LOTS of baby talk and a recipe

Last week, I made this Three Cheese Pasta Bake for a friend who just had a beautiful little boy! I didn't get a chance to taste it, but it smelled delicious. I decided to make some for us today and it is so good, not to mention easy.



Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked pasta
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
6 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain.
2.Meanwhile, cook ground meat and onion in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until meat is browned. Stir in pasta sauce, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
3.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer the ingredients in the prepared baking dish as follows: half of the cooked pasta, all the provolone cheese, all the sour cream, half of the sauce mixture, remaining pasta, mozzarella cheese, and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4.Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until bubbly

*Instead of using provolone, I used Italian Blend shredded cheese. I haven't been able to find shredded provolone, so this is just easier.*

**This recipe also makes a TON of food, so be ready to freeze!**

Just for documentation purposes, here I am at 37 weeks and 5 days.

(Swollen face and double chin? Oh yes.)

I am surprised yet not surprised that I have made it this far. So far, there have really been no more symptoms that labor is close. Darn it! At this point, we have 11 days until she is here. Crazy.

A sweet lady in the Wal Mart checkout line asked me when my baby was due. I said, "Anytime now" and then went ahead and gave her the rundown because they always ask......

"This is my second. My first is a boy and he is 2 1/2. I am scheduled for a C-section on Halloween bc that is the earliest they could do it. This is my first C-section and yes I'm scared."

She was really a sweetheart and told me that her youngest, now 6, was also a C-section birth and that she was terrified. She went on to say that it really wasn't that bad and that I would be just fine. Maybe it's my crazy hormones, but I just wanted to hug her and say "Thank you for being so kind and honest!" I did thank her for sharing :)

I'm not sure what's going on, but for the last 4 nights, Harper has regressed back to getting out of the bed multiple times.

Last night, I lost count after 11. With Jimmy working at night, I have to physically pick him up and put him back in the bed. All 30 pounds of him. I am hurting SO bad today because of it. I can't say I'm not frustrated. I am frustrated with Harper because this seriously is the worst time to start this up again. I'm REALLY frustrated with Jimmy's job because he put in for a transfer to start working days months ago. I really thought that he would be working days and home at night by now, but no such luck. Sigh.......

This is completely selfish, but I am ready for Hollin to get here because I need a break! I'm sure you're thinking, "How can you get a break with a newborn?" Here's how.

I will be in the hospital for at least 3 days. I can have Hollin sent to the nursery if needed. I know I will be poked a prodded all day and all night, but hey, I'll take it. Truth be told though, I will probably be a baby-hog and keep her as much as I can :)

My parents are staying for the first full week after she is born to help out in any way we need it. I'm talking cleaning, cooking, taking Harper places/playing with him, running errands, you name it.

Jimmy's family will also be around to help out.

Jimmy is taking 4 weeks off to be with us. 4 WEEKS! Having him here during the day (not sleeping) and at night to help me will seem like a dream come true. During the time that he's here, we are crossing our fingers that his transfer will go through and he will go back to working days when he leaves us. My heart gets all giddy just thinking about that.

I'm not looking forward to the recovery at all. That really scares me. I've had a lot of friends/family/strangers ask me if I go into labor now, will I push?

The answer is no. Believe me, I want to. I just feel like within the last week, I've crossed the limit I set for myself. I'm not assuming that she will be huge, but I do feel like I've gone long enough now to have difficulty if I tried to push. I don't want to do that to her or myself :)

If you hung around and read this whole post, you are a trooper. That is all I have floating around in my crazy head right now.


Happy Thursday!