Max's Photo Shoot

Well, our cousin Toni is at it again! Last year she did our family pictures (as seen in my header) and this year it's little Maxwell. Go check out her blog for a little preview.

Funny Eism

Today Ry gave me a kiss in the kitchen and E immediately shouted, "Stop kissing, I'm eating over here!" The kid isn't even 3 yet and he says stuff like this? Where does it come from?! He's also started asking "why" all the time...I'm not looking forward to the "why" phase. This should be interesting.

Happy Birthday Ry!

It's Ry's 28th birthday today and in order to celebrate his special day I wanted to make a blog post just for him. 6 years ago tomorrow we got engaged on my 20th birthday and when he proposed he did "20 Reasons Why He Fell in Love With Me." So this year I want to do 28 Reasons Why I Love My Ry." I picked this picture because I think it's hilarious. It's from our trip to Australia and we went to this aviary where the birds are free to fly around and eat food out of your hands and all that. Well, if you know Ry, you know how much he "loves" animals and I can just imagine what he was thinking at the moment this picture was taken. It just makes me laugh. Love you!

28 Reasons I Love Ry

1. He loves me for being me- He doesn't try to change me, he doesn't expect me to act a certain way. He just let's me be who I am and loves me for it.
2. He’s a great dad- I always wanted to marry someone who was great with kids and I got that with Ry. He truly enjoys spending time with the boys and he always makes a special effort to let them know he loves them.
3. He’s driven
4. He’s naturally good at a lot of things- It always seems like whenever he tries something, he's usually good at it. I think his brothers got mad at him a lot for always beating them in video games. Thankfully his skills aren't just in video games, he's good at a lot of other things.
5. He’s athletic- He hasn't had too much time for athletics because of his travel and church schedule, but he loves being active and I love that about him.
6. He’s very clever and witty- the next two go together. I just love his quick wit and his clever puns
7. I love his sense of humor
8. He tries to really understand me- Despite the fact that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, he really tries to understand where I'm coming from.
9. He’s humble
10. He’s a great teacher- this is one of his great talents in the church and elsewhere. I have learned so many great tips for my Gospel Doctrine class.
11. He looks out for others
12. He faithfully serves in the church
13. He’s always trying to better himself
14. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff- That is something that I always need help with. I'm such a worrier about all sorts of things and Ry is constantly telling me "What's the worst that can happen?" He helps me gain the perspective that I need.
15. He’s a dreamer-This is something that I love and this sometimes is something that I'm not particularly fond of. But for the most part I love that he's always looking towards great things. What is a man without his dreams?
16. His personality compliments mine perfectly- He excels where I lack and vice versa, it's great how that worked out.
17. He gives the benefit of the doubt- He's never quick to judge, he always looks for the good in others and on the bright side.
18. He’s genuine
19. He’s honest
20. He’s a people person- I never have to worry about going to any gathering of any sort.
21. He loves my cooking- thank goodness, and I love to cook for him
22. He’s frugal- and so am I so that makes a great pair
23. He’s smart- He always jokes that I got all the smarts in the family, but he's the only one in the family that ever made the "Dean's List" and he's the only one that was in the "gifted program (LEAP)" so I think the smarts go to him.
24. He’s a great communicator- he's so easy to talk to and he really helps me to be a better communicator too.
25. He’s succeeds in all he does
26. He’s sensitive
27. He’s always fresh- He takes at least 2 showers a day and I love that he's always clean
28. He’s positive- I rarely, if ever, hear a negative thing out of his mouth. He's almost always happy when he comes home, he always has nice things to say about others, and he's happy.

Mr. Smiley

Maybe this little guy just has a lot of gas, but he smiles all the time in his sleep. I know he won't socially smile for a couple more weeks, but I still pretend that he's smiling on purpose. Sometimes he'll just be sitting there asleep and then he'll smile and then do this little chuckle. Maybe his dreams are really funny or maybe he'll naturally be our family comedian. Only time will tell.

2 Week Appointment

No, he's not 2 weeks yet, but today was the only appointment I could get so we went ahead and scheduled. Little Maxwell is 10 days old now and is already past his birth weight. He's 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 1/4 inches. His little cord fell off today so he's been cleared for the tub and everything looks great. Last night we put him down for "tummy time" and he ended up rolling over! I couldn't believe it so we tried it again and he totally rolled over again! I've heard of premies doing this in the NICU so it's just a flukey thing, but he is really strong. I remember burping him in the hospital over my shoulder and he was totally moving his little head around. He'll have to be strong to keep up with his brother so I'm sure he's been blessed in the regards so he can survive around here. Maxwell is a really good baby. He loves to eat and he's pretty peaceful. He just DOES NOT SLEEP! I mean he does, but for only 1-2 hour stretches at night, if that. I'm pretty exhausted and I really don't know how I will be able to function if this goes on for a really long time. Thankfully I've done this before and I know this doesn't last forever. So send your sleep vibes our way!

My Little Hero

Mr. Incredible decided to make an appearance for a brief photoshoot with Maxwell. Quite the hero! Ry headed back to work today so my mom is coming over to help me out this week. Glory day! We took Maxwell to the doctor to get his bilirubin drawn again and everything looks good so that's a relief. I feel like we're going to doctor's appointments or lab draws every day so I'm looking forward to a down day at home tomorrow.

How We've Been Doing

Everything at the hospital went really well. The nurses were great to me and to Maxwell and it was a smooth ride. We had some great visitors come see us including both sets of grandparents, Grammie, and Aunt Suzy. Very fun!




We came home on Wednesday afternoon and Ethan came home Thursday evening. We've had to take little Maxwell to the doctor a few times because of his bilirubin levels. They're going up and that's not good. We have to take him back in on Monday to see if his levels are coming down or not. So hopefully he'll be in the clear on Monday. The nights have been kind of long which is what I expected, but the reality of little sleep is showing up and it's not fun. We're all trying to catch naps whenever we can and keep things under control. Maxwell is so cute and such a little peanut! I can't believe how small he feels to me and how big E has gotten in the past few days. It's made me kind of emotional to realize that E isn't my baby anymore and that life is changing, but what a great change to have when you've got such wonderful boys in your life!

Brothers!!!

It's so fun to see our little E interact with his new little brother. Here are some pictures of them together. Before I delivered I had to get him one of those "I'm a Big Brother" t-shirts. I know they're kind of cheesy, but I wanted to wrap it up like a present and have him open it before he came to the hospital to see Maxwell. I know he doesn't look to happy in the picture, but it's just so funny. This picture is the first time he saw little Maxwell right after I had him.

E then came up the next afternoon with my mom. She took E to go pick out a little present for Maxwell and he chose this cute little dog for him and he was so excited to give it to him. E always says, "he's so cute" and that just makes my heart melt.

I just loved having him come see me in the hospital since I missed him so bad. He came and sat with me in my bed and we watched Calliou together and ate candy. What's better than that?

Now we're all home together and trying to get it all figured out. Thankfully E hasn't gotten up in the night when Maxwell cries. That was one of my fears and I'm sure there will be moments when he does wake up, but for now things are good. E wants to help a lot and whenever Maxwell cries, E tells me what I need to do to get him to stop. He'll tell me "my baby needs a diaper change" or "my baby needs a binky." Kind of funny. It will be a lot of fun to see these two interact as Maxwell gets older, I'm sure it will be a fun ride.

And Now There Is 4!

We welcomed our newest family member yesterday afternoon! Maxwell Ryan Elmer was born at 4:42 pm weighing 8 lbs even and was 20 1/4 inches. Everything went really well and relatively easy. I started feeling like something was happening at 3 am and just tried to rest and let things happen. I was up doing stuff by 5:30 since I wasn't comfortable just laying in bed so I got everything prepared to head down to my parents since they only live 15 minutes from the hospital. I was just going to have Ry drop me off at my parents and have him head into work and then I'd call him when I was ready to go to the hospital. Well, we got everything packed up and headed down there around 9 am and we were a few miles away when I just felt like things were progressive enough to call the doctor so they told us to come on in to L&D. So we turned back around and dropped E off at my in-laws and headed into the hospital. When I showed up I was already 4 cm and contracting every 5 minutes so they got me all admitted and IVs going so I could get my epidural. I got my epidural by 11 and then my doctor came and broke my water at 12. So it was just a waiting game until then. Of course, right as my nurse went on break, Maxwell decided he was ready to come. That's usually what happens when you go on break...everything starts happening. My nurse came in and called the doctor and he came righ in and got me set up. So it only took 2 contractions of pushes and he was born. I couldn't believe how quick things happened!



He is so cute and so perfect! I just melted the minute they put him on me! There are a lot of similar features to E, but he definately has his own look. He's healthy and happy and a great eater so far so we're so grateful. E came up to see us while I was recovering and I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the people and gadgets and a new place. He did say "Hello Maxwell" and called him "baby brother" and gave him a big kiss, but after that he was ready to head out the door on a walk. I'm sure this will be a little adjustment for all of us, but we're so excited to have Maxwell here and safe.

A Little Progress

Alright, had my final Dr.'s appointment today, wow! I'm 3 cm, 70% effaced, and at a -2 station. I asked him to strip my membranes so we'll see if that will do anything. With Ethan I had my membranes stripped twice and nothing happened so I'm kind of doubtful, but I'll try anything. So basically it's just wait and see until bright and early Wednesday morning when I will be walking...waddling...in for my induction. I can make it...I can make it...I can make it...

The Ultimate Gift...at least for me

My friend and I were talking the other day and realized that this would be the best baby shower gift ever for a "mom-to-be" and that would be...house cleaning! Right now I have 3 ladies here at my house deep cleaning my entire house! My baseboards, windows, floors, bathrooms (it's so hard to scrub a tub 9 months pregnant), kitchen, cupboards, the works are all getting done. Basically my house is getting a thorough rub down and I don't have to do anything! Do you know how nice this is?! As I was looking at the little crumbs underneath E's chair this morning, I just thought how wonderful it was that I didn't have to clean them up today! Wow! Maybe other people wouldn't enjoy this gift as much as I do, but one of the things that I really work on is keeping a clean house and when your pregnant things don't always stay at the same caliber as it usually does. It's just so hard to keep up and things just start to go downhill. I'm used to having a Monday cleaning day and getting my entire house clean at the beginning of the week and then doing a light cleaning on Friday, but since I've been pregnant I've had to break up my cleaning to do little jobs every day so it just doesn't feel like my house is ever totally clean. I hate that feeling! So after today I will have just about my entire nesting list complete and now I'm ready to have this baby. All I have left is get E's birthday stuff and some fall clothes ready, decorate for Halloween, get E a hair cut, and stock up the fridge for when I get back from the hospital. Not bad at all. So happy day for me, my house is getting cleaned and I really wish I had a frozen lemonade to sip right now.

As for the baby update...I'm still pregnant, I'm 38 weeks and I have 8 days until induction day. Glory day! I still haven't swollen up like a blimp yet which is very surprising to me since I had such bad swelling with E. I can totally wear my normal shoes and my wedding ring still fits and I don't have "cankles" so go figure why that's happened. I'm sure I'll get my chance when they pump me full of IV fluids during delivery, that's always the worst! I'm barely sleeping, I hurt, and this baby makes it very uncomfortable to sit, stand, or lay down. Can you say I'm ready?!

Update

Well, I just got a text from the hubster and he's on a plane back home right now so hopefully he'll get home soon. I'm so glad he didn't book his flight for Friday!!! I went to the doctor today and everything looks good. I'm 1-2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and things are ready to go. I'm on the schedule now for the 24th for my induction so only 13 days or less! So until then I'm working on the nesting list crossing things off left and right.
-freezer meals are done
-my carpets are getting cleaned tomorrow
-I'm also meeting with our new pediatcian tomorrow
-my husband blessed me with a crew of cleaners coming on Tuesday (the best gift of my life!!!!)
-I need to decorate for Halloween
-I need to get some BPA free bottles
-I have to get E's birthday stuff all bought and ready
-get the cars cleaned
-set up baby stuff
The list keeps going and going so I won't bore you, but lots to do, lots to do.

Freezer Meal Info

I've gotten a lot of feedback on the freezer meals and I know many of you want some recipes and tips so I've posted quite a few of them on the Recipe Blog so go check them out. I haven't included all of them so if there is one particular recipe that you'd really like me to post, just let me know. Enjoy!

Not A Good Scenario

My husband is in Houston, Hurricane Ike is coming, and I'm 9 months pregnant...not good. Hopefully he can get out tonight so keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer!

36 Week Appointment

Alright, now I'm down to weekly appointments so there is an end in sight! I'm 50% effaced and not dilated so not much happening in that regard. Everything is right on track and I'm penciled in for an induction on September 24th if nothing happens on my own. So there you it...20 days or less...am I really ready for this?

Freezer Meal Mania Complete!

So over the past week I have completed the rest of the meals that I wanted to get done:
2 lasagnas
2 Mexican casseroles
3 meals of turkey chili
2 meals of shell-less tacos
3 bags of mini quiche
2 portions of Cafe Rio rice
2 bags of chocolate chip muffins
I still have to do the Cafe Rio pork, but I'm waiting for the meat to go on sale and it just has to sit in the crock pot so I'm not in a hurry to get it finished. My freezer is packed to the max and I don't think I'll be cooking for quite awhile.

Off to the Press!

I just finished off my 2nd edition of And Baby Makes 3 on Blurb! I can't wait to get it!

Freezer Meal Mania!

If your bored of my baby preparations, then please don't read. My mind is preoccupied with preparation so thus my blog is too. Sorry.

I thought that I would take 4 days of full out meal making to complete my freezer meal needs, but after I spent Saturday making Chicken and Dumplings, Homemade Chicken nuggets, and brisket...I was spent. I decided that I would only do one entree per day in order to lessen the time in the kitchen. It works out pretty well since most of this stuff makes a ton anyway so we eat some for dinner and then the rest is frozen.
So here's what I have completed:
3 meals of chicken and dumplings
2 meals of Homemade chicken nuggets
3 meals of Chicken Enchiladas
2 meals of Oriental Beef Strips
3 meals of Calzones
8 apple turnovers
Pesto for pasta

Here's what I have left to make:
Shell-less taco mix
Mexican Casserole (Ry's favorite, gag)
Lasagna
Mini quiches
Cafe Rio Pork
Turkey Chili

Tomorrow I'm doing all the hamburger meals to get them all out of the way and that way I just have to cook up all the hamburger at once. I think I'm also going to pick up a couple of rotesserie chickens and shred up the meat and freeze it for quick soups or other chicken meals. I am soooo happy I have an extra freezer, it's quite a step up from apartment living like last time! It's slowly filling up, but it's getting there. If you have any additional freezer meal ideas and recipes send them my way!!! I'd love to try out some new ones! It's also been fun for E since he always loves to help out in the kitchen and be in the middle of the action. Last night he helped me make calzones and was all about the rolling pin and eating pepperoni.

A Little Bit of E

I've been wanting to write a post about what my little E man has been up to lately. I need to write it so it goes into the blog book before I send it in to be published. Plus, I just want to write about him before his little brother gets here.

E is quite the active kid and is always in the middle of doing something. He's very persistent and can be stubborn at times, but for the most part he's really sweet. It's very funny to step back and just watch him because he's just so entertaining. I call him my "little parrot" since he repeats everything anyone says and there are so many times that he'll come to me and I'll just say to myself, "he must have heard that from me." He can pretty much rehearse our exact bedtime routine and put you to bed just like I do and tell you exactly what I say.

He still loves to play all sorts of sports, especially golf. Ry takes him out golfing to a local golf course whenever he gets the chance and they always have a lot of fun. He also goes with Ry to morning basketball to watch his dad play and pick up some moves.

We spend a lot of time together doing all sorts of things. He loves to cook with me, play tickle/kiss, go to the library, do puzzles, dance, swim, read books, play toys/games, and sometimes he just likes for me to hold him (for like 1 minute, but I'll take it).

His favorite person at church is our bishop. I don't know what the deal is with him, but he'll run at the bishop and jump into his arms like he would with his dad or his grandpas. Every time we head to church, he asks if he'll get to see bishop. Then he'll wave at the bishop or give him thumbs up during sacrament meeting. The bishop gets a kick out of it...I hope.

I've noticed that E has been really sensitive to sounds lately. He's always asking, "what's that noise?" or he covers his ears when he hears something he doesn't like. I swear he could hear the smallest noise and he always notices it. I have no idea what that means, but it's kind of interesting.

As for right now, I'm considered his "best friend." He tells me that daily and I love hearing that! I will cherish that until the day he wants me to drop him off 3 blocks from the junior high and I'll realize that he's a little embarrassed of his "best friend."

I just think my little E is the cutest little kid! Supposedly the Young Women in the ward think so too. I guess there is some list of the cutest kids in the ward and E is one of them. I know I'm biased because I'm his mother, but look at those eyes and that little face!

Crazy List Lady

I'm down to only 4 weeks so that means it's crunch time for pre-baby preparations. If you know me really well, you know I'm an insane list maker and I kind of go overboard with preparing for certain events...so why would having a baby be any different? It's kind of funny because I wasn't like this too much with E at all. I wanted to get things set up and get the carpets cleaned, but that was the extent of my nesting for him. This entire pregnancy I have had a continuous Microsoft word document that I add/delete things daily. So now that I only have 4 weeks left, each week has a certain amount of tasks that have to be done that week. It's kind of ridiculous, but it makes me feel better and makes me feel prepared. Here's the plan
4 Weeks to go:
-makes some freezer meals
-finish my blog book
-pack hospital/E's to go bags
3 Weeks to go:
-more freezer meals
-renew my nursing license
-work on deep cleaning the house
-shop for E's birthday gifts
2 Weeks to go:
-get carpets cleaned
-pick up needed baby items
-keep deep cleaning going
1 Week to go:
-major major deep clean
-stock pantry and fridge
-set up any needed baby stuff

So this is what I'll be doing for the next 4 weeks. It's going to be crazy busy, but maybe it will make me go into labor early. Wish me luck, I think I'll need it.

A Little Love From My Boys

Last week my hubby came home with a little surprise for me and when I say surprise, I mean way surprised! He handed a little box to E to give to me. When I opened it up, I was totally thrilled! I told Ry a long time ago how much I love Lisa Leonard's jewelry and that I would love a necklace with the boys' names on it. Well, low and behold, he totally got me the necklace that I had my eye on!

This is one gift that means a lot to me and I will treasure forever! Oh, and by the way, we finally decided on a name...Maxwell Ryan. So there you are folks, the child has a name and there is no turning back now it's already printed on the necklace. Thank you Lisa for doing such a fabulous job!

Too Much Olympics!

Ethan has picked up a few things from watching the Olympics with us every night. He now tries to do his "nastics" and flip over his bar on his bed or he does the pommel horse on the ottaman. Yesterday he was swimming at my parent's and he started pushing off the wall backwards like the backstroke swimmers. He wanted my mom to count down and then he'd push off and then try to swim, the floaties got in the way but he didn't seem to mind. I don't think his body type will allow him to be the next Michael Phelps, but he certainly loves to swim and that's all that matters.

Post Influx

You might notice an increase in postings over the next few days and they'll probably be really random, but it's that time of year again. Blog publishing! I'm trying to get my blog book all put together and sent off around Labor Day so I've got to get all my posts up so I can include them in my book. I publish using Blurb in case you're ever interested in publishing a hard copy of your blog. I highly recommend them! Now on to some posts.

34 Week Appointment

I just got back from my appointment and ultrasound. The doctor did all the measurements of the head, abdomen, legs, and amniotic fluid. It looks like he's already 5 1/2 pounds which is large for 34 weeks, but consistent with me having a previous 9 pound baby. With the rate the baby is going, my doctor has no problem inducing me about a week early. He's looking around the 26th of September, give or take a day. It just all depends on how ready my body is to having a baby. I don't want to sit around at 3 cm and feel super uncomfortable if I don't have to. But I also don't want to induce too early when things aren't quite ready to go and end up with a c-section. So we'll see how it goes and we'll know more as things get closer. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll go on my own around 38 weeks...we can only hope! Anyway...the ultrasound was really fun to see! It's so amazing to see how big he's gotten in the past 20 weeks! He also has hair! That's right, the doctor pointed out his locks floating in the amniotic breeze! I never thought you could see that on ultrasound! The doctor says the baby looks great and is right on target so only 1 month to go! We're almost there!

Metalsgirl Winner!

I entered a contest a few weeks back for a really cool necklace. All I had to do is pick a color scheme that I really liked. Well, my color choice was the one selected as the winner and here is the necklace!

Go check out her
blog and her website! What a fun piece of jewelry, I totally love it!

I Know an Olympian...AND SHE WON GOLD!!!

Anna became the first U.S. woman sailor to win gold since 1988! I checked the results this morning and was ecstatic! I am so happy for her and so proud to call her my friend! Anyway...here is a link to see some pictures of her gold medal moment. Way to go Anna!!!!

I Know An Olympian!

I just have to say how cool all this Olympic stuff is and I'm loving the nightly cheering sessions for Michael Phelps. So much fun! But I do have to say that I'm also totally enthralled that my high school friend, Anna made it to the Olympics for sailing! How exciting! Her event is the Women's Laser Radical and she's doing really well so far so I'm checking my computer often to see how she's doing. Anyway...go check her out and cheer her on! Go Anna!

Feelin' The Love

I just have to say how overwhelmed with love I feel from my childhood friends! I just got a surprise package in the mail today from my wonderful friend that I've known the longest, Caetie. If you know anything about my childhood and youth, you know that I moved around a lot so most of the people I know, I've only known for a few years. Well, Caetie and I go all the way back to the sandbox. My family moved to Ohio when I was 3 and we moved away when I was in 1st grade. Then we moved back when I was a freshman in high school and then I left when I graduated. So Caetie and I lived only 1 door down from each other in our younger years and then we I moved back we were in YWs and went to high school together and we even roomed together Spring term at BYU. We've had way too many funny memories and let's just say I have way too much YW sleepover video footage to prove it.

Sorry for the my ramblings, I'm just sentimental these days. Well, all I have to say is that my friends are super crafty and so thoughtful! Caetie sent me such a cute and soft outfit for "little guy" and it is so nice because it's a bigger size! Since E and baby were born around the same time, the clothes are plentiful but not in the larger sizes since E was pretty messy and rough on his older sized clothes.

She also sent me the CUTEST wipee case! What a crafty girl! I've seen a couple girls with these cases and I've really wanted one. I'm so lucky! Anyway...I'm not trying to brag, I'm just so touched by my friends. It's so fun to grow up with such great girls and then be able to see each other on the blog go through motherhood since we're all miles apart. It's pretty amazing! Thanks Caetie, love ya!

32 Week Appointment and Craft

I had another Dr. appointment today, the usual. Next appointment he'll do another sonogram and measure everything and see how the baby's fluid levels are doing and all that. How exciting! I'm still feeling pretty good right now. I have started getting the heartburn more consistently, but the Tums are still working. They make me so happy! This 100+ degree weather isn't too fun and it's hotter than blazes down here in Texas so I'm really surprised that I'm not swollen like crazy. I'm still sportin' the wedding ring so that's quite an accomplishment. I think I had to take it off around 27 weeks with E. No preterm symptoms or anything so I think I'm in the clear for now. So the doctor says everything looks great and I'll see him in 2 weeks.

I usually make a day of being down at the Dr.'s since it's about 30 minutes away so I always spend the day at my mom's. We always have something brewing so this time she helped me with these cute burp clothes that I saw on one of my favorite blogs Make and Takes. Marie always has great crafts and fun ideas for kids. Go check it out! I am not a seamstress at all so my mom had to help me out, but I did it! The black one is the one that I made, the other two were done by my mom. I still have 9 more clothes to do, but we're trying to find some other cute things to put on them so we'll see what we come up with. Fun fun day!

Freezer on the Brain

To me, this entire pregnancy has been all about nesting. I'm sure my husband would agree with me on that. Every month there has been some sort of project or task to accomplish in order to get ready for this baby and I just haven't stopped. Right now I'm working on getting my freezer stuff eaten up so I can start making up some freezer meals and restock with the necessaties. Tonight I was talking to one of my friends on the phone and I saw that I still had a box of puff pastry in my freezer and I happened to have 2 Granny Smith apples laying around so I decided to make up some apple turnovers tonight. Am I psycho? The great thing about these turnovers it that you can freeze them! Then when you have company come over, you set them out to defrost for 20 minutes, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar, and then bake for 25 minutes. Voila, you have homemade apple turnovers and they're really not that bad to make. Here they are, ready to put in the freezer...

Homemade Apple Turnovers
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1/2 cup white sugar
1 TBL fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
small container of applesauce
box of puff pastry

-follow directions on puff pastry box for defrost instructions. I usually just let them sit out on the counter for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
-put apples, sugar, lemon juice, and salt into food processor and pulse for about 5 pulses. Let sit for 5 minutes.
-put apples in a strainer over a bowl and save the reserved juice for later
-roll out puff pastry to 10x10 square. Cut into 4 5x5 squares.
-place 1 TBL of apple mixture and 1 TBL of applesauce in the center, brush with reserved apple juice, fold over, and then crimp with a fork. Transfer to a wire rack.
-put apple turnovers in freezer for about an hour and then transfer to a freezer bag and store.
-to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees and let apple turnovers defrost for 20 minutes. Brush with a little water and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 20-26 minutes, until well browned.
-serve with vanilla ice cream, enjoy!

The Early Bird Catches the Worm...and Makes Parents Very Tired!

E has always been an early riser. I don't think he's slept past 7:30 a day in his life, but lately his wake up times have gotten to be ridiculous. Ever since we've been back from Florida, he has has been coming into our room once during the night around 2 am and then again at 5:30 or 6:00 wide awake and ready to start the day. Unfortunately for Ry, his side of the bed is closest to the door so he's the one getting the wake up calls and when he's out of town then I'm the lucky one. It doesn't matter what time his bedtime is at whether it's 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11...he's always up around 5:30! What in the world?! So I've been racking my brain of ideas to help alleviate our early wake up calls. I finally came up with a plan this weekend. I went out and bought one of those electronics timers that turns on your Christmas lights or any kind of electronic device at a certain time. Then I picked up a fun nightlight that he'd like. So we told E that when the nightlight was off then it was "sleepy time" and he had to stay in his room. His special light would turn on when it was time to wake up and he wasn't to come into our room until his special light turned on. So Saturday morning was the first test to see if it would work and it totally did and it's been working every morning since! I think he's still waking up that early in the morning, but he just stays in his room and hangs out until his light turns on (at 7). It's working for now, I'm just wondering what will happen when the baby comes. My guess is that I won't be getting much sleep for awhile.

I Have the Sweetest Friend Ever!!!

Let me start off we our history, my friend Laura and I have been buddies ever since my freshman year of high school and thankfully we have stayed in touch all these years! So many fun memories of Young Women's activities, church dances, group dates, phone calls, shopping trips, sleepovers, you name it. Laura was definitely the one who taught me how to do my make up and she always helped me out before all the dances. I remember going over to her house before my first prom and having her mom wax my eyebrows for the first time and how funny that was. I seriously had caterpillars growing across my eyes. Thank you, Sister Wibbler! Now we're 10 years, 2 weddings, 3 girls, and 1 1/2 boys, and living in separate states.

Anyway...I got an e-mail from Laura the other day and she needed my address to send something for the baby. How exciting and how nice!!! So today was the big day that our package arrived. I just have to say that this was above and beyond! She made us the cutest matching hooded towels, one for baby and one for E.


Yes, he's hiding under there.
It was so nice of her to think of E and even make him a special card, he truly felt like a special "big brodder" (big brother).

This was actually the very first gift that I've received for the baby so it was a momentous occasion. So I have to send a shout out to Laura and her girls for being such an awesome friend and for thinking of my boys. You made our day! E is so ready for tubby time tonight, he tried to start the tub right after he opened it. Thanks Laura, you are too kind!!!
He looks like he's about to head into the boxing ring. I can see those two boys now...

Arrrr....matey!

So I've come up with a new reward for E's potty training and I think he's pretty excited about it. If he has no accidents at all for 2 weeks then he gets the pirate ship that he's had his eye on for awhile. I actually already picked it up and it's hiding at my mom's house so we're ready to go.

Yesterday I made up the incentive chart during his nap and I thought it was pretty funny. I just put together a picture of a pirate ship with squares for each day he has to be dry. I even made his own personalized pirate with his picture. Everyday "Pirate E" moves one step closer to the ship. We have a nightly celebration and pirate moving ceremony and get ready to bring home the toy!


As for his progress, E is doing great! He really has got this down and he hasn't had any accidents. He is even dry at nap times and night times! I really don't know how or why he's been so easy to potty train, but I will take it! He even told Ry that he needed to go potty yesterday morning when he got up and I was floored! We've ventured out quite a bit as well and he's done really well. We went to my mom's all day one day, Chuck E. Cheese twice, the store a few times, and church and all without accidents. So diapers are a thing of the past and we are now working on Week 3 of being dry! Can you believe it?! Time sure flies when you're in the bathroom I guess. Now I know that accidents will come when you least expect it and just when you're comfortable they'll through a chink in the system. I'm prepared, I have spare clothes and clean up supplies in each car and in my purse so we'll see how things continue to go.

30 Week Appointment

I had my 30 week Dr's appointment today and everything went really well. I passed the gestational diabetes test, my blood pressure is good, weight is right on track, and baby sounded great. I had terrible anemia and low platelets with E, but this time around I'm not even borderline so no supplements for me!!! We're still going to keep an eye on my platelets as I get closer to delivery, so we'll see. I'm measuring 31 weeks right now so still a week ahead, ahhh. I'll have another sonogram done at 34 weeks to check his measurments and everything so I'm excited to see little guy again and be sure he's not getting too big! I'm still feeling really good so I'm cherishing that for now. Things are starting to ache and hurt here and there and I can't quite get as much done as I usually do, but I can't complain. I was reading my old journal from when I was pregnant with E and I can just say...I'm so glad I'm not working during this pregnancy! I can't believe I would work 3 or 4 nights (11-7) in a row, be on my feet the whole time, hardly get a break, and then try to sleep during the day in an apartment without A/C in our room during the summer, and hear banging from the remodeling going on next door! What the heck?! It's amazing how sleeping at night just makes you feel better! I have to say that this pregnancy has been a lot better to this point. I actually went on bedrest at 29weeks with E so I've made it past that mark and not feeling any pre term right now so I'm counting my blessings. So now only 8-10 weeks to go and these next 8-10 weeks are usually the worst so wish me luck!

Celebration!!

Last night we celebrated E going #2 on the potty for 2 whole weeks in a row! We printed off a chart from the Chuck E. Cheese website and he stuck his special sticker on there and we counted down the days together. He did such a great job and his excitment was too cute! Here is his special chart and he's got a gumball in his mouth since he gets to put a penny in the gumball machine everytime he goes #2.


So we took E to Chuck E. Cheese last night and he had so much fun. When Chuck E. Cheese came out, he immediately ran to him and hugged him and then he tried to get him to come play. E played lots and lots of games and rode all the little ride things and of course his dad had to play a little basketball too. E traded his tickets in for a little space gun type thing that he hasn't put down since...it even went to bed with him.



Now the problem is, we can't be going to Chuck E. Cheese every two weeks I've got to come up with another incentive or something. Potty training is still going really well. He's dry and I'm happy! Can't get any better than that. Plus, the fact that I never have to change a diaper again is such a wonderful thing! I must have timed it just right since E is very interested in being potty trained and he is very responsive as well. I'm very lucky!

Roasting Day and Cafe Rio Recipes

So I ended up having a wonderful turn out on my roasts today. I ended up borrowing my friend's crock pot so I had two going today. I got a great recipe from my mom that her ward uses a lot for their big events. It's just pork and a bottle of Stubb's Pork Marinade. I don't know if you can get the Stubb's brand in other places besides Texas, but check it out and see. So yeah, that just cooked on low all day.

Second crock pot had Cafe Rio Sweet Pork going and Hilary, here is the recipe:
4 lb pork roast
1 18 oz. classic coca cola (not diet or generic)
1 cup sugar
1 (7 oz) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tsp ground dry mustard
1 tsp garlic minced
Remove the peppers from the can of adobo sauce. Rinse peppers over the blender, with the coke, to get all the sauce off. Discard the peppers (unless you want it spicier then keep 3 out). Also, rinse the can, over the blender, with the coke to get all the remaining sauce; make sure to pour all of the coke in the blender. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend. Pour over roast in crock pot. After cooking 7-9 hours on low, remove and shred pork. Return to crock pot to simmer in sauce for one more hour. Serve in salads or burritos.

Here are the other Cafe Rio Recipes that I have:

Cafe Rio Rice
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chilies
1/2 onion
4 tsp chicken bouillon
4 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1 TBL butter
3 cups rice
3 cups water
Blend the cilantro, green chilies, and onion in a blender. Bring the water to a boil and add all ingredients. Simmer covered for 30 minutes.

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
2 tomatillos, quarter
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves
1 cup milk
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix
1 tsp garlic minced
pinch cayenne pepper
1 large jalapeno
1 TBL lime juice
1 cup mayo
Blend tomatillos then add all the ingredients except mayo and blend together. Wish in mayo, chill and serve.

So there you have it! We just had it tonight and it was super delicious! I also love to have fresh tortillas that you can pick up from Costco or Wal Mart. They come rolled out and all you have to do is cook them in the pan.

How We're Doing

Well, this weekend was truly the test to see how our potty training efforts were going. I am proud to say that we are still dry since Tuesday! E ended up going a bunch of different places this weekend and did really well. I was a little hesitant about how he'd do at church with sacrament meeting and nursery but it ended up being just fine. I took him before we left the house, Ry took him before Sunday school, and I went in before Relief Society and it was pretty simple. Plus the fact that they have those little potties in the nursery in the new buidings is soooo nice! He didn't seem too bothered when I left and was pretty proud of himself for being a special potty boy. We're going to try to venture out more and more this week and see how it goes.

Last night my sister-in-law passed off a bunch of her freezer and fridge stuff to me since they're just about all moved out now so I needed to make some room for the goodies. Well, I pulled out my 11 pound pork roast that I got a major deal on so I'm trying to figure out ways to cook it. I have a feeling I will have the crock pot and the oven going and maybe even have to borrow a crock pot from a friend. I think I'm going to make Cafe Rio Pork and then maybe a BBQ pork. My only problem is that I want to freeze the pork when I'm done cooking it so I'm going to have find room again. I'm really wanting to eat everything out of our fridge and freezer and then make a ton of freezer meals come September and then restock the fridge about a week before. That way I'll be set for this baby to come. I told Ry to be prepared for some VERY creative meals.

Adventures in Potty Training

So here we are on Day #4 and we haven't had an accident since 7 pm on Day #2 so we have been cruisin'!!! He totally knows what to do now, it's just him knowing when he needs to go. I take him to the bathroom just about every hour to 1 1/2 hours and he'll sit and go within a minute and he's done. Quick, easy, and to the point but he has yet to really tell me he needs to go except when he needs to go #2. I guess all in time. I would love to just take him when he needs to and not be sitting in the bathroom every hour, but I'll take what I can get.

So anyway, I decided before this whole thing started that we'd do this whole thing "unplugged"... meaning that we'd have no TV, no phone, no friends, no outings, no distractions so I could be completely focused and be right there for him. It seems to have worked and as if we don't get enough bonding everyday, we've bonded even more. We've been doing all sorts of craft projects, reading all his favorite books, baking things, playing games, doing puzzles, etc. I do have to say that you can get a lot done while playing a game of "Hide and Seek." E loves to hide and so I take my time trying to find him and clean up or pick up along the way. He has no idea what I'm doing and he thinks he's a super good hider. Try it out!

Here is a picture of one of our projects. I had him lay down on a big piece of paper and I traced around him and then he colored himself. He even colored his "wet" (i.e. accident) and I'm sure you can tell where that is located. Anyway...he is so proud of his picture that he wanted it in his room until the fan started blowing it at night and he thought it was a ghost. So now it's on the front on his door.


We did go swimming yesterday morning to get us out of the house and do his favorite thing. It was a great motivator for him and he had a good time playing with some kids.

I don't know if this is totally "little boy instinct" or something, but I swear I have seen pictures like these on many blogs of moms who have little boys. E totally grabbed his undies the other day and followed suit and said he was a super hero when he put his undies on his head. I think I remember a couple of old family stories about my uncle Brad doing this, but he was old enough to ride a bike back then so who knows what he was doing.


So all in all, things are going pretty well around here in the potty realm. We haven't ventured out yet so we'll see how that goes...that will be a whole new ball game. I am so proud of my little E! He is so good! Now I just hope I don't jinx myself and I'll have a really cranky, wet child that wakes up from his nap...

Potty Day 3

So sorry for the "potty posts" but I am still in the trenches. Well, today was a wonderful day! No accidents! I'm totally serious! He went about 8 or 9 times today on the potty, had totally dry undies, and he even told me tonight that he needed to go! What?! It was wonderful! I needed a day like today! One day at a time.

Potty Training Day 2

It was similar to day 1, but more successes than accidents. Things are going good, but I'm seriously wondering if I will ever be able to not worry about him peeing everywhere. I keep drudging up scenarios in my mind right now of how in the world I'm going to do normal things again. Like, what do we do at church during nursery and we're both doing our callings, how can I get my VT done, when will I ever go out with him, how will he even make the drive to my mom's house, when will he ever tell he needs to go potty instead of me telling him, how much longer will my patience last, when will he ever sleep later than 6, how will we do this with a newborn, and the list goes on and on. I'm seriously having a lot of anxiety over this whole thing. What is my problem?! Well, this whole potty training thing is really bringing it home that we're having another baby and that life is ever changing. And right now some of those changes are already happening and it's already exhausting. I guess I'm having those pre-baby jitters right now. All I have to say is Potty Training right now while I'm 7 months pregnant is rough and I'm not really enjoying it.

Conclusion of Potty Training Day 1

So here is what happened from where I left off. Sorry if you don't care to hear about potty training, just skip the next few weeks of entries. This is what I'm dealing with for the moment. Anyway...E woke up from his nap, completely dry! He ran right to the bathroom and went potty when he woke up and he woke up really happy. Hooray! Ry got home around 5:15 and E got really excited and got kind of hyper so he ended up having a little dribble accident (just got his undies wet) so we ran him to the bathroom and he went the rest of the way. Anyway, tonight he ended up pooping in the potty and then went pee pee right before bed. So my night ended on a GREAT note! The last big accident he had was around 12 and other than that he's been doing fine. I think he's starting to understand what we need him to do and what the whole process is. I am so proud of him, it's a big change in his life and he's reacting really well to it (for today at least). I swear this morning I was one accident away from going back to diapers, but I'm glad that I didn't cave. I'm just so glad that Ry came home to save me early this evening! It's so nice to have someone there to support the effort and it was good for him to be there in the learning process so E could have the same things happening with both parents instead of being confused. Now on to another day of potty training, may the potty force be with me!

I'm Going To Die!

It's now 2:45, E is down for a nap and I am this close to putting him back in diapers and hoping he'll eventually potty train himself by college! I swear! This is how our day has gone...
We officially started the potty kick off at 8:30 and had the "Good-bye Diapers" ceremony. I had him put all of his diapers in a box and tell them good bye and brought out the big boy undies that he had picked out over the weekend. He took about 10 years to pick which pair he was going to wear and finally settled on Spiderman. Then I took him in the kitchen and explained all the special things we were going to do today, the reward system, and took him in the bathroom for the first official pee pee time. I seriously sat in the bathroom with him for over half an hour and he just sat there dinkin' around. He wouldn't pay attention to what he was doing, he sat so his pee would fly everywhere if he went, or he'd pretend to close himself in the toliet with the toliet seat. After the 30th verse of "squirt the pee pee out," I was tired. He did go a little bit so we did our celebration and he got to have his special cup with his special drink (gatorade) for being such a good boy and he got a sticker on his potty chart.
Well, I let him pick out what he watned to do so we played play doh for awhile. Every 10 minutes we'd do dry checks where he feels his underwear and tells me if he's wet or dry. Of course after a few mintues of play doh, he's wet. Off we go to the laundry room for him to take care of his wetness. Then back to play doh and then painting.
Anyway, I'll spare you the rest of the details since I'm tired of potty training and I don't want to even breath the word anymore. So in the full 6 hours of doing potty training we've had 3 accidents and 1 success. I guess we'll see what happens when he wakes up, wish me luck!!!

Potty Training

I have taken on the task of starting to potty train this week. Wish me luck! I'm going to need it and all the patience I can get. E actually can poop in the potty and has completely trained with that for just about a month with very few accidents so I'm pretty much only working on staying dry. I guess I should consider myself lucky. It was very easy to get him to poop in the potty, I'm just worried about how staying dry will go. I know there will never be a convenient time and that something will always come up, but I think now would be a good time to get things going before the baby. We'll probably have some set backs when the baby comes, but at least we'll have a good 2 months under us and we'll take things as they come. E is definately ready, more than ready. Incentives and praise works really well for him and when he really wants something, he's quick to do what he needs to do. So I'm basically going to be at home completely focusing on bathroom fun for the next little while. So if you don't hear from me, you'll know why. Why is the summer always the time for big tranistion times? I remember last summer we were taking away the binky and putting him in a big boy bed. This summer is potty time. Bring on the summer fun, I guess!

Dr. Appointment

I had my Dr. appointment yesterday and everything went really well. Now I'll be going every 2 weeks, wow! Baby sounded great and is head down. He's actually measuring a week ahead, surprise surprise, we have big babies here. I'm right on track with my weight gain and I totally passed my glucose test. As of right now, everything in the preterm department is quiet, hallelujah, but I didn't start my preterm labor with E until I was 30 weeks so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Only time will tell I guess. The wedding ring still fits on my finger and no sausage toes yet, but I still have a good 10-11 weeks to go so that could all change in a matter of days. I'll keep you posted.