Bryan

Tonight he told me I had a pregnant glow. 
I was fresh out of the shower- in sweats, wild hair, no make up. 
Not prompted.  Not in trouble.  Not looking for brownie points.  : ) 
Just him being him. 
And oh how I love him.

Flashback Friday

October 15th two years ago...

Two Great Pumpkin Recipes to Share!

Two wonderful desserts if you're in the mood for pumpkin!!!!  Both are easy, although you have to do the first one in three parts.  Let me know if you try them!  Enjoy!!!


Pumpkin Pie Dessert Squares

Crust:
1 pkg yellow cake mix (save 1 C for later)
1 egg
1/2 C melted margarine or butter
-Combine- Press into greased 9x13 pan

Filling:
1 can (14oz) pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 C milk
2 eggs
3/4 C sugar
-Combine- Pour over unbaked crust

Topping:
1 C reserved cake mix
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C butter- softened
-Combine- Spoon/glob over filling- Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until knife comes out clean- Cool- Top with Cool Whip



Jamie's Pumpkin Bars

Bars:
4 eggs
2 C sugar
2 C flour
2 C pumpkin (one can)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 C oil
-Bake at 350 for 25 minutes
(Whole batch= one jellyroll or two 9x13 pans; 1/2 batch= one 9x13 pan)

Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese
6 tbs margarine
1 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 C powder sugar
-Cream butter and cream cheese first- Spread frosting over cooled bars

ISU

The last three weekends our family has been in Ames for Iowa State home football games.  We weathered everything from wind and rain to 85 degrees and hot!  Sam has really enjoyed doing his own thing around the tailgate, munching on all the delicious food and taking in the sights and sounds of the whole tailgating/football game experience.  Three great weekends with family and friends for sure made easy by my parents living 2 miles from the stadium... but to be honest, we are looking forward to being around our house this weekend!  Enjoy a few random pictures-



Flashback Friday - October 2009

Last October Sam was chubby-

Last October he had his first visit to the orthopeadic doctor and started wearing a hip brace at night for left hip dysplasia- he was a trooper and dealt with it well!

Last October Sam had his first febrile (fever) seizure while we were shopping at Target- this was a pre-seizure/I don't feel good photo his mean mom took- once the Motrin kicked in and his temp went down, we went to the store to get more Motrin to make it through the night and he had a seizure near the checkout counters- in the year since then he has had 6 others- most kiddos outgrow febrile seizures around 2 so we're hoping we're done!  His last one was Memorial Day so things are looking good!

 Last October he had his first 3 night slumber party with Matt and Abbie and the kids while Bryan and I drove a moving truck back to Iowa- looks like he's really missing his mom huh?!  : )

 Last October he only had his two bottom front teeth but was as slobbery as ever while the others quickly came through- he's minus a neck in a lot of pictures!  : )

 Last October his aunt could make silly Target runs with us just for fun since we lived in the same town- we miss that this October-

 Last October he was our happy, joyful, smiley boy- what a tough and special kid!

How quickly they change... in one short silly year... sheesh Sam!  : )



Date Night

Bryan and I have been lucky to find friends that live in the area with a similar family situation... she stays home, they have a little boy who will be 3 this winter and are expecting #2 this spring.  She, Kate, approached us about starting a regular date night with them and here's how it works--- Wednesday nights are reserved for date night.  We alternate- one week you are the sitter and the next week you get the date!  For example, this week I dropped Sam off with them just before 6:00 and Bryan and I had the date.  Next week, they will drop Graham off with us and they get some kid-free time!  It's just for two quick hours but it's amazing how nice that is every other week!  Last time Bryan and I went out for dinner... I ate warm food, we didn't have to slide everything on the table to one side, we didn't have to feed a little guy, I could actually look at Bryan while we conversed over our meal... it was delightful! : )  This week we ended up just coming home--- I took a nice long shower, we sat on the couch and watched tv and ate candy bars!  It was just as, if not more, wonderful!  Graham is a good little boy while he's here and since we would normally be just hanging out, playing before bed anyways- what's another kiddo here every other week?!  We'll see how new babies impact things but we are really thankful we decided to do it.  The kids get to play, the parents get a break, it doesn't cost anything and no special arrangements really have to be made.  Just something we'll plan on Wednesday nights while we're in this similar chapter of life.  We're lucky and oh so thankful to be able to plan on regular adult time together!  Good idea Kate and Tim!

I'm a Rotten Blogger : (

I know.  I'm terrible at this.  No excuses.  Just haven't taken the time to sit down here and record our happenings like I should.  : (  I'm going to try to be better again. 

Tonight I wanted to share a few random pictures from my phone.  Gives you a little glimpse into our days lately but isn't much.  More to come soon!

The new 'I'm kind of shy' pose... he's full of it.  He also climbs any sneaky chance he gets!

Proud climber again : )  What a grin!

 Almost 31 weeks here... not tiny I know!  I'm feeling great- just a bit bigger at this point with our little lady than I was with her brother- woah!!  Time is flying and we're so so excited to meet her soon!  You should see how quickly the stash of pink has accumulated in her closet!  : )

Sam and I finally got to go into an ISU game this past weekend- the weather cooperated.  It was a night game and after tailgating and watching the first quarter... a little snooze was evidently needed.  Not much lap for him to snuggle in on but we managed!  He did great!

Sweet sleeper- had to work pretty hard to wake him this afternoon after a long nap- he was one tired boy

What a look!  Guilty/sweet/are you kidding mom?!/naughty... those expressive eyes say it all for our boy!  The head tilt is more and more common too??  : )

Matt and Abbie and the four kiddos came back this past weekend and are here through the 10th!  Tonight they met my parents in Ames for an ISU volleyball game.  How stinkin cute are those three!?!?!

Random- but more to come soon- I promise!  JR