Good Things Utah

I love my new neighborhood! Every month the ladies on my street do a “girls night out” and it's tons of fun. My first neighborhood outing was dessert and a movie. This last time we all went to Good Things Utah; we had to get up way early, but it was worth it.

I'm posting both pics from the occasion, but one makes me look 10X bigger than I really am! I may be over 6 months pregnant in the pic, but the pic is still very deceiving... I promise! :)

And because I don't think Mindy will leave me alone until I post a pic of my Champ belly, I will try and make my next post all about showing the true Champ belly.

CRAVINGS!!

For the past three weeks all I’ve wanted are donuts and watermelon!! Since my all-time favorite donuts are unavailable (Dunkin’ Donuts) I’ve been eating my fair share of Krispy Kream donuts and they are WONDERFUL!! My favorites are the original glazed, sprinkle and cream filled. I know it's sooo bad for me, but the watermelon balances it out right?! Poor Seth isn’t thrilled about the donut cravings because he is trying to lose the sympathy weight he’s put on. However, he has been all too happy to buy the watermelon as it's one of his favorites too!

Our Garden

I love having a garden! I’ve tried small gardens for the past few years, but nothing has amounted from them. We had our first garden in Palo Alto, it consisted of three potted tomato plants, which our neighbors some how thought were theirs and stole!!! I know who takes potted tomato plants! The second attempt was at the little blue house where everything died from lack of sun (the only open space for a garden was too shady I guess). And now we have two garden boxes that seem to be getting plenty of sun, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Warning: for some reason our pictures are coming out grainy, (it’s probably a user error, but I think its time for a new camera, especially before Champ comes) so hopefully you can figure out what each picture is.

First pick of the Season! I let it get a little big, but it was still great. We grilled it and had it with our hamburgers. It's a zucchini just in case you couldn't tell. :)

The tomato plants are doing well, but it will be a little bit before anything is ready to pick. There's nothing like home grown tomatoes, I love them!!

I can't wait to pick the squash! I think I'm going to harvest them small. I love baby veggies!

The rest of the garden is doing well; let’s hope I don't accidentally kill it. :)

Kylie Ray

I just found these pics today and had to post them! It's from the first time Kylie spent the night with us at the little blue house. It was a great little sleep over, except I didn't get any sleep, I was so worried I would squish her or wake her up (she likes to sleep right next to you so she can play with your hair, and I had very short hair at the time.) Seth, on the other hand slept the whole night. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of Abby’s first sleep over with us, but we had tons of fun with her too. Abby stayed with us for two weeks and by then end of the stay we felt like we had a good taste of what it was like to be parents. We love all our nieces and nephews, even the ones we don't get to see very often.

Good Weekend!!

This was a very busy, but very good weekend. Seth ran the Wasatch Back Relay this weekend and I had my first ever BusinessWeek photo shoot!

Seth was part of a team of 12 people that ran 178 miles from Logan to Park City. Each person ran 3 or 4 legs ranging from 3 - 8 miles and then switches off with the next person. At the end each person has run an average of 14 miles over a 24 hour period. Luckily for Seth, he got all the hardest legs because of his lovely running history (he he, running up mountain passes is his favorite, jk). He had a great time though, and wants to do it again next year. And I think I might actually do it next year with him. I’ll included pictures of the race and Seth’s team as soon as I get my camera to connect properly with the computer, grrrr.

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/index.php

While I was bummed I didn’t get to participate in or watch Seth run the race, I was very excited because on Friday I had my first ever photo shoot with BusinessWeek. The shoot was for one of our clients, WingateWeb. BusinessWeek is writing a story on the company’s unusually beginning and flew a photographer out for a photo. It was great! We took the photographer to Wingate’s new building that’s still under constructions and American Fork Canyon for the shoot. My favorite photos were in the new building with the raw metal and different textures. I hope it doesn’t sound like bragging, but seriously, I was so excited. It’s my first time ever doing a full-on photo shoot with a big publication like BusinessWeek! I’ll link to the story when it’s published.

Happy Belated Fathers Day!

I’m still trying to get the hang of blogging and I’m a little behind, but better late than never right? It was Seth’s first Fathers Day (we figured it was okay to celebrate even though little Champ won’t be arriving until Oct.) Nonetheless, Seth took full advantage of the day and actually began celebrating a day early by playing golf all day with his friends. On the actual day, I let Seth sleep-in and brought him breakfast in bed. I made a full-on breakfast including banana pancakes. You’re probably thinking what I was at first, banana pancakes, gross! However, they were great! I’ve included the recipe below (from Cooking Light, my FAV). I also added a few things to the recipe: flax seed, cinnamon, and walnuts. I also mashed the bananas in the blender, where I mixed the whole concoction (very convenient for mixing and pouring batter). After breakfast I gave Seth a break and taught the Sunday school lesson for our class of 13 year olds. Then, later that night we had dinner and played games with some friends. All in all, I would say that Seth had a very good first Father’s Day!

We love you, Seth!

Tia and Champ

I also wanted to mention how very much I appreciate and love my father, and the many other individuals who have significantly influenced my life as well as Seth’s. Life is full of numerous tricks and turns, but luckily we’ve both had great guides and examples that have made every step a joy (mushy, I know, but I had to say it).

Margaret Truman on Fathers:

It's only when you grow up, and step back from him, or leave him for your own career and your own home – it's only then that you can measure his greatness and fully appreciate it. Pride reinforces love.

5 Spot Banana Pancakes

Notes: If desired, sprinkle about 1 teaspoon chopped pecans on each pancake after adding banana slices. Serve pancakes with butter and warm maple syrup or a dusting of cinnamon-sugar.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons whole-wheat flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

About 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

2 ripe bananas (3/4 to 1 lb. total), peeled and thinly sliced

1. In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.

2. In another bowl, whisk to blend eggs, buttermilk, and 3 tablespoons butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until batter is evenly moistened.

3. Ladle batter, 1/4 cup at a time, onto a lightly buttered medium-hot (350°) griddle or lightly buttered 10- to 12-inch nonstick frying pan (or use 2 pans at the same time) over medium heat. Scatter 3 to 5 banana slices onto each pancake and cook until edges of the cake look dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn with a wide spatula and cook until browned on the bottom, 3 or 4 minutes longer.

4. Serve pancakes immediately, or place in a single layer on baking sheets and keep warm in a 200° regular or convection oven until all are cooked.

Yield: Makes 12 pancakes; 4 to 6 servingsCALORIES 209 (33% from fat); FAT 7.6g (sat 4.3g); PROTEIN 6.1g; CHOLESTEROL 53mg; SODIUM 488mg; FIBER 2g; CARBOHYDRATE 30g

"There's a Baby in There"

Seth is slowly coming to the realization that we are actually having a baby (You would have thought that the ultra sounds would have been convincing enough.) But, he felt little Champ move for the first time last night and I believe his exact words were, "Oh my gosh, there's really a baby in there." His face was priceless though, and I wish I had a picture. He is so excited and going to be a GREAT dad. I couldn’t have asked for more!