Happy 80th birthday to my sweet Nana!
Hope she’s having a day filled with her favorite things. Looking forward to hopefully seeing her soon to celebrate her birthday {maybe this weekend if I’m feeling up for a beach weekend trip}.
The babies & I were celebrated this past weekend with our first babies shower. It was hosted by four of my best college friends, Kelly, B, Beth & Cheryl.
The ladies worked their butts off & everything was perfect ~ from the invites & decor to the food & drinks. They served fruit skewers, chicken salad rolls, pimento cheese sandwiches, spinach dip, & veggies. We had lime & lemon flavored water as well as the best punch! And mini Gigi’s cupcakes for dessert while playing the “guess how big around Suz is” string game {Nana won!} & then I opened gifts.
So many gifts! Our family & friends have really spoiled the babies already. My SIL made two cloth diaper wreaths for the babies! They’re too pretty to use & are currently hanging on the nursery doors.
Most of these friends are from my college Chi Omega days, so owl themed gifts were galore! A homemade owl blanket from my friend Sarah, big stuffed owl & framed owl from my aunts, owl bib & humidifier as well as a fabulous ΧΩ onesie from Kim, owl baby hats from Steph, owl burp cloths from Kristen, an owl changing pad cover from Mom & Nana, an owl Boppy from B’s mom, & even an owl lovey from Jessica!
The special hostesses came up with the idea for the guests to bring signed books for the babies instead of cards. Kelly made a “books” sign for a pretty basket & we put all the books in there. My mom & Jason’s mom actually gave us a bunch of the books we read & loved as children. That was so special! The whole day was special. I can’t wait to see the babies using, playing, wearing all the gifts & for my friends to meet the babes!
Hope everyone had a very happy Valentine’s day! We kept things low key but enjoyed a great night together.
On to feeding my gathered family last Sunday morning. The shower began at 2p, so I wanted to have something fairly hardy yet easy for brunch Sunday. I think by now y’all have realized I don’t eat {& thus don’t cook} pork or beef. So that takes out a lot of breakfast casseroles.
I turned to the Pioneer Woman in hopes she could help me out. Seriously, you can never go wrong with a PW recipe ~ she has yet to fail me. My family & I LOVED her Sleepin’ in Omelette casserole. It was easy for my mom, Nana & I to assemble Saturday night & cooked up beautifully Sunday morning.
Ingredients
Onion Rolls {she says use 6 but 5 was more than enough for my 9×13 pan}
1 c grated cheddar cheese
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 & 1/2 sticks of butter
10 eggs
2 c milk
1 tsp chopped chives {Suz fail ~ I didn’t have this!}
1/2 tsp dry mustard {another Suz fail so we used spicy brown liquid mustard}
1/2 tsp salt
a dash of cayenne pepper
Directions
Nana & I crumbled the onion rolls on the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. We topped the bread with the cheddar cheese, crumbled cream cheese on top of that & then Nana thinly cut up the butter on top that all that.
Mom mixed the remaining ingredients in a bowl & I photographed while she poured it over the top of the dish trying to spread the egg mixture throughout. We covered it with foil & placed it in the frig over night.
Sunday morning, I baked it covered on 350 {even though PW says 325} for 45 min then removed the foil & baked uncovered for another 15 minutes.
I remembered my friend Emilee Beth had brought an awesome hash brown casserole to our last girls’ night sleepover & thankfully she & the recipe orginator Alison shared it with me. & it would only be fair that I share it here right? {& so I remember it too!}
Hash Brown Casserole aka Cheesy Potatoes
Ingredients
32 oz bag frozen hash browns {diced or grated}, slightly thawed
10 oz grated cheddar cheese
1/4 c onion, diced
2 c sour cream {we used 1 c light & 1 c regular}
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c butter, melted
salt & pepper to taste
Directions
Mix all the ingredients together {except for the potatoes & a little extra cheese}. Then add the potatoes & mix thoroughly. Spray a 9×13 pan generously with Pam & pour in the potato mixture.
At this point Saturday night, we tossed the casserole into the frig wrapped well with foil. Sunday morning, I added a little extra cheese on the top of the casserole & baked it at 350 degrees for an hour. I did 45 minutes covered & uncovered for the last 15 minutes.
Nana & Jason’s mom cooked up some bacon {the first I’d ever purchased} for my meat-loving family. We served the casseroles & bacon with a pretty fruit salad {thanks Costco} to which I’d added blueberries & strawberries. I’d forgotten to buy oj but had sparkling pomegrante juice {from Trader Joe’s} along with coffee & sodas. I’m pretty sure we were all members of the clean plate club & some {me!} went back for seconds!
Our families are so excited about the babies upcoming arrival, that they couldn’t miss coming into town to celebrate our first shower all together. My parents came down Friday night {& slept at my aunt’s house}, my OIB grandparents came Saturday morning {& stayed with us} & my husband’s mom & sister arrived Saturday afternoon {they got a hotel room for the night}. So while everyone wasn’t sleeping under our roof, from early am to late pm, we were all together at our house.
That meant breaking out a few 9×13 pans that had been gathering dust so far in this pregnancy! Since all the recipes were LOVED by my family, I thought I’d share them with y’all too.
Mom & my aunt came over early Saturday morning & helped me put the Chicken & Rice Casserole together. This is a recipe Mom gave me based on a few different chicken & rice casserole recipes she’s tried over the years. I wasn’t awake enough to remember to take photos in process or after it baked, but I can promise you there were just barely any leftovers!
Ingredients
3-4 c diced cooked chicken {we cut up a Costco rotisserie chicken}
1 medium onion, diced {used 1/2}, about 1/2 c chopped celery, container of sliced mushrooms
8oz can diced water chestnuts, drained
2 cans French green beans, rinsed & drained
4oz can pimentos, rinsed & drained
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 c mayo
1/2 c sour cream
box of Uncle Ben’s long-grain & wild rice, cooked according to package directions
1 c grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 t salt & 1/2 t pepper
Corn flakes
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute the onion, celery & mushrooms. Mix all ingredients together {minus the corn flakes} & pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Top with crushed corn flakes. Bake for 25-35 minutes.
After a day of shopping with my Mom, aunt, & Nana at a few local baby stores then visiting with everyone, it was nice to just throw out a Costco veggie tray for an appetizer while this casserole was cooking.
We served the casserole with a big salad & Sister Schubert’s rolls. Nana had made & brought up a pound cake which we had topped with strawberries & blueberries for dessert.
{I’ve decided to cut this off here. I’ll talk Sunday brunch food tomorrow!}
Now that it’s two. What’s changed you might ask? A lot & not much at the same time. I still feel the same. I still look the same. For now, I’m still eating & drinking the same.
We still sold my small SUV this week in planning to get a bigger SUV to handle our expanding family. I’m still thankful & loving the hand-me-downs from friends. I’m still looking forward to celebrating the babies at our first shower next weekend.
My parents had the third crib still in a box at their house {we’d picked it up from a Walmart up there & didn’t have room to carry it home}. With a copy of the receipt, Mom will be taking that back next week. The crib set she’d bought for us as the third, she was going to take back as well but then we decided she could set it up in a crib she had already put in our at home bedroom for our visits.
We haven’t started setting up the nursery yet, but it’ll still be green & neutral & owl-filled. I now think we’ll now have room for a bigger glider/rocker & maybe a book case.
We now have an extra car seat & extra bases, but with two, our parents’ & my grandparents’ cars will be able to fit them when visiting. I’ve updated our Target & Buy Buy Baby registries switching all 3’s of items of 2’s of items. But as I was saying on twitter last night, I’ m still attached to & registered for too many of a few things like hooded towels & baby crib sheets {but they’re so cute!}.
My doctor told us Tuesday that our new delivery goal is 36+ weeks & that I’d be able to continue working for longer if not the whole time. He said he’d induce me if I’m still pregnant at 38 weeks. My MFM even said vaginal delivery could be an option if they’re in the right positions. I asked if I needed to change anything from what I’m currently doing & he said no.
I’m still planning to attend my first local mom’s of twins & triplets meeting on Thursday night. I’m looking forward to meeting local multiples mommas, but I’m not sure what to call myself now.
I’m still sad. I’m not over the loss of baby B & that “triplets” won’t be what the outside world will think when they see my future outside babies. I can’t use the word “twins” yet but am realizing that’s what family are already starting to do. I didn’t correct my aunt & the Target lady yesterday when “I’m having two babies” became “Twins! That’s awesome”. I won’t correct everyone, but yesterday I was fighting back inside my head yelling “no, it should be triplets”.
But I’m staying busy, focusing on the positives & babies A & C. And 99% of the time {nights & early mornings are a lil tough}, I’m doing great.