thriller

Apparently it's funny when I spaz out.

And as soon as Colin caught a glimpse of the camera—"Cheese!"

wah wah boo

Wah wah boo is the sound Colin makes for a baby. It also pretty accurately describes this picture. This is one of those times when I was trying to take a picture of Colin and he saw the camera too soon. He gets really upset when I won't share it with him. Anyway, I put shorts and a fleece pullover on over his pajamas and thought it was funny.

I've been trying to sort through Colin's clothes to see what's too small and what he has to wear this winter and what goes back to which cousin. Colin has been very helpful with that project.

He is such a good helper!

This is quickly becoming the toothbrush chair. Every time I hand him the brush for his turn he climbs right up and gets comfy.

Colin was listening to music, wedged in the corner next to the penguin, which was adorable, but as soon as I pulled out the camera he had to move.

He's such a big boy. He thinks he can go down the stairs without turning around. It's not a good thing yet. It's still a little too dangerous methinks.

Here's another view. Such handsome boys.

Nate was confused when I asked him to bring the camera in and take a picture of Colin in the bath.

I guess he didn't realize just how adorable a clean naked baby sitting in the tub is.

This morning before church we hung out in Colin's room. I actually got a picture before he charged the camera.

He enjoys wearing the bins on his head (probably a little too much).

Nate and Colin wrestled on the floor. I think they were pretending to sleep at one point. Nate has been trying to get Colin to give "bear hugs." A bear hug consists of giving a big hug and saying "grrr." Colin's got the hug part down, but he doesn't always say the word.

Colin is hilarious when music plays, but I never seem to be able to catch it on film. His dance moves are getting more and more complex. And he feels like he needs to stop and dance whenever he hears music. I was at Old Navy with my mom and Colin was pushing the cart for us. He stopped to dance about every 4 feet. It was cute. He'll also dance when he wants me to turn on the music. I like him.

I got to have a girls' night with two of my dearest friends, Bekah and Stacey, on Friday after the kids were asleep. I taught them how to play Canasta. Bekah's husband played with us too. He seemed to really enjoy girls' night. The only problem was that we talked for too long and I was whiney and tired the next day. That's how I get when I don't get my full 10 hours of sleep a night... :)

My niece Rachel was baptized on Saturday, but I don't have any pictures of that. Hopefully her parents will post some so her other cousins can see. It was a special event, and we're glad we could go. I got to give the talk on baptism, which was a new experience for me. I've never spoken at a baptism before (that I recall). I flubbed and blubbered my way through, not really breaking down until the very end. I don't know if anything I said was intelligible, but I tried my best to make some sense.

I also taught Nate how to play Canasta this morning, and wonder of wonders he actually played with me! Two entire hands! It was fun, and I won. He did surprisingly well for a first timer. We had to go to church after that, and when we got home he read through the rules and decided that he didn't want to play with me anymore because I taught him the wrong way. Apparently DeAnna's rules (the way I play) differ slightly from the rules that came with my cards. So to him I said, "Wah wah boo."

I think that about wraps up our week. I go to the doctor again next week, so I'll have more baby news to share then.

Recipe Sunday

Skillet Macaroni and Cheese
from Kitchen Cafe

3 1/2 cups water, plus extra if needed
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
12 ounces (about 3 cups) elbow macaroni
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small chunks
Ground black pepper to taste

Bring 3 1/2 cups water, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, the macaroni, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring often, until the macaroni is tender and the liquid has thickened, 9 to 12 minutes.

Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk, the cornstarch, mustard and hot sauce together in a small bowl, then stir into the skillet. Continue to simmer slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Off the heat, stir in the cheddar and Monterey Jack, one handful at a time, adding water as needed to adjust the consistency of the sauce (I didn't need any additional water when I made it). Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Ham and Pea Variation
Follow the recipe, adding 8 ounces deli-style baked ham, diced medium, and 1 cup frozen peas to the skillet with the cornstarch mixture in step 2. Colin and I ate ours this way. Nate abhors peas, so his only had ham in it.

new post

Not much to show for this week, picture-wise anyway. We did accomplish some stuff—like the huge pile of dirt that has been haunting our driveway for the past month is finally gone. And the lawn is mowed. And I worked with my mother-in-law to can peaches and tomatoes and to make some fresh peach pies. Colin and I have been checking out the local parks to see which one is worth spending time at. So far the one closest to us is a bust—except that it does have 4 car wheels for him to spin. I can't think of anything else that stands out from this week, so on to the pictures.

This would be Colin trying to hide from me while he was eating his dinner. He says "boo" as a greeting now when he sees someone—like they've been hiding from him all this time and now he's found them.

I had to hold the container on there to get the picture, but just moments beforehand Colin was running amuck in the house with that thing on his head like a hat.

It took him a while, but Colin eventually decided that he did like peach pie.

You can't tell from this picture, but there was a dog over there. Colin would walk over, make the doggie sound, and then just stare at it. I guess he was a little afraid to actually reach out and touch it on his own.

Thursday night we went to Scott's soccer game to get out of the house for a while. Colin was happy when Scott was on the sidelines because then he could toddle over and say hello.

Aww, doesn't Nate look so serene and country-like standing there with his stalk of grain and his cell phone?

And for all of you disturbed people who want to see how large I have become, here's a picture of me circa 30 weeks. (Nate took the picture for me and said this one was going to be "artsy," hence the pose and the camera tilt.)

And here's Colin this morning when I got the camera out to take his picture. He saw me get it out and immediately came running. With the red eyes he kind of looks like a demon child, but I still love him.

And this is him asking so politely if he can please hold the camera.

We bought Colin a toothbrush yesterday, and I'm pleased to announce that he loves it. I wonder if part of the reason he likes it so much is because he thinks it's something that doesn't belong to him and that he's doing something naughty when he puts it in his mouth because he runs away grinning like he's in trouble if you approach him.

And yes, BYU lost last night, and no, I do not want to talk about it. I'm still in too much pain.

Recipe Thursday

I would really like to start Recipe Friday (or whatever day of the week) again. I need more new recipes. The amount of food I'm eating is ever growing, but the amount of recipes I use stays the same. Anyway, I present to you Oatmeal Pancakes for your eating enjoyment.

Oatmeal Pancakes

2 c. quick oats
½ c. flour
3 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ c. buttermilk
2 large eggs (slightly beaten)
¼ c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
add cinnamon, optional (I did)

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and let sit for 20-30 minutes, covered. Cook slowly on a griddle at 325°, or a little lower. The pancakes are easier to flip if they are not very big. Spray griddle before each batch. Let the pancake cook through on one side and then flip.

And to go with those pancakes, here's some Coconut Syrup.

Coconut Syrup

7-8 tbs. butter
¾ c. buttermilk
1 c. sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. coconut extract

Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up—just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the fizz to reduce before serving.

I made these for dinner last night and thought they were pretty good. Nate said they were like eating a bowl of oatmeal, except off of the griddle. I agree—they were really oatmeally. But they were filling and tasty. And Colin loved them. Feeding him oatmeal pancakes was much cleaner and easier than feeding him a bowl of oatmeal. I highly suggest making these for small children. Mine didn't taste so much like a bowl of oatmeal because of the yummy syrup. Nate didn't touch the syrup, but he doesn't like coconut so I didn't expect him to. I would tell you to try the syrup anyway, even if you don't like coconut because it was delicious and not too coconutty. Well, when I made it it was a little coconutty because I cut the recipe in half, all except for the coconut extract, but that was an accident. I guess that if you do want a little extra flavor go ahead and double up on the extract. It's very delicious. The recipe makes a lot, but they hold up well to refrigerating and reheating.

master of mischief

Colin has struck again. He found a bag of M&Ms in our room and went to town on them. I guess it's partly my fault because I knew he had the bag and I allowed him to play with it. He got it open pretty quick, and he really enjoyed eating the candy. I didn't realize the bag was open until I heard "Mmmm" coming from my closet.

This was the best picture I could get of his messy face. Looks like blue was his favorite flavor.

Here's the video from when I discovered Colin with his stash. It's a little long and a little boring, but I didn't feel like editing it.

Colin was showing off that he knows how to open and close my glasses case. He was even trying to say the words "open" and "closed" when he was playing with it. I took a picture because I thought he looked cute in his little sweatshirt and hole-y jeans.

Then it dawned on him that I had the camera out and that he wanted to play with it.

He got a little upset when I wouldn't share. I'm kind of mean like that. I'm also kind of mean in that I take pictures of my kid crying instead of comforting him.

Man, that's a cute kid! He really enjoyed his noodles. I'm really glad I had the foresight to take his clothes off before I fed him.

Colin seems pretty pleased with himself considering he's been a bit of a handful all day. He has a cold, so his face is sore and he's overly sensitive and clingy. He tries hard to be happy though.

We were playing in his room today, and he was really excited that his blanket was all spread out. Can you tell? He would run around and around and then flop onto the blanket to snuggle.

We watched the BYU game over at Caleb's house on Saturday, and I don't have any pictures of it. We also sang happy birthday to Caleb, Rachel, and Sara, and I don't have any pictures of it. We also played Beatles Rockband, and I don't have any pictures of it. Sorry. It was awesome though. Oh, and since I don't want to forget this, Colin is becoming a little obsessive of his Granny. He was eating in the highchair at Caleb's house and Tia picked little Sara up off the floor. Colin started crying and struggling in the chair and it took me a while to figure out what was up. I tried giving him more food, water, cleaning him up, taking him out, but all he wanted was to get Sara away from HIS Granny so he could be held instead. It was pretty funny. I don't recall him ever getting upset when I hold another baby, but he really didn't want Tia holding another baby.

nice outfit

Colin has decided that he really likes to wear socks, crocs, and a tie. I guess it makes him feel fancy. We'll be playing in his room, and he'll bring me each of those things and isn't happy until I put them on him. I think it looks pretty classy, but Nate always takes the tie off as soon as he sees it.

Colin's cousin Sara came to play on Monday while her mom ran some errands. Sara and Colin played pretty well together—no crying, no grabbing of hair or eyes, and no hitting. Colin mostly liked just walking over to her and pointing. He was so excited to see her.

My son is adorable.

So is Sara.

I had to move Colin's highchair over near Sara so he could watch her eat. He really couldn't get enough of her.

Colin found the ironing board in my room and decided it would be a fun place to jump and dance. I have some video of it, but I'll have to put that up later.

I'm not sure why I even took this picture.

I thought our zucchini plants were dead, and then I went out and picked 7 enormous zucchini. We made 3 batches of zucchini bread, froze 10 cups of shredded zucchini, and I still had 4 zucchini left on my counter. Ridiculous. Remember the last picture of Colin and some zucchini that were bigger than he was? Well, he's bigger now. He was trying to take a bite out of it in this picture.

He was really excited that I let him hold it.

We also picked 3 bags full of green beans. Nate helped me trim and snap them (for a while), and then we canned 12 pints and 8 quarts. Wow. I was impressed because I thought we'd never get enough to can any.

Nate helped his dad work on the van on Friday, and Colin and I went over to play too. This is what Colin did to pass the time.

He also developed a taste for soccer.

On Saturday Colin and I drove to Star Valley, Wyoming with my mom and brother and sister. We went to a cousin's wedding reception. Then we drove home. All on Saturday. It was a long day. Colin was very well behaved on the 4 hour drive there. And he was very well behaved during the reception. But on the almost 6 hour drive home (we had to drop my brother off in Logan) Colin was tired and uncomfortable and screaming. Anyway, we saw a rainbow.

Colin played in the nursery at the church before the reception started. He liked this truck.

And here's Colin's outfit from today. Notice any familiar accessories?

Colin and I spent about 6 hours at Granny's house today. Colin played in the car a great deal of the time.

Nate and Caleb spent more like 12 hours at Granny's house today. They worked hard on building her swing set, and it's probably 95% complete. Here are some pictures of their progress.

Putting on the roof.

The slide is up, but not the proper ladder, so the kids used the big ladder.

Trimming the roof so it looks nice.

The swings are added and Bryant is pouting because I told him not to swing until the ladder was moved out of the way.

The slide had to come back off because a board split, but I think it will be up and running soon. Other than that all it needs is the rock wall rocks, the tire horse swing, and the cut ends of the roof stained and I think it's done! Huzzah! Well done Caleb and Nate and Sam! The grandkids are all super excited to play on Granny's new swing set!

I went to the doctor this week and everything is good. I'm measuring right on target, the baby still has a heartbeat, and I'm not vomiting!

I have a few videos from the week, but as I am tired and don't wish to upload them now I will post them later. Use this interim time to prepare yourself for how awesome they are.