I survived...

... FOUR birthday parties this weekend- three of them being yesterday!

I'm exhausted.

Tuesday is my last day of babysitting Sydney! I'm going to miss my little girl... and so will Jeremiah. She's his new favorite playmate. I won't miss waking up at 5:30 every morning, however!

I'm off to bed. The alarm is going to go off way too soon

And tonight's dinner is...

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff!





I am on such a cooking kick lately. I purchased 6 cookbooks with my Barnes and Nobles gift card from Mothers Day, and I wish I had the time (and financing!) to make all the recipes I want to. The cookbooks I'm the most excited about are :

and The Complete Cookbook: Asian. Tasty Recipes for Every Day. (I couldn't find a good picture of the cover on the internet). Louis is also really excited for my Semi-homemade by Sandra Lee cookbook that hasn't arrived yet. The recipe I'm making tonight didn't come from my slow cooker cook book but from the back of the Lipton soup box. I swear, Jeremiah better hurry up and stop his baby food preference SOON and start eating more normal food because I can't wait for him to finally enjoy my food rather than just push it away!

In other news, this month is chock full of birthdays. This weekend we have three parties to go to- Jeremiah's cousin Adrian's 2nd birthday tomorrow (Louis's cousin Victor is Adrian's daddy), my aunt Sophie (Grandma's sister)'s 85th birthday party, and Sunday my cousin Chase (my cousin Kelly's son)s' 4th birthday. Every other weekend between now and the beginning of July is filled with at least one other birthday party. Busy- and expensive! That's why I love shopping at Target!!

Anyway, here's the recipe for the beef stroganoff in case you're interested. I've never made a beef stroganoff before so I'm really excited to see how it turns out! Tune in for more great recipes as I make them!

2 lb boneless chuck steak, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 cup all purpose flour

10 oz sliced mushrooms (we're substituting for crinkle cut carrots since Louis hates mushrooms)

1 envelope Lipton Secret Recipe Beefy Onion Soup Mix

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

8 oz sour cream



1. In your slow cooker, toss beef with flour. Stir in remaining ingredients except sour cream. Cook covered on LOW 8-10 hrs or on HIGH 4-6 hrs until meat is tender



2. Stir in sour cream. Serve, if desired, over hot cooked egg noodles

Best Vegas Trip Ever!

***I have NO CLUE why the prior post was in all characters!!!***

Louis and I arrived home last night after three glorious nights in Las Vegas. I have to say that of all the trips there we have been on together (and seperately!) aside from our honeymoon, hands down this was the best one. By the time my mother in law picked up Jeremiah, we finished our last minute trip preparations, and we picked up my grandmother at my mom's house, we didn't get on the road until shortly after 8:00 p.m. on Thursday night. We were walking to our rooms at the Motel 6 at around 1:00 a.m. only to find a hooker (well we THINK she was a hooker! She certainly looked like one!) being arrested in the parking lot outside of our room. Only in Vegas...

Louis had to work on Friday, so my grandma and I hung out by the pool playing cards until it was time for us to check out and head over to the Luxor, where Louis and I were staying that night and Saturday night. My grandma was staying at the Excalibur but couldn't check in until my aunt Bette arrived, who was paying for the room. I LOVE THE LUXOR! We stayed in the pyramid. I like the slanted walls and windows, the atmosphere, and the lack of enthusiasm to gamble there. The casinos weren't overly crowded, and the higher limits at the tables kept me from wanting to play (which was great because we had a very TINY amount of $$ set aside for gambling,a nd we were saving it for a trip to the small O'Shea's casino, a favorite of ours). After we checked in, Grandma and I got in our suits and spent the afternoon at the pool, swimming, drinking, reading and napping. I brought the fixings for margaritas with us from Cali plus some mango Smirnoff ices and plenty of chips, so we were all set for a party. And it cost a tiny fraction of the rediculous $10 per drink at the pool! The sponsors for Malibu rum were giving away free shots of Malibu and coke so we got some of those as well =)

Friday night was the first family gathering of the weekend (we went for a wedding- my aunt Bette's daughter, Ellen, was getting remarried. Bette was my grandma's cousin-in-law, so her daughter Ellen is like my 3rd or 4th cousin?) The party that night was at Mandalay bay where they were staying- in the PENTHOUSE. Which is where the picture above was taken. OH my goodness talk about luxury- especially the panoramic view of the strip outside the windows. They had Panera Bread cater with sandwiches and goodies, and a full service bar. Needless to say Louis and I had a lot to drink that weekend... and had a great time with my family, most of whom I don't see very often because most of them in attendance live in New York. And Louis's favorite part of the evening was watching the Lakers clinch the playoffs. Thank goodness we weren't the youngest ones there- Ellen's daughters who are my age were there as well. It was my first time meeting them- even though her daughter Debbie was my pen pal way back when we were kids!

After the party, we decided to go to the LAX club in the Luxor. Neither of us had ever been to a club in Vegas before so we decided to go, especially hearing all the great things about it from Debbie- and having free admission for staying in the resort. It was a great club- but let me tell you, we waited over an hour in line only to stay half an hour, tops. Louis and I felt very out of place, being that we were probably the only married people in attendance, and most definitely the only parents. I think clubbing is something that people do when they are single and looking to meet someone (and get wasted, which we were not going to do). Perhaps if we were still dating each other it would have been more fun?

Saturday: Louis and I slept in- or rather, he slept in because I"m still on "Jeremiah" time. I woke up at his usual 6:15 and then fell back asleep til 8:30, which is the time I get up when Louis lets me "Sleep in." We went to the buffet for breakfast (champagne brunch, way yummy), and then Louis went back to our room to prepare the music for the wedding reception. He was playing DJ at the dinner that night and needed to make his playlist and practice his songs that he would be singing. That took pretty much the entire day. I went to the pool for a little bit, then back upstairs to read "Gone with the Wind" and take a few good naps.


The wedding at Mandalay Bay was really nice! Neither of us had been to a Vegas wedding, either, and it was QUICK. Like 10 minutes. Even in a fancy resort like that they want you in and out. The reception was in a small room at Aereole, this 5 star gourmet restraunt inside of Mandalay Bay. Tons of hour deourves and small dishes for dinner were served- along with the BEST open bar I had ever been to. At the suggestion of Debbie's friend I got a strawberry mojito- the best drink I have ever tasted ever. Everyone was saying how good m y drink looked and lots of my relatives ordered it as well- so much in fact that they ran out of the mix after my second mojito! So I had to settle for two more pomegranite martinis =) (I told you I drank a lot this weekend...) Louis's music and his singing were amazing. I love my husband. I love it when he sings. And I love the reason why he sang at this wedding- the bride's father, my Uncle Louie, was also a Frank Sinatra buff like Louis and they would always sing kareoke together when he would come to visit. Louis knew that my aunt Bette would be so touched for him to sing at Ellen's wedding since Uncle Louie is no longer with us. So we went to a wedding with distant relatives- a few we knew well (including my grandma) but most we didn't know at all. And we had the GREATEST time. I can't emphasize that enough. It doesn't matter how "distantly" you are related, or how many times you have met. Family is family. And I love everyone in ours.

Sunday- after checking out of our hotel, we picked up at my grandma at the Excalibur and went to the champagne brunch at Harrahs. This has become a Vegas tradition of ours since our honeymoon. My grandma is so sweet- we fully intended on treating her but, as always, she beat us to the check and wouldn't take a cent. Then we gambled for an hour at O'Sheas. Louis won back everything I lost at the black jack table with some VERY lucky plays on Roulette and we actually came out ahead roughly $40. Not too shabby... then we went home and picked up my precious son! Oh how I missed him dearly! Vacations away from the kiddos are always a blast- a great time to reconnect with your spouse, eat great food, sleep in, have a few drinks- but there is nothing like coming home to two arms wide open and a huge grin from your precious child!!!

Recovering

We are very exhausted here in the Castillo household. Jeremiah an I especially have been going nonstop for the past week. We spent the day at Disneyland last Wednesday, which is tiring in itself, and then my car broke down on the freeway just a few exits before we arrived home. By the time my dad, CHP, AAA and Louis arrived to come and get me( thankfully I was able to get over to a shoulder!) and we got home it was nearly 10:00, almost 3 hours past my son's bedtime. Then, my grandma picked up Jeremiah and I early the next morning to take us to my parents house, where we stayed until Sunday night. Louis joind us on Friday. I worked for my mom Thursday afternoon, then got my pedicure and manicure w/ my mom. Friday was lots of running around plus the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal was supposed to start at 5:30 but didn't begin til nearly an hour later. As for the dinner? We didn't get out until nearly 10:00. One of teh bridesmaids totalled her car on the way from the rehearsal to the dinner (thank God she's okay) so everything ran way late because of that>

Saturday- wedding! My mom and I had our hair appt bright and early at 9:00 am and were nonstop busy the rest of the day. The wedding ended around 7:30 pm, and Louis, Marissa and I went to an afterparty at one of my brother's friend's houses (another Luis). It was very strange partying with my brother's friends without him there,, and seeing my brother being replaced with my husband in their circle of friends, but we all had a great time playing beer pong, flip cup and eating pizza. We're planning on getting together regularly to hang out until Luis winds up God knows where playing minor league baseball, and whenever Daniel's 4 year old son is in town from Seattle we are going to get our kids together.

Sunday- my cousin Paul very generouslly offered to lend us his Lexxus until our car gets fixed (the engine and transmission are shot). Before picking up the car in Huntington Beach, my dad took Louis and I to Long Beach to pick up my brother's tux and Lindsey's dress and return the tuxes. We didn't get home until 8:30 and believe me- it was GREAT to be home! And I absolutely love driving the Lexxus- I am not looking forward to having to give it back.

But just as we're starting to settle back into a somewhat normal routine, we're going to be on the go again this Thursday! Louis and I are going to Vegas Thursday night for the weekend for the wedding of a distant relative. We are driving my grandmother and staying at Motel 6 on Thursday night since we're going to arrive late (leaving after work), then Louis and i are at the Luxor til Sunday! I've never stayed there before and can't wait. I have to admit that I was really looking forward to some alone time Friday afternoon while Louis is working, but my grandma is goign to be tagging along with me to the pool. She's staying with my aunt at the Excalibur, and since the room is in my aunt's name she can't check in until she arrives. Oh well... I love my grandma and can't exactly tell her to go shopping so I can tan and read! Jeremiah will be staying with Louis's mom Thursday and Friday night and with my mom Saturday night. I hate to leave him but know that Louis and I really need some alone time- one of teh reasons we're staying at a different hotel than the majority of the relatives attending the wedding and one of the reasons we're even attending this wedding in the first place! We just need to get away, the two of us and no kidlets. The wedding is going to be at the Mandalay Bay and Louis is going t be singing and DJing. I cant' wait!

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Billheimer!

Yesterday my baby brother got married. The beautiful blonde woman in his arms is my new sister! I can't even begin to describe all of the zillions of emotions that went through me yesterday as I saw my brother get married. For those of you who have married siblings- especially if you yourself got married before they did- you probably know what I am talking about, especially if you are as fond of your sibling's spouse as I am of Lindsey. Lindsey, if you are reading this, I love you!

More pics to come tomorrow!

101 Update!

It's been 2 months since I began my quest to complete 101 goals in 1001 days. I have been having fun with this, although not as obsessively so as I was in the beginning. For example, I am no longer keeping track of if I read to Jeremiah every day and take my vitamins daily. They happen most days during the week, and thankfully reading has become a daily habit for Jeremiah and I! He loves to be read to now! Here's an update on how things are going:

Key:
**To be completed by November 23, 2009
In Progress
Completed

Creativity and Projects
1. Finish wedding scrapbook, honeymoon scrapbook and Jeremiah's 1st year scrapbook (0/3)
2. Learn to tole paint and complete at least two projects
3. **Finally order my wedding album!
4. Order pictures from Snapfish at least 10 times (0/10)
5. **Organize East Coast Tour pictures into an album
6. Blog twice a week (1/286)
7. Drag out my violin and spend an afternoon or an evening playing... just so I can't say that I haven't played since APU Graduation (May 2005!) anymore!

Education and Learning
8. Read at least 20 new books of choice, including Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, and The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage (finished 2)
9. **Find our local library and get a library card
10. Read at least 3 books related to the field of education
11. **Finish reading Dr. Jame's Dobson's Bringing Up Boys
12. Finish all paperwork necessary to apply for my California teaching credential and apply for it!

13. **Take a Red Cross CPR Course

Environment and Outdoors
14. ** Take Jeremiah on a walk 3 nights a week for 3 months (0/36)
15. Enroll Jeremiah in a swimming class (does not count for "Mommy and Me" goal)
16. **Go horseback riding with Lindsey
17. **Take a hike
18. Go camping
19. **Take a personal day to go to the beach alone!
20. Transition to earth friendly cleaning supplies once current supplies are depleted
21. Use only "Green" bags or reuse paper bags for 3 months

Family and Friends
22. Get pregnant and have baby #2
23. Nurse that baby for at least 6 months, provided I maintain an adequate milk supply this time around
24. Host 3 family holidays (0/3)
25. Call Grandpa weekly
26. Call Grandma weekly
27. Visit Grandpa once a month
28. **Enroll in a "Mommy and Me" class
29. Mail out homemade birthday cards to family and friends
30. Host another family cribbage tournament
31. **Host a cheese and wine night when Morgan is in town
32. Have another Disneyland day with Anna
33. Read to Jeremiah daily
34. **Eat at 3 of Anna's favorite restaurants that she's been dying for me to try (1/3)
35. Have dates with Louis at least twice a month (1/66)

Health, Fitness and Appearance
36. Take a folic acid supplement every day
37. Wax my eyebrows once a month for a year (0/12)
38. **Paint my toenails twice a month for 6 months (0/12)
39. **Make a fresh loaf of bread once a week for two months (0/8)
40. Try cooking one new recipe a week for 3 months (0/12)
41. **Purchase produce ONLY from our local farmer's market for a month
42. **Plant an herb garden, including the following herbs: basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, mint, cilantro and chives
43. **Grow tomatoes this summer
44. **Learn to style and curl my hair
45. Make a conscious effort to wear makeup daily
46. Donate clothes to Goodwill
47. Exercise three times a week for a month (0/12)
48. Take a multivitamin every day
49. Buy 5 new dresses (1/5)
50. Make homemade chicken stock and freeze it
51. Buy 5 pairs of shoes (1/5)
52. Go running with Marissa. Decide on a good mile time goal for myself (_:_) and work at improving my time (best: _:_)

House and Home
53. **Have all dishes washed and put away before bedtime for 3 months (0/90)
54. Purchase curtains or blinds for all rooms of our house (0/5)
55. Organize dresser drawers in our bedroom and maintain that organization
56. Organize kitchen cabinets and maintain that organization
57. **Organize hall closet and maintain that organization
58. Turn our spare bedroom into a guest room, office, activity room or baby room- something other than a storage room
59. Buy a DVD player
60. Plant flowers in our front yard and back yard
61. Learn five new crock pot recipes (0/5)
62. Acquire a Dutch oven
63. Learn 3 Dutch oven recipes (0/3)
64. Learn 5 new cookie recipes (0/5)
65. Learn 5 new muffin recipes (0/5)
66. Learn how to make sushi and host a sushi night
67. Remodel our kitchen
68. Purchase a new refrigerator
69. **Make Ina Garten's (Barefoot Contessa) Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup
70. Paint our bathroom
71. Paint our hallway
72. Paint our kitchen
73. Organize living room bookshelf
74. Frame pictures and hang them on our walls
75. **Subscribe to the LA Times Sunday Edition for one year
76. Replace our living room couch and love seat

Money, Finances and Work
77. Clip coupons from the Sunday paper every week
78. Open a bank account for Jeremiah, depositing at least $20 a month upon opening
79. Roll all spare change and deposit it into a college fund for our children

Responsibility and Good Things
80. Have all 2009 Christmas presents, other than those for Louis, Jeremiah, our parents and our siblings, purchased by October 1st (purchased 3 presents to date)
81. Do 15 random acts of kindness (1/15)
82. Get up an hour before Jeremiah 6 days a week for a month (0/27)
83. Spend an afternoon watching all of my favorite Disney movies
84. **Get my wisdom teeth pulled

Spirituality
85. Read the Bible cover to cover (Current book: )
86. **Find a home church in Whittier and attend regularly
87. Contribute to the children's ministry in our new church
88. Start a prayer journal

Travel and Places to Go
89. Go on a cruise
90. Travel to 3 new places, at least one of those requiring a plane ride (1/3)
91. Take at least 3 child-less trips with Louis, consisting of at least 3 nights each (will complete one next week!) (0/3)
92. Renew Disneyland pass before the 1001 day deadline (Expiration date: January 21, 2010), and, if needed, purchase a pass for Jeremiah as well
93. Spend the night at Coronado Island with Louis
94. Eat at a Greek restaurant
95. Go to Six Flags, without kids
96. Attend a concert either at the Disney Concert Hall or the Hollywood Bowl
97. Attend an LA Philharmonic "Concert in the Park" at the Arboretum this summer
98. Visit Uncle Ken and Aunt Jean in Virginia
99. Take Jeremiah to the Children's Museum in Los Angeles (If it's still around? If not, find another hands-on children's musem and take him there instead)
100. Spend an afternoon in Hollywood
101. See a live musical

Oh, Toddlerhood

Just when I thought I had this thing called toddlerhood down pat... Jeremiah decides to mix things up and throw new challenges my way! Nap time and bedtime used to be a breeze. Sing a few songs, lay him down with his beloved teddy bear, close the door and he was in dream land. Not any more! Now Jeremiah has this new game where he throws his bear out of the crib as soon as I start to walk out- and will not stop wailing until I go back in and fetch it for him! I played along the first night he did it- but not any more! I'm tired of it! He needs to learn. Last night he only cried for two minutes before he conked out. Today he decided to do this at NAPTIME as well. I put him down 15 minutes ago and I can still hear him crying. Oh, lordy.

I can also tell that Jeremiah is starting to understand what is right and what is wrong for things that I do not want him to do. He will start to do something naughty (ex: climb onto the coffee table) but as soon as he sees me coming or look his way, he usually will correct his behavior. At least he's showing some good judgement- but other times, oh man! He makes a game out of me correcting the behavior for him (i.e. pulling him off the coffee table and telling him NO) and will laugh his head off while I'm doing it. He's starting to test me and I don't like it.

I never thought that raising a child would be easy! But seeing as he's my first, I'm still learning everything right along with him. How to discipline a child so young is so new to me. He finally has sharing his toys with Sydney down- he doesn't care if she plays with his toys and, for the most part, doesn't take something he wants out of her hands. He will play along with her if he wants something that she has, like his fisher price piano. No real discipline was needed here; he just had to get used to her being around. But what about when he's testing me like I just described?

We finally got smart and put a gate up in the hallway to block the bathroom and spare bedroom (storage room) where he's obviously not allowed to play. Now that he's able to turn knobs I'm tired of constantly running over to the bathroom or spare bedroom and pull him out of there, while he's laughing his head off. The gate is a blessing. It makes my life so much easier. But I don't want to block everything he's not supposed to touch or climb on. How in the world do you teach a child self control?!

And lets not even get started on his picky eating. I think he's going to be on baby food when he's in kindergarten at the rate he's going. He refuses to touch anything that looks new. It's baby food, cream of wheat, bread, cheese, cheerios, bannannas, goldfish, granola, and animal crackers ONLY for him. I never thought I would have to coax a child to eat ice cream but he won't touch it. At least he's getting his fruits and veggies in with the baby food. The stage 3 casseroles are hit and miss with him. Some times he'll gobble up the spagetti, lasagna, chicken noodle, etc.; other days he wont touch them. Same with the baby meats. I worry that he's not getting enough protein. Every mom worries about what her child eats. I just pray this one doesn't grow up being as picky as his daddy.

But then he does something sweet, like wanting to cuddle with me for an hour while I sing his favorite songs over and over again (and letting me know that he does NOT want me to stop!) and it makes everything worth it.