Christmas Baking

So I can remember what I made this year:
Chocolate Saltine Toffee Candy
Oreo Truffles
Andes Mint Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fudge
Pretzel Hugs

Yum yum!

Mady's Preschool Christmas Program

NOTE: This is two classes, not just her's.

Books I Read While on Maternity Leave

1. Handle with Care - Jodi Picoult
2. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah
3. Between Sisters - Kristin Hannah
4. The Choice - Nicholas Sparks
5. Happiness Sold Separately - Lolly Winston
6. Summer Island - Kristin Hannah
7. Miss Perfect - Jane Porter
8. On Mystic Lake - Kristin Hannah
9. Best Friends Forever - Jennifer Weiner
10. Angel Falls - Kristin Hannah
11. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
12. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer

12 books in 10 weeks. Not too bad. This shows how much time I've sat around nursing baby Rylan. ;) If you are looking for a good book, all of these were wonderful reads. The only one that took me a bit to get into was Miss Perfect (the lead character is utterly annoying in the beginning but you love her by the end!) All in all, I found a few more authors to add to my favorite list (Jodi Picoult doesn't write new ones fast enough!) I am lucky that I have some good pre-screeners (my sisters) who are able to pass the good books along to me.

I just started on the third book in the Twilight Saga, Eclipse. I'm hooked on the interactions of Edward and Bella. I rented Twilight, the movie, and honestly was not impressed - total bummer but, again, I had been forewarned. Devon liked it though and I continue to give him a play-by-play as I read the next books.

Baby Rylan Arrives

Rylan Nicolas
Born: July 5, 2009 at 11:33am
7lbs, 1oz
20 inches

An Update on Baby Rylan

Baby Rylan will be here in just a matter of weeks! We had an ultrasound last Friday to check on his growth because I measure small on the outside (30cm when I am at 33 weeks) - even tho I feel huge! He looks just fine, even a little bigger than suspected (he's in the 54th percentile according to the ultrasound). Unfortunately there wasn't enough fluid around his head so they couldn't get a good 4-D shot this time. View all his ultrasound pics here.

Devon will be painting his room soon. His baby bedding arrived today and it's really cute for having cars on it. Haha. You can view it here.

Mady is excited to help with him. She often leans her head on my belly and asks if Baby Rylan is awake.

Some people have asked if there is anything we need for him. I did set up a small gift registry at Target. The items there are only suggestions. We don't need a lot but some of our stuff either doesn't work anymore or is too girly for a boy. :) Some items that would be helpful:

1. Full size swing (our big one doesn't work well anymore, sometimes it swings, sometimes it doesn't)
2. Floor play gym (Mady's is pretty girly)
3. Sit 'n' stand stroller (baby carrier on the front, Mady can sit or stand in the back)
4. New cover for the boppy pillow
5. Bebe pod
6. Gift cards to Babies R Us, Gap or Target so I can pick out a new diaper bag
7. Decor to match his crib bedding

We look forward to meeting our little one on/around July 12!

Princess Madylan's 3rd Birthday

Mady had a wonderful princess party today. She wore a new Sleeping Beauty dress that we gave to her. We also gave her a battery powered car to drive around that goes up to 5mph. She's still learning to steer and stay away from the fence.

Had a lot of family in town to celebrate. Her friend, Ava, also came over. The kids made crowns/tiaras and had their pic taken in front of the castle that Devon made out of boxes. They also hunted for the King's treasure in the backyard (much like an Easter egg hunt - only with gold coin chocolate candy instead.) She got tons of presents! Her cake was in the shape of a castle.

We enjoyed lots of food - hamburgers/hot dogs on the grill, and lots of salads made by the grandmas. It was so good! Seems to be our yearly tradition to have a barbeque for Mady's party.

Thanks to everyone for making her day so special!

View all the pics here.

Happy Mother's Day!

Had a lovely Mother's Day thanks to Birt and Mady. We went to the Children's Museum and played. Then ate at Applebee's. It was a fun day! Here are a couple of pics of Birt playing cashier at the grocery store for Mady and another of me and Mady dressed up on stage at their theatre (The Princess and the Shark - what a story, eh?) View all the pics here.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Here's the recipe we had for dinner tonight. It was really good!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies, drained
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, cut up and softened
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast (I used the kind that's already cooked at the store and oven roasted in the deli meat section. If you're ambitious, you could make your own. :) )
8 (8") flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used Chedder Jack)
1 cup enchilada sauce
1/2 pint whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9X13 baking dish with Pam. Melt butter in large skillet over medim heat. Add rotel and saute 1 minute. Sir in cream cheese and chicken and cook, stirring constantly until cream cheese melts. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of chicken mixture down center of each torilla. Roll up tortillas and place seam side down in a lightly greased 9X13 baking dish.

Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese, and drizzle with whipping cream and enchilada sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Take off foil and cook for another 15 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

The Things Kids Say

Just wanted to capture this little tidbit said by Mady this morning. As we were getting ready to go to work/daycare, the tv screen went to a black background with their routine "emergency testing" and the beeping came on. Mady said, "What happened? Batteries went dead on the tv?"

So cute!

Pineapple Cherry Dump Cake

Here is a dessert recipe that Mady mostly made tonight with a little of my assistance. It's really easy since you just dump in all the ingredients for the most part. I got it out of a Toddler Busy Book I have.

It comes out kinda like a cobbler. We haven't eaten a bite yet as it just came out of the oven but it smells lovely.

1 (20 ounces) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 (21 ounces) can prepared more fruit cherry pie filling
1 (18.25 ounces) box yellow cake mix
1.5 sticks of butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional - we didn't do this)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 for glass baking dish). Have a 9 by 13-inch baking pan ready. Dump undrained pineapple into baking pan and spread it out evenly. Using a spoon, dump globs of cherry pie filling evenly on top of the pineapple. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the cherry and pineapple layers. Cut butter into slices with a butter knife and place slices evenly over cake mix. Sprinkle nuts on top if you're using them. Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Off to bath time while we wait for the cake to cool!

What's for Dinner?

Devon made us this beautiful dish for dinner tonight: Pork Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese, Spinach and Oyster Mushrooms with a Mustard Cream Sauce. The side dishes were sauteed baby carrots and herb roasted fingerling potatoes. He made it up himself! Don't bother asking for the recipe, he doesn't have one! You'll just have to join us for dinner some night to try it.

Yum yum!

A Castle for a Princess

Mady has been requesting a princess castle lately. We saw on an episode of Caillou where they built one out of boxes. So Devon built this elaborate one out of some of the boxes in our garage.

I would say it's fit for Princess Mady, don't you?

How Does This Happen?

How did these crayons get in my shoes?

Probably the same way this chapstick seems to have exploded all over my daughter's face.

Hee hee.

Carter's Birthday Present

Happy birthday my baby Carter! It's hard to believe that if you were with us today you would be four years old! We tried to have a nice day in your honor. This morning we had our first ultrasound for baby #3. Isn't it odd that the ultrasound was scheduled for your birthday? Originally it was the 9th but they moved it to today. I like to think it was one of your special messages.

You gave me the best present ever on your birthday: a healthy ultrasound for your new baby brother. Yes - they think it's a boy even though it's pretty early to tell already at 13 weeks. (Guess he likes to show off. I had a hunch the whole time though.) This one will be tough since it's a boy (but when aren't pregnancies, especially when you're paranoid like I am). I have not been feeling as good during this pregnancy as with you other two but it's slowly getting better. The due date is July 12 but I'm secretly hoping a bit (safely) earlier so I don't miss out on the entire swimming season.

Your sister didn't want the ultrasound to end today. She kept screaming (You know how loud she is. The drama!) "My baby! Where my baby go!? Want to hold the baby!" We're trying to teach her that the baby is not big enough and has to stay in mommy's tummy for a while longer. Later we took her to Build-A-Bear (her first time. We're addicted now I'm sure.) and she chose a brown dog to stuff. She named it "Pink" and it's now wearing a pink dress and pink shoes. Guess it's a girl.

It's hard to not think of all the things I've missed out on since you'll always be my baby. You'd be in preschool now. I wonder what you would've chosen at Build-A-Bear today. A monkey? :)

Thanks again for the birthday present.

I miss you - forever, ever and always.