One Week From Today...

One week from today is our sonogram and we will get to see our tiny baby and hopefully find out the sex of the baby. I am so excited to know who this little person is growing inside me.

On another note, I do think halloween dress up is fun but sometimes I think it's strange. I'm glad that one week from today hopefully I will not be helped at the grocery store or the bank by people dressed in costume. Maybe I'm a party pooper but I just find it kind of creepy to have a grown adult ring up my groceries while dressed from head to toe like a braveheart warrior or vampire.

So here's to November 6th! Should be a fun day!

Pet Peeve!

Ok people. I canNOT take it anymore. I have reached my limit and I just can't do it anymore. If one more small child dumps the dog's water bowl one more time I am going to lose my mind!
I can't stand it. EVERYDAY that dang thing gets dumped out and I have to clean up the carpet and change Baby K's clothes, at the very least her pants. On tuesdays I watch another little girl and that usually means I clean the dog water up at least twice on tuesdays.
The Fruits of the Spirit are being tested people - majorly tested - and by DOG WATER!
I can't tell you how many times I move the water bowl to the counter top, just in time. But then later I have to move it to the floor so the poor dog can have a drink and then I always get side tracked and leave it on the floor and every time the dang thing gets dumped. And it never gets dumped when there is 1/4 cup of water or less - no, always when it is full of 1 to 2 cups of water.
SIGH....

Today I am moving the bowls from the dinning room to our bedroom, near the dog kennel. Maybe this will work better.
If you think the solution is to just put the water outside, nope b/c then I spend 1/2 my day letting the dog in and out, in and out. And if I leave the dog outside she will start barking.

Honestly, I love my dog to pieces I've had her for years but this dog water dumping could lead me to finding her a new home and it's not even her fault. Ok, I'm exaggerating here but I am at my whits end and sick and tired of cleaning up the puddles of water!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Ok - vent over for now. :)

Some like it Hot...

Baby K likes spicy food. It cracks me up. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since I craved hot wings & other spicy food when I was pregnant with her. Last night for dinner we had omelets, Baby K would not eat her omelet bite for anything, and we knew she was hungry. Grrr....I did NOT want to make her something different to eat. She watched daddy put salsa on his omelet. She would not eat her own but kept grunting and reaching for daddy's plate. Daddy put some salsa on top of her omelet bites and yep....you guessed it...she shoveled it in my the fist fulls! The craziest part to me was that the salsa was Medium Salsa, not mild. She didn't even flinch and even asked for more.
She is a hoot!

A friend gave me a recipe this summer for some chicken burritos that have chipotle chilies in them - Baby K LOVES them!!!
Not long ago I made some mac n cheese for us to eat that had sweet corn & jalapenos mixed in. I was only giving Baby K noodles with no jalapenos, after a while she wanted to try some off our plates. She loved it, only occasionally panting, followed by a laugh. She thought the spice was funny? We would offer her a drink and after a small sip she would reach for more hot stuff to eat.

Baby K has also begun to notice that Mommy and Daddy like to dip their food in certain things: salsa, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, etc. She will often beg to dip her food as well & even at times refuse to eat if we won't dip her food.
Last week, I put a little bit of BBQ Sauce on her plate and she surprisingly picked up little bite of catfish after little bite and dipped each bite in the small puddle of BBQ sauce just like mommy.

My husband and I get such a kick out of watching Baby K grow and learn and develop more and more of her personality. She is a funny kid and we love her to pieces!

Taco Soup & Fried Ice Cream

Here is a link to the recipe for Taco Soup that I used last night.
Taco Soup Recipe
It makes a ton, there were 3 couples eating it and there are about 3-4 servings leftover.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe that I think made it even better
print off recipe and then add
1 (extra) can of diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 (8oz) can of tomato sauce

Its not going to make it too soupy, I promise. Before I added those extras there wasn't much broth to speak of.

Easy Fried Ice Cream:
For an added treat, my spin on fried ice cream for dessert.
Heat some oil in a fry pan to just warmer than medium heat.
Cut flour tortillas into strips about 1"x4"
Place a few tortilla strips at a time into the hot oil and turn when they start to brown (this happens quickly)
When both sides are just brown use tongs to place the hot tortilla strips in a mixture of cinnamon & sugar and coat generously.
Place cinnamon strips on a plate or in a container to cool while to finish frying the remaining tortillas.
These will keep in an air tight container for a couple of days (if you can keep yourself from eating all of them in one sitting!)
I like to warm the strips in the oven for just a min or two and then place 3-4 strips in a bowl, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle some chocolate syrup on top.
So Yummy!

Setting a date...

Today I have my check up with my OB. I will get to listen to this sweet baby's heartbeat, I love that part! But I am really excited today because we will set the date for the ultrasound and that means we will know when we get to find out if this little pumpkin is a boy or a girl (assuming the baby cooperates).
People keep asking us if we will find out the sex of the baby. My answer is, YES! I would go absolutely nuts if I didn't know and more than that I would drive my husband crazy. I can barely stand it when my friends don't find out. There is just too much anticipation for me. :)
I can't wait to find out who this little person is God has chosen for our family.
I'll keep you posted on when we find out. My guess is the first week of November. We shall see.

No No NOOOOO!!!!!! and YUCKY!

Ok, if you easily think things are gross, please stop reading this post.
Oh, I mean it.
I'm not easily grossed out and I will tell you after reading this article I wasn't sure I should have. Aren't you glad I'm passing it on to you? :)
This is an article I came across today while I was surfing the net for dinner ideas. I guess because of the article title is the reason it came up as a response to my search.
I would like to say one more thing before I reveal the article...
Questions: Will I do this? Do I want to?
Answer: No, No, Noooooo!!!!! and YUCKY!!!

Ok that said, here is an article that was published in a popular mainstream news magazine, the article is about people paying someone to cook, freeze dry & make vitamin capsules out of their placenta after the birth of their child. I guess it has some medicinal qualities.
Don't believe me? Read it for yourself.
Click Here to Read

Enjoy. Now I'm off to figure out what we are REALLY going to have for dinner, if I can even eat after that! :)

Amazing Recipe Finds...

I'm sitting here finishing the most divine cupcake I've eaten in a while! I just have to pass these recipes on to you.
The cake recipe can be adapted to make white, chocolate, fruit, and many other flavors of cake; the recipe tells you how. The cake is wonderful because it's not too dense and it's not too fluffy (falling apart & making a mess), you can use it to make wedding cakes or other layered cakes and not worry about caving.
Before I give you the recipe I tell you that you need to get a Wi*lton aluminum cake pan or if you have the money get a WilliamSo*noma Gold T*ouch pan both cook evenly and great and if you use them WITH Wi*lton bake even strips or WS's Magi-cake baking strips the cake will bake so flat and even on the top you won't have to trim or cut to level the cake.
I was asked to make a lemon cake for a bridal shower this weekend. I asked my friend Resa for a recipe since she made wedding cakes recently and she passed this amazing find on to me.
See step 22 for the lemon variation. Instructions also include how to adapt this recipe into other flavors of cake. I can't wait to try a champagne cake with berries! That sounds yum!
White Almond Sour Cream Cake
If you need to make a cake or cupcakes sometime soon - try this. You will most likely need to cut recipe in half it makes enough batter I could barely mix it in my kitchen aid, so half would be more reasonable unless you need a LOT of cake.

For the lemon cake I thought a nice Lemon filling between layers would be yummy. I found this gem of a recipe and it was easy & much cheaper than buying lemon curd at the store.
Lemon Filling

I'm frosting the cake with traditional cream cheese frosting as requested by the bride.
Let's hope I don't eat all the cupcakes before the shower tomorrow.

The sun is shinning and I'm enjoying the smell of lemon cake & cupcakes baking in my kitchen and the sound of quiet while my daughter is napping. Ahhhh.... what a day!

P.S. I just had to share that when I think of Resa I think of 3 things: What a kind person she is, her beautiful cakes, and the wild fact that she delivered her last baby in the front seat of car while her husband was STILL driving! She's amazing! Hope she doesn't mind me sharing that with you, I delete it if she asks me to. But seriously, she should win some kind of award for that craziness or make it on a discovery health program!

Just Because

she's cute. Just wanted to share this picture I took last week. This is a very common scene in our kitchen.

No Canned Pumpkin...

Evidentally I have been living in a hole. My grocery list for this week included canned pumpkin. I was shopping at a very large store, it is no where near being Thanksgiving yet and the shelf was completely empty. I was bummed.
At the register the lady asked me if I found everything I needed alright. Usually I say, "yep." But last night I said, "no, where is all the canned pumpkin?"
She told me there was some kind of pumpkin shortage going on, but didn't really know much about it. My husband then remembered he had seen a story on the news about it.
I found several articles about it, here is one
Pumpkin Shortage Article

Anyway, now I am on the hunt for canned pumpkin and when I find it I am going to buy several cans and hide them. LOL

I know it is easy enough to make pumpkin puree, but I tried last year and couldn't get a knife through the hard pumpkin. Those little pumpkins are tough little guys! I don't want to mess with it if I can just buy a can.

Pumpkin Patch

We spent a cold morning at the pumpkin patch. Baby K had a lot of fun with her friends looking at pumpkins and petting zoo animals. We also had lunch at the consession stand they had at the patch. Yummy fri*to pie and a hotdog. Not healthy but Oh So Yummy. :)

Eating with a Spoon...

Baby K wanted to try and eat with a spoon yesterday. She also learned to walk yesterday but of course she would not let me capture that on video. So here is a video of her practicing to eat with a spoon. The video is a link, blogg*er was taking too long to load it. :) Enjoy!

Eating w/ Spoon Video

What's New...

Baby K and Mommy just got home from spending 4 days with family. We went to visit so we could celebrate my Great Aunt's 90th birthday! There were lots of people there and lots of food and some really yummy cake. :)
We were also able to visit Aunt Janie twice at the nursing home and not have to share her company with the large crowds so that was nice. Baby K enjoyed time with her Great Great Aunt and was very sweet; sitting on her lap, sitting with her on the bed, giving her a hug around the neck and even blowing kisses. I'm so thankful for a little girl who loves others well (praying it stays this way!).
On the drive home my grandma asked me if we remembered to get Baby K's highchair (her Chicco travel seat that clamps to the table) - NOPE! Totally left it at my Aunt & Unlce's house firmly clamped to their table. Shoot. Well, I was not about to add another hour or two to our already 5 hour drive so my family is mailing the "highchair" to us and in the mean time I had to find a way for her to eat.
I bought a booster seat several years ago at a garage sale to use when friends have their kids over. It's for big kids but my husband helped me turn it into a make shift highchair and it is working well.