The Kauffman Family

12 Days of Goodies

2011-11-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Jenna is having a fun feature called the 12 Days of Goodies to get some good ideas for Christmas goodies. I'm being featured over there today with my grandma's recipe for Australian Almond Triangles. Head on over to check it out!

Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

2011-09-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

In all of Eric's spare time (ha!) he's been working on refinishing our kitchen cabinets. I LOVE how they turned out. It was a lot of work for him but he did a great job. He added beadboard to the panels and a piece of trim to finish it, and added crown moulding. Let me remind you of the lovely before:

And here they are now!

There is beadboard on all the doors but it was hard to get a good picture. Oh and out my window you can see the neighbor's beautiful new house color! :) We still need to fix a cabinet door and add two more handles but other than that they are done. One day we will get new countertops and backsplash and new appliances but I love the kitchen a million times more now! Thanks to my wonderful hubby for working so hard on them!

Oregon State Fair!

2011-09-02T19:41:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we took Alivia to the state fair for the first time! Eric and I have gone every year since we've been married so I was excited to continue the tradition with Alivia. It turned a little cold (in the 60s) so we bundled up. Didn't really feel like summer but it was nice that it wasn't blazing hot. Please ignore the cheese in her mouth.

Me and my sweet girl. Yes, the poor thing didn't have any shoes on.

No smiles for daddy ha!

Then Eric and I went on the slingshot. He's been trying for the last five years to get me to go on and this was his lucky year. It was fun but not worth the $60.

Alivia LOVED the petting zoo. The goats were obviously used to getting treats because they would just swarm you as soon as you walked in. Alivia is so used to having the dogs in her face that it didn't bother her at all. This lovely goat tried to eat her sweatshirt and she just pet it.

We had such a fun time and already can't wait for next year!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

2011-08-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up with the sweet Kelly for crockpotalooza!

I made this the other night for dinner and it was so good and easy. Even my almost one year old gobbled it down. Anything that she loves is a keeper in my book! This recipe is adapted from Crockpot 365.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves, pounded thin (I used three large Costco sized pieces and sliced them lengthwise)
Enough slices of ham for each piece of chicken
Sliced swiss cheese

For the sauce (I doubled because we like a lot of sauce):

--1 T butter
--3 T flour (I used brown rice flour)
--1/2 cup whole milk
--1/2 cup chicken broth
--1/4 t salt
--1/4 t black pepper

Spray crockpot with cooking spray or olive oil.

Pound chicken breasts flat (or slice lengthwise like I did).

Put a slice of the ham and a slice of the swiss cheese on each piece of chicken breast and roll it up. Put it into the crockpot, seam side down. Continue with the other pieces.

To make the sauce, create a roux with the butter and flour and whisk in the milk, broth and spices. Then pour on top of the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. My crockpot gets pretty hot and I put it in at noon on high and it was completely cooked by 5. It was super moist and came apart really easy so it was perfect for a small child to eat.

Enjoy!

Silly Doglet

2011-08-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

This picture just makes me laugh. Check Zoey out in the background ha!!

Tired, Tired, Tired

2011-08-24T19:27:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness the last few weeks have been crazy. Eric has been gone two weekends for work, Alivia is getting a molar, and I'm working on weaning her. Lets just say that I'm dead tired by the end of the day. Poor thing is just not herself. But we did get a few smiles out of her!

She's become quite the climber and I turned around this morning to find this.

She looks so pleased with herself. I love this picture.

Alivia's other favorite thing lately is to use Zoey as her pillow. She just lounges on her. Zoey loves it because she thinks she's being pet ha!

Sorry for the blurry pictures, our camera battery is dead so I have just been using my iphone lately.

Hopefully life slows down a bit in the next few weeks. I'm really looking forward to having her weaned so that Eric and I can go away for the night. It's been tough because she doesn't take a bottle so I've never been able to leave for more than 3 hours. But I'm so thankful I was able to meet my goal of nursing her until she was one. Well, I have two weeks left until then but I highly doubt she'll be fully weaned before that.

I think the rest of tonight will be spent catching up on some TV :)

Saturday Morning Scene

2011-08-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up with Katie today for Saturday Morning Scene!

I have been absolutely loving my new life planner! It's been so great and I actually feel like I accomplish things throughout my day now.

I'm also fueling up on coffee this morning. The hubs is working so I'm needing all the energy I can get to entertain my very active and easily bored 11 month old.

Blueberry Picking and Grandma and Grandpa's House

2011-08-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Eric had to work today so Alivia and I decided to head down south to visit my parents. I was soooo ready to get out of the house. I've been wanting blueberries so we headed to the blueberry farm to pick some. This is about the worst picture ever (I swear I don't have a roll like it looks like) but it's the only one I have with Livy Lou.

I thought she might like to stroll but that didn't last long before she wanted out.

And no that is not a blanket - it's a thin fabric that is in place of sunscreen. I love it.

I love this picture of Alivia enjoying some blueberries and just smiling at my dad.

After lunch mom and I took Alivia for a walk to check out some garage sales.

Oh how my mother makes me laugh. This bench was just at a random cross walk so of course she had to try it out. We totally have the same weird humor - poor Alivia doesn't stand a chance of being normal.

And then to finish out the day Alivia enjoyed splashing in a little water.

It was so nice to spend the day with my family!

Crazy Days of Summer

2011-08-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

Whew the last few weeks have been killer. First Alivia was getting her 8th tooth, then she got sick, then we went camping and now she's going through a growth spurt and is eating like crazy. Add in to the fact that I'm trying to wean her and it's just been very tiring. Not to mention she's into absolutely everything. Things like laundry (too bad she can't help me with it yet ha!) -

And the flowers (she crawled over rocks and stood in them on her bare feet ouch) -

She picked a whole lot of petals off after this picture.

Thankfully we've been getting more smiles in the last few days. As long as I keep her well fed that is. If she's hungry, watch out. I've never heard such a loud scream in all my life.

She might be exhausting but I wouldn't trade her for anything! I'm trying to enjoy these days of summer when we can be outside before the rainy winter comes along.

Anyone have any ideas to help the weaning along? She doesn't take a bottle but she's doing really well with a sippy cup. I'd love any suggestions!

Alivia's 1st Camping Trip AKA Alivia's Last Camping Trip

2011-08-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we attempted to go camping for the first time with Alivia. Let me start off by saying that for the last few months she has finally been sleeping really well at night, but ever since last weekend she's decided to wake up at exactly 2 am screaming and throwing a fit. Basically, she just gets super mad and wants me to nurse her. Sorry sweets but we aren't starting that again. So we've had to just let leave her in her bed or else it is way worse when I go in there. Anyway, so you can see where this is going. Camping + screaming child for the whole world to hear = not so good. I really just wanted to go up for the day but it was Eric's birthday weekend so he won.

The day started out pretty good but the problem was that the drive over ended up being almost four hours by the time we dropped off the dogs at my friend's house. Lets just say that four hours is about three hours to long for Alivia to be in the car. So we had a lot of this:

We decided to stop at Cascadia and get out for a bit and hopefully calm the little turkey down. It's really pretty up there and she loved being outside. Ahh finally a smile.

Well, hello there.

We did finally make it but the night did not go well. She woke up several times screaming and ended up having to sleep with us.

Eric's mom and her boyfriend have a really nice motor home so we spent some time in there Saturday morning letting the kids crawl around and play.

She wasn't too sure of the water and first but she did end up loving it later on.

The best part of Saturday was when Eric's mom kept Alivia for a few hours and we got to go riding on the quad up to the top of a hill that had the best view.

We ended up going home Saturday night instead of torturing ourselves another night. There's no way I'm camping again this year but hopefully next year will be better. I have to admit this made me nervous for our vacation in November. I guess I need to start praying for a good sleeper now!

What a Week

2011-07-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

My goodness it has been quite the weekend/week. Alivia was sick the whole weekend with a 102 fever and then it just suddenly went away Sunday night. I was so happy that she seemed to be getting better but she still wasn't herself so I took her in to the doctor yesterday. Looks like it's just a summer virus. She has been the fussiest/clingiest EVER. He said that adults who are getting this say that it gives them a pounding headache. Poor girl. It didn't help that Eric went out of town so we were on our own. Plus I'm trying to get ready for camping this weekend. Ugh! But today was much better and my mom came up to help and play with Alivia.

Eric and Mandy's birthdays are this weekend camping so I made some chocolate peanut butter cupcakes to take. I made an exception to our no processed food for their birthdays. I mean come on, you have to live a little. They look so yummy. They have a peanut butter filling inside that reminds me of a peanut butter ball without the chocolate coating. I might have died and went to heaven.

Then this little miss got into the dogs' water bowl and just went to town splashing. Uh gross but it kept her entertained while I finished dinner.

So I filled up a bowl with some toys and took her outside. Who knew tupperware and water could be so much fun!

I think the water felt good at first but when she was done, she was DONE. I will say this. I have so much admiration for single moms. I honestly don't know how they do it. I'm so exhausted when Eric has to go out of town for one night. I'm very thankful for a husband who is so hands on and works so hard to support his family!

Saturday Morning Scene

2011-07-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday so that means linking up with Katie for Saturday Morning Scene!

The poor miss has come down with her first bug. She's been fighting a fever and you know she doesn't feel good when she is cuddly and lays around watching baby einstein. I've never seen her be so content to just be still before. So hopefully with lots of love and rest today she will be feeling better!

Blog Makeover

2011-07-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

The wonderful Erin at Designer Blogs just installed my new blog design. I love it!

Shaved Puppies and Kitchen

2011-07-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

The dogs finally got their summer shave. I think they are SO cute when they are shaved. Here's Zoey:

And here's the piece of work Sadie with Alivia looking on:

Those dogs have so much hair. I usually need to sweep, vacuum and vacuum the whole house every day to make it feel clean. Hopefully the shaving will help that some. I just love how they look like puppies again when they are shaved.

The other exciting thing that's happening is that Eric is redoing our kitchen cabinets! This is how it looked when we moved in over three years ago.

The only thing we've done so far is paint the walls and trim. Kitchens are just so much work and are so expensive so it's been on the back burner. Hopefully soon we can get the backsplash and new countertops done. Anything will be an improvement from this.

Bye bye, wheat...again.

2011-07-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, for the last several months I have cut out wheat (among other things) to help Alivia's acid relflux. Her refux has been gone for a few months now so I thought I could probably let her have some whole wheat bread. So on Saturday I gave her some delicious bread from Great Harvest. She LOVED it. Well, I think she has some sort of intolerance to it after all. It was so heartbreaking. Last night and again today she has had absolutely terrible stomach cramps (at least that's what it seems like) and just screamed and screamed in pain. It was awful. Even with her acid reflux she's never acted like this. She's sleeping peacefully now so hopefully since I'm not giving it to her anymore she'll just go back to normal. My poor babe :( Good thing I have a lot of months under my belt of no wheat!

Homemade Tortillas

2011-07-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made tortillas for the first time. Since we are on a real food only challenge I've had to start making pretty much everything from scratch. I didn't buy much processed food to begin with but suddenly when you can't eat anything processed you realize that you do rely on the convenience items like bread. So anyway, I wanted to make fajitas tonight so I made these whole wheat tortillas.

They are definitely not the most beautiful but they were delicious! It made a dozen so I just froze the rest with a piece of wax paper in between each tortilla and then in a gallon size zip lock. They were a little time consuming but I'll definitely make them again. Healthier and cheaper!

10 Months Old!

2011-07-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

My little Livy Lou is 10 months old today! How is it possible she is now in double digits??

8 1/2 months was a miracle time for us. All of a sudden she started crawling, her acid reflux disappeared (THANK YOU LORD), and we were finally able to do some sleep training. Up until then because of her acid reflux she just did not sleep. And I seriously mean that she would wake up every 1-2 hours crying and I would have to pick her up, give her some colic calm, and hold her until she went back to sleep. And this was all with her sleeping with us. I swore I would never do that but when you get almost zero sleep you do what you have to do. At it's worst she wouldn't even take naps or go to bed at night without me sleeping with her. Let me tell you, I was getting seriously sick of going to bed at 7 pm. Anyway, all that to say, you can see that it is a true miracle that she is now sleeping like a champ! I am able to put her down awake and she usually sleeps until 6ish and wakes up to eat. Sometimes if we're lucky she'll go back to bed until 7-7:30. Some other things that Alivia has been doing this month are:

She is getting her 8th tooth. We're hoping for a good break before her molars start to come in.

Pulling herself up like a champ and cruising on the furniture.

{Showing off some toofers while climbing up the couch}

Loves her some Baby Einstein - thank goodness because otherwise I don't know how I could get ready in the morning!

Eats all table food - she loves eggs (yolks only) and peaches for breakfast. Sometimes she shares my oatmeal with me. She also loves all meat and pretty much everything actually. The only thing she didn't like was banana but she seems to like it now.

{Enjoying some eggs for breakfast}

She got her first taste of bread and let me tell you, she is just like her mother and loves her carbs.

Waves on command to either hi or bye. She also loves to wave at random people in the store. Also, if anyone makes any sort of eye contact with her she thinks they want to be her best friend and gives them the hugest smile ever.

She LOVES sunglasses or glasses. She tries to swipe them and she's so quick about it.

{Trying on daddy's glasses}

It sounds like she's starting to try and say dog. I'm sure it's because she hears me yelling at our dogs all day long!

She also loves to chase and annoy the dogs. She has also recently started to try and feed them from her high chair. Lovely.

{Chasing after Zoey}

We love you baby girl! You make our life so much better and you are just so fun. We can't imagine life without you!

Saturday Morning Scene

2011-07-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

It's time for another Saturday Morning Scene. Yes, I'm a bit late today. But the picture was taken this morning when we went to the Saturday Farmer's Market. Alivia was trying to get her daddy's sunglasses while he was taking the picture (sorry it's so dark). Pictures are getting harder and harder to take with the little miss!

Pool Time FAIL

2011-07-06T19:16:00.001-07:00

We've finally been getting some hot weather around here so I thought it would be fun to get out Alivia's little pool. She's always liked the bath so I thought for sure she'd like sitting in the pool water. It started out good. She was having fun climbing all over me trying to get the camera while daddy was blowing up the pool.
Then it was time to get in the water. And this was the best picture I could get ha!

She freaked out before her feet even touched the water??? I don't know if the pool scared her or what. She's been a little cranky lately because she's getting another tooth so maybe that's what the deal was. I love how Sadie is looking on just dying to jump in the water. I guess we'll try again in a few days and she if she likes it any better.

Just Because She's Cute

2011-07-05T19:12:00.001-07:00

1st Trip to the River

2011-07-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

We took Alivia to the river for the first time on Saturday. Oh my, she hated the cold water. We only put her feet in but you'd have thought she was dying. It was pretty funny, bless her heart.

The dogs live to go to the water. They could go fetch and swim for hours if we'd let them. It's great because it tires them out for days.

This was Zoey's other favorite thing to do. She'd get in the water and be soaking wet and then roll in the dust. Nice.
Hopefully we can go more often now that the weather is finally warm!

Playing at the Park and Other Randomness

2011-07-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

This last week has been craaazy. It wasn't the best week but we did have some fun moments. We took Alivia to the park for the first time. Here's her first time going down the slide. Please ignore her outfit, her daddy dressed her.

Sadie tried to walk on the play equipment. She wasn't a real fan of the grates ha!

Zoey showing off with her one trick that she can do -- jump really high to get the ball.

And then yesterday I tried to make our ugly back fence look a little prettier with some hanging baskets. They are really pretty in person. We're trying to get the backyard all spruced up for Livy's 1st birthday party. How is it possible that I'm already planning her first birthday???

As you can see, our dogs are wrestling and trying to destroy our grass.

Then we headed down to my parents house for a few hours while Eric went to the shooting range. Alivia decided to attack Cameron's face. It was quite amusing.

The best part was later when we were watching the pictures on the TV, she was laughing at herself. Too funny. She's also mastered waving and she now waves at random strangers. She's much friendlier than her mom.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Saturday Morning Scene

2011-07-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up with the lovely Katie this morning.

Watching some baby einstein (seriously the dumbest movies ever) while eating breakfast. Eric had to work today so I knew this would be the only way I could get ready. Mother of the year right here.

Father's Day

2011-06-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day today we decided to head down to my parents to go to church with them and then to their house for lunch. Unfortunately, church fell exactly when Alivia was supposed to take her nap and she immediately started freaking out. There was no way we could stay - she was arching her back and screaming. So we took a drive and she took a nap but she did not wake up a happy camper.

Eric and Alivia on his first father's day. She was still not in the best mood at this point.

Me and my sweet girl.

Mom and Addie Mae. Little Miss Addie Mae has a lot of practice smiling in front of the camera so we are able to get big smiles from her!

Then when we got home poor Eric had to say goodbye to his motorcycle. He sold it a few days ago but the guy was unable to pick it up until today. Happy Father's Day honey. What a sad day to get rid of it.

Saturday Morning Scene

2011-06-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up to Katie's Saturday Morning Scene today!

Little Miss making a mess with yogurt (her new found LOVE - Stonyfield YoBaby Vanilla) and oatmeal. Happy girl after sleeping for an 11 hour stretch and then another 2 hours. Hallelujah!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free Muffins

2011-06-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months of having to go dairy free, sugar free and gluten free for Alivia's stomach problems I've learned a lot about being creative with my food. Basically I've been eating all whole foods - fruits, veggies, meat, etc. I don't get the convenience of processed or packaged food and that can be challenging. But this muffin recipe from my mom was one I was able to adapt and it's perfect for when I'm craving bread.

Mix the following:

2 1/4 cup gluten free oatmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the following together and then add to the dry ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut milk (regular milk works fine if you aren't dairy free)
1/3 cup honey or real maple syrup
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla

Then you can add anything your heart desires like blueberries, bananas, craisins, any small diced fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

I have these baking right now because they'll be a good snack for Alivia. It's hard since she can't eat wheat, so toast, small pieces of bread and that sort of thing are out. I think she'll really like these. And they freeze great!

Speaking of food, someone had a little too much fun with their yogurt tonight.

2011-06-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

I've jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and I love it. Can you say time sucker? So fun. I love being able to organize my pictures/ideas in one spot instead of having a million bookmarks. It's been perfect for planning Livy's birthday party. If anyone wants an invite let me know and I'll send you one so you don't have to wait weeks to be approved. I promise you, you will be addicted!

We're Still Alive

2011-06-14T09:39:00.001-07:00

Well it's been about a million years since I've updated but here we go. Our days lately have been filled with sleep training. Oh the joy. Since Alivia's acid reflux is finally gone it was time to teach that girl how to sleep. She had a lot of bad habits due to the pain, mainly wanting to only sleep with me. And by sleeping with me, I mean holding onto my arm at all times during naps and night time. Needless to say that wasn't working for me anymore. So I resorted to letting her cry it out, which I swore I would never do, but nothing else was working. I still know that when she was tiny I never could have let her cry, but at this age I could tell she was just mad and that's a lot easier to deal with. So it's been 2 1/2 weeks and she is doing so great. The last few nights she's been sleeping until around 4, getting up to eat and then going back to bed until around 7. This is a true miracle as she was seriously waking up 5-10 times every night needing me to put her back to sleep. Thank the LORD!!!

Last weekend we had a family reunion and took Livy to the beach for the first time. She loved the sand!

Me and my girl:

For a guy who wanted a boy, he sure does love the little miss.

We got about 20 minutes of nice weather and then the rain came. And came. And came. At one point we all went down to the beach anyway and Eric brought his new RC car out. That was all fine and dandy until he let one of the little kids drive and they ran into my bare foot at 20 miles an hour. That was fun. I love trying not to cry in front of 20 people. Nice. Other than that it was a lovely weekend!

I'm just ready for summer to be nice and sunny so we can go outside and do this:

3 Months Old

2010-12-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Alivia,

Yesterday you were three months old! On the one hand, I can hardly believe you are already three months but on the other, I feel like I have been your mama forever.

You are starting to laugh and it is the most hilarious sound ever. Your daddy and I think it is the best thing we have ever heard. When you smile you smile with your whole face. You are finally taking better naps. You will normally take three 45 minutes to one hour naps per day. By the time 7 or 7:30 comes around you are exhausted and ready to go to sleep. You usually sleep for a stretch of five to six hours before waking up to eat. Then after that is when it goes downhill and you wake up several times until morning. I am learning to get by on little sleep!

You are starting to really like your toys and you love to grab on to them in the car. Speaking of the car, you have finally made peace with the car seat. Praise the Lord. Most of the time you normally talk a little, watch out the window and then fall asleep. You have a favorite little toy elephant that is light enough for you to grab and chew on.

You love to talk and talk and talk. Your poor daddy isn't going to get any peace and quiet ever again. One of my favorite things is when you are nursing and you look up at me and get the biggest smile on your face and then just chat away.

You have grown so much in the last few weeks that we had to up your acid reflux medicine. You HATE the taste. Then I tasted it and saw how disgusting it is. We have to blow on your face to startle you into swallowing or else you spit it all out. I feel so bad when I do that but I would rather do that than have you in pain. The problem with the medicine is that is seems to make you constipated so we are working on figuring that out.

You are a big girl! At your last check up you were in the 95th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. You are giving your mama some STRONG arms and a very sore back most days :)

We love you so much and can't wait to see you continue to grow and learn new things!

(It is so hard to get her to smile for the camera!)

Christmas Cards

2010-11-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to send out photo Christmas cards but I just never got around to it. This year though I knew I should do them with Alivia. I figure that people will always like to see a picture of a baby! Plus, I love getting cards and pictures in the mail so hopefully if I start sending them out to people maybe I will get some in return, right?

Shutterfly is offering 50 free cards to bloggers! You can sign up here.

These are some of my favorite Christmas cards:

We have the perfect picture of Alivia for this card. So cute.

I personally love it when things actually say "Merry Christmas" as opposed to "Happy Holidays".

I also like this one but that means I have to find more than one picture and who knows if we can get a decent family picture.

We never have a Christmas party but if we did there are some super cute invitations that I would love to use.

I can't wait to play around with it and find my favorite card!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

2010-07-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love long weekends. I'm enjoying my last paid holiday before little miss arrives. Never again will I get to lounge at home while getting paid :) We do have a busy weekend planned. Tomorrow I have a bridal shower for my cousin and then on Sunday night we're camping with Eric's family. I'm a little nervous about having to go to the bathroom all night long but I guess we'll see how that goes ha!

I'm very excited to be able to bake a few desserts for the weekend. Eric has been on a strict diet while doing P90X and I've been really careful about what I eat in case I had gestational diabetes. Turns out I don't have it, I actually am hypoglycemic where my blood sugar levels drop too low. I'm not sure if it gets better after the baby is born, but he did tell me it puts me at increased risk for diabetes when I'm older. I'm just glad it doesn't affect the baby at all. So anyway, we are cheating a bit this weekend while camping. I am also taking fruit in case I want to be healthy :) In case anyone is interested here are the recipes I'm making:

Strawberry Cobbler from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures and Kit Kat Bars. Yummy! Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!

29 Weeks

2010-06-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 29 weeks 2 days

Size of baby: Squash
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'd rather not think about it :)

Maternity Clothes: Yes, but I keep finding a few summer clothes here and there that still fit me which is nice.
Gender: It's a girl!
Movement: Yes and lately it's been feeling like she wants to scrape my insides out :)
Food Cravings: Nothing really!

What I miss: I miss sleeping through the night and sleeping on my stomach.

Sleep: When I'm asleep I sleep great. However, I wake up about 3-4 times a night to go to the bathroom.

Symptoms: None really. Just getting tired by the end of the day again.

Best Moment this week: Baby was perfect at my doctor's appointment.

What I am looking forward to: Just having her here :)

Menu Plan

2010-03-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

One thing I'm trying to get back on track with is menu planning. I always used to try to plan for a whole month and I think for us that's just too long. Too many things change and it doesn't work. So this is the rest of this week and next week.

Tonight:

Mexican rice, homemade refried beans, avocado, and chicken either for a taco salad or a burrito.

Saturday:

Creamy tuna cauliflower bake

Sunday:

Spinach enchiladas

Monday:

Bacon and cheese frittata I am substituting the sausage for bacon.

Tuesday:

Grilled chicken and oven fries

Wednesday:

Chicken ranch pizza

Thursday:

Sloppy joes and homemade hamburger buns

Friday:

Birthday party

Saturday:

PW chicken spaghetti

Sunday:

Go out to eat

I usually have an egg sandwich in the mornings and I try to make up big batches of breakfast burritos for Eric to grab before work. Lunches are easy because we usually both take leftovers or just have sandwiches.

14 Weeks

2010-03-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 14 weeks 1 day

Size of baby: Size of a lemon!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: According to the doctor, only 1 1/2 pounds, but according to my scale it is 4 1/2. I have to remember I had a vacation in there where I ate what I wanted!

Maternity Clothes: No, they are all still too big, but my pants are getting tight so I need to get some jeans soon.
Gender: ???
Movement: Not yet, but I constantly poke around on my stomach trying to make him move so I can feel!
Food Cravings: A lot of salad and soup. Meat isn't really my favorite right now, which is funny because I actually really love meat.

What I miss: I miss having energy! But it is getting better.

Sleep: Pretty good. Have some weird dreams sometimes!

Symptoms: Not really any morning sickness anymore so that's nice. Just tired!

Best Moment this week: Went to the doctor on Monday and heard the baby's heartbeat again! It was strong and healthy!

What I am looking forward to: Finding out if this baby is a boy or a girl!

Our babies!

2009-11-20T05:43:00.001-08:00

Kelly's hosting Show Us Your Life - Dogs!

A year after we got married and bought our house we knew the first thing we wanted to get was a puppy. Wow, not sure what I was thinking! She was so cute but so much work! But look at this face - how can you not love it??

I felt so bad that she had to be home all day while we were at work. A sweet friend who didn't work offered to let me take her to her house during the day so Sadie could play with her dogs. That got to be old really fast having to leave early and get home late. Plus, her dogs are nice but Sadie learned some awful habits from them like barking at people. A golden retriever barking at people?? What in the world. So this past summer we decided to get her a friend (moment number two of insanity).

Meet Zoey - Sadie's best friend for life.

Zoey has the BEST personality. Sadie is really needy and wants attention ALL the time. Zoey loves attention but she is so much more relaxed. She's so sweet and loves to cuddle. Which is lovely until she jumps up on the bed in the middle of the night and tries to lick your face.

They are best friends now and they play all the time. Right now they are playing tug of war with string. ha! The only thing that drives me crazy is the massive amounts of dog hair. I could vacuum and dust every day and it wouldn't be enough. Most days I feel like I'm a maid to the dogs. But we love them and wouldn't trade them!

Switzerland

2009-08-14T15:02:00.001-07:00

It's Friday so that means Kelly is hosting Show Us Your Life! I am SO sad because my pictures somehow didn't get backed up when we got our new computer. So I only have a few from our Switzerland vacation :( I went with my a couple cousins and my aunt and uncle because my cousin Kristin is married to a man from there and they were having a second wedding. I just had to tag along! It is very beautiful there. I will be the first to admit I didn't enjoy the trip as much as I should have. I had extreme jet lag and didnt' sleep a whole night through the entire time we were there. I definitely should have taken some sort of sleep aid. But I would love to go back and have Eric go this time!

This first picture is me and my cousin Heidi at the lake by their home.

They live in Estavayer-le-Lac and it a charming town. This was when we were on our way to the castle in town. I loved loved loved the cobblestone roads and all the window boxes filled with flowers.

If memory serves me right this is the view from the castle.

This was when we were visiting the Matterhorn. I loved the little signs. Everything looks better in French :)

And this last picture I have is a different castle that we visited one day. I don't remember the town off hand. But it was so fun to see. Looked like something out of a movie!

Reception/Hawaiian Honeymoon

2009-08-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

Kelly is hosting Show Us Your Life today! I just looked and apparently don't have any reception pictures on this computer. I will have to find them later. But, I do have our honeymoon pictures. We were able to go to Maui and it was so wonderful. Hawaii is my absolute favorite place on earth and I was so excited that Eric and I could go together. I'm hoping we can save up and go again for our next vacation!

We stayed at the Outrigger in Napili Bay and it was such a beautiful location. This was the view from our room.

We went on a snorkeling excursion to Molokini and Turtle Bay.

Eric of course had to get a kiteboarding session in. I think he would have died if he hadn't gotten to go out at least a couple times :)

Oh that water makes me want to be there right now! Eric did accidently hit a turtle out there - oops!

The pineapple plantation was one of our favorite things that we did. It was so fun. Ignore the short skirt - I have since realized I should not wear such things! haha!

We rented a mustang convertible the whole time and it was so much fun! One day we went on the Road to Hana and it was just beautiful.

And here we are spending the evening downtown Lahaina.

We also went on a dinner cruise, and I agree with Kelly. It was NOT worth the money and I definitely wouldn't do it again.

So there you have it, now I can't wait to go back!

Wedding Dress

2009-07-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

Kelly is hosting "show us your wedding dress"! For some reason our wedding pictures are not on this computer so I'm pulling the only ones I have up on facebook. These are not the best pictures but you can get an idea of my dress at least :)

The Lettered Cottage Giveaway

2009-05-05T10:28:00.001-07:00

Grace of Coastline has some darling things and The Lettered Cottage is giving a table runner away!

Leave a comment at The Lettered Cottage to try and win!

Nesting Place

2009-04-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

Nester is my absolute favorite decorating blog. I adore her style and I love her tassels! I have been wanting one forever. Well, she has a giveaway that you should enter!

Hello from Mexico!

2009-01-20T07:45:00.000-08:00

First off, there are two sweet babies that need prayers. I have been following these blogs for some time and these women are such wonderful women of God. They both gave birth to their babies within a few days of each other and they both are having serious problems. I know God will heal each of them!

The other is jennasjourneyblog.blogspot.com. I know they would both appreciate all the prayers they can get.

In other news, we are in Mexico! We are having a great time - but the weather the last few days has been a little chilly. It looks like today will be a toasty, clear day so I'm very glad. Yesterday we took the boys up a few miles by car so they could kite down to where we were staying. No big deal, except that meant I had to drive the car back in the sand. Let's just say we had a little problem getting stuck and found ourselves digging the tires out as the boys blissfully kiteboarded just a little ways away. Then, I tried to back out and high centered (?) over some rocks. It was quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen. Praise the Lord, a sweet American girl walked by and helped us push the car! What else can you do but laugh when you are stranded in a foreign country-ha!

Please Pray

2008-12-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

My friend Melissa (who is also my sister in law, Erin's sister) is pregnant and due December 26. She just went into labor, but there are a lot of complications with the baby. They aren't sure yet what all is wrong or if the baby will survive. Please pray for Melissa and David. We are praying for a miracle with the baby and that he or she will be born with no complications.

Snowboarding and Winter Wonderland

2008-12-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

The snowboarding season officially opened yesterday and we were ready! Well, Eric was ready and I was not really feeling it yesterday. BUT we went and had a great time. Mandy and Donna came with us too and we had a lot of good laughs. Here are us girls (please ignore my translucent skin - I'm slightly embarrassed to be putting this picture up! hopefully Mexico will help with that ha!)

Sadly I didn't get any more pictures because the battery died. But I was glad to see I didn't lose everything I learned last year!

Then we came home to about 4 inches of new snow. It's so pretty and then this morning we had freezing rain so the trees are all sparkly and frozen. These are pictures out our backyard.

Church was canceled this morning so we're having a nice relaxing day at home. It feels great to get caught up on everything before the start of the new week!

Brrrrr

2008-12-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

What a crazy week - it's been so cold! Monday was too icy to get to work so Eric and I both stayed home. Then we went yesterday and Eric went today, but we're supposed to get about 4 inches of snow and freezing rain so I stayed home. I hate driving through the Salem hills to get to work when it's icy. Some people deal with this and much worse every day - we are pathetic!

It's nice to be off work, but it's also a little boring. Yesterday at work I got my Christmas bonus so I treated myself to new curtains for the living room/dining room. The first ones I bought I just wasn't happy with. They seemed a little too gray for my taste. So this morning I got different ones and I love them so much more! Ignore the wrinkles.

My next splurge item will be a new rug, but those are spendy so it might be awhile before I get one! This one just isn't cozy at all and I want one that's soft to step on.

Miller Christmas and SNOW

2008-12-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

Today we had the Miller Christmas and it was out in Eric's parents' barn. It turned out great! There was plenty of room for everyone and places for the kids to play.

The kids had a hay fort -

and a pinata -

Then "Santa" came to visit -

Here is Grandma and Lexy. Poor Auntie Kim didn't get to hold her tonight because she cries every time I look at her. Apparently she's going through a scared stage. It's very sad.

Then on the way home it got really icy and snowy so we stopped for a minute. Isn't Eric cute :)

Boo Mama's Christmas Tour!

2008-12-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Boo Mama's Christmas Tour! I don't have a ton of Christmas decorations since this is only our second married Christmas - but we're getting more and more.

This is the wreath that my mother in law gave me. I can't wait to paint the outside next year - no more blue! And yes, those are snowflakes falling down!!

Our tree is MUCH prettier in person - but I am not a good photographer at all. Seeing this picture makes me realize how very bare it is without a tree skirt and no wrapped gifts yet! Growing up we never had trees taller than 5 feet or so - so this year Eric took me to cut one down and I got a 10-11 footer!! I was in heaven!

My first attempt at a wreath - the lights already died so I need new batteries.

Thanks to Mandy for this beautiful ornament from Kate's Great Ornament Exchange!

My small table top decorations -

So there you have it - our first Christmas in our new house!

Baking Day

2008-12-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

Brr it's getting cold outside - we're supposed to get up to 4 inches of snow tonight. For us, that's a lot! So today I've spent most of my time in the kitchen baking Christmas goodies for Eric to take to his co-workers. So far I've made Oreo Bark, Poppy Seed Bread, Peanut Butter Fudge, and I have Cranberry Bliss Bars in the oven right now. Eric has a bit of a stomach ache already :) What's your favorite thing to make for Christmas?

Rainy Day

2008-12-12T14:24:00.001-08:00

It is a rainy, nasty day out but Sadie had been stuck in the car with me a lot today, so I let her outside when I got home. This is how she ended up - looking more like a chocolate lab than a golden retriever! ha! She's a fan of digging and we were cracking up watching her from inside because she stuck her whole face right in a huge mud puddle. So now Eric is giving her a bath and she's not a big fan.

PS Fabulous K is giving away a blog design - go here
to enter!

Sand and Sunshine

2008-12-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

This will be our view in just a few short weeks!

I am so excited. We are trying to get our fun vacations in before we have kids. Eric is planning on getting lots of kiteboarding in and I plan on getting lots of sunshine, sleep, and reading! And Eric says I'm going to learn to kiteboard this trip - so we will see how I do. I'm not the most coordinated but it should be fun.

Facelift

2008-12-11T09:56:00.001-08:00

Here's my new blog! I just recently started a wordpress blog, but I am a total idiot and couldn't ever figure out how to change the template. Blogger seems much easier so I decided to go ahead and switch!