5 Years Ago Today...

This party started and what a ride it has been!

We both cannot believe how fast time has gone by. We are so blessed to have each other and look forward to the next five.

I Love You Babe.....Here's to Eternity!

Per Several Requests...

Ain't it grand? This is the very first belly shot I have ever taken. I never took any with Noelle and it's the first time with this baby. I took this on Friday and Aaron thinks it's gotten even bigger, probably true!

Note: You really know you are a stay-at-home-mom when you are at the kitchen table combing through and marking the grocery store ads with an ENORMOUS Strawberry Shortcake pen.

Mmmmmmm......

This week we had the missionaries over for dinner. I always try to come up with something 'different' because I am sure they eat a lot of casseroles and pasta. This time, we had a potato bar...it was y.u.m.m.y if I do say so myself. We were all in carb comas afterwards.

Daddy helped Noelle get her food after a serious tantrum, but I'll save you those details. Had I been doing the food, I would have smashed it up so that I could make sure to get the broccoli in there, give her chicken, salad, etc. Not Daddy! Here's some potato, bacon, cheese and sour cream. She picked up that thing and started chowing...needless to say she loved it. It's a good thing he is around or things would be no fun at all.

"Perfect" Baby Girl

"Perfect" is the adjective Dr. Tabsh used on Wednesday after my ultrasound. Music to our ears! What a contrast to how worried I was 3 months ago. She looked adorable on the ultrasound moving everywhere, gulping down amniotic fluid. He even paused so we could "look at that cute button nose!" Dr. Tabsh is a very stern man of few words with NO bedside manner. So, something like that coming out of his mouth is nothing short of a miracle.

She is in the head down position, which is news I like and weighs an estimated 2lbs 5oz. I got a green light on taking some Zyrtec for my allergies because I am MISERABLE.

He also wants me to switch Endocrinologists and see Dr. Tamagna, who I heard is the best but she is not accepting new patients. His reply (in a deep Lebanese accent) was, "Well, tell that crazy Cooper I want you to see Tamagna." I saw Cooper today and apparently she thinks he got her kids into some fancy shmancy school and got her son a job at the hospital so he is going to get me an appointment on Monday. He also confirmed she is head down by squeezing my belly...ouch! Noelle greeted him by pulling up her shirt and he thanked her for showing him her breasts....everyone else does anyway.

Bread Recipes

Here is the recipe that only requires one rise.

No Fail Yeast Bread

5 cups warm water
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 tablespoon salt
1 cup honey or 3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoon yeast
3 tablespoon dough enhancer, (optional) (I used bottled lemon juice)
11 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used only Whole Wheat, no white)

This recipe is easiest if a large mixer is used. If a mixer is unavailable, dough may be kneaded by hand. Combine water, oil, salt, sugar (or honey) and dough enhancer. Add yeast, mix. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. I am not sure exactly how much flour I used, after a few cups I just started to slowly pour it in directly from the bag. My KitchenAid was not quite big enough, so I dumped out the dough and kneaded in by hand just enough to make it workable. Knead for 8 - 10 minutes (I only did for a couple minutes.) Divide into 4 parts. Shape each part into a loaf and place into greased loaf pans. Cover and allow to rise until dough is 1 inch above pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 30 min. Makes 4 loaves.


Here is the recipe that I normally use. I have tried out several recipes and this has been my favorite. After making it a couple of times, making sure I liked it, I have had fun adding other healthy stuff. I don't really measure just eye-ball ground flax seed, rolled oats (not instant), FiberSure (kind of like Metamucil but when mixed in just disappears). The sky's the limit!

Whole Wheat Bread
2 packets of yeast
2 cups of warm water
1/2 cup of sugar
1 TB salt
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup of oil
6 or so cups of flour

1. Dissolve yeast in water. Then add the sugar, salt, eggs, oil, and half the flour.
2. Beat that til it is smooth.
3. Add in the rest of the flour as the mixer is going until it is the right consistency.
4. let it knead for a couple minutes.
5. Let it rise for an hour.
6. punch it down and then shape it into two loaves (if you kinda roll it in a tube it turns out pretty) and put them in prepared loaf pans.
7. Let it rise for another hour.
8. Bake it at 375 for half an hour, or maybe a little less.

Go forth and bake! Making your own bread really is not that much work, once it becomes habit. We use it for everything just like store bought bread.

P.S. Make sure you take a stick of butter and rub it all over the tops of the loaves right out of the oven!

Weekend Fun

After our usual Friday lunch at the park this is what Noelle looked like. The jeans have a very dark wash on them. The sprinklers came on and the kids went wild. We were there for three hours!

After bath time and something to eat this is what Noelle did. I was glued to the TV watching the Metrolink accident and realized it was too quiet. She was passed out.

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A quick note about the accident, my heart is still aching for everyone involved. I rode the Metrolink for the entire time I worked at Aramark and it was a great all around experience. You really do become a weird kind of family. I started riding the 111 train when we moved out here to Simi and I was already pregnant with Noelle, so it was only about 4 months, but it was still all too real. I pray that everyone is recovering from the ordeal.
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On a lighter note we had a great Saturday. I got to enjoy breakfast with two of my best girls Erin and Ruthie for Erin's birthday. Then I got to go to the Chiropractor. Oh, I love that lady, I am a new woman.

Auntie had asked if they could take Noelle for the night since it had been a long time. We ran several errands in record time and then decided to drive to Culver City for some Tito's Tacos. This place has been around since the 50's for good reason. We had just sat down and in walked the Reeves and Lovios, it was funny! I am still thinking about the salsa.......mmmmmmm....

After tacos we hopped over to one of my other favorite places on the planet Diddy Reise, got an ice cream and walked around Westwood and the UCLA campus. It was wonderful. Afterwards I was so stuffed, I felt like such a fat pregnant lady. Ugh.
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Sunday was our normal church in the AM and then naps and relaxing the rest of the day.

After Noelle was in bed I used a new recipe to make our bread. This one makes a huge batch so I can freeze the other loaves and only requires one rise. It was fast! The bread came out pretty good although next time I will bake it for a couple more minutes.

Thought

We are attending the Marriage and Family relations course in our ward during Sunday School. It is wonderful. The instructor pretty much shows quotes and we discuss them. There is really no 'teaching.' Here is my favorite quote from today. I am not making a statement to men, it is simply a reminder to us Mommies who at times feel our tasks our menial and/or our needs should always come second.

“It was not meant that the woman alone accommodate herself to the priesthood duties of her husband or her sons. She is of course to sustain and support and encourage them.

“Holders of the priesthood, in turn, must accommodate themselves to the needs and responsibilities of the wife and mother. Her physical and emotional and intellectual and cultural well-being and her spiritual development must stand first among [their] priesthood duties.

“There is no task, however menial, connected with the care of babies, the nurturing of children, or with the maintenance of the home that is not [a husband’s] equal obligation” (“A Tribute to Women,” Ensign, July 1989, 75).

Pat Myself on the Back

Look what I did! I cut all of this stuff back and clear out some old plants. Our agreement when we moved in is that he would take care of the lawns and I would take car of the beds. I have seriously slacked on my duties for good reason. It's not that he won't take care of them, he just has no idea how. I figured I am feeling pretty good and it's not going to last so I might as well get it done in one day. Aaron came back out and cut everything down and got it all into barrels. After all of this, some housework, rearranging our closet, and making dinner I was seriously immobile. I could hardly make it to bed. I totally overdid it but it felt good at the same time, I can almost stand to look out my windows!

Cutest Buns On The Block

After a few days in a row of being willing to sit on the potty and actually going, I was really hoping for progress. Thursday she decided on her own to go sit on the potty, I jumped all over the chance. We packed up all the diapers and bid farewell. Noelle was really sad to see them go and really cried some bitter tears. But, I am ECSTATIC to say that it has gone amazingly well. I have been cautious about announcing the big news for fear of jinxing it but I really think we're good to go!

Check....one more thing done before baby Madeleine comes!

Conversation

Noelle: Wanna watch Strawberry Shortcake?

Mommy: Let's go potty first.

Noelle: I'm gonna go wash my boogers then.

Mommy: Alright.

Where the heck do they come up with this stuff?

A Week In Review

We were at Auntie's house last week and after Noelle had been playing outside she was awfully dirty. She asked Unc for a bath and I guess he could not resist. Normally I take jammies when we are there in the evening but I did not have any with me. So, Auntie took an old shirt and after some magic with her scissors and sewing machine. Voila! We have a night gown!

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Noelle's first real hair cut. She needed it so bad but I could not decide what I really wanted. Aunt Lorrie finally convinced me to just do it, so we did! It really was a good experience all around and she looks cute!

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I just know when Noelle is going to wake up early, I always wake up. So, at five this morning I was mostly awake. Around six I hear her door and then she is saying, "Mommy, sleep with you!" Which to my utter amazement, she did. She snuggled in right next to me and fell asleep. Soon she took over my pillow and pushed me right over the edge so I got up. Noelle and her Daddy look EXACTLY the same when they are sleeping. It freaks me out!