What's Up Wednesday!

It is time for another What's Up Wednesday and it is the first one I have done in quite a while!

What we're eating this week:  Since we are still not really going anywhere my husband and I have kind of made it our Friday tradition to get take-out on Fridays to support local restaurants and give us a break from cooking 

What I'm reminiscing about: Disneyland is finally opening back up at the end of April so all the news about it's reopening has me thinking about all the times I have been and how this has been the longest in my adult life I have gone without going to Disneyland. I was supposed to take my daughter this past November but obviously that didn't happen.

What I'm loving: I am loving this little cutie and seeing her grow and change everyday.  It feels like she learns a new word or a new skill almost everyday and she is just growing up so fast. 

What we've been up to: Mostly just enjoying our warmer weekends with many walks and trips to the park. Ellie is a big fan of swings, the slide and finding sticks to carry around.

What I'm dreading: We have started the process of getting Ellie a sibling so all the IVF hormones and shots take quite the toll on your body so I kind of dread taking them each day.  I know it is what I need to do but it is still hard physically and emotionally.

What I'm working on: Taxes. Not the most exciting thing but has to get done

What I'm excited about: While I am dreading the parts of the IVF process I am really excited about hopefully adding a new member to our family some time this year.  Fingers crossed.

What I'm watching/reading: I have been watching old seasons of The Amazing Race because they are fun and easy to watch in the background of whatever I am doing.

What I'm listening to: Mostly whatever comes on our Echo which is usually a mix of country and a random mix of 90s-00s pop music.  Everyone needs some Britney in their life every once in a while.


What I'm wearing: A lot of yoga pants and comfy tops at the moment but as the weather has been warming up I have been trying to wear my dresses more. It just makes me feel more productive to be dressed after working from home for so many months.



What I'm doing this weekend: Easter with this cutie! She loves putting things in and out of containers so I am sure she is going to love hunting Easter eggs and by hunting I mean gather up the eggs that we place on the ground for her to "find". I don't think she is quite ready to hunt but gather she has got!

Happy Wednesday!

A Few Pictures of Life Lately with a Toddler

We have a full blown toddler around here at this point. Even though we can't really go too many places due to COVID we have still trying to get out of the house when the weather is not rainy. We have been spending lots of time at a few parks in our neighborhood and sometimes just walking around in our front yard to get our fresh air for the day.

We have been embracing dressing for Valentine's Day with an assortment of dresses and t-shirts. I might have gone a little overboard with the number of outfits but oh well she can still wear them even after Valentine's Day. 

On days we can't go outside we have been finding fun thing to do indoors too. She loves playing with water and an assortment of plastic containers. I just use warm water and when she is done we put on dry clothes to ensure she doesn't get cold. She has also mastered getting onto our couch recently and thinks it is so fun to climb up, cover in a blanket, say night night and then pretend to sleep for a few seconds. Sometimes she even puts her stuffed animals to sleep too!

Her toys had kind of taken over our living room so we are attempting to corral them better with this new shelving.

I was quite proud of the cute little Valentine's I made for her to give to her friends at daycare. There are bubbles and a little crayon in each bag!

Crockpot Spaghetti

Not even sure this qualifies as a recipe but more a collection of things thrown in a crockpot for a few hours though it is a favorite in our house.

Ingredients:

    1 lb Italian or Spicy Sausage

    1 package sliced mushrooms

    2 jars pasta sauce (I like Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Marinera) 

    1 lb spaghetti

    2 cubes frozen crushed garlic (fresh is fine too)

    Italian seasoning

Remove the sausage from the casing and brown in a pan

Put one jar of sauce, mushrooms, garlic, seasoning and cooked sausage in the crockpot and give it a good stir

Add one jar worth of water to the pot

Break up the spaghetti and add it to the pot along with the other jar of spaghetti sauce

Stir it as much as you can but as you can see below the spaghetti will still not be covered in the sauce

Cook on low for 4 hours stirring part way through to submerge the rest of the spaghetti. It is not glamorous looking but it is delicious

This spaghetti is even better leftover the day after you make it

Enjoy!