girls' breakfast

thank you thank you for all of your good input and ideas on the nursery! we are going to make a decision by the end of the week, and i'll be sure to let you know what we chose!

this morning a few girls met for a mommy breakfast at cafe cappucino...it was so much fun to eat and talk! and i had the best choc. chip pancake ever and a great omelet.

here are tonja, lyndsay, me, jen, and danna, and little philip the cafe is decorated in blues and browns, with lots of mirrors, and black and white pics of new york. such a fun breakfast/brunch place!


after breakfast, i bought groceries for the week...this is one of those weeks where i am not feeling culinary AT ALL, but here's our menu...

monday-salmon patties, baked potato, field greens salad
tuesday-bread crumb crusted baked chicken, organic mac n'cheese, broccoli
wednesday-ham and cheese frittata, field greens salad
thursday-eat out
friday-egg, potato, and bacon burritos
saturday-eat out
sunday-chili dogs, chips, pickle


and finally, here's my 19 week picture

happy monday to you!

nursery help needed!! (edited)

if you have no interest in nurseries or nursery decor, do not read this post! {wink}

okay so i am a planner...i sleep better at night if i have my whole life planned and everything is nice and neat and organized! (i'm not quite that bad, but i really really love to plan)

so i have been stressing over this baby's room for awhile. and now that we are entering the week that we find out if we're having a sadie or crew, i of course, want to have everything planned in advance for the baby's room. i have gone from wanting to buy baby bedding, to having it made, back to buying it already made...so here are my final choices for baby furniture and bedding. please let me know what you think. i need your help!

oh! and my choices #1 and #2 are not necessarily in order of what i like the best... choice #1 for sadie's dresser/changing table

choice #2 for sadie's dresser/changing table

sadie's crib (baby mod at wal mart)

choice #1 for sadie's bedding (more expensive of the two)

choice #2 for sadie's bedding

crew's beddingchoice #1 for crew's dresser/changing table choice #1 for crew's crib

choice #2 for crew's dresser/changing table

choice #2 for crew's crib

so what do you think??

{new loves}

happy friday to you!

i haven't done my friday new loves lately, so i thought i would share some scrumptiousness that i am loving this week...pretty much everything in the fall j.crew catalog but here are some faves!

duchess bracelet
crystal cadence necklace


double cloth lady daycoat in bright cinammon (i'm in love with this yummy color)

oh and i had a request to share my pumpkin pie recipe...here it is! but sadly, it's nothing gourmet, just the recipe on the back of the canned pumpkin...although this recipe has brown sugar added which sounds pretty yum!

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 (15 ounce) can Libby's canned pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie pastry (4 cup volume)
Directions
1Mix sugars, salt and spices in a large bowl.
2Beat eggs in small bowl and pour into sugar/spice mixture. Empty can of pumpkin into sugar/spice mixture.
3Mix everything with a wooden spoon or a wire whip, and use a rubber spatula to incorporate all ingredients thoroughly.
4Add evaporated milk gradually and continue stirring.
5Pour into pie shell.
6Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake for an additional 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center

thursday morning thoughts

baby schmidt and i are listening to this cd this morning! i love classical music and want the baby to appreciate it too...it calms me down, and i hope it will calm the baby! baby s is moving so much now. i first felt some flutters around 15 weeks, but this week (18), i feel movement every day and it's getting stronger. it makes me so appreciate the miracle of creation!

my sister brought me this beautiful willow tree figure last week. it's called 'cherish-awaitng a miracle' and i LOVE it! it was so special to me because i feel like this baby is such a miracle and was wanted so much (someday i will share the story of our journey to pregnancy) so this present meant a lot! thank you susanne.and speaking of susanne, my wonderful sister, you HAVE to check out her blog! she's posting pictures of her vacation to Maroma Beach and they are GORGEOUS!

18 weeks

i'm a couple of days behind on my 18 week picture but here it is! 8 days until we find out if it's a boy or girl...oh and we have for sure decided on names... if it's a girl, sadie isabella, and if it's a boy, crew hudson. on a totally unrelated note-i am SO ready for fall! it's my FAVORITE season. love pumpkins, and leaves changing, and cool mornings! so last night i made a pumpkin pie and lit my pumpkin candle. it was still 100 degrees outside but oh well...it made me happy!

district convention

we had our district convention this weekend! it was absolutely wonderful...the entire 3 days were so encouraging, faith strengthening, and great! the drama was really touching about the prodigal son and so realistic! and i cannot wait to read our new book about the apostles and we already watched the creation dvd...so good!

i felt great the majority of the time. in the afternoons i got a little tired and my feet were hurting quite a bit (but i wore cute heels 2 out of the 3 days ;) enjoy the pics! eating at El Con
this was sunday...wearing my anthro necklace mom got me. doesn't kali look cute?

mom and i

me, braely, and jen...pretty bright colors!

brett, savanah, amelia, braely, corey, and luke

too cute!

mike and his parents

love this one of mom and les!

allen, kaylee, and tonja

mike giving his talk about jeremiah. he did so good!!

weekend pics

we went out to dinner last night...so here are our funny poses before going...

we went to chili's and i was craving some appetizers so i got the triple dippers with mini hamburgers, spinach/artichoke dip, and southwestern egg rolls. yum! but oh my, did i pay for it later...indigestion for hours (sorry if that's tmi ;)

here i am at 17 weeks!

loved this one of mom and mckinlee. mom was doing an open house this afternoon for a house mike and i built to sell, and mckinlee was her little assistant, so we took a couple of pics while we were there.

and i made a tiny ponytail in mike's hair. funny, huh?! he's gonna hate that i put this pic on the blog...hehe!

girls night in!!

last night we had a girls night in...a bunch of girls came over to have snacks and drinks and play games...so fun!! everybody brought such yummy snacks. just so nice to have a relaxing fun time!

i made a pomegranate fizz cocktail (with no alcohol) sooooo good and easy! and i made a ham & gruyere puff pastry...we also had spinach dip, artichoke jalapeno dip, cheesy olive dip, fresh veggies, choc. chip cookies, and iced sugar cookies. and i'm so irritated i didn't take a single picture!

pictures from food network

this afternoon, miss m, nana, and i went to the pool for some sun and swimming. it was nice and not too crowded! happy saturday!

girly time

i picked up mckinlee from dee's house yesterday and she came to stay with us for the night...she's been staying with friends and family for a week while susanne and chris are in playa del carmen. what a grown up girl...i wouldn't have stayed away from mom for 10 days when i was her age, but she does great!

we went shopping for some back to school stuff, then got a divine auntie anne's pretzel and sweet glaze dip. we made stuffed baked potatoes (which were yum) and watched the movie bedtime stories. today she's going over to nana's to stay with her until monday when susanne comes to pick her up.

having her at her house made me think about how our life is going to change so much in 4 1/2 months. having a little one to take care of and think about constantly...it's one of the best jobs in the world, and we are so thrilled! my appt. on tuesday went great and we get to do the ultrasound in 3 weeks! yea!

monday yummies and 16 weeks

i have been in the kitchen all afternoon and it feels good! here are pictures of the potato basil frittata and the chicken stew with biscuits. both were yum!

here's the link for the chicken stew and biscuits recipe...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stew-with-biscuits-recipe/index.html i LOVE ms. barefoot contessa and her kitchen!

and here i am at 16 weeks...dr's appt. in the morning! i'm thinking of talking my way into an ultrasound so we can see if this little baby is a boy or a girl!! i'll probably just have to be patient though and wait...

menu for the week

we saw this movie on friday...if you are a foodie or even if you're not, i think you will enjoy! (except for the few bits of bad language...why can't that be left out?)

it inspired me. i love to cook, but like anybody, some weeks i get into a rut of cooking easy or quick things and not challenging myself. this story was all about challenging yourself.

so for my menu this week, i am making a few challenging things and a few easy things. but i'm going to enjoy the experience, instead of just cooking the food!

monday

breakfast-potato basil frittata

dinner- homemade chicken stew and biscuits

tuesday

breakfast- frittata

dinner-chicken vesuvio

roasted asparagus with parmesan

wednesday

breakfast-herbed scrambled eggs with hashed browns

dinner- leftover chicken stew & biscuits

thursday

breakfast-oatmeal with fresh strawberries

dinner-stuffed baked potato with ground beef and cheese

friday

breakfast-bagels w/homemade veggie cream cheese

dinner-salmon w/puff pastry and pesto

tossed greens

saturday

breafast-bagels and cream cheese

dinner-eat out

sunday

breakfast- french toast with honey & orange zest, scrambled eggs

dinner- grilled cheese and chicken soup

enjoy your week!

dreaming

http://www.winecountryinn.com/

lately we have been dreaming of going here. we go to napa every other year for our anniversary and this is our year to go...but we most likely won't since i'll be 6 months pregnant in october (our anniversary month)

we stayed at this bed and breakfast on our 3rd anniversary. so beautiful and charming! napa valley is probably one of my favorite spots in the world. the crisp air, the smell of grapes, the wonderful food, and seeing the leaves and vines change colors.

some of our favorite little spots are the shops at st. helena, health spa napa valley, the yountville inn, greystone culinary academy, cindy's backstreet kitchen, and dean & deluca.

we love it there!!

hey jude

i rarely post twice in a day, but you have to watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNHLywCfnHI


so cute!!!

coffee

image from yahoo

i love coffee. i haven't always. when i was little, my mom would always drink coffee and i didn't like the smell all that much, and i never drank it. however, i am married to a coffee snob (love you honey) and i have learned to appreciate a good cup of coffee. i like mine with some cream and sugar added.

i am really missing drinking coffee. i'm trying not to have any caffeine right now, but i have had a few cups of decaf...it's just not quite the same. i am looking forward to cold weather and drinking coffee (after january 24th, my due date :)

what's your favorite cold weather drink?

oh! and here's the recipe for the artichoke pesto i made the other night... it's from giada de laurentiis

Ingredients
Before the freezer:
1 (8-ounce) pack frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
1 cup fresh parsley leaves, packed down
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
After the freezer:
2/3 cup grated Parmesan (2 teaspoons per cube)
1 (12 to 16-inch) ciabatta loaf, cut into slices
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Directions
In a food processor combine the artichokes, parsley, walnuts, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Run the machine to finely chop all the ingredients, stopping the machine a few times to scrape down the sides. Then, with the machine running, drizzle in 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Spoon the pesto into the cups of an ice cube tray. Tapping the tray gently on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. Freeze for 1 day or up to 1 month.
When ready to serve, thaw the pesto. Mix in the Parmesan. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the ciabatta slices with the 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Grill until toasted, about 5 minutes. Spread the artichoke pesto over the toasted slices and serve.

menu for the week *edited with recipe*

i make a menu for every week. have i mentioned that? i cannot shop at the grocery store if i don't have my menu and list. otherwise, i will roam the aisles randomly putting things in my basket. not good. for breakfast, mike eats yogurt and/or cereal, so that's easy. i eat eggs of some sort or oatmeal. for lunch, he usually takes clients out, so i don't worry about lunches for him. if i'm home, i will eat grilled cheese and soup or chicken salad...something like that.

i cook at least 5 times a week and we usually eat out some on the weekends.

this is what we're eating this week...

sunday-artichoke pesto on grilled ciabatta bread

grilled chicken fingers

fresh raw veggies and dip

monday- organic beef burgers on english muffins with

marinated artichokes

tuesday- parmesan crusted chicken

*recipe* preheat oven to 375*. in a bowl, mix italian bread crumbs and fresh grated parmesan together, add parsley, salt & pepper, and a little bit of garlic salt. in a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs. dip chicken into egg mixture first, then bread crumb/cheese mixture. heat 2 tb of olive oil in skillet to medium heat. place chicken in skillet and brown on both sides. then transfer browned chicken onto cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes (approx.) top with fresh grated parmesan and parsley.

roasted zucchini

wednesday- herbed scrambled eggs

bacon

english muffins

thursday- individual pizzas with pepperoni, mushrooms, red peppers,

and mozzerella

fresh raw veggies

friday-date night (eat out)

and here i am at 15 weeks!