Music to my ears!

I love it when I see this headline on the Houston Chronicle's website: "The Texas hurricane season is over." That is pure music to my ears! It was close with Hurricane Isaac (which hit our neighbors in New Orleans), but we made it another year without a major hit. Thank. You. Jesus. Not that we didn't need the rain, because we do, but the fact that Ike was just four short years ago... I could do without a hit for a little while longer.

In case you're wondering, to date we're through the "N" name on the list. Let me refresh your memory on said list.

Alberto
Beryl
Chris
Debby
Ernesto
Florence
Gordon
Helene
Isaac
Joyce
Kirk
Leslie
Michael
Nadine
Oscar
Patty
Rafael
Sandy
Tony
Valerie
William

Now, that's not to say that the 2012 hurricane season is over. It does run through November, officially, after all. But because of a couple cool fronts that have come through Texas over the last week, and a couple more this week, plus the jet stream, and the fact that after Sept. 24 our odds go down significantly - that pretty much does it for us. Hallelujah!

So until next season, I leave you with this...

Good luck to my family and friends in the North with the coming winter season. I hope it's as good to you as our hurricane season was to us!

90 years young

My grandma Marj turns 90 years young on October 7. Even though that's about a month away, we celebrated early last week so I could travel and be there. We had a great time!! All of her kids (my mom, two sisters, and brother) were there, as were seven out of nine grand kids, and a whole lotta great grandkids.

I surprised grandma, and the family, with a proclamation from the mayor of Lima, Ohio, David Berger, proclaiming October 7, 2012 to be Marjorie L. Coby day in Lima. You can click on the link above to read it. I was pretty proud of myself for that one!

While we were in Ohio we also got a chance to see KW, JW, the boys, and the new baby. We met up at the Toledo Zoo and had a great time!

So glad I was able to travel before the baby arrives! Enjoy the pics.

The birthday queen... complete with her tiara!

Yes, we even had 90th birthday napkins.

The gorgeous and yummy cake!

He's so cute! My little cousin Daniel.

Sam and Jake... guess which animal we were about to see?!

 

Baby Shower

So Jay and I have some pretty amazing friends. CK, JK, KK, CK, PB, and TW threw us a kick ass baby shower party over the weekend, and we loved every second of it (even the part where we had to be the center of attention and open presents in front of everyone).

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate baby Fenwick (and even those of you far away who couldn't be there... you were there in spirit!). We are so blessed to have friends and family like you in our lives, and baby Fenwick is pretty lucky, too.

Here are a couple pictures from the day.

The sweets table. Yum!

The AMAZING diaper cake!

We even got personalized water bottles. So cute!

The food spread was freaking awesome!

My wonderful, amazing, talented friends who know how to throw a kick-ass baby shower.

Thank you ladies! We love you!

Happy momma and daddy!

Proud grandparents

Proud grandma

Me and Robyn... one of my dear friends from high school.

So glad she joined us! 

Our adorable niece Ella. She'll be getting a cousin in a few months!

Love you CK!

Love you KK!

Look out! Ella actually let Uncle Jay hold her!

 Yep, we were so rowdy that we had to have not one, not two, but THREE officers there!  :)

CK writing us a message in the bottle. Such a cute idea and we loved them all!

 One of the cutest ideas of a present we have ever seen... a clothesline full of baby stuff.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

These days, I'm all about easy dinner recipes. I have a feeling after the baby comes, I'm going to be even more into easy recipes. So I found this one in an old Quick Cooking magazine, and tried it out. Turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. And Jay liked it, too, which is always a bonus. The only thing I would change is to add some Italian spices, in addition to the oregano. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (29 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 package (8 ounces) no-cook lasagna noodles
• 4 cups (16 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/3 cups (12 ounces) small-curd cottage cheese
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt, and oregano; mix well. Spread a fourth of the meat sauce in an ungreased 5-qt. slow cooker. Arrange a third of the noodles over sauce (break the noodles if necessary). Combine the cheeses; spoon a third of the mixture over noodles. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining meat sauce. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender. Yield: 6-8 servings.

I'm pregnant and I know it!

I know some of you are saying to me, "duh, Amanda! Of course you're pregnant and you know it." I am, and I do. But that's not the point. The point is, one of the girls in my office, who is also pregnant, sent me this video today, and I have to share. Everyone says that being pregnant is so wonderful, and you glow, and look fabulous, and you feel sexy. Well, I'm here to tell you... I haven't experienced that yet. And I certainly don't feel sexy. So extra kudos to this woman who put it all out there for nearly 1.5 million people to see. That takes guts. And yes, I'm jealous, because she does look sexy, and she knows it. Enjoy!