Two posts? In one day?

Yes. Because my puppy is just too pretty and I had to share. :) Love my Ben!

Getting close....

Here I am (looking just lovely) at 31 weeks.
We had been outside for 3 hours walking around.
I grew a butt!

Sewing Fear, overcome.

Sewing project #1, quilt for Eowyn.

Sewing project #2, Halloween dress for Afton.

Pumpkin Crisis is OVER!

Now that pumpkin can once again be found in pretty little cans, sitting on the grocer shelf,I will share my recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. :)

Preheat oven to 350

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup veggie oil
1 tbsp Vanilla

Cream above ingredients until well mixed.

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning (or 2 tsp cinnamon & 2 tsp nutmeg)

Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, dough will look like cake batter.
Then mix in 1 cup mini-semi sweet chocolate chips.

On greased cookie sheet, drop by 1 tablespoon, bake for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

yield 4-5 dozen mini cookies. BITE SIZE!

They should be a more cake like cookie and store nicely in a ziplock bag.

K is for Krystin!

I went through hell 9 years ago.

My original due date was August 22. Taylor was born September 27. You do the math.
I carried her over by a full month! Doctors said I was measuring too small and that my dates must have been wrong. They were sure I wasn't due. I begged for an amniocentesis to verify if her lungs were ready yet, I KNEW she was ready to come out. What they found was meconium in my amniotic fluid, not a good thing, so they agreed to induce labor.

After nine hours of petocin induced labor, we're talking extremely violent, painful, no relief labor, I requested an epidural. I couldn't take it anymore, I was a scared 16 year old girl who was in no way ready for that type of suffering.

The next 3 hours went by rather smoothly, they were able to up the pitocin dosage and prepared to deliver my baby. I was told to she would only weigh 5-6 lbs and would most likely need to have a special team assess her due to the miconium, the baby can swallow it and be become ill.

Suddenly, more people were in the room, a lot more. I didn't think too much of it. They put oxygen on me, I assumed that was normal. A nurse told me we needed to do some "practice pushes". I couldn't feel a damn thing below my waste, how was I suppose to do that? But I tried. After 15 minutes, the doctor looked worried and said, "Let's try the vacuum." The what?
The vacuum kept popping off her crowning head, a no go. "Let's try the forceps." The WHAT?
The first pull of the forceps pulled me half way down the bed. This kid was S-T-U-C-K, stuck.
My mom kept looking at my monitor with tears in her eyes. I was confused, wasn't this a happy thing?
The doctor then declared,"We might be looking at a C-section." Doctor #2 "I don't think there is time, try an episiotomy." (I asked for a mirror, I wanted to see what was going on down there.)
The next 20 minutes are very blurry, I remember them tell me to push, push, PUSH! And then watching the doctor reach INTO me and pull out my baby. I then blacked out for a moment.
When I came back to reality, I froze. Something didn't seem right. Where was Taylor? It took me a moment to see through the crowd of hospital people (medical term) surrounding her. They put my oxygen back on, apparently I kept taking it off and throwing it at people.
After what felt like hours, they announced a girl! 8 lbs 3 oz 22 1/2 inches long!!!!!!!!!!!
(So much for that 5-6 lbs?)
It took another 2 hours to take care of me. My placenta had ruptured during delivery, causing Taylor's heart to drop drastically with each contraction and push. That was why my mom was so worried, she saw it on the monitor, dropping and not coming up all the way. That was why there was no time for a c-section, Taylor wouldn't have lived long enough. Her cord was also around her neck. She was too large a baby for me to push out, I suffered a fourth degree laceration and it took nearly 200 stitches to repair the damage. I wouldn't sit without a doughnut pillow for 3 weeks. They also had to "manually" remove the after birth due to it rupturing.

I'll never forget the moment when they finally handed her to me. The relief out weighed all the pain I just went through. She was bruised from the forceps, her lips were a little blue from lack of oxygen, but she was content. She looked around with eye drop filled eyes, she whimpered just a little. She was beautiful. Born Thursday, September 27, 2001 at 5:07 am.

Taylor might have been born to an under-age, inexperienced mother, but because of her I grew up. Without her I would not have such a full life. She taught me responsibility and what love truly is. She is the best big sister any kid could ask for, her siblings look up to her and know they can rely on her as a friend. I can't believe it has really been 9 years since that miserable day, she was worth every stitch, contraction, and moment of that hell.

Cheezy Meadow and Amazing Lemon Sauce

Evelynn named this recipe Cheezy Meadow.
Brown Rice-looks like wheat or yellowed grass (especially with the cheese).
Broccoli-are the little bushes and trees.
Chicken chunks-stand in as little rocks.

Isn't she cute?
So here is a super quick meal that is inexpensive, filling, and yummy:

3-4 cups cubed chicken, browned
4 cups cooked brown rice (about 2 cups dry)
2 broccoli crowns, cut up
2 cans Campell's Cheddar Cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
Orange and Datil pepper seasoning (substitute with lemon pepper seasoning)

Layer in casserole dish: rice and chicken. Sprinkle with seasoning.
Spread broccoli around the top, pour canned cheese all over.
Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake 5 minutes more.

The seasoning is something my brother sent me while living in St Augustine, Florida. It is fantastic on veggie/rice combos! My little jar has lasted quite awhile, I highly recommend it. If you have a rice cooker with a brown rice setting, it makes this meal even easier. I usually brown my chicken in EVOO over medium heat. I can cut everything up and cook the chicken early in the day and just throw it all together for dinner.

Want to seem fancy? Don't want to spend $$$? or time?

Lemon Sauce

1 can cream of chicken soup
2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 water
capers (optional)

Mix soup and water in small saucepan, add butter and lemon juice, bring to a low simmer stirring with whisk constantly. Heat until warm. Pour over pasta/veal/chicken, sprinkle some capers on top.
(Hint: this is very impressive when served over veal and bow-tie pasta!!! Veal is very easy to make, just brown a couple of cutlets in EVOO over medium heat, 2 minutes per side.)

Here are what capers look like.
I love the taste, but easy does it, they are potent!

What I did and didn't do.

I didn't really brush my hair or wash my face, I have deodorant on though.
I didn't bother making the bed today, I took a nap with Raedin.
I didn't feel like folding the laundry, but at least it got washed.
I didn't spend an hour or more on dinner, we had chocolate chip pancakes.
I didn't have motivation to do more dishes after dinner, so I read Parents magazine to fill up time.
I didn't want to face the heat, but Ben got an extra walk today for being good.
I didn't feel up to playing games, so the kids got extra movie time.
I didn't show enough excitement over my new fondue set, I cried a little instead as it reminds me of some of those I left behind in Utah.
I didn't go shopping for my birthday with Mandy for the first time in 9 years, I shopped online alone.
I didn't send Nate a text with I LOVE YOU, I requested cupcakes.
I didn't think it would be so hard to move, I hope my mood improves.
I didn't really want to leave Utah, but I am here and will make due.

I didn't think I'd make it this far without completely melting down, but I did.
I didn't do it all alone, I did it with His help.