Lauren Noelle

Announcing Lauren Noelle, born 12/29/2010, at 11:21 pm, 6 1/2 pounds. 20 inches long.

She's a beautiful baby, with tons of dark hair.

More pictures to come.

Merry Christmas!

Present for ya...........

Feeling Snappy

For all of you who rejected my whale picture, who tried to make me feel guilty for not posting a "real" picture ......

I ask you? Why do you want this picture so much??? Have you pondered this question in your heart?

You want to find inner glee at how big I am, ....don't you??? You might as well admit it. Because I already know the truth.

So I am delaying. I'm thinking a candid on-the-way-to-the-hospital picture.
I'll probably be in my PJ's, hair uncombed, crumbs on my shirt. (A person drops a lot of crumbs when they have to sit three feet away from the table because their belly is so big. Good thing I have my daddy's long arms ...we'll not HIS arms.) Anyway more glee for you.

Speaking of snappy. Yes, I am snappy these days.

Gingersnaps. I don't like 'em

I love them.

Well not really, I bite into them and think, "ick" too strong, not good. blehk!, But a few second later I want another one, so I eat another one, and another one and another one. Until all I want and have ever wanted is gingersnaps.

It's the strangest phenomenon.

I wonder if it's related to the chocolate ice-cream phenomenon.

Once when we lived in Logan, Barry brought me home some ice-cream as a surprise. It was chocolate, as a rule, chocolate ice cream is not my favorite, but being ice-cream deprived I ate a bowl of it.

Surprisingly finding it quite delicious, I ate another bowl of it.

Later that night Barry had some, and I finished off the carton the next day.

That next evening Barry asked me what I wanted to do for our date (see, this was a long time ago, we still went on dates).

I told him all I wanted was to get some more of that ice cream. He laughed at me, but he agreed and went and purchased two more cartons. I was halfway through the first carton, when Barry(gggrrr)happened to look at the ingredients. Third ingredient Instant Coffee.

Oh so sad. I finished off the carton, and promised to eat no more of it, but I have dreamed of it, and I can tell you, if the craving for a cup of coffee is anything like the craving for coffee ice-cream, those people have a tough habit to break.

ON to better things....

You want to make gingersnaps now don't you??? No?... you want some of that ice cream. MMmmm me too, but we can't.

So you'll have to settle for these.



Grandma's Gingersnap cookies.

Yes, you'll like them strangely, you won't be able to stop eating them ravenously, you'll get fat, ironically, you'll look like a whale fittingly..........and then I'll request a picture gleefully.

Ahh the power of suggestion.

(Mmm yum, don't forget to buy the molasses, if that's not something you keep around the house)



Grandma's Gingersnap Cookies
Original Recipe Yield 5 dozen

Ingredients

* 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon ground ginger
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3 cups of instant coffee
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup shortening
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup dark molasses
* 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl.
3. Place the shortening into a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the egg, and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the shortening mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Store in an air tight container

For added blubber, dip in melted white chocolate or cream cheese pumpkin dip.

Presenting

As per request my much anticipated pregnancy picture........








Not only is this picture a perfect representation of my current self, but it also captures how I feel as well ....as a whale.

FHE

My sister and her husband came up to visit us this weekend. We decided to surprise Ellie. They came before Ellie had got home from church, so when she got home I sent her up to room to change and had Amy and Mo were hiding in her room. She was very very surprised, and excited. She and James had a grand time playing with them. Later that evening Barry and I went to the Stake Christmas program. It was weird going without kids, it was like we were going on a date.
Barry did a good job as Joseph, he cut out some of his more cheesy lines, and he looked good in his costume that he sewed himself. Mary did look about 18, but Barry said in real life she was probably 12, so I guess it was as accurate as they could get. I thought the choir did a pretty good job too, so all in all it was a success. We came home and had hot chocolate and candy cane cookies and the kids had a blast dancing around to fiddle music.

Monday morning, I went to my Dr. appt. and Amy and Mo watched the kids for me. When I came home they were all busy playing hide and seek, and by all the wrong rules, like running away from your hiding place before the person could find you. James didn't have a clue what was going on, but he loved it all the same. Both Ellie and James cried when it was time for Amy and Mo to return home and will be excited to see them again.

For FHE on Monday we painted some plaster ornaments my mom sent us. The kids really enjoyed it. Now we just need to buy another tree to hang them on.

The doctor says I probably have about two weeks before baby pate makes her appearance. I'm thinking it may be sooner than that, but hopefully we'll get those two weeks in because then the baby would be considered full term.

I thought I'd get Barry one of these.

I despise his beard, and this should take care of the whole "the beard keeps my face warm out in the cold" excuse.


Just Brilliant, I know.




Another Brilliant idea is these



Every year on my birthday in elementary school I would give out candy canes instead of the traditional cupcakes. To carry on this tradition I decided to give my YW candy canes after my lesson on Sunday.
I bought two boxes on Saturday to share, unfortunately I opened them before giving them away. Oh yummy in my tummy. I decided not to give them out after all, and was enjoying munching several of them, when Barry reminded me who I had actually gotten them for. Grumbling, I decided to give away the last 6 Starburst Strawberry Canes, and keep the whole package of Spree Candy Canes to myself. My are they tasty.

Mmmm... Buy Them, Try Them. Yum!

Doozies

Me looking in the mirror, dressed in an all black dress:

Examining my bulging figure, I remarked with dismay. ""I look like a whale."

Ellie examines me with a critical eye. ""Nah," she says, "Whales aren't black."

Helpful Barry remarks from the other room "Sperm Whales are black."

Ellie taking another look at me with a nod "yeah, okay then."



Conversing with my neighbor:


I remarked to my neighbor about how crazy big I was feeling.

Then she kindly shared HER thoughts with me

She said.

"Yeah I know, I keep telling myself, we'll it IS her third baby, afterall, I guess she's already all stretched out, and she does only have a month or so left...."

I stopped listening then.




Relaxing in the bathtub, (due to my forgetting to lock the door) Ellie runs in to tattletale. (Totally against the rules).

Instead of tattling though, she stops dead in her tracks and gasps with surprise and exclaims "Holy Cow your milkers are getting big!"

"OUT!!!!!!!!!" was all I could say.

(My milkers???, seriously, MY MILKERS???? .........can't wait for her to tell her primary class that one.)







P.S Amy wanted me to include a belly picture with this post, but I'm just not up to it.
Maybe Sunday, in my black dress.