Halloween Luncheon

Today our math department at my school was responsible for providing lunch for all of our staff. Being that it is the day before Halloween, we had a "Spooky/Halloween Theme." Carson also had a party at his school today, and we were in charge of making turkey sandwiches for it as well. For those of you who don't know, I'm not very domestic, but I do enjoy making food for events! I have spent the past few weeks browsing the internet to find entrees that fit our theme & am happy with the results!

Brian had to work last night, so I recruited my mom & Carson to help me make all the dishes. Here is Carson showing off his sticky hands after helping to stir one of the dips.

I am so glad I had them, because with the three of us its still took close to 3 hours to get everything finished and my preggo ankles were so swollen, I immediately went and soaked in the bathtub while my mom graciously cleaned the kitchen.

All the food turned out fantastic and was gobbled up at today's luncheon. I thought I would share a couple of the recipes with you, possibly for Thanksgiving or just so I can remember them next year.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans

HEAT oven to 350°F.
BEAT cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp. spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans.
BAKE 28 to 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice; mix well. Gently stir in COOL WHIP. Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife; stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top layer.) Drizzle with caramel topping just before serving; top with nuts. Refrigerate leftovers.

This one was my VERY favorite & I will be making it again for Thanksgiving:

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

MIX all ingredients until well blended; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.

Serve with cookies or fruit.

(*As you can see above I hollowed out a small pumpkin to put the dip into)

Pretty much just deviled eggs with green olives for eyes

Sandwiches cut with Halloween cookie cutters

Hope you have a fantastic Halloween & get lots of treats!

P.S. Are you impressed with my photo editing skills??? I heart Picnik!

Operation: Carson Sleep Alone - Phase 1

I love being a mom, and feel like I am pretty good at it. That being said, I am by no means a perfect mom, but hey, who is?

Our biggest struggle with Carson has always been bedtime. As a baby, he loved sleeping alone, but would need a bottle to fall asleep. This habit started a cycle of him waking up at night with a wet diaper, we would change it, then he would need another bottle to get back to sleep, waking a few hours later with another wet diaper. He was 18 months old before he slept through the night (after we finally broke the bottle-to-bed habit). Once we tackled that obstacle, next was getting him to fall asleep in general. I went out of town some time around then and came back to find Carson sleeping in our bed. We were so grateful for him to be sleeping through the night, we didn't even mind having him in bed with us.

It's been almost two years of him sleeping with us, and would have probably continued until he was 20, had I not gotten pregnant. Our goal is to get him sleeping in his own room before Deacon arrives. The past month we have spent getting him accustomed to a bedtime routine, which consists of a bath, brushing teeth, and a bedtime story before bed each night.

We had a full sized bed in his room, but wanted to get him a twin. Brian's aunt & uncle exchanged ours for theirs on Friday and we decided to move to the next step of getting Carson prepared to sleep alone. We moved his twin bed into our room, so that he can get used to sleeping in a bed alone, before we move him into a room by himself.

Last night was our first attempt.

Carson was so excited to help Brian put the bed together, and really did a good job!

After the bed was put together he had to test it out by jumping on it...

What our room looks like as of now.

Teeth Brushing

Story Reading w/ Dada

...and Momma

After we were done reading, we put on the movie "Horton Hears a Who." About 30 minutes into it Carson said he was ready for bed and wanted to turn it off. He asked if Brian would pat his back for a minute. It was literally a minute before he told Brian to go back to "his" bed. And that was it! He fell asleep, no problem!

SUCCESS: Here is our big boy this morning sound asleep in his own bed!

The "Big Boy Fairy" left a present under his pillow: Blue Hairspray!!

Carson was so proud as he sported his new 'do at church today!!

We are going to let him sleep in his bed in our room for the next month, before we move him into his own. Please pray this milestone will come easily!!

Picnik

My friend Amanda recently introduced me to a really cool website, Picnik, where you can edit photos for free, and I just couldn't keep something so neat to myself! They have tons of features that help you improve photo quality, and do other neat stuff, as well as make collages. With just one day of playing around on the site, look at some of the cute outcomes I got...



This is the original photo, which I thought looked good, until now:

Updates:

Budding Artist...and Ladies Man

Typically when we pick Carson up from daycare, we check his cubby to see if he has gotten a treat for the day, or to pick up artwork he has done in class. Well, yesterday as soon as I arrived at his school, Carson wanted to take me to his box to show me his pictures. I thought nothing of it as I flipped through the pages looking for what Carson said was a black cat like Albert. I must say I am impressed with how well he stays in the lines, and told him so. He explained to me that no, he didn't want me to see the black cat, he wanted to show off the picture he drew on the back:

Although I am sure you can make out perfectly what the picture above is, I, his naive mother, had no clue, so asked him to describe this gorgeous illustration. He explained that this picture is of Caraleigh, Gabby, and Desira (three of the GIRLS in his class)!!! And even made a point to demonstrate Caraleigh's long legs (the picture to the far left).

Boy, am I in trouble...

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we take Carson to a pumpkin patch near our house for pictures. I must say this year he was the most cooperative! He kept running around saying "take my picture here" and then striking a pose. He was also VERY excited to make his debut as a frog.

Carson with the pumpkin he chose

21 Week Ultrasound Pics cont.

Other people's ultrasounds aren't very exciting, so I know this post is definitely more for my benefit than yours.

When I said that the ultrasound tech gave us tons of pics I wasn't kidding. When we were leaving the office, she told me to put them all in my purse so she wouldn't get in trouble b/c they don't typically give so many. I just counted them tonight, and there are 18 total!

Tilt your head to the left, Deacon is facing forward:

Profile, baby facing up:

Legs:

Feet:

I didn't ask, but I am wondering if this will be the last ultrasound we get...

Deacon Ultrasound 21 Weeks

After all the drama from the last scheduled ultrasound, today was our new appointment. Brian and his parents were able to be off work to come as well (and got conned into getting their flu shots as well). I am happy to report everything went wonderfully! No drama or crying at the doctor office, and a beautiful, HEALTHY little boy!

The ultrasound tech was so nice. She explained everything she was doing and pointed out all of the body parts as she was measuring them. She also printed out TONS of pictures of Deacon, and gave us our cd for free, which they usually charge $15 for. (I am wondering if they made a notation on my file that I was the crazy lady from last month??)

The ultrasound lasted close to an hour and we learned so many things about our new addition! He looks SO much like Carson (and Brian too, for that matter), but he did get my toes!! The ultrasound tech was like "Can you see him? He is grabbing on to the side of the uterus with his toes!!" lol Sorry Deacon, long toes seem to be a dominant trait seeing as Carson has them too. He also had the hiccups during the ultrasound and was actively moving all over the place. He measured about 2 days ahead of my due date, and already weighs 14 oz.

Below are the pictures & video clips from the cd I was given. I have quite a few more, but they still need to be scanned.

The tech was so amused by the toes, she had to take a picture

Profile. He has some smoochie lips on him! :)

The tech said they usually don't do 4D images until 27 weeks, when the baby has plumped up a little, but decided to give it a try. They aren't the best quality, but we definitely got an idea what our little guys face looks like!

It will be a couple more weeks before he opens his eyes

The clips are short, but are fun to see him in action!

The blinking you see is his heartbeat & the reason he is bouncing is b/c of the hiccups!

Next appointment in 7 weeks for the dreaded Glucose Test...

Hotdog Sushi

Earlier this week, Carson and I met my friend Amanda at our favorite sushi place. Carson hasn't been to a sushi restaurant since he was a baby, so we thought this would be a great time to expose him to "sushi." On the menu the only kids sushi they have is hotdog sushi, so we figured that would be perfect!

Hotdog Sushi & Fries

They also have kid chopsticks that are easier to maneuver, which he tested out.

Carson with his sushi on a stick...he was really good at just stabbing the sushi with his chopsticks, and then shoving the whole thing in his mouth.

As you can see by the smiles on Carson & Amanda, the meal turned out to be a yummy success!!

20 Weeks!!

This week I am officially half-way through my pregnancy!! Only 20 more weeks until Baby Deacon arrives! As of now he weighs about 10 1/2 ounces and is around 10 inches long from head to heel (the size of a banana):

My friend Brandi is doing a cute little pregnacy survey once a week on her blog, so I thought I would "borrow" her idea, but instead only post one once a month. Here I am, at month 5!!

(I miss not being able to tan, but at least I have some pregnancy glow going on!)

How far along? 20 weeks

Weight gained: 10.5 lbs.

Mood: FABULOUS!!

Maternity clothes? I've been rockin' them since about 12 weeks, I LOVE THEM!!

Sleep: Much better now that we are in the 2nd trimester

Energy Level: a lot better than I expected it to be. I was always so tired with Carson

Best moments in the last month: confirming that we are having a boy, choosing a name and a nursery theme

Movement? a couple of times a day, but no hard kicks yet

Cravings: bean burritos from Taco Bell, queso, gatorade

Belly button in or out: still in

Baby purchases this month: double stroller, some clothes
What I miss: margaritas

What I am looking forward to: getting an ultrasound next week, registering for the baby shower