Pictures I promised!

Here are some of the pictures I promised I would share a couple months ago. I was just now able to get them cause Nishelle was doing something wonderful with them for my shower and it turned out soooo fabulously! Enjoy!

(P.S.... this is the only pre-pregnancy shirt I've been able to fit into!! Woot!)

Baby check

I had my 36 week OB appointment today. I'm 80% effaced and 1.5 dilated!!! Go Carter Go!! I can't believe I'm actually this far along and I'm dilating! It seems like just yesterday that I got pregnant! The baby is measuring out to be one week ahead, so he's measuring at 37 weeks today. My mid-wife really wants me to think about taking time off from work and not working 8-5 anymore because I've been so exhausted and swollen like a maniac. I wish I could, but financially, it's just not possible! Maybe I can work something out where I can work from home. We'll see!
We went on a tour of the hospital with my child-birth class last night. It wasn't as ghetto as I thought it would be. Harris Regional is actually pretty decent. Some of the rooms were God awful tiny, and the other rooms were pretty good sized. Let's hope we get a big one, with a tub!
Well, I gotta get back to work. Lots of stuff to do before this baby comes!

Up and running... sort of....

We had a great weekend this past weekend. We didn't really do much on Saturday (thank the Lord!) and then Sunday we kicked it into gear in the baby's room and tried to get things organized. We got the wall hangings up over the crib, finally got the chair situated in the room, got things more organized in the closet, and emptied the bookcase. We were thinking that we might take the bookcase out of the room, but it looks like it may be staying, just so we can have more storage in there. We really want a dresser and bookcase in the room, but it looks like we're gonna have to wait on that for a bit. But, we decided to move the bookcase to another part of the room and we'll see if we like that after a while. There's still a lot more to go in the nursery, but it makes me feel better that we are actually in there moving around and getting things done. Oh, and also, we got a fan hung in the room. It makes it much more breezy and nice in there, and I just love it. I'm not sure why I wanted the pictures hung over the crib right now, but it's nice to see it put together. Looks like our changing table will be delivered within the next couple of days, and I'm TOTALLY PUMPED about it.

It was such a nice day because we had lunch with Katie, her hubbie, and their little girl, and then our friends, Nishelle and Kate, came over and helped us disassemble things in the nursery. It was such a pleasant day and it really just reminded me how much I love my friends, and how I'm surrounded by people who love my little family so much (even if they are 5 miles or 400 miles away). We are so blessed!
Baby Carter is definitely getting big. I have officially become that woman that people look at and think to themselves, "Good Lord! How much longer for her? Bless her heart!"... yup, that's me. My co-worker asked me yesterday, "Are you as uncomfortable as you look?"...... "Yes!" I replied! I feel like someone has hold of my hips and are pulling the crap out of them. It hurts to move, walk, sit, sleep, roll over, breath... anything! I'll endure it as long as this little one comes out healthy!

Yesterday we had a going away party for my director. I made an appetizer from a Kraft Food and Family from last Christmas. It was ok I guess. No complaints about it from anyone, so I guess I'll pass it onto you. It was quick and easy, so why not?

Spiced Cranberry Dip

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup canned whole berry cranberry sauce

1/4 cup orange marmalade

1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)

1/4 cup PLANTERS Slivered Almonds, toasted

SPREAD cream cheese onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate.

MIX cranberry sauce, orange marmalade and ground red pepper; spoon over cream cheese. Sprinkle with almonds.

SERVE with RITZ Crackers.

Quick and easy dinner

Last night I made a really quick and easy dinner. It was from the newest issue of Kraft Foods Food & Family. It was incredibly simple and quick. The most timely thing with the prep was cutting the chicken. All in all it took about 30 minutes until completion. Most of the stuff was already in my pantry or freezer, so it was also very cost effective. My picture is a little yellow b/c the lighting in my kitchen stinks, but I hope you get the idea of yummy it was. Also, I didn't take a picture of it after the pasta was added so it looks a little lame. Phillip absolutely raved over it and it will definitely have to be on the menu again. I know it might be a little much on the starches but I served this with tortilla chips and salsa verde it seemed to go well (according to Phillip).


Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet

2 cups multigrain penne pasta, uncooked

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1-1/4 cups TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 large green pepper, cut into short thin strips

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Four Cheese Mexican Style Cheese

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 2 min. Stir in salsa, corn and peppers. Bring to boil. Simmer on medium-low heat 10 min. or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally.

DRAIN pasta. Add to chicken mixture; mix lightly. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from heat; cover. Let stand 1 min. or until cheese is melted.

My little Dino

So, it's really hard to find cute outfits for boys compared to the cute outfits that girls have. Fortunately, Gymboree has lifted my spirits! This is the outfit that I bought for little man's first pictures. I think it's sooooo cute!

Is that not stinking adorable!!! I can't wait to put him in his cute little hat and dinosaur socks!!!

Also, I ordered the changing table today!!

It pretty much puts the finishing touches on the furniture that we really need in the nursery. It's so exciting that's it's so close! Only 5 more weeks! I can't wait for the table to come in so we can have everything completely finished and ready to roll. We took down the bed in the nursery this past weekend and it really made everything real. Can't wait to put pictures up once we get everything together! Have a great Tuesday!

Delish Anniversary Dish

We celebrated our 8 years together last night with a delicious meal of my favorite things: steak and potatoes! This combination always makes me a happy girl. I made twice-baked potatoes for the first time last night and they were DELICIOUS!!!!!! I usually don't like twice-baked potatoes because they can get very dry, very easily, but these were insanely good. Recipe is at the bottom. It's from the allrecipes.com website.

Scooping out the middles

Putting the filling back in the potatoes

YUMMMMY!! :)

Tell me your not salivating!!!!

Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 8 green onions, sliced, divided

  DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
• When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
• Bake for another 15 minutes.

Special day

.....just a little flash back over the years....

Today is a special day. This day, 8 years ago, Phillip and I started dating. I know, I know... not as important as the wedding date and other dates, but I remember this one well and celebrate it whole heartedly because I knew he was the man I was going to marry very early on. I was attracted to him the very first day I saw him. We lived in the same dorm, he was one floor above me, and we were involved in a lot of the same activities as each other, so we saw each other pretty often. I vowed he would be mine after the first week of college :) I love you sweety :) Happy 8 years!!

Crackhead alert

I was looking through the pictures of New York Fashion Week b/c I'm totally obsessed with fashion (even though you'd never know it!!). It cracks me up to see some of the stuff these designers come up with! My favorite has got to be Betsey Johnson. She's so out there. The way designers style their models has just gotten outrageous and cracks me up! Check this out, you think I could show up to work like this?? Granted, the kids I work with would probably LOVE it, but not so much for the parents:

This is a shot of me and the only male in our office, who happens to be our Occupational Therapist, staffing a home visit we came from. All I'm missing is my bag of booty and a parrot on my shoulder.

This one's my personal favorite. Quite frankly, I think it's an ode to Sully off of Monster's Inc and my kids would just die if came in like that!

Adios peeps!! Have a great day!

Shower weekend

This weekend was wonderful! My friends came in from all over the state, and my mom, dad, sister, and Paisley did also. As I said in one of my last posts, my friend Kate threw a shower for my friends from home and college to attend. It was absolutely beautiful. It was on the back patio of a cute little coffee shop overlooking a stream. We had perfect weather, and people were just randomly setting off fireworks during the shower, so it was even better! Everyone looked so beautiful and it was so great catching up with everyone. I could not believe how beautifully she had the place set up. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful shower. Right as I walked in, my friend Nishelle had pictures set up from our photo shoot from a month ago and it was an absolute tear jerker! She had also placed cubes in the middle of the tables with pictures from the shoot in them, and they were gorgeous too! All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better time! Here are some shots from the shower, hopefully my girls will send me better ones because my camera only had a few:

The whole group

Me and Hayley-Bird

Me and Nishelle

Me and Kristi

My beautiful and amazing hostess Kate!

Kristi, Me, Kate

Me and Monica

My bridesmaids

My sister (Jamie), Paisley, and my mom (I LOVE THIS PICTURE!)

Here's one of my favorites. I wanted this one so I could do a "Before & After" shot with my girls. These are all of my bridesmaids from my wedding, and I didn't even realize that we were all together again until the shower, and I just thought this would be perfect!

Before & After

I stinking love it!!!

Then, after my shower, we went to my prego friend Katie's shower. She looked amazing and really had a beautiful shower as well. Here are some pics from that:

Me and Katie

Katie, Me, and Amy (we all work together)