Try this!

Preheat oven to 375;  Cook Jimmy Dean Sausage on stove

Add in softened cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)

We occasionally like to add diced jalapeno peppers

Roll mixture in crescent rolls and cook for about 11-13 minutes and

you have a super-easy delicious appetizer!  However, this is what I made for dinner tonight because it is soooo tasty!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We had an extra special holiday this year, it was Noah's FIRST Thanksgiving!  Not only that, it was my FIRST time ever to be in charge of the meal!  My mother, father, grandmother, and brother came up to spend the day with us!  My mom did take care of the turkey and desserts and helped guide me with my first holiday dinner!  It turned out to be a success!  We enjoyed a great dinner and Halle and Noah loved spending time with Nana, Brampa, uncle Nick, and Great Grandma Pet!  Halle and her uncle Nick spent a lot of time outside playing with bubbles and on the swing set!  When asked what she was thankful for Halle went around the table and said she was thankful for each person here today!  She's right, we have a great family to be thankful for!  I am thankful that I have been blessed with such an amazing family!  I am thankful that my husband loves the Lord and that he teaches our children daily about God.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!  We will be celebrating with Seth's family on Saturday Evening!  I can wait!

What a sweet way to start the day, my two children playing together!

Halle loved the Thanksgiving day parade on TV this year!  She knew a lot of the characters and would yell, "mommy, it's elmo!...it's abby cadaby!....it's spiderman!...it's Santa!"  She even called her cousin conner to tell him that spideyman was on tv!

Noah started blowing kisses today!!!

Happy 1st Thanksgiving Noah!

Noah and Nana!

My beautiful Grandma Petford!

Uncle Nick and Halle playing outside!

I didn't realize she was wearing flip-flops until I took this pic!  She was in such a hurry to go outside and play, she even forgot her jacket!

She loves her uncle Nick!

Mom helping at the stove!

Seth fixing to cut "the bird"  My mom brought us an electric knife as a host gift!  Seth had fun with it!

My 'make-do' wine glasses!  I couldn't find my others!

Smoked turkey...mmmmmm!!!

and all the fixins!

My mom helped me clean everything up and we put out our Christmas decor!

What a day!

We bought an angel care monitor from babies r us before Noah was born.  This monitors breathing and If a child goes without a breath for 15 seconds it beeps once really loud.  If the child continues to not take a breath for 20 seconds it sounds off a loud alarm until the child starts breathing again or someone turns it off.  We have heard the alarm before, such as when we forget to turn it off when we get Noah out of bed.  Well, in September we heard the alarm 4 times in one weekend.  Each time when we "RAN" in to check on Noah and touched him he got startled and took a deep breath and the alarm stopped.  I wasn't sure if the machine wasn't working right or if something else was wrong.  I didn't want to take a chance so we contacted our pediatrician.  He also didn't want to take any chances and sent Focus home medical to our house to set up an apnea monitor.  At first they wanted Noah to wear this machine all the time.  It was nearly impossible....he wanted to roll everywhere.  They changed the orders to only nap times and at nighttime.  Every night after a bath we have to wrap this felt belt around Noah's chest tightly.  The belt has two electrodes and a fiber optic cord that we have to hide in his pant leg and connect to another cord, which then connects to the monitor.  Kind of a pain to do every night, but I'm not complaining because this monitor is something that is very important for the well being of my son right now.
We received our first results in October, that Noah had several apnea episodes over 16 seconds and one episode at 20 seconds.  Our pediatrician told us we needed to keep the monitor on Noah for another month.  On November 16th, another download of the monitor data was done.  I received a call yesterday from the doctor's office with the information from last month's apnea study.  Noah is continuing to have apnea episodes of over 16 seconds.  I am supposed to call our pediatricians office on Monday to find out what date we will have to take Noah in for a sleep study.  They want to put a ph probe in his esophagus to see if reflux is playing a part in this.  So now it is a waiting game until we have the sleep study done.  I am asking for prayers for Noah and the doctors taking care of him.  


As if that wasn't enough.....I went to the church parking lot where I always meet my sister-in-law to pick up my children.  I arrived just a few minutes early and I was low on gas so I decided to turn off my car.  The radio will continue to play for another 5 minutes and then will shut off too.  I decided to turn the radio back on but my car wouldn't do anything, wouldn't start, the ignition wouldn't even turn over!  My friend Brooke who was heading to my house for a holiday visit stopped by to help jump my car.  Still, it wouldn't do anything!  After deciding not to tow it, my husband showed up to take Noah and I with him to get a battery.  By this time Brooke took Halle with her back to another friend's house and an hour had already passed by.  Eventually we did find out it WAS in fact the battery!!  After another hour of buying a battery and Seth changing it out, my car was up and running!  I am so thankful it was nothing more than a battery!  It is an eye opener that I need to keep blankets and perhaps a spare diaper bag in my car just in case something like this ever happens again!  


The night ended up being a pretty good night!  My friend from college, Brooke, brought her kids and Halle over to my house for pizza and playtime!  Brooke and I met in our first CDIS class at OSU.  Brooke is very close to Halle.  She and my sister-in-law kept her for the first 6 months of her life so I wouldn't have to put her in a public daycare.  A little over two years ago Brooke moved to Temple, Texas so her husband could complete his residency in radiology at Scott and White.  Even though we only see each other a few times a year, nothing changes between us and I'm sure we'll be friends for life!  
Here are a few pictures of our children playing.  Liam just turned four in October and Emma will be two in February!  Thanks for spending the evening with us!  We can't wait until we can come visit you in Temple!

Noah's (and mommy's) favorite things!

Since I have so many friends expecting, I wanted to put together a list of what I consider 5 *star* "must haves" for every mom-to-be!

Noah Ryan was born January 30th, 2009. That's right, in the middle of WINTER! We had our fair share of sniffles and congestion, chapped skin, fussiness, and gas!

You know how you prepare for the baby and you buy the bottles you think will work, you stock up on binkies that you think your baby will like, the shampoo that you love the smell of, cute burp clothes that have fun designs. THEN your baby arrives! Our sweet noah would have nothing to do with the mams pacifier that we bought, he preferred the soothies that they gave him in the hospital nursery! What do I do? I send my sweet husband to the store to stock up on soothies because we know what happens to binkies in our household!!! (they disappear...usually in the hands of a then sweet 2 1/2 year old girl to use with 'her' babies!!) Noah was 'tongue tied' and they had to clip his lingua frenum in the hospital. The nurses decided to give him a bottle, with a NUK nipple!! Our sweet baby took to the NUK nipple immediately so on the way home from the hospital nana stopped by Target to buy some NUK pacifiers and that is what he prefers to this day!! Halle wanted nothing to do with a pacifier. Oh how each child is different! We did learn with Halle that Dr. Brown bottles are by far the best bottle that WE have ever used (highly recommended, and no I don't get any kickbacks for my free advertising =).

We should have purchased stock with little noses because this is the best stuff ever (even though I could make my own solution at home...this is much easier!!) They now make a mist spray that works wonders!!! Of course I recommend the bulb suctioner, especially the blue ones they give you at the hospital ("borrow" as many as you can!!!) You'll need one for the nursery, the diaper bag, the living room, the car...everywhere!!

Winters + baby skin = sad dry baby skin. Aveeno sensitive skin hair and body wash + aquaphor = happy moist baby skin! Aquaphor works wonders on the skin! Not to mention, it can kick the nastiest diaper rash ever in no time at all! Luckily Noah hasn't had much of a diaper rash at all, but Halle had several nasty rashes. The only thing that worked was aquaphor, definitely a 5 star rated product! I love my cute burp cloths...mainly because they are made from cloth diapers! They absorb everything! I tried those thin gerber terry cloth burp cloths...hmmmm not so much for absorbing anything AT ALL!! I prefer babies r us organic cloth diapers!

(Sigh) Vicks vapor rub is so amazing!! When your baby is up every hour because he/she can't breath out of their nose and you've tried suctioning, you've tried the saline, you've tried the humidifier (which is another favorite...Noah's is a penguin)....and nothing works....rub vicks vapor rub on your babies chest and feet, cover with socks, and enjoy a peaceful, easy breathing baby!!

The doctors found out that Noah had reflux, which ended up being pretty severe.  While trying almost every medication on the market for reflux, and other stomach issues we found our favorite item of all time!!  The nap nanny!!  We have the crib wedge (which we currently use because he outgrew the nap nanny) but it doesn't elevate the way the nap nanny does.   We also tried the inclined to sleep with halle, but this is by far the best item we have purchased!

We have also tried every formula possible from enfamil to similac, regular and soy, even the pricey nutramagin.  We finally found a winner.... the cheapest formula on the market (I think)...

Here are a some other favorites:

Protect yourself during bath time if you have a boy (keeps the baby warm too!!!)  =)

to soothe the baby all night long with the softest sounds from rain to lullabies.  It even projects different animations on the wall for the baby to see!  A must have!

another soother....Noah loves the swinging monkey!

The best towels we've used from babies r us.  A thick towel is a must have for any child.  I don't even know why they still make those sheet thin towels anymore (you know, the ones sold at target that say "mommy's boy" etc.)

Now being a mother of an almost 10 month old, this is a necessity for any peaceful trip to a restaurant!! (when we are brave enough to go!)  I don't care if Noah eats them, throws them, or sticks them up his nose....if it keeps him entertained so I can take at least three bites of my meal i'm happy!  (okay I actually don't want him to stick them up his nose!)

Soft stroller blankets...a must for any winter baby!  These are two of Noah's favorite blankets!!

Toy gyms: great for any baby who is stationary to pretty much one area (oh this was when it was a little easier to have two kids!!)  I wonder how my friends that have three kids do it!! =)  Noah has both of these gyms, however he is way to busy to stay in one area and play so these have been packed up in the attic for now!

Noah's exercauser is the farm evenflo one and he loves it!!  I do too!! I can stick him in there when I actually get a chance to take a shower and he is entertained for at least five minutes!  But seriously, he loved it when he was younger...I think now he would rather be on the ground going.   Who needs an exercauser ;)

Car toys...stock up and keep plenty handy to toss into the back to the baby!  THESE are great because they have hooks and even when your child thinks it's funny to throw his toys for the thousandth time....he can't with these...HA HA! mommy won! =)

Every baby needs his own phone!!    Amazing that Noah already knows to hold it to his ear and say "haaaaa" (hi with country slang, I think)  I wonder if that's a sign that mommy uses her phone to much?!

We are just now to the cruising stage!  Noah loves to take a few steps holding on to the couch!  These are his two favorite walking toys!

I almost forgot three of my favorite things!!!  My husband is a germaphobe (sorry honey!).....so when I found these at Target I shreaked out of sheer joy!  I knew he was going to be so proud of me!!!

TAH-DAH--------------->Pacifier wipes!!

Noah is constantly dropping (or throwing) his 'binkies' on the ground and I usually just do what I can to clean it with what I have, but now I have these wonderful wipes with me at all times!!  I might add a pacifier clip is also a great purchase and works well unless you keep it clipped to them while they are crawling and the pacifier just drags on the ground (yes, I've seen it happen)!

This next item can also fall under the 'prevents germs' category!  Inch bug labels (available in different colors) are great to label bottles and sippy cups!  If your child has allergies it is a great warning for child care providers.  I wish I had known about these when Halle was little.  She was lactose intolerant and was SUPPOSED to only have Lactaid to drink.  I would always catch someone giving her regular milk and she would have the worst stomach aches.  I understand it is hard to remember when you are taking care of many children, but this would have helped tremendously.  I use them on sippy cups to keep Noah's cup separate.  Halle has tried his formula on accident more than once and she is definitely not a fan!  And yes, it's sad, but Noah does drink out of princess and minnie sippy cups and will continue to do so until I buy some for him!  I think I do have one lightening mcqueen cup but Halle likes to claim that one too!

I hope you enjoyed my favorites!  Please share if you have any goodies that worked wonders for you!