Multitude Monday, Week 43

476. seeing our baby girl
477. glen coming with me for the appointment
478. friends who share our excitement
479. funfetti cupcakes
480. my sister
481. moms all around me
482. blooming flowers
483. sunshine
484. open window weather
485. fresh coat of paint
486. looking forward to studying Phillippians
487. prayer guides
489. text messaging
490. decaf coffee
491. a husband who thinks things through
492. chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight

Week 42

Saturday morning

This past Saturday my sister Rachel came down to eat breakfast. I made sure to get a picture of us together and many more will come. I am excited that she is pregnant with me and that our kids will be born so close together!

first photos

first photos of our baby girl...

Apparently she likes to touch her face...

Its a ...

To announce our awesome news we decided to throw a Gender Reveal/Game night which really ended up with being a Wii night. Wii dancing and Wii sports was pretty much awesome and I am sure we looked awesome doing it. We had everyone dress up in either blue if they thought it was a boy or pink if they thought it was a girl. We revealed the gender with either blue or pink cupcakes that were iced white so you couldn't tell until you opened it up.

(I should apologize for my grainy picture that is a result of no flash and our bad indoor lighting. I am hoping that we can replace our point and shoot which is usually good enough for a "real" camera, all in the name of the baby.)

Total count: 8 for the blue team and only 5 for the pink team. Abby is neutral.

Glen and I dressed appropriately for the gender we were hoping for...

So with out further adieu...

we

are

having

a

GIRL!

Orange Roasted Chicken

Orange Roasted Chicken

1 3 lb fryer

1 orange

orange zest

1 tsp salt

4 Tbs. Olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp thyme

2 Tbs. butter

Mix orange zest, salt, minced garlic, thyme, and olive oil. Loosen skin from breast and put mixture under skin. Cut up orange and stuff into chicken. Place leftover orange slices in bottom of cassarole dish. Dry skin of chicken and place breast side up in cassarole dish. Bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes. 20 minutes into bake time baste with butter.

Triple Chocolate Cake

I had to make dessert for my girls book study group. I decided to pull out the cookbook put together by Glen's grandmother and decided on triple chocolate cake. Its delicious, easy to make, and goes great with vanilla bean ice cream. Not regular vanilla, Glen insists on vanilla bean and I agree. Thanks Ms. Myrt for all the great recipes!

Slight breakdown

I had heard of mood swings or emotional breakdowns that might accompany pregnancy from a number of friends. So far I have been pretty even keel. I haven't been really upset for any reason or irrational in my thinking until this weekend.

We took Abby to the vet this past weekend for her yearly check up and updates on some vaccinations. The only reason both of us went was so that we could watch them clip her nails. We have thus far not been able to because she freaks out and won't let us. I am skeptical that we will even be able to now because as long as we were in the exam room she was freaking out. Anyways, that was not the point of this post. The vet started examining her, and I mentioned her right leg sometimes bothered her if she excercised too much or ran too hard. The vet then proceeded to tell us of some intense arthritis in that leg plus the fact that she could move Abby's knee cap and shouldn't be able to. She then told us that its a long term problem and that to fix it we would have to get some kind of specialty surgery that would cost $1,500!

I was so worried that we would have to get rid of Abby because we weren't nor could we pay for a $1,500 surgery. We got Abby from a rescue place. She is a mutt, our mutt but still a mutt. I almost cried. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. The only solution I could think of was getting rid of her, and she's like part of our family.

Glen, the obviously rational one, made a point to say this is not a life or death surgery. This problem only comes up every couple of months, and Abby is not in pain. She is just a weird dog. She walks weird, sits weird, runs weird, and has a oddly shaped body. Knee problems just come with the territory. She even has an extra toe. I know that when she gets older her knee will get worse and she won't be as active but that is with any old dog. My only issue now is standing up to the vet about the surgery...

Multitude Monday, Week 42

464. chocolate desserts
465. remembering Jesus' ressurection and its importance
466. being challenged
467. dog parks
468. flip flops
469. reading outside
470. fun activities to look forward to this week
471. meals planned out already
472. the excitement of friends
473. blogs that help keep us in touch
474. keeping busy at work
475. my body pillow

Week 41

Stick a fork in her

...she's done. I never thought this would happen, but Abby needs to take a break from the dog park. We went 3 days in a row this week, and she only had enough energy for 15 minutes of playing today. I think we killed our dog...with fun.

Stocked up

It's bad when even the cashier comments on how many canned goods you are buying. Needless to say, after Publix's buy one get one plus $5 off 20, I won't need to buy any canned vegetables for quite awhile.

19 weeks + A not so V-day

Here I am 19 weeks. It's a little over a week until we get to find out what gender baby scogin is. It seems pretty even whether people think its a boy or a girl. Even Glen and I are divided. Glen wants a boy. I want a girl. I think neither of us really knows what to do with the other gender. I grew up with 2 sisters. Glen grew up with 2 brothers. So I think its natural for us to want what seems normal to us. Either way we are super excited.

I have started to feel the baby move. Well I have been feeling something for about 2 weeks but wasn't sure if it was really the baby or not. I had been told that those first movements felt like a gas bubble or something of the sort. I can't really explain what it felt like. All I know is it is happening more often and now I know it is baby scogin.

Our valentine's day consisted of nothing valentines related except my shirt in the picture above. When I mentioned on Sunday that maybe we could go out to eat next weekend (me using valentine's day as an excuse to go out to eat of course), Glen responded, "You know I don't really do valentine's day". Code: I didn't get you anything. That was totally fine. I didn't get Glen anything either. I just want an excuse to go out to dinner and maybe get some cupcakes!

14 weeks
almost 18 weeks

A Series of Unfortunate Events

For my second English college class I took a fiction class. One of the sections was children's literature. We read the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning. I enjoyed this book so much. I had already decided at that point that one day in the future when I had kids that I would get the rest of this series for them. I know its a kids book but it is so entertaining and I figure if I am reading them books I want to enjoy them too.

Recently I bought some books off of amazon and needed to purchase just $10 more so that I could avoid a shipping cost of $5. So I got the second book. I haven't started reading it yet but I just might. They say at this point the baby can hear what's going on outside of the womb. Wouldn't that be a sight, me reading a 10 year old's book out loud to my pregnant self. I might just have to do it. Or if anyone wants to come over, we can have story time.

p.s. If you didn't like the movie, no worries. It didn't do the books justice.

Multitude Monday, Week 41

454. the witness of lisa beane
455. our loving church family
456. feeling the baby move and knowing its the baby
457. friends who offer their maternity clothes
458. the idea that we will be a family of three in 5 months
459. birthday dinners
460. phone calls
461. sunny afternoons
462. wearing dresses
463. looking forward to a relaxed weekend

Week 40

1 year

Happy Anniversary to our blog. One year ago (and 323 posts later) we started our blog. We cooked, couponed, talked about the pets and our other adventures. It's been a good year. This next year we will venture into a new stage of life with a baby, and I am sure that our blog might take on a slightly new perspective.

Thanks for reading!

Balloons

To celebrate Glen's birthday we had a quiet dinner at home. We had caesar salad, loaded mashed potato cassarole (a new favorite!), chicken wings, and for dessert these red velvet cupcakes.

I had blown up some balloons to make our house more festive. So after dinner, we let Abby have some fun.

Happy Birthday Sweets!

I want to wish a happy birthday to my awesome husband ! I love you!

Sometimes I call him sweets {hence the blog title}. I don't know why I just do.

Random fact...the sum of our ages now equal 50. That's half of a 100. I can't wait to spend the years with you until the sum of our ages equal 100 that is. Just kidding.

Also, if you didn't notice. Glen's shirt says, "I'm a smashing success"! It speaks the truth.

Blogger Poll Fail

I am taking down the "Is baby scogin a boy or girl?" poll. It has been reported that almost everyone who has tried to vote has not been able to. Sad. If you would like to give your input go comment on this post! I would love to know what you think and if the majority will win out and be correct.

On another note, I am very excited to announce that our little baby is going to have a cousin just one month younger in age! I think they are going to be best friends! Congrats to my sister, Rachel!

Almost 18 weeks + something fun

I feel like I just popped this past week. Its like my abs just gave up and let my baby bump win. Although depending on what I wear I can still hide (like I would want to) that I am pregnant, but anyone who knows me will certainly be able to tell. So here it is...almost 18 weeks.

Check out 14 weeks here.

Also, something fun...I have added a poll on the top right side of my blog so that you awesome readers can vote whether you think baby scogin will be a boy or a girl. We get to find out in a little less than 3 weeks!

Some lucky reader who votes correctly will be chosen and they will get to name baby scogin! Just kidding...we are not that crazy, but I thought it would be fun to see if one gender wins out against the other.

P.S. If the poll won't let you vote for some reason (blogger can be kind of fidgety sometimes) feel free to leave a comment instead!

Hot Rueben Dip

I tried this dip this weekend to bring to a SuperBowl get together. It was a winner in my book, but as my friend Elizabeth said, "You had me at rueben". So if you are a rueben lover, you should try it!

{Photo Credit Brown Eyed Baker}

Multitude Monday, Week 40

444. time is flying by
445. the next book in A Series of Unfortunate Events
446. cheese omlets
447. chili
448. Glen is not picky about what we eat
449. Glen's birthday is Thursday!
450. clementines
451. seeing the sun this morning
452. a clean-ish house
453. my small group girls

Week 39

Donut date + cards

Last night we braved the cold and rain (which is still going on as I type) and went on a little date to Krispy Kreme. We got a coupon for a free donut in the mail, and I am a sucker for free stuff. We also played a little bit of cards while we were there. I am such a game person, and we hadn't played in forever. So we sat, drank hot chocolate, ate our donuts, watched the donut making conveyer belt, and watched the milllion people come in (who knew Krispy Kreme was such a hot spot for families on a Friday night?). I would say that this was the perfect mini date!

Also, I stayed up till 10 last night! At this point that is qute an accomplishment for me! So sad, I know.

Hendersonville

I went up to Greenville Tuesday night to stay with K & H. Then on Wednesday H and I made the trip up to Hendersonville to see Andrew & MJ! It was so much fun. Since they live in Memphis, I usually only get to see and catch up with them in the summer at the Edge, but sadly I won't be going this year since I will be super pregnant by then. I am so glad that I got to see you guys this week!

{Thanks H for the photo!}

From the mouth of Caleb

I was talking to my sister Rachel yesterday and had to share with you something my nephew Caleb said that I got a kick out of.

Rachel: "Caleb, aunt Miriam has a baby in her belly."

Caleb: " Aunt Miriam ate a baby?!?!"

Update: Abby & the dog park

Last week I posted about Abby's first trip to our new dog park! It was pretty un-eventful since there were only a dog or two there. This weekend we went both Saturday and Sunday, and there were a lot more dogs.
Abby's dog park weekend consisted of...

1. being out-run by a 4 year old puggle (pug + beagle)

2. getting mad that she was out-run by a 4 year old puggle

3. picking on/ being a bully to the most docile golden doodle (golden retriever + poodle) I have ever met

4. running like crazy

5. fetching a lot of balls

6. covering herself head to toe in mud

7. mistaking a small dog for a squeaky toy

Hamburger cupcakes

Q: What do you do with cupcakes that don't come out of the pan cleanly?

A: Make cupcake hamburgers.