I have taken off the last few days of all house things. I have been burnt out on unloading boxes. However today I am feeling like I am ready to be productive again. I am taking a little time now while the boys are asleep to relax and watch a little Bethany Ever After.
A few things:
Joseph has become obsessed in the last two or three weeks with his blankies. We have always had about four or five small little blankets in his bed with him and he never cared about them. Then all of the sudden the last few weeks he can't go anywhere without his little blue soft blanket. He has to be squeezing it when he goes to bed and wakes up clutching it. It is really cute. I will get a good picture and post it soon.
I made this delicious recipe about a week ago. I pulled it out of a magazine and it was wonderful. It is completely vegetarian. Dave loved it too. It says that it serves 4 to 6, but I think it serves more like 8 to 10. Just a warning, it does take some time to prepare. The chopping of all the veggies and sauteing of everything takes a while, so you need at least a few hours to prepare.
Caserola Milanese
Polenta
6 cups water
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 oz butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper taste
2 oz grated Parmesan
Filling
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chopped onion
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
1/3 cup fresh basil
2 tsp dried oregano
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 cups diced eggplant
1 1/2 cups diced zucchini
1 bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups canned plum tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3 cups fresh mozzarella, shredded
Preparation - Polenta
Bring water to a boil and gradually add cornmeal in a thin stream, stirring rapidly. While continuing to stir, add butter, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes (it didn't take this long at all, just watch it), stirring often. When the polenta mixture has thickened, add Parmesan. Pour mixture into a buttered 12 inch casserole dish and let cool. Refrigerate.
Preparation - Filling
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Saute garlic and onion in oil until translucent. Add carrots, celery, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and continue to cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until carrots are bright orange. Add eggplant and saute for 5 minutes. Add zucchini and bell pepper, cooking until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and red wine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.
To Assemble
Spoon filling evenly over cooled polenta, top with mozzarella and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until cheese begins to brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
New House, Fun Times, Easter and Silver Stallion
We have been busy busy around here. Forgot to say, but Joseph started walking as soon as we moved into the house. It took him a long time (14 months) before he started walking, but he hasn't stopped. he makes laps around our island. I think he may be a natural soccer player because any ball that is near him he has to kick. He is pretty athletic already.
On Friday we bought a new mini van. We got the Honda Odyssey Tour Elite. It is absolutely awesome. I have nicknamed it the Silver Stallion, but I am thinking that sounds a little naughty which may be a good and bad thing. I mean I have to have some excitement in my life since I have now moved into the mother mobile. It is a great vehicle. I feel really comfortable driving it and I think it looks great. There is a picture below.
Also on Friday, we got the last of our stuff from storage. We also got our rugs and breakfast table. Things are starting to come together. I am slowly feeling like this is home. It is has just been such a disaster that it hadn't yet felt homey to me. I think in the next week or so it is going to start looking and feeling great.
My mom came in town on Thursday night because we were supposed to go to Kansas City to celebrate the end of Passover with my family there. However, with the crazy weather that came through on Friday night and the potential for more storms we were a little worried about going and driving in non-stop rain. Then I woke up on Saturday morning and I felt terrible. I was having serious stomach pains, nausea and my sides were killing me. It felt like someone was jabbing knives in my right side. We decided it was best not to go and my mom took the train to Kansas City. I really wanted to spend some time with family in Kansas City and I am really sad we didn't go, but I also was in no shape to be driving. By Sunday night I started to feel better and today I am in no pain at all. I guess I am about to grow again, which is great because I am already feeling huge.
We had a great Easter. Samuel had three Easter egg hunts and got tons of candy, which I promptly packed away today while he was at school. Out of sight out of mind right. Let's just hope that works with Samuel. He doesn't need all that sugar.
I better go. Joseph is standing at my legs screaming because he wants me to pick him up. Enjoy the pictures.
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| Joseph loves the drawer with all our kitchen towel. |
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| As soon as we moved into our new house, Joseph started walking. He hasn't stopped since then. |
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| We finally set up the castle that Justin and Charisa got the boys for X-Mas. They love it. Actually I think Joseph loves it more. He plays in it everyday. |
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| My little niece, Haidyn. I watched her for a little bit last week and then today. She is so cute. Big huge blue eyes. I love her lots, but it has taken Joseph some time to get used to not getting all the attention. |
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| Savta came for a little visit and Joseph was super cuddly. |
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| The Easter Bunny came to our house. Samuel was the happy cute bunny. |
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| Joseph was the mean possessed bunny. |
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| Samuel thought it was fun to run all around the house because he didn't want us to take a good picture. |
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| More running |
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| Now to the fireplace. |
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| and off the fireplace... |
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| Easter Day with their cousin Haidyn. |
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| Samuel loves squeezing everyone. I think everyone's face in this picture is hilarious. |
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| The only family picture we could get. Not very good! |
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| My new Silver Stallion. I am loving it!!! |
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Surprise
For many of you this is not breaking news, but I needed to post new changes in our lives and I figured it was about time to announce that we are expecting baby #3. I am 15 and a half weeks pregnant. Will be 16 weeks on Friday. Time has really flown by. I was only sick with this baby for 3 weeks, so I feel really really lucky. It has been pretty easy and most of the time I completely forget that I am even pregnant. Well, until this week. My belly completely popped out over the weekend. I am clearly pregnant now.
I figured for documentation purposes I should give you background information and the story before I completely forget (I am forgetting everything now. My short term memory is gone. The baby is sucking brain cells like crazy. Good thing this is our last one or I would really be in trouble).
Pregnancy History: As many of you know, we had a lot of trouble getting pregnant with Samuel and additional problems getting pregnant with Joseph. Some parts are graphic, just to worn you.
I got pregnant for the first time in October 2005. I had a miscarriage the end of December 2005. We thought it was going to be just a normal miscarriage because I had all the normal activity that occurs with a miscarriage. However in early January 2006, I woke up one morning and started pretty much hemorrhaging. Since the bleeding wouldn't stop, my doctor sent me directly to the ER and I was there all day. Basically, I didn't have a full miscarriage in December. There was still stuff leftover and my body was trying to get rid of everything inside. They thought I was going to have an emergency D & C, but by late afternoon the ultrasound showed that nothing was left in my uterus. From January 2006 through June of 2007 I had three Hysterosalphingographys, which show if there is a blockage of my fallopian tubes. The first one showed that I had a blockage. Then I had outpatient surgery because I had a mass in my uterus that was blocking my fallopian tubes. The second one was done to see if they had removed the blockage, which they didn't really. So I had another outpatient surgery that they blasted liquid through my uterus and fallopian tubes to open them up. The last Hysterosalphingograph was to confirm that indeed everything was flowing well.
After all those surgeries and procedures, I started clomid and still couldn't get pregnant. Then they decided to do clomid with Artificial Insemination, which luckily for us worked on the first try. That was our story with Samuel.
When Samuel was 6 months old we decided to start trying for baby number 2 because we were worried about how long it might take us to get pregnant again. After 6 months of trying with no luck, I went back to our fertility specialist. I had another Hysterosalphingograph, which said everything was flowing fine, so we started back up on Clomid and did Artificial Insemination and got pregnant again. It took us 9 months to get pregnant with Joseph.
Now for the new pregnancy. Dave and I had talked about the possibility of having three, but we wanted to wait a little while before making our final decision. We were being really careful about having unprotected sex. We had said in the event we wanted to try again for a third, we would try to do it without help from the fertility specialist and if it happened on its own it was meant to be. We wanted to wait until we were settled in our new house and we wanted to go on a few trips just the two of us in 2011 and I was planning to run the St. Louis Half-Marathon in April. We had already planned two trips, one to Miami in January and the second to Vegas in March. We were planning in the late summer - early fall to go to California to do winery tours. We finally got our first trip to Miami in without the boys and had a wonderful time. We were eating and drinking, staying up late and sleeping in. It was awesome.
When we got back from Miami I started back to running and then got a terrible cold and was sick for over a week. When I finally felt better to run again, I started having terrible side pains (I also got terrible side pains when I was pregnant with Joseph). I thought it was strange and I figured I was just cramping and getting ready to start my period. After a few days of continued pain when I ran, I decided to take a pregnancy test just to confirm that I am about to start my period. Then the biggest shocker hit, the pregnancy test had two solid pink lines. I had just gone for a run, peed on the stick and jumped in the shower. I was totally expecting to get out and see one line, but I was dumbfounded when I saw two. I literally started shaking. I could not believe it. I texted Dave and told him to call me when he went to a back private office so we could talk. Of course he calls me from his desk. I didn't know what to do. I thought he might freak out or pass out or who knows when I told him, but I told him over the phone and his reaction was so much better then mine.
Anyway, now I am almost 16 weeks in and things are looking great. I have another appointment in May with my doctor and then we have the BIG ultrasound. Sorry to say, but we are not finding out the sex of this baby either. This is our last real surprise. I really don't care what we have next. I will be happy with any healthy baby.
I will keep you updated on my progress. I do have to inform you that the huge varicose vein I got in my leg when I was pregnant with Joseph has once again exploded during the pregnancy. It is disgusting an ugly and will be a great addition to my bathing suit this summer. I will just be one really attractive beached whale at the pool.
I am off to pick Samuel up from school.
Happy Passover and Happy Easter!
I figured for documentation purposes I should give you background information and the story before I completely forget (I am forgetting everything now. My short term memory is gone. The baby is sucking brain cells like crazy. Good thing this is our last one or I would really be in trouble).
Pregnancy History: As many of you know, we had a lot of trouble getting pregnant with Samuel and additional problems getting pregnant with Joseph. Some parts are graphic, just to worn you.
I got pregnant for the first time in October 2005. I had a miscarriage the end of December 2005. We thought it was going to be just a normal miscarriage because I had all the normal activity that occurs with a miscarriage. However in early January 2006, I woke up one morning and started pretty much hemorrhaging. Since the bleeding wouldn't stop, my doctor sent me directly to the ER and I was there all day. Basically, I didn't have a full miscarriage in December. There was still stuff leftover and my body was trying to get rid of everything inside. They thought I was going to have an emergency D & C, but by late afternoon the ultrasound showed that nothing was left in my uterus. From January 2006 through June of 2007 I had three Hysterosalphingographys, which show if there is a blockage of my fallopian tubes. The first one showed that I had a blockage. Then I had outpatient surgery because I had a mass in my uterus that was blocking my fallopian tubes. The second one was done to see if they had removed the blockage, which they didn't really. So I had another outpatient surgery that they blasted liquid through my uterus and fallopian tubes to open them up. The last Hysterosalphingograph was to confirm that indeed everything was flowing well.
After all those surgeries and procedures, I started clomid and still couldn't get pregnant. Then they decided to do clomid with Artificial Insemination, which luckily for us worked on the first try. That was our story with Samuel.
When Samuel was 6 months old we decided to start trying for baby number 2 because we were worried about how long it might take us to get pregnant again. After 6 months of trying with no luck, I went back to our fertility specialist. I had another Hysterosalphingograph, which said everything was flowing fine, so we started back up on Clomid and did Artificial Insemination and got pregnant again. It took us 9 months to get pregnant with Joseph.
Now for the new pregnancy. Dave and I had talked about the possibility of having three, but we wanted to wait a little while before making our final decision. We were being really careful about having unprotected sex. We had said in the event we wanted to try again for a third, we would try to do it without help from the fertility specialist and if it happened on its own it was meant to be. We wanted to wait until we were settled in our new house and we wanted to go on a few trips just the two of us in 2011 and I was planning to run the St. Louis Half-Marathon in April. We had already planned two trips, one to Miami in January and the second to Vegas in March. We were planning in the late summer - early fall to go to California to do winery tours. We finally got our first trip to Miami in without the boys and had a wonderful time. We were eating and drinking, staying up late and sleeping in. It was awesome.
When we got back from Miami I started back to running and then got a terrible cold and was sick for over a week. When I finally felt better to run again, I started having terrible side pains (I also got terrible side pains when I was pregnant with Joseph). I thought it was strange and I figured I was just cramping and getting ready to start my period. After a few days of continued pain when I ran, I decided to take a pregnancy test just to confirm that I am about to start my period. Then the biggest shocker hit, the pregnancy test had two solid pink lines. I had just gone for a run, peed on the stick and jumped in the shower. I was totally expecting to get out and see one line, but I was dumbfounded when I saw two. I literally started shaking. I could not believe it. I texted Dave and told him to call me when he went to a back private office so we could talk. Of course he calls me from his desk. I didn't know what to do. I thought he might freak out or pass out or who knows when I told him, but I told him over the phone and his reaction was so much better then mine.
Anyway, now I am almost 16 weeks in and things are looking great. I have another appointment in May with my doctor and then we have the BIG ultrasound. Sorry to say, but we are not finding out the sex of this baby either. This is our last real surprise. I really don't care what we have next. I will be happy with any healthy baby.
I will keep you updated on my progress. I do have to inform you that the huge varicose vein I got in my leg when I was pregnant with Joseph has once again exploded during the pregnancy. It is disgusting an ugly and will be a great addition to my bathing suit this summer. I will just be one really attractive beached whale at the pool.
I am off to pick Samuel up from school.
Happy Passover and Happy Easter!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Emerging in more ways then one
I am finally emerging from the moving boxes I have been under. We moved two weeks ago on Monday. Moving to this house was probably the most stressful terrible experiences I have had in my life so far. I have no idea why it totally pushed Dave and I over the edge but it did. It was terrible. So terrible that I found my first grey hair the other night. It was solid white and it was right in front. This move aged me at least 10 years. I am hoping to get those years back but finally starting to relax in our new house.
I had no idea we had so much shit. When we had decided to put our house on the market again, last August (that was before we decided to build and didn't put it on the market) we got a POD and filled it up with miscellaneous shit from our house. Then once we closed on our new house Dave and I started to move smaller stuff over. I probably did at least 8 car loads myself and Dave probably did 4. I thought we had moved a significant amount. I was totally wrong.
We hired Dielman Moving to move us. The actual movers were awesome, but the management was absolutely terrible. They treated us terribly and I ended up calling one of the head managers and completely bitching him out. We will never use them again even though they were the cheapest and the movers were awesome. The customer service was beyond disgusting and I never want to deal with them again. I guess it doesn't matter because we are never moving again.
We ended up having three moving guys and one truck, then they realized that we were going to need more then one truck and it was getting later in evening and they thought it would be best if a few more movers came and helped get everything packed and taken to our new house. The movers finally left around 8 pm. We were all exhausted.
Then the real madness began. The unpacking of the boxes and organization of everything was overwhelming. I am still not completely unpacked or organized. It just seems like the days fly by and I just barely touch things. My goal is to work on the basement in the next few weeks.
I know I am a little nuts when it comes to organization, but it is driving me crazy to have clutter. We still haven't gotten our POD back and I want it soon. We don't have a microwave right now and some furniture. I think I will feel better when we have everything in our house.
We just put our other house on the market. That will be a relief once that is sold as well. Dave and I spent two weeks cleaning, painting and clearing out as much as we could out of the old house. We still have stuff in the garage, but we are just going to wait until it is sold before we clear all that out.
I promise to post pictures soon, but right now things are just so messy. We are also getting our new kitchen table on Wednesday and hopefully all our new rugs by Friday. Once those come it, things will start feeling and looking much better.
I am absolutely exhausted. I am trying to catch up on as much sleep as possible, but I am having a very hard time sleeping. Stress really interferes with my sleep. Hopefully I will be posting happy pictures soon.
I had no idea we had so much shit. When we had decided to put our house on the market again, last August (that was before we decided to build and didn't put it on the market) we got a POD and filled it up with miscellaneous shit from our house. Then once we closed on our new house Dave and I started to move smaller stuff over. I probably did at least 8 car loads myself and Dave probably did 4. I thought we had moved a significant amount. I was totally wrong.
We hired Dielman Moving to move us. The actual movers were awesome, but the management was absolutely terrible. They treated us terribly and I ended up calling one of the head managers and completely bitching him out. We will never use them again even though they were the cheapest and the movers were awesome. The customer service was beyond disgusting and I never want to deal with them again. I guess it doesn't matter because we are never moving again.
We ended up having three moving guys and one truck, then they realized that we were going to need more then one truck and it was getting later in evening and they thought it would be best if a few more movers came and helped get everything packed and taken to our new house. The movers finally left around 8 pm. We were all exhausted.
Then the real madness began. The unpacking of the boxes and organization of everything was overwhelming. I am still not completely unpacked or organized. It just seems like the days fly by and I just barely touch things. My goal is to work on the basement in the next few weeks.
I know I am a little nuts when it comes to organization, but it is driving me crazy to have clutter. We still haven't gotten our POD back and I want it soon. We don't have a microwave right now and some furniture. I think I will feel better when we have everything in our house.
We just put our other house on the market. That will be a relief once that is sold as well. Dave and I spent two weeks cleaning, painting and clearing out as much as we could out of the old house. We still have stuff in the garage, but we are just going to wait until it is sold before we clear all that out.
I promise to post pictures soon, but right now things are just so messy. We are also getting our new kitchen table on Wednesday and hopefully all our new rugs by Friday. Once those come it, things will start feeling and looking much better.
I am absolutely exhausted. I am trying to catch up on as much sleep as possible, but I am having a very hard time sleeping. Stress really interferes with my sleep. Hopefully I will be posting happy pictures soon.
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