37 weeks and a Girls' Outing

Friday I hit 37 weeks, so technically today I am 37+ weeks pregnant. Here's a belly shot from Saturday:




If you check out my widget on the sidebar, you may have noticed it jumped several days ahead. That is because although my due date hasn't necessarily changed, my doctor has decided to induce me November 4. Between the baby measuring 92% at the ultrasound and my gestational diabetes, there is just enough concern about him being big to warrant pushing things up a bit. It seemed silly to be counting down past that date knowing I would have the baby before then, so I changed the widget to be a bit more accurate.


We're definitely getting ready for this baby, in fact, if he comes tomorrow we are ready enough. The nursery needs some decorating touches (I'll post pics soon, I promise), and I have a few more clothes to wash, but the important things are all done. Including filling my freezer full of food. My sister and mom came this weekend and we cooked up a storm. I can't thank them enough for all their help!


While Anne was down visiting, we celebrated both her birthday and my mom's by us girls going out for lunch and pedicures. It was such a fun time! We went to the Texas Roadhouse, and then relaxed as our feet were soaked, massaged, and prettied. Anne took this picture of my mom and me:

And here are our beautiful toes:




Then we did a bit of shopping at TaiPan trading, which was also really fun. After cooking all afternoon for the freezer we decided to go out again for dinner. Here we all are at Pasta Factory (except for Jeremiah, who is taking the picture):



What a fun weekend!

Yummy fall food!

Adam made the yummiest dessert this weekend, and it was so fun and interesting, I thought I'd post a link to the recipe to share. Don't be fooled by the amount of time listed to make it, it has to cool for hours, so it takes much more than 15 minutes, but it is soooo worth it.

I love the autumn because pumpkin food is everywhere. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie, but I love pumpkin cookies and pumpkin cakes. And then there's soups . . . I just love soups with rolls or crusty bread or soft breadsticks . . . mmmmmm . . . .

My favorite soup recipe, courtesy of my babyboard friend, Mona:

Baked Potato Soup

6 medium potatoes, baked and diced (or diced and boiled, if you prefer)
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

"toppings"-actually mix-ins-you can add whatever you like (green onions, chives, etc.) but this is what we have:
3-6 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2-1 cup diced ham

In a large pot melt butter and mix in flour until smooth. Add milk, stir well until thick. Add sour cream and cheese, stir until melted, then add potatoes. You can add whatever mix-ins you like or have them separate for each person to add what they like.

My favorite breadstick recipe, courtesty of Ruth Roberts, in my ward (church):

Ruth Roberts' Breadsticks

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine, melted

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Mix in salt and flour. Knead 3 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Melt margarine and pour into a cookie sheet. Roll out dough on floured board to fit cookie sheet. Cut to desired size breadsticks with pizza cutter (breadsticks will raise and expand). Place in cookie sheet and turn to coat with butter. Let raise 15-20 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with seasoning before baking (we like garlic or parmesan, but they are great without, too). Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

What's you're favorite fall food?

Corn Maze

On Monday we went to the corn maze with my mom to celebrate her birthday. The kids had a lot of fun, and we had fun watching them have fun. Here are the highlights:

On the hayride to the maze.

Navigating the maze (which wasn't corn this year, but I have no idea what it was.)

Isaiah coming down the corn slide. I missed the shot of him coming down head first and getting a mouthful of corn--he thought it was the funniest thing (and so did we!).

Queen of the haystack!

To anyone thinking of going the the Staheli Farm, we recommend Monday night (it's only $4 per person to do everything, instead of $7), and wear coats and gloves. We thought it worked great to go about 5 pm; it wasn't as cold, it wasn't too dark for the kids, and the crowds were getting big just as we left. If you're there after dark, though, bring flashlights!

One Month Left

It's another pregnancy milestone: Today I have one month until my estimated delivery date!!

7th Anniversary

Seven years ago today, Adam and I were married in the St. George LDS Temple.

I have been feeling particularly nostalgic this week (I think it's more than doubled by the pregnancy hormones), and have been thinking so much of how blessed I am to have Adam. Of course he is the most handsome, sexy, adorable man, but more than that he is a good man, full of love, patience, loyalty and wit. As we discussed how we would celebrate I told him that it didn't matter to me if we did anything fancy; he makes every day special for me in all the little things he does, be it making the kids breakfast, letting me take a nap, or putting the dishes away. And even though they seem little, they are really huge because he does them all the time. That is one of the (for him) disadvantages of working from home: he is here for everything and can and does try to make my life easier at every turn. And it is one of the greatest blessings in my life right now, to have him here, to be with him all the time, to never miss him. (And I'm especially lucky because I never want to get rid of him, either!)

Today I want to celebrate our marriage, an eternal marriage that we both continually work to make the best relationship in our lives. As partners, lovers, best friends, parents and as individuals, we are continually blessed and I am forever grateful for that.

I love you, Adam!

My Builder Boy

Isaiah's always been really tactile, and he loves to draw and create things. It used to be that he would try to build things out of paper and tape, sometimes cardboard if he could get his hands on any. And our house was always filled with scraps of things taped together and to walls and furniture, all of which would cause a major ruckus if I tried to remove and/0r throw away.

At Christmas we got him K'Nex hoping that would help: he would have something to build with. Unfortunately, we were a few months too early. He loved them, but needed considerable help to create with them. So when he became obsessed with his preschool teacher's Legos, we figured we'd found a new love. We gave him a few sets of Legos for his birthday, and he took right off! He's built houses, towers, cars, people, and his favorite--ships (as in space ships). Then, he started asking about the K'Nex again. I had put them away after he got the Legos because he had lost interest in them, and I didn't want to get them all mixed up with the Legos. But I finally relented and got them back out. My builder boy is in heaven! And he's been creating so many things, with only a bit of help from Dad here and there.

I love that he has something to manipulate and enjoy that doesn't require violent play-fighting, leaving messes of paper scraps, markers, and tape all over my house, and that he can do with or without friends. And I'm envisioning his successful future in architecture . . .

(He even dresses like an artist . . . okay, so those are just mismatched pajamas . . . )

Katie's Birthday Party

Here are the highlights from Katie's Dora party on Saturday:

We started out playing in the toy room (appropriately with the Dora dollhouse!) until everyone arrived. Everyone got Dora party hats, and then we made bracelets like Dora's (they had a flower bead in the middle--Dora's is certain colors, we made ours unique with different colors). If you've ever had little kids make bracelets, you know that can be frustrating for them, as the beads slide off the other end so easily, etc. Here's a tip I got from Shelli: use chenille stems instead of string or wire. It makes it so much easier for them to slide the beads onto something stiff, and the beads stay on!
After that, we went looking for Katie's "stolen" pinata. We had a whole adventure, just like the Dora show, going from "Locked Gate" to "Troll Bridge" and finally to "Cherry Tree." We had a Map, and Aunt Echo helped by playing clips of the songs for Backpack, Map, the Grumpy Old Troll, and Swiper (thank you, Echo!). Partway through we ran into Swiper and played "Pin the Mask on Swiper," which was Katie's least favorite part. She continues to tell me not to have Swiper at her parties anymore because she's afraid of him. I had no idea he was such a "bad guy"!

We ended up at the pinata (Dora from WalMart), and the kids took turns pulling the strings to get the candy. It worked out perfectly because everyone had at least one turn before the candy came crashing out. They used their Backpack goody bags to collect their loot. (Sorry, no pictures of the adventure, we only took video!)

Then the adult family arrived and we had lunch. Katie picked the menu, so it was sandwiches (pb & j for the kids, deli meat and cheese for the adults) and chips and pop. She opened her 3rd Year DVD and we all watched it, and then she opened presents. At our request, she received a lot of small toys; little Princess and Polly Pocket dolls, Littlest Petshop Pets, etc. She also got her own (pink) Legos from us, as she's been asking for them for a while because Isaiah is pretty possessive of his. And now he's possessive of hers, too, unfortunately.

We ended the party with cake and ice cream. It's a tradition in Adam's family to have a train cake for the 3rd birthday, so we had to have a Dora train cake. If I were less pregnant or more creative I might have figured out how to make it into Azul, but this is what we ended up with:

Katie couldn't seem to get the candles to blow out, so Isaiah helped:

Katie said she had a good time, except for the part with Swiper, of course. All in all, it was a fun party.