It's a ............

Well, I had the long awaited appointment today to find out what we are having! So, I guess there isn't much more to say then It's a BOY!! Ahhhh, little boys, that's all I know how to do I guess!

I will admit I was slightly disappointed and emotional about it but I'm happy to know he's a healthy little guy in there and looking good. Sorry, haven't scanned any ultrasound pics but this little guy was pretty proud to show off what he was!!!

So, it is nice to finally know and now we have the task ahead of us of coming up with another boy name. Ohhhhh, it's getting tricky! This is the most difficult part for me.

Family Pictures

We FINALLY got an updated professional family picture. The last family pictures we had professionally done were back in the day when it was just Kenner and he had just turned one! Ya, just a bit behind. And since I waited so long this picture will be outdated come October. Oh well. I am very happy with these and how they show our family with just the four of us!

It has actually been almost two months since they've been done. I started to post some awhile ago and got tired of waiting for them to load and I wanted to load every single one of them because I loved them all. Now I think I have a few favorites I can limit it to so I don't go crazy trying to load them all. It may still seem like alot but I had 65 to choose from so this is definitely trimmed down!

I found a great photographer (Krista Adams) thanks to a couple people I know that posted pictures they had done from her and I knew I wanted to try her.

Anyways, here is some of what we got!

This boy was sure a handful to keep still and wanting to smile. Didn't help we were outside. I was afraid we'd end up with nothing good! I guess what can you expect from a 2 year old?

April Fools!

I've never been much of a prankster when it comes to April Fools Day. I can't recall any good "gotcha" moments from back in the day. I just don't do that sort of thing I guess or possibly am just not clever enough to come up with something really good and worth doing.

When I think of April Fools I think of playing the ol' "hey I'm getting married" or "hey I'm pregnant" trick. Those I guess are the type of things I'd try to pull.

But I've never really done that so I guess you can believe me when I say, "hey I'm pregnant!" Baby number three is coming our way!!

Really, this is not an April Fool's trick because as I said I'm not really into that sort of stuff! I just found that about the time I'd be ready to make such an announcement was right around April Fools Day so I just couldn't resist.

So, really, do you believe me? Maybe I have you all doubting but really it is the truth! I am almost 13 weeks, wrapping up the 1st trimester. Due October 9th! And here is some more proof to clear up any further doubts (see below a bit), check the date, it is current!







Happy April Fools even though this is not a trick!!

Sorry, this might make some of you jealous. . . . . .

Today was like a nice summer day here! It was hot enough that the neighbor and I agreed it was a day to whip out the sprinkler for the kids and let them run around! Her backyard is perfect especially since she's been growing a winter grass so it is nice and green and it just felt like we were enjoying a nice summer day. Sorry to you that are still buried under the snow, we enjoyed it the best we could for ya! :) You can rub it in later when we are melting in dreadful summer temperatures!

Something Good to Eat!

I love finding a new recipe that is a keeper and adds more variety to my list of meals. I really hate trying a new recipe and it just doesn't make the cut and never gets made again.

Well, I'm just feeling in the mood to share some new recipes that we've had lately that did indeed make the cut and we have already or will be enjoying them again!

The first I made for dinner tonight. It has been a cold rainy day and there is nothing better then a homemade pot of soup on a day like this. So, I made some Turkey Chili. It is called turkey chili and I have only really made it after Thanksgiving with my turkey leftovers. But tonight I made it with chicken and it worked and tasted just as great. Pretty easy recipe. Here it is:

1 large onion
1-2 bell peppers any color (I usually only use 1)
3 Tablespoons veg oil
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 tsp brown sugar
1 20 oz can tomatoes (diced) with juice (I think my can was only 14.5 oz and it was fine)
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1/2 cup water
1 can chicken broth
2 cups turkey cut in 1 in pieces (chunks)
salt

Cook onion and peppers in oil until golden brown. Add chili powder and brown sugar and cook about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, beans, water, chicken broth, and 1 tsp. of salt. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Stir in turkey (or chicken!) and heat through.

Oh it just tastes soooooo good to me!


Another recipe we recently tried and have had twice now I got off a blog of my neighbor. I'm just going to post the link to the recipe on her blog instead of reposting the whole thing here. But it was really tasty as well. It calls for raisins in the recipe and I have not put those in because it just sounded too weird to me. And I never use a full 16 oz. of salsa. I may have less meat then the 1 lb. it calls for but I usually only use 1 cup of salsa. And the first time we made it I had some avocado I cut on top of mine that was pretty good as well! Go check it out here.


And last of all I found a good sweet and sour recipe from a ward cookbook that was just put together. I use to make sweet n sour but just with a store sauce and it just wasn't that great so it slowly made its way out of our meals. But this was the perfect sauce and it tasted great as leftovers the next day. I will definitely make it again.

4 chicken breasts
2 eggs
cornstarch
3 shakes of garlic powder
cooking oil
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. vinegar
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. water
1 T. soy sauce
1 dash of salt
optional: pineapple, onion, and green peppers (I definitely added these to my dish)

First mix sugar, vinegar, ketchup, water, soy sauce, and salt. I mix it in a 9 X 13 baking dish. Next cut your raw chicken into pieces. Mix the cornstarch and garlic powder together in a separate bowl. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet. Then, coat chicken pieces in the cornstarch mixture and then the egg and add to the hot skillet. Let cook and turn until chicken pieces are browned. Then add the browned chicken to the 9 X 13 dish. You can then add pineapple, onion and green pepper to the baking dish. Bake for one hour at 350.


With this recipe I didn't know how much cornstarch to use so just had to pour some on a plate and I used more then 3 shakes of the garlic powder. It seemed it needed more and I had to add more corn starch and garlic to my plate halfway through. So, you just need enough to coat all the chicken you have. I think I did about 12 chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts. And I think it only needed to cook about 45 minutes.


Sorry, now that I think about it, I have one more recipe I need to share while I'm at it. It is a sauce for stir fry. I love stir fry and use to make it but once again just didn't have the right sauce so we quit making it. But once I got this recipe from a friend we have started eating stir fry again and I LOVE it! I usually double this batch and pour about 1/2 on the vegetables while they are cooking and save the other 1/2 to add to your own dish at the table. But I usually have a pretty big pan of vegetables by the time I get done and we like lots of sauce so for smaller amounts the recipe should be fine as is. We do usually end up with a bit of sauce left over but better too much then not enough! Oh soooo good I'm serious try it!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil (I found this at Walmart so you should be able to locate some)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. Tabasco
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice (I have only used lemon)
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

Directions:
Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry 15-30 seconds over medium heat to bring out the flavor. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, tabasco, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Bring just to a boil. Dissove the cornstarch in some water and whisk into the sauce. Heat until the sauce thickens and reaches a full boil. Simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.


There you have it! If you are looking for something new to eat and one of these appeals to you try it and and let me know what you think! Happy cooking!

And aren't you so proud of me I just did a blog post and didn't post a single picture. You have to admit that is pretty boring compared to my posts with a billion pictures!

Myer's Birthday continued. . . . .

I've had some people tell me they have had a hard time viewing the video I posted from Myer's birthday. The only reason I can think why it isn't working for you is because it is a pretty large file. It is a high definition video so maybe it's too big to pull up. Sorry. I did happen to catch some pics though that I think kinda caught the same facial expressions you'd see in the video.

Anyways, on to Myer's 2nd birthday through pictures!

Eating "Birthday Waffles" to start off our day after Mom and Kenner came into his room to sing Happy Birthday!

We went and had a fun afternoon at the park with our neighbors!

After the kids played for a bit we squeezed under the playground at this little table to enjoy a little picnic Michelle put together! They brought some fruit kabobs, popcorn, chips, sandwiches, nuts! Little smorgasbord for all!

I had a hard time catching a pic of the group. Sorry Michelle, your face is a bit cut off but the other pic I was too close and Emma was mostly cut out. I caught Emma asking me a question in this one and not everyone was looking!

Opening his gift from his friends. Thanks guys!

Dinner at Olive Garden! Thanks for the excuse to go there this month Myer!

Opening Gifts!

A Light Ball Thing from Gma and Gpa Hartman

For some strange reason he liked to put his mouth on it. Maybe because it kinda vibrates as it spins and lights up.

A little bowling pin set from Gma and Gpa Hartman as well.

He got some birthday money from Gma and Gpa Lowder and Great Gma and Gpa Hartman!

And from mom and dad . . . . . a new bike! He loved it and kept going back to get on it all night!

The only problem, his brother wanted and liked everything he got as well. Myer was mostly nice to share but we had a few issues.

Getting sung to and ready to blow out candles!

Blowing! I think Kenner actually buffed this one out from the side.

And Myer was startled and excited when it went out and there was smoke. He had a concerned, confused, excited face and was squealing. It was toooo cute! This was what you'd see in the video was all this excitement and concern etc.

Ice cream sandwiches I think are our new birthday treat!

Playing with the remote toy car he got earlier that day at the park from our neighbors!

Daddy had the remote and I think he was a bit confused why the car kept moving and falling off the table. He just couldn't keep it still. It was pretty funny to watch him!

Lookin' like a stud!

A Happy
Birthday Boy.

Myer is 2!!

We celebrated Myer's 2nd birthday yesterday! It is hard to believe another year has passed. He's grown so much this last year.

I have yet to pull pictures off the camera and go through them but I just can't resist posting this video of him last night when we sung to him. He was so cute and funny blowing out the candles. I love this clip of him! His expressions are so cute to me! So, until I have more to post enjoy this little clip!