"Led By the Holy Spirit"

Yesterday was a little busy. I actually would have liked to take a nap, but there are things to do! I was getting my bank account updated, paying bills, getting that stuff squared away before the baby comes. Four o'clock was rolling around and I had not even thought about dinner! I really liked when I was planning out my menu for the week, but that has been on hold for the past few weeks - yes, we still eat, but I have not planned out the whole week ahead of time. Anyway, I really did not feel like making dinner, but I also did not feel like spending money to get some sort of take out. Well, we would think of something to make - maybe even something simple like pasta.

Secretly, I was wishing that someone would have invited us over for dinner...but it was kind of late for that - wishful thinking!

From about 4:30-5:00, I was on the phone with various people. Our car had to have some body work on it (which another person was paying for since they caused the damage), then it needed an oil change, inspection and who knows what else they will find! :) I was making the arrangements to have the car moved from the body shop to the dealership, making sure that things would be paid correctly, etc.

Well, as soon as I got off of the phone, it rang again and it was my next door neighbor. She asked me if I had started making dinner yet...my answer was obviously "no", and then she went on to invite us over for dinner last night! I could not believe it! I told her that I really did not feel like making dinner that night and I had just been talking with Dawson about it.

Her reply was, "well, I guess that I was led by the Holy Spirit." We had a really great time at their house, and the commute was great! I am so thankful for the neighbors that the Lord has given to us.

Christmas

We had a really nice Christmas as a family. It was a little busy, but that seems to be the way that this time of year is and it will probably stay that way since my sons are (or will be) born around Christmas.

We spent Christmas Eve with Dawson's family. Christmas day is a little bit busier. We start out as an immediate family - talking about the true meaning of Christmas and then exchanging gifts. My parents join us for breakfast and we exchange gifts with them. Then they head over to my sister's house and we follow shortly after to exchange gifts there and spend the rest of the day as a family. My sister hosts an Italian dinner - chicken parm, sausages and peppers, pasta, meatballs, and other delicious food! It is a fun two days for us, but we are definitely a little tired at the end of the day!

I am thankful that both sides of our family live so close to us so that we do not have to travel far to celebrate Christmas together.

An amusing thing that happened on Christmas morning...Brady had a great time opening presents. We opened our stocking gifts and then we were taking a break (to get breakfast started). Brady walked over to the tree (while we were not in the room) and was very quiet. Dawson decided to look in on him and found that he had opened two gifts! He did not totally understand that we were waiting to open the rest! The good thing was that he chose gifts that were his! It was somewhat amusing. So, we let him open up some more so that he could play with his new toys while we finished making breakfast.

Nesting?

Well, this is as close as I am coming to nesting. My sister thinks that I am at this stage, but I think that I am just trying to get things done.

When I think of nesting, I hear that people get these bursts of energy and are running around the house cleaning like a maniac - or something like that.

Those bursts of energy - hasn't happened...but, I still need to try and get things prepared and ready because:

1. Christmas Eve and Christmas is coming (3-4 days away). We spend Christmas Eve with Dawson's family and Christmas day with mine
2. Brady's birthday is coming (I have not planned the party yet - that will be at the end of January at some point)
3. The baby is coming (somewhere around 12 days away)

So, there have been LOTS of things that I have had to do and still have to do like:

1. Buy presents for family members, which I believe is all completed, and birthday presents for Brady, and welcome baby presents, and I am glad that you are my big brother present (a new train) and I am glad that you are my little brother present (a little bib and blanket)
2. Send presents up to MA to Dawson's grandparents via Nanny and Grandpa - including a little baking and a little candy making. This is completed
3. Make a few extra meals to store in the freezer
4. Do some shopping for things that we will be running out of soon, and knowing that I really do not want to go to the store too much more if possible - this is basically done too
5. Continue to work on the birth announcements - yes, they are still not completed, but almost! I need to add a Bible verse and then put the front together. It should be done by this weekend (before Christmas anyway)
6. Try to clean up areas in the house that got a little out of control - due to presents being "dumped" there - they still need to be wrapped
7. Trying to keep up with laundry!

We still need to:
1. Finish painting the trim in Brady's new room - hopefully Dawson can work on this tonight - he has been great with the painting, but also tired too.
2. Move Brady into his big boy room
3. Make a few more meals
4. Finish the announcements and wrap gifts (see #5 and 6 above)
5. Pack for the hospital! I at least started this!
6. Bring the baby clothes up from the basement

So, there is much to do and I have been doing a little bit here and there, but no bursts of energy. I have actually been tired lately, and I feel that more of this should already be done, but when I do not have the energy to do something, I cannot always get myself to do it.

On another note - I had my doctor appointment today and I will tell you that my body still has a ways to go before this little boy is delivered...which is good news to my list above!

More "Chalk" Please

Today, I had my 37 week appointment, and one of my good friends watched Brady. She has two little kiddos of her own and all of the kids play together really well.

While I was gone, the kids drew on the wall in her kitchen that has chalkboard paint on it - which I think is a GREAT idea!!! Brady had a great time drawing and just a lot of fun playing.

When we went to leave, my friend gave Brady a little Ziploc bag with 10 mini marshmallows in it. I have never given Brady a marshmallow before, so I was interested to see what he was going to do with it.

He took two marshmallows out and gave the bag back to my friend. She was telling him that he could keep the bag. So, he then put the marshmallows back into the bag. At that point, I told my friend that he has never eaten a marshmallow before, and I was interested to see what he would do with it (I did not mind him eating them). So, Brady went ahead and took a marshmallow out and proceeded to go over to the chalkboard area of the wall and tried to draw with it - he thought that it was chalk!

The marshmallow was squished onto the wall at this point, so I took it away from him and told him that he could eat the marshmallows. My friend and I started to chuckle and said out loud, "he thought it was chalk." At the same moment, Brady ate one of the marshmallows and said,
"Mmm, more chalk please?"

It was so cute! I then told him that it was called a marshmallow (so that he would not think that chalk was edible!), and he ate the other nine in the car!

Fun Christmas Meme

I have definitely been busy lately and have not really felt like blogging - mainly because I did not want to take the time and there has been nothing that I have felt like sharing - things that you just don't blog about.

So, when I saw this meme on The Gang's All Here, I decided to take a few moments to this.

A Christmas Meme About Me!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like a combination of both.
2. Real tree or artificial? artificial - that is what I grew up with and we found a great deal on one last year after Christmas
3. When do you put up the tree? This year it was about one week after Thanksgiving. I would like to make it a tradition to do it the day after Thanksgiving, but too much was going on that weekend
4. When do you take the tree down? Well, this is our first year of having a large Christmas tree up - so, I am not sure. My one son is born on January 2nd and this next one is due around then, so I will probably wait until sometime after their birthday - maybe after the first week of January - this year...not really sure!
5. Do you like eggnog? LOVE it - especially Turkey Hill brand!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I am not sure - I often got a lot of clothes, and I did enjoy something new to wear
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - we were given a large stable as a wedding gift and my in-laws just gave us a nativity set for this year - it is really nice. I also bought Brady a Veggietales one last year (after Christmas), and I know that he is going to love it! He really enjoys Veggietales lately. His favorite right now is Lord of the Beans
8. Hardest person to buy for? Most people - that is why I have asked them all for a list!
9. Easiest person to buy for? My son and nephews
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I cannot remember a bad one at the moment
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. This year it will be after the baby arrives though, so they will be late
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I have no idea at the moment. I enjoy movies, but I really do not have favorite ones. I'll let you know this one another year
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I see something throughout the year that I think someone would like, but usually after the summer is over
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Only in the White Elephant gift exchanges
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Just about everything. We have an Italian Christmas, as far as food goes - it is all delicious!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Tiny white lights - and our tree is prelit!

17. Favorite Christmas song? I like a lot of them - can't pick a favorite at the moment, but I like the ones that are about Jesus
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We open presents in the morning as a family, then my parents come over and then we all go to my sister's on Christmas day. We have been spending Christmas Eve with Dawson's family for the past few years
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I think so - I just have to sing the song
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have not decided on this yet, but I am thinking a star - we just do not have it yet!
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve with my in-laws and Christmas morning with our immediate family and my extended family
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic, the busy-ness of everything going on (it is fun, but it takes a lot of planning with the boys birthdays happening too!)
23. What I love most about Christmas? Baking (although, I have decided that I will not be doing a lot of that this year), spending time with my family, Christmas music - it definitely put me in a good mood!

Running Errands

This morning, Brady and I road with Dawson to work - I need to do a few errands, and this is the only way to get them done during the day, since we are currently a one car family. So, we were all up and dressed to leave by around 7:30ish.

After dropping Dawson off at work - and visiting a little bit (the bladder was full already!), Brady and I started on our adventure...

We went to the chiro for our adjustment, went to the bank and then we went to BJ's. Brady does not always like to be in the cart, but I definitely "persuade" him to sit in it, so that I can quickly move through the store. We picked up our few items, and then went to check out. Brady was trying to get out of the cart, but I firmly told him that he needed to stay seated and that he was not allowed to climb out because that it dangerous. He cried a little bit, but he did obey - PTL. Usually when he cries a little bit, his nose might produce some boogies - as with anyone. I really did not notice anything at that moment - I was doing the self check out. When I was leaving the store, I noticed that something was on his jacket - what in the world was that? So, I went to pick it off of his jacket and realized...I now have a boogie on my fingers! What do I do with it? I did not have any tissues in my jacket, so I had to wait until we got to the car to take care of it - yuck!...but, part of being a mom!

After BJ's, we went to the bread outlet, and then headed over to an Asian store. The store is usually open from 8-5:30, but they had a sign on the door that said that they were closed and would return at 11:00...it was only 10:15! There was no way that we were going to wait around for that!

So, we headed over to Grammie and Poppy's house for a little visit - and my sister and Barber were also there for a visit! How nice! The two boys played together for a while, and then it was time to head home.

A busy morning, but it was nice to get out of the house! I actually enjoyed running the errands - and Brady was a good boy (overall) - he is a great helper, and I know that he will continue to be that way when the baby arrives!

Well, now that the afternoon nap is in session, it is time to do some more cooking and baking. I think that I will attempt to make the chocolate cream pie and some coleslaw. We will see what happens!

Cooking Away!

I had a lot of veggies in my fridge that needed to be used up before they rotted! I do not like to throw food away because it has been forgotten - so, I knew that I needed to do some cooking - as I mentioned in my last post.

On Monday, I started by making a delicious turkey soup! I got this recipe from my mom - she purees the veggies before adding the meat and you are left with a delicious thick broth. YUM!!! I was so glad that I made this on Monday, because I had a headache/migraine on Tuesday and did not feel like cooking - so we ate the soup on Tuesday. I made so much of it, that I am going to freeze some so that we have something to eat after the baby is born! :) Which reminds me, I really need to stock up on some more freezer meals!

I also made colcannon - which is a delicious dish that uses kale, carrots, onions, mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese - YUM!!! We ate that tonight (along with some chicken).

Yesterday, I did absolutely no cooking - I made myself get up to get the soup heated up. I really did not feel like doing that, but I really like to have dinner ready (or close to it) when Dawson arrives home. So, the Lord helped me to do it, and then by the time that dinner was over, I was feeling so much better - the headache was gone! PTL

Today was another cooking afternoon. I had leeks and potatoes, so I decided to make a potato leek soup. This recipe that I found on the foodnetwork - made by Emeril - is SO delicious! Click here for the recipe. I left out the pancetta and I did not make the garnish - although it looks very pretty, and maybe I will do it that way at some point in my life - just not today! I also pureed the soup - delicious!

Another new recipe that I tried out was a spinach casserole - I just need to cook it tomorrow. I am not so sure about this recipe. It looks different than what it sounded like. So, I will have to let you know what I think about it.

More cooking and baking is still to be accomplished. I have quite a few cabbages that I need to do something with. I really do not like cabbages cooked and I really do not like it raw, by itself. So, I have found two recipes that I am going to try. One is a cabbage roll and the other is a coleslaw that sounds good - we will have to see. I still need to make a chocolate cream pie for my hunny. So, I think that I will be quite busy with cooking over the next few days.

We are also hosting the Christmas party for our Life Group this Sunday at our home - so, the Christmas tree needs to be put up - hopefully decorated too - we will have to see what we are able to accomplish!

I am having a great time cooking, except that my lower back is a little achy from time to time. So, I am sure to take a break here and there to give my back a break! Well, off to bed - it is WAY past my bedtime!

Things "In The Works"

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I have to say that I have not reached all of the goals that I wanted to - but have at least begun each task. So, here is an update of things that need to be accomplished, but are still in the "works":

1. Baby Announcements - I need to decide how the inside is going to look and then do it!

2. Christmas/New Year's newsletter - most of this is done. The only sections that need to be completed are Dawson's and the Baby's (which will have to wait anyway!). I also need to decide if I will put any photos in with it and if there is anything else that I want to add to it.

3. Christmas decorating - well, my wonderful husband brought the tree up from the basement, but we have not set it up yet. We have been a little busy with other things this weekend. Well, he has been more busy than me! (see #4)

4. Brady's big boy room - prepping and painting the room has begun! My wonderful mom volunteered to help us get started and to help with the edging (or cutting - whatever you call it). So, mom and I went to Home Depot, Lowes, and Sherwin Williams (they have the EZ mask tape that we wanted) to gather supplies, and she and Dawson started on Saturday. So, the ceiling has a fresh coat of paint on it and the whole room is now primed. Mom even came back this morning to get some of the tape off that was stubborn and to do some touch up in that spot - she is amazing and a godsend to us! We have looked at the color swatches and are getting ready to chose the color of the room. So, hopefully, this room will be put together in the next two weeks, and then we can move Brady into it! Then, we will be moving on to the Baby's room!

So, things are started and going in a forward motion! I am very happy about that.

There are so many things that I need to be working on, but I think that I need to focus on doing some cooking - I have a list of things that I want to make in the next day or two that includes: turkey soup (we already have the stock, so this should be easy!), colcannon, potato leek soup (maybe), spinach squares (or something with spinach) and chocolate cream pie (for my hunny and anyone else that would like a slice, b/c I am not a huge fan of it. I have 3 egg yolks that need to be used, so I figured that I could make him a little treat! So, the announcements will have to wait another day or two so that I can cook and not "loose" some of the veggies that we have to the garbage!

Christmas Giveaways Contest

Lots of great Christmas giveaways over at 5 Minutes For Moms! Check it out!

It Has Been Two Years Already!

Time sure does fly by! Two years ago, we moved from our very tiny apartment into our house! So, we did not host Thanksgiving that year! :) It is amazing to think that 2 years have already past since we moved into this house. It seems like we have been here longer than that!

Our house was in move-in condition, which was a blessing, since I was about 35-36 weeks pregnant! There was no painting that was going on at that point in time! There were SO MANY boxes everywhere - I was so thankful for my mom, my MIL, and some friends that helped to clean the house (it did not need heavy cleaning, but just to go over things briefly, and my mom also helped me to put my kitchen together! They were all such blessings to me!

Although there were some rooms that we wanted to paint, we were not really sure what color or style we wanted it in, so we just put it off. Well, now that Baby #2 is coming along, we HAVE to paint - well, I just went shopping for the equipment and I will help in choosing the paint color, since I am 34-35 weeks pregnant!

So, today - two years from the day that we moved into this house, my mom and Dawson stated to paint Brady's new room. They cleared the rest of the items out of the room, spackled, and painted the ceiling. Then tomorrow, the primer will be put on (that is the plan), and hopefully a decision will be made on the color.

I just knew that we could not leave the room pink with princesses on the walls. They just had to go! Here are some before photos. The photos do not even show how bright the pink actually is!

Our Thanksgiving Day

I LOVE Thanksgiving! I love everything about it! Spending time with family, giving thanks to the Lord for what He has done in our lives, and the delicious dinner. It is so appropriate that we have begun to host it for our families!

In attendance was my sister, Simms, Jeter, and Barber, Grammie and Poppy, Grandpa, Nanny, and Uncle BJ. Brady enjoyed playing with his cousins and did not want to take his nap! Once we got him upstairs, he was fine and went to sleep - however, I think that he was so excited about his family being here, that he only slept for about one and a half hours, rather than his normal 3ish hours. Oh, well! We all had a great time.

For dinner, we had my favorite Thanksgiving dishes - some may refer to it as Betty Crockerish, and that is fine with me - I LOVE IT and look forward to it! For appetizers, we keep it simple and healthy - cheese and crackers, grapes, apples, and stuffed eggs. For dinner, we had a delicious roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, broccoli/cauliflower casserole, gravy, clover leaf buns, pumpkin bread and cranberry sauce (I think that I remembered everything! It was so delicious! It is also wonderful that all family members bring something for the dinner! That is a blessing and a help in the preparation!

Dessert is always delicious too! My mom made the pies - pumpkin, apple, pecan, and a chocolate pecan with homemade whipped cream! Mmm mmm good!

During dinner, we go around the table to say what we are thankful for. I enjoy this part - it is a time when you can hear what is on people's hearts. It is a wonderful conversation. Even Brady said that he was thankful for milk...OK, it was perfect timing when I asked him what he was thankful for, and he asked me for milk...it was cute.

I am thankful that I am able to have my family and Dawson's family all over at the same time. I am thankful that the parents get along so well. We always have a nice time together. I am thankful for my personal relationship with the Lord, and how I am continuing to grow in Him. I am thankful for a wonderful husband who is always there for me and is a great encourager to me. I am thankful for my born and unborn sons. They are precious gifts to me - Brady always brings a smile to my face and I know that his brother will too (less than 6 weeks away until his due date). I am very thankful that I have a sister who is also my BFF - I really need to get together with her again though! We have both been so busy - I really do miss her! My friends are so special to me too. God has placed wonderful friends in my life who I enjoy getting together with. There are so many things that I am thankful for - the list goes on...

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too! Now, it is time for me to focus on getting ready for Christmas, baby arrival, and Brady's birthday party - maybe in that order, we will see! :)

"New" Couches

We recently were blessed with some "new" furniture - OK, it is about 16 years old, but in good condition as far as looks go, and the comfort level is not too bad either! It works for us, for now.

For our family room, we have had a total of 4 couch "sets" that we have been given through the last 5 years of our marriage. The first set was not really a set. The love seat was an ugly brown/tan and the couch was a mauve color (the couch was from my sis). I loved the couch - just b/c of comfort, but when my sister was getting new couches for their family room, they gave us their old set. This set was constructed the best of all the couches that we have had, but it needed slip covers (my sis and bro got these from a neighbor - and they always covered them too). That was not such a great deal (especially since the slip covers were passed on to us!), but the annoying part was the cushions. The bottom and back cushions would move all over the place, and then the slip cover would get messed up, would need to be fixed, but it never seemed to look that great (over time), and Dawson was very annoyed with them. That leads us to the 3rd set of couches...

Our neighbors wanted to get rid of a sectional couch and offered it to us. It really was not my taste in style or color (gray), but Dawson was definitely wanting to get rid of the annoying cushion couches, so I gave in. It was very nice for our neighbors to give this furniture to us, but it really was not the most comfortable and recently we have been talking about getting new furniture. I really did not want to buy new furniture or go shopping at this point in life, but I felt like we might need to. That leads us to the 4th set of couches...

Two weekends ago, my parents' neighbors were getting rid of furniture that they had in their basement - a couch, love seat, a blue recliner, and two wing chairs (whatever they are called). So, we looked at it and decided that it was definitely an upgrade...so, we had a neighbor of my parents help us move the furniture to our house. Let me tell you, the family room looks so much brighter and I like it a lot better. We also have rearranged the family room too - I think that helped it to look like there is more space in it. These couches will be OK for now - they are also not the most comfortable in some of the spots, but we are thankful for God's provision! I was not even really praying about new couches, but the Lord knew the desires of my heart! Thank you Lord! One day we will have couches that are more comfortable, but these will "do" for now!

Now, we are praying for a car!

Can You Really Mess Up Ice Cream?

I have not posted for quite some time - I have been a little bit busy and have not really had time to blog. I do have a few things to write about though...the first one will be about ice cream.

I LOVE ice cream! I really enjoy Turkey Hill - especially their Philadelphia types - vanilla bean and coffee. BUT...I also really enjoy the Philadelphia Eagles ice cream (vanilla ice cream, fudge and chocolate covered peanut butter footballs - YUM) - NOT the team!!! No offense to any Eagles fans out there, but I grew up as a Giants fan and now I am a Patriots fan (due to the fact that my husband grew up as a Patriots fan, and it is fun to route for the same team).

Last Friday, I was in the mood for Chinese food, and neither of us felt like cooking, so I ordered take out. Right by the Chinese Restaurant, there is a grocery store that I NEVER shop at because I am NEVER happy with what I buy from there. Their produce is wilty, I bought chicken there once and did not look at the due date - I bought it on the due date and when I went to use it two days after I bought it, it was bad!, my dad went to buy soda there and the outside of the containers were dusty and sticky! Are they trying to run themselves out of business? I really do not know how they stay open!

Anyway, to my point of the story. I told Dawson that I would go into this grocery store and pick up some ice cream - because I was in the mood for some. He said to me, "Are you sure you want to go there? You have NEVER been happy with anything that you have bought there!" My response - it's ice cream...how can you screw up ice cream!...

So, I went into the store, saw that Turkey Hill was on sale for $2.50 a carton, AND they had my absolute favorite ice cream...Philadelphia Eagles! I was SOOOOOO excited!!!! :)

After we ate our dinner, Dawson scooped some ice cream out for us, and we began to eat it - I was so looking forward to eating it. However, it tasted funny! It tasted grainy and just yucky! Not smooth and creamy as I was imagining. At first, I thought that it was just me, but I when I said something to Dawson, he agreed that something was not right.

Maybe it was the freezers at the grocery store? Then, something made me think to ask Dawson to check the expiration date. The date on the bottom of the carton said 11/14/07!!! We purchased it on 11/16/07!!!

So, the next day, I returned the carton of ice cream - that was really weird to do - but, I wanted my $$ back! I then went to the grocery store that I normally shop in and decided to look at the bottom of those cartons. Do you know what they said? 11/??/08 (I cannot remember the middle number). I was SO shocked!!!

So, does that mean that I was eating ice cream that was made last year? Did that yucky grocery store just store it in their freezer for a whole year and then take it out to sell to me? I really do not know, but what I do know is that I am not ever going to go there again!

I think that I might contact Turkey Hill too and let them know what happened to me. If that was my first experience with T.H. ice cream, I would have never tried it again, but since I know better, I think that I will be getting a carton of Eagles ice cream soon!

Baby Announcements and Bread Making

This past Saturday, MIA at our church hosted a "Super Saturday" event. It was held from 9-3, sandwiches and drinks were provided, and no kids were allowed! So, what did we do there? Well, it was a day where you could come and catch up on something that you have been wanting to do - paint your nails, talk with friends, make cards, scrapbook, crochet, or whatever you little heart desired!

My husband was so gracious and did not mind that I left him home all day with our cute little son. I know that this was a sacrifice, because we have so many house projects that we need to work on - so, I was so thankful that he "let" me go! I love you, Hunny!

So, I decided to work on the birth announcements for baby #2. I have never really made cards before, so I did not really realize how long it would take to do everything involved! So, the things that I did get done are as follows:
1. Cut out the paper for the main card
2. Cut out two sizes of paper for what I am going to stamp on the front
3. Began to stamp the background for the front of the card
That is all that I got done! I could not believe that it took me that long - yes, I did take two little breaks and I was talking a little bit, but I was also working very diligently!

So, what I still need to do is:
1. Complete stamping the background front of the cards
2. Add ribbon to the front
3. Stamp/color the teddy for the front
4. Cut out paper for the inside
5. Stamp the inside stuff
6. Add two other things to the inside: parents and brother's names and a Bible verse.

LOTS to do, but it is fun. I know that I cannot procrastinate with this! I HAVE to get this done soon!

Something else that I need to work on is our Christmas newsletter. My goal is to have it completed by Thanksgiving (or the week before). I will just leave a section of it blank so that I can write something about the baby when he is born...so, it might actually be a New Year's letter! My plan is to send that with the announcements (save on postage!).

So, that is what I have been up to recently. Other things have been on my mind - but have not been up to blogging a whole big bunch.

Oh, one other thing that I did last week was to make 4 small loaves of French bread. I used the breadmaker for the kneading and rising, but then I took the dough out and I did a little more kneading, shaped it, let it rise one last time, and then baked it (only took about 15 minuted to bake!). I was a little tentative to do something like that initially, but it was really fun and gave me confidence to try something else like that! Something that I REALLY want to make are cinnamon buns - I know that they are not that healthy, but they are REALLY YUMMY! So, I will have to put that on my "to do" list!

I Won!!!

Although I did not host a giveaway on my blog this time around, I did enter many, many, (probably too many!) giveaways on blogs that participated in the Fall Y'all Giveaways.

I am so excited! I actually won two things this time! (last time, I was not a winner). I won a formulas idea books and a gold Precious Elements pen (for scrapbooking), and I also won the book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God.

Did you win anything? If you did, let me know what you won!

I've Got It...I Think!

I searched the website splitcoaststampers and got a lot of great ideas of what to do with the stamp set that I have. I was having such a hard time deciding what to do for the birth announcements, so I decided to go a little simpler. It is nice, but not too hard.

So, I need to complete my thoughts tonight on how I want it to look, so that tomorrow I can "crank" these babies out!

Procrastinating

Have you ever procrastinated about something - not because you don't want to do it, but you are not sure how you want to do it?

Well, that is something that I have been doing concerning making the birth announcements for Baby #2. I just am not sure what I want to do with this or how I want to do it...so, I have been procrastinating a little bit! So, why not procrastinate a little more and write a post about it!

Anyway, I know that writing more will not help me make any decisions and since I have to have all of this together so that I can make them in mass quantity tomorrow, I better get cracking!

Just figured that I would let all of you know what I am up to...procrastinating...and thinking...and now, I will go and try out a new design. Hopefully, something will "sit well" with me in the next 30 minutes or less!

Blog Design Contest

I would love to have a new Blog design - or should I say have a blog design...so, I am entering a contest to win one! You can also enter at Pumkin Patch Creations. If you would like to check it out, click here! Good luck!

Free Kids Books!

I found this website called, Christian Children's Book Reviews. During this month, they are giving Christian children's books away daily. Click here to check it out AND mention that Promises Fulfilled sent you over there in your comment - then, I will be entered to win their grand prize. (If you tell someone about it and they do the same, they you will be entered to win too!).

A New Snack?!?

Today I decided to introduce Play-doh to Brady. I thought that it would be fun and something new!

So, I brought his little table and chair in to the kitchen - I did not want to do it on a carpeted area! - took out a little ball of orange play-doh and I began to mush it with my fingers while explaining to him that this is a toy.

I broke the ball in half, gave half of it to him, and told him to try and mush it like Mommy was mushing it. So, he took the half circle of play-doh and began to put it in his mouth! I quickly said, "NO! It is not a snack!" and he started to cry! Poor little guy! He must have thought that it was a new food to eat! I asked him if he wanted a hug, he said yes, so I hugged him and explained that this was a toy, not a snack - and he said "ok". I asked him if he wanted to sit on mommy's lap and try to play with it again, and he said yes.

So, I started to show Brady how you can make the play-doh in to little balls. So, he took a little ball of play-doh, and put it in his mouth! I again said, "no!", the tears started, I got the doh out of his mouth, and gave him hugs.

It was a good first attempt, and we will try again tomorrow. Maybe I will be sure that he has a little snack first! :)

Another Chance For Pink!

I would LOVE to win a pink Dyson, and there is another chance for you to win too! Head over here and enter! The contest ends today - so, good luck to all!

Cutting Some Wood

A few days ago, I woke up and my throat was hurting. I was so concerned that I was getting sick. When I was telling my mom that my throat hurt a lot, and I was not sure why, my husband chimed in with, "You were snoring pretty loudly last night!" (my dad would refer to this as cutting some wood - b/c some people sound like a chainsaw - I hope that I don't sounds that bad!)

Oh, no!!! This happened last time when I was pregnant too! I really feel bad for my husband. I am hoping that it is not as bad as it was two years ago - he had to wear earplugs to bed! However, he still had some earplugs, so if it does get bad, I can still rest easily, knowing that he will get a good night's rest!

So, I have down the following to help myself to not snore as much:
1. we have our humidifier running upstairs now
2. I am sleeping on my side - and I have a pillow behind my back - I am hoping that this will serve as a reminder to myself to not roll on to my back
3. I told my husband to nudge me if I start to snore (and it wakes him up)

If you have any other suggestions, let me know!

Personality Test

I decided to take this personality test that a few of my friends did. I almost stopped taking it because I feel that the choices were one extreme or the other and it was hard for me to choose. So, I am not sure how accurate this is.

While taking it, I did realize that some of my answers did change compared to how I would have answered it a few years ago. So, there you have it for now. Maybe I will have to look up another one of these tests another time...not right now...I need to go start dinner!

Attitude Check

I have been asking the Lord to help me with my attitude. I have been praying that I would see others the way that He sees them, and that I would respond the way that He would in situations that arise in my life. This is not always easy, but I have found that the more that I seek Him and ask Him for help in this area, the more of a change that I am seeing in my life. I have recently been tested in this area, and I am happy to say that Jesus did help me to respond in a way that I believe that He would - and then I continued to ask Him for help in that situation. I know that He is still working on my heart, but it is good to see that He has been changing me, and that I am embracing His change.

I wanted to share the following with you. I feel that it was some good truth in it.

Attitude
By Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important that the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change out past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our ATTITUDES.”

My Orange Saga...

For the past few years, I have been trying to find a good tasting orange. You know, the kind that is sweet and juicy? Well, I have really had a hard time doing this. I found some one time at Giant, but the next time I bought some...not so tasty. I really appreciate their double your money back if it is not fresh! BUT...I would rather eat a delicious navel orange!

I just tried some at Giant again, but no tasty ones, and they went back to the store!

So, if you know where I can get a tasty orange - please let me know! I would really, really like to enjoy one! You can call it a craving, but it is a craving that I have had for quite some time! :)

It's Been 10 Years...Really!?!

I cannot believe that I graduated from college 10 years ago...and then again, I can believe it! This past Saturday, Dawson, Brady and I ventured to Messiah College to celebrate my 10 year reunion. I did not know what it was going to be like - and let me tell you, I enjoyed myself so much!


Dawson was awesome and watched Brady while I was talking and catching up with my friends - some of whom I have not seen for 5 years!

I enjoyed seeing my friends and roommates - and it was fun to see everyone's kids! In 2006, 4 out of the 5 of us that roomed together for the last 2 years of college, had a child! That was pretty amazing. Now, three of us are prego again and due in 2008. I guess it is that time of our lives! I had some really great conversations and I found out that my friend - I will call her Sweet Pea - and her family have moved to the Boston area! Now when we go to visit the great grandparents, I will be able to see them also! Sweet Pea and family used to live in CA, so I am very excited that they have moved to the East Coast. I just have to say that she looks amazing!

It was also fun to see my friend (roommate sophomore year) "Gertie's" brand new baby - who was only one month old! Can I just tell you that Gertie looks amazing!!! I would LOVE to look like she does after one month of giving birth - you go girl!

I enjoyed seeing all of my friends/roomies - a few of them live in the general area, and now I have to plan to get together with them - hopefully before the baby is born, but we will have to see!

Another fun activity that we did was to visit the Oakes Museum at Messiah College. It is an awesome place to see "stuffed" animals - Brady LOVED it! They have full sized animals such as: giraffe, elephant, zebra, hippo, bears, goats, foxes, wildcats, and a squirrel, turtle, rabbit, and many more animals. I highly suggest visiting it!

The evening was topped off with a double date with my sister and Simms. Dawson was given tickets to a Hershey Bears hockey game. We had great seats, they won and we were on a double date - so much fun!

Poop!

This morning, when I went to get Brady out of his crib, I smelled that familiar poopy smell. He does not always have a poopy diaper waiting for me to change in the morning, but lately he has. Not a big deal - I change one or two of those a day...maybe three if I am "lucky"! Thankfully, Dawson will help out with these when he is home - he is the greatest!

Anyway, Brady was looking out the window, waiting for the big yellow bus to drive up, collect the kids, and drive off - the bus stop is across the street from us. He LOVES to watch the buses and trucks drive by! I noticed that he was looking at his fingers, so I took a look at them and noticed that he had a few hangnails. Then, he was looking at them again, so I took a better look at his fingers...and then...I saw it! There was a light coating of poop on his hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YUCK!!!!

So, I quickly grabbed a wipe and wiped it off his hand! I could not believe it! Then, I realized that I better look in his crib - on his blankets - on his animals - oh no! Can you believe it - there was NO POOP on the blankets or on the animals (although I washed all of them anyway!). So, I kept looking, and then I saw it - a little on one of the slats of the crib, some on the bumper pad, and a good amount smeared on the crib sheet. Oh gross!

So, I had to strip the bed and get things into the laundry - I had a mountain of his clothes to wash anyway, so not too much of a big deal!

Then I started reflecting on what must have happened...Brady must have been aware that something had come out of his butt and into his diaper (will he be ready for potty training soon! That would be cool!), and so he wanted to see what it was, got poop on his hand (oh gross - but also feel bad for the little guy), and then wanted it off his hand! I am still so amazed and thankful that there was no poop on the rest of his body - how did he manage that! Also, it was not all over the place! I have heard horror poop stories, and by no means am I trying to compete - I really never want to! This is just fine for me! The only problem that I had was trying to get the smell of poop off of his hand. I washed and scrubbed his hands and fingers at least five times, but I would STILL SMELL the poop! I have no idea why! I think that it finally came off. I just do not understand why the smell was lingering - if any of you moms have a better way to get the smell off of a 21 month-old fingers, please pass that info along!

So, I realized that I need to change the type of PJ's that he is wearing - he will be put into a light sleeper that zips up (will he be able to unzip it?!?), or the top and bottom that snaps at the waist. Hopefully, that will help to prevent further poop incidents and stories to tell!

Loving and Praying For Your Enemies

A month or so ago, I decided that I wanted to read the gospels in some type of chronological order - so, initially, I started to try and do it myself - but that was really hard to do! I was talking with my mom about it and she said that she had a chronological Bible that she could let me borrow! It is a Bible that has put the Old and New Testament in - you guessed it - chronological order! It was an answer to my prayers! (I actually knew that she had one, but had initially forgotten about it!)

The Bible is broken down so that you can read through the Bible in one year. While reading in the Bible, I have found that I don't always read through a whole day's worth of scripture, but I read a passage and have found that I am meditating on it more - I figure for me, at this point in my life - the quality of reading is worth more than quantity.

So, today I was reading in Matthew 5:21-48 and the Lord was definitely speaking to me. It was about not holding on to anger - to go and reconcile with your brother before presenting an offering to the Lord. One thing that I struggled with a little bit was - well, what if they do not accept what you are saying and they are choosing to not forgive you, believe you, etc. I felt that the Lord was then speaking to me and telling me that it is the posture of my heart that counts. Later on in that chapter, the Lord tells us that we are to pray for our enemies - and I felt that the Lord was asking me - are you praying for people that are not so nice to you? If they choose not to forgive you, you still need to forgive them and then pray for them.

I was convicted. I have to admit that I have not been praying for a specific situation on a daily basis, but instead I chose to not think about it. Well, that is NOT what the Lord has told us to do. So, I now need to listen to the Lord and PRAY! There is power in prayer and I need to grab a hold of that in this situation.

I have really been enjoying reading the gospels - It is neat (for lack of a better word) to read the words that Jesus spoke - and what He is still speaking into my life.

Update on the Ultrasound

My Saturday ultrasound went really well. It was really cool to see our little boy again - and the tech assured us that he was still a boy and that "nothing fell off". Well, that is always good to hear! My placenta has moved up, so I do not have to be concerned about having placenta previa - PTL!!!

On a funny note - when our little boy came into view on the monitor, the tech said to Brady - "there is your little brother," and Brady's response was "uh oh" - it made us laugh! I don't think that Brady really understands that there will soon be a little baby brother in the house, but we have been praying that they will be close knit to each other and not just brothers, but also best friends.

Contractions

Yesterday, I had an appointment with one of the midwives in the practice that I go to. I was explaining an aching feeling that I sometimes have in the pelvic area - I just figured it was because of the weight above that area! She told me that I am probably having Braxton Hicks contractions - and when I have one, it is causing things to push down and hence the achy feeling that I have at times! She also told me the the Braxton Hicks can actually occur more often in the second (or third or fourth, etc) pregnancy - I have not looked all of this up yet, but it is news to me!

I was like - really? So, today I have been a little more aware of things going on in my body. It is very infrequent, but I have noticed a VERY MILD contraction a few minutes ago - and the funny thing is that I have felt this sensation every once in a while, but I thought to myself - maybe that is a ligament stretching. I believe that I was wrong about that!

Anyway, I remember having feelings like this in the first pregnancy, but I did not realize that it was one of these Braxton Hicks contractions! I am just glad that I do not have them often (especially being only 28.5 weeks pregnant!)! I probably have one or two a day - I really do not know, that is just a guess!

So, that is the main pregnancy update!

Oh, I got the results in from my glucose test - I was at 112 and they want us to be 130 or below - so, that was good news! I also had my rhogam shot yesterday - that was not very exciting, but important to have (if you are negative blood type). Tomorrow is another ultrasound to be sure that the placenta has moved away from the cervix - so, it will be cool to see our little guy again - and it will be an interesting time since Brady will be along with us tomorrow! Hopefully, he will think that it is cool too!

Walk For Life

This year, our family decided to join the Pregnancy Center where I volunteer, in their annual fundraiser - Walk For Life. We raised over $250 - and there is still one pledge that is being mailed to us. We were very excited to help the center in this way.

When we first arrived for the 2 mile walk, my big toe on my right foot was bothering me a little bit. My hunny prayed for me, and it did not bother me while I was walking! PTL!

Before the walk started, we registered and had some pancakes, sausage, juice and milk that was provided for us. We were given a balloon, and what it said on it was so perfect for our family, "I love babies. Born and unborn" - that was so cool! We had a couple of people take photos of our family - since we had a toddler with us and I am pregnant with our second, and the balloon described our family, etc. It was pretty cool.

When we sat down to eat, I started to get a little emotional. The whole event really had an impact on me. We are pro-life and we were doing something about it - not just talking about it or debating it. It is so important to me that we raise our children with strong Christian beliefs. It is also important to me that we don't just talk the talk but we also walk it too - I feel that this is one way that we are doing it. So, the pregnancy hormones probably got to me a little bit and my eyes filled with tears as I thought about the impact that this fundraiser will have on many people's lives - both the babies and the families too.

The walk was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to doing it again next year - either with two strollers or a double one! I hope to see you there!

Digital Camera Contest

Would you love to win a digital camera - in pink? Well hop over to 5 Minutes for Mom and enter to win - one of these days I hope to win one of these contests! :)

Tomato Sauce Recipe

I have a lot of plum tomatoes. Does anyone out there make their own tomato sauce? I would love to have a tried and true recipe! Thanks!

"Lah Loo"

Brady's vocabulary has BURST in the past month. He is saying all sorts of words and has actually said a few phrases too!

When he woke up from his nap last Saturday, I said to him, "Let's look for Daddy." I knew that he was outside cleaning the cars, but I figured that I would make it into a little game for Brady. So, I told Brady to say "Daddy, where are you?" I only expected him to say "Daddy!" To my surprise, he said, "Daddy, are oo?" I was shocked and so proud of him with his first "sentence."

Well, yesterday I was trying to teach him to say "I love you!" His cute response was "Lah loo." I loved it.

At dinner tonight, he was in his highchair and turned to me and we had this little conversation:

Brady: "Mommy."

Me: "Yes, Sweetie?"

Brady: (Smiling) "Lah loo!"

Me: (melting) "I love you too!"

It was so sweet - the first time that he said those words completely on his own - and he knows what is means. I was a "puddle."

He then turned to Daddy, and said the same thing to him - we just love our little guy to pieces!

Any Day Now?

This morning, my sister and I were running a few errands together (I am car-less for a couple of days - another reason why I love my sis so much! She is there for me when I need a little helping hand!).

Anyway, I had to go to the post office to buy stamps and to make sure that I had the correct amount of postage on a card/photos that I was sending to Great Nanny. As I was paying for the postage, the clerk asked me the question:

"Any day now?"

I had not idea what she was talking about at first...then I realized that she was referring to my pregnant belly! I said to her, "Oh, are you referring to my due date? It is January 2nd."

She kind of looked stunned and said "January?"

I confirmed that I did in fact say January, smiled and went on my way.

I was so puzzled.

I go into my sister's car and told her what happened and said - "I don't think that I look that pregnant - do I?"

She of course said "No, I think that you look great"

I agree - I think that I look great too - maybe the clerk needs her eyes checked, or at least learn how to ask the question a little better - something like "When are you due?"

Happy Birthday To My Sis!

Today, is my sister, TCC's, birthday! So, when you get a chance, pop on over here and wish her a happy birthday! She has a really cool post about things that she is celebrating today. She is such a thinker, and I love this about her.

So, here are things that I love about my sis (in no particular order):

1. She loves unconditionally - I have benefited from this many times! Especially when I was going through some tough times in my life and my walk with the Lord. She always loved me and never judged me.

2. She lives so close to me! I cannot imagine living far away from her!

3. We have a lot of similarities - we love the Lord, enjoy scrapping (although she is faster than I am at it!), we are involved in the same church, we desire to be organized, we love family, and there are many more things!

4. We are different: She analyzes things more that I do, she is older (hee hee hee!), I am taller, and she has more wave to her hair (which is opposite of when we were little - pregnancy did that to her! I have been praying for more wave in my hair, but have not seen it too much yet!)

5. I love her heart.

6. She has done a lot of things "first" - marriage and children - and I have been able to benefit from learning a lot from her!

7. My "little" (in height) sis has also passed on many clothes and other items for our sons and we have been so grateful for that. She is a blessing. She also passed on her maternity clothes too!

8. I am so thankful that she is my best friend! Not everyone has a best friend and a sister all wrapped into one person, and I am VERY THANKFUL for that!

I love you TCC - have a wonderful day! We will celebrate!

Love, Promises

Pumpkin Picking

Today Dawson, Brady and I went to the farm where we get our weekly veggies and went pumpkin "picking". Dawson's middle brother also joined us in our adventure. Although the owners/workers on the farm had to already pick the pumpkins for us (they ripened faster than they expected), we got to "pick" them off of the lawn area.

Brady LOVED picking up the pumpkins and placing them in our box! We were able to take 6 pumpkins home with us. Brady must have placed about 15 in our box - so, I just had to take them out while he was going to get another one. He was such a great helper - he definitely has that as a gifting.

We were able to take some other veggies home with us including: butternut squash, acorn squash, zucchini, tomatoes - large and plus, peppers - red, little orange ones, jalapenos - eggplants, onions and garlic. So, I have lots of produce to keep me busy for a while! The main thing that I need to get to today are the peppers - I can chop them up and freeze them for later use. I think that I will make salsa and tomato sauce with all of the plum tomatoes that we were able to take! We were also able to take some fresh herbs with us. Today, we chose to take rosemary, parsley and oregano. Below is Brady choosing some plum tomatoes for us to take home, while Daddy is helping Brady reach the tomatoes.

It was a beautiful day to be outside and we really enjoyed getting away to the "country" while having a fun family day.

Start Your Engines!

So, did you guess where we were for our date on Sunday? Is it Friday already???!!!

Let's see - during our date, we were able to see my favorite person there #24 (well, maybe he is not exactly #24, but it is identified with him), we did not get sunburned (thanks to spf 50), my ankles got swollen because of the heat (but my hunny let me put my feet up on him during part of the ride home), and we had to climb about 13 stories to get to our seats (that is what someone said, and I truly believe him!) - and those are the better seats. Well, here is a photo that I took during an interview that I saw of Jeff Gordon!

My Husband was given tickets to the NASCAR race at Dover Downs, DE for last Sunday's race! Besides having to get up at 3am so that we could definitely be leaving our driveway at 4am, so that we could catch the coach bus at 6am - it was a great day! Brady slept over at my sister's house and then spent the next day with Grammie and Poppy and my aunt and uncle (who were visiting from Long Island.

Let me tell you...we were not just given tickets...what was also included in our day was: continental breakfast, snacks and lunch (pre-race), scanners - so that we could hear the race and guard our ears (which was really cool), programs, a hat (with the company logo on it), soft-sided coolers, ticket holders, a track side tour before the race - we were actually standing on the track - and really nice people to spend the day with!

My two favorite drivers are Jeff Gordon (#24) and Jimmy Johnson (#48). Unfortunately, neither of them won...but Carl Edwards did win, who seems like a nice guy too. He stands on the door area of his car and does a back flip when he wins a race - that is pretty cool. We had great seats - we were on turn 4 and were able to see some of the pits really well - below is a photo of Jeff Gordon's.

So, you did not know that I was a NASCAR fan? Well, I am not a crazy one, but I enjoy many sports, and this is one that was introduced to me a few years ago by my BIL, Simms. It is fun to watch now and then - it is even more fun to be there in person!

We had a great time, but it took me until Thursday of this week to get caught up on my sleep! Would I go again - you bet! Hopefully, I would not be as pregnant, and so the stair climbing would not have been so intense and tiring - but I made it! Our next door neighbors have gone to races before and they gave us a lot of good tips for our trip. She said that I would probably not have to go to the bathroom during the race because of all of the sweating that we would be doing...I guess she did not know the power of the pregnant woman's bladder (although she has had 2 kids!). During the race, I had to excuse myself at least 3 times - thankfully, I did not have to go all the way down to the bottom of the stands - I don't know if I could have handled that! I probably would have been spending all of my time going up and down the stairs instead of watching the race! :)

A New Blog - The Literary Gourmet

There is a new blog out there - my very dear friend, referred to as Jane, has begun a blog called The Literary Gourmet! I find it hard to describe my friend in few words - there is so much to her that I love! I think that the title of her blog sums things up a little bit.

I have known my gourmet friend for almost 8 years now, and she has been a wonderful friend through each part of my changing life - new jobs, marriage, babies! She is someone that really cares about what is going on in your life and listens to you. She does not judge you or make condescending remarks - she love me even though we have our differences too. She loves the Lord with all of her heart and she is someone that really cherishes a friendship - just like I do (so, we also have similarities too!). She is like a sister to me.

I have enjoyed learning so much from her - she loves the arts, she loves to cook, and she loves to read and watch Jane Austin movies (just to name a few things). Although she is more than capable of cooking "normal" foods, when she has you over, she enjoys making something special - gourmet! She always knows how to make you feel special - whether it is with delicious cookies, my favorite birthday cake (an amazing fudge cake - this is the only chocolate type of cake that I ever really enjoyed - oh, and a chocolate peanut butter one from an amazing bakery that she had one time too), panini sandwiches, delicious soups, entrees - or just a cup of coffee! She has brought so much joy into my life as I also enjoy the arts and cooking - she has helped to bring this enjoyment into my life.

Welcome to blogworld, The Literary Gourmet! And to all that read this - check it out! :)

Another Great Giveaway...

Head over to 5 minutes for Mom to enter to win a portable hard drive for your computer - it is great to back your computer up in case of a crash! So, if you are interested, click here, and good luck!

Strolling in Style

Here is another great giveaway - a Chicco Stroller. You can enter to win one here and here. So, you will actually have 2 chances to win - and if you win both, I would be happy to "take" one off of your hands! :)

I Could Live With Pink - Could You?

I am talking about a FREE DYSON vacuum cleaner! Check it out over here at 5 Minutes for Mom. Someone will win this vacuum - I hope my husband will still vacuum if I win! :)

Random Thoughts

There are a few things that I have been meaning to write about, but time just seems to get away these days! So, not in any particular order (except what come to my brain) - I will share some thoughts with you!

1. Apple Picking: About 2 weeks ago, our family went apple picking with Nanny and Grandpa - we had a great time! The trees were low enough so Brady could pick the apples and place them in the bag. We picked Gala and Cortland apples. We plan to go again in the next week or so - we will see how our schedule is!


2. Apple Recipes made so far:


Apple Goodie - I made one large apple goodie with some of the apples - it is basically apple crisp, but SO good...I guess that is how it got its name! I will have to share the recipe with you soon...I will have to make another one soon too!


I have also made applesauce and apple butter with the rest of the gala apples. We froze about 12 cups of apple sauce. I made the apple butter for the first time ever and used my crock pot...I am hoping that it is delicious! I would LOVE to get an apple butter recipe from someone that I know - so, if you fit into this category, I would love you to give it to me! :)


I am planning on making more applesauce soon.


I don't have other plans for the apples yet - I am not a big cake lover - I will eat it (as long as it is not chocolate! Although, once in a while, I will taste a chocolate cake to see if I suddenly like it, and I will have to tell you that the only person that has made a type of chocolate cake that I have liked is my friend, Jane - I will have to tell you more about her in another post! I love her to pieces! You can read a little about her here). I am thinking about caramel dipped apples, maybe something else in the crockpot - we will see


3. We went to Wegman's today for the first time. We got to see the crack open a huge 90 pound wheel of Parmesan cheese - we were thinking of buying some, but at $18.99/pound, we decided...maybe another time! :) We enjoyed the few samples that were offered - the cheese, an apple, and a cup of coffee. We also purchased a few items and got a few free items with our coupons that they sent in the mail. One of the things that we noticed was that they had a huge selection of Asian ingredients that we usually have to go to an Asian store to purchase. We were happy about that, but will probably try to support the little store (which is on Dawson's way home from work) - the prices are a little lower than Wegman's too, but Wegman's is not that bad. We had fun, but most of our shopping will be done at Giant - it is closer to us.


Oh, and we bought some deli meat there - and I cannot stand that they have it presliced!!! It gets all clumped up and that really annoys me when I am trying to flatten it out to place in my Tupperware container! I really prefer it freshly sliced!


4. Dawson and I are going on a date tomorrow! Want to guess where we are going? Here are a few hints: my favorite is #24, my sister's favorite is #48, and it is definitely fast paced. OK - those are all of the hints for now, otherwise I might just give it away!!! :)


5. I was reminded the other day that I am so blessed to have Dawson as my husband and I should never take it for granted.


6. I have been doing really well at planning dinner in advance, so that I am not stressed out on the day of the dinner. I have been writing it in my planner, and it has been great. It has been showing me how many different dinners need to be planned per week, and still have a day for leftovers. I have definitely felt success in this area - I just need to get planning for next week! Today and tomorrow are covered! So, I will start with Monday.

7. Scrapbooking - I really need to get back into doing this again!!! It is SO hard for me to do this when Brady is awake - I tried about one week ago at my sister's house. The cute little guy wanted to sit on my lap - how could I deny him! :) Seriously, he wants to see what mommy is doing, I can't blame him - I am still like that when someone is doing something "cool".

8. Baby Announcements - I am thinking about making them myself! I think that I mentioned this in another post, but it is still on the brain. I am having a stamping party at my house (and you are all invited!) soon and I am excited to get some more of the materials that I will need to make them!

9. I will be involved with Walk For Life - to support the pregnancy center that I am volunteering in. If you would like more info on this - let me know!

OK, that is a lot, and I have to go and get some other things done now! Have a great day!

Not Really a Surprise

Just in case you were wondering...

My Brain is 73% Female, 27% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

He is SO MY son!

Today, when Brady and I were returning from running errands, I looked back at him and he reminded me of something that I did when I was a little girl.

When I was a little girl, I remember wearing a pair of tights (he had socks on!), and I was wondering what would happen if I pulled on the little "snag" that had formed on my tights. So, I proceeded to pull on that little snag - I was conducting an experiment, you see...I wonder what my hypothesis was? "If I pull on the little snag, then..." Anyway, as I pulled on that little snag, all of a sudden a HUGE hole appeared in my tights! So, I had to go and show my mommy what had suddenly happened! I guess I needed a new pair of tights! (and that was not the only time that I did that - I guess that I wanted to make my hypothesis into a theory, so I needed to test it quite a few times!).

Well, you know how there is some elastic at the top of a sock? Well, Brady must have found that it was a little loose (or something, not really sure how it started), and when I looked back at him, he was tugging on it and it was stretched at least a few inches from the rest of his sock! It made me chuckle when I saw him doing this and I said out loud, "You are SO MY son!"

It is funny how your kids end up doing things that you once did too. The socks are not ruined (yet), and I am hoping that he does not do that to all of his socks (these were socks from Painting Red Rhinos - I love their socks, and I would like for #2 to be able to wear them too)! However, I do enjoy his curiosity!

Free To Be Me

My sister wrote a post today titled "Who's Painting Your Canvas." She is leading the MIA group at our church and God has downloaded some awesome stuff to her that we will be discussing this year.

I know for myself, I have definitely gone through various phases in my life where I have felt rejected by others. The first time that I really felt this was when I changed schools for my high school years. In the Christian school that I was attending (from 3rd-8th grade), I had some girls that I was friends with...but I guess they were not true friends. You see, when I changed schools, they decided that they were no longer going to be friends with me. Some of the teachers were actually giving me some "attitude" about changing schools as well! It was really hard at that time in my life to lose all of the friends that I had and to enter into a new place, knowing no one. I did make a lot of great friends at the high school that I was attending, but there was rejection that took hold of me - and it was really hard to get over (I just sort of shoved it to the "back" of my mind). I believe that when I was in college, I was finally able to release this to the Lord and gain healing from it.

There have been a number of other times that I have felt rejection from others, but the Lord has been teaching me that what matters most is what He thinks of me, not what others think of me. I am precious in His sight. I need to only answer to Him for my actions (and that is huge in itself!). He is still teaching me to really hold on to this truth and to be who He has created me to be.

Becoming a wife and now a Mommy has been a huge transition from the single life, but I would not trade it! I love being a wife and Mommy. In this new phase of my life, I am still discovering who I am - who He created me to be. I am not only a wife and Mommy - I have other giftings and talents in me that makes me who I am, and I am still learning to tap into all of those things.

Am I free to be me? I believe that I am still discovering who "me" is...and I am learning to be free in who I am. I am not held captive by what I think I should be, but I am enjoying the discovery of who God created me to be. I am a work in progress...His masterpiece!

My "Little" Boy

My little boy is growing up! Today we had fun going to Jeter's game. Jeter played really well, and you can read more about his first and second games, here. Brady had so much fun playing with Barber and also cheering for Jeter and the team - he would clap and say "Yea! Yea! Yea!". We all had a great time!

Later today, we decided to have a little picnic, but it was kind of chilly, so we decided to picnic at my parents in their family room - they have a lot of floor space there and some toys too. So, while Dawson and I were eating, Brady was playing with toys for the most part. He brought over a toy sorter that Tupperware makes - with the basic shapes: circle, triangle, square and star, but it also had "harder" shapes like: trapezoid, oval, pentagon, hexagon and others. Usually, I have helped him find the place where to put the shape, tell him what the shape is and then guide him with placing the shape in the correct spot. Today, he blew my mind - he was turning the sorter and finding the correct spot to place the shape in and then doing it! He is only 20 months! He amazes me! Dawson and I were in awe of our son today. He was also doing that his his puzzles that we gave him a few months ago. Truly amazing!

Another thing that he did today was to climb up onto the piano bench (at Grammie and Poppy's)all by himself - and he got into the correct sitting position too! I have never seen him do that before. At first, I was a little concerned and stood there to make sure that he would not fall off and hurt himself, but he was able to do it with no problem. Then he proceeded to "play" the piano. He LOVES the piano, guitar and drums - it will be fun to see what musical talents that God has placed in him. He loves to dance and "sing" too!

God is so good. It is so much fun to watch Brady grow up and develop. It is amazing how much they change in each year of their lives, and we are having fun watching his life unfold!

My Car Color

You Should Drive a Blue Car

You're the type of driver who isn't hung up on the what car you drive. You don't need a flashy car to show off your wealth or style. Instead, you go for value and reliability. You're quite practical. You're a great driver, but you don't show off. Part of your skill is not standing out on the road.

What Color Car Should You Drive?

I figured that I would take this little quiz - got the idea from my sis, TCC. I like the color blue, but growing up (from the time that I was around 6), my parents had all blue cars. The first car that I had was a 1989 Hyundai Excel GLS. So, when it was time for me to get a new car, I did not want to buy a blue car, I wanted silver, but then realized that EVERYONE and their mother had a silver car, in 2000. So, I decided on a black KIA Spectra, and husband bought a 2000 Dodge Intrepid, cinnamon color. When we got married, we switched cars because he had a longer commute and the KIA got better gas mileage.

We would really like to buy a new/used car within the next year - as the Lord provides! I would be fine with a dark navy blue color, but I don't know about other blue colors...however, when you buy a used car, you can't always decide on the color! So, we will see what the next color will be!

ALL things are POSSIBLE!

What has been really hard for me is seeing someone (a particular situation) the way God sees them…immediately. What I am talking about is when someone says something hurtful, judgmental, or something that is just not nice. My flesh rises up and I get so annoyed with it and vent with my husband…as I am doing this, I know that venting is not going to make anything “better”, but I do it anyway!

Something like this happened the other day (and for anyone that is reading this, it is none of you – just so you know!). I was so frustrated, vented, and then I went to do the dishes.

As I was doing the dishes, I was praying – something that I should have done FIRST!!! I was asking the Lord to help me to see them the way that He does, and that I come to this knowledge immediately in the future, not 15 minutes later! So, I started to sing a song – not something that I intentionally chose – I actually did not realize that I was singing initially. I know that sounds weird, but that is what happened. As I was singing, I suddenly tuned into the words that God had placed into my heart. The words were:

Change my heart oh God,
Make it ever new.
Change my heart oh God,
May I be like You.

You are the potter, I am the clay
Melt me and mold me
This is what I pray.

This is the desire of my heart. That He would change my heart completely, so that when I get poked or prodded by something that does not sit well with me, that He would ooze out of me and not the frustration and anger that is sometimes produced.

I need to come to this place in this particular situation, and I feel that I will continue to be tested in this area until I can pass this test. So, I need to decrease so that He can increase in my life. He is a good God and I know that He will help me through this.

My verse for today:
I can do ALL things through Christ Who strengthens me. Phil 4:13

It Made Me Jump!

A funny thing happened the other day...Brady and I had returned from our walk, and we were spending time in the front yard - which has a lot of shade - which I love! I have been so hot during this pregnancy - much more than my first one!

Well, the recycling truck was coming up our street. Brady LOVES watching the garbage collecting trucks go by and when we are inside, he will run to the window and watch them drive up and throw our trash into their truck. Well, this was a special "treat" - we were already outside while these men were working! So, we sat and then stood watching the truck approaching. Then Brady wanted me to pick him up while we watched - I think that he felt a little more secure in my arms as this really loud truck approached. The two workers smiled at us and we waved, and THEN when they were RIGHT IN FRONT OF US...they HONKED their HORN REALLY LOUDLY!!!! Brady jumped and so did I!!! It was so loud, it scared us, but then we laughed - well, I did...and I think that those two men did also!

Do you want to know what the really "funny" thing was...they drove right past our recycling can! They did not empty it, and they were too far down the road and the truck was making too much noise for me to try and get their attention!

Maybe they felt that they did enough for us by honking the horn!

I honestly just had to laugh about the situation, and was thankful that it was only the recycling can and that it was not even half full. So, maybe next time, I will stand by the can so that they will not miss it!

Finishing Up Our Vacation

Update! I was informed that I actually took this photo out the back window (However, Dawson did take some photos while driving - it is not too hard to do that with a digital and not a lot of traffic at that point in our journey!).

Some other funny things that I forgot...Brady called the beach a "pool" because his Daddy had told him earlier that day that we were going to the beach which was like a pool...he was calling seaweed beans - not sure why on that! Probably other things that I left out - but we had a great time, and Brady did enjoy his very own ice cream cup when we went out to ice cream!

Where was I in my telling of our vacation...oh, yes - so after leaving my Aunt and Uncle's house in Vermont (the photo above was taken by Dawson as he was driving - I was in the back seat with Brady at that moment), we headed back to G.Nanny's house to pick up our luggage that we had to leave there. We do not have a minivan yet, and there was no way that we would have been able to keep all of our luggage in the trunk in addition to her luggage and adding another body in the car. We thought of this in advance, so Dawson and I shared two suitcases - one for the first leg of the journey and one for the second part of the journey. We also did this with Brady's things too - he had two little suitcases. We also left his umbrella stroller and the baby gate at G.Nanny's house.

Once we were loaded up, we headed towards Cape Cod, where Dawson's other Gramma lives - I will refer to her as G.Gramma. We arrived on Tuesday evening and we were staying there until Friday morning! That was definitely a nice break from all of the driving that we were doing - well, Dawson did all of the driving.

It is always fun to visit G.Gramma on the Cape. One year, before Brady, Dawson and I traveled around the Cape and visited all of the lighthouses (there is the answer to the other clue). This year we did not visit the lighthouses, but we did go to the beach, which was a lot of fun. Brady LOVED the beach. As soon as we got there, he headed straight for the water - no fear! He was not changed into his swimmy diaper or swimming trunks, so I had to bring him back to the towel to do that! This was his first time to a beach - he has been in pools, but not the beach yet. Things that Brady enjoyed about the beach (photo above is of the beach that we were at):
1. The water (he called it "pool") - splashing and walking in it.
2. Seaweed - he enjoyed picking it up and flinging it.
3. Sand - digging with his shovel and putting it in his bucket, hiding his hand in it, and building a little castle
4. Everything about the experience - he cried when we were leaving, but after an hour and a half, it was time to go - enough sun for one day and close to nap time

While on the Cape, we also saw Dawson's Aunt, ate some delicious homemade ice cream, and just had a nice time relaxing.

On Friday, we headed to Dawson's friend's house (roommate from college). His friend, Ulysses, married his wife the year before we were married and they had their first little baby boy in May of this year. It was fun to visit with them and meet their little baby boy - we always have a great time together and wish that we lived closer (they live in CT). They have two cats, and Brady was enjoying chasing them around the house. We stayed at their house until Sunday. We had fun talking, playing games, the guys played frisbee and we girls made some cards - stamping. Ulysses' wife made the birth announcements for their child - stamping and such. I loved them, and have decided that I am going to attempt to make mine too - she is so awesome and let me borrow her stamp set! Now I am deciding what material I need to make the announcements (we made two while we were together - they are so cute!).

So, on Sunday we headed to our home, and on the way home my parents called us and invited us to eat dinner at their house - that was SOOOOOOO awesome of them to do that! As soon as we got home, we unpacked all of our bags, brought the suitcases downstairs to the basement, and headed over to my parents for a delicious dinner.

On Monday, we were exhausted and glad to go to my sister's house to hang out and relax with family. It is always nice to return home one day early so that Dawson has a day to recoup a little before going back to work. So, here we are. Back at home. Getting into some routines again! I love vacation, but it is great to be home!