For the Grandparents...

...and any and all other Charlie-Marie fans.

I promise to get up to date one of these days. So for now you can enjoy these treasures. Pictures just do not do her justice. No matter how many pictures I take, I cannot really capture how beautiful and special she is. Something about her spirit cannot be captured in pictures.
You can see how she is already growing so much. Her face is rounding out.
Don't miss the videos at the end too!

Snuggling with Grandma Mookie


Snuggling with Skippy


Lovin' from Mommy and Daddy
(this dress is still so big on her, but I was dying to dress her up)

So precious!


Kisses from Mommy



Smiling with Mookie


My little monkey



The most she has ever cried...bathtime in the hospital.

INTRODUCING...

Charlie-Marie Savannah BrewerBorn Thursday

January 21, 2010
at 5:27 am
weighing in at
6lbs 0.5oz
and 19 in. long

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome our little one into our family. It seems like I have known her forever. I have so much to share with you all about the pre-labor, labor, delivery, and of course our beautiful baby girl. SO BEAUTIFUL!!! However, I am tired and between sleeping, eating, and feeding it has taken me this long just to get this much up. We are all so very, very happy and healthy. I can't wait to give more updates so for now, enjoy some of these pictures and video!

She is about 2 hours old here.

Little feet!

Finally I get to really hold and see her!

This is a terrible picture, but I love it because I was so happy - I'd JUST given birth to my little girl!

Passed out after a feeding (it almost looks like she is posing)

Passed out again!

Snuggling with Grandma

Catching some Zzzzzz's

She gets so wide-eyed sometimes!

Heading home

SHOCKING!

Watch me Grow and 39 Week Update

Isn't it fun to see the progress?

Well, still no baby. I guess it shouldn't be a big surprise considering my official due date is still a week away, but I was having more contractions and cues that labor was in the not too distant future at the beginning of the month than I am now! I remember on New Years day never thinking I would make it this far. I am not frustrated and I am mentally preparing myself that I could even be overdue. BUT I REALLY, REALLY hope not. Besides, I feel like things are gearing back up ever since my doctor's appointment this morning.

It is amazing how within one week so much more discomfort can set in. Suddenly everything aches! My lower back, my upper belly, my feet, my shins (I really think I am getting shin splints), and my lower legs and feet have been getting swollen. My socks leave these gnarly prints in my legs now at the end of the day. I am trying to keep well hydrated and elevate my feet more. I have adopted "waddling" - I can control it and don't usually do it in public, but the waddle actually takes some of the pressure off my hips and pelvis somehow. I think I am ready to have this baby! But we'll let her take her sweet time and cook up a little more. She does, however seem like she is ready too. She is definitely getting cramped in there and every movement is felt!

Today was my 39 Week doctor appointment and was meant to be my last but I have an appointment Wednesday if there is still no baby. The doctor said the baby can come anytime. She even offered to induce anytime I want if I were so inclined. I have to admit it would be kind of nice to know exactly when things could start, but I will let baby run the show. We had another non-stress test for the baby which she of course aced in the first 5 minutes again. When the doctor checked me she said I was still at 1 cm dilated, but a "loose" and "soft" 1. Dan joked that I should be offended my doctor called me loose! She said the baby is SO low and very well engaged, she seemed very surprised I wasn't more dilated than I was. She said I am about 90% effaced. We also had a great talk with her about more of her opinions and practices with labor and childbirth and found out that she has only a 7% c-section rate, AND she almost never performs an episiotomy (for which I am happy about). She put our mind at ease for a lot of other things as well. She is on call ALL weekend so this would be the perfect time for baby to arrive! I am so happy I have a doctor who truly loves her job and I feel like she is really dedicated to me as an individual patient, not just another pregnant number. I feel very at peace with her and trust her judgement a great deal.

We are getting SO excited and realize this could happen any time now. Thank you all for the encouragement and well wishes. Your prayers and thoughts are appreciated. I can't believe we are so close to holding our little one!

Baby Shower!

Saturday the ladies in my branch at church threw me a baby shower. It was so wonderful. The food was absolutely scrumptious and I felt so very loved and spoiled. I have really grown attached to my little family at church here. I feel like this is my nitch, that this is where I am meant to be at this time -
and it feels GREAT!

They made a "diaper cake" made out of rolled up disposable diapers and decorated it with all kinds of fun things and trinkets. Little plastic babies and pink teddy bears, a glass slipper, roses, bows, baby spoons, a onesie, a bib, a wand, a little pink hand puppet pony, socks, and more! It was so cute and SO CREATIVE! (click on the photo to get a bigger picture)

They played a game where everyone guessed my girth then they measured my belly, then we just ate and talked for a while. Last, I got to open presents and was blown away at the thoughtfulness and generosity of these women. Again, I felt so very loved! Some highlights of gifts were a few adorable outfits, some super soft blankets and swaddling, and a little sleeper bed thing that you can put in your big bed so baby can sleep there and not get rolled on or have pillows or blankets fall over her. I thought that was pretty neat! There was so much more and I had so much fun! I can't wait to use it all for our little baby girl!

Happy Birthday to Dan!

Friday we celebrated Dan's birthday. It was a relaxing night at home of a movie, home-made pizza, and an oh so DELISIOSO strawberry pie! I made it with the crust recipe from the Potato-Bacon Torte recipe. I made my own recipe for the insides which I will post some time. Don't you just love the criss-cross top! (I've decided to retract my promise on no mention of food and baby - They currently dominate every aspect of my life and it will probably squeeze into every post in one form or another so I might as well make it easier on myself. OH! And did you notice the baby ticker?
We are now in the single digits!!!)
Dan got some quality x-box playing time and then opened presents! It was a simple but very enjoyable night. I am so glad Dan and I are such good friends and are able to keep each other company and keep each other entertained.

The sisters dropped off a candygram for Dan's b-day. I thought it was so cute!

I am so lucky to have Dan. I keep trying to type a tribute of sorts to him here, but every time I attempt to explain all that he is and does and what it means to me it just comes out so trite and...I don't know...just not enough. I just don't know how to write what I feel and see in him. He is my best friend, my companion, my protector and provider. He is my balance in life and also my motivator. He makes me want to be better and is always opening my mind to knew thoughts and ideas. He sacrifices so much to help me or be with me for whatever I need - even if it is the very last thing he wants to be doing. He is happy to make me happy. He brings me so much joy and laughter EVERYDAY! He is such an example to others and is so faithful in all of his responsibilities. The world and countless people in it are better because he is here. I love him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!

I Made it Monday: 2 Pumpkin Recipes! Casserole in a Pumpkin and Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Ok, I lied. This post IS including food, but not baby. I promise the next will be totally food and baby free. I just wanted to post this one since it is Monday and I have been saving this one for an I made it Monday for a while now. Enjoy.

There are 2 recipes here so be sure to scroll down to check out the yummy pumpkin seeds too!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the first, so here is one from online that resembles it, but mine looked MUCH better!!! :O) You will just have to trust that it was very cute, fun, and tasty! Maybe I'll take a picture next year! Oh, and Dan loved it!
So in October I had bought a sugar pumpkin because last year I learned that once Halloween is over you cannot find them ANYWHERE!!! Even though it is a fall food. I really wanted to make the traditional Bulson Casserole in a Pumpkin for Dan. When I was home visiting I got to have it there, but I really wanted to make if for Dan when I got home. A change in the recipe I made that we enjoyed was that I didn't have enough potato so we used sweet potato and it was really good! Also, I overmeasured most of the spices mixing up tsp and Tbs in my mind and I was so scared it would ruin everything, but it worked out in our favor - or should I say flavor! So don't skimp on the spices - it is tasty! All-in-all it was a great success, especially compared to the first time I attempted to make it in college...

(I tried to brown a 3 pound frozen chunk of hamburger in a pan. That was before I learned about thawing - It ended up being half burnt and took litterally about 2 hours.I've come a long way folks!)

Casserole in a Pumpkin
Ingredients:
2 lbs hamburger (we used ground turkey)
4 potatoes grated or cubed (in this case I didn't have enough so I also used sweet potato which was very good!)
3 carrots grated or cubed
1 onion chopped
1/2 tbs salt
1/2 tsp oregano (I actually did 1/2 tbs)
1/2 tsp cumin (did it again here)
1 tsp vinegar (got this one right)
1/2 tsp pepper (realized my mistake after adding 1/2 tbs of this one)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (actually doubled this to make up for seriously overmeasuring the other spices! And almost cried)
1 can tomato soup
3 eggs beaten
1 tbs sugar
1 medium sugar pumpkin

~ Cut out lid of pumpkin, clean out. Replace lid and bake at 350* on cookie sheet 45 min.
~ Brown hamburger and onion, add potatoes and carrots and cook until veggies are tender.
~ Mix remaining ingredients and combine with meat mixture.
~ Pack into pumpkin (it probably won't all fit, so just as much as you can and enjoy the rest for leftovers - or for those that hate pumpkin!), replace lid, and return to oven for 1-1 1/2 hours.
~ Remove lid and stir occasionally for last 20 min.

______________________________________
With the Pumpkin Seeds from the pumpkin I made this sweet snack!

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin seeds
3 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
cayenne pepper to taste
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
2 Tbs sugar

~ Preheat oven to 250*. Line baking sheet with parchment paper (I didn't have this so I just sprayed my pan with olive oil). Spread seeds in an even layer.
~ Bake until dry, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Let cool.
~ In a medium bowl, combine 3 Tbs sugar, and all of the salt, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne.
~ Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add pumpkin seeds and remaining 2 Tbs sugar.
~ Cook until sugar metls and the pumpkin seeds begin to caramelize, about 45-60 seconds (I don't think I had mine hot enough because it took a little longer).
~ Transfer to bowl with spices, and stir well to coat. Let Cool. (may store in an airtight container for up to 1 week)

38 Weeks and counting!

It was recently brought to my attention that my recent blog posts (save one) are all about baby or food...or both. It is true that these are the two obsessions that seem to consume my life at this time, but I promise that my very next post will be something totally unrelated to baby and food! BUT since today marks 38 weeks of pregnancy I have to update. Be sure to leave a comment or email me with your prediction of the delivery date and time - the person closest to it will get a little something! :O)We had a doctors appointment this morning. A LOT has been happening this week and I was sure I had progressed in the dilation department, but I am still at only 1 cm. BUT, I am now 70% effaced (instead of 50% from last week) AND her head is very low and nestled right in to place. The doctor even seemed surprised at how low she was. She said not to worry about only being 1 cm because it could change any time, fast or slow. I've known something was happening down there because I've had so many braxton-hicks and real contractions this week and something else happened last weekend to denote that progress is in the works, but it isn't something you post on a blog, so if you really want to know you can email or message me, but writing it here would definitely count as TMI (too much information).

I'm really feeling good, but because she has dropped so much there are some resulting discomforts. Baby's head is often right on a bundle of nerves which make it hard to walk (its really pathetic looking sometimes). Breathing is so much better, but trips to the bathroom have increased (as if they weren't enough before). Another new phenomenon from her dropping is that her weight pulls and stretches the nerves on top of my tummy making the whole upper part of my belly numb (like my foot is asleep or something). But none of it is unbearable and only means D-day is that much closer so I'll take it - even the 2 days of swollen feet which is not bad compared to most women I've heard of.

She has been as active as ever and still growing. She has started this thing where she pushes her foot out as far as she possibly can out of my left side - to the point that there is no mistaking a footmark there...so much so that you can actually grab it and tickle it. She doesn't ever pull away immediately so I'm not entirely convinced she doesn't like it. BUT she always seems to know when I pull the camera out because she stops it immediately - I'll catch her one of these days.

I have definitely been nesting. I didn't think so for a while until Dan pointed out all the things I have been doing. I have just had so much energy to get the entire house and nursery ready to go. Closets, garage, nursery, bedroom, guest room are all ready to go. Diapers are all prewashed and ready to go (did I ever mention we are doing cloth? I will save that for another day), carseat is installed, stroller set up. Baby clothes organized, washed, counted, and put away. Hospital bags packed, a few freezer meals in the works (our freezer is pretty small so there isn't too much I can do there), and MUCH...MUCH More. Our house is the cleanest and most organized it has been since we've been married.Dan caught me working on a closet

Well, we are SO excited. Coworkers of Dan's keep telling him that, "Your life is going to change forever man" (and not in a positive tone), but we are ready for that change, we want that change, and welcome it with open arms. We are ready and waiting for our little girl and cannot wait to hold her and look at her. It is so amazing! The countdown is on and she could realistically come any time, but I'd like to make it to my baby shower on Saturday which I'm sure I'll be able to do. My guess is in the next week. What is yours?

WE made it Monday: Potato-(Tukey)Bacon Torte

Dan and I got ambitious a few nights ago and together we tackled a recipe I had seen made on the Food Network challenge. The recipe was by Melissa d'Arabian, who is the most recent winner of The Next Food Network Star. I've never tried a recipe like this before and NEVER even thought to attempt home-made pie crust. Dan was amazing! I really love cooking with him. It is becoming a hobby we like to do together. There was no way I could have done this without him, I knew I would have puttered out half-way without his help.

It turned out SOOOOOO good! We were just in heaven eating it. It was like ultimate comfort food! We did substitute the bacon for turkey bacon, and I could not find Gruyere cheese anywhere, so we just used what we had - I would definitely suggest a strong cheese though. Ours could have used a little more cheese POW! Also, instead of fresh thyme we just used dried and strained it from the cream.

We had so much fun making this and we really felt like we had accomplished a great feat when we were done and got to enjoy our spoils! We also enjoyed left overs another night and breakfast! Very filling! Now we want to use this pie crust recipe and make other things with it, like chicken pot pie or even a fruit pie! CAN'T WAIT!

HERE is the Torte and crust recipe and I'll type out the Pie Crust recipe below.

Pie Crust:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
8-10 Tbs ice water
egg wash: 1 egg yolk, whisked with a splash of water

Directions:
~ Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand.
~ Add the water, 1 Tbs at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps.
~ Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
~ Remove one of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the torte ingredients.
...
~ Roll out the remaining disk of refrigerated dough after pie is filled. Cover the pie with the dough and crimp the edges closed.
~ Brush the top and edges of the crust with egg wash.
~ Make a few slits in the center of the top crust, for the steam to escape, and put the pie pan on a baking sheet.
~ Bake the torte at 375* F until crust is browned and crispy and the potatoes are cooked through, about 50-60 minutes. If the crust edges get too brown, cover them with some strips of aluminum foil.
~ Remove the pie from the oven and let rest at least 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

37 WEEKS!

AHHHH! Look at the time! It is going so slow and yet so fast. December went...I don't know where, but if went fast. Maybe because I was sick half of it and just kind of existed during that time. Well, we are 37 weeks today so we are having a full term baby. 3 more weeks to our due date, but I think things might happen sooner than that (but I'm not resting all my hopes on that, that's just what I think).

Today was our first appointment to be "checked". I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced, which the doctor said could mean absolutely nothing since I could spend weeks like this OR I could have the baby tomorrow. I think it is just exciting that something is happening. She has most definitely dropped - she's actually been like that a while, but I have felt more pressure this last week. At least breathing has gotten a little better. I have contractions frequently, but not regularly. They are not painful, but they are not comfortable either.

Today we had a non-stress test. Basically, they hook you up to to monitors on your belly, one to track the baby's heart rate and the second to track contractions. They said the goal was to see the baby's heart rate accelerate at least 2 times in 20 minutes - I already had "passed" in the first 5 minutes, but they had to keep it on the full time. I don't think the baby liked the monitors because she kept kicking and pushing out right at the spots where the monitors were strapped on - a little tight too. She had a great response and I had one solid contraction during it. I am so excited.

Time is ticking by and I think we are just about ready. We are waiting for just a few more things in the mail and then I'll blog about our Nursery - I LOVE IT! Also, I am having a baby shower thrown for me by the branch at church for any that might be in the area. We registered at Target which was actually kind of stressful and frustrating. Registering for our wedding was fun, but registering for baby was hard. I don't know if it is because you either have NO choice in different things or so many you don't even know where to start! Its crazy.

Well, this is the update for now. I am definitely more uncomfortable these days, but still so excited and happy to feel her everyday. We are looking forward to this year and all it brings us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I Made It Monday: Crafty Christmas Gifts

I got an early start and got crafty for Christmas Gifts this year. Many hours were spent on some of these seemingly simple gifts, but I loved doing it! I hope everyone who received them enjoyed them as much as I did making them. I was so proud of each creation as I made them.

Purse/Tote with Matching cosmetic pouch
For Tori this year I made a purse/tote with a matching cosmetic pouch. This was by far the hardest thing I attempted. I got my original idea from THIS blog tutorial, but it turned out very different - the only thing they really have in common are the size and shape and the fact that it has lining and a magnetic snap.

I picked out some black and white polka-dot material for the lining and red and pink polka-dot home decor fabric (a little thicker) for the outside. I thought they were fun colors together.

I didn't plan to make the straps from the same strip as the gusset (sides of the bag) but I measured way too much and had a perfect amount to just have the strip circle all the way around. It was fun to discover how to make this bag as I went. I even sewed a little pocket inside (even though it is quite crooked).

The little cosmetic pouch was hard (sewing in a circular way is harder the smaller you go!). I had no plan to what I was doing just a picture in my head. I never did figure out how to make it without having one side of the lining showing the stitching (does that even make sense? I don't know how else to describe it.) Nevertheless, it turned out MUCH better and cuter than I had planned.

Water-bottle CarrierThis was a fun one to make. It fits both the small and large water bottle sizes. You can't see really well in the pictures but I used a clip (like a mini car seat buckle) with an adjustable snap. I followed THIS tutorial. One difference is that instead of using a thicker material I doubled a thinner material in half and cut it to the sizes of the 2 main pieces so the right side of the material was in the inside as well.

Aromatherapy Hot/Cold Rice PacksIn the past I have made a much simpler version of these rice packs (one pocket instead of four). Dan and I have loved the one I made. We love the scents and the comfort of it. We loved it so much we thought it would be fun to make as gifts. THIS tutorial version was harder, but bigger and better. It was fun to pick different fabrics for different people AND the great thing I did this time around was instead of gathering different potpourri items and cinnamon sticks and spices that sometimes poke through the fabric I bought real aromatherapy essential oils of lavender and cinnamon from a hippie health and wellness store. Just a few drops leaves a scent for a VERY, VERY long time and has real aromatherapeutic properties - it doesn't just smell good.



"I Spy" BagsThis was a fun craft that I got to get a little creative filling. I'd seen these before and thought it was such a great activity, so I thought I'd give it a try. This is the tutorial I used. I wasn't daring enough at this time to try any unique shapes like the tutorial since I was nervous sewing with the clear vinyl, but I did have fun getting creative with different colors of threads and designs to sew the ends shut. The clear vinyl wasn't too bad to work with. I just sewed in on with the tissue between the vinyl and my sewing machine then it easily ripped out when I was done. I used felt instead of fleece and I also added a list of the items inside the bag with pictures that I attached by laminating it, attaching ribbon, and sewing the ribbon into the side of the bag as I closed it. I hope it stays!