To Mommyhood and Beyond: August 2012

BBQ Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients
8 oz Lasagna noodles
2 TBSP olive oil
2 lbs ground chicken breast
2 TBSP chili powder
1/2 cup chopped red onion
15 oz can of black beans
18 oz bottle of bbq sauce
1 1/2 cup frozen corn
3 cups shredded cheese
sliced green onions

Directions
1. cook pasta according to directions....Pre heat oven to 425
2. In large pan over medium high heat add oil, chicken, chili powder and red onion. cook until chicken is brown.
3. Add bbq sauce, beans and corn. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes
4. Assemble noodles in a sprayed 9*13 casserole dish. Coat bottom with bbq sauce and layer with noodles, chicken mixture, and cheese, continue with 2 more layers and finish with a hefty amt of cheese
5. Bake covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for an additional 5
6. Garnish with green onions

I serverd it with a ceasar salad and garlic bread

It was so yummy!!!!!

July has been a very busy month for us....Reagan enjoyed her very first 4th of July firework show, she turned 7 months, we went camping, Reagan got to see the ocean for the first time and biggest event of July was our 1st born baby turned 3 years old.

The beginning of the month we were ending our camping trip we took in Williams AZ with some friends. We had a wonderful time and both kids were absolutely amazing!! I think they were both born to camp. Reagan loves the outdoors and sleeps so well :)

We usually camp and head north for the 4th of July so we can see fireworks when it's not 115 degrees outside. This year we enjoyed a whopping 90 degrees and rain, in fact they were talking about canceling fireworks from the rain. It never rains in AZ so that would've been a total bummer.

The show went on and we spent the evening at the Goodyear Ballpark with some friends eating, and hanging out on our blankets listening to music watching our kids run around like maniacs.

Reagan really enjoyed her first firework show and watched very intensely the entire time!!

My first flight with both kids was a lot of work....at the time I thought it was horrible and I never wanted to do it again...but now that I look back it wasn't that bad. Both girls were great!!!

We got to LA early in the Am and waited 3 hours for Jake to get in. I got a little nap out of Reagan and just hung out with the Ash.

When Jake arrived we took a trolly to the beach and walked around for a few hours. We went on the pier, walked in the sand and let Ray put her little feet in the water for the first time!!!

We went to happy hour at our favorite place....we took Ashlee there when she was 8 weeks old before we went to Hawaii. The best part was Ashlee fell asleep in my lap during happy hour and stayed asleep until we got back to our hotel. Then during dinner Ray fell asleep....we got to enjoy happy hour with on kid and then again at dinner :)

Our month came to an end with our baby girl turning 3!!! We decided not to have a big party for her, we decided to make it more close and personal this year.

Our day started off with a trip to IHOP for some pancakes and not just any pancake...we went all out with chocolate and whip cream. I don't let her have much sugar so this was a big deal for her. She wanted to have her best buddy Landon to join her, so Andi, Madi and Landon came along.

The breakfast ended with a birthday chocolate Sunday and all this before 10am. Knowing the consequence's I will pay later for a child whose had way to much sugar, I just looked the other way :) It's her day and it only comes once a year!!!

We had a really hard time getting Ashlee to give up her pacifier or a sigh as she called it. I never had the heart to take it away when it was her best friend at night when she went to bed...or maybe pure laziness on my part, who knows!!

I just chose to take it away when she turned 3, so at least in my opinion she was old enough to understand why she couldn't have it anymore.

We took her to build a bear several months prior and told her when she turns 3 she can have a new bear and he will take all her sighs (pacifiers) away. She asked everyday about her new bear and told everyone he was going to take her sighs when she turns 3.

So on her birthday we did just that....went to build a bear let her pick out her stuft animal.

she picked out hello kitty and walked over to the lady with her 4 pacifiers in a zip-lock bag.

I think she was having a little anxiety about the whole thing so she wanted Landon to have his bear stuft first.

When it was her turn she handed over her pacifiers one by one until she got to the last one....she looked at it then no kidding sucked on it 3 times and handed it over to the lady. Everyone who saw it started laughing...who knows what was going thru her little head, all I care is that she handed it over and to this very day has never asked to have it again!! I'm so glad I waited because it was a very good experience for all of us.

She does ask to feel them in her kitty before bed but we were expecting to come in her room one morning and have the bear ripped open :)

That evening we had our good friends Amber, Jeremy and their new baby Taylor over for a BBQ.

Grandpa made a Minnie mouse cake, needless to say we were all very impressed. It was his very first attempt at making a cake and he did a super job. I didn't even want to cut into it.