants to pull on and slap everyone.. including other babies. Not good.

While we were in MS, my brother's girlfriend let us borrow her nephew's Johnny Jumper and oh my goodness.. my crazy baby LOVED it.  We skyped Lance to show him, and he said we were definitely getting on of those ASAP. Well, we got one as soon as I got back and Tilly is in baby heaven in that thing. I'm sure it's because she loves to constantly move, so she goes to town in that thing! It's perfect when we are eating dinner because we just hang her in the kitchen door and let her have her own little dance party while we eat dinner.. win, win for everyone!


Dislikes:  I can happily say that she no longer hates her crib during naps, and all sleep happens in the crib.. woohoo!!  Still hit or miss with the carseat.

Firsts: 
Rolling. As I mentioned before, it was game on when she started.

She also can push herself up now on her arms and knees! She's got the rocking motion going on, so I am wondering how soon crawling is.. ah!  I asked the doctor this morning and she said some babies that are super rollers like her sometimes skip crawling because they can roll to what they want, but since she's at the rocking stage it might be soon!  She will start rocking and then you can tell she gets mad, so she'll just lay down and roll to what she's trying to get at.  Silly girl.

Also, she is doing so good at sitting up! She still gets excited and will push her self backwards or try to stand, but she can sit there for quite a while now all on her on.  Such a big girl! :)

We had our first long car ride (6 hours), and first plane ride.  Luckily, both went very smoothly!!! The car drive didn't take any longer than normal, just one potty break where we fed and changed her and then on our way.  Our almost 16 year old dog did worse than she did! ha  She got to meet a ton of her family while in VA. Then the plane ride went soooo smooth.  Unfortunately she was pretty cranky on our trip back to MS from traveling and not getting her naps in, sorry to everyone who met her for the first time and she just cried if you held her! lol  I hate that she is such a happy, playful baby at home and then when she met so many people, she was the complete opposite.  She definitely does better in her own environment.  She is for sure a mama and daddy's girl when she isn't feeling good or tired.  It was so good to see everyone back home and have Tilly meet all her little boyfriends!! (ALL my friends with babies now have boys!!)  Middle of next year though, she will have a sweet little girl to play with back home.. I'm so excited Lauren just found out she is having a GIRL!! :) :)

On the plane ride! haha

With my best friend and her 3 boys

 

Knox and Tilly.. future Mr. & Mrs. :)

 

My brother's girlfriend, Claire, my mom, me, and my Grandma

 

Tilly, Knox, and Jameson

 

Oh, I can't take the cuteness! Tilly loves Mr. Knox

 

Tilly and some of her buds. Knox, Canion, Harber, and Jameson

And of course.. we met Santa! She did so great and I'm so happy she didn't freak out!

 

 

Sadly, she also had her first little cold the past week, but luckily things are much better. I got the NoseFrida, and as gross as it seems.. that thing can suck some major snot out! haha Between that, Baby Vicks, and her humidifier, it's moving on out!!  The doctor checked this morning and everything in her chest sounds normal, and ears look good! So it didn't spread anywhere.. yay!

Extra Updates: 

I can't believe my little baby is half a year old! Ah! She had brought so much joy to our lives and is so much fun.  If this baby is awake, she is moving and grooving. She keeps us on our toes for sure!! She is still babbling a lot, and lets out a few Mama's and Dada's here and there, but I don't think she really knows what she is saying! haha

She continues to grow and show improvement almost each and every day. She reaches for toys now, grabs them and pulls them to her, throws them down and then picks them back up, etc.  She's rolling, pushing up, and getting better at sitting up.  It's amazing to watch her learn so much and become such an independent little baby.  She loves to just lay on her mat now and play with all her toys.  We are suckers and have given her a lot of the stuff we got her for Christmas, because we were too excited to wait. Plus.. she won't even know what's going on anyways that morning! I did wrap quite a few things, so she will get to enjoy ripping all the paper off! :)

Oh, and her reflux has been HORRIBLE lately and the doctor let me know it is at it's peak now (ugh), but hopefully should be gone in the next 2-3 months.. I sure hope so!!  This baby spews constantly and we all need a break from smelling sour. Eh.

Overall things are going wonderful and we have a healthy, very happy, yet sassy and a bit of a drama queen little princess!

Oh, look at her grow!

 

Happy 1/2 a year Ms. Tilly!!!!!

Holly Jolly PJ Party

 

Today I am linking up with the Christmas Pajama Party!!

 

 

 

Tilly has a few Christmas PJ's, so I thought I would share a few pics from my phone, plus her in her snowmen ones this morning. Cuteness overload! :)

 

 

I'll be back tomorrow with her 6 month update once we get back from her doctor's appointment!

 

Merry Christmas!!

Tilly's 1st Christmas

 

 

Shopping for a 6 month old for Christmas can be a bit tricky since they aren't asking for anything yet.  Since Tilly has most of the "big" items she needs right now, here are a few of the small things on our list for her this year. Between us and family/friends we have gotten most of these so far, and I am still deciding on the others.  Any other infant favorites you recommend for the 6 month age group?



First Steps Baby Walker //  Baby Banana Toothbrush  //  PipSquigz  //  Skwish Rattle Toy  //  Laugh and Learn Love to Play Puppy //  Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Rock-a-Stack //  One two squeeze blocks // Tambourine

 

Tilly - 5 Months

 

 

 

 

Still wants to mess with the elephant the whole time!

 

 

 

Month: 5 - November 21, 2014

Height: 24 1/2 inches ((at her late 4 month check up 2 weeks ago))

Weight: 12lbs 1oz ((at her late 4 month check up 2 weeks ago))

Diaper Size: Size 1

Clothes Size:  Completely out of newborn 100%! haha  She is in 0-3/3 months stuff, and actually can wear some 3-6 month (only the ones that run smaller).  Baby clothes are so random with sizes. One 3 month outfit may be too big, but a 6 month will fit.  She is actually in a 6 month onesie today!

Sleep:   I mentioned last month we were doing the switch to the crib, and I can happily say after a traumatic 3 or so nights that things got better.  At first we started having her completely asleep before we put her down in hopes of her not realizing where she was, but then she was waking up 1 or 2 times during the night.  I read if they can put themselves to sleep, then they stay asleep better.  So after a week or 2 in the crib, we essentially "started over" in training her to put herself to sleep. We give her her last bottle around 7:45-8, and then once she's pretty sleepy, lay her down in the crib.  The first night or 2 wasn't the best, but we did let her cry herself to sleep. (around 15 or so minutes).  Now things are much better.. We lay her down, sometimes she does what I like to call her "test cry" to see if we will come back for about 5 minutes, then she stops and starts playing, and then about 5-10 minutes later she is zonked out.  Other times she just plays a few minutes and then goes to sleep. She was back on her 8/8:30pm- 7/7:30am schedule, but twice this week woke up two times to eat.  She has been sleeping a lot more lately too during the day, so I think she might actually be having a growth spurt!! Overall, I can't complain.  She definitely loves her sleep as much as mommy & daddy do.. thank goodness!

Eat: Still going strong here.  Average is mostly 4 oz bottles, but will have 1 or 2 5 oz or 6 oz bottles during the day.  An average day is around 24-25 oz now.  She still goes through phases were she won't really spit up at all for days, and then all of a sudden she is spewing constantly for days.  I am so ready for her to be over her reflux issue. So stinky!

Likes: 
This baby loves loves putting anything and everything in her mouth.  Still no teeth, but she sure acts like it.  She loves to put her hands in her mouth and slobber all over them, then rub spit all over her face. Lovely.  She's also started favoring her thumb.. ah.  Not sure how I feel about a thumb sucker.  I've been so thankful she never really wanted a pacifier, so those don't exist in our house anymore.  But I can't take a thumb away if that habit starts!

She gets SO excited now when Lance gets home, it literally melts my heart.  As soon as he holds her, she immediately reaches out and grabs his beard.  She loves pulling his beard and his hair, poor daddy. 

She recently wants to stand all the time.  If you are holding her, she is shoving herself up to stand on you and look around all excited. 

Still loves to smile and play, and loves to take pictures.. such a girl! She is such a happy baby for the most part.

Oh, and her favorite "toy"? Her burp clothes! That girls gets so excited holding and playing with those things. Sheesh.

Dislikes:  Getting better with the car seat, but still not a fan of the crib during the day. Trying to break that so we can get those day time naps in her crib.

Firsts: 
Well she had her first night all night in the crib!

She also had her first Halloween as a little mouse, too cute.

She now shows huge recognition for people she knows, and reaches out to grab things. 

She has also rolled over twice.. woohoo! One morning she was on her belly in her crib, but we think she just did it when she woke up. Then the other time was last night-  I was gone to the eye doctor and Lance had her playing on her mat while he went in the kitchen to get a drink.. well in that minute he was in the kitchen, she flipped herself over! So of course we haven't seen her do it yet.. boo!

Extra Updates: 

My baby has definitely developed her own little personality and let's just say she knows what she wants when she wants it, and she wants it right then!  She may or may not be a bit of a drama queen.  She likes to test you and see if you'll always come running to her right when she cries.  I've learned to get better with this and let her cry a bit to see if she stops. Yes, most of the time she gets bored and will stop and then keep playing.  She's a smart little booger.

I forgot to mention this last month, but she now says Mama.. only when she cries! ha  She never just looks at me and says it. Only when she's upset.. "waahhh Mama Mama Mama waaah" haha. It's so sad and pitiful.  I swear if she says Dada first happy, I will be so mad!! haha

We will probably start foods around her 6 month mark, so I might have a little update on that next month.  We did give her some banana one day, and that baby went nuts. She was loving it! She's very into watching us eat and drink now, so I think she is definitely getting ready.

We also are taking our first long road trip with her next week for Thanksgiving. We are going to VA to see Lance's family and it's normally a 6 hours drive.  We shall see how long it is with a baby.  Please send us some happy thoughts next week, as I'm not sure how well the drive will go.  Also with traveling, I am flying ALONE with Tilly the first week in December to go home.  Ahh.

Other than that, we are just continuing enjoying each day with our little bit! Tilly and I spend our week days filled with our baby gym time, play dates, and shopping.. and then our weekends hanging out with daddy and having family time!

We love you Ms Priss! :)

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! Linking up today for another Five on Friday post..

 

 

 

 

ONE:

 

 

First off.. Look at this precious thing. (sorry for the crappy iPhone camera quality).  This baby loves her little walker, and I LOVE how her little feet just dangle. I just ordered her a "jumper" today that hopefully her feet will touch the floor piece in.  I swear this baby has more gadgets than our tiny little house can hold. Sigh.

 

 

 

 TWO:

 

I don't know about yall, but even though I finally have a nice, fancy camera, I still take most pictures from my iPhone.  It's just so easy since I always have it right there.  Especially now since 99% of my pictures are Tilly, I want to be able to print them in good quality.  Luckily my friend, Lexie, told me about the app "Free Prints". That is literally the name of the app.  It's a blue icon with a little butterfly on it.  It makes your iPhone pics better quality, and you get 85 prints free a month.  You only pay for shipping. I think it's based on how many prints you  have, and since I normally do my full 85 at once, it's around $9.  Not too bad for that many pics, plus better quality!

 

 

 

THREE:

 

Thought I'd share 2 of my new favorite purchases here.  Well, I bought one and Lance bought me the other. 

 

 

 

 First off is my anniversary gift, my new watch!  I absolutely love it and the jazzy turquoise color!

 

 

 

 

Second, I saw these at... Kmart of all places!  They were $29.99 and I thought, well even though this is a great deal, I really don't NEED any more boots.  Well.. the next week I just happened to walk by the shoe section and they were half off for only $14.99.. I mean come on, I had to get them then! :)

 

 

 

FOUR:

 

 

 

Peppermint Mocha.  I have seen this in the stores since gosh, maybe August? I was irritated because I wanted to see Pumpkin Spice, so I never bought it.  I finally caved about 3 weeks ago and tried it.. Oh my gosh. LOVE.  Definitely my new favorite creamer.   I should have known I would love this since last year I had a little obsession with the Hershey's white chocolate peppermint bars..

 

 

 

FIVE:

 

 

 

And what would the holidays be without some Bath & Body Works products.  As much as I LOVE the traditional Fall and Christmas scents, I really love their Market scents too.  I got the 2 mason jar candles last year, and the larger one this year.  These all smell amazing, and have a little festive scent as well!

Have a great weekend!!!

 

Tilly - 4 Months

  

Ok so taking these pictures are getting harder now, not because we have tears, but because I have a squirmy little baby who now likes to attack the poor elephant.  See below some lovely outtakes! :)

I was waiting to write this post until her 4 month appointment today, but it ended up being canceled last minute due to a death in the family of our pediatrician.  We now are going November 3, so I won't have her weight/height or doctor details until then.

Month: 4 - October 21, 2014

Height: (see above)

Weight: My guess is 11lb 15oz, and Lance thinks 12lb 5oz.. we'll see soon what this little bit is up to

Diaper Size: Size 1

Clothes Size:  She is almost officially all in 0-3 month now.. yay!!! She can still wear some of the bigger newborn onesies, but I don't think for long. What is that people tell you? Don't get a lot of newborn because they'll barely wear it.. hmm. Not my tiny tot.

Sleep:  She is still my amazing little sleeper.  Her bedtime is now bumped back to around 8:30-9pm and on average she sleeps until 7-8am. ((This update was until her 4 month. So far no sleep regression.. BUT, we have started the not so great transition to her crib. Lord help us all...  Tonight is night 3.  I decided at 4 months since she is getting uncomfortable in her Rock N Play, her reflux is MUCH better, and she is 4 months, the time has come to be stern with the switch. Sigh. This baby is not having it.))

Eat: SO SO SOOOOO much better.  Her minimum is 4oz, with maybe a 5oz & 6oz in the middle of the day.  She is still eating around every 3 hours, unless it's a bigger bottle then she'll go 4.  She still can't eat a ton at once, so I am ok with more frequent, as long as it stays down!  She was only having around 17-19oz total a day and now average is 23-25oz. Go Tilly!

Likes:  Chewing on her hands and shoving them as far in her mouth as they'll go. She just won't keep them out! She loves grabbing her feet and pulling them, playing with Mommy and Daddy, ONLY napping on Mommy during the day (ah), and just being a smiley, happy little baby.  She loves to blow bubbles out of her mouth, and recently is into sticking out her tongue.

Dislikes:  Still love/hate with the car seat. And 100% hates her crib.  Hopefully it gets better.

Firsts:  She finally, finally laughed! For a baby who smiles and coos 24/7 you would think she would've laughed by now.  Randomly one night she just did it while eating. It was sooo cute. 

Extra Updates:  Nothing too crazy here.  She is doing so much better with tummy time, and does awesome at her little baby "gym" class Tuesday mornings.  She is getting stronger and stronger each day, and turning into such a big girl! (developmentally, not size wise haha).  She is our sweet, tiny little princess and I can't believe she is already 4 months old!!