Mary went to the E.R.

She's just fine! But she had a fever most of the day and a huge swollen ankle with a nasty sore on it. She's been wearing shoes without socks and it got infected. So she's on antibiotics to clear the infection. We just didn't want it to spread and make her very Very sick. Fun Fun...the joys of being parents. She was her bright and chipper self this evening, what a load off. Love ya'll byeee

Sam moved out of the crib

Poor baby! I put him in his new bed to take a nap yesterday and he played around for about an hour. When it was quiet for about 20 minutes, I figured he was asleep. I went in to check it out and he popped up and started babbling at me, obviously ready to come out. He was in a great mood, so I just said "heck with it" and let him go. At dinner he couldn't stay awake any longer. It's so adorable when they fall asleep in the highchair. We were all laughing. He slept all the way til 7:30 this morning. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

Tuesday Morning

I had a doctor appointment early this morning. It took all of about 10 minutes. I love that. I'm so glad everything is going so great. I had to get "checked" though, so I'm gonna feel kinda sick all day. The doctor said that I'm dialated to a 1 and he could feel the baby's head right there, which is awesome. He's getting all ready to come out! I'm washing my crib set today. I got it at a yardsale. It's winnie the pooh. It's so cute. I'm really excited.
Yesterday we loaded a bunch of stuff in the back of Jared's truck to declutter the house. He took it to Good Will this morning. I am nesting in a big way. I'm almost done with a cute quilt that Lucille and Dad sent to me. I'm sewing the edge on. I decided on a triangle design. I will post pictures when I'm done. Hope everyone is doing well this morning!

Happy Birthday Suzy!

Suzy just turned well...another year older! Happy Birthday Sug! We went out together today to get a pedicure! It was the greatest! They gave us back massage chairs and they massaged our legs and feet too! It was luxurious to the point of being almost sinful. Check out the cute polish we both picked out. We decided to go bold! haha Then we went and bought some cute flip-flops together! It was a fabulous day. I just love living by my sweet Sis. Love you sugie!!!!!

I only have 4 weeks and 5 days left.

I am counting down the days to my delivery. I am getting so tired and large! My feet were so swollen at church that my shoes were really tight. Anyways, it comes with the territory. Well. this week was good, lemme esplain,.. no is too long. Lemme sum up.
I went to the doctor on Tuesday, which took about 10 minutes from start to finish because everything is going so great that I have nothing to discuss with him. I'm not complaining, it's great. I just hate getting all the kids ready and driving across town to his office every week. I need to make some excuse not to see him next week because I have to get checked and also get my strep culture and I don't want to! I hate when it comes to the end when I have to get "checked" every week.
What else...we had the missionaries over for dinner this week. That was great. I really like doing that. Well, Jared just told me lunch is ready (bless his heart), so I'll blog again later today. I was thinking of doing some cool stuff on here, but we'll see. Bye for now.

Carnival Time at Carfax

Every year Carfax holds a carnival for their employees and their families, and it's completely free! I love Carfax! They are so good to their employees. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. The kids had so much fun.

Jared had fun in California

He visited with Jim's family.
















And Justin's family.
He attended classes.

He had time to relax.

He took a ride on the trolley.

He saw some cool animals.

He had some great food.

It was all good.

Peace, out.

You've lost that blogging feeling

This is going to be a long blog!!! I've made 3 posts tonight! Check them all out!
Here is a picture of our house for all who haven't seen it yet. I am toying with the idea of painting the front door a different color. Any ideas for different colors that would look nice?

Anyways, this has been an amazing week for me. I got a lot done in preparation for my baby to be here. I washed all my baby clothes, toys, carseat, blankets. It's just so neat to look at a little tiny pair of socks and remember how small he is going to be.

The kids kept on showing me a bunch of critters they'd seen or caught. It was amazing. The variety of what is around here is so neat. We've seen it all-small snakes, possums, racoons, squirrels, rabbits, deer, fox, toads, groundhogs, moles, exotic birds like cardinals, bluejays, owls, and vultures. And last year there was a huge hatching of big fuzzy caterpillars that kept dropping on our deck from the trees, about 50 at least. It's crazy cool!

I just have so many feelings to convey tonight. I am so happy to have all of you for my friends and family. I love being able to share all the things that are happening in my life. This blog is just such a blessing to me (as corny as that sounds) I would never have the time to send pictures to everyone with such frequency as I can here. I love it! I love you all! I'm in a good mood, you know, pregnancy hormones and all.

Well here is one or two of my favorite recipes in the world for you to enjoy. Take my word for it, these are GOOD...

Fettuccine Alfredo w/ chicken

8 oz uncooked pasta (fettuccine)

cook according to package directions.

Sauce:

1/2 cup butter

1 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

dash of pepper

dash garlic powder

1 cup whipping (heavy) cream

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

chopped fresh parsley (optional)

So, just melt butter, add flour and spices and then cream, milk, parmesan cheese and bring to a boil then remove from heat immediately. Toss with noodles and then top with chopped parsley if desired.

Chicken: I like to have chicken with this dish. I just have two boneless skinless chicken breasts and cook them on my george forman grill with some seasoned salt on them, or you can fry them in a little oil until they are nice and crispy. Cut into strips and serve with it. This meal tastes good with some hot bread and a vegetable.

Here's another great one:

Potato cheese chowder:

5-6 slices of bacon (fried and chopped up) reserve 1 Tbsp of the drippings and set aside bacon. Put the drippings into a pan and add:

1/2 cup onions (scallions are my fav)

3-4 ribs celery, chopped.

cook about 10 minutes until carmelized. then add:

1 14 oz can chicken broth

1 cup water

4-5 regular potatoes, cubed.

bring to a boil, simmer til tender (about 20 min.) then stir in:

2 cups half and half mixed with 2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Add salt and pepper to taste, put cheese & bacon on top. This meal tastes good with cornbread, heck you can even put some frozen corn in the soup and make a nice corn chowder too. It's so good.

Sugar Cookies w/ cream cheese frosting:

1 cup butter softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. almond extract

3 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

Throw this all together and then roll it out to about 1/3 in. thick (it's up to you how thin you have them, but I wouldn't suggest too thin because they will be crunchy!) then cut them out with cookie cutters and bake at 350 for 7 minutes.

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese softened

2 Tbsp butter softened

2 tsp. vanilla

food coloring

4 cups powdered sugar

Just mix this together, adding 1 cup at a time of the powdered sugar (or you'll have a mess to clean up!) Our favorite is to make the frosting pink or yellow. This is enough frosting to put a thick layer on each cookie, which I just love. Don't forget the sprinkles!

I hope you all have a super week. Love you now!!!

Mr. Incredible doing it his own way...

Jared decided to vacuum the dining room today without even being asked. I couldn't resist this one. This is two different kinds of sexy.

The kids caught some critters...

Here's Jr. holding his toad. He found it in the neighbor's yard. He immediately made a "habitat" for it in our sandbox. Complete with sand, water, sticks, grass and weeds. Great!

Here is Mary holding a mushroom she pulled out of the back yard. It's the closest thing you will see to her touching a bug. She was proud of her little find.

Here is little Tommy Boy holding the toad, plus-check out his new summer haircut that he started and I had to finish.

This is a nest full of baby birds the kids found in a hollow tree. They were waiting for their mommy to come feed them!

This is a close-up of the mole. See below.

This is Isaac holding a mole that the dog dug up on the side of our house. It was a crazy looking creature. It had flipper arms and legs with fingernails on them and no eyes that we could see and a funny snout. Very strange indeed.

This is a green beetle that the kids found on our front porch this week. It was about the size of a 50 cent piece. Very cool.