Lauren Grace is One

We celebrated Lauren's birthday on August 21st.  My parents and siblings came down to Kansas to celebrate with us.  It was so nice to have them around for a few days.  Especially since Kevin is gone right now.  I really wish he could have been there.  I plan on making a little cake and I still have no given her the presents from Mommy and Daddy yet.  We will wait and have a special family time when he gets back next week. 

On Lauren's actual birthday (28th), we woke up and snuggled and played.  I made her cheesy, scrambled eggs.  We then napped, and played some more.  For lunch we had some pasta and corn. 

That afternoon we went to my baby shower that my friends at church had for me.  Lauren had a fun time playing in the nursery with all of the toys.  She was such a good girl.  Later that evening, Lauren and I went to Dairy Queen for supper.  She had a grilled cheese and french fries :)  It would have been a perfect day..except we both ended up getting sick that night.  We spent the next 12 hours throwing up.  It was awful.  There is nothing worse than your one year old daughter throwing up and you not being able to help because you are throwing up too! I felt so bad.  Sunday was a very long, and grueling day.  We both were feeling awful.  I was able to keep Lauren hydrated and things started to look up.  I thought we were on the upswing of things but then she spiked a fever.  She was still eating, drinking, pooping, and peeing, so I didn't take her to the doctor.  She ran a fever all day Monday and finally this morning (Tuesday) at 8am, the fever was gone! She had two more teeth pop through.  I figured teeth were the culprit. 

I will try to update more now..hopefully with my mom coming this weekend, I will get some downtime to blog a little more.  I hope all is well with everyone.  I will keep you posted on baby #2, and my baby shower in the days to come.

Break from Blogging

I have decided that I am going to take a break for a while from my blog.  It may only be a few days, maybe a few weeks at tops.  Things are just super stressful with Kevin gone and a high risk pregnancy.  I have too much to do to be fiddling around trying to figure out what recipe I am going to post, or even put up pics of Lauren's birthday.  I need to pack bags, go to dr's appts (3x week) etc.  I am sorry..I hope you all understand. 

Cuteness

One month to go!

Homestretch!  One month to go and Kevin will be gone for 3 1/2 weeks!  eek!  He is at the Joint Readiness Traning Center (JRTC) in Fort Polk, LA.  He will be there until Sept. 12 possibly.  They have said that they will send him home by Sept. 7th...but if there is anything that I have learned as an Army wife in the last 8 months, it is to not get my hopes up and to not make plans.  I will not make any plans or announcements of him being home until I get the phone call saying "My plane just landed"

I am just praying that this baby will be patient and wait for her daddy to be here before she makes her appearance.  I know if I go into labor on my own early, chances that any family or Kevin making it in for the birth are very slim.  I just don't want to be alone. 

Yesterday was a hard day for me and Lauren.  It was so hard to drop Kevin off at work knowing he would be gone for nearly a  month.  I suppose we are just taking baby steps to our big separation in November when he is deployed to Iraq for a year.  No time apart is easy, even just a few days or weeks. 

Yesterday was the first time that Lauren really has showed true sadness.  It broke my heart.  After Kevin kissed her goodbye and shut the door, she instantly started crying.  It was a very sad cry.  Not a throwing fit cry, or not feeling good cry.  A sad cry.  It was almost like she could sense that something was not right.  She loves her daddy so much! I wish everyone could witness the joy that I see when Kevin walks in the door each night and her face lights up.  It is pure happiness at its best. 

I can't explain the happiness that will be experienced after he gets home after these next few weeks...let alone after his year deployment!! 

Lauren and I took the time yesterday to just get our tears out and relax.  We ate junk food, and watched Curious George and Barney and just cuddled.  We ended up falling asleep on the couch together in the afternoon.  I slept for 2 hours and Lauren for 3!  It was just what the Dr. ordered.  We both woke up feeling great.  I had an amazing evening with Lauren, singing, dancing, laughing, playing etc.  And to top it off, she went to bed without even a fuss.  She couldn't make me more proud.

Here are a few videos from our evening.  Don't you just love her to pieces!?! I know we do!!

Tasty Tuesday

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

 2 c. crushed pretzel sticks
 3/4 c. melted butter
 3 tbsp. sugar

8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip

1 (6 oz.) pkg. strawberry  Jello
2 c. boiling water
2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen strawberries

Mix first three ingredients and press in bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees (metal pan) or 325 degrees (glass pan) 8 minutes. Let cool completely. Beat 1 cup sugar and cream cheese. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread over pretzels. Chill while preparing jello.   Mix Jello and boiling water until dissolved. Add strawberries ( still frozen) . Stir into Jello, then set aside for approx. 10-15 minutes. When jello/strawberry mixture is the consistency of egg whites, pour over cheese mixture. Chill until jello is set.  Enjoy!

Hello

"Hi, my name is Lauren! "Destroyer of all things once tidy!"

Sleepy McSleeperton

Not only has sleep training been going really well at night, but we she is also been doing great at nap time too!  The last week she has put herself to sleep with very minimal or no fussing at all.  In fact, she is getting so good, she now falls asleep pretty much anywhere!  The floor, the couch, the high chair..we even have caught her laying her head down on the foot stool of our glider..it was as if she was trying to rock herself to sleep.  Some nights (and days), we can lay her down and not a peep with come out of her.  Others, just a few minutes of fussing or even just talking and then she is out like a light.  She has been sleeping about 10 hours on average too!  It has been great. 

It must be exhausting making a mess like that!  Poor thing definately inherited her butt and thighs from me :)

We kind of felt bad after the first week of trying this because we realized one day that her top teeth had popped through.  So, some of the tears and cries in the middle of the night may have been due to the teeth that we have been anxiously awaiting their arrival for 5 months now!  Yes, it has been 5 months since she got her bottom two teeth and she is just now getting her top ones.  They are so stinking cute though.  Take a look for yourself!

They are just poking through, but they will be in before we know it! 

Oh, and did I mention that we are BFF's?!  Yeah, pretty much most of the time unless she pees on me like she did last night while getting ready for her bath.  :)

Tasty Tuesday

 Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

1 lb.  elbow macaroni (cooked)
3 tablespoons of salted butter
3 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup cheddar (shredded)
1/2 cup monterey jack (shredded)
1/2 cup colby jack cheeses (shredded)
Or any cheeses of your choice!
2 cups milk .


In a pan cook butter, salt, pepper and flour and stir until smooth, making a rue. 

Remove from heat add milk, return to heat and bring to a boil.

Boil 1 minute.

Remove from heat and add cheese, stir until melted.

Add cooked elbow noodles and stir til combined.  Mixture may seem runny but will thicken upon standing.
Here is a step where you can get creative.  You can now pour this mixture into a sauce pan and top with even more cheese or breadcrumbs for a crunchy topping.  We chose to eat it just like this and it was pretty tasty.  You can play around with the different cheeses too!  This was just what we had on hand.  We also like to buy our cheese in blocks and shred it ourselves.  It saves a few dollars! 
Once you have mastered this simple cheese sauce you can put it on broccoli, potatos for au gratin potatoes etc... the sky is the limit.  Enjoy!