Birthdays Birthdays everywhere!

Birthday week is here!  We started the weekend by having some fun in the ER.  I was having some unexplained chest pain so of course I had to have a lot of tests...My insurance is going to love me this month!  I went to my midwife today and she said it was just excess mucus in the lungs, which is a common problem because of pregnancy hormones.  Sometimes this stuff can make your lungs stick together and when it pulls apart the pain mimics a heart attack which is what happened early Friday morning.  So it was a rough weekend but we are glad that it is nothing serious and can be solved by me taking a decongestant on a regular basis.   

Violet Turned 2 on Saturday.  I can't believe she is getting so old!  Peter made her a cake and we sang.  Violet didn't really care about the candles as you will see in the video.  Sorry I took the Video and it is really shaky as a result.  She loved the cake and really loved opening presents.  Violet got this cute pink outfit from my grandparents and I think she should wear it everyday because she looks so sweet she could get away with murder in it!   Well Sunday she wore pink and had too much fun coloring and fell asleep in the middle of her drawing.  I wonder if her artwork improves when she's sleeping!

Saturday we also had the prettiest sky, followed by some rain.  The colors in these pictures are not enhanced at all!  Peter just snapped these from our front porch.  Texas really has some beautiful sky!

This is Violet right before we sang to her.  She was a little tired and grumpy and didn't want to sit up to the table.  I think she had been playing with my lotion and had it all over her face.  Her mood improved upon the arrival of the cake :)

Video of Violet and her 2nd b-day cake

I still wasn't feeling too well on Peter's b-day so we had hostess cupcakes for Peter.  Violet seems to have found the candles and as a result we have no idea where they are so Peter "blew out" a lighter.  It was a very casual birthday Celebration but it was a fun day.  Jonathan took Peter to lunch today and I think they went and played video games.  Violet ends up stealing the cake from Peter, He eventually had to sneak around the corner and enjoy his birthday cupcake away from Violet.

Violet likes to play under the blankets while we make our bed. Here's one little monkey jumping on the bed!

Tofu and Wheatgrass

Sounds great huh? Tofu and Wheatgrass.  Well I am learning that I have been branded that Hippy Washington Girl who eats weird stuff.  For part of our 8 cow woman enrichment activity we are going to be having snacks that are home made and from food storage and another part is about taking care of your body and they want to learn how to make those "weird health shake things" and have asked me to come up with some recipes.  So I found some good shakes to make out of fruit and tofu and I even found a wheatgrass juice recipe that sound pretty good ( I'm not a huge fan of wheatgrass but I'm willing to give it a shot).  Also I am making home made granola.  I got the recipe from my cousin and I'm really excited about it.  

They asked me if I missed life on the commune.  ha ha ha.  Texas may as well be on Mars some days.

Anyways I found out some great things about Tofu and Wheatgrass so if you want to try them, there are some great health benefits.

Wheatgrass...

Two ounces of wheatgrass juice contains the vitamins and minerals equivalent to 3 pounds of organic vegetables, and is especially high in magnesium, potassium, and calcium.

Wheatgrass juice is approximately 70% living chlorophyll, making it one of the best ingestible sources of chlorophyll available. Chlorophyll oxygenates the blood and organ tissue, impedes the growth of harmful bacteria in the digestive tract, neutralizes toxins and helps purify the liver.

Wheatgrass improves digestion and relieves constipation.

Wheatgrass rebuilds red blood cell count, naturally regulates blood pressure, and helps regulate blood sugar.

Wheatgrass juice acts as a safe agent for internal cleansing, possessing powers of detoxification more than ten times superior even to long-time detox favorites like carrot juice.

Wheatgrass helps heal infection, scarring, ulcers, and sores, on the skin, in the mouth, and internally.

Tofu...

– also known as Soya Bean Curd - has been called the perfect food. It is high in protein, low in saturated fats and a good source of calcium as well as vitamin E. It is also cholesterol free. 

Recent studies have also shown that Soya beans and products derived from them may play a role in preventing various types of cancer, particularly breast cancer. It has also been seen to have preventative capacity with regard to osteoporosis and symptoms related to menopause. An additional benefit of tofu is that it is extremely easy to digest. This is because the soya bean’s fiber is removed during the manufacturing process.

 

Just a stressful day

Ever have a day where everything you do makes it worse?  I'm just having a stressful day I want to just disappear for awhile and forget this morning ever happened.

Violet is super Cute & 25 weeks

My Flowers are Blooming!  This plant is getting Yellow and Hot pink, how pretty.  I'm so excited!

This is a series of Violet in the Tub, she has so much fun in the tub we put her in there with a bucket of water and just let her play play play!

Uh Oh... Did I splash water on you?

I think I've officially Popped!  I'm 25 weeks and I look really big I can't believe that I have 3 whole months left, there isn't much more room for the baby to go!  This is my maternity Swim Suit, we went swimming today.  It was perfect!

Mothers Day flowers and sweet Violet

For Mothers Day this year Peter let me pick out a few plants to put out on our porch.  I've been really excited to get some plants and I especially wanted to grow some herbs on our porch.   In this planter I've got Cilantro on the left, then Aloe (Emily gave me this one and it was dying inside and it's now dying outside, I think I need to replant it and experiment on where it wants to be) Then Globe Basil (I'm not sure if this is edible but it smells amazing!)  And a pretty flowering plant on the end called Purslane.

This is Purslane, it is suppose to trail all over the place and it gets these beautiful flowers, I have three, and two get pink flowers and one is getting yellow ones.  

Isn't that a pretty flower?
Purslane Flower peeking through some sage leaves.

This planter is Purslane on the ends with Cherry Tomatoes ( these will have to be transplanted shortly to a bigger pot) Rosemary, and Sage.

I am approaching 25 weeks!  Only 15 more to go,  well if this girl is like her sister then it's more like 12, I can't believe it. 12 weeks!  That's also the date that Katie and Darin are getting married, how exciting! Maybe they can all share one big special day.  We have hardly even thought about having this baby we've been so busy.  I think we are just so grateful that I am not sick this time.  I have actually been feeling great, I am getting to that point where I need a nap in the afternoon, thank goodness Violet still takes a nap or I don't know how I would sneak one in.  I'm still having trouble gaining and keeping weight ( it's not totally a bad thing since I was overweight to begin with) but this week I lost 5 pounds which is not ok so I'm looking for some solid meals that can handle many reheatings!  I can only stand to eat about 1/2 to a cup per sitting so I'm trying to constantly be eating but my favorite snacks of grapefruit and yogurt aren't exactly heavy on the calories.  I know I'm going to get a lecture at my next appointment with my midwife but I just can't handle eating anymore food, my stomach is so squished right now!  If you have any meal suggestions please let me know!

I'm still doing doing enrichment and I feel like things are finally starting to take off.  We've been making a quilt for charity, trying to go see plays at an outdoor theatre but it keeps raining, having great dinners out and tonight we are having our first book group.  I am very excited about it.  It's been a little stressful getting everyone on the same page, since the Bishop asked me to not focus on crafts and that was big before.  There are still a few people that don't want to do what I've planned but for the most part the rest of the group has been extremely supportive and willing to help.  I'm really learning a lot and I'm really starting to enjoy this calling.  We have a big quarterly activity coming up that we are calling the 8 Cow Woman night ( like that movie Johnny Lingo) and I'm really excited about getting that project finished, but I think it's going to be a really fun night.

Here are some Videos of Violet.  The first is of her eating an apple.  She picked it out all by herself and took several bites out of it, sucked all the juice out of the fruit and then spit the peel out on the floor.  What a funny kid, but she does enjoy tasting the fruit under the skin.  She tried to take a bite out of my grapefruit this morning before I cut it and she really didn't think that was too great.  ha ha ha.

  Violet has her own little cupboard that we keep basically empty and she likes to climb in there and play peek a boo.  She is such a funny girl.  I am really excited for her 2nd b-day which will be a week from Saturday.  We are sad that the kids won't be able to come but Erin and Brandon are coming down to have cake with us.  Poor Brandon finally got clearance to go back to work after his ear surgery and that same day he had to go to the ER because he had Kidney stones!  I haven't heard yet how the recovery is going but I hope it goes quickly and smoothly and he can head back to work soon and stay healthy.  It's been a rough year for him.

Katie and Darin

We spent some time at the Seattle Temple on Saturday and got some good pictures it just happened to be on of those rare Seattle days.
Katie is wearing Grandma Browns wedding dress last worn in 1942. This is not the dress she will wear but she and Mom had some fun trying things on. Darin and I went shooting pistols.
Darin is a great guy I think you kids will have fun getting to know him.
I wish you all could have been here it was a ton of fun ( as old men measure fun)

Violet on the Slide

Our Weekend in Austin

We went to Austin, Texas this weekend to visit my Aunt and Uncle and we had so much fun.  Earlier this week I had been working on some quilt squares for a Relief Society project and Violet thought the bucket of fabric scraps were really cool, so this picture is a reminder to me as to why I don't sew!
Roger and Erin took us on a driving tour of Austin, the hills around Austin are beautiful and there are some gorgeous homes at the top of this hill.  Austin is a very beautiful city.
We went to Mt Bonnell, and walked up some steps to see a beautiful view, this sign gives some of the history of the area and how it was settled.  A small group of Mormon pioneers settled here but they were never very successful in the area (probably because they had been asked by Brigham Young to continue on to Utah and they said no).

The View from Mt. Bonnell.  This is the Little Colorado, it was so beautiful up there.  The river is dammed up in this area so people can boat and ski on it.  It was such a beautiful day I wanted to dive right in!

More of the river
One of the biggest Cacti I have seen in person.

The other side of the view.  

It's a pretty easy trek up the hill, If I can do it 6 months pregnant and Peter can do it with a toddler on his shoulders, just about anyone can make it there.  I'm really glad we did, the view was amazing.

The stairs up the hill.  I love the trees in Austin, they are so interesting and I loved this tunnel of trees.
We had dinner at this great restaurant called Hula Hut.  It was so yummy!  We had tons of leftovers, which we added to a delicious dinner of fajitas and salsa the next day.  After dinner we stopped at a park so the kids could play for a while.  Sam and Violet had so much fun and got along really well.

At the park they have a few pools that are fed by a natural spring, this one use to be open for swimming but they discovered an endangered creature that had taken up residence there and so they closed it to swimmers.

This is the big pool that is fed by a natural spring.  I wanted to go swimming so badly, it looks like a great pool.  A little chilly to play in.  It is a natural 68 degrees all the time.... brrr!  But it would be perfect to swim laps in.

After the park we went to a bridge in downtown Austin to watch the bats come out.  The bridge was packed with people and there was quite a crowd where we were  down by the water.  I couldn't get any good pictures of the bats, but it was so cool.  When they start taking off as a group it looks like a huge cloud of black smoke.  Definitely something I've never seen before, it was a lot of fun.
Sam watching the bats.

Roger has built a small pond with a water fall in their yard and some water lilies began to bloom while we were there.  They are so beautiful.

Violet and Sam posing for a picture.  I think this describes their personalities pretty well,  just a pair of really silly girls.  I have another shot that didn't turn out too well where they are both making really funny faces but it is so blurred.

Roger, Sam, Erin, Alex and Jack the fat cat.  Violet really loved to chase Jack around but I think he survived the weekend intact

I caught Ben up on the computer, it's his favorite place to be.  It was such a fun trip and I'm really glad that I got to see my cousins.  Ben and Alex were more than 10 years younger the last time I saw them and Alex didn't even know who I was.  Now that I am in Texas I hope we can see each other more often.

This picture is for my Mom.  She loves grapefruit too.  Mom, when you come to Texas we'll have some Texas grapefruits like this one, it was so red and Juicy I could have poured myself a cup of juice and I didn't even need sugar it was so sweet!  Oh and they sell these in bulk at the grocery store, all year round :)  are you jealous?

Ultrasound Pictures

I had my big ultrasound today, it was so much fun.  The baby was not super cooperative so it took about an hour to do the ultrasound and we had to poke and prod the baby to move around so the tech could get all the major organs and body parts.  Here are the pictures I got to take home.  This first one is the profile.  There is a little hand up under the chin, the baby was thinking really hard this morning!

Here is a hand and a scary alien face, that is what the face looks like from the front, I think it looks like a ghost.  But the hand is extended and it looks like the baby is waving.

It's hard to tell what this one is but the tech said it was the head on the right and that blob in the top middle is a hand, the baby is sucking on her fingers.  So cute!

Oh and the most exciting one!  The first ultrasound picked up a small blob that we all thought meant it was a boy, but apparently that was the umbilical cord because this baby is definitely a girl!  I'm so excited and I get to pull out all the pink stuff again.  How fun to have another girl.  Now I just have to start looking at girl names.... I knew I had picked a boy name too easily!