Bun in the Oven

Brian and Emma hosted a costume party last night and guess what...we won for best couples costume :)

HECK YEAH!!!!

I was trying to show off the top of the oven - please don't pay any attention to the crazy face.
Between David and I, we turned that box into one good looking oven if ya ask me :)

It was a lot of fun and I loved seeing all the different ideas people came up with.  Now we just need to figure out what Benjamin is going to be this year!

2 Whole Years

I missed several events in the past month
Benjamin's Birthday
David's Birthday
Our Anniversary
And a couple of friend get-togethers, but I am determined to make up for it and as soon as I'm back at 100% I'll make sure each of those missed occasions gets the proper attention they deserve :)

Benjamin's Birthday is actually the day I ended up in the hospital.  But we were still able to squeeze in some present and ice cream time.

David put together a video of Benjamin throughout the last year.  I've probably watched at least 100 times already.  He also put a video together last year for his Birthday.  I think it'll be a fun tradition

I'm Back!

Holy Cow - where do I start?  The past 6 weeks have been unquestionably the hardest 6 weeks of my life.  And by now, you all know why.

I took that picture such a long time ago when I was still feeling great and had all sorts of grand plans to take fun pictures every week to document this pregnancy, but sadly that positive test is the only picture in my Baby #2 folder on the computer so far. 

I am slowly starting to improve and I have high hopes that within the next week or two I will be back to my normal self again.  I still have issues in the evenings but it's nothing compared to how bad it was a few weeks ago and I am usually feeling great in the mornings now so definitely an improvement :)  Maybe by my Birthday I'll be done with the catheter/pump and can go out for a real celebration!

So on to the numbers

• How far along: I am currently 12.5 weeks
• Due Date: April 22nd - Amen to a spring baby!  I don't think I can handle being big pregnant in the summer again
• Baby's Heartbeat: 170.   More towards the high end of the scale but that's exactly how Benjamin was. 
• Weight: I'm actually down 11lbs so as soon as my appetite comes back - it's ON! I definitely feel like even though I've lost some weight, I'm finding it hard to button pants so I've resorted to the rubber band trick which is a lot sooner than I had to the first time around. 

I know I speak for David too when I say how grateful we are that we have so many friends and family that were willing to help out and offer loving words and support.  We had so many offers to watch Benjamin which was a life saver for David, he was basically a single parent for over a month because I was literally confined to the bathroom or the bed.  I really do have an amazing support system, from flowers to fun little surprises in the mail, it all helped more than you know.

I will definitely try to get caught up and start posting regularly again.  I missed getting on here and sharing what's been going on in the Carter house :)

From the Kitchen

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I found the recipe on Pinterest (where else) and they did not disappoint.

Click HERE for the recipe

Benjamin Fun

Get ready for Benjamin overload...

Let the matchbox fun begin!

Extreme bathtub Mohawk

I can always count on Benjamin for a good laugh.  He came running down the hallway screaming SHOES so I was expecting to see actual shoes, not a kleenex box :)

David found that scooter at a garage sale earlier this year.  Why do I see many boo boo's in our future?

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From the Kitchen

I knew I wanted to make something out of the apples we picked but wasn't sure what.  David suggested home made apple sauce and I figured why not.  I found a crock pot recipe and it was super easy.  The worst part was peeling and coring 4lbs of apples.  Other than that it was a breeze.

• 4lbs of apples
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup water

Add it all together in a crock pot and let it go on high for about 3.5 hours.  I used a hand mixer to blend it all together at the end.  

 Moving on to breakfast...

I found a pin on pinterest about making breakfast burritos and freezing them for later on and since I'm still on my semi organic / all natural kick I figured this would be a great alternative to some of the frozen breakfast meals you buy in the freezer section. 
I sauteed mushrooms, onions, red pepper and spinach then added 6 beaten eggs to make veggie scrambled eggs, threw it all in a tortilla with some shredded cheese and that's it!

My 6 scrambled egg mixture made 5 burritos - perfect breakfast for the work week :)
Oh, I forgot to mention to individually wrap each one with cling wrap before putting in the freezer.

My friend Stacy from work made mini Frittata's and they were so cute and sooo good! I decided to try them out myself and they were just as easy as the burritos.
Same Veggies sauteed, same amount of eggs but this time the mixture was poured in cupcake molds sprinkled with goat cheese baked at 350 for 15min.  Thanks Stacy for the inspiration!!!

Apple Picking in August

We normally wait until late Sept. early Oct. before heading to Eckerts for apple picking but we were bored Sunday morning so we decided we'll do it twice this year.

We went to the Eckerts in Grafton so we stopped at the loading dock for lunch first

I'm surprised how the loading dock and Eckerts were both pretty slow for a Sunday afternoon.  Maybe because it looked like it could rain at any possible second - that might have scared people away.  But not us, we were determined to come home with apples.

The wagon ride consisted of us and two other couples

Time for Apples!

Benjamin thought it was hysterical.  He was laughing the whole time

 



































I thought the fun fact signs were interesting...

We picked a total of 6.5 lbs of apples.  Not too shabby.  I  can't remember trying cold apple cider before so we tasted a sample (or two) and clearly Benjamin was a fan.

Sleep Head on the way home

Can't wait to do it again!