It's a Girl!

This year my birthday fell on Thanksgiving week (which meant a short work week for me) AND the week we got to find out the gender of our baby! The much anticipated ultrasound was on Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 21). I was supposed to have a half-day of school... until I threw up in my car on the way there... so 7:30AM I had to call in for a last-minute sub and drive myself back home and crawl into bed. It was the 24-hr flu. Ugh. But I was bound and determined to get to that ultrasound by 2:00PM because it would be another month wait if we had to reschedule. So I slept all day and tried to keep down as much fluid as possible, which wasn't much. Zach came home around 1:30 and we decided to just go for it. I almost made it. Not really. I puked in a bucket as we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. But then I felt better so we went in anyway.... that was probably a huge no-no: going into a hospital while sick with the flu but, oh well. We did and its over. And we got to see the Little Cookie in there!!!

20 weeks

The ultrasound room was stinkin' HOT and we were in there for 45 minutes but we got to see the baby again! We asked the ultrasound tech not to drop any gender hints if she could tell what it was because we wanted her to write it down on a notecard we brought. She took a ton of pics and another tech came in and took more and they both agreed on the gender so they wrote it down and sealed the envelope. Baby didn't really cooperate until the very end -- all curled up and facing away from the camera then finally turned a little to let us see the profile a bit. But the chin was tucked down on it's belly so all we could see was the eyes and nose and barely the upper lip. Also, they both agreed NOT to change the due date based on the measurements and whatever else they look at. April 10th it is. They sent us home with a sealed envelope and a CD of pictures - that we couldn't look at until Sunday!!!

camera shy

All curled up with the chin on the belly

After my bout with the flu, the next day was Thanksgiving and we drove to Farmington Hills for Thorne Thanksgiving. Not much food cramming for this girl since my stomach was still recovering from the day before. The cool thing about Thanksgiving was that Zach got to feel the baby move for the first time! He's been wanting to feel it SO BAD and he finally got to! I still wasn't even feeling it much until that week. Anyway, one of those milestones that made me smile - just to see the look on his face!

 Zach went out at midnight on Black Friday with my brothers. They went to the Twelve Oaks Mall -- I think they're crazy!!! Then they got up early the following morning and went out again! I slept in. :) Later that morning we spent time with my grandparents in Westland.

On the way home, we took that sealed envelope with baby's gender written down and stopped at Babies R Us. We picked out a boy and girl outfit then we asked the cashier to open the envelope and wrap up the outfit that matched what the notecard said. We paid with cash and had him put the change and receipt back into the envelope then we went and walked around the store. After wandering through the super long aisles of strollers, car seats, and baby monitors we went back up to the register and took our wrapped up package home. So from Friday night until Sunday afternoon, we had a present all wrapped up waiting to be opened!!!

Somehow we waited until Sunday afternoon. With both our families standing around (and a few on Skype!), we opened it up with lots of screaming and saw the outfit was pink! There were a few tears shed all around. My mom just loves babies so she didn't care what it was. Zach's mom, the mom of two boys, was really hoping for a girl and she got her wish! The second wish to come true would be for her to be born on her birthday, April 6. We'll have to wait at and see! (You can check out the reveal video on Facebook.)

It's a girl!

I'm just glad I can stop calling the baby "it!" There's a "SHE" in there! :) And she's been quite active the past few weeks so I've felt her a lot and Zach has too. We're at 22 weeks this week: slightly over halfway there. 40 weeks is full term. Wow. My belly's got a lot of stretching to do before then! And we're got a lot of stuff to do & buy and books to read!

Love,

Sarah

Oh, Baby!

Well, I'm terrible at writing on here. Especially when school starts back up it seems like there's no time, or I don't make the time, to post. And I guess it's not really the end of the world, so I'm over it for now.

If you haven't heard, we're adding on to our family in April! This time it's not another pet or farm animal or piece of equipment... It's a baby! A real, live baby! We found out in August but decided to keep it a secret until our first ultrasound appointment just to make sure everything was okay in there. In reality, we didn't even make it that far because we told our parents 2 weeks before that appointment then they had to bear the silence with us! The first grandchild for my parents and Zach's so it was hard to keep the good news to themselves - but it's going to get plenty of love and attention.

Here's what we got to see at that 12 week appointment:

12 week ultrasound

It's really in there! :) And it really made me quite nauseous. Not really any throwing up (only when I had a bad cold) just ALL. DAY. NAUSEA. It ended around week 14 so I was glad for that because it made the start to my school year a not so fun. There's not really much to complain about because I know a lot of ladies get "morning sickness" a lot worse and for a lot longer.

Apparently growing a person is hard work because it also made me SUPER TIRED. Especially that first trimester was rough! I could fall asleep anywhere. As soon as I got home from work or cross-country coaching I plopped down on the couch and didn't move until I got into my bed. My energy levels have been back up though lately so that's been nice.

I've gotten a few requests for "baby bump" pictures so here's one from a few weeks ago. Ignore the messy guest room background...

16 weeks

This week will be 19 weeks and I have another appointment on Thursday. Can't wait to hear that little heartbeat again pumping away!

The big news is that on November 21 (the day after my birthday!) we go for the 20 week ultrasound and get to find out the gender! As long as the little thing cooperates and gives the tech a good view, we should know what it is! Yes, we're going to find out what it is. Zach is convinced that it's a boy and the ultrasound will just be confirmation of it. I don't care what it is as long as it's got all it's parts, healthy, and growing in there. And I'll be glad to be able to call it "he" or "she" instead of "it."

Zach's excited too, which I'm really glad about! He keeps rubbing my belly because he wants to feel it move. The problem is that I don't feel it move very often in there and when it does it's just been a little flip-flop-flutter and then it's done. It must be pretty content it there because it's pretty calm. Let's hope that calmness of personality continues on this side of the womb! :) He also talks to it and has nicknamed it - which is a nickname I can't stand  - so hopefully that will change in a few weeks when we know if it's a little boy or a little girl in there.

Love,

Sarah

Cheddar Chicken Bacon Ranch

Pinterest is a wonderful thing. I get so many ideas for things on there. Whenever I tell Zach about some cool idea, he always says, "Did you get that from Pinterest?" and I nod. Mostly he does it to tease me a little. But there are a few times when he gives Pinterest the thumbs up - usually after I've found a cool new meal to try and last week I cooked up one of those great recipe finds!!!

Behold: Cheddar Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta!!!

All of Zach's favorite things in one dish.

It was SUPER easy and had GREAT flavor. The only thing I would do differently next time is to double the amount of sauce (liquids). There wasn't quite enough to make it creamy and cheesey. It was slightly dry and even drier when we reheated. I've adjusted the recipe to make sure there's enough sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb pasta, approx. half a box (I used cavatappi noodles just because they look cool)
• 4 slices bacon, (now you can make this with only 4 slices... but I used about 1/2lb of it)
• 1 TBSP butter
• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into pieces and cooked
• 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
• 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (I used the "Fiesta Ranch" packet, so if you want to give this dish a Mexican flair, use that!)
• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper, added to your taste

Here's what I did:

1. Cook bacon (Feel free to drain the grease; but save the pan and don't clean it out -you're going to need about 1 tsp. of it to cook the chicken). Let it cool. Chop it into pieces. Set aside.

2. Put a pot of water on to cook the noodles. Follow package directions.

3. Melt butter in large skillet with leftover bacon grease.

4. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Put chicken into hot butter & grease. Cook until tender, no more pink in the center, and slightly browned.

5. Sprinkle the flour and Ranch Dressing mix over the chicken, stirring to coat evenly.

6. Stir in the milk. Cook and stir occasionally until thick and bubbly.

7. Stir in the cheddar cheese and most of the bacon. Stir around until cheese is melted.

8. Add hot, cooked noodles to the cheesy, chicken mixture.

9. Top with any additional bacon and serve hot :)

I served this with garlic bacon green beans and zucchini tots. There will be another post about each of these on another day.

Lots of Bacon-y Love,

Sarah

What's My Middle Name?

Toward the end of the school year, most of the kids in my class had figured out that they all have middle names. Some could tell me what it was, some could even write it down, and some could even spell it right. :) During the last week of school, I told the class that my middle name started with the letter "R."

(Now, my dad gave away my first name when he came into my classroom to visit for the first time. He walked in the door and said, "Hi, Sarah!"

And all the kids turned and stared at me and said, "Your name is SARAH?!" They seemed shocked to learn that I had a name other than "Mrs. Cook." )

After telling them the first letter, there came a barrage of names shouted at me. They kept guessing all day long and I started writing them down -mostly because a bunch of them kept asking the same name and mostly because I didn't want to forget some of their outrageous guesses!

Guess Mrs. Cook's Middle Name:

Renee
Riley
Rye
Rhonda
Rhondo
Ron
Rodney
Robin Hood -hmmmm
Romo
Read Meat - Really?!
Rock
Rose
Rosebush
Rocketship - somebody must have had outer space on the brain
Red Cardinal
Red
Rudolph - apparently my nose is a little red...
Rhona
Rommate
Reccos (because that's soccer spelled backwards)
Reese
Reginald - very handsome, don't you think?
Roger
Razor
Rex
Rosabelle
Robery
Robby
Rocko
Droid - yes, I know this one doesn't start with an R but if you knew the boy, you would understand :)


Any more guesses out there?


Love,

Sarah R.

June

Our puppy is looking more and more like a dog every day. She turned 4 months old on August 1st.

Junie, Juniper, Junebug

There's some things about her that crack me up: she chases butterflies, she eats plays with then eats bugs that she finds in the garage, she eats veggies from the garden (specifically beans and zucchini). She jumps in and out of the pool playing with anything that falls in there (sticks, bugs, toys) and every now and then she chases her tail.

When I go outside to play with her, she gets SO EXCITED that she jumps up and down at the end of her yard leash - except she can't go anywhere because she's tied down so she looks like a caught fish on the end of a fishing line!

She is also getting pretty good at playing fetch. I can throw her rope or toy and she actually brings it back! :) Woo! Progress! She has also dug two holes in the yard.... she got swatted on the behind for those so we're hoping she got the message as to what NO means!

I was gone for a long weekend to visit my best friend in Minneapolis and go to a childhood friend's wedding --- and I missed the pup! Plus, I think she grew about 2 inches in those 4 days! However, she got to spend lots of quality time with "Grandpa" Cook. Zach's dad LOVES to bring her down to the farm and play with her... and spoil her. :) Did you know there is such a thing as "Doggie Donuts"? I didn't either until Dad got her some. Ha ha! She's gonna be a good farm dog!

June is so goofy and too smart for her own good most of the time. I'm so glad we got her as a puppy, but I think Zach's more excited for the time when she will be a calm, adult dog.

Love,

Sarah

Secret Code Answers!

A few of you made some guesses as to what you thought my 1st graders were trying to write.

Here's the answers:

1. chramplen = trampoline

2. kinpeootr = computer

3. captin amarcu = Captain America

4. osum = awesome

5. gamekewb = game cube

6. deradid = decorated

7. crismis = Christmas

8. froo = threw

9. pedes = puppies    (this was a tough one!!!)

10. ceewt = cute

11. meezoom = museum

12. froup = threw up



As the school year is about to kick off, I'm sure I'll have many more of these to come!




Love,


Sarah

Secret Code

I came across a stack of papers at my house from this last school year... yeah, yeah the papers were still at my house. Oh well.

As I went through some of their writing, there were some words that jumped out at me and made me laugh. Then I laughed even harder when I asked my sister to try to read them.

Here they are. Leave a comment and see if you can crack the code!!!

1. chramplen

2. kinpeootr

3. captin amracu

4. osum

5. gamekewb

6. deradid

7. crismis

8. froo

9. pedes

10. ceewt

11. meezoom

12. froup


I'll post answers next time. :) Happy reading --- or should I say deciphering.


Love,
Sarah