In the newest news, we found out last week that Baby T is actually Baby BOY T and we have named him Keegan Bradley Temple. Yes, like the golfer. We were checking out a baby name book that my mom gave us and I randomly saw the name Kegan. Brad really liked it and I thought it should have another "e" so we added one. We love family names and decided to let Brad's name travel down a generation, so Keegan Bradley it is! It's so nice to be able to put a name and gender on this baby. We said we were going to wait to find out til he was born but for economic reasons decided to find out early. We already have boy everything so we really just needed to be prepared for a girl if he were a girl. I have mother's intuition and knew he was a boy, even dreamed it twice! I am so excited that Jeremiah is going to have a little brother to play with. They will be a dynamic duo, I'm sure, and I will be one exhausted but happy mama. Brad is excited to say the least...two boys to romp around with! Keegan, we can't wait to meet you. Mama dreams of the day!
I have felt him move around and kick and the feeling never gets old. I love the early feelings...you know, the ones before he gets so big his feet get stuck in my ribs. I feel so blessed to have received a good report at the doctor and to be 2 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight! I had lost weight after giving birth to Jeremiah but gained most of it back stuffing myself trying to make milk...which was a total bust, in case you didn't read my blog about it...and I got pregnant 4 weeks after that so I've been trying to lose some weight before I have to start gaining again. I have to admit, my blood pressure was higher than usual because I'm still not used to seeing "that" weight on the scale, but it's all for a good reason and it will come off eventually...right? :)
My favorite baby (on the inside):
Jeremiah is growing quicker than I ever thought possible. I love love LOVE staying at home with him. He seems to learn something new every day. These days he enjoys playing tug-of-war with me and his toys. He also rolls one way or the other but can't roll across the floor yet (thankfully). I am in no hurry for him to be so mobile. We have practiced crawling and he gets a kick out of watching me crawl but he is just content to scoot around on his rear end wherever he wants to go. One day I was in the floor with him and I looked up from the computer and he had scooted over to our tv stand and was trying to open the door on it. I couldn't stop laughing. He looked so guilty when I asked him what he was doing. I know this is the beginning of a couple of years of watching him and teaching him what he can and can't touch. I'm sure it's a hard road but we'll get there.
He has also started eating food! We have tried orange foods and he seems to love those, especially carrots. He likes sweet potatoes and squash as well. I mix his rice cereal with a vegetable and he eats a whole baby bowl of food at each meal. I have so much fun feeding him and watching his reactions. He obviously knows that to fit into this family, he needs to like food!
We are in the middle of redecorating and painting our house (I am definitely nesting) and I plan on blogging when we're through!
There's nothing really new going on with Brad, other than he will be a father of two in June! He is enjoying working at Bridgestone and getting used to his rotating shift schedule. I am enjoying his paychecks. :)
Okay, time for a recipe. This comes from The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) website. I enjoy her blog very much. She is a comical writer and has wonderful recipes. Anywho, here it is:
Shrimp Scampi
Start off by chopping 4 cloves of garlic and half an onion. I'm not an onion person but it is crucial in this recipe.
**Note the fresh parsley and lemons waiting in the background. We'll come back to that later.
If you're using frozen shrimp, thaw them out while you're chopping. I buy the deveined, deshelled, precooked shrimp because I'm lazy and they're just as good.
Take a break to check on your cute baby, if you have one. If not, feel free to check out mine :)
Melt 2 tbsp olive oil and 4 tbsp butter over medium in a skillet. Throw in the onions and garlic and cook til the onions are translucent (2-3 minutes). Start boiling a pot of water for the angel hair pasta.
Then throw in the shrimp. Add the juice of 2 lemons, 1/2 cup chicken broth (or wine, if you prefer...I don't), salt & pepper, and a dash of hot sauce. I leave the hot sauce out but that's what the recipe calls for so if you're pro-hot sauce, have at it.
Throw the angel hair pasta in the boiling water. It doesn't take long to cook, so be careful!
Take one more break while the flavors are mingling to check on your boys. Brad was teaching Jeremiah how to get into things in efforts to make him start crawling. I have a feeling that might backfire...at least they're cute!
One side note: I was channeling my inner Rachael Ray and figured I'd use a trash bowl. I've seen actual Rachael Ray trash bowls in stores but I am of the opinion any bowl can be a trash bowl if you use it for trash! It sure does make for an easier clean up.
It doesn't take long to cook this meal at all. If you chop the onion, garlic, and parsley ahead of time and squeeze the lemons as well it goes even faster.
Here's the EASY 4-step assembly:
1. Put pasta in bowl.
2. Add shrimp and sauce.
3. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
After this, obviously, you pig out. I made garlic bread to go with this but we only ate a slice because I went to the trouble of making it. This is a very filling dish and I usually don't make any sides to go with it. I blame the carb cravings on Keegan...he likes carbs just like Jeremiah did. Mommy doesn't like carbs because they seem to stick but I have to splurge every now and then.
I noticed while we were eating there seemed to be something missing and after supper as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I saw the basil sitting there. Poor basil, he got left out! The recipe calls for fresh but Walmart was out so I was going to use dry basil. Either way, it's better with some basil.
As with any recipe, this is best when enjoyed with the one you love, no matter what they do while you're trying to take a picture. I love this man. I don't know what I'd do without him.
Well I believe that covers all my bases for tonight. Two babies, a husband, and a recipe. My work here is done. Now go make some scampi and enjoy!
With love,
Hannah Elise
