Stuffed Mushrooms

This post is going to be short and sweet and unfortunately without a picture. I made these stuffed mushrooms for Thanksgiving and didn't get an opportunity to take a picture before sending all of the leftovers home with Uncle Dan. I am not a mushroom fan so I can't tell you if they were good or not. Uncle Dan thought they were awesome and Aunt Robin who normally wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole actually ate one and said they were pretty good. They made a great appetizer for the holiday and would be great at any party or event you might be attending or even throwing!

Katie's Stuffed Mushrooms~

Ingredients:
2 doz. mushrooms
1 lb. ground sausage, browned and drained
1 C. Italian bread crumbs
1/2 onion, diced
1 8oz. block cream cheese, softened
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 C. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.) In a skillet over medium heat brown sausage and diced onion.
3.) To sausage mixture add bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.
4.) Remove from heat and add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese until evenly mixed.
5.) Scoop about 1 tbsp. of sausage mixture to each mushroom that has been cleaned with a damp towel. Sprinkle top of each mushroom with mozzarella cheese. Repeat until all mushrooms are filled.
6.) Bake for 30-40 minutes are until cheese has browned and mushrooms is soft.

New Bedding

Note to self, do not share with anyone your bedding selection that has been chosen for your baby to be's nursery until bedding has actually been purchased or has been received.

Remember the bedding I showed you a week or so ago? Yeah, well, it was a big flop, damn e-bayers, needless to say it's going bye-bye so something else had to be picked. Once again my MIL stepped up to the plate and agreed to split the cost of bedding with us so that we could have something nice. She ordered it today and it should be here within the next two to four weeks. Does anyone else out there love their MIL's? I have always been curious because it seems like most could live without them.

Anyway, here is the new bedding. It's not in hand yet so don't be surprised if some major event means we have to pick something else but I am confident with this one so please keep your fingers crossed!

Daniel wouldn't allow all girly colors in the nursery so I couldn't paint all of the walls pink. We also both wanted a farm theme. I think this bedding was a nice compromise don't you?

Vodka Sauce Re-Run

We all know my love of pasta is never ending so after letting almost a year go by since having made this particular dish I figured it was about time to whip up another batch. Daniel didn't get to enjoy this feast the first time I made it so it was his first time.

Did he enjoy it you ask?

Why yes he did!

Would you like to know how I knew without having to ask him?

He went back for seconds!

I am reposting this again for those of you who weren't around the first time but as you can see I threw in a new picture for those of you who will be viewing it for a second time. It's all about mixing it up here at Katie's Korner! :)

Here is the original post.

Here is the recipe along with a new photo of the dish.

Katie's Vodka Sauce~

1 Chicken Breast, diced and browned ( I used two the second time around)

1/2 Lg. Onion, chopped finely
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes (Accidentally used tomato sauce instead of the crushed this time...tasted just fine)
3 Cloves of Garlic, chopped finely
1 C. Heavy Cream
1/2 C. Vodka
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Dried Basil
1 tsp. Dried Oregano
Butter/Margarine
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pasta of your choice

Directions:
1.) Begin by cutting your chicken breast up into small pieces, saute in pan with tablespoon of butter/margarine and tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Cook until brown. Set aside in small bowl.

2.) Add two tablespoons of butter/margarine along with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to same pan and add onion and garlic. Add a teaspoon of black pepper and salt to the onion/garlic mix.

3.) Cook onion and garlic mix until translucent. Add vodka and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.

4.) Add crushed tomatoes.

5.) Add heavy cream and gently stir together.

6.) Add basil and oregano.

7.) Add chicken back into sauce mixture and stir.

8.) Allow sauce to simmer on low heat for a half hour.

9.) Add sauce to your favorite pasta. For this meal I used Tubetti by De Cecco and topped it off with Parmesan cheese.

Anyone else get a kick out of how many steps I turned the directions into last December? Did I really need nine different steps on how to create the sauce? I think steps 5-8 could easily be combined into one line...LOL.

Mongolian Beef and Veggie Egg Rolls

Friday nights at our house are usually our go out to eat nights. The one day off I allow myself from the kitchen. Since Thanksgiving is Thursday and because peanut oil for the deep fryer is $30 a jug, we decided to stay at home to save a few bucks this past Friday.

Daniel loves Chinese food!! I am one of those people who can take it or leave it and most times I choose to leave it. Since it's all about making my hubby happy though I am trying to incorporate more Chinese friendly dishes into our rotation at home. I stumbled upon this recipe and tweaked it a time or two and I must say it turned out really well. It went really well with the egg rolls we made to go along with it. They weren't the prettiest things...I have to work on my rolling skills...but they were actually pretty delicious...more so than what I can say about the egg rolls that get delivered from the professionals.

Katie's Mongolian Beef~
Ingredients:

1/2 lb. beef (Not sure what cut we used, but it was flat and very, very thin which I then cut into strips)

1/4 C. soy sauce

1 tbsp. hoison sauce

2 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. garlic, finely diced

1 tbsp. red pepper flakes

1 tbsp. teriyaki sauce

Extra virgin olive oil

2 green onions, diced on the diagonal

1 C. cooked white rice*

Directions:

1.) In a medium mixing bowl whisk together your soy sauce, hoison sauce, sugar, garlic, red pepper flakes, teriyaki sauce, and a few drizzles of extra virgin olive oil. Add your strips of beef and marinate for two to four hours.

2.) In a large skillet heat over medium high heat. Add strips of beef along with any extra sauce left in the bowl. Cook until brown on both sides and then throw in green onions, toss around and then lower heat to low for five minutes ensuring that beef is cooked through. Serve over white rice.

*Whenever I cook white rice for dishes such as this one, I always add a teaspoon of red paper flakes to the water to boil. This addition gives the rice a nice little kick.

Veggie Egg Rolls~

Ingredients:
1 C. cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 shredded carrots

2 green onions, thinly sliced
teriyaki sauce
6 egg roll wrappers

Directions:

1.) Begin warming your oil. (We use our fry daddy, but you could easily do yours in a pan on the stove, use enough oil to cover half of the egg roll.)

2.) Take one egg roll wrapper and add cabbage, carrots, and green onion. Enough to fill your wrapper but leaving you with enough to fill each additional wrapper. Drizzle your filling with a little bit of teriyaki sauce. Proceed to roll*. You may need to dab a little bit of water where the wrapper ends to form a seal. Repeat this step for each egg roll.

3.) Gently place each egg roll in your oil. Lightly brown each side...you may have to flip the egg roll to brown the opposite side. If your oil is warm enough this should take two to three minutes or so. Place on a paper towel to drain.

4.) Serve with either duck sauce or soy sauce!

*Most packages containing the wrappers give you a set of instructions on how to fill and roll them. If not, place one corner near you and horizontally add your filling, roll upward once and then tuck in each side, continue to roll until you get a perfect shaped egg roll.

Results

Peanut...good news, we passed our glucose test with flying colors. I am a little concerned though, when I asked the nurse whether she thought the 45 minute delay that took place Friday could affect my results her comment was..."you're the one".

Why do I get the feeling my ordeal was the topic of conversation for a day or so afterwards...LOL. I did ask if I should redo it just to make sure we were all right but she said that I was fine. YAY, now we just have to get through the big shot in the rear on the 7th.

Broccoli Salad

We get this particular salad all of the time from a local grocery store around our neck of the woods. The store itself is pretty expensive and not meant to do your everyday shopping unless you have more money than you know what to do with. Daniel and I like going there for specialty items and stuff like this when we feel like pampering ourselves. You know you're a foodie when going to a high end grocery store is your way of pampering yourself...lol.

Anyway, we both really enjoy it and it's a good way to get broccoli into your system. This time, instead of spending way to much money on it I spent less but got more by making it myself.


Broccoli Salad~
allrecipes.com

• 10 slices bacon
• 1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sunflower seeds (I omitted)
  

Directions:

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, onion and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
3. Before serving, toss with crumbled bacon and sunflower seeds.

As you can see from the picture this salad goes great at lunch paired with a sandwich and a handful of potato chips.

More Awards...

I have received a few awards over these past few weeks and I thought maybe it was about time to blog about them and pass them forward.

First up from my friend Polly over at The 5th Sister;

The rule is if you are tagged you must list 5 things that make you a true, authentic mom and then pass along the tag to 5 other deserving bloggers.

Technically I am not a Mom yet however Polly was gracious enough to award it to me anyway. Personally I think you become a Mom the minute you can't keep your Cheerios down...what we do for our children! Coming up with five things is somewhat difficult for me but here are some things that I think are going to make me a wonderful Mom as long as I follow through.

1.) I plan on telling my children everyday that I love them no matter how many times they have been sent to the naughty chair or talked back to me. I want them to know that there is absolutely nothing in this world that would ever make me question my love for them nor do I ever want them to question whether I do because I haven't said it enough.

2.) I plan on beating my children. Just joking, I don't really plan on beating my children but I do want them to know the difference between right and wrong and if that means a swat on the fanny once and again then so be it. I got the swat a few times and you know what...I have lived to tell about it and am grateful my parents did it. Obviously spankings will only be used for certain actions but I want my children to know there are consequences to their negative actions that will help teach them to not do it again.

3.) My goal when it comes to parenting is to be the sort of parent that a child can come to about anything and everything but still have respect for. I don't want to be your best friend, I want to be your Mother, but having said that I want them to come to me when they have those typical life questions. I for sure do not want them getting their facts about the birds and the bees or knowledge about drugs that can't be found in my medicine cabinet from their friends or teachers. I am their main teacher in life and feel that information should come from me.

4.) Christmas Eve at our house will be new pajama night for Santa's arrival...I have almost bought Addison her first pair for next year on more than one occasion. I really need to take a breather.

5.) I see a Katie's Krafty Korner in my future. I want to be a hand's on Mom who can get down, dirty, and creative when it comes to school projects, classroom Mom stuff, and passing the time projects...I can't wait!!

Now enough about me here are my five nominees:

Cassie over at Cassie Craves and Life Ensues. She's hands down a pretty cool Mom and since she already has one toddler with a baby on the way she really deserves an award...can somebody say patience?

Heidi over at Tried-and-True Cooking with Heidi, take a look at some of her snacks that she creates for her children...that alone deserves this honor. Growing up it was fix your own snack at my house.

MamaKeith over at the domestic mama, she made jack-0-lantern brownies for Halloween, cool Mama in my book! You must check them out for all of your Halloween events for next year.

Su over at This Stop Willoughby, read this post of hers and then you will know why I tagged her.

And lastly Lisaloo who has several blogs but this is the one I picked due to the nature of this award, Krafting with Kids. Please see #5 of this post and that should be a very good indication of why I picked her. Seriously, high five to the Mommy's that go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to doing stuff with their kids.

Now I know a few of you ladies may have already received this award so obviously you don't have to redo it on your blogs, for those of you who haven't received it though, spread it around!

It's official...

I told you you would love Thanksgiving and if your movement Saturday afternoon after our first meal was any indication...you LOVED it!!! You were all over the place and beating the heck out of your Mommy. The good news though is that since you were so excited after having had turkey and Grandma's stuffing, Daddy FINALLY got to feel you kick for the first time. You also gave Aunt Megan a nice little kick as well although I don't think she was quite as excited as your Father was. Oh how Mommy loves feeling you roll around like a monkey in her belly, I think I am going to miss having that once you arrive but at least once you're here that means I can snuggle and love on you in person. It's getting closer and closer!

28 week appointment...

Daughter, would you mind explaining to your Mother why she has gained 9 lbs. in 4 weeks? I realize it's winter but you are not a squirrel...please stop storing food for your winter hibernation.

I had another dream this morning about you and you came out with these perfectly round cheeks, maybe you have squirrel tendencies after all.

Any who, we had another decent appointment I guess you could say. Your heart rate was 150 and my blood pressure and urine were once again clean. It was after those announcements that the appointment went south of the border.

Do you know why they call the glucose test a one hour glucose test?

It's because one hour from the time you drink your lovely orange beverage they are supposed to take your blood. Not one hour and forty five minutes later as was the case today. How they manage to misplace your file and then proceed to forget about you is beyond me but they did. It didn't help that I was dehydrated which meant trying to get blood was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Four nurses and five sticks later they finally found blood. This was after they all had to argue about who was going to do it and then proceed to ignore my request to just redo the test at another time when we were all better prepared. I was actually pretty proud of myself though. Needle sticks #3 and #4 were done after I pretty much told them to have at it. For anyone that knows me and the chore it is to get blood from my veins this is a new thing. Normally after the second one I wave the white flag and tell them to back the hell away before anyone gets hurt. It didn't even get dizzy from all of the commotion. I think Mommy has finally put on a pair of her big girl underwear...YAY!!

Hopefully they are able to use the blood and not force us to deal with it again. You didn't move much this morning and I knew why. Mommy hadn't fed you since around 7 o'clock last night so her lil' peanut was just hungry and tired of all the bull crap. I just fed you a single with cheese from Wendy's and you haven't stopped moving since. I guess since I have gained (gulp) 9 lbs. in such a short period of time that maybe a burger from Wendy's wasn't the greatest of ideas but I was in a rush to get home, feed your brothers, and then get back to work since I had been gone since 9:15 this morning. Hell...let's be honest, the cheeseburger probably wasn't smart but the thought of even considering going on a diet is just a joke. Our first Thanksgiving dinner is tomorrow followed by at least one more and then we head into the Christmas season which means Christmas parties, our holiday bake off, Christmas Eve, and then Christmas day. By then you will be a month away from joining us in the real world so why make myself suffer? Not only that but what kind of mother would I be if I didn't allow to you participate in all of the wonderful food during this season?

Antipasto Kabobs

Here is yet another baby shower appetizer...they were really yummy...minus the olives. I am not an olive fan if you couldn't tell...lol!


Anitpasto Kabobs~

Ingredients:
1 pkg. refrigerated cheese tortellini
40 black olives
40 green olives
2/3 C. Italian dressing
40 slices of pepperoni
20 slices of hard salami, halved
20 wooden kabobs

Directions:
1.) Cook tortellini according to package, drain and rinse in cold water.
2.) In a resealable plastic bad, add tortellini, olives, and dressing. Refrigerate for four hours or overnight.
3.) Drain and discard dressing.
4.) On each kabob, thread one of each olive, two slices of pepperoni, slice of salami, cheese tortellini. You may choose whatever order you would like for them to go in.

*Kathy also added little cubes of cheese to each of her kabobs since her kabob sticks were on the longer side. The cheese was a nice addition especially for this mother to be who needs her calcium!!

These were very yummy and one of my favorite items, without the olives of course!

Salami Roll Ups

As some of you may know, our first baby shower was held this past weekend. My step-dad Jim and his girlfriend Kathy were kind enough to host it in our honor. We received lots of wonderful presents including the wholesale box of diapers that my Grandparents got us. This box literally contains probably ten or so packages of diapers. They should go lovely with the presents they gave to Daniel. Only my Grandpa would be able to give hospital packaged gloves and surgical masks, those items go with the safety goggles, jumbo sized tweezers, and clothes pins. What they don't realize is that gift probably should have gone to me instead. I am definitely not looking forward to dirty diaper duty in our house, Daniel is much better with foul odors than what I am.

Anyway, now that the talk of dirty diapers make you think of appetizers...lol, here is one to share with you. My step-dad was on drink duty for the party while Kathy was the foodie. She made several different appetizers and she made enough to feed a small army. I will be sharing a few of the recipes here over the next few days since any of these items would be great for all of your holiday functions.


Kathy's Salami Roll Ups

Ingredients:
40-45 slices of salami
1 8oz. block cream cheese, softened
1/2 C. sour cream
4-5 green onions, finely chopped

Directions:
1.) Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and green onions.
2.) Spoon onto each slice of salami and roll using a little of the mixture to "seal" the salami.
3.) Refrigerate for an hour or so to allow the mixture to firm up. (This is my suggestion)

I hope you enjoy and by the way...the salami rolls are shown on the second tier of the above picture. I thought I would point that out for those of you who might mistake the fruit kabobs for salami...lol.

Thanks again Father and Kathy...we had a wonderful time!




Happy Thanksgiving...gobble, gobble!!

Hamburger Hash

Quick post tonight. I stumbled upon this recipe over at Three on Food posted by Kathy who found it over on Heidi's blog. Daniel actually liked this after he added some ketchup...me on the other hand could live without it. We both agreed that next time we make it we will use sausage and mild salsa instead of hamburger and the diced tomatoes. I threw mine in the oven for a little while to brown the top which is why my cheese is a little browner.

Cheesy Hamburger Hash~

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef

1 bag frozen O'brien diced potatoes, the kind with onions and peppers

1 can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained

2 Tbsp parsley (we did a little less)

1/2 Tbsp garlic powder (we added fresh garlic)

1 - 2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook ground beef, then drain but leave a small amount of the fat in the pan to cook the potatoes in. Heat remaining fat in pan on medium heat. Add frozen potatoes, cover and cook 10 minutes; stir occasionally. Season potatoes with salt and pepper to taste. To the potatoes, add beef, tomatoes, parsley and garlic powder; stir well. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir and pat mixture down. Sprinkle with cheese and cover and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Do you like Pink?

Peanut...do you like pink? As in the color pink?

If not then I am sorry. You have more pink clothing than I know what to do with. This is not entirely my fault, I swear. Just about everything that has been purchased for you is either all pink or has hints of pink through out.

Would you prefer purple, maybe a suttle shade of orange instead? You just let Mommy know okay dear!

I painted your room yellow, does that help a little bit? Of course the bedding Mommy bought you last night has pink all over it so once again, do you like pink? I sure hope you do, because if not, then I don't know what to tell you girlfriend!

We were going to remain neutral and do your room in a farm theme but I found your new bedding on e-bay for much, much cheaper. I knew I had to have it as soon as I saw it. See last week when I was starting to realize we probably wouldn't be able to afford your farm bedding, I started drawing up butterflies and lady bugs to paint on each of your walls. Little did I know that while surfing on e-bay last night for a cheaper version of the farm bedding that I would stumble upon the bedding I actually bought for you. The butterflies and lady bugs were almost identical to the ones that I had been drawing for you. I feel that it must have been fate that I stumbled upon it with less than two minutes to go before the end of the auction.

I really hope you like it. I am pretty sure you won't really care but I hope you like it just the same.

Baby Shower #1

This afternoon was our first baby shower. It also happened to be co-ed and kid friendly. We had so much fun and there was sooooo much food. Here are some pictures to enjoy including my latest belly shot.

All of the yummy food

The presents!

The cake, wouldn't know if it was yummy or not, my tummy wasn't cooperating later in the evening so I didn't get to try it out.

Whose belly is bigger??

Some of the siblings and me.

And lastly, my almost 28 week belly shot.

Another ultrasound (Revised)

We had another ultrasound today and honestly, I don't think I will ever tire of seeing my daughter on the big screen. They confirmed that yes she was in fact still a girl, not sure how I would have broken the news to our family had she have suddenly grown an extra part. She is still wonderful and healthy and is weighing in at 2lbs. 1oz., with a heart rate of 156. She has a nice round tummy and I believe she is going to have her Daddy's nose and her Mommy's lips. We finally got a nice profile shot of her today which I will try to post sometime tomorrow, it's quite entertaining. She had her right arm over her forehead as if she was having the worst day ever and people, if her top lip was stuck out any further it might swallow her bottom lip whole. My little peanut...I cannot wait until she is finally here so that I can snuggle and love on her in person!
~As promised I added the picture to the post. My sister said she looked just like her...I think she is going to look like her Daddy. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Potato Skins...but Twiced Baked!

It's been a rough day at the old homestead today. My day started to go south last night during dinner preparations and continued to get worse until I had hit rock bottom at lunch today, if you would like to know more please head on over to my baby blog for a more in depth description.

I am fine now, just had a little pregnancy melt down that was way over due and I feel much better. Daniel was fine until he got to work, we are blessed in the fact he has a job to go to but there are days he would really like to just tell them to kiss off, please excuse my french...LOL. I knew we were in trouble when he arrived home and proceeded to drop his lunch box. Instead of picking it back up he gracefully kicked it across the living room and then proceeded to throw the trash cans back into the garage...today was trash day. I think it's going to be an early night for us, we of course have to stay up to watch Visitors though.

Anyway, dinner for tonight was altered some as I completely forgot to set out the chicken to thaw because of all of the drama. Hopefully I can make the chicken recipe I had planned to sometime in the future. I did get to make these potato skins which aren't really potato skins since I stuffed them like a twice baked potato but they hold all of the ingredients that a typical potato skin from a restaurant includes, call them what you may. We really enjoyed them which for me was a given but potatoes are something Daniel eats cautiously, he is the only person I know who doesn't like mashed potatoes or baked potatoes. I knew the only way I was going to get these in his belly is if I stuffed them full of some of his favorite baked potato toppings...he's got to load them up if he is going to eat them.

Potato Skins...but twice baked

Ingredients:
5 sm. to md. baking potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. salt
dash of garlic powder
dash or two of black pepper
1/3 cup bacon pieces
2/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cayenne pepper

Directions:
1.) Scrub potatoes and baked in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for on hour. Allow to cool and then cut in half carefully scraping out all of the potato innards make sure that you don't tear the outer shell.
2.) In a small bowl add the potato innards, sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Mix well.
3.) Carefully add mixture back into each empty potato skin and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Sprinkle a little bit of cayenne pepper to the top of each potato, this addition can be omitted but it gives the potato a nice little kick. Cook potatoes until heated through and slightly browned on top, about a half an hour or so.

I wish we would have had some green onions to sprinkle on top but we were fresh out which is unusual at our house, green onions are normally a staple at our house.

I hope you enjoy these! They were actually pretty easy to do and will definitely be done again.

Emotional...I think not!!

I know that being overly emotional is a part of being pregnant but I would like to think I have been rather "normal" during this pregnancy. Normal meaning no worse than what I was before pregnancy, so sorry that I am unable to control my emotions during "Extreme Home Makeover" people (a.k.a. Daniel), when that darn Ty Pennington starts to cry I just can't control myself anymore!

I felt the firestorm of emotional fury start last night. I have absolutely no idea what brought it on but I swear one second I was fine and the next I felt like a train waiting to derail. I first noticed it while making dinner, for the life of me I could not get the Frisco Melts that I was making for Daniel to turn out right, instead of just giving up and retreating to my bedroom at 6:00 in the evening like I did last Thursday night, I stayed strong and kept on trucking only to be relieved when my wonderful husband ate two and then praised me on Facebook for making them. It's amazing what a little praise will do to a woman's spirit when she is down. We made it through the rest of dinner, Daniel was kind enough to put everything away for me, and I thought all was better. I still couldn't figure out why I was filling all funky to begin with though.

Daniel was the first to wave the white flag last night, he was in bed at 8:30. Someone had a busy day of hanging gutters on Sunday and then another draining day at work on Monday so he was tired. I jumped on the computer; my husband says I am addicted so it's only fair I keep up my addiction for his sake and that's when I noticed it...I couldn't breath. I was breathing as if I was a sixty year old chain smoker who needed to be hooked up to her portable oxygen tank, it was horrible and actually somewhat scary when you can't get a good breath in. Of course this brought on the thoughts of being eight months pregnant with an oxygen tank strapped to my back while walking around Babies R Us which did not help in the least.

I somehow managed to stay up until about 10:30 or so which is highly unusual for this chick since becoming pregnant and woke this morning in my usual groggy mood. I mean come on...who actually enjoys getting up by the sound of an alarm screaming in your ear only to have to force yourself to get dressed so that you can go to work?? Just me!! Well it's not because of the pregnancy because this was my typical morning before the start of my baby.

Anyway, skip ahead a few hours and I get home at lunch to let the dogs out and to be fed. I go to put my key in the door when I hear a noise, it almost sounded like a dish breaking but not quite and I couldn't figure out what it was so I cautiously opened the door hoping that it was just my imagination when to my horror I discover what the sound was. Lennon, our dear sweet Lennon; the same dog that has cost almost $5,000 in surgeries since March...of this YEAR, who ate my entire bottle of Tums Halloween weekend, who torments the absolute hell out of poor Bandit, who wakes us up at all hours of the morning when he wants on the couch but nobody else will get off, who has made it so that Animal Planet cannot be watched in peace at our home, who enjoys eating the rinds from pineapples straight out of the garbage, who slurps peanut oil out of his Dads turkey fryer, likes kicking back with a good magazine only to destroy it later, who must sit in your lap at all times, who tries to get in the tub while you are showering so that he can get a drink of water, and who finds it entertaining to lay in the middle of the kitchen floor so quietly that Mom doesn't realize he is there until she and everything in her hand go flying in the air after turning around and tripping over him. Yes my friends, that sweet and innocent Great Dane who is the apple of his Fathers eye, the one currently in discussion.

That sweet little boy was the cause for the noise I heard while unlocking the front door, the noise that sent me over the edge...that caused my train to derail! There laying before me was the following; a bag of cotton balls, used primarily to clean Bandits ears was torn to shreds with cotton balls layering the floor of the entire living room, it looked like it had rained golf ball sized hail in that room. A piece of wood that I had already taken from him once, splintered into a hundred pieces of smaller wood, something that was black and now resembles a chunk missing from a ladies wig...I still don't know what it started this life out as. A bag of Halls lozenges...I hope for his sake his throat feels better! A tube of neosporin with puncture holes all over it, sort of reminded me of the tube of baby butt cream my Mom always kept on hand for my little sister when she was a baby, our Great Danes then always somehow managed to get a hold of the tubes and would always leave puncture marks and cream oozing out of the bottom, ah memories! The bag of candy cane ornaments that my MIL purchased for me to hang on our Christmas tree this year (those are what made the noise I heard, dogs shuffling them across the floor while they worked their way to the front door.) And then...to my absolute horror I saw it...a picture, not just any picture, a picture of one of my Mom's horses. For a quick second I scanned my brain to figure out where it came from, where I had stored it to keep safe from harms way and then it hit me. It had come from the hard back leather covered photo album I bought last year that I painstakingly added picture after picture to, all in the appropriate date order. He had torn it to shreds, SHREDS people, piece after piece of leather scattered all over the living room. Page after page of photos torn from it's binding, some intact others ripped in half.

It was then that I felt it, the first tear drop, the first sense of range and utter disbelief, the first crack in the dam that I had built up during this pregnancy. I refused to be an emotional roller coaster during this journey and for almost seven months I had succeeded only to be broken by a one year old Great Dane who had destroyed what is most precious to me...my photos.

Ask anyone that knows me, my camera goes everywhere with me, I take picture after picture for safe keeping, to allow my past to be brought with me to my future and this retarded dog had destroyed it and destroyed my dam of emotional strength. I cried...I cried hard, I cried long, I cried loudly, I cried to the point of nausea, to the point of snot bubbles and a damp shirt, to the point of questioning whether I even wanted to feed them. I cried while I swept up the mess, pulling each and every salvageable picture from the wreckage, I cried while I posted on Facebook that I hated my dogs, I cried when getting their food bowls, I cried when I took said food bowl and hit Lennon in the ass with it, I cried when I realized I couldn't afford another album and new pictures because I had to buy Christmas presents instead, and I cried when I left to come back to work after seeing Lennon curled up in a ball on the couch sound asleep with no idea of what he had just done to me.

I ask you; is this a face of an innocent, a face of complete guilt, and the reason for his Mothers emotional and hormonal breakdown at lunch?

Damn it...it's the eyes I tell you and that stupid pink nose, curse the nose and those floppy ears to go with it. How can I go from rage with this dog one second to one of love and understanding the next? To hit his tush with his food bowl and then feel complete guilt afterwards knowing that it didn't even hurt him and then to question why I didn't make it hurt and then feel bad for thinking that.

And then I look at this picture, the one saved right next to the above one on my computer,

and I realize, I am going to have to smack this tush to and then feel complete and utter guilt about it when she comes to me with tears down her little chubby cheeks wanting to be consoled. I will have to remind myself I had to do it and to not let her sense my defeat and guilt for her demise. I have to teach her right from wrong and help ensure that she grows up to be a responsible adult and as much as it pains me, that is going to require a pop on the fanny a time or two.

Lord help me, this parenting craps going to be tough sometimes!

On a good note though, I am hoping today's emotional breakdown equals no more for at least another seven months but lets hope and pray Daniel doesn't come home and ask what happened or why I am not in a talkative mood. I can't guarantee that I will be able to hold back the waterworks for a second time and lord knows he can't handle tears so then I will have to control my hormonal rage for a second time and not tell him to fix his own blessed dinner! Maybe I should text him ahead of time with a warning, what do you think?

Paint

Operation paint the nursery has begun. We picked a lovely shade of yellow to slap on the bare white walls and I must say it's turning out rather pretty. We have gone with a lovely shade of apricot mousse since we threw green out the window because our bedroom is green as well as Dylan's nursery so we wanted peanut's room to be different.

We have less than one week to get that room cleared out completely and ready to go because Saturday is the first baby shower. I am so excited I can't see straight. Hopefully we will have lots of pictures to share!

Taco Mac & Cheese

I stumbled upon a recipe similar to this one a few weeks ago and without writing down the recipe I became a fan of the persons blog thinking I would just go back and grab it when I needed it. Never did I think that the blog would become inactive so when it came time to make this dish I had to scramble for a way to throw it together. It turned out pretty good, Daniel had two plate fulls. I do think next time I will also add some salsa as it seemed sort of dry for my taste.

Taco Mac & Cheese~
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 1/2 cups of vegetable juice
1 box of Kraft Mac and Cheese, not the the cheap box
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 green onions, diced
1 cup shredded cheese, I used sharp cheddar
1 cup of mild salsa, I didn't use but highly suggest to keep the dish moist

Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.) In a skillet brown ground beef and then add taco seasoning along with the water required on the back of the package and diced onion.
3.) In a separate pot boil enough water to cook your macaroni noodles, fix the macaroni and cheese according to box.
4.) Combine, ground beef with vegetable juice and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes.
5.) Add ground beef mixture to macaroni and cheese and combine. Add to 8x8 baking dish (sprayed so that it won't stick), add one cup of shredded cheddar to top.
6.) Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until cheese is melted and bubbly.
7.) Garnish with green onions and serve.

100 days and couting...

Peanut, I can hardly believe it but today is the last day that there will be three numbers shown on our little ticker. Tomorrow starts 99 days until your estimated arrival date and Mommy is getting very, very anxious. I tried taking your cousin Dylan home with me on Saturday but Aunt Nikki was being a pooper and wouldn't let me, even after I told her it would only be until my little lady gets here she kept saying no. I think it probably has something to do with the whole breast feeding dilemma. Anyway, keep baking away, I got the run down for some of the Thanksgiving events for one side of the family this morning and let me tell you, you won't know what to do with yourself in about two and a half weeks. Hopefully next year at this time you will be old enough that we can at least feed you some soft foods that way you really get to enjoy the festivities!