Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

Okay, so it's 4:30 in the afternoon. But I was just making dinner and suddenly had a wave of happiness flow over me. There I was making bread (sort of), with dinner made in the crockpot and smelling great, the sun shining thru open windows, the door open so the girls can go out and play, showtunes playing in the background, and it felt good. Really good.

Plus, it's bread rising season again! As I've posted before, it is one of the things I do love about living here. It's beautiful outside today! I'm so grateful for that.

Doctors...

Taryn's insurance expired. And we're trying to get her on again but the process can take up to 45 business days to complete. Needless to say, that could take until MARCH to finish. And the poor girl has at least one ear infection that seems to be bothering her so very much and her constant crying is bothering us so very much. She's woken up multiple times in the night the last 3 nights and I just don't know what to do for her. I can't take her to the doctor or fill a prescription because we can't afford it. Unless it's walmart generic. Any of you write prescriptions? Wanna fill one out for my baby?

So, she didn't get the go to the doctor, even though she needed to. Last week I went to Urgent Care because I have this long lumpy thing in my lower left abdomen. It was concerning to me, though not bothersome. They dismissed it as a swollen tendon. Okay, I thought, but dumb answer. Today, I went to my OBGYN for my annual exam and thought I'd ask him about this lumpy thing. He says its scar tissue. Better answer.

While I was there, among the not so pleasant and not so appropriate for a blog, he did, however, discover something else.

(Now, before you think what you're thinking, no, I was not surprised. Yes, I did go to him for that specifically, as well as for an annual exam. So, no this was not a shock.)

So there you have it, world. Welcome the THIRD baby Moore to our family, expected to arrive sometime at the end of what is promising to be a very LONG, HOT summer. (due end of August)

I haven't told many people (in fact, my parents are reading about it here on my blog for the first time too, so don't be offended...) because I'm only 10 weeks. I would normally not even tell this early. But it's way too hard to hide and I'm tired of people thinking I'm just gaining weight. In fact, when I was only 6 weeks, my good friend came up to me and asked, "Seriously, Cheri, are you just eating a lot?!" Of course, I had to tell her, but really! I shouldn't have to tell at 6 weeks. I took this picture shortly thereafter to show that she had every reason to ask and that I just can't hide it anymore.
That was at about 7 weeks. And it hasn't improved. I saw on my friend's blog a picture of her at 20 weeks and, no joke, she was not even as big as I am in this picture. I guess that's the difference between first and third baby. Funny thing is, according to the Dr's office, I haven't gained a single pound, yet I look like I'm having twins! (No, we're NOT having twins) I guess the combination of no sugar and throwing up a few times a day does that, huh?

I haven't been feeling too good for the last 5 weeks. For about 3 or 4 of them, I was throwing up a few times a day. But now we're down to a few times a week, usually a couple times in only a couple days per week. Not like you want to know that. I'm exhausted, starving, dizzy, and get frequent headaches. But I'm sleeping well (thanks to my MIL's fantastic body pillow she lent me) and eating relatively well (though I was eating only carbs for about a week before that just wasn't doing it for me).

Yes, this was planned and yes I am excited. Actually, I'm really excited for this baby. The last 8 weeks have D-R-A-G-G-E-D by so slowly and I've just been dying to tell people, but it seemed like today would never come. But it has and we're finally coming to the end of the first trimester (in a few weeks) and starting the much more fun parts.

I love pregnancy for so many reasons, but mainly because it is a rare opportunity to participate in creation. And I only get to do it a handful of times in my life (maybe 2 handfuls) so I try to enjoy it. Well, not the first part, but the rest. I also LOVE labor and delivery. It is exciting and, as my mom would say, exhiliarating. I look forward to it for the whole 9 months. And I love my babies. I am so grateful for these 2 beautiful girls who are healthy and happy (besides Taryn right now) and I'm so grateful for this little baby's heart beating away and sounding like music to me.

So there you have it.

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

We lost a dear friend last night. It was terribly unexpected and we don't know how or if he could ever be replaced.

I don't know what killed him, but we have lost our dear Betta fish, Blue. We loved him and he loved us. But he died. We are heartbroken. Keara was almost to tears over him..."but I WANT him!" He was such a great fish with SO much personality. Don't laugh, he really was.

Perhaps it was heartbreak, perhaps starvation (we WERE feeding him), perhaps anything else, but we are so sad to lose him.

Here's to you, Blue.

New Experiences, Good Experiences

Today we decided to try something new. There's a co-op of people who get together and purchase fresh produce from growers and suppliers for discount prices. It's called Bountiful Baskets and apparently has grown from 300 to 27,000 participants in 2 years. It's available all over the valley every other Saturday. Or so I'm told. Well, today we decided to participate. It cost $15 (plus $1.50 handling and $3 first time fee). You go to a location in your area and they give you baskets of produce that you transfer to your own laundry basket, cooler, trash can, whatever and take home.

Here's what I got today.
Yes, that is a coconut on top. There were 7 avocados, a bunch of minneolas (oranges?), pears with a name I haven't heard of, squash I don't know what to do with, apples, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, brocciflower (cross between broccoli and cauliflower...don't know its real name), a coconut, and 7 ears of corn. 30 lbs of fresh produce. WOW!

We're definitely doing this again. If you want to participate go to bountifulbaskets.org. If I was a web designer, I'd make them a website because theirs is terrible. But it gets the job done. Hey, it's not-for-profit so I guess they're not putting their time and money there.

The amazing thing is the stuff is picked on Thursday and delivered to us on Saturday. Talk about fresh.

Anyway, it was a great experience, besides having to get up before 7 am, which I never do. But THANK YOU SO MUCH to Jill for coming over and being with the girls so I didn't have to wake them up to go. You're amazing!

When Pebbles Was a Baby...

So, take a look at that picture of Taryn on our header (the picture behind "Laughing Thru Motherhood" at the top of the page). Doesn't she look like that little girl from the Mouth of Babes right after she sings the song about when Pebbles was a baby and the interviewer says, "What does that have to do with the devil?" She gets that look and says, "I don't know." Am I alone in this one!?

Treat of the Day

This morning, Keara asked to have pretzels. I don't know where she pulled that from since we never have pretzels and we can't buy pretzels because all the ones at Walmart are manufactured with peanut butter. But it spurred the idea of making homemade soft pretzels which I love. So, I found a recipe and we whipped them up.

They are GOOD! If you like store bought soft pretzels then these are perfect for you. They're not that difficult to make, just basically like bread with an extra step and much less cooking time. We topped them with olive oil and sea salt, butter and sea salt, and olive oil and cinnamon sugar. They are all way yummy.

Mine aren't as pretty as the picture from allrecipes, but they're still good. (the above pic is mine, not allrecipes)

Soft Pretzels

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon oil (I used olive oil)

4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup coarse salt, for topping (or anything else you want to top it with...asiago, parmesan and garlic, cinnamon sugar, plain butter)

In my kitchen aid, I dissolved the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and oil. Mix well and slowly add flour until the dough forms and is not sticky. If it gets too dry, add a little water. Knead until smooth, about 7-8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (I got the advice to put it in my oven with no heat on but just the oven light. It worked well).

Preheat oven to 415 degrees F. If you put the dough in the oven, make sure you remove it BEFORE preheating the oven.

In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Remove from oven, brush oil or butter over tops and top with whatever toppings you choose. Remove from cookie sheet and enjoy!

I took the advice to bake them at 400 degrees intead of 450 (which the original recipe called for) but they were doughy. Another recommendation was to do them at 415 degrees, so I put them back in for another 3-4 minutes at 415 degrees and they came out perfect. Probably would have worked to do them at the temp from the beginning.

The girls LOVED them. I also read that they freeze well and you can just pop them in the oven for a few minutes from the freezer to enjoy anytime. I think I'll try that. That is, if they last that long.

On the Move

Wow, it has been another month and so very much has happened. Yet I haven't blogged. Not for a lack of things going on, but too much going on to have the time to blog. Last night as Braden and I drove home from Prescott for the weekend, I was telling him some things that Taryn is doing and he wanted to make sure I was writing it down. So here it is. I know I don't blog a lot about Keara's milestones, but I will do that next.

Taryn is 13 months old. At 13 months she:

-Has 12 teeth, 4 centrals/laterals on top and bottom and 4 molars. Thank goodness she has them because she...

-Loves red meat. She ate almost an entire t-bone steak the other day.

-Started walking! She started on New Year's day but not exclusively until this last weekend when she decided it was time.

-Says "mama", "dada", "nana" (banana), "nie-nie" (night-night), "bye-bye", and babbles a TON! Last night, she and Keara were watching a baby Einstein movie about animals and I would tell her the names of all the animals. She mimicked each one and was surprisingly close! Like "el-fa" for elephant and "mony" for monkey. I was very surprised.

-Signs done and eat, but really hasn't shown much progress in signing yet. She does understand what we're saying and responds with a version of yeah when we ask her about things she wants.

-Still sleeps 12 hours at night and 4 hours in the day.

-Still is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts and has eczema, but we're dealing with it.

-Has a vibrant personality and is always excited about everything. She has the best expressions of excitement.

-Loves people and strangers and will willingly go to anyone and everyone.

-Loves being outside.

-Has no fear. She loves going to the park and diving head first down the slide by herself.

-Travels great and is so easy going, as long as she gets food.

-Loves, LOVES her sister.

-Entertains herself well and loves to explore...anything.

We love Taryn. She is so much fun and I miss her anytime she's not around. She lights up our world. I hope you all get to know her well some day!

A Good Quote...for lack of more time

"The richest man is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least."

How would that understanding change how we live?