A year ago yesterday

A year ago yesterday, was a day that changed my life forever.

It was the day that I found out that I would be a mother.

Dustin and I had just returned from Utah. We had awoken early that morning to go to the airport. We have to fly stand-by in order to receive flight benefits, so we arrived at the airport first thing in the morning, and awaited the first available flight. We didn't make it on the first flight, and just barely made it onto the second. We were exhausted by the time we got home, but we stopped at Wal-Mart first to pick up a pregnancy test.

Over the weekend, I started to suspect that I was, but didn't know for sure. Dustin and I were very tired so Dustin suggested that we take a nap and then take the pregnancy test. I agreed. Of course I couldn't sleep though! So after about a half hour of debating, I couldn't wait any longer. I just had to know! So I got up and took the test while Dustin was still asleep.

It said pregnant! I was so excited that I jumped back in bed, and shook Dustin awake to show him the test.

Dustin's reaction?

"Hu? Oh yeah, cool."

I can't pretend that I wasn't hurt by that! haha. He eventually woke up all the way, and then we were really excited together.


A year ago yesterday, was one of the best days of our lives.

We were going to be parents!

I have a problem...

I have jury duty.

I would be happy to fulfill my civic duty, but I have a problem. I am nursing a 3 month old. And that breastfed baby WILL NOT take a bottle!

I'm not trying to wean her, I'm just trying to make sure she gets fed while I go to the Jury summons. Then I'll have to explain to the judge that there's just no possible way I could leave her for 2-4 days (standard superior court jury duty). Sorry America.

I don't want a repeat of when I went to Wicked. Poor thing wouldn't eat while I was gone!

I've tried three types of bottle nipples. The playtex drop ins, the standard one, and the one shaped like the NUK pacifiers. She hates them all.

I've tried nursing her a little, and then giving her the bottle. She just gets mad that I'm not giving her the real thing.

I originally got this jury summons back in May a couple weeks after I had had her. I should've just sent it in with an excuse, but instead I went online and postponed it instead. I guess I just thought that the situation might be different by now. That was dumb of me. And now it's too late, and I have to appear in court on Monday.

Anyway- does anybody have any suggestions on how to get Kate to take a bottle? Once again, I'm not trying to wean her, I just don't want her to be hungry while I'm gone.

--Okay I'm liking the suggestions about taking her with me to jury duty! But, what's plan B guys? I really don't think you're supposed to take a baby with you to jury duty. That's why not being able to find suitable care for your child qualifies as an excuse. Again, something I should have done, but was an idiot about. Give me a break I had just had a baby! Of course I wasn't thinking clearly! :) Now it's too late to send in an excuse.

For Suns fans!

For almost a year now, my husband has been blogging on a Suns fansite called The Bright Side of the Sun. He has become particularly blog-famous for his criticism of Goran Dragic. Lately he has taken on a new project of making a weekly comic strip for this site. Here's this weeks post:


Rashard Lewis was suspended 10 games by the league yesterday for PEDs. Fortunately for the Suns, head trainer Aaron Nelson uses something a little less...well...banned to help his players. However, in the wrong hands his 'secret' can have less than ideal effects. Welcome to the fifth edition of Box n' 1 - a comic strip featuring the Phoenix Suns.

So if you or your husbands are Suns fans, be sure to watch for Dustin's weekly comics and blogs on www.brightsideofthesun.com.

Be sure to leave comments too. He loves those.

Extremely cute dresses!

My friend Heidi makes these oh-so-adorable little girl dresses. Isn't she friggin' talented? Anyway, she's hosting a give-away for one on her blog right now http://joncasfamily.blogspot.com/, so be sure to enter it!

She also sells them on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26836099&ref=em. Check them out!

If only I were so talented...

Oh, and I made my first mega-meal last night. It was scrumptious. Especially the cake.

Someone really needs to come take it away from me.

I've had three slices today!

There's a link to my cooking blog on my side bar -------------->
See it?
Good.
Now click on it.
Enjoy.

Pictures for Grandmas

Here's some recent photos of baby Kate for her Grandmas and all others interested.

She's so beautiful! I just want to hold her all day!

Sometimes I do.





I love this one! She's making her inquisitive, lifting-one-eyebrow face!




This is how she falls asleep. She puts her hands on her face.

A New Project

It all started while I was watching TV about a week ago. The preview for Julie and Julia came on. You know, the one with Amy Adams? It's about a girl that cooks her way through a cookbook and writes a blog about it. My first thought was "That sounds like so much fun!" Then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I've always wanted to learn how to cook well. I've just lacked the motivation.

I've never been a good cook. I can cook, but I don't think I can cook well. I regularly burn things and always overcook my chicken. It's also hard to judge how good my meals are when my husband only gets excited for pizza or some sort of cookie.

I want to be a good cook. A REALLY good cook. The kind of cook that makes people ask me for my recipes, or ask me to cook for them. I want to be included in phrases like, "Have you tried my wife's chocolate cake?" or "My mom makes the best macaroni and cheese". I want to be confident enough to have friends over for dinner, instead of going to dinner.

So I've decided to start making more complicated meals at least once a week. I'm not saying I'm going to cook duck or frog legs, I just want to amp it up a notch. Instead of plain spaghetti, I'll make spaghetti with homemade marinara sauce and meatballs. Then I will blog about what I do. I won't do it on this blog to spare you, I've set up a new blog. It's called The Untalented Chef. I will find recipes from my cookbooks or other websites and make them. I would also like to try some of your recipes! Please help me out! My email address is erin4e@yahoo.com.

My first project: homemade gnocchi with a made-from-scratch italian sausage marinara sauce and chocolate cake with buttercream frosting for dessert.

Are you excited?

You should be.

Fun with Photoshop

I'm a novice when it comes to Photoshop. My time with it is usually accompanied by lots of "Dustin, how do you do...?" questions. Last night I was learning how to use different photo filters and making adjustments with the highlights and shadows and stuff. One day I'll have a nicer camera and I won't need photoshop to make my pictures pretty.

Okay, I still might.

I thought these turned out cute though.