Building Our Nest

I just wanted to share

2011-03-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have this entire week off of work and have a lot of decorating projects planned(think a few gallons of paint!). I just finished reading a blog post that I wanted to share. I've posted things from this blog before and this mornings post is just what I needed!
http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2011/03/21/filling-my-home-with-the-unseen/

New photos!

2011-02-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

I think it's about time to share some new(ish) pictures of my guys!

Front Door Facelift

2011-02-19T13:03:00.000-08:00

Our front door has been neglected as of late, so this morning I gave it a facelift! Meet the new wreath:

A Return to Blogging?

2011-02-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

I *think* maybe I'm ready to blog again. I've always enjoyed it but I usually can't find the time! So what has happened since we left off (FIVE months ago?!):

-I spent most of the fall sewing. I made 3 quilts as christmas gifts, and participated, with my mom and sister, in making a 4th quilt. I also made my boys other sewing and knitting projects for Christmas, so I was quite busy.

-I ran a marathon relay with my dad, sister and friend.

-I trained for, and ran, my first half marathon Thanksgiving weekend. I haven't run a step since, but intend to as I have two more halfs coming up! I have been doing other workouts, including weight training and pilates, and have never felt more healthy (well, before that bowl of ice cream and oreos I just downed!).

-Beckham turned 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 months old! TEN months! He's got two teeth, with two more on their way. He still is not sleeping through the night, but is usually only up once. He is all over the place. He is not pulling himself all the way up yet, but likes to stand holding onto the couch and will take a few steps while holding on. He loves to eat, loves to play, loves to snuggle, loves his family and loves his blankie! He says mama, dada, and bubble. He has also said up, hi, and Nen (Nen is what we call my sister to him) but doesn't do it on a regular basis. Daddy and Henry are his best friends!

-Henry turned 3 last month. He is quite the big boy. He loves pretend play and is usually either Buzz Lightyear or a cowboy. He is a good helper, as long as I tell him I have an important job for him to do instead of just bossing him around. He adores his aunts and uncles, and calls them all his best friends. He's very excited for summertime.

-We've been enjoying having Nick home lately. He only works 40 hour weeks November - February (as opposed to 60 hour weeks the rest of the year) and has an awesome schedule that allows him to be home for the day by 2:00pm.

-Nick and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary earlier this month. We've been following Dave Ramsey (if you don't know who he is or what he's about, you NEED to look into it!) so we didn't spend a bunch of money for our anniversary but we did get out to coffee, just the two of us.

-I have been spending all my free time planning a baby shower for my dear friend. I've made some cute decorations and I will share photos after the shower this weekend. I've had tons of fun!

I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but there you have it. Now you know where we've been all these months. :)

Is it silly....

2010-09-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Is it silly that I got very sad today when I thought about the fact that my first baby is not wearing diapers anymore? He's not a baby anymore! :(

5 months

2010-09-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

He asked me to take a picture of his "pearly whites"

2010-09-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

In my quilt que

2010-08-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the quilts I want to make:

(from Cluck Cluck Sew)

{raw edge circles}

{"mary's wedding quilt"}

{"january quilt"}

(from Moda Bake Shop)

{"sweet menagerie"}

2010-08-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, time has sure flown by. Beckham is now (just over) 4 months old and I return to work tomorrow after enjoying FOUR months of maternity leave! I'm pretty sure I have the most generous boss in the world. It helps that my two boys are each almost exactly one month older than his two boys, so he totally understands the need for a mom to be home for a bit. But anyway, I start again tomorrow and I'm really excited. I am blessed to have a job I love and great coworkers, plus, I've got the best child care I could ask for in my mom. I'm just wondering how I'm going to get myself and two kids out the door by 6:15 in the morning!!

Beckham had his four month check up today. He is only 14lbs 8oz, 50th percentile. He's just a little peanut compared to Henry, who was 16lbs 6oz at 4 months.

{4 months and happy about it}

{happy boy}

He's doing great - nursing wonderfully, taking a bottle without a complaint and also eating cereal now as well. He smiles a ton and laughs if we are silly enough. He chews on his hands ALL.THE.TIME. Our pediatrician even asked right away if I've noticed any teeth starting to come through (not yet!). Beckham absolutely adores Henry and it seriously blesses my heart. Henry loves to play with Bex and Bex could watch Henry for hours. I hope their friendship continues.

{my boys}

Henry is doing great too. Not potty trained yet. He is a stubborn stubborn kid. He knows when he needs to go and knows how to hold it. He does not like the potty so he will hold it all day long and dance around until he finally has an accident. Candy is not a good enough bribe. Neither are milkshakes. He has had a language explosion in the last couple weeks, which I am loving (except for the talking back part).

{Cars underpants}

{summertime fun}

{happy face}

We went camping last week and Henry loved the lake. He swam and swam and swam and swam. He did not want to wear a life jacket, but wasn't afraid enough to stay in the shallow water. We really need to get him in some swimming lessons!!

{i do NOT want a life jacket}

{camping}

I've been spending my spare time sewing and sewing and sewing. I love it. It's by far my favorite hobby. I've also done a little bit of knitting lately. I can't really share what exactly I've been working on though, because Christmas is only 5 months away! :) I did make a few gifts earlier into my maternity leave that I can share:

{amish puzzle ball for my boss' son}

{floor blanket for my nephew at his baby shower....my first ever machine quilting experience!}

2010-07-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Armed with new Lightning McQueen underpants and a double pack for Clorox disinfecting wipes, potty training has begun. Wish us luck.

3 Months Old!

2010-07-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

Look how much he's grown!

These photos are slightly blurry but I thought they were too cute not to include. :)

2010-07-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Henry just told me: "When Beckham (is) bigger, we (will) ride (a) bus with daddy." Haha, he's an easy kid to please. :)

What We've Been Up to

2010-06-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

-Last week was Nick's 27 birthday so I made a big dinner and we had some of our friends over. It was a lot of fun and I was really surprised that all 18 of us (if I counted right!) fit nicely in our living room. I mean, we didn't each have a 5 foot personal bubble, but it certainly didn't feel overly stuffed like I thought it would.

-I've been neck deep in a project I'm working on for my newest nephew who is due in less than a month. I'm hoping to finish up by the end of the week so that I can get started on all of the hand made Christmas gifts I already have planned! Plus, I really want to finish my quilt and I've already started another one that I hope to have finished by the time my maternity leave is up (mid August).

- When I was about 5 months pregnant with Beckham, I decided that I needed a fitness goal to work toward after I gave birth, knowing that if I didn't have a specific goal and just said I would exercise, it wouldn't actually happen. So I (stupidly?) signed up for a half-marathon. I've been slowly getting into running since I got the ok from my OB a couple weeks ago. I don't want to be a "runner" after all this, but I'm really excited to be working toward a goal. At first I though I would need someone to run with but actually the opposite is true, I love going out by myself! I don't run very far at all, only between 1/2 and 1 mile a few times a week until I'm a little further post-partum, but it feels great to actually be doing something after carrying a baby for so many months. I'm running the half with three other people and they are all a lot better runners than me, but hey, none of them just gave birth 9 weeks ago! I'll get to their level soon. ;)

-Beckham has officially hit the "I want my mommy and no one else" stage. :( It's nice to be so loved and needed, but sometimes a mom needs a break! Luckily, he will still take a bottle from just about anyone so I can get a little rest sometimes.

-We were going to begin potty training Henry tomorrow, but I think we've decided to wait until later this summer. He's just not ready. We thought he would be but after spending most of this afternoon diaperless, it's apparent he's not quite there.

2 months!

2010-06-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Beckham is already over two months old! Time is flying by! At his two month checkup, Beckham weighed 11 pounds, 3 ounces, a full pound less then Henry did at two months. They were both 23 inches.

Henry also had a checkup this week. He did great considering he is really afraid of the doctor (but asks to go to the dentist all the time, go figure). He is 28 pounds and 35 inches. Wish us luck, potty training officially begins on Monday.

Beckham at one month (left) and two months (right):

Vintage Henry

2010-06-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

I was looking back at old pictures of Henry. I found this one I had taken with my cell phone when he was a newborn and I think it's hilarious.

Birth Story, Part 2

2010-05-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

...but soon it was all over and I was finally able to hold and nurse Beckham. Beckham would not wake up to nurse.

We were moved from the delivery room to a post partum room and both of our parents came to see Beckham. Our parents had Henry and brought him in to meet his brother. Even though it was late (almost midnight!) and Henry was tired, he loved seeing Beckham. Nick left to get Henry's things so he could spend the night with my parents. Beckham's nurse came in to check his vitals and I could tell something was wrong. She had a worried look on her face so I asked if everything was okay. She just said "I'm just checking him," but I knew something wasn't right. Our parents left around midnight, while the nurse was still in the room. As soon as they left, I asked her what was wrong. She told me she was alarmed by his breathing, that it was fast and shallow and the fact that I still couldn't arouse him to eat was worrisome to her. She wanted to take him to the nursery so that she could watch him more closely. I said that was fine and she assured me everything was probably fine, but because of his delivery, she just wanted to be extra cautious. On her way out the door she said she probably wouldn't be more than 15 minutes. After about 30 minutes, I called Nick and told him what was going on and that I was worried since Beckham had already been gone longer than I thought he'd be. As soon as I hung up with Nick, a different nurse came in and told me they had been in contact with our pediatrician and he wanted Beckham to go to the NICU for the night since he was still breathing funny.

Nick got back to the hospital and my nurse took us up to NICU. We first got to spend time with Beckham and it was so awful to see him hooked up with wires to all the monitors. The NICU nurse showed us how to do his "cares" and explained all the monitors and how to hook Beckham up to everything. I broke down crying. I knew it was better that he was there to make sure everything was okay, but I felt like I had to ask permission to hold my own baby. The doctor told us they had run a series of blood tests and they came back with an elevated white blood cell count, indicating some sort of infection. He said with an infection, we could expect to have Beckham in the NICU for at least 14 days. It was such awful feeling. We were given the official tour of the NICU, shown were I could pump and store breast milk and informed that when I was released, we wouldn't be able to stay with Beckham and they only had one or two room-in rooms and they were very hard to get. I was able to finally able to get Beckham to nurse, after 45 minutes of trying to arouse him. We stayed with Beckham for a couple hours until we could not stay awake any longer (by now it was 4 am Thursday and we had been up since 4:30 Wednesday morning). We slept in my room for about 2 hours before we went back up to try to nurse again.

Beckham stayed in the NICU until around 3 pm on Thursday. His repeat blood draws showed his infection slowly getting better and finally, his white cell count was back to normal. Beckham's bilirubin levels were also repeatedly checked. The only other thing Beckham had to do to be released was nurse successfully several times without taking a long time to wake up. Once he did that, he was ours. We were so thankful he was doing so well and he wasn't going to be there for the length of time they initially estimated.

Beckham stayed in my room without any problems until we were both released around 11:00 Friday morning.

My Boys :)

2010-05-27T12:46:00.001-07:00

Birth Story

2010-05-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

At my 36 week check up, on April 2, I informed my doctor that I had been having some painful contractions and he offered to check my cervix. I was not dilated, or even effaced, but my cervix was soft. I had some light bleeding over the weekend. I also started to have some period-like cramping, but nothing bad enough for me to suspect labor.

On Monday, April 5, I noticed that the baby had dropped somewhat and that I suddenly had new stretch marks below my belly button to show for it. The cramping also continued.

After work on Wednesday, April 7, I picked up Henry and made the 45 minute drive home. Once home, I felt very energetic, which was unusual for me on a work night. We had been home for half an hour to an hour when I went to put Henry to bed. He had wanted to march to his crib so we got in a line and marched across the house. Once I got to Henry's room, I stopped marching and I felt my water break. I said "I think my water just broke!" to Nick. His response was "Why do you always do this at night?!" He went to start some coffee, thinking he was in for a long night. I made my way to the restroom, but no more water leaked out. I stood and sat several times but still nothing came out. I wondered if it hadn't been my water after all, but then I had a contraction and I knew labor was starting. I had another contraction, it wasn't terribly painful but it was enough for me to tell Nick we needed to get to the hospital soon. We began calling people to come watch Henry but we couldn't get ahold of anyone. I stood in the hallway with Nick and I began to shake and get very nauseated. Fear began to set in and in the back of my mind, I knew the baby was coming sooner rather than later. I began to tell Nick that I couldn't do this, knowing we weren't going to make it to the hospital. Nick had no idea that's what I meant so he just continued to encourage me that everything was going to be fine. I began to feel the baby's head start to descend and the intense contractions started. I laid down on our bed on my side and tried to relax through two or three very very painful contractions. I felt his head start to come and I called for Nick to call 911, that we weren't going to make it to the hospital. Nick tried to convince me to get in the car, that the hospital was only 10 minutes away and that I could make it. I again told him he needed to call 911. The dispatcher asked if he could see the baby crowning, which he could not yet, so she told him to call her back if anything changed. The second Nick hung up the phone, I began to push, involuntarily. One contraction and three pushes, his head was out. Nick said that he looked very blue and I told him to check around his neck for the cord. Once we were sure the cord was not around the baby neck, I pushed one more time and the rest of his body was out. Neither of us could believe how much water came out! Nick put him on my front. That was an amazing moment. I did not get to hold Henry immediately after he was born so this was new for me. The emotions were intense...so much fear and stress with how this was happening, yet so much love and feelings of protection for the baby. I asked for a blanket and Nick covered us up and went to the living room to see if help had arrived. The paramedics had just gotten there so Nick brought them in the room. I think there were about 6 to 9 guys in our bedroom and 3 or 4 more in the hall! I was slightly embarrassed to have so many strange men seeing me so indecent but a very sweet older paramedic patted my shoulder and said, "don't worry honey, I'll keep you covered up. I'm the only one who will check you." He checked me quickly to make sure I wasn't bleeding too much and kept me covered the rest of the time.

The medics asked me what the baby's name was, and I said I didn't know, that we hadn't decided yet. Nick came in and we decided on Beckham James.

The medics gave both Beckham and I oxygen. I was shaking a lot from the shock of how quickly everything happened. The medics clamped the cord and Nick cut it. I was placed on the stretcher and taken outside. I was worried the whole time one of the medics would fall down the stairs so I kept warning them about the one last small step into the yard! Beckham and I were taken to the hospital while Nick waited at our house for someone to get Henry. I still had not delivered the placenta and was having quite painful contractions. One medic had been massaging my stomach to help and that actually hurt a lot. He stopped so that he could place my IV and the youngest of the medics took over. He had never done a fundal massage before and was actually rubbing right on my hip bone, but I never told him that he was doing it wrong because it was nice to have some relief from the painful massaging!

Beckham and I arrived at the hospital and were taken through the emergency room up to labor and delivery. We were pointed to a room but there weren't any nurses or any one else in there for quite a while. The medics helped me into the bed and made sure I was comfortable. We waited for a bit before nurses finally showed up. The medics all congratulated me and left. Nick arrived and all of Beckham's vitals and measurements were taken. Dr. S arrived and began to examine me. It took several more minutes (about 90 minutes total from the time of the birth) for me to finally deliver the placenta and I finally felt relief. I began to bleed quite a bit so I was give a little bit of pitocin to help. I needed a few stitches for a tear that was about an inch long. The shot of local hurt the worst out of the entire birth and I felt the last couple stitches, but soon it was all over and I was finally able to hold and nurse Beckham.

A few photos

2010-05-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

Beckham at one month old:

Beckham just shy of six weeks old:

My cute oldest son:

A comparison of Beckham leaving the hospital versus today, at 6wks1day old:

I know I had mentioned before that Beckham had really bad bruising when he was born, but I didn't have a photo of it. My sister happened to take one when she was here. Check this out (3 days old):

Isn't that crazy?! Poor guy!

Last but not least, look at what my husband made for me!:

A new bed! Didn't he do a great job? Yes, I know that the red quilt doesn't match our light purple/light gray walls, but our normal comforter (which is a lovely brown with a white leaf design) still hasn't come up from the laundry room after our surprise and sudden home birth. I'm not sure if it was ruined or not, but I hope it's fine!

Today...

2010-04-30T16:29:00.001-07:00

is my due date! I'm so glad I have Beckham in my arms today. :)

2010-04-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

My boys today:

And here are a few older ones for you:

(typical old man look that newborns have)

(first bath at home)

(showing off his black eye)

(having phototherapy treatments)

(my boys) :)

2010-04-18T14:28:00.001-07:00

Does anyone have Morning Glory starts they are wanting to get rid of? I would gladly take them off your hands. :)

An update

2010-04-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Time for an update on us and Beckham. This first week and a half has been tough. We had only been at the hospital a couple hours when a nurse noticed Beckham's breathing was a little rapid and shallow. She called our pediatrician and he made the decision that Beckham needed to go to nicu to be more closely watched. He was concerned about Beck's oxygen intake, plus wanted some blood work done to rule out any larger problems. Well, his labs came back showing an infection so we were told he had to stay in nicu and would be there at least 4 days, but to not be surprised if he was there upwards of two weeks. He was formally admitted as a nicu patient and Nick and I were given the whole tour of the nicu, shown how to do his "Cares" (temp checks, etc) and how to reattach any wires that came loose, etc. It was heartbreaking. I don't know how real nicu parents do it. We had a relatively healthy baby who was only considered preemie by 2 days and it was so hard to have him there. My heart broke for the parents of the other kiddos there. Like the twins next to him who were born at 25 weeks. Or the baby who he was sharing a room with who had a tracheostomy. Anyway, his blood work began to show the infection starting to go away, which was good, but we were having nursing problems (the nicu doctor and nurses said it was because of how early Beckham was and was just acting like a preemie) and Beckham couldn't be released back to us until we had several good feedings. We finally got that all squared away and got to come home the same day.

Things did not get easier when we got home. We were warned to keep a close on eye any jaundice because Beckham was at a higher risk for it with his preterm birth, quick and unassisted delivery and his facial presentation (he came out face first which resulted in TONS of facial bruising [his black eyes are just finally starting to heal!] and once the red blood cells in the bruising breaks down, there is that much more bilirubin for the liver to cope with). He was showing classic signs of jaundice - he was yellow, very sleepy, not wanting to wake to eat, etc so Nick insisted we take him to the doctor this last Wednesday. Thank God we did. His bilirubin level was almost high enough to need readmission to the hospital for phototherapy! He has been undergoing home phototherapy treatments and we have a home health nurse come to our house every morning to draw his blood to check his bili levels. This poor kid has had his blood drawn more times since he's been born that I ever have! :( His numbers are going down very quickly, which is awesome, and we think that he will cleared to stop his 24/7 treatments this afternoon.

Thats not the end of it though. Nursing was just not getting better. He was waking to eat and actually eating for longer than 2-3 minutes, but I was still in so much pain. Thrush. On top of everything else he's been through, Beckham has thrush. I am hopeful we caught it soon enough and he will be over it soon. We are in the middle of gentian violet treatments, which is.....pleasant. Oh well, I think Beckham is unbelievably cute even if he has a purple mouth!

Can I just say...

2010-04-13T09:00:00.001-07:00

I love my life. :)

More pictures

2010-04-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here are just a couple pictures of my parents and sisters visiting Beckham.

2010-04-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

He's Here!

2010-04-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

23 days early, Beckham James Furgason joined our family, on Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at 8:30 pm at home after only 15 minutes of labor. He was 6 lbs 15 oz and 19.5 inches long. After a brief stay in the NICU, we are back home and are doing well. Pictures and story to follow. :)

2010-04-03T20:57:00.003-07:00

2010-04-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

I am the only one who feels like time sped up once I started having kids? I can not believe how old Henry is sometimes. He is so smart. He knows a lot of his letters (for example, he knows "Henry" starts with H and ends with Y. He knows if he wants to write a word with the letter O, he has to [pretend to] write "Mom" instead of "Dad" and his very favorite letter is "E" which he points out to us everywhere) and some of his numbers. He knows so many colors and likes to tell us what color passing by cars or trucks are. He loves to come home after a day out and often sighs with contentment as we walk through the door and says "My home!" He is really excited to meet his baby brother. He asks me all the time if the baby can come out now. This morning we were talking about things he can do to help once the baby comes, like get the baby's blankie or bring me the diapers, and he started saying "baby red, baby red." I didn't understand what he meant so he ran into his room and came back with the package of newborn disposable diapers I bought for those first few nights.....and they happen to be in a red package. :) This morning he fell all the way down our stairs and if you've been to our house, you know how steep and unforgiving those stairs are. I was in the shower when I heard him start to fall and I took off running, totally naked and dripping wet. And yes, the blinds were open. Our poor neighbors! ;) Henry was fine, obviously, but I just about had a heart attack!

I hit 36 weeks yesterday and I forgot to take a picture, but maybe I will today. I had an appointment yesterday and had the GBS test and my first cervical check. I won't go into detail because the whole world doesn't need to know the state of my cervix, but I will say I've already made more progress than I had with Henry at this point. I'm so excited to have this boy but I know this is going to be a loooong month since I'm not due until the end. We are totally ready though. Everything is done and waiting so as soon as he is healthy and strong enough, we're ready to meet him. :)

2010-03-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

I'm excited for tomorrow. It's finally the weekend, which means we will see Nick for more than 2 hours every evening. And, as if seeing him isn't enough, he's agreed to help me with things around the house which I've been putting off as my ever-expanding belly makes it too hard to do some things. :) I have a great friend coming over for the afternoon and I have a red velvet cake in the oven right now just for the occasion. :)

And tomorrow means we are one day closer to meeting our new little boy!

2010-03-19T15:28:00.001-07:00

2010-03-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

6 weeks and 6 days to go.

Remember my post a couple weeks ago where I talked about how much I had left to do before the baby comes and I was feeling so not ready? Well, I'm slowly starting to feel more and more ready to meet this boy!
We *think* we are for sure on a name. We have our #1, but then I had a dream last night that Nick insisted on another name and when I told him the dream this morning, we both really liked the name! We might just take both names to the hospital with us and decide then. And, since we've waited so long to decide and he'll be here soon, I think we will keep the name a secret until the birth. :) Sorry, I know people really hate that, but oh well.

I finished sewing the baby's blankie. If he is anything like his big brother, he will love his blankie (or "mankme" as Henry says it) and will take it everywhere. We've been sleeping with it in our bed so that it smells like us and will be more comforting as we transition from full time breast feeding to part time breast feeding/part time bottle feeding in preparation for my return to work this summer.

We are ready for cloth diapering. I have all the diapers washed an ready, plus I bought the covers I wanted. I also have some wool soakers that just need to be re-prepped from when Henry wore them. I recently won a Thirsties Duo pocket diaper and Thirsties Pre-Wash and Thirsties Super-Wash that I am really excited to try out. The diaper is a size two though (18-40 lbs) so he won't be in that for a while. I had already washed all our other diapers when I got the bottle of wash in the mail, but I am excited to try them once we need to run our first load. I still need to finish the wet bag (it's done, but I want to do a little hand-sewing to reinforce the zipper) and get a diaper sprayer. Otherwise, diapering is ready.

I have finally bought a diaper bag after a long search. I had one I really like with Henry, but it was more purse-like and with two little ones, I wanted something that was more of a messenger style so that I could be hands free when carrying it. I've been stalking ebay and craigslist and finally bought one this morning. I have the baby's coming home outfit already, so I just need to pack the diaper bag and it's ready. I will wait to pack my own hospital bag until the birth is closer.

I still need to go through Henry's clothes and see what I am missing. I have been picking up a few things here and there but I really need to inventory what we've got and see what we still need.

I made a list of the small things we have left to do (like install the car seat, etc) and assigned one thing per week. Seeing the list get shorter and shorter is so exciting! I have nothing assigned to the last two weeks before he is born so I only have a few more things to do!

2010-03-05T10:05:00.001-08:00

2010-02-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

Ideas for the boys' room, as thought up by Lauren.

2010-02-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've updated, but I've been preoccupied with other things. We had a great weekend getting things done around the house.

Friday, the girls I work with threw me a small baby shower. I only work with a few people so it was really low key, which was perfect!! I took Henry with me and he did great. We got some adorable outfits for the baby (who is still unnamed) and some cute toys. And the food was delicious. They did a brunch, knowing breakfast foods are my favorite. :) Friday night, Nick had his "guys night" so Henry and I did a little shopping. I got the baby a little baby book, a set of 4 cute onesies for later in the summer/early fall, some plain 0-3 month onesies that I am going to embellish today, and a "coming home" outfit for him to leave the hospital in. I let Henry sleep with me, expecting Nick to take him to his crib when he got home (at 1 am!), but he didn't and we all got to wake up together Saturday morning. It was great. :)

Saturday morning, Nick left bright and early for the hardware store to so that we could begin building this bed:

He got what lumber he needed and came home to start the project. Then he realized there was a clog in the bathtub drain and in stead of it being a simple fix, it took THREE hours to repair. When he was finally finished he went to the garage to finally start the bed and realized he had forgotten a few pieces of lumber. So we all loaded up and back to the hardware store we went. Of course, we had to make a few other stops along the way. After we got everything we needed, Nick's parents called and invited over for dinner (which was absolutely delicious, by the way) and we ended up staying there until 9:30. So no bed progress was made on Saturday.

Sunday, we all got to go to church together, which was so nice. Nick volunteers with the junior high ministry that meets at the same time as the regular service on Sunday mornings. He is usually only with the junior high kids every other week but he had to fill in for the junior high pastor last week after he had already been there the week before, so it had been a while since he had been to church with me. Henry moved up to the 2-3 year old Sunday school a couple weeks ago and he really loves it. He is excited to go to class (he used to cry when we would pull into the parking lot and beg us not to leave him!) and now cries when it's time to go home.

After church, Nick began working on building our bed while I cleaned the living room and kitchen. Henry played in the back yard for HOURS. He was in heaven. He skipped lunch and his nap because he was so content playing out side. We got him to eat an orange closer to dinner time, but that was it. Nick and I made dinner together, which we never do, and it was fun (and delicious!). I also got some things set aside to consign at the Just Between Friends sale in April. We spent the rest of the evening at home. It was so nice to all be together. :) I feel like we need to stock up on time together since Nick starts coaching baseball on March 1st. Once that happens, he won't get home at 2:30 anymore, it will be more like 6:30 and he will have to coach batting practice on Saturdays. Once baseball ends in May, Nick will start his summer job in addition to his full time job....and that "summer" job will go until November. Once November hits, we can enjoy having him home at 2:30 every day and for the whole weekend. But I don't want to think about November because that means winter will just be starting all over again.

This morning had been great too. I was able to get some house work done while Henry watched Blues Clues and played with home made play-doh. He is totally obsessed with that show, and with play-doh. He is great at using his imagination when he plays with the doh. He is always building footballs, motorcycles, and babies. :) And he totally gets into Blues Clues. He loves helping find the clues. And now he likes to find them around the house too. Who know there are so many paw prints on toys and books and clothes? I hear "Mom, a clue , a clue!" at least ten times a day. :) Now he is reading some books while I sip on ginger peach tea and contemplate getting off the computer and finishing the legwarmers I started knitting for the baby last night.

Speaking of the baby (this post is almost done, I promise!), I am NOT ready for him to come yet! I have SO much to do! He hardly has any clothes since Henry was born in the middle of winter and this one will be born toward the end of spring so they can only share a few things. I also need to get bedding for the crib and Henry's new toddler bed and figure out what to do about a mattress for the cradle (it is an odd size so traditional ones don't fit). I need to find and purchase a diaper bag. We need to pack said diaper bag for the hospital and install the car seat. I need to finish his knitted legwarmers, finish sewing his lovey blanket, and add the zipper to the wet bag I made. We will be cloth diapering and we already have all the prefolds and some wool covers, but I would like to buy some other covers (Thirsties Duo Wraps). I need to get the boys' room organized and ready to hold two kids in stead of one. I need to get some bottles since I will go back to work when he is only 3 months old, so he will definitely need to take a bottle. I haven't picked up a single birthing book yet so I really should do some reading. And I'm due in 67 days. Yes, 67. That's it. Henry came right on his due date, so that's what I'm banking on this little guy doing too. I'm in big trouble if he come early since I'm no where near ready. I still haven't taken my 30 week photo and I might just skip it since I will be 31 weeks soon. Oh and most importantly, I'm not ready because this poor baby doesn't have a name.

2010-02-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

I turned 28 weeks yesterday. I'm feeling pretty well, overall. I feel so much larger than I did with Henry, I'm not sure why. I am measuring a little over one week ahead, but that's not all that much. I had my gestational diabetes screening this week and passed, but they found that I had very low iron and have had to start supplements. My iron was low with Henry too, although never low enough to need an iron supplement. I also spent 5 hours in Labor and Delivery this week, which was awful so much fun. My doctor was concerned I might have deep vein thrombosis, but thankfully I don't. It was pretty frustrating to have to be stuck there for five hours, but I'm glad to know there is no clotting to worry about.

2010-02-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

I've found the BEST cinnamon roll recipe ever! I made them for Christmas with Nick's family and they were a hit and I've got the dough rising now for another batch. :)

Rolls:
1¼ oz. yeast (or if you buy in bulk like I do, that should be about 10 teaspoons)
1 c. warm milk
½ c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1 t. salt
2 eggs
4 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 c. packed brown sugar (I do not measure this, I just sprinkle it on until it looks good)
2½ T. cinnamon
1/3 c. butter, softened (again, I do not measure this. I just spread it on until it looks right)

Icing:
7 T. butter, softened
1½ c. confectioners sugar
¼ c. (2 oz.) cream cheese
½ t. real vanilla extract (

Preheat oven to 400° F.
(1) Disolve yeast in milk.
(2) Mix in sugar, butter, salt, eggs, flour. Mix well.
(3) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead into a large ball. Cover; let rise 1 hour.
(4) Roll dough into a 21" x 16" wide rectangle. Spread softened butter over the dough and sprinkle on the cinnamon and brown sugar.
(5) Roll up the long side tightly. Pinch the ends.
(6) Using very sharp knife or a long piece of string, cut into 1 inch wide rolls, making sixteen. If you want fewer, bigger rolls, cut them wider.
(6) Grease your preferred baking pan (I don't like mine all squished up since I want to be able to remove them as individual rolls and not have to cut them, so I used both a 9x13 and a 8x8). Then place rolls in pan and let the rolls rise for 30 minutes, or until they are as big as you want them.
(8) Bake until the rolls are slightly browned and not doughy. This will vary according to your oven. Just don't overbake...these are the best when they are gooey and not dry!
(9) While the rolls are baking, make the icing by mixing all the ingredients together.
(10) When done, remove rolls from oven and let cool slightly. Cover them with warm icing (if you try to use cold or room temp icing on the warm rolls, it will "deflate" them).

2010-01-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

My OTHER current project:

I am making a bumper for the baby's cradle! It took me about an hour today and all I have left is to sew on some ties. I'm really liking how it's turned out!

I also bought a cute little fat quarter of flannel so the baby's "lovey" blanket.

(wow, apparently i am into polka dots right now!) I plan to buy some super soft chocolate brown minky for one side and wide chocolate brown satin for the trim. I think he will love it. :)

2010-01-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

My current project:

I got the entire kit for Christmas last year. The fabrics are so pretty!! The picture really doesn't do it justice. I have high hopes that someday, when I finally finish it, this quilt will look great in our living room as our couch snuggle quilt.

IF I finish.

I started it last January, as soon as the busyness of the holidays and Henry's 1st birthday were over. I cut all the triangles, and carefully made all of the two triangle squares. My mom and I took A LOT of time to lay them all out with all the creme squares and made sure that all of the patterns were evenly spread throughout the quilt and everything flowed well and looked nice. Then, I began sewing the squares into strips. I sewed all of the strips and began sewing the strips together. I was about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way done with the entire quilt top when I decided something wasn't right. I had noticed that none of my seams were lining up quite right and it had really been bothering me. I was assured by my mom (an expert quilter) and a friend (also a great quilter and one who was also working on the same quilt) that that happens sometimes and that I need to not be such a perfectionist. But I KNEW something more was wrong because my seams were as much as 1/4" off! It was then I realized my big mistake (at the same time my friend realized she was making the same mistake).

The kit is from Moda fabrics and all the fabrics come in 5"x5" squares. While reading the instructions, I misread a very crucial step:

See where it says "CUT 120 {creme squares} to 4 1/2" x4 1/2"? Yeah that part....it's really important and let me tell you, the quilt will NOT work if you misread it as saying "120 {creme squares} cut to 4 1/2" x4 1/2". I stinking thought they were already cut. Ugh. So all of my creme squares were way too big and none of my seams were even close to lining up and it was ugly. I tried to just take out bits and pieces and cute down one side of the creme square before sewing it back up but it still wasn't looking right so I quit. I put it all away until a couple weeks ago. I'm finally working on it again and it's going very well. I decided to just take it all apart (I did not disassemble the two triangle squares since there is nothing wrong with them) and start over. It is taking a lot of time but it will be worth it in the end.

The state of my sewing room yesterday afternoon:

I am about halfway done redoing the top and it's turning out great! I LOVE it. I still need to purchase the fabric for the back, but Nick has already chosen it for me (actually having to decide on a fabric is the hardest part!):

It is one of the fabrics in the quilt. The picture is horrible but it was all I could find online and right now, I'm too lazy to run upstairs and take a picture of the actual fabric. It is a very pretty blue and cream. The kit came with the fabric of the borders and the binding so I just need to buy the backing fabric and I'll be set. Oh yeah, and I need to decide if I want to take 20 years and hand quilt it or machine quilt it.

Ps - I'm 27 weeks today....happy 3rd trimester to me!

2010-01-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

The other morning as I was changing the sheets in Henry's crib, he wanted in to play. I grabbed my camera and we took some cute pictures, but I don't get why he "poses" the way he does in the first two pictures! It was totally unprompted; that's just what he did when I came in with the camera. He's such a nutty kids sometimes. (please ignore the real life in these photos: the half pj's, half clothes, the half eaten breakfast and the runny nose. :) )

2010-01-24T11:32:00.001-08:00

2010-01-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

I think I want to make something like this:

For above our couch in the living room:

But on a larger scale so it fits the room better. Thoughts?
*I stole the artwork photo from here: http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/

2010-01-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I babysat my friend Holly's little girl Lily. I took a couple pictures of the kids that I think are just hilarious. I love the progression in the photos: Henry was kind of shy, but Lily knew she wanted a hug! :)

2010-01-10T15:29:00.001-08:00

New Hair!

2009-12-31T09:24:00.000-08:00

I got a haircut and I LOVE it! I really needed a change. I went to a new stylist and she did great....it's just what I asked for! Here are some befores and afters:

(sad face because I hated my hair!)

2009-12-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

Since we were so busy with Christmas, I just didn't get the time to take my 22 weeks picture. I took it today, at 22weeks5days:

2009-12-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

The Great Battle of 2009.
The contenders:

It was a well fought battle, both contenders putting up a fight. But in the end, only one could win. The TRUCK was victorious, and left my poor baby looking like this:

Yes, a fat and bloody kip and a broken tooth. :( Henry had his first trip to the dentist on Monday morning and did well, considering. We have opted not to have the tooth filled but are watching it for signs of abscess or pulp exposure (which I am positive there isn't any of either at this point. Thank the Lord this is what I went to school for or I would be majorly freaked out!) for the next 6 weeks. He still loves that truck and plays with it constantly. He like's to push around his little Bob the Builder in the back of it. :)

2009-12-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Henry and I made cinnamon applesauce ornaments with my mom and brothers. I think they turned out great!

And, just because I think he is the cutest kid ever:

Halfway there!

2009-12-11T13:40:00.001-08:00

2009-12-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

My ultrasound Friday evening was at an imaging center, instead of my doctors office (they kept rescheduling my ultrasound, surprise surprise, so I spoke with the office manager and asked her to please refer me elsewhere for the ultrasound), so we didn't get to hear much about our baby's health Friday night. Our biggest hope, obviously after two miscarriages, was that the baby was alive, so once we saw the beating heart, we knew everything would be fine. The tech was only able to tell us a few things: the heart was "beautiful" with four properly functioning chambers, the cord had three vessels, that my cervix looked great (despite the huge amount of contractions I had earlier that week), the placenta is anterior (which explains why I feel movement, but not firm kicking) and, of course, that the baby is a boy. I was able to see that the baby was head down and has two legs and two arms, with 10 fingers and 10 toes (I think....the little guy was moving around a lot so it was hard to really count!). We felt pretty confident that everything was okay after leaving the ultrasound. I had a doctor's appointment today and he confirmed everything. He said the baby looked perfect! He said the baby is about 10 ounces and is measuring about 1 day ahead, just like he was at my 10 week ultrasound. We are so happy we have a healthy baby!

My appointment went great today, for once. They called me back right away and I actually saw a doctor for once. :) It's all starting to become very real - we talked about preterm labor signs, and my delivery plans, like what hospital, who will be in the room and if I will be having an epidural. It seems a little early to be talking about it, but it makes me really excited! Ever since my ultrasound, I have been having lots of dreams about this little boy. Before we found out he was a he, I would dream about the baby, but in abstract terms. He was never a real person in my dreams. But ever since Friday, I've been dreaming about him as a baby and as part of our family. I CAN'T wait! :)

Henry and I both have pretty awful colds. Henry is also coughing, has a fever and is complaining he has "owies" in his ears. Nick is taking him to the pediatrician tomorrow to make sure there is no ear infection. I just have a bad cold, no coughing, but my ears do hurt as well. Does anyone have any good suggestions for me? My OB said I can pretty much take whatever I want, but I don't want to take a ton of medicine if I don't have to. I am taking vitamins, eating fruit, drinking lots of water and OJ, but am I missing anything?

.......

2009-12-05T07:09:00.001-08:00

It's

BOY!

2009-12-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

So in the comments on my last post, we had 3 GIRL guesses, and 1 BOY guess. Add me to Team Boy (my pregnancy has been so similar to mine with Henry that I have just assumed all along that it would be another boy) and add Nick to Team Girl (no real reason so thinking it's a girl, but he's been convinced that's what it is from day one). I will update with the answer later!

2009-12-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Friday is a big day for us. At approximately 3:45 pm, we will hopefully be finding out whether we are having a boy or girl. I CAN'T wait! :) Just for fun, lets guess what we are having. I will list the similarities and differences between this pregnancy and my pregnancy with Henry.

Similarities
-Cravings have been the same, for the most part. With both, it isn't so much that I crave one thing, it's that once I get it in my mind that something sounds good, I NEED it. With Henry, it was usually cheese, eggs, strawberries and sweet candy. With this one, it's roast (odd, I know), cheese, oranges, orange juice and sour candy.
-Morning sick lasted about 10 weeks with both, and only resulted in nausea if I had an empty stomach. If I just stayed full, I was fine.
-While I began showing earlier this time, I am carrying the same: low.

Differences
-I had no food aversions with Henry but this time I couldn't eat eggs of any kind or drink hot coffee until 2 or 3 weeks ago. Even the thought of it totally grossed me out.
-I did not feel Henry kick until almost 17 weeks and it was very strong kicks from day one. With this one, I felt kicks at almost 14 weeks but ever since then, they have been very soft. I felt more of the baby rolling around than kicking (until today, when it started kicking up a storm and I actually felt it on the outside several times). This baby is much, much more mellow than Henry was.

I don't remember what Henry's average heart rate was, but this baby is pretty consistently right about 145 bpm. And, if it matter much, the Chinese gender charts said 'boy' with Henry and say 'girl' this time.

So, lets hear your guesses. :)

2009-11-29T09:15:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had family in town staying with us and had so much fun. We miss them already!
We were so busy with family things this long weekend that I didn't get a chance to take my 18 week photo until today. So here I am in all my 18 weeks and 2 days glory. :)

2009-11-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

This year, we will all be getting new stockings. I will even make one for the new baby so that next year, we all have matching stockings. We are going thrifting today to look for wool sweaters of all colors, and plan to make these: Striped wool stockings

2009-11-14T12:51:00.000-08:00

If I ever have a daughter, she will have this outfit. :)

http://olivejuicekids.com/baby/DisplayItem.php?category=tops&Item1=FK64887&SESSID=b0fdfefc3c25e111bbf80187fd35a17e

2009-11-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am, 16 weeks pregnant and it feels so so good. When we had our miscarriages, part of me wondered if I could every carry a successful pregnancy again. I had no specific reason to think that, but it was definitely a though that kept creeping up. I knew I wanted more kids, but I was becoming more and more okay with only having Henry (adoption was/is not really an option for us - we can't afford the outrages adoption fees and would have to almost know someone who was giving up their baby for adoption and at this time, we don't). This whole pregnancy has been so wonderful that I keep having to remind myself that this is real, not just a dream. It has been going by very quickly, and while I'm really anxious to meet this little one, I want time to slow down so I can soak up every moment. Henry already loves this "bebe" so much and often asks if he can kiss my tummy. :)

Here is my 16 week photo:

I don't feel like I have gotten that much bigger, but when I look back at my 12 week and 14 week pictures, I can really see the difference!

I have been enjoying every single moment of this pregnancy....except my OB appointments. To say that I am disappointed with the care I have received so far would be a huge understatement. With Henry and my two miscarriages, I was seeing a wonderful midwife whom I absolutely loved. She was awesome, compassionate, listened to me, took the time to answer all of my questions and she even sat and cried with me, with her arms around me, handing me tissue after tissue, when I was miscarrying the second time. When I got pregnant last fall, she told me she was retiring, that she was drastically cutting back her hours, but would be happy to see me through the pregnancy, even if she couldn't be there for the delivery. When I got pregnant last spring, she was able to see me for my first couple appointments and for my miscarriage follow-up. She let me know that when I got pregnant again, she would be willing to see me for my first appointment and would help me decide who would continue my care. Well, that didn't happen. I called as soon as I found out I was pregnant and not only would the office not let me see her, they wouldn't even let me speak with her on the phone. I also like two of the OB's in the office, so I was willing to see either of them. I had several initial concerns regarding possible low progesterone, getting an early ultrasound, etc., and the office and nursing staff treated me so awful. They would not even listen to my concerns, much less offer to speak to one of the doctors on my behalf. Much more happened, but I won't go into all the details.

I switched to another OB office that I had heard great things about. So far, I really like the office and nursing staff...but that's about it. I haven't met or seen a single doctor. I have had five appointments with them, and four of them have been cancelled or changed for some reason. And they're not being cancelled because the doctors are out on deliveries either (they always tell me why they are canceling or changing on me), which would have been frustrating but understandable if that were the case. I had my ultrasound scheduled for December 3 and I was supposedly going to actually see a doctor afterward. They've called once again to change on me, this time because their sonographer decided to "take a few days off." December 3 already puts me 5 weeks between visits, and I was okay with that but they were offering me dates that were 6, 7, or 8 weeks between visits, and I'm just not okay with that. I'm not just a patient, I'm also a paying customer, and I'm paying to be seen once a month. AND, the dates they were offering me were for me to see the PA afterward. I told them that I still haven't seen a real doctor and I needed them to find me a time where a doctor could actually be there. So, we reached a compromise. They will see me December 8, but I will have to miss work for it, which is totally ridiculous because I only work 2-3 days per week and I find it hard to believe they have no other open slots. I am really at my wits end with this office. My insurance is covering me 100% there (I still have to pay a portion of my labs and hospital stay) so I really don't want to switch offices, but I mean, come one, the nurses won't even answer any of my questions because they say "you can ask a doctor that next time." Is saving a couple hundred dollars worth it? We have a consultation with Spokane Midwives next week. My insurance will only cover 50% of my care there, but who knows, it might be worth it. We are really praying for clarity in this but I still have no idea what I am going to do. Any thoughts?

2009-10-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

I am 14 weeks along today! I had a check up yesterday and all is well with the baby. At the beginning of this pregnancy, I purchased a doppler device and I LOVE it. It has seriously saved my sanity. We listen in on the baby once or twice a week and were actually able to first find the heart beat at 9 weeks! Henry loves to listen to the baby. :)
My next appointment isn't for five more weeks, but it's a big one. We will find out if we are having a boy or a girl! We have names picked out for both, but I will wait to share the name until we find out which one we will be using. I have had quite a few dreams that I am having a boy, but last night I had a very vivid dream about us at the ultrasound finding out that we are having a girl. We'll know soon! The countdown has begun: 34 more days until December 3rd!
I am so thankful that I am pregnant right now. Had I not miscarried the second time this year, I would be due on Wednesday. I know that I will still be sad that day, but it will be much better than the date in August, knowing that this time, I have a new, precious life growing inside of me.
Here I am today, at 14 weeks (you can find my 12 week photo here ):

2009-10-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

I felt the baby!! I know its early, but there was NO mistaking it, so don't even try to tell me it's gas bubbles! I felt Henry at 16 weeks and it was a very distinct tap. Like he was flicking me from the inside out. I never felt those "flutters" people talk about. The same thing just happened. A very distinct tap, or poke, or flick, or something. Yay! :)

2009-10-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, you ladies are quick! No more sneaking photos into the sidebar I guess!

YES, I am pregnant. Happily so. I am 12 weeks along and due April 30. If the old wives tales regarding heart rate are true, we are having a girl. If the old wives tales regarding cravings are true, we are having a boy. Yes, we will be finding out the gender and that should be in about 6 weeks. My OB's office does the anatomy scan at 18 weeks, which for me, falls the day after Thanksgiving. I am hoping they can sneak me in the day before the holiday if they are open so I can do some gender specific black friday shopping, but I don't have my heart set on it.

I usually think belly photos are dumb, but today I was in the mood, so here I am at 12 weeks.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

2009-10-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, Sarah, you want a post? You've got it. And how about an updated blog look too? The last one was too bright and cheerful. I'm not that cheerful all that time. It was getting obnoxious.

I am sorry for no Furgason updates for a while. We had a fun September - we camped, Henry got some teeth, we worked on our house (my sewing room is almost done!), Henry has been sick on and off since the first of September, etc. I have been menu planning for an entire month at a time, this being my second month. I'm actually enjoying cooking and being organized has made all the difference in the world. Nick loves it too, since this is the first time in our almost 4 years of marriage that I have made dinner more than 2 nights in a row.

I will try to update more often from now on. :)

2009-09-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

What the heck - I just had an Army recruiter call my cell phone to see if I would join! I wonder who they got my cell phone number from?

2009-09-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

I'm baking some bread today, so I thought I'd share the recipe. It's really simple and very good (so good in fact that it is usually gone the same day I bake it!).

No Knead Bread:
3 cups bread flour (I actually just use all purpose flour as I rarely have bread flour on hand.)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water

You will need a covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel…something that can go into a 450F oven. I use this one from Martha Stewart and it works great)

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. Doesn’t matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes.

Here is a link to the actual recipe, complete with photos! http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html

2009-09-03T14:54:00.001-07:00

Henry LOVES to play around with Photo Booth on our computer. Today we took a picture and he thought it was funny:

So we laughed about it and I took another one while he was laughing and look at all the lovely drool the photo captured! Gross. :)

2009-08-27T16:56:00.001-07:00

I don't know if you guys ever go to OldNavyWeekly.com or not, but I do occasionally. It's Old Navy's coupon site and it has all the info for things like the item of the week and their current sales. Every Thursday night, the site reloads and valuable coupons are hidden. I've never gotten anything better than 20% off. Some people are fanatics and sit on the site all day refreshing their browsers to make sure they don't miss the update. I NEVER do that. A little while ago, I went to it and it said the site was loading and to check back in a couple minutes. I checked right when it loaded and after like 2 second of trying to find the hidden coupons, I got a $45 off a $100 purchase coupon! Yay! :) I realize I still have to spend $55 but hey, I get $45 worth of stuff for free!

2009-08-27T13:25:00.001-07:00

Since buying our house, we are living on a budget for the first time in our (married) lives. Our #1 biggest area of overspending and wastefulness has been, without a doubt, food. We ate out a lot (even our favorite standby, Taco Bell, is a a waste at $6 per dinner for the three of us because there is little to no nutritional value so it's like just throwing six bucks in the trash) and spent a ton on coffee (it's gotten much better since for about a year now our drink of choice has been an americano which is about half the price of a latte and it's just as yummy with a splash of cream and some white chocolate or caramel sauce. Still, spending $2.50 a drink is not needed and while we have been drinking more home brewed coffee, we'd love to invest in a high quality home espresso machine...it would pay itself off in no time!). So here is what I want to do: I need everyone's help coming up with a 30 day menu plan for under $50 per week. I KNOW it can be done. Send me all of your ideas! I need mostly lunch and dinner ideas since we will be doing this with fruit or eggs most mornings. Also, Friday night is already home made pizza night (we've been doing pizza and movie night every Friday for almost a year now and we LOVE it! It's our favorite night of the week!), but I always love trying out new pizza dough recipes. I plan to shop for the entire month and if my horrible-at-math brain can figure it out, I will post our menu plan along with cost per meal for all to see! I really could use everyone's help! :)

2009-08-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really don't understand people. We're selling one of our cars and have it listed on craigslist. One lady came to look at it and asked to take it for a test drive and she was gone in our car for an HOUR. AN HOUR. Who takes an hour long test drive? We have another couple out driving it right now and they've been gone for 33 minutes and counting. Where are these people going?!

2009-08-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Why am I the only person in the world who hasn't gotten the 2010 Ikea Catalogue yet? I even signed up for a second one to make sure I got it at our new house. I NEED it!

Oh, and ps, Amy Butler has a line of area rugs coming out. Um, yes please!

2009-08-06T08:28:00.001-07:00

We are *almost* done painting, thanks to my family and their awesomeness! My dad is on vacation from work and the whole family sent their entire day here yesterday painting the hallway, Henry's room, the upstairs bathroom and the craft/sewing room and touching up spots in the living room! We have some of the trim painted on the exterior and once we get that done, we're done! We haven't painted the upstairs hallway or the big bedroom upstairs yet, but my sister and I will hopefully do those next year. We aren't in any hurry since we don't use that area right now and the cream color that's already up is perfectly acceptable. Hopefully we can gets the new furniture we have picked out soon so I can get to work decorating!

2009-08-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fun weekend but it's back to work for us today. We did lots of stuff around the house and went out to Art on the Green on Saturday. It was fun to just walk around and look at all the booths. Henry really liked it. We took him down to the lake afterwards and he had a blast in the water. I am more afraid for him than he is, but I am trying to just let go and let him play! He fell under the water once and was just fine, even though I just about had a heart attack. :) He would also stick his face under if Nick did it first. We forgot to take the camera with us. :( We went out to Medical Lake on Sunday (just in case you are wondering, Coeur d'Alene later is WAY better) and remembered the camera that time! Henry fell under again and couldn't get him self up this time. He was walking out to deeper water and his feet just went out from under him and he fell backwards and couldn't get himself upright again. Of course I was right there to rescue him and after a few little sputters and coughs, he was just fine. :)

I started working on Henry's room and here is a sneak peek:

Yes, it looks like seafoam green in that lighting, but it's not, I promise. It will be cool. :)

Ideas for Henry's room

2009-07-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

We have a couple more projects to finish up around the house and then we can start on Henry's room!
I have a quart of this paint that I received during Glidden's free paint giveaway. I am going to do a stripe, maybe 10 inches wide, about 1/3 of the way up Henry's wall, in the place of chair rail moulding.

I can't decide between these two for the rest of the room, but I ham leaning towards the green.

I am making him a new quilt and sheets and these are the fabrics I like so far:

As for wall decor, he already has these, but I haven't picked out anything else yet:

He will also get a new dresser, roman shades and a rug. I'm excited to get started! :)

And now I am going to complain

2009-07-24T14:34:00.001-07:00

So the people who live directly across the back alley from us are getting a new roof, which I am very glad about because the blue tarp they had up was getting very ugly and I was tired of looking at it. But these roofers....oh my gosh, all they do is complain. They are loud. And it's summer time so the windows are open or we are usually in the backyard anyway, so we (lucky us) get to take part in their complain fest. ALL THEY DO IS SIGH AND MOAN AND COMPLAIN. It's so annoying! I hate it when people complain. Complaining is such a selfish thing to do, and it's pretty contagious (like right now...after two full days of hearing nothing but sighing and moaning and complaining, I'm starting to do it too, right now, in this blog complaining about complaining). These three guys are complaining about having to work.....but at least they have a job when so many others don't! And I HATE it when people complain about the normal aches and pains of pregnancy, which I'm pretty sure I have been guilty of as well. But seriously, aches and pains are a part of the process of bringing a child into the world! It's not supposed to be a cake walk and some of us would kill to have those aches and pains if it meant we could be in the middle of a successful pregnancy. And I hate it when I complain about how much gas our suv eats up...because at least we can afford to have a car. Hearing these roofers complain has gotten me all riled up about how much I hate complaining and about how often I do it despite it's negative affect on me and those around me. I can't stop staring at the clock....one more hour until the roofers are gone for the day and I can get back to my day.

Strawberry time!

2009-07-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Pictures!

2009-07-20T20:19:00.001-07:00

I borrowed my mom's camera to get some of our "before" and "during" house pictures, and I ended up stealing a bunch more. Random ones from the last few months first, house ones last :)

And now for some befores and durings:

And one last one...check out my parents' new kitty...yes, she's sleeping while hanging over my arm! I wish I could sleep that easily!

2009-07-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

New blog design. What do you think? :) There is a new title and address because Nick is smart and didn't want my first and last name in the address. Update your bookmarks if you have this blog saved.

2009-07-19T09:58:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry for the absence! For those who've asked, I will definitely being posting house pictures soon. The battery in our camera is dead and the battery charger has been misplaced during the move. Once I find it, I will post some photos.

Henry is 18 months old today! The past year and a half has gone by so fast! Henry had his 18 month check up on Friday. He is 25 pounds and 31 inches. That's still 50th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for heigh. Still just a little guy. :) He LOVES having a back yard. He is outside constantly!

If you remember, please pray for Nick and I. The due date from our first miscarriage is almost here and as it gets closer, the pain of the loss gets fresher again. Knowing I would be 38 weeks along, getting ready to give Henry a brother or sister, is so hard for me. I had hoped I would be pregnant by this due date, to help make it easier, but as you know, that pregnancy didn't work out either. I hope we are expecting another healthy baby before our next due date come at the beginning of November, but in all honestly, I don't expect it. Having a couple miscarriages has kind of scarred us and it's very hard for me to imagine another healthy, happy pregnancy. Anyway, please pray for us these next couple weeks, especially August 4th (because, seriously, I am so sick of crying about it and am ready to just move on finally).

2009-07-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

We're homeowners! We have been so busy this last week, and it's not going to slow down. We've been getting packed up, had Hoopfest, packed some more, signed all of our papers, start the HUGE job of cleaning up the seller's mess, and we will start painting today! Stay tuned for before and after pictures....

2009-06-20T16:25:00.001-07:00

Henry had his first ever overnight with grandma and grandpa last night! :)

2009-06-04T20:25:00.001-07:00

I ended up ordering this stamp:

It is way cuter and a lot less expensive than the other one I posted. You should check out the seller's site: modernartstamps.etsy.com

2009-05-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

Photos from our long weekend:

We took Henry to see the waterfalls at Upriver Dam. He loved it.

When we were in Coure D'Alene, he wanted in the water so we let him swim in his diaper. The water was freezing but he didn't want to get out! Time for some swimming lessons...

We went hiking:

The rest of these aren't from our weekend, but are still cute. We were at Walmart the other day and H saw the fish and could have stayed and watched them swim for hours!

We also went to Nick's work the other night and flew a kite...

We had the inspection on our house this week and that went well. Nick and I also met with our lenders today to sign all of our loan documents so our loan is now in underwriting and we are on track to close by July 1! Our lender told us we had awesome credit and that our credit history is "strong." That was really nice to hear because one of our big worries leading into this process was our credit: what we have is great, but we are so young, we hardly have any at all. We were really opposed to opening lines of credit that weren't needed just to "build" our credit so we never did and apparently we did the right thing! I don't think I ever said much about the house so here are the dirty details: it's a 1 1/2 story house with an unfinished basement. It was built in 1910 and has 4 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. Both the front and the back yard need some work, but since that's Nick's profession, that shouldn't be a problem at all! The house is a nice size and is 3 blocks from Audubon Park. So here are some photos of the house. I am really hesitant to post the MLS link because then the whole world knows our address, so these are just some photos I pulled from the realtor's website. I will take some of our own pictures when we get the keys!
Living room:

Dining room:

Kitchen (which needs to have the wall paper removed and a fresh coat of paint...and possibly a nice new counter top!):

Master bedroom:

One of the upstairs bedrooms:

2009-05-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

A small update:

*Henry got his cast off! His pediatrician told us to expect it to take a few days for Henry to get used to walking normal again and to expect a limp, but that didn't happen! We set H down and he took off running. He was so ready to have the cast off and he has been loving running around and finally being able to play outside. Let me tell you, it was SO nice to be able to give him a normal bath, wash that stinky foot and trim his toenails! :)

*We had an offer accepted on a house, so if all goes well, we will soon be home owners! This was the third house we offered on, so it was so great to finally have it accepted! We have the inspection coming up on Wednesday and we are meeting with our lender on Friday to finalize all of that. Pray that the process goes smoothly and everything works out (we have some concerns about our financing falling through because the first time homebuyer program we are financing through sometimes runs out of funds....). If everything falls into place, we will close on July 1.

*I started the "30 Day Shred" workout program yesterday and man, it kicked my behind! There are three levels and you do each level for 10 days. Each days' workout has three circuits and each circuit consists of 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs. Sounds easy right? But by the time you've done the circuit three times, I promise you will be wiped out! Plus I probably should have started out with like 2 pound weights but all I have are 5 pounders so I'm hurting even more. I am so sore everywhere...arms, legs, abs. It's a good sore though, and this is actually the first time ever that I have looked forward to working out! Henry really enjoys doing it with me. He especially loves when I do jumping jacks and he jumps around too. So cute. :)

*I am in the midst of a 5 day weekend (does it really even count as a weekend if it's five days long?!) and Nick is in the midst of a 4 day weekend and we are already having so much fun! We took Henry to Riverfront Park yesterday after he got his cast off. He loved the geese! He quacked at them the whole time. We tried to get him to do more of a honking noise, but in his mind, all ducks, geese, birds and chickens make the same quacking noise. :) We also let him ride some of the kids rides, which he loved. Today we are going to our new Forever 21 (second time in 3 days....love it!) and then heading out to Couer d'Alene. We are going to walk around looking at some of the shops and then we are going to Wolf Lodge (our favorite!!) on the lake for Nick's dad's birthday. Tomorrow as soon as church is over we are heading out for a day of backpacking. We wont stay over night (it's still too cold to have H sleep outside) but will probably come back late Sunday night. Monday, I hope we just relax! :)

*So Holly asked about the granola...here's the scoop:
I made half of it exactly as my recipe I posted and baked it until it was a nice golden brown. I don't know why I was so concerned about it being sweet...it wasn't at all! We use that granola with yogurt and fruit since it is nice and crunchy. To the second half of the batch, I added another 3/4 cup of brown sugar and kind of clumped it up with my fingers. I didn't not bake it quite as long and the result was a nice sweet cinnamony cereal that was perfectly soft! We all *loved* it and it's long gone by now!

* Ordered these napkin rings the other day and I am SO excited for them to get here! Bird Napkin Rings from ZGallerie I ordered one of each bird in white to go with the new white dishes we got the other day. :)

2009-05-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today is granola day! I've never made granola before today and was super excited to find a great recipe. After comparing and combining several recipes, I'm hoping I've come up with a great one (my test batch is in the oven now, so I'll have to report back with the verdict later):
Granola
Dry Ingredients and seasonings:
6 c. old fashioned rolled oats (I read that you can use quick oats if you want. They will clump up better, but have more of a starchy flavor. I went with old fashioned)
2 c. almonds
1/2 c. hulled and unsalted sunflower seeds (you could substitute pumpkin seeds)
1/2 c. flax seeds (A lot of recipes called for flax or sesame seeds but I chose flax seeds, partly because I wanted the darker color that flax seeds have. I want pretty granola.) ;)
1/2 c. wheat germ (I could NOT find wheat germ! Maybe I just missed it, but I may have to call around to find it for next time. I asked my mom and she said it is put in granolas to provide a crunch so I picked up some steel cut oats instead)
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut
1 T cinnamon
1T ginger
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. light brown sugar (I'm really afraid this will make it too sweet but I read that it needs to be a little sweeter so that you can actually taste it over the milk if you have it as cereal)
Wet Ingredients:
1 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/3 c agave nectar, honey, brown rice syrup or maple syrup (I used honey since i had it, but next time I will use agave nectar since I've never had it before)
2 T flavorless oil, like canola oil

Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix together, stirring thoroughly (much easier with your hands than with a spoon!). Spread into greased rimmed baking sheets. Bake at 300 for 30 to 40 minutes or until browned, stirring every 10 minutes to ensure even browning. Stir occasionally while cooling to prevent it from hardening into a clump. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoying the color of the flax seed:

All the dry ingredients:

All the wet ingredients:

(Oh, and in the granola pictures, notice my new mixing bowls and measuring cups. Mothers day. It was awesome. And, I got three boxes of Hot Tamales.....my favorite. )

2009-04-27T14:49:00.001-07:00

Watching Henry learn to walk with a cast is hilarious. He is so wobbly and keeps loosing his balance. He falls down, looks up at me, and we both burst out laughing. It's so funny. :)

2009-04-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Henry, and I broke my leg.

There was an incident with some stairs while looking at a house yesterday and Henry broke his leg. It's really just a fracture in his fibula, near the ankle. He is doing great considering. We decided not to cast it (yet) at the suggestion of our pediatrician and are just trying to keep him from putting his weight on it. I have it wrapped just in case he stands while I'm not looking but we're hopeful that he will be as good as new in 3-4 weeks. Here are some more pictures of our little man.

2009-04-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

So, an update on our house hunt. :) We found a house we love and put in an offer, but it is a short sale, so who knows how long the bank will actually take to decide, and we know that there are other competing offers on the table. We aren't going to get our hopes up that our offer will be accepted. We are going out with our realtor tomorrow night to look at 5 more houses (this will bring our grand total to like 15 or something!) and hopefully we will fall in love with one of them! Wish us luck. :)

2009-04-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

So for those who don't know, we are house hunting. As soon as we buy a house, I'm buying this. :)

(by the way, the word "this" up there is a link....;) )

Two posts in one...

2009-04-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

Post #1: "Why I hate the Children's Place"

So I've always hated the Children's Place and I always seem to forget that and then I go there again. I went this weekend and was reminded again why I hate that store. First of all, if a place is called "The Children's Place" wouldn't you be lead to believe said place is child friendly? Yeah...um, it's not. There is so much junk crammed into such a small place that it's practically impossible to navigate the store alone, much less with a stroller full of child. Don't get me wrong, it IS possible to push a stroller through the store without ramming shelves or tables if you can manage not to deviate the slightest degree to either side but once you get to your final destination, there's no way to turn around. You just have to hit reverse and back up. Once you actually have a child in your stroller and there are other people in the store, it's just a nightmare. AND, who designed the layout of that store? It doesn't flow at all. Baby gear up front, older kids in the middle and toddlers in the back. Doesn't it make more sense to go in order? Like babies, then toddlers, then older kids, or the other way around? Apparently not.

Post #2: "The waiting is the hardest part"

Nick and I have always believed that God will ALWAYS answer the prayers of His children and it's pretty much with one of three answers: Yes, No and Wait. The worst answer for impatient people like me is "wait" because in my case it's usually "wait to find out" not "yes, but not yet" if that makes any sense. I am not a good waiter...I never have been. Nick and I have always had the desire to have children and as soon as we had Henry, we knew we wanted more. We prayed so much for God to bless us with children and we so desire for Henry to have a sibling. After my (incredibly hard) miscarriage in January, we decided once again to leave it up to God. We decided not to try to get pregnant, but not to prevent getting pregnant because we believed God would allow us to get pregnant when it was His time. Well, it happened. And the worst happened again. We miscarried again a couple weeks ago. We still have that desire for more kids, but now I feel like God is saying "Wait" and it's not the "yes but not yet" kind of wait. It's the "maybe, maybe not" type of wait. That's not to say that God hasn't made up his mind, that's not what I mean at all. I think He wants us to learn to trust him in the waiting time: trust that we could still praise Him and serve Him if we were not able to have more kids and trust that we would praise and serve Him just the same if we are blessed with more kids. But man, the waiting is the hardest part.

And on that note....we're off to take Henry to his dermatologist again!

2009-04-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of Henry at the park over the weekend. I have a feeling we are going to be outside 24/7 this summer.

Trying on some of dad's old gear:

I made two aprons recently. The pink one is for me and the other one I made for my nieces birthday this weekend, but I also started an identical one for me!

2009-04-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

So I totally love Polyvore right now. I love designing our house someday. Here's Henry's big boy room!

Henry's New Room by afurg on Polyvore.com

2009-03-30T15:17:00.001-07:00

This is our living room....well, hopefully it will be someday! :)

Our Living Room - Someday by afurg on Polyvore.com

A boy after his mother's heart and other random pictures

2009-03-23T13:46:00.001-07:00

My sweet boy. He is just like his mama. He loves his Nutella! (except, I'm not quite as messy when I eat it!)

And, just for fun:
First Happy Meal

Saying Hi from atop the toy box

Sharing snacks with Asher

Asher

2009-03-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are having the BEST dinner tonight, so I thought I'd share the recipe. Now, I know it sounds kind of weird, but seriously, you should try it! :)

Cheeseburger Soup
1 pound ground beef
3/4 c chopped onion (Nick HATES onions, so I use some garlic instead)
3/4 c. shredded carrot
3/4 c. diced celery
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried parsley
4 T. butter, divided
3 c. chicken broth
4 c. peeled died potatoes
1/4 c. flour
8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed (I know it sounds disgusting, but the Velveeta gives it a cheesy flavor without make the texture too cheesy)
1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 t. salt
3/4 t. pepper
1/4 c. sour cream

Brown the ground beef; drain and set aside. In the same pot, saute the onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 T of butter until the veggies are tender. Add broth, potatoes and beef and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, melt 3 T of butter. Add flour and stir to make a paste. Add to soup and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream.

It is seriously so so good! We usually have it with rolls, but for tonight I have made biscuits with honey butter. Yum. :)

2009-03-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

So we're back from Henry's dermatologist's office. They are concerned that Henry may have a staph infection. The nurse practitioner took some cultures and they will give us a call in a few days. He will, of course, be on antibiotics if he does have the infection. For his eczema, he gave us a prescription for a steroid cream. I'm not thrilled about using a steroid but he said it's one of the safest and they even approve it on little babies. He also wants us to use a specific cream and only bathe him with Cetaphil, from head to toe. No more dryer sheets and I am supposed to make sure his bedroom is cool at night because sweating can make him itch more (and of course, itching leads to scratching, which makes it all worse). They gave me a lot of resources regarding eczema as well.
Before they even looked at Henry's eczema though, the doctor noticed the birth mark on Henry's leg and is kind of concerned about it. He wants me to keep a very close eye on it. He measured it and said if it gets about 1/2 centimeter larger, they will want to do a biopsy to make sure it is not malignant. Yikes. Now I am going to be obsessively checking Henry's birth mark to make sure it's okay. I should clarify...it's okay if it grows, but it needs to grow in proportion to his leg. If it gets 1/2 cm larger and his leg isn't also getting larger, that's when we should be concerned.

2009-03-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, tomorrow's dermatologist appointment could not come soon enough. Poor Henry's little face is a mess! It is getting worse and worse by the day. He is constantly rubbing at it and the poor guys brings me his face cream now! He hands the little jar of cream to me and shows me what he wants me to do: he tries to stick his finger in and then rubs his cheek. So sweet. :)

And I had to throw these in too, just because they're cute. :)

**********
ps - I ordered this book over the weekend and I seriously can't wait for it to get here!

2009-02-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know of a good treatment for eczema? Henry is having a horrible breakout of it on his face, neck, arms and now on his back as well. He has had a few spots on his cheeks since he was about 2 weeks old. Our pediatrician told us to use Eucerin cream on it and it's not working any more. He is seeing a dermatologist on Tuesday, but I am wondering if anyone knows of anything that helps eczema in the mean time. He's not enjoying it very much, and I'm tired of people (strangers included) asking me what happened to his face. :(

2009-02-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

2009-02-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

Oh Yum. This weekend I made Bakerella's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies and they are great!! You must try them! Although next time I won't frost them because it kind of overwhelms the brownies. Try them!

2009-02-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are still alive. :) We've had some computer issues for the past couple of weeks...well, really since September-ish when are power cord caught on fire. We finally bought a new laptop (hoorah for tax returns!) so I'm back. :)

2009-02-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

Happy 3 years to us! :)

2009-02-02T11:45:00.000-08:00