Mexican Lasagna

Mmmm...I'm drooling thinking about it:)

Mexican Lasagna is a family recipe from Joe's parents that is a family favorite around here! It's my go-to for dinner when we have company over or when I have to give a meal away...it's always a hit!

We had it tonight and of course I forgot to take a picture of it....we were too busy stuffing our faces with it - opps!

Mexican Lasagna

What you need:
3-4 cups cooked rice
1 lb meat (chicken, ground beef, ground turkey.....I think shredded chicken is the best though!!)
1 can Nacho Cheese soup
1 16 oz jar salsa (you pick the spice level :)
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup taco sauce
1/2 tsp. chili powder
8 oz shredded cheese (I like to use Colby-Jack but any kind works...)
package of soft, flour tortillas

*Spray or grease your 3 quart baking dish (I use my 9x13 pan) and preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Cook Rice
2. Cook meat (either boil chicken and shred it or brown ground meat and drain); add taco seasoning and simmer according to package (I use less water and simmer till all liquid is basically gone.)
3. In a big bowl mix: meat, soup, salsa, taco sauce and chili powder.
4. Add 3 cups of rice; add the 4th if it's too runny (this depends on how much liquid you simmer off of your meat) Mix well.
5. Cut tortillas into 1 inch strips
6. Put a layer of tortilla strips on the bottom and sides of your greased dish
7. Cover tortilla layer with 1/2 of rice mixture and cover with cheese (about 1/2 the cheese)
8. Add another layer of tortilla strips, topped with remaining rice mixture and remaining cheese **your dish will be very full:)
9. BAKE at 350 COVERED for 30 minutes right away or refrigerate until ready to use; if baking from refrigerated increase time to 45 minutes. Let sit for 5-10 minutes after baking.

ENJOY!

We love to top ours with sour cream and more taco sauce; add tortilla chips on the side for scooping and you're set!

19 weeks

How Far Along: 19 weeks!

Size of baby: about the size of a large heirloom tomato (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: My baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch! (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't have a scale but I would guess 7-8ish pounds..I go back in to my midwife in 2 weeks so we'll find out then

Maternity Clothes: I pulled out my maternity pants and packed away my normal pants...ah well:) Mainly maternity tops and normal tops a size (or two!) up!

Gender: we find out next Thursday!! hooray!

Movement: Yes, yes, yes! Joe got to feel the babe move last Saturday for the 1st time - that means the kicks are getting stronger:)

Sleep: yes. a lot still. The boys have been sleeping in more so that's been an added bonus!

What I miss: not much - I'm loving it;)

Cravings: I ate a lot of jellybeans the other night....opps. Jellybeans are not on my cravings list anymore! Fruit and water are still sounding wonderful:)

Symptoms: Baby bump. Lots of movement. Pregnancy brain:)

Best Moment This Week: Having Joe feel the baby move!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Next Thursday's ultrasound!Ethan loves this little babe so much! He's convinced it's a girl....we'll see if he's right!

Little Studs

I dressed up Ethan and Judah yesterday and they were lookin' good!
Isn't Judah adorable?? I think so. Love the cheesy smile, bud! This is what I get when I say "hug each other"..close enough:) My almost-4-year-old-stud:) (under 2 months is getting 'almost' enough for me! I can't believe he'll be FOUR!)They're both standing still and saying 'cheese' - try and act natural guys....TOO CUTE!

We had a wonderful Easter afternoon at Joe's parent's house; lots of great food, great company and wonderful weather!

18 weeks!

*Joe was working on the van when I got home from work so I 'tried' to get a belly shot on the timer!
How Far Along: 18 weeks!

Size of baby: About the length of a bell pepper (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: My baby is busy flexing their arms and legs:) *I can totally feel it too!*(thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'd guess 6-7 pounds..

Maternity Clothes: Still holding out on the maternity bottoms...I have my BeBand and some awesome pants with elastic waist - still loving my sweats too:) Mainly maternity tops or normal tops a size up.

Gender: 2 weeks till we find out!

Movement: For sure! Mainly when I'm not moving...

Sleep: yes. a lot. I'm curious to see how my iron levels are....

What I miss: not much - I'm loving it;)

Cravings: Joe and I went to Bambu to get my Tiger Pork I talked about last week..it was good but not as WOW as I remembered - ah well. Fresh fruit has been delish and water:)

Symptoms: the usual: baby bump. tired. feeling little kicks.

Best Moment This Week: Checking out at Target and having the cashier ask me when I was due!! Doesn't seem like a big moment but it was the first 'random' person to acknowledge that I was expecting!!

What I'm Looking Forward To: I love feeling all the movement and look forward to feeling more (and harder!) jabs - I love it when you can feel/see it from the outside!

My Little Helper

Yesterday was a 'stay-at-home-and-clean' sorta day here...no real rhyme or reason besides the fact that we had no where to go in the morning. Not a gym day, not an ECFE day, didn't need anything at Target day...a day like this is not very common for us!

So, I used the opportunity of staying home for the WHOLE morning to do some cleaning. I made a big list (ie: list with BIG letters) and had the kids help me! Once we completed the task I'd let one of them cross it off (hence the BIG writing - some of their crossing off skills are a little crazy).

One thing on the list was to vacuum - and to vacuum everywhere. Under the table, under the bar-stools, by the baseboards, and so on... I handled the big vacuum and my big helper, Ethan, requested the hand vac! Of course I said yes (what mom wouldn't take willing help??)

What followed was soooo cute! Ethan, in a shirt and undies, taking his job as vacuum-er EXTREMELY seriously:) He got under the table, under the bar-stools and all the baseboards! Dare you to not smile while looking at that picture:) Can't do it. He used that hand vac until the batteries were dead! I told him we needed to re-charge it and he told me that he could just blow it it to give it more air....nice try bud:)

It's very refreshing to have one of the mess-makers getting interested in cleaning up his messes! We're taking baby steps here: they put their dishes in the sink, clothes in the dirty laundry, toys away (if I ask them to...) - little by little we'll get there. I'm just glad that he 'wanted' to help with the actual cleaning of the house! (I don't like a dirty house but I don't necessarily like to deep clean...slight dilemma)

I wish I was able to snap more pictures of him helping but we were in the zone - I didn't want to risk breaking that zone and losing all the momentum we (ie: me) had!

17 Weeks!

How Far Along: 17 weeks:)

Size of baby: About the size of a turnip (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: Baby can move their joints, and their sweat glands are starting to develop. love the details:) (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: About 6 pounds...

Maternity Clothes: Tops: maternity and regular a size (or 2) up. Bottoms: Jeans with my BeBand or my wonderful sweats:) My maternity workout bottoms (capris, pants and shorts) came in the mail yesterday - I wore them today at the gym and OH MAN they are comfy!

Gender: find out in 3 weeks!

Movement: Oh yes! Mainly in the evenings when I stop moving or when I'm sitting outside watching the kids play - LOVE IT!

Sleep: I'm still napping everyday and having some trouble falling asleep at night....but once I am asleep I love it....ohhh sleep how I love you:)

What I miss: Perhaps not sleeping every afternoon away..perhaps not though; sleep is a good thing:)

Cravings: I went out to eat with a girlfriend last week at an Asian place and had the BEST Tiger Pork - not sure what made it sooo good but I've been craving it since then! Anti-craving: I haven't been able to stomach chicken (weird huh?) since about 5 weeks and tried it again the other night....still can't stomach it. We'll try it again in a few weeks;)

Symptoms: Baby Bump. Lots of movement. Sleepy:)

Best Moment This Week: This morning at the Y there was a mix-up and there was no instructor for our class...long story short - they asked me to step in and teach! Of course I said yes:) In case you didn't know I was training to teach last summer but due to my miscarriage I had to step down, so I know all the choreography but I'm not 'certified'.

We had a 'certified' instructor stand in the studio while I taught (since I'm not certified) and it was soo fun! I got to wear the Brittany mic-headset too! (It's a dance - Latin Hip Hop class...)

I guess it's pregnancy related in that I taught 45 min straight (we lost 15 min trying to figure out where the instructors where!) while 17 weeks pregnant! I kept it low-impact (no jumping) but still shook it with the best of them:) Teaching the class is definitely the highlight of my week!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Countdown to the Ultrasound! 3 weeks:) I am so excited to see the little babe and discover (hopefully) the gender!

Comic's

A few weeks ago we had a birthday party for my grandma; she's now 71 years young!

During the party I found Ethan hanging with my grandpa (his great-grandpa!) in the sunroom reading the newspaper. I waved my mom over and she snapped these ADORABLE pictures of them reading the comics together! They had no idea their picture was being taken as the glass door was shut and they were both engrossed in the Sunday funnies:)I think Great-grandpa was reading some to him....And it must've been FUNNY! I love the smirk on both their faces:) TOO PRECIOUS! Love it:) They spent a long time out there looking at the comics together; good buddies:)

16 weeks:)

Hello 4 months!How Far Along: 16 weeks! 4 months!

Size of baby: About the size of an avocado! (thanks, BabyCenter.com!)

Milestones: Baby has started growing toenails! Love it:) (thanks again, BabyCenter.com!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't have a scale but I would guess 5-6 pounds....

Maternity Clothes: Yes for the tops. Still working the BeBand with my normal jeans still and some 'normal' pants with elastic waist:) I finally caved and ordered some maternity workout shorts and pants; the shorts I've been wearing are getting tight and I have to wear them REALLY low (cue LONG tank tops!) - I can't wait for them to come!

Gender: Don't know yet...I set my ultrasound up for the first week of May this morning!

Movement: YES! I've been noticing little 'flutterings' or mini jabs in the evening when I relax and put my feet up:) Hip hip hooray!

Sleep: Once I fall asleep it's decent; I've been having trouble falling asleep (which is a bummer when you feel soooo tired!)

What I miss: Not much:)

Cravings: Well I overdid my salad craving last week and ate a LOT of salad...now the thought of salad is the total opposite of a craving; oops. I have been craving Subway flatbread sandwiches - good thing they have $2 subs this month!

Symptoms: Tired. Baby Belly. Crazy Dreams. Losing Vocabulary. :)

Best Moment This Week: Starting the feel the baby move:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Wearing some of the new clothes I found tonight at a thrift store! They're non-maternity but a size up from what I normally wear...and super cute for showing off my bump!

Energy Burst

I'm still waiting for mine:)

When I was pregnant with Ethan and then Judah I seem to remember an energy burst in the 2nd trimester....so far no luck with this one!

BUT... I no longer have ALL DAY morning sickness! HOORAY! I guess being tired isn't too shabby compared to that:)

I'm still taking 1hr-3hr naps a day (depending if Joe's home and if I need to tend to my other little guys..) and somehow I'm STILL tired at the end of the day. I tell myself my body is so busy growing our little babe it's using up all it's energy - sounds about right, right?

So for now, I will continue with my daily naps. Good thing I love to sleep:)