Tortellini Soup

Tortellini Soup

1 lb Italian Sausage

1 small onion chopped

1 clove garlic chopped

3 14 oz cans of beef broth

2 14 oz cans petite diced tomatoes undrained

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 cup red wine

3 carrots sliced thinly

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 small zucchini sliced or chopped

1 package of cheese filled tortellini (can use more for a larger family)

1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Cook sausage, onion, garlic and then drain. Stir broth and next 6 ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in zucchini and simmer 10 minutes. Serve with parmesan. Serves 8-10 medium size bowls. ENJOY!

So who doesn't enjoy a delicious, simple soup recipe? Phyllis gave this recipe to me after I had mentioned making some Italian Wedding Soup. I copied the recipe after trying it and told my parents that they had to try it. My dad loved it and some of his work buddies even did too! So now I'm passing it along to you guys.

Where Have We Been?

We're still here! Here's a couple of photos, in the wrong order...I really wish blogger would make it easier for us to upload our photos! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our family and friends.

It's a BOY!

We'd like to congratulate John and Christine on the birth of their baby boy John Ryan Jr. He was born last Thursday and weighed 7 lbs 2 oz. This is a photo from Max's birthday party. She was over 39 weeks pregnant and looked just great! Poor Christine went all the way up to 41 weeks. All I have to say is I knew it was a boy all along! I can't wait for our little guys to grow up together.

Love, The Muresan's

Pumpkin Patch

One Year Check Up

It's hard to believe that's the same baby! At Max's one year check up he weighed 23 pounds 7 ounces which is the 60% and was 30 1/4 inches long in the 65%. So in a year he gained over 17 pounds and grew 11 inches! He got three shots that day too, but like a tough guy he only cried for a minute. J

Happy 1st Birthday!

We celebrated Max's first birthday with a BBQ at my parents house. I found this cute monkey cake design on the Parents magazine website. My mom was in charge of making the cakes, we made two, and she wanted to make homemade icing. Well the icing didn't turn out as creamy as she would of liked but it did have a delicious almond flavor. I told her we should of just bought the icing but she insisted on making her own. I had the easy task of decorating the cakes. Some chocolate sprinkles, chocolate licorice for the hair, doughnuts for the ears, peppermint patties for the eyes and skittles for the nose. I think they turned out very cute even if they weren't perfect. My mom use to make some of the coolest cakes for us when we were kids.

Max enjoyed his cake and even seemed a little giddy after eating his share. I gave him a bath afterwards and Ben, the little guy in the left corner, had a blast hanging over the tub splashing and playing with the squirt toys. He kept on saying Memo, Memo! (Nemo)

Thanks to all our family and friends who attended. We had a great time and enjoyed your company! J

Sleepover

Last night was Mike and I first night away from Max. We went to a friend's wedding so Max stayed with my parents. All went well except for him waking up in the middle of the night. My mom brought him in their bed. My dad said Max was trying to kick him out of the bed and he got woken up in the morning by Max pulling his hair. Max does like to pull hair especially mine! I love this photo that my mom took of the two of them. I think it looks so cute. J

Messy Eater

These photos are after he ate dinner one evening. Some days he can't resist running his hands through his hair! He hates bibs now too. I'm surprised he's still wearing his bib here. J

Never Expected This to Happen!

This is what a Zimmermann family wedding will do to you.

11 Months Old

Every month it seems like I'm getting further and further behind on the blog. Better late then never! Anyways, the day after Max turned eleven months we had an early birthday celebration with the Muresan family. Dave and Phyllis are in Florida so we wanted to have a celebration before they left. We did a Curious George theme and had decorations, party favors and a cake from a local bakery to go along with the theme. Well you know Max loves his food, so he had no problem figuring out how to eat his cake quickly then smearing the leftover icing all over.

At the beginning of the month Max was standing and starting to take a couple steps here and there, but over the past weekend he is walking much further distances sometimes six to eight feet. As everyone says I'm sure it won't be long before he's running all over the place! I think my mom was surprised but the amount of energy he had last night when we visited my Grandma McCoy.

I decided it was time to wean Max almost three weeks ago. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be or should I say he didn't seem to mind. So now that he's bottle fed he's finally sleeping through the night. Although he naps well during the day, his new thing is to fight going to bed at night. Whenever we lay him down he's been crying but a little classical music soothes him and puts him right to sleep.

A couple other things is that Max has seven teeth now, throws mini tantrums when told no and laughs at the television. The other night we watched Toy Story with him and he thought that was pretty funny. There's never a dull moment here! J

Max's Favorite Book

Max's favorite books are lift-the-flap books. Whenever I need to distract him I just open one of his Fisher-Price Little People books. Thanks to Aunt Beth and the kids for donating their old books! J

10 Months Old

Yes it's been awhile since our last blog. A lot has been going on, mostly me trying to keep up with Max. He's standing up and pulling himself along anything he can find. Mike and I finally decided it was time to buy him some tennis shoes a few weeks ago. Max was kicking and screaming the entire time the girls at the shoe store were trying to put on his shoes. Needless to say it took him a couple of days to get use to his new shoes.

Max likes to dance or bounce to music or commercials on TV. He jumps up and down in his pack n play and crib. Every morning when we go in his room he's standing up jumping up and down with a big smile on his face. It makes getting up early not so bad!

Max loves to eat. He's a bottomless pit! He eats finger foods now fruits, veggies, grilled cheese, veggie burgers, chicken, cereal and bread. Bananas and grilled cheese are two of his favorites. Max has five teeth now! The two front teeth just started to poke through last week.

Mostly over the last month I've been busy chasing him around. He gets into everything like the dirty laundry basket or the other day as I was getting ready to finally sit down he pulled over the trash can on himself and there were coffee grounds everywhere! I've resorted to closing all the bedroom and bathroom doors and building a barricade out of chairs to keep him out of the kitchen and away from cat food. The less places I have to chase him the better!

It was too hard to choose just a couple photos so I put together a slide show of what Max has been up to. J

9 Month Checkup

I took Max to the doctor yesterday for his 9 month visit. All is good. He weighs 19 lbs 13 oz and is 29 inches long. Hard to believe he is already half my size! J

4th of July

Well our 4th was pretty uneventful thanks to the gloomy Missouri weather. We went over to Zach's to barbecue and shot off some cheesy fireworks. When it became dark it started to rain so we didn't see much of any firework displays. A the end of the night Zach gave Max Duncan rides which he really enjoyed. Duncan didn't seem to mind and Max kept on giggling. J

Sweet Success

This is one of those moments I've been waiting for. For Max to fall asleep due to pure exhaustion! Yeah! Max has an endless supply of energy, which he probably gets from his Dad. I snapped this photo on Wednesday evening after a day out with a girl friend who was visiting from California. We went to lunch and went swimming at Phyllis's and Dave's afterwards. Like always Max never naps when were out because I guess he's afraid he'll miss something. So he fell asleep an hour earlier this evening. J

Fathers Day

We celebrated Fathers Day Friday evening at Mike's parent's house. Phyllis made some of her delicious strawberry pie. Mike didn't want his piece so I ate his too! I thought Max would of interacted with the twins Sydney and Avery more but he just kinda stared at them. I guess he was to busy discovering the house.

On Sunday we went over to my parent's and had a nice steak dinner. My Mom asked me what Max was going to eat for dinner and I said he was going to eat what the rest of us were having. Max had been eating a couple finger food prior like bananas, bread, carrots and potatoes. So sure enough he ate with the rest of us asparagus, potatoes, bread, steak and a cookie for dessert. He just kept shoving the food in his mouth. We couldn't put it down fast enough. Afterwards he was exhausted and MImI gave him a bath since he was covered with food. He wailed the whole time and quickly fell asleep afterwards. J

Swim Class

I signed Max and I up for an introductory swim class at the YMCA. Last Saturday was our second class. Max really enjoys playing in the water and has a fun time kicking his legs. We sing songs and practice the back float, which Max seems to be catching on pretty quickly. On our last class I just had to support Max's head while he was floating in the water. I couldn't believe how still he was lying. Watch out Max may be the next Michael Phelps! J

8 Months Old

Max turned eight months old almost a week ago. I've been meaning to update the blog but have been too busy chasing him around! He crawls really fast and is pulling himself up on anything he can find. Either Mike or I sit on the floor with him whenever he is playing to supervise. Talk about tiring! Whenever Mike gets home from work he'll lay on the floor and Max will crawl and bite all over him. We call it the Daddy Gym. It's funny to watch.

It seems like recently Max has so much energy and is napping less, but is going to bed earlier and sleeping much longer at night, so I guess it all balances out. He's finally sleeping unswaddled to.

He's been eating more. We've added another meal, so he eats solids four times a day. We're just starting to experiment with finger foods but he does love his baby snacks: yogurt melts, cereal puffs and biter cookies. I'll put some puffs or melts on his tray and he'll try to shove a whole handful in his mouth! He still hasn't quite figured out his sippy cup but will drink a bit of water with help. J

Missy Bossy

          Last Saturday we took Max swimming for his first time at Zach's neighborhood pool. Although the water was a bit cold he didn't seem to mind. He lounged in his duckie float seat and kicked his legs around a little bit. We didn't stay long. I was so worried he'd get too much sun, even though he was wearing 50 sunblock, had a hat on and his floaty had a canopy over it! I signed Max and I up for a baby swim class at the YMCA so I can't wait for that to begin this weekend. It should be a bunch of fun.

After swimming we headed over to my parent's because we were asked to babysit Miss Scarlett for the evening. Scarlett was excited to see us, especially Max and would help out whenever she could. She'd help when I was changing his diaper by getting out the wipes and throwing away the diaper. I even showed her how to wash off his pacifier if he dropped it. We also found out that Scarlett doesn't like being told what to do, so I don't know how many times she told both Mike and I that we were NOT the boss of her or that she was going to tell her Mom on us. We both got a kick out of this and I told her that she was the bossy one! At one time she put Max in time out on her little red stepping stool where he proceeded to pull her hair. She kept on telling him to stop spitting! I tried to explain to her that babies slobber when they are getting their teeth. I was surprized with how smoothly the night went and Max seemed to enjoy Scarlett's company. I think he stared at her for most of the evening. I guess he liked watching her talk.  J

Baby Laughs

On Thursday evening we were playing around on the floor with Max and we got him to laugh really hard. Luckily Mike was able to grab the video camera in time so we could tape this funny moment.

Baby on the Loose!

Well it's getting harder to find time to do anything lately! We officially have a mobile baby and he's all over the place. Max doesn't really crawl but he army crawls and pulls himself along the floor and let me tell you he's quick.  Always going for the things he shouldn't so he can slobber on them of course! Why do babies do that? The vertical blinds to the sliding door and any cords even if they seem to be well hidden seem to be his favorites. No matter how much you try to distract him he'll usually smile and try to go for it again. I guess he thinks it's some sort of game.

Mike lowered Max's crib mattress this past weekend because he has figured out how to pull himself up. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he figures out how to do it again but at least I don't have to worry about him trying to climb out or hurting himself. In the photo of him standing up in his crib he is actually trying to eat the mobile! J

7 Months Old

On Saturday Max turned seven months old. He is getting so big, not necessarily chubby but long! I'm guessing he weighs around 18 pounds and is around 28 inches long. Max loves eating his solids. He eats three meals a day now. Two servings of cereal and 2-3 servings of fruit and veggies a day! This past weekend Max began sitting up on his own and his first bottom tooth is starting to come in.  J

Busy Bee

Wow, where to begin? It seems like so much has been going on lately. The weeks seem to be flying by! Max has been getting close to crawling; he gets on all fours and rocks back and forth. Just yesterday he is sitting up from a lying position. He does a great deal or squealing and babbling "ma ma", "na na" and "da da". And just for the record he said "ma ma" first! Last week he also discovered his tongue, which he likes to stick out. Soon after he began smacking his lips. I think he is beginning his teething phase, which I heard can last for a long time(oh joy), because he's been a little crabbier and whinier than the usual happy Max. It will take some time but I'm working on sending out the 6 month photos of Max.  J

Max's 6 month photos

Took Max to get photos taken to capture the little one turning six months old. Here is a slide show of some of the photos.