02.17.10- Day 48

So... I said that I would talk later about Al's other Valentine's present to me. It was a pair of onesies (one blue and one pink) to give to our baby, which is due at the end of September! That's right, we're pregnant! We just had the first ultrasound today and the baby measured at 8 weeks, but the estimated dates based on my last cycle are between 9-10 weeks. So, we're going in for another ultrasound in about 10 days to confirm the age of the baby. I don't mind at all because it was such an awesome experience to see the little guy/girl's heart beating and a few "shimmies" (that's what they called the baby's movements). It all feels a little more real and I'm SO glad I wasn't making the whole thing up (I was a little worried that I had invented the baby in my mind and they were going to find nothing on the ultrasound- haha). We are so excited and glad that we now know that the baby is implanted and so far healthy- so we wanted to share our excitement with everyone else!!!!


Also, on our Valentine's date Alan took me to a nursery (like the one for plants) to look for a plant to buy for our baby, so that we can grow the plant and it will be the same age as our baby. Isn't he cute? Now you all know why it has been hard for me to be motivated to post on the blog lately- because I couldn't really talk about what I'm thinking! Be watching for pregnancy test and "belly" pictures. (haha- not much belly, but I am tracking my progress)

02.14.10- Day 45

Another Valentine's Day means another attempt at making a family recipe strawberry cake in Colorado. I haven't had a lot of success with appearance (they always taste good though!) The first year I tried, the cake completely crumbled when I tried to ice it and it turned into strawberry cake mush. The second time the cake was a little more solid, but a bit dry and we still had problems icing the cake (my mom tried to help me this time, but to no avail). This year, I came in determined with several new ideas. I was going to freeze the cake before I frosted it to prevent the crumbling experienced over the past two years. I also lined the bottom of the cake pan with wax paper to help it not stick. Alas, both those ideas worked really well, but it didn't help the fact that the cake didn't rise in the middle! This year's Valentine's cake is a crater cake! Notice the strawberries I put in the middle in the shape of a heart to hide the crater-hideousness. At least it tastes okay. Someday I will get this right!!!! Seriously- how hard can it be to bake a cake!
In order to re-establish my confidence as a cook, I made quiche for dinner- yum! Alan and I had a relaxing evening watching the Olympics (minus the fact that my stupid work laptop has another virus!!! I'm SO annoyed. I guess I can't use it at home anymore.) Time for bed!

02.12.10- Day 43

I had a lovely pre-Valentine's date with my lovely husband today (friday). It started off when I got home and he gave me an orchid and another gift, which I'll talk about in a few days. Then, we went to a nursery to look at house plants. We decided we want to buy a bonsai, but they were too expensive at the place we went. I'm excited about the nursery though- I kind of hate buying all my plants at chain stores like Lowes/Home Depot. I'd rather support a local business that grows Colorado friendly plants.

After we got back from the nursery, Alan took me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was really yummy. (The picture is my leftover Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake! Yum!)Also of note- I have tulips and daffodils coming up on the south side of my house! The soil is poor on this side of my house and I planted the bulbs too shallow. As a result, they come up around Arkansas time every year. The first year they bloomed, but last year they just sprouted leaves. I'm hoping they bloom this year, since we've had consistent snow all winter. You can see the bottom picture is what the rest of my yard (shaded by our tree) looks like.

2.08.10- Day 39

Okay, time for another post....
I'm still thinking on the whole idea of themes for each day of the week. Maybe I'll come up with something soon. It's been snowing for the past couple days straight, although not too hard and it hasn't been too cold. All that is changing with the snow clearing tonight and the low being 2 degrees. Boy, am I ready for spring! Good thing it's never cold for too long around here. It'll be in the upper 40's and sunny by the end of the week. I had a good/fun weekend with the Denver Art Museum's free day, BD's Mongolian BBQ, cake with friends, church, and hanging out with Alan. This week has started up like crazy with prep for 5 IEP meetings, 3 other meetings, and playing catch up with a lot of kiddos (when you have a lot of meetings, you miss a lot of kiddos). It's fun though.

Our church is starting the 1 Month to Live campaign on Valentine's Day. I'm not exactly sure what I think of these church-wide campaigns, but I'll definitely read the book and participate. (I've been part of 2 groups that have done the church/campus-wide Purpose-Driven Life campaign- which is not my fav) I think there is value when all the people of the church focus on the same ideas. So, I'll let you know what I think after getting into the book/study.

02.03.10- Day 34

Good grief. Sorry I've not been posting as regularly as usual (some how so far this year I've been apologizing for this often- hmmm...) Life has just been busy and I haven't been on the internet as much. I've also gotten into a routine, which involves regular night time activities, for example:
Sunday night- relax, catch up from weekend, watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition
Monday night- small group
Tuesday night- workout, girl accountability time/Biggest Loser
Wednesday night- sometimes no plans, sometimes catch up on the Bachelor (I know, I know- but I watched it once and now I'm stuck!)
Thursday night- yoga at 7-8
Friday night- generally hang out with friends or relax
Saturday night- generally hang out with friends or relax

All this excitement (haha- not that exciting) has left me with not a ton of energy to blog. Alas, I will remotivate. Perhaps I'll try to do daily themes or something- like Monday is favorite recipe, Tuesday is talk about life, Wednesday is pictures, etc. I'm not really sure.

This past week has been good- Small group was great with SO MUCH good food, Tuesday was fun with the girls, but we missed Carissa, tonight I've been a bit lazy (especially since I'm presenting an inservice for half of the day tomorrow.) Somehow I've definitely mellowed about presentations over the years. I feel like I know the material, so I'm not too worried about practicing what I'm going to say or writing slides. I'm just going to talk about it. Hopefully it turns out okay (maybe I should practice more?) Anyway, I guess I better go finalize everything before hitting the sack!