Photo Updates: It's Been Too Long!

Well, it has been a really long time since I posted! So since I can't really go over all the latest, here are some photo updates.

 My first attempt at fancy cookie decorating. The frosting needs a bit of work :)

 Taken on Mexican Independence Day. We walked around a fair they had in Portland and Natalie loved it!

We went to Canada. Natalie had a lot of fun! She liked this little car.

 Natalie likes the high chair. We got her one of her own when we got back!

 Our little niece decided it would be fun to do my and Natalie's hair. Cute huh?

 First attempt at climbing stairs. Her 2 year old cousin didn't want her to. It was funny.

Natalie all dressed up. So cute!

 She likes to climb in the cupboard. Mommy's little helper :)

I started cake decorating!! I am not great or anything, but I really enjoy it. I just have to be sure to give most of them away :)

My best cake so far and my first attempt with fondant. I think it turned out pretty well :) This was a gluten free cake for my sister.

 We went to the pumpkin patch with my dad, my sister, and her boys. I don't know why but this is the only picture I got.

 Just a picture of Natalie looking oh so adorable.

 Halloween cake! I am pretty proud of this one :)

 Dead finger sugar cookies

Halloween cupcakes. I liked these. I learned how to twist two colors of frosting.

 Halloween party at my sister's house. This was the delicious food we had out.

 My mom was a kitty just like Natalie!

 Natalie helped Daddy pick out some new soccer shoes

Natalie loves the bathtub!

 Natalie and me at the church Halloween party

 Natalie and Daddy

All of us together! Happy family!

Little kitty!

Halloween Weekend

This will probably be short because I am not in the writing mood. But I did want to write about the rest of my weekend!

Saturday I helped my aunt with the Halloween dinner preparations. I didn't end up hanging out with my friend after all because I didn't finish up until about 7 with the Halloween stuff and I was just tired and in the mood to relax rather than drive! But my friend came over for the Halloween dinner the next day. Everything turned out really good! Here are the pictures. There was also a really cool seven-layer salad that was decorated like a graveyard. It looked really cool, but I guess I didn't get a picture!

Bean dip faces and spider

Yolkensteins

Jello Brain

Frog Eye Salad in pumpkins (oranges!)

The Table

Butternut squash bisque with cheese ravioli and a snake breadstick

Enjoying the meal

Monster Cupcakes (they were way cuter in the magazine picture, oh well!)

Magic 8 Ball

Tonight was the Halloween party at church and I had a really good time. I got to know the women I visit better and meet a couple other families in the ward too. My dad's chili recipe didn't win any prizes, but it was still good! And really spicy :) Also...I dressed up! There was a Halloween parade/contest for the kids and I didn't think they were doing one for the adults and that was the end of the party, so I went to leave. When I came back in to grab my crockpot that I had brought my chili in, the adults were having a contest too! I was too late. I don't know why, but I am a little disappointed. I like parties and things! Anyway, it was a really fun day. Here are pictures of my costume! Simple but fun (I think). I stole this idea off the internet when searching for pregnancy costumes. It didn't cost me anything except a few cents to print the signs! In case it isn't clear, the back says "it's a girl." Also, this is me 30 weeks pregnant!

Package
My mom sent a package for us/baby in the mail and we got it today! We now have money for the crib! I'm so ordering it this weekend! Also, she sent us a Baby Mozart DVD, a maternity shirt for me, a birthday card for Sama, birthday money for both of us (our birthdays are really close together--mine is in a couple weeks!), and A MONKEY! It is so cute and SUPER soft! I was really excited about this! Here is a picture of Natalie's first (stuffed) monkey! My dad bought one kind of like this when I was born too! Which reminds me. My mom's first baby was a girl (my older sister), she was due January 5th (my due date), and she was born in the same hospital I will be delivering in! Crazy! But cool.

That's all for now. More fun things coming up soon! Have a great night everyone!

Parties and More Parties!

Well, the pumpkin muffins were well received and I was told they were delicious!

Parties
This week is going to be very busy and hopefully very fun! First up is celebrating Sama's birthday tonight! We are having some friends over for dinner and will be making tacos durados. Like taquitos kind of if you don't know what tacos durados are. His birthday is actually later on in the week, but he has school all day and then I have my first lamaze class that night, which is kind of long so it wouldn't leave much time for celebration. So I am going to get out and do some serious grocery shopping for tonight's fiesta!

I already mentioned the rest of my plans in a previous post, but here they are again. Friday night is a Halloween party with our ward. It is a chili cook-off and costume parade. I don't actually like chili that much except to dip bread in the broth (and that I have actually been craving). My dad loves chili and makes it really well, so I am going to use his recipe. Maybe I will win a prize?! I remember we had a chili cook-off growing up and my dad didn't win and I was so shocked because he is always saying how amazing his chili is! I think it is pretty good as far as chili goes though! We will see what everyone else thinks.

Saturday is a relax and party day with my friend. We are going to eat yummy snacks, chat, watch movies, etc. I am very excited for this!

Sunday is Halloween! I will be celebrating with family and having a Halloween themed dinner. These dinners are always so much fun. And you can't beat time with family!

I will be sure to post some pictures of all these fun events going on this week. I think this blog has definitely helped me to take more pictures. I am always thinking I need to take pictures more often, but it just hasn't worked out that well. Until now. I am finding that I really like blogging. Pictures make it even more fun!

A Productive Day

Being Productive
Today has been a very productive day so far! I went to the library to volunteer this morning and then I came home and have been cleaning ever since! Until now that is. It is really tiring though. Being pregnant is wonderful and such a blessing, but it definitely has its disadvantages! I don't think I was doing anything really straining, but simply cleaning (dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc.) has made my body quite sore! My body is more sore lately in general as well. I feel as if I really have that wonderful pregnancy "waddle." Hahaha.

Anyway, I am feeling really good for the things I have been able to get done today. I had to make a decision in the morning that I would at least be somewhat productive and get some cleaning done. I think making that decision really helped because I knew I committed myself to it rather than thinking I would do it later if I still felt like it. I am really good at procrastinating, so that line of thinking almost never results in getting anything done!

In cleaning I decided I wanted to rearrange some furniture. I did move a couple of very light pieces of furniture like a little nightstand, but other than that I just made plans and will have Sama help me when he gets home if he is not too tired. I am also getting excited to get the baby's room set up! My parents have graciously offered to pay for the crib we are getting, so we will be ordering it pretty soon! I can't wait until everything is ready. Of course, then I will have nothing to do and I still have a few weeks until the baby is actually born...but oh well! I think I have been nesting since I found out I was pregnant and I am still always finding more things to do. Oh, and I am going to be having a baby shower next month so that is another thing to look forward to.

Early on in my pregnancy I had signed up for the week by week updates from one of the baby websites. But then we found out that my due date was almost a month off, so now I am getting emails talking about my pregnancy and it makes me so impatient because it always says I am farther along than I really am. Not that it is a big deal, but oh well.

Halloween
I was talking to Sama about maybe having a Halloween party with some of our friends. I was looking at all these fun Halloween recipes and thinking of just doing a movie, games, and snacks. Anyway I was planning all of this in my head before actually talking to Sama and when I did mention it to him, he reminded me that he is going to be in Ohio for a career fair for IT related jobs. Sad day. But I made plans with one of my friends to do dinner and movies Saturday night and I am really excited! I think it will be a blast! Maybe I will still make some fun Halloween treats just for fun. I like that kind of thing. But anyway, our ward party is Friday. Saturday I am hanging out with a friend, and Sunday is a Halloween dinner at my aunts house. She always gets really into the theme and decorating and the food is always something Halloween related. The first year I was here for it she made ribs and put two racks of ribs next to each other and then a red bell pepper with a knife sticking out of it so it looked like a stabbed heart in between the ribs. Anyway, all the food items are creative like that. I love it! So it will be a fun weekend. I hope you all have fun plans too!