Book Review

Ahhhh reading. A love of mine - a love that, unfortunately, these days gets little or no attention. Sigh. I am surrounded by books that call to me. However, I am also surrounded by two toddlers, hubby, housework and laundry...and well, lets just say, life. When I find a pocket of time to read - it's a treasure.

However, I love it when I find a book that captures my attention and makes me find time to read it. That's how it was with this novel, The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Being a girl who has no Southern roots, this book was very eye-opening for me. It has given me a deep, deep respect for African-Americans that I can honestly say I did not have before reading this. It has left me thinking about certain issues, weeks after finishing the work. Excellent.

In addition, Kathryn does an superb job in using three different voices throughout the book. I was very surprised to learn that this is her first book! I felt that I was reading a well seasoned author - and hope there will be more to come!

So, now I feel like I'm one of the kids in Reading Rainbow, looking at the camera, ending my book recommendation with: "so get to your local library and pick up this book!"

Our Little Orange....

Today we had our first OB appt - yes, it was the first, (with this baby) and yes I'm 18 weeks today! I stalled making that first appointment because I was in a bit of denial about baby number 3. Then, when I knew that I knew and called to make my appt - the soonest they could get me in was a month a week away! What?

My doctor's practice has grown a lot in the past year - the first time she saw me with Baby Brother I was able to come in the next week. She was also in the process of starting her practice - and her office was being built...so I had all of my OB visits at a Emergency Clinic. All of the labs and ultra sounds had to be outsourced to other practices. Today, I went into her new office, with all the bells and whistles - and it was lovely!!! She wheeled the ultra sound machine into the room and did the sonogram right there. She has nurses, and two receptionists....(at the Emergency clinic she had one nurse who was also the receptionist). Things have changed a bit!

So, everything looks great. We saw our baby and heard that sweet heartbeat. The baby is measuring at exactly 18 weeks today, making the due date March 31st. It will be a scheduled C-section. We will find out the gender the day before Thanksgiving - and I am excited.

The baby weighs 7 ounces - Hubby headed to the grocery store to find a piece of fruit that weighed 7 ounces. He sent me at text that said "It's an orange!" :)

A Lovely Autumn Morning

I am loving autumn here in Austin. I am discovering that it's more like our summertime - lovely days, and cool nights. It's so nice that the temps are not hovering in the 100's anymore! On a recent Saturday morning, I took advantage of the nice weather and set up our breakfast table outside. I had fed the kids earlier, so it was just a nice meal for my hubby and I, while the kids played outside.

I enjoyed puling out and using my nicer plates and tableware - something I need to do more often!

Baked this recipe -and they didn't last very long... sooo yummy!And made Colorado Quiche - a recipe I haven't had in years. This too is so good, but there's a reason....butter, cheese, whipping cream, bacon....need I say more?

Colorado Quiche

1 prepared 9 inch pie crust in pie pan
1 c sliced fresh mushrooms
1 T. butter
1 c grated cheddar cheese
1 10 oz pkg. frozen chopped spinach thawed, squeezed very dry
3 eggs
1 1/2 c whipping cream
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 c Parmesan cheese

Cook mushrooms in butter until soft. Drain and set aside. Sprinkle cheddar cheese into bottom of pie crust. In large bowl, combine spinach, eggs, cream, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, garlic, onion salt, pepper, mushrooms, and bacon. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Enjoy! :)

The Sweet Berry Farm

Yesterday we headed out to the Sweet Berry Farm - and had a great time. We went last year, but had a completely different experience this year. Last year we pretty much had the farm to ourselves - this year, it was very crowded - but still lots of fun.

Our Big News

Yes...it's true. Our sweet Baby Brother is not going to be Baby Brother for much longer. We are going to have another little one at the end of March!

I know it's been pretty silent around here - and this pregnancy being one big reason. The first trimester was pretty rough. But we made it through and I'm singing the praises of second trimester glory!!! :)

Love,
Rebecca

Happy First Birthday!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Show Us Your Life - The Dress

Recently, for multiple reasons, I have been reminiscent of our wedding day.

If you are on Facebook you may have seen this going around. I watched it today and I'll be honest, it made me laugh and cry at the same time - I know, I know, it's packed full of joy. And I think that's just it. Marriage is a joyful thing. When the bumps and tears and frustrations of life occur, it's easy to forget the joy of that day. The joy of commitment. The joy of people gathering to celebrate you and your love of one another. The joy of the day that's yours alone.

After watching the video I clicked over to my Bloglines to read my favs for a few minutes. When I read on Kelly's blog that today is show the dress day, I couldn't resist. It's the perfect opportunity to take a walk down memory lane.

Okay, so here it is from Head to Toe.



I loved the tiny details that my dress had. Tiny flowers are something that I have always loved - and to find a wedding dress with elegant tiny flowers all over it - I knew it had to be mine!



To see more dresses, or to show off yours - visit Kelly's blog. Thanks Kelly for the fun time!

Pretty Much Our Favorite Place Ever....

No, our favorite place is not the Catfish Parlour. Painted on the side of this building is a mural of fish, which is so very convincing to the mind of a two year old - what else could it be but Sea World? And every time we drive by, he claims we are on our way to Sea World. So, to Sea World we must go. This spring we have made two trips to Sea World San Antonio - and each time we have had an absolute blast.

We went one time last year - and it made quite an impression on Little One. The park has a deal where you buy a ticket and it is good for admission all year long! And Little One is free until he turn three, so we wanted to get the most out of his free ticket.

Here's some highlights of our last two trips -

Staying Dry - (Or Not...) The second time it POURED rain...

Feeding the Dolphins
And the Sea Lions
See that little brown spec in the middle of the picture? The wind blew some poor lady's hat off her head and right into the sea lion pool. The sea lions were thrilled that they had a new toy - and the overseer of the pool had a heck of a time trying to fish the hat out. The overseer and his net was slightly outnumbered!
And ourselves...my goodness, we usually don't buy much at amusement parks. I was shocked when I looked in our wagon to see how much loot we had accumulated throughout the day. Now, granted, we went with another family, so some of the stuff is theirs - but we have enough Shamu paraphernalia to last a while!

This was a big moment - talking for about 10 minutes with Dad about the roller coaster. In the past, he has been very afraid and hesitant about riding the roller coaster. "It's too loud!" He would say - and when we walked pass he would cover his ears and cower. But, after watching and talking it over with Dad....
He did it! And he had a great time. Afterwords he ran down the ramp, over to me, eager to share the experience. "You want to ride the roller coaster with me Mama?" How can you say no to that? So we rode it a second time. So much fun.
And of course, watching the shows. There are two shows that we are particular fans of, Viva (acrobats, dolphins and beluga whales) and Believe (Killer Whales). The shows have been a great tool for our dramatic play at home! We play acrobats almost daily. We also play that I am Mama Baby Beluga, Baby Brother is Shamu and Little One is John the Killer Whale Trainer. I think you get the idea of who's in charge of that....
This is how Little One spends a lot of the time at the shows. He is so sensitive to sound. Although, I did notice by the end of the second time, he spent less time covering his ears...

The five'o clock power nap. Yep, he is sawing Z's....the crazy things we parents do in order to get a full night's rest! He had made it this far without taking a nap - and the last thing we were going to do was get in the car and let him sleep for a good hour and a half and be wide awake for the rest of the night. So, we allowed a good power nap - had dinner, rode the roller coaster and took in another show before heading home.

About to pop...

Howdy from Colorado! The boys and I are on vacation - and we've had a lovely time. We are spending time with cousins, grandparents, and friends. And, most importantly, we are waiting for the arrival of Allison's baby! I can't wait to meet this little one! I can't wait to find out if I'm going to have a niece or nephew! The baby is due June 22nd....the countdown is on!

To see more pics of Ally and her beautiful belly - my friend Heather has been at it again - you can click here and here.

Memorial Day

My friend Lara wrote a beautiful post about a Memorial Day encounter she had yesterday. Go over and take a few minutes to read it. It left me speechless and certainly grateful for the sacrifice fellow men and women have given so that I may have freedom. Thank you!

Restoring Order

I am excited to host the Restoring Order series this week! On my agenda, it's sorting, tossing and filing stacks of paper. This includes my coupon organizer. I can confidently say that I think it's going to get done, as I've already spent a good hour on it this morning. I am ready to be done with stacks of paper! (For the time being anyway....)

What are your plans for tackling a little project in your home to bring a little order? Be sure to check back here on Friday and we can cheer each other on! :)

Lady Wisdom builds a lovely home - Proverbs 14:1A

Not Me! Monday...

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


I have been following McMama's blog for a couple of months now - and I thought it would be fun to join in. So, here's a little list of things I certainly didn't do this week....

• I have not allowed Little One to eat more gummi worms than any other type of food for the past two days - all in the name of potty training. Nope, not me!
• When in Target, by myself, I did not buy a hot pretzel and coke just because I was by myself - and just wanted to.
• I did not go above my budget and purchase this magazine at Walgreens yesterday just because I am so curious about what is going on. Not me!
• And this morning I certainly did not roll over and go back to sleep until 7:38 because all of my children were sleeping - and oh, the sleep did not at all feel divine.
• I totally did not write this post while I should have been fixing dinner. Not me!
  

Want to join in? Or, would you like to read more? Visit here.

Feeding the pigs.

One of the things I miss about Colorado is the Farmers' Market in Old Colorado City. I love a good farmers' market on a Saturday morning. It's the perfect way to start out the weekend. Anyway, the only one I have been able to find here in Austin is located downtown, which is a good 30+minute drive (if there's no traffic) and I just haven't been able to get down there on a Saturday morning.

Until this weekend. My only goal this Saturday was to go and find the market. As we headed out - it started to rain - but we went anyway and beat the rainstorm by just a few minutes. We were able to scout it out and it is a super cool market (with live music!).

I can't wait to go back when I'm not threatened by getting drenched! And, when I go back, I'm going to leave enough time check out this place.


Here's what we came home with - Fresh eggs (SO EXCITED ABOUT THAT), a bundle of onions, a free reusable shopping bag and one carrot. Yep, one carrot. Little One was slightly confused about what a farmer's market was. He was certain that we were going to a farm and that he was going to see pigs and cows.


When we got back to our car after a mad dash through the rain, Little One had a carrot in hand. Neither one of us saw him pick it up - and we have no idea which table he snatched it from. In his words - "I've got a carrot for the pig! Let's go feed him!" In his sweet mind, all these tables held food for us to feed to the animals - and he chose a carrot to feed the pig.

So, much of the car ride home was trying to explain that we don't take things from the tables unless we pay - and what exactly a farmers' market is. It's pretty much clear as mud.



On a completely different note, the bouquet in the back ground - that is my Mother's Day bouquet - and it is just lovely. The Lillis opened up on Saturday - and they are gorgeous! I don't think I've ever had a bouquet that has lasted this long and just keeps getting prettier.