We want to swim... and we're gaining "Weight"

So, we got this great swimsuit from our friend Melissa... and I want it to be summer already so Amy can go swimming. Isn't she darling? Now if I can only find a swim suit that will fit me come summer. Anyone have any long torso cute maternity swimsuit or know a place to get one that's not exceedingly expensive? For one who gets big enough people ask her if she's having twins? Thankfully this time around we're only having one, which means we don't have to buy a van in October. Yay for us.



I'm interested to know if my intuition is right -- this pregnancy has been do different than mine with Amy, that I think it's a boy. Well, either it's a boy, or a girl who likes steak and is going to take after Ryan's build. We'll see. :)

Healthy Sloppy Joes

We tried this recipe yesterday, and loved it:

1 lb ground beef, bison, or turkey
2 c. wheat berries (wheat, cooked like rice in a little more than a two to one ratio)
1/2 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 sticks celery, chopped small
1 small carrot, minced
3-4 mushrooms, chopped semi-fine
1 1/2 tsp Worchestire sauce
1 T. vinegar
1 T. sugar
1/4 c. ketchup
8 oz tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef, then add in the rest and cook until the veggies are soft. Eat on buns. Yum Yum.

what we're up to

Amy loves to pull books off the shelves... I've not succeeded in getting her to leave mine alone and only pull hers... oh well.
Amy likes to pretend like she eats me, and I pretend back. This was us doing that this morning. Sometimes I have to be careful, because she has nibbled my cheek quite hard before.
We took her to the zoo, and she really liked looking at all the animals... and pinching Daddy's cheek while she rode on his shoulders. Good thing Dad's a good sport. :)
Here she's making the noise the ducks make: "Waaahhh waaaahhh!" She loves Ducks, and Swans, and Geese... any bird that makes those noises and swim in the water. Although sometimes when I ask her what the chickens say, she also says 'waah waaah', so maybe she think all birds are ducks. She sure makes us smile though! What a fun kiddo.

Look at this cute family picture my Mom took when they visited this week. We love our little family, and Amy makes us laugh every day!

A Change in Schools...

So, as some of you know, we've had some issues with Bridgerland's IT program here in Logan. Mainly the fact that they seemed a bit flaky on the classes they offered, and it put 100% of the learning and teaching solely on Ryan's shoulders, which takes longer... let's face it.

Well, the other week we found that Bridgerland was shortening their hours so there would be even less help for Ryan -- that with a 2 year deadline on him meant they'd pretty much have to offer every class he needed... no flaking allowed... and from what we've seen that didn't seem like a possibility. So, we've decided to switch schools, and have felt really good about our decision.

Ryan will be doing online schooling and in 4-5 years he'll have his bachelors and several different certifications, which is something Bridgerland never could've given him. We feel very grateful that God's been watching out for us that we were able to make this switch now. Hopefully he'll be able to pass off the classes that he self-taught himself from Bridgerland fairly fast.

Tom Yum Gai

So, today I had to have Tom Yum Gai, a Thai soup that I haven't had in years and years. Though I worked at a Thai restaurant, this wasn't one of the soups they sold. So, I did lots of searching on the internet and some combining, and the result: FABULOUS!!

Tom Yum Gai: (with after suggestions)

3 c. chicken broth
1 13oz can coconut milk
1/2 chicken breast, cooked and chopped or shredded
3 stalks lemongrass*
1/2 onion, chopped
1 small can straw mushrooms*
6 small crimini mushrooms, quartered
3 baby carrots, sliced thin
1 garlic clove, minced
2-3 T. soysauce
zest of 1 lemon
zest of one small ginger piece (about the size of your index finger)
1-1.5 tsp sugar
dash seshwan seasoning, or some type of pepper
8 cherry tomatoes, halved (put in near the end so they boil only for 10-20 min)

* the lemon grass, only put it in if you know what part of it to chop. Whatever part I chopped ended up being too woody and hard. I've heard you can substitute more lemon and ginger zest for it. Also, I didn't like the straw mushrooms from the can... I think it'd be better next time just to have more crimini mushrooms.

DELICIOUS!! YUM YUM YUM!! Really satisfied. Ryan ate his with rice, and Amy loved the crimini mushrooms. Essentially put it all in a pot and let it boil for 40 minutes.

This is a common sight around our place: Amy carrying her teddy bear around...
She sometimes carries it back into the bedroom, along with books which I'm sure she'd love to take into her crib with her, but as of yet I haven't put them in...
Best Buddies. :)


Another random note of interest. Ryan put on our wedding video yesterday and we were watching it. I had taken my baby picture to the hospital and was sure Amy didn't look a lick like me, but looked like Ryan. As she's gotten older, people have at times said she looks like me, but I still don't see it and when I compare baby photos, again, we don't look alike. I'd forgotten that we had baby pictures of Ryan on our wedding video. Other than not having as full of lips as Ryan had, they look SOOOOO similar as babies. It was crazy... like looking at a brother twin for her or something.


This video was of Amy feeding herself yogurt. It can be pretty messy, but she got a kick out of it this morning.