A Tasty New Recipe

We made this tasty smoothie for dinner tonight and I thought it was too good not to share!
I call it "Orange Dreamsicle Sunrise" (though it's really just Momma Holloway's "Orange Julius" with a little twist!).

Ingredients:
10-12 ice cubes
1/2 can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup mixed frozen fruit (we used the Dole Mixed Fruit blend of strawberries, pineapple, mango, and peaches).
Directions:
Blend all ingredients until desired texture in a blender, serve, and enjoy!

Seriously, it is sooo good!
So try it yourself and tell us what you think!

Mission Accomplished: My Completed Art Project

Back in February, Travis' grandparents (Kaye and Louise Larson) commissioned me to do a drawing of Louise's family home (out near Driggs, which now belongs to her older brother Garl). Well, after many hours since then of procrastinating, planning, drawing, penning, and coloring, I finally finished the work yesterday afternoon! Then last night, Travis and I brought the drawing over to show the Larsons, and the triumph of having finished it was made complete when his grandparents told me how pleased they were with it and how much they liked it. =)
And since I, myself, am satisfied with how it turned out, and promised many of you that I'd post a picture of it when I was done, here are a few pictures of the drawing:





Here is a close up of the bay window:

The drawing's fate is now to be framed and then hung above the bed in their bedroom! So, a few weeks from now, if you get the chance, you might stop by and see Grandma and Grandpa Larson, and get a peek of my finished drawing for yourself!

Week 39 Baby Update

From "What to Expect": "Not much to report this week, at least in the height and weight department. Fortunately for you and your overstretched skin, baby's growth has slowed down--or even taken a hiatus until after delivery. On average, a baby this week still weighs in at around 7 or 8 pounds and measures up at 19 to 21 inches. Still, progress is being made in some other areas, especially baby's brain, which is growing and developing up a storm. What's more, your baby's pink skin has turned white or whitish. A development that you may have noticed by now if this is your first pregnancy: Baby's head might have dropped into your pelvis. This change of baby's locale might make for easier breathing, but could also make it harder for you to walk (make that to waddle)."
Well, our pregnancy/development seems to be going according to the book. For example, up until week 36, our baby was measuring right on (or only off by one) in terms of cm, but for the last two appointments, she's been measuring under (at about 33 or 34 cm). Also, I haven't gained any weight in the past month--it's only flucuated down and then back up (which we figure is a result of the shrinking amount of amniotic fluid). But, as the book said, and as our Dr. assured us, the hiatus or drop off in these areas is normal at this stage (the end of) the pregnancy. (Also, another factor in the baby's current measurement could be that she might have "dropped," though it's hard to tell if that's happened or not.)
Other news from the Dr.'s office includes that my blood pressure is good, the baby's heart beat sounds great, and I am slightly further dialated--at about 2 1/2 cm. (This change was kind of expected, as I've only been having a few mild contractions each day.) And when the Dr. was telling us goodbye, he said "We'll either see you next week or at the hospital." Wow! Crazy! It really is almost here! So, we'll at least have news for you about the baby after our appointment next Tuesday, unless she decides to make her grand entrance into the world before then! =) Either way, we'll keep you posted!

We Won!

We thought this was so cool that we wanted to share our good news! Background: I've recently become obsessed with couponing, and now regularly read three couponing blogs that tell me how to get free stuff and make the most of my shopping trips. Well, last week, one of the blogs (http://wantitall4free.blogspot.com/) was doing a $25 Sonic Drive-In Gift Card give-away to two lucky readers, and this morning we found out that WE WON! Here's the text from the blog:

Sonic giveaway winners!
Here are the winners in the Sonic gift card giveaway!
WINNER #2
True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 163
Result: 4 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
Travis and Jenny Holloway said...I love that breakfast sandwich too! April 20, 2009 2:33 PM
CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS! Please email me your mailing address and I will get your $25 gift cards in the mail to you ASAP! Thanks everyone for entering!

We couldn't believe it! I enter these types of giveaways all the time and have only won once before, so I was SO surprised when I checked that blog this morning to see who the lucky people were, and found out it was US! We can't wait to use our gift card and eat out at Sonics!

Week 38 Update

Note: This post has been added to!

From "What to Expect" for Week 38: "Hitting the growth charts at close to 7 pounds and the 20-inch mark, your little one isn't so little anymore. In fact, baby's big enough for the big time--and the big day. With only two weeks left in utero, all systems are (almost) go. To finish getting ready for her close-up, baby has a few last-minute details to take care of, like shedding that skin-protecting vernix and languo. And producing more surfactant, which will prevent the air sacs in the lungs from sticking to each other when your baby begins to breathe--something she will be doing very soon. Baby will be here before you know it!"

From the Dr.'s office on Tuesday: Both my blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat look and sound good, and my labor is progressing! The Dr. checked my cervix and said that I am dialated to a 2 and that I'm 50% effaced. Crazy! To give you some background on that, I started having sporadic contractions last Thursday, and have had at least a few everyday since. In fact, I had them so regularly on Saturday (every 5-10 minutes for about 5 hours) that I thought we'd have to go to the hospital (3 weeks early)! We came home from my birthday dinner at Red Robin and packed our hospital bag, then decided to read up on the signs of labor to decide whether or not we should go to the hospital. Well, though my contractions were regular, they weren't increasing in frequency or intensity (pain), so we decided to go to bed and see what happened, and...my contractions lessened and haven't been as regular since. So, no baby yet. But, several good things have come from this little scare, like: (1) the baby's pack 'n' play is now officially all set up, (2) we now have all the essentials for baby's arrival, (3) we are pre-registered at the hospital, and (4) we now have a good idea of when to really go to the hospital. In all honesty, the baby still might not come until her due date (or after), but at least we feel and are much more ready for her arrival now in case she does come tomorrow. =)

In case you were curious to see, here is our baby's pack 'n' play all set up:


And our "nursery" (the corner of our bedroom dedicated to our baby--what else can you do when you live in a 1 bedroom apartment?):


I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left!!

Birthday Cake

I didn't post any pictures of birthday cake because they weren't uploaded when I did the other post...but they are now. So here are pictures of Jenny's birthday cake. We invited Richard and McKenna over for the celebration and to have some help eating all that cake. It was good cake and we had fun.

The yummy birthday cake. It was a chocolate molten lava cake, per Jenny's request. Sooo good!





Richard and McKenna. Richard's pretty excited for this cake, as you can see. =)



Me and Jenny had to pose for a picture before she blew out the candles. Yea for birthdays!

Jenny's Birthday

On Sunday the 19th of April Jenny turned 24 years old. We did some celebrating so here are some pictures of what we did to celebrate Jenny on her special day.

Thanks to their birthday club, Jenny chose to celebrate at, you guessed it, Red Robin, home of her favorite burgers.

MMmmm. Nothing says "Happy Birthday" quite like a free Red Robin gourmet burger and steak fries.

Jenny, me, Mom, and Dad anxiously awaiting the arrival of our food. They were kind enough to meet us in Idaho Falls to celebrate with Jenny.

The lovely Jenny after receiving her complementary sundae and birthday balloons.

Our waiter brought over some others and they had her loop the balloons under her chin while they sang some military-like birthday celebration song. "I don't know but I've been told, Someone here is gettin' old..."

Here they are, doing their thing.

Jenny's free birthday sundae, courtesy of Red Robin and the singing waiters/waitresses.

Just before we left, THE Red Robin was making his rounds in the restaurant so we had him come over to pose with the Birthday Girl.

This is Jenny on Sunday, her actual birthday, opening presents.

Jenny posing with her new camera bag to protect the nice, new camera she got for Christmas.

I found this book at Deseret Book. It's a collection of short stories by lots of different people. The stories are well written and tug at the heartstrings, if you know what I mean. I also got her some nail polish she said she wanted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNY! We Love You.

A Quick Update

Our Dr.'s appointments are coming so quick these days! It feels like I just posted about one, and here I am doing again!
So, to tell you all quickly...
Our baby is measuring right on at 36 cm, her heartbeat sounds great, and her head is still down!
According to "What to Expect," she is "weighing about 6 pounds and measuring somewhere around 20 inches tall, and is almost ready to be served up into our arms. In addition, most of her systems (from circulatory to musculoskeletal) are just about equipped for life on the outside," which makes sense because in just two days, she'll be considered full term!
As for my stats from the Dr.'s office, I didn't gain any weight at all since last week--in fact I weighed in at 2 lbs less (and I didn't exercize at all--how does that work?! But the Dr. didn't say anything about it, so I won't complain!), my blood pressure is good, and the baby feels just fine in there.
In other news: the Dr. said that he won't check my cervix for dialation or effacement until my 38 week appointment (so, 2 weeks from now), which is fine by me since I haven't had any contractions yet anyway! He also said that if I go past the due date, I can name the day to induce, which is kinda nice. =)
It's funny--I'm at that point in the pregnancy where D-day seems so close that it feels like it could happen anyday, so at almost 37 weeks I'm tempted to start getting impatient for our baby to come; but in all honesty, I'd still much rather she do it on her due date! There are still a few things we need to do and get to prepare for her coming, and I also want to cherish and make the most of these last few weeks of it being just the two of us (and get in as many baby-free dates as we can!).
Only 3 more weeks til D-day!

Prego Picture

My mom kindly reminded me the other day that it had been a while since I had posted a picture of myself (accenting my prego belly), so this one's for you mom! (Taken today, at almost 8 1/2 months pregnant or just over 36 weeks pregnant). Things are still going well, and we'll let you know the latest from the Dr. after our appointment on Tuesday!

Baby News from the Dr.'s Office

As previously mentioned, I went to the Dr.'s office yesterday for another regular check-up. Crazily enough, it was my LAST 2 week check-up, as my appointments now will take place EVERY WEEK! So, here's the latest:
For me: I gained 2 lbs since the last check-up (so still on track, though a few days of not working out caught up to me...oops!), and my blood pressure is good.
For baby: She is measuring at 35 cm (right on!), her heartbeat is sounding great, and her head is still down, so all good things there too (though, unfortunately for me and my rib comfort, she hasn't dropped yet. Oh well.).
The Dr. said again that everything is looking good, and that he expects a perfect pregnancy/delivery from me (PLEASE BE TRUE!). He told me that I'm welcome to go into labor anytime after next week, but that the most likely D-day is still my due date (which is what we're hoping for, as I haven't reached the point of "just get this baby out of me!" quite yet). I can't believe that as of tomorrow, we will only have ONE MONTH LEFT!
In summary, mother and baby are both doing well, and now Travis and I are just looking forward to this last month of finishing the final preparations for our baby!

Baby News: Week 35

I know that I'm going to be posting again on Monday to give you all another "official" report from the Dr.'s office, but it felt like a while since I had posted about our pregnancy (in which we've reached some exciting milestones =)), so I thought I'd give you an update today as well.

Our recent milestones include: (1) that I reached the 8 month pregnancy mark this past Wednesday, and (2) that, as of today, we officially only have 5 weeks left until D-day (delivery day)!! The time sure is flying by!! (It's such a relief to be at this point though, and know that our baby could come at any time now and likely be just fine.=))

Another fun thing that happened recently was that our baby had a huge bought (like a 15 minute stretch!) of the hiccups. Travis and I had just gone to bed on Tuesday night, when all of a sudden I started to feel these constant, regular (about every 2 seconds) little movements from our baby. (It felt like little kicks that vibrated across my belly.) I nudged Travis and told him to put his hand on my belly so he could feel them too. =) He had never felt her hiccup, and come to think of it, I don't think I have either, as the movements I thought were hiccups before were very different from these (though maybe that was just because she was a lot smaller then). At any rate, it was a fun experience for us (though probably not for our poor baby--that's a long time to hiccup!).

And last, but not least, an update from "What to Expect" for Week 35": "Your baby stands tall this week at about 20 inches, and continues to follow the 1/2-pound-a-week plan, weighing in at about 5 1/2 big ones. While growth will taper off when it comes to height (the average full-termer is born at about 20 inches), your baby will continue to pack on the pounds up until delivery day. Something else she will be packing on in the few weeks that remain are brain cells." The little smarty!

Well, til Monday then!