Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Finishing the Nursery

We spent most of this weekend running errands and finishing up the nursery.   Here’s the photo play-by-play of the nursery projects…
Night 1 – Bookcase – We bought a bookcase at Target and Ryan let me help put it together!
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Then I guess he needed a beer break while I was hard at work with the screwdriver.
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Putting my feet up after all that hard work!
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Ryan practicing his baby rocking technique
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Finished Bookcase loaded with Cason’s books and toys.
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We’ve had this monkey for a long time, I think I gave it to Ryan before we were married.  His hands Velcro together and since he doesn’t sit up well on his own, I thought he was best suited hanging on the lamp.
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Night 2 – Walls! – Ryan’s brother Kevin painted canvases to spell out Cason.  We finally got the ribbon to hang them on the wall, along with the puzzles we’d been waiting to hang.
We did lots of math and put the laser level to good use!
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Starting in the middle.  One Down, 4 to go!
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Hanging the last one.
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All done! They look great!  Thanks Kev!
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And now a view around the room.
Walking in the door…DSC_0753DSC_0755
View From the Bathroom DoorDSC_0756 
View from the closet doorDSC_0764
I just love this little area of the room. DSC_0767DSC_0759

33 Weeks - Belly Picture

Ryan and I attended the Easter Egg Hunt at the Woodforest Welcome Lodge on Saturday morning.  Finally got a good picture of the two of us and my belly!

I'm really growing which has it's ups and downs.  We are both getting more and more anxious and ready to meet Cason... 7 weeks to go!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

32 Week Picture

"Neanie" took this picture before she and "Grandpa" headed back to Jackson. I still had wet hair but the picture is cute enough. Ryan is so photogenic... no fair!

Too Cute

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook today. She has a little girl and another on the way.  I hope I have a little girl one day so I can make cute things like this.

Prudent Baby's "10 Minute Onesie Dress - Easiest Dress Ever"

I'm really just posting this so that I can find it later because I want to make these one day -- for my own daughter, niece, friend's daughter...

Monday, March 22, 2010

Baby Shower – Part 1

Saturday was my baby shower.  Two of my awesome friends, Suz and Jennifer, and my two awesome sister-in-laws, Whitney and Stephanie, hosted the shower at Stephanie’s house.  They did a fantastic job. 

Super cute cake incorporating a little of me and a little of Ryan!DSC_0611 DSC_0613

So much delicious food!DSC_0615 DSC_0618

Banner on the fireplace.DSC_0620

I somehow didn’t get a picture of the cute water bottles that had custom made labels with Cason’s name and the same pattern as his crib bedding.    I also never got a picture of me with the hostesses, or with my mom, or with Ryan’s mom.  Ah, that’s my life!

I’ll post more pictures from the shower/gift opening later.  Thanks to the four of you for all your hard work. Ryan and I both really appreciate it! 

Cookie Mix in a Jar

As gifts for my Baby Shower Hostesses, I made these and thought they turned out great!
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix In A Jar
by:Nestle Meals.com

Ingredients In the Jar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 Quart Canning Jar


Filling the Jar
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Place flour mixture in jar. Layer remaining ingredients in order listed above, pressing firmly after each layer. Seal with lid and decorate with fabric and ribbon.


Recipe to Attach 
Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter or margarine, 1 large egg and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until blended. Add cookie mix and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional); mix well, breaking up any clumps. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.



Tips:
  • After a test run, I measured out all my ingredients into separate bowls so that I could setup an assembly line… Mom was helping. 
  • I found that it was best to slightly pack the flour after placing in the jar. 
  • When layering in the chocolate chips, spoon them in gently (as opposed to pouring them in fast) so that they don’t sink into the flour. 
  • You can play with the layering… I did two jars as flour, chips, brown sugar, flour, chips, brown sugar and two jars as flour, chips, brown sugar.  The second approach filled the jar better, probably because I packed the flour too much in the first approach (pictured). 
  • The key is to always pack brown sugar on top of the chips if you are going to put flour on top.  Otherwise, the flour seeps down into the cracks between chips. 
  • And always pack brown sugar as the last layer to seal everything together.
I did a test run of the full recipe before starting the project to make sure the cookies were actually good… they were.  To finish off the jars, I tied a cute spatula around with cute ribbon.  They turned out pretty cute!
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Thanks to Suz, Jenn, Whit and Steph for a great shower!

Friday, March 19, 2010

32 Week Appointment

Today was my 32 week appointment with the doctor.  Still just moving along with nothing new to report.  I signed all the papers at the hospital to authorize treatment/payment so that is marked off the list.

I guess the biggest news was that the scales are finally starting to match the way I feel.   I'm up about 15lbs.  With two months left, I guess thats pretty good.  Heartbeat still sounded just fine, blood pressure is fine, etc, etc.  I'm thankful to not have any complications and to be generally feeling well.

Cason definitely has a daily routine and I hope this routine carries over into life on the outside (ha, like I'd be that lucky).  I don't feel him much in the mornings unless its a weekend and we sleep in.   By the time I am in the car and headed to work he's awake and moving around.  I guess he's repositioning himself.  His favorite position seems to be having either his feet (or hands or knees or elbows... something) pressed right at the top of my belly, almost to my ribs.  He stays in this general position most of the day while I'm at work so I often feel kicks and rolls and other movements right across the top.  He's pretty active all day while I'm at my desk and into my drive home.  Once I'm home and moving around cooking dinner, it must lull him back to sleep.  He'll wake up and start moving around again when we are watching TV and getting into bed.  But, he's a good boy and doesn't keep me up all night (please, please, continue this habit... ha).

The movements are a lot more intense (best word I can think of) now than before.  It's not just a kick or punch here and there but longer movements with a lot of pressure.  Sometimes I have random lumps sticking out which aren't too comfortable and often one half of my belly will be bigger than the other (I picture him in there with his butt up in the air)  The movements at times are uncomfortable but always welcome because I know that means he's doing okay in there.  Ryan can feel him more often but does still seem to have the "magic touch" to make Cason immediately stop moving as soon as he puts his hand on my belly... again, I hope this continues on the outside too!  :)

That's the latest on the baby front.  Still waiting for the chair to arrive so we can finish up the nursery.  Neanie and Grandpa are on their way from Jackson for a visit.  I have my baby shower tomorrow and am very excited about that!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

New Phones!!


Two years ago we went to get new phones when our two year renewal discount was available. We left the Verizon store with a Blackberry for Ryan and a little flip phone for me. I was jealous. Lots of our friends were getting Blackberry and iPhones. It just wasn't in the cards for me back then.

Yesterday we went in for our new two year upgrade and I had already told Ryan that I WOULD be getting a smartphone whether he liked it or not! I need to be able to email him pictures of Cason while I was home on leave. And I need to be able to post them straight to Facebook... I NEED to be able to do this!!!!!

So here I am, posting to the blog from my new Droid Eris. Ryan got the Motorola Droid. I love mine and I think Ryan is starting to like his... gotta adjust from the Blackberry.  We've both already spent WAAAY too much time playing with theses phones in the past, oh, 18 hours!

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