Protected

Ever had something happen and you immediately think, "thank you, Lord protecting me and my family!"? I had one of those moments yesterday.
I made Jeremiah oatmeal for breakfast and then boiled some eggs for myself. Didn't think anything of the fact I used the stove till I was making Jeremiah his afternoon snack. I grabbed a towel to dry off his highchair trey. Once I was done with it I tossed it on the stove and got back to work on the snack. I start to smell something smoking. I look and the towel had landed on a burner, THAT WAS ON and was smouldering! I grabbed it and tossed it away from the burned, turned off the stove and kept an eye on Jeremiah so that if I need to grab him and run I could. Thankfully, the towel didn't ignite and where it had started to catch fire was out within seconds. Scared the snot out of me! I'm so thankful that I caught it before it ignite. And that there were no issues from having left a gas burner on low all morning! Yesterday I caught a glimpse of how much Got protects me and my family everyday!

It's a...

BOY! That' right, we're having another little boy. We are thrilled! They started the sonogram, pointed the head, belly and said "and it's a..." Matt and I both saw right. I said, "I was right!"

His sweet little feet.


Here he is, Ephram Brant.

Christmas Card Rejects

17 weeks

Here's my latest belly pic. It's almost two weeks old, but you get the idea. :-)

Should of been

Today was our due date. I should have a new born baby in my arms, or have one any day now. Instead, I'm five days from finding out if a little boy or girl will be joining my family in May.

I'm filled with such mixed emotions. I'm sad thinking about the baby I won't know this side of Heaven. But thrilled thinking and dreaming about the child I'm carrying. I'm relieved to have gotten pregnant again so quickly. It's helping make this day easier.

While I'm so glad to be pregnant, the baby that we lost this spring is missed, loved and remembered. And always will be.

Christmas Shopping

Christmas shopping has been very different this year then any other year. Mainly because I have to think about what to do with Mr. Jeremiah. He's still pretty oblivious, so I can buy his presents with him there. But it's a handful to shop with a toddler!

We went to an outlet mall to get a few gifts yesterday. As we walk into the first store he found a stick he wanted to carry around. No big deal, until I made him leave it outside. Thankfully, our first stop was a quick one. He was reunited with his stick in no time.

The next store we needed to go to was at the other end of the outlet mall. It's an out door one, so I thought walking would be fun. It was... at first. We had to stop and pick up every leaf, look at every planter and try to get into every kiddy ride. Nothing major, just taking a lot longer then I was hoping. We finally make it to the store. The boy lost it when I made him leave the stick outside. The whole time we were in the store he would cry and say "stick! side!" I hurried and grabbed the gifts I needed.

We walk outside and the stick is gone! Jeremiah was glad to be able to walk and be outside that he didn't notice. That lasted a few minutes. It wasn't enough to pick up the leaf, he wanted to sit and play with it. He just couldn't hold it together. So I picked him up and carried him. He was not pleased, crying, yelling, arching his back. We got a lot of interesting looks, a lot of sympathetic one from grandparents. We finally made it back to the car and life was good again.

I had wanted to go to one more store that was on the way home and would be a fast stop. The whole time I was driving I was going back and forth on what to do. I asked Jeremiah if he was up for one more stop. He promptly told me "No." I decided to go for it. As I was turning into the parking lot I told him it would be really fast. He answered, "No, no, no." Not in a mean way, in "please, no more Momma!". He was a super trooper in the last store and we were in and out in 10 minutes. And got shopping done for 6 people! Wohoo!

So now I only take him Christmas shopping with me if I'm going to a store that has a buggy, or just wait till Matt's home.

Blogging Machine

I've been blogging like crazy this morning! Here are the links to all of the ones from today.

Happy Turkey Day

Turkey Shirt

Company

Not for the Weak of Stomach

Happy Turkey Day!

Turkey Shirt

Jeremiah and I made a turkey hand print shirt with some of his cousins. I'm so glad there were several other mom's there to help because Jeremiah did not want to have any part of making a shirt! I had to hold one of his arms down and the other one out so we could paint on it. Crystal held his hand open and put the paint on. She got the brown paint on and he was still trying to get away! We put that on his shirt and then let him go play. My fingers are the feathers. It was a team effort for sure, but turned out so cute!

Company

Earlier this month my sister, Shannon and my mom came to visit. I hadn't seen either of them since July so it was a great time of catching up. I'm so thankful to have a family that's willing to make the effort to be a part of my life and Jeremiah's. Of course Matt's too. :-) Here are my favorite pictures of them with Jeremiah from their time here.

Shannon and I took Jeremiah to the aquarium. Checking out the Beluga whales.

Jeremiah and Mom playing peek-a-boo under the blanket.

Not for the weak of stomach

Jeremiah loves to eat! He's big enough now that he can reach thing in the pantry. If I don't get him a snack when he wants one, he'll often coming running out of the kitchen with the huge box of Goldfish. He also does this with the trash can. I'll hear the lid close and then "Food! Mmmm..." Gross, I know. But that isn't even the grossest part!

Tonks, our dog, has a bad habit of throwing up when she wants to go outside. Nothing gets her in the back yard faster then her gaging.

The other night I was making dinner while Matt and Jeremiah were playing. I saw the dog by the back door but didn't think anything of it. Matt and I were talking when we hear "Food! Mmmm!" Never a good sign so Matt goes to check it out. Next thing I know he's yelling at the dog and telling Jeremiah how yucky that is. The dog had thrown up and Jeremiah was eating it!
Oh yuck! It's making me gag just thinking about it! I comfort myself by saying, "He's just building his immune system!" Oh the joys of having a little boy. :-)

Turkey Potpie

I love the traditional Thanksgiving meal. The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and gravy on top of all of it! Yummy! I love eating it for the weeks after Thanksgiving too. Sandwiches, turkey and noddle soup, and one of my new favorites turkey potpie.

With my love for all food Thanksgiving, while my mom was here two weeks ago she made turkey for us. She told me about this delicious recipe!

I can't take credit for this beautiful picture. But I'm not going to lie, my potpie was pretty darn tasty! So with Thanksgiving a few days away, I thought ya'll might enjoy an alternative to a turkey sandwich.

One tip I'll give. Make sure you really pinch the pie crust around the dish. I did not do that well. The filling of the potpie ended up spilling out onto the bottom of the oven. I smelt something, but didn't worry about it. But it got stronger. Matt and I both looked in the kitchen to see smoke coming out of the oven. Thankfully, it was just the filling at the bottom of the oven and not the potpie! That would have been a disaster!

Christmas Card

It’s that time of year again; time to think about family Christmas cards. Every year, I base my decision on who has the style I want at the best price. I’m going with Shutterfly this year.

I like the fun, nontraditional Christmas cards. Typically, I have an easy time picking my card because there are one or two options I like. Not with Shutterfly! After spending a few minutes looking though some of their cards, I’ve found many that I’m want to use. This year I’m going to struggle to pick one.

Here are two that I love!

If the nontraditional style isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Shutter has hundreds of other options. There are traditional, funny, and simple. Cards for one photo all the way to eight! They have over 800 Christmas cards to choose from, I’m sure you’ll be able to find the right one for your family!

While at their website, take a look at the calendars. I’ve ordered a calendar before and it turned out awesome! You pick the picture or pictures you want for the month and you can also mark birthdays and anniversaries with a picture of the person on the actual date! Makes a great gift.

They have many other gift ideas, like the mouse pad. Perfect gift for people with limited desk space.



If you’re a fellow blogger, checkout how you cab get 50 Cards for Free by blogging about Shutterfly.

5 Years...

Ago today Matt and I started dating. We had come close to dating several times over the 15 months we knew each other. We would sit down and have the DTR (define the relationship) talk and always have reasons why we shouldn't date. One of the main ones was we didn't want to risk ruining our friendship. The night Matt asked me out we decided no matter what happened between us, we would always be in each other's life. I think we both had a pretty good guess as to where our relationship was headed and weren't worried about not being in each other's life. :-)

Our relationship moved pretty quickly once we were officially a couple. We had dealt with most of the big issues couples deal with even before we had started dating. So we were full steam ahead!

9 months after we started dating we were engaged. 10 months after that we were married. We would have gotten married much faster if I wasn't in my final year of college and if we lived in the same state. Good thing God's timing is perfect. 3 months after getting married we added to our family by buying a dog. 8 months after getting Tonks we bought a house. 11 months after getting the house we had Jeremiah. 10 months after having Jeremiah we found out we were pregnant again. Sadly we lost that child. But now we are expecting again!

Our relationship has been full of highs and low, joy and sorrows. but I wouldn't change any of it! Well... Most of it. :-) I'm so thankful that God, in His perfect timing, brought Matt and I both the Belhaven, ordained for us started dating, be married and start a family. God has blessed me beyond belief!

I love you, Matthew and look forward to the numerous years we'll have together!

Our first date, Christmas Formal 2005

Catch up

I've been a blogger slacker lately. Shocking, I know! Here are the highlights in pictures...

Dressed up for the Fall Festival at Brenda and Ricky's church. My sweet dragon.

Pumpkin patch! Jeremiah was not impressed with the pumpkins but loves finding sticks.


Our newest cutie! This was a week ago (13 weeks). Baby's doing great! Has it's hand up by it's face, wonder if I'll have another thumb sucker.

Decorations

I finally took pictures of my fall decorations. I love the wreath! I'm thinking about adding a W to the brown side to balance it out some. I combined this wreath with this one. I love how it turned out!

I wasn't sure if I wanted to cover a foam wreath or use the twig one. Jeremiah made that decision for me. I had a foam wreath in our buggy. Looked down and he was biting it! Decision made! :-)

A tip for if your making a weather like this... Cut some of your felt along the long side and some on the short side. Will give you a veriaty of sizes. And you can't use too much glue! :-) For my mantel I kept it pretty simple. I had the frame already. Put some falling scrapbook paper in it with pictures from the pumpkin patch last year. I LOVE our name on the pumpkins! Was going to paint them, but all I had was black sharpies. Worked great!
I got everything for the wreath at Hobby Lobby. I had a gift card, so didn't spent any cash. I only spent cash on the pumpkins and that was minimal. I'm so please with how everything turned out!

New pictures

Got the ultrasound pictures from Friday! Every time I look at these pictures, which is a lot, I'm blown away how big the baby is and how human it looks. Makes me wonder how people can't value every life, especially the life of a tiny little baby.



Baby is doing great! Strong heart beat, 167bpm. The baby was kicking it's legs like crazy during the sonogram and kept trying to grab it's legs with it's hands. So awesome to see!

18 Months

It's official, Jeremiah is 18 months old today! Some days (like today) it's hard to believe, others, it's easy. :-) I haven't done a post about all the new things he's up to in a while, so let's get caught up him and then have some new pictures!

• Starting to talk with multiple words/complete thoughts. He'll say things like, "It's a dog!". If he needs help he'll do his sign for help and then say please. He does the same thing with more. Such a gentlemen!
• Runs, every where!
• Wears size 24 month clothes
• Wear size 6 shoe!
• Knows what the dog, horse, cow, sheep, snake, monkey, gorilla (he beats his chest and does a Tarzan yell) and shark (na na... from Jaws) say.
• Still signs but talks mostly. Thank you and help are the only words he signs but can't say
• Points out every baby he sees
• Will help me read books. He has some memorized, so he'll fill in what I don't read
• Has 14 teeth and working on 2 more!
• Sleep 12 hours a night and takes a 2 and a half hour nap
• Will sit through a whole movie now
• Will do some of the signs for "This Little Light of Mine", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Open Shut Them"
• Loves to play chase and tug-of-war with Tonks
• Has turned into a little monkey climbing on everything!
• Knows where his nose, mouth, eyes, ears, hair, head, tummy and feet are

Some time life is tough!

A good thumb makes it better

Huge eyes

Sweetest smile, EVER!

Just to get a feel for how big he is now

Great is Thy Faithfulness

This morning I started bleeding and cramping. I immediately starting thinking the worst. Matt came home right a way and we headed to my OB for an ultrasound. Ricky, Matt's dad, meet us there so he could take care of Jeremiah. Such a huge help!

They took my back pretty quickly. Matt and I were prepared for the worst. But God was faithful and answered our prayer by allowing us to see our beautiful, healthy baby! Thank you, LORD! The baby is so much bigger then it was three weeks ago. Instead of little nubs there were long legs that were kicking like crazy! The baby kept reaching down to it's legs, like it was trying to grab them. We saw and heard the baby's heart beat, 167 bpm I think. I couldn't believe how much the baby's changed in such a short time! The nurse said she would send me the pictures but I haven't gotten them yet.

The lady doing the ultrasound said that the reason for the bleeding is there is some blood behind the placenta. Also, the placenta is very close to my cervix. They said I shouldn't be worried about placenta previa (where the placenta is on part or covers the cervix) because as my uterus expands the placenta will more then likely move further up in my uterus. I'm going back in a few weeks for another sonogram. Just to make sure everything is ok.

I've been singing the classic hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness all day:

Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pictures!

Yesterday I decided it was time to get some new pictures of Jeremiah, of him not in his high chair. Much harder than I anticipated! The boy loves being outside! He was running around and playing. I was able to get a couple of good ones. This is my favorite.

He's playing "Night, Night!" A new game we play, a lot. He'll throw himself down and say "night, night!" pretending to be a sleep. After a minute he sets up and goes" da day! (it's day!)". Pretty cute.

I got a lot of pictures of this...

Him trying to eat leaves, sticks and rocks. He's all boy!

Bath Time

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Belly

I've been starting to notice a difference in my body and how my clothes fit. Nothing major, mainly my pants were just too tight. Last week I busted out my maternity pants. I forgot how wonderful maternity pants are!

5 Weeks

10 weeks

Not a huge change, but it's starting!

Happy Fall!

I love fall. The cool weather, sleeping with windows open, yummy soup and stews, the colors, cozy sweaters and sweat pants. I'm getting into decorating for the different seasons. Spring lots of soft colors and flowers. For the summer lots of 4th of July stuff. Christmas is easy! Big, beautiful tree. Lots of green, red and lights. I have a harder time with fall.

Last year I made a wreath out of dried leaves (it's the last picture on that page). I really like it, but it's not quiet me. I came across another wreath that I love! Looks easy enough, just have to find the right fabric. Hopefully I'll be able to work on it next week. Of course I get some pumpkins and gourds. I love how goofy looking gourds are. Other than that I have a hard time coming up with ideas. I saw this. Not sure if it's too formal for my home though. But it sure is pretty and would be a nice change for my mantel.

Part of the reason I have such a hard time with decorating for fall is because I want the decorations to last from the start of fall to Thanksgiving. Plus, we're not Halloween people. We don't do trick-r-treating. That's something we might change our mind about in the future, but right now not doing Halloween is the best thing for our family. The ghosts and bats, just aren't our thing. There are some really cute ghost stuff out there. Some one in our neighborhood has a grave stone with a hand popping out of the ground in front of it and then a "body" under a sheet. Really? That's just creepy to me!

So how do you decorate for fall? Anny suggestions for me?

First Picture

Thursday we had our first sonogram. Matt and I were so anxious! After having the blighted ovum in April, we knew about the "what if" because we experienced it. We just wanted to see our baby and know it was ok.

As they started the sonogram, we both almost had a heart attack! We saw my uterus no problem. We couldn't see anything in it. That's what happened with our last pregnancy. Both of us were speechless and just kept watch and waiting. We would catch a glimpses of something, we were hanging onto hope.

Then we saw it! Our sweet perfect baby! The baby looks wonderful! You can see the nubs where it's legs and arms are starting to form. The heart beat is good and strong, 175 bpm. Several people have told me that's a sign of a girl. So we shall see! I had been thinking it was a girl until I saw it. Now I'm convinced it's another boy. Matt's still convinced it's a girl. Will be fun to find out who's right in 11 weeks. :-)

The "halo" is the baby's yoke sack.

Debate

I've been debating with myself on if I want to have a natural labor or get the epidural again. With Jeremiah I didn't make a decision before hand one way or the other. I started having regular contraction at 36 weeks and continued to have them till he was born. Looking back, I know that my early labor started 24 hours before Jeremiah was born. I didn't go into the hospital until about 11pm. I had worked all day and was completely wiped out. I did get the epidural. I'm so glad I did because I pushed for a solid three hours. The doctor said we were going to use suction to help me push him out. He was born in three pushes once we used the suction. I'm so thankful that the doctor decided to use the suction. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, I believe that God was protecting Jeremiah. He was blue initially and had a fever. We didn't get to hold him for 30 minutes because they were working on him.



I'm nervous to go without the epidural because I don't know if I can/want to be in labor that long. And the the thought of pushing for three hours without drugs, it's intimidating. Plus, you get drugs when having a cavity filled to make it painless. Why would I make that painless but not childbirth?



Part of me want to do it naturally just to prove I can. I know several women who have had natural labor. I have a lot of respect for them. Only two of them have said they would do it again or have done it again, one for medical reasons. Everyone else has said, "get the epidural!" Honestly, to me it seems more like bragging rights then anything else. I haven't done much research to find out all the pros and cons. If you can recommend any good books, please let me know!



With the research I have done, it comes across to me, that you fail if you have to use suction or intervene at all medically. Suction was necessary for Jeremiah to be born. I don't think there was an issue with my pushing because I pushed out his head with a contraction the doctor said one more push and he would be born so I kept pushing. I was able to get his shoulders and body out in one push without a contraction. Kind of funny because it surprised everyone in the room. The boy just had a big head. And like I said, I believe God was protecting him.



I don't think there is anything wrong if you need to intervene medically. The end goal is the same, not matter if you had an epidural, c-section or completely natural labor, a healthy baby. I'm still undecided on what I'll do. Thankfully I have over 7 months to figure it out! :-)



What's you birth story? Glad you got the epidural? Wish you had done it naturally?

Thankful Thursday!

Cheesy, I know. But it's good to make yourself to find something to be thankful for!

I'm thankful for morning sickness that's lasting most of the day. It means the pregnancy is progressing normally.

I'm thankful for spontaneous hugs and "Momma!" from Jeremiah.

I'm thankful that Matt's unconditional love.

I'm thankful for Granny's chicken and dumplings. Something that tasted good and I could eat without feeling sick!

I'm thankful for leftover chicken and dumpling!

I'm thankful for living close to some of our family.

Babee

Disclaimer: This is slightly inappropriate....



We've taught Jeremiah to say baby. He'll pull up my shirt and pat my tummy and say "babee!" Baby is now interchangeable with tummy. Everyone has a baby!



Last week while changing his diaper he patted his tummy and said baby. I told him that was his tummy and only momma has a baby in her tummy. He reached a little further down patted his penis and said "BABEE!" the whole time there was a huge smile on his face. I told him no, that was his penis, while trying not too laugh too much.



Now EVERY time I change his diaper he does the same thing!

PBJ

Jeremiah and I love peanut butter! We eat it on pretzels, apples and of course PBJ. Jeremiah doesn't just eat a PBJ sandwich, he dissects it! First he pulls the bread apart. Picks off any chunks of jelly he can grab. Does the same thing with the peanut butter side. By now the bread has holes poked all in it. Next he sucks the jelly off the bread. Finally, he'll take bites. It's hilarious to watch! He's so stickin' cute!

Wordless Wednesday

An Early Flashback Friday

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What do you say?

Yesterday was my first prenatal appointment. Several people asked if this was our first. Each time I was about to answer I stumbled all over my self and then blurted out, "we have a 16 month old at home".

I didn't know what to say because of the child we loss earlier this year. I know going in that with strangers was not the answer. No need to get into all of that on them. But that loss is still fresh for me. My instinct was to tell them that it's our third. This baby is Matt and my third, but we'll only have two children... and counting. :-) Wasn't something I had thought about till I was having to deal with it.

Back to the appointment. It went well. My doctor's office is being cautious, which I'm thankful for. They did a bunch of blood work yesterday. I'm going back in tomorrow for more. We scheduled the first sonogram! YAY! It's set for the 23rd. Later then I was hoping. I know it's sooner then my office typically does, so I'm glad for that.

So far everything seems to be going well. Please keep praying for the baby and the pregnancy. Thanks!

The Pooch

Warning... This is a little rant....

Not the dog kind, but the tummy kind. I was recently told that I was already starting "pooch out some". I'm not going to lie, I wasn't thrilled to hear that since I see zero change in my body. It did remind me of a pregnancy fact I had forgotten about. When you're pregnant, everyone thinks your body is public property.

Example 1: Once you start showing, people feel that they can point and stare. Sometimes in a sweet "look a pregnant lady" way. Not always though. Sometimes it's "wow! look how BIG she is!" way.

Example 2: Everyone wants to touch the belly. I love it when friends and family touch my belly and get to feel the baby move. Give them a chance to start bonding too. But when strangers try to touch my belly, not cool. I want to ask, " Excuse me, do I know you?"

Example 3: People feel they can ask you things they never would have before. The main one is about weight. How much weight have you gained? How much do you weigh now? Seriously people?

I know and need to keep in mind that a lot of that kind of stuff is people being excited. I'm glad that people are excited, even strangers. But just as a reminder to everyone, pregnant women are going through a whirlwind of changes physical, not to mention what's going on with their hormones. Stick with sweet comments like, you look wonderful! you're glowing. And instead of asking about their weight, just tell them they're all belly. Thanks from all the peggers out there!

BABY!

If you hadn't heard I'm PREGNANT!!!

Found out a week ago today. We got home from the garage sale last weekend and were exhausted! After getting Jeremiah down, we were watching a movie and talking. We both talked about how we really wanted to be pregnant but had a feeling we weren't. The plan was to take a test Sunday morning, but we got too antsy. I was ready to watch and wait to see if another line would pop up. Matt told me that wouldn't help and to give it time. I left and then turn around to see him just watching and waiting!He slowly looked up at me with a completely shocked and ecstatic expression. I started freaking out! Ran and grab the test and sure enough, TWLINES!

Faint, but two!

Happy parents!

Jeremiah is super excited to be a big brother!
If I ask him where the baby is he'll pull up my shirt and pat my belly while he says "be" (baby). He'll even give it loves. So adorable, till he starts doing it to Matt. Apparently Jeremiah thinks a belly button is a baby. We'll work on that. Not bad for a 16 month old.

I'm only 4 weeks along. I go in for my first appointment next Wednesday. Won't be far enough along for a sonogram. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get one around 7 weeks. We're thrilled but a little anxious after what we went through in April. Trusting in God to do what's best for all 4 of us.

Garage Sale

Do you ever feel like there's just too much stuff in your home? That's how I've been feeling lately. As I came across something we didn't need or want any more I would toss it onto the stairs leading to our bonus room. We collected so much stuff that most of the stairs had something on them. When I would get really motivated I would pick it all off the stairs. And throw it on the floor of the bonus room. There was so much stuff scattered all over the room that we couldn't use it. About a month ago I decide it was time to REALLY get motivated. Garage sale time!

I sent an e-mail out to my relatives in the area to see if they would want to have a garage sale too. Brenda, my mother-in-law was the only other crazy, I mean brave person out there. This week we started pricing and taking things to their house. I was please with how everything was going, on Monday.

By Tuesday I was freaking out! I had no idea how much thought wen into a garage sale! Dates, advertising, pricing, location and more! Originally, I thought it would be on Saturday only. Brenda said they always had better days on Friday. So I decided to do it on Friday, three days before. That added to my stress. Last night I told Matt I was really regretting the whole garage sale thing and we would never do it again!

We got to Brenda's before the start time and there was someone already there. We had a crowed of at least five people for the first 3 hours! We sold over half of everything we had. By the end of the day people were asking us if it really was a multi family sale, just because there wasn't a ton of stuff. Matt and I made more then we hoped his parents and we would make, combined! Right now I'm pretty gun-ho on garage sales!

We're in the process of updating/redoing our room. Some of the money will go to that. Mainly making a head board. Don't worry, I'll blog about that as it happens. I'm so excited!

It was a long, hot day. But so worth it! The plan is to have it again tomorrow, but it's POURING rain right now. With how well it went today, I'd be ok with not having it tomorrow. :-)

Recipes

Thought I would share the recipes I used for my freezer cooking.

I got several of them from MoneySavingMom. Neat website with lots of ideas on how to save and earn money.

I used her Southwest Rollups. I was a littler nervous about this recipe because I've just started to enjoy beans. But I love it! Great for if you need something fast because you can just toss it in the microwave. I added a little more chicken then she does.

Also her Butterhorn Rolls. So yummy! We've enjoyed lots of these already.

The last one form MoneySavingMom is Pizza Crust. I did a quadruple batch of this. My family loves homemade pizza!

The rest of the recipes are from friends of mine. So glad I know lots of good cooks!

Taco Soup
1lb cooked ground beef or turkey
1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
1 envelope taco seasoning
1-2 cans Kidney beans
1 can corn- undrained
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
Combine all in crockpot and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Serve with chips, cheese and sour cream

Baked Beans
32oz baked beans - any brand
2 16oz cans Navy beans - drained
2 16oz can Kidney beans - drained
2 16oz can Garbanzo beans - drained
1 cup catsup
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbl yellow mustard
1 tbl vinegar
1 yellow onion
1/2 - 1lb
I cook the bacon and onion together. Combine all and cook for 1 hour at 350 or in crockpot on low 3-4 hours

Chicken Rice and Sausage Casserole
4 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 lb cooked sausage
5 cups chicken broth
2 envelopes Lipton noodle soup
1 cup rice
Mix all. To freeze put in ziplock bags before cooking. I was able to get two meals from one batch. To cook: cover and cook 45-60 minutes at 350. Remove cover and cook at 450 for 15 minutes, or till rice is cooked and broth evaporated.

Let me know if any of you try some of the recipes!

Nostalgic

Two years ago today, I found out Jeremiah was on the way! I had to wake up early for work and was dying to take a pregnancy test. I calmly brushed my teeth and wait for the three minutes to tick by. I went to check, telling myself it would be negative and that would be ok. But there were two lines! Faint, but two! I ran and jumped on Matt, who was still sleeping. Took him a minute to decipher the squeals and understand that we were going to have a baby! We were thrilled! We spent the rest of the days calling and visiting family to share the news. One of the best days of my life.

It's over!

I finally finished all my freezer cooking yesterday. I had to cut the meatloaf. Just wasn't happening with having to deal with the AC. Praise the Lord, that got fixed on Friday and it was very minor! Yay!

I cooked the meatballs yesterday. I forgot to set the timer. Not a good thing. When I remembered to check, they were a little crispy. Nothing that I could cut off. lol. Sounds bad, but it really wasn't! They're still really yummy, just not whole balls any more. I guess it made half-meatballs.

Freezer Cooking: Day 3

This morning I was able to make banana chocolate chip muffins and four pizza dough crusts. I was so glad I was able to get that done this morning. I had my meat thawing so that during nap time I could make meatballs and meatloaf during nap time.

That was until I was getting lunch together and I noticed how hot it was in the house. When I check the thermostat, 84 degrees! At 11 am! Not a good sign. Called Matt and Jeremiah, Tonks and I loaded up had came to my in-laws where it's nice and cool.

So day 3 of cooking is on hold. After nap time we'll head home and hope it's cooled off.

Freezer Cooking: Day 2

So today was the end of Day 2 of freezer cooking. Made for an interesting few days...

Day 1: we went to Kroger to load up on groceries. They were rearranging to store. Have to monomer around the workers, shelves, while trying to keep Jeremiah entertained and keep up with my list and coupons was a challenge. I think until I get a better handle on couponing Jeremiah will be staying home on grocery day. :-)

Speaking of coupons, I was able to save a surprising about of money. Just by looking for what was on sale and using some coupons. I'm going to be making the time to learn more about couponing!

The main recipe I was working on yesterday was butter horn rolls. I found one recipe and started them. Then I found another one online with information about freezing. I glanced at the ingredient and they looked the same so I switched recipes. Should of looked a little closer because the amounts of the ingredients were different and the first few steps were different. After winging it and a call to my mom, I got it! So now my freezer has lot of rolls in it. We had some with dinner tonight. Very yummy! Jeremiah loved them! Ate two of them.

Day 2: Had to do a quick run to Aldis. Had to wait till nap time to work on anything. Able to get a big batch of Chicken, Rice and Sausage casserole. Should feed us our meals. Wohoo!

Next was Taco Soup. I love this recipes because you brown ground beef or turkey, toss it in a crock pot with a few canned items, add some seasoning and you're done! My kind of recipe. My can opener died. I don't know what happened but it wasn't working, Gave me a chance to talk to my neighbor again. I could of just stopped. But nope, I went over to my neighbors that I don't know well and asked to barrow theirs. I was a women on a mission! There are now to things of taco soup in my freezer... Matt brought home a new can opener. :-)

The last recipe on my list for today was baked beans. I got an awesome recipe from a dear friend, and I'm a little addicted to them. Which it really funny since I didn't like beans till I had this recipe. I kept sneaking bites. I can't wait to dig into them! These beans are like the taco soup. Cook some bacon and onions and then trow them in the crockpot with cans of beans. I have some packaged to have as a side and one to have as a meal. When it's out meal I'll add some smoked sausage and rice. Goes from being baked beans to a nice stew.

So there an update on my freezer cooking. Tomorrow I'm making spaghetti sauce, meatballs, meatloaf and some muffins. Hopefully, I can get all of that done, then I'll be finished! I'm off to bed. The last two night I've dreamed about coupons and cooking. Here's hoping for a more restful nights sleep.

What's this????

I know, an insane mess! What this mess is, is me trying to get on the ball. I'm wanting to lower my grocery bill so I'm trying to figure out the whole couponing thing. It's not easy. And completely overwhelming! I see blogs of women who spend 20 bucks a week on groceries. That's just mind boggling to me! So I'm trying to figure it out... Slowly.

I'm also going to do a freezer cooking week. I did a sample of it last month with some of our favorite meals. Got to say, I loved being able to just pull something out of the freezer in the morning and have a tasty dinner that evening. I'm going to be trying some new recipes and favorites.

After I figure out what coupons I'm going to use and finally go to the grocery store I'm going to start cooking! A few things each days as I have time. I'll try to keep the blog up to date with how I'm doing. So wish me luck!