Trader Joe's Tuesday: Blue Cheese Roasted Pecan Dip

This is one of my favorite appetizer items at Trader Joe's. It is one of those things that I wouldn't normally buy because I am the only one who will eat this in my house. I decided to give in since it was the holidays...and I've been wanting to feature it for a while.

Obviously you have to like Blue Cheese to like this, but it's surprisingly NOT overpowering (it's blended with cream cheese and sour cream, so it's not all blue cheese) and is so yummy with some bland crackers (like water crackers or TJs Multigrain Rounds) and grapes.

Christmas fun!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's was fun, as always. Some of the fun things we (and when I say "we" I mean the kids) did was:

jump on the trampoline in 40 degree weather

pout on the trampoline

fall asleep in the chair after jumping on the trampoline
(and eating too many cookies)

Christmas morning was full of surprises!
Sammy loved his train set.Hannah loved her doll

Check out the Disney CARS books

And the princess dress-up set for Hannah

And Santa also made a stop at our house too!
Sammy got a Hot Wheels race track.

And another doll for Hannah!

Time to break out the princess dress-up set!Hannah also got a tricycle like Sammy's, except it's pink and I didn't get a picture of it. I'm lucky I got the ones I did. Hope everyone had a fun filled Christmas!

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Pastry Bites with Feta Cheese & Carmelized Onions

I didn't forget that it was Tuesday! I was at Trader Joe's this morning and used my the camera on my phone to take this picture.

These are sooooo divine and would probably be pretty easy to make if I wasn't such a bad cook and a wee bit lazy. They smell so good while cooking, it would be worth it to buy them just for the smell. My only complaint about these are that you only get 12 pieces for $4.99. A little pricey in my opinion, plus 12...come on...I could eat all 12 by myself! (In my defense, they are bite-sized). They would be worth the price if there were 24 pieces instead. Still if you need a quick appetizer or just craving a pastry puff, check these out.

Or at least be sure to have one when they offer them as a sample. And then maybe circle the store once or twice and get another sample. I'm just suggesting...

sickness and pregnancy are NOT a good combination

I've been sick on and off since Thanksgiving. It all started with a fairly harmless sore throat and dry cough. The runny/stuffy nose I had already been dealing with due to being pregnant, so I wasn't sure if that was actual sickness or just the norm.

Every time I keep thinking I am better, the cough flares up or the runny/stuffy nose gets worse for a few days. This past week, I was hoping that I was getting better. I missed being able to sing Christmas carols and our church choir was doing the music for the entire service the Sunday before Christmas and I wanted to be sure to be there.

Unfortunately, it all hit me like a truck on Friday. I positively could not stop coughing all day Friday and Saturday, and my poor nose went through an entire "family sized" box of Puffs with Lotion tissues in less than 2 days--and it is still red and raw. Saturday night I was up most of the night and Sunday was the absolute worst day for coughing, plus my ears were now hurting.

After my doctor appointment today, I apparently have either cracked or broken a rib from all my coughing on Sunday (they can't tell for sure without doing an x-ray, which they obviously can't do). It now hurts to breath most of the time, so coughing/sneezing/blowing my nose is pretty much agony. I also have bronchitis (obviously, with all the coughing and crap that I am coughing up!).

I will be 32 weeks pregnant on Wednesday and it takes 2-3 months for the rib to heal, so this should make for an interesting delivery. I can't even IMAGINE having to deliver a baby when I can't even sit down in a chair or lie down in bed comfortably.

We are off to my parents house tomorrow, so they can help me out since I can't do much--and can't get a ton of rest with two kids demanding my attention. Not to mention, how guilty I feel for parking them in front of the TV basically everyday since Friday because I've been so sick. I'm sure they will be much happier to have cousins and Grandma and Grandpa to play with.

So, there is my update. I'm sure I won't post again until after Christmas, so I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

adventures in co-sleeping

As most people who read my blog know--we co-sleep at our house.

It was never planned. When I was pregnant with Sammy I decorated the nursery with everything I could have imagined I needed. The dark cherry wood sleigh crib with matching changing table and glider with ottoman. I love the Classic Pooh design and hunted down every last matching piece of their ABC line on Ebay. I had just about everything you could get, right down to the matching hamper and wall hanging.

I remember sitting in the glider, thinking about my soon-to-be-born son and how we would spend nights in here rocking to sleep.

None of it has ever been used except for the glider and ottoman.

Due to random circumstances from birth (and an incompetent nurse), Sammy had to stay in the NICU for 4 days after he was born due to breathing issues. When we finally brought him home, I put him in the cradle (matched the crib, of course) next to our bed, but seriously got up every few minutes to make sure he was still breathing. Samuel and I finally just decided that we would just put him in the bed between us, so we could hear him breathing.

He has never left our bed since.

I was concerned about what to do when Hannah was born. Sammy was just 2 1/2 and I knew he wouldn't react well to being kicked out of our bed and have his spot replaced by his sister, but I didn't want her sleeping next to him since he would probably roll over on her.

We decided to buy an arms reach co-sleeper to put next to our bed on my side. It worked out perfectly. When she was still really little, I would nurse her and then put her in the co-sleeper to sleep. As she got older and I was more comfortable having her in the bed so close to me, she just slept on the "edge" of the bed with the co-sleeper right beside her (it attaches to your bed, so there is no gap) and she would roll into there if she moved around too much.

It's worked out really well for us so far. Now that she is older, she likes to sleep on the other side of me next to Sammy. The sleeping order in bed was originally Samuel, Sammy, me and Hannah. Now it's Samuel, Sammy, Hannah and me.

Oh and the cat. In our queen sized bed.

Yes, our cat Pumpkin who was our first "child" before Sammy was born, used to sleep between us (where Sammy sleeps now). He still loves to sleep with us and always manages to find a spot. He also loves to nap with the kids.


I have many more pics like these, but I will spare you. :)

Yes, Sammy does have his own bed (with Lightning McQueen sheets) in his own room, but he refuses to sleep in there. I know at some point, he will want his own bed, so I'm just waiting for that to happen.

Yes, it can get crowded (especially when you are 7 months pregnant), but since Samuel works the night shift 3 nights a week, it allows us a little more room at times. I love when we go to visit my parents and they give us their king sized bed to sleep in. We don't know what to do with all the extra room!!

So, the plan for now is to just add baby #3 to the mix. The co-sleeper is still next to my bed (although the other cats think it's now their bed), but I will just use that for baby #3 for now.

I know it's not for everyone, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Anyone interested in some Classic Pooh crib bedding? I've decided to list my entire collection on Craigs List since it will never be used at our house.

A few preggo pics

I was lamenting about how I never take any pictures when I am pregnant, and enlisted Dana to take a few while we were at the park last week. I have only one picture from when I was pregnant with Sammy and maybe 4 or 5 with Hannah.

So, here I am at 30 weeks.


Thanks Dana for your fancy camera work!

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Holiday Favorites

I'm back! With all the yummy Christmas treats that Trader Joe's only carrries during the holidays, I am going to list just a few items that I love.


Dark Chocolate Star Cookies with Sprinkles This is a new favorite--I actually just discovered them today. I'm usually not a fan of dark chocolate, but these are oh-so-yummy. Hannah ate 4 of them in no time...me too.


Mini Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti I don't drink coffee, but these are good enough to eat straight out of the box without any beverage dipping needed. Careful, they are small in size and you will eat the entire box before you know it. Really.

Mixed Berry Tarte Another yummy discovery from today. I just love to go to potlucks where people bring in new Trader Joe's food--it is so much fun and always tasty. This tarte has a soft buttery almond crust with a sweet berry flavor. Reminds me of the Knotts Raspbery Shortbread cookies, but at least 20 times better. (no picture because they were all out of them when I went tonight)

Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe-Joes Enough said.

'tis the season

I know the holiday season can be crazy, but I love all the activities and sharing or starting new traditions with the kids.

Sammy had his holiday performance at school on Friday. It's always so cute to see them up there with all the older kids--it makes them seem so little.

We went to Souplantation for dinner that night to celebrate. Sammy asks almost every day to go there--a boy after my own heart. This month, they have the yummiest herbed turkey soup complete with stuffing to put on top, and orange-cranberry muffins. It tastes just like a Thanksgiving dinner. Sooooo good.

Even though we got our Christmas tree last Friday, we hadn't decorated it yet because of Sam's busy work schedule. So Saturday evening we were finally ready with all the lights and decorations. The kids were so excited!! I love that they they are getting old enough to really get into the Christmas traditions and remember them from the year before.

We put on "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" while we decorated (seriously the kids favorite show, they ask to watch it every day) and we all had so much fun.

Has anyone else noticed that this is Sammy's new smile for pictures?
yeah, me too...

I just think this picture is so sweet.
She was totally enamored with the nutcracker

Caught in the act!

Daddy helped to put the ornaments up high

Yep, that would be my big preggo tummy right there...

I just love her curls in this pictureI just love Sammy's face in this picture.

And yep, big tummy again...

After while the kids decided that they wanted to take pictures of things.

Starting with the TV...

the tree...

Mommy and Sammy

And then each other (these were actually pretty good!)...

We finished off the night eating tamales and drinking champurrado. Such a great weekend!

Our Tree!

Oh, and Sammy's kissy face!! :)

Cozy morning

Gotta love cold and rainy mornings cuddled on the couch watching TV...

More holiday fun!!

Last Sunday my brother was blessing his new son at church, so Saturday we headed out to my parents house to spend the night. They were having a local Christmas celebration with a train ride, photos with Santa, bounce house (sort of), and more.

The bounce house was a circus train that the kids could climb through--it was hard to see inside, so I'm not sure how "bouncy" it really was. It seemed like more of an obstacle course--whatever it was Sammy had a blast. Hannah was all set to go, but chickened out at the last minute.

There were 6 circus cars, but I couldn't get all of it a photo

We headed over to the train ride. The line was super long...at least 70 people...and the train held about 12 people at a time. Needless to say, it took a loooong time. We left Grandma and Grandpa in line while I took the kids over the the "snow". We thought maybe they would have brought it snow, but it was just a snow flurry machine. Fun to walk through, but the kids really didn't get it.

They were trying to get under all the flurries.
It's so faint, you can't even see the snow in this picture

Cousin Ira and Hannah

It was almost our turn, so we went back over to the train.
Hooray! The train is here!Uncle Mark w/his kids (they're looking the other way)
and Samuel, Sammy and Hannah

I am embarrassed to say that we didn't get any pictures from the baby blessing. Their ward meets from 1pm-4pm, so we left right after Sacrament meeting to get home before dark. We had planned to do the walk through at the Light Festival at Griffith Park (Sunday was the last day to do it), but we were all too tired and ready to get home, so we missed out. We may try the drive through this week and see how it goes.