I went to the doctor today and she said that the baby could come any day. She said she might see me this weekend! What! That sent Kevin and I into needing to take a couple deep breathes. This baby is definitely coming early and no wonder, look at how big I am. The last couple weeks Abbey has really taken an interest in the baby. She wants to see the baby and hug the baby and kiss the "baby". Slightly inconvenient when we are out in public when she starts lifting up my shirt. The whole thing is so cute and special. And I am praying she likes the baby as much once he or she is here. Speaking of he or she, what is your vote on if we are having a boy or girl? Abbey is insisting baby is a girl. "I want a small sister", she says. So there's one vote for girl.
I am proud to say that our first child is potty trained. I was nervous about the whole thing and definitely had my doubts going into it. But I thought I had to try before this next baby comes. So, I asked the facebook world for any tips and a friend, Amanda from our old Sunday school class in Tucson told me about this 3 day method that she swore by. You throw away all your left over diapers, you use no pull ups, only underwear(even at night and naps, yikes!) and it is all positive reinforcement (no consequences or hinting that you are frustrated). Oh, and you never ask if they have to use the potty. You just keep saying over and over again, "Tell mommy when you have to use the potty" that way they learn when they have to go and to tell you. The whole method made sense to me and I felt more confident. But the first day Abbey went through 30 pairs of underwear and I thought she would never get it and I wanted to give up. But Amanda encouraged me to keep going. So, we were home bound for 3 days drinking lots of juice, putting lots of stickers on the little potty (especially veggie tales stickers), enjoying chocolate covers raisins after any success and singing a made up potty song over and over again. But at the end of 3 days Abbey had no accidents during the day and after 5 days none at night and naps. Complete success!! Great job Abbey!!
The rain has stopped and it is heating up around here. So we headed to the beach to have a little fun. Abbey especially loves the water and sand and being in a bathing suit so she was in heaven running on the beach.
Abbey joined these boys in their sand castle to play with all their toys until a wave came and destroyed it. And isn't it amazing how fast kids make friends.
I want to blog about something else besides Abbey all the time but it is just so hard when she is just so darn cute. So here is my attempt to share about other things going on in our family.
I love to cook. I don't like to bake but I love to cook so I hope to introduce some of my favorite recipes now and then. The picture above does not do this dish justice but it is definitely one of our favorite shrimp recipes. Abbey is not a fan of sea food yet so she usually eats something else. Not ideal to make two meals for dinner but we love it so much it's worth it. Try it out and let me know what you think.
Ingredients: 1 lb. large shrimp in the shell (I use about 20/lb. size) 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tbsp. dry white wine Kosher salt and black pepper 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature 4 tsp. minced garlic (about 4 cloves) 2 tbsp. minced shallots 1 1/2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley 1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary leaves 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 large egg yolk, lightly beaten 1/3 cup panko Lemon wedges, for serving
Directions: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.
In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper until combined.
Starting from the center of an oval or round baking dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer in the dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Place under the broiler for 1 additional minute to brown the top. Serve with lemon wedges.
Wednesday's at 10am have been a highlight for Abbey. We go to our local record store downtown called Boo Boo's Records for music time. Heidi is the woman who runs the program. She dresses like a rock star and always wears a flower in her hair and leads kids in acting out childrens songs. She plays songs like "Wheels on the Bus" and the "fire Truck" song. Abbey loves going to Boo Boo's and so you have to imagine our sadness when Heidi tearfully said the program was ending. At the last music time we showed up early to get a good spot. There were 75 parents plus their kids packed into the tiny back room. It was madness and Abbey seemed to take on the personality of the party like atmosphere. She was a wild woman that day; running through the crowded room, getting up and down the stage, lying down on the stage and taking music shakers from other kids. Needless to say I was excited when the last song which is always the very popular "Fire Truck" song came on. Abbey of course ran up on the stage to party. Well, on this last music time ever, on the last playing of the"Fire Truck" song ever, Abbey (accidentally) pulled the cord. The music went silent and all you hear are voices singing the song for the last 30 seconds. That's my wild child for yah, she always leaves an impression. :)
A recent adventure that we had has been on my mental wish list since we first moved here. A couple miles out of town there are these hills that are just gorgeous during the spring. They are electric green and it reminds me of Ireland. For years I would think how can I get back there to hike around some day. It was all private land until a couple months ago when it opened up to public use. Needless to say we packed a picnic and took an easy Saturday afternoon hike. We had a lot of fun exploring another beautiful central coast spot. For anyone that is local the hike is called Johnson Ranch hike , off the 101 between SLO and the Avila Beach exits.
It has been a pretty rainy winter here on the Central Coast. So, when the rain stops we take full advantage of being outside with our active two year old. Most of the time we go to the park but we have discovered an adventure right outside our door by walking up the hill that we live on.
Kevin showed Abbey how to put leaves in the run off water and watch them float away. Her favorite was putting a flower in a half of a walnut shell, calling it a "boat" and then letting it loose in the water. She loves to watch them race done the hill until see can't see them any more. Sometimes she'll chase after the leaf and other times she'll just lie down and play in the water. What does your family do after it rains?
I went to the doctor today and she said that the baby could come any day. She said she might see me this weekend! What! That sent Kevin and I into needing to take a couple deep breathes. This baby is definitely coming early and no wonder, look at how big I am. 
The last couple weeks Abbey has really taken an interest in the baby. She wants to see the baby and hug the baby and kiss the "baby". Slightly inconvenient when we are out in public when she starts lifting up my shirt. The whole thing is so cute and special. And I am praying she likes the baby as much once he or she is here. 
Speaking of he or she, what is your vote on if we are having a boy or girl? Abbey is insisting baby is a girl. "I want a small sister", she says. So there's one vote for girl.
