My new addiction

DIY Furniture.

Brandon and I built Cayden and super cool bed for the new house. That hangs from the wall. I painted the lower half white to match the new babies crib. Its so awesome to have furniture that I know is quality yet inexpensive and is made specially for us by us. Check out the link below to see where I found the bed.

http://thebumpercrop.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/three-boys-one-room/

We also are building another project but I cant post anything about it until after Sunday.

Praise God!!!!

We bought a house! Its a beautiful 4 bedroom custom home on a 1/2 acre. It has a gorgeous view of the sandias and I couldn't ask for more in a house. I am most excited about having a home again. We have been doing Homes in Transition for 8 months now I cant wait to just settle in to a house again. I miss the feeling of being unpacked. I miss painting. Most of all I miss not making my bed which was rare anyways but I promise I will not be making my bed for at least a month once we move in.

God has blessed us so much with the opportunity to do homes in transition which helped us to pay off a good chunk of debt and save a good down payment for our house. He blessed us with great tenants in our rental home and most of all brandons amazing job which allows him to move or be anywhere and still work! I have two healthy babies...can I still call Cayden a baby? #2 is kicking away as I type and I can tell already is going to be very active and #1 is behaving pretty well for the most part. I cant wait to see Cayden as a big brother!

Right now Im filling my time with getting rid of stuff. Im anxious to get moving. We dont close until April 30th which seems like forever but I know it will fly by. In the mean time I have been feeling this overwhelming need to organize and get ready for our 2nd child. I cant do anything to prepare for him though. It's killing me!

Im going to have Cayden and the baby share a room. I have so much furniture to sell and a nursery/bedroom I need to design and purchase. Its exciting but overwhelming! I feel like I need to do it all now because when we move I will be 2 months from my due date. Oh well I know it will all get done and I need to stop obsessing.

Ok Im going to go eat a fruit pizza. THE END

Recipes

My Mother-in-law, Sister-in-law and I are now sharing recipes every monday for the sole purpose of not having to think about what we are going to put on the dinner table. I hate having to wake up and remember to take meat out of the freezer or wonder what am I going to make. We decided it would be much easier if we shared our ideas for the week via email. If you dont like the recipe or dont feel your family will just sub something in but for the most part I havent had to. Even if we are making simple tacos its helpful to not have to plan alone! Im going to start sharing the recipes!

Recipes for this week

Chicken Marsala

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chicken-marsala/Detail.aspx

I serve it over egg noodles or wide "homemade amish" noodles from walmart and fresh sauteed spinach (butter, salt, garlic powder)

Olive Garden Minestrone

http://www.food.com/recipe/copycat-olive-garden-minestrone-soup-by-todd-wilbur-77585

I add 1 lb of browned drained ground beef before the 20 minute simmer

Served with french bread and Italian salad.

Chicken lo mein

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chicken-lo-mein-2/Detail.aspx

I serve it with steamed broccoli florets and white rice

Lasagna

1lb of spicy italian ground sausage

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

15 oz or so Ricotta cheese

1 egg

itailan seasoning

12 pieces of oven ready lasagna

big bag of shredded mozz cheese (on sale at smiths)

1/4 cup parm cheese

Set oven to 350

brown sausage and drain

add sauce and some italian seasoning and salt

let simmer for about 10 minutes

mix ricotta cheese and egg (i also put a little of the italian seasoning in this)

once sauce is done spread about a 1/4 cup on the bottom of the pan

lay uncooked noodles

layer sauce, ricotta, then mozz/parm blend

repeat

I like three layers

cover with foil bake for 30 minutes

uncover bake for another 10-15 minutes

let sit for 5 minutes

I like to rinse the sauce jar out with about 1/4 cp water and add to the sauce and meat mixture to thin out sauce.

Parents, remember that now is your opportunity; you may feel yourself harassed as you struggle through the days with an unruly child, but you are living the happiest and the most golden years of your life. As you tuck them into their beds at night, please be kind to them. Let them hear a kind voice amid all the angry, vile voices that they will hear throughout life. Let there be an anchor to which these little ones can turn when all else fails. The Lord help you so to do.

-Harold B. Lee

Our new baby

I am 15 weeks along and finally gained 2 lbs. Im over joyed by this because up until 2 weeks ago I hadn't kept anything down. At the lowest the scale was telling me I was down 7 lbs. it worried me but apparently the baby is doing fine. We find out what we are having on the 21st of January and I'm excited to be able to tell Cayden if he will have a baby brother or sister.

I already have been researching room themes. For Cayden Im going to do a modern Grey theme with black and white shelves. I found inspiration from a room featured on Spearmint baby. For the baby Ill have to wait and find out what we are having but I have so many ideas for both sexes.

We also need to find a rental home. I know I cant do the move in my 3rd trimester so we are starting to look. Homes in Transition has been a blessing to us and as of the end of Februrary we will have paid off all unnecessary debt including student loans. Once we move into a rental we will focus on paying our car off and save for a down payment towards the next house we want to buy. We're thinking we will rent for 1 year and then start looking for a new home.

There are so many changes taking place in our lives and Im super excited for all that God has planned. Right now the most exciting change is our precious children. One growing daily and making my pants tighter and tighter and the other speaking in full sentences and telling me "c'mon mommy watch me play choo choo train". Cayden keeps me laughing everyday. He teaches me patience and how to be selfless. He is wonderful and crazy all it the same moment.

I'm glad God has shown me my purpose and Im grateful to be able to be home with my beautiful boy and one on the way. I cant imagine life any other way. I thought it was time to share my growing belly with the internet so I included some cell phone photos I have taken below. (Please dont pay attention to the faces Im not good at taking photos of myself. I never know if I should smile or stick my tongue out)

9 Weeks

12 weeks (worst face should have smiled)

15 weeks

Winter Wonderland

Last night is snowed! FINALLY! So on brandon's lunch break we took Cayden over to the park to play in it. I took a million photos but only had time to edit a few. We had so much fun. Cayden loved throwing snowballs at Mommy and Brandon helped him make a snow man. When we left he threw a bit of a fit but once we got home he asked to go to bed. The snow must have worn him out. The sun is now out and Im guessing by 5pm all of the snow will be gone. At least we were able to enjoy it while it was here!

Bellas Photos and Invitation

My best friend Nicki's daughter is turning 3 on the 21st of October and I had the pleasure of making her invitations and taking the photos for it.