Baby Girl

Little Miss Hallie Ruth is here!  Yay!

When my due date (November 4) passed with no excitement, I convinced myself that my baby girl would be a week late and would make her appearance on 11-11-11!

Thus, I was pretty surprised when I started having contractions at church on Sunday morning!  I didn't say anything to Drew until after the service because I didn't want to freak him out.  He's the type that would get all worried and be all, "Do we need to leave? I think we should leave!" :)

After church, I told him that I was having contractions, but for some reason it didn't register with him that I meant real ones (I'd been having regular Braxton Hicks for weeks).  Guess I shouldn't have worried!  When he finally realized that I thought labor had started, he reacted predictably.

Although my contractions were pretty irregular, we went ahead and called the midwife who recommended we come on in to the birth center.  Apparently with second babies, labor can pick up pretty quickly.  We arrived at the birth center around 3:30pm and Hallie was born that night at 10:48.

A few minutes old.

One day old.

Eleven days old.

So now, I'm a happy, busy, tired mommy of two precious munchkins. <3

Gabriel loves his sister!

Little Lion

We never celebrated Halloween growing up.  Oh, we'd buy the candy and hand it out to our neighborhood friends, but as for trick-or-treating and decorating our own home?  Nope.

I never felt deprived, though, as our church always had a harvest festival where dressing up was encouraged and tons of candy was given out.  Personally, I find that celebrating the harvest is much more to my taste than the creepy, spooky stuff.  But that's just me. ;)

Anyway, Drew and I haven't decided one way or the other if we're going to take our kids trick-or-treating.  He grew up doing it.  I didn't.  There has to be a compromise, right?

It hasn't been an issue yet, as both years Gabriel has been too young, so we've just taken him to our church's fall festival.  Dressed up, of course!

Last year, he was a monkey, and the cutest, cheekiest little monkey you ever did see!

This year, I knew I had to get him a lion suit.  After dogs, lions were the first animal he started recognizing.  One day last April, we were reading Dr. Seuss' ABC book and he happened to have a lion on his pajamas.  When we got to the L page -- "lion with a lollipop" -- he was all excited and pointed to the page, then to his jammies.  I was shocked that he'd made the connection.

Needless to say, when it came time to purchase the pillow pet, we got him a lion.  He LOVED it.

During the last few weeks, we've also been working on animal noises.  Shocker... after dog, lion was the first sound he made.  Out of the blue, he pointed to the lion on his high chair and said "rawr!"  (After at least a week of me making roaring noises whenever we saw pictures of lions.)  He was so obviously pleased with himself.

Now he will do puppy, lion, monkey, horse, and dinosaur.  Everything else just says "rawr."

Knowing that Halloween was coming up, I started looking for a little lion suit.  How ecstatic was I when I found one at Target?!  I had Gabriel with me and when he saw the picture of the little boy in the costume, he happily exclaimed, "rawr!"  Yay!

At first he wasn't too sure about actually wearing the costume, but after I put him in it a few times, he loved it.  Now whenever he sees it, he points and says "rawr!"  (Then he tries to cuddle it like his blankie, hehe!)

So here's a picture of my ferocious but lovable lion. ♥

 Wish I could say I took this picture, but I'd be lying.

This picture is currently the background of my phone and my desktop.  Every time Gabriel catches sight of it, guess what he does?

You got it:

"Rawr!"

Crafty Girl

Happy November, everyone!  It's hard to believe it's finally here -- the month I've been looking forward to since March!  Hallie Ruth is due in just THREE days.

Last week, I promised to share more crafts with you, so here they are!  My sister liked her birthday gift so much that I decided to make some for two more of my sisters who just celebrated their birthdays last week.  I've been itching to post about them, but once again had to wait until they were received!  Only downside to having your sisters read your blog. ;)

First up is for my baby sister, who turned 13 on October 24 (eek; still can't believe she's that old).

Kenzie is probably my most "Anne-ish" sister -- definitely a kindred spirit!  I couldn't resist using this quote.  Anyway, Kenzie has a cool zebra-themed room with purple and green accents, which inspired the color scheme.  I couldn't choose between the purple or green, so I went with both and I LOVE how it turned out!  I also picked a fun font that suited my sister's personality.  Yay for customizations!

Next up is for my oldest younger sister, who turned 22 on the 29th.

I have to admit that this is my favorite one I've made.  I didn't have a specific color scheme to follow, so I just went with what fit Destiny.  Her favorite color is purple, so I spent some time browsing in Michael's to find the perfect paper.  Everything just came together really nicely with this one. :)

I like these so much that I'm probably going to make myself some!  Gabriel and Hallie are probably going to be getting something with their names/meanings... as soon as I find the time to design them!

Click here to see where I link up!

Favorite Cool Weather Dish

I stepped outside today to head to my prenatal appointment and actually shivered!  Little Man and I were both wearing shorts and t-shirts.  A glance at my weather app confirmed that it was 55 degrees!  Woohoo!  I quickly went back inside to get Gabriel a jacket and change into some jeans.

In honor of this special day--the coldest we've had yet here--I've decided to share one of my family's favorite slow cooker recipes:  Beef Stroganoff.  Besides roast beef, this is probably the meal that Drew requests the most.  It's just perfect for a cold (or cool) day, although I shamelessly make this even in the hot summer months because it's just that good. ;)

Start with some basic beef stroganoff ingredients:  beef, mushrooms, onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, flour, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, and sour cream.

My recipe calls for actual steak, but I've found that stewing meat works just as well.  It's cheap and you don't have to spend time cutting it up.  Just dump it in the slow cooker and there you go!

Mix the flour, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper in a small bowl then dump it over the meat in the crock pot.

Now here's the fun part:  coating the meat in the flour mixture!  I'm probably the only one who actually enjoys handling raw beef or chicken (but don't get me started on pork--that's enough to make me want to turn vegetarian).  I just use my fingers to toss everything, but feel free to use some sort of utensil. ;)

All done!  Now wash your hands, regardless of whether you used them or a utensil. :)

Next, combine the onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, and some water in a bowl.  I usually just use the same one; I'm all about cutting down on dishes!

Pour it over the beef and add the mushrooms, stirring to combine.  I don't use my hands here!

Set your crockpot timer (or kitchen timer) for 3.5 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.  Then sit back, relax, and wait!  I always cook it on high, because I usually make it while Gabriel's sleeping.

About 15 minutes before the stroganoff is done, add the sour cream.  It'll turn into this creamy beefy color.  Yum!  (I always like to sample it a little here, too... just to make sure it turned out!)

Serve it over rice with a side of asparagus and you can't go wrong!  Just look at it!  (You're welcome to serve it over the egg noodles, which I did the very first time I made it.  My recipe calls for rice, however, so I tried it that way the second time and have never gone back.  So yummy!)

Hope you all enjoy!  And here's to hoping I can put my shorts away for good!

Click here to see where I link up!

Beef Stroganoff Recipe

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 3/4 pounds boneless beef steak (or stew meat)

10 3/4 ounce can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup water

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 package of mushrooms, washed

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (optional)

1.  Combine flour, garlic powder, pepper, and paprika in a small bowl.

2.  Cut meat into strips (or use stew meat).  Place in slow cooker and toss in flour mixture.

3.  Combine mushroom soup, water, and onion soup mix in a small bowl.  Stir until well blended.  Pour over meat.

4.  Add mushrooms and toss until mixed.

5.  Cover and cook on High 3-3.5 hours or Low 6-7 hours.

6.  Stir in sour cream and parsley.  Cook on high 10-15 minutes.

7.  Serve over rice.

Fingers Crossed

I'm BEYOND excited for the Silhouette Cameo.  Like I mentioned here, it's number one on my Christmas list this year.  Just looking at all the different stuff one can do with this amazing piece of machinery makes me go crazy!

So... I entered two giveaways for it today!  I know I'll probably be getting it for Christmas if I don't win, but I'd absolutely love to have it before Christmas.  I have so many gift ideas to make with it that will have to wait for next year's birthdays.  I'd love to make some for this year!

I've never won anything before, so I'm trying not to get too excited.  Both giveaways I entered already had over 2,000 entries. -sigh- Still... there's always the chance, right? :)

Anyway... I have more crafts to share, so expect another blog soon!