Monday, January 30, 2012

Not the lunch lady's meatloaf

I've always thought of meatloaf as being gross cafeteria food.
this is about as disgusting as it gets

I didn't grow up eating it. In fact, I specifically remember the one and only time I was forced to eat it at a friend's house when I was in fifth grade.  I forever thought it was terrible.  That is until a sweet friend brought us dinner after Mae Michael was born.  Turkey meatloaf was the main course, and I was willing to try it.  Much to my surprise it was delicious.  I'll be honest, though, I wasn't completely converted for two reasons.  #1- someone else made it, not me, and if I tried to make it I'm not sure it would turn out as good.  and #2- I didn't want to admit to Jason that I liked it enough for it to show up on our menu rotation (this would be like admitting MAJOR defeat.  He loves to prove me wrong, and I love to talk about how gross the food he eats is... i.e. meatloaf, chicken fried steak, salisbury steak, any "home-cooked" type of food).  So, meatloaf stayed away from our house for over a year.

Until last night.  Jason made a meatloaf.  It was delicious.  I criticized while he was cooking, but I sat down to eat it, and I don't know if it was the excitement of being able to watch the premiere of a new season of "The Challenge," or if it really was that good, but I enjoyed dinner last night!

He followed The Pioneer Woman's recipe, for the most part, taking out the parsley, adding green onion and mushrooms, and subbing mustard for the mustard powder.  I was a little grossed out by the bacon; not because I don't like bacon but because it got chewy instead of crispy.  But, I'm sure it added flavor and it was easy to peel away.  I would definitely recommend adding the mushrooms.  They helped keep the meat moist, and added a little texture.  The green onions added color and flavor, but if you just have yellow or white onion on hand that would do.

Here is her recipe: My Favorite Meatloaf by The Pioneer Woman  Give it a try next time you have ground meat on hand.  I don't think you will be disappointed!

Hannah's 4th Birthday

Today is Hannah's 4th birthday.  About this time four years ago I was 4cm dialated laying in a hospital bed.  Little did I know that thirty minutes later I would be ready to welcome our first baby girl into this world.  Hannah has changed our lives in so many wonderful ways.  She is an incredible child, and sweet big sister, and an all around beautiful person.

At four, Hannah loves all things girl... dress up, makeup, princesses, etc.  She loves drawing, painting, spelling words, and watching Sprout.  She is VERY opinionated, curious, and clever.  Currently, she is obsessed with her new baby sister, and is starting to play with her middle sister a lot more often.  She still doesn't eat much, but never passes up candy or dessert.  She stays on "green light" every day at school, but still manages to make time for "time out" at home.  She loves bath time, but hates washing her hair.  She begs to fall asleep in my bed every night, and has a hard time waking up every morning.  She loves doing "chores", helping me with cooking/cleaning/caring for Ruthie.  She is finally starting to pay more attention to Jason, but is still a self-proclaimed mommy's girl.  She make me laugh every day, and definitely keeps me on my toes!

Happy birthday, sweet girl!!!
making silly faces

Monday, January 23, 2012

Third time's the charm

Ok, so I'm going to try (again) to be a dedicated blogger.  As a mom with a full time job, and no computer at home it has been difficult to make sharing our life online a priority!

Since August (my last post), Mae Michael turned one and we welcomed a new addition!

Somehow I have misplaced the pictures from Mae Michael's birthday- I got a new camera, returned it, and got another new camera, so I hope I remembered to upload the pictures somewhere in the process.  We just celebrated with family.  She really didn't know what was going on, but Hannah had fun opening her presents!

In December our sweet niece, Charlotte Mary Touchton was born.  We drove over to New Orleans to visit for the day.  Hannah was in love, and Mae Michael was oblivious!  We celebrated Hanukkah at our house with latkes and lots of presents.  Jason took the girls to Birmingham for Christmas to spend a long weekend with Gee Gee & Bop.  I stayed home for fear of going into labor early.

The last few weeks of my pregnancy were particularly uncomfortable.  I was READY, so we decided to schedule Ruthie's arrival for January 5th.  I was truly hoping to go into labor on my own, but it worked out best to just be induced.  I arrived at the hospital that morning at 8am, started pitocin (?) around 10am, got my epidural at noon, and after two quick pushes welcomed Ruth Ellis Touchton into the world at 4:23pm.

Ruthie has been a great baby.  She eats really well, sleeps all the time, and graciously welcomes her sisters' poking, hugging, kissing, grabbing, holding, and general bothering.  Both of the older girls have been great with her.  We really have to watch them, but for the most part, they have been sweet and just in awe of the baby.

Life with three girls has been fun.  Hannah is an amazing/huge help.  She does anything I ask, and entertains Mae Michael while I'm feeding Ruthie.  Mae Michael is getting better at following instructions.  She still does not communicate verbally (just a few words, dada, doggie, baby, bye bye, ball, cheese, hey, etc), but she understands exactly what you are saying and will respond in her actions.

I am really going to try to post more pictures.  We had a mini photo session last weekend, so as soon as I get those pictures I will definitely share!  Here are some to enjoy in the meantime!

 Christmas Eve in Birmingham
 Christmas Morning

 waiting for the Christmas parade




 Fun time opening presents on Hanukkah





 daddy's girl

 sweet Mary Frances
 Lala and the girls







 1st bath




 ready for the car ride home
 "bay-beee"
 Hannah practicing her princess wave!

 two weeks- 8lbs 9oz
 I swear I didn't pose her hand... I just noticed it when I uploaded!
 Hannah feeding Ruthie her first bottle.
 Mae Mae wishes she could help!
 1st real bath
 throw me somethin' mister!