Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness seems to be a constant thing for me these days. I feel as though I cannot remember what I was doing even 5 minutes ago. Maybe someone took my brain and replaced it with chocolate cake or pie or something? I don't think that's possible but it sure feels like it! The thing that I've forgotten that has bugged me the most is....my watch...it's gone...vanished...misplaced...somewhere that I cannot seem to find! The problem with the watch being gone is that on Friday I did a super major deep cleaning/organization of my house and bedroom. That means I cleaned off my dresser where I keep my jewelry and my watch. This dresser also collects numerous other things including stray books, lotions, makeup, jewelry, hair accessories, random things from my pocket, papers that just seem to collect there...etc. It's a catch all in my room. So I completely cleaned it off, organized it and put things in specific places. All the jewelry is put away, the lotions are in a basket, the papers have been thrown away or put in their proper place, the hair accessories have a drawer, everything is in it's proper place! It looks great and I feel great about getting it done! So here is my delima...I remember telling myself "I am going to put my watch here so I remember where it is." AND I NOW HAVE NOOOO CLUE WHERE "HERE" IS? This is really frustrating me to no end. I searched the entire dresser and it's nowhere. But I know that I put it somewhere specific if I could only remember where that is..... I have been without a watch now for 5 days and I feel as though I've lost one of my limbs or something else really important that you should not lose.  I am just hoping that it turns up soon...Ughhhh the perils of pregnancy!!!!

Feeling Ready

So as the time is quickly approaching that Parker will make his entrance into this world I am beginning to actually feel somewhat ready.  I have my bag all packed and ready to go to the hospital and I have most of his things all packed as well.  There are still a few small things I need to put in our bags but for the most part we could leave with what is in there and be perfectly fine!  I would like to get him a cute going home outfit but if that doesn't happen then there are outfits at the house I can take!  Also the nursery is feeling ready as well!  We have a glider now and the room is organized, his outfits are washed and everything is in order!  Its getting so exciting!!! 

Despite the excitement I am still scared out of my mind at having a newborn!!!!!!  I am just so nervous I won't do something right or that I will drop him or something horrific like that!  I also think I am going to be so paranoid with other people wanting to hold him and being afraid that they will drop him...how do all you other mothers out there deal with these anxieties or am I the only one having these thoughts???  I know these thoughts are realistic and that babies are more resilient than we give them credit for but I'm still paranoid about it!!! 

The past few weeks have been such great fun spending time with family and friends!  Last Saturday my family threw me a baby shower and this Saturday my friends Di and Laurie are throwing me a baby shower!  I almost started crying at the first shower because I felt so loved and overwhelmed by all the sweet gifts!  (Crying is very uncharacteristic of me but these pregnancy hormones have me all out of whack)  And two Saturday's ago I spent the day with my best friend Di and we went to an arts and crafts festival at a local town and it was so much fun!  They had so many unique booths with so much talent there!  It was amazing to see!  Afterward we went to a park and took some pictures of me to document this pregnancy journey!  She has such an eye for the artistic and she did a wonderful job at taking the photos!!! I love them all!!!  Here are a few of my favorites below (these pictures were taken at 33 weeks)!!! Enjoy and hope everyone has a great week!!!

 

Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake was my endeavor for today and I am proud to say that it went really well!  This is the first cheesecake that I've made that didn't sink or crack.  I am so impressed that I had to share it with all of you!  I took a recipe from a book I had and modified it a bit to fit what I had in my pantry!  So the recipe below is my altered version!

Crust:
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
32 gingersnap cookies, coarsely crushed
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
6 tablespoons of melted butter


Filling:
3 packages of cream cheese softened
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of canned or fresh pumpkin
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of pancake or maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
4 eggs lightly beaten

1.  Place a greased 9 inch springform pan on a double thickness of aluminum foil; securely wrap foil around pan.  Place walnuts and gingersnaps in the food processor; cover and process until ground.  Add the brown sugar and butter; cover and pulse until blended.  Press onto the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of the prepared pan.

2.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth.  Beat in the pumpkin, cream, syrup, almond extract and spices.  Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.  Pour into crust.  Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 inch of water to larger pan.

3.  Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until center is just set.  Remove pan from water bath.  Cool on wire wrack for 10 minutes.  Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.  Chill overnight. 

4.  EAT and ENJOY!!!  (Serve with whipped cream)

I am so excited about eating this and don't think I will be able to wait the "overnight" it calls for!!!  My crust is not so superb looking but this might have something to do with the fact that I do not have a food processor and I used my blender...which wouldn't be so bad but I do believe my blender was very angry with me and it didn't get it as smooth as it should!  Oh well!  I can't wait to cut into this beauty!!!  Hope everyone has a great night and wonderful weekend!!! It should be glorious!!!

Beach Pictures

 So I know its taken over 2 weeks for me to put up some beach pictures but here they are better late than never! It was a great week with superb weather!  I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to but here are a few of my favorites!  

 This little guy was my constant companion throughout the week.  Every time I was sitting on the beach he was out there talking to me!  He had such funny stories and asked tons of questions about everything!  He played bocce ball with us almost every time we were out there.  In the picture above he won the game and so he wanted me to take his picture!  When I said smile this is the face I got!  I'm not so sure if its a smile or a grimace or an I'm confused face! 

 

Here is my brother in law's girlfriend, my sister in law and my little friend D.  I love the way he has his shorts pulled up!  

 My sister in law and I out on the beach! 

 

 I love the late summer to go to the beach!  Its so much more serene and quiet!  It was the perfect place to have some downtime and enjoy spending time with family!  I learned how to play spades while on vacation and beat my brother in law and father in law in quite a few games of scrabble!  :)  Overall it was a great relaxing week and I'd love to go back sooner rather than later! 

Beach stories

The beach is one of my all time favorite places to be!  With the sun shining down, the crashing waves all around, and smell of the salty surf in the air its just magnificent!  Beaches are one of God's most beautiful and relaxing creations that I love to visit as much as possible!  This week we are vacationing at the beach and it has already been a blissful few days!  The weather is perfect, the waves aren't too big and the sand isn't too hot!  September is such a great time to go to the beach however you do run the risk of hurricanes that time of year!  We arrived on Saturday after an excruciatingly long and uncomfortable car ride!  We are staying in a duplex house with one family staying upstairs and our family staying downstairs.  The family upstairs has three adorable little boys ages 4, 9, and 11.  They are quite hysterical especially the 4 year old!  He is one of the most talkative 4 year olds I've ever met and I truly hope our little one will be as charismatic and funny as this little cutie pie!  Every day when i see him he tells me his name and then asks mine!  I'm thinking by the end of the week he might remember my name but who knows!  He also sits and talks to me while I am lounging on the beach!  He told me stories of preschool (he bit a little girl over a ball), he tried to dig a hole to China, he played with our bocce ball set, questioned me about everyone in our party, told me about his family/pets and asked me lots of questions! 

The first day out on the beach I was sitting in my chair at the waters edge and he had just come down from the house and became very concerned because he thought my chair was sinking into the water and was getting wet.  He came rushing up "your chair, you chair, its wet, its sinking."  After I explained to him that it was okay that I wanted my chair that way he was okay with me sitting there!  After talking about my chair he pointed to my protruding belly and said "What's that? Why is your belly so fat?"  I then explained to him that I had a baby in my belly and he started laughing.  It was honestly one of the funniest conversations I've ever had! 

Today he talked to me for quite a while.  I was laying on the sand and had dug a hole for my belly to sit in so that I could lay on my stomach.  So while I was lounging he was playing with a shovel and talking to me.  After a while he asked me "Ard you naked?"  I explained to him no that I was wearing a swimming suit.  He then said "No those are underwear."  I then explained again that I was not wearing my underwear that I was wearing a swimming suit.  He then told me "I'm wearing a bimming suit too." It was so comical, and now my hubbys family thinks its so funny that he thinks that I walk around naked/in my underwear while on the beach.

These little boys certainly have made our trip pretty entertaining and fun!  The two oldest boys have thrown football with my hubby, his brother, dad and brother-in-law and then they all played bocce ball together!  Its really cute to see them all interacting with these little ones and how much they mimic and look up to them!  The middle one while playing football would mimic the older guys motions and movements.  One of them would wipe of the ball in the water so he would wipe off the ball int he water, one would rinse of his hands and then he would rinse off his hands, one would run in a pattern to catch the ball so he would run in the patter to catch the ball!  Its really cute!  It makes me smile watching them especially seeing my hubby interacting with them because it makes me even all the more anxious for our little one to get here so that we can have a little one of our own to play with! :-)  10 more weeks to go until his expected arrival and the time will fly by I'm sure!  Anyways, I'm sure I'll post some pictures soon of the sunsets and other beachy things! Hope everyone's week is as relaxing as mine!

Crafts

I have been feeling very craftsy as of late and would like to share some of the things I've made with you!  Around a week ago I made a scrapbook of our Las Vegas trip from Nov 2010!  I love to scrapbook and I figured since the baby will be here sooner rather than later I should really start scrapbooking all the events that I've been neglecting!  I am also going to be making one for our cruise to the Bahamas from Sept 2010!  That will be started sometime here in the near future!  

Secondly I've been wanting to make a taggie blanket for the baby!  So Saturday night I had the house to myself except for the animals and I sewed away!  It's quite cute!  Its got wild animals on one side and then the other side is red and back checkered with paw prints!  I asked my hubby which one I should make and he suggested to do one side in the animal print and the other side in the paw prints!  So I did and I really like it!  I've made numerous taggie blankets before however I've never used my sewing machine so this was my first attempt with using the sewing machine and let me tell you its so much easier and much much faster!!! 

 

Whilst sewing on Saturday night I received an email from my friend MK about another sewing project that she found!  Since I was in such a crafty mood I decided to attempt that as well!!! I had a shirt that I've never worn because it just never fit right and I was able to make it into something that I really like!  So I'm quite proud of myself for using my sewing machine for two projects this weekend! 

The shirt is slightly hard to see due to its pale color!  I love the idea of "Re-Styling" your closet so I think I'm going to have to see what other ideas this crafty lady comes up with on her blog!  This is also the first outfit where someone who didn't know me asked if I was expecting so that makes me like this shirt all the more!  It's only take 28.5 weeks for someone to ask but they finally did!!! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Tea

As I sit here drinking my "peacefuL mama" tea I am so very thankful that this pregnancy insomnia only hits me on occasion! I will just lay awake for hours...thinking of all the things I want to do and need to do! I will think about my day and how the next few days will go...I will think about the baby and wonder who he is going to look like...I will plan out how I want the baby's room to look...I will think of how much work I have to do at work and the expectations that there are so many things to get done...I think about all the crafts I'd love to do...I think about new foods I'd like to try and make...I think and ponder and plan for hours on end! It's not that I am not tired because I really am it's just that my mind is racing and just will not slow down!!! One of my friends gave me this wonderful box of tea that included my peaceful mama tea and now every time I experience these bouts of insomnia I am able to get up from bed, make myself a cup of tea and get back to bed within thirty minutes or so feeling much more calm and ready to rest!!! It has truly been a blessing and I would recommend it to all those prego ladies out there that are suffering from any kind of insomnia!!! The box of tea also included a morning wellness tea, heart burn tea, and third trimester tea! It's a wonderful little box with lots of remedies!!!

So some of the things I've been thinking about this evening include the baby room, whether or not I will have electricity in the morning to make my blueberry French toast casserole, if I should invest in earthquake insurance, if earthquake insurance is even needed, training my dog, making baby blankets, scrap booking, church, painting/decorating the youth room at church, whether a tree will fall on my house during this hurricane and work! So needless to say my mind is not at rest but hopefully here shortly I will be able to get back to bed and get some much needed sleep!!!