Happy Halloween!

*cell phone quality photo- sorry!

My Battle Wound

If you can call cooking dinner a battle...it wasn't mine finest hour and I hope the scars aren't permanent because the food certainly wasn't- it was good, but I'm NOT keeping the recipe!

Levi Martin Gough

Happy 1st year of life! It couldn't have happened to the best little cuddler this side of the Mississippi! We love you Levi and are so proud to be your Aunt and Uncle. We've so enjoyed your little goblin ways...but mostly just your snuggly ones ;) This next year is going to be fantastic...walking, talking, playing with big brother Simon. We just can't wait to hear what you have to say. May the Lord bless you this year and every year.

Love,

Jeff & Jenny

She Bakes and She Burns

I had some overly ripe bananas in the fruit bowl and a bag of frozen bananas in the freezer...so, what to do? Banana Bread!

I modeled these after the America's Test Kitchen version but since I was out of walnuts and didn't have plain yogurt I substituted pecans and sour cream- it worked out nicely! And of course I added chocolate chips...because it needed it! I used Guittard chocolate chips- they are the best (and sold at Safeway).

Oh, and as for the burning...I totally burned myself on hot butter when I made dinner...you can see the splatter marks on my skin. Maybe I'll post a photo tomorrow :(

Rice Pillows

Here's the "treat" for our birthing class...our instructor mentioned these would be good for labor & delivery so Katie and I thought we'd surprise everyone with some front porch love ;) Too bad she won't be there tonight to help hand them out...still on bed rest...which sounds somewhat appealing these days. I'm just so darn tired! I've actually been able to nap AND been powering through waking up around 4:30. I, myself, would like to skip the class tonight...but I won't.

31 Things

I saw this on Brittany's blog- I don't often check it but from time to time I pop in to see how her little twin girls are doing/growing. I found her through Aleah's blog.

So, anyway, here I go!

1. Where is your cell phone? in the womb chair where I watched TV earlier
2. Where is your significant other? at band practice
3. Your hair color? dark brown- some say black, but it definitely isn't
4. Your mother? Pat
5. Your father? Joe
6. Your favorite thing? at the moment- rest
7. Your dream last night? i dreamt about old coworkers, probably because I saw many of them at a birthday party last night
8. Your dream/goal? to have a loving and generous family (really I already do...but I mean with our children- not yet here- too)
9. The room you're in? entry room which we've turned into an office
10. Your hobby? sewing and cooking
11. Your fear? my all too vivid imagination!!!
12. Where do you want to be in six years? enjoying my little family- staying connected with friends- helping out when possible
13. Where were you last night? birthday party in Kirkland
14. What you’re not? petite
15. One of your wish list items? cuisinart
16. Where you grew up? Renton- duh
17. The last thing you did? put a load of laundry in
18. What are you wearing? uggs, dress, furry hoodie
19. Your TV? doesn't have an antenna, so it's good for dvds and video games..that's about it!
20. Your pet? does my avocado plant count?
21. Your computer? broken :( I'm using Jeff's MacBook Pro
22. Your mood? woke up on the wrong side of the bed today...tonight Jeff and I are switching
23. Missing someone? sure
24. Your car? Volvo XC90
25. Something you’re not wearing? my wedding ring...my fingers are getting too fat
26. Favorite store? anthropolgie..they're consistently good...but I also love forever 21 ;)
27. Your summer? very nice, but it's been an even more amazing Autumn
28. Love someone? love many people
29. Your favorite color? orange, yellow, charcoal grey
30. When is the last time you laughed? when simon and levi came over today...they're funny little boys!
31. Last time you cried? i've been crying at some point pretty much everyday- doesn't every pregnant woman?

ok, off to sew some things! i'm making little treats for the ladies in my birthing class...so, it's a bit of front porch marketing at the same time- they ARE our demographic! ;)

Photos from the Lodge

Retreat

Jeff and I are spending the night at Snoqualmie Falls (Salish Lodge). I'm so excited to eat their amazing breakfast and receive a prenatal massage (thanks Chris & Rebekah) in the morning.

Kyle & Kristen will be joining us- see you tomorrow!

Thank you Drew Barrymore

I guess I'm a sucker for advertising but I kept seeing this commercial and was in the market for new mascara. I have to say...it doesn't disappoint. Several months ago Kari was looking for a good one and I think I've found it! Maybe it's NOT Maybelline ;)

Lashblast by CoverGirl

What do you do all day?

I get this question a lot...I think it's because I left my job BEFORE we had children and even BEFORE I was pregnant. So, I thought I'd write down a somewhat typical day...

- woke up at 4:00 to go to the bathroom...was scared I'd stay awake but was able to fall back asleep
- woke up at 9:15 and stayed in bed until about 10:00 playing with my iphone (this was later than usual, for sure)
- ate a grapefruit
- dropped a prescription off at Bartell's and realized they'd have it done in 15 minutes so I maximized my time
- ran across the street and dropped off a library book
- went to JoAnn's for fabric and some trim
- back to Bartell's to pick up the prescriptions and do a little shopping (toiletries for myself and Katie for our hospital/labor/delivery bags)
- stopped by the house before my lunch date to take care of laundry and dishes
- lunch with Katie (poor thing is still on bed rest...and open to visitors and food deliveries if you're looking for something to do!) and Jocelyn- we pushed up our typical Tuesday night dinner to lunch since Joce is out of town starting tomorrow
- stayed at Katie's for 3 hours- had a great time!
- U-Village for some retail-therapy (Anthropologie, Land of Nod, Village Maternity) and to run a couple of errands for Katie (a pleasure!)
- treated myself to Starbucks new salted caramel hot cocoa (thanks Paula for the birthday gift card)- this was delicious, but I'd recommend the short as the tall got a little too rich and I think it's better to be left wanting more rather than overdo it and feel nauseous
- back at home around 5:15 to put things away and start dinner- pasta with meat sauce and caprese salad
- dinner with Jeff & Adam
- more laundry
- handy work in the nursery (bookshelves are up, as well as a W hook I purchased at Anthro)- photos to come later
- paid bills
- talked with Jane on the phone (I miss her!)
- now it's 11:00 and I'm blogging...I'm about to fill up the tub and take a little bath before bed

A great day! And maybe a little more errand running than usual...but at least once a week my day looks a lot like this.

As for tomorrow? I already have the following on the docket:

- gym
- target
- safeway
- studio
- prenatal yoga
- getting caught up on Heroes at Jason & Latecia's

Oh, and today I'm 31 weeks...I've been feeling the baby a lot these past couple of days, but he's definitely still feet down....turn baby, turn! I know I have until 36 weeks but I'm starting to worry!

10 Year High School Reunion

We did it! Saturday night after the shower Jane, Jeff and I found ourselves at our 10 year high school reunion with about 50-60 of our fellow classmates (a poor turnout if you ask me).

No huge surprises, reconnected with a couple of people I forgot I liked so much, and found out that we now live 13 blocks from Jane's old prom date!

It was a good, but exhausting weekend- I'm ready for a long nap!

Here are a couple of photos of Jane and I having a REALLY good time at the reunion (they were the only photos I took).

A Wonderful Shower!

Thank you to Rebekah, Kristen, Kim, Claire, Chris (french toast king), and Paula (I know you brought some fruit ;)) for a wonderful shower yesterday...I just loved it. All the details, all my friends- thank you too for coming and celebrating with me and for blessing out little boy with toys, books, outfits, etc. I love you!