Life Lately

So last time I posted we were here....

..and now THANK GOODNESS my old baby is back! This crazy, mad baby is gone about 95% of the time.  Her top two teeth finally popped through, and it made the world of difference.  It does feel like around 3 more are pushing through, so who knows how the next few weeks will go.  I swear those teeth changed her 100%.  It was rough.. for all of us.  And other happy news- We finally have a pretty good schedule back down for naps.  She is now napping most days after lunch (around 12ish) and sleeping around 2 hours, sometimes a bit longer.  Magically through all this crazy nap fighting and teething, she still does 12 up to 14  hours a night.  I say that and she probably won't sleep at all tonight ha. 

She is also still eating like a maniac.  This baby CHOWS DOWN.  It is so crazy the amount of food she eats. Where does it go?!  Her favorite thing right now is getting down on some popsicles, so serious.

Other than that we have just been enjoying our days of play dates with friends, lunch dates, her baby gym class, and spending some time outside on the not so crazy hot days.  Oh, and taking baths.. this girlfriend LOVES her bath!

In other news, we are slowly making our way through home projects. We finally got the living room/hall painted.  It was this horrible green/gold/beige color. Ick.  and black sockets.. black.  Hello 1979.  We also got all those changed to white and it looks a million times better.  That part of the house is the only part that used to be panel (I can only imagine how horrible that looked in it's full wooded glory) and while I love the extra character it gives the room with the texture, man oh man was it a pain to paint.

Lastly, we tried to find a baby gate to cover our massive dangerous fireplace, but they were all $200-300 and not even big enough to go across the front and wrap around each side! We would've had to buy two and rig them together.  Luckily Lance is Mr. Home Improvement, so for around $50 he is building one himself.  It's about to be painted and then will be ready to install.  I know a little girl who is going to be very mad she can't go play in the danger zone anymore!

And that's about it! Just enjoying time with this little bit and watching her grow and learn new things each day. She is such a little kid now instead of a baby.. so crazy!

Cold Tortellini Pasta Salad

This weekend we were invited to a cook out at our neighbors', and I needed to bring a side dish.  I have a few dips that I make for most events, but decided to venture out and try something new.  Of course I searched Pinterest for some ideas and ending up settling on a Tortellini Pasta Salad.  I did switch some of the ingredients up a bit, and luckily it turned out amazing! I was so pleased with this little creation, I had to share!  I got all of my ingredients at Trader Joe's, so you might have to sub the dressing or salami if you don't have one in your area.

Ingredients:

8-10oz Spinach Tortellini
6oz Artichoke Hearts chopped slightly
6oz Black Olive Slices
8oz Garbanzo Beans, rinsed and drained
8oz Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium red onion diced (I used about 3/4ths since it seemed like a lot)
Your choice of creamy dressing (I used Trader Joe's Goddess Dressing) with the quantity of your choice
24 Cherry tomatoes halved
1/4 lb Salami diced/sliced

Instructions:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients with cooked pasta except tomatoes and salami.
3. Let salad marinate with the dressing in the fridge for about 4-6 hours, and  then add tomatoes and salami before serving.



Side Notes:

The beans and artichoke hearts will most likely come in larger ounces than you need.  I did measure out and use what the recipe asked for, but I'm sure you could dump them all in there if you didn't want leftovers.  Also, with the dressing I just mixed in and added a little bit at a time to get to my liking.  I didn't want it coated, so I think the amount is a personal preference.  I also used fresh salami, but summer sausage or even smoked sausage would work the same if you like that better. I forgot to take a pic of the finished product until there was barely any left, but I did take a quick snap to show that it does just look like a big mess of random things mixed together, ha.  But trust me, it's VERY good!!  Enjoy!!!