Merry Christmas!!!

So, how was everyone's Christmas? Ours was nice and relaxing. Oh Wait, you're wanting to know something
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Something really important huh?
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You have been waiting patiently all day for this, and maybe even sending emails to me wanting to know this
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You have waited long enough


It's a GIRL!!!!
Yes, we are very excited. I had been thinking it was a girl for a while and would have been very surprised if it was a boy.
So, here is what happened
On Monday the 22nd we went for the ultrasound, I didn't want to know but Ben was very adament about wanting to know then and not waiting so he has known since Monday and didn't tell anyone or hint either way to me. He said that it was definitly the hardest thing to keep from me since he knew I was leaning more towards a girl. And he really wanted to tell me. He was good though and waited until 7:30 this morning. I woke up, went and got the card adn came back to bed, set it down on the bed and ben rolled over and said "Oh, yeah" So, I opened it, read it, and cried. Her name is Katelynn Marie. My dad's middle name is Lynn and mine is Marie, that is why we chose that spelling. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I will type at you all later.

Anna

That wasn't a gas bubble

So I was sitting with my legs bent up and my laptop was pushed against my stomach and there was a definite thud. I wasn't so sure about it last week then on Monday I was sitting the same way again and I felt two distinct thuds. Then at work today I felt it again. It feels like someone touching you firmly with a finger. I also am feeling the flutters. To me the feel like little bugs running over my belly and it kind of tickles. So that wasn't a gas bubble.

Monday was the ultrasound and everything went great. The baby was moving well and has all the parts in the right places. That was my favorite part, knowing that the baby has a four chamber heart, two ventricles in the brain, two kidney's, a stomach and intestines where they should be and a spine that looks straight. It is so nice. now for the main event that everyone is waiting for, yes the gender was determined and it is sittling nicely in the envelope.


I will be back on Christmas to let you all know too either on the phone or here or on the blog.

Type at you all later.

Anna

Monday can't come soon enough

Since we have found out that I am pregnant I think that these past four weeks have been the longest I have went without seeing our hearing the baby's heartbeat. Yes, the BIG ultrasound is on Monday and finding out the sex is not the most important thing to me. I want to just SEE him or her. I just want to see the heart flutter and the baby do all sorts of twists and turns. Just to see that the baby is okay and growing fine, and I will be one happy lady. (Don't worry, I have the card for the ultrasound tech ready for her to write on, I still have six days until we know what we are having, if the baby cooperates.)

A lot of the ladies at work are asking if I feel the baby, I haven't been able to pinpoint and "Flutters" or "Gas Bubbles" just yet. Sometimes I think I feel something once and want it to repeat so that I can be sure and it never repeats so I am not for sure about it.

Ladies, I need to know the things that you hate about some baby products so I don't register for them thinking they would be wonderful and they aren't. Things that you have owned and had experience with and would never want in your house again. This is what I need to know. On the other hand I want to know the thing(s) that you LOVE, that you also wouldn't live without. I need to start looking for things more seriously at Babies r us and I need direction. Shoot looking at those diaper bags that one day was so overwhelming going through the whole store is going to be a very daunting task.

I am starting to count down the weeks until am on Maternity leave. It is about 17 weeks and I can't wait. I know I will probably be working more then, than I am now but I am going to be off for as long as I am allowed and that is what I am excited about. I hope that you are all doing good. I will talk to you all later. (Work is a little slow right now.)

Anna

Stuff

Things are going very well here. Max and Jesse had their Birthday Party I think they had fun. There was ALOT of squeals of excitement and balloon popping. What else could you expect from three year olds. Sarah did a great job with having things for the kids to do, if they wanted. She also made a Mr. Potato Head for for pin the ear and nose on Mr. Potato Head. There was Lunch, Cupcakes, a try at the Potato game, presents and then Max and Jesse were finished with the party. They wanted to go home. They didn't cry or anything they just stated the fact that they wanted to go home. Here are some pics of the day.

Jess was aiming a little low to blow out the candle so Dad had to help him out a little.


Max blowing out the candles.


The Potato head


Presents

Sunday I made this. I know it might not look the greatest but it is pretty much Meatloaf Meatballs. In the recipe book it is called Porcupine Meatballs, I don't know why, maybe it is a little spiky.

Porcupine Meatballs by Jennifer Dzialonski


3/4 lb Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
1 Cup milk
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
10 3/4 oz cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk

Combine meat, 1 cup milk, rice, onion, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Shape with an ice cream scoop and place in slow cooker. Mix soup and 1/2 cup milk. pour over meat balls. Cover cook on low for 5 hours.

My notes: Make some separate gravy if you like it more saucy. I like how you don't have to cook anything before cooking. We made baked potatoes for a side dish.

It has been a few weeks so I had Ben take another pic of me.


I think the camera added ten lbs. I really don't think I look that big. I am 17 weeks here.

In shopping news, everyone here knows I am tall, right? It has been horrendously difficult to find pants that are long enough. I don't want to buy pants that I am not going to wear. I think I have tried on every pair that Destination Maternity has to offer, I am not about to spend $200 on a pair of jeans either. After weeks of looking in stores and on the internet, I remembered ebay. I checked them out and found some pants. I am so freaking happy. Having one pair of jeans was not so cool. Sarah and beth may be sick of seeing me in them already and I still have months to go. I was also able to find myself a new christmas scrub top for work in a store today so it is being dried as we speak so I can wear it tomorrow. I will talk to you all later.

Anna

P.S. 10 more days till we find out. WOO-HOO!!

"One of those people..."

...as Becca called it. I have decided that I was to have some organization to my recipes that I like and so you shall be seeing some of my favorite recipes as I find them. I say find them because I make something that Ben and I like and then the next time I want to make it I can't find it. I can't remember if it is in the Betty Crocker, the magazine, or the brown book and the list goes on. I think that I have made four different types of Sloppy Joes and whenever I make sloppy joes Ben always asks which one it is that I made. This is why I am going to be "one of those people" and post my recipes here and so hopefully I will be able to find them!! As I make them I will try and take a pic and post the finished product, don't you hate making something and you have no Idea what it is supposed to look like in the end, and then when I make something it NEVER turns out like the book picture. So, here are my recipes with pictures from a real kitchen. Oh and my favorite, when you go out to eat and the plate NEVER looks like the pic on the menu. Then one we get is usually limp and ugly looking. Anyways...

To start this off I have my favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe. We would always make these as kids and I LOVE them. They are a thicker type of cookie, meaning you need something to wash it down with.

Kiss Thumbprints


1 cup sugar
2 cups butter softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
42 chocolate kisses

In large bowl, beat sugar, margarine, vanilla and eggs until light and fluffy. Add flour and baking powder, stir until mixture forms a smooth dough. Refrigerate dough 30 minutes. Shape dough into 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. With thumb, make imprint in center of each cookie. Bake at 350 for 11 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned around edge and set. Place chocolate kiss candy in center of each cookie. Immediately remove from cookie sheet; cool completely. 3 1/2dozen.

My notes:
You want to put the kiss on the cookie when it is warm so it melts a little and sticks to the cookie. I also like to put them in the freezer and eat them cold.

In other news and events I am heading off to Max and Jesse's Birthday Party and will report on that later. We also have less than two weeks until we find out what we are having. So far this pregnancy thing has been going by very nicely, time wise. I am not looking forward to the last four weeks though when I am off of work and just waiting for the kid to get here. Hey, did you know that most babies in the world are born happy and healthy? I guess working in a NICU gives me such a warped view point. I always have to remind myself that the population I see is very small in the whole scheme of live births. It is getting more and more exciting though, five months and this little one will be here.

I also ordered a diaper bag off of the internet without seeing it and regret it. I had to take it back to babies r us. is was about the size of the one you get from the hospital, which is useable and nice but I was hoping for something bigger, I had been looking at it and it was on sale so that is why I got it. So I had a 20% off coupon from babies r us that was only good that night so I had to find something to buy and I was a little rushed and couldn't find another diaper bag that I liked to I had to hunt for something else. We got the bumbo.


When Becca was here in June with the Family she brough that for Lily and she loved it and so did Ben. Ben decided that he would want theat for himself if then made it. So, after looking in the store for twenty minutes we finally stumbled on this and left. And yes we got it in Bright Green too.

I will be leaving you now but will leave with a LO. I have started getting back into scrapbooking again. I took a break during the frist trimester when it really didn't sound fun to do then. Talk to you all later.



Anna

Updates

I have been away for so long, but posting, but not all that I want to post. So, I am here now to update the past week of events.

A couple Sundays ago we had Thanksgiving with Ben's family. We were walking up to the door and I could smell BBQ, I thought hum, maybe that is the neighbor. Nope. The turkey got burned, singed, blackened, however you want to call it, pork chops were being cooked so there would be meat for the meal. Some turkey was salvaged and was somkey but good. Other than that it was a wonderful meal and we played spoons after dinner. How did the Pumpkin pie turn out you ask? Wonderfully. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I thought that there was a little too much nutmeg but other than that it will be made again. And what do we have? Pictures of course.





Then came Tuesday I had another appointment. This was with the Nurse Practioner. I will be with her until probably the due date. Everything is just fine. Ben was there and was able to hear the heartbeat for the first time. At the office he jokingly asked if she was sure it was the heart beat and not another radio freguency. Later, when I asked him about it he thought that it was cool. It is definitly cool to hear it. I had to ask about the chance for miscarriage now and she said it was very minimal, which I knew but still had to ask. Now I am just waiting to feel it move. Second timers can feel it now, first timers more likely at 18 or 20 weeks. The second ultrasound appointment has also been made for the 22nd but we won't find out what it is until Christmas day. That will be a Christmas present to us.

Wednesday we had Thanksgiving with my family at our house. We had a good time. The food was good and the company was good. The stuffing that I made was gross, I didn't like it at all. I didn't want to do stove top but if I do stuffing again I might do Mrs Cubbisons with something added. I won't worry about it though and of course here is a couple of pics from that day.





We already know that I worked and was sick on Thursday and Friday. Friday night I picked up the Girls and we spent the rest of the weekend with them. Saturday I tried to lay low but we did head into town and check out the deals. We got ourselves a recliner. That is probably the biggest single purchase that I wanted to make before the baby came. I knew I wanted to be comfortable and for it to last a long time and the Fresno store was closing so we were able to get a good deal. It will be here in about 2-4 weeks which will be perfect.

I have had to do some shopping for the baby this week as alot of things have been on sale like the swing and diaper bag that I wanted. Then with the day after Christmas sales hopefully I will be able to get some other things I want.

Back to the girls. We had a great time with them and they LOVE our dogs, and I am sure the feeling is mutual. I don't think they have gotten this much exercise in a long time. They were probably asleep all Monday since the girls tuckered them out so much. We also got our Christmas tree and they helped us decorate it. It looks so nice. I am very happy with it this year. Of course the pics.




The pic with Brynne is hilarious because she was tring to tell Bruno to drop the ball but since she is so small and has such a small voice he is totally ignoring her. She went out there by herself and immediatley had to run around the track because they were wanting to play and sniff and lick her and she didn't quite want that. We all had fun.

Yesterday we put up the lights outside and hopefully we will take some pictures today so I can get the cards ready and shipped tomorrow. I finished the Calendar for my family and I love how it turned out this year. And of course I will show you.













I think that this is about it. I hope you enjoyed this week in review. Type at you all later.

Anna

Red Alien from Chicken Little

So, I have a moment to explain this alien thing. All it is, is that Ben absolutely LOVES this guy and thinks he is the absolute coolest. Even before I got pregnant he would always joke that having a boy or girl would be nice but it we had the red alien from Chicken Little it would be awesome. So, there you have it. It was Ben that made me do it. Now, I want to know who voted for it?!!?! Here's a picture in case you haven't seen this Alien before. He is defintley cuter in the movie.



In the end I guess he might be orange. Oh, well. It's the baby alien in the movie. Talk to you guys later.

Anna

P.S. Please leave a comment to let me know what you voted for just for kicks.