Memorial Day weekend

We are forever indebted to our troops who have served or who are currently serving for our country. What a tremendous sacrafice. God bless America! We had a great weekend together as a family. Grant didn't have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. for work or school stuff, so that was a nice break for him. Today we attempted to take Noah to Shrek 4... his first movie. He surprisingly lasted about 45 minutes. We then headed downtown and hit up some shopping and playing in the water at Millenium Park, right accross from where Grant's office is downtown. Noah loved splashing around in the water.
Saturday was beautiful and we did the beach thing for the first time in Chicago. It was so packed, and so beautiful; we had a great time. I'm sure we will be back many times this summer. It's only about 2 miles from our place - so awesome!

(pardon the pregnancy cleave - photo courtesy of grant.)

Tomorrow Brandon and Lindsay - my bro and sis-in-law - are coming to visit. Should be a good time!

We love Chicago....come visit! :)

Birthday Boy

Yesterday Noah turned two years old! It makes me sad he's getting big so fast.

I was in charge of the ward playgroup, so we headed to the park and I brought an Elmo pinata and coconut cupcakes and we celebrated all of the May birthdays.The birthday boy with some of his buddies... Ellis, Peter, Noah and Spencer. They all got bubbles and loved making a mess with them. :)
Gathering the loot!

For dinner I made Noah's favorite... spaghetti with tomatoes on the side. He has loved tomatoes since he was a baby.

Then we opened presents and had more cupcakes.

Noah's favorite gift was the guitar we got him. He was so sad he couldn't go to sleep with it last night, and "guitar" was the first thing he said this morning.

Giving the new trike a spin.

Happy Birthday Noah! We love you, cute boy!

Brunch

Yesterday after church, we came home and made a yummy brunch. So yummy, that of course I have to share again. I haven't been feeling too great lately, and I feel like the only thing that sounds good are carbs. …crackers, toast, etc. … Which is why we made these:

Oatmeal Pancakes with Buttermilk Syrup

For the pancakes:

2 cups regular oats
2 cups buttermilk (I used light)
2 eggs
¼ cup melted butter
½ cup flour
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
Mix the oats and buttermilk together. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs with the melted butter. In another bowl, mix remaining dry ingredients. Add all three mixtures together. Use 1/3 cup to measure out pancakes onto griddle or warm skillet.

 

Syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used light here too)
3/4 cup butter
1 TBS light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 TBS vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and boil for 5 minutes on high or until it looks like syrup consistency (don't boil for too long or it'll become too thick).

 

 

The pancakes aren't that bad for you…it's this delicious syrup that will give you a sugar/butter high. You can always substitute sugar-free syrup to make a healthier version.

I got this recipe from www.just-cook-already.blogspot.com. I think it was my friend Laurel that turned me onto it, but they are my go-to recipe blog as of late. They're always posting something yummy!

Delish

A friend brought this guacamole over for dinner tonight and I had to share. It was fabulous!!!!!!!!! Grant is usually the king of making delicious guac, but we both agree that this was better than his. :) Nothing has sounded good to me all day, and all I had eaten was toast until this showed up. Yum.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/guacamole-recipe/index.html

The Barefoot Contessa is brilliant. Another friend happened to bring Barefoot Contessa Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes. Wow.


I will start posting recipes that I try, that I think my readers cannot live without. (That is, if I have any interested followers.) :)

Double lines, baby!

Don't worry - it's just a googled image - not my own. :)

Since I feel like most people already know.............. our third ivf worked!! Hallelujiah! We had our first ultrasound today at 6 weeks and saw one baby (phew - we put in 4 embryos again, in hopes to increasing our chances). We also saw a tiny little flicker of a heartbeat. It's still really, really early, so of course we're still cautiously excited, but the signs of a heartbeat were pretty relieving. We'll have another ultrasound next week with the doctor (today's was with the nurse), and he should be able to see the heartbeat better and do a full on, more in depth ultrasound.

Looks like we'll be staying in Chicago for the holidays, as we're aiming at an early January delivery. Or maybe we'll try to do an induced c-section a week or so early for the 2010 tax break. Ha!

Coconut Cupcakes

Okay - you asked, and here it is. The secret is out. These cupcakes will change your life. :)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

Here are my notes:

1. I halved the frosting part of the recipe, after reading the reviews. It seemed to make plenty.

2. I would do maybe 1/2 the amount of almond extract in both the batter and the frosting. I would also add a couple drops of coconut extract to the batter and frosting, just for more coconut flavor.

3. I used light buttermilk and 1/3 less fat cream cheese and couldn't tell a difference. That way I didn't feel as guilty putting in cube after cube of butter and cup after cup of sugar.

You are welcome. :) Enjoy.