Christmastime

Wow, Christmas this year has been interesting. I finished up school on the 14th of December, and we started driving up to Washington on the 17th. We left very early in the morning so that we could make it through the Cascade mountain passes while it was still light. There was no snow on the roads, and by the time it hit full dark, we had reached the end of Snoqualmie Pass. Yay! Then we hit Seattle rush hour traffic, so it took us about an hour longer than expected to reach Oscar and Carley's house (Brother- and Sister-in-law). So "interesting" thing number one for me was not being in Utah for Christmas. This was the first year I was not at my parent's house on Christmas day. Bad that I didn't get to see them, good that I did get to see all of the McBrides. It has been very fun for the most part being up in Washington. We've been up here a week and a half, and we're staying through Thursday (leaving Friday the 31st). So, after 2 weeks I will be very excited to be back in my own home, and in my own bed, and everything else. Its nice to stay longer, and its nice that this month has 3 paychecks so we can cover it. What is not nice is the reason for it. (Also the reason this holiday has not been all good).
      The Friday before we came up to Washington, we got an email from Nathaniel's papa. His mama had been taken to the Hospital, and was in the ER because of pain, incoherence, and inability to stay conscious. About 24 hours later, we heard a tentative diagnosis of cancer. A couple days after that it was confirmed that she had multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma. (though a biopsy was not able to be done at that time, other factors proved cancer to be the main problem) She also had a bladder infection and pneumonia. She was moved to the CCU. (Critical Care Unit) We were told that they needed to get rid of those, as well as swelling in her abdomen, before they could start her on chemotherapy treatments. We realized that it was definitely a good thing the Utah McBrides were all planning on being in Washington for Christmas. When we got up here, we found that she had been moved out of the CCU, so we were definitely happy about that. We've spent about an hour or 2 every day in the hospital visiting with her. There have been days she's been doing extremely well, and days that weren't so good.  Christmas Eve they were finally able to do a bone biopsy, though results would take a while, and Papa got to talk to the doctor, who gave a prognosis. With everything that was going on (including kidney failure and inability to feel/move lower body) he did not think she would make it past the beginning of the year. That was quite the blow. It is a very good thing there are small children in this family, because they didn't get told, so Christmas was still happy with all the kids. Had it been just the adults it may have been a little subdued. Mama was also moved back into the CCU. Last night things took a turn for the worse, and Mama had her pain medications increased. She was almost completely non-responsive when we went to see her today. Papa got the bone biopsy and another talk with the doctor this morning. When they test for the cancer she has, they expect to see below 10% of... whatever it is they look for. Mama's levels were between 70 and 80 %. She also has many micro-fractures all throughout her spine. With all of that, and after a conversation with the doctor and Mama, they decided to put her into comfort care, which basically means just to keep her comfortable. I for some reason still didn't think it was quite that bad. We got to the hospital, and Papa told us that the doctor had told him that she had 24-36 hours. That was at 10 am this morning. So Nathaniel and I will be staying until the end of the week. 36 hours puts it at tomorrow night. I don't have any idea what we're going to do. So yeah. That was my Christmas.  Sorry if it was incoherent, we're all a little distraught.

Busy Busy Busy

     I have been so busy the past few weeks, and will continue to be so for the next week and a day. What with finals being next week, and all of Christmas, (so goodie plates, wrapping gifts, etc.) I've had a lot to do. And I've only had 1 day where I actually felt overwhelmed. I think I'm doing pretty good with that. I've been having so much fun baking and drawing and wrapping presents. The baking I have been spacing out. In my opinion, if you're going to be giving treats for Christmas, and there is going to be more than one kind of treat, it is best if they are finished on the same day. Well, that can lead to some overwhelming days. So, what I did was made cookie dough, and froze it! So, when I had finished the caramels, while I was wrapping them, I could take the cookie dough out of the freezer and bake it. That way I can have multiple treats without overwhelming myself trying to get it all done in the same day or 2.
     Part of why its been so crazy is that we are leaving for Washington on the 17th. That is a week from Friday. Seeing as it is Wednesday night, that is basically 1 week away. So I get to have all my Christmas stuff done before then, rather than the week later that Christmas is. But it is fun, and I am way super excited to be going out there to visit.
     As for the drawing, I've finally gotten started on my portfolio, (that I have about 9 1/2 months until its due) and have now finished one of the 16-22 pieces that I will need to have done.

I don't feel like it is quite my best piece every, but I am quite proud of it, considering that I haven't really done much in the way of real drawing for about 3 years. I do currently plan on this one being in the portfolio, but if I do get enough more pieces done, say 20 total, then if this is the worst one I may leave it out. We'll see at the beginning of next October. It is that shadowed cheek/chin that I am still having issues with. It isn't quite looking right to me, but I'm having a hard time fixing it. But yeah, now that I have finished that, hopefully I'll be able to get a few more articles of clothing made for Jessica before Christmas.

Thanksgiving break! (and spiced pear bread)

     Okay, technically it doesn't start until Wednesday, but because I don't have any more homework to do until after the break, I'm counting as started already. So excited for this. I can bake, and sew, and do crafts, and clean my house. Plus, I won't have to worry about Black Friday sales (since Christmas shopping is done already) so on Friday I will be setting up Christmas decor. I've already started my baking spree. I am seriously so excited. I was working my hardest to make sure I would have no homework over the break, because I wanted to have fun. So now I will. So. The first item in my Thanksgiving baking spree...
Spiced D'Anjou Pear Bread.
     Okay, so I don't know if I actually used D'Anjou pears. But I figured any kind of pears would work So, here is the recipe. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com. I really like this website. They've got some good recipes on there. Nathaniel and I both thought it turned out really well. There is a fair amount of spices in the bread, so I thought there would have been more of the cinnamon/clove/allspice taste to it, but there wasn't. (I tend to like LOTS of flavor in things though, so maybe for someone else it would be exactly right). I may (or may not) add some extra spices next time. And there will be a next time. I've been getting lots of fruit from Bountiful Baskets, so I've been having to bake to use it all. It was fairly easy to make. You do need to peel and "thinly slice" the pears, so that took me a bit of time, but it wasn't really too terribly long or anything. I was able to get it mixed and in the oven and everything cleaned up well within my daughter's nap.
     So, the recipe:
Spiced Pear Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
3 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
4 firm pears, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
3 cups flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*, and generously grease 2 loaf pans. (The pears will make the bread stick if they aren't generously greased) In a large bowl combine brown sugar, vegetable oil, molasses, and eggs. Mix in salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and allspice. 

Stir in pear slices, coating evenly. Stir in flour. (Pears need to go first, or batter/dough will be too thick to coat the pears evenly. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 to 65 minutes (I did 55, and they were a little dark on the edges.) Allow to cool in the pan about 10 minutes before removing them and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.

 So, there you have it. It actually makes more slices than shown, I just didn't get a picture before we started devouring it.

Orange Raisin Cake and Italian Chicken Pizza

     Whee! I've had lots of fun recently playing in the kitchen. I've been trying to get some variety into our daily meals (as that makes me enjoy cooking more, and so that I actually will cook more often), but also, we've been getting the bountiful baskets, so I've been having to come up with ways to use the fruits and veggies.  Definitely having fun with it. Sometimes the recipes turn out very yummy, sometimes they're not so great, and sometimes they've been downright bad (not too many of those thankfully). Anyway, yesterday we tried 2 new recipes. We had Italian Chicken Pizza for dinner, and then Orange Raisin Cake for dessert. Technically I made the cake a couple days ago, but we only got around to eating it yesterday.  (sorry this post will be kinda long)
     The pizza recipe came from my mom's "No Complaints" cookbook, which is a compilation of recipes that have been tried and true with her kids (me and my siblings) and even with 3 of us being very picky eaters, they had... "no complaints". That being said, I don't remember ever having this before, so it was a new recipe for Nathaniel and me. Sorry I don't have any pictures, I didn't think about it until today. So, I made it (the recipe will follow) and it was surprisingly easy for me. I thought it would take a lot more work than it did. We got it out of the oven, and I cut it up, and we dug in. It turned out really delicious. Definitely going onto our 'favorites' list (in other words I'll make it again). The only problem we had was that it seemed very juicy. However, I think that is because of the chicken and the cheese not being entirely thawed, so they could have had ice crystals that melted, adding water to the sauce.
Pros: Delicious, simple, few (and inexpensive) ingredients
Cons: juicy (possibly fixable), takes a large brownie sheet, or you end up with REALLY thick crust.
Italian Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza crust (homemade or frozen, thawed if frozen)
2 8oz cans tomato sauce, divided
10 oz boneless chicken, cooked and chopped
1 2.25oz can sliced, black olives (I actually used chopped because that's what I had, and Nathaniel doesn't like olives if he can actually taste them. )
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Italian seasoning:
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
(I upped both the onion and the garlic, because we tend to like things very flavorful and these flavors especially)
Preheat oven to 450*. Roll pizza crust into a 15 x 11 rectangle and press into a 15 x 11 x 1" pan.
In a medium bowl, combine the chicken with half the tomato sauce and half the Italian seasoning. Mix the remaining Italian seasoning with the remaining tomato sauce and spread most of it over pizza crust, leaving a 1" border around the edge. (You don't need the whole amount, it will make the pizza too soggy and wet.) Arrange the chicken mixture in a single layer over the tomato sauce, and sprinkle half the loves over the chicken mixture. Top with all the cheese, then sprinkle on the remaining olives.
Bake pizza 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted. To serve, cut into 3 x 4" rectangles.

For the Pizza dough I used this recipe: (directions specified for Italian chicken pizza. Everything after "Let Rise" can be changed if using a different dinner recipe.)
Ingredients
2 pkg yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
2 cups water, warmed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt 5 cups flour
Mix yeast with all ingredients except flour. Add flour gradually, then add more if necessary. Knead about 5 minutes. Let rise while making chicken and meat sauce (about 15-20 minutes). Roll out dough on a floured surface (or press with hands) until it reaches the desired size, and put it in your pan.
   
     The Orange Raisin cake was found on Allrecipes.com and it ended up being very delicious. It was quite moist by itself, and all of the flavors mixed well together. It was slightly more work, but didn't feel like too much. I have to admit though. I was really worried about it. I ground up the fruit and nuts, and it looked like it would be disgusting. I was worried enough that I was willing to foist it off onto Nathaniel's friends at LAN party without even knowing how it tasted. Luckily for me, Nathaniel said no.
Pros: Moist, flavor, flavors mixed well, no need for extremely sugary frosting, uses the whole orange
Cons: takes a bit to grind the orange, raisin, and nuts together.

Orange Raisin Cake

Ingredients
 1 large orange
1 cup raisins
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't put walnuts on top, only inside)
Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour a 9x13" pan. Squeeze the orange, reserving 1/3 cup juice. Grind orange peel, pulp, raisins, and 1/3 cup walnuts together. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add milk, shortening and eggs. Beat for 3 minutes. Stir in orange-raisin mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Topping:
Drizzle reserved 1/3 cup orange juice over warm cake. (I brushed it on with a pastry brush instead. A more even, and less soggy approach in my mind). In a small bowl combine 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 cup walnuts. Sprinkle over cake.
So yeah. Those are my latest exploits in the kitchen. There are probably more to come.

Updates

     Okay, well, I don't have tons to write about, but I figured I needed to keep from having only cooking updates, and I tried 2 new recipes yesterday, so I definitely need to do an update about the family.
     Lets see... I have finished all of my Christmas shopping, which is a fantastic feeling. I don't think I've ever been done this early. Craziness. Actually, that is what won't happen. I won't have to brave the craziness that is retail stores around Christmas time. Yes, I will still have to go grocery shopping, but that is it.
     As far as Jessica goes, (because lets face it, she's who everyone really wants to know about) she now has 2 teeth. The second bottom front tooth came in about 2 days ago. It is very, very cute. She still loves her books more than her toys, but she will play with her toys now. Amazingly, we've only had 2 small tears on any of the books, though the covers and pages are not crisp anymore.

    Since this is the first fall that she is old enough to see what's going on, I got some pictures of her in the leaves. Funny thing is, she likes sitting in leaves better than sitting on grass. She wasn't really a fan of touching them with her hands but she did sit there without crying.
     The biggest thing that has Nathaniel and I way excited though, is that she is now standing on her own for up to the count of 10! She generally doesn't do it if we're actually trying with her, but if she's standing holding on to something and gets distracted by a toy in her hand, she'll sometimes take her other hand off whatever she's got balancing her, and she'll stay upright for a few seconds. We may actually have a walker by Christmas.
     As far as the "failure to thrive" goes... I've been feeding her a lot more solid food than I was, and she seems to be doing better. I set up the appointment with the clinic, but the earliest they would set it up for was December 2nd. So it is still going to be a bit. However, we did "weigh" her the other day (using the weigh myself holding her, and then without) and if our scale is working correctly (though it is quite possible that it isn't) then she ways 16 pounds 8 ounces. I"m pretty sure that would still be under the 5th percentile, but it is gaining weight, so I'm not worried at all. It seems that while I was feeding her enough that she was happy, I wasn't feeding her the right foods for her to get the nutrients she needed.
     So yeah, that's all the updates I can think of for now. Next up, Orange Raisin Cake, and Italian Chicken pizza

Apple Pomegranate Pie

Yummy. Definitely Yummy. Though, if I try it again, I may try to use just the juice from the seeds, as opposed to the seeds themselves. The seeds were still a bit crunchy, which, in my opinion, kinda hurts the pie experience. However, the flavor was delicious. Not too sweet, but sweet enough. A little bit of tartness added from the pomegranate. I got the original recipe here, but me being me, I couldn't help but modify it a little bit. First of all, I am very much a fan of my mom's pie, and I like making pie in pie pans, not free standing, so I used the Newbold pie dough recipe instead. (at the end of post) Then, because I used the different pie crust, I had to modify the filling just a bit to get all of the seasonings in. I also doubled the apples called for, because I thought it didn't look like quite enough filling. I do have to say that I think if I make it again, I will also add even more apples. The pie was very short. I like more filling in my pies. So, the recipes and pictures...

 Sorry, No in the process pictures, but we have before baking and after.

Pie Crust (makes 3-4 single shells (up to 2 covered pies), depending on how thin you roll it
Ingredients:
-3 cups flour, stirred and sifted
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 cup shortening
-1 egg beaten
-5 Tablespoons water, cold
-1 teaspoon vinegar
Stir salt into flour. Cut shortening into the flour using a pastry cutter (I used a knife and fork, but the pastry cutter would be easier). Add beaten egg mixed with water and vinegar. Blend gently with spoon, then mix with fingers until somewhat mixed. It's okay to have crumbs in the bottom of the bowl when you're done with the gentle mixing, just mop them up with the main ball of dough. Do not knead or handle a long time. That causes the crust to be tough. Divide pie crust dough into 2-4 pieces. Roll out to fit your pie pan. Bake at 450* for 10-15 minutes. (Ignore the baking for the apple pomegranate or any other baked pies. The baking is if you are cooking just the crust)

Apple Pomegranate Pie
Ingredients
-pie dough
-4 med apples (peeled, cored, and sliced) (I used 4, I will probably add at least 2 more next time)
-1/2 cup pomegranate arils (seeds) (again, next time I may just take the seeds called for and juice them,  then add the juice
-2 Tablespoons brown sugar, rounded
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, rounded
-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, rounded

-1 Tablespoon sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375*. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix with the apples and the pomegranate arils. Roll the dough out and put the bottom crust in the pie pan. Pile the fruit mix in the pastry, cover with second crust. Seal crust, cut openings in top (whatever design you want) Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 40 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown.

There ya go. Not too hard, and definitely delicious. Probably going to try this one again, see if I can perfect it.

Deadlines...

     I hate them. Don't get me wrong. I'm always busy, and I know it. I also know I like being busy. I give myself a "lazy day" and unless I'm reading a really good book that has me completely enthralled, I am doing crafts (generally as gifts) or baking or something like that. I just can't sit and do nothing for very long. I get antsy. That being said, I don't like having deadlines for my busyness. That doesn't work quite so well. That makes me go from happily busy to going crazy.
     So, why bring this up? Well, I have found out recently that I have a new deadline coming up. I was able to sign up a while ago for my classes for next semester. My academic adviser wanted me to talk to her before I did. Well, when I talked to her, and we got my classes for this coming semester all figured out, (as well as summer and next fall) we realized that I would be in the last pre-requisites for the Art program in the Fall 2011 semester! That means that I can apply for the Art Illustration program at the beginning of October 11 months from now.
     Let me tell you, I was so very excited. I still bounce up and down thinking about it. (I guess that means I'm in the right major huh?)  Little nervous, but way excited. She also gave me the information on what applying is. I get to turn in a portfolio to be "judged". Basically its an audition. So when I got home and read the information she gave me, I got a little more nervous. The portfolio includes 16-20 pieces of art (best work obviously)
                             "There may be a mix of traditional and digital art. A good balance of black and white and color art is required. Art submitted must have been created within the year prior to the student's aplication to the program."
     They are looking for art that is relevant to the program being applied to (makes sense), that communicates the idea effectively, has unique concepts solving the visual problems, has interesting and intriguing imagery, uses the design process to create strong illustrations, and, obviously, a demonstrated basic knowledge and use of the basic design elements.
     Did I mention that I have really only taken 1 drawing class? So yeah, I'm a little nervous. I knew this was coming up, and I was mentally prepping myself to start doing a lot of art projects, but I didn't realize how many, and I didn't have a date set. Now I have a deadline. October 1st, 2011. That gives me 11 months to get at least 16 art pieces not only done, but perfected. They also need to be various different media. So I basically get to do about 1 1/2 pieces every month. Not quite 2, but definitely more than 1.
     I hate deadlines.

(still way excited though)

Apple Pomegranate Crisp

So, I said a couple weeks ago that I would write about this when I made it. Well, I made it last night. So I figured I would write about it. Here is the link to the recipe I used. It was actually really easy. We did have a couple problems, Nathaniel was nice enough to peel the apples for me, but it wasn't too easy for him, and then when I opened up the pomegranate to get to the seeds, some of it was going moldy.  (sad face) But we got it all figured out, and then once we got the brown sugar softened (the brand new bag was hard as rock) by putting it in the microwave with a small bowl of water beside it it was smooth sailing, and really quite easy to make. Then we just had to wait 45 minutes for it to cook before we could see how it tasted.

So, here is the finished product. We dished some up and put it with vanilla ice cream and ate it. It was delicious!! It started getting a little rich toward the end. I don't think either of us would have been able to finish our servings if we had not had the ice cream with it, but we did have fairly large servings, so I don't think it's a bad thing that it was rich. This recipe is definitely a keeper, and as long as I keep getting pomegranates from bountiful baskets (they're a little expensive otherwise) I will probably make it again.

Jessica's "First" Halloween

Okay, okay, I know, it technically was not her first Halloween. She was born on October 23rd, so last year she was here. However, seeing as she was only 8 days old last year, I'm not counting it. This year was her "first" Halloween. I wanted her to be a fairy for Halloween, but as I looked around, fairy costumes for a 1-year-old consisted of Tinkerbell, and I didn't want her to be Tink. (Too stereotypical/common) So I decided to make her costume. I bought a Disney Fairies costume (Tinkerbell has friends/fellow fairies now), and I made her into more of a woodland fairy. The colors turned out to look really nice on her.

These are the portraits I had taken of her in her costume. For some reason (even though no nap this day, and nap on the day of her 1-year portraits) these turned out WAY better.
     We had so much fun on Halloween going around visiting people. We spent the afternoon at a Halloween party, and then when we were going to go to the ward's Trunk or Treat, it started pouring. We headed over to my parents instead. It was raining off and on, so we ended up doing absolutely no trick or treating, but we did have fun. I don't have the pictures from at Mom's house, (Jessica had a sucker) but here are some of the others. Some of them are just from earlier in the day, in her Halloween outfit (not costume) or her wings. But most of them are from the party.

So that was this year's Halloween. Next year I do plan on taking her trick-or-treating, even if the weather isn't great, at least to a few houses, so she starts to get that experience.

1 year old!!!! Party, and disturbing news

WooHoo!!! Jessica has turned one! We've had her for a whole year!. Its exciting to me. We had a big birthday party for her on Saturday (her birthday). But I think I'll let pictures speak for themselves on this.

As I said, large fun party. Jessica got quite the haul, and I was so grateful to everyone.
So, as I said, pictures speak for themselves.
     The Monday following, I had her 1 year well-baby check up. I went in not really expecting anything out of the ordinary. I figured she'd cry when she got her vaccines, I figured the doctor would be a little worried because of how thin Jessica is and how low her weight percentile is, but I figured that since she was eating, and was happy, things were okay.
     Imagine my surprise when I read the scale at 15 pounds 4 ounces. I didn't remember the exact weight from 9 months, but I knew it was above 15 pounds. I had them look it up. At 9 months she weighed 15 pounds 10 ounces. *shock, worry, shame, etc* My baby has lost weight. Now, I tend to be the kind of person that takes what doctors say with a grain of salt. I do my research and I do not do something just because a doctor says. I've always been skeptical of some chart telling me if my baby was normal or not. I always said as long as she is gaining some weight, no matter how little, I think she's fine. Well, now she's not gaining weight anymore. She has also slowed down on her height growth as well, (related???)  She is 29 1/2 inches tall, which puts her in the 50th %, as opposed to the 75th % like last time, or the 95% like at birth, and up through 6 months.
     So, now we get to figure out why she is losing weight. The doctor mentioned 2 or 3 times doing blood work to see is something may be wrong with her metabolism, making it so that she cannot process food as she should. He finally decided that as a family doctor, he didn't have the know-how to deal with "failure-to-thrive" as her "condition" is called. So he referred me to the Follow-Up-Nutrition (FUN) clinic at Primary Children's Hospital. In the meantime, we are feeding her as much high-calorie, high-nutrient food as we can, just in case I was wrong about her getting enough food.
     I called the clinic, and apparently I cannot even set up an appointment until next Wednesday (the 3rd) but I will be getting that for as soon as possible.
     It just hit like a smack in the face. I'm not sure what to think. She's always been happy, so I figured I was feeding her enough, but I worry that maybe I wasn't. Or maybe I was filling her up, but there were not enough nutrients. Or maybe she does have a metabolic insufficiency of some sort. We shall see.
     As much as I would feel bad, I hope it is that she wasn't getting enough food, because that is the easiest to fix.

     Anyway, moving on to happy times. I got Jessica's one year and Halloween pictures taken. The Halloween ones were way cuter, but I just got them done today, so I don't have them yet to post, but here are the one-year pictures.

Mornings

I love my daughter. She is seriously the most adorable thing in the world. Yes, I know, your child is cuter. No, I don't believe you, sorry. Yes, I am biased. (What parent isn't?) I think one of my favorite things is listening to her wake up in the morning. Not the random early morning wake-up when I'm still in bed. But her 7am start-to-wake-up time.
What is so cute about it? Well, for about 5 minutes she'll be making little mewling noises. These are quiet and a little higher in pitch. It seriously sounds like a little kitten mewling. We might even get some bubble blowing in there as well. This normally seems more like a "I'm awake, but I don't know if I want to be" type of period. Then she'll start getting louder. She'll "talk" to me (through the monitor) for a bit, saying things like"ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba", and then be quiet. (Still not quite sure she wants to be up). In between, I can hear her kicking the sides of her crib and talking to herself. SO ADORABLE
Generally she is quite content to remain in her crib playing until she gets herself standing up. She has recently (within the past week or so) figured out how to pull herself up to standing and walk along things like the couch, ottoman, chair, crib, me, etc. Well, she hasn't quite figured out the getting down part yet. So she'll be talking and playing and blowing bubbles in her crib until she gets up, and then when she realizes she can't get down, she'll start yelling for me. Okay, yes, this sounds more like crying, but give the kid a break, she's only 1 (in 3 days). I open the door, and find her standing and she just brightens up immensely. It is the cutest thing in the world. She is just so happy to see me there, even though I have yet to pick her up. (I can't get over how tall she is either).  I just thought I would share some of my moments of joy with you. Mornings are great!

Bountiful Baskets

     So, I've had a few friends recently start talking about this "bountiful baskets" thing, where you pay for a basket of fruit and vegetables on Monday night for a really good price, and then the following Saturday you go pick it up. We thought about it and talked about it for a few weeks, and then decided that it was worth it. 
     Neither Nathaniel nor I do very well with eating fruits and vegetables, and I have a hard time picking out vegetables and fruit to eat, so we just don't have enough. We figured this would be a good way to get more fruit and vegetables in our diet, as well as get more variety in our meals, because I would have to find some to use the "unusual" (at least for us) produce.
     So, I went online to Bountiful Baskets on Thursday (a week and a half ago) and signed up. Then, Monday night at 8 (when they start for Utah) I went online and picked which location I wanted to pick up my produce at, and I gave my "donation" of $19.50 ($15 for basket, $1 handling, $3 first-timer (for the baskets they use). It sure felt like a chunk out of my wallet, (I know, I know, to most of you it probably doesn't sound like much, but when your grocery budget including toiletries and diapers is $200/month, it feels like a lot more) but I knew that I would be getting more for my money than if I went to the store.
     I waited (not so patiently) for Saturday morning to arrive so that I could go get my first basket. You do have to arrive at the slightly early (for most people) time of 7:30 in the morning. They also only have a 20 minute window that you can get your basket, if you show up late and they're gone, too bad. So, I got Jessica and myself all ready, and loaded my laundry basket into my car and headed over there.
    I wasn't quite expecting what happened. I guess I had this picture in my head of showing up, loading my basket, and putting it straight into my car, so I didn't think much of bringing Jessica, and no one to help carry. So, we go there, and had to park a small distance away (no problem normally, just with Jessica with me). So I put Jessica in her stroller and grabbed my laundry basket and walked over there... only to find a line. Apparently they hadn't had enough volunteers to get the truck unloaded by the time they needed. So we got in line, and I hoped they'd be done soon so Jessica wouldn't freeze too much. We probably waited a good 20 minutes. After 5 I pulled Jessica out of the stroller and held her wrapped in her blanket, hoping that my body heat would keep her a little warmer. She has no meat on her bones to keep herself warm. Once the line did start moving it went really quickly. I got there and got my baskets, and had to load them into my basket (instead of theirs).
     Then came the tricky part. Somehow I had to get a laundry basket full of produce, myself, and my 1-year-old daughter in her stroller back to the car. I had brought the umbrella stroller, so it was too flimsy to rest the basket on top of. (Though I don't know if the jogging stroller would have helped much.) I was making it, slowly, and with difficulty, when I passed the couple that had been behind me in the line. The gentleman came over and took the basket so that I could push Jessica and we walked much more quickly back to the car. I got Jessica in the car and turned on the heater, and then I reorganized my basket. I had just put them in it in the order I pulled them out, so I had lettuce on bottom. I had tried to do well about not putting too much stuff on top of squishy things, but I needed to fix it before driving home.

     After getting home and feeding Jessica I brought it in, and then came the fun part! Seeing what all I got, and finding out what to do with it. Here is what I got: (and as is referenced by the picture, they're good produce too)  7 apples, 1 bushel green grapes, 7 bananas, 6 oranges, 3 pomegranates, 4 cucumbers, 3 mexican zucchinis, 2 bunches green onions, 1 bunch carrots, 1 cantaloupe, 2 "heads" of romaine lettuce, and 3 tomatoes. Wow! all for $19.50! That's pretty crazy if you ask me. I actually had to ask what the Mexican zucchini's were, I wasn't sure. They told me, and said that they could be used just like regular zucchinis. Then came the task of deciding what to make with them. Some of the fruit (apples and oranges for example) will last longer, so I don't worry so much about them, but I was a little worried about how much lettuce we had. Yes, we needed to eat more veggies, but I didn't think I'd be able to manage making that much salad. Not unless I had more to put on it. That was really the only thing I couldn't figure something out for. (That and the tomatoes, but only because I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes) 
     So, bananas, oranges, cantaloupe and grapes we're just going to eat. Maybe use 1 or 2 of the apples and make a fruit salad. Carley gave me some recipes for some apple-pomegranate pie and crisp, so I'm going to be trying those as well (and hopefully I'll post about it once I do). I'll be making chocolate zucchini bread with the Mexican zucchinis. The broccoli can get blanched and frozen for eating at a later date (when I don't have so much produce to worry about) The onions and carrots can go in stew, the carrots can also just be eaten (or cooked and mashed a bit for Jessica), and the onions can also be used for flavoring. The lettuce cucumbers and tomatoes were still escaping me though. So I texted my Mom. She and my Dad bought 2 of the 4 cucumbers and 1 head of lettuce from me. We can get use out of the 1 head of lettuce, I think I can manage that one. 2 cucumbers is also much more manageable. And! I just found a website that gave directions on freezing the tomatoes for use in something like spaghetti sauce! YAY!!! Now I don't have to worry so much about any of my produce going bad. 
    So yeah. I am way excited about my bountiful basket. I will probably be buying them only every other week (payday) for now, but we'll see how things go. If we end up with basically all of it either frozen or used by the end of the week, I may see about trying to manage a way to get one every week.

Oops and sewing

Wow!!! I'm a slacker. I didn't realize its been over 2 months since I wrote in here. And oh my heavens the things that have happened in that 2 months.
-I decided to go back to school. (hoping to major in Art Illustration, but have to submit a portfolio and be accepted)
-School started.
-Nathaniel got switched to the graveyard shift (so I could go to classes)
-Jessica started pulling herself up on things (to knees first, and now to standing)
-Jessica finally will hands-and-knees crawl
-We got a tooth!!!
-Jessica has said her first word. "Hi". Based on her timing, and how often we say hi to her, we feel it is a word rather than just sounds.
-We figured out that my daily headaches were caused by dehydration. I thought I had been drinking enough water, but apparently not. Now that I am, the headaches are pretty much gone. YAY!!!!


So what with school projects and papers that have already started coming due, and with all the normal everyday cleaning and shopping, and taking care of Jessica, I've been a bit busy. Of course, me being me, it just wasn't enough. *wink* I had to add my crafts. So I'm making a tatted table runner, and I'm making some various Christmas gifts, and I've been sewing clothes for Jessica and for myself. I have made 2 wrap-around skirts for myself (one pink, one blue) but I realized I hadn't actually taken any pictures of those. I was working on a red dress for myself as well, but Jessica has far fewer clothes than I do, so I decided I really needed to work on hers first. Those I have taken pictures of. So, first we have...

The pink overalls. They are a little wide, but only slightly long. Go figure. Jessica is still very thin. This pictures is obviously loaded for Jessica, not for me. The things parents will put up with for their babies. *wink*

Okay, next we have the skirt and leggings. I bought the onesie, but the skirt was one of the easiest patterns I have every found. The leggings actually aren't finished yet, but they work. I just bought little girl knee high socks, and cut off the feet. works like a charm.

 And here is her dress. I think its adorable, even though its wide enough I could probably fit 2 of her in it. Luckily it ties in the back, so it can appear smaller from the front. I was quite proud of myself for this one. The only thing I didn't do on this one is the zipper. I've never put in a zipper before, so I asked mom to help me.

Last but not least, we have her Halloween costume that is still in the works. She is being one of the Disney fairies. (Tinkerbell isn't the only one anymore) So that is my current project for now, then I've got Christmas gifts, which obviously wouldn't be posted until after Christmas (if I remember then) and then a Christmas dress for Jessica, and then I can get back to random whenever clothes for both Jessica and me.

Reno Vacation

Okay, well I said I would post about our trip down to Reno. Well, now its been a week, and I'm still struggling to get caught up on everything around my house, so I'm thinking I'm just going to post a few collages.
First is my randomness, everyday happenings collage

Next, I have the collage from when Nathaniel, Crystal, Jessica and I visited Virginia City

And here we have the collage from the Animal Ark that Nathaniel and I took Jessica to.

And last, but not least, we have the collage from when all of us (Nathaniel, Jessica, Crystal, Mike, and I) went to Lake Tahoe.

9 months

Jessica is now 9 months old. Kinda crazy. She is doing all sorts of new things. She can sit on her own, though she doesn't get there by herself, she now scoots backwards on her belly, and crawls forward. (sort of) Her head stays on the ground but she does move her knees and hands forward.

She also feeds herself small foods using the pincer grasp, and she also recently started waving back.

As far as stats go, she is 15 lbs 10 oz (which puts her in the 10th percentile), 28 inches long (75th percentile) and her head is 47 cm in diameter (100th percentile). Unfortunately, her head being so big makes it so that we get to do a precautionary ultrasound on it. The doctor isn't worried, but apparently (according to him) when their heads are that big for that long, they like to check to make sure there isn't any water surrounding the brain. So we're doing that tomorrow.  Expecting it to go fine, but just making sure. She also has low iron levels, so we get to give her some infant vitamins now as well. (she isn't a fan of that).
Other than that, we have had all sorts of fun this past month and a half.
 Jessica and I went to the Strawberry Days boutique with Grandma Hiatt, (where we tried on the crown)

our apartment complex got out the bubble pool, and Jessica got to stand inside a bubble.

We went swimming at Grandma and Grandpa Hiatt's house (and Jessica didn't like it one bit).

We also watched the Stadium of Fire Fireworks with friends and family,

Jessica laid down in grass (that wouldn't cut her like at our apartment),

and decided that wasn't cool. And we all took a road trip to Reno to visit some friends. A blog post about that will be coming within the next few days, as I get all the pictures edited. Oh! And I almost forgot, we got Jessica's 9 month pictures taken, and she is a doll! See for yourself.
 

Christmas in July!

Yup, you heard that right. Christmas in July. That's what its been here for me. Thank you Target for making it possible. Last Friday, the 23rd, Target had a "Back in Black" day online. Basically, some of the Black Friday deals, but in July rather than end of November. I was able to get Nathaniel's "big" Christmas gift at about 40% off. Fabulous! (plus the already having that done, so I don't have to worry, and scrimp at the end of the year when I normally start). Then, yesterday, my friend Meghan told me about Target having some toys on clearance. Okay, technically she just posted on Facebook, but it worked. I walked down there this morning, (silly me for not taking the car) and rather than the $68.33 (plus tax) I would have spent on everything I bought, I spent $16.90 (plus tax). I may buy a few more things for Jessica for Christmas over the next few months, but I could be okay with just what I bought today. CRAZY!!!! I love having so many friends who are savvy shoppers, and let others know!

Monthly

Apparently I'm updating just about monthly, and I am really unsure as to what I am going to write about. Jessica has continued to be very cute and very petite. We have started using cloth diapers, which is a whole new adventure, but overall, I'm liking it. Jessica is finally able to sit in the carts at the store, so it makes it a lot easier for me to grocery shop when I take her with me. There was a huge snowstorm at the end of may (didn't make any of us very happy. We have paid off a couple of our credit cards (making life much easier, and giving our budget a fair amount more breathing room. Jessica has started sitting up consistently. She won't pull herself up, but if we set her up, and sit near enough just in case, she'll remain sitting for a while.  We found out that Nathaniel will not need surgery for his intestines, but he has an extreme case of IBS, and we will be starting him on a supplement regimen soon to see if it will help. I got a new phone, and Nathaniel is trying too, but both of the phones he is interested in are too expensive for us at the moment. Jessica has learned to make a new face. She scrunches up her nose and forces air in and out of her nose. It is so cute. A lot of babies do that when they are upset, but she does it all the time. She has also decided that I have some of the best toys stashed under my desk, so I will often turn around to find that she has rolled under my desk, and is attacking my backpack. She has also started kicking at the baby gate, and we found that our wall is diagonal, making it so that she can kick it over. Not fun. And she loves playing with computer stuff. She sees both her mom and her dad on the computer, so she wants to play too. Finally I have started to do lots of crafting/sewing again. It has been fabulous. I love it. Maybe I'll post some things on here later. For now, I'm just going to get to give you a photo collage. Sorry. I just can't think of any specifics.

Strawberry jam

So I had a request for the recipe for the strawberry jam I made the other day. It's basically just the recipe from the pectin box, but I'll post it here anyway.
First of all... the ingredients(for 1 batch):
-1 box MCP premium fruit pectin
-3 qt. strawberries ( I bought 8 lbs, made 2 batches and had a fair amount of berries left)
-1/4 c lemon juice
-8 1/2 c sugar
-6 pt jars (plus one smaller container)
-lids/rings
-1 1/2 t margarine (or butter or spread)

Directions:
-Put lids in a small pan with enough water to cover them, and heat them (I put the stove onto 2)
-Wash jars and fill with hot water (as hot as you can get it) so they are warmed, and don't break when you put the jam in.
-Wash and cut strawberries. Discard stems. Put cut pieces into food processor (or blender). Chop until its the size of chunks you want in your jam. I prefer very very small chunks. You will need 5 3/4 c (very rounded) crushed strawberries. Put those into your pot. You will want at least a 6 qt pot, and that is a little on the small side.
-measure out sugar (I put it into a big bowl), get your small spoonful of margarine and set it on the counter, get your lids ready, and have towels out for the jars and pot once you're done cooking it. 
-After putting the strawberries in the pot, add the lemon juice and pectin and bring to a full rolling boil stirring constantly.
-Add sugar (gradually) stirring the whole time.
-Bring back to a rolling boil, put margarine in as you notice foam starting to show.
-Boil for 4 minutes.
-Pull jam off the stove, empty the jars of water (quickly) and put them all on the towels.
-Using a 2 cup measuring cup (my favorite size at least) stir the foam into the jam, and then use it to fill the jars.
-After filling each jar, wipe the rim, put on the lid and ring, and flip upside down.
-Once all jars are full and flipped, wait 10 minutes (while cleaning up?) and then flip them back the other way. This helps to distribute the fruit pieces throughout the jam. Let them sit until cooled. You will probably hear pops. This is normal, it is the jars sealing. Once they are cooled, check to make sure they all sealed. (tap the lids, you shouldn't be able to 'press in' the 'button') If they all sealed, they are ready for storage. If some didn't quite seal, don't worry, they're still usable, just stick them in your fridge, or give them to neighbors.

This recipe (the amount of sugar) will probably only work with that specific brand of pectin. The instructions will work with others, but if you buy a different brand of pectin, use their amounts.

And so it begins!

      Canning Season that is! I know, I know, most people probably consider it a little early for canning season. However, those of us that do not have a garden, (or anywhere to plant for that matter) must go with the sales at the supermarket. Strawberries were just on sale. That meant... Strawberry Jam! It was very new to me. I knew I wanted to make some, but I didn't know how to go about doing so. Well, I knew some of the things I would need (such as jars) so I did buy some of the things. Then I went online to search for recipes.
     Yeah, that didn't work so well. The recipes I could find were all convoluted, and confusing, and were not at all what I remember from my mom making jam. (Mom's jam was of course the best, so obviously I wanted it to be like hers) So, once I figured out that looking online wouldn't do any good at all, I called and asked Mom if she could help me. So this past Tuesday, Mom came over and helped me to make some strawberry jam. It was so much fun, and it was actually really easy. I was surprised. Out of 8 pounds of strawberries we got 11 jars of jam, and still had probably about 2 pounds of strawberries left. It was great fun.

So yeah, as I said, my canning season won't be most people's canning season. I will probably be mainly canning fruit, and maybe I'll freeze some corn. I'm planning on making raspberry jam, and pear jam (possibly peach/pear as well) and then hopefully I'll also can some peaches and pears. So yeah, the main problem I have to worry about is space. I don't know if I have enough to store all of this canning that I want to do. Oh well, we'll figure it out.

Worth 1000 Words... Mother's Day

A Saturday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment~
A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for us.

6 months!!!!

Wow. Jessica is 6 months old now! Craziness. She rolls all over the place, she makes the cutest sounds and she even sleeps through the night! I started her on a routine. 7:00 I give her some cereal, give her a bath and rub her down with lotion, and then I get her in pajamas, wrap her up like a burrito, and then nurse her, and she (generally) falls right to sleep around 7:30. The mornings aren't so exact for us. Sometimes she'll wake up at 4:00 to eat, and stay awake. Most of the time if she's up before 6:00 to eat, she'll fall right back asleep. That is, if I wrap her back up before feeding her. Today has been fantastic. She didn't wake up once until 5:45, which meant that I got almost 8 hours of sleep. Then, after she ate, she fell right back asleep without any mutters even, and it is now 7:30, and she is just starting to stir.

So, we got her 6 month portraits taken on Tuesday, and I have to say, she is far too cute for my wallet. It was extremely difficult to not buy every single picture. But I got the digital copies (not the copyright) so I can at least put some of them up on here. However, it was too difficult to decide which ones to post, so here is a collage.

So stinkin' adorable!
Unfortunately that wasn't the only thing that happened on Tuesday.
Tuesday evening, as I was getting ready for a bridal shower that I was going to, Nathaniel and I heard Jessica start coughing and gasping, as if she were choking on something. She's done that before on spit, like most of us have, so we weren't too worried, just picked her up and patted her back a bit, but she kept doing it. We couldn't figure out what was going on, and we were getting really worried. Nathaniel had her in his lap while he was in his computer chair, and I was sitting on the floor, and I happened to look in her mouth and noticed something white in the back, up by her uvula. I figured she had found a string, and it got stuck, so I wasn't too upset, just figured we needed to get it out. I got a flashlight so that I could see it better, and found it wasn't a string. It was a piece of shrink-wrap. We had watched a 'new' movie (one we hadn't opened yet) the other day, and apparently not all of the pieces of shrink-wrap got picked up, and unfortunately she was the one to find it. My nails were a bit long, so Nathaniel had to try to get the plastic out of her mouth. It took a few tries, but we got it, and she is perfectly alright now, but that was definitely a major scare. It was getting to the point where I was thinking I might be heading to the ER rather than the bridal shower. So yeah, being extra careful with shrink-wrap from now on.

Worth 1000 Words...

A Saturday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment~
A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for us.

So very cute!

Okay, Jessica has been doing a number of cute things recently, so I figured I'd give you a few pictures to look at. You've already seen the Easter ones and the one of her sitting up, so here are a few others. The first two are of her deciding that her favorite toys are Mama's 'toys'. The bottle is still her favorite.

So here's the bottle, and below is the bag.

As I said, Mama's toys are best.

Here we show an example of how Jessica has learned to grab her blanket as she rolls over, thus creating a great hiding spot for herself.

Another one of those hiding spots, but this time out of her high-chair cushion, (and I was able to sneak close enough while she was playing, but she saw me before I could catch the picture of her playing under it. 

This was just way too cute, what with the expression on her face, and the fact that her legs are wrapped around my piano bench.

And this has to be my favorite. We went outside yesterday, and she seemed to be having struggles with the bright sunlight, so I gave her my sunglasses, and had to get a picture. Obviously (by the shadow through the left lens) they didn't do a whole lot of good, but they sure made a darn cute picture.

Milestones

So, yesterday seemed to be quite the day for milestones around here. Jessica started rolling over from her stomach to her back with some consistency. She'd rolled over that way before, but it was more like once and then wait 2 weeks before doing so again. Yesterday it was pretty much every time she rolled onto her tummy, she was able to roll herself back over. That was way fun. However this was the more surprising, and cooler thing (in my opinion at least)

I did sit her up, she didn't pull herself up on her own, but she probably stayed there for about a minute, just sitting there staring at her Papa. I love the look of surprise on her face. Its just great. So yeah, that's what has been happening around here

Happy Easter

Well, I know its a few days late, but Happy Easter everybody! We had a beautiful day visiting family and watching conference. We did not do Easter baskets, because Jessica isn't really old enough to even do anything with one, but I did buy her a new Easter dress, and I did get some very cute photos of her.

So we had fun playing with family, and we loved conference. It was beautiful, and seemed directed right at us. (isn't it always).

Worth 1000 Words...

A Saturday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment~
A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for us.

Worth 1000 Words...

A Saturday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment~
A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for us.