Saturday, October 22, 2011

Belly Bowl!!!

10.12.2011           37 weeks


10.19.2011                38 weeks
I got my hair "did" and girl do I feel better,looks nicer too!

Finally! I got to get out and see my Sets in the City girls whoop it up on the tennis courts! I just love these ladies! Here we are at Falcon Point for lunch after tennis match.

Belly Bowl!!! I have pictures from the beginning of creation, but they are on my phone. For those who have no idea what I am talking about...A belly bowl is a plaster cast of my pregnant belly with Dylan inside! There were many stages of plaster gauze,more plaster,sanding,gesso,then finally paint. I was unsure of the color selection,but I think it turned out fantastic!



Almost complete...all that is left is Dylan's foot prints on left of writing and her name on the bronze outside edge!
I totally recommend doing this! It was so fun and super easy. I knew I could do it because my art education major,but just about anyone could do it. We did this instead of maternity pictures!

Recipes from Cari

Since the weather is finally getting cooler here in Texas, I wanted to post a blog sharing some of the yummy warm recipes I have tried lately that are big hits in our family! Hope you enjoy as much as we do!

White Turkey Chili 
Ingredients:
1 pkg. McCormick  White Chicken Chili Seasoning Mix
Ground turkey
1 can white beans, drained (I use navy beans)
1 can petite diced tomatoes ,undrained
1 can yellow corn, undrained
 Directions:
1. In skillet, lightly brown ground turkey (season if you would like with salt, pepper)
2. Pour browned ground turkey in crock pot, add white beans, diced tomatoes, yellow corn and McCormick Seasoning Mix. Stir until completely mixed.
3. Set crock pot to high for 3-4 hours or low for 6+ hours of cooking.
* I serve my chili with dinner rolls or corn bread! Yum



Green Chili Steak Casserole
Ingredients:
1 jar Cookwell and Company Two-Step Tomatillo and Green Chili Stew (HEB)
1 bag corn tortillas
Shredded cheese (Cheddar, Colby Jack, or Mexican blend
Fajita steak meat *(I order Skeeter’s  steak fajita meat already cooked because it’s easy)
 Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Cut or tear tortillas into bite sized pieces.
3. Combine meat, stew, and tortillas in a large bowl. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Top with shredded cheese.
4. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes or until casserole is hot and bubbly. Remove cover and bake for 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven, let stand 5 minutes.
5. Enjoy!


Cari’s Pumpkin Bread recipe

Ingredients:
I can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
 1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Grease loaf pan (option: use multiple small loaf pans)
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven.




Friday, October 14, 2011

Preggo belly sequence

5.9.2011       15 weeks pregnant
 6.1.2011         18 weeks pregnant
 6.24.2011          22 weeks pregnant
And the bloating/swelling begins because I am put on bed rest... 32 weeks pregnant 
 10.12.2011       37 weeks pregnant
 Most recent ultrasound... Dylan Avery at 32 weeks. This is her profile
 Here she is looking at the camera with her hand/arm over her mouth!
 Wreath for the hospital door...Mom and I made this one with some help from my adorable friend Dana who did the monogramming, isn't it cute! I didn't know how much we needed a door wreath until my hospital stay at 27 weeks, everyone had something on their door! It was kind of comical!

Dylan's nursery

Dylan Avery's crib in our room...Yes,I know but we have two stories and I don't think I'm going to want to walk up and down stairs at first!

 Dylan's nursery- 3 different views


 Dylan's and guest bathroom...D is for Duckies!

Cari and Dylan's "POP" babyshower in Katy Texas

"Pop" babyshower thrown by Lesli Hirsh and Amanda Perches! It was so cute and super fun.

 Amanda and I doing a little "belly bump"!
 How cute are these decorations....They did such a wonderful job and this shower was so me!



 Lesli,Cari,and Amanda
 Adorable diaper cake made by a friend Erin Miller! Thanks girl

Thursday, October 13, 2011

My FIRST blog

Okay so this is the very first post on my blog. I have never done this before so please bear with me! I wanted to create a blog so that I can share all that is coming up with family and friends. I plan on adding pictures and lots of information in the future depending on how easy this is! Hope you like it!