Baby Shower!

Reaching the end of February was really exciting for two reasons: it meant that now we're into March and my baby is almost due, but it also meant that I got to have my baby shower! I had been looking forward to this girl celebration for a long time, and Amber Parry & Tiffany Peterson did a GREAT job hosting it.

We played baby games ("sculptionary," for example, got pretty animated--we had to sculpt baby items from play dough) and enjoyed chatting. For refreshments, Tiffany had an amazing spread of ice cream sundae fixings and lovely chocolate-covered strawberries.

In addition to darling outfits, blankets, and other baby girl gear, many guests contributed diapers to go in the four beautiful "diaper cakes" that Amber Parry made. I had never seen a diaper cake before, and let me tell you--they're pretty amazing! They look like wedding cakes, but they're a LOT more useful. :) Allison should be supplied for a few months at least!

Hooray for baby girls!

Pudding Faux Pas

Last Saturday was the Elders Quorum "Men Who Cook" activity. Adam decided to make a dessert to contribute and finally settled on making his favorite Chocolate Pudding Dessert. We bought the nuts, whipped topping, cream cheese, and chocolate pudding, and Adam was ready to go. (Keep in mind that this is a four-layer dessert...)

He made the first two layers and has just finished pouring on the chocolate pudding when I entered the kitchen. He licked the spoon and was about to put it in the sink, but then he stopped. He took another lick. "Lisa," he said, "try this pudding." So I tried some. "It tastes like... coffee," I looked at him in amazement. I grabbed the empty ALDI brand pudding box that was sitting on the counter next to the dessert that was now even starting to smell like coffee. "It just says chocolate" I turned the box over to look at the ingredient list. "There shouldn't be any coffee flavoring in it." But coffee flavored it was.

We puzzled over what to do. We decided that we couldn't take a coffee flavored dessert to a Church function, but Adam still wanted to contribute his dessert. So we compromised. I carefully scraped off the pudding and cream cheese layers while he ran to the nearest grocery store to purchase more ingredients. (Needless to say, this time he bought Jell-O brand chocolate pudding)

One hour (11:00 pm) and a lot of dishes later, Adam had re-created his dessert masterpiece. But this story has a happy ending: awards were given at the dinner for the most artistic dish, the best entre, and the best dessert. Adam won the dessert award, hands down (it helped a little that no one else had brought a dessert!) So he now sports a manly striped apron as his prize.

The morals of this story? Always sample the pudding before serving it to your guests (especially if it came from ALDI), and "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"

Love, sweet love

We had a great weekend celebrating Valentines Day. On Friday Adam and I went out to Chili's for dinner, and the next night we had a "fancy" family Valentine dinner. That evening, Jared got to play with his friend Spencer Hill while we went to the stake Gold and Green Ball. The ball was so nice--the decorations and refreshments were amazing! Half way through the dance we switched babysitting. Afterward, we had a cherry-chocolate Valentine cake with the Hills. It was a great weekend!

Run-down of the Holidays...

Has it really been three months since my last posting? How embarrassing! I hope that you've been checking out our Phanfare site in the meantime. It seems I can't keep more than one photo site updated at the same time.

Well, Thanksgiving and Christmas were both great. We spent Thanksgiving with the Dicksons in Utah, and we spent Christmas with the Washburns in Chicago. Jared loved being with his aunts and uncles and grandparents, and we enjoyed it as well. Here are a few token photos of the holidays...





With the close of January we come one month closer to baby time! I'm due March 12--just six weeks away. Adam and I have already taken a tour of Carle Hospital, and I've sorted through all our old and new baby clothes and organized the nursery to accommodate both Jared and the baby (she has now taken over the top drawer of Jared's dresser. Adam says it's only a matter of time before she's taken over half his closet space). ;)

Jared is learning new things at lightning speed. He now knows over 40 words, and he often repeats words we say. He can also point out colors and some letters. It's fun to watch him learn and become interested in new things! (though his favorite toys are still cars. They keep him entertained for hours). Jared knows that there's a baby in Mama's tummy and not in Daddys, that a baby says "wa-wa" and drinks a bottle, and that you can rock and kiss them softly. We only hope he won't be too jealous when the new baby is here taking up Jared's Mommy time!

Halloween!

We had a great time trunk-or-treating at our ward party! Grandma made Jared a lion costume, so we dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz. Jared even wore his lion hat the whole time--amazing! He also discovered candy, and he now loves suckers. Happy Halloween!

Food storage--check.

When I hear the words "food storage," the first image that comes to mind is my mom's food storage pantry--complete with rows and rows of bottled peaches, canned goods, 50-pound buckets of rice and wheat, and LOTS of powdered milk.

But when, at 21 years old, I married Adam and moved out of my parents' house, food storage took on a whole different meaning. Our 1-bedroom abode was tiny--smaller than the entire bottom floor of our current Winfield town home. The kitchen was the smallest part: long and skinny. There was a mini oven at one end, and when sitting at the kitchen table, you could turn on the sink, reach the trash, open the refrigerator door, turn on the oven, and open the front door to let in a guest without even leaving your seat! Needless to say, there was not much extra space for food storage.

But while we got by with a grocery sack full of cans and a can opener at our last apartment, I knew that this time I had no excuse. We now have sufficient storage space (requiring a little creativity), and we also have a growing family to provide for in the event of an emergency. With the recent Priesthood-Relief Society meeting on home food storage, I knew it was time to act.

I had already gathered up a decent supply of food which was stored in our coat closet (go Aldi!), but we were a little low on water supplies. Luckily, Melissa Stevens had given us some 2-liter bottles from their water storage when they moved. I just had to fill them and figure out where to put them.

After a little measuring and a trip to the hardware store (boy does Jared love the hardware store!), they now have a home. All 17 bottles sit snugly beside the furnace in our bathroom closet, stacked in rows separated by boards.

Thanks to Adam's grandma, we now have a 72-hour kit and a bag of extra clothing too. I must say I'm quite proud of our little food/water stash. I almost wish a disaster would strike so we could put it to use (well, not really). The only trick now is keeping the clothes and diapers updated so Jared isn't stuck wearing baby clothes when he's two!

Berries, airplanes, and haircuts--Oh my!

September brought with it a fun assortment of activities for our family. Jared and I enjoyed picking berries at Pontious Farms with Jenny and Zoe Snow... and Jared loved eating them! We also got to attend a Boy Scout Jamboree at the Rantoul aerospace museum. And a week ago, Jared got his final summer haircut. It looks like he was blond underneath his mop, after all. I think it was the sun that bleached it... although Adam did have blond hair as a baby, too. We'll see what color his hair is by the end of winter.