Chocolate Overboard

The Death by Chocolate was so much fun! I was kind of worried that I would be sick of all that chocolate but because there were so many different flavors that did not happen :) It was all so good! Like I had said before there were 10 chefs/creators from the area competing. Here is what we got to sample:

-Espresso gelato inside a chocolate dipped cannoli topped with frozen raspberries (I really enjoyed the gelato. Didn't care too much for the cannoli and I'm not a fan of fruit and chocolate.)



-apples and pretzels dipped in caramel, then white chocolate, and then chocolate (this was awesome!! And it happened to win People's Choice.)



-chocolate bar type thing - this started out with a chocolate/nut combo. crust then that was topped with a chocolate mousse and finally topped with melted chocolate that had hardened (this one was fantastic!!)



-traditional type tiramisu (didn't care for this at all. The espresso was overpowering and the ladyfingers that had been soaked in it were falling apart because they were so saturated.)



-new twist on a s'more (another awesome dessert! this was made with a homemade chocolate graham cracker, filled with homemade marshmallow and then it was dipped in milk chocolate.)



-new twist on tiramisu (This one had a chocolate type chewy wafer and topped with a hazelnut mousse. I didn't care for this one.)



-chocolate mousse enhanced with vodka (This one was voted the winner by the 4 judges at the event. It had a chocolate mousse and then around the outside of the plate were 2 different types of flavor. One was a sauce made with raspberry vodka, the other was a white chocolate sauce made with traditional vodka. It was really good!!)

-cheesecake made to taste like the Samoas cookies (this one was my favorite!! It had all the flavors of the Samoas - coconut, caramel, and chocolate. It was also topped with crushed Samoas.)



-Buffalo chips (these are made at local dessert lunch spot in town and are shipped around the country. They are basically chips dipped in chocolate. They also have chips that they first dip in caramel and then in chocolate.)



-Cold Stone Creamery also competed. (They served triple chocolate romance and the midnight delight. I only tried the romance one. It was pretty good but I'm not a huge fan of ice cream with a cake.)



We had a great time at the event. I even hinted to Auntie that I wouldn't complain if I got the same gift for my birthday next year :) We didn't win any of the silent auctions but that OK. It was still a blast!!


*The first picture in the post is a picture of the sculpture that is made entirely out of chocolate. It was made by the celebrity judge attending the event, Susan Notter.


**I also did not get a picture of all the desserts. I had forgotten to snap pictures right away so after most of the tasting was done Mike went around and took pictures of the desserts that were left.

Too Soon? (Part 2)

So I ended the last post saying that I basically threatened my child – sit on the potty or no new toys. But miraculously it worked after about 15-20 minutes of coaxing. He did finally sit on the potty and what did the little stinker do?? He peed a total of three times and even managed to poop a little. If you would have walked into our house around then you would have seen two very happy parents.

I thought that that would be the hardest part but now since then he refuses to sit on the potty. He's done it since about a handful of times but every.single.time has been a battle. And I do not want to have to battle with him every flippin' time I want him to sit on the toilet. So I am asking you – what should I do? Do I give up for awhile and try again in a couple of weeks or do I continue to threaten tell my child that his toys will continue to be taken away unless he does what I ask?

*Reminder – since this was written about 1 ½ months ago things have STILL not improved. Last night if you had walked by our home you would have thought WWIII was going on. There was so much yelling, screaming, crying and begging going on by everyone. (OK – I don't think Mike cried)

**I have finally put up some new videos! Check them out on each of the sidebars!

What We're Up To

Tonight Mike & I are going out on a date and it's not just out to dinner. We are going to an event called Death by Chocolate. Doesn't that sound delicious?? It is an annual event to help raise money for the Girls Scouts in the area. There will be 10 area chefs competing by making different chocolate desserts. There will also be a celebrity chef there to make a giant chocolate sculpture. And all the desserts that are made are free for people attending to eat. How great is that?? My Aunt got me two tickets to the event for my birthday. I cannot wait to see what it's all about - I'll be taking my camera.

Eight more days and Mike & I will be heading to Minneapolis for the weekend. We're going down to visit Taylor one last time before his school year ends. We're staying at the same hotel we did last time but we'll remember our swimsuits this time around :) We're also going to leave on a Friday so it doesn't feel like we're driving all weekend long! And we'll of course make a stop at Trader Joe's before we come home. LOVE that place!!

I got a great rate on our hotel too - if you've never used priceline.com I highly suggest you check it out! I got our room for only $50/night. And we're staying at the Hilton! It really is a nice hotel and last time we didn't have any problems while we were there. The beds were super-comfy also, which is the most important thing.

Logan will be staying with Mike's Mom while we're gone. We're hoping she'll have the magic touch and will get him potty-trained :) Hey, I can dream right??

I'll post the next installment of yesterday's post in the next couple of days.

Too Soon?

(This post was originally from the beginning of January - it had gotten lost in my to-be-published folder.)

We have begun potty-training *insert huge groan*. On Friday I was out shopping/returning things, while I was out Auntie called to say she was thinking of coming over to paint the wall some more (yay!). We decided to meet at Ace Hardware to buy some green paint for the "grass" on the wall. While we were there I noticed an aisle of toys and to my surprise they were all 50% off. They were great toys too – everything from John Deere tractors to Thomas the Train to Play Town. I had never heard of Play Town before, it is very similar to Little People except the little figures are made of wood. I was contemplating what to buy for Munchkin when I saw this and new it was perfect! And it was half price – you can't beat that! So I bought that along with two other pirates made by the same company fully intending to give him the toys with no strings attached.

But while on the way to meet Mike for lunch my brilliant plan began to unfold. We would "bribe" Logan. We would show him the new little toys but he could only have them on the condition that he sit on the potty and pee or poop while on it. Yes, we have high expectations don't we – but you see, he has been telling us for at least 6 months every time he has to poop and lately has been waking up in the mornings with a dry diaper. So I figured it was time.

So that night while getting him ready for his bath I took out the new toys and sat them on the bathroom counter where he could plainly see them. He excitedly yelled, "Pirates. Arrgh!" and went to grab them. I promptly snatched them away and told him he could have them on one condition – he had to sit on the potty without pants on and without a diaper.

*Will write more later – this is getting long*

A Logan Funny

Just a quick little Logan funny for the day that happed when I picked him up from daycare. I was putting him into the car and he must have bumped his head a little.

He quickly shouted, "Mommy! You bonked my head!"

I told him, "No, I didn't."

He then replied, "Oh! I bonked my head!"

I just shook my head and laughed.

After I got into the truck he again started up, "Mommy - you bonked my head!" I kept replying that no, I did not. After a couple of minutes of this I said, "Logan! You bonked my head!" He giggled and said no he didn't. I kept telling him that, "Yes, you bonked Mommy on the head." His final reply to me??

"Whatever."

My child said whatever to me. OMG did I crack up!

Baby News

We had our doctor's appointment this morning - everything is going good so far. We were able to hear the heartbeat - 150 bpm. The doctor has predicted it will be a girl. My weight was up 3 lbs. from the last visit so overall I am still down 1 lb. from my first appointment. Blood pressure was good - let's hope it stays that way. When I was pregnant with Logan I had to stop working 3 weeks early because it kept rising.

I asked the doctor about the prenatal vitamins. He said they do make chewable ones that I could try or I could take 2 Flintstone vitamins each day. After talking with my MIL (who is a pharmacist at the clinic we go to) I decided to go with the Flinstone ones. I was able to chew them up without a problem and so far no gross burping has occurred.

Saturday we had a nice day here where we could actually go outside and play a bit. My Mom & Dad stopped over with a sled for Logan and we decided to build a snowman. We had bought this "snowman kit" and decided to finally use it. They are LED lights that will light up for 8 hours and then are off for 16 hours. It looks pretty cool at night. Logan got a kick out of trying to help Grampy roll the snow.

Tonight it's back to being cold. It's something like negative-I-can't-feel-my-toes degrees out. Too cold to do anything!

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow - we should get to hear the baby's heartbeat. I have got to remember to ask him if there are any prenatal vitamins that will not make me burp constantly.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had to work tonight which is why this post is so late. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day. I had a pretty low-key day. Once Mike got home though I did get a gift certificate to the spa. Oh yeah!! Now I just have to decide if I want a facial/massage, scalp massage, or just a massage. So many choices (not that I'm complaining). We got Logan this book - he loves it. It really is one of the neatest books that I have seen for a toddler. He loves making the animals "run" and "fly". I bought Mike a toaster. Oh yes, I bought him a toaster for V-day. Know what his reaction was?? He LOVED it! It might help that he completely hated ours but he really does like this one. My parents stopped by right before I had to leave for work. They came bearing gifts too - Logan got some new cars and PJ's, I got flowers and Mike got popcorn balls. I did steal a popcorn ball and took it to work though :) YUMMY!!

I made these for Mike & Logan also.

On another note, the kitchen is almost completed. We have a little bit of touching up to do and Mike has to put the wood-corner-thingamajigs back up. I really like the color that we chose. It's a nice deep red and really compliments all the wood in the kitchen/dining area.

Baby Baby (Update)

I just thought I would give an update on how I'm feeling. I'm sure I'm going to totally jinx myself by telling you that I haven't had any morning sickness yet. First thing tomorrow morning I'll probably begin praying to the porcelain God. I've felt good so far though, no more scares like last week. Thank goodness - noone needs to go through that!

As long as I eat a little something every couple of hours I seem to feel fine. I've been craving Sunkist pop so I've been drinking that quite a bit. My next doctor's visit is on the 20th - we should get to hear the heartbeat at the appointment!

Forgot to mention before but I seem to have the same afflictions as I did when I was pregnant with Logan. LOTS of new hair growth and outbreaks beginning on my face and back. I'm sure the "troll" nose will happen as I get further along. Taylor will be pleased to hear the last one especially.

Language

It still amazes me how much Logan is talking. The other day we were driving in the truck and he saw a person walking on the sidewalk. He pointed out that they shouldn't walk on the road. I agreed and said they should not. He then said matter-of-fact like that if they did "it would be dangerous". I don't think I had ever heard him say that before. He still has trouble saying some words, though, such as:

-table is pronounced tatle

-shirt is shirk

-anything that starts with an "s" for example if he says snowman it comes out as nowman. He leaves the "s" off of the words except for sleep – he can say that just fine

-please is pease

One of the things he does that just completely cracks me up is when he wakes up. Most of the time he won't get out of his bed until he's yelled, "Mommy? I all done sleeping now!" Once I answer him he gets down.

Pain, Sadness, Joy

Sunday night while playing cards I began to feel cramping but it wasn't painful, just very uncomfortable. It was close to Logan's bedtime so in between one of the rounds I stood up to tell him it was time for bed. I felt this "dropping" sensation and my pants felt instantly wet. I ran upstairs and looked and saw blood - everywhere. I began yelling for Mike to come upstairs and to hurry. He came into the bathroom and the only words I could utter were, "I lost the baby." Mike asked if I was feeling ok and I said yes I felt fine. I began to undress and then climbed into the shower. Mike went downstairs to tell our guests I wasn't feeling well and to put Logan to bed. While I was showering a million thoughts began going through my head.

What had I done wrong? Why me? My pregnancy with Logan went so smoothly, what happened with this one? How can I recover from this? Will I want to get pregnant again? How can I be so sad over someone I never met? Why Me? WHY ME??

Mike waited in the bathroom until I was done. As soon as I came out of the shower he wrapped me in his arms and I just began to sob. I couldn't stop crying and the harder he held me the more I cried. I just wanted to crawl in bed and go to sleep. Only that sleep wouldn't come. As soon as I thought I was ok I would just begin to cry again. My heart was aching and I had no way to fix it.

Monday morning Mike stayed home from work. When I woke up I called the doctor to tell them I needed to come in. When asked why I broke down when I told them I had a miscarriage the previous night. They scheduled me to come in at 1:45 that afternoon. My brother and his friend came over to watch Logan while we went to the doctor. We didn't expect to be that long - what could they do?

While talking with the doctor I explained what had happened - how I knew I had lost the baby. He examined me and said that I had been dialted about 1 cm and my cervix was beginning to close back up. He said from the description Mike & I gave him that it sounded as though I had miscarried but he wanted me to have an ultrasound just to make sure and to see if there was anything remaining that needed to come out. Mike & I shook our heads because we KNEW the ultrasound would show us nothing. I didn't want an ultrasound - why would I want to see where the baby should be, but was now no longer there?

We went back to the waiting room and waited for my name to be called. When we got in the room the ultrasound technician said, "I hear you've had some bleeding." I replied with, "That's an understatement." I didn't expect to see anything good and felt this was such a waste. She put the gel on my belly and as soon as the wand touched my skin we saw something on the monitor. Our baby appeared on the screen, first I saw the head, then a leg, and then I saw an arm. That baby was there and it was moving! I couldn't believe it and I instantly began to cry. She recorded the heartbeat - 167 bpm. As healthy as ever! She knew we weren't expecting that. I couldn't believe it - the joy completely overwhelmed me. She printed out the very first pictures of our little one for us to take.

We met with the doctor one final time and found out that what I experienced was a sort of hemorrage. It happens sometimes to women who are pregnant. The blood was not from the baby or the placenta - it was all mine. It was basically a period that didn't happen. Even the doctor seemed very surprised at the outcome - we were all expecting the worst.

When we got home we showed Logan the new pictures. He carried them around all night and showed everyone. "That's my baby. In Mommy's belly."