random stories.

I realize i haven't blogged in pretty much forever so I'm warning you now...it's probably going to be pretty long!

A couple of weekends ago we went on a ward camp out, which was fun. I tend to be an overprotective mom so I was trying really hard not to be on this campout. We kept waiting and waiting for the ward production they were putting on, but it got to be 9 and they hadn't started so we decided to put Eva down and then go watch the ward thing. So we did but when we showed up a lady asked me "where's your baby?" so i told her she was alseep at which point she looked at me like i was nuts and said "aren't you worried a bobcat will get her?". needless to say i then felt like a crappy mom and so i just went back to the tent and went to sleep. We're camping AGAIN this weekend so i really should be packing, but i figured the lack of posting was getting to be a bit ridiculous.

Eva taking a bath in a rubbermaid bin


It was chilly!

Anyway, another Eva-related story (yes i am aware that 99 % of my posts revolve around her). I had to take her to the cardiologist the other day to do some tests (her pediatrician thought her heart rate was too fast). You have to understand something about Eva...she's what you might call...an excitable child. She REALLY hates if you try to put something on her that she can't take off (she won't wear socks or shoes without acting like i'm beating her senseless) or if you won't move away from her when she says. so basically she thinks doctors are bad bad people. anyway, we go in and they want to do an EKG. I tried to talk them out of it since we already had one done a few months ago and it was an awful experience but they insisted. So the guy starts putting these stickers all over her bare little chest and belly. she tries to brush them off, and when she can't she FLIPS. she starts screaming bloody murder and ripping them off. so i have to restrain her which makes her even angrier so she starts kicking and trying to BITE the nurse when he gets near her with a sticker. so finally he gives up and calls the dr in. The first thing the dr. does is try to listen to her heartbeat, which is innocent enough i suppose but eva wants none of it. she screams and screams (if she knew any profanities believe me she would have been using them), kicks, spits and bites (don't ask me where she learns this stuff). so he tries to hand her the stethoscope so she can get used to it ... she promptly throws it across the room. a few more tries and the dr literally stands up, leaves the room and said "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!". i thought i would DIE from embarrasment. anyway, i paid $40 for a diagnosis of "i think dr's make her nervous." oh yeah and to be humiliated for an hour. its a good thing she's such a cute little booger. is it possible for kids under one to be true brats?

It was an EXHAUSTING day. this is her hair post-pigtails.

on to other random news.... I GOT A BOSCH MIXER! i'm so stoked. i'd post a picture but eva busted the camera today. (she didn't like me trying to take close-ups and threw it across the living room) i felt like a little kid buying my first bike or something. the only thing i was missing the the piggy bank being shaken out over the counter. i literally kept giggling while we were checking out. soo embarrasing. we made pizza dough in it today and let me tell you that is one heavy duty beast! i also made mayo in the blender portion just for the heck of it. if i could figure out how to make "light" mayo i would never have to buy it again. it was stupid easy let me tell you.

and finally....

i gave eva a pedicure today. she sat amazingly still for it, which makes me think i should try that for the next doctor visit.

haircut

i just got a haircut and decided to join the bang club. jared thinks its silly since i spent the last 2 years growing my bangs out, but what can i say? i missed them. :) anyway, now i have a measly little ponytail and i can't wait for it to grow out!

before

after

she walks!

she walks! as long as there's a pillow in front of her...and she doesn't have to take more than 1.5 steps to get there. :)

pretty pretty poo??

Eva has a plethora of these little felt flower bows I made a few months ago when people kept mistaking her for a boy. Due to this I try to have her wear a bow whenever we go out. After returning from some errands I sat down to go through the mail while Eva was happily dragging everything out of the diaper bag. I look over a few minutes later and the bow is missing. So I look for it, but can't find it and figure she's eaten in. When Jared comes home that night the following conversation ensued:

me : "Jared, Eva ate her bow"
jared: histerical laughter "are you serious?"
me: "umm yeah i'm pretty sure"
jared: "you know why i like you? because most moms would be freaking out right now.
me: "why?"
jared: "well it could get stuck in her intestines and she'd have to have surgery!"
me: after a major freak out "do we need to take her to the hospital?"
jared: "nah, lets just keep an eye on her"

so i spent the next week mashing her belly to make sure it wasn't too hard, keeping track of her diapers and digging through doo doo to see if this bow had emerged. Aaaannnnd Jared found the dang bow under the couch a week later.

I think i'm finally starting to understand why mothers like to say things like, "If you had ANY idea what I went through for you!"

lighter mac n' cheese

I recently came across this recipe from America's Test Kitchen ( i LOVE these peeps) in their Test Kitchen Favorites book and thought I'd share. I don't recommend using sharp cheese (it was still good, but a little too tangy), and we also used 1 % milk with no problem. Enjoy!

Note: they recommend grating your own cheese rather than using pre-shredded.

Ingredients:

Salt
1/2 pound elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)
1 (12 oz) can 2 percent reduced-fat evaporated milk
3/4 cup 2 % milk
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder or celery salt (optional)
pinch cayenne
2 tsp cornstarch
8 ounces 50 percent light cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)

Directions:

1. Bring 2 1/2 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in 2 teaspoons salt and the macaroni; cook until the pasta is completely cooked and tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and leave it in the colander; set aside.

2. Add the evaporated milk, 1/2 cup of the 2% milk, mustard, garlic powder (if using) cayenne, and 1/2 tsp salt to the now-empty saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Whisk the cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup milk together, then whisk it into the simmering mixture. Continue to simmer, whisking constantly, until the sauce has thickened and is smooth, about 2 minutes.

3. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cheddar until melted and smooth. Stir in the macaroni, and let the macaroni and cheese sit off the heat until the sauce has thickened slightly, 2 to 5 minutes, before serving.

Happy Anniversary #2!

Monday Jared and I celebrated our second anniversary. It's amazing how fast two years can go! We celebrated it fairly simply, by eating some yummy meals, watching a movie and hanging out together.
Jared handled breakfast, and it was DELICIOUS. He made pretty much every breakfast food out there and even brought a huge cinnamon roll from the best b.fast place ever The Farmhouse. Eva devoured a huge mound of hash browns and by the end of the meal we all had some pretty impressive looking bellies.
After breakfast Jared headed off to work, stopping by for some spaghetti at lunch (my so called specialty, even though its not very special) and the rest of the day was pretty much buisness as usual.
After Jared got off of work we dropped Eva off at some friends of ours who have a little girl about her age. I have to admit...I cried before we took her, but I figured I needed to grow up! I had to keep telling myself "she's 10 months old...she's 10 months old...it'll be ok". So Jared and I headed off to dinner at Joe's BBQ and downed pretty much all the rootbeer and BBQ we could hold. We ate so quickly that we had time to spare so we ran by the library to grab some movies. We picked Eva up who apparently didn't miss us at ALL. In fact, she threw the biggest tantrum I've ever seen when we were leaving. Poor kid, I guess that's a big clue to me that we need to get out a little more!
After we got Eva to bed we watched "Monster Garage" (Jared's pick obviously) which actually is pretty interesting since they get a bunch of wackos with no social skills together and some pretty funny fights ensue. All in all it was a pretty good anniversary! We're headed to Sedona tomorrow to do a little more celebrating and to hang out with Tim, Megan, Shaun David, Andrew and Morgan. It should be fun!

Our Wedding day, August 25, 2006

First Anniversary





Second Anniversary, and Yes I do know we look silly. We tried for 1/2 an hour and could NOT get a good picture! I look like a deer in the headlights!

BLAH!

after starting 4 different blogs with different subjects and then deciding i hate them all i'm giving up and just posting a couple of cute pictures of eva.

eva will put ANYTHING in her mouth. even if it doesn't really fit.

she very typically sleeps like this. bum straight up in the air!

and...this is apparently what she does when she wakes up. i think my baby needs a chew toy.