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Sunday, October 30, 2011

26 Weeks


Another four weeks have flown by, which means it's time for another belly pic!

I don't think my belly has grown that much since 22 weeks, but I can certainly feel Baby Shep moving and kicking a lot more. In fact, Josh and I have both seen my belly move when she kicks...so weird!!

According to "What to Expect When You Are Expecting," Baby Shep now weighs more than two pounds and is approximately 15 inches long. However, with Josh's height and the measurements from our last sonogram, I have a feeling she is longer than that already.

We have been working hard at getting the house ready for Baby Shep's arrival...slowly but surely crossing things of the huge to-do list. This weekend, we bought material for the nursery curtains (which my wonderful mother is going to sew), and Josh put the crib together (which his parents bought for us...thanks, Gary and Betsy!).

Here are a few shots of the progress...

Stella and Louie were both very curious and stayed in the room the whole time he was putting the crib together.

Luckily, the crib was pretty easy to put together. And I only had to help a little bit :).

Note that only half of the nursery has been painted at this point...thus the reason the nook is still yellow.

Here is the (almost) finished product. I will post a final photo once we have added the mattress and bedding, which we have ordered.

Below is a sneak peak at the bedding. I feel very cool because this bedding was featured on two different nursery blogs after I purchased it!



I can't wait to see it all put together!!





Sunday, October 16, 2011

Pregnancy Updates

A few updates on the pregnancy...

1) Josh finally felt the baby kick last week! His reaction..."Whoa!" It was so cool for someone else to experience what I have been feeling.

2) Unfortunately, my fingers are almost too swollen for my wedding ring to fit. So, we bought a simple band from James Avery to take its place for the next few months. I will miss my beautiful wedding ring, but it is better than the alternative of having it cut off my finger. 

3) I finally got to take advantage of a "Preggo" parking spot :).

I can't believe I only have 15 more weeks to go (and maybe even less)!!


Sunday, October 9, 2011

Chocolate Icebox Pie: The Crust

I love pie. I really, really love pie.

So, when we had a "Pie Day" fundraiser at my office a while back, I thought it was the most ingenious fundraising idea ever...especially in my current prego condition. I made a chocolate icebox pie for the event, and I thought it would be a perfect recipe to share on the blog.

First step's first...the crust. The crust recipe I use comes from The Pioneer Woman. However, I like a really thick crust on icebox pie, so I double the recipe and make three pie crusts (it's always good to have extra pie crust in the freezer for a rainy day). If you don't want a thick crust, use half the amounts I listed below and divide the recipe into two pie crusts.

First, round up the ingredients...
  • 3 cups Crisco
  • 6 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 10 tablespoons cold water
  • 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl.


I managed to get flour all over my protruding belly during this step :).


Next, add the salt and mix together.


Add the Crisco to the bowl. I love that you can get Crisco in these nice butter-like sticks now.



Using a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour until the mixture resembles "coarse meal," with pea-sized pieces of Crisco.


Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then add to the Crisco/flour mixture.



Add the vinegar and cold water.



Stir all the ingredients together gently until just combined.


Divide into three balls of dough.


Place each ball in a large Ziploc bag and roll slightly to make them flat and easy to stack.



Put the dough in the freezer. Even if you want to use one immediately, place it in the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up the dough and make it easier to roll out. Also, the dough gets even flakier if you freeze it for at least 24 hours. If you go that route (which I did in this case) take the dough out when you are ready to use it, and place it on the counter for about 20 minutes to thaw.


At this point, I use a slightly different technique for rolling out pie dough...one that doesn't involve any flour! First, slightly wet your counter and stick down plastic wrap.


Place the dough on top of the plastic wrap, and then cover with wax paper.


Gently roll out the dough, from the center outward. Stop when you get cracks around the edge.


Smooth out the cracks before you continue rolling the dough. Repeat this step as necessary.


Roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick depending on how thick you like your crust.



Remove the wax paper and place the pie plate upside down on top of the dough.


Carefully flip over the whole thing and press down the crust into the pie pan before removing the plastic wrap.


Fold over the edges (trim excess if necessary) and flute the edges.



For the chocolate icebox pie, I needed a pre-baked pie crust. For a recipe that doesn't call for a pre-baked crust, you would be ready to go at this point....for example, for a yummy pecan pie...


To pre-bake a crust, place a piece of wax paper filled with dried beans into the crust.


Cook for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove the wax paper and beans, and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.


Bake the pie crust (without the wax paper and beans) for an additional 20 minutes or until baked through. Cover the edges with foil if they start to get too done. Now you will have a nice pre-baked crust for your icebox pie.


Let the crust cool while you make the filling....which I will post the recipe for soon!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Louie - One Year Later



Exactly one year ago today, we adopted an adorable little dog named Louie.

Stella, our first "child," had seemed lonely...especially with the long hours Josh and I were working. So, after settling into our new house, we thought it would be the perfect time to add a second dog to the family.

We found Louie through the Havanese Rescue organization, and I'm so glad we made the choice to go the adoption route this time around.

These pictures were taken the day Louie arrived...

He wasn't quite sure what to think, but I was trying my best to butter him up with new toys.

Here is Stella checking out what she thought was just a visitor...little did she know he would be staying for good.

Luckily, they were fast friends.

Louie was very shy at first, but he quickly warmed up to me and Josh. Before too long, we couldn't imagine our lives without him.

It was especially gratifying to see how much fun Stella had with a permanent playmate. They love running around and wrestling...and they even "snuggle" every once in a while.

Louie is still very shy with new people, but he absolutely loves me and Josh.

He adores hanging out with his Dad...


...and he pretty much follows me around the house at all times.

"Mom, can I please get up on your lap?"

He has even become a TCU Horned Frog fan.

I think he has made himself at home :).

We love you, Louie!