Backyard Art

It was another beautiful day here in Cass Lake. There was not a cloud in the sky! After Kevin got off work, we grilled out and took a walk around the property. Here are a few of the photos we took from our walk!










And last but not least...the weekly belly shot. Although a little unconventional..probably my favorite so far! Kevin and I had fun making shadows on the side of the barn. Ashleigh introduced me to a website called www.picnik.com .. It has been a lot of fun using it to edit photos and have fun with colors/collages. I hope you all enjoy! And the finished product of both pictures combined. This is THE best way to describe how I feel about my baby "Pat" right now :)

P.S. And a big thank you to Kevin who put up with me asking him to make shadows with his hands and take pictures of my belly shadow til I found a shot that I approved of! I love you! :)

Sneak Peak

We came home tonight after a beautiful day, and were so happy to see this first bloom! I cannot wait til they are fully bloomed and fragrant!

I love Kevin and "Pat"

I would just like to wish my wonderful husband a HAPPY 29th Birthday! You always have a way to make me feel so special and loved. No matter how sad, or mad, I can sometimes get..you always find a way to make it better! I cannot wait to spend many more happy years together!

And I would like to wish my future baby..Happy 27 weeks today! Thank you for not giving me heartburn or tap dancing on my bladder(this week)! Keep up the good work! It is very much appreciated! I can't wait to meet you in about 90 days!!! I love you baby "Pat" :)

**"Pat" is the nickname we gave our baby from the minute we found out we were pregnant. It is a joke from the old SNL skit where they aren't sure if "Pat" is a man/woman...*** In case anyone was wondering!

Broccoli and Cardboard boxes

I was feeling very ambitious today and found this recipe on www.foodnetwork.com ..Kevin usually does the cooking while I enjoy the baking. This was my first attempt at a trifle and it seemed to be a big hit!
Here is the recipe as I prepared:

Ingredients
1 large angel food cake
For the custard:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
For the glaze:
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin (recommended: Jell-O)
1 cup water
2 cups fresh strawberries, cut in 1/2 (if berries are extra large, they can be cut into quarters)
Whole fresh strawberries and mint leaves, for garnish
Directions
Slice cake, using a serrated knife, horizontally into 3 equal layers.

For the custard:
Mix together cream cheese, condensed milk, and whipped topping in a bowl; set aside.

For the glaze:
In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and gelatin; add water. Cook stirring over medium heat until thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Fold in strawberries.

For assembly:
Place 1 layer of cake in a large clear bowl. Top with a layer of glaze, followed by a layer of custard mixture. Repeat layering in this order for remaining cake, glaze and custard. Top cake with 3 whole fresh strawberries

Although this was a big hit with the family...I decided the next time I make this I will make a few changes to this original recipe. One suggestion would be to either make an actual shortcake or angel food cake. The store bought one that I used was very dense and very sweet. Cutting it up into smaller pieces as opposed to three slices may break up the density. Another suggestion was to make homemade whipped cream. These two variations would add time to the total prep time, but would be well worth it! I am looking forward to trying this recipe again in a few weeks when we have fresh strawberries from the garden!

......and a shout out to Ashleigh and Tyler Trosen for their help naming this post. :) Their randomness makes me laugh everyday!

Happy (early) Birthday Kevin!

Kevin was so excited to pick out this gas grill for his 29th birthday (which is actually May 27th)! I am excited to eat whatever he makes! :) Happy Birthday Kevin! I love you so much!

26 weeks...tomorrow ( close enough)

Less than 100 days to go! Nothing much is really new this week. I finally bought a pair of maternity jeans and I L-O-V-E them so much! They are so cute and so comfortable. Totally worth the $40 I spent on them.
I am feeling great. Just within the last week I have been craving hot wings and salads with Western dressing. MMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just can't seem to get enough.

Things they don't tell you about being pregnant!

As I lay here on the couch at 5 am with a million and one things running through my head. I decided to compile a list of things no one told me about being pregnant. After experiencing most of these and timidly asking others if this was normal, I realized I was not nuts..but it sure would have been nice to know some of these things a little sooner!! So here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Hair on the body will grow faster and more plentiful! -- Those of you who know me well, know that I was hairy enough before, but now I pluck one hair and 10 darker and coarser hairs replace it. Chin, neck, chest..you name it, I got it

2. For the first time in my life since the age of potty training..it's okay to pee my pants. :) Okay so let's be honest ladies, because everyone I have talked to has said it happened to them too... It has only happened twice (so far)...but it was a rollercoaster or emotions when it did. I can vividly remember the first time it happened. I sneezed and realized something was not right... Kevin could see horror in my face, asked what was wrong and when I replied I had just wet myself, he laughed and laughed and laughed..and then my tears came rolling down. The second time, I didn't even know I had done it. At some point in the evening I remember sneezing but never had the urge to go..I just went! HAHA..Atleast now after knowing I am not alone, I can laugh this stage off and start doing some exercises because I'm sure it's not going to get any better as time goes on!

3. You fart a lot... enough said.

4. Leg cramps... OUCHY!!!!!!!!! Again I have only experienced this one time but it was one time too many. It was so painful that I sat straight up in bed and grabbed my leg with one hand and had to cover my own mouth with the other, to keep myself from screaming and waking Kevin up.

5. Pregnancy brain is REAL!!!!!!! --wow is this ever true! I have left the house 2 times now without my purse. One of those times, my gas light came on 15 miles from home. Kevin was gone doing flood duty..so what would any girl do for comfort..I called my mommy and I cried and cried and cried. She reassured me that it would be all right..Sure enough it was, and I borrowed $5 from a coworked so I could get home that night. Somedays I can't remember if I took my vitamin, if I ate breakfast etc. Other times it's like the information is in my brain but it won't travel to my mouth and be voiced. I stood at the check out counter one day at the grocery store and paused when the nice lady asked me if I wanted my receipt. After much pondering, which seemed like forever but really only a few seconds...I answered "No thank you" ..as I walked away the lady said to me "That was a big decision wasn't it!?!"- I just chuckled and thought..you have no idea! :)


--Well I am sure I could ramble on but I will spare you all the pain/embarrassment of reading anymore. I am sorry if anyone took any offense to this but this is me, this is how open I am, and I'm proud to be that way. It' doesn't matter how many bad things I feel, how many sleepless nights or how many times I pee my pants...nothing will take away the joy and love I feel when I feel the baby kick or the look on Kevin's face the first time he felt the baby kick. We are so excited for August to get here!!!!!!!

25 weeks

Alright so this picture is from Saturday before the game..but it's close enough! I had my 25 week check up yesterday. Dr. still said I was measuring large. She things it is do to the mild previa (placenta sits under the baby instead of next to the baby, therefore pushing the baby into my ribs!) NOT FUN! We are having another ultrasound on June 11 to check the position of the placenta and to most likely find out the sex because I am too anxious and I want to know right now!!! I had my glucose test yesterday :S. The taste wasn't that bad, it just tasted like Orange crush with about 10 extra teaspoons of sugar in it!! It was almost like I had a sugar rush at first and seemed jittery and then that afternoon at work I crashed! The afternoon, although short and sweet seemed like it was never-ending. I was so thankful that Kevin decided to make me dinner after my long day! He is such a sweetheart. His new favorite thing is his love for Bobby Flay and grilling. My parents gave us a few of Bobby's cook books for our wedding and Kevin just loves them. So far we have tried 3 of his recipes and they have all been fabulous!
Last night he made us, Grilled ribeye steak with cilantro-garlic butter, green beans and texas toast! It was so delicious!
Did I mention how much I love this man??! He just did dishes and is now making us milkshakes! He is the best!

Our weekend getaway!

This past Friday, Kevin and I ventured down to the cities for a little fun and relaxtion. It was very last minute and very unplanned. Our normal weekends consist of Kevin working all day Saturday and me doing laundry/cleaning or grocery shopping. But I got a text from Kevin on Friday afternoon around 3pm telling me to call him ASAP. I instantly thought something was wrong..but it turned out he was just calling to tell me that he had Saturday and Sunday off and wanted to know if I wanted to go down to the cities. Of course I wasn't going to decline that offer! I was off work and home by 4:30pm and we were on the road down south by 5pm. On the way down we stopped in Baxter at Famous Dave's and had a great dinner! We then continued on down and stayed the night at Karla and Mike's on Friday night. On Saturday morning, Karla made us waffles. They were so yummy! It was so nice visiting with them and comparing pregnancy stories with Karla!

That afternoon we had lunch at Big Bowl. It is another one of favorites. We always make a stop there when in town. I had the teryaki glazed chicken over jasmine rice and Kevin had the crispy orange chicken. I don't think he has ever had anything other than that dish everytime we have gone there. I just wish we had one closer so we could eat there more often. But it does make it an extra special treat when we do get to go!
That afternoon we checked into our hotel. Kevin got an awesome deal on www.hotwire.com . We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. It was 4 star hotel for only $59.99. We have had nothing but good luck everytime we have used hotwire and would recommend it to anyone! Here are a few views from our room on the 23rd floor.

Later that afternoon, we ventured over to the metrodome for a game against the Mariners! It was so much fun. We had great seats 8 rows from the field. AWESOME for watching the game...not so awesome to walk up to the top when you are 5 1/2 months pregnant with a full bladder! After the first trip up the stairs, I decided to just stay up! It was a great choice. Less crowded and less rowdy!.....and closer to the bathrooms and exits! :)
We also decided to pick up a little souvenir for our little bundle of joy in honor of his/her "first" Twins game! Kevin was so excited about this purchase that he laid it all out on the bed and took pictures for all to see. Last but certainly not least we ended our Sunday with a lunch stop at Kevin's favorite pizza place. Again the food was delicious....but we could not finish it all no matter how much we tried.
We ended our trip with a stop at the Albertville Outlet Malls and snagged a few great deals :) We had such a great weekend together! I love Kevin so much and I was so thankful to get to spend time with him this weekend.

24 weeks

24 weeks...16 more to go! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by already. It is hard to believe that in a little over 100 days we will have a precious little baby!!!!
We registered online for some essentials at Target. Right now we are trying to decide on the crib that we are going to buy. We found a few in our price range that convert to toddler/day bed and then eventually into a headboard for a full bed. I have the best mom in the world who was able to snag some good deals on some gently used baby items (swing, bouncy chair, changing table, bottle dryer, and the list goes on!) Mom, thank you so much for all you have done! We love you and wish we could see you soon!!! Our plan is to hit up some garage sales as the weather gets nice. I love a good deal! We decided we really need to get our butts in gear. Time sure is flying by and right now the only thing we have is a onesie that someone gave to us as a gift. It is so adorable!
On a different note, things at work are VERY busy the next 2-3 weeks, but I am happy to have some time off at the end of May, early June and then another hygienist will be taking one day a week from me to give me a break! Hopefully she will be able to cover my maternity leave too. Well, this was a totally random blog. I am not the best at this yet. I wish a very Happy Mother's Day this Sunday to all of the wonderful mothers reading this and maybe something exciting and fun will come along to write about!
Adios!!!