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.