In the 505

Here we are in Albuquerque!

On Wednesday we woke up in Fort Stockton at our hotel and got on the road.  We got a good early start and were set to get into Albuquerque around 4:30.  Ten miles east of El Paso on I-10 (where the speed limit is 80 mph), my rear tire blew out.  I managed to get us to the side of the road and stopped safely.

  

We had to unload the full trunk to get to the spare and started at it.  I managed to loosen all but one nut on the tire and could not get the fourth one to budge.  Lissa waved down a truck and a nice rancher lady from Arizona pulled over to help us out.  We worked with my tire iron and then hers for 10 minutes and couldn't get it to move.  Finally, we managed to get it loose right as a policeman pulled up to help.  Rancher lady got back on her way and Texas Cop started helping us out.  He didn't like the jack that comes in my trunk, so he called another officer for help.  Before we knew it, there were three police cars and a Texas Department of Transportation truck parked behind us.  

Lissa, the girls and I stayed out of their way and let them change the tire.  Then we got all loaded up again and headed into El Paso to get a new tire at WalMart.  Two hours later we were back on the road headed for Albuquerque.  We got in at 9:30.

Lauren did ok on Thursday morning but woke up from her nap with a fever.  She spent most of the rest of the day napping.  Ben got in late Thursday night and she felt much better on Friday morning when she got to spend some time with Daddy.

Last night we went to dinner at Ortega's, which was great as usual.  Today Ben has been working on my car trying to get a rattle fixed and figuring out what he's going to do about the dent the policemen put in my car when they were trying to jack it up to change the tire.

I am looking forward to the Bee on Monday!

This Week

This week started out with my birthday on Sunday. Ben made breakfast and we spent most of the day playing in the front yard. Lauren got a t-ball set and has been learning how to use it. She can hit the ball, which is pretty amazing since she closes her eyes every time. :) She has fun chasing and throwing the ball as much as hitting it.

Natalie and I sat under the shade of the tree while Ben and Lauren played. Some neighbor kids from up the street came down and got in on the action, too. They all had popsicles before we called it an afternoon.

We did a quiet dinner at home on Sunday. On Monday night we went to my friend Mandy's house. Her birthday is May 5, so she invited our friends over for a joint birthday celebration. We had lots of good food and cupcakes for dessert. Here's a picture of me and Mandy.

On Tuesday we had Tumblers as usual, and then lunch as usual. On Wednesday, Natalie had PT and did really well. That night we drove down to Austin to visit Ben's cousin, Jason, who was in town from New York. They were thinking it had been about fifteen years since they had seen each other last. We went to dinner and then took Lauren swimming at his hotel and just hung out most of the night. We stayed up way too late.

We got an offer on the house last week. It was really low, so we countered it, and we're waiting to hear back. We had another showing yesterday that we haven't heard about. I hope things happen soon.

On Sunday night I emailed Natalie's Neurosurgeon about some fluid that I've been seeing build up under her scar again. He called me back that night and she's going to go in this Tuesday for another CT scan and a visit with him. If she needs another surgery, she'll probably have it on Thursday. I'm hoping she doesn't, but there is a chance. Monday night I'll drive down to San Antonio and if she doesn't need surgery I'll come back on Tuesday. If she does, I'll come back on Friday and pack Saturday and Sunday, and then we have to go back to San Antonio on Monday either way. Natalie has appointments all day long on Tuesday the 19th and once we're done, we drive straight to Albuquerque for the summer. I have just over a week left in this house. I'm really going to miss it.

But, I'm also looking forward to spending the summer in Albuquerque. Sarah and I are signing up to do 2 5Ks this summer. One is the Cherry Garcia 5K and the other is the Chunky Monkey 5K. I don't really know why I want to do it since I hate running so much, but I think it will be fun, and I'll feel like I really accomplished something. My goal for the first one is easy, I just want to finish, and for the second one, I just want to improve my time. I'm not going to knock myself out over it.

Natalie had a big accomplishment today. She rolled onto her stomach (which she's been doing for a while) and then lifted her head all the way up! That's such a milestone for her, and a great improvement and I'm so proud!

Back to the Texas Heat!

We are back home now. We got back about two weeks ago. Albuquerque was great. Lauren had so much fun with Mia and she got to do tons of stuff. We went to Explora for toddler time and concerts in the zoo and the park and lots of time in the backyard on the swings, in the pool, or playing with the sand and water table.



The cats will be vacationing in Albuquerque until after this baby is born. I just don't have all the extra energy to keep up with their messes, and I'm not supposed to clean the catbox anyway. I think Lauren misses them a little bit. She talks about everyone out there still. I think she also is bummed that we're not playing outside anymore. But 100 degrees with all this humidity is just unbearable. We haven't done anything outdoors since being back.

Since I feel so bad about that, I'm enrolling her in a "creative movement" class for 2 year olds at a ballet and dance studio in town called A & K Dance. She'll go once a week on Tuesdays. I'm not really sure what to expect out of it, but I think she'll have fun in anything. Actual ballet classes start at age 3, so she won't be able to start those until next summer. If she does really good in these classes and seems like she'd like to do something more, there's a mom and tot tumbling class we can look into. It meets three times a week, so I thought we'd start out slow and work our way up.

Other than that, we don't have a whole lot going on. My latest thyroid tests came back normal, so the doctor said it was just due to the surge of hCG hormones, but since they've leveled off, my thyoid is calming down, too. I feel a lot better and I'm eating a lot more. The baby moves all the time, she's a little gymnast for sure.

Oh! Did I mention that the baby's due date has changed? It's January 3 now. I'm a little less far along than they thought I was, but that's ok, it gives us a little more time between Christmas and her birthday.

I also ordered the cutest cards today. She has a blogspot blog, Sarah and Abraham, and she sells through her shop on etsy, Sarah and Abraham on etsy. The first order is a gift for someone (you'll get it soon... but you won't know who you are until it gets there) and I'm planning on ordering a set of notecards for Lauren soon, too. If you check out her blog, she's doing a giveaway if you comment by... well, tomorrow, so go over and check it out. If you haven't heard, I *heart* etsy and I've found a ton of cute stuff on the site. Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/

Really Quickly

We are in Albuquerque.

Rachelle came out for a week to help out and was amazing.  The day she left, Skipper flew in and the next day we drove out to New Mexico.  We're almost done here, we go home next week.  Lauren has had a great time with Mia.  They have to fight things out for the first part of every play date, but then they're the best of friends and pure trouble for everyone after that.  She's been working on using the potty and has been doing pretty well.

My thyroid tests came back that I have hyperthyroidism, so I'll have blood drawn after my next OB appointment and then the following week I go back to go over the test results and we'll make a decision about treatment (if needed) after that.  Otherwise the pregnancy has been going pretty well.  I'm into my second trimester now, so my nausea has almost disappeared.  It's such a relief!  I was so hungry after not keeping much down for two months.  Hahaha.

I'll do a more thorough update and add pictures when we get back home to Texas.

Back in Texas

Christmas was so nice this year. Everyone got together and spent the day together. Lauren had fun, I think it was much more interesting this year for her to open presents. She got a bunch of cool stuff and she's been having fun playing with all of it.

Christmas Eve day I was sick and spent most of it sleeping or throwing up. Christmas Day Skipper was sick, and the day after Jon was sick. Lissa had it a day before I did, but not nearly as bad as any of the rest of us did. Then Abby got it, then Sarah, and now Evan. Lauren did well, though, she only had a mild fever that would come and go, and although she was a little cranky, it wasn't horrible.

New Year's Eve was uneventful, really. Skipper, Lissa, Lauren and I went to Abby's house and had some Chinese food and played the Wii. We ended up leaving around 11:15 and sat in front of the TV at their house until midnight. I think we were all in bed about 5 seconds later.

We took the advice of a couple different sources and went to Santa Fe to eat at the Bobcat Bite. It is rumored to have one of the best hamburgers in the country, and I have to agree! It was delicious. The place is super tiny and the wait is long, but it was worth it. Then because of something I read in Rachael Ray's magazine, we went and tried the Kakawa chocolate house, also. They were listed as some of the best hot chocolate in the country. And they lied!! It wasn't really good, and their selection of chocolates was not as good as I would have liked. I did get a chili chocolate piece for everyone, and the overall consensus was that it wasn't good. It was like following up a bite of chocolate with a shot of chili powder. Yuck.

But we also tried some great recipes this year. I made my Finnish Christmas stars again. The new recipes we tried were for a Broccoli Corn Bread (that was so delicious!!!), honey nut weiners (I know, it sounds horrible, but it's actually good), and a chocolate and peanut butter swirl candy, which, how can that go wrong?! (it can't!).

Here's the recipe for the Broccoli Corn Bread:


2 sticks of butter, melted
1 10 oz. packages frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1 small white onion, chopped
2 boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
2 teaspoons salt
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, adding the broccoli and corn last.
- Pour into greased baking dish (9x13)
- Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
- During last few minutes, sprinkle top with a little extra shredded cheddar.
Yummy.

Here's the recipe for the Honey Nut Weiners:
INGREDIENTS:
1 package small cocktail wieners
2 packages crescent rolls
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 cup chopped pecans
PREPARATION:Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Add the honey and brown sugar, stir until melted and smooth.
Add the pecans and stir.
Pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
Unroll crescent rolls.
Cut each crescent roll into thirds, making 3 small, long triangle strips.
Starting at one end, roll hot dogs in crescent.
Place in baking dish, in honey nut mixture
Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

And here's the recipe for the chocolate peanut butter swirl:
What you need:
360 g white chocolate chopped coarsely
½ cup (140g) smooth peanut butter
400 g dark chocolate chopped coarsely
Tip for coarsely chopping chocolate - bash chocolate with a meat mallet while still in its wrapping Melt white chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Cool for 5 minutes then add peanut butter, stir until smooth.
Melt the dark chocolate the same way. Cool slightly
Drop alternate spoonfuls of the white chocolate mixture and dark chocolate mixture into a small pan you greased and lined with parchment paper earlier.
Gently shake pan to level mixture.
Then drag a skewer back and forth through the mixture several times for a marbled effect.
Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours or until set, or you can stick it in the fridge.
When it has set, cut into small squares.
Here's what ours looked like still in the pan:


And it was delicious!

On Sunday, Lissa and I loaded up in the car with Lauren and both cats and set out to drive back here to Texas. It was about 11 hours of travel time. I took the first leg, the 3 hour drive to Clovis, she took the second leg - 4 hours to Sweetwater, and I took the last 4 hour leg that got us home. We did have a nice little dinner in the diner at the Sweetwater truck stop. I'd imagine we were there for almost an hour. But it was good, Lauren got to get out of her seat and walk around and stretch for a little while, and then she slept a good portion of the rest of the way home. We got in just before 11 pm. We even got most everything out of the car before we fell in our beds asleep.

I dropped Lissa off at the Killeen airport this morning. It was a really short trip on this side, but a good visit with everyone, and I'm glad we got the chance to do it. Now ther's a little over two weeks before Lauren and I fly off to California to see everyone there.

Arrived Safely

Thursday morning Lauren and I left for Albuquerque. We drove until Sweetwater until we stopped for gas and pizza, then drove to Lubbock where we picked up Skipper at the airport. He took over and drove the rest of the way. We got in just before midnight. It was an uneventful trip overall.

Lauren has been enjoying her cousin Mia, and she's had a lot of fun with her uncle Jon. Lissa made tamales yesterday for us to enjoy on Christmas day, and we're going to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Christmas Eve. I'm looking forward to Christmas morning here. I think Lauren will really have fun opening presents. She got a new pair of Christmas pajamas today to wear on Christmas Eve.

All our Christmas shopping is done, but we did go to the mall today. It was insanely busy and I'm glad we weren't pressed to get things and we could leave when we wanted to.

Lauren decided that her grandma's dog Charlie should be named Sue. That's all she'll call him. She calls all the other dogs by the right name.

Ben is doing well, we're still waiting on his internet to get up and running, hopefully it will be any day now.

Just two days until Christmas!!