Birthday weekend

When I last left you, we were leaving for Paris, TX, on Friday afternoon. Being that we live in Plano now, we went home via the McKinney-Bonham route. Hector's not too sure about this particular route. I don't think it's any shorter or nicer. Maybe less traffic--once you get off 75. Ehh.. anyways.

We got to Mom and Dad's house at about 6 o'clock. And Dad had stuff ready to throw on the grill the minute we walked up. :) I LOVE going home! We started with armadillo eggs and peanut butter-stuffed jalapenos and cream cheese-stuffed jalapenos. Feast your eyes:

Armadillo eggs

Yep, that's peanut butter stuffed into a jalapeno, covered with bacon. :)

I won't lie, Hector and Dad ate the peanut butter ones.. I just couldn't.

My glorious baked potato with real bacon bits ;)

This, sadly, is the kind of foods I have been craving...

{Chicken that I ate too quickly to get a picture of}

My cute Mom made individual peach cobblers...she's so creative!

That about wrapped up dinner, an not a minute too soon... I was STUFFED!! Mom said to Dad, "Don't you wanna give them what you got the baby?" And they returned with these:

a camouflage pacifier.......

and John Deere socks........

What to say...what to say...? "You guys.... You.. shouldn't have.." Parents who live on a modern day farm--gotta love them! My dad said, "So he doesn't get confused with those city slicker babies over there." Umm.. what do you think we look like? We certainly don't wear Carhartt jackets, coveralls or camouflage apparel over here...why should our baby? :) But, when he's with you, Dad, I'll allow it. Within reason. But we really love the gifts. And I know our baby boy will appreciate seeing what his Granna and Pop bought him before he was even born, some day. For now they rest on the shelf in his closet where a few other early gifts sit. 

Then we went out to the barn to preview the nightstands my sweet parents were making for us. They still needed a touch-up coat and a clear coat of paint. We asked them to make them, because our bed is unnaturally tall and I just couldn't find nightstands that came up high enough! And we needed white, with storage. Mom saw a table at Hobby Lobby one day and took a picture of it and asked if that's what I had in mind, and it was! It was tall and had three shelves for baskets. Well, ours are taller, white and have 4 shelves for baskets! The only problem? Finding eight matching baskets, the right size, preferably in black.. :) We have three. Hobby Lobby has some weird policy about only re-ordering basket styles when they are completely out of that particular style. And this one has 3 different sizes. Mom is thinking about buying up the last too-small basket, just to force them to reorder the style. I think we'll cave and go eclectic and just get mis-matched baskets. It could be really cute, as our bed already has two different styles of baskets in it's cubbies for storage. We'll see. But here they are, getting touched up:

                          

And Mom thought they needed something on top, so she put in a mosaic. I'm telling you...I've got the greatest Mom. Well, parents. My Dad did all the handy wood work for this furniture. We got to bring these gems home yesterday, and they look great next to our bed, which, by the way, my Dad also built. Pictures of the truly completed ensemble will follow at a later date. :)

I literally fell asleep on their couch 20 minutes after the above photos were taken. And slept until 8 the next morning.

My Birthday--Saturday--August, 21!!

I had pancakes for breakfast...one of my favorites!

We went to Paris to get my car's inspection (okay, not so fun, but necessary).

We went downtown to Paris Baby, Paris' very own exclusive baby and children's store. It was so cute!! There are lots of handmade, home-made items, and products you just don't find at most stores.

We went to Hobby Lobby to look at fabric for baby bedding, we're thinking Mom is going to make it. :)

Then we went to a matinee movie, Dinner for Schmucks. And in Paris, 5 matinee tickets cost us $12.50! This movie was... mmm... OK. Not Steve Carrell's best. It was funny, don't get me wrong. I laughed hard, quite a few times. But the storyline is just kind of.. well.. mean.

We went home to freshen up and then went to our 7 pm reservation at the Fish Fry-my favorite restaurant. The Shouses met us there, as well as the Hubbards, the Holladays, Sherry Risinger and my Grandmother, Ivy. It was so nice catching up with everyone and talking about our baby ideas/plans.

                   

                   

Such a good birthday! I'm 24 now and don't feel any older. :) I fell asleep really early again this night. Either work or my baby boy is getting to me. Second trimester, I'm supposed to have crazy bursts of energy right?? Where are they? I'm sleepier than ever! Speaking of which, I'm going to go take a nap right now, before my first of 5 shifts this week. :-/

I'll leave you with a picture of my sweet cat who lives at home with Mom and Dad. He used to live with me in Dallas, but turned out, he wasn't an apartment cat. His name is Napoleon. Yes, I got him shortly after the Napoleon Dynamite craze, years ago. He's so sweet and friendly--usually. I know Mom's just kidding around when she says he's going to make a really pretty rug one day. And she must like to kid, because she says this every time I come home...  ??  :)

                   

Sopapilla Cheesecake

We had a going-away party for a girl at work the other night and someone brought this little piece of Heaven as a dessert. I knew I needed an excuse to make it ASAP, so when Jackie offered up their home for BBQ this past Wednesday, I jumped and said, "We'll do dessert!" Yes! I'd found my excuse!

It's so simple and so decadent.. and so bad for you, I'm sure. But, the baby in my tummy tells me I can indulge, every now and then... :)

2 cans of crescent rolls
3 pkgs of cream cheese
1 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C melted butter
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Begin:

Blend softened cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups sugar and vanilla extract until well mixed, like this:

Resist the urge to eat this by the spoonful...

Press one can of crescent rolls into a 13x9 inch baking dish.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over dough.

Roll out second crescent roll can and cover the cream cheese mixture with it.

Next, melt the butter and drizzle it over the top.

Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the entire dish, liberally.

Place in oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes and until dough is slightly browned and puffy.

Allow to cool and cut into squares.

We were in such a rush to get over to the Ray's with this that we didn't even take a picture after it came out of the oven... Very sad. Dinner at the Ray's was amazing! They had picked up Dickey's Bar-B-Que and Jackie made a whole bunch of sides! Broccoli, baked potato packets(?) and a bean and biscuit casserole!

                            

Miss Maggie with her new Puma's :) (still too big, obviously)

David, Preston and Tyler

Going to town with her toy.. There! Behind me! Brittany's eating the sopapilla cheesecake! It really turned out nice!

Ranger! This was the only time all night that he was still...

It was a great evening. However, after tasting the dessert, I have a couple suggestions for next time. First.. only 2 packages of cream cheese. It was so thick and dense in the middle, I just think a little less cream would make it perfect (not to mention, less sinful!) Second.. Maybe only 1/3 cup of melted butter.. 1/2 cup just pooled on the top. That's it, though. Then it'd be perfect.

Well, Hector and I Hector is loading up the car as I type. We're going to Paris for the weekend, as this weekend marks my 24th birthday. :) I'm so excited! We've gotta get on the road, goodbye for a few days!

Chef Miranda

Judging by this title, you're probably thinking, "Oh that Emily, she's such a good homemaker... Loves to cook for her husband and try new recipes.." And, thank you... but, no. ;)

This is about Hector. He's the real chef. He is the one looking up new recipes on the Internet and in our cook books, finding lists of ingredients that I'd like (that he wouldn't have to alter to much) and going out to various stores to get the components.

One of Hector's favorite types of food is Thai food. His next venture will be Pad Thai, mark my words. :) But, while I was at work on Sunday night, he made a test run of Spring Rolls with peanut dipping sauce, then tried them out on me on Monday evening when I awoke from my slumber. Just look at these!

Aren't they gorgeous??

He learned a lot about the chemistry of peanut butter and oil, too

I just think he's so talented! These had rice noodles, carrot, cucumber, mango and cilantro in them, all wrapped in rice paper. And the sauce was a perfect blend of sweet, salt and spice. Can't wait for these again!

Boy, Girl, Twins, Triplets...

Remember that song we used to sing on the playground as kids? The one where you would try to determine what your friend would have in the far-off future? The only part I can remember of it, "something, something...Wrap it up in toilet paper, send it down the elevator..Boy..Girl..Twins..Trip-a-lets..Boy..Girl..Twins..Trip-a-lets..." I think it was like a jump roping song and whichever word you landed on (girl, triplets, etc) sealed your fate. But that's what came to mind when I thought about the whole gender revelation Hector and I just went through. Childhood is fun, isn't it?

We knew we'd be finding out the sex of our baby before my birthday, which is next Saturday (August 21), we just didn't know when we'd get it scheduled. Like I told you, we had our 4 month check up on Monday. They were able to schedule our growth scan for this Thursday (August 12)! We were shocked, but we took it! We were expecting a week from now!

Let me also tell you what the girls and I did on Wednesday night, to find out the sex of Baby. As we were walking back to Callie's from RiceBoxx, Callie walked up to me and said, "Oh, we need to do an experiment on you when we get back. We just need a string and a needle." I'm sure my eyes bulged, "A needle?" She laughed and said, "To find out the sex of your baby! I read about it online!" (or something to that effect!) I said, "Oh! Isn't it your wedding band attached to a string? And we see which way if spins or swings?" She said, "Yea! We'll do that one!" So we got home and looked up the instructions online. I laid down on the ottoman in front of Ashley and Brittany while Callie administered the test. :) The guide said: Dangle the ring over the baby and if it swings back and forth, it's a Boy, if it swings counter- or clockwise, it's a Girl.

It is totally a girl!

The ring swung round and round, but never side-to-side. Test over, we've figured it out, I can cancel my appointment. But I didn't. I still wanted to see my Bambina/o.

On our way out the door this morning we took 4 month preggo pictures:

This is technically 4 1/2 months. :) About 18 weeks.

We get to the doctor's office for our 9:30 appointment. We wait... I nearly threw up in the car--so nervous! Then at about 9:50, a nice looking lady in a lab coat poked her head through the door, "Mrs. Miranda?" I jumped up, "That's us!" She led us to a sono room we hadn't been in before. It was bigger. It worked. :) I lay down, she squirted the goop on my tummy, and I asked if Hector could take a picture of me on the table. She did not smile, but stepped way far back and said sternly, "Just one." We'll take it!

I think I look kinda pregnant there, don't you? :)

She took lots and lots of measurements of baby, before she even attempted the gender. We saw the femur, the humerus, the spine with all it's vertebrae, the rib cage, the sternum, the stomach and kidneys with amniotic fluid in them (showing us that the baby is swallowing the fluid and excreting it back into the uterus!), the lobes of the brain, and many other beautiful body parts I'm sure I'm leaving out. :)

Sweet profile and more thumb-sucking..

Baby's foot!

Kind of shady, but this is the hand and arm. See it?

And, can I just say that our Baby is particularly uncooperative when it comes to ultrasounds? The lady tried desperately to get the baby to move so she could get a good picture of the heart. The baby was positioned breech style (with feet down) kind of diagonal across my tummy, with it's back out towards us and it's hands crossed over it's head. Silly baby. She would tap my belly, turn me from side to back to other side (and repeat!), and verbally coerce the baby to please turn and face us. Baby was NOT having it. It looked to me like she could see the ventricles of the heart filling but not the atria.. at least that's what I saw. We worked for a long time at this, getting nowhere. Baby was comfy and defiant. So she gave up, said I'd need to come back in in 4 weeks to get a good picture of the heart. (Did I complain? NO! More pictures of my sweet child? Yes, please!) She said, "Well, let's see if this baby will even flash us.." More goop, more scanning, more turning and she very nonchalantly said, "And there's the little boy parts.."  

HOLD THE PHONE... "EXCUSE ME? WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Yea, it's a little boy! There's the boy parts!" And she drew and arrow for me and spelled it out. 

                         

And that, my friends, is our little boy's...well.. boy part.

Tears of disbelief? joy? nervousness? relief? sprang to my eyes and I looked to Hector for support. He too had tears in his eyes, but was grinning from ear to ear. I'll never forget that face. He was loving this. He's We're going to have a son. He said, "That's crazy! I can't believe it!" I became a little more okay with it at this point. Let's face it.. I had wanted a little girl. To dress up, put bows in her hair, teach to cook, take shopping...you know, girl things! I know that I almost immediately heard the words "soccer" and "gymnastics" come out of Hector's mouth.

This is a good thing. I just know it. We're going to be fine and our baby boy is healthy. Mom, Darlene and Charlie were on their way over to see our apartment and go shopping. I had not told Mom that we were finding out today. They were knocking on our door as we pulled into our parking spot. I jumped out, "Hi! Sorry! We just ran a quick errand!" We ran upstairs, gave the tour and chatted on the couches. Then I handed Mom a gift bag and said we'd gotten her something for helping us move. "Does it tell me the sex of the baby?" {GASP! How does she know????} "No Mom, don't you think I would have told you?" {jeez} She opened, slowly.. Hector had wrapped it well. {It was the "Love at first sight" baby boy frame they had given us, with a note saying, "Hammers and nails and puppy dog tails, It's a boy!"} Then she got to it and smiled..."It's a boy???! I told you! I knew it!" Proud Granna. :) Darlene and Charlie were very excited too. They started asking about names. So soon. We have some ideas, but nothing for sure, at all.

Then we went to eat at Olive Garden in Frisco, I showed Mom the wonder that is buybuyBaby, we walked through Target, and ended at Stonebriar Mall. We bought our baby boy his first outfit from Children's Place and Mom contributed two onesies. Too cute! :)

Hector called Dad and Josh, they were thrilled! I called Ivy, she's so excited! We texted all of our friends. What a wonderful day!

WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!!!!

Thanking Jesus

Well, you guessed it... Our Internet got installed today! I'm so thankful that we were able to find a company that serviced our complex (it was harder than you'd think!) and that they were able to come around 3 p.m. today and didn't have any problems installing. So, I wanted to take a minute to catch up, with some pictures I haven't been able to blog.

Happy 1 Year to us!
We were so excited to be able to finally eat our cake, after one full year of being married. I've said before, Hector has been asking if he could have some, since about March. Of course, we were worried that it would taste gross, like freezer burn or something, but it actually tasted good.

We cut one big slice, poured two glasses of milk, and took it to the couch. We shared that piece and had no more. It was really sweet, thick and dense, if that makes sense... We thought it would be best for our bodies to get rid of it while we were ahead. So, we indulged in that one piece and reminisced about our wedding and reception. It was nice. :)

• 
  
  Thank You for giving us this first year. For it being relatively easy, with no major fights to speak of. For keeping us in church, giving us Community and growing us in our Faith. For keeping our love strong even when we didn't feel very loving. For entrusting us with this life that is now growing strong inside of me. For never leaving our sides. :)

Swimming at the new apartment.

Make that Night Swimming at the new place. Yes, we find it is a little cooler and the water doesn't quite feel like bath water anymore if you just wait until night time. Oh, and there hasn't been a single soul other than us in the pools the two times we have done this.

I'll pretend that is all baby you're seeing there :)

Sweet husband, right before he dove in :)

• 
  
  Thank You for providing us with this apartment. For giving us hope when we felt defeated in the search. For moving us closer to our dear friends. For putting us in a safe neighborhood. For helping us find something we could afford.

Wonderful visit from the Buxtons

Natalie and Ry came over to see our new place, order take-out and play games! We haven't done this in so long, it was high time we caught up. We ordered Chinese from this delightful little place by us that delivers called Canton Express. We definitely didn't have that luxury back in Oak Cliff.. ;) Then we played Cranium Turbo...FUN! But I found out that I cannot hum or whistle a tune in front of other people to save my life! Oh, and Hector is pretty awesome at drawing pictures with his eyes closed! ;) Natty is for sure the Data Queen of us and Ry is really good at convincing Natalie to abandon her usually correct answer for his occasionally wrong answers. It was so wonderful to see these two and catch up.

Natalie and me

Ry and Hector

Goofy guys

• 
  
  Thank You for the ability to catch up with friends. For giving us opportunities to have fun. For laughter and joy.

Maggie's growing up on us

Little Maggie Grace is just over 3 1/2 months now already. She is growing so fast, it seems. Every time we see her she seems longer, heavier and more interested in everything around her. It's so sweet to watch her when Sallie is talking around her. Maggie just hears that voice, tunes in and locks eyes on Sallie. She knows who her Momma is. She even plays with toys now! I was so surprised to see her focus on the toy I dangled in front of her, then reach out and grab it!

Loves that toy!

Are you kidding me? Look at this big girl!

Mommy and daughter, so perfect!

• 
  
  Thank You for new life. For providing evidence of Your Power every time we see the precious little ones. For showing us child-like wonder and reminding us of child-like Faith--it really is so simple, isn't it? For the love we see parents demonstrating when they are with their children. For health and happiness. 

Man, we are blessed aren't we? AND, Brittany got a teaching job! 7th Grade Reading and Cheer coaching in Lewisville ISD! Thank the Lord for that! We've been praying for that for some time now!

This turned out longer than I had intended... Oh well, I had to get a lot in. Now I'll be more regular with my blogging! Good night world, BIG day tomorrow!!!!

Very hopeful...Internet tomorrow??

I'm getting really tired of making blog posts without pictures. I LOVE pictures and I can't share any right now because I've been posting from work. We are scheduled to get Internet at our apartment tomorrow, between 1 and 5. And By The Way... Why can't they narrow down the window any? That means I have to do nothing from 1-5.. In case they decide to show up. That being said, hopefully I will be making a blog post from HOME tomorrow night, once we have Internet. With pictures! To catch you up.

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday. We were 17 weeks, 3 days. Pretty routine, it was the 4 month checkup. My blood pressure was something like 118/70? I can't remember now. I gained four pounds this past month, which averages to 1 pound a week. PSSHEWW! I told Hector I was scared to get weighed, because I thought I'd gained about 9-10 pounds, seriously, and I didn't want to get yelled at. :) But only 4. Hmm, what else..? Baby's heart rate is still, as always in the 150s. I gave more blood. We asked about the Down syndrome screening we did last month--it was normal, she assured us we would have heard from her, had it been worrisome. Thank you Lord! Not that we were worried, but it is so nice to know that things are OK. :) I'm not showing, really... But some people think I definitely am (like Sallie, Hector, a random visitor in the NNICU who asked me point-blank if I was pregnant..??). Maybe I'm just.. rounder? Yuck, that sounds ugly. But I can feel it when I'm laying down. Soon, I'm sure. Like, days. :) That makes me happy, except, what will I wear? Thank goodness scrubs are forgiving. I haven't bought any bigger clothes. Sighhh, I guess that's next. And we love listening to the baby on our home Doppler scanner. :) I make visitors to our home listen, as well. They don't mind... right?

Well, this is it for now... as I am at work. :) Gotta go feed THREE babies right now.

We're alive, we're alive!!

Hey all! It's been a while.. for a few reasons..
1: We've been moving and extremely busy!
2: We don't have Internet at the new place yet... :-/
3: I...have...been...really...really...tired...this...week.

First of all, I need to say that we got a different apartment/complex than we'd been planning on for the past 3 months... The other one, eh.. I won't get into that. We just picked a new place. :)

I'll post pics as soon as it looks like a place people can live in :) It's a town home, with two bedrooms, so now there's a room for baby! We're thrilled to do all the painting and decorating that we wouldn't have been able to do if baby were in our room.

Speaking of baby... :) I figured out how to use my Doppler that I bought online! All this time I had been just putting it on my dry skin! The box clearly says you must use water or baby oil, etc. to get a good...signal?  Not sure what word I'm looking for there... Anyways, I poured on some vitamin E oil.. (it's all I had, OK??) and put the Doppler on my abdomen.. and, Voila!! There was little Bambino's heartbeat! I could listen to that sound all day and night! I have counted the heartbeat every day since my realization (Tuesday night) and it has consistently been 150 bpm. This is reassuring to me. I can't feel baby move yet, but I can tell when he/she moves away from the Doppler.. I'll have a strong beat in my headphones, then it will fade and I'll slide the scanner across to the other side and there it is again! It's quite exciting! I don't have a baby bump yet, but I feel like I will soon... I feel very full all the time. And where the baby is, I can tell it feels, just.. thick.. or something. So.. Here's hoping! :) Baby is the size of a turnip now... 5 inches long, 5 ounces. We're 16 weeks, 3 days now. Our next appointment is ONE week from today, then a week from then we'll find out the sex!

Mom and Dad came to help us move on Wednesday.. and Thank goodness they did! It was a huge help! They are so good to us! Then our sweet foundation group came to see the new place on Wednesday night. It was crowded and people sat on boxes, but it was fun! We live like 5 minutes away from most people now! It's wonderful and exciting! Hector and I went for our first swim the other night. It was relaxing, because we were tired!

On an unrelated note, filming on Seasons of Gray is OVER!!!!!! Finally!! I can have my husband back! The cast and crew had their wrap party tonight where they said their goodbyes. I'm just happy.. sometimes it was fun.. but, yea.. that was 6 weeks of not seeing Hector much. Now they'll begin editing and scoring, which Hector will maybe help with some, but that will be only occasionally and at the church. :)

Well, I plan to post again soon, IF we get our Internet hooked up this week... It will require some phone calls in the morning to see if I can swing it.. Hopefully!