Sweet Things Casey Says

Casey says the sweetest and funniest things ALL. THE. TIME. Not kidding.

I thought this one was extra cute. He's like a little kid sometimes, and I love that about him.

"I was talking to Tony (Sargeant Hall) yesterday 

and he was asking about my lunch 

and he said his wife makes him lunch 

and we talked about the similar stuff 

you girls put in our lunches. 

Pretty much we agreed that our wives are awesome."

I thought next he was going to say he traded his grapes for a banana or something. Like lunch time in the school cafeteria.

I'm glad he appreciates his lunches. I still need to get him a new lunch box. The one he has is falling apart. 

Oven Baked "Corn Dogs"

I can't believe how long it's been since I've done a meal blog. Cray cray. So here we go.

Oven Baked "Corn Dogs"

Why the quotation marks, you ask? Well, because I don't eat pig. Pig parts or pig meat...unless it's bacon. But that's a recent development and it has to be for a reason. (Example: It's in a recipe. Or it's crispy and just sitting in front of me made by either Mom or Casey. Those are the only times. That I'm aware of.) For this recipe though, we used veggie dogs! Casey was totally up for trying this. He's such a trooper when it comes to vegetarian meals I want to try.

We used these veggie dogs. At Harris Teeter they are found in the packaged produce section...as in where you can find bagged lettuce and carrots and what not.

Ingredients:

1 box corn muffin mix, 8.5 oz (we used Jiffy)
1/2 c flour
1 eggs
1/4-1/2 c milk
1/4 stick butter, melted
sprinkle of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 scallion, finely chopped
5 jumbo veggie dogs (1 package)

Action shots:

Combine muffin mix with the flour, then stir in the eggs, milk, and melted butter. Season the mix with cayenne, hot sauce, and scallions. The batter will be a thick, sticky biscuit dough. Place hot dog in the bowl of batter and coat with the dough (we put them on skewers too like real corn dogs). Don't coat it on too thick or it will off during cooking. But you still want to make sure you cover the whole dog.

Hand model creds: Katie Lamb

Ready to go in the oven:

Place in a sprayed pan. Preheat oven to 425.

Bake about 14-15 minutes or until a deep brown all over.

Ready to eat:

Served with a few sweet potato fried, strawberries and grapes, and ketchup (not shown) for dipping.

Ratings:

Kate gave them a 7 out of 10. Seriously?
Casey gave them a 8 out of 10. What!
I gave them a 9.5 out of 10.

I thought they were just delicious. They took me back to my childhood days of eating corn dogs like 5 times as a kid. Yum! Except these dogs each had 3 grams of fiber, 13 grams of protein, and only 100 cal. Yes, please! We're on board the healthy train. Definitely making these dogs again.

I think Casey is excited that I liked these smart dogs so much because he really likes Brats on rare occasions. You know, like a fall football Saturday. I won't even entertain the thought of brats. Gross out. So he had a brilliant idea that he could grill a brat with fixins for him and a smart dog for me. Sure thing, baby. He's a grill master, and I can't remember the last time I had a hot dog! And you can eat veggie dogs while you're preggo. Bonus!

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Fall is here! Break out the pumpkin. So stoked for this weather we've had lately. The girls love it. We roll the truck windows down, and their ears flap in the wind. They are so stinkin cute.

I got this recipe from Dawn. Amazeballs. Seriously. You have to try it.

Perk of having a sister and brother-in-law with a huge vegetable garden? Even though they have 6 kids, they still have plenty to share. So that means, come fall, they have tons of fresh pumpkin to share! Fresh pumpkin is way better than Libby's canned any day. Oh-em-gee. You haven't tasted fall till you've tasted fresh pumpkin.

Here's a picture of the pumpkin we used for the crumb cake. Fresh from the garden.

That's 2 cups of pumpkin. Exactly what we need for the crumb cake.

That being said, the ingredients are as follows:

1 package yellow cake mix
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted

1 can (or 2 cups) pumpkin puree
3 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup white sugar
3 T butter, softened

Base layer:

Reserve 1 cup of the cake mix. 

In a large bowl, combine the remaining dry cake mix with the beaten egg and melted butter. Press into a greased 8x8 or 9x9 pan.

Pumpkin Filling:

Mix together pumpkin, vanilla, 3 eggs, 1/2 c white sugar, brown sugar, and spices. Pour the filling over the unbaked crust.

Crumb topping (and ready to go in the oven):

In a small bowl, mix the reserved 1 c cake mix, 1/2 c white sugar, and 3 T softened butter. Crumble over the filling.

Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes or until the center has firmed.

Fresh from the oven:

A warm taste test for an afternoon snack: 

Casey and I couldn't wait for it to cool...actually, it was mainly me that had a hard time waiting :) But he jumped on board too.

 You need to try this. I find it more of a dessert than a breakfast cake. But suit yourself! Whatever reason you can come up with to eat it is even better. Cause it's really quite amazingly delicious.

Here's the baby vid. Please note my certainty that it's a girl accompanied by extreme lack of surprise. Then,upon finding out that we are in fact having a boy, my complete shock.

Thankfully, no eff-bombs were dropped. That's a complete joke. I would never do that. Seriously though, I wouldn't.

I still can't believe a boy! But, it's great that he has a name (YAY) and to be able to call him "he" now. On a side note, Casey felt the baby kick for the first time in bed on Wednesday night. It was so very cool. And special. And now Baby K kicks all the time. I think he's going to play soccer or do jujitsu or something.

Me: We're [VO2 max] testing some bobcats tomorrow.

silence

Me: Not the animal.

Kate: Really? Cause that was my first thought. Cause it would be really awkward putting a mask on their faces.

Me: I don't think I'd have a face after that.

Anyhow, testing some Bobcats NBA-ers at Time Warner Cable Arena today. Woohoo.

Ballin job. I'm kind of a big deal. But not.

Baby K's Pimp Shoes

I promise.

I deliver.

Here they are.

Gray high tops with fold over plaid. OMG. I cannot wait. He may not be able to walk, but he'll still need shoes to keep his feet warm, right?

I think I've aged 10 years...

Last weekend seriously RIGHT after Casey and I got home after missing our girls for a week, I gave Boone her favorite toy back. We didn't let her have it at grandma and papa's because she'd already chewed two rubber feet off the elephant under our watch. I didn't want to risk her getting the other two off and us not seeing.

Well, I missed them so much and knew she'd be so excited to have it back, I gave it to her, and she went to town. Seriously. She was like a piggy in mud. I kept checking on her while we were making dinner and stuff. Suddenly much to my terror, I saw her chew awkwardly, and I just knew. Mom's know these things...so I ran over to pull the foot out of her mouth, and she swallowed. I totally beat myself up. We contemplated what to do and at 9 pm on Saturday night decided to take her to the emergency vet, and see if they could get it out rather than wait to see our vet on Monday since that might be too late.

We took her over and sure enough, an xray later they saw the purple, 1.5x2 inch, rubbery, plastic hand hanging out in her tummy. So they gave her meds to get her to throw it up. Voila--problem solved. Not. She got her food up, but no hand. We had the three more options. We weren't the least bit comfortable with the first two, or even the third really. But the third option was the only definitive, surefire way to get that hand out before it caused an obstruction in her intestines or on the way to them. There was no way she'd pass this sucker, and obstructions are way more dangerous and complicated. I was a true basketcase. I did not plan on going to the puppy hospital and leaving my baby there. Casey and I got home around midnight, and they were planning surgery for 1 am and a phone to call us by 3 am for the news. By 3:45 am and no call or much sleep, I called in a panic. They had just taken her back to surgery and would call when she was done. I cried the whole night cause I blamed myself. If it's this hard (emotionally) to have a puppy, I convinced myself I would be a terrible mother. The doctors don't know her, she doesn't know them, Brooks doesn't understand, she doesn't even understand, they had to pull her to the back she was so scared, bulldogs don't do well with anesthesia, recovery complications, and on and on and on.

They called at 6 am saying they got the hand, in one piece of course, as bulldogs don't chew a whole lot, and that she was now resting comfortably. And they'd have to keep her until Monday morning. Seriously? What the eff? Out of surgery was the biggest relief ever, but we wanted to see our little girl. Brooks did okay with all the attention,  and I called multiple times during the day just to check on her, but we got an update from her doctor Sunday night that if she still couldn't eat by Monday morning they'd have to keep her a whole nother day. What! No. Way. In the grand scheme of things, despite missing her, I'd rather have her under their watch during this time than at home where we couldn't provide her with any emergency care if needed. As a mom, you want to be the one to take care of your little ones though. Harder on me than her, I'm sure.

Here's Brooks: super cute and kinda bored without her sister. Look at those feet!!

I prayed hard, hard, hard some more and begged for prayers from everyone I knew who would understand. These girls are not just my puppies, they are my babies. After a sleepless night by Brooks (finally realizing her buddy was really gone) and consequently, a sleepless night for us, on Monday morning at 6 am, we got the call that she ate with a vengeance (typical Boone). YAY! My heart lit up, and we took Brooks to pick Boone up at 7 am.

Here they are cuddling as soon as they both got back in the car to go home.

Happy to be back together with kisses.

The toughest part is keeping them from playing too much. This breaks my heart! They love to play and rumble, and we have to wait 2 whole weeks. Ahhhhh! Boone has 3 layers of internal sutures and 1 layer of staples externally. We just have to keep her tied together! I just want them to be able to play, play, play. In the meantime, we're eating a combo of boiled chicken, white rice, and now the addition of puppy food. Talk about happy campers. We're letting Brooks enjoy the people food too. She's become quite the eater. I think she's going to boycott puppy food when we go back to solely that.

Here's Boone bundled up, sleeping off another dose of pain meds and doing well!

Don't you just want to squeeze that face?

I love them both so so much. They are both happier to be back together and home. And so are we.

I won't even tell you the cost of puppy surgery and hospital stay...my girls are worth it though. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for healthy pups. In the meantime, we've inventoried their toy selection and trimmed and trashed a few. Bummer.

Boy oh boy

First off, I feel like I have a ton to talk about. But I'll just start with one thing at a time.

Friday, September 7: Dr appointment to find out gender...but we didn't find out. Boo. We do have this cutie picture though.

Saturday, September 8: Suspense.

Sunday, September 9: Gender Reveal!

We had a very simple get together with our families and of course, Ashley. This was the simple set up: Some pink poofs, blue poofs, muddy buddies with pink m&ms and then a bowl with blue m&ms, some cheese and crackers, a fruit plate (with a yummy cream cheese dip!), and blue punch and pink punch!

Blue Poofs

Pink Poofs

The best blue and pink punch we could come up with. That ish is not easy.

Pink Muddy Buddies (L) and Blue Muddy Buddies (R)

Fruit!

Cheese. Crackers.

 And of course a wonderful surprise cake! Thank you, Katie Lamb! And Daphne's Simply Southern Bakery in Mint Hill. Pretty, huh?

 We also had some flowers and of course blue polka napkins pink damask napkins. Choose your colors accordingly!

Our legit reaction. Talk about a surprise. I thought it was a girl, and my whole family thought girl. I thought Casey and his family thought boy, but come to find out they all thought girl (just wanted boy!). So, basically we all thought it was going to be a girl. As soon as we cut into the cake, I thought I saw pink, so I didn't have much of a reaction...I'll have to include the video for your viewing pleasure. Then Casey, pulled up the piece of cake, and this is what went down. Complete shock! What do I do with a boy!

   

We were supposed to leave for our Babymoon Cruise the next day (post to come), so we went to Old Navy after everyone left to buy some boy clothes :) We found the most pimp shoes. I'm so stoked. Boy clothes can be cute too!!!!! Forget bubble skirts and rompers and rouching! Bring on the dirt and newsie hats and little tiny skinny jeans and sailboat and race car shirts!

The arrow is between his legs, pointing to his "turtle". That's what the ultrasound tech called it, and I kind of love the term. I think I'll just have to start using it.

A boy!

Hugging babies

Get a load of these bundle of sunshines. Is your heart melting right now too?

Brooks was laying in the corner of the couch, and Boone decided she wanted to cuddle last night. So she just kind of squeezed her way into Brooks' little nook, and it was just the most precious thing. I wish upon wishes that I had a video of it.

My ant bitten arm. 

My arm does not normally look this fluffy.

Seriously? This?

Why does an ant bit make half of your arm swell, get red, and hurt to even touch? It's a silly little ant. Ugh. I've had it up to here (hand well above my head right now) with ants. I'm ready to move. The itching is normal and understandable. But this? Baby doesn't like ants I guess. Please go away before we leave for our cruise on Monday.

Preggo Update

How far along: 19.5 weeks
Weight: + 8 pounds (ugh)
Cravings: Diet Mango Green Tea (by Turkey Hill)
What I miss: Running pain free. I really miss running without pain.
What I'm looking forward to: Finding out boy or girl! And our cruise next week!
What I'm not looking forward to: Missing our girls while we're on our cruise next week.
The size of the baby: A mango!!!!

I do love mangoes. My bump is growing. But it's still not super big.

Holding hands

No explanation needed. I am so in love. They sat like this for about 10 minutes.

And a close up.

The sweetest ever.

Breakfast in Bed

Well, not exactly breakfast in bed, but Casey still made breakfast on Saturday. He brought Toast Cafe (in Davidson or Dilworth now...for your convenience) to our house. What a sweet hubby. He made my favorite thing there! Raspberry walnut pancakes. They were delicious!

See?

I even splurged on coffee on Saturday.

We were going to go eat there or Zada Jane's or Le Peep, but in the effort to save money and due to the expected rain and the imminent heat, we decided to stay in. Cause we wanted to take the girls with us, but we couldn't take them to sit outside in the sprinkles. Duh.

I have the best chef husband!