Fall Friday Recipe

Today's recipe is one of my favorites EVER!

I can't take credit for this one. A sweet friend of mine from our Sunday School class, Brooke, brought this to class one morning a couple of years ago and it was such a big hit that she gave out the recipe to us girls.

Sausage and Cream Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients


1 pound sausage
1 (8oz) package cream cheese
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 cans crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350. Brown your sausage in a skillet. Then drain off the excess grease. Cut up the cream cheese into small squares and place them over the cooked sausage.


The cream cheese will melt in with the sausage. Stir together.


Grease an 8x10 pan then layer 1 can of the crescent rolls to cover the bottom of the pan.


Next, spread the sausage cream cheese mixture over the crescent rolls


Then sprinkle cheese over the top


Use the last can of crescent rolls and cover the top. Pinch around the edges to make a seal. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.


Then serve!

Y'all this is so yummy! It's become one of mine and Clay's favorite breakfast casseroles.

Blogging Postponed

No blogging for me for the next four days :( Our laptop battery has gone out and all my pictures are on it. This will motivate me to purchase an external hard drive. I would probably go bananas if I lost all of my pictures of Bryson.

I hate that I'm not able to share my Fall Friday recipe today. This is one of my favorites! I'll make sure to try and have it up sometime on Monday. Maybe this will also motivate me to plan ahead on my blog posts. Ha!

Hope y'all have a great Friday and wonderful weekend too. See ya on Monday.

Transition

The same weekend I decided to take away the passy, I also decided to put Bryson in his toddler bed. Yes, I am that mother that thought I would be "Super Mom" and do everything all at one time. It actually turned out better than I planned and has been going great for a little over 2 months.

I was a little nervous about transitioning Bryson to the toddler bed, but thanks to some other mom's I follow on twitter, they gave me the encouragement I needed to get it done. Thanks Erin, Jennifer, and Jenna! Social media has become a wonderful resource for me during these last few months with Bryson. I am so thankful for such a great community of women :)


We were grateful that when we got pregnant with Bryson, my dad and step mom bought our crib. It's one of the convertible cribs that will go from a crib to a toddler bed to a full size bed.

I have to tell y'all that it broke my heart just a little to have him in this toddler bed. It makes me realize how fast he's growing up. :(

I will tell you that the very first night Clay and I went back and forth about leaving his door open or keeping it shut. Of course I won that battle and paid for it at 2am. I've always been a light sleeper and I had turned over in the bed and thought I saw something standing in our doorway. I laid my head back down and then popped up and saw Bryson standing in our doorway. OMG! I about had a heart attack. He ended up laying in the bed with us for a few hours and then I put him back in his room. Since that night we have left his door closed and he hasn't tried to get out or open his door.

Every once in a while I will hear him in the middle of the night get up and go over to his book bin and pull out some of his books and take them back to his bed. It's funny listening to his little feet hit the floor.

Since we found out we are pregnant with baby #2 we are planning to use Bryson's crib for this baby too. I've been trying to decide on what kind of bed to put Bryson in next. For a while Clay and I wanted him to have a bunk bed. Clay and my brother both and one growing up and loved them. But since I know this is not the house we will be staying in I think I'm just going to get him a full size frame and then decorate with the Disney Cars theme.


Clay and I saw this bedding at Target a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. We know Bryson would go banana's over this! We are thinking about getting this for Christmas. That's when I would like to have him out of the toddler bed and in the full size bed.


And this pillow is also from Target and is just the cutest thing.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful Thursday! Tomorrow I'll be posting another Fall Friday Recipe. It's one of my favorites!

Wordless Wednesday

I know y'all are probably thinking, why in the world is she posting a picture of a spider web? These are one of the most fascinating things to me and so unique. It's crazy that I can leave my house at night to go into work and the next morning when I get home several of these spider webs, all in different shapes are around my house.

Plus they make me think of the fall season. Ha!

Happy Wednesday Y'all!!!

Weekend Review

I guess all the weekend running around I did has caught up with me. I have done nothing but lay in the bed today. I have been absolutely useless to my family and that upsets me more than anything. I'm so used to having things done and staying on top of things around the house. This pregnancy has seemed to be a little more tiring. I've stayed sick for the last 5 weeks, which is not something I am used to. With Bryson I was sick for about 1 week. So I'm hoping to get over this hump pretty soon.

Thursday night Mary and I went and saw the play Les Miserables.


So amazing! Loved the story line and the music was beautiful.

We also had dinner at this new restaurant


It's very similar to Moe's southwest grill. There chicken nachos were delicious! I could eat any type of Mexican everyday day of the week.

Friday we had a "send off" party for our SS teacher and his family. They are getting ready to move in the next few weeks to write the next chapter of their story. Clay and I have loved Heath and April so much. We have grown so much through their teaching and the way they live out their lives. We along with several other couples have been in their class since it first started back in August of 2006. We are so sad to see them leave, but we know God has amazing plans for them and their family.

I had a lot going on on Saturday. A friend and coworker, Amber got married at this adorable place called Huckleberry Farms. The wedding was beautiful and made me want to have a do over. Ha! The weather was perfect for this outside wedding. Several of my coworkers were there too... sorry for the poor picture quality :( using the iphone.


Shelley, Haley and Savannah


Lisa, Beth and her sweet daughter Emma. Isn't she the cutest thing?


Me and Mary


Me and the Bride. Her dress was gorgeous! She looked so beautiful :)

I wasn't able to stay for the reception. I had to get back home to get to my SIL baby shower. And of course crazy me didn't take one single picture. I was so excited that she got lots of stuff since this one is a little girl. All that pink made me hope that this one might be a girl too!

Bryson and I didn't make it to church today. He's been running a fever and some other yucky stuff I want talk about for the last several days. He finally let me look in his mouth and sure enough he's cutting one of his two year molars.


Bless his heart. He's been back and forth between the couch and our bed. He's rarely sick, so it breaks my heart to see him like this. Not something I'm used to which I know is a HUGE blessing.

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. Praying I get some energy back since I start my work week tomorrow night!

Fall Friday Recipe

I thought it would be fun to post a recipe every Friday during the Fall season. Fall is probably my favorite season of the year. I love the weather, SEC football is in full swing (War Eagle!), my favorite TV shows are starting back up, I adore all kinds of fall wardrobes, and of course the food during this time of year is delicious. 

So to start off I thought I would post one of my favorite go to recipes - Taco Soup. There are several different ways to make this recipe and finally after three years of changing it up I have put together one that my husband and I love. Before I share mine, just know that you can put pretty much anything you want into this recipe. It's whatever your family likes and enjoys!

Taco Soup

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 2 cans of Rotel
• 2 cans of Black Beans (drained)
• 1 can of Corn
• 1 can of Dark Red Kidney Beans
• 1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning Mix
• 1/2 packet of Ranch Seasoning Mix

Brown your ground beef (I don't always use ground beef, I usually use whatever is on sale at the grocery store that day) and then drain it well. Pour the ground beef into your crockpot. Add the Rotel, Black Beans (I always drain these), Corn, and Kidney Beans. Then add 1/2 of the taco and ranch seasoning packets and then I will also take one of the cans and fill it up with water and add it in. You don't have to add the water if it looks like the consistancy you want it. Or if you like yours a little more soupy feel free to add more water.

I let it cook on low for 3 hours and then switched it to warm until we are ready to eat. Today I started mine when I got home from work this morning so that it would be ready to eat once I got up. This was the first time I've let mine somewhat cook all day and the beans weren't mushy. Everything was just right. 

We serve ours with shredded cheese (I like a lot on mine) and sour cream. We also like to use the Tostitos scoops chips to dip with. 

With this recipe you can also freeze the leftovers. I will put mine in individual containers so on my week off I can have one for lunch or whenever. 

Some other things you can put in - pinto beans, chili beans, stewed tomatoes, onions, the list goes on and on. Just use whatever your family likes to eat to make it your own. 

Halloween Costumes

Halloween is less than 6 weeks away. YIKES! This year I've been going back and forth on a few costumes for Bryson. A few weeks ago Pottery Barn Kids came out with there new Halloween costumes for kids. There are several that I think are just adorable.

I thought I would share with ya'll a few of the costumes I like. Tell me what you think...


This spider is so cute! The only thing about this costume is I think the legs might be a little too much.


How adorable is this? What's crazy is the $$$.


So the pumpkin is the one I have my heart on. I've gotten some mixed reviews about letting Bryson wear this one. I would definitely not let him go out in the black leggings. I would get him some black Garanimal or Old Navy sweat pants.

And my child is 2. It's not like he's 7 or 8. I think it's precious!

So ya'll let me know what you think. Hope your having a Wonderful Wednesday!!

Vacation 2011 - Part 2

Finally I'm getting around to posting the second half of our trip to the beach. I've been extremely tired lately and just wanting to lay on the couch all day. Ha! Yeah right, I have a toddler who runs around the house at warp speed all day and a house that looks like it's been turned upside down more than once. Who am I kidding?

Sorry this post is overloaded with pictures. It's mainly to show the grandparents and for my memories.

By the fourth day Bryson was staying out on the beach a little longer. I think the blanket we bought really helped. He still wasn't wild about the sand.


These little molds kept him busy for quite a while. Clay would show him how it worked and then he would want to try. It was so sweet watching them play together and interact. They are so much alike it's a little scary. I love both my boys very much!


Are these not the cutest things? My favorite one was the crab and the seahorse.


That night we had dinner at Lambert's (home of the throwed rolls)! This is another one of my favorite places to eat when we're at Gulf Shores. Sometimes the seafood can be too much after so many days (never thought I would say that), so it's nice to go and eat some "home cooked" food. If you've never been let me suggest the fried potatoes and onions and Clay loves the meatloaf.


I don't if you can see them that well, but dolphins started swimming up close to the shore one morning. At first Clay thought it was a shark. Ha! He's so crazy!! I one point I thought we saw about 5 or 6 dolphins together. They were so neat to watch.


Daddy trying his hand at the molds. He wasn't as good as mommy was!


My friend Mary got Bryson this cute sand castle mold from Disney World. Bryson thought it was the coolest thing. Thanks Ms. Mary!!


We usually eat in once while we're on our trip. This particular night Clay and I wanted Bahama Bob's Crawfish Po-Boy sandwich and for a special treat I stopped in at Hope's Cheesecake's to grab each of us our own little cheesecake.

Can you tell by this picture Bryson was loving his? Ha!!


This picture is terrible, but on our last full day Clay took Bryson up to the room, fed him lunch and put him down for a nap so that I could soak up some sun and have a little "Me" time. My husband is amazing. Don't think I'll be trading him in anytime soon. :)


And for one last hooray, we had dinner at Lulu's. This is a picture of the best fish sandwich I have ever put in my mouth! Ya'll this thing is A-MA-ZING!!! And to top it off you can add the fried green tomatoes and Lulu's WOW sauce to make it even better. I really wish there was some way she could ship these to my house. I would pay alot! I've been craving this sandwich for the last few weeks.

Lucy Buffett has a cookbook with this recipe in it and Mary was sweet enough to copy them for me. I need to get a good skillet for the fried green tomatoes before I try this one out. But before this pregnancy is over this will be served at my house.


After dinner we had a little photo session down by the beach. Once Bryson discovered the seashells he was in heaven.


Clay and I took turns taking pictures of the other one with Bryson. I hate that we weren't able to get a family shot.


This picture just melts my heart. I can't believe how much he's grown since last years trip. It also makes me look forward to this next baby that is about to come into our lives. To watch Bryson interact with his little brother/sister. For him to show him or her where to find the seashells or how to build sand castles.

I can't wait!!!

The Details

This picture was taken the day we found out!

First off - THANK ya'll so much for all the sweet comments! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

I thought I would share a few of the details about this pregnancy...

First of all - this was a HUGE surprise! After trying so long to get pregnant with Bryson and not knowing if we would ever be able to get pregnant again without help I was not expecting this at all. I had actually become very content and accepted that Bryson would be an only child and had told Clay a few months back that I was not ready to go through infertility again and I didn't know if I would ever want to go through that again. Funny how God has other plans for our lives!  

The day I found out is kind of a funny story. I was on my way home from work and decided that I would stop in at Target and buy a test. I was so nervous that I went into the restroom AT Target and took the test. Yes, I'm that girl that is soooo impatient. Ha! The moment I looked down and saw the two lines I think my heart leaped out of my chest. I made it out of the store and to my car before I completely broke down and started crying. I never expected we would ever get pregnant on our own. I spent the whole way home trying to decide how I was going to tell Clay.

When I got home Clay and Bryson were in our bed watching cartoons and eating breakfast. I went straight to the bathroom to gather my thoughts and to make sure Clay couldn't tell I had been crying :) I went over to Clay's side of the bed and told him I needed to tell him something. He was a little hesitant at first, I think he was still a little sleepy. All of a sudden I just showed him the test. He looked at it, then looked at me, looked at the test again and asked me what it was? Ugh, it's a pregnancy test!! He can be so crazy. Ha! We looked at each other and had no words. We just smiled!

I took another pregnancy test the next day just to make sure it wasn't a false positive and sure enough two lines showed up on that test.

We wanted to wait to tell our family until I had gone to the doctor and had an ultrasound. That was the longest two and a half weeks of my life. We told all of our parents in person. We used the "big bro" shirt my friend Mary made to tell my parents.

I am only 9 weeks and my due date is April 22. I was a little nervous going into my doctors appointment. I had so many questions for her about this pregnancy. I never went into specifics about Bryson, but when I was 30wks we found out my liver enzymes were elevating and things got pretty crazy after that. So with this pregnancy we will be monitoring my enzymes at every appointment. 

I have been extremely sick with this pregnancy. I was only sick for about a week when I was pregnant with Bryson, so most people are telling me they think I will have a girl. Clay and I don't care what we have just as long as he/she is healthy. 

And also - I am over the moon excited about this pregnancy! But my heart breaks for my friends and other women that are yearning for a child and the chance to become a mother. I know exactly how it feels to think that you will never get pregnant. And the heartache it brings to find out someone else in expecting. After speaking to my friend and sharing our news with her, she told me something I never realized, she said that my pregnancy gives her HOPE! Isn't that amazing? I honestly never thought of it that way. So for those of you going through infertility, know that there is HOPE. God has a perfect plan for your life and He's still writing your story for a reason and to bring glory to Him! He will give you all your heart desires. Know I pray for you everyday!   

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8: 24-25

My First Guest Post

Hey y'all! Today I'm doing my first guest blog post over at Jennifer's blog Life in the Green House. Go over and visit her blog and show her some love!


Happy Friday!!!!!

Surprise....

My mommy is letting me take over her blog today!

And share a special surprise with y'all...



Our family of three will be a family of four in April!

We are thrilled beyond words!!

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3

Almost Wordless Wednesday

My mom took this picture yesterday of Bryson and my Granddaddy. I can't explain to y'all what this picture means to me. This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Bryson to date. My mom captured so much in this one picture!

Fall Preview

It's that time of year again. September is here and that means my DVR will be working overtime. I can't believe all the shows I have on my list to watch this season. I think it's the most ever!

My friend Mary and I would pick a night while we were at work and print out the list of schedules for the Fall Season. We would circle/highlight all the shows we wanted to watch so that we would could go home that day and set our DVR to record them. We're pretty serious about our TV. Ha!

So here's a sneak peak of what will be in my DVR this Fall...

I am so excited this show is back for another season. Last years groups were A-Ma-Zing!! And the fact that they sing a cappella is what makes the show that much more exciting to watch. Clay and I love this show more than AI. This show premiers on NBC on Monday, Sept 19th @ 7:00pm central time.


Every year this show makes me cry at least a dozen times. It also motivates me to try and eat more healthy and exercise a little more than I already do. If I could just keep it up all year long. And maybe having Bob at my house everyday for motivation would help too! Season premier on Tuesday, Sept 20th @ 7:00pm central on NBC.

If you are a parent of any aged child you need to watch Parenthood. This is one of the best shows I have watched in a long time. Glad it's coming back for another season. And it premiers tomorrow night on NBC @ 9:00pm central time. So y'all go to your DVR right now and set it up to record :)

I'm really excited about this new show with Christina Applegate, "Up All Night." It looks like it's going to be one of those shows where I laugh out loud a lot! It also premiers this week on Wednesday on NBC @ 9:00pm central time.

My all time favorite show "Grey's Anatomy!" I have missed the Meredith/McDreamy relationship and after the hanger they left last season, I'm going to be devastated if they don't end up together. Can you tell I get really into the shows I watch? What's even more exciting is that the premier is 2 HOURS!!! YAY!!!!!


The Office is another one of my favorite comedy shows. I'm going to miss Steve Carell's character this year. Michael and Dwight always had me rolling in the floor. I'll be interested to see who the new office manager is going to be.


This is another show I'm excited that is coming back for another season. I was afraid they were going to take it off the air after for a while. I mean who doesn't love some Donnie Wahlberg? Sorry I just had to say it. I'm a child of the 80's and had everything they ever made of NKOTB. Ha! But my favorite was always Jordan.


That's just a few of the shows that will be on my DVR this fall. A few other shows I watch are Private Practice, CSI: NY, Real Housewives of New Jersey, Cougar Town, Hart of Dixie, and One Tree Hill.

What will you be watching this Fall???

My Singing Toddler

I've been meaning to post this video of Bryson singing back during the summer. He didn't sing the entire song like he normally does. But his facial expressions make up for it! And for the record this is by far the best video to date that we have of him. Clay and I can't help but watch it a few times a week and die out laughing every time!



By the way, in case your not familiar with the song it's Larry the Cucumber's Silly Song "Barbara Manatee."

My child is such a HAM!!!

off to a great start...

but I can't tell you how long it's gonna last. Of course it's my work week and I missed out on Auburn's come from behind win against the Utah State Aggies. 

I don't know if I could have sat through that game. Thankfully we pulled out the win! I am not one of those fans that expect greatness from my team every year. I know the reality that seasoned players have to leave and we can't be great all the time. I love my ORANGE & BLUE and will cheer them on no matter what kind of season we have!

I have never been a huge LSU fan at least when we are their opponent. Ha! Their fans are nothing like I've ever seen. They love their tiger football :) Was happy for their win tonight though.

Georgia is probably my second favorite team in the SEC! To be honest I love their Coach, Mark Richt! I think he is an amazing man off the field. I hated that they lost! And I hope they can shake it off and end up having a great season.

Here's my little Tiger! He was in the process of yelling out "Waaarrrrr Eagle!"

Hope whatever team you cheer for pulled out a win yesterday! I can't believe it's already that time of year again. Now if the weather would just start acting the way it's supposed to this time of year. Ha!!