Easy Meatball Recipe

It's not secret I never cook. NEVER. I did but then when our house went on the market, we packed up half our kitchen and started eating out.  Well it's become a goal of mine to start.  I said I was going to cook 15 meals in July. I didn't cook one.  August is almost half way done and it hasn't been much better.  So I figured I needed to just start.  Wouldn't it be nice if the new baby never knew about the days where we ate out all the time?  I think so.

Easy recipes are definitely where I need to start. . Adam loves spaghetti so I figured for our first meal in an eternity would be spaghetti and meat balls.  So here is an easy meatball recipe for you.  We are a small family so this only makes about 8 meatballs but you could double it up for more.

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

1/4 chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs (I use Progresso)

2 diced garlic cloves (I'm not a huge garlic person so I go light on this)

1/4 of a yellow onion (I sauteed mine in a little butter first)

1 egg

1 Tbsp EVOO

Dash of garlic salt, salt and black pepper to taste

MIX IT ALL UP (with your hands).  ROLL IN TO BALLS.

Fry them in oil on the stove until they are golden brown.  One side at a time.  I drain my oil and add sauce and let them all simmer together for a little bit. 

The boys loved them! 

(uncooked obvi)





22 Week Baby Update

How far along: 22 Weeks

Baby's size: {according to my What to Expect App}

he's the size of a Spaghetti Squash.  A little over a lb.

Sleep: I take 1/2 a Tylenol PM every night or I toss and turn like crazy.  Adam thinks I'm addicted.  My Dr. says I can take more if I want.  Ha ha.

 

Maternity Clothes: I basically wear dresses every day.  I tried to throw on a pair of jeans for one of Aidans' Dr's appointments this week and they officially don't fit!!! Not a single pair.  But no "maternity" clothes yet. 

Food cravings: Veggie Sandwiches.

Food aversions: Not really in to sweets.  Ice cream makes me nauseous.

Symptoms I have: I'm starting to feel really fat.  A little pain in my butt. Most likely my sciatica is coming back.  And my belly button is off center now and driving me nuts.  Heartburn.

 

 

Doctor’s Appointment: Had one on Monday.  Measuring perfect, babies heart rate was 142, scale was broken but I think I've gained some weight. Maybe 5 lbs.  I need to do some walking this week.

Movement: Tons. For the majority of the day. Adam and my girlfriend Amanda have felt him.   His is easiest to feel around my belly button. Aidan is still dying to feel him. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

 

Belly Button: Still in but stretching!

Gender: Sweet Baby Boy!

What I’m looking forward to: This weekend away with Adam and coming home to our kitchen being remodeled.  

What I miss: Sushi.  Pinterest has led me to believe I miss cocktails but I doubt that's really true. 

Some bump pics from previous weeks that were on my phone:

Headed out for my birthday. I grew a bunch.

Aidan Update

Well to add to our already disaster of an experience with Aidan being sick...last night he had an allergic reaction to his medicine.  I don't think he knows it even happened but now we have an allergy to add to our list of things going wrong around here.  I'm not complaining I would just love some reprieve for this poor little guy. I had to run out to the pharmacy late last night in the pouring rain to get him some Benadryl and a new Rx that our pediatrician had called in.  I may have just complained about the rain.

I cannot sing our pediatricians praises enough. She has been SO wonderful.  When I was pregnant with Aidan, she was recommended by a family friend (hey LADY) and the only ped we interviewed.  She is extremely thorough and straight forward and for some people that doesn't work but that's what we love about her.  She just gives it to us straight. 

We were on an every four hour schedule with the nebulizer but now we are back to every two.  Keeping my fingers crossed that our appointment this morning is the last one until we follow up at the end of the month.  If things don't get better tonight and early tomorrow we are probably looking at a chest xray and possibly a hospital stay.  I don't even want to think about that.  

So, say a prayer for our little man if you get a minute. We're hoping for a speedy recovery from here on out.  Thanks for checking in!

He is sick...

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter or check in here once in a while, by now you know Aidan has been really sick.  Going on two weeks ago he just started not feeling well.  My pediatrician sent us over to the neighborhood Urgent Care for kids because she was packed full of appointments (and no one really thought it was that serious at that point).  After two thoroughly uneventful appointments there where Dr's told me nothing was wrong with Aidan while I cried to them that I know my child and he's never sick, and he is clearly (to me) very ill, we FINALLY got in to see our amazing pediatrician this past Friday.

She took us in first thing in the morning and we didn't have to wait at all.  She has praised me so many times in the past for just "knowing" my child.  She knew if almost two weeks later, I was still claiming I had a sick kid on my hands,  something had to be really wrong.  She did everything the Dr's did at Urgent Care two days before and a week before that.  Within minutes she had diagnosed him with pneumonia (huge sign, the fever that will not go away!) and Aidan was getting relief via a breathing treatment in her office in no time.  I had to step out side and collect myself after she told me what was up.  He has had this once before when he was much younger and although I truthfully thought it was whooping cough, the fact was that I knew something was seriously wrong and I finally had someone tell us I was right was such a weight off my shoulders.  There is nothing worse than having a sick child and you can't do anything for them.  We had gone days and Aidan wouldn't leave the sofa.  It was awful.

We spent a little over an hour at the Dr. covering all of our bases.  She wrote us two prescriptions and we were on our way home.  Since Friday, he's been getting breathing treatments every couple of hours and although I know the cough has to get worse before it can get better, I feel really good knowing he is on the mend.  It's been hardest at night.  He is getting very little rest from the cough and he cries when we have to wake him up to do his breathing treatment in the middle of the night.  Which of course sends me in to tears (I'm not usually this bad, I think it's the pregnancy hormones) so Adam has kindly agreed to do those.  I think Aidan is happy to have him crawl in bed with him for a while anyways. 

I will be out of town for one of my best friend's wedding's in Boston this weekend and I just could never leave if he was in the state he was in last week.  I'm thrilled he will be a week and a half in to treatment and I know my parents will take marvelous care of him. 

Clockwise:Visiting With Nana and Grandpa; quiet time on the sofa; Daddy does a treatment in the middle of the night; more lounging; self portrait of Aidan and Daddy at Nana's for Mommy's birthday.

Call Me Maybe

By now I am sure most of you have seen this adorble video from the US Swim Team. If not it's your lucky day. I'm posting it here for you! It solidifies my girl crush on Missy Franklin. She is so cute! And of course we love to see a little Ricky Barrands because he's a Charlotte boy!

For source info click on YouTube.

Cravings Galore

When I was pregnant with Aidan, I literally ate Mexican 4 or 5 nights a week. That's probably what caused me to gain almost 40 {EEEEEEK} pounds with him {and I worked out everyday can you believe it?}.

I think Adam was looking forward to having to go through that again.  My boys love their Mexican.  Any time we are trying to decide where we want to go to dinner their default is always Mexican. 

Well this time around that is not the case. 

I want VEGGIES.  Lots of them.  We have a restaurant in town that has a Veggie Greek Pita.  Basically it's just cucumber, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, olives and Greek Dressing.  They take the Feta off for me.  It's so good.  I could eat one all day everyday.  And salads.  Nothing fancy just cukes, lettuce, ONION {what gives on the onion} tomatoes {I don't even like tomatoes!} and light dressing!  My mouth is now watering. 

Once in a while I squeeze some protein in their and add chicken.  A spinach wrap loaded down with veggies and a little grilled chicken.  Again, my mouth is watering. 

Adam may or may not be loosing his patience with me requesting "rabbit food" for dinner every night.  I am married to a country boy and the man needs meat three meals a day.  We're compromising pretty well.  And by compromise I do mean, we eat at separate restaurants most nights or just prepare our own meals.  No big deal.

via

My Poor Aidan

UPDATE: I took Aidan to his Dr. this morning, fever is gone, just a cold virus.  Back Friday if he's not feeling any better. 


He is so sick! Out of nowhere at the beginning of last week, he started complaining of a headache which led me to believe he had a fever and he his head was throbbing because of it.  I was right!

Sometimes he will randomly get a fever, I give him some Motrin or Tylenol and it's gone.  Never to be seen again.  So I thought that might be what we were dealing with.  He got the fever, I treated it, he got up the next morning, felt great, and I sent him to camp for the day.

Midway through the day, I got a call from camp that he again had the headache and wanted to come home. I knew he had to be feeling pretty crummy because he LOVES camp.  When I got there to get him he was laying on the floor in a corner crying.  His counselors were trying to console him but he just wanted to come home.  I called our pediatrician and she didn't have any openings so advised me to wait to come in the next morning. Wasn't happening.  I took him straight to Children's Urgent Care and they diagnosed him with a virus.  No clue as to where it came from.  They gave us some Motrin and sent us on our way.

Here we are A WEEK LATER and he is still getting the fever.  It's the weirdest thing because if I alternate his Motrin and Tylenol on a perfect schedule he feels GREAT.  But if I am a few minutes off he goes from feeling like himself to pathetic in minutes time.  He does now have a cough. 

I've gone back and forth trying to decide if I should take him back to the Dr or just ride it out.  I've always kind of trusted my instincts and treated things at home.  It's almost pointless going back to the Dr. for them to tell us he still just has a virus.  There's nothing they can do for him.  It just sucks because he is now on week 2 of missing camp which is torture for him. 

I just hate to see him not feeling well.  Breaks my heart.