For your entertainment:
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
A story about Strep and Thanksgiving
Turns out having strep throat doesn't make for the best Thanksgiving. I wouldn't actually know, because it's Jonathan that has it. And if you're wondering why it's not Jonathan writing this post about it, it's because he's still dying on the couch. He has now been totally out-of-commission-sick since last Thursday! Poor guy! And while I feel really bad for him, I'm SO ready for him to be over it because I feel like a single mom of 3 kids right now.
Lets start from the beginning. Last Thursday he came home from work sick with the chills and body aches and a sore throat. Friday and Saturday he struggled through the work day, taking about 4 Advil every 4 hours to keep his fever and sore throat at bay. Sunday he was still feeling really awful and annoyed that his "flu" hadn't gone away. He showed me his tonsils and they were HUGE and had white spots on them, but the light bulb didn't go off over my head until a couple hours later when he said, "Ya know, with my tonsils looking like that I wonder if I have tonsillitis or something." And I was like, "STREP!" because one of my friends from church had just told me she had it. He went to urgent care right away and sure enough: Strep. They gave him a prescription for Amoxicillin and we figured he'd take the next day off work, and within 24 hours he'd not be contagious and be good to go. Wrong. Monday was awful. Tuesday was awful. By Tuesday night when I was pretty sure he was going to die, we decided he should go to the hospital just in case something else was wrong that was making him feel like this. Nothing else was wrong but they gave him a shot of penicillin and a steroid shot and sent him on his not-so-merry way. The next morning he was feeling better but still couldn't really eat anything and was getting lightheaded if he was up too much. Same thing on Thursday, Thanksgiving, which is why it wasn't great. Same thing today, which is why he came home from work an hour early. WHEN IS IT GOING TO END?? My goodness, I haven't seen him sick like this EVER. Not in the 3 1/2 years that we've been married has he called out from work sick, and now it's been a week of days off or going home early. :( Let's just all keep our fingers crossed that he'll be back to 100% soon, or I might die too.
Did I mention he's also lost 15 pounds? :(
Needless to say, this was the ONLY picture we took on Thanksgiving:
I hope you all are staying healthy!
Lets start from the beginning. Last Thursday he came home from work sick with the chills and body aches and a sore throat. Friday and Saturday he struggled through the work day, taking about 4 Advil every 4 hours to keep his fever and sore throat at bay. Sunday he was still feeling really awful and annoyed that his "flu" hadn't gone away. He showed me his tonsils and they were HUGE and had white spots on them, but the light bulb didn't go off over my head until a couple hours later when he said, "Ya know, with my tonsils looking like that I wonder if I have tonsillitis or something." And I was like, "STREP!" because one of my friends from church had just told me she had it. He went to urgent care right away and sure enough: Strep. They gave him a prescription for Amoxicillin and we figured he'd take the next day off work, and within 24 hours he'd not be contagious and be good to go. Wrong. Monday was awful. Tuesday was awful. By Tuesday night when I was pretty sure he was going to die, we decided he should go to the hospital just in case something else was wrong that was making him feel like this. Nothing else was wrong but they gave him a shot of penicillin and a steroid shot and sent him on his not-so-merry way. The next morning he was feeling better but still couldn't really eat anything and was getting lightheaded if he was up too much. Same thing on Thursday, Thanksgiving, which is why it wasn't great. Same thing today, which is why he came home from work an hour early. WHEN IS IT GOING TO END?? My goodness, I haven't seen him sick like this EVER. Not in the 3 1/2 years that we've been married has he called out from work sick, and now it's been a week of days off or going home early. :( Let's just all keep our fingers crossed that he'll be back to 100% soon, or I might die too.
Did I mention he's also lost 15 pounds? :(
Needless to say, this was the ONLY picture we took on Thanksgiving:
I hope you all are staying healthy!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
My secret
I've discovered the secret to happiness. Well, besides my perfect marriage and my perfect kids.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.
But seriously, you HAVE to make these. Even if you think it's annoying when people post recipes on their blogs, THIS is the one you have to print and try. It will not let down your expectations. And if you don't want to go through the trouble of rolling them in balls and covering them in chocolate, just take a big scoops and add it to vanilla ice cream for instant cookie dough ice cream! Perfection. Or, you can tell your kids how lucky they are that their mom lets them eat dough straight out of the bowl because hey, egg free!!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
Yield: 3-4 dozen
Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 1/2 hours
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 oz dark chocolate candy coating
Directions:
Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1" balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.
Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week (though good luck making them last that long).
So, the verdict is in.. These are BETTER than cake balls. And my baby weight is not going away. :) Enjoy!
Also, if you're not on Pinterest after last time I told you to, could you PLEASE get on that so I can stop posting this stuff on my blog? Thanks.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.
But seriously, you HAVE to make these. Even if you think it's annoying when people post recipes on their blogs, THIS is the one you have to print and try. It will not let down your expectations. And if you don't want to go through the trouble of rolling them in balls and covering them in chocolate, just take a big scoops and add it to vanilla ice cream for instant cookie dough ice cream! Perfection. Or, you can tell your kids how lucky they are that their mom lets them eat dough straight out of the bowl because hey, egg free!!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
Yield: 3-4 dozen
Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 1/2 hours
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 oz dark chocolate candy coating
Directions:
Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1" balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.
Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week (though good luck making them last that long).
So, the verdict is in.. These are BETTER than cake balls. And my baby weight is not going away. :) Enjoy!
Also, if you're not on Pinterest after last time I told you to, could you PLEASE get on that so I can stop posting this stuff on my blog? Thanks.
Family Pictures
Can you guys believe how many pictures we get taken? We're narcissistic.
The other day I was telling Jonathan I wasn't sure what we were going to do about a picture for our Christmas cards this year. We could go to JCPenny or Sears, but none of their card deals come with free sitting fees, which are $9.99 per person, so that's already $40 more than I wanted to spend, not including the actual pictures! (I'm cheap.) We could call the lady that did our maternity pictures, but she lives in Springs, so I knew it would take a while to get an appointment for her to drive down here, and it took her about 2 weeks to get our last pictures back, which was too long for me to wait. (I'm impatient.) So, I pretty much did nothing except whine to Jonathan that I didn't know what we were going to do. Then my friend Tara read my mind. Seriously, the next day she wrote me on my facebook as asked if it would be ok for her to take pictures of Addilyn for practice. All of my problems were solved! So, I asked her if we could throw in some family pictures while we were at it. She did such a great job! Unfortunately for you guys, you have to wait to get your Christmas card in the mail to see the whole family together. Here's a preview of the rest:
By the way, how cute are those outfits?! My Aunt Ann sent them to me when Addilyn was born, so this was the perfect opportunity to show them off!
So cute
Kisses from Mom
And Dad
For those that don't know, she has a mole on her shoulder. We thought it was a birthmark, but our pediatrician told us it was just a mole. Anyway, there it is.
Thanks again, Tara!!
The other day I was telling Jonathan I wasn't sure what we were going to do about a picture for our Christmas cards this year. We could go to JCPenny or Sears, but none of their card deals come with free sitting fees, which are $9.99 per person, so that's already $40 more than I wanted to spend, not including the actual pictures! (I'm cheap.) We could call the lady that did our maternity pictures, but she lives in Springs, so I knew it would take a while to get an appointment for her to drive down here, and it took her about 2 weeks to get our last pictures back, which was too long for me to wait. (I'm impatient.) So, I pretty much did nothing except whine to Jonathan that I didn't know what we were going to do. Then my friend Tara read my mind. Seriously, the next day she wrote me on my facebook as asked if it would be ok for her to take pictures of Addilyn for practice. All of my problems were solved! So, I asked her if we could throw in some family pictures while we were at it. She did such a great job! Unfortunately for you guys, you have to wait to get your Christmas card in the mail to see the whole family together. Here's a preview of the rest:
By the way, how cute are those outfits?! My Aunt Ann sent them to me when Addilyn was born, so this was the perfect opportunity to show them off!
So cute
Kisses from Mom
And Dad
For those that don't know, she has a mole on her shoulder. We thought it was a birthmark, but our pediatrician told us it was just a mole. Anyway, there it is.
Thanks again, Tara!!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Recipes
Are you on Pinterest? If not, you should be. If you need an invite to be on, let me know and I'll e-mail you one. There is so much fun stuff to look at, but my latest obsession is recipes. I guess it's not my latest, I've always been obsessed with recipes. I think I'm the only person in the world who, in 3 years of marriage, hardly ever repeats a recipe. When I meal plan, I like to just browse through different cookbooks or apps on my phone, find recipes that looks yummy, buy the ingredients and cook them. Sometimes they're great, sometimes they're not so great. Jonathan would probably actually prefer that I just stick to what I know, but what's the fun in that? If I did that, I wouldn't have come across all these delicious looking recipes on Pinterest, 2 of which we have absolutely loved! I thought I'd share them with you. Here you go:
This first one looks long an complicated buy it's really not at all. It's just a lot of ingredients. But these taste just like the ones at Chili's! They're so yummy!
Southwest Egg Rolls
*Makes about 2-3 dozen
INGREDIENTS:
Rolls:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow or red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 (about 1 1/2 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 green or red pepper, diced small
1 jalapeno pepper, membranes removed, seeded and finely minced or 4 pickled jalapeno rounds from the jar
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
10 ounces frozen, chopped spinach, defrosted and liquid squeezed out (wringing through a kitchen towel works great)
1 cup frozen corn
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2-3 cups shredded cheese, such as Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack or Cheddar
2-3 dozen small, fajita-size flour tortillas
Chipotle Dipping Sauce:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup salsa
1 teaspoon minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (if you are opening a new can to only use 1 teaspoon, freeze the remainder in a freezer-safe ziploc bag and pull out and thaw as needed)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the dipping sauce ingredients. Mix well and set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve.
In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the cubed chicken breasts and peppers and cook over medium or medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the rinsed and drained black beans, spinach, corn, cilantro and seasonings. Mix well and cook until the mixture is heated through. Add the cheese and stir well, cooking, until the mixture is hot and cheese is mostly melted.
Warm the tortillas. I place 5-6 between two damp paper towels and microwave for about 45 seconds. Place some of the filling on each tortilla and roll up tightly, egg-roll style, folding in the edges. Place seam side down on the prepared baking sheets (secure with a toothpick if needed).
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, until the rolls are lightly browned and heated through. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
Here's the second one:
I'm not sure if there is a breakfast that is worse for you, but this is SO delicious! I'm thinking we'll definitely have to have this at my parents house over Christmas!
Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake
Ingredients
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
5 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup maple syrup
Garnish
Icing from cinnamon rolls
Powdered sugar
Maple syrup, if desired
Directions
Melt butter and pour on ungreased 13×9 inch glass dish. Separate cans of dough into 16 rolls reserving the icing for later use. Cut each roll into 8 pieces and add to buttered baking dish.
Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add cream, cinnamon and vanilla and beat until well blended. Pour over cut pieces of cinnamon roll pieces.
Sprinkle with pecans and drizzle 3/4 cup syrup over the top. Bake at 375 for 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.
Remove the covers from icing and microwave on medium or 50% power for 10 to 15 seconds. (Should be thin enough to drizzle.) Drizzle icing over the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with syrup if desired. Yum!
Now go try them! And if you haven't joined Pinterest, I highly recommend it.
This first one looks long an complicated buy it's really not at all. It's just a lot of ingredients. But these taste just like the ones at Chili's! They're so yummy!
Southwest Egg Rolls
*Makes about 2-3 dozen
INGREDIENTS:
Rolls:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow or red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 (about 1 1/2 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 green or red pepper, diced small
1 jalapeno pepper, membranes removed, seeded and finely minced or 4 pickled jalapeno rounds from the jar
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
10 ounces frozen, chopped spinach, defrosted and liquid squeezed out (wringing through a kitchen towel works great)
1 cup frozen corn
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2-3 cups shredded cheese, such as Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack or Cheddar
2-3 dozen small, fajita-size flour tortillas
Chipotle Dipping Sauce:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup salsa
1 teaspoon minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (if you are opening a new can to only use 1 teaspoon, freeze the remainder in a freezer-safe ziploc bag and pull out and thaw as needed)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the dipping sauce ingredients. Mix well and set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve.
In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the cubed chicken breasts and peppers and cook over medium or medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the rinsed and drained black beans, spinach, corn, cilantro and seasonings. Mix well and cook until the mixture is heated through. Add the cheese and stir well, cooking, until the mixture is hot and cheese is mostly melted.
Warm the tortillas. I place 5-6 between two damp paper towels and microwave for about 45 seconds. Place some of the filling on each tortilla and roll up tightly, egg-roll style, folding in the edges. Place seam side down on the prepared baking sheets (secure with a toothpick if needed).
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, until the rolls are lightly browned and heated through. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
Here's the second one:
I'm not sure if there is a breakfast that is worse for you, but this is SO delicious! I'm thinking we'll definitely have to have this at my parents house over Christmas!
Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake
Ingredients
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
5 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup maple syrup
Garnish
Icing from cinnamon rolls
Powdered sugar
Maple syrup, if desired
Directions
Melt butter and pour on ungreased 13×9 inch glass dish. Separate cans of dough into 16 rolls reserving the icing for later use. Cut each roll into 8 pieces and add to buttered baking dish.
Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add cream, cinnamon and vanilla and beat until well blended. Pour over cut pieces of cinnamon roll pieces.
Sprinkle with pecans and drizzle 3/4 cup syrup over the top. Bake at 375 for 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.
Remove the covers from icing and microwave on medium or 50% power for 10 to 15 seconds. (Should be thin enough to drizzle.) Drizzle icing over the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with syrup if desired. Yum!
Now go try them! And if you haven't joined Pinterest, I highly recommend it.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Houdini
A couple months ago Amelia started taking off her pajamas at nap time and bedtime. She wouldn't really do anything except once or twice she peed the bed, but mostly she would just yell for us until we went in to find her stark naked. One night she didn't yell for me, but I just happened to go into her room about an hour after she fell asleep and she was wrapped up in her blankets so cozy, naked. Well, I was telling Melody about it, and being the sewing genius that she is, she whipped up 2 footed sleepers that zip up the back by the next day. Problem solved, right?
WRONG. That worked wonderfully for a couple weeks, and then the other night she was yelling for us from her bed and when Jonathan went to check on her she was naked! She had gotten completely out of a sleeper that zips up the back! What the heck? Who is this child??
Here is a close up of the neck:
Here's a close up of the back, which apparently had enough of a gap that she was able to squiggle her tiny shoulders out of, slip off over her body and escape!
Now each one has an added button on the top that will HOPEFULLY solve the problem.
WRONG. That worked wonderfully for a couple weeks, and then the other night she was yelling for us from her bed and when Jonathan went to check on her she was naked! She had gotten completely out of a sleeper that zips up the back! What the heck? Who is this child??
Here is a close up of the neck:
Here's a close up of the back, which apparently had enough of a gap that she was able to squiggle her tiny shoulders out of, slip off over her body and escape!
Now each one has an added button on the top that will HOPEFULLY solve the problem.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Clothes galore
We have SO many baby girl clothes it stresses me out. That's a lot. The other day I got out the two huge boxes we have of winter clothes that are a combination of Kalena's, Amelia's, Caroline's, and clothes that Kirsta got from friends that were done having kids. As I'm sorting them into different totes that I think (hope) will be an effective way of organization so we get the best use of all of it, I'm wondering why we would possibly need 15 different pairs of (essentially the same) pink pants. I tried to take a picture so you could get a feel for how many clothes are actually here, but there's just really no way to do it justice. Here's a look anyway:
That's footed outfits on the bed, "pre-made" outfits in one tote, long sleeved shirts in one tote, and just pants in the other tote. That doesn't include any dresses or sweaters, which are hung up.
And here's a close up of that adorable sleeping baby in the midst of it all:
I think there's only one solution for all this: See how many days we can go without repeating an outfit or doing her laundry. That should be a fun game.
I can only keep my fingers tightly crossed that Elsha finds out she's having a girl in March, so that I can give it all away!
That's footed outfits on the bed, "pre-made" outfits in one tote, long sleeved shirts in one tote, and just pants in the other tote. That doesn't include any dresses or sweaters, which are hung up.
And here's a close up of that adorable sleeping baby in the midst of it all:
I think there's only one solution for all this: See how many days we can go without repeating an outfit or doing her laundry. That should be a fun game.
I can only keep my fingers tightly crossed that Elsha finds out she's having a girl in March, so that I can give it all away!
Camouflage
Where did Addilyn's legs go!? :)
These are the things that amuse me when I'm sleep deprived.
These are the things that amuse me when I'm sleep deprived.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Pajamas
The other day I was in Old Navy and up by their registers they had some Halloween costumes on 50% off clearance. I didn't think this would make a great costume, but I knew it would make GREAT pajamas, and that Jonathan would love it!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Mom
Why is it that you can eat 1000 different lasagnas (or enchiladas, or brownies, or...) in your life but your mom's is always the best?
As you all know, my mom was here last week to spend a whole week with me! I guess I need to start having more babies so she'll have a reason to take a week off work to sit around my house with me. It was so relaxing with her here. She made everything seem so easy with a new baby, even if it meant holding her while she cried so I could finish reading a book with Amelia. She also had great parenting tips for us with Amelia. How come we've been struggling with potty training for weeks but as soon as Grandma is here she goes accident free for 3 days in a row? Hmm. There's only one conclusion.. My mom needs to come live with us. :) I sure had a great time with her and hope I can be as great a mom as she is!
As you all know, my mom was here last week to spend a whole week with me! I guess I need to start having more babies so she'll have a reason to take a week off work to sit around my house with me. It was so relaxing with her here. She made everything seem so easy with a new baby, even if it meant holding her while she cried so I could finish reading a book with Amelia. She also had great parenting tips for us with Amelia. How come we've been struggling with potty training for weeks but as soon as Grandma is here she goes accident free for 3 days in a row? Hmm. There's only one conclusion.. My mom needs to come live with us. :) I sure had a great time with her and hope I can be as great a mom as she is!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Happy Halloween
Our Halloween this year was pretty uneventful, mostly because we didn't know when this baby would come, so we didn't know how much we'd feel up to doing. Friday night while Mom and Dad were in town we invited Melody and Tom over for pizza and pumpkin carving. Here are some highlights from that night:
She was pretty grossed out by it all
Me cleaning it out
Jonathan carving it
It's Elmo!!
Last night Jonathan took Amelia trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. She made it to 4 houses and then said she was done, so we went over to a friend's Halloween party for a while and then came home.
Ready to go!
Cutest darn elephant in the world!
I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!
She was pretty grossed out by it all
Me cleaning it out
Jonathan carving it
It's Elmo!!
Last night Jonathan took Amelia trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. She made it to 4 houses and then said she was done, so we went over to a friend's Halloween party for a while and then came home.
Ready to go!
Cutest darn elephant in the world!
I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!
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