Saturday

Our Thanksgiving was really good even though we were so far away from family. In the morning Stephen went out and photographed the ward football game. Maybe we'll get the pictures up on his website at some point. Then we went over to one of Stephen's co-workers house for Thanksgiving dinner. There were quite a few people there and they had soooo much food!! It is a little different to have a "southern" Thanksgiving, with homemade macaroni and cheese, turkey noodle soup, the wide variety of pies (like pineapple) and of course sweetened and unsweetened tea. It really was quite delicious but not the same as being with our family. We are soo excited to be going to Arizona for Christmas! I am salivating over all the recipes that I want to try out!

It was kinda funny because Stephen and I both woke up on Thanksgiving feeling like it should be Christmas and that we should be opening presents, thankfully we still have some time before that gets here.

Today we woke up quite early and got tons of stuff accomplished. One of the things on our list was to make peanut butter cookies that would actually turn out. I had attempted to make the cookies on Sunday but failed miserably. Apparently my shortening had gone bad (and I mean BAD) I didn't remember what exactly shortening was supposed to look and taste like and after comparing it to the new stuff, I'm embarrased that I used the old stuff at all. As far as we can tell we think we took the shortening from Arizona to Texas over the summer and the heat must have destroyed it. Anyway we made the cookies today and they turned out alright. They were a little dry and crumble easily but at least they're edible!! Here's what they look like (Stephen took the picture)

I love to cook and bake but I seem to continually be messing up the recipe somehow. I was over at my sister Pollyanna's house one year for Christmas where we were making some cookies and instead of using the flour I used powdered sugar which were in identical containers. It seems as though I have trouble recognizing the items I am using in the recipe! Pollyanna loves to bring this event up because I have always wanted to be a chef and yet none of my stuff ever turns out quite as it is supposed to.

We also made one of my favorite recipes, Scalloped Potatoes. Our version uses cream of something soup instead of the typical made-from-scratch sauce and it is delicious! We add a little sour cream and partially boil the potatoes ahead of time and it turns out great. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that one...maybe next time. Oh, and we are going to try and finish the couch today, so as soon as that's done I'll post pictures and man does it look good so far!

Ultrasound

Monday I went in for my second ultrasound. I am right around 20 weeks which means I'm halfway through!! Little Stephen was measuring big at the last ultrasound and so they moved my due date up to the 8th of April. Then at this ultrasound they said he was STILL measuring large and again they moved my due date up a day to the 7th. Personally, I don't really care as the chances of him being born on his due date are pretty small and really we're talking about days here. The only thing that does have me sorta worried is that he's BIG. I always wanted small babies because they have to come out of ME and I would rather have them be on the small side rather than the large but apparently that isn't going to happen.

Again we were told that it's a boy! This was apparently the "official" announcement of it and when I went in to see the Doctor she congratulated us and we were both puzzled as to why we were being congratulated, we already knew it was a boy so this really wasn't news to us!! When Stephen asked what we were being congratulated for she just laughed and said we were, "sure great kidders!" That has been my bane this entire pregnancy, so if you are going to congratulate me, PLEASE, PLEASE make it obvious as to what you are congratulating me for! Or if not, at least understand where our quizzical looks are coming from. Thank you.

It was quite shocking to see how much I weigh now. I've never weighed this much before and to gain NINE pounds in one month really caught me off guard. I guess I should just enjoy it while I have it!! The pictures we got weren't as clear as last time, but we got a really fun one of him all squished inside of me. It really looks as though there isn't enough room for him in there, but I was assured there is TONS of room for him to play around in. He sure is our little acrobat and I am pretty positive that he's not getting it from me as there is NO WAY I could ever bend and be this flexible!! I love seeing his little legs! He's such a freakin' cutie! Ahem, I mean one handsome little stud. ;) Doesn't this just look like it would hurt?!

Spell Check

Last night while eating dinner the topic of conversation turned to blogs. Stephen then pointed out that in yesterday's post I had misspelled a word. I then asked him which word it was that I misspelled. His eyes got really big and he said, "I don't remember, there were A LOT of words!" Haha. And no, he didn't mean that I had a lot of spelling errors throughout my post, no no, instead he meant that there had been a lot of words in my post and remembering the one that was spelled incorrectly was just too hard. Man do I love that guy. Oh and for those who are curious, I checked today and the word was "quietly" which I misspelled to be "quitely". It's sure a good thing that I have my own spell-checker!

16 things

Alrighty, so I have never been tagged in a blog-tag item such as Let's Find Out About Your Husband, or List of Threes or what have you. However, I was tagged in a 16 item note on Facebook, and really I don't use my Facebook for things like that so I decided to post my items here. It is supposed to be 16 random facts about you, however since I haven't updated this in a while it will also included things I have done and am doing as well as things that I am grateful for.

1. I love potatoes. Seriously need them to live. I don't care how you make them; mashed, scalloped, baked, fried, or in a salad. Currently we have baked potato spears and potato salad in our refrigerator and I think I'm in heaven.


2. I cannot stand red sauce. Since becoming pregnant red sauce just turns my stomach. We used to eat spaghetti all the time but now it grosses me out like no other.

3. In our entire marriage (1+ years) we have never really owned furniture. We have a love sac in the front room, two kitchen chairs (one of which I used to use as my desk chair for homework) and Stephen's computer chair. Then after moving to Texas we bought me a computer chair (and I love it!!) On Saturday we were given a couch!! I'm soo thrilled. It's really ugly and broken but we are currently re-upholstering it and I am so excited. It sat outside someone's house and it desperately needs some lovin' and boy do I have some lovin' to give!!



4. Because we needed to fix up the couch, we decided it was time to buy me a sewing machine!!! Again I am thrilled for it. Stephen has already decided that I need to make us some historical costumes for Halloween. We'll see how that goes.

5. I just started showing. Several women in church commented that I now have a baby-belly and I am thrilled!! Apparently though after five+ pregnancies you start to get to this point where you try to see how long you can go BEFORE anyone notices you are pregnant. I wanted to start showing right away but silly me, that's just because this is my first.

6. Recently I started being able to feel the baby move!! It's sooo exciting! I can feel him move on the outside now too, I just want Stephen to be able to feel it as well but he doesn't quite have the patience for it.

7. In addition to being sick from the pregnancy last week I got a head cold. Luckily I haven't been too sick, no fever or anything but I would rather not have it. It still hasn't exactly gone away. Monday night we decided to go out to eat, which we do maybe once every two weeks. We went to a buffet that was supposed to be pretty good however it made both of us sick. Stephen apparently has a stronger stomach than mine and after taking medicine was just fine. I however, took the same medicine and woke up at midnight ridiculously ill. In between my sickiness times while I was waiting for my stomach to calm down, little Stephen decided that he wanted to start moving all over the place. I was soo tired and yucky that I actually said out loud, "If you don't stop moving around you are going to be grounded!" What?!? I must have been out of my mind.

8. Stephen and I went and voted together. It was my first time voting for the president and I was pretty excited. It took us maybe twenty minutes all together and the whole thing was electronic which I thought was pretty cool. They didn't give out stickers which was quite disappointing. Isn't that the whole point of voting?!? Lame, but we did document our activity.

9. So we have started redoing the couch and really we've just gotten to the ripping it apart stage. However we did find $1.33, a black sock, the Bill card from Guess-Who, and a huge spider. The picture shows the new fabric (at the top of the picture, on the arm that's farthest away), the inside of the couch, and the old fabric that's the arm closest to the camera.

10. I hate it when people don't know how to correctly write monetary values. .25 cents does NOT mean a quarter, it actually means less that one cent. It should be written as $.25 or as just 25 cents.

11. I actually think of what to write in my posts while I am lying in bed and can't sleep.

12. Stephen has never really heard me sing. I used to not sing at all around him because I was so intimidated by his voice. Then I had a dream that I was at the hospital after giving birth and Stephen was coming with our two sons. The oldest one started singing a song and asked Stephen to sing with him, but Stephen had never heard the song before, so he asked our son where he had heard it from and our son said that mom sings it all the time and it kinda crushed Stephen that he had never heard me sing it. Weird? Yes. So I've gotten more comfortable singing around him, but he still has to catch me off guard such as listening by the bathroom door when I'm singing in the shower, or coming in quietly while I'm doing the dishes/laundry and singing.

13. When we were dating I used to listen to Stephen sing Love Online from his website multiple times a day.

14. Stephen has updated his website and you should totally check it out! http://www.stephenzank.com/ then click on music at the top, and from there you will find a black box and at the top of the box it says "Select a Category" I would select either Stephen Zank, or Four Crying Out Loud which was his a capella group in high school. I think it's fun to hear how different he sounds between the two.

15. One of the first things that I really liked about Stephen was his love for NPR. Growing up in our family we listened to NPR every Saturday, and I was so happy when I found someone who also listened to it. We were driving to San Diego and Stephen said that he wanted me to hear his favorite story teller and he put Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" on the radio from his I-pod. I then said that Garrison Keillor was alright, but my favorite show is "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and Stephen then played that on the radio too. I can't describe how comforting that was to have someone who enjoyed that part of my life as well. We have listened to many episodes of "A Prairie Home Companion", "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me", and "Car Talk" since then.

16. We are lucky enough to be going to Phoenix this year for Christmas. I leave in 24 days and am thrilled to be going. Mom and I already have a list of things planned that we HAVE to do and I can't wait!!

Thankful

During the month of November I want to list what I am thankful for. Many times I get so busy that I forget to realize how great I have it. With Thanksgiving coming up this will be the perfect time to make a list so I can come back to it and remember how lucky I really am.

1. Being Pregnant. While our plans didn't include me being pregnant right now (or anytime soon really), I'm happy that it happened this way. I am so thankful that I am not in school right now and that my husband's job can provide enough for us so that I can stay home and feel yucky. I'm also thrilled to find out that I can have kids. I always wondered if I would be able to and while I would prefer a pregnancy that's not as hard, I'm thankful for the one that I have. And on that note...

2. My next sonogram appointment. Even if the reason I'm getting it is because I have "insufficient weight gain"(you try being sick and see how much weight YOU gain!) I am soooo excited to be able to see our baby again. And I'm thankful that I have been getting less sick and am gaining the weight back, I guess it's just not happening fast enough. I'm even thankful that now I have an excuse to eat all of the leftover Halloween candy that we have and not feel guilty about it...it's for the baby right?!

3. Our refrigerator. I'm mostly thankful for our ice maker and the filtered water dispenser which meant we could stop buying bottled water. Even if it takes hours to fill up a glass, I'm glad that we can. 4. Blogs. Now that I'm pregnant I find I miss my family more than I thought I would and I love that I can feel included in their lives just by reading their blogs. Sometimes I'll read the same posts multiple times in a day just because I love the pictures or something they said.

5. Family. I am thankful for a family who sends us mail all the time. We LOVE getting the packages and I can't tell you guys how loved Stephen felt after getting all the cardS from my family for his birthday!

6. Clothing. I am thankful that I used to have on again off again clothing issues and would buy pants that were too big for me thinking I just didn't want them to be TOOOO tight. Now I have clothes I can wear during this interesting time where I don't fit into my normal clothes and maternity clothes would drown me.

7. I am thankful for a husband who will cook and clean when I'm too sick and yucky to even think about it. Even if he doesn't do the dishes the way I would, I'm just happy that he will see the need and do them.

8. I am so thankful that I get to go visit my family for Christmas. I will be there for almost a month and I cannot wait!!

9. I am thankful for a husband who loves to serve others. He gets so excited to help others and loves to volunteer to do so. Today he left pretty early this morning and has been gone all day helping a family in our ward move. I love that he wants to share his talents with others!

10. Lastly I am certainly thankful for our cheap gas prices. I took this picture while I was at Sam's Club today. I'm telling you, ya'll should move out here...our gas is BELOW two dollars!! Can you believe it?!

Happy Halloween!!

For Halloween Stephen and I hadn't planned on doing too much. We had bought some candy to pass out but that was going to be about it. Then Stephen ended up helping a guy we know do some remodeling projects to his home. We both trekked on over, Stephen laden with tools, me laden with the coveted bowl of candy. I was kinda bummed that I couldn't help out with any of the remodeling but I did get to sit outside and play with my husband's Iphone! Really, what could be any better. Here there are working away hard and fast.

There was some time to spare before it would get dark and the trick-or-treaters would be coming out in droves and so I went around taking pictures of the neighborhood. This is a few streets over from where we live so you can kinda get a feeling of what it's like. Even though at the particular house we were at there weren't many trees, most houses have huge trees out front and I love driving down tree-lined streets. You just don't get that in Arizona. It's a lot colder here than it is for the rest of my family and there are actually signs that it's fall here!

I love how pretty some of the colors are.

I sat outside for quite awhile playing with the Iphone and we got a total of four trick-or-treaters. Yep. FOUR. That's it. I was really hoping to get rid of more of the candy but to no avail. We had three kids come dressed as Thing One, Two and Three and then another little boy came much later. I could hear many of the kids who were so excited to be dressed up coming outside and then the family would load into their vehicle and take off. How disappointing! We even had one vehicle pull up to us and then decide our load wasn't worth the effort and drive away. Drive-By Trick-or-Treating?!? What has this world come to? And now I'll just have to eat all the candy myself.

Dinner in a Pumpkin (Sort of)

Every year my family has a Halloween party and we always eat the same things. So right around Halloween time I start to really want those foods we eat every year. Things are different now that we're not near family but I still wanted to carry on some of the traditions. Also having a husband who didn't grow up with the same traditions makes me have to modify them a bit to fit our tastes. When I told Stephen about the Dinner in a Pumpkin he didn't sound too impressed that it is actually cooked inside a pumpkin. So I cleverly told him that it was just a rice casserole and I made some spaghetti squash to eat along with it (for me- he doesn't do squash or zucchini). I was surprised at how much he actually like the Dinner in a Pumpkin...ahem...I mean rice casserole... and he even had some spaghetti squash along side it!! He said that for some reason having it cooked inside a pumpkin was gross but eating separately was fine.
Here I am with my plate and I'm wearing the apron that Pollyanna made for me, thanks Pollyanna!! Here's a closer version, I added carrots to hopefully make it look more appealing. Honestly it doesn't look that great but MAN does it taste good! Stephen had seconds(which took up the whole plate) and ate all the leftovers for lunch the next day. Delish!!