Pork (um, turkey) and beans

Well, I have now made it into June recipes.  YAY!!!  This recipe would actually be really good right now.  It is a sausage and bean casserole. 

I think David picked this out but it turned out really good. It is from Cooikng Light 2007.  It was easy and worked well for my family.  See the happy faces?

Sausage and Bean Casserole from Cooking Light
1 chopped onion
16 oz turkey sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
14 oz chicken or veggie broth
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cans white beans, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 375.  Heat Dutch oven over medium high heat and cook onion and sausage.  Saute for 5 minutes or until browned.  Add garlic and saute 2 minutes.  Stir in chicken broth.  Stir in brown sugar, tomato paste, pepper and beans.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

Cheesecake for Mother's Day

David is always so sweet to make desserts that I like when it is a special occasion.  Last mother's day, he and Kate set to work making a cheese cake for me. 

They had such a fun time and you could tell that Kate was loving the time with her Daddy...

of course, she loved licking the batter, too!

 The cake was delicious.  There was a funny story to go with it, though.  David had gotten all the ingredients at the grocery store specifically for the cake, so he purchased extra eggs. 

After he finished making the cheesecake and had poured it into the pan, he looked over at the counter and asked "what are those eggs doing out on the counter?"  Ha!  Forgot to put the eggs in the cheesecake...so, we scraped the batter out and beat the eggs in.  It all turned out great! 

David even cooked the blueberries himself. 

Almond Crust
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup crushed, slivered almonds
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Whisk almond meal, almonds, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl.  Stir in butter until moistened.  Pour into a springform pan and press firmly into the bottom.  Bake in oven for about 10 minutes (to set crust).

Blueberry Cheesecake
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons flour (used gluten free)
4 eggs

Decrease oven temperature to 325.  Beat cream cheese until soft.  Then beat in sour cream, sugar, vanilla and flour.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Pour the mixture onto the set crust.  Place pan into preheated over and bake for 1 hour or until firm to the touch.

Blueberry Topping
2 cups frozen (or fresh) blueberries
1/8 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch.  

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and cook on the stove on medium high heat until it all thickens.  Pour over the cooked cheesecake and enjoy!

Kate's May

May was a big month for Miss Kate.  First we had Disney.  Then at the end of the month, she had her preschool graduation and ballet recital.  She was so excited for graduation.

She got to be all dressed up in her pretty white dress with a purple sash.  Then, we were so proud of her getting to say the prayer:

She loves to pray and has some very detailed prayers.  What a sweet heart she has!  The rest of graduation was filled with the kids showing off all they had learned. 

We are so proud of Kate and the hard work that she put into learning her letters and the kindness she shows to other people.  She was SO excited to see the pictures in the slideshow.

Of course, she was thrilled that Grammy and Granddaddy were there.

A few weeks later, Grammy, Kate-O

and Allie and Doc

came down to see Kate in her ballet recital.  She did a good job and actually did some of the dance...when she wasn't concerned about her leotard. 

It was kind of funny. 

We love our little ballerina.

 Then we all went to Another Broken Egg for brunch afterwards.  So thankful for these occasions in our sweet girl's life!

Caleb - 4 Months

One week ago, Caleb turned 4 months old.  I can't believe he is that old but at the same time it seems like he has been part of our family always.  It is amazing how much you can love one little tiny person. 

He has gotten to be SO much fun over the past month.  He smiles and laughs ALL the time.  He definitely has his tickle spots as indicated by this video with my mom:

He has gotten so much better with tummy time and will actually stay there for a while. 

He still hasn't rolled over but I'm sure it's coming soon.  He hasn't quite figured out how to get his arm out of the way.  He likes to be up and looking around but also LOVES his playmats and mobiles. 

He talks all the time.  Sometimes, he will wake up (TOO EARLY) and lie in his bassinet and talk to the bears on his mobile.  In fact, one day last week, he woke up just before five laughing.  I think he knew he was up too early and decided it was just hilarious! 

Speaking of sleeping, he still wakes up once a night.  Although, the past week, he has been a little more uneasy, waking up a lot.  Part of me thinks that if he wasn't swaddled he would put his hand in his mouth and be ok...but if he's unswaddled, he flings his arms and wakes himself up!  Alas!  I know that at some point, I'll have to move him to his bedroom; but right now, I still don't want to walk all the way across the house, especially if he's waking up multiple times at night.

We tried him in his jumper the other day and he loved his little sun.  However, despite being a long baby, he's not quite long enough to jump.  Ha!  

Things he loves: 
- mama, daddy, sissie - he smiles so big for us!

- getting dressed - he just laughs and smiles when I take his clothes off and change him.  He loves when his hands appear.  It is such an exciting part of his day.  :-) 

He also loves to look at his little dog while we do changing stuff.  He tried to share his 4 month sticker the other day, but doggie wasn't very interested.

- his feet - they are his new favorite toy!  He has been grabbing them a lot recently and actually put one in his mouth the other day.  He also loves kicking his feet - all day, everyday.  In fact, this past weekend, he was in his bouncy seat and spend about five minutes kicking the stuffed giraffe that was hanging above him

- his hands - they are ALWAYS in his mouth.  He started having to put bibs on him because he would soak his top from gnawing on his hands.

- eating - he's a big fan!  Still only mama's milk but he clearly knows when it's time.  He eats about 6-8 times a day.  He hasn't shown interest in food off a spoon yet and I'm planning on waiting until at least 5 months to try.

Stats:
Weight - 13 pounds 8 ounces (15%)
Length - 25.5 inches (65%)
Head - 43 cm (85%)

We have a long, skinny boy with a big head!  Ha!  Hopefully that means he is smart.  :-)

He did pretty well with his shots.  This was the face he gave me when I picked him up from school

but he wasn't a fan of shots.  At first, he didn't cry.  I was kissing him when she gave the first one and he was fine.  Then, I think it hit him that it didn't feel good.  His little face wrinkled up and he started to cry.  After the second shot, I picked him up and he stopped crying; but this was how he felt about the shots. 

He was pretty fussy that evening but bounced back the next day to be my happy Caleb!

This little man has brought so much joy to our lives.  I can't wait to pick him up each day to see his big, toothless grin (though with all the drool, I wonder how long that will last).

I love listening to his laugh and hear him talk.  Despite not sleeping through the night, I love snuggling him during feeds.  I am so thankful for him, his sister, and David.  God has blessed me immeasurably.