Long time no post!

I have totally slacked on blogging this month! So much has been going on. Let's see.... where to start.

At the beginning of the month we discovered that my step father had to have a quintuple heart bypass surgery. That was definitely shocking and scary. Thank God, he came through it fine and is at home recovering now. Things like this force me to stop and realize life is truly short and precious. Tomorrow is never promised. I need to make some changes in my life and live with no regrets. That is for sure. Changes in progress.

Then, of course, life has been busy with the holidays. Shopping, wrapping, get togethers, decorating. So hectic but so worth it. I'm not sure if it's just my family (and I am thinking not) but get togethers can be so nerve wracking when not everyone is getting along. Makes for some interesting times. I start reflecting on relationships, around the holidays. Especially the ones that no longer exist. Past friendships etc. I'm not sure if that hurt ever diminishes. I hope it does. I'm just not certain though. There have been people in my life who I truly cared.. err care.. about but for one reason or another they are no longer a part of my life. I have a hard time letting go of those relationships for whatever reason. In the past 2 years I have lost 2 of my best friends. By lost, I do not mean they have died but they are just no longer in my life. Not necessarily by my choice. Quite honestly, I am not positive as to why, actually. Regardless, I know it's best for me to let go of those relationships but it's just never that easy (especially since some are family). I have to come to terms with the fact that I won't always have all of the answers and there will always be "whys" lingering and I just need to be ok with that. I have plenty of blessings in my life. I have some really amazing and I mean AMAZING friends and I am more than thankful for them. So time to let go of the past and move forward with no regrets.

Onto Christmas! Christmas was wonderful. I LOVE seeing the excitement in my children's faces on Christmas morning. It reminds me of being a child. Not being able to fall asleep on Christmas eve, listening for reindeer hooves and the next day LOOKING for reindeer prints on the roof, waking up at 6am to tear into our gifts. Oh the magical world of a child. I hope I am doing a good job at raising my own children with that much joy and excitement inside of them. I love when they rip open a present and their eyes light up and they yell out "LOOK AT WHAT SANTA BROUGHT".  I love how sometimes the box or the wrapping paper intrigues them even more than the gift itself. This was the first Christmas I was able to buy a DOLL! I bought Isla a little cabbage patch doll. I always loved mine when I was a little girl. That was fun shopping for little girl things and reminiscing.

I am going to share my favorite holiday treat recipe this year. It is layered peppermint fudge and I am pretty sure plenty of it has stuck with me, if ya know what I mean ;)

LAYERED PEPPERMINT FUDGE:
INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 teaspoons butter, softened
• 2 cups (12 ounces) HERSHEY’®S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk, divided
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup vanilla or white chips
• 3 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 1 to 2 drops green food coloring

DIRECTIONS:

• Line a 9-in. square pan with foil; grease the foil with butter and set aside. In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and 1 cup milk over low heat; cook and stir for 5-6 minutes or until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add vanilla; stir for 3-4 minutes or until creamy. Spread half of the mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until firm. Set remaining chocolate mixture aside.
• In a heavy saucepan, melt vanilla chips and remaining milk over low heat; cook and stir for 5-6 minutes or until smooth (mixture will be thick). Remove from the heat. Add peppermint extract and food coloring; stir for 3-4 minutes or until creamy. Spread evenly over chocolate layer. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until firm

• Heat reserved chocolate mixture over low heat until mixture achieves spreading consistency; spread over mint layer. Cover and refrigerate overnight or until firm
• Using foil, lift fudge out of pan. Gently peel off foil; cut fudge into 1-in. squares. Store in the refrigerator.

I am sorry but I do not have a picture of this recipe. Must've eaten it before I thought to take one lol I promise it is yummy though!


Here are some pictures of our Christmas. Enjoy!

Look at those sweet face and tell me I am not blessed! I am more than happy with my life. God is good :)

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.