Meatballs with Rice

This morning I woke up craving my mom's meatballs on rice. Over the years I had totally forgotten about this delicious dish of hers. So I went online and started looking up recipes. There are SO many ways to make meatballs and gravy it's ridiculous! That's when I contacted my mom via text message. All she told me was "I use Swedish meatball seasoning" and that was it. I responded back with... "but I don't even know how to make gravy!!" and I didn't hear back from her. Come to find out this little Swedish packet has it all! It comes with seasoning for the meatballs and a mix for the gravy.. and it even told me how to make it. I feel like I cheated since I didn't make it from scratch, but now that I think about it, if I were my mom and had 7 kids there's no way  I'd make things from scratch either! haha

Here's the meatballs hanging out in the gravy. I must admit, it's a  heck of a lot harder to make meatballs than I thought. They kept falling apart!! Stupid meatballs. 

It didn't taste as good as I remembered too. Or it could be the fact that working with raw meat makes me want to vomit while pregnant. hah

But anyway, if you were ever wondering how to make meatballs with gravy and rice.. that's how it's done!

26 weeks and Happy Holidays!

Yesterday Ian and I took a few pictures to send out for our Xmas card. Here's how they turned out!

 Ian also took a couple shots of me to show how I look. So here I am...26 weeks. Nearing the end of my 6th month and 2nd trimester :) 95 more days to go!

I like this studio one. This dress makes my belly look smaller than it really is... or so I think.

Right now the pregnancy is going really well... as far as I know. Every once in a while I'll get an uncomfortable pressure or the baby will kick me really hard and startle me. Water aerobics is great, except getting out of the pool. Gravity can be a very very cruel thing. Today while I was leaving water aerobics (in my two piece swimsuit btw) a lady told me how I have the cutest little figure. I completely shocked her when I told her I am pregnant! For already gaining 30 lbs some people don't even notice I'm pregnant. Plus my instructor asked me if I've even gained any weight at all. She was totally thrown off when I said I've already gained 30 lbs. Here I thought I looked like a boat and others think I'm tiny. Guess I have nothing to freak out about anymore.. as long as I maintain the weight that I'm at right now! ha!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas!! Best wishes to you all :)

Our Thanksgiving

Mine and Ian's Thanksgiving was spent at home, alone. His parents went off on a cruise and my parents decided to not come up this year. Most of my family drove down to CA to surprise them, but since Ian and I JUST drove down there Ian couldn't get time off work to do it again.
It started off with Ian making a mini Thanksgiving lunch which consisted of Turkey, candied yams, crescents and sparkling cider. I was horrible and didn't take pictures.
THEN Ian surprised me (okay so I knew a couple weeks in advance) to a 2 night stay at the Zermatt Resort in Midway! Our last little getaway before the bebe comes :)
This is what we saw when we walked into the room..

We started off our evening to a movie.. Harry Potter. I didn't read the books, so I thought it was okay. Ian  on the other hand loved it! On our way to the resort on the freeway a deer decided to run right in front of our car!! I screamed DEER! Then closed my eyes and braced myself. According to Ian, he turned the wheel one way, then realizing he was about to drive off the road he turned the wheel another way, then somehow we spun around and the car died in the middle of one of the lanes. Ian thought we were going to roll the car. I was just waiting for a loud crash. Luckily we were okay and that stupid deer made it across the road safely! Poor Ian was totally shaken up.
When we finally made it back to the resort we had a pretty little tray waiting for us. So we hopped into our robes (mostly because we forgot to pack pjs to lounge in) and devoured our strawberries and sparkling cider.

We had a HORRIBLE nights sleep that first evening. Ian kept seeing us swerving around the freeway and I couldn't sleep due to LOUD banging and clinking noises around us. It seriously sounded as if we were sleeping next to a kitchen. 

The next morning Ian had a couples massage planned for us. This would be our 2nd couples massage together. We LOVE massages :) it felt so amazing and they even had a little maternity pillow for me to lay on so I wouldn't squish the baby!! After our massage we headed out to the Tanger Outlets to do some Black Friday shopping.. even though we obviously missed the morning rush. We ended up getting some more cute cloths for the baby.. and a swimsuit for me since we forgot to pack those as well! ha

When we got back from shopping we got into our suits (Ian had to buy one at the resort since there weren't any on the clearance racks of ANY of the stores) and put our robs on to head out to the pool! But we got stopped by the manager who asked if he could switch us to another room due to a leak on the floor above us!! Totally nuts. So we moved our things and headed to the pool.

They had an awesome indoor/outdoor pool and hot tub. I actually preferred going in the hot tub outside. There's just something about being surrounded by snow and enjoying a nice hot soak!

After some hot tubbing (which only lasted about 20-30 minutes, can't stand the head for too long, plus I didn't want to roast the baby! hah) we headed to the wellness center where they have an awesome Eucalyptus steam room.. which is medicated. Totally amazing! There were also these crazy 10 headed showers! I want one. There was one HUGE shower head straight above, then rows of 3 shower heads on three sides of your body. I absolutely LOVED it!
When we got back to our room we had another surprise for us with a little note. The note said something along the lines of.. sorry for the inconvenience of moving you lets us know if there's anything else we can do for you. They also gave us free dinner that evening to a Sea Food buffet that was $40 a person. Sea food made me want to puke at the moment, so we down graded to their more basic restaurant! ha! Which also wasn't appetizing to me either. Oh well.. here's our cute tray that they brought us!

This fruit dessert was pretty yummy. The chocolate one was disgusting! So we only had two bites and left it. ha!

We slept SO much better that night. No loud, crazy noises and no more bad dreams for Ian! Besides the close call to DEATH due to a stupid deer, the getaway was really nice! I love my hubby so much. He can be so thoughtful and creative when he wants to be ;)

Thanks for the awesome Thanksgiving babe! xoxo

5 month baby bump!

I'll be taking photos of my baby bump each month now until she's born. Here's my belly at 22 weeks! Which is actually the end of five months :)

I can feel the baby move so much more now! At first I wasn't sure if I was feeling her kick or not, but now I'm certain it's her. I typically feel our little girl move the most when the cat is laying on my belly and purring. She has her own personal massager! In 2 weeks at my 24 week appointment they will measure my uterus. I have no idea how they'll start measuring the baby to see how big she is without an ultrasound. I believe I get one more ultrasound at 38 weeks. I may just go to Fetal Studio again and do some 3D pictures when I'm 30 weeks. It's so hard going so long without seeing our little baby!! 

Her crib set came today and Ian can't wait to set it up! We started doing some cleaning in the bedrooms, but we have SO much  more to do before he can put the bedroom set together. We have time though, a good 3-4 months to prepare. Such an exciting time!

Blessing Dress!

I've made it known to everyone on Facebook the first of this month that I've already been in search of a blessing dress for our little girl's baby blessing. I figured it'd take me a good 3-4 months to find exactly what I wanted. Ian and I are pretty particular when it comes to fashion for our soon to be little one. I made it clear that a looong traditional dress with puffy sleeves just wasn't going to cut it for me. I'd prefer something short, puffy and tutu like. When Ian and I went to Bako this past weekend I got my blessing dress from my mom. It is short and pretty cute, just not what I've been hoping for.
So last night Gardner Village was having a Moonlight Madness Sale. Each shop had some sort of sale going on. We went into the little girl and baby shops and found the cutest blessing dress! It was the only one like it, and the only one that didn't look traditional. Plus it was 35% off!! There was only one downside, it's spaghetti strap. Ian insisted that our little girl wasn't going to be born into dressing like a slut. I had to talk him into it, letting him know we can always alter the straps or have someone sew together a short sleeve cover up. He finally agreed to it and I'm soo so so so excited! It's the cutest dress ever :)

Now that I found the dress 3 months sooner than I thought I would... we've got a lot of waiting to do before we can put a baby in it! ha! At least some alterations will keep me busy with it :)

Oatmeal Chocoloate Chip Cookies

Honestly, I'm feeling quite ill from eating so much cookie dough and cookies. But here's what I mixed together!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 335 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 3 ½ dozen.... although I only got 2 dozen out of it because my heaping spoonfuls were a little   TOO heaping! See picture for proof... HA! It almost spread out into one giant cookie.

Crib set!!! Woo hoooo!

Ian and I have been searching for cribs for a while now. At first we took a used white crib from my brother, then Ian decided he wanted cherry and brand spankin new. Crib sets are outrageously priced! After searching MULTIPLE websites today I came across www.simplybabyfurniture.com Everything was marked nearly half off! After Ian sending me to a ton of links that had sets with changing tables that cost $775 plus, I decided... hey.. I don't want a crappy changing table. So I started looking up sets with larger dressers that I can put a foam changing pad on top. This way the dresser can always stay in the bedroom and I don't have to worry about putting it away once the baby gets older.
Then I came across this set....

I totally fell in love with it! It was nearly the exact crib I've wanted (still not sure what to think of the drawer on the bottom) and the exact longer dresser I had in mind! It's perfect. So I ordered it ASAP! Not only was it less expensive than the links Ian was sending me to, and super duper on sale, but I also found a $50 off code! Sooooooo excited :) It should actually be here in 3 days! ha! We've got a lot of cleaning and new carpeting to do before we can set that baby up! Happy days!

Some people might think we're crazing for spending more than $200 on a crib/set, but I find it 100% worth it. We wont have to worry about used furniture falling apart or recalls due to old unsafe cribs. Plus the crib changes into a bed! Woot! Even though by the time the kid could probably fit into a toddler bed we'll most likely need it as a crib again for another baby. But we wont be having babies forever.. so someday I'm sure it'll turn into a bed ;) Now the bigger objects are officially purchased! Minus a glider/rocking chair.

Baby Bedding!! and other recent happenings

I'm SUPER excited!! I've been looking at this baby bedding for over a month now anticipating when I should buy it. Well.... Ian found a great steal on ebay and it included the bird mobile. Since my mom typically buys the stroller (which I already bought) I talked her into buying me the bedding instead :) Well, she just purchased it and will bring it when they come up for Christmas! I'm super excited!! Now all we need is a bedroom set....

Ian is being so cute about this whole baby thing. When I originally showed him this photo he told me how cute EVERYTHING is and wants the baby's room to look JUST LIKE IT. He said "oooh I want the bunnies, the wall art, the valance, the mobile, EVEN the cloths hanging on the wall!!" I found it quite hilarious. My mom says he's going to be a cute daddy. He's always rubbing and kissing my belly.

This past weekend we drove down to Bakersfield AGAIN for another wedding :) We made it in late Wednesday night, hung out and did a little shopping on Thursday, ate an early Thanksgiving dinner on Friday since my parents aren't coming up this year, then we also went to a hockey game that evening. The Condors just so happened to be playing the Grizzlies who are from Utah. My parents are SUPER into the Condors and of course Ian and I were rooting for Utah. It was pretty funny. Then Saturday I photographed my friends wedding. Here's a peek at one of the photos I'll be posting on my photo blog within the next week or so..

After the wedding we hung out with my parents and played some games. I love spending time with my mom and dad :) I also love playing the wii with my dad! haha! Early Sunday morning Ian and I headed back home to Utah. I sure do hate that drive.. and it's even worse when pregnant. The way there my back was killing me.. I was almost in tears. Then the way home I had to pee every 2 hours. Ian LOOOVED that. hehe

OH! and PS. A week after my 19 week ultra sound I met with my Dr. to discuss everything that happened with the testing. Everything came out fine and dandy but he said the baby weighs "a whoppin 10 oz!" yes. he said it just like that. apparently my baby is a couple ounces bigger than average, which can mean 1 of 2 things. Number 1, the baby comes early. Or number 2, I have a chunky monkey rollie pollie baby! hahaha

Super exciting :)

Baked Quesadillas

I got another dinner idea from church a while back ago and decided to try it out!

 

You know me, I seem to never have all the ingredients, but I somehow mange to find something else to use! ha
This time around we didn't have any monterey jack cheese (so we used cheddar) or green chilies, so Ian improvised and put chili powder on his. I decided to skip out and regretted it because his tasted SO much better than mine!

We decided to make 2 whole ones instead of 4 folded in half. Once I put the top tortilla on I sprayed each side with butter spray. I love me some butter :)

 They were pretty good! Mine tasted better dipped in salsa since I didn't have that chili flavoring. I think green chilies would have been very tasty on this.

Basic Potato Chowder

My sis in law mentioned how she was going to make some Potato Chowder last night. So what did I do?? I looked up a recipe and made some as well! Unfortunately I didn't have any of the veggies it called for (besides potatoes of course) which is why I'm calling this a basic recipe. It was VERY tasty and totally  hit the spot. Wish I had corn though...

Here's what you need to make it..

2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/4 cup onion
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
3 cups water
2 1/2 cups cheese
and if you'd like to you can add in..
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
and 2 cans of corn, drained.

Directions

1. Place potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and salt in a large pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine butter, milk and flour in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until smooth and thick.
3. Pour milk mixture into cooked vegetables. It didn't say if you keep the water or drain the water, but I drained it to make the chowder thicker. If you do this, add some salt to the finished product for better flavor! Stir in corn and cheese until cheese is melted. Serve. 

19 week ultra sound!

Today I had my 19 week ultra sound :) This is typically how long parents have to wait to see their little one for the first time. I'm so glad we paid more to go to Fetal Studio. Their photos were so sharp and clear!
Anyway, this appointment was a lot different than I expected. I laid there on a hospital bed while the ultra sound technician took around 80 photos of my baby, uterus, placenta and so on. Our baby was being a very wiggly girl, which made their picture taking a little more difficult! ha, Finally 45 minutes in to the ultra sound she showed us pictures of our beautiful little girl! Here's what we got...

While they were trying to get the gender photo, she had her hands between her legs playing with the umbilical cord! They thought it was quite hilarious and snapped a photo of her pointer finger :)

 Cute little footsy!

Aaaand it's still a girl! Of course, but just in case anyone was wondering if she changed into a boy over the past 5 weeks ;)

At the very end of the ultra sound I was told that the baby is measuring to be 19 weeks and 3 days! Here I thought I was one day shy of 19 weeks :) Her new due date is March 25th instead of the 29th!! Woo hoo!
Also, Ian took pictures of me yesterday to show off my 4... almost 5 month baby bump!!

 

 

This stage of the pregnancy has been going REALLY well. I'm still not sure if I'm actually feeling the baby move or kick. Some days I worry because I don't feel anything. Luckily today I was told she is a very wiggly girl. I'm sure I'll be able to feel her move more frequently within the next few weeks. I also haven't been feeling very sick or tired. Just a little heart burn here and there, plus mild back aches. I'm excited for my belly to get a little bigger to where I actually LOOK pregnant. Can't wait for what I'll be experiencing within the next few months! :)

S'mores Brownies

Lately for every family gathering on the Gailey side I've tried to make some sort of new crazy dessert. Since we're getting together this evening I decided to try out a recipe for S'mores Brownies.
Here's what you need..

1 box brownie mix
2 cups graham cracker crumbles
2 sticks butter
20 large marshmallows

First melt the butter in a 9x13 dish in the oven under really high heat (about 450* or so). Add crumbs and press together to form crust.

  

Make brownie mix, then pour over crust.

 

Bake according to the directions on the brownie box. Check brownies with a toothpick  until the toothpick comes out clean. Once they're done, add marshmallows. Set under broiler for 1-2 min. I pressed them down and set under the broiler one more time. I also think using a ton of mini marshmallows would have looked super cute on this!

 

Let cool for a couple hours before cutting and serving or else the graham cracker crust wont be ready!

 I'm hoping it'll be a big hit! I'm sure it will be for the kids. I guess we'll see in an hour! :)

Meat and potatoes

Out of every crazy little thing I've tried to cook or bake I've never made the basic meat and potatoes. After a morning of babysitting I headed to the store with every intent of buying a chuck roast. When my oldest sister makes meat and potatoes in the crock pot it's amazing! Her meat shreds and you can put it on rolls to have as sandwiches. Somehow when I left the store I must have bought a rump roast. Which does not shred. I didn't realize it was the wrong roast  until everything was done cooking.
When I got home I put the roast in the crock pot with a couple cups of water, carrots, potatoes, celery and seasoning.

Typically you cook it on low all day so the meat is super tender and flavorful. I had a late start so I cooked it on high for 4 hours. When it was done it looked beautiful! But once I tried to shred the meat, it wouldn't budge. That's when I called my mom for help and realized I got the wrong meat! hah! So I cut it up and it still tasted fabulous :)

Next time I'll make sure I buy the right meat! But I was also told I could use ground beef or tri tip as well.

14 week ultra sound

While chatting with my mom about finding out the gender of our baby, she was pretty sad she wouldn't be in town for my 20 week appointment. Then last week she told me the exciting news that she would be coming up this week and for me to book an appointment at Fetal Studio! At places like Fetal Studio they are able to tell you the gender as early as 14 weeks. The week seemed to go by Sooo slowly. I couldn't sleep, I was so excited to find out the gender!! I even took some polls. Of course most people figured it would be a girl, me included. You see, my Grandma had 3 daughters who each had 3 daughters of their own before having any boys. So far all of my siblings have had a girl first. I have12 nieces and 4 nephews! haha! I just knew I'd carry on the tradition in our family. Besides, Ian's family only has 3 nephews, it's about time we add a girl in the mix ;)
So the day finally arrived for my appointment. IT WAS ADORABLE! First the ultra sound tech showed us the baby's darling profile...

The baby was being so wiggly and cute! At one point it's hands were by it's face waving at us :) Then it stretched it's legs out kicking them up in the air. I started giggling with excitement! It was seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen!!

Next the hiccups came :) Totally adorable! He then showed us the heartbeat.. a strong 161 bpm, the brain (he said it has good brains.. very important! ha), then he showed between the legs!

IT'S A GIRL!!

Of course it's a girl :) I had no doubt in my mind otherwise! But I seriously loved every minute in that ultra sound room. With how many times I've stared at these photos in the past 24 hours, I kinda wish I would have paid the extra for a DVD of the whole thing. But I guess these photos will do. She's absolutely a doll already!
After the ultra sound my mom decided to take us cloths shopping :) Of course I didn't let her buy everything I loved and spent about $50 of my own on adorable little outfits!! Good thing we went to the clearance section! ha! But my mom told Ian to pick out an outfit and she'd buy it for him... this is what he picked...

Too cute!! I think our little girl is pullin on his heart strings already ;)

Homemade Chili

The other day I was complaining on Facebook for someone to cook me dinner. Then a friend of mine sent me a link to Pepper's Famous Chili. I decided to alter it a touch, since that's what I do best.

Here's what I used:
1 lb ground beef
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can kidneys beans with liquid
(I used white instead of black)
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans with liquid
1/2 cup diced onion
(don't put onions down the disposal. apparently it makes the water stink! or so says Ian. Sorry babe!!)
1/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp cumin
2 T. chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt

Brown beef and drain liquid. Crumble beef, put into crock pot and mix in all other ingredients. Cook for 2 hours (mine was on the 4 hour high setting).

While it was cooking I also made some mini loafs of Wheat Bread! :) The only problem with them this time is that I didn't wait long enough for them to raise. So it tore the bread while it cooked it. Oh well.. at least it taste good!

It was very tasty! Here's the original recipe. I underlined the differences. It was mostly just the fact that I used canned tomatoes instead of fresh.

Pepper's Famous Chili

1 lb ground beef
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can kidneys beans with liquid
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans with liquid
2 med. tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp cumin
1 T chili powder (2 T. if you like it hot)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
1 cup water