28 Weeks!

Third trimester here we come! The countdown is on: 12 more weeks(we're hoping anyways!)

Apple Pies

You want to know a way to enjoy apple pies all winter long? Make a huge batch and freeze 'em! That's what my mom and I did yesterday: we made 25 delicious apple pies. What do you need?
About 1 bushel of apples, lard, flour, salt, water, sugar, cornstarch, pie tins....and um... oh ya, lots of energy!

My mom worked in a bakery during some of her teenage years and very cleverly memorized the pie shell recipe and has been using it ever since. I can guarantee you'll not find a more tastly, flakey, melt-in-your-mouth pie crust than this one. It's very simple to make, but a little more tricky to perfect. The key is to handle the dough the least amount possible: the more you handle it, the tougher it gets. Ben was our faithful apple peeler while my mom and I made the dough and assembled the pies. We also made half a dozen empty shells for future use and over 80 tart shells(out of a slightly different dough). We pre-baked the pies as it makes for a better crust when you reheat them later on. Below are some pictures of our work and accomplishments. It sure does feel nice to have pies and shells stored away for the winter! Thanks for coming over and helping mom!


We couldn't wait for "winter" so we had a pie last night. All I can say is: YUMMY!!

Just because.....

...he's wonderful
Just because..... he's sweet
Just because..... he's caring
Just because..... he's forgiving
Just because..... he's gentle
Just because..... he's a Christian
Just because..... he's kind
Just because..... he puts up with me :P
Just because..... he fixes up our home
Just because..... he's handsome
Just because..... he loves me
Just because he's who he is.... that's why I love him!

24 Weeks!

Well, I guess I've grown in the last four weeks. I didn't think I had gotten that much bigger, but looking at my previous pictures I realize how "skinny" I used to be. Only four more months of getting fatter and then I plan to loose most of it in one day :-)

I'm continuing to feel pretty well; the good ol' tiredness is starting to kick in, so I can really use a power nap in the afternoon. Junior/ette is pretty active these days and seems to enjoy stomping on my bladder. But, I'm nevertheless thankful for those kicks and stomps as they continue to remind us of the wonderful miracle of life. Ben felt the baby kick for first time last night which was very exciting!

We continue to accumulate items for the nursery and hope to get started on that soon! We (and I use that 'we' very loosely) are just finishing the upstairs bathroom as that is a slight priority given the continued growth of this baby and the continued pressure on my bladder in the middle of the night :-) After the bathroom is finished, the nursery just needs a few fixes before we can paint etc.

Below are some pictures of me at almost 24 weeks.

Making Salsa!

Last night my dear hubby and I decided to make salsa. We were given some yummy tomatoes (thanks Uncle Pete & Aunt Ludy!) and they needed to be processed ASAP. Having never made salsa by ourselves before, we were a little nervous; so.... we asked my mom (a canning guru) lots of questions, read the instructions twice, and hoped for the best. After lots of chopping, dicing, measuring, pouring, and stirring, we had a nice pot of salsa simmering. Boy, did it make my mouth water! After simmering for about two hours we were ready to pressure can it. An hour of hissing and steaming and pressurizing followed, and voila! we had twelve wonderful jars of salsa to enjoy!

Washing the dirty tomatoes.We made a quadruple batch!
Yummy, spicy salsa to last us all winter long!

Ultrasound Pictures!

Here are some pictures of our little babe! We may be a little biased, but we think he or she is the cutest baby we've ever seen :-)

Halfway!

Well we're halfway there! So far I've been feeling pretty well besides a nasty cold that I've managed to attract. I go for my first ultrasound on Friday and we're really looking forward to seeing our babe kick and squirm! I thought I'd better post some pics for my far-away family so you have an idea of how fat I am :P:P