Home Made Bagels!!! Yumm!!!!

So yesterday was one of those days where you need to go to the grocery store but you just don't feel very good. Jared takes his lunch everyday with him and packs a sandwich, well we were out of bread so the kids and I made some bagels!! They were sooo good, and way easy. We made cinnamon and sugar and then some poppy seed ones. The kids were having root beer floats and wanted to take their picture with the bagels. They are so much fun to be with!



BAGELS RECIPE
2 c. warm water, 7 c. flour
1/2 pkg. yeast, 1 TBS. salt
2 TBS. white sugar, 1 TBS. white sugar
1 TBS. veg. oil, 3 TBS. poppy seeds (optional)

1.In a large bowl, sprinkle yest over warm water to soften; stir to dissolve. Add 2 TBS. sugar, oil, 6 c. flour, and salt (I added an extra 1/2 tsp.). Mix thoroughly wuntil the dough forms up and leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out on floured board and knead, adding small amounts of remaining flour as necessary. Bagel dough should be pretty stiff. Work in as much extra flour as you can comfortably knead. Knead until smooth and elastic, 12-15 min.
2. Roll dough into a ball and place in large oiled bowl, cover and let rise for about an hour.
3. Punch down and cut into thirds, roll each piece between your palms into a rope. Cut eash rope into 4 equal pieces and shape into balls. Roll the first ball into another rope that is about 2" longer than the width of your hand. make aring with the dough, overlapping ends about 1/2" and sealing the ends. If the ends dont stick add a dab of water. Evenly place the bagels on 2 nonstick baking pans or very lightly oiled baking sheets. Cover and let stand until puffy, about 20 min.
4. While bagels are poofing, fill a 4 quart saucepan 2/3 full with cod water; add 1TBS. sugar (I added 2) and bring to a boil. When ready to cook, drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water. Cook only for 1 min. and flip once at the 30 second mark.
5. Carefully lift each bagel out with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen towl. Dip into desired topping and set evenly spaced onto a baking sheet.
6. Bake at 500 for 20 min. or until the tops begin to brown. It only took my bagels 11 min. to cook so keep an eye on them:) Let cool and enjoy

Dad Is Home!!!!

Ok so you all know that Jared is doing his OB rotation and is gone all hours of the day. Poor thing, when he gets home he is so tired and the kids just want to be around him. So, we do "a movie with dad" now so they can be with him and he can get a nap!

Rock Band And Friends

Saturday Jared and our friend Tyson took all the kids bowling while Alyson and I sat on the couch and watched Food Network! It was GREAT!!! Later we all played rock band, of course, and had a ton of fun. Alysons little girl, Ada, is 10 days old and Avery could not get enough of her!!! She is going to be a big help when this little baby gets to come home:)

Afternoon At The Park

Last Friday the weather was so nice so we decided to pack a lunch and go to the park with their cute friend Kyler! The kids love this park because it has a ton of toys that people just bring and leave there for kids to play with. Lincoln LOVES the bikes and just rides around on all the paths the whole time. Avery was watching some kids play for a min., just long enough to let me get a close up picture of her. Children are truely special and have so much love to give, I love to just sit and watch their little faces and try to think of what they are thinking about.

This is for you Raschell!

How could I resist a Disney Princess quiz!!!

You Are Snow White!

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

22 Week Belly And Baby Update

As you can see all looks normal on the outside:) Avery loves to pat my belly and give the baby a kiss, she is so sweet.....when she wants to be:)

I had the level 2 ultra sound done last Thursday and the good news is that the amnio came back normal! So this is not a genetic issue, just one of those things that happens. They were also able to find his other kidney, it was down in his little pelvis. They couldn't hardly see it but they know that something is wrong with it but they wont know until he is here. The other kidney is still sightly larger than normal but is doing good. They did find a few more things to add to our little guys list. His spine has a little twist at the bottom, like a bit of scoliosis (spelling?) and because of that it is also shifting his hips a bit and that is why the little kidney is out of place. They did catagorise his Omphalocele as large so he will need multiple surgerys to put it back. They did say that only part of his liver was on the outside and that the rest is intestines. His little bladder is also a little smaller than normal and they found a pocket of fluid next to it as well. They said that he would also need this repaired too. His little "boy part" is malformed due to the Omphalocele laying on top of it when it was forming. They couldn't see the whole thing and said we would just have to wait till he gets here for that as well. The dr. that did the ultra sound said that I should go to Johns Hopkins Hospital to deliver this sweet angel. This hospital is in Baltimore a bit over an hour away. So I am now in the process of contacting them as well as the Childrens National Hospital here in DC to see where I should go and get things figured out. Once he gets here they said he could be in the NICU as long a year, but every case is different. He is still such an active little guy and his heart still looks great! We both keep growing and await the day till we get to see each other face to face. Thanks again for all the continued support, we love you all more than you know:)

My Sweet Linc

Ok, so Jared and I have both decided that this little boy needs to hurry and get here and get through his little triles he will have so that Lincoln can have a brother and can do boy things!!! I guess until then he will just keep joining his sister in their favorite past time, painting their toes! Don't you just love little kids feet though!!!

The Best Family Ever!!!

Ok so those of you who know me know that I LOVE flowers!!! My awesome brother Jesse and his way cute "bride to be" sent these beautiful flowers to me! I must say they came just at the right time. My dr. had just called and told me that I can not fly. So I am very sad to say that I am missing one of my brothers weddings this Friday:( I had just hung up the phone and there was a knock at my door, and this is what was waiting on the other side for me! Avery was soooo excited and both her and Linc had to smell every flower there was. Thank you so much Jess and Nicole, I love you two so much.

Baby Update And Some Extras

Well I still do not have to results from the amnio back yet, but I did go to the pediatric cardiologist yesterday to get his little heart looked at. With Omphalocele it is very very common to have heart defects such as holes in their hearts plus other things. I was very nervouse that morning and thankgoodness my mom was still here with me. The appointment was an hour long and the Dr. was so kind and funny. He told me our little guy had beaten the odds and his heart looks perfect!!!! I wanted to just start crying! He does want me to come back in 6 weeks to do a follow up because he did say that there is still a chance that he could have a small hole that he missed because his little heart is still pretty small. But he said any findings from here on out, as far as the heart goes, are just minor and can be fixed!
I have another ultra sound this coming Thursday to check on his little kidney and to go over his whole body just to make sure everything is there and working ok.
I just want to say thank you for all of your prayers for us and the baby, please keep it up because I know that they are heard. Pray that this Thursday goes as well as yesterdays ultra sound and his one kidney will work just fine for him.

Ok, now for the rest of the fam update! Jared has started his OB rotation and was thrown right into it! His first day he had to scrub in on a delivery of this poor girl who was too far along for any pain meds. Jared came home and said he hopes that never happens to me so it must have not been too pretty. He has been leaving here by 4 a.m. and getting home around 8 p.m. He is so tired and I feel so bad for him. He has this weekend off and better hours next week so thank goodness for that. Lincoln is on his way to being potty trained!!!! keep your fingers crossed that that job will be done by the time the baby gets here:) Avery has started preschool and LOVES it!! She is soooo cute and has so much fun with her friends. My mom was packing last night to go home and Avery brought in her beloved doll Polish and gave it to my mom and then told her, "Here Nana, this is so you don't forget me." Of course both my mom and I started crying. Avery has a heart of gold! I am doing fine, my belly hurts most of the time but my dr. said this is normal with my pregnancy and everything. I started taking Iron and I finally have a bit more energy which is welcome with open arms at this point! Things are looking pretty normal on the outside! Ill post a belly shot later today if I can get Jared out of bed to take one:)

A Day Of Bed Rest

After I had the amnio done I had to be on bed rest for the rest of the day. Thank goodness my mom flew in a few days ago or else I don't know what I would have done. So since she was there I layed on the couch and talked on the phone! Avery and Lincoln decided they would paint my toes for me so they would be "pretty", and they turned out to be "pretty special" as you can see. It looks like someone tried to cut off my toes and found Pink blood!! We laughed so hard because everytime I had to get up to go to the bathroom I had to walk on my heels because the paint was seriously all around my toes and they would stick to the floor! I love my kids, I can't not smile when I look at them.