Gobble gobble 'til you wobble wobble

For the first year in... I don't even know how long, we did not have thanksgiving dinner with family. Oh the fun of dysfunctional times. My amazing friend Kaile invited us to her home for dinner. It was an amazing dinner and I am so thankful I can call her my friend. Friends ARE the family you get to choose. We had so much good food. Goodbye weight loss plan hello every growing butt.

That brings me to another thought... am I crazy? Who tries losing weight over the holidays? ME! This post baby weight is really making me feel like a fatty. The healing from this c section has been quite a long road. With the boys I healed up and hit the gym by 6-8 weeks. This time I am 13 weeks out and still sore and not able to work out. I, apparently, tore an abdominal muscle. That muscle is not healing so quickly and I have set myself back several times.

So Kaile and I thought we'd hit toys r us last night at 10pm. Once again.. CRAZY! I see a pattern here. We got there and the line was around both sides of the building. We skipped it and went to walmart to grab a few things. At 11:15 pm people were at walmart, standing around the pallets (we keep hearing , over the intercom "DO NOT TOUCH THE PALLETS", they take this SERIOUS), with their hands on them waiting for the sale to start. We heard, over the intercom, that some of the sales weren't even starting until 5am!! These people are out of their minds. Standing around for 6 hours... heck no. On another note, I wish I had my camera because I saw some great "peopleofwalmart" material. We got out of there after laughing at the madness. We decided to see if toys r us had cleared out any. I found  a parking space and we went in. We notice a line weaving up and down and around the whole store. This was the check out line! I swear it was 3 hours long. Needless to say, we left. I'll pay the extra money and skip those lines! I did make it out to target and fred meyer this morning and scored some good deals with less crowds. My total at one store was $133 and I saved $249! I love when I save more than I spend. Who doesn't?

The best part of the day was taking a long nap. All 3 kids napped all afternoon and so did I. I feel like tonight's post is a bit boring but my brain is long past tired. I am going to post a recipe for my favorite cookies (which I am baking right now) and I am going to take a few pics. I must share because let's face it... I can't gain holiday weight all by myself. Sharing is caring.

Each cookie is 292 calories!!! Proceed with caution...

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2-2/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 5 ounces white candy coating, coarsely chopped, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the coconut and chips. Shape 3 tablespoonfuls of dough into a ball; repeat with remaining dough.
• Place balls 3 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.
• In a microwave, melt candy coating if desired; stir until smooth. Dip one end of cooled cookies in candy coating. Allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set.

Turtle cheesecake and memories of last Christmas

So last night I stayed up super late baking. I baked a turtle cheesecake to bring to my dr's office. No way can I keep that thing around here. Way too dangerous!!
I am going to share the recipe here:
Ingredients
Crust:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 6 tablespoons cold butter, chopped

Filling:

• 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

Ganache:

• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
• Optional garnish: pecan halves and additional caramel ice cream topping

Directions

• Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan.
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and pecans; cut in butter until crumbly. Press onto the bottom of prepared pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 325° for 12-15 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugars until smooth. Beat in 1/4 cup flour, cream and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Remove 1 cup batter to a small bowl; stir in melted chocolate until blended. Spread over crust.
• Combine caramel topping and remaining flour; stir in pecans. Drop by tablespoonfuls over chocolate batter. Top with remaining batter. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.
• Bake at 325° for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.
• Place chips in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chips; whisk until smooth. Cool slightly, stirring occasionally. Spread over cheesecake. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Refrigerate until set. Remove sides of pan. Garnish with pecan halves and additional caramel topping if desired

While baking my mind starts running sometimes. I was thinking back to this time last year. I was already baking for the holidays, like a mad woman. Little did I know that I was just weeks away from finding out about a sweet little surprise later to be named Isla :) 

On December 23rd 2009 I had my regular annual visit with my dr and to get an rx for birth control (haha). I actually did start the nuva ring that day. When I left there I just felt "off". My cycle wasn't late or even due yet but something just wasn't right. I went to the grocery store and got a box of 2 store brand tests, thinking I was just being crazy, didn't want to spend the big bucks on a better test. I went home took one and a very faint line appeared. NO WAY, I thought. So... being me, I took another. I was in disbelief. The lines were so faint they must be wrong....right? Plus I was 6 or so days away from even being due for my period. Here is a picture of that first test:

So they next day was Christmas eve. My mom was having a get together. Shaun was still at work. I went by my mom's and asked if I could leave the boys while I ran to the store for "some milk". I get there and the parking lot is CRAZY. After 15 minutes I decided I'd throw in the towel and come back another day. My friend called and said oh no you better find parking and go in there and get another test! I went around one more time and found a spot. Pushed past the crowds of crazy last minute shoppers. Grabbed a 2 pack of First response tests. I pay for them and went right to the bathroom. I took a test in the bathroom stall at the grocery store... how classy. I can still remember. It was the 2nd stall in and as soon I peed on that stick the 2nd line came up. I still remember the feeling of anxiety, panic AND excitement all at once. I called my friend immediately to get my "i told you so" from her. 

I wrapped a bow around the test. I went and picked Shaun up from work so we could head back over to my mom's. I handed him the test and I believe his exact words were "awwww damn" but what he REALLY meant was "what an awesome surprise", I'm sure of it ;)

We went back and finished the evening with family like nothing was going on but inside I was dying of excitement and nerves. Damon was only 13 months old! I tell ya, when God has a plan GOD HAS A PLAN!

We told our families within the next week with this picture:

Then if you know me... you know I had to take a few more tests to be SURE... this made it clear:

What an exciting time. That was the best Christmas present ever.I have been reminiscing about that a lot this week. So bittersweet since there will be no more babies here (I guess you never know though ;) )

 Now she's here. Safe and sound. Beautiful and sweet. We are certainly blessed. 

I'm back! A quick update..

So I decided to try this thing again. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't follow through with my blog before. I guess I got so busy with being pregnant and having two other little ones to care for that I just let it go.

To catch up on family life....
Isla Simone was born August 27th. She has been a wonderful addition to our family. Taveon adores her and Damon is coming around. She is a happy baby overall, who enjoys 1am play time :)

Damon just turned 2 and being the over achiever that he is, he began his terrible 2's early. Days with him can be both difficult and rewarding. Difficult because he challenges EVERYTHING. Rewarding because I love seeing his smile and he's usually a happy boy with a silly personality.

Taveon just turned SEVEN! How have these 7 years flown by so fast? On one hand it makes me happy that I am lucky enough to watch my boy grow. The other hand I am sad that it goes by so fast. Taveon is in 1st grade and doing amazingly well! He is being tested for the gifted program, reading at a 4th grade level and has been moved up to 2nd grade math. I am one proud momma. He is playing hockey for his 2nd year and still very much enjoying it.

Shaun and I just celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary in September. We are so blessed to have made it this far together. With the ups and downs of marriage and life in general, it isn't always easy but it IS ALWAYS worth it.

Since I last posted, Shaun has finished his associates and has started a really great job. We couldn't be happier about that. Things are looking up and we are grateful!

That is all for now. I just wanted to share a quick family update and I will be blogging more later for sure.
Life is great :)