It's great to be the Mom!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Grant made a tasty breakfast (of course, he makes breakfast nearly every Sunday, so that was nothing extraordinary) and I had some very precious cards to open. Grant and the kids had a surprise for me as well....they had gone shopping on Saturday and picked out some lovely earrings for me. We took some pictures after church with Uncle Eric, who had come to visit. After a relaxing afternoon, we braved the rainstorm to continue our Mother's Day tradition of dinner at a little Mexican restaurant. Delicious. After the kids were in bed, we got to watch the finale of one of my favorite shows, Survivor. Yep, it was a great day. Thanks, Honey!





The kids adored having Uncle Eric reading them bedtime stories on Saturday night. His visit was the highlight of their weekend.

Those darn epidurals

I was induced with Annika, 9 days past the due date, because she seemed determined to never come and my 3 week window with my visiting mom was quickly drawing to a close.

The labor was completely bearable, but with a progression of only 4 centimeters after 5 hours of Pitocen and talk of increasing the dosage, I got worried and decided for the epidural. Well, by the time the anesthesiologist got there and was ready to do his magic, I was nearly in transition. I should have told him in my still, quiet voice to make like a cow patty and hit the trail, but instead I suffered through transition hunched over on the side of the bed doing my best to hold completely still (this is my SPINE we're talking about here!) while he puttered about and made small talk about how much luggage we had brought.

Twenty minutes after he left, Annika was born. The pain relief hadn't even totally kicked in yet. What a waste. Then I had to squelch my yelps while the nurse ripped the tape off my back (what do they use, duct tape??) that held everything in place AND keep an IV in for 4 extra hours. Oh and the back pain? No joke.

Current day. That epidural is still haunting me. For the past 6 months, I've been periodically receiving letters from the anesthesiologist saying that they don't participate in my insurance and that I was personally responsible for signing over any reimbursement checks sent to me from the insurance company. I have heard nothing from the insurance company. So today I decided to call them and figure this thing out once and for all.

There's just not much worse than calling medical insurance companies. Okay, maybe calling the cable company. Anyways, I got the number to call from my online account. After finally reaching a representative and going through my spiel, I was informed that I had called the number for United HealthCare employees only. Great. So I was transferred to the "correct" department. Okay, go through the automated stuff again, get to the representative, only to be eventually told that they only had the records since Jan 08, that I would have to call the other department that handled accounts last year. Fabulous. I don't have my old member number, we threw those cards out when we got the new ones. They get me identified by the SSN, and as I struggled to make out what the lady was saying (her voice was about the volume of a tiny bird in a nest in the tallest tree in my backyard), I eventually made out that they sent a check to the Anes. in January.

Now I had to call the Anes. to find out why they keep bothering me. Oh, their office closed at 4:15. Hurray. Now I get to call them again tomorrow.

Why, oh why, did I get that epidural???

Can it really be 8 months?

Annika turned 8 months old yesterday. I can't believe it. She's 2/3 of a year old. How is that possible? And how is it that I'm still hanging on to 5 lbs (give or take a few ounces) of pregnancy weight? It sure wasn't this hard to lose with the other two. Ugh. Well, I'm working on it. Anyways, here's a few shots of my littlest darling, taken today because I forgot yesterday. I had to take most of them while holding her, or they'd all be screaming pictures.



No, she still doesn't like the grass. We're working on that.









And here are Corban and Marissa. Note the slippers that Marissa insisted on wearing, despite the perfect spring weather of 75 degrees. Also note the book that Corban is toting..."Farmer Boy" from the Little House on the Prairie series. We've made it halfway through the 3rd book since starting the series sometime after Christmas, I can't remember when. Corban just loves it.

Peanut Butter Pie and Chocolate Cake

Last week I had the occasion to make a meal for a friend in need...and decided to make one of my favorite desserts, Peanut Butter Pie. Lucky for me, the recipe makes two pies, so we got to keep one! Now, I know there are a number of peanut butter pie recipes out there, many strikingly similar, and I'm not going to claim that this is the "best" one, but it's good enough that I'm not feeling the need to try another. The beauty of this recipe is that you can jazz it up however you want. It's great with a chocolate crust, graham cracker crust, or I've been told, even a Nutter Butter crust! You can garnish however you desire, with peanut butter cups, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, whipped cream, or as here, crushed butterfingers.

Recipe

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
12 oz whipped topping, thawed
Chocolate syrup or fudge sauce
2 Graham cracker crusts (or desired crust)
4 mini Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

Beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add peanut butter and milk and beat until smooth. Gently fold in whipped topping until combined. Take a little lick to make sure it's the right taste and consistency. If you want more whipped topping, feel free to add it. Cover bottom of pie crusts with syrup/fudge sauce. Spoon filling over that and smooth top. Sprinkle candy bars over the top. Freeze until firm, then store in refrigerator. Delicious!

Chocolate Sheet Cake




It was our turn to make food for our Community Group last night, and I had found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's site and was anxious to try it. Of course, I couldn't leave it be and had to modify it some, so here's my version.

Recipe

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks salted butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. instant coffee granules
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Melt butter in a large saucepan, then add cocoa.
4. Stir coffee granules into boiling (or at least really hot) water and pour into butter/cocoa mixture. Bring to a boil and keep it there 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
5. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture.
6. Mix the buttermilk (or in my case, 1/2 cup milk with 1 1/2 tsp. vinegar) with the eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir into the other batter and combine well.
7. Pour into an ungreased sheet cake pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. Mine was perfect at 18 minutes.

Icing:

1. Melt 1 1/2 sticks salted butter in a saucepan.
2. Add 4 heaping Tablespoons of cocoa and boil for 30 seconds
3. Remove from heat and add 6 T. milk
4. Stir in 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (sifted is best, but my icing still had some lumps despite the sifting)
5. Add in 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts if desired. Personally, I toasted some pecans in the oven while the cake was baking (only for about 5 minutes), chopped them up, and sprinkled them on half of the cake to appease those non-nut eaters.
6. Pour icing over warm cake and spread gently to cover.

This was the cake pan after everyone had left. I guess it was enjoyed!



I have a love/hate relationship with this cake. I love it because it's so wonderfully tasty and decadent, and I hate it because it's perfect for just taking one more little sliver until you realize you've eaten an entire row. You just can't get away with that with a layer cake.

Girls and Clothes

So what is it with girls and clothes, anyways? I have a 4 1/2 year old son who has changed his clothes without being told just a handful of times, and those just in the past year or so. I guess I just didn't understand how different a daughter would be.

Okay, so I do have memories of my sister Anna, 11 years my junior, going through a phase of changing her clothes several times a day when she was somewhere between 3 and 5, I'd have to ask my mom exactly when. It was a humorous and cute, if not a little annoying at times, habit. But it didn't really affect me that much.

Now I have Marissa, 2 1/2 years old. Lately she has been surprising me with her clothes, or lack thereof. Sometimes it's just a change of pants. One day during naptime, when she was supposed to be asleep, I found her in Corban's room, wearing only panties (she had been wearing a pull-up and clothes), put on with one leg through the waist opening. Another day she was traipsing down the hallway just in panties, dress-up slippers, and her pink blanket draped around her shoulders like a shawl. But today really took the cake.

We had a busy day and a short time for naps before heading out for Corban's gymnastics. I had just gone downstairs for some water and came back up to hear some mysterious noises in her room. I opened the door to see her completely naked, playing with her dollhouse. What??? I can't figure out what got into her! Her jeans had been put in a drawer and her shirt and pull-up were on her bed. She had no explanation for why she had disrobed and was happy as a clam. Ridiculous. It's not like that kind of behavior is modeled around here.

Boys just don't do this sort of thing. At least, mine never has. Why do girls feel the compulsive need to change clothes or take them off altogether? At least it's only in the privacy of her own room during sleep times....thusfar, anyways.

MOPS

We had a really good message at MOPS today....and I wanted to jot down some notes here so I won't forget them! The speaker was the CEO of MOPS International, Elisa Morgan. Okay, so she wasn't exactly AT my group, we watched her message on DVD, but it was still her. While nothing she said was brand new information, it was so good to get a reminder of many of her points.
1. You are Loved. No matter where you are in your life or who you are, God loves you. Even when your house is a mess and you've yelled at your kids all day and dinner is burned, God loves you. That will never change. You cannot make Him stop loving you.
2. You are Chosen. God picked you to be the Mom of your children. He knew exactly who they would need as a mom and who you would need as children. He put you together.
3. You Matter. You have an influence on those around you, whether you see it or not. Your children are constantly watching you and learning from you, and even if your daily routine is mundane and repetitive and you feel like nothing worthwhile is accomplished, you DO matter, to your husband, your children, and to God.
4. You are Not Alone. Whatever life throws at you, the Holy Spirit is always with you. Whether you're starting out in motherhood or a 70 year old veteran grandmother, living in prosperity or need, you will not be forsaken by your heavenly Father. He will always be there for you.

Well, I wish I had gotten to actually take notes during the message, because I didn't capture nearly all that she conveyed here....but I was nursing and rocking a noisy, fussy Annika to sleep....so this is it.

Here's a photo of the girls on Sunday...because it's just not a good post without at least one picture!


Aren't they cute? Thanks for the gorgeous dresses, Grandma!

Kids' Conversation

Caution----Potty Talk ahead! Okay, consider yourself warned.

Yesterday as Marissa was using the bathroom and Corban lounged on the floor outside the door, the following conversation ensued.

Corban: "That was a toot...that's funny!" (giggles)
Marissa: "Toots are NOT funny, they're yucky." (furrowed eyebrows)
Corban: "No, they're funny!" (more giggles)
Marissa: "Okay, they're funny, but they're yucky too." (reluctant smile)