The Jesus Storybook Bible

A couple of years ago Matt and I found The Jesus Storybook Bible online. It looked cute, so we got one for a couple of the kids in our families. When it shipped, I read through it some before wrapping up the gifts, and I loved it. I loved the way it was written, I loved the illustrations, I just loved it.

Several days ago Matt surprised me by ordering a copy for the baby, and we've been reading a story every night out loud for her. I could go into all of the reasons they say it is good to start reading to your baby early (even while still in the womb), and all of that is good and true, but if I'm being honest, I have really enjoyed reading through it.

So if you have kids in your family, or you just want to channel your inner-child and enjoy the beautiful stories and illustrations, get yourself a copy of this book!

You can order it through Amazon.com by clicking HERE.

Belgian Waffles

I don't know that it is to the point of a craving, but Belgian waffles sound good almost any time to me. I woke up a couple of weeks ago wanting waffles, but we didn't have any waffle mix. I found a recipe online and Matt and I both really liked them. I'm going to share the recipe, as I found it, but listen... this calls for a lot of sugar, and a lot of butter. The first time I made them, I followed the directions exactly and they were delicious. I made them again last night and cut back a little bit on the butter and sugar and they were still delicious. This recipe made about 6 waffles in our waffle iron, and the batter stays good in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Belgian Waffles

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Sliced fresh strawberries or syrup

Directions:

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. In another bowl, lightly beat egg yolks. Add milk, butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined.

In small bowl or mug, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (I put the egg whites in a coffee mug and put one beater attachment on my mixer to use, and it worked really well). Fold into batter.

Bake in a preheated waffle iron until golden brown. Serve with strawberries or syrup.

Follow by Email

You may notice a new item on the right side of the page titled "Follow by Email." If you want to plug your email address in there, you'll get an email each time I update the blog!

Purtis Creek State Park

Purtis Creek State Park is only about 30 minutes from our house, so we've taken a few trips out there to camp and hike. Since Matt is preparing for Elevations this summer (they'll climb a mountain in Colorado) he's started going out there some with Penny to train. We both went this weekend to enjoy the temperatures in the upper 60's. Penny seems to LOVE it.

They have an annual pass that is pretty cheap, and since we enjoy going so much, we may go ahead and invest in the pass. Hopefully this pregnant lady can still get out there to hike and/or camp a few times before the baby comes!

Trip to Hot Springs Village

This past weekend Matt and I made a quick trip to Hot Springs Village to visit Pappa Mac & Jill. It has been a little over a year since we'd been, so we were itching for a visit. We didn't get to stay as long as we would've liked, but we learned that a 4.5 hour trip from Canton isn't nearly as exhausting as an 8 hour trip like it was from Austin, so hopefully we can visit more often now that we are closer!

We got there Friday evening and didn't waste much time before spilling the beans on the baby news (that we were having a girl). We enjoyed getting to visit about little girls, the pregnancy, and just catching up with one another on what's going on in our lives. We always love getting to visit with them.

Later that night mom, dad, and Solomon arrived, so we visited for a while with everyone before heading to bed around midnight (which is WAY later than I've been staying up!). On Saturday, Jill got out some toys for Solomon and as soon as I saw them I said, "Awww!! I remember those!" Those toys have been around for a long time, but they are super cool toys, and Solomon (and Matt) enjoyed playing with them.

We got to spend most of Saturday with everyone before Matt and I had to head back to Canton. Hopefully we'll make it back up there soon - maybe with a sweet little girl in tow!

Pregnancy Update: Big Changes

I've had a few new things this week, which is kind of exciting, but they certainly haven't been the most glamorous changes! For starters, I don't even recognize my bellybutton anymore. Some days I'm not really even convinced it is mine. Also, this tiny human inside of me has found my bladder and my ribs. The pressure on my bladder causes me to jump up to hurry to the bathroom while the pain in my ribs nearly takes me straight to the ground. She's lucky that I already like her a lot. I've also started noticing some swelling in my hands and feet.

Pregnancy sure is a fascinating thing. Even the not-so-fun things are kind of neat, when I consider what all is happening right now. I know I still have a while to wait, but I sure am excited about meeting this kid.

Girl or Boy? Penny was right!

Well, Penny guessed GIRL, and she was right!

I didn't think that I had feelings or expectations either way, but I was sure surprised when they told us GIRL! Maybe all of the boys in the family so far had me secretly thinking it would be a boy. We are beyond thrilled about a little girl, and she was cracking us up through the ultrasound. She has been very active, and very wiggly, and we saw just that during the ultrasound. That little girl didn't want to sit still for even a second. Anything the ultrasound tech wanted to take a picture of, she would cover up with her hands. We had already confirmed that she was a girl, but the ultrasound tech wanted to try to get a better picture. When she looked, the baby put her legs together tight and put both hands between her legs. The ultrasound tech said, "Well, she's modest!" Matt let out a sigh of relief and said, "Yes!! Please stay that way!"

Of course it would've been nice to come away with wonderful ultrasound pictures, but that little girl wasn't having it, and Matt and I were both very amused by her uncooperativeness (if that uncooperativeness sticks, we might not think it is so cute later on down the road... but for now, it was very cute).

Boy or Girl?

Before we find out whether we're having a boy or a girl, we decided to try a few of the old wives tales, just for fun, to see what they say. We'll add those in with Penny's guess and soon we'll find out whether or not they are right!

Cravings: sweet stuff means girl, salty stuff means boy
Outcome: BOY. I just started craving sweet stuff, but up until now, I've definitely preferred chips and salsa over a piece of cake!

(Speaking of which, Matt and I LOVE this recipe for homemade roasted salsa!)

Dreams: they say if you dream about the baby being a boy, it's a girl. If you dream of a girl, it's a boy.
Outcome: BOY. I've had 3-4 dreams that it's a girl, and only one that it's a boy.

Heart Rate: 140 or over says girl, under 140 says boy.
Outcome: GIRL. At our visits, they've marked the baby's heart rate at 140, 160, 145, and 150.

Chinese Calendar: I don't even know... something you check on the Chinese Calendar.
Outcome: BOY.

Mayan Calendar: Again, I don't know... it calculates things based on your current age, age at conception, and when the baby is due.
Outcome: BOY.

Morning Sickness: They say if you have morning sickness, it is a girl. This is one of the most commonly debunked wives tales (as all of you who have been sick and have had boys are huffing in your chair right now), but we'll include it anyway. I have definitely been sick.
Outcome: GIRL.

(this picture pretty well sums up how I've felt through most of this pregnancy)

Skin: if your skin is soft and smooth, it's a girl. If it is dry, it is a boy.
Outcome: BOY.

Hair: If your hair is thin and dull, they say girl. If it is full and glossy, boy.
Outcome: GIRL. I always hear about the nice, thick hair you get while pregnant... I haven't had that. At least not yet.

Ramzi Method: I saw this on Pinterest once and decided to look into it. Apparently there is a fairly high success rate in guessing gender based on the location of the yolk sack in your first ultrasound.
Outcome: BOY.

(7 week ultrasound)

Penny's Guess: We decided to let Penny add her prediction to the count. Check out the video below to see which one she picks (the video includes some "outtakes" of Penny being SUPER hyper and bouncing all over the place waiting for her food. We often talk about her "happy feet," that you'll see clearly in this video)!

 

If we add in Penny's vote, that comes out to

BOY: 6, GIRL: 4

We'll see if those predictions are correct soon!

By the way, there are a lot of "tests" that people claim are more accurate, but most include mixing the pregnant woman's urine with various things, and I just didn't care that much. Matt and I both got a kick out of one test that instructed the pregnant woman to buy a red cabbage, boil it for x minutes, remove the cabbage and save the water, then add the urine to the cabbage water and see what color it turns. Maybe there is something to it, but we decided to forgo that one. Also, as I mentioned previously, I know the "ring swing" test is a popular one, but we got NO result from that one, unless we manipulated the movement. So we just left that one out, too.

Check back soon for updates!

Scarf-Wearing Family

It got cold here last night! This morning, I sent Matt a picture of myself wearing a scarf he got me for Christmas. He responded to my email with a picture of himself at work wearing his scarf. Just so the whole family could be involved in scarf-wearing, I put one on Penny and took a picture to send to Matt. Surprisingly, she seemed to like it! And let's be honest... she looks awfully cute! :)

 

Penny the Climber

Penny recently figured out how to climb our fence. Thankfully, she doesn't run off when she gets out, but who knows how long that will last before she becomes more adventurous. When she would climb
out she would either go to the church building, or go wait on our front porch. We spied on her some to see if there was a certain spot she was climbing over, or what was making her climb over. What we learned was that (1) she can climb any part of the fence, and (2) usually she climbs over in pursuit of a squirrel.

Matt spied on her a few times and blew an air horn when she started to climb over. She is very sensitive to loud noises like that, so we are thinking (and hoping) that she learned after a few times. We haven't seen her try to climb over in a while now. We are hoping that did the trick, because we did some research into the cost of altering our fence to keep her in, and even the cheapest options cost a couple hundred dollars!

We had a few days of rain recently, so Matt took her to work with him. She loves hanging out at the church building.

Pregnancy Update

I am getting close to the five month mark! It is kind of hard to believe. My morning sickness has finally subsided, but about the time those ailments faded, I got hit hard with a cold. Most of it has gone away, but I haven't quite been able to shake the annoying cough. The only entertaining thing about having a cough is that my belly button has already started changing, and every time I cough, the entire thing pops out for just a second. Matt was nearly in tears one night laughing at it popping in and out.

I'm still waiting for the "energy boost" that I keep reading about. I'm glad the sickness has faded, but I'm still pretty tired most of the time. My appetite has increased quite a bit, but without the boost in energy, I have to be very careful to not just sit around and eat all day! I know a person is supposed to gain some weight during pregnancy, but an increased appetite and no energy to do anything sounds like a bad formula for extreme weight gain!

I feel the baby moving quite a bit now. Usually I just feel general wiggliness (I know that isn't a real word, but it seems like the best descriptive word for this case), but sometimes I'll feel very clear kicks or punches. This morning while I was still in bed I yelled for Matt to come look at my belly. For the first time (at least with certainty) we saw the baby moving around from the outside. We saw some very clear kicks and punches, and just some waves across my belly and he or she moved around. It was really neat.

Our appointment to find out the sex of the baby is this month, and we are both really excited about finding out. I still don't have any mother's instinct feeling about whether it is a boy or girl, so I'm just really excited to know. We have done a few wives tales tests but they have come out pretty even with boy and girl results. As it gets closer to the reveal, I'll do a blog post with the findings of our tests, then we'll see how accurate they are. (Side note: I don't get the swinging a ring over the belly one... we tried and it does nothing unless you manipulate its movement... so either people just make that one up, or we have a faulty ring or faulty baby.)