Gender Reveal Fiesta!

I'm finally getting around to sharing our gender reveal party pics because:

1. I'm pregnant and tired.

2. I've been hitting the overtime like a boss.

3. It's been a year since I've posted pics on this blog and in that time we got Lightroom for our photos and I'm really bad at it. 

But yay! Here they are! Picture overload. Gender reveal was at the very end of May. We went to the ultrasound and Caleb found out the gender and I didn't. He didn't want to be surprised in front of people. (Surprised=slightly disappointed if it's a girl?? He denies this.) I like being surprised. And I like surprising others. And I like parties. So here we go.

My co workers voted. I like this list. 

Gender reveal, fiesta style. Because gender reveals are getting slightly overdone and cheesy. But I don't really care. I'm slightly overdone and cheesy ok? And I love a good fiesta. If only I could drink a margarita. Sigh. (The dirty towel is to wipe the dog's paws. Keeping it real here.)

I apologize for everyone's facial expressions. I did not edit these photos. It's because I love you all so much just the way you are!

If you've ever been to a party at my house, there's a good chance I served tacos. I love tacos. And they are super easy to feed a crowd with.

I just make taco meat and then set out all the taco stuff. And serve Coke in glass bottles because it reminds me of Mexico.

Caleb filled up the pinata with correctly colored candy. 

It's a BOY!!! (And then Sophie ate like five pieces of candy before anyone noticed.)

My parents dressed appropriately. 

Kerry made these amazing beautiful cake! I'm obsessed with sweets so I ate most of it by myself.

Love. You should hire this girl to bake stuff for you.

Yum. For reals.

It took approximately 20 tries to get this pic. But I kind of love it.

I'm going to tell you something here: Razzles are actually gross. I didn't even know.

Thanks to our family and friends for putting up with this gender reveal madness. Thanks to my mom for helping me with party prep. And thanks to my sweet hub and Audrey for taking some pics for me!

Baby Boy, we are so excited to meet you!!

Registry madness

I'm bringin' sexy back.

Guys, I'm back. After a year long hiatus, I've decided that the blog will live on. For one major reason: I'm preggo! And it seems that everyone on Facebook and in real life is also pregnant. Weird. I totally thought I was going to be the only one. (Ha.) Basically, I've just been dying to document pregnancy and connect with other pregnant women/new moms/moms/anyone. I like group projects, ok? I like knowing that I'm not the only one. So here we go!

Some quick facts about my pregnancy so far:

1. I'm currently at 22 weeks, over half way! Yay!
2. Due date is October 18th. Praying I make it there so I can skip all the holidays at work this year. Sorry coworkers. But not really.
3. It's a BOY!
4. I've been craving sweets. Candy, doughnuts, fruit. Can't wait to see how much I've gained at my next appointment!
5. I'm excited and scared. Sometimes I cry at dumb things. I sleep a lot. My husband is very patient and kind. Poor guy.

So my goal for the next few months is to throw out a couple blog posts a week. One documenting my personal pregnancy and one asking questions and getting advice. Everyone loves to give advice to a pregnant lady! Just let it all out here. Give me all the advice you want. I may or may not take it.

That's it friends! I'm excited to blog and share and connect. Pregnancy is an amazing, wonderful, horrible adventure that I thought would probably happen to me "some day." If this blog were sexy, I'm definitely bringing it back. (Also, if anyone wants to take me to Justin Timberlake in July, I will gladly free up my schedule!)

First order of business: registries. We are going to register this weekend. I feel weird about registering, like I expect people to buy us stuff, which I totally don't. But it will be really great to have a comprehensive list of everything we need. What are your must have registry items? Any links to a really great registry? Where did you go to register and why? I want to get everything we need without getting wayyyyy too much. Any and all registry advice welcome! Feel free to comment on here or on Facebook.

(Love this registry by Cup of Jo)

Happy Wednesday!

Engagement Enchiladas

Can I just say that I miss blogging? I do. I feel like real life has just been getting in the way lately. My schedule goes something like this: work three or four nights in a row, recover for the next 24 hours, clean the house, do some laundry, cook some food, see my husband, hang out with the dog. Rinse, repeat. I'm certainly not complaining, but working nights has kind of thrown things a little off. I normally like to blog in the mornings. And I don't really have mornings anymore. But that's ok. The night shift paycheck makes up for it. And my fantastic coworkers. I'm trying to remember that this is just a season. I won't always work nights. And for right now, it really is ok.

I was going through my camera and found these photos that I meant to share awhile back. These enchiladas are one of the top five reasons my husband picked me to marry. They are filling and simple and feed a bunch of people or make great leftovers. And I've memorized the recipe. Perfect.

You've heard of engagement chicken? These are my engagement enchiladas. Lock it down, ladies. Lock it down.

Easy Engagement Enchiladas

1 lb ground beef, browned
1 onion, diced
1 can refried beans
2 cans enchilada sauce
8 oz shredded cheese
10 tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Dice up the onion, like so. You could omit the onion if your family hates onions. Or just use half an onion. Or you could add some diced bell peppers. I made this recipe up and make it different almost every time. Freedom!

2. Brown up the ground beef and the onion together. I like to leave a wee bit of pink in the meat since we are throwing it in the oven later. Drain off some of the fat. Or all, if that's what you are about.

3. Mix up the refried bean and enchilada sauce. I mix them in a pie plate for reasons you will see later. It takes a couple minutes for them to really get together. Just be patient and keep stirring.

4. Shred up the cheese. You could skip this step by using pre shredded cheese, I do it so I won't judge. But the kind you shred yourself really tastes better and melts so much prettier too. Here I just used a medium cheddar but I've been known to use any variety of cheeses. (Within reason of course. Feta, stay out of my enchiladas!)

5. Make your assembly line. Get out a 9"x13" pan. Put your tortillas next to your bean mixture. Cheese and meat within reach. Your hands will get messy. Beware. Disregard how I did not crop this photo.

6. Ok. So take a tortilla. You really can use any tortillas but I love the whole wheat or whole grain. I think they stand up well and don't get all mushy and just taste great. Your tortilla fits perfectly in the pie plate, so dip it in there and get the bean mixture all up on it.

7. Put it in the bottom of the pan. Add about a 1/4-1/3 cup of meat and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll it up. Repeat times nine.

8. Mix up any remaining meat mixture with any remaining bean mixture. Spread it on the top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on the top. Cover with foil.

9. Bake for 20 minutes at 350, uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The cheese should be all melty and bubbly when you take it out.

10. Serve it to your man. Eat it. Be happy. Get engaged. Get married. Have lots of babies. Live happily ever after. Make him enchiladas every once in awhile, just to remind him how good he has it.

You could put cilantro or sour cream or guacamole on top. That would be delicious.

Or you could eat it out of the pan. Whatever.

Just make these soon. Your stomach and your man will thank you.

Happy Weekend friends!

Sophie the Doggler

Listen. We are obsessed with this dog. We call her a doggler because she is like a toddler...but a dog. Ha. I know you are laughing. Or rolling your eyes. Whatever. This is the cutest thing you will see all day. Here is an overflow of doggler photos for you to enjoy. Since I'm bad at blogging. I just had to get something up before she is completely out of that adorable doggler stage. Doggler. Ha.

First off, here is our house after one of the snow storms. So pretty, but I'm so over it.

And here is my little doggler who loves the snow. For reals.

We had tons of snow and snowmen building was a popular activity. One afternoon of walks and we found this one. Hilarious.

Ok, get ready for cute overload. We bought Sophie a backpack. It carries water, treats, keys, phone, poop bags, ect. It gets her tired quicker, which is awesome. And its adorable. Double awesome.

I think she looks like she's ready to go to school. Enjoy.

Sophie loves to cuddle and take over our bed. Don't judge. If you had an adorable doggler, you would let her on your bed too.

 During all that crazy snow, she loved getting cozy by the fire. And eating homemade treats that one of my coworkers spoils her with.

Snow number three?? Late March brought more snow. Gross.

My two favorites.

So she got spayed a couple weeks ago. I cried when I dropped her off. I was fine and then I said something like "please call me as soon as she wakes up!" and started sniffing and walked out with tears running down my face. So that's how that went down.

When we went to pick her up, she walked around gingerly for awhile. We put a t-shirt on her so she wouldn't lick the site. Also KU was playing. So it worked out.

A few days and she is back to normal. Sophie the spoiled doggler. Right now she's basking in the sun taking an afternoon nap. Kinda like this picture.

We originally were told that Sophie was part lab and part German shepherd. Which is probably true, we can see both those breeds in her. But at six months, she is only about 35 lbs and the vet expects her to get no more than 50 lbs when she's fully grown. We're thinking she has some beagle in her. Whatever she is, she is super cute, so sweet, has lots of energy and picks up on new things really quick.

We don't care what you are, we'll keep you Sophie!

Hopefully that's enough puppy love for the day! Happy Tuesday!

Caleb's 25th Birthday

My husband is getting old. Twenty five to be exact. So actually not old at all. Marrying a younger man seems like such a good idea until you are closer to thirty than he is and you realize he will never catch up to you. Ha.

But we celebrated it up, Caleb style. Facts about Caleb: he loves KU, he loves his friends, he hates going out, he hates cake, he hates healthy food,. So I decided to throw him a party at home. KU themed, watching a KU game, with a bunch of friends, an ice cream cake, junk food, and a day where he didn't have to go anywhere. Perfect.

I made them take a group photo. Because that's just who I am. I realize now that its a little blurry, but you have to work with what you've got.

DQ makes a mean ice cream cake. And candles make everything look magical.

We went out for dinner the next night with Caleb's fam and I caught this sweet photo of Caleb and George. It also is blurry. But that's because George sits still for about 0.0001 seconds and iphones just aren't that quick yet. Get the technology, iphone. 

I think it was a pretty good birthday, if I do say so myself. I also got him a pretty sweet present (a cordless drill) back on Black Friday. I cleverly hid it in the basement and forgot about it. Then we were unpacking and organizing the basement back in January and he found it. So there's that. Moral of the story: hide your gifts better.

I love this man, love a party, and love throwing a birthday party for my man. Happy birthday Caleb!

The Best Sugar Cookies Ever

Snow Day!!!! What? I hate snow. For reals. I'm such a big Scrooge when it comes to snow but for real, I hate it. Because I have to go to work. Have. To. Go. There aren't snow days in a hospital. I'm finally off tonight after working four in a row. Including Snowmageddon, Part 1. I'm ready to hunker down with the hub and the pup and watch KU in front of the fire.

If you are, in fact, enjoying your snow day and you are stuck inside, make these. You already have all the ingredients in the pantry. These are the best sugar cookies. Ever. They are my mom's recipe and they are so so so good. I made them for the neighbors at Valentine's Day and it got me like 1000 good neighbor points. And now neighbors are reciprocating and we've been getting lots of delicious treats. So win win win.

Mom's Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, melted

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, well beaten

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups flour

4 tablespoons milk

Cream sugar, butter, add eggs and then all other ingredients.  Mix well, then chill for at least half an hour.  (I would divide the dough in fourths and then wrap in plastic.) Roll out and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. (Or the top of a glass works!) Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. 

-To get your cookies to keep their form, chill again before baking!

Mom's Butter Icing

1 lb. powdered sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 to 6 tablespoons milk

Sift sugar, then add melted butter and milk.  Beat on medium speed until creamy.  If necessary add more milk to increase creamy texture.  Add food coloring if desired. Beat well until well blended.

We ate the rest of the icing with graham crackers. Who even knows how many Weight Watcher points that is. But it was delicious.

So please be safe and enjoy your snow day tomorrow. And thank a nurse or doc or EMT or police officer. 

Happy Monday!

Breckenridge 2013: "To the Suburban!"

Our first trip of 2013 was to Breckenridge, Colorado to ski with our friends Paige and Andrew. The Rocky Mountains are such a sharp contrast from flat Kansas and we love it. I think mountains are just good for the soul. I'm pretty sure Caleb would move there in 2 seconds if I would agree to it. But that darn cold...

We road tripped it out in a rented Suburban, which seemed ridiculous on the way out. Then we loaded everyone plus all their gear in it and we felt super smart and awesome.  

Caleb snowboarded and I skied. We only did two days because we are weak. And one can only take some many nasty falls on an icy mountain. But we loved it.

PS. the best pictures are taken on the tops of mountains. Here is us with Paige, who is like practically Olympic level snowboarder.

We stayed in this insanely cool cabin with these lovely animals hanging out. It had a hot tub. Which feels sooo good after a long day of skiing. I think I skied partially (or mostly) for that amazing feeling of getting in the hot tub afterwards.

On the last day we were there, Caleb and I went to a tiny bar to watch the KU and eat a massive amount of fried pickles. Jake's Dive Bar allows dogs. Everyone brought their huge dogs in there and it was hilarious and awesome.

There was also a big snow sculpture competition in Breckenridge the week we were there. Teams from all over the world competed. The sculptures were amazing and we loved watching them come together as well as the super cool (ha).

We had so much fun and just loved getting away and hanging out with friends. Breckenridge is the sweetest little mountain town ever. I loved it. It was getting ready to snow as we left on Sunday morning. Of course.

Whenever we go on trips, we buy a new album to listen to the whole time. Then whenever we hear that music after our trip, it makes us think of a fun vacation. We listened to Mumford and Sons the whole trip there and back, which seemed perfect for road trips and mountains. Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" also may or may not have been played frequently.

As much as we love vacation, there's something nice about coming home and cuddling up with our puppy. I think its good to miss something for a little bit. (Sorry for the grainy Instagram. I just love this sweet pic.)

Colorado, we miss you already!

 (No helmets, we are risk takers!)