signed, sealed, delivered

We hope you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Baby B Week 21

Yeah, I didn't really get around to making a picture last week because I was so sick. I think I had a little of everything...although the throwing up is normal and it was not any more than I usually do, so I think that one was little buddy!

Christmas was AWESOME this year. Katy seriously made Christmas so great. I thought it was fun last year, but it fails in comparison to this year. Santa always left our stockings by our bedroom door so he does that for Katy too. She woke up at 5:00 am asking if it was time to get up. I got her to go back to bed but she was up again at 6:00. It didn't matter because she was SO excited about her stocking. Everything she pulled out of that puppy was the BEST present in the world. She was even elated about the orange and apple :). Then we really had a laugh when she was completely satisfied with her stocking and was shocked when we told her that Santa had probably left some presents down the stairs.

More on that later....

Little buddy is on the move. He is going crazy most of the time but especially at night. That, I'm convinced, comes from Steve. I am starting to feel like I'm big. I'm having trouble getting up into the truck and have joked that Steve is going to have to get me a step stool before long. We defiantly have ideas for names but nothing is set in stone yet. Hopefully we can narrow this down coming up. Ahhh...naming someone is quite the task!

Last thing worth noting is the fact that Katy is loving talking to the baby. She is always singing little brother songs and telling her what she is doing. She always tries to "hear" what he is telling her. I told her the other day that he kicked her in the head (because he was kicking around when she had her head on there), she thought that was hilarious and has since asked him nicely to not kick her head when she is listening in!

I'm still a bit shocked that we are having a boy. I think my friend Tyanna said it best for me (her daughter is Katy's age and she has the cutest little guy around)...

Congrats Amy!! I remember feeling pretty certain I was having a girl and when the Ultrasound tech said it was a boy, I felt perplexed the whole day...I mean I was excited, of course, but all I knew was GIRL and I knew I could do a girl...but, a boy? All I can say is I am SOOOOOO glad I have a little boy. Boys are fun and sweet in such special and different ways. Its nice to still be able to do the cute-girly things with Sen and its especially nice to NOT have to do Dutch's hair :) So happy for you guys! Katy will love it!

That not doing hair part is pretty great sounding to me! Hey by the time he get's here I may finally have a handle on Katy's hair (probably not).

See ya later this week!

Baby B Week 19

Well you are officially a boy! I am not too surprised, although we did think you were going to be a girl. I guess most of the old wives tales were right. It's weird to think we will have a little buddy around here soon. Steve was excited for sure. I am excited and think it will be perfect to have one of each, but I am SO in girl mode right now. Steve keeps telling me that I need to make sure I am not going to decorate this nursery girly. It needs to be manly! I have to get approval on nursery items, per Steve!

Katy has been so funny this pregnancy. At first she was convinced she was having a brother. Then a sister. This past week it's been a boy again, and yet she cried when the ultra sound tech said we were having a boy! We have her on video saying that she is sad because she loves girls more than she loves boys. She was making us laugh, she kept saying that the baby was all slimey and we were going to have to give the baby a bath. She is excited to meet him though and said that she will be a great big sister.

I got a call last Thursday requesting me to go in for another look at his kidneys. They were concerned that he had a cyst on one of them. After I went on Monday they told me that there is no cyst but that one of his kidneys has an extra tube draining to his bladder (normal kidneys only have one tube draining into the bladder). This could mean a number of things, so they are going to keep an eye on it. I have several more ultra sounds scheduled, another one in 6 weeks. As far as they can tell at least the one kidney is functioning completely normally because my amnionic fluid is at a normal level. The one in question may be functioning normally as well. They say only time will tell. Worse case scenario is that he will have to have surgery. We are hopeful that things will work out just fine, and feel incredibly blessed to live in a time of modern medicine. I feel like little buddy is in great hands!

We really can't wait to meet him!

baby B Week 18

I thought it'd be fun this week to put the old wives tales to the test. I am basing my information off what I found here.

1. This one you can do just by looking south: if you're carrying high, break out the pink. If your bump is low you're carrying a boy.

-NOT SURE ABOUT THIS ONE, IT'S JUST THERE!

2. According to legend, 140+ beats per minute indicates a girl, and below 140 a boy.

- Boy. My doctor couldn't even find a heart beat the first few appointments, which freaked me out!

3. Craving ice cream every single day? Some people believe this means it's a girl. If you have to have salty or sour stuff, then it's a boy.

- Boy. Give me nachos and chips all day, and put some french fries on the side! Ha. When I was pregnant with Katy all I wanted was lemon aid and oranges!

4. Lefend has it that the Mayans determined a baby's sex by looking at the mothers age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it's a girl. If one's even and one's odd, it's a boy.

- Boy. I am 28 years old and it's 2011.

5. Chinese Birth Chart. This ancient method uses your age at conception and the month you did the deed to determine gender.

- Boy. Found here.

6. The ring test. Pop off your wedding ring and tie it to a string. Hang it over your belly. If it swings in a circle, a little guy's in your future. If it goes back and forth, you've got a girl.

- Girl, according to this one. My friend Holly is convinced that back and forth is a boy, so that would win this one too!

7. Sick as a dog during the first trimester? Signs indicate you're having a girl. Little or no morning sickness points to a boy.

- Girl on this one. I have been sicker than a dog for sure this go around. I was not sick one day with Katy.

It sure will be fun to find out...but like I said above: whatever you are, you are exactly what we wanted!

So what do you think???

Belly Baking and Cookie Exchange

My sweet friend and neighbor Angela had a cookie exchange party. I, of course, was ecstatic to go because cookies and me = good times! It didn't take me long to find yummy holiday cookies on my guilty pleasure pinterest. I found some cute holiday pinwheels found here.

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 c flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

1 c butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 t peppermint extract

food coloring

3 T milk

powdered sugar, for rolling out dough.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. I am impatient, as I have stated before, so I just popped my butter in the microwave. It's probably a bit past "softened" but hey it works!

Add egg, vanilla, milk and beat until incorporated.

***Katy and I made two batches. She helped with my first (experimental) batch. When I was reading the instructions found on the website it did not mention adding the peppermint extract so the first batch did not have that included. In my second batch I only added a 1/2 t. It was a good flavor in the cookies but I liked the ones I made without the extract...so it's your call :)

***Have recipe handy if you have questions!

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder.

Gradually add the flour mixture until combined.

Remove half the mixture from the bowl and add the food coloring to half. Even though it was noted to use the gel color I used my runny red....it was not very red and I ended up running out. Luckily I had some pink from a cake for Katy a while ago I used. It worked much better.

On a sheet of wax paper roll out each piece of dough, about a 1/4 inch thick. Carefully slide the red dough on top. I ended up just flipping over my wax paper with the red on top.

Roll dough into a log, creating a swirling effect.

This was the hard part for us. My dough was so soft that when I went to pick up my log it stretched WAY out. When I made my second batch I actually made two logs with half of each of the dough. It was much easier to handle that way.

After you have you log, roll in sprinkles.

Put in the fridge and let chill for 2 hours.

Again with the impatience. It was probably only an hour for me, but it worked fine.

Pre heat the over to 375 degrees F. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how thick you cut your cookies.

The party was SUCH a blast! Angela had us play some really fun games. We all played christmas charades. There was a tie so we all picked a number between 1 and 20. Lucky number 7 won me some super cute cookie cutters.

When we were done with the games she had cute boxes made up for each of us with our names. We then had to go around and vote for our favorite cookies. There was a most unique, prettiest and best tasting (voted on by her husband). After we voted we gathered cookies to take home in our boxes. She had yummy food to much on. Then she announced the winners. I think I was the winner of prettiest cookie, so I got another prize of an oven mitt and some kitchen necessities! Whoo who0!

I wish I had brought my camera with me because Angela did such a GREAT job of decorating for the party, plus her house is decorated so cute. Yup, she is going to need to come to my house and help me out!

What a great way to start the season of treats. Hopefully I can pace myself with these delicious goodies!

Miss Reindeer

Katy is really pulling out all the stops this year. Her imagination is going WILD with everything swirling around in her pretty little head.

And I feel like since Halloween her ideas have really been kicked into high gear, so it's no surprise that she is just as hilarious when it comes to Christmas.

"cheese face"

I am of the belief that it's good to talk about things and events coming up, so you know what to expect. We have been talking a lot about Santa Clause. We talked about how he brings you presents, but you have to been on the nice list and not his naughty list. When we were done with our Santa talk I told her it would probably be a good idea to write him a letter so he would know what to bring. She stopped me and asked "mom, can we just tell Minnie Mouse what I want for Christmas?", ha that threw me totally off and made me laugh.

"Katy Minnie Mouse doesn't bring us our presents so we have to write Santa"

"But I don't like him"

"We are just going to write him a letter, you don't have to see him"

"Oh, will you take my letter to him?"

"Well, when we write a letter we just put it in the mail box"

"So I don't have to see him?"

"Nope, that is the postman's job"

"Oh, ok"

Also is it rude I am trying with all my might to sway her opinion about the Dora kitchen? That is not something Santa will be bringing (aside from my aversion to Dora and the fact that it's like 80 bucks!), I think Santa is pretty much done. Hopefully I can sway her the way that Santa might already be taking!

We'll have to see if Katy warms up to the idea of Santa yet!

Gobble Gobble

The stuffing has landed, the stuffing has landed...for me at least. That is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving! Something of which I volunteered to make. I also decided to go ahead and volunteer for our famous 10 layer jello. Remember last time we were at moms I did the jello and it did not turn out so well! Ha, Steve kept telling me "PATIENTS", but that is something I have a hard time with some times. Instead of letting each layer chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes, I went ahead and popped it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Ha, worked like a charm!

I also cooked the Turkey (!), not really....

But I did make this guy. We are the lucky owners of an awesome popcorn machine that was given to us that we decided to use. Yup, filled with yummy movie popcorn! Also note worthy is Britney's super cute place setting turkey's just there at the bottom of the picture! Aren't we so crafty!

Other fun crafts we did included turkey faces...

Katie you are looking good!

And turkey apples. I LOVE Thanksgiving so much. I love spending time with my family. I also have so much to be grateful for...Steve is the most amazing person I know, and I am lucky enough to call him my husband, Katy is the bomb digity and we have so much fun teaching her and learning with her every day, I have my health, we have everything we need, and we are grateful for our new little baby! I LOVE SO MUCH, we are so blessed!

Britney made the cutest "gratitude rolls" she asked us all to email her things were are grateful for. Every time you opened one up you had to read your message. Mom opened hers first it said, "I am grateful for my two new grandkids due in 2012". We all laughed, because mom was not sure what was going on! We are all so happy for the Barkers, after all they do make super cute babies! Congrats, thanks for sharing your news in such a FUN way. We are so excited. Thank you to my mom for having us all over, and for being such a wonderful mom! We love you!

Hope your Thanksgiving was great!