Smiley Sunday

For more reasons than one, I am having one of those days where my mind is filled with reflection and my heart, gratitude. We had a relaxing day with family today and I soaked up our moments laughing, snuggling and chatting. Madelyn was very smiley and these pictures do a pretty good job of capturing how I'm feeling... hope you had a great weekend with your families!

I'm a big girl now...

My mom sent me this picture this week when she'd taken Madelyn to the grocery store with her and I couldn't believe my eyes. There was my little girl, who isn't so little anymore, sitting up in the cart acting like it's no big deal! It really seems like there is a new development or discovery every day. I know in the next few weeks we'll introduce her to other foods and I'm looking forward to seeing her reaction and we're not far from her rolling over either.  When we put her down in her crib, now she's started to raise her legs up in the air and then to flop them from side to side before she goes to sleep. It's always something, and it's the best!

I'm writing this during a quiet Friday afternoon at work (ssshh!) and I am SO excited that it is (almost) the weekend. I plan to spend the majority of the weekend snuggling with my munchkin. Life is good :) Happy weekend all!

20 weeks!

Madelyn and I had a great time together today. Daddy went to play golf with some friends, which meant my baby girl and I had the day together.  While, Daddy was having fun of his own, Madelyn and I watched TV, played, went on a nice long walk, and went shopping... it was perfect!! After bath-time, we were having some fun in her room and I captured a few cute pictures of our growing girl. Unfortunately, I took them with my phone and can't figure out to save my life, how to format them to fit on here... and it's getting late, so I'm giving up. I'll share the only picture that I took that will come through, but it is a pretty good one ;-) I think we're in trouble...

Our favorite go-to dinner

I've never blogged about a recipe before, but for this dish, I decided it was worth starting! We try not to eat pasta too often, but when we're due for a pasta dinner, this one is always first to mind. I found it on allrcecipes.com a few years back and in addition to us, I've made it for friends and family too, and it's a real crowd pleaser. By now, I know the recipe by heart and I've never made it exactly the same, twice. Depending on my mood, I'll use reduced fat sausage, light cream or half&half, or I'll even omit the parmasean cheese. I make it with GF penne, use petite diced tomatoes and I always add red pepper flakes and extra garlic.  I even save myself more time and use frozen onions because they're so easy :) Next time you are looking to make pasta for dinner, give this a whirl and make it your own, you will not be disappointed!

Cheesy Sausage Pasta

welcome!

Now when you come to visit it us, you'll have a much nicer walk up to our house! The new porch and walkway are now complete and we are thrilled. I even did a little dance in our driveway when I got home last night and it was all done. It's a bit bare without the finishing touches - new grass and over 20 plants and bushes coming soon, but we love it! It's funny that one thing totally leads to another though. Now we recognize that we can't hold off on painting the trim of the house any longer, it needs to be done, asap!

Visitors welcome, anytime :)

gotta love laughter!

Here is a little video of Madelyn laughing recently. The first official laugh came about a month ago but since then she's started to understand whats happening and she's laughing more and more.  A lot of times we find ourselves laughing with her, it's contagious!

New entry

The face lift to our curb appeal is about half complete. After a few day delay because of weather and some unexpected issues with the old porch, we now have a new entry into our house. Every day for the last 2 weeks we couldn't wait to get home to see the progress. This week they'll be adding in a walkway and then in a couple of weeks, they'll fill in the area around the porch with plants and bushes. We are thrilled with how it looks so far - money, very well spent!