My So Called Life

We went up to my parentals last Sunday to celebrate my birthday a little early with my family. It was easy to decide what I wanted to have my mom make for dinner, but after much thought as to what I wanted for dessert (naturally the most important part of dinner) I decided that no where offered what I had conjured up in my head. So I made it myself. Some might find this weird, making my own birthday cake, but since I love to bake/cook - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mind you there was no recipe for this - so this was definitely a learning experience. I made an ice cream cake, only no cake, because brownies are better :) Using a spring form pan I made a brownie bottom, then a layer of caramel, topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream and frosted with fudge ganache. Just so you know the caramel I used did not freeze well, which created some problems.

It didn't turn out pretty, but it tasted delectable - just what I was craving. Yeah it was lick the plate good.

This week I tried to teach my daughter how to bowl. Apparently my demonstration was neither clear or understandable because she took this approach instead.


She was impressed with herself nonetheless.


And if the last article I posted was not up your alley, and you are worried about the economy, then find out how the celebrities can save us all. Loved it especially #10, 7 and 4. Good times.

Speaking of good times - I am almost 32 weeks and still no baby names. Thanks to awesome friends I have gotten enough clothes that I don't have to go out an buy a complete wardrobe - which is really nice. Sleep has started to get pretty uncomfortable - my hips ache having to sleep on my side - I am a back/belly sleeper all the way. But unlike when I was pregnant with Annabelle and I would wake up because I hurt and just lay there because I couldn't go back to sleep, this time I am just so exhausted that I wake up, realize I hurt and manage to fall asleep for another hour before the process repeats itself. And hey, I will take what I can get.


Right now he thinks it is fun to stick body parts in the small space between my right hip bone and bottom ribs - I have absolutely no waist, so this feels pretty strange. And finally isn't it amazing what 10 weeks can do - my belly is friggin huge. I realize I look like some who are about ready to deliver - maybe that is why I get weird looks when I tell people I am due in June. Oh well, what are ya going to do...pass me some more of my birthday cake please!

If My Dad Gets Cancer

within the next year, I guess I could always do my part to thank him for bringing me into this world. Then again, maybe not.....

Seriously?! Read this article :

After her father Tim was diagnosed with colon cancer, Georgia Browne went on the Internet to research ways to help save him. That’s where she got a brilliant though a bit unconventional idea to breastfeed her dad:

Georgia recalls. ‘I started researching on the internet immediately and found separate studies in America and Scandinavia both supporting the health benefits of breastmilk to cancer sufferers.

‘I watched the documentary and thought it was a really mad idea, if it was true,’ she says. ‘I started looking on the net and found research suggesting breastmilk helps kill cancer cells.

‘Finding out I could help was amazing. I could play my small part in helping my dad do something positive for his illness. ‘When I talked to him about it, he thought it was a great idea. He thought: “Why not?”’ [...]

With the family’s blessing, Georgia started expressing her milk for Tim straight away. She dropped the first batch round to her parents’ home in a freezer bag, which her mum popped in the freezer.

‘I thought he’d mix it into a milkshake like the man in the documentary, but when Mum defrosted it the next day, he simply poured it on his cornflakes with a splash of normal cow’s milk. He said it didn’t taste that different to cow’s milk, maybe just a bit sweeter if he didn’t get the mix right,’ Georgia says.

(Full story found here. )

Festivities

I don't know what it is about Easter, but this year I was super excited for this holiday to roll around. Maybe because I hoped it would mean Spring was finally here, maybe because it means my birthday is right around the corner, or maybe because with a holiday devoted to candy - I knew Annabelle would enjoy it. And that she did - I think we found her favorite holiday!

Saturday night my sister and her family came over to dye some eggs with the kiddos. Annabelle really liked it, in fact she didn't want me to ever take her egg out. And freaked out when we dumped the color down the drain - attachment issues?


Apparently painting the eggs was a bigger hit for them.


That is, until Anna realized that the paint got her hands all dirty - she is not a fan.


Cooper embraced it.

A bath afterwords was a must. Which included the riveting game of lets dump water from your cup to mine - over and over and over again.


The next morning after she woke up I changed her diaper and clothes (we had church at 10AM) but didn't do her hair yet (note the awesome bed headedness) and sent her on a scavenger hunt to find her basket. She wasn't as interested in finding her basket as she was gathering and stockpiling the eggs she found along the way. We had to keep telling her to find her basket first so she could put her eggs in them.


At last - the basket! She liked all of the presents the Easter bunny left her, but as soon as she dropped an egg and realized what was inside them, she got very excited! 'Oh Candy!' She then put some jelly beans in her mouth and exclaimed 'Oh! I like it!' She shoved so much candy in her mouth she didn't even want to eat breakfast. Oh well.


Speaking of breakfast, now that my sister lives 7 minutes away we invited them back over for Easter breakfast before we had to head off to church. We had sausage, eggs and this yummy raspberry French toast. It was about 9AM, I am pregnant and hungry, so I didn't take the half second to take a picture of it - so this is the one from the web site. It was yummy and very easy!


After church we headed up to O-town to celebrate Easter with my family. We have an Easter egg hunt with everyone and the eggs include money - so things can get pretty intense. Not to mention that my dad has some creative hiding places and he sometimes forgets where he hides the eggs :) Then we have a scavenger hunt to find our presents - which is usually pretty intense as well. Let's just say we had to drive places this year and people left their spouses behind in order to win...

Somewhere during all of the comotion we think Anna got her hands some some 'non-approved' (peanut) candy. She ran up to Ross and said 'Daddy! I'm sick!' and threw up all over him. He cleaned her off and changed her clothes. Just when I was getting the Benedryl out (I don't have to use the epi pen unless she has 2 symptoms of a reaction) she puked again all over some Easter eggs - luckily they had already been opened and emptied. She didn't get any on herself, which is good because we didn't have ANOTHER change of clothes with us. We all then sat down to have dinner and just as we were finishing up - yep, she vomited again. Poor girl. She was; however, pretty happy to run around in her diaper the rest of the evening until her clothes had been washed and dried.

Even after all of that - she was a pretty happy girl. On the way home we were trying to talk to her about the reason we celebrate Easter and this is how the conversation went:

Anna - 'Happy Easter Mommy!'
Me - 'Thank you Anna. Anna, do you know why we celebrate Easter?'
Anna - 'CANDY!'

Yeeaaaah. Oh and I didn't show you the egg that I made Saturday night. My husband is so lucky to have me :)

Testing 1 - 2 - 3!

I have mentioned before Annabelle's weird food quirks - the kid doesn't eat your regular 'kid' food. She pretty much lives off of dairy products, fruits and veggies, and beans. She does eat grains, in the form of crackers, rice or chips and what not, but she wants nothing to do with breads of any sort. It's weird having a kid who doesn't like nuggets, sandwiches, pizza and most desserts.

Last summer there was 2 instances where she did in fact eat a brownie and shortly thereafter she puked. I started to think maybe she had food allergies, but if you also read this blog and know my child - she has one sensitive tummy and tends to puke frequently. Any who, I started thinking she was allergic to eggs. I was going to get her tested and then never did, mostly because we never had an 'incident' again since we stick to her diet as stated above.

Well, last week she got a hold of 1 Reese's Pieces (which looks like an m&m - her fave) and she didn't even swallow it before she spit it out in my hand and told me her mouth hurt. Sure enough she puked shortly there after. I called the doctor, but since she had no problems breathing they said I should be fine not to take her to the ER (this was after hours). Still, it was all I needed to make an appointment with an allergist the very next day.

I took her to her appointment this morning and I knew she was not going to be a happy camper. They pricked her back 10 times and tested her for all kinds of allergies to nuts, dairy and egg yolk/whites. Sure enough she is allergic to nuts and eggs. Poor little girl. I had to distract her for 15 minutes so she wouldn't scratch her back. She kept whining 'I itch! I itch!'

No one in our immediate families have food allergies so this whole thing is new to me. I have been spending my afternoon here and have decided reading the labels is going to take on a whole new meaning for me. So if any of you out there know anything, have any recipes and what not please share. Until then, I guess I won't think she is so weird when she doesn't want to eat cake and ice cream and would rather have beans and rice instead. LOL.

**Random side note: I heart peanut butter - a lot! I eat it on apples, bananas, sandwiches, and with a spoon. When I was prego with Anna I couldn't even smell the stuff without wanting to puke. When Ross would tell people that we were expecting, he always had to throw in there that I couldn't eat peanut butter cause he thought it was so funny. I am not saying I think she had allergies in utero, but I do think it is a weird quirk I wanted to share.**

A Sweet Tooth, Silly Daughter and Fun With Friends

Last week my mom and I went shopping to buy fabric to make the bumper pads and the quilt for the baby's room (yep, still no name). In between fabric stores we stopped for lunch at Teriyaki Sticks (Mmmmm spicy chicken and veggie bowl) which happened to be right next to a bakery. So, naturally, we stopped by there afterwords.


I had heard of the Sweet Tooth Fairy before on SSB, but never ventured down to try their goodies. I have been to a few cup cake stores and either I was not that impressed, it was nothing special or just plan uber expensive. Well, let me tell you - this place is friggin good! Oh my - my mouth is salivating just thinking about the Cookies and Cream cupcake and their cookies. My mom and I had to buy multiple flavors to try. We split each cup cake and I was planning splitting them in half again so that Chelsie and I would each get 1/4 a cup cake to try when she dropped Cooper off that night. But I never did. Instead I had 1/2 cup cake for days - Sorry Ove! I had good intentions...really!

This last weekend Ross and I got to spend some quality time with our friends. Friday night I headed up to Ogden to hang out with my USU friends while Ross went to his friend's bachelor party. We went to Sonora Grill for dinner and then they threw my friend Sara and I a baby shower. Thanks again guys for everything - you are swell.

I am surprised with all of us blogging that none of us got any pictures. I even made dessert for the event, which we didn't end up eating cause we were stuffed from dinner, so instead I just sent them all home with some. (You can't leave a pregnant woman alone with desserts). I know there is no picture, but they were good and super easy - so here is the link to the recipe - since everyone always wants me to share them :)

Then on Saturday I went to my friend Shelley's baby shower and got to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen for a while - once again I was a slacker with the camera - I was having too much fun.


After the shower Ross and I met up at the Salt Lake Temple to attend Cody's wedding. This is the last of Ross' friends to get married - hopefully the harrassing will stop. It was an awesome day, with a very entertaining sealing (can you say that?!) and a yummy dinner at the Joseph Smith building followed. And isn't Cody's suit awesome?! It's his dad's suit from his mission - that only makes it that much cooler.


My 12 year old for a husband. Congrats Cody and Olivia - we are so happy for you guys!


Yep. I have a problem with making and/or eating sweets. I am suprised I haven't gained more weight than I am supposed to with this pregnancy. Today Annabelle helped me make some festive Rice Krispy treats. Only my child would say as I drizzled the white chocolate across the top, 'Oh! So pretty!' and then not want to eat any of them when we are done. Seriously. Where does she come from?!