37 weeks

This week marks our 37th week. We are now officially full term! Danilynn could make her appearance any day now. Of course I hope she still continues to bake just a bit longer and daddy is ready for her now. We only have 3 weeks left until our due date. I can't believe how fast this time went. Seems like only yesterday we were beaming with the news and now we are on the countdown to having this little girl in our arms. We can't wait to meet you little one! ♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

today i am thankful for.....

this baby girl growing inside of me ♥

my wonderful husband who puts up with my emotional preggo self

our supportive familes

this cream-cheese-bacon crescent roll i'm eating right now

the best next door neighbors we could ask for

my ever so loving puppy dogs

our grumpy cat who greets me when i come home

my crafty friends

even my not so crafty friends ;o)

being healthy and happy

getting together with family later today

Although it feels like we skipped fall here lately and went right to winter....

fall makes me smile.

pumpkins

lazy weekends

hot apple cider

halloween candy :) shhhh

spicy scented candle filling the house

cooler crisp days

the leaves turning

the thought of the holidays right around the corner

baking....baking....baking

pumpkin spice lattes

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 1 year anniversary!

I can't believe how quick this year has gone by. It feels like only yesterday we said I do. And here we are today, 7 months preggo....waiting on our little bun in the oven to get done cooking and make us a happy little family of 3.

♥

"It doesn't matter how much love you have in the beginning...

It's about how much love you build til the end".

Quintin is here!

Last Friday our friends and next door neighbors, Ben and Heather

welcomed their sweet baby boy into this world.

Quintin Castle Gifford

7lbs 19in

♥

Congratulations Ben and Heather!!

Lazy Sunday's

yesterday was one of those days

we didn't get out of our pj's

it was fall like weather (loved it!)

hung out on the couch and watched tv all day

made brownies....mmm

baby girl was the most active she has ever been

daddy got to feel her kick for the first time!!

made a cheesy chicken pot pie for dinner

just plain relaxed all day

it.was.a.good.day

♥

♥ It's a girl ♥

Last Friday on August 7th we found out that this little bean growing inside me is a girl! This day also happened to be Derek's 29th birthday. Such a fun day. This was the most anticipated and fun appointment that we ever had. It was so fun seeing this little girl moving around on the screen. This was my 20 week appointment and my how she has grown from the last time we saw her on the big screen at 9 weeks. It was amazing. My most favorite and memorable moment was when the technician told us that "he" (as Derek was calling it) was actually a girl. I will never forget his face. I looked at him at just the right moment. I busted out laughing and into tears. It was a really joyful moment. I had been thinking that we were going to have a boy. All my thoughts would always go to boys first. Names, bedding, clothes, etc. Derek was certain that we were going to have a girl. I know he is super nervous at the thought of having a little girl. He is already talking about chasing off the boys. But I just know that he is going to do so good with a little girl. It's good for him. She will be such a daddy's girl....I just know it. I just hope she wants to be my baking/cooking buddy.

And to start her off right......I made cupcakes that Sunday to take into work to share the good news. Here is how they turned out. Pretty cute I think. :o)

Can't wait to meet you our sweet baby girl. ♥

Something is different....

I am literally laughing out loud as I write this. Last night I made my famous White Green Chile Chicken. It seemed a little different to me....but didn't think too much of it. Tonight we had some of leftovers for dinner. This time Derek said that something seemed different.....like it was missing something. I told him that I noticed the same thing the night before....but couldn't think of why. What could it be? I followed the same recipe that I do time and time again. It was bugging me what was so different....what the heck was missing. Then I looked in the pantry and there sat on the shelf the staring role of this dish.......

Hello!! I forgot the damn green chilies...that go in the GREEN CHILE!!! All I can do is laugh and blame it...once again....on my baby brain. Heehee

Busy...busy little bee

So I am officially terrible at taking pictures to blog about. My weekend was filled with little projects that I intended on taking before and after pictures. That did not happen. I am so forgetful sometimes! Grrrrr Oh well. What do you do. Maybe next time.....just maybe....

Saturday I finally got around to painting some of the cabinet doors that we left off in the kitchen. Although it was almost a 6 hour task.....I had the company of my friend and next door neighbor Heather. She came over and painted a diaper changing table for her soon-to-be-here little baby boys room. By the end I think we were both over our little projects. Later on I hung the doors back up in the kitchen. They look nice....but it will take a while for us to get used to the look. Since we have moved in we had open shelving. It helped make our tiny little kitchen look bigger. Lately I have just been getting annoyed with this look. Although the dishes are never dusty (well maybe the wine and margarita glass that haven't been touched because of my blossoming belly) because they are used daily....the shelves do get dusty. And I had this magazine perfect....picturesque idea in my mind of the open shelving look....and that it so not what is going on. It's best left behind closed doors.

In between drying times of the kitchen cabinet doors, I spray painted a bunch of picture frames that I picked up at goodwill....black. I hope to get around here soon to hang up a bunch of family photos in our hallway and the walls going up the stairs to our office/craft room. I am SO excited to get to this project. Our spare bedroom (soon to be baby's room) has stacks and stacks of picture frames just waiting for a home on the wall. I think that it will look really good in the end.

Then on Sunday hubby started sanding down the dresser I got a while back to use as a changing table. I'm excited to start on this as well. It was a cute blue color....but we are going to paint it a distressed off white to match the other dresser that will be in the baby's room. I must have had some more painting to get out of my system because I had a crazy idea to paint the inside of the upper cabinets that are above our stove and refrigerator. These cabinets are open shelving and will stay that way. I have mostly all of our white entertaining dishes up there. It looks really nice, but a bit boring as the cabinets are also white in color. So I had Derek drag up the left over paint from the dining room accent wall. It's a rusty barn red color. I love the color and how it turned out.....I just don't like how the quality of work turned out. First off the paint....I really should have gotten a fresh can of this color. It seemed like the paint had separated....but I was determined to use it anyways. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was......what was I thinking? The cabinets are so high. I had to use a ladder and reach across and up high. It was not very comfortable. But once I started....I had to finish. There was no going back. And third, I don't know if it was the paint or my impatience, but when I went to peel off the painters tape....it was peeling the paint off with it......BADLY. The paint was so stretchy. It was awful in spots. But I am so over this crazy little project....it may just stay that way. Unless I can convince Derek to fix it for me. It's really going to bother me....but at this point sadly I don't care. It was so hard doing this in the first place. What the heck was I thinking!!??

My next project I want to start on this week.....is turning an old window into a magnetic chalkboard. I was going to start this one this past weekend.....but the barn red interior cabinets got the best of me. So since I haven't started this one yet....maybe I will remember to take before and after pictures. :o)

S'mores anyone?

This past Sunday I made cupcakes for my good friend Heather's baby shower. Her theme on the invites was camping. The shower theme was BB-Q/Picnic. I found the most perfect cupcake recipe.....S'mores!!! Complete with marshmallow frosting, graham cracker crumbs and a mini Hersey bar. These little babies turned out great if I do say so myself. :o)

17 weeks and counting....

Today I had my 17 week appointment with my doctor. All is good and coming along just as it should be. The heartbeat was strong...150(something) bpm. I can't for the life of me remember what it was exactly. I will blame that on my "baby brain". My tummy measured right at 17 weeks. My weight is good. I am up 11 lbs. from when I started, but hadn't gained any since my last appointment 4 weeks ago. What no weight gain after eating Grandma Norton's food during the 4th of July holiday?? Ok....if you say so. Hahaha It was a pretty quick and easy appointment.

The best part is......in just 3 weeks we will get to find out just what this little baby bean is! I can hardly wait. The anticipation is killing the both of us. We are just so excited to find out. Derek of course wants a hunting buddy and I want a little baker. Really I (we) would be happy with either. Just as long as it's healthy and happy! Our appointment is scheduled on Derek's birthday. What a fun day this will be! :o)

Any guesses as to what we are having?

Oh baby!

The last week of April Derek and I found out that we were pregnant! Such a surprise!! I can not even explain the shock and excitement we felt. Our due date is December 22nd, 2009. What?! My brother's birthday?! A Christmas baby! Oh my goodness. Not the most ideal time of the year to have a baby. I always knew December was not a month that I wanted to have a baby. Growing up, my brother's birthday was 12/22. I just remember my mom making such a big deal and getting so mad sometimes when family gave my brother a Christmas/Birthday gift. When everyone else clearly gets two separate gifts. It does suck sometimes, but I get it. Everyone is hard up in December around the holidays. I have actually been known to do the same thing to him a time or two and mom was furious with me. Hey, I couldn't help it. I try really hard not to do that. But what can I say. And even today I feel bad for him sometimes. Seems like the last couple of years that we have tried to get together for his birthday dinner....it has been so snowy that we had to put it off for weeks it seems like. Not the end of the world, just a bummer.

But I have decided that I am not going to fret about it anymore. It is what it is. All we can do is make the best of it while our little one is growing up. We will just have to be creative when planning a winter birthday party. Family/friends may give him or her a Merry Christmas/Happy Birthday gift. Oh well. Christmas time is one of my most favorite times of the year. And now we will add to that joy with an addition to our little family. Thinking ahead he/she will most likely be off from school on winter break. How fun will that be to spend some time baking...playing in the snow...decorating the tree...and planning a birthday?! Sounds like fun to me! :o)

The second to last week of May we went in to have an ultrasound to figure out just how far along I was. I wasn't exactly sure of all the dates, so we needed to make sure of things. The baby measured out just as predicted. I was in my 9th week. Things looked good and were coming along all as planned. Derek went with me and we both stood there (well I laid on the table) in shock when we saw the first images of our little bean. We could clearly see the arms/legs/head and even the little teeny tiny nose. So amazing since this little baby was only the size of a green olive! We could see it moving it's head, legs and arms. So crazy! That was a really fun first time experience. I know I will never ever forget the feeling that came over me when I saw this tiny little being that we created growing inside me and moving. Life is so amazing.

This past Monday at our doctor's appointment we were able to hear the heart beat for the first time! At the last appointment the baby was too small to be able to hear it. Wow! That is a pretty cool experience too. Another one I won't ever forget. I think the most fun of all of this is seeing Derek's reaction. He is so excited and blown away each time we go into the doctor's office. It's really cute to watch him in amazement. He is such a cute daddy to be.

This is what I laid out on the table for Derek to see when he came home. It took everything in me to keep it a secert from that day. I could hardly stand it. :o)

A little something sweet- Nellie

A few weeks ago, I posted a 1st Five Goodie Giveaway; the first 5 to respond would get something made by me as long as they paid the gift forward by offering a 1st five on their blog and so on... just a way of a sharing our love of paper crafting and making friends. :o)

I made these little note cards with matching envelopes for Nellie over at This Little Blog of Mine, one of the 1st 5 to leave me a comment.

Aren't they darling? :o)

Fast and the Furriest

Run to Save an Animal’s Life!

This Saturday April, 18th is the 6th annual Fast and the Furriest 5k race. My company sponsors this event and this year I will be volunteering and working our booth. I plan on bringing my little helper Ellie. She loves to help her momma and LOVES to see all her furry friends. If you don't have anything going on, on Saturday......please come by our HESKA booth and say "hi". Bring your pooches!! You don't have to actually run the race to come out and enjoy the festivities. We are giving out some cool balls this year. I haven't seen the colors yet, but what dog doesn't love to a chase a ball. Mine sure do!

Race day features a fantastic doggie/runner expo, a fast new course, live music, lots of race day give-aways, doggie demo's, and the best raffle in town!

Each and every runner that participates in the Fast and the Furriest 5K/1K race helps raise money for the Companion Care Fund. The Companion Care Fund offers financial assistance to clients of Colorado State University’s Veterinary Medical Center who have an animal in need of emergency or immediate life-saving care. The fund is entirely need-based and is reserved solely for members of the community. Additionally, the fund may be applied to any animal presented to the hospital, including companion animals, exotic species, large animals, and small ruminants. Without the financial assistance provided by the fund, many clients would be faced with the difficult choice of declining care for their animal or relinquishing ownership.

The Companion Care Fund provides hope for both owners and their animals in need. The Fast and the Furriest raised $10,000 for the Companion Care Fund in 2007, and with your support we can raise even more!

To donate directly to the Companion Care Fund online please visit: https://advancing.colostate.edu/CVMBS/COMPANIONCARE

When: Saturday, April 18th, 2009
7:30 am: Packet pick-up and race day registration

9:00 am: 5K Run/Walk

10:00 am: 1K Kid's Fun Run

10:30 am: Awards and Raffle Drawing

8:00 am-12:00 pm: Runner/doggie Expo!

Where: Colorado State University.~Due to ongoing construction at the Veterinary Medical Center, we have moved the course this year to main campus. The race will start on Isotope Dr., just off of the south end of the oval. The oval is located on the northeast corner of campus off of Laurel St, west of Shields. Parking is available in any of the surrounding lots on campus.

Entry Fees:
Prior to April 17: $22 for adults, $20 with student ID, $10 for kids 12 and under, kids under 6 are free!
Race Day: $25 per participant

Paper candy bowl- Brandy

A few weeks ago, I posted a 1st Five Goodie Giveaway; the first 5 to respond would get something made by me as long as they paid the gift forward by offering a 1st five on their blog and so on... just a way of a sharing our love of paper crafting and making friends. :o)

I made this paper candy bowl for Brandy, one of the 1st 5 to leave me a comment. I got this idea from Rachel over at wonderfully whimsy. I think this little bowl has to be one of my favs. It's so stinkin cute! I filled it with some candy and it's sitting out on Brandy's desk at work. Just darling...don't you think?!

Easter Menu

This year Derek and I are hosting Easter dinner at our house. This will be our first hosted dinner as a married couple. Awwww :o) I am pretty excited. Here is my menu:

-Cornish game hens

-Asparagus with homemade hollandaise sauce

-Twice baked potatoes

-Hawaiian rolls

-Deviled eggs

-Deviled eggs with crab

-Not yo' mama's banana pudding (This is Paula Deen's recipe. She uses pepperidge farm chessmen cookies instead of vanilla wafers. I have heard it is pretty darn good. Haven't made it myself yet, so I will have to let you know how it turns out.)

So that's it. Pretty simple and low key. Sometimes simple is better.

New recipe

My friend Annie at work gave me a new recipe to try. OMG it was fabulous!! If you are looking for something new and different....you should give this a try.

-cooked ravioli or tortellini tossed with pesto sauce
-add marinated artichoke hearts, split
-sun dried tomato pieces
-pine nuts
-kalamata olives sliced
-chopped fresh basil
-parmesan grated over the whole thing

Serve it warm with French bread and call it dinner. There are no measurements, you just do what ever feels right to you. Yes, shocking isn't Carrie? Carrie knows how I MUST have measurements for everything. I rarely wing it. Haha

It really is good. Derek even liked it! But he didn't have the olives or the sun dried tomatoes. (Ugh....I hate when I forget to take a picture!! Oh well)

First five are getting their goodies!!!

I finally got my first five comments from my pay it forward post and I am getting ready to pass out the goodies. This is so fun! If you want to play, check out one of the blogs below. These lovely ladies have agreed to pay it forward and you could get something handmade by them!!

I have been working on your creations and hope to get them out in the mail soon. :o)


-Brandy


-Nellie over at This Little Blog of Mine. (Nellie has already had five comments, but she has such cute and creative ideas for cards and other paper goodies....go check her out!)


-Yael over at My Creative Spot.


-Heather over at the Gifford's Place.


-Carrie (I know you are not the creative type so you are not posting to your blog....but I love you too much not to make you a goodie too.)

L-O-V-E

I was so excited on Friday when I came home from work to find a package for me that had come in the mail. A couple of weeks ago I found a fun idea going around to spread the love of paper crafting. I was one of the first 5 to comment on Sarah's blog over at Sarah's Paper Tray and here is what she made me. I can not tell you how much cuter it is in person. I absolutely LOVE it. Thanks Sarah!! (She is so crafty) ;o)

Pull em' out boys!

Last weekend Derek and Clint took out the bushes in front of the house. We couldn't wait to get rid of them. I forget what kind they were......but they were so icky. I'm not sure what we are going to put in their place yet. Maybe some nice pretty flowering kinds. Once the snow and cold goes away....it's off to the nursery. Hi ho, hi ho.....it off to landscaping we go. Oh---- cold and snow---please go away. I am ready for you spring!! ;o)

I forgot to take a "before" shot. Dang it! I hate when I forget to do that. And of course we didn't really have any. Here is one that somewhat shows what the bushes looked like before.

And yes, I suggested that we WAIT until the snow melted....

but Derek insisted that it be done that weekend.

The 1st five get a goodie

So I stumbled across a posting on one of my favorite blogs to visit for ideas for paper crafting. There I found this great idea to "pay it forward". This sounds like so much fun.....I thought I would give it a try.


The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you! This offer does have a few "rules of play":


1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make --- but I hope you do!

2- What I create will be just for you --- one of a kind!

3- It'll be done sometime this year (most likely it will be in the next month).

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. Well, a pretty good bet it will be made of paper!

5-The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog!


The first 5 people to leave a comment wins a handmade card or gift (or both!) by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Ready, set.....who will the first five be??

Baby it's cold outside!

Today we got a spring blizzard. Brrrr is it cold outside. But how fun to get to have a snow day off from work! Well, I went into work today....and then walked back through the door around 12:30p. Of course I had to stop at the store on my way back home and grab chili fixin's. What a great day for chili. :o) I shoveled a bit in the back yard for the dogs and then let them out to play for a bit. They LOVE the snow! Derek got home at about 1:30p. Thank goodness. I guess it was pretty bad where he was at today. He got to shovel the front driveway and walkway. Haha (I think he secerectly doesn't mind.)


Well I made my chili. I think that I will make some apple squares next. Mmmm so good, I can hardly wait. Now if I just had someone to peel the apples for me. Oh honey....... :o)

Ellie girl....you got snow on your head little luv

Oh Chubbs...you sweet little guy

Can you guess who is who? Chubbs is facing you! :o)

Run Ellie......run!

Kick-off Workshop

Friday night I hosted my first Stampin' Up! workshop to kick off my new business. I had a bunch of girlfriends over and we all made 2 cards and a 3D project. We ate chili and some of us had some wine and then it was time for some stampin' fun! All the girls had so much energy and kept things pretty entertaining. In fact I think most of them pretty much ran my workshop! Heehee Most everyone was pretty familiar with stamping and card making.....so everyone was pretty eager to jump in and get creative. I was exhausted by the end. It was a lot of work getting everything ready and getting things set up.....but every minute was worth it. I was a little nervous for my first one......but I think that it went really well. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. Thanks to all my girlies for helping me get off to a great start. Cheers ladies! Or shall I say....happy stamping! :0)

I just have to tell this little story about Derek. This is such my husband and it makes me laugh. So Derek knew I was having a bunch of girls over. He had planned on going over to the neighbors house to hang out while everyone was there. That didn't work out so Derek stayed home. About 1/2 hour before everyone arrived Derek ate a bowl of chili.....packed up his lunch cooler with beer and ice......and headed off to the bedroom to hide out for the evening watching tv. My workshop lasted 4 hours and he didn't come out once for anything! He is too funny!

Check out the cards we all made. Everyone did such a great job! Some of the girls used their own creativeness and changed things a bit on their own cards they made.....but here were my cards to use as inspiration...... Awwww :o)

This one is was done with the "Loads of Love" set.....

This one was done with the "Polka Dot Punches" set....

Here is the 3D project that we made....the box is made out of cardstock and inside holds 3 peppermint patties embellished with cardstock as well.

Super cute!!! : ] I LOVE this.

My new love....

Yes I know I am a dork....but I have a new love.......my cookie dough scoop! Oh my goodness I love this little gadget. Oh how it makes me so happy to see perfect uniform cookies come out when using this little guy. I am not exactly sure why....but it just made me smile and I even think that they tasted just a little bit better. No, not really.....that was probably the overdose of vanilla. : ) This new found love made baking cookies even more fun and quicker I must confess. But I guess really in the end.....who doesn't love warm cookie straight out of the oven? Right?!

Happy Valentine's Day

This year is our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. You might think that we would be all romantic and do something super fun to celebrate this day of love. Nope....we are an old married couple now I guess. Heehee : ) A girl wants her dishes and that's just what I got! Derek got me new everyday dishes that are just perfect for entertaining as well. I love them!

It's official!

I just joined Stampin' Up! and will have my own little side business. How fun! I will get to be creative and earn some extra money on the side. Well.....we shall see just how much extra money I will earn. My plan on joining was to actually be able to buy the product at a discount. So basically I am what you may call a "Discount Demonstrator". I Like the idea of buying stamps for personal use at a discount and occasionally sells to friends and family. This whole idea got me started when I made our Christmas cards last year. I had so much fun doing it.....that I want to get into making cards through out the year. And I am also wanting to get into scrapbooking. I have always wanted to do that. You should have seen all the different stamps and inks that Kim had when we were over at her house making Christmas cards!!! I have never seen so many in my life and she had EVERY single color of stamp pad. Every single one! All Stampin' Up! of course. I was in such awe over it. You would of thought she sold this product.....but nope, just bought it for herself. Wow! I want to be just like Kim! So, fast forward a few months and here I am. A Stampin' Up! demonstrator on my way to building my very own collection of stamps and ink pads of every color you could imagine. Oh I am so excited I can hardly stand it.

Check me out. Here is my website:

http://www.kellienorton.stampinup.net

Phew! January is over. What a month. There has been so much going on at my work.....there has been no time....for anything. Hopefully things will start to turn around. I hope! It can only get better...right? Derek is still working nights most weeks. Which leaves us little time to spend together. On the weekends it is not much better. His sleep habits leave him exhausted by the time the weekend rolls around and he spends some time trying to catch up on sleep or just simply wanting to hang out in his pj pants and relax. It's been really hard to get him motivated to do much. I can't blame him though. There is no way that I could work his schedule! His schedule is really starting to interrupt my sleep as well. I was startled awake this morning around 4:30 am to find him underneath the house dragging out his weight set that he tucked away some time last year. It was the loudest sound right underneath our bedroom. At first I thought someone had gotten into the garage and was getting underneath the house. It scared me so I went out to the living room to get Derek and figured out it was him! He talked all weekend about getting back to lifting and working out. I guess he decided this morning was it! Eyi yi yi. I really hope he goes back to working days soon. I am not sure how much more of this I can take. We are thankful that he even has a job right not......but my goodness! Ugh.....

Happy Birthday Puppies!

My little loves celebrated their 1 year birthday today!

Happy Birthday

Ellie and Chubs!

Here is Chubs wearing Ellie's hat. Pretty in pink. : )

...and Ellie girl in Chubs' hat. Teehee