Italian food and orange balloons

For some reason lately, recounting my day seems tiresome and tedious, so I end up not blogging. But then I miss blogging. Hmmm....

I'm just going to start typing and see what happens.

Alan has been sleeping really well the last couple of days. Amazingly well really - kind of makes me wonder what's going on! Does he feel ok!?!? Lol. Worry when he doesn't sleep and then worry when he does. :) Our best guess is that he was teething these last couple of weeks and now that those top teeth have broken through he is feeling better. *sigh* I don't know. We can't figure him out. We're just glad he seems to be sleeping well for now.

We got our new feeding pump today. "New" as in new to us. This particular one is an older model and different brand. Doesn't have as many snazzy features as the previous one and will be slightly different to use, but hopefully having a local supplier will be worth the trade-off. Greg and Dale made the run to Paris after lunch to get our new supplies and pick up a few groceries. Our freezer was starting to look kind of empty! I've been challenging myself some this week to see what I could do without grocery shopping. Similar to the 'challenges' I've tried when making at altered book page (1 picture from this folder, 1 from that one, and two paint colors - for example) I've tried 1 thing from the freezer, 2 from the pantry and something from the fridge.....or something like that. I used to plan a week to 10 days worth of menus and make a grocery list from that. Don't seem to have time for that these days, but my pantry is full of an interesting assortment of canned goods that I'd like to start using - if for no other reason than to clear out a little space! :) My favorite creation from this week:

1/2 lb pork sausage - browned in skillet

1/2 med onion - added to sausage

1 small zucchini, cubed - add to sausage & onion

Salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, basil.

Boiled 8-12 oz spaghetti

6-8 Roma tomatoes, sliced - added to sausage mixture as onions begin to get soft

1-2 cloves garlic - added in with tomato

Mixed all together when pasta and veggies were done. Served w/Parmesan cheese and a hot roll. (A fresh salad would have been nice - oh well).

So...this didn't get rid of anything but spaghetti from the pantry, but I DID use that leftover sausage before it went bad. Same thing with the zuch & tomatoes.

Ordered pizza w/my parents tonight. Spent a lot of time at their house today working on those altered books again. It's very addictive. :) I just really like burying myself in a project for a little while!

Greg kept both boys this morning, then my Dad held Alan for his nap this afternoon.

I love watching as Dale and Alan are able to play together and interact more and more. Alan isn't quite to the point of copying Dale yet, but he usually wants his hands on whatever Dale is doing. Dale is ok with this unless he is lining his race cars up. He takes that very seriously and 9 times out of 10 does not appreciate Alan choosing which car wrecks!

Dale, however, will copy Alan. Tonight in the bathtub Alan started banging one of the toy cups against the side of the tub. So, Dale did too. I've noticed he does this a lot. I guess he thinks if it is cute when Alan does it, it will be for him too.

I think Alan is really feeling better lately. He was actually laughing this morning, a sound we haven't heard much lately. Dale handed me a little orange balloon to blow up, so I did. Then I turned it around and let the air blow out into Alan's face. He loved it! We played over and over again, until my vision started to close in around the edges from lack of oxygen. :) I decided that was enough balloon fun for me. (And for all you baby-safety types - yes the balloon is out of reach.) :) Oh - and since it WAS Dale that brought the balloon in the first place.... he sat right with us and loved every minute of the game, too. I guess a baby's laughter is infectious to everyone, even big brothers. :)