Our latest project

a little less than 2 weeks from now will be my last day as a nanny of 5. 

i have very mixed emotions, as i have been with this family for almost 6 years, 

and 3 of the childrens' entire lives.

but i am VERY excited to have more time to devote to my little cookie business, 

The Cookie Kiln

and to have a little extra time to work on some of the many projects 

that have been on my list for months.

but I am most excited about preparing for what is definitely my favorite thing that i have ever had part in creating. ;)

my husband and I cannot wait for our newest family member to arrive in february!

we had my friend jennifer wakefield from J. Catherine Photography take some family photos for us to make our announcement this week. she is SO incredibly talented and was so patient with the dogs.

if you ever need a family, child or pet photographer, i would highly recommend her!

here are a few of my favorites~

so excited to add another member to our little family!

{i loved that she was able to get this shot with no cars in it}

this was at the beginning of the photo session when the dogs were still somewhat behaved.

this one just makes me smile. 

love these 2!

'we're going to have a baby!' 

{unfortunately i think that they probably thought that i was saying something about treats}

i absolutely LOVED this one. 

the sky was gorgeous that evening.

amos loves to stand up like a real boy, paisley is usually pretty hesitant.

me and my baby girl, paisley jaye

topher and his boy, amos hawke

paisley and amos, soon-to-be big brother and sister!!!

{they have NO idea what is about to happen to their little worlds}

we let the balloons go off the top of the parking garage.

sending them up to heaven to the baby that we lost in december. 

we are so thankful and feel so blessed that God has given us this precious gift! 

praying for and looking forward to meeting our healthy baby in 7 months.

i put together this little announcement for on my facebook profile:

i used a picture from a few months after we started dating,

a picture of our cake toppers from our wedding day, 

and then i asked my dad to knit me a tiny hat and 'sweater' for our little peg baby.

i made the little stroller with some wire, leftover bridesmaid dress fabric, tires off of a toy dump truck, and nail polish for the handles and the wheels. 

my dad is amazing! 

i thought that it turned out perfectly. 

favorite things (thank you hormones)~

it has been kind of ridiculous the things that i have been craving since being pregnant.

the first few weeks literally all that i wanted to eat was sour patch kids and diet root beer.

now sour things don't really sound good to me at all.

sweets however are still sounding really good.

here are a few of my most-craved/favorite things since pregnancy hormones 

have taken over my body:

i eat an embarrassing amount of skittles each week!

i am loving fruit! peaches are my favorite, 

but i have been devouring lots of cherries, blueberries and grapes too.

i cannot start my day without a yogurt, or 2.

so very thankful that i am still allowed a little caffeine.

my 1/2-caf, nonfat white mochas are definitely a splurge that our budget would appreciate me quitting.

so glad that they make caffeine-free diet dr. pepper!

and then there's the salty.

if i don't develop gestational diabetes by the end of my first trimester,

 i will likely swell up like a balloon from my sodium intake.

i have to admit, at least 1/2 the stereotypical 'pickles and ice cream' pregnancy cravings 

has proven true for me,

 i have gone through an insane number of pickles in the past 2 months!

i discovered these chips which taste almost exactly like the ones that they serve at Chili's!

they are so thin that they practically melt in your mouth. 

caution, they're addictive! 

but in all honesty, i only use the chips as a vessel to get the salsa into my mouth. 

salsa is by far my most craved food for the past 8 weeks. 

i decided to just make a huge batch of my favorite salsa {recipe here} to save my poor husband from my daily requests to go out for mexican.

(i do not lie, we had mexican for 8 meals last week!)

i love going on walks with these 2!

(or 3)

and i figure that it is good for all of us to get some exercise to work off all of the above cravings.

and i just thought that i would add a few pictures of my babybump so far.

this was last weekend at 10 weeks. 

i kept thinking that it was just 'bloat', 

but i was very excited when the doctor told me tuesday

 that it was definitely my baby making that little bump. :)

and this is saturday's weekly picture. 

it is pretty exciting to watch this little miracle happen.

we are SO thrilled about this new addition to our family.

semi-simple sushi

Over the past 4 or 5 months i have been more than slightly addicted to japanese food... namely SUSHI. those of you who share my cravings realize how easy it is to fall into such an addiction. I am not sure if it is the fish, the rice drenched in soy sauce, or the crunch of the vegetables... likely the combination of all of the of the above. But whatever it is, i have been wanting it often. And as my fellow sushi eaters know, good sushi does not come cheap... in reality, even the sub-par grocery store sushi rolls can cost close to $10 each. so i had to come up with a more cost-efficient answer to my cravings.

Now i am sure that any trained sushi chef would cringe at my attempts at homemade sushi, but i think it tastes pretty delicious and it keeps me from sending myself and my new husband (who i have recently brought over to the dark side as a sushi lover himself) to the poor house. 

this is my handsome husband enjoying sushi the night that we got engaged... he definitely knows the way to my heart! :)

Simple Sushi-

I will say that the initial investment towards homemade sushi is a little pricey, but it definitely saves a TON in the long-run. (for me within a couple weeks).

Step #1- make your sushi rice according to the package instructions (well, for the most part. i have found that i need to add more water than it says on the rice package. just watch it closely).

I found this rice at publix, but any sushi rice should work.

After cooking the rice I add 1 Tablespoon of rice vinegar per each 1 cup (uncooked) rice that I have made.

Next you will need the seaweed ('nori') sushi wrappers. they sell them at many grocery stores. i got this pack of 50 sheets at whole foods about 3 years ago... in other words, they go a LONG way.

I place one sheet of nori on a sheet of waxed paper (i tried the bamboo mat and honestly, it's easier for me not to use it).

I put about 1/4 cup of the cooled rice on the seaweed wrapper and spread it evenly to the edges of the wrapper with the back of a spoon.

this is what it should look like once the rice is spread out. the wrapper is very brittle at first, but it softens up a lot once the rice sits on it for a minute or two.

this is my secret weapon for sushi making- my julienne peeler. it makes perfect little skinny slices (juliennes) of your vegetables for in your sushi rolls.

this is what the julienned cucumber looks like

my favorite sushi fillers (for homemade rolls anyways) are cucumber, zucchini, carrots, asparagus, avocado, crab, shrimp, and cream cheese (any combination of these is tasty).

some people prefer the rice on the inside of the roll, i like it my sushi better with the seaweed inside the roll.

place your ingredients lengthwise across one end of the sushi.

use the wax paper to roll the sushi as tightly as you can. you can sprinkle your rolls with toasted sesame seeds or tobiko (orange caviar).

I generally slice each of my rolls into 10 pieces and then lay them on their side.

and here's the final product! :) YUM!!!

i like to give it a little kick with some chipotle mayonnaise drizzled over the top.

and of course, LOTS of soy sauce (low sodium) , some people like it with pickled ginger (which is something that i find rather nauseating), and wasabi...

you can make your own from powder that comes in a little can like this one or in a little bottle. it isn't quite as good as the freshly grated, but you just add water so it's very convenient. 

hope that you have fun with this one. :) 

<3 <3 <3

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