Carvin' Pumpkins!

Yaye for Halloween!!!

It's fun to dress up! This year Corey & I are only semi-dressing up. You'll see tomorrow when I post more pics.

Last night we carved pumpkins! We were going to do a lot, but in the end only bought 2. It was fun & next year we will be buying more than 2, because this year we had tons of ideas for more pumpkins.

Tonight we have some friends coming over & we are going to pass out candy to all the little kiddos. That is probably the best part of Halloween, seeing all the kids so excited to be dressed up & getting FREE candy! I don't know what we'll do next year, William will only be 7-8 months & he's not getting any candy at that age! lol. Maybe by then we'll have friends with kids a little older & we can tag along with them.

Anyways, here's some pics of the pumpkin carving fun, look back for pics of Halloween Night!

Menu Plan Monday November 2nd-8th

So, My dad & siblings are still staying with us, so I'm not really trying to be creative this week, just cheap. lol. I also decided to plan out the breakfasts & lunches, because without it, the twins seem to snack all day. I cannot believe how fast they go through somethings (milk, bread, etc.)
Anyways, here it is:

Breakfast: *Oatmeal w/jam, cinnamon, or raisins

*Cereal

*Pancakes

Lunches: *Top Ramen

*Mac n Cheese

*Soup w/ biscuts

*Turkey Sandwhiches

*Burritos

Dinners: *Layered Enchiladas w/corn (substituting turkey with chicken & omitting cranberries)

*Chicken & Rice soup

*Spaghetti w/salad & garlic bread

*Broccoli Cheddar Soup

*Taco Salad on top of potatoes (I know it might sound wierd, but it's sooo good)

*Meatloaf w/hashbrown casserole & mixed vegetables (w/ hashbrowns I'm omitting onions & mixing the cornflakes in the casserole a little, it comes out more crunchy throughout)

*Pancakes w/bacon & eggs for everyone, I'm having a BLT (I still can't do eggs, I haven't since I was preggers)

Snacks: *Crackers w/cheese, tuna, or pb

*apples or bananas

Dessert: *Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

*Also, I didn't get around to the creme brulee, so I'm doing that this week.
*There is a memorial service this Monday & I'm making sweet scones & cheddar bacon scones.
*Monday Night is Enlisted Spouse Club Potluck, so I'm making another Hashbrown Casserole.

This will be a full week.

If you'd like to start Menu Plan Mondays, or if you need creative ideas for menu making visit the Organized Junkie's Blog!

My Two Fav Cookie Recipes

Sugar Crinkles
yields: 5 dozen

1c. shortening
1 1/2c. sugar
2 lg. eggs
1tsp. lemon extract
1tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2c. all-purpose flour
2tsp. baking powder
1/2tsp. salt
1/4c. sugar

Beat shortening & 1 1/2c. sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs & flavorings, beating until blended.

Combine flour, baking powder, & salt; gradually add to shortening mixture, beating well. Cover and chill dough.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in 1/4c. sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes or until barely golden. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.


Peppermint Crescents
Yields: 3 dozen

*These cookies melt-in-your mouth & are perfect for the Holidays. These cookies are also a little messy, but the are so WORTH it!!

1c. butter, softened
2/3c. sifted powder sugar
1tsp. peppermint extract
1/8tsp. salt
2 1/2c. all-purpose flour
2c. sifted powder sugar, divided
2 1/2 tbsp. milk
1/4tsp. peppermint extract
Coarsely crushed hard peppermint candy

Beat butter at medium speed with an electic micer until creamy. Add 2/3c. powder sufar, 1 tsp. peppermint extract, & salt; beat well. Gradually add flour to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Divide dough into thirds; cover & chill 30 minutes.

Working with 1 portion of dough at a time, divide each portion into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 2-inch log; curve ends of each log to form a cresent. Place cresents 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 325 for 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets. Carefully roll warm cookies in 1 cup of powder sugar and then cool completely on wire racks.

Combine remaining 1c. powder sugar, milk, & 1/4tsp. peppermint extract, stirring until smooth. Drizzle icing over cookies; sprinkle with crushed peppermint, pressing gently. Let icing set before serving. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Menu Plan Monday October 27th-Nov 1st

AhA, I'm ahead of schedule! C'est Sunday & I have my menu planned yaye! Okay Okay...

So this is the 2nd week my dad, brother, & sister are staying with us & I totally underestimated how much they snack, so I had to buy more groceries earlier than expected. All that to say I went for inexpensive meals this week. Oh yeah, & we didn't get to the Pepper Steak last week, so it's on here again.

Monday- Pepper Steak with rice

Tuesday- Ceasar Salad with crunchy oven-baked chicken

Wednesday- Date Night (going out to eat, leftovers, or scrounge-around)

Thursday- Pesto Ravioli with grilled chicken & squash

Friday- Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, & mixed vegetables

Saturday- Chicken Fried Rice *substituting mushrooms w/frozen corn & carrots*

I realize now we are having quiet a bit of chicken... oh well, I guess next week I'll have to look for more meat recipes.

Oh!!! For special treats this week, I am making

*Sugar Crinkle Cookies (w/ the twins, these will last all of two seconds, lol)

*Creme Brulee (Corey's favorite)

If you want to start Menu Planning, need help or ideas, visit Menu Plan Mondays on the Organized Junkie's website!!!

One more great thing for today!

Corey felt the baby move today! We were cuddling looking at the ultrasound pictures. Corey's hand was just resting on my belly & Will decided to give his dad a high-five or something. Corey can't stop talking about it & I am SOOO glad that he was able to feel it! Yaye for today!

We're Having A...

BOY!!!

Yaye! We are soooooooOOOOOoooo very excited!

It was AMAZING seeing him in the ultrasound & I was able to see everything! I am so in love!

It's so real now. We know how we are going to so the nursery & everything already. We have his name picked out already! Mr. William Thomas Shipe, with the only acceptable nickname being Will. hehe.

He was sleeping during the ultrasound. I was able to see all his fingers & toes. When I saw his hands, it hit me, those are the little hands that I am going to pretend to eat to make him giggle!

Ah, it's so great. So now, what you're all wanting... PICTURES!

Clear evidence, no?

One more day!!

So I had my first official OB appt today. I was supposed to have it last week. It went alright. They went over my history & did a couple of tests. I've gained a total of 1 pound so far, but the baby is growing & we definitely heard the galloping heartbeat.

The sad news is we did not get to have an ultrasound, even though they said I would. The good news is that I have my ultrasound tomorrow! yaye! So hold your breath for a phone call, lol. just kidding.

I'm really excited & a little nervous. You know, it's permenant once they find that little peter or va-jay-jay. It is so exciting though.

So I'll be telling the world tomorrow what we find out, so you can check here if we don't have a chance to call you!

We're off for a walk with Molly dog.

Menu Plan Monday

Okay, Okay so It's Tuesday, I'm new at this though and I will get better... hopefully. Here is my plan for this week October 20th - 26th, 2008.

Monday- Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

Tuesday- Beef Pot Roast & cresent rolls

Wednesday- Leftovers

Thursday- Cobb Salad w/turkey, bacon, & hard-boiled eggs

Friday- Swedish Meatballs & Mixed Vegetables

Saturday- Bean Quesadillas & Corn

Sunday- Pepper Steak & Rice

I'm very excited about the Cobb salad, the baby really loves this protein-filled salad. I've never tried most of the other recipes really, so this will be a fun week. I think I'm going to try to sneak in a decadent dessert on one of these nights.

*If you would like to get organized & join Menu Plan Mondays & get ideas for your weekly menu visit The Organized Junkie's blog.

Brandon's & Katie's 16th Birthday!

This weekend was my sister's & brother's birthday! They turned 16, which is sooo crazy, because I remember feeding them from a bottle!

Anyways, Corey and I were able to drive up to North Carolina & spend the weekend with them. It was so great. I'm getting reaquainted with them, since I had been living over 3,000 miles away for the last 4 years!

Katie is so spunky & girly, very into fashion & of course she has the beauty of a model (maybe not the height though, lol)!

Brandon is more quiet & reserved. He's funny & a cool guy, loves his new Nintendo DS. He looks more and more like my mom's brother Mark.

Well, with their birthday came some BIG changes. My dad & his wife are seperating & my dad is moving to South Carolina. He's looking into renting a place about an hour away. It is definitely a crazy time, but hopefully they will all get settled soon.

It is also definitely a big adjustment going from being 3,000 miles away & in essence living my own life to having to take care of my family so intensely (because it's a big life change). I wont say it's not hard, only that God has given me this for many reasons & for that I am blessed. Corey and I trust him so intensely & know that he is our strength & guidance. Amen!

The only thing that could have made this weekend better is if this guy was with us.We LOVE you Bubba Mike!!!

Bummer!

So bummed!
I got a call late this morning from my OB's office saying my insurance is not approved. My appointment is today at 2:30! I've been waiting SO long to see an OB.

I spent half an hour calling around to Shaw AFB tricare people, but they were all out to lunch, so I waited called them back & they told me it's my primary care doctor's office fault.

So, I spend another half an hour being transfered around to a million people (& just to let you know, each person asks for my story, name, birthdate, etc) at my doctor's office, only to find out that the lady who does the referals is gone early for the day!!

Then, I call Sumter OB to reschedule & someone is calling me from my doctors office, so I hang up & it's the referal lady (who is super rude) and I have to tell her my story & she says she'll call me back. When she finally does, she says that the doctor put the referal in his notes & nobody decided to take care of it and give it to her.

Anyways, she's sending the referal through tricare (insurance) & I had to reschedule my appt. for next Thursday! It's been 2 months since I've seen an OB!! I was really hoping to find out the sex of the baby too. grr... Well, there's nothing I can do.

At least the lady at the OB's office was nice & when I asked about having an ultrasound done, she said that they will most definitely do it, but that she would put a big note on it mentioning I'll be 20 weeks & need an ultrasound. That makes me happier. So shout out to lady at sumter OB, lol.

Okay, I'm done venting, & sorry that you will all have to wait another week before you know if it's a girl or a boy. hehe

19 weeks & kicking!

I probably should wait to post this since I'm going to have more news on Wednesday, but...
I can't.

I'm 19 weeks & this wonderful baby has started kicking away!
I thought I was feeling kicks, but wasn't sure.
The last few days, I started to KNOW it was the baby doing acrobatics.
I'm so happy!

I looked at the old ultrasound pictures and I got a little teary eyed, I can't believe it's a human being in my belly! A real baby, like the ones I see all the time, except it's mine! Mine & my Corey's.

The one person that I am closest to in the world, the person I love the most in this world, my husband and I are having a baby. Our child will represent the love between us. Ahhh! I love it.
This is such a blessing. I feel very lucky to be able to have this. All of this. But, I know it's not luck, it's a blessing from God.

So, I'll be posting another post Wednesday & hopefully there will be ultrasound pictures, but if not, this pic will have to hold you over, the belly IS growing!

Menu Plan Oct. 13th- 19th

http://orgjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/mpm121.jpg

Hey, so I'm getting involve in this Menu Planning website, mainly because I'm running out of good ideas for dinners. So Here is my Oct 13th - 19th.

Monday- Beef Pot Roast w/biscuts

Tuesday- Leftovers

Wednesday- Spaghetti w/salad & garlic bread

Thursday- Grilled Cheese on Whole Wheat & Chunky Tomato Soup

Friday- Pepper Steak w/rice

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- Cobb Salad w/bacon & turkey

Date Night

So, we finally started one! Wahoo! We've had lots of people recommend date nights & they always sounded like a great idea, but we always had so much time together we didn't really think they were all that neccissary. Well, with the impending change in our life (i.e. Baby) we decided to make it a habit before the little one arrived.

It was fantastic. Yesterday when Corey got off work, we got ready. Yup, I dressed up (as much as I could, since I don't have much in the way of maternity clothes), put on jewelry & parfume, did my make-up a little more, and all that jazz. (btw, the house was totally clean when he got home, so we could make a fast & clean exit). So we were off. We drove to the "big town" & ate an early dinner, I'm pregnant what can I say. Then we walked around a big shopping center, browsed, talked. We got some coffee, which was delicious, even though we were very full. We headed over to Books-a-Million & picked up a magazine or two. Finally we topped things off with a movie, Nights at Rodanthe. It was a good movie, a little cheesy. I would say it's a rental, but we liked it.

It was great. I kind of feel like it was slightly more of a Theresa's-type date, so now I'm trying to think really hard to think of a Corey's-type date that I can do even though Im preggers. I'm sure I'll come up with something. This is fun! I love my Corey.

We Arrived

17 weeks belly picture (I'm not standing straight, but this is how I normally stand. Hopefully the yoga improves my posture)

awh! We arrived! Okay, so we've been here for over a week.

We have been so blessed. Our drive across the country, while stressful, went well. Nothing bad happened & we got a chance to see our friends along the way. We got a late start on the first day, but eventually we made it to Ontario, California (a little past LA). The second day we made our way across death valley & into Arizona, where we stopped in Tucson. While we were trying to find out hotel we went down a little road and came within a few feet of wrecking the Budget truck, lol. There was a bridge that wasn't tall enough, but luckily we stopped the car in time, but then we had to back up the truck into an intersection. lol. Not so much fun, but we made it. The next day we made it to El Paso & stayed with our friend Michelle & her family. That was nice to see friends. Then we went on to Midland, TX (not so much fun) and Dallas, TX (alright). After that we stayed in Jackson, MS (which was FULL of bugs) and then went on to Columbus, GA. We stayed with the Boeckh's in Columbus & we did not want to leave. That feels like home to us. hehe. But we left the next day & eventually got to Shaw AFB, SC.

We stayed in Temporary Lodging on base for a few days, but we were lucky enough to have a base house waiting for us when we arrived!!! yaye. So we moved in this past Friday. It's all been going by pretty fast.

Corey started working yesterday. We are pretty much unpacked. We've ordered a couch and dressers which should be on there way soon. I'm starting to meet people. We missed church last Sunday, which was a real bummer, but we are going this Sunday. We go on walks everynight & we've been meeting some neighbors.

At first it was pretty hard & it still is a little hard, but I'm starting to like it. It helps to have my friends & family back home encouraging me & praying for me.

Tonight Corey and I are going on a date! We've already done some major exploring of the area & so far I like Columbia a LOT.

The baby is doing great. I still have to find an OB & make my first appt. Hopefully then I will get my ultrasound & find out the sex of the babe. I think I've been feeling the baby kicking, but who knows it could be gas. hehe.

Well, I better go call those doctors.

I want to say a special thanks to my friends & family that have called or messaged me. You really have helped me through this tough transition. Thanks Korinne, Michelle, Liz, Mom, Mike, & Abi. I really appreciate your love.

Here is our house on base!