Proof

I love that technology can be wrong. it keeps life exciting:)

so here's our baby blurr at 8 weeks:)

Our baby girl at 20 weeks.

Graduation

Last Saturday my little sister graduated from BYU-ID with her BS in Interior Design. My family and I went up to Rexburg to celebrate her wonderful achievement.
We flew into the Rexburg airport and it was deceivingly beautiful...

It was sooo cold and windy. All of us crammed into Erin and Nate's apartment

We opened gifts...

My first baby gift! A Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper clutch!

Erin got a cute scarf and necklace from me and Laurel for her 22nd bday we missed. We took the kids for a swim:

and then the next day we went to her graduation ceremony.

Right after some pizza we got back in the plane and flew back to UT

You can see our house right there! I took a pic

The beautiful Wasatch Front.

I was so proud of myself for taking some pictures!

So anticlimatic

Well I guess there's no way to really post without just coming out with it. I'm having a baby boy. Due Sept 9th:) I know some people know already so I kind of missed the boat with the whole announcement thing, but here it is now for all to see. I'm 19 weeks and counting and even though I feel 10 lbs heavier you can't really tell so maybe that's why I haven't felt like I needed to announce because I don't even look pregnant. So I can't really use pregnancy as an excuse for cutting in long lines for the bathroom, falling asleep at 9:30 every night, eating every 2 hours, wearing leggings everyday--you get the picture. I don't even have any profile pics because it kind of looks retarded. This was me on the day we announced it to our family:

14 weeks and you can kinda see the bump if you look. I could still fit in my skinny's buttoned, but alas, that sure didn't last.

If it sounds like I'm trying to make it sound like being pregnant so far has been a breeze....you'd be right;) All the while I've been knocking on wood because I've had no morning sickness and have continued my routine pretty normally.

Now I am in that inbetween stage where I have to unbutton my pants:) Also, since it's getting warmer, finally, I'm trying to find VERY cool and light clothing...anyone have suggestions? I'm already hot all the time, and I know a lot of people think UT summers are great, but I totally disagree. They are WAY TOO HOT. I just want it to be 70 all summer long and then it'd be perfect. I plan to lay by the pool everyday if possible and read some books. 

The best part of weight gain though has been the increase of cup size:) already 2 and counting! I can't even imagine what breast feeding is going to be like...I feel like if they are any bigger I will bust out! (haha) You ladies understand.

So remember that special project I mentioned while I was in Arizona?? Well this was it!

A baby boy quilt and a baby girl quilt! Now that we know...I have one boy thing! YAY! Grace's mom is a superb quilter (and Grace isn't so bad herself) and they helped me make my first 2 quilts. It was a great learning experience. 

What were your first baby items you bought??

What were your favorite items?

A new type of Yummy!

From my favorite Lion House Cookbook Classics cookbook:

Carrot Apple Bisque
5-6 large carrots, peeled
1 Tbs butter or margarine
about 4 cups chicken broth
1 large apple, or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup light cream
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup minced green onion

Cut carrots into 1/2-inch chunks. Combine in saucepan with butter and 1 cup chicken broth. Cook, covered, until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. In the meantime, peel, core, and slice apple, adding it (or applesauce) to carrots for last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove pan from heat, uncover, and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
Whirl carrot mixture in blender until smooth, or force mixture through strainer. Stir in light cream and nutmeg, then remaining chicken broth, until soup is desired consistency. Serve hot, or cover and refrigerate to serve cold. Sprinkle with chopped green onion. makes 6-8 servings.

We enjoyed with:

Chicken Royale
4 whole chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2 Tbs butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms
2 Tbs flour
1 c light cream
1 c sour cream
1 tsp lemon juice
8 slices cooked ham
1/2 small package stuffing mix

using a meat mallet or rolling pin, flatten each piece, skinned side down, between pieces of plastic wrap to about 1/8-inch thickness. In large frying pan, melt butter; cook onion and mushrooms, covered, until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and reserve. in same pan, brown flattened chicken breasts; add more butter, if needed. Remove chicken pieces from pan and reserve.

Add flour to pan drippings and blend well. Gradually add light cream and sour cream. heat well but do not boil, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Add reserved onion and mushrooms, and lemon juice. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish. cut ham slices to fit chicken breasts, and place ham slices in baking dish. top each ham slice with about 1/4 c stuffing; then cover with a chicken piece. pour sauce mixture over all. Bake at 325 degrees for about half an hour, or until hot and bubbly and chicken is fork tender. Makes 8 servings.

Understanding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Part 2

KSL's JENNIFER LOVEN wrote today that:
"The law's most far-reaching changes don't kick in until 2014, including a requirement that most Americans carry health insurance(found Sec. 1501.) _ whether through an employer, a government program or their own purchase _ or pay a fine. To make that a reality, tax credits to help cover the cost of premiums will start flowing to middle-class families and Medicaid will be expanded to cover more low-income people(found in Sec. 1401 and Sec. 2001.). Insurers would no longer be allowed to deny coverage to people with health problems(found in Sec. 2705.).

Among the new rules on insurance companies that take effect this year are banning lifetime dollar limits on policies (found in Sec. 2711.) No lifetime or annual limits.and policy cancellations when someone gets sick. Insurers also will have to allow parents to keep children on their plans up to age 26 (found in Sec. 2714.) Extension of dependent coverage.. But a much-touted provision to protect children in poor health has a gap. Insurers would still be able to deny new coverage to kids with health problems until 2014, although they could no longer refuse to pay for a particular condition once the child is covered(found in Sec. 1251.).

The changes are to be paid for with cuts in projected government payment increases to hospitals, insurance companies and others under Medicare and other health programs, an increase in the Medicare payroll tax for some, fees on insurance companies, drug makers and medical device manufacturers, a new excise tax on high-value insurance plans and a tax on indoor tanning services."


As you can see where I've added the sections you can read about these policies in the bill--they really aren't lying about what's in this health care bill. Additionally....
Sec. 4205. Nutrition labeling of standard menu items at chain restaurants.
Sec. 4306. Funding for Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project.
Since when is it the government's responsibility to decide what is nutritious and what's not??

Sec. 4207. Reasonable break time for nursing mothers....this will get a section all of it's own

Understanding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Part 1

‘‘SEC. 2716. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON
SALARY.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The plan sponsor of a group
health plan (other than a self-insured plan) may not estab
lish rules relating to the health insurance coverage eligi
bility (including continued eligibility) of any full-time em
ployee under the terms of the plan that are based on the
total hourly or annual salary of the employee or otherwise
HR 3590 EAS/PP
establish eligibility rules that have the effect of discrimi
nating in favor of higher wage employees.
'‘(b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) shall not be con4
strued to prohibit a plan sponsor from establishing con5
tribution requirements for enrollment in the plan or cov6
erage that provide for the payment by employees with lower
hourly or annual compensation of a lower dollar or percent8
age contribution than the payment required of similarly sit9
uated employees with a higher hourly or annual compensa10
tion.
In plain English:
"an employer can't discriminate on which of their employees gets insurance (high or low salaried employees) BUT they can make those with larger salaries pay a larger portion than the lower salary employees for the same coverage plan."
This is simply another example of REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH--the basic tenet of Marxism

Things I love about Monday

1. Axe Body wash
2. Head and Shoulders shampoo
3. Printing from my laptop wirelessly
4. Stretchy pants
5. A good long run in the morning

What are your favorite things about Monday??

Sweet Home....Arizona??

So I've found that if I start reading others' blogs before I start my post....The post doesn't usually happen:)
But tonight will be DIFFERENT!

I got back last night from a week in sunny Arizona with my old roomie Grace. It was soo fun--lots of playing in the sun. I got some sewing projects done...(pictures will come later in a secret post--grace you know what i'm talking about) and then we cooked dinners together, went to 8:00am church (seriously, who does that?), went on bike rides, fed the ducks, played with nieces and nephews, and made some AMAZING BYU MINT BROWNIES. Yes, they tasted the same:)

Tyler joined me for the weekend and we got to visit his family that lives in Mesa, including Nana and Papa and some cousins I hadn't met yet. That makes it only 4 more that I haven't gotten to meet in person! (that's only 4 of 41 left...pretty good I think in 2 years)

So, enjoy the pictures

Grace and I enjoying a tasty breakfast at The Farmhouse

Watching the ducks swim 

Grace throwing the ducks some food

(notice they are swimming away from us and they wouldn't even eat our bread crumbs)

On our hike up to Canyon Lake (I think is what it's called)

Here we arrived at the Vista

 With Julia bulia and meeting baby Rushton for the first time (not pictured:))

All in all, leaving the 85 degree weather was sad(notice all the clear, blue skies) and the TSA guy at the PHX airport told me I could stay because there are tons of hospitals in Arizona!! haha. Thanks Grace for such a fun vacation and for buying me cookies and stuff...you're the best. YAY for roomie Vaca's!

Good things

Yoga. enjoy some of my favorite poses:

pigeon pose

Three-legged dog

Big toe grab

splits

Warrior 2

Warrior 3

Standing Split

Tree Pose

Fish Pose

AND....

 

The forearm stand...This is what I'm aspiring to. I think it is amazing how controlled her body is. This is why I love yoga so much because of the control and strength it takes to move the muscles into certain positions and hold them. That is also another reason I love ballet--they both take extreme discipline and lots of practice to develop the muscles to be able to perform what the poses or positions/routines demand.

Swimming pools in the summer. and guess who has one right next to their house....

A great haircut. Got my haircut last week by my friend Karissa and it sure feels great:)

SATURDAYS. with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Countdown to AZ...2 DAYS

As requested

A few of you have asked me to post pictures of the sewing projects I completed in this post, so here they are finally.
#1: the pants with the hole in the butt

 

I altered these from flares to straight leg

 

view from behind. you can't even tell there is was a hole!

#2 Chile/fat jeans I converted to skinny

sorry the picture quality isn't that great:)

The jacket was one I got from forever 21 and all i did was sew the hole closed. not really exciting:)

For some other projects I've been working on....

 

we went from this showerhead in our bathroom (imagine being sprayed by a hose 50ft away and that was what it felt like) 

to this one:

 

sooo much better:) and it was worth the $14.00 at Lowes

I submitted this dress 

 

to THIS contest. What do you think?

bytheway, countdown to Arizona trip is T-minus 8 days...

and I found this cuute little number

 

that will accompany me. it looks better on me of course!