Monday, October 31, 2011
Halloween Festivities
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Steve's 30th Birthday!
Bella LOVES spicy food! She definitely gets this from Steve (and he seems to get it from HIS dad, so it's a cool connection!).
She tries to whistle; this may seem random, but Steve and his dad are always whistling. And they're really good at doing it on pitch! I can barely whistle and definitely can't do it on tune.
Her little blue eyes make her sensitive to the sun just like Steve, so they always sneeze as soon as they step outside.
I'm sure there's many more, but these are some of the little things that Steve and I noticed this past weekend.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Dance Party In "St. Louis"!
I will be so amazed if this video actually works! I took it on my phone, so no promises on sound and clarity. This is the video of Bella and Mel dancing to a scene from "Meet Me In St. Louis".
My phone can only take 30 seconds of video at a time, so we continued the fun below...
Puggles-Mania
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Moments Of Chaos, I Mean, Bella!
Rolling all over the floor right after I did her hair for church tonight. I have no doubt that she does this on purpose; she's a crafty little human!
I love that her attempts to say "cheese!" come out silly. She usually looks just slightly annoyed at the camera; like she's about to tell someone off.
Bella's favorite movies this week are Pocahontas ("ahontas!") and The Little Mermaid ("arel"). My favorite thing to watch lately is whenever songs come on during these movies...Bella will sit down on the floor at the edge of our bed and try to sing along. She only figures out every few syllables, but it's priceless! It's one of those "pride" moments as her mom. I love to sing and have grown up singing with my dad. I like to think that she gets it from me.
Hmmm...what else? She likes to put her head on the floor while she's standing, peer back between her legs, and say, "I see you!" It makes me smile, even if I just got done scolding her.
Her favorite movie last week (and for about the last three weeks) was Meet Me In St. Louis. If you don't know this movie, I weep for you. Bella learned how to copy some of the dance moves and I'm going to see if I can post the video of her and Mel dancing. It will make your day, even if you don't like musicals!
Acts 1:8 Missions Conference
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
White Chili and Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chives
- 2 cans corn [I used a Southwestern mix that included black beans.]
- 4 cooked, boneless chicken breast half, chopped
- 2 cans chicken broth [I used 1 regular box of Swanson's Chicken Broth]
- 5 cans Great Northern beans
- 2 cans large Butter beans
1. Cook the chicken. We bought thighs instead of chicken breasts, because they were on sale and the meat came out so tender! Also, Steve grilled it for me instead of boiling it; this added an amazing smoky flavor to the entire dish.
2. Once the chicken was cooked, I literally just poured everything into a pot, added a lid, turned the heat as low as possible, and let it simmer all day (12 PM - 5 PM). I stirred it about 3 or 4 times throughout the day. So easy!
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1 pkg. of cream cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in the pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix well.
3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Whoopie Pie Filling.
4. To Make Whoopie Pie Filling: Beat egg white and mix with the milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar. Mix well then beat in the shortening and the remaining cup of confectioners' sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. [The only thing Mel changed was to add the pkg. of cream cheese. It made the mixture a little less fluffy, but really enhanced the taste!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Pumpkin Carving Party
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Gluttons For Punishment
Monday, October 10, 2011
Visiting The Pumpkin Patch
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Bella's First Preschool Boo-Boo
Monday, October 3, 2011
Here We Go...
The Little Human's Official Debut
We spent some time in the doctor's office today, talking with her about our options. I am really interested in doing a waterbirth at home. A waterbirth is when you labor and deliver in a tub or birthing pool (which looks just like a kiddie pool). The main reasons that I'm interested in for doing a waterbirth is that I'd like to try to have Bella naturally and water is used as a great pain reliever. It may be all in the mother's head, but I'm up for whatever works.
My motivation for a homebirth is simply that the options for a waterbirth in a hospital are very limited. From what I've seen so far, a lot of the hospitals provide birthing tubs that are like jacuzzis. This may seem really weird, but those tubs seem so hard and uncomfortable to me. I like the idea of using a soft-sided tub in our own environment.
I've read a lot of articles and watched a lot of home videos, and from what I've read and the research done, there is no danger of the baby breathing in water when it first comes out. The umbilical cord is still attached and the baby gets oxygen that way. Plus, the baby is quickly pulled out of the water and onto the mother's chest; the baby isn't left with their head underwater.
We talked to the doctor today about potential warning signs that would lead us to change the plan and head to a hospital. She was very informative and gave us sound advice. She also gave us some medical centers in the city that deal with homebirths, so that was a good lead. At the end of the day, I'm not making this decision because I don't like doctors or hospitals or medical intervention. I love the way Bella was born and the hospital and doctors rocked my world.
This is just an "I'd like to see if I can do it" moment. I don't know if that sounds selfish; I hope not. As we move forward, if it seems like this option is simply not a safe or good idea, I have absolutely no qualms about changing the plan. And honestly, Steve's only about 70% on board at this moment. I'm not willing to do anything that he's not 100% with. He's agreed to do his own research and keep an open mind. We're moving forward to finding a few different midwives that we can interview.
So there it is! Our "baby story" so far...