Fondue Fun

Steve and I made an impulse buy at Target the other day.  It was a fondue pot!  Now most of you probably think of doing cheese or chocolate in a fondue pot, but you might not have heard of actually cooking your food in it.  A few weeks ago we went to The Melting Pot in Salt Lake.  There are 4 courses, first is your cheese fondue where you dip veggies, bread, and apples.  Then comes your salad...no dipping involved here. Then your main course where you dip meats in either broth or oil.  And last of all is your chocolate dessert fondue where you dip fruits, marshmallows, and cakes.  

We decided to try out the main course fondue at home.  So we found a recipe for the broth we had at the Melting Pot restaurant and made that at home.  The restaurant also gives you about a million different sauces to dip your food in.  In this picture you can see we had a million too!  I labeled them all so we could tell what was what.  Down on the end was my favorite dipping sauce...KETCHUP!

 The night before Steve started marinating steak and chicken in different sauces.  We had teriyaki chicken and steak, pepper steak, and lemon herb chicken.  Plus we had shrimp and cheese ravioli.  

 Here is our set-up.  We ate at the bar so we could keep the pot boiling.

 Another view!

 Oh we also had some apple sausages...my favorite!

 Here are our veggies and raviolis.  

 Cookin' some stuff!

 We are officially stuffed!  The biggest part of fondue is the prep work.  We had so much left over we should have done it again the next night, but didn't.  So a lot of the stuff went to waste.  Oh well, we will know for next time.

It's a GIRL...Still!

Yay!  We had another ultrasound the other day and thankfully our sweet little girl is healthy, right on track, and wait for it...still a girl!  Our doc suggested we have another ultrasound because he said my stomach had grown 9 centimeters in 4 weeks!  Wowza!!!  Your stomach is supposed to be about in line with how many weeks pregnant you are.  So if you are 30 weeks pregnant it should measure somewhere close to 30 centimeters from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus.  When I went in for my 21 week appointment I measured 22 which wasn't bad especially since I was 21 1/2 weeks pregnant.  Well when I went in for my 25 week appointment I measured 31 centimeters!  Yikes!  Dr. Joseph said there could be a number of reasons why it was such a big increase.  He said the baby might just be big (okay, no problem), there might be too much amniotic fluid (uh, what does that mean?), and/or I might have gestational diabetes (which would make the baby big).  He said don't worry, yeah right!  Hello, that is all I do!  So I went and looked up "too much amniotic fluid" on the internet...bad idea!  I won't even get into all the reasons there might be too much fluid, but to name a few...heart defects, hasn't developed swallowing reflex, gestational diabetes...etc.
Well after a week of worry and anxiousness, we went for our appointment on Friday.  The tech told us everything was great!   No more fluid than there should be, she weighs 1 lb 14 oz, and everything looked "textbook".  What a relief!
I am still worried a little about gestational diabetes, I have my test next week to check for that.  After some talking to my mom, we kind of think she had gestational diabetes when she had Elias and me, but they didn't check for that sort of thing back then.  Elias weighed in at 10 lbs 11 oz and I was 9 lbs 5 oz.  So we probably have a family history, I'm overweight and such, so that just adds to the risk factors.  So I will keep you updated on that!
We were very thankful for this ultrasound to ease our minds about anything wrong with our little one and to reaffirm that we are having a girl.  I just don't know what I would do if she turned out a he.  The ultrasound tech told us if she comes out a boy, to tell them it isn't mine and to go find my baby girl!  hahaha So I think she is pretty darn sure our cutie is a girl!
Here are some ultrasound pics from this appointment:

This one is of her face, her mouth is slightly open.  

 This is another of her face, now her mouth is closed.

 Here is her little bottom with a hamburger bun in between the legs! ;-)

Here is a profile of her face.  Her mouth is open a little and that is an arm or hand near her mouth.

And last but not least her leg with a foot!

The tech said she was head down, bum in the air, and legs in front of her face.  So she was folded in half with he little tooshie in the air....CUTE!!!

This little girl is going to be SPOILED!

Steve and I have a disease...it's called Can'tstopbuyingcutestuffitis.  If you've ever suffered from this disease, you know what we are going through: constantly out of money, running out of closet space already for the baby, can't go through ANY store without buying something for her, the list goes on. 
Our very first purchase was a high chair...I know, I know, why did we choose that first when she won't even be able to use it till she is like 5-6 months old?  I DON'T KNOW, it's part of the disease!  Here is our cute high chair.  We bought it before knowing she was a girl, but it was the one we liked best and it doesn't matter anyway.  My favorite color is blue, why can't our cutie like blue too?!?!  The high chair also comes apart to be just a booster seat.

Since that first purchase, it's all gone down hill.  We originally thought the disease was just an acute problem.  We were so wrong!  It has spiralled into a chronic illness!
This is our new dresser.  We absolutely love it!  Any ideas on how to get the smell out of the drawers?  Dryer sheets???

All of these clothes are sorted by size and type.  We have a sock/hat/bib drawer, white onsies drawer, newborn drawer, 0-3 and 3 month drawer, jammies drawer, 3-6 and 6 month drawer, and blanket/bedding drawer!  I don't think we need any more newborn size and possibly 0-3 month size.

Here is the closet.  Clothes are sorted by size in here also.  The big poofy purplish black thing is a tutu I bought off of etsy.  Now that I see how simple it was to make...in the future if I want a bigger one, I'll make it myself.  (Oh, and now I have an obsession with etsy!  I've bought a ton more things from there, but they are still being made or are being delivered!)

Here is her crib and hamper.  If you look closely through the handle on the hamper, you can see it is filled with more baby clothes that need washing.  It's a disease I tell ya!  And do you just love the bedding?  Not too girly, but then again we don't want to raise a princess...we want an independent kind of gal!  We bought this crib at JC Penny's.  We ended up only having to pay $73 for it!  We had $135 in gift cards from Christmas and it was already 50% off, plus we had a promotional code.  (Did you know you can just find those on the internet?)  This crib can eventually be a toddler bed, day bed, and headboard/foot board for a full size bed.

One of Steve's coworkers was selling some of their old baby stuff they had for their grandchildren.  So we bought everything in the next picture for $80.  There is a bassinet that will be used in our room before we introduce our cutie to her crib, a bouncer with vibrations, and a swing.  I think it was a pretty good deal!

Now I have to let you know, this disease is contagious!  My mother has caught it in a very bad way.  You might want to keep a safe distance from her if you see her.  She has bought numerous outfits from the closet/dresser shots, a crib mattress, and these:

Oh Mom!  We love you!  Thank you for the stroller/car seat, 2 bases for our cars, Pack n' Play, and crib mattress!
Wow, after looking at all this, I have a sudden urge to go to Babies 'R Us....who's with me?  Anyone?  Anyone?

Whoa! Where'd that belly come from?

Well, as most of you know by now, We're Expecting!  We are due July 5, 2011.  

In the wee hours of the morning on November 1st, I was wide awake.  My period was five days late and I knew there was a pregnancy test in the bathroom.  I anxiously waited for Steve's alarm to ring at 4:15 am.  When it did, I told him I wanted to take the test.  He was pretty excited and said okay!  I was totally expecting a negative but wanted to be sure so I could go back to sleep!  Little did I know a few minutes later our world would change!  So I read the directions thoroughly to make sure we didn't screw it up.  I set the stick on the counter and finished up.  Before I could even stand up, it had two clear pink lines in the window! Steve was shocked and started looking for the instructions to make sure that two lines meant positive.  (By the way, it says right on the stick!  Silly boy!)  I was completely shocked and instantly started crying out of worry and excitement.  How much Ibuprofen had I taken in the last month????  I didn't know!  

Then we started discussing who and how we were going to tell.  We decided to tell my parents and Steve's sister Carolyn that evening.  Right after work I ran to Robert's Crafts and bought a sheet of iron on transfer paper.  I designed the logo on Optimus' shirt below.  It reads "I'm going to be a BIG BROTHER! July 2nd".  We invited my mom over for dinner that night (my dad was at work) and let Optimus out into the living room to greet her.  She read his shirt and said "You're getting a new puppy?"  She claims she understood, but didn't want to jump to conclusions.  Oh and Steve was also wearing a t-shirt that said I <3 hot moms!  

After mom left, we rushed out to see my dad at the fire station.  I'm sure he was curious as to why we wanted to make a sudden visit late in the evening.  We showed him a close up of the picture above and he did not "get it".  We explained some more and then he said, "Oh!"  Then we zoomed out to North Salt Lake to tell Carolyn and Bob.  They had to expect something was up.  It was well past 9 pm now.  We sat them on the couch and just told them.  It was pretty exciting because Carolyn had recently told us she was expecting.  And Steve's other sister Keri was also expecting!  Wow, how did that happen?  Well, okay, I know how it actually happened, but if you don't, go ask your mom and dad!  

I already had my yearly exam scheduled with my OB/GYN for two weeks from that day.  But of course I called them to see if I needed to or could possibly (even if I didn't NEED to) come in earlier.  They just said they would change my appointment type and I was all set to come in on the day I was already scheduled...dang!  Oh well, we waited very patiently (not!) for that day to come.  I was soooooo nervous!  When the day finally came, I was so anxious and such a bundle of nerves that my blood pressure was uber duber high.  It was like 165/110!  Yikes!  They took my B.P. again after my appointment and it wasn't as high, but still on the higher end.  I was scheduled for an ultrasound later that week.  Here is our little peanut.  We were told the little circle with the black spot in it on the right was the yolk sac.  The yolk sac later becomes part of our little baby's belly.   As you can see in the picture our nut was 7 weeks old in this pic.

Steve and I had figured out the date of conception since at the time I had been keeping track on my phone.  We thought the due date would be July 2nd.  But the doc went by the first day of my last menstrual cycle which put our due date at July 5th.  By the way, I don't think I mentioned this, but our sweet baby was planned and we had been trying for just two months!

Now it's time to watch the ever expanding belly and boobies!  hahaha Sorry had to put that in there!  This is me at 9 weeks.

12 weeks Wow!  Who did that hair?  Apparently not me!

15 Weeks

18 Weeks

21 weeks I originally thought that I'd wear the same shirt over and over to see how tight it got, but then I got tired of all my pics looking the same.  So now I switch it up.

24.5 Weeks  Getting bored of that same smile week after week?...I am!  My belly seems to have actually shrunk in this one.  We keep track on the door behind me with blue tape and this time around it was smaller.  

About a month or so ago, I started to get major back aches sometimes in my lower back, but mostly my upper back.  I tried out the basic belly support band which was just a wide elastic strap that went around your back and under your belly.  That NEVER stayed in place.  So I had to go back and get the industrial strength one! Mikey here is demonstrating what I wear under my clothes every day.  He looks much cuter in it than I do!  I think it actually fits him better too!  He doesn't have my "wide load coming through" hips!

On February 24th we went in for our big ultrasound!  We were super excited because we hopefully would find out the gender of our little baby.  After actually seeing a baby in there...whew!! we asked the tech what side my placenta was on.  Steve had read a study done a few years ago that could identify the gender of a baby as early as 6 weeks by seeing what side the placenta was on.  It has a success rate of about 97% so we were excited to see if it was right.  The tech told us the placenta was on the left back side.  That would mean a girl. We had always thought it was a girl for some reason, but weren't sure.

This is our sweet baby's profile.  That would be a leg sticking out of its belly. :-)  

 Here is the baby's arm.

 This is another profile of the face.

 This is looking straight on at the face.  The big circle on the right is the belly.

Here is a cute little foot.  Can you see the big toe spread apart from the other ones?

 Here is our favorite picture.  You can see the baby's spine and profile.

To tell the family what the gender was we decided to have a big reveal party.  I made cupcakes and had dyed the batter pink or blue for the gender of our little one.  Steve was soooo cute. He decided to make a survey on his new Motorola Xoom tablet.  As the family came into the house, they each had to state their name and what they thought our little baby was, a boy or a girl.  Out of 18 people, 11 said boy and 7 said girl.  What is just amazing is I did a graph in my class the next day to see what those kiddies thought it was going to be and we had EXACTLY the same results.  Eleven kids said boy and 7 kids said girl.  (By the way, no I do NOT only have 18 kids in my class....I wish!  Some were just absent.)

Here is a picture of mom finding out.  It's a little fuzzy, but you can see the excitement.  She took a big ol' bite out of her cupcake!

Here is Grandma Adams' reaction!  She had licked a small bit of frosting off the top!

Here are more of the family eating their cupcakes.  Notice Grace's cupcake in the middle of the table.  We had told all the kids they couldn't even TOUCH them until I said "go".  I think that just confused poor Grace and she thought she was being punished when we told her she couldn't touch it.  It took a lot of encouragement to get her to touch and eat her cupcake.  

If you didn't know already, or couldn't see the cupcakes, here is the ultrasound picture that explains it all!

IT'S A GIRL!! 

Well, I think this is a pretty sufficient blog post for the first one in almost a year!  Yikes!  But next time I will show you all the awesome baby stuff we have already gotten.  Both Steve and I can't seem to leave a store without first walking through the baby department.  It doesn't matter if we've walked through it recently before, we still have to have a looksie!  ;-)

Our West Haven Home

As I'm sure most of you know, we moved to West Haven.  Goodbye busy Gentile, hello Cul-de-sac!  We have been living in our new house for about a month.  We have almost emptied all the boxes, but then I think about a 10 x 10 square foot storage unit that is still full of all my pre-marriage junk and that makes me sad.  So let's focus on the positive!  I have the kitchen and dining room completely decorated to my liking and am ready to show it to the world, or ya know to the 2 blogstalkers, I mean, loyal fans (you know who you are)! 

Above you can see the beautiful front of the house.  Please ignore the dead grass...we're working on it!

Here is the back of the house.  We have a small deck.  Then this next picture gives you an idea of how big our lot is.  Our house sits on 0.6 acres.  The blue tarp all the way in the background is our dog run.  Eventually there will be grass in the foreground of this picture. 

And now for the inside!

Here is the dining room and kitchen.

A closer view of the kitchen.  We started out wanting a bistro feel to our kitchen.  That has since changed to a wine, grape, and vine feel for our kitchen.  On top of the cabinets are grape vines with grapes. 

A closer view of the dining room.  We got this cool chandelier with vines inside the glass cups or you can put them outside for a more dramatic look.  We both adored the bar stool height table.  It can sit up to ten!  And no we will not be filling it with kids anytime soon.  And don't worry, we DO realize it may or may not be a good thing to have this high of a table when we do have kids! 

You can see our massive pantry in this picture...just imagine it through that door.  Over on the wall is an awesome wine rack with some wine paintings.

Here is a closer look.

As I finish decorating the rooms, I will post more pics...so you know this could take years for you to see my whole house!  You might as well come over and see it in the process!  Oh, and I expect you to bring a basket of house warming cookies!  Yumm!