Not the best thing for a party...

This weekend I helped welcome a new little boy, Mathis, to Houston. A few of my friends hosted a Sip N See for Mathis and his family. We had a great time getting to visit and I think Mathis enjoyed the attention. I took a few snack foods as well as a Broccoli Salad.

Since people are always trying to be healthy (well, most people I know) I went with a fruit tray and dip. This is really the easiest dip out there. 1 package of cream cheese (low fat works, but it can clump up a bit) and 1 jar Marshmallow Cream. Beat the two together with an electric mixer and voila - the best fruit dip. I don't make this very often, but every time I do I find myself wanting to eat the whole jar and make more.

The other dip I decided on was probably not the best idea in hindsight. Well, if you are single it's not the best idea. For those of us who will go home with people who have to take us home, who cares! I found this recipe in a Southern Living magazine a few months ago and have been looking for a reason to try it. Now, I want to make it again. AND you can do it low fat or fat free - score! I actually used the light sour cream this time and you couldn't taste the difference.

Caramelized Onion Dip from Southern Living

• 2 T butter
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• Salt & Pepper
• 16oz Sour Cream
• 2 T chopped fresh chives (I had to use green onions...my Kroger didn't have chives)

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until tender and brown, about 20 minutes. Add about 1/4 t each salt & pepper, remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes. Mix in with the sour cream, another 1/4 t each salt & pepper and the chives. Chill for 30 minutes or overnight.

Not much going on

It was a pretty uneventful weekend in our house. Wait - I forgot about something! Jason left Thursday morning for a quick work trip to Chicago. He did take advantage of baseball season and went up early that morning to see a Cubs vs. White Sox game at Wrigley Field. I was pretty bummed that I couldn't go with him, but airline prices were just too high for me to tag along. So Thursday was spent at a pretty good game - the Cubs won by the way.

Friday, though, is where it all went downhill. First, he was scheduled for a flight that would get back to Houston about 10:30. But, being the great husband he is, he wanted to get home a little early to hang out with me and be able to get a little sleep for a long weekend of studying. So he paid $50 for a flight that would leave earlier and have him in Houston about 8:30.

Then...the weather hit. And his 5:30 flight was moved to 7:30. About the time the original flight was supposed to leave. Then it was moved to 8:30...9:30...10:53...well, you get it. He went back and forth trying to decide to stay the night at a hotel or take the flight when it finally left. Until he found out that the staying option meant he'd be leaving Chicago at about 2pm the next day. So, he finally left Chicago about 1am and made it to the house around 4:30am. It kind of threw off the whole weekend of studying and hanging out.

Ok, so that was the eventful part of the weekend. The rest was pretty boring. I went to visit my friend Viula who loaned out her maternity clothes!! I will be set for quite some time. I spent the rest of the day cleaning house. Sunday we both slept in and I left for a while to run errands. I did a little shopping and found my way to USA Baby. I figured it was a safe bet - I couldn't actually spend money but I could kill some time. For the record, baby furniture is expensive! I had a little bit of sticker shock. I remember looking around there with Maegan a few years ago, but I don't remember the prices. However I have to keep telling myself that this will be furniture that we will keep for a long time. I hope... Either way, I don't have to worry about it yet. I have a while.

I'm currently at 15 weeks...that means 25 to go. I did finally jump in and take a "belly pic." Sorry - I cut off my head because I had no makeup on. Maybe next time. As for baby stuff, we're still moving along. Nothing much going on. I'm starting to pop out a little. People are touching my stomach. I always thought I'd be perfectly ok with that. Turns out I was a little freaked out at first...but decided to move on because people will still touch the belly. Even if you are freaked out. :-)

My 100th Post

I guess I do have a lot to talk about! When I started this I thought I would probably let it die after a few months. Don't get me wrong, I've had some dry weeks were nothing interesting was happening. But, I still made it to 100!

So, in honor of that I'm going to post somethings I've been holding on to. A few months ago Jason and I found out that we're going to have to be responsible soon. As in, we'll be raising a kid! I know, I know - crazy, right? Well I decided to write a little bit each week about what was going on and how we were feeling and I've been wanting to post them. I think I wrote a post each week so...happy reading!

Oh - and apparently they don't show up now - they'll show up in the month I wrote them. Sorry! I had no idea. So look back starting in April for some new posts.

Time to make the donuts

Growing up we didn't really have the option of going to the donut shop for breakfast. It was half an hour away - by that time you may as well have lunch! Sure, we had donuts every once in a while, but that was on vacation.

We did, however, get donuts at home. Not very often, but occasionally my mom would make donuts. They were usually a treat for birthdays or some sort of holiday. I've been wanting to make them for a while and woke up earlier than Jason on Saturday. Being the wonderfully nice wife I am, I let him sleep while I made coffee and donuts for breakfast. It really took me a total of about 25 minutes to do both!

Quick & Easy Donuts

Take one can of regular size (not the Grands) buttermilk biscuits. Using the lid to a water bottle or soda bottle, cut out the donut holes. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan about 1/2" deep and heat. Drop the dough into the grease and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until they're a light golden brown color. Drain on a paper towel. For the glaze I mixed milk and powdered sugar. You can also add a drop or two of food coloring for a special holiday.

I can't wait until Jett comes over again. The kid loves donuts with sprinkles so that's what he'll be getting for breakfast!

Inching closer

Well, I'm officially 29. Yesterday was my birthday and I'm closer to 30. One of my only requests in life was that I not be pregnant on my 30th birthday. I mean, obviously if I were it would not be detrimental, but turning 30 is something to celebrate. And I'm telling you from first hand knowledge it's a little tough to par-tay past 10pm when your pregnant!

I did manage a small celebration last night -and had fun before my meter ran out at 9:45. We met my mom, step-dad, step-brother, Lin & Adam in the middle of nowhere for dinner. Based on the recommendation of my step-dad we went to a Cajun place called Repka's. I'm not even sure how to tell you where it is...about halfway between Brookshire and Waller. However, I will say that if you want to make the drive (it really only took us 40 minutes) for some good food, do it. It was crowded on a Thursday night and apparently it's packed to the gills on the weekend. They have a LOT of seating. You don't keep adding on to a restaurant if you only fill it twice a year. You do that when you can fill it a few times a week! The food was great and the price is pretty good.

For my birthday I got flowers - from my step-brother. He was cute and slightly embarrassed. Boys.

But I'm most excited about my new toy. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, Jason bought me a Wii. Woohoo! I have wanted one for about a year now. It just looks like so much fun! I know the gift has benefits for Jason also - he'll get to play after his summer of school hell AND while he's in that summer of school hell it will surely keep my occupied. Because my goal for the next 8 weeks is to get really good at Mario Kart so that I can kick his butt!! :-)

I'm so becoming a couch potato...

I did it!

The blog has a new name. I would have a really cute background, but I'm pretty well computer dumb when it comes to stuff like that. So this is it for now.

Expect a lot of random sh!t postings to follow since I don't feel so tied down to cooking. Yay!

Edit: you may notice a new pretty header! My friend Megan is apparently much more computer proficient than I am and this was in my in-box this morning. Too cute!

Change

Most of you know that some change is coming in my life. I'll post more about it later. But because of the life change, I think I'm going to have a blog change. The blog will be more about me...Jason...and our change. And less about cooking because, well, I haven't done a lot of that lately! I will still cook, but I think the blog as a whole will be more about everything.

So...I need to change the name. But I've been putting it off because I have no idea what to change it to. Any suggestions?

12 weeks down...a lot more to go

6/3/09


The cat is out of the bag. I feel "officially pregnant." Everyone knows. Well, everyone who I care about knows. Did I mention that we told Maegan and Jett (my godson)? She is so excited. Jett is too, but he just doesn't know it. However anytime I pointed to my stomach and asked "what's this" he responded with "Aunt Dee baby!" Love it! He's going to be a great cousin to The Kid.


I had my 12 week appointment last week. That was a marathon. I started at 7am with an ultrasound and blood work and then had to be back at 1:30 for the appointment and more blood work. Dr. F thinks everything is going well and said that she'll only call if something comes back funky on the blood work. ((read below for my minor heart attack))


After I cleared everything with her I told my mom that she could tell the rest of the family and her friends. I would think that she got absolutely nothing done that afternoon. I'm sure the phone line was super busy! I called both grandmothers and that was it. LaDonna's coworker thinks they're going to need a third phone line by the fall because my grandmother is having surgery in September, my cousin Alicia is getting married in November and I'm due in December. The Nail Salon Hot Line will be in full force! Also, Jason said that as soon as he told his parents they could tell he thinks his dad emailed 80 people. Good grief!


I also told work this week, so that was a load off. Most of my coworkers are pretty excited and my boss didn't freak out about me missing 3 months of work. He probably feels like most of my family does - I won't make it the full 3 months out! We'll see...


The best thing so far is that my family is so excited. Jason and I talked about it last night and...it's not like it's a relief, because I knew they would be, but really it's just fun and cute. LaDonna asked if she could host a shower (like I would say no!) and if she could buy something. My mom already bought diapers and baby washcloths. I guess after 2 months of keeping things on the down-low it's a relief to finally share things.


On other baby news, I have splitting headaches that I can't get rid of. And Tylenol works about as well as eating candy.


Oh, my heart attack. I visited clients earlier this week in Austin. Tuesday morning we were wrapping up the visit and I heard my phone buzz. I figured it was Jason calling me back, but when I saw a random 713 number I almost threw up. I freaked out, closed out that appointment and got out the door. And, wouldn't you know, nothing was wrong. It was TUTS (a local theater company) trying to sell me tickets. I had been doing ok based on the doctors advice of "no news is good news" but man - that scared me to death.