Easter

Look out – I took about a million pictures on Sunday, and thoroughly annoyed my family in the process.  :)  

We started out at church early for the annual pancake breakfast.  Sophia had a ton of fun dancing in the sanctuary while we waited for “Mama” and “Bapa” (a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa) to arrive. 

 

 

It was a nice service and we even got to sing a variation on my favorite hymn - Up From The Grave He Arose.  Well, everyone else sang it – I have a problem with worship songs when I’m pregnant.  If I try to sing them, I just end up crying, so I listen to everyone else instead!

We were able to get a family picture of the seven of us.  We might have one somewhere, from when Sophia was about three weeks old, but it’s been lost.  Good thing we finally got everyone in…since we’ll have to do a whole new one come September.  :)

   

This one is definitely my FAVORITE picture from the day!  I can’t look at it enough – they’re so adorable.  This one will absolutely be in a frame, and we’ll have to send one to Grandpa for his office!


When we got home from church, we finally let Sophia check out the goods in her Easter basket.  Not an issue for us this year, but who does your Easter basket come from?  For some reason I’m okay with lying about Santa for a few years, but not the Easter bunny.  maybe because a giant costumed bunny is downright creepy and I don’t want to participate in that tradition. :)  I think our kids’ Easter baskets will just be from Mom and Dad.

 
Once she emptied the basket of her toys, Grandma showed her how to have some fun with the paper at the bottom.
  

I would absolutely host Easter dinner every year.  It’s SO much easier and more relaxed than Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Especially since ham is traditional and comes pre-cooked and pre-sliced.  Dan was a HUGE help and we got most of the food ready the night before, so the day of was easy and fun.

We’re not big into place cards, but I couldn’t resist monogramming everyone’s eggs.  :)


We also do an egg cracking contest every year.  Do I know anyone else who does this??  You crack the ends of your egg on other people’s eggs and whoever ends up with one end still in tact wins.  You don’t win anything, but it’s a fun tradition.  My mom saw this done on My Big Fat Greek Wedding so we’re thinking it’s an orthodox tradition.  
I wasn’t sure how well Sophia would catch on to an Easter egg hunt, but she dove right in and found them all.  Daddy did a great job of placing them in pretty obvious places for her, so that helped.  She also made sure to shake them before dumping them in the basket, just to be sure they were worth taking.

This Easter was my favorite holiday in a long time.  It was all fun, no stress and a nice long day of spending time with family.  I hope yours was just as wonderful!

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Neapolitan Pizza and Pregnancy

They may not sound like they go together, but of course they do!  It’s comfort food, and who doesn’t want comfort when pregnant.  Actually, I would eat pizza multiple times per week, pregnant or not. 


Dan and I LOVE Punch pizza and I’ve always wanted to get that same taste at home. 


We’ve grilled pizza before and got the nice charred look that Punch’s Neapolitan pizza has but it wasn’t quite right.  I finally turned to Google (should have known) and found a few great recipes to put together and it was a success!

The crust didn’t turn out quite the same (too puffy!), but it turns out the key to getting that same flavor is the sauce.

 

Use a can of whole plum tomatoes, cut off the tops and chop.  Then add a pinch each of sugar, salt and crushed dried oregano (rub it between your hands to get the flavor out).  Finally, mash with a potato masher until it’s as squishy as you’d like it.  That’s it!

I think you could use any pizza crust, but I’ll probably be experimenting with a new one each time until I get the right thickness.  Oh, don’t forget to use fresh mozzarella and set your oven to bake as high as it will allow you.  I think these pizza’s would end up just right on an outside grill, but I guess we’ll have to wait a few more months for that.

Well, that’s pizza, now on to Pregnancy.

Wow – I forgot EVERYTHING about pregnancy!

I forgot about hormones (but I don’t think Dan did!), I forgot everything that happened last time, so even though, having been through it before, I should have a reference, I feel like I’m starting all over again.

I do remember enough to know that this time around, pregnancy is VERY different than last time.  The first time, it was ALL I thought about.  Obviously, with a toddler in the mix, that’s just not possible.  I don’t necessarily forget that I’m pregnant, but I’m not so focused on it, which actually makes the weeks go by much faster.

I think I was more nauseous last time, but it could be that I had more time to think about how bad I felt, while this time I have Sophia to distract me. 

Last time it seemed to take AGES to get to that first appointment and hear the heartbeat, and this time I can hardly believe that appointment came and went a week ago!

I also have a lot of fears of things being the same as last time.  To say I’m nervous about weight gain this time would be a gross understatement.  I’m TERRIFIED of gaining as much weight as I did with my first pregnancy.  I’m already on track for that not to be a problem (better eating habits, actually going to the gym this time, etc.), but some say that your body will gain what it will gain, no matter what you do.  Let’s hope not.  I know I have the ability to work it off, but I’d rather not, if I don’t have to!

Last time I just got to wait until delivery and see what would happen, this time we have all kinds of decisions to make about VBAC vs. C-Section and I keep going back and forth.  Ah!

There is my spotted belly (from the first time ‘round)  in all its glory.  I will say that I do like maternity clothes.  Well, I like maternity tops.  Pants, not so much, but it is fun to pull out a whole different wardrobe and feel like you just revamped your closet. 

And then there’s the whole idea of getting another one of these at the end of the pregnancy:

 
Absolutely worth it.

By the way, Baby is due on September 25th.  I got an estimated due date of the 23rd, but the midwife moved it back a few days.  My secret pregnancy fantasy is that I go into my appointment and they tell me they had the date wrong and I get to skip a few weeks.  She found the heartbeat SO fast at 9 weeks that she guessed I may be a few weeks further along than I thought – I’m crossing my fingers, but we’ll have to wait until the ultrasound to find out.

Now, if only I could think of a new name for our blog!

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Sophia has a secret…

She’s pretty excited about it…any guesses?

It may have something to do with the shirt she’s wearing UNDER her sweater…


She’s excited because this shirt:
 
Has something to do with this little announcement:

(Which by now, should actually read 7 months)

More on this to come!

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Party pics...

Brace yourself! There are a LOT of pictures from the party...I just couldn't pick my favorites. Thank you SO much to Bri, who took the pictures for us! She did such a good job and it was so graet that I didn't have to think ONCE about picking up the camera to make sure we captured the memories.

She does a great job - you can see more of her pictures on her blog - click here.

The Wuollet's cupcakes - YUM!

Syrupy sweet punch I found on one of my favorite party blogs.

Pretty flowers for such a pretty birthday girl
Yummy rice krispie treats found here.

We didn't have any official activities, but there were kiddos present, so we brought along a few items to keep them busy.

The BIRTHDAY girl!!

I learned from a friend that both Kowalski's and Bylerly's give you a FREE cake for a child's first birthday - this one is from Kowalski's - how cute?!

The only problem with the cake? Sophia wouldn't eat it! There was so much build-up and then she wasn't into it at all! She loves all things green and healthy, and this doesn't fit, so she woulnd't go for it. We're wondering how she could be our child because we both LOVE cake!

Sophia walked (okay, crawled) away from the party with many great gifts - thanks to everyone who came and was so generous! We had so much fun celebrating with friends and family!

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Family pic and a party

Well, it may have taken 11 months and 2 weeks, but we FINALLY got a family picture that both Dan and I are happy with!

Sophia's buddy Haleigh turned one almost two weeks ago and we went to her birthday party on Sunday. VERY pink and super cute. Amy, Haleigh's mom, had a friend taking pictures during the party and she was nice enough to take one of the three of us.

Our next goal is to get one that Dan and I are happy with AND where Sophia is looking at the camera. Maybe even with a smile...

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Little Twins Fan

Sophia's first game at Target field was a success!

When the tickets first went on sale earlier this year Dan grabbed some for a couple games. We used one set for a date in May and decided to see how Sophia would do at a night game. She was amazing! We really are so blessed to have a fairly easy and flexible baby. The game started at 7:00 - right around the time she's getting ready for bed, but she did a great job and stayed happy - right up until 10:00!


It was a slow moving game so we left around the sixth inning, but if it had gone as fast as they normally do, she would have made it for the whole game.


She also did a LOT of clapping for all the players - on both teams!

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Secret #1: Moving...

Ever worry about what others think of you?


Yeah, me neither...ever.

HA!


If I'm honest, I would say that yes, often, I worry about what other think of me. Most of the time, it's a passing thought, but every once in a while it's a loooong passing thought. :)

Sooo...here goes. We're moving - Hooray! Our apartment has been a great transition spot for us, but it definitely has it's downsides. For example, the crazy people above us who seem to vacuum at least three times a day, at all hours. Honestly...



So, where are we moving? Ahem...in with my in-laws. Yep - the crazy part? I'm excited! How many people could say that about their in-laws?!



We sold our house, about a year ago, and it was definitely a good decision for us. However, we have some debt from the crazy high amount of money it took to get out of that house and we are tired of it. After hearing a few sermons about money and good decision making, Dan suggested that we move in with his parents. I think he was scared to suggest that to me, but I immediately said I thought it was a good idea. They had offered this option a year ago when we moved out of the house, but we didn't want to bring a newborn into someone else's home, especially not knowing what her temperament would be. I'm glad we didn't - transitioning to a family of three has been beautiful and busy. I'm happy we have been able to adjust first and then move on.

Anyway, we are very lucky to have the opportunity to rebuild by doing this rather than having the rebuilding process move as slow as snails. Dan's parents have been very gracious in making lots of extra room in their home for us and it's looking to be a comfy spot for us to transition...once again. We will buy a house again in the future, but in the meantime I, apparently, need to decide what I'm going to be when I grow up. That's a WHOLE other post...

So, we move a week from Saturday - wish us luck!

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