25 week pic and recipe

So, here I am at 25 weeks and 2 days.

It's amazing how suddenly the belly just pops out. I thought I was getting big at 22 weeks, but nope. I look at those and think I was pretty small. Although I think this past week I popped out quite a bit. Pretty crazy!

So far things are going well. I can't believe it's been a week since I've written in this. Nothing huge has happened. No job yet. Scott is still busy with school and enjoying it. I've been enjoying hanging out with the neighbors, Kathryn and going to Relief Society events. I've also really enjoyed the weather the past couple days! It was rainy, cloudy and cold all day Sunday and it was perfect. Now it's just lovely at 70-75 degrees. So nice. Finally Fall is coming and staying! I hope.

I made Apple Crisp on Sunday. It's been awhile since I made it. I think it's probably my most favorite dessert in the Fall. I love the flavors and texture. SO stinkin' good! And easy too! We also ate tomato soup with cheese bread and hot chocolate on Sunday. It was the perfect food for the perfect day. And we watched Runaway Jury. Of course, I fell asleep cuddled up to Scott, but it was perfect anyway. So nice to just enjoy a relaxing afternoon cuddled on the couch with a blanket and your spouse. Especially because it was cold outside.

The most exciting thing that's happened this past week was that I qualified for WIC, and Food Stamps. So now I'm fully loaded on Government money. The WIC is cool because it pays for milk, cheese, eggs, some cereal and some other things. It's not a ton, but will definitely help! I also get $200 a month in Food Stamps so combined we shouldn't have to pay much, if anything, out of pocket for groceries. I'm hoping that we can save up some money this way and be able to somehow get a car next year. We really want one, but we won't buy one until we absolutely know we'll be able to make payments every month until it's paid off. We're thinking about a Honda Pilot. Maybe '05 or so. We think it'd be good for us to grow into because it can seat 8 people (not necessarily super comfy, but nonetheless). Then by the time it's too squishy (hopefully at least 8 years or so) we can sell it and get something bigger and nicer since we should be better off financially then.

One last thing before I end this novel. I can't believe how fast time is flying. This weekend is October and General Conference (SO excited!) And soon it'll be Halloween. Then a KC baby shower, then a STL baby shower, then Thanksgiving, then December and pretty soon Christmas. And after Christmas??? BABY!!!! (hopefully) I can't believe it. I can't believe I'm 6 months already and only have 14 1/2 more weeks. Wow!

Keep reading for Apple Crisp recipe!

Apple Crisp (from emily bishop at YW)

Butter a 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 350.

8 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples (don't use Gala! they get too mushy)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

Combine and stir so evenly coated in the pan. (I dump the apples in, sprinkle, then stir all in the pan. Why wash an extra dish?)

Top with:

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup butter

Mix together in a separate bowl and crumble on top of the apples. Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes depending on your oven. It's done when it's a nice, light, golden brown on top. Not too dark or too light. YUM!!! So easy and SO delicious!!!

doctor, baby, etc

Yesterday we finally had an appointment with our new doctor here. It's taken forever to get everything settled so we could do so. Since my insurance through my school district ended, we had to get on Medicaid because no other insurance will pick me up and cover the hospital fees. So it took about a month for everything to get all taken care of. Anyway, we finally met with him yesterday!

It was pretty great. Both Scott and I feel really comfortable and confident with him. It was nice because we asked about his philosophies on epidurals, natural birth, c-sections, episiotomy, and moving around during labor. Essentially he told us that he believes the less work he has to do, the better. Because that means that everything is progressing as it should. He also said his c-section rate is below normal and he only does one if it is necessary. Also, he rarely ever does episiotomies. He said he's totally for natural childbirth and said there are things you can do to help alleviate and cope with the pain that are not drugs. And he said if I decide not to do an epidural but think I need one, he'll be fine with that too. He also basically told us that childbirth has been around alot longer than he has, so he prefers to do less interventions and let things happen as they should. Another thing we talked about was the hospital and the facilities. He said they're very conducive to having a relaxed labor and delivery room. There are showers, tubs (in most) and birthing balls in all the rooms and that they don't require you to be connected to a constant IV. They do require a (something)-block that is on your hand so they can quickly get an IV in during an emergency. And I guess you can give birth in the shower if you really want to, but not the tub (hospital policy). And the hospital is pretty much the biggest and most advanced in the St. Louis area. They have a level 3 NICU and can do pretty much anything and everything on site at any time. In fact, it's the hospital they life flight and transport to in big emergencies. So it's very infant and child friendly. I think they said like 80 pediatricians/surgeons are on site every day.

So overall we are very pleased about it. The only thing we were unhappy with is the ultrasound tech. I haven't have an ultrasound since 16 weeks and they didn't do the anatomical one. I'm now 24 weeks and the lady is never in the office so the next available appointment is Oct 5. Ugh. The doc wanted us to have one done this week. I'm gonna try and call tomorrow and see if there's any way to be moved up.

Other than that, things are still going well. Scott's birthday was alot of fun. We enjoyed a huge storm that night. In fact, it actually caused our power to flick out twice. And the thunder sounded like things were exploding outside. Kinda scary.

I'm ready for Fall to come back. We got teased a couple weeks ago, and this week it's back in the upper 80's and 90's but with a TON of humidity. I'm slowly getting used to it, but I prefer to be in air conditioning. Maybe sometime in October it'll cool down enough to actually comfortably wear jeans and sweaters.

Speaking of, I feel like I keep getting huger each day. Some days I'm fine but other days I have a really hard time. I've gained more weight than I had anticipated so that's pretty hard on me. Pretty much none of my old clothes fit, and I hate spending money for maternity clothes. But it's so uncomfortable to wear my old stuff. It's just hard.

At least there are moments that help make it better. Like when the doctor is looking for the heartbeat and our baby keeps moving around. When he finally found a steady beat, he kept kicking the wand so it would mess up the doctor's count. I could feel him moving like crazy during that whole time and it was quite funny to me so I kept giggling which didn't help. It was very cute. Scott could hear the kicks too. And the doctor said "you guys have an active little guy in there." So fun. :-)

Notes to self

1. Leftover Texas Fudge Cake is of the devil. Try to get rid of ALL of it at the next event you make it for.

2. Texas fudge cake is so delicious because it has 3/4 pound of butter and 6 cups of sugar between the cake and frosting. Heart attack in a pan.

3. You're not in Provo anymore... (Evident by seeing 3 Porsches and a large assortment of BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, Escalades and other expensive cars in 2 different parking lots in less than 24 hours.)

Happy Birthday Scott!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!!!!!!!

26 years old. 1st trimester of chiropractic school. Baby boy due in January.

What a man.

Happy birthday to the most amazing man ever! It's been a fun day, and it will continue to get better.

Last night we went to a party hosted by the chiropractic school. They had free dinner and drinks. Kind of. They were handing out tickets for free beer, yet, to get a soda we'd have to pay $2. What's wrong with that picture? Instead we got water in these cool plastic cups. We kept them.

Scott's first experience being in a setting where SO many people were drinking. Us and the Williams were the only people we saw not drinking. I think it was a little culture shock for him. I've been in that setting before (serving) but it's still not something I'm used to. We didn't stay long and decided to get some ice cream. We met up with another LDS couple who is going to Logan also. AND, she is pregnant with a boy due a week before us! It was very fun to hang out with everyone and be sober.

Today for Scott's birthday we made french toast, went birthday shopping, watched football, and later we'll eat at P.F Changs (yum!!!) and then have people over for cake and ice cream. It's been a great day. I'm so glad I married Scott!

little things

Nothing like your 2 year old neighbor girl calling you and chatting your ear off with:

"heh-whoa, heh-whoa, hi! da da da da da heh-whoa, hi!"

over and over again.

That seriously just made my day.

Especially because her mom had NO idea. :-)

love

It's amazing to me how you can love someone so much that every day you love them more than the day before.

And every day they become more attractive to you than the day before.

I'm pretty much helplessly in love with my husband.

He's seriously the best.

Be jealous.

Our weekend

This weekend was oh so fun!

Friday we (Scott) played volleyball with some people in our ward. Then we had the Williams over for homemade ice cream. It wasn't the best but it was the first time I've tried to make ice cream by cooking it and then freezing it. We stayed up til like midnight talking. So fun!

Saturday we bummed around the house all day before going to dinner with Briahna and Merrill that night. It was so fun! And hilarious. We were planning on eating a Fitz's downtown, but for some reason the one that got programed in the GPS was one in Kansas City. So me and Bri were talking in the back and Scott and Merrill chatting in the front, nobody paying attention to where we were going. About 35 minutes later we came to the I-70 cutoff toward KC when Briahna was like "uh, where are we?" We had been driving in the total opposite direction. We all had a good laugh before turning around and heading to a place closer to home...which ironically was only 15 minutes away from our Apt, but it took an hour to get there. :-) It was pretty hilarious. We had so much fun talking and laughing with them!

Sunday we both gave talks in Sacrament Meeting. They both went well. I gotta stop talking so fast...but oh well. During Sunday School I got to hold Mikey (the Williams baby) the whole time and I put him to sleep. So dang cute! After church we went to the home of some people in our Ward for a midday dinner. It was pretty good. Afterward we caught the Williams walking so we decided to go on a walk with them. The Tuttle's came too, so it was awesome to have all of us walking in a big group around the neighborhood! Later that night we all got together again to play games and eat ice cream til 11. It was way so fun. I seriously love having friends and neighbors!!

This morning I went to the gym after dropping Scott off at school. Then I came home and went on a nice walk with Miranda. Now I got to shower and get cleaned up to go to our ward playgroup! Wahoo! It's been a very fun and busy morning and I'm very grateful about it. Life is awesome!

Oh, if anyone has any ideas on how to sleep when pregnant so my back doesn't hurt, that'd be great. I couldn't sleep at all last night cuz my back ached no matter what I did.

Where were you?

I was 13.

It was the most incredible, beautiful, perfect, early Fall day. The sky was bluer than blue with not a cloud in sight. It was the perfect temperature outside with a soft breeze.

We had just finished breakfast and were starting on our first school assignments of the day. Nothing out of the ordinary. Until Dad called. Mom's face turned panicky and she rushed to turn on the tv..."guys, stop what you're doing and come watch this! Now!" The 1st plane had just struck the first tower. It was billowing smoke. We all stood there, stunned, speechless, wondering what the heck was going on. "You are watching history happen right now," said mom.

As things progressed, we watched the live camera. The reporter was clearly at a delay when the 2nd plane hit. I remember mom freaking out and all of us yelling at the tv voice trying to tell him a 2nd plane had hit. Suddenly he realized it too. Then it started crumbling. Again, he was delayed. Again we were all yelling at the tv "It's falling! Oh my gosh, the tower is falling!" And the second one fell. We couldn't stop watching.

Later, we went outside to get the mail. I will never forget how quiet it was. No planes flying by. No cars driving by. Nothing but a couple birds singing. It was downright eerie.

Later that night we continued watching the news. It was only after we had sat glued to the tv that the announcers warned parents to not let their children see the images. They are too graphic and violent. They could cause serious nightmares. Too late.

I will never forget that day. I will never forget the sights and sounds and the feelings. I can't believe it's been 9 years. Seems like yesterday still. For those who lost loved ones, remember that wonderful hymn... "God be with you til we meet again."

Where were you?

My thoughts on revelation

On Sunday we had this incredible lesson from our Relief Society President about Personal Scripture Study. She used a talk from Richard G. Scott in our past April conference about personal study. We laid out the what, why, who, how, when and where. It got me really motivated to start studying my scriptures! I definitely have been horrible at it, and usually I just open to a chapter and read. But after this lesson I feel compelled to really study and dig into the scriptures. I feel that it is very important as members of our church to know the doctrine we believe. Also to know and be familiar with the scriptures so we can teach our children. It is one of my responsibilities as a mother to teach my children about the Gospel. If I don't know it well, how can I possibly expect to teach my children well?

So, I started my first study session today. It actually worked out marvelously because we got asked to speak in church last night for this Sunday. Not alot of time to prepare. The subject? Article of Faith 9: We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

Tough.

So I opened my scriptures and tried cross referencing and looking up words in the dictionary and looking at Conference talks etc. So far I've learned alot about the Kingdom of God. In the Bible Dictionary it says that Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are used interchangeably in some cases. However, they can mean two different things. Kingdom of God generally means "the Church." Kingdom of Heaven also means the church, but it also means the true church on earth is the pathway to heaven. The kingdom of God on earth is limited to ecclesiastical (or pertaining to church) power. However, in the millenial era, the Kingdom of God will become a political and ecclesiastical power and have worldwide jurisdiction in political realms after a "full end of all nations" or end of the world.

So basically, article of faith 9 is not only stating the our Church is one of continuing education and revelation, but that God will reveal many great (unusually large in size, numerous, considerable in power or intensity) and important (of great significance or consequence) things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (the church on the earth now and the future power of the church later).

As I searched Conference talks I came across some great reminders: "God continues to reveal His will to mankind; as He did in the past, now in the present and as He will in the future." (L. Tom Perry "Articles of Faith" '98) Also Jeffery R. Holland's "Prophets, Seers and Revelators" from the 2004 Liahona, he talks about something Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "It is the office of a true teacher to show that us God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake." Essentially, Elder Holland is reminding us that you can't have a church that doesn't have communication with God. That God will continue to reveal things to us. We have prophets and apostles now just like they did with Matthew, Mark, Luke and with Moses. They just don't wear long robes anymore.

My take away message (among many) is that basically, this church has to grow and develop as the world and the people there-in grow and develop. You can't have a church that is based only on ancient scripture with no modern day revelation. You can't have a church that doesn't communicate with God. Also, God is not going to do anything before he tells the Prophet. We can receive revelation for ourselves, but not for the church or world. That's the responsibility, mantle and gift given to the prophet. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Why would He abandon us and give us no guidance during a time when we need it most?

Now to put all those thoughts together in a 10 minute talk. :-)

missionaries for dinner

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. So fun!

I've never cooked for missionaries before... I learned some things tonight:

1. You need more food than you think.

2. Once recipe of sloppy joe's that can serve 10 is barely enough for the 4 of us.

3. Don't plan on having leftovers for upcoming meals.

4. It's so fun!

The missionaries are such great guys. It's cool to hear their stories about teaching others. Especially a story they told about a sister in our ward that had been having missionaries approach her and mingle with her for 7 years before she was converted. Now she is incredibly enthusiastic about the church and shares her story with so many people! She invited about 30 people to our ward BBQ on Labor Day and about 15 of those people came. It's pretty incredible what a few people can do and the impact they can have on others for a lifetime.

Overall, it's just good to have the missionaries over because they leave your home with such a sweet, happy, peaceful spirit.

perfect job! ...now to get hired...

I'm really really excited because I just found the perfect job for me! Now I just need to apply and get hired...

But the job is a lunch-recess monitor (glamorous, I know) at an elementary school that's only a couple minutes away. It would be for 2 1/2 hours a day, 5 days a week for the rest of the school year. Obviously, since it's a school, I would have school holidays off. If I could get paid $10 an hour it would be just enough to match what Scott told me I need to make to get a new car in February. Also, at only 2 1/2 hours a day, I think I could handle having someone watch our baby.

I love working in schools and working with kids, so that's a huge plus too! Not too mention I'll be rubbing shoulders with the other teachers and could possibly get some sub jobs for them too. I don't really see anything that could be too negative about this job! I've been a teacher so I have a decent idea of what the lunch-recess aids do...and it's not too much. So, hope and pray for me! I need something to do, and some income too.

life is just, good. :-)

Today was a great day at church.

Scott and I had a good conversation on the way home too. We talked about how when we were younger it was really important to have friends that were our same age and who were like us. But now that we're more grown up, it doesn't matter so much. We can be (and are) friends with anyone. In fact, the two couples we've become closest friends with since we moved here are very different than us. Yet, we all get along so well and we really enjoy hanging out together. Also, our ward is very different than our ward in Utah. But, we love it! Here are some reasons why:

-Everyone is SO friendly, outgoing and nice

-The people are not wrapped up in and absorbed with themselves. They really care.

-There's a variety of stages of life in our ward, newly married (us), small young families, older more established families and elderly.

-People actually come to activities and participate!

I think the biggest reason we love our ward is because we feel like people really care. They care and are interested. We've already had several families invite us over for dinner, dessert, football games, etc. And the first Sunday we were there everyone wanted to know who we were. It's so wonderful! It really makes me feel loved and welcomed. I think that's really important for a ward.

Not to mention that we had an amazing lesson in Relief Society that got me very motivated to really study the scriptures! I'll write more about that once i get started and see how it's going.

So, we are very happy. Our life is very different here than it was in Utah. But we love it. It's really fun to grow and learn and figure out how to be an adult. It's also really refreshing to establish ourselves and branch out to meet others. Kinda make a name for ourselves here. In Utah I think it was really easy to rely on family and people we had already known. But here we totally have to step outside our comfort zone and be our own people. it's cool. (not easy at first!)

I'm just feeling really happy and loved. It is starting to feel like home here, and that makes me very happy. We have so much to look forward to and be excited about! Life is just really really good! (but still not easy all the time)

Plus, how much fun is it to feel a baby kick inside your tummy? It's probably the coolest thing I've ever experienced. It's fun to feel him move so much that I can tell when he's awake and asleep. It is really making everything so much more real. I can't believe I only have about 4 more months left!

time to go private

So after googling our names, I decided it's time to go more private. I am not comfortable with anyone being able to read about our life and see our pictures.

So, if you wanna keep reading, send me your email address!! You can either post it in a comment or email me: karissadodds(at)gmail(dot)com (thanks for the tip Angie!)

Hopefully then we'll be more protected and I'll feel more comfortable. :-)

Asian Chicken Salad

Sometimes in my life I feel really good about myself.

Last night was one of those times.

I decided to be creative and completely make something up to eat for dinner. I came up with an Asian Mandarin Chicken Salad. I put a little of this and a bit of that in a bowl for the dressing. Then I cooked up some leftover asian chicken I had made the other night. I heat up some rice too. Then I put everything together:

Rice, chicken, lettuce, crushed Raman noodles, mandarin oranges, carrots, and a pinch of cheddar cheese.

It was surprisingly delicious! Even Scott, who was very skeptical at first, loved it and finished his plate in about 2 seconds. Every once in awhile I dream about being on Master Chef and creating things out of thin air. I was pretty proud of myself. :-)

If I would've had green onions I would've added those. Pineapple would probably be pretty good too. the end.

Sauce:

soy sauce, minced garlic, chives, sesame seeds, honey, brown sugar, a splash of teriayki, olive oil, and vinegar, and a tiny bit of raspberry jam (didn't quite have the effect I was hoping for, but still worked.)