Last week I took a couple of days of work and I figured it was time to get out there and make some memories. This was the first time Jeff and I have gone to a pumpkin patch to buy our pumpkins. Most of the time we just get them while grocery shopping and carve them later, but you know, you just can't do that when you have kids anymore. You have to make it an experience.
So of course, we went to the pumpkin farm. We thought it would be full of kids and a big patch full of pumpkins... but no, it was a couple of rows of pumpkins on grass and no one around. Don't most pumpkin patches have activities and such? A little disappointing. Thankfully Noah didn't really care either way. Next year I must do some research ahead of time.
We did get a couple of good pictures to document the festivities.
Noah however was not impressed. Not even with the goat!
I came upon a whole chicken at the grocery store a few weeks back and thought, "Hey! I've never made a whole chicken! I can figure that out!" ...and so this recipe happened. And it was delicious, how could I not share? Did I also mention how easy it was? This for sure made it in the rotation.
Time:
Prep Time | 10 mins
Cook Time | 1.5 hrs
Ingredients:
Whole Chicken
3-4 Fresh Rosemary Sprigs
1 Lemon
3 Large Carrots, Peeled
1/2 Onion
Garlic
Butter
Parsley
Salt & Pepper
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 425. Unpackage the chicken and clean the insides. Some chickens may already have the insides cleaned for you. If so, bonus!
2. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and liberally salt and pepper it. Melt enough butter to cover the chicken with a brush and then again salt and pepper over the butter. Top with parsley.
3. Cut the lemon in quarters and stuff the lemon, rosemary and a head of garlic cut in half, inside the chicken. Tuck chicken thighs and legs under the bird. If you have baking twine you may want to tie the legs together but its not necessary.
4. Cut the onion and carrots and throw in pan. Place chicken on top.
5. Pop it in the oven for an hour and a half and when it's done....
nice pretty yummy chicken!
We made some asparagus on the side. Hubby ate it all.
Some trends come and go but some are tried and true. Either way it feels like you're always trying to figure out whats in and whats out every season. When I shop for myself it doesn't really matter what's in when because I usually have something in my closet that I can fit into whatever is in at the time. I rarely get rid of something in my closet that fits because you never know if it'll come back in style later on.
The problem with shopping with little ones is they literally grow out of things so fast you gotta get to it quick!
So here it is, my lists of things you have to get for your little man this fall. Even if it's just one piece.
I've been meaning to do some fall decorating shopping for a while now. Of course I waited 'till last week to go when most things are already being replaced with (dare I say *ugh*) Christmas things. I was at Pier1 for at least an hour looking around. Everything is so pretty, I wish I could decorate my whole house with their things. I did end up bringging home a couple of things.
The chargers I got in gold and silver because I have these great silver and white snowflake plates from Target that I love for the winter; I thought they would look great together. You can't really find the dinnerware anymore so I'm glad I scooped them up when I did but you can still get the servewear here. It's great for the winter. The gold ones will look great with our everyday plates. Now I've just got to get cooking. Does anyone else not seem to find time to cook lately? I really have to do some pre-planning so it's easier when I get home from work.
The rug ended up being a great find on sale! We had a nice cushy one but it wasn't washable and it was getting really filthy. Since we still wanted a cushy one we just put this one on top and it fit perfectly! The colors are also much more vibrant in person. It really does remind me of fall... all the pretty colors of the leaves.
Finally, the glass containers made it to the guest bathroom in the basement. I filled it up with all the miscellaneous travel size toiletries I've collected. This way, if our guests forget something, it's right there for them to use up. Looks much better than a plastic bag under the sink.
Crazy how times fly! Noah is getting so big. He had his four month appointment this week and his shots which he handled much better than last time. A little grumpy at night but didn't seem to have the same side effects and lots of crying like last time. We also got the green light for solids so we started with some carrots to mixed reviews by Noah. Maybe the next food will be better for him.
And of course, I've been dressing him in lots of Halloween outfits already. Might as well make it a holiday month.
How old is Noah?: 19 Weeks
Noah is how big?: 17.5lbs
Sleep: Sleeping between 10-12 hrs at night. Pretty consistent in his wakeup time of 7:30-8a. If we put him to bed a little earlier he might sleep closer to 12 but I think he likes to sleep around 10.5-11hrs the most. My next goal is to have a more consistent bed time but I'm not complaining. As long as he keeps sleeping at night I'm happy.
Milestones: Almost had him eat his toes this week. He's really getting good at grabbing him feet.
Baby "Win" of the Week: Oh geez, I don't know. Noah has been a pretty good baby. I think we'll call it even this week.
Noah 0 - Mom&Dad 0
Best Moment of the Week: Noah is officially a great sleeper. Thank you son for giving me some sanity back.
What I’m excited about/looking forward to: Looking forward to this kid learning to roll over. At his Dr. Apt we found he has a very large head in the 95th percentile which is making me wonder if it's just a little harder for him to lug that thing around and therefore is just happier laying his head down, but it's about time and I want him to start rolling over!
Finally, Jeff and I celebrated Sweetest Day (which I always forget about) during date night.. I was lucky enough to also have had a nice mani-pedi planned for me. What a great hubby. =)
Love | The new Cartwheel app by Target - You say I can shop at Target even more than I already do and save money? Ok, I guess you forced me to take my fifth trip this month. Get it. Seriously.
Love | The Golden Sisters - If you're having a crappy day because your child wont sleep and keeps puking in your face.... you need to watch this. It will for the very short time keep you immensely entertained. The most hilarious three grandmas in the whole world. My favorite video below. Prepare to pee your pantalones.
Hate | Lame drivers - Don't drive like an idiot just because it's raining; It's gonna snow soon and you're gonna have major problems.
Love | Bath & Body Works - Just opened a new bottle of Rome Honeysuckle Amore and I'm loving it. Not quite ready to leave the summer smells behind and although I'm more of a Brown Sugar lotion type of girl I can't get enough of this smell.
Love | Fall TV - I love fall TV. It occupies so much time for me at work when it's slow. It's so nice to have things to catch up on. Currently I'm loving: Once Upon A Time, Revolution, The Blacklist, Nashville & Trophy Wife. And like a million other more, but these are for sure the favs.
Hate | Working weekends - Enough said.
Love | Whole Chickens -Ok, kind of creepy when you think about it but I just realized how amazing it is to cook a whole chicken. Did I mention it was super easy too? For sure will have to write a recipe for it soon. It's like fall wrapped up in butter and herbs. Yum!
Love | Festive holiday garlands on Etsy - I mean, seriously, you can get anything you want in any color and shape and it makes decoration your house that much more awesome. My favorite shops so far are here & here.
This cooler weather we've been having has gotten me thinking how I really need to get some fall family pictures done so we have a cute Christmas card this year. Now that Noah is around I just don't feel like I can slack and wait 'till the last minute as usual. Of course, with out crazy busy schedule in the fall we never have time to do anything, especially now that Noah takes like 90% of our free time, which leaves me to figure out a way to make these pictures work without a professional photographer. Anyone want to come snap some photos?
Really though, I think we'll just have to make due with a mommy photoshoot in our back yard and see what happens. And if we're not gonna have a great pictures we might as well look good, or at least Noah should.
I've been eying a ton of cute outfits. I really need to do a good fall shopping trip.
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