Seth Ryan Albus

 Seth Ryan Albus

9/18/13 12:38 pm

6 lbs. 11.3 oz

18 in.

Our sweet boy came at exactly 39 weeks and is as perfect as can be! I couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery! Our boy was ready to go and came just 2 hours after we got to the hospital! Here he is getting his first bath from our favorite nurse, Maryanne! She was his nurse the entirety of our hospital stay and though they had a ton of babies to care for (hello, full moon) she made us feel like we were her only patients!

 I was a little tired that first night, but was too excited to sleep!

 He is a smiley little guy!

 Our first family photo as a party of 5! The big boys got to come up to the hospital right after school both days we were there and enjoyed alternating getting to know their baby brother and playing with the Legos Aunt Sarah gave them! ;)

 This wasn't a posed picture! They were just so interested in him! Jonathan even counted all his fingers and toes!

 This guy has fully embraced his new role of big brother and wants to hold him all the time!

 This proud Daddy is loving having 3 sons!

I love this one of him "praying!" Ha!

I will write another post soon about our visitors at the hospital and going home. I just knew my sweet sister would be itching for more pics of our little guy!

It's a ...

 BOY!!!

 We are all Thrilled!!!

Albus family party of 5 coming September 2013!

Day 1 through 3 of Thankfulness

I know it has been a while for the ol' blog, but I have a great reason to begin posting again, Thankfulness! I went to a women's retreat with our church last month and our pastor's wife spoke about thankfulness. She referenced the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voscamp and spoke about how she has been impacted by keeping a gratitude journal. I know myself and this blog is as close to a journal as I will get, so I am going to use it to document my thankfulness over the next month. This is my favorite season of the year as the cooler weather comes and brings with it the warmth of spending time with family.

Day 1: I'm grateful for redemption and that my Redeemer has "justified (me) freely through His grace." Romans 3:23-25
Day 2: I am thankful for the opportunity to be a stay at home mom, which allows me to come to the school for activities like Angel's science lab today.
Day 3: I'm grateful for time this afternoon at home with my family, enjoying one another and relaxing.

I'm going to try to keep up with this at least weekly recording thankfulness. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying this season.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Happy birthday to the BEST Daddy

 and husband!

We are so blessed to be yours and can't thank you enough for everything you do for us! We are so proud of you and how graciously you give your all to Our Father and your family!

We love you! I have a feeling this will be your best year yet!

Menu Monday

This week I decided to post my menu plan on the blog. It might make the whole process a bit more fun for me and give you a few ideas. I totally reserve the right to switch up the days or even omit one all together! ;) All of these recipes are off my pinterest board entitled, "Recipes to Try" so they are all new to us. Let me know if you decide to try any of these recipes too and I will share which ones will make a repeat appearance at our house!

Monday: leftovers for the fellas, Mommy has a women's ministry meeting at Cafe Express
Tuesday: BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Coleslaw or maybe broccoli slaw. I may use any left over BBQ chicken to make these wraps for Jeff and I's lunch the next day
Wednesday: Lasagna Rolls Ups and salad
Thursday: Home made Pizza Rolls and warm cinnamon apples
Friday: Mommy to girl's night out at church. I'm sure the boys will talk their daddy into taking them to McDonald's.
Saturday: Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (I get this from the freezer section at Sam's). I will likely pair it with some frozen veggies for a quick and easy dinner
Sunday: Cub Scout's Awards Banquet

This Just Pinned: Recipe Edition

I will be the first to admit that cooking has been a challenge for me and menu planning, well it caused many a "discussion" with the hubby in our first year of marriage. He just didn't get why it was so hard. His theory is throw stuff that looks good in the grocery basket and then make something out of it when you get home. In his defense, this really does work for him. He is one of those chefs that can throw things together. I on the other hand, need a recipe. Our budget appreciates a more systematic approach as well. I still don't really have a great system, but I'm getting there. Pinterest has been helpful in giving me recipe ideas and a place to keep track of them for easy access. I even started adding comments about the recipes I pin after I try them to help me remember if we liked them and what changes/substitutions I made.  I made these chicken tostadas last week and they were really tasty. My kids LOVE tacos, but always get frustrated trying to eat them because the stuffing falls out. I thought the flat tostadas might help and these are baked so they are healthier. We are also trying to eat mostly lean, white meat. I actually did kind of a taco party concept and everyone built their own. It makes it a bit more fun and saves me from jumping up to get the boys another serving. We are loving our giant lazy susan in the middle of our kitchen table too!

 It was yummy! I used pre-made guacamole from HEB and Mission brand baked tostadas, but I made the pico and the lime creme myself. I put it back in the sour cream container, but it is really more than just sour cream. The lime gives it a tangy flavor. I served it with Ranchero beans as recommended, but I think I would prefer black or just regular pinto beans. However, the boys liked the Ranchero. Jonathan even chose to put them on top of his tostada instead of just on the side. I used my George Foreman grill to cook the chicken and the marinade was super easy too. You could even freeze chicken in the marinade and then just defrost and pop on the grill as needed.  This will definitely be a repeat at our house!

The next recipe also utilized chicken and the George Foreman Grill and was inspired by the most amazing lettuce wraps I had at The Cheesecake Factory. I did a google search and found out Martha Stewart had posted the recipe on her website! Thank you Martha! You saved me $8 and satisfied my craving! Too bad I didn't have some yummy cheesecake to go with it though. But, this recipe is only 350 calories for three lettuce wraps. It is healthy and really satisfying! The little boys weren't as impressed, mainly because they were hard to eat without falling apart.

I could have kicked myself for forgetting the Feta cheese! Don't worry though, Jeff and I had the leftovers the next day and the feta was a nice addition to our lunch lettuce wraps. I made some modifications like marinating instead of basting the chicken and using bottled dressing instead of homemade. I did make my own tzatziki sauce though. I don't know what kind of lettuce I used, but it wasn't the butter lettuce because it was too expensive for my taste. They may have stayed together better if I had used it. 

I also bombed a bit when I tried to spruce up Angel's lunch with a new recipe I found here. I thought he would love it, but I was wrong. He doesn't like sandwiches and really prefers just meat and cheese with no bread. But I thought the crescent roll would be different. I was wrong. Oh well. Back to the drawing board. This week we are trying a couple of other recipes I have pinned, so look forward to more reviews soon.