Ready for the 2 weeks.

Matt works 4 weeks on, 2 weeks off. I'm sure I've mentioned that before. But with the prime teething, I am SO ready for his 2 weeks off. Only 3 more days after today, THANK GOD. Noah's been waking up a few times every night. I'm just glad he finally has a tooth so I know that that's what the problem is. I just keep telling myself that this is the reason that God made coffee. And boy, am I right about that. I go through like a bag and a half of coffee a week. I'm definitely going to be purchasing a Sam's Club membership and buying the 40 oz bag. I'll be lucky if that last's me a month.

I'm really loving life here in Williamsport :) I met a super awesome girl named Megan, who has an adorable little boy named Trace. She's super fun to hang out with and the boys are so cute together! Her husband works for IPS too! It's a lot more fun to get to the mall and Target with a girlfriend than alone. And even more fun going with her rather than my husband, haha!

Here's a few pictures from the last few days.

Recipe: (I only made enough for me, and I made it up. Bare with me)

Linguine

Frozen Shrimp, thawed

Grape Tomatoes

Spoonful Philidephia savory garlic cooking creme

Tony Chachere's creole seasoning

2 tbsp butter

Make noodles according to box instructions

Melt butter and cooking creme in a frying pan

Add shrimp

Season to liking

Add grape tomatoes

Mix all together

Enjoy!

Scentsy & Cloth Diapers

So, as I mentioned in my last post...I'm officially a Scentsy consultant! And I'm SUPER stoked about it! I set up my launch party last night so if ANYONE could help me out, that'd be awesome! This is my website. I'd really appreciate it!

***THIS IS MOMMY TMI:

On another note, we've finally decided to start making the switch to cloth diapers! I was always so turned off by it because of the poop...but we finally experience our first cloth diaper poop yesterday and we survived!! AND it came clean! I was absolutely stoked! Excuse the blurry phone picture, but here's my babe and his fluffy butt!

BIG NEWS!: Noah got his first tooth!! YAY!!

Sorry for the short entry....but I've got a very active 5 1/2 month old on my hands!

Friday!

Fall is seriously the best time of year. Late fall/early winter is my particular favorite. I cannot get enough soup! Soup on the stove, crockpot soup, everything! Today, I made crock pot zuppa toscana. Super excited to try it! Crock pot meals are seriously the best with crazy work schedules. I mean obviously I don't work, but we never ever know what time Matt will be home. This way, once it's done, I can just turn it on warm and call it good!

There's just something about Friday's that I love. I don't know why, cause it doesn't mean anything for us since hubby works through the weekend. But it just reminds me of high school football games. And being in elementary school and knowing that mom and dad were ordering pizza tonight! I miss a lot of things about childhood, but I'm so excited to watch Noah experience it all too :) I can't wait to make sure he gets the best childhood ever, along with our future children of course.

We decided to not buy Noah a full blown costume since he'll only be 6 months old. We may get together with friends and just enjoy the night! My mom sent him a little skelton pj set that we're going to put him in! It's going to be SO cute! Halloween is only 2 weeks away!! YAY!

Side note: I'm officially a Scentsy Consultant!! My link is: www.mollieockerman.scentsy.us if you're interested in shopping!

Teething blows.

We all love our children to death right? Of course. I love my son more than anything. But holy shit, teething is not a game for the weak. I don't think there was a consequtive 30 minutes of no crying today. I feel so so so bad for him but I do everything I can and nothing helps! He's been teething for a couple months now, but today was easily the worst day we've had. I just want to snuggle him and tell him it'll be okay :( Poor babes.

Epic fail at some cute fall pictures.

I'm starting to get a hang of my camera now :) And I'm learing editing too! No where near professional quality, but good enough to hang up on the walls in our home! :)

Hubby is on nights right now and I am missing him :( I love our dog, but she's just a tad too hairy for my liking. We're currently laying in bed listening to all of the b.s. of the presidential debate. *yawn*

Here are a few more pictures from today :)

Love his little blonde baby mohawk :)

Here's to hoping Noah sleeps all night and praying that tomorrow is a better day!

Cute with a side of adorable

I seriously cannot get over how cute my son is. I know every mom thinks the exact same way. Just the way he smiles when I get him out of his crib after he wakes up in the morning and after his naps, MELTS MY HEART. He is the happiest, most precious baby. He wasn't planned by any means, but he is the biggest, and best surprise in our lives!

He's seriously only 5 months old and already starting to crawl! He can sit up by himself, and get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. Now he's working on getting one knee in front of the other! Such a big boy! He is so determined! I remember bringing him home from the hospital and being SO tiny! (Okay, 8 lbs 10 oz, not so tiny)

Just a couple days old!

SO! Lately I've been allllllll over coffee (nothing new) but I bought Dunkin Donuts turbo, and holy crap. That stuff just gives a whole new meaning to coffee. Strong, but still a medium roast, and such a yummy flavor. I seriously look forward to going to bed JUST to wake up in the morning to drink coffee (ok, all day) I even make it at night, so I don't have to do any extra work in the morning. Yup, I'm THAT lady.

My trusty & huge Starbucks Christmas cup! My favorite!

Speaking of that picture, my recent project has been the blank canvas above that shelf. I think It's finally done, for now.  I'm sure I'll add to it as soon as I find some cute new frames.

And, one last thing..I want to share my new leg warmers from freakin' KMART. $7.99, holler.

Have a great Sunday everyone! :)

New Camera!

AHHH! My new camera came about 20 minutes after I finished yesterdays post! It seriously felt like Christmas! This is one of the pictures I took with it :)

My son is SO handsome :) He's wearing a cloth diaper from For the Love of Fluff!

I want so badly to go to the farmer's market this morning, but it's about 30 degrees out and my child refuses to keep blankets on himself :( I LOVE fresh fruit and veggies. Nothing better than a yummy colorful salad with homemade dressing!

I know I only have like, 7 followers, but I think quite a few people read this blog...and I thank you guys :) It's such a good way to let everything out when you just talk to a baby all day long!

My friend Tracy comes back to Pennsylvania today!! I'm so excited! I need a girls day/night badly. I mean, how good does a pizza/wine/movie night sound anyway? Especially when our babies entertain eachother! She really is an awesome friend. We got along right off the bat and I could definitely see us being life-long friends :)

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! Fridays don't mean much at our house since Matt works 28 days on, then 14 days off...but I do love me some Saturday morning farmers markets! Fresh fruit and veggies are the best, and contriubting to local businesses is awesome, too!

The other night, I'm shopping around sears.com and all of a sudden there was a new camera, and a high chair in my cart! (How did that happen?) So of course, I had some convincing to do so Matt would let me get a new camera..so as soon as he got home, I'm all "soooo I almost bought a new camera today" and he just goes "go ahead." How easy was that?! So I am now the proud owner of this bad boy!

Canon Rebel T3

I can't wait to share pictures with this! My mother-in-law has one similar and I couldn't stop snapping pictures while she was visiting! I feel like everyone that has kids needs an amazing camera. They really do grow up SO fast.

Matt's been working CRAZY hours. The past two days he's gotten just about 34 hours. That is insane to me. I could never do what he does. I really can't complain though. This job has been such a blessing to our family. I never would've imagined that we could just order a nice camera like that. I always tell him I feel like we cheated the system because this job literally fell into his lap. We're so young, and so blessed.

I'm really missing my friend Tracy. She's visiting her parents in New Jersey right now, and I can't wait til her and baby Harlow get back! Prayers for her husband, please. He's having a health problem and needs a few prayers for a speedy recovery!

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Fall Leaves

So, Matt is "out of town" for now. Which I'm not even sure yet how long he'll be gone. Hell, he may even be back tonight! (fingers crossed) Right now, little man is sitting on me...making this entry about a 9 on the difficulty scale.

Teething is going to be the death of us in this house. He refuses naps, which means he goes to bed early, which means we alllll wake up before SIX AM. When we're so used to having a baby that sleeps 9-11 hours a night....this is not even a little bit okay. So as you can see, this momma is WORN out today.

I sat outside with Sadie for a bit today (the dog) and found some gorgeous leaves. I have no clue where they came from because we have literally no trees in our yard.

My friend Tracy, who introduced me to blogging is home visiting New Jersey right now. Noah and her daughter, Harlow are only about a month apart and they are SO cute together. We're definitely missing them today :( We love having our coffee dates while the babies play! We definitely need to do that again as soon as she's back :) 

I suppose I'll go make something for myself to eat, although I'm terrified to go back into the kitchen after seeing the BIGGEST bug on earth.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is GORGEOUS this time of year. Looking out my kitchen window, I see a big mountain covered with trees that are all turning yellow, orange, and red. I was driving back home from the realtor's office yesterday and I was taking the back roads just to enjoy all the colors.

It's seriously breathtaking. I didn't think I could love a place so much, especially with the amount I hated it here when I got here. I wake up happy everyday! I am so blessed to be married to a man that's so supportive and who allows me to stay home with our son.

Today we were supposed to do bible study but it got cancelled, so my friend Summer and I went out to lunch and Olive Garden. It was so nice! Obviously I don't get a lot of "adult" time at all..but the little I do get I appreciate a lot! I decided to wear my mommas cowboy boots today :) I'm a big fan!

Have a good Tuesday everyone! :)

Sundays

Sundays are a favorite in our house. We usually go to church, go out to breakfast at the Crippled Bear Inn (if you're ever in the Williamsport area...go) But yesterday, Matt had to be at work at 8am, and going to church alone with a 5 month old is nearly impossible. So instead, we hung out at home!

I decided that we should have a feast :) I'll be posting pictures and recipes of everything I made yesterday! We had crab dip, baked beer mac & cheese, bacon wrapped asparagus, and pumpkin pie!

Crab dip in the making!

11 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 bunch green onion, finely chopped

5 TBSP real mayo

2 (6 ounce) cans crab meat, drained and flaked

1/4 tsp garlic powder (more or less depending on your taste)

salt & pepper to taste

1 (1 pound) loaf , crusty Italian bread

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, onion, mayonnaise, crab meat, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Spread mixture into a 1 quart baking dish.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. While the dip is baking, slice the Italian loaf.

Remove baked crab dip from the oven, and stir well. Dip the Italian loaf slices in the dip and enjoy!

This picture was before it went into the oven!

8oz pasta of your choice (I used a whole box of penne)

1C Milk

 1C Beer (I used Yuengling)

2T Butter

2T Flour

1/4t Creole Seasoning (my personal fav)

1/4 Ground Mustard

8 oz Sharp White Cheddar Cheese

8oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Boil pasta to Al Dente, then drain

Melt butter in the same pot you boiled water in and then whisk in flour until golden and bubbly. Then add the milk and beer. Mix until it's thick. then add the cheese by the handfuls (incorporating each handful before adding more) stir. Add pasta water if necessary. Toss in the pasta and either keep it in the pot you cooked it in (if it's oven safe) or transfer it to a greased casserole dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a little bit of cheese and broil until crispy!

(This picture was pre-sauce)

2 lbs fresh asparagus (ends trimmed)

12 slices of bacon

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 stick of butter

1 TBSP soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Divide asparagus spears into 12 bundles (3-4 pieces each). Wrap 1 piece of bacon around each bundle, starting 1/2" from bottom of the tips. Secure the bacon-wrapped asparagus with a toothpick. Arrange bundle in a shallow baking pan.

Combine brown sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; heat mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture over asparagus bundles.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until spears have begun to wilt and bacon looks fully cooked. Enjoy!

The filling kind of poured over the crust :(

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 large eggs

1 15 oz can Libby's 100% pure pumpkin

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

1 9 inch unbaked pie shell

Directions

Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shell

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving. 

I hope you guys enjoy the recipes! Matt will be going to New York for work tomorrow and I'm not excited about it :( It's so quiet without him here! But, as he says "money talks". We're so used to struggling with money and not being comfortable by any means, and now that his paychecks have almost quadrupled, it's safe to say we're finally comfortable. And it feels....good. Knowing that our son can get everything he needs and more, without having to rely on anyone else. It's the greatest gift in the world being able to be a stay at home mom. I love seeing Noah from sun up to sun down every single day. His little smile in the morning melts my heart :)

It's nice to finally be in a routine with him. He wakes up anywhere from 6:45-8, then we play for a little bit. He is not a morning eater at all. So we play with the wipe bag (his favorite), we play with Sophie, who is the cutest and most adorable teether EVER! Then we bounce a bit! Finally, he's ready for a 6-7oz bottle! He's such an awesome eater. Depending on what time we wake up, sometimes he has a morning nap (today is one of those days), then he'll probably nap again around 3ish for a little while. We play some more, eat some more, and he's in bed around 9 usually! 

I'm off to enjoy this great day :) Happy cooking!

Rambles

Babies sleep SUPER crazy. Noah makes TONS of noises in his sleep..which took a long time to learn that he was actually still sleeping. Last night was extra noisy, yet he slept until my husbands alarm went off at 7:20. This is how we found him when we walked into his room:

Excuse his boogies...he's been very stuffy and will NOT let me wipe his nose..

so we had an early morning bath today! Crazy boy, huh?

Today is really the first chilly day in a while. We went out this morning to get the newspaper for some coupons and I grabbed a big fat venti pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks! Needless to say, it's a lazy, cozy, pajama day in the Ockerman house :) (except for dad, he's at work :P)

We're finally all settled into our house! Except for 1 or 2 boxes in the living room, but oh well. I am absolutely over moving and packing and unpacking. We're really hoping to buy a house out here within a year. We're going to start looking in the spring! So exciting! We were able to get a few fall decor items recently (my favorite!)

This will techincally be our first full year together in a house of our own. Crazy, I know, but I am SO exciting for all the holidays and decorating possibilities! Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and since we'll be in Georgia for a couple days, and then Michigan visiting family for Christmas, I plan to decorate on Thanksgiving, especially if Matt has to work...decorating will definitely keep me busy! I seriously cannot wait to buy Noah Christmas pjs! Here are a few of my favorites:

Super cute right?!

I guess I'm just going to make this post long and about everything! I want to post a couple pictures of the town we live in. It really is gorgeous here.

Some cute little rustic stream that we found while we were driving around!

Little league world series, anyone? Yep, that's held right here in Williamsport!

Some backroads around Montoursville, I believe.

I'm not actually sure where this was...but it was on the way here from Michigan.

Well, I suppose that is all for now! I should get back to my squirmy, active baby! :)

Get to know me a little!

[1] what is your dream job? I'd always wanted to be a cosmetologist growing up (which I am) but now I think I'd LOVE to be a photographer or a labor & delivery nurse!   [2] how many best friends do you have? I have a hard time making friends since we've moved so much, so I'm going to have to go with my husband.   [3] what's the longest road trip you've ever taken? Michigan to Cali and back. Yikes.   [4] if you had to do one single thing every day for the next year, what would it be? Take a picture!   [5] what's one story your family always tells about you? None in particular, really.
[6] how did your parents pick your name? They always liked it but weren't sure how it would work for an adult, but then they saw they movie Ghost!   [7] what's one thing that scares you more than anything? Death of close family/friends :(
[8] are you a good cook? My husband thinks so!   [9] where do you see yourself in 20 years? Probably sending either our middle or last child off to college! Then seeing the whole world :)   [10] what's your best childhood memory? Walking up to the swim club and spending the whole summer there, and when we would spend a few weeks in Maryland every year.

Seasons are changing...and so is life!

So, I've decided to start blogging. Our crazy family always has so much going on and I want to be able to remember this later on in life and this is a great way for out of state family to keep up with what is happening!

Noah is officially 5 months old today! I cannot believe how much this little guy is growing up! He can now sit up (almost completely by him self) and he can get on his hands and knees all by himself and rock back and forth. He goes to bed around 9pm, and usually wakes up at 7 or 8. Mom & Dad go to bed shortly after him, so all of us get an awesome amount of sleep :) He eats baby food 1-2 times a day mixed with oatmeal or rice cereal and he LOVES it! He knows to open his mouth when he sees the spoon now too! He loves his bouncer and his little mini swing too. Now that we're finally moved and settled into our house, he takes some awesome naps in his crib, which makes mommy a much happier lady. Here's a picture of our big 5 month old! Along with his drool, of course!

I'm not sure who's all going to be following this blog, but I'll update everyone anyway :) Basically long story short, Matt got out of the Marines October 15th, 2011 (almost a year ago, holy crap!), and after that, we moved back to Michigan (our home state) I got a job at a salon, he got a job as a diesel mechanic. We were barely getting by, and by barely, I mean after rent and bills were paid, we had nothing. Noah was born May 6th, 2012 and shortly after that, Matt and I had a "life changing conversation" as we like to call it. I had a friend whose husband had this awesome job in the oil/gas field for a company called IPS, who just so happens to LOVE hiring former Marines. So I contacted my friend the next day, and got the recruiters phone number, and within a week, Matt was hired! He left for training shortly after that to Texas and Oklahoma. About a week after he got home for training, we moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I absolutely HATED it here at first. We were in temporary housing that his work offered us until we could find a place of our own, and it was attrocious. But, Now we are in our home and I am in love with this city and the people in it! Here's a few pictures of our house now :)

Front of the house, of course!

Living room!

Kitchen! My favorite room :) Still needs some new curtains!

Our pumpkins and mums on the front porch.

I suppose that is all for now! I will definitely try to keep this blogging thing going! This entry was super fun!