Apple Pancakes

I must say, I LOVE allrecipes.com. It is an amazingly easy site to use and all the feedback provided on each recipe posted is invaluable to this learning to cook wife. We actually have meals like mushroom burgers, chicken stroganoff, italian meatballs, etc. I love it. You should check it out.

A recent gem I discovered was apple pancakes. I'm trying to learn how to make pancakes from scratch is this is one of my attempts. I took the apple pancake recipe I found and added a valentine twist to it for my sweet husband. It didn't turn out to pretty, but they were good!! Here's some pictures:

My learning points are: Do apple shaving, not apple chunks. Sift flour! And make the pink batter with out apple pieces in it. :)

I Guess its Time...

... for an update!!

My goodness time just continues to keep flying by! Please, someone tell me it does slow down at some point, at least for a little while? Please?

Our little girl is growing and thriving, we had a check-up Monday and set a tentative induction date if she doesn't come sooner. So, by May 25th we'll be meeting Malachi!! Its sooo exciting and nerve racking all in one! I just find it so hard to believe we're only 7 weeks away from being full blown parents. Wow.

As far as non-baby news, I'm currently subbing and LOVE it. I just love how the classroom brings so much joy to my heart every time I'm in one. With the crazy budget cuts in education, finding a job is very stressful , especially pregnant. Please be praying that God opens doors for us, somewhere. Casey has been working, working, working. He has the most amazing work ethic and drive to provide for us, I'm so thankful. He's currently looking into going back to school in the fall (definitely will if I have a teaching job) and has been meeting with several great folks as ASU to figure out exactly what education path he wants to pursue to reach his long term goals. Its been a ride so far!

There is the quicky on us!! I have some other posts I'd like to get up over the next couple of days, so we'll see if I actually get to them!

Nursery in the Making

We have begun putting together Malachi's nursery. It isn't much right now, nor will it be when she's born. We live in a one bedroom apartment and have decided to stay through our lease and move when she's 2 or 3 months old. Thus, we will have a nursery corner. Because of our lack of storage room it is much easier to set up her furniture as we get it (which I have absolutely no complaints about! :))

Our theme is not really one theme because I'm indecisive, but jungle animals are what we're getting our gender neutral items in, books are going to be a decor focus, and then anything pink, yellow, purple, and girly. Here are some photos of what we have together so far and also some of her precious, teeny tiny little belongings:

Her crib!

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Her sweet bedding.

(we are going gender neutral on the big items for her)

We're going to girl up her nursery with girly decor.

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I made this to go above her bed.

There is a coordinating frame I am going to put a scripture in that Casey is picking out for her.

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One of the fleece blankets I made Malachi along with the fabric for a second one to make.

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The very first blanket I ever bought for our little girl (the night I found out I was pregnant) We called her our "little monkey" until we found out her gender because of this blanket. Plus, some super cute spit up rags my mom and I found at a boutique.

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How sweet is this dress? I'm going to love dressing up our little girl!

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How precious are these sweet covers for her little bum?? I. Love. Them.

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My favorite outfit to date. Jean leggings. Adorable. Casey loved finally having an outfit that wasn't pink- oh goodness, he doesn't know what is coming his way. :)

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A collection of bibs.

The "I love daddy" bib was what I gave Casey when I told him we were pregnant.

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Perfect, precious, tiny little shoes. And socks. I don't see much of a point to shoes on a baby before they can walk, but I had to let Gammie buy her first pair of shoes for my memory chest.

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I stole this idea from another blogger. I loved the idea of putting a sonogram over scrapbook paper to add some flare. I love it. It constantly moves around our house so I can keep looking at it. What can I say? I'm a little obsessed with this kid. :)

Progression of THE Bump

My attempt at some artsy keepsakes....

24 week bump with 21 week sonogram.

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And here we go!

17 weeks
(sorry it is blurry, that was the best I could get out of my cell phone)
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20 weeks
(with a stork!! haha. Had to.)
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22 weeks
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24 weeks
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For Those Who Aren't Scared of a Mess!

Another project I did with my summer class

Silly Putty
Yes, I actually had a classroom full of 5 and 6 year olds make silly putty. And they loved it. Unfortunately I have zero pictures from that day. :( But I'll tell you how we did it!

Each child got a styrofoam cup and a popsicle craft stick. I put about a 3 tablespoons amount of white glue in each cup. (do not use Elmer's!)

Next I went around and put about a teaspoon of liquid cornstarch in each of their cups.

After that we talk briefly about how to make colors for our silly putty. I had blue, red, and yellow food coloring. They loved it and figured out how to make purple, orange, pink, and green in their cups! Once they had their dye, they got to mix it all together with the craft stick!

As they were mixing, I tested the consistancy of their putty: too slimy/oily= more glue, too sticky= more liquid cornstarch. Only add LITTLE amounts as you adjust- it changes quickly!

Once it was all mixed up, we took the putty out of the cups and they rolled in their hands a couple minutes then could play! (I found rolling it into a ball in your hands helps the consistancy. I don't know why- oils in our hands, our hands soak up the excess liquid cornstarch, ????)

Just make sure with that age they don't throw it! It gets stuck in hair quite easily!!!