Okay, it's sticking!

For those that don't know yet, consider this your news bulletin. We are officially at 13 weeks of pregnancy. If you didn't notice the little baby gadget to the left...I'm the "Mommy". So, super excited. A little frightened when I think about the logistics of managing 2 babies 11 month apart, but God wouldn't give these blessings and leave me high and dry. I'm confident that He'll be showering our family with everything that we need. And just to be sure, I'm talking to His mom a lot. :)

Just had a doctor's appointment today. Heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Gave me goose-bumps. A strong 160 bpm. Yay! Everything looks good and we're officially in our 2nd trimester!

At the end of August (the 20-week mark) we'll likely be able to tell the baby's gender (yes, that's right, we're finding out. Don't worry, we'll be plenty surprised when they tell us...at the ultrasound. Then we'll be surprised and happy all over again when we get to meet the little guy or gal in person) and they'll do a 3-D ultrasound. Which is, seriously, one of the coolest things. You end up seeing your baby's face. No guessing if that black hole is an eye or just space. We're really looking forward to it!

The only lame-ish thing is that I have to switch OBs. For a lot of reasons, but mainly financial, we're opting for the Group Health plan at E's new job. I know, I know, there are commercials and billboards out there right now advertising that you can keep your doctors with GH now. Well, only if you have the "Options" plan and unfortunately that's not on the menu for us. C'est la vie. I'm not going to let it bother me too much at this point. The part that will bother me is giving up my thyroid doc. I think I'll still see him through the pregnancy and just count it as part of the cost. It's just too important to switch right now.

Okay, that about covers it then. I don't think this is a shocker for too many people out there. If it was, sorry about that...how do you think we felt? :)

Anywhodle, I'm off to try to sleep. It hasn't been the easiest thing for me lately.

Hope everyone had a nice Tuesday!

I'd like to teach the world...

...the correct usage of "I" and "me". Seriously. Don't get me wrong, I'm no grammar-nazi. You have only to read a paragraph of this blog to be assured of that (just like I'm not a spelling-nazi or a punctuation-nazi (my love of the comma and ellipse are fairly obvious)). I'm also not speaking to any one person, because there are gobs and skads and tons of people...college educated people...who don't seem to know this little grammar law.

Maybe it's because of my mom (sorry mom) or my english-major husband, but I cringe inwardly and sometimes physically flinch when I hear or read this infraction. Okay, so here is my schpiel.

First, the incorrect:

"Bill and me went on an awesome hike the other day."

"Here's Bill and I on our way to the big game.

The way you can tell these are wrong is by dropping the other person from the sentence (with some minor changes to the sentence to make it for one person) to see if it still makes sense.

"Me went on an awesome hike the other day." Um, not unless you're Animal from the Muppets.

"Here's I on my way to the big game." Again, not quite right. However, you could use "I" by further altering the sentence, but I don't want to muddy the lesson at this point.

Then there's the one that makes my eye twitch. You NEVER have to try to make "I" possessive. Ever. The proper possessives are "our," "my" or "mine" So, you should never do this:

"Bill and I's party was the bomb." mmmmuuh, I can barely type that without my head exploding.

Okay, so here are the correct ways to write all of these sentences...just for the sake of clarity.

"Bill and I went on an awesome hike the other day."

"Here's Bill and me on our way to the big game." Yes people, you can use "...and me" and it IS correct.

"Our party was the bomb."

If you are one of the people who abuse "I" (and you know who you are), trust me, proper usage (especially in business situations) will make you sound a whole lot more competent.

Okay, I'll step down off of my soapbox and return this blog back to its more frivolous nature. Thanks for letting me get that off of my chest.

Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy...

I think this quote is attributed to Ben Franklin and he was expounding on the virtues of beer. Now, don't get me wrong, it was no mistake that beer was invented by monks. However, I am now convinced that the real evidence of God's love and mercy comes to us through CHEESE.

I have had a hankering for cheese lately. Who am I kidding, I'll take cheese just about any time. So strong is the love it is even part of what bonds me to some friends. Anyway, this craving sent me on a search for the perfect mac and cheese.

My first stop was a favorite site, smittenkitchen, and I wasn't disappointed. The recipe that I found was attributed to Martha Stewart and looked awesome. After reading through and making a shopping list I started to think that it sounded like a recipe from a MS cookbook that I owned...and it was! If you get this cookbook be warned, the drool begins when flipping through the pages. Seriously, at her judgement, whatever sins Martha has committed, I think God should really take this recipe (and the happiness that it has brought to me and many others) into consideration. :)

I used a nice English sharp white cheddar from Costco called Coastal. I was hoping for Beecher's Flagship (THE best cheese ever) but I needed 18 ounces and that would have been pretty costly, so I settled for the Coastal which turned out to be perfect. I also went with the Gruyere instead of the Pecorino Romano, another good choice. For the bread crumbs I used a buttermilk white bread.

I would have put a picture up...but a) my tiny kitchen was a bit of a disaster after the cooking and b) I was too busy inhaling as much of this stuff as I could. MMMMMMMMMMM. If you know what's good for you, make this.

It's official!

time flies when you have a baby!

I can hardly believe that it's been over 2 months since my last post!! Sorry to all of my faithful readers (read Mom). :) Since I only have a tiny amount of "two-handed" time, I'll just post some pictures. However, the chickens are doing fine as are the dog and the hubby.

These are 2-month pictures. She's wearing a little outfit that was mine when I was a baby!

Instead of putting a quarter next to her to give you an idea of her growth, here she is in the same outfit, then and now.

At 1 day old:

At 2 months and 10 days old:

Below: Pictures with Grandma and Grandpa P.

Much anticipated...more pictures

Our sweet baby

Preemie vs. 0-3 months

I love this picture

Cousin O loves CMD

Our new little miracle!

Born 2/6/09, 4lbs 8oz, 18 inches