Call Me Cook

So about once a day, I get an expression on my face that looks like this:


And I am asking myself this.....
"What am I going to make for dinner?"

Sound familiar? Well if so, it is time for you to visit my brother Jake and sister-in-law Amanda's website: www.callmecook.com. It is full of tried and tested wonderful recipes. It actually gets me (a pregnant, tired, usually cranky by dinner time girl) excited about cooking again. Who isn't in need of some inspiration now and then?

Beautiful Bride

July 31, 2009 was a good day. Congrats Whit and Tyler!

Girlfriends. Kenzie, Whitney, Whitney and Annie.

Adam, Todd and Jordan.

Baby Update and More

So I guess it is time to post some pictures of pregnant me. We realized a few weeks back we hadn't even taken a single picture of me pregnant yet so we took my first one at about 18 weeks, which is the one below.



So here we are at nearly 24 weeks and counting. (Please excuse the messy, undone hair!) I can't believe how much he has grown in the last few weeks, which means I also can't believe how much I have grown in the last few weeks.



Here are some things I love about being pregnant:

* I love to feel him kicking and moving. It makes it all real. Todd thinks it is fun to shine a flash light on my belly because baby pushes back on the light. It is their little game.
* I love it when he gets the hiccups. So cute!
* I love seeing other peoples sweet babies and knowing soon enough we will have our own.
* I love hearing his heart beating.
* I love to see peoples smiles when they see a pregnant belly. There is something about it that people are drawn to (obviously more women than men!). It is even fun to have strangers ask how far along I am, except for Todd's coworker who asked him if I was having the baby really soon. Hmmm....NOPE.
* I love just thinking about the fact that I have a little person living inside of me, depending on me. I think it is the neatest thing I will ever experience in my life and I feel blessed I get the opportunity.

Now allow me to make one or two little complaints about being pregnant:

* Insane muscle cramps in my calves. I had heard some people say they experienced these when they were pregnant, and I have now joined the club. Altering my diet a little has helped lately, but I wake up afraid to stretch out my legs at all!
* Maternity clothes. Enough said.

But overall, I feel like I have had a great pregnancy so far and time is flying. December 5th will be here before we know it and there is still a lot to do before he comes.

Some other things have been growing around our house besides me and baby. Todd picked this entire bowl of cherries off of our very own cherry tree in our backyard! I am so happy it actually grew cherries because my favorite dessert in the world is homemade cherry pie with vanilla ice cream. And the great thing is you can freeze these cherries and have cherry pie all year long. Yeah!




This lovely flower randomly grew on the side of our driveway. I liked it until we found the huge, bright yellow spider living on it! Have you ever seen a spider like this in your life?

Our Home Makeover

So I finally gave in and took some pictures of our house. We are getting closer to finishing the projects we have begun, and then have millions of projects waiting, but we have made some progress. This entire process is fun, stressful and very tiring. I don't know if I could do it all over again because now I know just how much work it is! That being said, I have to say there is something very fulfilling in creating your own little nest! Todd and I (and really mostly Todd) have done all the work by ourselves, except for the granite countertops. Those were magically there one day when we got home from work, which felt so nice to just have something done by someone else when we got home, even though we paid the price! So here is a sneak peak of the Crowther house hold.....

BATHROOM BEFORE... (lovely!)


BATHROOM AFTER... (still not totally finished)


KITCHEN BEFORE... (thanks brother Rob, who came and steam cleaned our tile)


KITCHEN AFTER... (also not totally finished yet)

This picture doesn't do the kitchen justice, first because you can't tell from this picture that those cabinets took 3 months to refinish but second, because you can hardly see the cute backsplash Todd put in for me. It is a tan stone in a brick pattern and it turned out so cute! He did such a good job tiling the backsplash and bathroom shower, considering it was his first time ever tiling.

And there you have it! The kitchen still needs painted walls, crown and base board and a few other touch up things and then it will truly be finished. The bathroom also just has a few finishing jobs to do, but for the most part they are done and it feels so good! Our next projects will be our yard and a nursery for baby. Oh boy, there is so much to do still! And by the way, this doesn't excuse you from coming to visit us in Oakley!!!

AND IT'S A......

I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. YAY for a baby BOY! Bring on the snakes and snails and puppy dog tails! And can I just say that ultrasounds are the most amazing thing on the earth?

Happy Holiday!

Happy 4th of July everyone! This is one of my favorite holidays. I love my country. I love what America stands for and still stands for, FREEDOM! We are all so blessed to live in America, so enjoy whatever you are doing and whoever you are celebrating with!



OH AND P.S..... We find out what baby is on Tuesday, so check back soon. My bet is a boy, what do you think?!

Happy Birthday Todd!

So I am a few days early but I won't have time to do this on his real birthday, which is Saturday June 20. He is turning 26, seriously? So old! I just wanted to list 10 reasons why I love Todd.

1. He is so in love with me. I realize that sounds conceited, but I love that Todd loves me. I love that he wanted to date me bad enough to hang in there through multiple break ups. I love that he wanted to marry me so much that he proved he would do anything for me. And now I love that he loves me enough to look past my flaws and still want to make me as happy as possible. It is the best feeling to feel so loved!
2. Another reason I love Todd, he makes me laugh and usually he isn't even trying to. He has a great sense of humor but he also has a cute personality. One of my favorite recent smiles he put on my face was when we were shopping and he revealed to me in all seriousness that one day when he retires, he wants to work at a sample stand in Costco!
3. Todd has a humility about him. He has nothing to prove. He isn't above anyone or anything.
4. Todd is always the first to apologize.
5. He is a hard worker. He comes home from work and starts to work on our house. He enjoys accomplishing things.
6. He is a handy man. In the last few months he has shown me some skills I didn't know he had like cooking, plumbing, tiling and much more. (If you ask him he will tell you everything he knows he learned from working at Lee's Deli ;)
7. He is patient, specially with a pregnant wife. The other day I started making cinnamon rolls and I got so angry with my sticky dough I nearly lost it! He came into the kitchen, calmed me down and saved the day! Who knew he knew how to make cinnamon rolls?
8. He is an optimist. He keeps a smile even when he has a right to be put out or sad. He finds a way to laugh in situations I am usually more tempted to cry about.
9. He will be a wonderful dad. I love that he asks me to read to him about what is going on with our baby each week.
10. He is my best friend. Everything he does he does with me in mind. He has provided with me more than I could have dreamed of at this point in life. I love being with him. Everything is more fun with Todd.

Happy Birthday Todd!