Make This

I made a really simple but really yummy dinner the other night. No pictures, but definitely recommended. You need 4 main ingredients and dinner is done. Here you go, you can thank me later.

Southwestern Chicken Soup

1. 1 jar salsa verde
2. 1 cooked rotisserie chicken (taken off bone and shredded)
3. 1 can navy beans (rinsed and drained)
4. 32 oz chicken broth

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Top with 3 cheese Mexican blend and sour cream if wanted.

Now, since that was so easy, why not make your own tortilla strips to serve atop the soup.
Get a package of corn tortillas. Cut into 1/2 strips. Pour 1/2 inch of vegetable (or canola) oil into pan and heat over medium high heat. Drop one tortilla strip into the oil to make sure it is hot enough. If the strip quickly bubbles and rises to the top, you are good to go. Put the rest of the strips in, making sure not to crowd the pan, and let cook for about 4 minutes. Remove to paper towels using a slotted spoon. I like to cover them with lots more paper towels and shake them around a bit to get rid of most of the oil. Sprinkle generously with salt (and lime juice) if you like.
Serve atop Southwestern Chicken Soup.

The husband (who is extremely hard to please) said that this recipe was a keeper. Enjoy, my friends.
Emily

Message To My Little Girl

Baby Girl Saylor,

If you decide you would like to make an appearance before Halloween, I am ready for you. Please see below.

If not, that's okay too. But I am very anxious to see you. Your brothers are too. Just tonight they asked me if you would be so kind as too bring them presents when you arrive. Specifically they asked for "Diego castles". We'll have to see what we can do about that. Also, I think I have figured out your name. At least I hope it's going to be your name since I am already having things embroidered. But we can share that with everyone when I am 100% sure. Mommy seems to be very indecisive as of late. Must be the hormones, or my rapidly increasing belly.

Just wanted to let you know how happy I am that you decided to pick me to be your mom. Love you baby girl.

Mommy

Hurry Up and Wait

6 weeks left and counting. I feel like I have so much to do and so little time, yet it still feels like it is taking FOREVER for baby girl to get here. I just can't wait to see her little face, what her hair looks like, how her brothers will react to her. So many emotions going right now; excited to see her, scared of how life will change, nervous that she will be healthy and perfect, and ready to complete my family. The "nesting" must be kicking in because I lately I have been wanting to stay in and get everything ready for her. So, as I mentioned earlier, I have been taking a sewing class. I decided that I need to at least be able to make a simple dress for her. I mean, that's what all good moms do for their little girls, right? Well, I am not sure if I am up to "dress making" standards yet, but after this class, I can sure make her a decent pillow case, apron, and pajama pants. We made the pillow case on the first night of class, and it was actually fairly easy. On the next class we made an apron, which I would rate about a "6" on a difficulty scale of 1-10. The instructor told us it was going to be easy. But that is coming from a woman who has been sewing for 40 years. For us newbies, I would say it was intermediate. Then, last night, our final class, we made pajama pants. I had planned on making a pair for B5 and Joe Finney, but time got away from me, and Finney got the shaft. Poor guy, I promised him I would finish them up this weekend. B5 was so excited about his, he wore them to be tonight, and that's why they are not in the following picture.


Now I just need to figure out how to applique so I can make them some cute t shirts to go with their "jammie pants".


Now, on to Part 3 of the nursery diaries. The husbands aunt finished up the curtains for the nursery last week, and I am beyond thrilled with them. I spent many many hours searching the Internet and magazines, trying to find exactly what I wanted these curtains to look like. Nothing I came across was right. So I basically just picked out the fabric, gave to to Aunt K, and let her go wild. She found the perfect trim at Hobby Lobby to tie it all together. She's amazing, I tell ya!

The curtains go all the way to the ceiling because we have a big, arched window in the room, that makes the room super hot and lets in an awful lot of sunlight (enough to wake sleeping babies from naps). So as much as I hated to cover the beautiful window, it had to be done. They are also functional, and close all the way, totally blocking all light from coming in. Why didn't I think of that sooner. Could have gotten me some extra sleep when the boys were babies!

Aunt K also covered our glider as well. She used the same fabric as the main part of the curtains, and then used a pink ball trim for the ottoman. If you can't tell, I love trim. I would use it on every single thing in that room if I could!

So the room is thisclose to being done. I just need to figure out some art for above the crib, waiting on bumpers and changing pad cover, and I am working on a basket for the changing table. I think that's it. I would love any suggestions or creative ideas on how I could finish this space up!

Is it just me...

or is it really really difficult to be pregnant with your third child? I have had good days and hard days (I can't call them "bad" because I realize just how blessed I am to be pregnant in the first place), and I would classify this one as really hard. It is taking every bit of energy I have in me to even sit here and write this post, but I need to feel like I accomplished something today. So, onward and upward!!


I wanted to write about what my guilty pleasure has been as of late; Sewing Class!! I have wanted to take a sewing class for years now. I even got a sewing machine for my birthday a couple of years ago in hopes of motivating me to take the plunge and sign up for a class. Alas, it never happened, until now! I signed up for a class with my little sister and my good friend Kelly. There are only 4 of us in the class total, so you pretty much get one on one instruction. In the first class we made a pillowcase (pictures of that coming soon). Boring, one might say, but really it was just the opposite. Who knew sewing could be so fun and therapeutic at the same time?


Here, Kelly is ironing, I mean "pressing" her fabric. Our instructor told us to "Press for Success". She has tons of little sayings like that. Come to think of it, she has a lot to say about everything. Maybe she is what makes the class so interesting!



Here is my sister getting ready to sew her "hot dog" (another crazy sewing term). I still don't get that one, but it does help you to remember what to do.

So the first week we made pillowcases, last week we made aprons (super cute), and this week we are making pajama pants for the kiddos. I am really excited about this one. I took the boys to the fabric store with me so that they could pick out their own fabric, and lets just say, their choices are questionable at best. But they will be happy with the outcome, I'm sure.

Actually I am pretty sad that the class is over this week. It is going to force me to have to sew on my own, and that is a scary thought. But, I will do it and learn as I go along since I am determined to make some things for this baby girl.

And lastly, a picture of what I made for the husband before the first sewing class. I decided he could use a little "encouragement" to watch the boys for an entire evening (or 3). These brownies are delicious. Maybe the best I have ever had. Made from scratch, but totally worth it. Here is the recipe for your enjoyment. It might be a sin not to make these!!

Ghirardelli Classic Brownies

1. 4 oz. Ghiradelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Baking Bar
2. 1 cup brown sugar
3. 2 large eggs
4. 1/4 tsp. baking powder
5. 1/2 tsp salt
6. 1 stick unsalted butter
7. 1 tsp vanilla
8. 3/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
9. 1/3 cup ghirardelli semi sweet chips

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8"x8" pan. In a heavy saucepan melt chocolate bar and butter over low heat, stirring until smooth.. Remove pan from heat; let cool to room temp. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, mix well. In bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly fold in flour mixture; mix well. Stir in chips. Pour batter in pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Emily

Full Week, Full Belly

I know, I know. It's been a while since I have posted. Things have been quite busy around here. Things including a trip to my sisters, sewing class, my 30th birthday, and of course, the holiday weekend. We have had lots of fun, though! And fortunately, I had my camera in tow for most of these events, so that means a weeks worth of blogging! I think I will work backwards and start with what we did today since it is still fresh in my mind (because you know pregnant ladies have terrible memories).

Since the boys spent the night a grammy's house last night (thanks, mom!) I got to sleep in to the ripe old hour of 7:30. By the way, what's the deal with not being able to sleep in anymore. Back in the old days, I could easily sleep until 12:00, easy. But I digress...so much for my sleeping until 9 a.m. plan, but that did allow the husband and I to get a delicious breakfast at North End Cafe. We then went to pick up the boys and took them, and grammy, to the Familypalooza at our church. There were so many fun things to do here. I might even have to steal a couple of ideas for B5's birthday party in November.

They must have had 15 different jumpees at this place, and the boys probably tried out half of them. B5 just kept his shoes off because he would run to one jumpee, go in for about 30 seconds, get out and move to the next one. Can you say "sensory overload"? And Joe Finney wasn't far behind him. Then we moved on to the train. So cute. I have never seen one like this before. Here are my boys ( in the orange shirts) with big smiles on their faces.




And another with the church in the background.

The boys are waiting for their turn to ride in this picture. They had a good time hanging out with daddy today.

You can barely see him over on the right, but I was proud of my little boy for climbing up that ladder and going down that big slide all by himself. There were a lot of bigger kids in this jumpee.

And B5 coming down the slide for the 13th time. He had lots of energy today. Must've been those pancakes grammy made him for breakfast!

We did a lot of other things here too like playing games, going to the petting zoo area, and trying to stand in the line to ride the ponies (we gave up).

After leaving Familypalooza, grammy and I took the boys to the fabric store to pick out fabric for the pajama pants that I am making for them in my sewing class (more on that later). My advice to anyone who is listening is that it is probably not the best idea to take small children to a busy fabric store on the day when they are having a big sale. That's all I am going to say about that. But we did end up with some fabric, maybe not my favorite fabric, but fabric nonetheless.

My final (random) thought is that I honestly don't know how my belly could possibly get any bigger. Just when I think I have maxed out, somehow, amazingly, it gets bigger. And they were worried about the growth. Boy were they wrong. This could be the biggest one yet. I just keep repeating to myself "8 weeks left, only 8 weeks". That is what keeps me halfway sane. Have a good night!!

Emily