Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

I will probably be pretty scarce the next week or so as we celebrate the holidays and enjoy Matt’s week off of work.

I’m pleased to announce that I am once again proud aunt to an adorable nephew. My sweet sister-in-law Lu and new baby Grayson are both doing well. She will probably be out of the blogging loop for a bit, but I’m sure she would appreciate any well wishes and congratulations you might like to leave at her place.

Little is the only girl grandchild on either side of the family and then with Boo coming in a few months she will really be outnumbered. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. Hopefully, one day we will add a few more girls (either in our immediate family or nieces), but right now we are happy surrounded by the boys.

So today the Sidetrack’d family celebrates our new nephew and cousin and praises God that he and his Mommy are healthy and happy! Thanks for allowing me to brag a bit.

Yesterday I went for my 22 week doctor visit and a second ultrasound. The first ultrasound (4 weeks ago) didn’t reveal any problems, but due to the way our stubborn boy was laying the technician couldn’t get a couple of readings/measurements that they needed.

This time around she was able to get the readings she needed on the heart and cord, but the boy had his hands over his face the entire time which was giving the technician trouble because she needed to get the measurement they do of the nasal bone (or nasal opening or whatever with the nose). His sister was like this as well – hands up by her face during the ultrasound, never in the position they expected for finding the heartbeat, moving around as they looked for her heartbeat – so I’m wondering if they will both be strong-willed outside of the womb or if my children are just the type who like to suck their thumbs and be left alone.

Anyway, once again everything was good. The little guy weighs in at a 15 ounces and has a nice strong heart rate. We were able to get a couple of pictures from the ultrasound this time and he has his hand on his head like “argh, it’s been a rough day”. It is so neat to have this type of technology available so we can “see” them before we actually get to meet them.

I am feeling good but tired at this point. Everything seems to be going along happy and healthy with this pregnancy; a blessing indeed. It seems like these weeks have flown by, and we have some things we really need to get started on after Christmas – buying boy things, creating a boy room, painting, etc.

I would love to share an ultrasound pic with you, but, alas, we don’t yet have a scanner (I know, I know, my hubby is an IT guy, what are we thinking?! :-)); so, I will leave you with a picture of Mommy and Boo at 22.5 weeks.

I’ve spent most of the last few days up to my eyeballs in flour, sugar, and various other things associated with cooking. My kitchen spent the weekend covered in a fine layer of flour, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. I honestly believe that between Thursday and Sunday I used every single baking utensil (mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, etc) in my kitchen at least once and many of them multiple times. My Kitchenaid stand mixer is probably very grateful that it has been able to hang out in its cabinet all day long today.

On Thursday I embarked on a new kitchen adventure when I decided to try making homemade cinnamon rolls. I found a recipe at The Pioneer Woman Cooks a while back and have been planning to make them as part of the Christmas cooking. My original intention was to make enough to give as gifts but thought I should make enough to for us to try them out before I inflicted them on our unsuspecting friends. Let me just tell you, these things were amazing!

It took about three hours total (work and rise time) and made a huge mess, but when Matt, my cinnamon-roll-critic in residence, said how good they were I knew it was worth it. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, my unsuspecting friends will have to wait until another time to try them. The original recipe yields about 70 cinnamon rolls; I made 1/4 of the recipe and had 18 rolls, a pan-full perfect for weekend breakfasts.

These rolls are melt-in-your-mouth, slap-your-momma (figuratively, of course) good! They are not, by any means, low in calories, but, come on, it is Christmas time.

Here we are on batch number 5 – or is it 6…I’ve already lost count – of Chex mix. In the event that you are planning to make this at any point in your life, let me give you a couple of things to keep in mind:

1. There are directions on the box (usually) for cooking in the microwave. They fail to address the fact that if you cook it in a plastic bowl you will probably be eating plastic in addition to the Chex. Lesson learned last year when it burned a hole in the bottom of my Tupperware bowl.

2. Honey roasted peanuts sound like a great addition – just be sure you add them after the mix is removed from the oven. Baking honey roasted peanuts for an hour (even at low heat) causes the sugar to burn. Burnt honey roasted peanuts are not the flavor you’re going for.

3. This stuff is addictive. Thus the 4 (or 5) batches consumed over the last week or so by three people (one of whom is under three feet tall). Also the reason I can only make it during the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years.

Hope your enjoying your Christmas goodies as much as we are!