What's on my camera?

I was trying to decide what to post about because it's been a while since I updated the blog, and I decided to just look on my camera to see what I could find. It seems I've been about as bad at taking pictures as I have been at posting, but I did find a couple fun ones of Ethan. And of course, Eric's fishing adventures.

Eric challenged Ethan to an arm wrestling contest. You'll have to ask them who won :)

Ethan and his friend Sebastian decided to climb up to the table and play Connect Four. I bought it the other day at DI cause I always liked it and now it's Ethans new favorite.
So don't laugh, this was supposed to be a baby blanket. I had Ethan sit on it in the next few pictures so you can get an idea of how big it is, but it was only supposed to be 35 inches wide. It turned out huge! This was my first attempt to read a crochet pattern (thanks for your help Kelly!!) and I got the stitches down pretty fast, but I picked a thicker yarn and a bigger hook than it called for. Apparently that makes a big difference :)

It's a little big for a baby, so we'll either use it on Ethan's toddler bed or I'll double the height later and use it as a full size blanket. I was pretty happy with how even it was for my first real crochet project!

Erics latest catch. He went with a few guys on Saturday and they were pretty successful, these are just the ones they kept.

Other than that not much is new, we're just waiting for this baby to come and Eric graduates next week!

Yummy Potatoes

I have this recipe book that I use all the time- its a basic cook book put out by Food Network called "How to Boil Water"-- and I made these potatoes the other day that were amazing! I don't usually take pictures of my cooking but these looked so good and they're so easy I thought I'd share. Here's the recipe if anyone's interested:

Stuffed Potato with Broccoli and Cheese

4 baked potatoes, still warm
1 small bunch broccoli, steamed
4 Tbl butter
1 tea salt
fresh ground black pepper
4-6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1/3-1/2 cup sour cream (I added this part)

While potatoes bake, steam broccoli and chop into small pieces.
Preheat broiler. Take each warm cooked potato, slice a lengthwise slit in the top, and gently scoop out some of the flesh, leaving enough to give the potato structure. Mix the potato flesh, butter, salt, pepper, and sour cream in a bowl with fork, then gently stir in broccoli pieces. Refill each potato with the mixture. Sprinkle a heaping handful of cheese over the top of each, and set on rimmed baking sheet under broiler until cheese melts and gets bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Enjoy, I know we did!

That was too easy!

Ethan will be 2 in a month and we decided (or rather Eric mandated :) that we try to wean him of pacifiers. Since he was about 14 months we've only let him have them for naps and at night, but he always asks for them and he'll freak out if he throws them out of his crib and can't reach them. Since we'll have a baby who needs them more than he does in a few weeks, I agreed to try and get him to give them up. I made Eric put him to bed the first night (I was too chicken), and he just sat him down and told him that the paci's were all gone and he wasn't going to get them anymore. He substituted it for a stuffed animal that he can sleep with, and then laid him down and walked out. Get ready for screams-- or so I thought. Nope, wrong again, he cried for maybe a minute and a half and then was silent and went right to sleep! And he's been fine without it eversince! Sometimes he'll still ask for them and we just have to remind him that they are all gone and he's fine. I should have known, he's been really easy at every sort of change we've made- from nursing to formula, not being swaddled, no more bottles - I just have to be convinced to try it once and he's over the change pretty quick. I think we've been pretty lucky to have such an easy going kid. Next step- toddler bed! I'd like to get him changed over from crib to bed before the new baby gets here. If anyone knows where I can get a good deal on one in Rexburg, let me know!

Jessica Needs

So I saw this on a friends blog and wasn't going to post it but the results were pretty funny- especially #3! You just go to Google and type in '(your first name) needs' and you see what pops up.
Here were some of my results:

1. Jessica needs your help
2. Jessica needs Coffee
3. Jessica needs her 'Eric' time --- no joke, it said it just like that! It was perfect :)
4. Jessica needs Facebook
5. Jessica needs a haircut
6. Jessica needs to know she is beautiful
7. Jessica needs to go to AUSTRALIA

And the moral of this post is: Jessica Needs a life. :)

35 Weeks

As of Thursday I will be at 35 weeks and thought it would be good to finally post a belly picture. I am getting pretty big as you can see, counting down the weeks till I'm not pregnant anymore but trying to enjoy these last few weeks of only having one kid to take care of! I had an appointment with the specialist on Friday and he said everything looks great, and they estimated him to weigh about 5 lb 6 oz already! If he gains an ounce a day from here on out like he should he'll be around 8 lbs at 40 weeks. Ethan was 7 lb 10 oz and they say each baby gets bigger so that should be about right. One thing I was a little disappointed at was the doctor said he would probably recommend a repeat c-section. I've really been wanting to try a VBAC, because this is the only one I'll even have a choice on and repeat c-sections limits the amount of babies you can have. So we'll wait and see what happens. Ideally the baby would come on his own at around 38-39 weeks, I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks so its possible but not likely. I think if I go much over 39 weeks the doctor will just say lets do a c-section and I'm sure by that point I'll just be ready to have him out. But the recovery is so much longer with a c-section and having Ethan to take care of as well really makes me want to try to have it naturally (but with an epidural of course :). Any advice from those who've been in this situation or know someone who has?

The Great Porcupine

Two things Ethan loves: watching Signing Time and saying prayers. The most recent volume of Signing Time I checked out from the library is called The Great Outdoors, and he's been learning new animals like deer (he does the antlers when he says it), raccoon, skunk, and porcupine. All are really cute to hear, I should have gotten them on video.
As for praying, sometimes we'll be in the middle of a meal and he'll fold his arms and squint his eyes, even though we have already said a prayer at his request. He won't go back to eating very easily until we've said another one, so I usually just help him say it again. Typically we start the sentence and he fills in the last word. I'll start "We thank thee for this..." and he'll say "day" and so on until amen. Last night he was saying the prayer before we ate dinner, and he was pretty excited. This time when I started, as usual I said "Dear Heavenly..." and waited to hear "Father" but instead he said "porcupine." Haha I was laughing so hard Eric had to finish helping him say the rest of it, and throughout he kept looking over at me and wondering why mom was covering her face! Oh the things kids say.