chocolate for breakfast

After seeing a recipe for homemade donuts online, it sounded like a fun thing to do on a Saturday morning, so we did!  Yes, it was slightly messy and now we have too many leftover donuts to eat, but hey, sometimes you just have to do fun things like this once in a while.

I used this recipe for the donuts and it was good... not that I'm a donut lover and a great judge.  I would have probably chosen a baked donut recipe, because who likes to fry food?  But Chad thought we needed to go all out with the fried kind, so we did.  And he did the frying, so I lucked out.  :)

After I refrigerated the dough I did have to add quite a bit more flour - I would say 1/4 to 1/2 cup (Beck kept dumping so I wasn't keeping track), as the dough was way too sticky.  Maybe I didn't refrigerate it long enough?  And I only had semi sweet chocolate for the glaze, so I added a heaping T. of cocoa to give it a richer chocolate flavor.

just waiting to be fried up

helping cut out the donuts and getting flour everywhere :)

time to dip in the glaze

sprinkles of course

temptation overcame Beck and he couldn't wait for the glaze too cool to dig in  :)

"mmm, good" was the verdict

licking the extra sprinkles off his fingers, he declared "Beckham likes sprinkles"  :)

the final product!

a good cause

My cousin Emily had a great idea and is helping raise money for her sister Molly's (also my cousin) family, who is in the process of adopting a child from Columbia.

Click here! to read a little more about their story and find out how to donate if you have a heart to give towards their adoption.  Emily has rounded up some fantastic prizes that are available to those that donate.... not the reason to give, but a very nice token of appreciation!

where's a cup?

I think Beckham is catching on to my urine sample routine at my prenatal doctor's visits, the few that he's been to.

Today Beckham went in the handicap stall with me in a public restroom.  Right away he asked me, "where's a cup?"  It took me a little bit to realize that he was wondering why I wasn't giving a urine sample.  :)

In other news, I'm almost 36 weeks pregnant, meaning that if the baby followed Beck's schedule, it would come in a week - sounds crazy, huh?!  Not sure I feel quite ready for that, but I am getting more curious as to what this little guy looks like and am for sure ready to not be pregnant any more... as fun as it is.  My skin is ready to stop stretching and I'm Very ready to sleep on my back at night!

And with the timing of the baby arriving soon, Beckham has decided to enter a new stage of difficulty. Things are starting to become "mine" or "my's", he's more defiant, and throwing fits is becoming more regular.  Is there really such a thing as the "terrible two's?"  We might be starting those, and right after I was just telling Chad that he was such a great kid that hadn't been doing those things. :)
I'm thinking there might be a little jealousy involved after the baby comes, but he'll love him lots too, right?  I think it will be cute to see Beck be a big brother, even if it takes him some time to adjust.

And speaking of the Beckster, here is a picture of his new favorite routine:  taking all the pillows off his bed and piling them on the floor after most naps and nights.  He's also known to take his nap on top of the pile instead of his bed as well.  :)

our little golfer

A couple days ago when it felt like spring (if only it was!), I opened up the set of golf clubs that Beck got for Christmas and let him get a little fresh air.

Of course he loved it.  Being outside.  Hitting balls.  Running around... all of his favorite things.  And what is he doing now that the temperature is back to its winter normal and I don't want to stand outside while he plays golf?

He plays golf inside, of course!  Dad just had to see his swing after he got home from work, so the clubs came inside and it suddenly became an indoor game.  Beck actually has pretty good aim and hits fairly hard, so it's made for quite the noisy and slightly dangerous indoor game.  I suppose I'll let him keep doing it until something gets broke?

Yesterday morning he asked to play first thing in the morning when he woke up.  His request:  "mom sit on the couch and watch Beck play golf."  Sure thing... sounds like fun.  :)

projects

Having about a month off of work from the middle of December to the middle of January gave me some time to think about (and start to execute :)) some of the little projects I want to get done before baby #2.

Top of the list was repainting our bedroom.  For some reason we picked a carmel brown when we first moved in.  No offense to brown, but it is just not pleasing for my eyes to look at everyday.  The color darkened the room and I was ready for something fresh.
The new color of choice:  gray.  Of course.  How does one get away from painting every room in their house some shade of gray/blue?  Only the bathrooms in our house have escaped that color palette.  But I like it, so I'm good with my gray house.

Here is a before pic of our bedroom:

blah, brown

And the much improved newly painted walls:

love, love, love it!

We did stripes on just the wall behind our bed and the rest of the room is the color of the gray stripe.  I didn't go about making the stripes the most practical way... but then Chad intervened and got me on the right track.  It still took about two hours to draw the lines (Chad got the whole room painted gray in the time it took me to do the stripes :)).  At the end Chad thought of using chalk lines.. oops.  We'll have to remember that for next time.


Another little project I wanted to do is make a alphabet book out of pics of Beck (an idea I saw on pinterest).  I got a coupon from Shutterfly and decided to go for it.  I hadn't thought about it for long and didn't have great pics planned out, so some of the letters were a little tricky to match up with words.  But it was really fun to make!  I was pretty proud of my creation until Chad pointed out yesterday that I forgot "J"!  Really?  How did I forget a letter of the alphabet?!  I went over the pages and letters many, many times.  Hum... I don't think I have a picture that works for "J" anyway. :)
Beck likes looking at the pics of himself and his family/friends, all while reinforcing his alphabet... a couple positives about the book.  I also thought it would be a fun gift, if you had enough pics of the right people to use.

Here's a couple sample pages:

30 week bump and baby carriers

I need some advice in the world of baby carriers.  After I had Beckham, I borrowed a couple from friends/family, but I only used the Bjorn a couple times and all the carriers have all been returned.  It must have been a combination of Beckham being content in his boppy, or I could always push him in a stroller that I didn't feel the need to put him in a baby carrier very often.  I know I used the Bjorn once when I went on a hike with a friend, and it honestly wasn't that comfy - kinda hurt my back.

I think that's the other reason I didn't use a carrier if it could be avoided - my low back is my weak spot and I always figured I would end up with a sore back.  I definitely was not a mom that carried her baby around the house in a baby carrier...

So, now that baby #2 is coming along, I'm trying to decide whether to purchase a nice baby carrier... but have several questions on which I need some input:

1.)  Am I more likely to use a baby carrier with kid #2, since I only have one set of hands and 2 kids?  

One in a stroller, one in a carrier?  Or is Beck going to just want to walk as he gets older and the baby can have the stroller?  

2.)  Forget the carrier and just use a stroller that they can both ride/stand in?

3.)  What is a good brand of carrier that doesn't hurt your back?  I've read about Ergo's some, but really haven't researched any brands too much.

4.)  Is it worth buying, or just try to hunt down another used one? (probably depends on the brand I would want?)

Any input would be great!

And since we're on the topic of babies, I figured why not post one pregnancy picture before the baby comes... just so that I don't feel quite so lazy about never taking any pics. :)  So here's my lovely 30 week shot of boy #2 (oh yes, it is a boy... I meant to take a cute pic of Beck holding some sign saying it's a boy but never did :)).

30 weeks

just because

.. just because he's cute and can get away with wearing sun glasses in the grocery store if he wants.  I think he already understands that he will attraction more attention from the female race the cuter he looks.  :)