Tuesday, August 14, 2012

37 Weeks, a Birthday, and a Recipe

Taken August 12
*My weeks change on Tuesdays, so all of these pictures I've put up are on Sundays after church so that I have a routine, but it's also at the end of the week. 
*On Monday (13th), I went to the Dr. She had to leave right when I got there for a delivery, so I saw the nurse. She's not as gentle as the Dr. But, everything looks good. No change in the cervix, but still healthy, good heartbeat, all that good stuff.
*We got a stroller and carseat!! SOOOOO cute! I'll put up pictures in another post. J says that when he sees the carseat and stroller in the nursery, he gets excited to see a baby in it. :)
*I've washed and organized all of the clothes!! I just need to organize it into more than just size now-style, type, etc

For a really long time, I've wanted to have a tea party on my belly. I think I've wanted it since I was maybe 5...I think, though, that my son moves a little too much for the cup to stay put. However, this week, I propped my bowl on my belly! J pointed it out and grabbed the camera. Here I am eating yummy cantaloupe that I was able to set on my tummy as a convenient table.

The cutest load of laundry you have EVER seen!

It was my birthday this week! Friday, August 10th. 
I'm notorious for spreading out my birthday celebrations as long as possible. What I'm really wanting to do this year is go scuba diving. However, pregnant people aren't allowed to scuba dive. So that's been postponed for October...
On Thursday, we met up with J's family to go out to lunch before the parents went out of town on Friday. We went to Fuddruckers. One of my absolute favorites. Good burgers, good shakes, good fries. 
Fun atmosphere.

This is me looking somewhat normal as I slurp my chocolate chip cookie and oreo shake but Kristin and Tyler looking rather silly.

And in this one, I look weird while they look good.-Therefore, you get to see both pictures.

The whole group (minus John)


My sweet Hubby and me. He got me a new scrapbook-I'm DONE with my college one! wow!!-a package of white cardstock, filler pages for the scrapbook, and two pages of stickers-one letters, the other baby boy. :)

My mom sent me a package for my birthday. It was a tickle me elmo box. Made me smile.
She sent me a birthday calendar, a new ipod shuffle, and a barbie! (I seriously haven't gotten a barbie in a REALLY long time, so I had to take a picture)

That evening, we had a ward activity where you could come and see displays and learn about what we do in our church. I enjoyed eating dinner and visiting with the awesome Izatts.


On Saturday, we went to an arts festival with some friends, had popsicles, and visited. It was cool. I like the arts festival. 
That evening, J and I made a very yummy, but time consuming, meal. Garlic Cranberry Chicken. I think the next time I make it it shouldn't take too long, but the first time was definitely a long process.
It was sooo pretty I just had to take pictures.

This is the mixture the chicken bakes on top of. I love the color contrast with the cranberries and the green celery.

Ready to go in the oven.


And ready to eat!
 Here's the recipe:

8 green onions chopped (we did 5)
2 celery ribs chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 whole garlic bulb, separated and peeled
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups white wine (or chicken broth. I love white wine in my cooking, so we did the wine)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper (I saw just the word pepper when I was buying ingredients, so we used black)
1/2 tsp dried basil (we were out, so I used herbs de provence)
6 bone-in chicken breast halves (7 oz each) (We used boneless breasts)

Sauce:
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup boiling water
4 1/2 tsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper (again, we used black)
1/4 cup half-and-half

1. spray 9x13 pan with pam and place onions, celery, carrots, cranberries, garlic and bay leaf in. Add wine. Combine salt, pepper, basil and sprinkle over chicken. Place over vegetable mixture.

2. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 70-80 minutes (we only needed about 45-50 because there were no bones) or until juices run clear. Remove chicken, keep warm. Strain cooking liquid and discard vegetable mixture. Skim fat (we didn't have much) and set aside 1 1/3 cups of the liquid.

3. For sauce, place cranberries in small bowl and add boiling water. let stand 3 minutes, drain and discard liquid, set berries aside

4. In a saucepan coated with pam, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until smooth. Gradually whisk in reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a boil. Cook 1-2 minutes longer or until thickened. Stir in half-and-half and reserved cranberries. Heat through. Serve with chicken.

YUMMY! VERY garlicky, but good. I loved it. J loved it.


On Sunday, J saw something out in the grass in our back yard. A snake! YIKES!! I freaked out just a little bit. I am pretty sure he's a friendly one, but still!!!!!
J took the picture. Not me. I did come outside to see it, but I kept my distance.

On Wednesday, I started a baby blanket. J's Dad's family reunion is this weekend the 17th and 18th in Utah. Since I'm in my 9th month, we couldn't go. 
They started a new thing to help pay for the reunions that is pretty neat. Anyone can donate something to be auctioned off. The first year, Gpa did it and it had mostly family history things. Last year, uncle Curt painted something exquisite, there were favors offered, it went well.
My specialty within one week is blankets. I know how to do baby blankets best, so that's what I did.
I'm pretty proud of the fact that I finished this blanket in 6 days. And I read a book in that time, too, so I wasn't crocheting the whole time.

It's brown and yellow. The yellow is soft baby yarn and the brown is regular yarn. I think it's softer because of the borders and the yellow does soften it up a little.

The pattern is one row of doubles, the next, double, chain one and skip, double.

Honestly, I'm not even sure how I did the scalloped edges. I think they look relatively uniform, so that's good enough to me!! :)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

36 Weeks and a baby shower!

Taken August 5

*We had a Share N Swap at my church. Lots of people brought old clothes to donate and we also had brand new school supplies. Then, anyone could come and take what they needed. It was a great outreach for the community. I got to sit in the hallway and give handouts for the open house we're going to have this Friday.

*(I just realized I put this next bullet point on the wrong week. I am so aware of my actions, it's insane...) We had our last birthing class this week. It was a good conclusion. We talked about post-partum. The loveliness afterwards with the longest period of your life, the fact that I'll be emotional still, but mostly the beautiful baby you get to take home. I really am so thrilled to meet this little guy! I can't wait to see how he looks, who he is, what he does...So excited.

*Last Friday was my baby shower and since I live a lot closer to my friends than my mother in law does, we had it at my house. So on Thursday, I put my husband to work. I finished dishes and he swept, mopped, moved things around, and did a lot of work during commercials of the Olympics. :)

*Then the baby shower! More on that later

*Saturday, we saw the Amazing Spiderman. Great movie. I cried twice. Sheesh.

*Sunday there were 3 baby blessings. Wow! J brought up that possibly the next time we're in a Fast and Testimony meeting, we will be blessing our own baby. (that's if we're not there on September 2 which I hope is the case.)

*We played DnD with J's family on Sunday night. It was fun and epic.

*Dr appointment went well. Gained enough weight, bp looks good, baby's heartbeat is good. She answered some questions, allowed me to go to my last band concert under very strict conditions, and we had a nice visit. I'm a TEENSY bit dilated-about a fingertip. woot! So this baby's stickin around for a while...


Now for some pictures!


This is right before the shower of Kristin hanging up her K. She painted piano Keys on it! So very cute!


Kristin put a baby being born in the mailbox. Awkward and funny.

Everyone got to give the baby advice. A different spin on giving advice. Usually you give advice to the mommy or the bride in bridal showers. But I like this because it's different and made everyone think. We got some really cute responses.

Scentsy's Velata made an appearance. SOOO yummy.

Baby faces!

We all went in to the baby's room to see the wall and everything. 
I am so proud of this room! And I can't wait for the X!

The refreshments table (without the fruit and juices)

Party favors! Boy colored nail polish! Very cute idea.

Jana, Nicole, and Krystle

Maria, Beverly, and Shelley

Kristin, Linda, and Denise

Tami and Cassandra

Tanya and Carmi (teachers from my favorite school)
Carmi said she found out she had jury duty and her first thought was, "I can't have Grace! What'll I do??" So nice to be needed! 
I'm so glad they came!

Opening a couple presents. I got a lot of very cute things. 
This little boy is gonna look studly.



Cassandra's son, Griffin. He's a cute boy. We're excited that Little Mr will have an automatic friend just 2 streets away.

Here's everything! We got a lot of very cute things! Thanks so much to everyone who came and gave us something. We feel so very loved and cared for. I'm quite excited about it all.

The cute banner that Tami and I made for the shower. It keeps falling down, but we've tried to leave it up!

Monday, August 6, 2012

35 Weeks

Taken July 29
*Dr appointment went well. I had my first of weekly appointments on the 30th. She checked my cervix and we're still tight as a drum.
*Feeling stretched, tight, squeezed, pushed, kicked. yay!
*BUT! I'm still able to wear whatever shoes I want (which is flip flops, but I can wear heels and tennis shoes) and I am still wearing my wedding ring. Awesome!

Saturday, we went to Twin Falls for an air show. The Blue Angels from the US Navy came to the show and did a spectacular job. It was fascinating. 
It was HOT.
There was one time where the 4 that stick together went by and the announcer had us all looking at them to see what they'd do next and then the other two flew right over us scaring us because they were going soooo fast! It scared me so bad! It scared Little Mr. too. Poor guy! He spazzed out and then curled up into a ball.


 J sporting his new hat. He had a great time

 On Sunday, we put up the letters!
Little Mr's room is going to be awesome. I saw this idea on Pinterest to put up all of the letters of the alphabet on the wall, but make them each different. My sister showed me this blog where they show you how to hang up pictures easier. You trace the picture (or letter) onto paper, tape it up, put your nails into the wall through the paper, take down the paper, and there you have it!
It was awesome. So helpful!

Hanging up the letter A together!

All of the letters except K and X. 
J's sister Kristin did K. We got it last Friday, so I'll get a pic of it soon. The X is still being made by my brother. 
Isn't it soooo cute?!?!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Land Down Under


This song just came on the radio and I had to share it. It makes me laugh whenever I think about it. Just because of the funny video. It's the best. Enjoy!