A Great Big Positive!!!

Yes it's true.... baby #2 is on his or her way, due sometime around Valentines Day!! I found out on Wednesday evening and Louis and I couldn't be happier. I have my first doctor's appt. on July 2 with a new doctor (since we have insurance this time around) and I'm crossing my fingers that I get one that I like. So far I'm feeling great but exhausted. The morning sickness hasn't kicked in yet- I'm only around 4- 4 1/2 weeks along so I'm sure it's not long before it happens; however I have been feeling a little more queasy than I'd like to. I think we're going to be "normal" people and find out the gender this time around, but we'll see how we feel when we get our ultrasound =) Just wanted to share our good news and ask for prayers that we actually get to meet this bundle of joy this time around!

Beefy Mac and Cheese!

Tonight's dinner is Beefy Mac and Cheese in the crock pot from this cookbook:
Louis and I both love Sandra Lee! Louis loves how yummy her recipes always turn out to be; I love how fast and easy they are because a lot of the ingredients you can purchase pre-made! Like the beef stroganoff I made on Friday (which turned out FANTASTIC, by the way- and I wound up throwing in a can of cream of mushroom soup as well), this recipe is also being altered to compensate for my husband's pickiness. In case you're interested, here's the recipe!

12 oz dried elbow macaronni

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1 packet (1.5 oz) beef stew seasoning mix

2 cups shredded four cheese blend (I'm just making my own with cheddar since I think the packaged shredded cheeses are a ripoff)

1 can (10.75 oz) condensed cheddar cheese soup

1 cup frozen chopped onion (I'm using fresh though and adding them in to my portion only at the very end since Louis hates them. I might sautee them for a few min. in butter to eliminate the raw onion taste)

1/2 cup reduced sodium beef broth

choppedf fresh tomato (optional- I'm using)

chopped parsley (optional- not using since I forgot to purchase it)

1. In a pot of salted, boiling water, cook macaronni for 5-6 min or until almost al dente. drain and transfer to 5 qt slow cooker

2. In a large skllet, cook and stir ground beef and beef stew seasoning mix until beef is brown, breaking up clumps. Drain off fat. Stir remaining ingredients (minus tomato and parsley) into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. Serve with chopped tomato and parsley if desired.

Has anyone ever traveled to....

... Monterey or Santa Cruz, CA? Louis and I are thinking of going there for our anniversary trip. We are bouncing back and forth between lots of ideas right now... including the following:

*San Diego/Coronado (but the rooms are insanely expensive for July weekends)
*3 day Carnival Cruise- makes one stop in Ensenada and one day at sea. We would not be getting off the ship because of Louis's fear of the swine flu and other crap going on in Mexico right now, but we LOVE cruising, and the prices are so cheap that its less expensive to go on the cruise, all meals included *plus $100 ship credit with a deal going on for incidentals like beverages and photographs!* than the hotel stay alone in Coronado or SD
*Santa Barbara
*And Monterey and Santa Cruz. Louis has been to Santa Cruz and liked it; I"ve always wanted to go to Monterey so we would do both during our trip (depending on how close together they are. We think they are near each other?) We would fly up there and rent a car. I would also want to do a day stop in San Francisco... but again I haven't even checked a map to see how close these places are to each other. And Louis is scared of going to SF because of that huge quake that took place there like... almost 100 years ago?! He watches too much of the History Channel

Anyway, if you have been to either Monterey or Santa Cruz, did you like it? What was there to do? It would be fun to go someplace new!

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!