Yes, he did make fun of me...

but I did it anyways!

When we got the call around 4:00 that Nell had been throwing up I was so glad that I had made this yesterday and put it in the fridge to pop in the oven tonight! I found this recipe in a magazine as part of a Campbell's advertisement. I love lasagna and I love anything with cream of mushroom soup so I figured it could be tasty.

Beef and Mushroom Lasagna

1 can cream of mushroom soup (of course they recommend Campbell's, but I used store brand)
1/4 cup milk
1 lb ground beef (of course you could substitute any other ground meat)
2 cups spaghetti sauce (they recommended Prego, I did use that because it was on sale, meat flavored in my case, oh, and I just used the whole jar, it was close enough)
9 cooked lasagna noodles
1 cup shredded italian or mozarella cheese (I used a couple of handfuls, love my cheese)

Heat oven to 400. Stir milk and soup in a bowl until smooth.
Brown ground beef in a skillet, drain, add the spaghetti sauce.
Layer 1/2 beef mixture, 3 noodles (they overlapped, but I think it made it better to have thicker layers of noodles) and 1 cup of soup mixture in a 2 qt baking dish
Top with 3 more noodles, the rest of the beef mixture, remaining noodles and remaining soup mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and cover.
Bake 30 minutes or until hot. Uncover baking dish.
Heat broiler (I used the low setting). Broil 4" from heat until cheese is golden brown (I just watched it constantly until the cheese was a little brown, but the noodles were getting cooked so I took it out).

Since I made it yesterday, I actually cooked it for about 30 minutes at 300, then another 30 at 350 before broiling it.

It was very yummy and creamy lasagna and Jay even made a happy plate!

Pictures of the kidlets...

Here is Jay pulling an ET moment. He wanted to sleep with all his stuffed animals. I'm afraid he gets this naturally.










Jay decided to share "Ruff Ruf" with his sister. Anyone who knows Jay knows what a big deal this is...










These are my favorites. Sibling love....

Permanent Brain Farts

When I was pregnant with Jay, my mom told me that when you're pregnant the blood flow is diverted partially from your brain to the baby and it causes memory loss, but after you have the baby, the memory will come back....she lied! Sometimes I feel like I'm just swimming through this permanent brain fog. Then get a couple of kids on top of that and you just lose it! Yesterday afternoon I had taken the kids for shots and when I was leaving Macon Nell started crying....loudly. I turned on the tibetan monk songs and all it did was make Jay mad. So he's just whining about me turning it off. I was returning a call to Uncle Bill and about the time he got on the phone I just couldn't even really remember my name! It was like I forgot who I was, where I was, etc... Then I get to work this morning and apparently after I unplugged the fridge to pump, I didn't plug it back in again...at 11:30am yesterday! So of course the leftovers in there I planned to eat for lunch today are ruined. Which means I'll have to go out for lunch instead of eating in and getting schoolwork done like I had hoped. I think I need some memory pills of anti-brain-fuzziness pills or something. That would be great with all the pills I'm taking every morning anyways! Zyrtec, cingulair, hydrochlorthiazide, prenatal vitamin, vitamin C, brewer's yeast, fenugreek. Bring it on!

Today is a long day for me. I have work, then I have class, then I'm doing my second of four administrative rounds tonight. Will also need to pump in there somewhere tonight so it will be a long night for me. I think I'm not going to push to get here too early tomorrow. This weekend is the library fair here and I can't wait. I really look forward to it every year. I already have two or three books that I'm waiting to read, but I need more! LOL Actually I generally get some good books there and this year Jay's old enough to enjoy the kids' games so he'll have a ball.

Another life change since Nell is that I have a new found love for all things caffeinated. I literally kissed my diet coke from the machine across the hall from my office this mroning...and it's my second one. Coffee too! I never really drank much pre-Nell, now I love it. I think I'll wait to wean myself off of it when Nell is three or something. For now it's a daily necessity.

Work issues I'm going to have to deal with today, need to get some reading and reviews done, need to get more work stuffs done. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Hectic, and crazy, but beautiful!

Sibling love

We had our first sibing related incident tonight. I've been taking nell into Jay's room at night to "tell him good-night." Tonight I had her lying with her head on his pillow so he could lie next to her (I was holding her the whole time) and he bumps heads with her when he lies down. Both were crying. It was nice. I felt so bad for her. Jay started crying because she was crying. It was lovely!

Made a corn tomato salad tonight for a bridal shower at work tomorrow that I won't even be able to attend. We have the Relay for Life luncheon tomorrow. Yay for my third free lunch this week! Two more days till the weekend! I can't wait for Friday. It's kind of funny. When I was on leave I almost lost track of the days most of the time until everyone on FB started posting their TGIF status updates. Now I'm there with them again. So looking forward to the weekend...

New project

I need another project like I need a hole in my head! LOL I bought a bike this morning at the Knights of Columbus yard sale! It was $5 and needs new tires and a new chain at least. Not sure what else it needs. I'll probably take it down to the bike shop one day and see what they say. I figure I can do a little bit here and there and maybe if there's any big work I can get it done for my birthday. I've been wanting a bike for a while and just hadn't had the opportunity or cash to get one. $5 seemed too good of a deal!

Other than that, we're having a lazy Saturday. My child who won't get up during the week was wide open at 5:00 this morning! Of course. We hit the yard sale. Jack's dad and our neices and nephew from Jefferson were here. The twins had not met Nell yet so that was fun. Jack Jr. took Jay for a haircut. Now we've had chicken nuggets and we're heading towards a nap! Maybe playdate this afternoon with Sidney.

I should get some reading done for school, but I also want to get some knitting done and finish up Nell's Georgia tutu!

Later taters!!

Headed back to work

I would not necessarily say I don't want to go back to work, but I am anxious about it. So much has gone on since I went out on leave that I don't know exactly what I'll be coming back to. I really don't even know if I'll have the same supervisor when I return or not. I've had some great anxiety dreams. One involving coming back to work and my office was all messed up. No desk or fridge and there were boxes stored up in it. I know that Nell will be in a good place with good people, so that's not a worry for me. IT's just getting back into the swing of things at work. Will just have to wait and see how things go.

On top of all this, I'm really anxious about pumping. When I went back to work after having Jay, my supply went away really fast when I went back to work and had to pump more than nurse. I've started taking Brewers Yeast and tomorrow will start Fenugreek. I made some oatmeal chocolate chip lactation cookies. So far I have seen much of a difference. Hopefully things will pick up in that department.

Here's hoping for a good night tonight. Last night we were awake between 2:00-4:00. I could barely drag out of bed this morning. I gave up and nursed about 3:30 and she was up a little after that, but Jack helped out too so that was great!

Tonight Nell was fussy and I finally swaddled her and put her in the swing and she calmed down. Jay got really huggy. It was so nice just hugging and cuddling my boy. He's getting so big that he barely fits in my lap anymore, but he was lovey tonight. I love that.