Bolognese & Babies

As I watched Secret's of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell on the Food Network last year, I knew I would make her Pasta Bolognese recipe. When I did, probably the following weekend, it was completely delicious & full of flavor. I decided it was time to have this sauce again so I made it again yesterday.



This is definitely a weekend sauce since it takes about four hours. It's very easy to make though so don't be intimidated by the time! The sauce is all about the concentration of flavors which takes time; lots of reducing & simmering. Click here for the recipe, you won't regret it.



This recipe will easily feed eight adults. We brought it over to Lauren & Josh's with a loaf of French bread & enjoyed it with a salad Lauren whipped up.



Any excuse to spend time with little Taylor is fine by us!



Is she beautiful or what?



And check out these dainty little toes!!

Speaking of babies, I paid a visit to the doctor for my fourteen week check-up today. I was able to hear Baby Perno's heart beat which was music to my ears! His or her heart rate was 156 BPM & the doctor said it sounded strong & healthy. It's funny because Cam's heart rate was always right around 140 BPM so who knows, maybe the difference means that Baby Perno is a girl?! We'll see in about 5-7 weeks! Honestly though, and I know most everyone says this, but as long as this baby is healthy, I'll be thrilled with either a boy or a girl. We are already so blessed!

Mother's Day 2011

I'm just now editing Mother's Day pictures since I came down with an absolutely miserable stomach bug on Tuesday evening. I was violently ill for 12 hours, didn't sleep except for half hour fitful stretches until it was time to be sick yet again. I stayed home from work Wednesday & literally never left the recliner. Thank goodness for Bravo TV & for Mike who took care of Cam so I could rest. The bug hit me just as my pregnancy nausea seemed to be loosening its grip on me so I really haven't had a break from throwing up in about six weeks! Fun stuff!



Mother's Day morning we headed to my parent's condo for family time by the beach & pool. The weather was spectacular & it was such a relaxing, perfect day.



Cam had a wonderful time swimming with his cousins & lounging around the pool.



Look at our lil beach bum!



He was looking super cool as he munched on some popcorn!



He was also lucky enough to share his cousin's root beer float! This was Cam's very first taste of a root beer float.



After dinner we celebrated Maddy's birthday as well as my mom's (which happens to be tomorrow).



Cam enjoyed Maddy's Barbie doll far more that Mike would have liked!



Mikayla made her mommy a precious Mother's Day card.



And Cam helped blow out the candles! Notice the chocolate on his face? He helped himself to a bite off the side of the cake before we were even able to sing! Click here to see the video on Cam's blog.



And we all opened our Mother's Day presents.



But this is the best Mother's Day present I could ever imagine! LOVE MY BOY!



Cam ended the evening in a bath/water fight with his cousin! It was an absolutely wonderful Mother's Day!

EXTRA Special Mother's Day!

This is my third Mother's Day with Cam (well, fourth if you count 2008 when I was pregnant) & though each one means the world to me, this one happened to be even more special than ever. Not only am I Cam's mommy but I'm also the mommy to Cameron's baby brother or sister who will be arriving this November!!



That's right, I'm 13 weeks pregnant with baby #2!!



And we couldn't be more excited about our newest blessing! Well, I guess Cam doesn't quite know that Mommy has a baby in her belly, but I'm sure if he did, he'd be excited!!

Happy Birthday, Maddy!

Today is my niece's 8th birthday!! I seriously cannot get over the fact that Maddy is already eight; time is flying too quickly. When Madelyn was born, we still lived in Illinois, but I was lucky enough to fly down the day after she was born. She is a big reason why I really wanted to move down to Florida. Every time we would visit Florida, it would take Maddy time to warm up to us since she was small & didn't really know us. By the time our trip would be coming to an end though, she was getting close to us... just in time for us to leave again.

I'm so happy to live near my goddaughter & for Cam to know & love his cousins. Happy Birthday, Madelyn, we love you so!!

The Dreaded Big-Boy Bed

Every so often Cam would fool us into believing that it was time to change his crib into a toddler bed when he'd decide to climb out. Just as we were about to make the transition though, he'd stay put & stop climbing out. He's probably gone through about three spurts of this, but he always went back to staying in bed. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is..



I've really dreaded the transition since I know Cam still needs true boundaries. I would have seriously kept him in his crib for another year if I could have. But, his safety comes first & we didn't want to chance him hurting himself on a stint of climbing out. So this Saturday before nap, we took the plunge. So far he's doing fantastic at bedtime but not so much with naps. Yesterday during nap time he managed to flip his mattress over a couple of times, knocking the guard off his bed. After Mike sat in there for a bit & made sure he simmered down, he ended up falling asleep.

With bedtime there is no difference between the crib & the toddler bed since he stays put & falls asleep wonderfully. The only change? He's now coming into our room at around 6:45 in the morning instead of sleeping until his usual 7:15-7:30. Yep, so this morning we were rudely awoken to our bedroom door slamming shut & our light being flipped on! Nice. But, if it gets any earlier than 6:45, we'll crack down & take him back to his bed. For now, we let him lay with us & watch cartoons.



Oh the days when I could keep my little monkey confined!! They were good while they lasted!!



In unrelated events, I was delighted to see that our hibiscus had bloomed while we were at work today! Each time we have a bloom, I can't help but admire it & smile!



Is that a weed growing near my hibiscus? Nope, it's just my little stinker butt! And he & his daddy make me smile the most of all!

Happy Birthday, Baby Taylor!!

This morning as I finished my previous post, Mike showed me his cell phone where I saw a picture of a newborn baby. I immediately shouted, "Is that Taylor?!?!" The answer was yes & I burst into tears of happiness! Lauren & Josh have been waiting for the arrival of their miracle baby & she made her big debut two weeks early at about 6am this morning! Hop over to Lauren's blog to read their story.



We are absolutely thrilled that she is here & that everyone is happy & healthy! Taylor is as gorgeous as I had imagined & I just cannot believe she's finally here!! Tears sting at my eyes at the thought of all that Lauren & Josh have been through. Taylor has a big brother & three big sisters watching over her from Heaven. She is one lucky girl & so blessed to have such amazing parents!



She'll definitely be spoiled with plenty of love & attention & I look forward to getting to know my new little "niece"! I am so blessed to have such amazing friends in my life who are truly family to me!

Happy Easter!

Yes, Easter was one week ago & I'm just now posting pictures! Lets just say it was a really busy week & I just didn't have the energy to get online or do anything for that matter after work. But, better late than never, eh?!



The Thursday before Easter Cam colored Easter eggs. He did a really good job with it, but sometimes he wasn't exactly gentle with the eggs.







Saturday we headed to my parent's beach condo to spend the weekend. Grammy was able to spend the day with us before she had to fly back to Chicago later that evening. The Gulf warmed up & we had an awesome time.



Cam's cousins & Auntie Mel & Uncle Mike joined us Saturday night & Cam was thrilled to see his cousins. The kids woke up Easter morning to three very cool Easter baskets which were beach buckets.





After we all ate the breakfast casserole I made, it was time to head down to the pool area for the egg hunt.



Cam's cousins still smoke him in the hunt, but he's getting better each year & someday they'll have to work at keeping up with him!!



After gathering eggs, we lounged by the beach & pool & ended the day with dinner before it was time to head home.



Unfortunately my sister & brother-in-law weren't able to join us, but it was great spending the weekend at the beach with family!



And to think next weekend we'll be back at the beach to celebrate Mother's Day!

P.S - Check out Cam's blog to see more pictures!