Adventures in Cooking

So, I didn't really have anything interesting to post about 2 weeks ago, but this last week definitely made up for it. Andrew finished his spring semester in school, and we are happy to have him home more! He'll start a summer class soon, but it's all online (luckily, since we're having a baby mid-semester). And then he'll resume a busy fall schedule in August. Beth has been finding new and exciting ways to entertain herself, I guess I'm boring....It's been fun to watch her and her creativity grow. Everything is a hat....including dishes...this means she gets a bath every night most nights. She's especially excited when she does it with out hands and says "Ta-da!"

Because I am low on energy these days, I let her play with whatever she finds. Baskets, plates, dull kitchen utensils, small children (just kidding). She is always so proud of herself when she find solutions to her boredom. She recently figured out that she can wash her hands all on her own if she finds a basket to stand on. And I guess hopscotch on plates is the new cool thing!

The best part about this last week was my Dad's Birthday Dinner. My dad turns 51 today, (although my nephew has been saying Papa is 55 for 2 years, :-] ) After having to beat it out of him, my dad told my mom he wanted my Grammy's chicken and noodles for dinner. My mom has tried to make it before, didn't really like it, and hasn't tried again. I've always loved this dish, and asked my Grammy to make it for me after I had Beth (I ate it for 3 days straight!). So, I knew I wanted to learn how to make it to carry on the tradition.

I told my mom I would go over, and learn to make the dish and help prepare that part of dinner, to make sure my grandparents weren't too overwhelmed. My Grammy agreed to show me, and I was really excited. Now, this dish is NOT chicken noodle soup. It's pan fried/grilled chicken with noodles and sauce over the top. I've never known anyone else who makes it, so it's hard to compare it to. You use eggs and flour to make the noodles. Roll it flat, let it dry, then roll it up to cut noodles. Then you boil it in chicken stock and add a little flour to make the sauce. You serve the noodles and sauce over chicken, potatoes, even a shoe. I'd probably eat it.

So, Sunday afternoon I did some visiting teaching, then went over to Grammy's with my ingredients to start the process. I knocked on the door and Grammy said "Come on in to a MESS".....Ok? I walked in and saw 3 bowls of soupy stuff, and my grandpa trying to make dough out of one of the bowls....My Grammy then explained that she accidentally put 3 cans of chicken stock into the bowl, instead of 3 eggs. So, they were trying to find more flour to thicken the "soup" and add eggs to it. She kept saying "I'm 80 years old, and I've never done anything so dumb"....and my grandpa would say "No, you haven't" and I would laugh! They have been married for over 60 years, and they are so funny to watch! Well, my grandpa was worried that the dough would be too wet to cut properly, but we seemed to make it work. He would cut the noodles and I would unroll them, my Grammy kept commenting on how nice of a job I was doing unrolling noodles. :-)

My Grammy also thought it was funny that Amielia wanted to help with the process. My belly was covered in flour all day long!

My grandpa was very worried about how the noodles would turn out because they didn't have time to dry. But we crossed our fingers. They put them into boil and I went home to get the rest of my family and stuff for dinner. Eric (my brother) was on his way to Grammy's with chicken to BBQ, and he was there when I got back. Grandpa told Eric to try to noodles and he did, at first they tasted just fine. But he confessed it was because they were so hot they scalded his mouth. He discreetly asked me to come inside a few minutes later and told me I HAD TO taste them....OK. So, I made sure they weren't too hot, and tasted them. And, well, they tasted like soap. Yucko. Well, this wasn't good. Since my dad was very picky, and wanted his favorite meal to be perfect.....I couldn't figure it out, until I looked at the flour "container" on the counter. My grandparents were keeping their extra flour in an old laundry detergent container. WHAT? My grandpa said he rinsed it out, but I'm guessing that after soap is in it for a few years, flour will absorb even the slightest smell or residue. I told Eric about the mix up earlier with the chicken stock and how these noodles were having some serious trouble.

A few minutes later my parents showed up....and Eric told my dad that the noodles probably weren't going to work out. After some debating, we decided to make a new batch. I tried my hand at it, and although my dad made fun of me because I wasn't doing it the same way as his mom had, for 60 years, it was fun. We cheated and used the oven to dry the dough before we cut it. And it turned out ok. Not perfect. But I plan on trying it again soon. But without the extra chicken stock, or laundry soap. When we finally sat down at the table my Grammy grabbed her cup of White Grape Juice and said "I think I need a drink"....I think we ALL did at that point! Happy Birthday Dad!

As we were trying to decide this morning what we wanted for lunch, I decided to make a few batches of waffles. They are quick, easy, and freezable. I wasn't really feeling like peanut butter or syrup on mine. So I decided to make some homemade caramel sauce. I look for a recipe, and found a simple one online. It was DELICIOUS. You can get the recipe here (http://yummysupper.blogspot.com/2010/02/homemade-caramel-sauce.html). I would recommend letting your butter and milk (I used whole milk instead of cream) warm up a bit before adding them. Otherwise it makes the caramel harden instantly. Beth much preferred the peanut butter, that she ate with her fingers (hey, it's protein!) but she did try a spoonful of caramel, and I think she liked it, in a silly way!

Bethani's new favorite expression is the eye roll. She gets loads of laughter out of us, and anyone else watching, every time she does it. I'm sure when she's 5, and I'm no longer "cool" this expression won't be nearly as cute. But I'll enjoy it right now!

Well, we've hit the 1 MONTH TO GO, point in my pregnancy. Andrew thinks I'm bigger now, than I ever was with Beth. But I disagree. Although I feel HUGE. I'm starting to have contractions here and there. Mostly braxton hicks, but I could never really see a big difference between braxton hicks and my early labor contractions with Beth's labor. So who knows. It's really hard to get comfortable, especially at night, which makes my exhaustion even more pronounced. But, with only 4ish weeks to go, I think I can deal with it. We are so excited to add another girl to our family. I've been getting out clothes and blankets for Amielia, and it reminds me just how small and snugly Beth was. I can't wait!

Well, if you made it through this LONG blog post, congrats! Whew. We are very excited for this summer, and I hope everyone has some fun things planned!! 

Happy Blogging!

A Day to Celebrate Mothers

So, I'm sure I am one of a billion blog posters who are "dedicating" their post to their moms. I wish I could be more creative, but, I feel like this post is SO important.

My mother's day was quite eventful. I woke up feeling well rested (Thank you Heavenly Father for that Mother's Day gift). Andrew had been feeling quite sick the night before, so when I saw that he was still sleeping, I decided not to wake him up yet. I got Beth some breakfast and turned on some cartoons so I could take a quick shower and get ready. Andrew woke up, and although he was feeling icky, he got ready for church too. We made it to sacrament meeting almost on time (Hey the day can't be perfect). We listened to some great talks. One of my favorite moms in the ward talked about having a Mantra that she says to her self when times get tough. She said that this mantra has extended the life of her children multiple times! :-) She lost her husband in a motorcycle accident almost 5 years ago, and was left to raise 3 children, alone. So her words always bring tears to my eyes. I can't remember the exact mantra, but I will definitely be making my own....if only for my kids' sake.

Then a brother got up to speak. He's married to a friend of mine, and in young men's with Andrew. He's only spoken maybe one or two other times, but I love listening to him speak. He specifically directed his talk to the men in the ward. And even though his talk was unfortunately cut short by time constraints, his spirit and insight touched my heart. He asked the men "Can we be better to our wives and do better?" It was a wonderful talk. It reminded me of President Uchtdorf's talk in the Priesthood session of General Conference. If you haven't heard it, or read it yet, DO IT...here's the link....http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/your-potential-your-privilege?lang=eng

After sacrament meeting, Andrew admitted he needed to go home. So, I told him to go to the car and I would drop Beth off at Nursery and then run him home. I didn't question his need to go home, because frankly, he looked terrible, and I knew there were no major sporting events on TV that day. :-)....So I tried to take Beth to nursery, but she wouldn't let me put her down. Now, normally, I am NOT the person to take her to nursery, for this very reason. Andrew takes her, since I have a class I teach, and I can't be late. But today, someone else was teaching the class, so I tried to drop her off. I couldn't do it. She clung to me and cried. So, I took her out to the car, and Andrew and I decided it might be best that she stay home with him so I could enjoy the rest of church. After church was over, I went home and checked on Andrew, still sick, poor guy. I got Beth some lunch and told Andrew he needed to take a nap, sleep is wonderful for colds.

On a whim, I decided to take Beth to my parent's ward which meets later in the afternoon. So, we left Andrew at home, with pillows, blankets, water, his phone, and strict instructions to SLEEP. Beth was happy to see Papa and Gran Dawnie. My dad is the Bishop of their ward (The ward that I grew up in and attended for 21 years of my life). So, Beth couldn't sit with him, since he was on the stand at the front. But she did pretty well sitting with me and my mom. She did throw a minor fit or two, but it was close to nap time, and her second sacrament meeting of the day. I was so grateful I went to the meeting because I got to listen to a WONDERFUL speaker. I am well acquainted with her, and her family. She recited a quote that brought tears to my eyes. After church I sent a message to her daughter and asked where I could get a copy, because I loved it THAT much. And here is the quote:

"I grant you that there are many who approach the great responsibility of motherhood with fear & timidity, because of its dangers to the physical life of the mother, because of its pain, its sorrow & its distress; but in the very nature of things, if God should lighten the burdens, the sorrow, & the pain of child-bearing, he would endanger the enduring love of the mother for her children. There is nothing worth while we obtain unless we pay the price for it. That which is given to us freely, we consider of little value, & so, because a mother goes into the valley of death, lays her life upon the alter to bring life into the world, & because through the rearing of the children who come to her, she spends many sleepless nights, denies herself the personal pleasures of life, devotes herself with patience & care & strength almost more than she has, to the welfare of her children-this is what makes her love them. For where her treasure is, there her heart is, & the greatest treasure a woman has she gives in her service, her life itself. All that she has, she gives for her children, beginning with the great ordeal of bringing them into this life." 

 

-Melvin J. Ballard

This quote especially means something to me since I will be going through labor and delivery next month with our second child. This time around we are hoping to labor and deliver without any pain medication at all. So when Brother Ballard speaks of... "if God should lighten the burdens, the sorrow, & the pain of child-bearing, he would endanger the enduring love of the mother for her children," it really made me think. Now, I believe that there are burdens, sorrow and pain, ANY WAY you choose to deliver your children. But I think I needed to hear this talk because recently I've been questioning my ability to deliver this baby without the use of pain medication, I've never done it before. I keep forgetting that the Lord knows the difficulties of pregnancy, labor and delivery. And that those struggles teach us something greater, LOVE.  I now have a stronger testimony of my body's abilities. I know that because of our preparation, we will be blessed. Keep in mind, The "All Natural Delivery" goal is just our personal preference this time around, but everyone has the right to choose the way they want to deliver their baby. 

 

After visiting my parents ward I went home and put Beth down for a much needed nap, I checked on Andrew who was sleeping. And I finished a few things before heading to our Bassett Family dinner that evening. I got to spend time socializing and eating wonderful food with the wonderful Bassett family. My Grammy Bassett is one of those wonderful women in my life that I am SO grateful to have. She is getting older, and can't do as much as she used to, but I will never forget the wonderful memories I have of her. After dinner we returned home, Beth was put to bed and Andrew and I spent a few hours talking about the day. He felt SO bad that he missed "making the day special" for me. But I told him it was a wonderful day, even though he couldn't do much "extra" to help. While he was home sick he cleaned up the house, did the dishes, and had a wonderful card for me. He's a wonderful man.

I'm so grateful to my mother. My sister Bo wrote a wonderful blog post about my mom and I echo a lot of her praises. My mother is amazing. She is always giving, and never turns down someone in need. She is often the voice of reason, but in a calm and loving way. About 10 years ago she was diagnosed with MS, it has been a LONG, HARD road for her. But she was always there for her kids. She drove us everywhere, made it to every event, and supported us in every challenge. Luckily, she found a wonderful medication that has worked to control a lot of her symptoms. But it didn't come without sacrifice. When I was a teenager she apologized that we couldn't have the nicer things the other kids had, cell phones, the "in" clothes, cars, etc. She explained that her MS medication was very expensive. Even with the insurance coverage my parents had, her medication cost around $500 per month. As teens, we thought and said "It's ok mom, we understand, and we wouldn't want to have those other things, especially if it meant you didn't get the medication you needed." And now as an adult, I am even more in awe. I was never without what I needed. I was and continue to be very blessed by having her in my life.

 

About 5 years ago, I added another mom to my life. My mother in law. She is a wonderful woman, who is always putting herself last. She worries about the kids, their spouses and the grand kids first, and then maybe, just maybe she'll think about herself. Sometimes I want to wring her neck, and tell her to "Sit down and stop fussing! You'll never enjoy your meal if you are constantly helping kids." But she wouldn't listen, she's too dedicated. Of all the things she has done there is one that I am the most grateful for. After 3 children, my in laws decided that they were done having children. They kept to this decision for almost 10 years. Until one day, after some experiences, they decided they were NOT done. So they had 2 more children, 17 months apart. The older of the two is Sam, brother and best friend to my husband and the husband of a close friend (and now sister in law). And the last child they had was my husband. If they would have stuck to their original decision, my life would be completely different today. So I am grateful for them changing their minds. My husband, and Sam, were probably not easy children to deal with. They are full of energy and very stubborn as individuals, but put them together, and they are a force to be reckoned with. My mother in law did get good practice with Andrew's older siblings....especially the 2 older boys.....(If his brother's read this they'll say "who could she be talking about???"). All in all, her decision to bring more children into this world has directly impacted my life. Thank you Diane!

There are many other women in my life that are wonderful examples to me. I have/have had wonderful Grandmas (and Great Grandmas), Aunts, Cousins, Sister's in Law and Friends who remind me that being a mother is NOT easy, but it's definitely worth it. And to them, I am also grateful.

My mother's day was wonderful and memorable. I fell so blessed to have Bethani in my life and I can't wait till her sister Amielia joins us. I am lucky to be a mother to these two girls. It's a gift that I will never come close to repaying. My only picture on the blog this week is my "Happy Mother's Day" picture from Beth. I took it yesterday after church. She was walking around the house in my shoes, and she wanted me to look. She now says "MOM!" a lot. And I do mean the caps and exclamation mark. It's never a "mom?" or "Mom." But no matter how she says it, I'm grateful that she knows how much I love her and that I am her "MOM!"

 Happy Blogging Everyone!

When I'm not sleeping....

Sleep. It's SO important right? I've had less of it for the last 22 months, due to Beth. She was never a good sleeper. Even as a newborn she usually slept in 2 hour shifts, and at the longest, I'd get a 1 hour nap during the day. At the time, I didn't know any different since she was my first baby. Around 10 months her habits changed. And after a few weeks of her sleeping 6-8 hours a night, and 2 hours during naps, I realized  how sleep deprived I was. For the last year or so, she's had one nap a day (1-3 hours), which is wonderful! But, she was still waking up between 2-5am for milk. I got rid of her bottles at 15 months (way too late!), but I allowed her to keep the milk in a sippy cup since at the time, we were dealing with a toddler bed transition and teeth.

I realized that a lot of her bad habits came from my behavior. I made a lot of mistakes as a first time mom. I decided to buck up and get her on a good sleep schedule before I have this baby. So, in an effort to curb her late night milk addiction, I decided that she could no longer go to bed with milk. Not for a nap, not for bedtime, and not in the middle of the night. I didn't know how I was going to hold up, since I am usually SO tired in the middle of the night I will give her anything. But I was determined. So, after about a week, I am happy to report that she only has milk with meals and she rarely wakes up in the middle of the night (this has happened 3 times in 10 days). She gets to have a water bottle in her room so if she wakes up thirsty she can get a drink and go back to bed. It's amazing how much better I feel in the morning. Granted, I still get up at least twice to go to the bathroom due to pregnancy, but twice is better than the four to sometimes even five times I'd get up before Beth slept through the night.

It's been great to have the "extra" sleep since recently I've been EXHAUSTED! I'm not sure if it's due to my unborn child having a growth spurt, or my very "born" child wearing me out, but either way, it's tiring. At the end of last week I woke up with a scratchy throat, head ache, and I probably sneezed 50 times that day. I wasn't sure if it was allergies or a cold, but either way, I knew the best way to get rid of it was to sleep. So, that night I took a tylenol and benedryl (which is the ingredient equivalent to tylenol PM). I hoped the tylenol would help with the headache, and the benedryl would help the sneezing. I knew that I had a very limited window to get rid of these nasty symptoms before they turned into something worse. You see, in my sick "history" it's noted that I go from feeling perfect, to having full blown strep, laryngitis, or a nasty cold virus, within about 12 hours. So, you can probably imagine how relieved I felt when I woke up the next morning and I felt better, not worse!

Having kicked those symptoms, I jumped into the day and tried to get everything done that got missed the day before. That evening I was disappointed to have the nasty headache return, with horrible nausea. Typically my pregnancy nausea is made worse by a lack of eating. So, I tried to eat small meals, but after every meal, my nausea would get worse. That evening before bed I took a Phenergen, a wonderful anti-nausea pill. With my 1st pregnancy I could take 1-2 pills, sleep soundly through the night, wake up without nausea and go to my full time job. After a while my body got used to it, and around the 1/2 way mark in my first pregnancy, 2 pills no longer had any effect. 

At the beginning of this pregnancy I tried using Zofran (my day time anti nausea) and Phenergen (my night time anti nausea), but neither did anything. I've refrained from testing them further during this pregnancy because they used to put me to sleep, and before now, Beth was still getting up at night. So I was surprised to find that when I took Phenergen this time, it worked! My overwhelming nausea went away so I could sleep and I felt much better in the morning. The only downside? Even though I only took 1 pill, I was tired for a full 24 hours. I turned on some cartoons for Beth around 9am that morning, and the next thing I know it's 1PM! WHAT? (Yeah I know, I'm a terrible mom). This drowsy state continued all weekend. Most days I slept 12 hours at night, and I even took a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. Luckily Andrew and Beth were understanding. I guess my body and mind needed that sleep, because today, I feel much better. 

With the gorgeous weather today we decided to go to the Zoo. And apparently so did everyone else. There were 2 preschool groups, and a plethora of other parents and kids. Luckily we had made most of our rounds before the large groups got in. We stopped by the Wallaby area and got to walk inside the exhibit and see the Wallaby mama. The baby was hiding in her pouch. She didn't really enjoy the onlookers, and having a baby in my "pouch" as well, I can't say I blame her. The last thing you want is to have people staring at your midsection. 

We noticed a "Giraffe Experience: Come feed the Giraffes!" sign about 20 minutes after we got there and luckily they were still doing it for another 10 min. We paid $3 for a large leaf of lettuce and had no idea what to expect! As we got up to the almost nonexistent line, we saw a dad and little boy in front of us. The little boy was TERRIFIED. And I started to worry about Beth enjoying the experience. The Giraffe was RIGHT THERE. It was so close and I was unsure if Beth would love it or hate it. Either way, we were about to find out.

Beth was a little timid at first, but she loved it! She wasn't scared, and Andrew and I both thought it was SO COOL! We couldn't believe just how long the Giraffe's tongue was, it probably could have gotten the lettuce even if Beth had it behind her back.

It was probably the best $3 and use of lettuce EVER! I found out that they let Zoo Patrons feed the Giraffes daily from 10:15am-11:00am, weather permitting, every day. Since we have a Zoo pass, we'll definitely be coming back to do this again.

After the Zoo, everyone was hungry. For about 6 months I have been craving a really good Hot dog. Weird right? Well a few months ago Andrew and I watched season 1 & 2 of Man V Food on Netflix. And it seemed like he was always eating the most delicious Hot Dogs and Polish Sausages. So I think that's where my craving originated. I am a huge skeptic of hot dogs in general. For the last 10 years I would only eat one if my dad assured me that it was 100% Beef, no junk. My Dad has worked in food service for 20 years, so he knows his stuff about....well....the STUFF that some people put in their hot dogs. 

After about 20 min of convincing, Andrew finally agreed to go to a newer place in Boise, call Stan's Hot Dogs. We walked in and Stan himself greeted us and showed us the menu. All his products come straight from New York, including their frozen custard. He assured me that it was a great product, 100% Beef (or pork if you opted for that dog) and NO fillers. We were also happy to find out that on Mondays their special is Beef on Weck. Which is Prime rib, on a German roll, with Horseradish. Andrew had that and LOVED it. I had a traditional Hot Dog, and it was amazing. We also had their home made, super FRESH, onion rings and fries. Beth was happy to eat a few fries, but Stan came over and asked if he could give her some frozen custard. I said "Sure, that'd be great!"....Visions of an ice cream covered child went through my mind. Kids can NEVER finish an ice cream cone without it melting ALL OVER. But hey, it was a fun day, bath day, and a free sample, so lets go for it. It was awesome. The custard is sweeter than ice cream, but has less sugar. It doesn't melt like ice cream does, so Beth was able to finish the entire cone, and stay relatively clean! After tasting some of Beth's, Andrew went and got his own. This is definitely a new Monday tradition! It is a little pricey, but it's great food and great service. 

Beth was alternating her Custard Cone and a Dill Pickle, Sympathy Cravings?

Just for the record, I LOVE pickles (Dill only) and I love sweet things. But, NEVER. Ever. Together. Yuck! So I have no idea where she got this. Speaking of cravings, or lack of for me, we are in the home stretch with this pregnancy. I have 6-7 weeks left. With Beth I was dilated to a 1 at 37 weeks, stuck at 3cm for about 4 days, and had her 8 days before her due date. I know that every pregnancy, labor and delivery is different, so I figure I'll plan to go to my due date but be pleasantly surprised if this baby comes when Beth did.

After all the teasing Andrew got from the Empathy Belly pictures, I figured I'd go back to posting my own pictures. I am 32 weeks in this picture, it was taken last week. My hair is getting quite long, I'm hoping wear it braided during labor.

Well, that is our fun week. I slept through most of it, but when I wasn't sleeping it was a BLAST! Andrew has about 2 weeks left of this semester, and then he'll be gearing up for summer semester. He'll only have one online class, so it will be somewhat of a break for him. He'll need the "school break" because all through the late spring and summer we will be studying  "How to labor and delivery Naturally," "How to raise a 2 year old," and "How to handle being a family of 4."  Tough classes, but I know a lot of people that have passed them with flying colors. :-)

I hope everyone is well rested, cold/allergy free, and craving another hot dog like me!

Happy Blogging!

Our Spring FUN

So the last week has been pretty busy, but really fun! On Sunday we went to my parent's stake center (which is actually closer than our stake center) to watch the Stake Conference Broadcast. Beth refused to sit through more than 20 minutes at a time, so it ended up being a really stressful morning for me. She's been relatively good through 1 hour of sacrament meeting, but 2 hours of a broadcast, is not her cup of tea. Unless the broadcast is of Word World. 

We spent Easter with my family and Beth really enjoyed searching for "Balls" out in Gran Dawnie and Papa's yard. We bought really cute Noah's Ark Easter eggs and I think the adults had more fun looking at the animals than Beth did. It was a really great time.

 After Beth had found all the eggs she started trying to re-hide them on the hose. They kept rolling down and so it was pretty funny to watch.

 Our Family, April 2011.

After the Easter egg hunt the weather was so great that we decided to play with some bubbles. Beth LOVES bubbles. So she had a great time! She might try to eat them, but she rarely succeeds. Papa was showing her how to catch bubbles in a cup, she was quite impressed.

Andrew and I started our Childbirth Refresher Class last week. It was a two night course, so we had the second night yesterday. Since the class was put on at St. Luke's I was unsure if it would focus on any natural birthing ideas, or just hospital protocol. I've definitely changed my expectations of labor this time, so I didn't want to hear things like "It's never easy, just get an epidural" Or "C-sections really aren't that bad".  But, we were happily surprised when our class was taught by a wonderful Doula. She was sweet, and very knowledgeable about handling pain/discomfort in labor and delivery. Her theory is that if you can trust in your body and use different coping techniques you can either go without pain medication entirely, or delay it for a few centimeters. We really enjoyed the class and came out knowing a lot more about the basics of natural birthing. 

During the class our instructor gave the dads the opportunity to wear a "sympathy belly"...It consisted of a tight band around the ribs (to make breathing uncomfortable), about 35 pounds in breast and belly weight, and a "bladder weight" that pushed on their bladder from the inside of the outfit. Andrew, feeling up to the challenge, decided to try it. He wore it for almost 2 hours. I was impressed. I wasn't feeling too great at the class, so in an attempt to lighten the mood, Andrew let me take these pictures.

He'll probably get laughed at by his friends and especially his brothers, but I think it was a nice gesture. I love that man. He always makes an effort to brighten my day. He is working hard and doing really well in school, but he always has time for his girls.

This week we also got around to finding a new Dentist (Dr. Scott Grant), and went and got exams and x-rays done. In high school Andrew had 1 wisdom tooth removed, and it was a terrible experience. So we have been putting off removing the others for awhile.  After looking at the x-rays, we saw that the one wisdom tooth, out of the three left, that he really needed removed was a difficult one. Dr. Grant said that he would not feel comfortable performing the surgery using his sedation, which is conscious sedation. Meaning that Andrew would still be partially awake (and able to swing a fist or two if he was in pain, ha ha ha). So he referred us to an Oral Surgeon. We had a consultation with them yesterday and he said that he could do the surgery, although it will be very complicated. His tooth is coming in sideways, next to a nerve, and pushing on the roots of his molar. So when they bid the amount to have the tooth removed it states "Removal of impacted tooth of usual difficulty"...it kinda made us laugh. We scheduled the removal for a month out. We wanted to have it done before the baby comes, because we'll have NO time after wards. So, I'm hoping the surgery will go well.

We have also started the fun process of house hunting. Although I love our apartment and the area we are in, we are starting to outgrow the space. We aren't in any hurry, so right now we are just looking around to see whats out there. We are working with a phenomenal Realtor and Lender, so the experience has been pretty smooth so far. We are hoping to move sometime this summer or fall depending on how the process goes.   

We have about 8 weeks left till this baby makes her debut, and we can't wait to meet her. I'm also counting down the weeks till my sister arrives, which is about 6 weeks away. We will have a very busy summer coming up with a new baby, summer school for Andrew, a visit from Jana and Jake, a visit from Sam and Jayme Lee, an Aldrich Family vacation, and possibly moving! It's exciting what life has in store for all of us! I hope everyone is doing well and is as excited for this summer as I am!

Happy Blogging!

Homemade Pizza!

So, Andrew typically works evenings, which means I never make dinners. I make something little for Beth and something else for me. But I don't have to worry about home cooked dinners for Andrew. This has been good and bad. I miss having family dinner time where we can make and enjoy food together. So, we've been trying to take advantage of lunch time a few times a week to have family time.

Today, it was homemade pizza day. I. Love. Pizza. It's easy, it's filling, and it's fun! We buy the dough from Winco (the package is enough dough for our little family). We buy all the toppings for it, and make 2 little pizzas. I LOVE stuffed crust pizza, where as Andrew loathes it, and prefers thin crust. So, we can each make a pizza that works for us. 

Beth was working over her dough, while Andrew was tossing his dough pizzeria style!

Beth was enjoying some Olives off her fingers!

This is the finished product!! It was my beautiful stuffed crust pizza! A complete meal with a virgin margarita! We loved spending time making food as a family, it's good, clean, entertainment. Well, assuming Beth doesn't get a hold of any sauce, which she didn't. This time.

We registered Andrew for his Summer and Fall semesters today, and luckily we were able to get most of the classes he needed. He even registered for a self study walking course. It's a course that has you set and achieve health goals through walking. I think that course will be more for me, seeing as it will start around the time Amielia is 6 weeks old. He will be taking a few online courses too, which is nice since he's working 6 days a week most weeks. He is such a great student! I'm very proud of him.

Well, last week I hit the 30 WEEK MARK! We are now counting down the weeks using single digits! We are taking our Childbirth Refresher Course the next 2 weeks, and we have about 30 pages left to read in our HypnoBirthing Manual. Last night when we were reading it, Andrew said "Honey, we need to highlight this section." It made me very happy! Andrew has been nervous about labor and delivery since our 1st experience was completely different than we expected. He hates to see me in pain and not have a way to "fix" it. So it's been a good experience for us to talk about what we want to do different and how he can help me during this labor and delivery.

Sorry it's blurry, cell phone camera!

We are getting more excited as we get closer to meeting our little girl. We've been trying to teach Beth to call the baby "Ami" or "Amielia" but she insists that the baby's name is "shhhhh"....Andrew thinks that's because "Shhhh" is what the mom's on the bus say to the babies who are crying. I guess she's just practicing. Beth has also found a new place to play....in Amielia's crib. I'm hoping that by the time we put Ami in the crib (3-6 months old) Beth will have either grown out of this, or she'll be more cautious around the baby. Fingers. Crossed.

Beth was supposed to be taking a nap......

Beth is getting bigger and smarter every day. Today when I gave her a hot dog and rice for dinner she picked up a piece of the hot dog and asked me quizzically "Doggy??" I couldn't help but laugh. I reassured her they are all beef hot dogs, no doggies, but the name still confuses her. She now asks for "Help" when she can't do something. She loves her letters and tries to point them out on everything. Right now the only letters that believes exists are "O, I, E, S, H and B." I guess that's a good start though.

Well this is the fun we've had the past week! I hope every one is doing well!

Happy Blogging!

A Walk to Beautiful

So this week I really wanted to write about something besides ME. My blog is entitled "A Little of This & A Little of That"....And I'm thinking you are getting more THIS, than THAT these days. So, while pondering what I wanted to write about, I thought about the last week and something that touched me. 

About 2 months ago I came across a Movie/Documentary on Netflix called "A Walk to Beautiful"....the description said: "In Ethiopia, a country with few hospitals and even fewer roads that lead to them, three women are on a journey to rebuild their lives after suffering devastating losses in childbirth." I thought it was interesting, so I added it to my instant queue to remind myself to watch it. I finally did this last week.

If you would like to watch the movie, prior to reading the rest of this entry, you can do so on netflix.com, and I know that PBS has been showing it as well. (Interesting side note, I started watching this on netflix, and had to stop 1/2 way through when Beth woke up from her nap and demanded my attention. The next day I came home and Andrew was watching it on PBS. He was further into the movie, so he turned it off so it wouldn't confuse me. We ended up turning the TV on the next day, and it was just starting on PBS again, so we watched it together).

In this amazing documentary it follows a few women in Ethiopia who have lost their babies during child birth. One of the most devastating occurrences in this country is when a woman labors for days, sometimes even 10 days. And due to her inability to birth the baby, the baby dies in her womb. The reason for the long labors and inability to birth is two fold. First, in this and many other countries women are expected to do large amounts of manual labor. Starting at the age of 2, they carry water and gather food. And as they age, their loads grow in size and weight. This causes young women to not grow to the proper size, sometimes still falling inches short of 5 feet tall at 18-21 years old. And it stunts the growth and width of their bones, specifically their pelvis. So, when they go into labor a baby often times cannot make it past their pelvis. The second reason is that when babies are in an unfavorable position for birth (breech, transverse, ect) there is little to no medical intervention in these countries, especially in remote areas. So, women labor for days until they are able to go to a hospital or a doctor is able to come to them. By that time, most babies and even some women have not survived the labor. 

This was heart breaking for me to hear. I can not imagine the pain that these women go through. After losing a baby, women in these countries are often ostracized. Because they have not fulfilled their role as a wife or mother. They have failed to bring a healthy baby into the world, and will no longer be seen as a member of the family or group in which they live. 

It seems as though there could be nothing worse in life. Unfortunately for these women, there is. Most women who suffer through a long labor and survive will find that not only have they lost their babies, their families, and respect. But they have lost something else. The ability to control their bladder and sometimes even their bowels. Due to the long labor and constant pressure of contractions, blood flow is restricted to tissues in the bladder and rectal area. After this trauma, the tissue will die, and a hole is left. It is called an Obstetric Fistula. It is defined as: "A hole that forms between the vagina and the bladder or rectum during prolonged, obstructed labor. This horrific injury leaves victims incontinent. Some develop nerve damage in the feet and legs."

They are shunned even more because of this condition. People make fun of them because they smell of urine. These women often live with the condition for years. Sometimes waiting over a decade, or never getting it fixed. One of the women said she was waiting for death. Until her friend told her about a Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa. Women will travel for days to get to this hospital to get treatment. The co-founder of this hospital, Dr.Catherine Hamlin, an OB/GYN, came to Ethiopia over 50 years ago with her husband Dr. Reginald  Hamlin. They decided to open the Fistula Hospital in 1974 after seeing women with this issue turned away from regular hospitals due mostly to their hygiene and lack of income. This hospital does AMAZING work for these women. 

My favorite woman in the movie is Wubete. She is a 17 year old who was raised by her father. At the age of 10 she was forced to get married. She ran away from her husband after a few days. When she returned to her home her father beat her. This happened a total of three times, until after marrying husband #4, she found out she was pregnant. She stayed with her husband until she lost her baby and developed a fistula. He sent her away as "damaged goods". She felt she could not return to her village, so she went to the hospital. She had her fistula repaired after 2 treatments, but still returned to the hospital due to incontinence. The doctors determined that this was due to her entire bladder being damaged during labor. After tests they found a temporary solution until she was able to regain her bladder control through practice.

After this solution was found she explained to the staff that she could NOT go back to her village. There was no place for her. She eventually found an orphanage where she could work and call home. The beautiful part of this story was that she was given the responsibility of 4 beautiful children to call her own. They were told that Wubete was their new mother. And she was finally able to start to live the life she had envisioned. Being a mother. 

Now, why is this all important to you and I? I know there are devastating events that occur through out the world every day. But this one touches me the most. It is so wonderful what the Fistula Hospital is doing in Ethiopia. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this issue:

• For every woman who dies from pregnancy-related complications, 20 women survive but experience terrible injuries and disabilities.

• In Ethiopia, there are 59 OB/GYNs and 1,000 midwives for a population of 77 million.

• One woman dies from pregnancy-related complications every minute worldwide; 95% of them live in Africa and Asia.

• More than 99% of The Fistula Hospital patients are illiterate. (The hospital teaches all patients the Amharic Fideles and the Oromiyffa alphabets.)

• Number of patients treated at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital every year: 1,200

• Number of obstetric fistula cases occurring in Ethiopia alone each year: 9,000

• Number of new obstetric fistula cases resulting from childbirth occurring worldwide each year: 100,000

• Number of new obstetric fistula cases resulting from childbirth occurring in the U.S. each year: 0

• The year the last U.S. hospital treating fistula patients closed its doors: 1895.

This doesn't just occur in Africa, it also occurs in countries like India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nepal. The documentary website states that: "It is estimated that there are 100,000 new cases each year, but the international capacity to treat obstetric fistula is limited to only 6,500 per year."

I am SO grateful that I live in a country where medical interventions are available. I am so grateful that my family and friends will love me no matter what happens. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who looks after women everywhere, and will bless them. I hope that more women can find out about this wonderful treatment and that the international capacity to treat will be greater because of this wonderful documentary. If you want to know more about the documentary please visit http://www.walktobeautiful.com/.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Happy Blogging.

                                                                                                                                                           

Love You Forever

So, I've been spending A LOT of time thinking, talking and writing about our plans for my pregnancy, labor/delivery and our new baby. Tonight it hit me that although we have a new baby on the way, I have a "baby" right now in my home. Bethani is a super energetic toddler, who rarely slows down and always surprises me with words and expressions. She is getting smarter EVERY day and it amazes me. Tonight before bed she stood looking at her window calling for "Da-ddy" for about 20 minutes. I went in and told her Daddy was at work. And then she asked for Pa-pa (my dad) for another few minutes, before I convinced her that he was not here, and it was time for bed. I was rather discouraged since she doesn't ask for Mama or Mommy. But my discouragement was short lived.
 

As I picked her up off the window seat to put her in bed, she grabbed my head (mostly by my hair) and proceeded to give me 3 kisses. One on each cheek and one on my forehead. Andrew started this ritual about 2 months ago, and she LOVES doing it with daddy every day. And sometimes Andrew will get her to give me kisses, but this time she would not let go of my hair or let me put her down till she repeated the ritual twice. I felt pretty special. I laid her down and said goodnight. I went on with my nightly tasks, dishes, browsing the internet, laundry, etc. And before I went to bed, I went in and scooped Beth out of her bed and rocked with her. Around 10 months she stopped being a cuddly baby, and at the time I had mixed feelings about the independence. Recently I've tried to take advantage of the time she'll just sit with me and cuddle. And sometimes I have to do it while she's asleep. Because that's the only time she's not running around like crazy. 

By now you may have figured out my post title. While I was rocking her I had a brief memory go through my mind. Something about a mother sneaking into her child's room to rock them after they fell asleep. It took me a little bit to pin it down. But then I remembered this book. I haven't even thought of it since I had Beth. Honestly, I probably haven't read it since Jr. High, when I read it to the kids I baby sat. But I remembered the story. The book is called "Love you Forever." It tells a story about a mother who sneaks into her son's room to rock him and sing to him. And the book ends with the grown son going into his mother's house to hold his elderly mom. The song in the story means so much more now to me that I am a mom.

“I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
as long as I’m living
my baby you’ll be.” 

I'd replace "as long as I'm living" with "and for all Eternity"

“I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
and for all Eternity
my baby you’ll be.”  

When I found the book website online (http://robertmunsch.com/love-you-forever/#)....I read the background as to how this book came to be. The Author and his wife had 2 babies who were still born. So he had this song in his mind. Reminding himself that as long as he is living they will be his babies. He eventually decided to write a children's book out of the song. After publishing it, his publisher was surprised that the book was selling like crazy to retirement communities. And then they realized it wasn't a book for children, it was a book for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. 

I am SO grateful for my family. For it being eternal. I'm grateful for my parents who taught me about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I wouldn't be able to have my eternal family without this knowledge. And I'm grateful for my siblings. I was blessed with a wonderful sister and amazing brother. And I now have parents-in-law, sisters-in-law, and brothers-in-law. I am grateful for my family, immediate and extended, near and far, young and old. 

And at the end of the night, I am grateful for my husband, who teaches our daughter to love, so that when mommy is discouraged she can give me the 3 kisses.   

Beth....a few days old and still a cuddly "baby"

The last two pictures (sorry they are kinda fuzzy, cell phone camera) are of my crazy 21 month old doing what she does best, being silly. After Andrew came home from refereeing spring ball with my dad "papa," Beth put on Andrew's cleats and started playing with his flags. It was cute. In the other picture....Beth saw me folding her swim suit and wanted to put it on, so I let her wear it over her clothes. When she wanted to go outside and play in the rocks she INSISTED on leaving it on....Well OK! I did convince her to take it off before we went to the park.

Sometimes I have to remind myself how lucky I am to have a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, and another on the way. And Although most days are long, and the nights are rough, this life is worth it. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Happy Blogging!