Inspiration

I have to blog about what happened to me Saturday! A few weeks ago I was called by a lady (JanaRae) who is involved quite a bit with the community and is basically an event planner for Pioneer Day celebrations. She heard me sing at a church event (farewell) over a year ago. She had asked me to sing the national anthem at the big rodeo last year--but at the last minute it didn't work out. She promised to keep my name on file and call me for another opportunity in the future. Well she kept that promise and called me a few weeks ago, asking if I'd be interested in singing at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new exhibit at the Children's Museum. Of course! David Osmond was involved in that ceremony, and also performed before I showed up to do my thing. Another country western band was singing when I arrived. Their name was "Saddle Strings" and they were so cool! I loved them! They could not have been ANY nicer to me. They let me use their sound equipement for my "gig" and got me all set up on a sound check.

So I started singing. I think I sang 9 songs--about 45 minutes' worth. It was super windy (which was a bit of a challenge) and my huge sunglasses I was wearing kept sliding down my nose (so I had to fidget with them a lot--annoying)! BUT it was SUPER fun!!! I was pretty nervous for the first song, but as I kept singing I began to relax a bit more. My audience varied a lot since people were milling about waiting to get the free tickets to check out the new exhibit. There were some people that were so sweet and just sat and watched me sing ALL of the songs! One of those people was a middle-aged guy named Jerry. Little did I know Jerry would be my new BFF.

After I quit singing, he approached me. He introduced himself as JanaRae's husband (oh!) and said he had an idea. He wanted to see if David Osmond's people would be okay with me doing a warm-up performance before the show at the big ampitheater in town. (I was like, WHAT?) He just had one condition. I had to sing "Johnny & June" again. Agreed. So he grabbed his wife and they totally agreed it would be awesome--next thing you know she was handing me her cowgirl boots (no joke, she literally took them off her feet and insisted I wear them) and told me to show up at 7pm and plan on singing for a half hour. GAH! I was sooooo excited! I texted like everyone I knew to tell them my good news! The only problem was that I sang for so long in the morning, I could tell my voice was strained (I don't sing often enough to keep the vocal cords in good shape. But hopefully I'll change that problem soon). If I would have known about the evening's gig, I would have sang a few less songs to save the voice! Anyways, I tried not to talk the rest of the day (or as little as possible--y'all know that was a challenge for me. Roob kept teasing me about how nice it was. Hardy har har).

So off & on throughout the day Jerry would send me the cutest text messages with funny things like "livin' the dream" and other motivating things (how cool is this guy?). He also sent me contact info for the sound guy so I could get set up to do a sound check. So on our way down to the ampitheater, I text the sound guy letting him know I was arriving and to find out where I needed to be (this was about 6:45). He text me back "you are supposed to be here NOW." Uh, ok. It wasn't even 7 yet? So I get there and finally meet up with him. He was a bit more abrasive than I was prepared for...first of all he (and his other sound guy) were a bit frustrated that I had my songs on a CD and not on an iPod. They actually had to play the CD through an xBox (no joke)! Then he was all put out that he had to do a sound check with me AFTER they had opened the gates and started letting people take their seats. He also said to me "so look, if you're going to do this sort of thing for laughs and giggles, you need to be here HOURS before the show starts. The Osmonds have been here since 3:30." OUCH. I wanted to cry but I didn't. Just then Jerry showed up and kind of became the dad figure. He explained how he knew it was last minute and he was sorry for the inconvenience but that all they knew was to have me here by 7, etc etc. Then Mr. SOund guy got a little bit nicer, so that was good. Jerry looked at me and was like "just blow it off" so I really tried to do that and just focus on the cool opportunity coming my way. Next thing ya know the sound guy handed me a mike and walked away. So I was assuming it was sound check time.

I've done sound checks before, but never a "real" one, so I wasn't sure what to do. They started my cd and I began singing. As soon as I thought it sounded good, I said that into the mike and I stopped singing. I kind of stood there all awkward wondering what to do next bc not only was the song still playing, but also there was quite a big crowd of people just STARING at me. So a few bars pass and I look up to see the sound guy (they have the sound booth behind the audience at the top of the seating) freaking out doing all these hand signals at me (which I could only interpret as "keep singing!"). Well I wasn't sure where I was in the song AT ALL and had to just keep standing there all awkward until I recognized the music on the chorus. So I started singing again and finally the sound guy gave me a signal for "ok stop." Then he says into a mike "exit stage right!" and I wasn't really sure which right is stage right, so I quickly exited to my right to go hide in the wings. ARGH. What a stressful learning experience, right? Man!

Anyways, then I was trying to put on a confident face backstage bc I wasn't really sure where to go, what to do, where to put the mike he had given me, etc etc. Wow it was nuts. And HOT. I started chit chatting with the MC (he was a great guy) and one of the Osmonds (Nathan) started talking to me and said I sounded good out there. He also told me about his new CD coming out, etc. He was a nice guy. He was excited I was doing country music bc that is what he does. So he starts telling me all this stuff about being in Nashville and writing songs with all kinds of big names you'd know. I was like "oooh cool" because I can't even imagine how awesome that would be! Ok I'm getting sidetracked. Anyways, I still had like almost an hour before the show started. I made a quick bathroom run and that is when I discovered I had my shirt on inside out! LOL. So I had been on stage earlier with a big tag (it is pretty big, too) hanging off my hip! Lovely.

JanaRae found me backstage at one point, and took me into the Osmond's dressing room and introduced me to everyone in there. I got to meet one of the original Osmonds (Alan) and his sons (except for David). They were all very polite to me, which was nice. Then I just hung around by myself, mostly. Just waiting. The anticipation was really killin' me. FINALLY the show began and I went on! I sang 4 songs (it was supposed to be more like 6 or 7, but good thing it was only 4 bc my voice was running out on me during the last one). I was nervous & a bit stiff, but overall I wasn't as nervous as I had expected I'd be. When I was done I had to walk through some of the crowd to get to Roob & Jase. A bunch of people were telling me how much they enjoyed my songs (really? Awesome). That put a big smile on my face!

Then David came out and did his thing. I have to say I noticed that he had way more energy & audience interaction than I did. I made a mental note to step up my game next time around (hopefully there is a next time) and get the crowd a bit more pumped up. I had been so stressed out beforehand that I was totally focused on remembering the words (which, by the way, there were lyric cheat sheets taped to the floor for the Osmonds--nice idea) and singing as best I could. Overall today was really great and I was thrilled to have the experience. I got thrown into the fire, so to speak! But I learned sooo much. I've really been inspired to work more on this singing thing. I also plan on finding a vocal coach. I'm on the hunt. I'd like to keep getting help so I can improve my voice & my confidence level.

Hope you enjoy the videos!

4th of July Videos

1.) Jase throwing those "snap-its" or "pop-its." He loved those things!
2.) Some of the fireworks show with the family
3.) Jase holding hands over ears during show BUT he sure loved it!

Mushroom Orzo

I love the texture of this tiny pasta (orzo, if you're not familiar). I have to say that it's probably one of my most favorite things to eat as a side dish. This particular recipe was excellent!! If you don't like mushrooms, I think it would be just as great with most any other veggie (bell peppers, broccoli, peas, spinach). I'm going to keep this recipe around FOR SURE!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 Tbsp canola oil
half of yellow onion
1-2 tsp. minced garlic
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley

Directions:
1. Melt the butter with canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions, and cook until golden brown. Mix in orzo & mushrooms. Cook and stir 5 minutes or so, until mushrooms are tender.
2. Pour water and wine into the skillet, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Season with salt (careful on the salt since the chicken broth kind of salts it enough) and pepper. Cook 7 to 10 minutes, until orzo is al dente. I found that I had to add more liquid towards the end, so I just added water at that point. Stir in the cheese and parsley before serving.

*adapted from "Mushroom Orzo" on allrecipes.com

Swim Class: Highlights

Well swimming class has officially ended. Here's 3 short video clips of his successes and failures! :)

Amusement Park

On Roob's birthday we took Jase to his first amusement park. It was on a Friday and we thought it wouldn't be as busy that day. Pshaw! It was RIDICULOUSLY busy. We had to wait in line for at least 30 minutes even for the kiddie rides! Here's a cute close-up of Jase waiting patiently...
Here's his first ride. A cute little whale. I thought he might panic as I walked away, but he didn't. I think he was just in shock. Maybe he actually liked it. I think he did.
We met up with our friends Chris & Kami. That's their boy, Kaden, in the backseat. He is about 9 months older than Jase and does really well on the rides. I think Jase rode 3 rides before he had his meltdown. It was inevitable. Crowds. Lines. Heat. Rides. Missed nap. Yep, inevitable.
Here he is on the cars...he really liked the steering wheel feature. There's Kaden on his left for moral support :) We waited forever for this ride and it was over so fast! Whatever!
It was sometime after this ride that Roob tried putting him on the kiddie boat ride. That is when he lost it. Roob had to get out of the fenced area so the park worker was fiddling around with him trying to buckle him in, etc. My best guess is that Jase just panicked thinking he was being abandoned by us. Awww. But boy, did he freak out. Yes he did. We tried consoling him but nothing was working. Finally Roob got him a slurpee. That did it. But we knew he was done riding rides by himself. After a bit we took him on a train that takes you on a ride around the park. Everyone could ride together on that one. After that, Chris talked me into riding a scary roller coaster before we left. It was fun! It had the longest vertical drop I've ever seen! Weeeee! Then we went to dinner at Tepanyaki. It was really fun to hang out as a family all day. I hope Roob had a good birthday, too. I think he did.

Here we are waiting in line, again...

Swimming Class: an update

So I think China has got this baby swimming thing down--somehow lock your baby's head into a flotation device, strip off their clothes, and let them figure out how to swim by hanging from their heads in a pool!! What??? Is anyone else dying laughing at this picture? This is FOR REAL, by the way. I am thinking this might be a good idea for Jase's swim class. Hee hee. Sure would save me from all the scratching, pinching and clinging!
Ok, anyways, Jase has improved a teeny bit. Day 2 I chose to let him have more fun and waited to dunk him until the end of class. But this time I did it more like a quick, shallow "dive," than a dunk. I figured that way water might not go up his nose. I don't think he inhaled any, but he popped up out of the water screaming and crying bloody murder! Oopsie. Day 3 I decided to forgo all dunking and try to get him more comfy in the water first since he still likes to cling onto my neck. He did much better! Once the teacher got out the plastic toy balls he was able to focus on "tummy floating" (see pic below) to go get the ball (he would throw it, then I'd help him tummy float to it. He seemed to like this a lot. I also handed him a toy watering pot that he loved to fill up. I let him set it on his tummy and then I put his head on my shoulder and tried to get him to float on his back. He actually let me do it a few times! So, I am happy with today's progress. We made it out of the pool and into the car just before the clouds dumped a TON of rain on everyone! Phew!

Swim Class has Begun

No, this is not an actual picture of our class. Since I am in the water with Jase, there is no one to take a real photo of us. This is basically how the class was--one instructor and 4 moms with 4 kids under 3 years old. I am pretty sure Jase was the youngest in the class (lucky me). The teacher started us out having the kids pour water on the moms, then vice versa while sitting on side of the pool. Then we put the kids into the pool with us. Jase wasn't too sure about this idea (I think the floating sensation was weirding him out) so he clung onto me like a scared little monkey man. Eventually he sort of started to have a little fun, but about midway through the class she had us quickly dunk them in the water. After that he sort of went into "get me outta here" mode. Great. It seemed like a lot of the stuff was definitely suited for 2+ year olds (they had them do things like swim using "monster arms," "blow bubbles in the water," and kick on their backs, tummies, etc). Jase doesn't know how to even blow out air, much less what a monster is--nor does he truly know what kicking means. So I figure I'll work with him on that in the tub (wait, that could be a BAD idea). Anyways, the classes are 30 minutes long, 4x/week for 2 weeks. I'm hoping by Thursday he'll be feeling MUCH more comfortable in the water.

The teacher tried having us help them "float" but he was so insecure he wouldn't relax enough so I could help him try it. The only thing he did like was a game she did with little plastic balls. Each kid got one and threw it into the pool. Then they had to either "kick" or "do monster arms" with their mommies to get it. Well of course Jase didn't do those things but he stretched out his arms as I walked toward the ball floating in the water. At least he thought that part was cool! So wish us luck for tomorrow. Tonight I started doing more "water in/on the face" activites in the bathtub (I was looking at tips online). I stuck my face in the water and showed him how to blow bubbles (he did try this but instead of blowing out air he was doing that noise that you make when you vibrate your lips together--at any rate, it worked, sort of, but he inhaled a bit of the tub water at the end of it) and I also let water drip from a wash cloth down his face. He didn't like it, but he didn't cry. I eventually just dumped a cup of water over his head. He cried a little bit and stood up when I did that. Poor baby. Well hopefully it helped him out a bit. I'll keep ya posted!

I'm Going to GET you!!!

These are a few short clips of me either chasing after Jase or trying to jump out and scare him. I love his sweet laugh. It's just the sort of thing that I could listen to over and over. And he LOVES to play this chase/scaring game. He would probably play it all day long if I had the energy to keep it up!

Crazy Jello & Cute Cupcakes

We had a little family get together which inspired me to make these cute cupcakes! I really liked the way they looked (had to post pics)--but I have to admit they weren't that great to eat. I mean, don't get me wrong...I'd eat them. But they weren't amazing. The cake part was a bit dry. I think it was the brand of mix I used. So next time I will correct this horrible cupcake baking sin! :)
I tried the star tip for that chocolate covered one on the left. Hated it. So went back to the round tip for piping on the frosting. Much better, don't ya think?
After living in this state for...let's see...about 13 years now--I decided it was high time I tried to make a true jello creation (hee hee). I saw this one on CAFE ZUPAS and it was so pretty (their pic looks a billion times better than mine. Poo.)! It took a while to make it, but it was a hit! The "locals" loved it! Including the hubbster. So I will eventually make this again. But I had a couple problems. Jello was on sale at Albertson's so most of the colors I wanted were sold out. Of course. The other thing I didn't like was that my green layer was a very weird green color. I think it is because I got impatient waiting for that layer to cool and so when I poured on the jello mixture, it was too hot and started morphing into the layer below it creating a ghastly shade of green. Well nobody else seemed to mind. This picture of the jello would also have been much cuter with a dollop of cool whip on top. Next time!
Layered Jell-O
2 ½ c boiling water (per packet)
4 - 6 oz. packets of various jell-o flavors and colors (raspberry, lime, pineapple, orange, mixed berry)
4 oz. sour cream
4 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
about 8 oz. cool whip

Place 9×13 glass baking dish in refrigerator on level surface for at least 20 minutes or until completely chilled.
Whip the sour cream and cream cheese together until well combined in a large bowl. Add in the cool whip, beating until smooth. Set aside.
In another bowl combine one packet of jell-o with 2 ½ cup boiling water, let it cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Pour about ¾ of the jell-o into the chilled baking dish making sure it covers the entire bottom. Place back in the refrigerator until when you touch it, it is mostly set. With the remaining jell-o, beat in 3 Tablespoons of the cheese/cool whip mixture until smooth. Pour the jell-o/whip mixture on top of the set jell-o layer. Repeat for each flavor of jell-o making sure each layer is set before adding another (about 15 minutes).

Tips:
1. Make sure that each layer is set well enough (it’s pretty much solid to the touch) before adding on a new layer.
2. Don’t forget to let the newly mixed jell-o & boiling water cool before you add the next layer on, if not it will melt the other layers and things will get all kooky with layers between, separated and to the sides of each other.
3. Once you get into the rhythm of making the layers, it’s becomes quite easy. It’s just super time consuming! You’ll be setting one jell-o layer in the fridge, while the next flavor is cooling. If you want to make double the layers, buy 8 – 3oz packets of jello and use only 1 ¼ c water per packet. But truly, that would take a lot more patience! **this recipe is slightly adapted from CafeZupas.com.

The Beach! (a short video)

If you listen closely you can hear Jase jibber-jabbering towards the end of the clip (so cute!). He was doing it a lot but of course I start recording and I can't capture him doing hardly anything! I had to cut the video short bc he got too far away from me--I kept worrying a bit that he'd trip in the sand and fall face-first into the water...but he never did. Oh, did I mention that I've signed him up for a parent/child basic swim class? It's at a local community pool about 30 minutes away from our house. The classes start on Monday! I'll be sure to post about it (though pictures will be tricky since I will be in the pool with him. Hmm...) I am so excited to see how he does!

The Beach!

I took little Jasey a couple blocks down the road to the beach Monday evening. This is the first summer that he's big enough to actually enjoy it. It was cute to see how he reacted to the water swishing up over his feet! But trying to get him to actually look at the CAMERA was impossible! As you can tell, the sand isn't exactly pristine white (shout out to Florida), but it works! The water level is still really high in the reservoir so there was only a few feet of "beach" area. But it was good enough for Jase!He really enjoyed his little sand bucket that I just got for him. He was scoopin' and shovelin' like crazy. He even dug his hands in and started throwing wet sand (which incidentally got all over mommy's legs).
Going in for another big scoop...
He LOVED sitting on this log next to me. However, at one point a boat with a wakeboarder passed by which caused waves. As you can imagine, a few big waves splashed up the back of the log which resulted in Jase screaming and crying. I couldn't help but laugh.
"And now for my next trick, I shall part the Red Sea! Or brown lake. Whichever."

Thankful for my Family & my Life

Well, a few of you have heard already but for those that didn't--we lost the baby Thursday (I was about 9-10 weeks along). I just wanted to do a post to let everyone know I'm okay. It was pretty sad when I realized what was happening, but I kind of knew it wasn't good news. I called and got into an OB on Friday to check everything out and confirm the news. My normal doctor was out of town (of course my luck) but the doctor that saw me was really great about everything. Plus I already "knew" so it wasn't too much of a shock at the doctor's office. Anyways, at that point he said things looked fine and I shouldn't need any procedures done, and to go home but keep an eye open for some warning signs. ***ok this is a warning for the squeamish to stop reading this post now, but this is my way of keeping a record of what happened to me because it really made me appreciate my life and my family****

Besides some moderate stomach cramping and bleeding, I was feeling just fine. We went to lunch, ran some errands, and came home. I rested for a while on the couch, then went to sit outside with Jase to play after his nap. I started feeling a bit more strong cramps (really like contractions) while I was outside sitting down. Roob had gone back to town to get some pizza and was just arriving home (about 6pm) when I stood up to get Jase inside to eat. When I did, gushes of blood & tissue started running down my legs and onto my feet (eek!). At that point, I went inside and stood in the bathtub to assess the situation and try not to panic. After 15 minutes, the hemorrhaging did not let up (and seemed to be getting much worse) so I had to call the doctor after hours on his cell. He seemed to think I'd be ok but told me some things to look for and if those happened than I'd need to go to the ER (friday night, every clinic is closed. lovely). Well I called a few friends who've had miscarriages before to explain what I was going through and when they told me it was nothing like what was happening to me, I started to get more worried. I was in the bathtub about 2 hours when I decided it was ER time. I really had a very panicked moment like I was going to die right there in that tub. Looking down and standing in inches of your own blood and tissue is horrifying. I was worried I would pass out at home from the loss of blood. It was still alternating from dripping very quickly to gushing (it wouldn't even stop long enough for me to get out and get dressed) even after 2 hours of just standing there. Anyways, we somehow got all loaded up in the car, dropped Jase off at the in-laws' house, and off to the ER.

God was with me because I only had to wait about 15 minutes (miracle) before they took me back into a small room and started blood work (almost passed out from that) and an IV. I had the best nurse, too. Somehow we left my phone in the car so I wasn't able to call and let people know what was going on, but at that point it was a lot of just "sit & wait." I was feeling very light-headed and woozy from the loss of blood, so they hooked me up to some fluids via the IV and I started to feel MUCH better (besides the cramping). Roob and I settled in watching some Bruce Willis flick on TV. The ER doc came in and did an exam on me (ugh) and ended up called the OB that saw me earlier on Friday and see what he wanted to do about stopping the bleeding. So more sit & wait time. Finally Roob was able to take a quick run to the car to get my phone. I called my mom and was filling her in when the nurse came back into the room to have me sign consent forms for a D&C procedure (this is done vaginally where they just make sure your uterus is completely cleaned out). I hung up, and all of a sudden I lost control of my body (guess the loss of buckets of blood caught up with me). Though I was still barely conscious, I couldn't move or respond too well. I felt absolutely awful. Crazy how just seconds before I was feeling just fine. I managed to ask the nurse for another bag of fluids (my previous one ran out about 2 hrs earlier) and I heard her tell me she'd go ask for permission to give me one. (yay!) Slowly I started feeling a hair better and was able to talk to Roob who was filling out the papers for me. I did get another fluid bag at that point, and was feeling back to my ol' self in minutes.

Soon enough (about midnight) I was wheeled back to surgery prep. So all in all I guess it was about 6 hours of hemorrhaging until I got the procedure done. Everything in all 3 of the hospital beds I had been in were completely soaked. Me, the blankets, the bottom half of my gowns--even the floors (which were scrubbed)! So disgusting! Anyway, back to the surgery prep room...So the nurses there were adorable! They were so sweet and cute with me. I was surprisingly calm at this point (I am convinced it was due to everyone's prayers--so thank you--because normal Amiee would have been in a panic) knowing they were about to put me under general anesthesia. Next thing ya know it was all over. I woke up clean, dry, and toasty warm under some blankets. Doctors orders said I could go home if I wanted to, or stay the night. I almost stayed because I was so exhausted, but when I realized the nurses would be coming in to monitor me every half and hour, I quickly changed my mind! Ha! So she watched me for a little while and soon I was released and wheel-chaired to the car. I felt some slight nausea due to the anesthesia, but otherwise all the cramping was gone and I could definitely tell the bleeding went from absolutely ridiculous to very light.

I'm not sure why in the last 2 years I feel like I have been in more hospitals, clinics, doctor's offices, and just plain sick with viruses, etc., but I guess all those years of being pretty healthy have come and gone. It's like someone pulled the "Amiee's-turn-to-get-some-new-life-experiences" card. Well I hope that card will be put away for the next phase of my life! I am so done with drama! :) So even though the sadness of losing the baby is still here with me, I am so appreciative of the family that I do have. I love my husband and Jase so much, it hurts. I am so thankful for my life, that I made it through this and it's all over, and that I felt mostly at peace during yesterday's events. It really makes ya take a 2nd look at your blessings. So for all of you who are still reading--don't worry about me! I am feeling much better, taking it easy, and emotionally I am doing fine. I feel like I will get pregnant again down the road here, and all will be great. Thank you for all your thoughts, concern, prayers and love. It truly made a difference!

My First Garden

So I finally got off my keester and decided to plant a mini garden. Even though I have no idea what I'm doing. I've been nurturing the starter plants you see in this wagon for at least a month or so in my house. Man, that was getting old!
Super dooper coolio Reuben built me a square foot gardening box. Isn't it cute? I stained the outside of it just because I could. We filled it with all the fancy stuff that I.F.A. told us we'd need. Got a little more pricey than I expected. Then Roob put plywood down on top of it and we both jumped on it to compact the mixture (this is after we used rakes and shovels to blend about 4 different soils, mulch, etc together in my "box").
After all of that, I wet the dirt and waited a bit, then started digging holes and planting my starter plants. I tried to space them out according to the tags on the plants, but really, I just eyeballed it. So far I have Red, Green, & Yellow Bellpeppers, Strawberries, Zucchini, Bibb Lettuce, Peas, Pole Beans, and a Cucumber plant. Looks like I'll still be able to fit about 3 more plants in there (gotta go buy some more). Yay! Anyways, I really hope they survive! I want them to produce some yummy fruits/veggies so I can understand the glory of growing your own food!

Did Somebody say "Watermelon"???

Aren't these funny? This was his first watermelon and he was eating it like it was crack. We didn't even buy it--this lady at the park offered it to him. Guess we better stock up on watermelon this summer. Roob bought some printable iron-on transfers and we made a t-shirt with one of these pictures for him (Roob) to wear. It's cute!

Such a BOY

I was a little preoccupied in the kitchen when I noticed Jase was being way too quiet. I looked up and saw him staring out the front door at the tractors putting in a new water line across the street. He was so fascinated by it all. Too cute! Glad my camera was close by so I could capture it.

A Little Bun in the Oven

I guess it's real, even if it still doesn't seem like it to me! There's another baby on the way! I had my first doctor appointment yesterday afternoon. I decided that I wanted to try a different doctor this time around. My main reason for this was that a) I didn't looove my previous one, even though she was nice and b) I had to wait about 2-3 hrs for almost EVERY appointment (ridiculous). So I asked around and ended up finding another female M.D. at the same clinic. I really, really liked her! She was quick, professional, down-to-earth, and upbeat. It was such a relief! We got to see our little peanut on an ultrasound and hear the heartbeat. I also got my annual cervix check and they took 4 vials of blood out of my arm. Oh the joys. Anyways, according to what she saw on the U/S and from when I'm thinking we conceived, my tentative due date is....wait for it....December 23rd. Why am I not surprised??? ARGH. This poor baby. I was trying really hard to AVOID having a Dec due date. Guess I failed. Y'all start saving up your money so you can send my baby a birthday present AND a Christmas one--hahaha. My next appt will be in another month, and by then the doc will be able to better tell how far along I am.

Looks like it's my choice whether to have another c-section or not. I voted to do it. There are some risks to birthing the baby the ol' mole fashioned way after a section (uterus rupturing--yikes) SO I'd rather not take those risks. No thank you! So the bonus of another section is that they take the baby at 39 weeks instead of 40. I'm not sure why that is, though. I need to ask. But at any rate, even taking the baby a week earlier still keeps me at Dec. 23rd. We expect everyone to bring Christmas to us in the hosptial, OK? :) Especially Christmas dinner! I'm just giving y'all some good forewarning. Heh heh.

Jase's 18 Month Stats

Isn't that a cute picture? We asked him to show us his teeth! Ha ha ha! He's getting sooo big! Ok here's the stats from his 18-month pediatrician appointment:

Height - 35.24" which is the 98th percentile (wow)
Weight - 29.15 lbs, which is the 85th percentile
Head Circumference - 19.6" which is the 93rd percentile

He didn't need any shots this time (yay) but man, did he cry. He starts crying as soon as you try to set him on the crinkly paper on the exam table. The funny part was after he was done, he was crying and crying, and then the doctor walked out of the room and Jase immediately stopped crying and said "bye." We laughed so hard! Ha ha ha, this kid cracks me up. Of course he had to get a "bye" out real quick. Guess he was happy to see him go!

Chicken Satay

I decided to make this on a whim. I am NOT kidding when I say this is probably one of the best grilled chicken marinades I've ever tasted!!! It knocked my socks off! I also made a peanut dipping sauce for it. I'll post that recipe following this one. (I got the peanut sauce recipe from Kiki. The Chicken Satay recipe is from AllRecipes.com.) Enjoy, my friends!

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice (i used lemon)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (i omitted this)
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed (i used 2 lbs of chicken)

In a mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, curry powder, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Place the chicken breasts in the marinade and refrigerate. Let the chicken marinate at least 2 hours, overnight is best.(mine marinated most of the day).

Preheat a grill to medium heat.Weave the chicken onto skewers (i just put the chunks on the grill), then grill for 5 minutes per side.

Kiki’s Peanut Sauce

3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. vinegar
½ c chicken broth
½ c creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. hot sauce

Mix everything together with a whisk. I had to throw it in the microwave for a few seconds to heat up the peanut butter enough to blend with everything. I served this at room temperature. Serves 4. Really good drizzled over basmati rice, or just use a sauce for dipping your chicken in!

Updating the Living Room

We've been looking for a new sofa off and on for a few months now. It's actually been harder than you'd think! They are either too fancy for our house, too small, or make you sit too upright (my biggest pet peeve). Trying to find a comfortable couch you can just lounge on with a huge base, the right look, the right fabric, and the right color (and that isn't too pricey) is a challenge! Anyways, we finally found a winner. It was delivered today and Jase was cracking me up. He went nuts-o and wouldn't stop loving on all of the throw pillows. He carried these furry ones around for like 20 minutes! HA!
Here's a pic of the loveseat. We bought a loveseat & sofa (instead of a sectional) because of the layout of our living room. We have a bunch of weird things in the room that would make having a sectional really inconvenient. Too bad, bc sectionals are cool. But I don't care. I love my sofa!!!!
So this is the sofa. It's nice and roomy. The throw pillows are pretty big and "fancy." I'm not too sure about the leopard print ones! I like the striped ones, and we have 2 of those fuzzy rectangular ones. The cool thing is since the sofa is a neutral chocolate brown color (it's much darker in person than in the pic), I can always buy other throw pillows at TJMaxx, etc to change it up down the road.
Here's a pic of the sofa without all the distracting throw pillows. It's cute & simple, right? Oh, did I mention the cushions are filled with down? Oh yeah, baby. Movie night at my house!!!

Homemade Hamburger Buns

I have been trying to make homemade bread products every now and then at home. I found this recipe online HERE and they came out great! (from "Confections of a Foodie Bride")
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp sugar
1 packet yeast
¼ cup warm water (105°-115°)
1 cup warm milk (105°-115°)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
3 to 3 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I only needed 3 cups)
1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp cold water
Sesame seeds for topping

In a bowl of an electric mixer, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface and let sit for 10 minutes. If the mixture hasn’t started to get frothy, start over. Add the warm milk, oil, salt and 1 ½ cups of flour to the yeast mixture.

Add an additional cup of flour and then the remaining flour 2 Tbsp at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl (I use a Bosch mixer). This particular dough should be quite slack, i.e. very relaxed in order to make soft and tender buns. So you want to add only enough more flour, past the 3 cup point, to make the dough just kneadable, sprinkling in only enough more to keep it from sticking to you or the work surface.

Knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat the entire ball of dough in oil. Cover with a dampened towel and let rise until doubled, about one hour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Working with oiled hands, divide the dough into 9 equal pieces (a bench scraper and kitchen scale come in handy here). Shape each piece into a ball, and flatten into 3 ½-inch disks. For soft-sided buns, place them on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet a half-inch apart so they will grow together when they rise. For crisper bun, place them three inches apart. Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

15 minutes before you want to bake the buns, preheat the oven to 400°. Just before baking, brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with any desired toppings.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. When the buns are done, remove them from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. This will prevent the crust from becoming soggy.