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!! :)