Oh Boy....

Well, after the 'big' ultrasound yesterday we found out that the doctor's initial findings were wrong, we were surprised with a girl and A BOY! So, looks like we get one of each! At 16 weeks he was sure it was two girls, and at 19 weeks he again confirmed baby A was a girl, but baby B that is up high was transverse, looking down and he couldn't get a clear shot to verify it. I didn't really think anything of it, then when we went in yesterday the tech wiggled my belly around until she got a good picture of it, and sure enough, its definitely a boy! We're really excited and it will be fun to raise one of each. He is really wiggly in there, it took a long time to get all the pictures because he's so active. Its funny watching them push each other around in there trying to get the space they want. Its going to be pretty cramped for them here soon! Everything appeared to be healthy and where it needed to be with no concerns. Now its time to start a list of boy names...

Coby's Bum Ankle

Last weekend while practicing Coby had a fresh horse buck and he twisted his foot in the stirrup and tore the ligaments in his ankle. It swelled and bruised up pretty bad. We took him in for x-rays to make sure nothing was broken. We probably looked pretty funny with the pregnant lady helping her limping husband into the doctor's office! He got some crutches to get around on after that for a few days, but is walking pretty good now. In fact, he even rode tonight, so it must be healing fast. He still has an occasional limp, especially if he steps on something and twists it a little. I understand the ankle stuff all too well, I know how hard it is to get them feeling really stable again. Hopefully, its going to be strong enough he can start entering some rodeos in a few weeks. Time will tell.

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day weekend this year, we didn't have any jackpots or rodeos to go to in, well I don't know how long. Years and years, that's for sure. This year we spent Saturday working in our yard and the horses and that evening Cort and Amanda and the kids came over for a little hot dog fry. We were going to go out and do some more work, but we got a major rain storm that kept us inside all night. It was a crazy rainstorm, we don't get rain like that in Utah very often. The next day after church it started raining again, so we quickly packed our bags and headed up to Rigby and stayed with Jami & Bob. Cort & Amanda were up there too, and we had a fun stay. The weather was decent, so Monday the guys did some roof work on their outdoor dining area. I sat in the sun watching and before I realized it, had really sunburned my legs and especially the tops of my feet. Ouch!! I think I'm sunburning easier than usual this year. It was a nice little get away and a lot more fun that sitting and watching it rain here!

This month has went by fast and here towards the end we're doing a little celebrating. My mom's birthday was on the 20th, so we'll do something fun for it when they get here next week. Haggon (Staci Sue's son) graduates High School, which is a neat and monumental time of life. He also comes and mows my lawn for me which is nice. This coming weekend we are headed up to Ryker & Stacy's to help them produce their first Team Roping at their arena. Should be a good and busy weekend. Coby is shaking the dust off his ropes and I'm shaking the dust off my secretary skills. We go in for the 'big' ultrasound tomorrow to make sure the babies are really girls and that they are growing ok. It will be Coby's first chance to see them moving around in there. So far all he's seen are the blurry still shots. It will be fun for him to see them.

Baby Bump

Well, as you can see, my belly is growing. Unfortunately, so is my butt. Maybe its so I don't get too front heavy and fall forward.

These are before and after pic's of our remodeled back bathroom. The before pictures don't do it much justice just to how scary that little room was. The floor pretty much had to come out completely before we could even tile it, and the little vanity was barely thigh high and the sink was all chipped and broken. Now its a cute little room.

Its been a crazy week, I'm officially on my last day of work today. Supposedly, signed contracts are coming in today for a buy out but its hard believe because that's what we've been told for 2 months now. I'll still be doing a little contract work for them. Not sure exactly how its going to work out, so we'll see. We've got 3 horses we are actively working on selling and its been a full time job just fielding calls on them and putting videos together to send out. We've had great response so maybe we'll get them moved soon. In fact, we have two people coming to look at the same horse this weekend. Not sure how that's going to work out! Guess first one to write the check gets him! Its pretty hard to sell barrel horses when the barrel racer is under strict 'no riding' rules. I've never had to sell horses like this before, usually I'm the one getting on a horse to tune it or show it. Now, I get to stand at the fence and watch. Here a couple pic's of the cute horses we're selling. I don't have one of Charley, but he looks just like Kinney. Cute, huh!

The results are in....


Since we never gave our blog address out to many people to get many votes, I am combining these results with results from my office.


Overall Votes:


10% Girl/Girl
50% Boy/Girl
40% Boy/Boy


I have the exciting "unofficial" results from the doctor, Girl/Girl! So, in this vote, majority loses! I have the 'big' ultrasound in a couple weeks and they'll confirm. The doc was quite sure, so shopping for little girls has begun! I realize why so many people were for sure that they would be boys, no one in Coby's family has produced girls yet and he has no sisters. The only thing I can say bad about this situation is Coby might expect me to go through this again one day to try for a little bull dogger. As for now, we'll start with these two and see how it goes.


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This week I am posting a really good dinner recipe. I adapted it from a cooking show to include/exclude stuff we like.


Steph's Cheesesteaks


Meat:
1 lb. flank steak (or some sort of steak)
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 TBSP hot sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire
salt & pepper


Combine all this and let sit for a half hour or so while prepping other stuff. After it marinates for a bit, pan fry the meat, then slice on the bias into 1/4" strips.


Cheese Sauce:
1 TBSP butter
3 TBSP flour
1 chipotle chili in adobo, chopped (2 if you like a lot of kick)
1 1/2 c. cream
1 c. grated cheddar cheese


Melt butter in sauce pot. Add flour & chipotle, stir to combine (makes a roux). Add heavy cream slowly, stirring. Add in cheese and stir until melted. Let sit on low until ready to build sandwich.


Other ingredients:
1 sliced avocado
Gyro bread (round greek bread located at the deli counter in the grocery)
more cilantro & lime


Build the Sandwich:

In a warm pan with a little butter, warm the gyro bread. Then put some of the meat on it, be generous with the cheese sauce, add some avocado slices and more cilantro. Maybe squeeze a little extra lime on it too. Serve with homemade french fries or potato chips. Yum!


Now, if you like grilled onion and/or red bell pepper you could add that to the sandwich, it could also be built on a hoagie roll, but we love sandwiches on the soft gyro bread. Happy cooking.

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Here are some old pictures of the ImPRA finals I just found while cleaning up my work computer. We both won the round and averages that night.

HEDGE YOUR BETS

Ok, anyone want to weigh in what they think we're having?

Baby A: boy/girl

Baby B: boy/girl

Post a comment and I'll tally them up and show results in a week or so!


Other stuff going on, ummmm, in my last post I was saying I didn't think I was showing that much. This week, I'm definitely showing! My belly started really sticking out and its hopeless to try and do my regular pants up now. Thank goodness for long shirts to hide my elastic bands and un-done zippers! But by hell I'm in a pair of Wranglers and my cowboy boots today (nice office attire, huh? I told you my wardrobe was shrinking!) Probaby dumb since my ankles have started swelling. Hope I can get my boots off tonight...

My work has been really hectic, I've been full time in the office for about 3 weeks now (no telecommuting). They laid-off just about the whole company and production has been shut down at all facilities across the country. Here at corporate we are down to 7 of us (at one time there were 130), so I've been involved in all sorts of stuff I wouldn't normally do. They are close to finalizing negotiation to split the company and merge with two more stable ones, if that goes through I'll be the Project Manager on both buy outs as well as 1 of only 2 of us here that know how to programmatically extract data out of our mainframe. Its way busy for me, but its nice because it makes the time go fast. Luckily, I've felt up to the challenge too. A month ago I'd have never had the stamina to work at this pace!

It sounds like Stacie has put an offer in on a really nice house in Texas pretty close to where she is living right now. Sounds like you can find good horse property and houses in TX a lot easier than in UT. Hopefully she gets it bought, she's been looking for a while now. My mom and John will be back up in Utah here in a couple weeks for a stay, they've got some Senior Pro's in NV.

I need to post some picture's and a couple awesome recipes I run across, I'll try to do that this weekend.

The 2nd Trimester is here!

I made it. It was touch and go for a while there. I was starting to be convinced this was going to be the longest 9 months of my entire life. I was unconscience a good part of the 1st trimester, because all I did or felt like doing was sleep! I couldn't even get up and shower and do my hair without having to stop for a nap afterward. And on the days I'd go into the office, I would have to take a long nap in the sick room or in my car and I could barely make it home before heading straight to bed to sleep 14 or 15 hours straight. I swear I have never been so tired in all my life! And cooking dinner for Coby, that was rare. I couldn't stand raw ingredients or the smell of food cooking (in fact, I still don't dare cook with onion or garlic). I couldn't even browse a cookbook without getting nauseated. But, the good news is I have emerged from my winter slumber and I have new energy and am finally feeling great! I haven't felt like napping and I've been up and going and even cooking again! So, maybe all the books and magazines are right, you do get a renewed sense of energy and the nausea goes aways with the second trimester. Now THIS is much more like it!

And, for those of you that haven't seen me since becoming preggers, I am sporting a little baby bump. Coby thinks its so cute to see me with a belly. I keep thinking that any day I'm just going to wake up and look 8 months pregnant, I would think I'd be getting big since there are two little babies in there to poke out. But, depending on what I'm wearing, I don't really show that much yet. I have had to switch to longer, looser shirts so I can cover my pants button and zipper since I can't do them up anymore. I am prepared for when I can't squeeze into my jeans any longer though. When my mom was here visiting a couple weeks ago her, my Aunt Ann and I went maternity shopping, so I'm prepared for that day that nothing fits. We had so much fun shopping and laughed our butts off at how I looked in all the frocks. They even had a fake baby belly you could strap on to get the full effect of how 'materal' you soon look and we had a great laugh over it. Next big shopping trip will be for the babies. Two of this, two of that, two, two, two!

Other fun stuff going on, we just about have our back bathroom remodeled, I'll post some before and after pictures soon. Its been a long project for Coby since I haven't been much help with it. Something about adhesives and paint and toxic stuff not being good for the babies. With spring finally springing in Tremonton we have lots of work to do in the yard, and we have a spot ready for a garden. Normally, I'm not into the whole garden thing, but since I'm not riding this year, we figured it would be a good excuse for me to go outside and give me a project to work on. My mom doesn't think its such a good idea, since I really probably will be huge by the time the major weeding and harvesting needs done and I might be able to get down, but may not get back up! So, this summer if I am lost, check the garden first. We've been working on some of the horses and they are sure starting to look better. Coby rides every chance he gets, which hasn't been much with his crazy work schedule lately. Rodeo season is right around the corner so that is always good incentive to get them in shape.

Other fun stuff, we've had some fun family visits. Ryker and Stacy and the kids have come and stayed a few times and we went to dinner with Riley and Suni the other night. Like I mentioned before, my mom flew up for a few days and we spent some time in S.F. visiting the Sorensen's which was fun. They are so excited about the babies and hope they have some of my dad's funny personality in them. My mom and John will be spending a good part of the summer in Utah this year which we are appreciative of. I'm sure we'll need a helping hand and all the support we can get!

We have a great year ahead of us with lots of fun stuff in store. We are looking forward to weddings (Bryson & Kristen) and wedding receptions (Riley & Suni), preparing and shopping for the babies and getting them here, a few parties and baby showers and visits from family & friends (Jodi & Stacie are coming to UT this summer), and as always RODEO SEASON!

The Bread Blogger

Ok, so I'm not the best at keeping up on my blog. I have found something else that seems to take up the little bit of spare time I spend on the computer--Facebook. Its been so fun getting hooked up with old friends on it. Wow, its amazing who can find you! Good thing?? Maybe not always, there are some people out there that you just really would prefer to leave in the past. But, all in all its been fun. See, I'm on a computer approximately 8 hours a day for work, so I have a hard time wanting to sit down at my computer to blog for entertainment when I do this sort of stuff all day everyday, blah, blah, blah. But, here to the new and awesome post!

This post is dedicated to a little something I've been trying to figure out. HOW TO BAKE BREAD. Its been fun, I'm striving for fabulous artisan type bread with crusty crust on the outside and chewy, dense middles, and of course yummy sourdoughs. So far, I haven't quite acheived that texture and consistency, but hey, its bread, its edible, so how bad can it be. I found a couple cool blogs for out bread bakers that make artisan bread sound like any idiot could bake it. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/ is a good one, really more than a person needs to know about baking bread.

The second part, the sourdough part, has been more successful. Jami (my mother-in-law), knows quite a bit about 'sourdough starts', so she helped me get one going. Its been pretty fun to mess with. If you don't know what a 'start' (the Mary Jane magazine calls it Mother) is, its so simple. Take a glass or plastic bowl, 2 cups flour, 2 cups water, couple TBSP of sugar and cover with a towel and leave on your counter for a few days. Stir once in a while. It will get bubbly and yeasty smelling, just like sourdough. It can last indefinitely. To slow it down I put it in the fridge after a few days. Ok, so Coby requested Sourdough Pancakes like his mom used to make, she couldn't exactly remember her recipe so I went online and found an old Cowboy site that had a stellar recipe. Its so awesome I'm posting it here for you all to try. We were a little skeptical at first, but loved it! I made a little adaption to it the berry part of the recipe, to make more of a sauce, but you can use whole berries if you prefer.

Sourdough Pancakes w/SourCream & Berries

Originated: Pampa, TX circa 1910

2 cups Starter (let this 'grow' for 5 or 6 days before using, so plan this recipe ahead)

1 Egg

2 TBSP Oil

1/4 Flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 TBSP sugar

Blend well, have a thin pancake-like batter texture. Cook hotcakes on a hot griddle (or a cast iron pan if you have one).

Berry Topping

1-2 cups of mixed berries

3 TBSP rasberry or grape jam

3 TBSP sugar

3/4 cup cold water mixed with TBSP of cornstarch

In a sauce pan, heat berries, sugar and jam. In a cup blend the water and cornstarch (to remove lumps). Once berries are warm, stir in the thickener and cook over med-low heat. Once it starts to gel up, you can adjust the sweetness with more sugar or add a little grape juice (or red wine even works). Its actually really hard to mess up.

Then, serve with a dollop of sour cream and a couple spoonfuls of berry sauce and of course, bacon or sausage! MMMMMMM!

Its cheap and easy and if you are feeding a large crowd its easy to adjust the size of the recipe. They've turned out everytime I've made them--proof that they are foolproof!

So, that's it for now! Stay posted to my blog, I'll have some really fun and exciting stuff to post soon! Happy Cooking!