It's Monday... it's December and it's COLD outside!

Monday morning list...

that I may or may not go into detail later about... :)

1. We're heading to the Dr this afternoon with Eli. He's been sick for a week now with a runny/stuffy nose and a cough and isn't getting better. Luke's had the same thing but is over it. Eli is just so little and having a harder time getting rid of it!
2. We had baby dedication yesterday! Eli and I left immediately after the dedication since he's been sick. I didn't want to spread the germs! He looked so very cute in his little sweater vest though!
3. Extreme Makeover Home Edition was so good last night! I cry every time! (and so does the Hubs!!!) To hear those little boys talk about their daddy! Gut wrenching! Did anyone watch it?
4. Eli turned 3 months old Saturday! My newborn is turning into a baby!!
5. I desperately need to do some Christmas shopping. I'm thinking about doing some online just so we don't have to get out.. especially with sick kiddos!
6. I made a homemade Angel Food cake this weekend. Was all the beating and folding of the separated eggs worth it? Not really. But this blueberry sauce on top was to die for. Seriously. It would be great on top of ice cream... if I could eat ice cream.. boo hoo... (BTW, I used half OJ for the water in the recipe)
7. I was tagged a while ago by Donna to list 7 random thing about myself and I'm having a hard time coming up with 7... does that mean I'm boring?
8. My memory verses for this week are:

Matthew 6:28-30 - “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Pregnancy update and some ramblings!

I had my 31 week appointment yesterday. Now I will start going every 2 weeks until 35 weeks... then I'll be going every week! It was a quick visit, everything looks great! I asked her about my walking (I'm still walking about 3-4 times a week) and she said that I could keep it up as long as I didn't get too hot. The weather has been sooo nice out but I'm afraid it's not going to last much longer. I guess then I'll just do my walking DVD inside in the AC! She also asked me if we were still planning on the VBAC. Yep! I have been thinking about that a lot.. especially since delivery is getting closer and closer! I will admit I am a little scared about it but the thought of scheduling major surgery scares me even more. There are risks to having a VBAC but the risks are very, very rare. Uterine rupture (which freaks me out so I don't plan on even thinking about it ever after this very moment.. well, I will at least try not to think about it!) only happens in about 2% of those who try VBACS. And that is only increased if you are induced. And seriously if you think about it there are definitely risks to having major surgery as well! I know that I have a higher chance of labor resulting in repeat c/s this time around but I've done it before.. and I can do it again! It helps that my Dr is supportive! I have a fear though of getting a nurse who isn't all about VBACs and is ugly or discouraging to me about it. Here is what I do know:

I cannot be induced (but wouldn't want to be anyways, I wasn't with Luke)
I have to progress on my own, no help with drugs
I have a 70-75% chance at a successful vaginal delivery
I can have an epidural (yay!) but should try to delay so that my body progresses well
And most importantly: God is in control!!!

I have been praying about this since the moment I found out I was pregnant. I know that God will be with me no matter what the outcome! I'm praying for a successful VBAC but most importantly a healthy baby (and a healthy Mommy to take care of both of my babies... and R too!).

So, for all of you out there, please add this to your prayer list! In just 5 & 1/2 weeks I will be considered full term (wow, it is really that close!). Eli will be here soon! :)

Help, I'm losing brain cells!!!

An extra note from a more rested Crystal: Please keep my sister in your prayers. She begins her journey home from China today! She will fly today to Beijing. After spending a night in Beijing she will fly to New York tomorrow. She's spending a few days in New York and then flying home on Sunday afternoon! Please pray for her safety as she travels!! I can't tell you how excited I am! She's been gone for 9 months!!! I even had a dream about it last night!

I want to write something clever and insightful.. really I do. I just can't at the moment. VBS is wearing me out.. and today is only Tuesday! I have some really awesome things on my mind that God has been showing me that I want to blog about. It will have to wait though... I can't keep my eyes open!

I think Eli is not only sucking nutrients but also parts of my brain. I came home from VBS and proceeded to put my roast in the crock pot. I coated it with salt & pepper and seared it on all sides. I sliced my onion. I mixed my water, Worcestershire sauce and cider vinegar together and poured it over the roast. I topped it off with sliced onion and garlic. I closed the lid and turned the knob to low. I did a few things around the house, checked my mail, etc. I walked over to the crock pot an hour and a half later to realize that it wasn't plugged in.

So, we had pizza tonight.

(My mom claims that the roast will be fine. And I did actually turn it on to cook when I realized what I had done.. and it cooked.. and it's in the fridge now because it wouldn't have been ready by supper anyway. But I'm not sure I want to eat it tomorrow. I tasted a tiny bite from the outside and it was pretty good. That kind of stuff freaks me out though.)

Seriously, please someone tell me I am not alone in things like this.

And that is another reason why I should have been in bed an hour ago.

Night!

List of my thoughts! (and a recipe)

So, what's been going on?? I've been staying busy the past few days! Here is a little list of thoughts from the past week.. this will be random but hey, that's how I'm feeling today! :)

1. The weather has been SOOO nice, so Luke and I have been spending most mornings outside. We even went for a short walk one day before playing. I love watching him play outside because he loves it so much. I am dreading when the humidity hits, which won't be long! Daddy will have to spend more time with him outside then. :)
2. This week was a volunteer week at the pregnancy center. We have a Walk for Life tomorrow! I'm excited to see the turnout!
3. My son has food texture issues. I know this is why he refuses to eat so many different things (although we have made progress). Last night when he tried mashed potatoes, he loved the flavor and ate several bites. Well, he took one BIG bite and began to gag. That big blob of mushy mashed potatoes was just too much for him. Yeah, you know what comes next.. he threw up every bite of potatoes he ate. Dinner was then over. About thirty minutes later he did have a piece of toast, grapes and strawberries. He just can't handle some things. BTW, the potatoes were awesome despite this whole story! I had some for lunch today!
4. I am attempting to grow my nails back out. I use to be a nail technician, so I know the key to pretty nails! It's easy, take care of them! When I do that, I do have pretty nails. Since Luke came along I have just gotten lazy though. So, last night I took the time to file, buff and polish my nails. I forgot to do one of the most important parts though, rub cuticle oil in before bed! I need to just set the oil on my night stand (I don't think it would be wise to put it under my pillow, like my chapstick!) so I will remember to use it!
5. We're going out to dinner tonight with some really good friends of ours. I can't wait!! We don't get to see each other often so tonight is a special treat! And they are expecting their first child! So, it's fun to talk to them and share stories! She is about 7 weeks behind me!
6. This book is so good! I am loving it and it is going perfectly with my study through Isaiah! Thanks to Xandra for recommending it and thanks to my hubby for already owning it! :)
7. If any of you happened to read the last 3 comments on my 100th Post entry, the last one is from my husband to my mom. They have a crazy, weird relationship where they both pick at each other. I just wanted to clarify so that no one thought 'whoever that was' was being mean. It's all in fun! :)
8. I made some YUMMY cookies today! I'd been craving oatmeal raisin cookies so I decided to do a little experiment and make my own recipe. I did use a base recipe but changed around a few things. I've already had 3 today! Here is the recipe:

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
(5 dozen)

1 c butter, softened
1 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c AP flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
1 c dried cranberries
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Sift together the flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture slowly into the creamed butter mixture. Stir in oats, cranberries, and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until light and golden. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Store in an airtight container after completely cooled.

** Of course you could add raisins instead of cranberries and you could add nuts (I would say maybe a half cup) as well. You could also use all white flour. I just try to add in a little whole wheat when I can. You do not have to refrigerate the cookie dough. I just think refrigerated dough makes prettier cookies! Refrigerating the dough helps to avoid really flat cookies. They took about 10 minutes in my oven. Be careful to not over bake unless you like hard, crisp cookies. At 10 minutes mine were lightly golden and still somewhat soft in the middle. They set up perfectly after the 2 minutes of cooling on the cookie sheet.

Now, I'm going to post this recipe over at Leah's Recipe Exchange. If you haven't checked out the recipes there you should! Have a great weekend!

Complete Nonsense...

We caught 'em!!!!

That stinkin' little mouse is dead!!! PTL!

I hate mice. I mean who really likes them? Since moving into this house we've had 2. The first one, I'm sure was there when we moved in. In three weeks it will be a year that we have lived here.. and I saw our second mouse yesterday after church. I SAW it! EW. I was getting lunch ready and saw it run under the dishwasher. So what did I do? Make R head to the store and buy as many mouse traps as he could. Last night I set 5. Yes, five. I would have set seven because that's how many we had.. but one broke in the setting process and one was defective. Three in the kitchen. One under the kitchen sink. And one in the computer room (considering I think that's where the little thing was running from yesterday). I was so disappointed when I woke up this morning.. no mouse in ANY of the traps. Surely I set enough! Well, in order to save Luke from sure finger breakage I moved one trap to the computer room (that we have blocked w/ a gate) and the other 2 I just casually set under the kitchen sink and figured I'd get them back out tonight.
Well, I was doing my Walk Away The Pounds DVD... and I heard a "snap". I thought, surely not! I was sure it had just went off on it's own from me moving it around so much. I looked under the counter and there it was.. dead... I was so happy I had to call the hubs and let him know. He congratulated me on my catch. Of course when he gets home from ATL he will be disposing of the thing.
I was once one of those people who thought that only people who's house was not clean had mice. But I have since changed my mind. Now, my house it not an after shot picture of a Clean Sweep makeover but it's decently clean (most of the time). I do have a toddler... so keeping a random cheerio or cracker crumb out of the floor can be difficult at times. Houses just get mice... especially older houses. I can even remember having one in my room growing up.. and we didn't live in a old house... and my room was on the 2nd floor! We didn't use a trap.. we just let the cat in.. and he got it. It was fun.
Oh and we do have an outside cat. Ace. And guess where he sleeps... in the basement, UNDER THE HOUSE (literally in the crawl space)! Seriously Ace, we did not expect you to invite the mice in and let them live here!!!! What kind of cat are you?? I kind of regret getting rid of Lucy, our former cat. Now, she was a mouser... well actually a moler (which isn't a word, bytheway)... She loved those things. Yes, it was gross to wake up to 2 or 3 little moles on your back porch, dead... but we never saw a mouse in the 2 years that we lived in that house. Come to think of it, we didn't see many chipmunks or squirrels {outside} either.

I know this post has been probably the most random, completely brainless thing I have ever written. But... Oh Well.

:)

Randomness...

Busy. Busy. Busy.

That has been the jest of the past few days for me. Lots of baking and cooking and cleaning. I really do love it.. but I am looking forward to a slow day of doing nothing Monday! Luke and I spent 2 nights with my mom since R had to go out of town suddenly. I do not like to stay by myself. I stayed by myself Wednesday night and was fine but I just would much rather my hubby be with me. I missed him so very much.

Saturday night I had a movie night with the youth/college girls from church. And though it was a small group we had such a good time. We had some really good food.

And we watched The Nativity Story, which is so good! Oh what a glorious King we serve to come so humbly and lowly to save our souls! Ok, I could keep on going.. but I'll just refer you to here!

One more thing.. what in the world is up with this weather??? It was 75 degrees today!!!! As I speak there is a fly buzzing around my head. Seriously, it's about to drive me insane. I thought to myself when I first heard that annoying thing.. 'What in the world is a fly doing? It's December 9th!!' But then I remembered that it has been so WARM... plus our house is surrounded by cow pastures.. so you know...

Ok, that's enough nonsense!! ;)