Easy meatball recipe!

So I don't normally post recipes on this blog (mostly because I've never been known for my cooking, ha) but this one was just too good not to share! If you're like me, I don't make meatballs that often just because they usually require a lot of steps and mess. But these were super easy and really yummy! Thanks mom for sharing the recipe!

Buca di Beppo Meatballs

1.5 lb ground chuck (I just used regular ground beef b/c that's what I had)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 eggs

6 cloves garlic, blanched, peeled & chopped (I definitely used minced garlic from a jar)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

32. oz marinara sauce (I used Classico organic Tomato, Herbs and Spices)

8 oz. water

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine first 7 ingredients and mix thoroughly. Don't over mix - this will cause meatballs to become tough. Divide into equal portions and shape into 6 meatballs. (This recipe was apparently for GIANT meatballs...I divided my meat into 12 meatballs and they were still a good size.) Place meatballs on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until a dark brown crust forms, 13-15 minutes.

2) Transfer meatballs to a Dutch oven. (I just used a baking dish.) Combine marinara sauce and water,  and pour over the meatballs. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until meatballs are cooked through, 35-45 minutes. 

Here's how mine turned out! I cut into the one on the bottom left :) John Paul and Libs really liked them and so did I! Plus we had leftovers which is always great.

Baby #2 Gender Reveal!

We had so much fun last night finding out that Baby Schulze #2 is a GIRL!!!

I had a feeling all along that it was a girl but on Tuesday we had our sonogram and Judy (our amazing sono tech) was able to tell the gender so quickly that I started thinking it might be a boy. John Paul and I loved getting to see our 2nd sweet baby on the screen at the appointment. She was so active and did lots of tricks for us :) Such a miracle. I measured right at 20 weeks and the baby is approximately 12 oz and 8.5 inches long. Due date is still July 15th. Then we had Judy write the gender down on a piece of paper and seal it up in an envelope!! After the appointment I dropped the envelope off at the bakery and they made cupcakes filled with pink or blue :) Now we had to wait until the next day!!

So last night at family dinner we got to find out! I have no idea why but I was so much more nervous right before we found out this time for some reason. And apparently the cupcakes looked REALLY good to Libby because all sweet girl wanted was a bite while we were trying to take a pic, haha. Actually right when she saw the cupcakes in front of her she started singing happy birthday and blowing out candles. Love that kid. So John Paul took and bite and the rest is history...it's a GIRL!! 
Libby is having a little sister! 

We could not be more thrilled. What a gift. Of course, we would have been thrilled either way but it is just so fun to know what we're having! John Paul and I talked on the way home how it's just such a different perspective now that we know we're going to be raising two little girls. I am so excited for Libby to get to have a little sister close in age and play dress up and share a room. So fun to think about! Sweet John Paul was just meant to be a daddy to little girls. I mean, did you see his fist pump?? Love it.
Now we just have to think of a name for this little lady!! Choosing Libby Allison was a piece of cake and had such meaning behind it that it feels a bit daunting to choose another name. But we'll come up with something :) Overall, we're just so thankful to our great God for graciously allowing us to be parents again. Libby has been the greatest joy and taught us so much about the Lord and His love, grace and mercy towards us as well so much about ourselves. Parenting truly is such a picture of God's deep love for us and it is a gift that we get to experience it. We're praying that we raise both of our little ladies to see the beauty of Jesus and know how much they are loved.

By the way, I've called them "the girls" twice today and literally it brought joy to my heart and tears to my eyes. So surreal.

Here's the video too!

Now for a quick pregnancy update :)
Here's my 20 week bump pic. We started these a little later this time around...oops. At this point, I'm feeling great! I was nauseous and fatigued until about 14 weeks (just like with Libby). I'm craving fruit, cereal with cold milk and candy again this time around. The only major difference this time is I'm having a terrible time sleeping! I've tried hot tea, lavender oil, switching the time of my vitamins...everything. I also feel like I'm definitely showing more this time around so we'll see how this goes :) But overall, can't complain one bit! I've been blessed with a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby and for that I am truly grateful to the Lord. Pregnancy is something that is so out of my hands that it is such a daily reminder to depend on Him. It's good for me.
I can't believe we are HALF WAY there (or less if this baby is anything like her sister)!!

Favorite Things Lately...

Wow, it's been quite a while since I blogged!! I thought I'd catch up on happenings in our life by sharing some of my favorite things lately.

1) Breadwinners patio at northpark - with this great weather we have been out there twice in the past week! There is a great view of the garden at northpark and they have blocks (jenga), a wooden connect 4 game, and corn hole with bean bags that keep Libby entertained forever. We just get a table by the toys and she loves it!

2) Potato Express - steam pocket that cooks a baked potato in 4-6 minutes! You can also use it for sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, tortillas, etc. So amazing!! Thanks mom for passing on this gem!

Potato Express on amazon

3) LOFT maternity online! They have great sales pretty much every other week and some of the stuff even comes in petites. Plus you can return it in the store if it doesn’t fit. 

LOFT maternity website

4) The Disney Store at northpark - we went in there the other day and had so much fun!! They have a little theater area where they play Disney movie music videos and clips and they have a little table with crayons to sit and color. Plus, Libby LOVES looking at all the princess costumes and going into the little mirrored dress up area. You can wave a princess wand and that specific princess will show up in the mirror…it’s really cool. Libby got so excited to see Ariel..it was precious.

5) Haribo gummy bears - does that scream pregnant or what?!

6) My eye cream - I am having a terrible time sleeping this pregnancy which is so brutal and can lead to some lovely bags underneath my eyes…so needless to say I am even more grateful for my R+F eye cream these days!! I put it on twice a day, every day. Must have.

Eye Cream

7) Being outside!! Libby and I are soaking up the sun these days. We were so over the cold, gloomy days. We’ve been swinging, sliding, blowing bubbles, playing with sidewalk chalk, dancing, having picnics, going for walks, going to the park, meeting daddy for lunch outside, jumping on the trampoline at YiaYia's…anything outside! We really want to get to the zoo and arboretum soon.

8) The new Ellie Holcomb album!! Ellie and her hubby, Drew, have been playing at YL camps for years and John Paul and I have seen them at House of Blues a few times too. She did a kickstarter campaign to raise money to make this album. I loved being a part of the process and seeing it become a reality! The songs are all based on scripture and it is so good!! Great reminders of truth to listen to throughout the day. I highly recommend you download it on iTunes :)

9) Smoothies! I got a little burned out on greek yogurt so I decided to throw it in the blender with frozen berries, a banana, a splash of OJ, a bit of honey, and some ice. Now I can’t get enough! Yum.

10) Lysol disinfectant spray - after we ALL got a stomach bug last weekend, I swear I used a whole can of this stuff all over our house! You can't throw your couch in the washing machine so this stuff is a must.

11) Cuddles - Libby has become SO cuddly lately! She is definitely in a mommy phase which can be a little exhausting when she wants me all the time…but I wouldn’t trade her cuddles for the world. Especially since I’m so used to her being such a busy body who never had time to sit still.

12) Libby ponies - she finally let me put a pony tail in her hair!! Eeeeek. So much cuteness. We're still working on sitting still long enough to make them look cute :)

13) “Working” for an awesome company & with awesome women…including one of my best friends!! We recently attended a Leadership Summit in Nashville and it was so great. I am beyond thankful for the encouragement, support & inspiration that these ladies are to me. Not to mention this is the reason I get to be home with my little bug!! What a blessing.

14) Valentine's Day! I'm not really a big Valentine's day person but I did love getting to send these little valentines to my awesome customers who support my business. And I also loved getting to make a little treat basket for Libby :)

15) This guy!! On his actual 32nd birthday he was taking care of me after I got the stomach bug. So after we recovered we got to go out on the town and celebrate the awesome man that he is! It started with a 30 minute foot massage at Foot Joy, Dinner at HG Supply Co, a Hopdoddy milkshake and ended with us seeing Lone Survivor. (I sobbed through the entire second half of that movie, but such an incredible story. Wow.) Anyway, so thankful for John Paul and all his love and service to our family. Libby and I are such blessed girls.

Libby is 18 months!

Libby,

Holy cow, I cannot believe you are a year and a half old!! What a big girl you are! I wanted to be sure and document what all you're up to these days because you are just the most fun right now.  I've heard people say that 18 months is the "sweet spot" and now I see why. You are my little buddy and I love spending my days with you. You are so funny, sweet, chatty, loving, energetic, curious, and smart. I am literally amazed by everything you take in and learn on a daily basis. You understand so much of what I tell you and you know too many words now to even begin to list. You are such a copy cat - you say everything!! Can't imagine life without you, Libby girl!!

So let me jot down a few fun things to remember from the past few months:

-You love to talk. Seriously. All day. You probably say "mommy" 1,000 times a day. If I'm in the kitchen you'll just walk in and say "mommy, mommy, mommy" in your squeaky little voice which is the absolute cutest. You're even starting to put more than one words together. You are also very consistent with saying "please" and now "thank you"…so proud!

-You also love to say "hi". We've met most of our new neighbors because of you. So friendly. Sometimes you'll also be back in your carseat and let out a little "hello" and wave just to make sure I know you're back there.

-We've gotten in a routine of reading your bible and saying prayers before bed. You have caught on so well! Now after we brush your teeth you say "bible" and go get it and get in daddy's lap. Then when we say pray you know to clasp your hands. Melts my heart. Praying that you know the love of Jesus early, sweet baby. 

-You love the nursery at church! We always get the best reports from your sweet teachers when we pick you up. They say you love music (of course), you are attentive during lesson time (would love to see that) and you're very loving. 

-Puppy and lovie are your best friends. They go everywhere with us. I try to have you leave them in the car when we go in places so they don't get lost or dirty. But if we are home, you better believe you are making sure that puppy and lovie are nearby at all times!

-You've started hitting. Not hard, but little swats at our faces. It's not nice, Libby. So here we are working on how we're going to discipline. Whenever daddy and I lower our voices and tell you that you aren't being kind, you scrunch up your nose and make this pouty face. It's crazy how that just started one day…yikes.

-You also make this guilty smile when I catch you doing something you're not supposed to be doing, like climbing up to play with the computer. Usually I can divert your attention and all is well :)

-You are saying No quite a bit more these days but you've still yet to throw a full out tantrum so I'm thankful that you get over things pretty easily.

-You've randomly started trying to stick everything down your shirt. Nail polish, the remote, my phone, whatever. The other day I found a comb in the leg of your footie pajamas?

-You love to list all the people you know. It's the sweetest thing. I'll hear you in your carseat or in your bed after a nap saying "Mommy, Daddy, Noo-Noo, Howie, YiaYia, Uncle, Papa…." and so on. I love that.

-You still love music as much as ever. And you especially love the "pee-no" or piano at YiaYia's house. Now every time you see one, you freak out. Even on TV.

-You love to watch Bubble Guppies on NickJr.

-You listen to basic directions very well!

-And my absolute favorite thing you do lately is called your daddy "honey" if you can't find him or need him for something. You heard me calling for daddy in the garage by saying "Honey, Honey" and ever since then you think that's what you call him when you need him or you're looking for him. It is the cutest. Daddy and I laugh so hard.

So here are some picture updates as well!

Well we moved into your first home! Here you are helping mommy unpack and helping daddy at Home Depot and in the yard. You also had fun your first night in your new room!

Becton came to visit twice from Tyler!! Yay for little friends! 

Papou was in town for work and stayed with us one night too!

CC came to visit in October! You had so much fun together!

Sleepover with Noodle!

We went to the arboretum a bunch in October and November to see the pumpkins and take pics in our Halloween costumes with our friends! YiaYia went with us one day too!

We also took you to the fair again this year with the Bowens! But this year was clearly better than last year because you got to have your first bite of a Fletcher's corn dog - you're welcome. You also loved seeing the animals and went on your first ride with daddy - not sure what you thought about that :)

You are the queen of making the transfer to your bed for a nap after you've fallen asleep in the car! You never used to be able to do this but I guess now that you're down to 1 nap you are just too pooped to care. I took these pics of you just passed out and then proceeded to change your diaper which you slept through as well…crazy!

Working on eating with utensils! You have really improved on this a ton in the past few weeks but it's quite messy at this point. On the food note, you love to eat. As soon as I change your diaper in the morning, you look at me and say "Mommy, eat". You also love to go into the pantry and bring me random things that you want and say "snack". It's so hilarious. I swear you'd eat all day if I let you. If the pantry door is closed I hear you in there saying "open mommy, open…peeeeaaaase". One thing you really love these days is chili. I've been making it lately since it's getting cooler and it's so random that you like it because it's actually a bit spicy bit. But you love it! You say "bean, bean, bean" when you run out.

Uncle Michael came to visit as well!! We had so much fun taking him to Klyde Warren Park and introducing him to the food trucks. The Carbys also made a visit so we had some of the cross fit Richardson gang over - some of the big kids showed Libby how to climb up on the ottoman - can you tell she's a little excited??

Daddy let you get in his lap in the drive way and "drive". You thought it was the best thing ever.

We celebrated Halloween a few ways this year! Some young adults from church kindly included us in their chili and pumpkin carving night and you had a ton of fun. You are so blessed to be loved on by so many people, sweet girl! We also had a play group get together and gave out candy to trick or treaters at our house, which you LOVED. Every time the doorbell rang you ran to answer it and loved seeing the kids all dressed up!

Daddy and I took you to the zoo for the first time! It was such a great family day and the weather was awesome. The african animal area was the coolest by far - we got SO CLOSE  to the giraffes. But you also loved seeing the tiger eat his lunch! And you got to pet the barnyard animals which you thought was pretty fun.

Well sweet Libs, that about wraps it up!! Daddy and I love you so much we can't even stand it. You are the absolute best gift and make us smile every day. It's a blast watching you become the little person that God created you to be. I love being your mommy so much!! LOVE YOU, LIBBY MUFFIN!