The Great Escape

He already knows how to wiggle out of his highchair, buckle and all. Greeeaat!

9 Month Check-Up.

Yesterday was Braylon's 9 month appointment. He hasn't grown too much since his last 

appointment in March, but his head is now in the 90 percentile instead of 99! :) He is 

not much bigger physically, but he is definitely growing everyday! In just the past few 

weeks he's learned to give kisses, high five, and clap...and his first tooth finally started coming through on Mother's Day!

Playdate & Beef Jerky Fights!

Hot Days!

Hanging out

This last picture is his "My new tooth hurts" face..

Mothers Day.

Our Mother's Day was a bit of an organized mess. Trust me, that's no news 

around here! Anyway, we made a quick stop by my Grandparents house

first & got some pictures in. Then my brother, Braylon, and I split apart
from the group and headed for Seal Beach, which of course is my favorite! 

It was Braylon's first official time at the beach (last time we didn't

even make it to the sand because it was too cold) Kevin was working in San Diego

so I didn't take Braylon to the water, I want him to be there for his first time:)
Overall, our day worked out, even though our schedule didn't really mesh
with everyone else's.Plus..since Kevin was absent, I'm getting a pretend
Mother's Day make-up sometime this week!

This Week in Pictures.

   

Bedtime for Braylon

Kevin's gone to San Diego for the weekend. Which means I have
the bed to myself. Braylon must have sensed that I'm lonely or realized
that there's an open space in the bed for him because he's up two hours

later than normal...being extra sweet and everything. He's been so
hyper laughing, babbling, and keeping me entertained. But he never lets me
 record him! He always notices and goes for the camera immediately!

What I Whipped Up Wednesday.

Today I made dinner start to finish completely by myself for the first time.

Kevin literally makes 95% of our meals & for the food I make..it's bagels,

macaroni, or cereal! So anyway, I had no plans today (which also happens to be

our 11 month anniversary) so I decided to make a surprise dinner. I found the

recipe online for cheese manicotti, & tweaked it to my liking!

Our dinner turned out delicious! I also made a Ceaser salad (including the croutons)!

I know it looks like enchiladas, but I promise it's manicotti!

In case, you ever want to try it out..here's everything you need to know!

What You Need!

1 package spinach ( I added spinach because it sounded yummy and was, I shredded it into small pieces)

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
15 ounces ricotta cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 box manicotti noodles
3 to 4 cups marinara sauce ( I used an italian sausage marinara, so Kevin couldn't say there was a lack of protein)

Directions!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix spinach, cheeses, eggs, salt and pepper. Stir together until well blended.
3. Place about 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce in a 9x13-inch pan. Spread it around to cover the bottom.
4. Place the mixed filling into a plastic zip bag.  Cut the corner, gather the top and squeeze the filling into the corner. Hold an uncooked manicotti shell in your hand and squeeze the filling inside the shell. Let it overflow on both sides. Place the filled shell into the sauce-lined pan. (I got a little crazy with the filling as you can see! I cut the hole a little too big!)
5. Cover the pasta with the remaining marinara sauce & the last of the mozzarella
6. Cover with foil,  and bake for 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.



Sunday Funday.

Yesterday...

Kevin and I went to Hangar 24, a local craft brewery. It was nice

to get away by ourselves for a few hours. Then we hurried back to our 

little nugget so we could take him to the park for his first time. He really

enjoyed the lake and ducks...but when it comes to swings NO WAY. He 

was screaming bloody murder (like a girl in a horror movie) I'm a little surprised

CPS wasn't called with all the commotion he caused! Really. We took him off the swing 

right away but he wouldn't calm down. Oh well, nothing a little climbing around on

the playground couldn't fix. We finished the day off playing games with my parents. 

All in all it was a fun Sunday, we love it when Kevin is home on the weekends:)