LIfe Lately

1. We went to a Brian Regan show a couple weeks ago for Eric's grandma's birthday. I'd never really heard of the guy, but I was excited and Eric was stoked. I've never see that family laugh so hard in my entire life. It was so fun just to watch them! It was a good show, but I realized that I'm not huge into comedians. Comedians and demolition derbys... just not my thing.

2.  Every time I'm setting the table for a meal for Eric and I, I have to pause and think before I pick out the silverware to use. This is the most random thing, but I quickly learned after we got married that Eric and I have completely opposite utensil preferences! It used to be that I'd set the table with what I thought would be the proper utensil for the meal we were having... and then after the prayer, Eric would get up and switch his out for a different one! So here's the two rules I've learned to live by.
 
Rule #1: If I think that a spoon is the obvious choice for the meal we are having, get Eric a fork. And vice versa. For example: Last night we ate tortellini with a little spaghetti sauce. Obviously a fork would be the utensil of choice for this meal, you've got to stab the little things. WRONG. Eric prefers
his tortellini with a spoon. Literally every single meal we eat, we use opposite utensils. Funny huh?

Rule #2: Utensils are not created equal. We have large utensils and we have slightly smaller utensils. I've never really paid attention before. Eric MUST have the big spoon or the big fork. None of that small utensil business.  It drives him absolutely crazy. I, on the other hand, haven't ever given a second thought to the size of our cutlery. But I'm catching on.

I guess I should have seen this coming. When we were registering for our wedding, Eric didn't have very much opinion on a lot of the things we registered for, but oh my land, he spent his sweet time in the silverware aisle.

String Art Project

3. The second half of this semester has been so relaxing! I'm done with my huge Senior Project and just taking a few fun classes and Eric is done with his huge Dental Admission Test and is working with his Dad a couple of days a week. Our evenings are stress free and the fact that it is starting to get warm outside has opened up our date night possibilities 100 fold.

I had to re finish a lampshade for my interior decorating class

4. Speaking of the warm weather, I went running on Saturday. Well it was more quick shuffling with spurts of jogging intermingled in. But oh man it felt so good! I was so excited to go again on Monday morning (once I get back in the jogging habit, there is no stopping)... but... Rexburg decided to send us a blizzard out of no where. So being outside was out of the question.

 5. Valentines Day!
We had such a great Valentines Day. I'd been giving Eric a hard time the week before V-Day because I told  him he had to top what he did last year. We had only been dating for like 2 weeks when Valentines Day came around last year. I was still mission bound and thought I was dating this boy just for fun, so I wasn't expecting ANYTHING special on V-day. I thought we had a mutual agreement that this was not a serious relationship and in my mind that translated to: Valentine's day is not a big deal for us.

Then February 14th came. Right at 7:44 am (one minute before my alarm goes off) I was awoken to my roommate carrying a plate of warm french toast, eggs, bacon and apples with a heart that said, "Will you be my Valentine <3 Eric". What the?!?   It didn't end there, I came home from class at around 12:30 and found a dozen pink roses on my table. And then we ended the night with a homemade candlelit dinner and watched my favorite Disney movie, Fox and the Hound.  Needless to say, he did pretty good last year.

This year I woke up to breakfast in bed, heart-shaped french toast with strawberries! I wish I had a picture, because it was gorgeous and so delicious! He handed me my plate then went to get his... his plate was filled with all the crusts/scraps  leftover from my heart-shaped french toast. Baha. It looked awful!

We also got to go to a baby appointment on Valentine's day and hear our little girl's heartbeat. There was actually no Doctor in the office (Emergency delivery) so we were in and out in like 8 minutes. It was great.

Eric's parents had left on a cruise, so after our appointment we drove straight to IF to hang out with Madi. We ate pizza and sugar cookies and watched Ender's Game. It was just a good day! 

6. St. Patrick's Day.
So we wore green and we made some delicious Irish Soda Bread! Pretty festive eh?

Pinterest For The Win!

I've heard a lot of Pinterest horror stories. Crafts that no normal human should have ever attempted, cupcake recipes that make you wish you'd cooked up some cardboard instead, and just all around failed Pinterest attempts.

While I haven't tried anything extreme.. I've been surprisingly satisfied with my recent attempts to create Pinterest things on my own. Especially the recipes! Here's a few that we've had just this week and will definitely make again.

1. Chicken Roll-Ups.

I made this yesterday in a "Eric is going to be home for dinner in 20 minutes and we have NO food in this house" panic. Luckily, I remembered that someone had given us a can of crescent rolls and we had just purchased a small morsel of cheese (Seriously, why is cheese so expensive?!?) and voila! I made the following.

This is the picture on Pinterest, but mine looked just as good, if not better :)

Here's what you do: Boil some chicken, shred some cheese and roll out some crescent roll dough. Wrap them up, stick them in a pan and then pour one can of Cream of Chicken soup +1/2 cup of water over the top. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Super easy, super delicious.. just not terribly healthy... I might throw some broccoli in there next time for good measure. Also. Note to self: Let the roll-ups cook in the oven for 7-10 minutes and then add the cream of chicken/water mixture. Cook for 10 more minutes after that. (To avoid soggy dough).

2. The Cookie Recipe that has Changed Our Lives.

No joke, we've made 4 batches of these cookies in the past two weeks. They're that good! I took them to my relief society and got rave reviews as well, so it's not just us.

The recipe for these can be found here: http://misssophisticate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies.jpg

They are made with 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil, but you can double the butter if you don't have coconut oil. I personally love the flavor that the coconut oil brings and love that when I use that, I only have to use half a stick of butter. 

We seriously love these and they are twice as delicious the next day.

3. Apple Bran Muffins

So with baby on the way, we're trying our best to save money where possible. So we've ditched our beloved Frosted Mini Wheats and have dedicated ourselves to finding the cheapest cereal in the store. It happens to be Bran Flakes. Bleck.

I actually used to really like them, but my pregnant nose can't stand the smell of them for some reason. So... instead of forcing myself to gag down a bowl of those every morning... I've turned them into something delicious! And semi-healthy. Honey and apple sauce instead of oil and sugar!

http://www.neighborjulia.com/2012/06/low-fat-apple-bran-muffins.html

Low-Fat Apple Bran Muffins

Non-stick cooking spray
1 1/4 cups bran flakes
1/2 cup skim milk 
1 cup flour (whole wheat flour works well too)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1 cup finely chopped apples

In a medium bowl combine milk and bran flakes.  Set aside and let soften into mush.  In a large bowl, combine dry products and make a well in the middle.  Set aside.  To bran mixture add egg, applesauce and honey.  Add bran mixture to dry products.  Stir just until moistened.  Fold in apples.  Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes. 
Note: Do not use pan liners as these muffins are really moist and will stick to the paper.  Instead use a non-stick baking spray with flour in it and spray down your muffin pan really well.  This recipe makes one dozen muffins. 

I love these!  They are moist and tasty and don't make you feel guilty for eating 6 of them. Big Fan.

I should also note that when ever I bake anything, I ALWAYS take it out of the oven at least 2 minutes before the recipe tells me too. I can't stand an over done anything and would rather have it soft and smooshy than dry. So my advice for these muffins... take them out at 15.

FAQ: Baby Hillam

Q: When did you find out you were pregnant?

A: We found out in October. We were both taking a full load of classes, on a couple sports teams and managing an apartment complex. On top of that, I was working 20 hours a week and serving in the Relief Society Presidency. So we were busy! And then I started getting exhausted! I'd come home and just fall asleep. No energy to do anything. I was taking 2-3 naps a day and falling asleep in class! (I NEVER fall asleep in class!) I started ditching my aerobics class simply because I was just so stinking tired! We took a pregnancy test and it came back negative. Oh I should also mention that I was always thirsty and using the restroom. After the test came back negative, Eric jokingly told me that I probably had diabetes. I didn't know he was joking and lost sleep over that for days! We decided to spend a few bucks and get a better test, so we did and one Sunday morning at 6 am, we found out we were going to be parents! Eric jumped up and down with excitement, I fell back asleep.

Q: Have you been sick?

In a word. Yes. I won't go into too much detail. I will say that I have spent more time on the bathroom floor then I ever thought imaginable. Eric thinks it's hilarious when I throw up. I can hear him in the other room trying to stifle his laughter. I'll admit, he has good reason to. These are violent episodes of gagging, gasping for air, dry heaves and all sorts of other noises I didn't know I could make. Add a tear stained, raccoon-eyed face and you'll see why he laughs. 

Q: Why didn't you tell anyone?!

 I don't really have a good answer for this one. A lot of different little reasons I guess. We told our family at about 9 weeks and then saved the big announcement for when we found out the gender. So don't be offended if you had no idea we were pregnant, hardly any one did :) I'm not really showing very much, so it was easy to hide!

Q: Did you want a boy or a girl?

A: We both would have been happy with whatever. But I've always heard that girl pregnancies are more difficult than boy ones, so I was hoping it was a girl because I didn't want to ever be more sick than I already was. My mom also had a hunch early on that it was a girl. My mom is ALWAYS right about these kinds of thinks (her hunches). So I piggybacked off of that until I had myself totally convinced it was a girl! 

Q: How did the ultrasound go?

It went great! She was doing a headstand so we saw right off that she was a girl. We could hardly see her face at all, so we didn't get too many good pictures of her face. For both of the ultrasounds, she was wiggling and squirming the whole time. They measured her up and looked for any warning signs and said that she was right on track and looked great!

This picture is from our first ultrasound. Eric practicing holding a baby.

Q: How did you tell your family?

We were planning on waiting til Christmas, but we spent Thanksgiving with Eric's family and I just slept the entire time and didn't eat any of their delicious food, so they probably just thought I was a lame-o. I couldn't hide it anymore, so one night we decided to tell them. Eric volunteered to say the blessing on the food and in the middle of the prayer he said, "And please bless our little baby that it will grow healthy and strong and that Noelle won't be sick anymore." Needless to say, that prayer ended quickly.

Q: Do you have any names picked out?

We have a handful that we both like, but we'll probably wait til she's born to decide on one.

Q: Due date?
She's due on July 25th. Right during finals week for Eric. I actually think it's perfect timing because I'll be graduated (in 5 weeks!!) and Eric will have just finished up Spring semester, so we'll have her for 7 weeks before school starts up again for Eric. It's also kind of funny because one girl who serves with me in the Relief Society presidency is due on the same day!

Q: Does Natalie know?
Natalie is my little sister on a mission in Ecuador. We tried to tell her at Christmas when we skyped with her but the connection was really bad. We showed her the ultrasound pictures and typed to her that we were having a baby, but she totally didn't believe it. So we kind of dropped it and thought it would be funny to not mention it again until we have the baby (Which will probably come on or around her birthday).

Really bad picture, but the internet was so bad that she was frozen like this alll the time.

Welp, hopefully we answered all your questions! We are SOOO excited to have this little girl be apart of our family! I can't believe I'm only barely half way done, but I'm hoping the next half will fly.

Thanks for your love and support!

Eric and Noelle

20 Weeks

Maternity Clothes? No, not quite. But this is embarrassing... When I'm sitting in class, I unbutton my jeans and sometimes forget to button them back up when I leave. Whoops!

Sleep: I snagged Eric's body pillow and have been sleeping a lot better lately.

Best moments: Planning for the future

Missing anything? Running! Oh I miss running and playing sports outside. I still can, but it's just too cold.

Movement? Here and there I will feel something. But nothing too strong yet. Except when I'm laying on the floor on my tummy... I get rebuked very strongly when I do that.

Food Cravings: I'm trying really hard not to give into my sudden, random food cravings. Eric does a good job at not indulging me. I did have a week moment a few weeks ago and insisted that I get a carton of fresh blueberries. I also wish more than anything that I could have a rare steak and a fresh peach every single night.... not gonna happen.  

Queasy or Sick?  Only throwing up about once a week (usually Wednesday). But I still can't stand garlic or onions and a few other specific dishes that I used to adore (Spaghetti Carbonara, Sushi, Quesodillas)

Gender: Wahooo it's a girl! I've been saying that it was since Christmas! SO excited!

Symptoms: Bad, throbbing headaches.