Good deals and on the go!

Good Deals
We went on a date night on Saturday night to dinner and then went to the mall and picked out paint colors for the baby's room. At the mall I stopped by Ann Taylor Loft to look at their maternity clothes and found out they were phasing them out in their stores. They led me to a miniscule rack and said, the good news was everything on the rack was $4.99 and an additional 25% off on top of that! Sweetness!

I found a pair of pants and a levi skirt for a total of $7.86 or something like that. The pants alone were originally over $50. Now who could pass up that sweet deal? (well maybe those of you that aren't pregnant!)

Next door to Ann Taylor Loft is a super cute children's clothing store called The Pumpkin Patch. It's pretty pricey though so I only shop the sales rack there as I'm not going to spend $30 on a jacket that will only last 3 months. They were also having a killer deal that everything already on sale was an additional 30% off. I found 3 shirts for the little lady and a cute jacket for next fall/winter. She's pretty ready clothes wise for the first 6-9 months of her life.

On the Go
Me and Matthew are heading up to Utah this weekend to see family and for work (me not Matthew). I had a last minute meeting to support in Salt Lake next Tuesday and decided to head up early and work from my parents since my boss was going to be gone this Thurs/Fri anyways. Plus we are using miles to fly Matthew up and it would have cost me an additional 12,500 miles to fly Thurs or Friday. I'm pretty excited to see everyone and we have a few fun things planned with my parents and siblings. Jordan is staying home and holding down the fort and thankfully painting the baby's room while we are away. I'll be excited to get her room done!

Jordan asked me the other day if I was nesting. Well, I don't think so as that usually happens close to the birth of the baby, but I do feel the need to get things ready and done. We have a lot to do in the next few months. We need to get Matthew transitioned into a big boy bed (and get some new furniture), make Matthew a quilt to match his room, get him potty trained, he is off the binkies now-including sleepy times, we need to get the baby's room finished-walls painted and I am painting 3 big canvases to match her bedding and we need to buy a few more things like a double stroller, etc. I don't want to be doing all of that while I am 8 months pregnant and extremely uncomfortable so I feel the need to get everything done now. I also have 2 big events in February and will only have 2 free weekends in February to get things done. I'd really like everything done by the 1st of March so we're ready to go in case I run into pre-eclampsia like I did with Matthew. I shouldn't because that usually only happens with first babies, but I'd like to be prepared instead of caught off guard with Matthew. I am already getting pretty swollen ankles so we'll see how it goes.

Anyways we are off shortly to the freezing cold weather. Matthew will love seeing his extended family and playing in the snow for the first time. I'm hoping we can squeeze in a bit of sledding w/me watching and someone else taking him down the hill. Should be a fun weekend. I'll post pics and updates this weekend. Wish me luck as the crazy pregnant lady in the airport with a 2 year old. Let's just hope lots of snacks, a movie, and a short flight makes this flight easy.

Cheesecake Factory

I swear my whole world does not revolve around food, but I do love it so I guess that's why I talk about it often. I have a vendor that I work with closely on all of our customizable clothing and merchandise. He comes down about every 1-2 months and we usually go out to eat and then meet for 2-3 hrs going over all the projects that are going on. The Cheesecake Factory where he lives is always crazy busy so it seems like we always end up going to the one by my work which is only about 5-8 min. away. He came yesterday to review some things for our big event next month and to get started on our merchandise for Celebration in August.

We usually stuff ourselves with appetizers and lunch and never have enough room for dessert, but we did manage to save room yesterday for some cheesecake. We got the Banana Cream Cheesecake which was divine. While I was looking over the list I got to wondering if they make the Cheesecake there and if they make all the flavors every day and if they throw away all the unused Cheesecake at the end of the day? I asked the waitress all of these questions because I'm nosy and wanted to know. I found out that their Cheesecake is delivered from California and made in a factory there. They usually have about a week of goodness from each Cheesecake. Interesting huh! I always assumed they made them onsite. Makes sense though so there isn't as much waste and I'm sure they know which cheesecakes sell the best.

We can't always afford to go there on dates so I feel fortunate that I get to go there for free with my vendor often. I adore their avacado eggrolls and my favorite entree is the stuffed chicken tacos, but I try to force myself to not always get that every time. I'm rarely disappointed by their food and if I ever am then it's usually when I'm with Jordan and I just switch with him because he's a good husband like that and isn't picky about what he's eating.

Anyways, just a tidbit of knowledge I thought I'd pass on. Jordan wrote a blog about his Top 10 fruit list and so I'm thinking of what my Top 10 Restaurants were for 2008.

Belated Merry Penguins

Matthew started saying Merry Penguins instead of Christmas when we tried to get him to say it a few weeks ago. Now it's a big joke in our house and he says Merry Penguins on purpose and laughs and we laugh and then he says it again and again. So we hope you all had a Merry Penguin!

Just a few videos and pictures of the things we did around here. What a fun break and we're just sad it's over so quickly and we are back to the grind of work already.

Opening Presents Part 1-who thought a little boy could take 2 hrs to open a few measly presents?

Opening Presents part 2


LOTR Nerd-a-thon with about 8 kids and 12 adults at our house-craziness!

Temple lights

Matthew was getting "shocked" by the star

Matthew's cousins Abby and Drew came to visit. Matthew and Abby were 2 peas in a pod. He had a ton of fun while they were here.

Abby and Matthew boxing on our Wii-hilarious!

At the Phoenix Zoo. The kids were so excited to go! We bought a membership and Matthew is free until next Christmas-yay!

Matthew gets into these moods lately where he kisses us like we kiss him. All over. It's super cute!

I love this one that my brother-in-law took. Matthew was so good to get in and out of his stroller that day. We did a ton of walking. Too much for this pregnant lady!

At one point Matthew was walking around with his hands in his pockets. It was hilarious and about three guys that were behind us thought he was so funny!

Our "new" sweet Mexican/Chinese place to go eat. I saw it on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and we had to try so Skylar and Chrissy went with us. So yummy and we can't wait to go back. We're 2 for 2 eating at recommended places from that show.

We went to the Phoenix Children's Museum on the 2nd. Pretty fun and I thought about getting a membership, but it's too far to do that yet. Matthew loved putting these balls into this tube like thing that forced air through it and they would go all around and then pop out randomly. He could have done this for 2 hrs.

This was also taken at the Children's museum. They had about 500 or so water noodles hanging from the ceiling that you could walk through. Matthew loved this even though he was reluctant at first to go with Jordan. Unfortunately he was being silly and knocked the camera out of my hand right after this and the lens is broke so now we have to get a new camera. Not what I want to be buying right after Christmas....ergghhh...

Ultrasound Update

Monday I went in for an ultrasound update because last month there was a lake of blood on my placenta they wanted to check again. I'm pleased to say that it has shrunk on it's own to almost nothing (what the Dr. thought would happen) and everything looks good. They might do one more follow-up as a double check, but since my Dr. was out on maternity leave (she had her baby on Tday) we'll see what happens next month. I guess Jordan has been worried and was really relieved, but I haven't been. I thought it would probably shrink and haven't been worrying about it until I needed to worry.

Next month is my last 4 week appt and then I'm down to 2 week appointments. Craziness!

I made yummy treats last night (with Jordan's help) so I'll be posting those recipes soon. I had a couple of failures on Monday night just because I haven't made them in awhile and made dumb mistakes. Gasp...I even burned chocolate in the microwave and that smelled gross. I felt like a rookie.

Last night everything turned out pretty well except for our first tray of molasses cookies which were way too doughy so they were dumped. The fudge is way yummy and the graham cracker cookies with sliced almonds drizzled and cooked with a butter and sugar mixture turned out great on my third try (two trys on Monday and the last try last night-success!). The recipe from my mom had wrong proportions so that's what threw off my 2 first batches trying to adjust the amounts. We made these when I was little so for sure my mom wouldn't know the correct amounts. It was a few trial and errors before getting it right.

Also, only 3 more days of work and then we're both off for 2 weeks-yipee!

Christmas Eatings

This year we are staying home for Christmas which is going to be fun in so many ways. Jordan and I are both taking 2 weeks off from work and we are planning activities to do everyday as a family - like the zoo and Children's museum and I can make lots yummy food. I am looking forward to not traveling anywhere.

We are also hosting some get togethers at our house like the BYU football game and an all day LOTR (Lord of the Rings) Nerd-a-thon. Jordan's little brother and his family are also coming to visit for a few days so I'm planning our food for the two weeks of Christmas and wanted some additional ideas of yummy things you like to make over the holidays.

Some recipes I've pulled to possibly make. We have a $50 Basha's card that I received for Thanksgiving from my company so that will help towards the food costs.

Menu ideas for the 2 weeks of Christmas:
Our favorite homemade Chicken Parmesan (dinner)-maybe Christmas Eve dinner
Breakfast casserole (breakfast)
Blueberry stuffed french toast (breakfast)-maybe for Christmas breakfast
Gooey pull aparts (breakfast)
Chicken Enchiladas (dinner)
Cheese ball (get together)
Turkey Meatballs (get together)
7-layer Mexican Dip (get together)
Challah bread and Salmon-also possible Christmas Eve dinner
Cheesy potatoes (get together)
Potato Skins (get together)
Crockpot Stew w/homemade bread or rolls-dinner this Sunday
Carne Asada Tacos (dinner)

Let me know of any of your favorites that you love around this time of year. Of course I'll also be making some yummy treats to give away and for our family. I'll be posting some of these recipes in the coming weeks.

We're almost done with Christmas and just have a few last things to wrap (ha, ha) up. Matthew, us, my parents, Jordan's parents are all done and we just have a few other things to finish. Our Christmas cards are going out tomorrow so I'm excited about that!

Rainbow Jell-o Salad Recipe

Here is the rainbow jell-o salad that I made for Thanksgiving. I've had this recipe since my college days when we made it in a class. It is time consuming but easy to make. The results look cool and is really yummy!

Ingredients:
-1 small package of each of the following jell-o flavors: Black Cherry, Raspberry, Orange, Lemon, Lime.
-Boiling Water
-2.5 cups of sour cream

-Dissolve the black cherry jell-o in 1 cup of boiling water. Divide the mixture in half and add 2 tablespoons cold water to one half and pour into a 9x13 pan. Put in the freezer for 8-9 minutes (make sure it is level).
-Add 1/2 cup sour cream to the other half of jell-o and mix well until well mixed. When clear jell-o is set add jell-o w/sour cream on top and put back into the freezer for another 8-9 minutes.
-Continue with the rest of the jell-o flavors. Layer in the order listed above ending with the Lime sour cream layer.

I suggest putting into a clear 9x13 pan as it looks really cool when all the layers are set-up. Enjoy!

No More Daycare Center!

We've had continual problems with our daycare center saying that we owe money when in fact we don't. I pay up front on time every week and have been tired of the continual hassle about our payments. To be fair their old manager wasn't keeping up properly with the payments in the system and everything was off. She was let go and I think they are just trying to keep up with things.

In Matthew's class there has been a girl lately who is having major problems. She hits the other kids, bites them, and isn't very nice. Matthew has come home with scratches and bites lately which I have felt bad about. Yesterday when I dropped off Matthew a little girl immediately hit him over the head and I saw other kids pushing and hitting each other. It felt really crazy and I felt so bad leaving Matthew there. He looked so scared to be there. :(

I finally decided enough was enough and called Jordan and said that was it. I was going to call the babysitter that comes into our house and see if she could come into our house 2 days a week and then find someone else for the other day. When I called my babysitter she said she was looking for more hours anyways since her dad lost his job and everyone needed to pitch in to help out. She is totally fine coming in 3 days a week. We are so excited as Matthew loves her and she is really great with him. I told the Daycare Center yesterday when I picked him up that Friday was going to be his last day. We're keeping him on the drop-in list as an emergency but hopefully we're done there now. It was a good center and the providers were really good I just felt that Matthew needed to be home where he felt the most comfortable. I feel so better about the situation now and I know he will feel better being at home too. Two weeks ago we were home when he woke up from his nap and he didn't want us, he wanted the babysitter. He was so upset that she wasn't there and was a grump for awhile.

Thanksgiving Update
Just a quick update about T-day. We headed to Utah early to see the Coldplay concert. It was amazing and if you get to see them on tour definitely do it. I think it's the best concert I've ever seen-awesome!

Mainly we just played with family and had our traditional pie night the night before Thanksgiving where we all bring pies and talk and play games. This year we did karaoke so that was fun! Matthew even sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC's and loved the microphone and wanted to keep doing more.

For Thanksgiving day there were 35 people that came to my mom/dad's house. It was a bit crazy but fun. We all contributed and I made a ribbon jello salad that is about 10 layers of different jello. Of course I knew as soon as I suggested that I make it that my mom was going to say "that is just so much work" and of course she said that. I made it Wednesday and it took just over 1.5 hours with all the layers, but it's not hard to make it just takes time. Jordan helped me so that was nice.

I was definitely looking forward to Black Friday. I started really getting into it after we got back from London. I LOVE saving money so this day is right up my alley. Jordan dreads going to my parents as it means he has to go do Black Friday. When we go to his parents they live too far away to make getting up super early worth it so he gets a break every other year (not that I haven't contemplated getting up at 2 in the morning so we can drive into Vegas). We started our morning at Kohl's (4 am) and the line was super long so I stayed there and gave the list of what we needed at Toys R Us and Jordan headed over there to wait in line until 5. Good thing he did because the main thing we wanted was a kitchen (it's a manly blue) and he only saw 4 more after the one he took. He got through his line before I was done standing in line for 1 hr. at Kohl's and came back to help me finish up and get stuff out to the car. We then headed over to Target for the craziness again. It actually didn't take us long there. The main thing we went for was a wii game but it was out of stock so we mainly got cheap but great DVD's. Jordan went back later and got a rain check for the game so that was good. We went out to breakfast and then I went out to my favorite craft store (Roberts) and got a few things. Later after lunch with the fam I went to Gymboree and The Children's Place and got some cute things at a great deal for the baby.

All in all Black Friday was a success and I can't wait until Christmas morning when Matthew opens up his presents. How pathetic that we had to buy a cargo holder for the top of our car to carry all our crap home! :) We needed one anyways with the baby coming and visits planned for this summer. There is no way everything will fit in the back of the Santa Fe for 3 people and a baby (who will most likely have the most stuff).