I've been shot!

Gordon, being the rugged manly man that he is, decided to go paint balling on Saturday. Anyways, he got shot in the neck with a green paint ball and has been in pain ever since. 

Out of all the injuries he has been through since being married, I think this is my/our favorite. Here's why:

Me- Gordon can you go get me a diaper?

Gordon (in a panicky loud voice)- Lauren, I've been shot!

(Also, he would randomly just shout out 'I've been shot' when I'm not in the room and just chuckle to himself. So funny!) 

This went on and on all Saturday and a little bit into Sunday. By the third or fourth time I would just roll my eyes, laugh, or just say 'you're such a loser', or something to that effect. He is healing well and it almost doesn't hurt anymore (allegedly). 

Totally off the subject--

Watch out world! Here comes Brooke with new and improved hairstyles. (i.e. I got some baby hair elastics and have been having lots of fun)

Let the spitting begin

Brooke has discovered how to spit. Spit what, you ask? Saliva, milk, rice cereal, toys....anything that gets close to her mouth. She started 4 days ago and seems to be pretty proud of herself for learning this new little trick. 

Needless to say, we are not at our cleanest. 

What a little monkey

Father's Day

So, I decided to be nice and actually celebrate Father's Day. I made Belgium waffles, strawberries and bacon for breakfast and even had a gift, too! 

My gift- a semi-scrapbooked picture frame, which he really liked! 

In the morning, eating breakfast in bed! This is Gordon's favorite picture of the day

This is one of my favorites!

And, this one, too! I just think its funny-typical Brooke, trying to lick her shirt.

My cuties!

Bit of everything

Running update-

I ran 5 miles today! I don't think I've ever done that before, but it felt great! I'm slowly making my way up to a 10k and then the half marathon! It seems so intimidating because 13.1 miles is a long way to go, but soon I'll be at 6, and then at 7 miles and thats more than half way there. I figure if I've made it this far, then I can keep going. And, something even more amazing is I still haven't gotten any shin splints. This used to mess up my running schedules in the past, but, apparently, I don't get them anymore. Maybe its the shoes?! Who knows, but I LOVE that I can push myself to run for over an hour! I'm really excited to go back and run farther and longer! 

Fathers Day-

I'm debating what I should or shouldn't do for fathers day. I can either conveniently 'forget' (like Gordon did for mothers day) or I could do the typical breakfast in bed, or go completely over the top and do all sorts of stuff to make him feel bad about forgetting mothers day. Still not sure what to do.

Coupons-

My good friend Amy goes online all the time and finds a million coupons for food that are amazing! She called me once to say she spent something like $86 on a month's worth of groceries! (Totally incredible, right?!) She inspired me to do a little digging and I found some really great ones! I have been converted! Finding manufacturers coupons online is really fun and slightly addicting. You should try it! All the coupons add up and save lots of money!

CANADA-

T-minus 12 days. I'm so excited! SO EXCITED! 

Brooke-

Brooke, Brooke, Brooke. My little teething monster. No teeth yet, just a crabby pants. Something kind of funny are all the nicknames Gordon has come up with for her: 

Brookie wookie (as in a wookie from Star Wars), Sugar Booger (don't remember where this came from), and Farty party (Gordon holds Brooke up in the air like she's flying and it gets all her farts out, so much so that its a 'farty party'). There are many more, but these seem to be the most popular. I just call her Brooke, or if I'm feeling fancy Brookie baby.  She still is adorable. Even being up at 3 am. Its actually not so bad. My body seems to adapt to her schedule. I wake up minutes before I hear her. Come to think of it, its rather convenient. Anyways, we love her to pieces, and even more when she sleeps longer than 6 hours! (I'm half kidding) 

Of course, here are more photos, mostly for the grandparents!

She cannot get enough of her keys! Her absolute favorite thing to play with/suck on! 

A thumb sucker, just like her dad! 

Our big little girl

Brooke all of a sudden seems so grown up to Gordon and I! Maybe it was her outfit, or the shoes, but she just seems so big now! (All 13 pounds of her--haha). And, don't mind the drool-covered shirt. These days, its rare for something not to be covered in drool. 

For Wendi and anyone else--

Recipe for: 

Ridiculously Decadent Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

1 box brownie mix

1/4 cup ground toasted hazelnuts

1/4 cup nutella

1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

For frosting:

1 lb icing or confectioners sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup ground, toasted hazelnuts

milk

Prepare brownie mix according to packaged directions. Stir in 1/4 cup of ground hazelnuts. Prepare desired pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray (9x13, cupcakes, 2 9-inch rounds). Swirl in nutella. Bake according to directions on box.

For frosting, whip cream until stiff peaks form. In another large bowl, whip butter with vanilla salt, hazelnuts and icing sugar. Mixture will be dry-add splashes of milk until sugar is mixed in (should be fairly thick). Carefully fold whipped cream into butter and sugar mixture until mixed thoroughly. Frost cake as desired. Top with chopped hazelnuts.

Warning! This is extremely sweet! Sometimes, you need a lot of sugar, but for those other times where you just want a regularly sweet dessert, use this frosting:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 1/2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup ground toasted hazelnuts

Whip cream with sugar and salt. Fold in hazelnuts. Use as desired. 

My big fat lazy butt

Lately, I've been shoveling in the food. I don't really know why....maybe its all the new recipes I'm trying, or because I'm so bored I don't know what else to do. 

Since reaching my goal, I lost about another 5 pounds, but gained 2 back probably due to eating more and working out less. By the way, I made a new pizza today and it was DIVINE. I even brought some to Shayna and the neighbors, and they even liked it! (And I wonder why I've gained 2 pounds....psh) I will share the calories and post the recipe another day. (A total splurge dinner, but WELL worth it)

I hereby recommit myself to you (17-ish) people that read my blog that I will eat less food and the food I do eat will be healthier. AND, I will go to the gym and run my big fat bootie off, literally. Plus, it feels like the half marathon is laughing in my face. Oh yeah. THAT. I'm only up to 4.5 miles. Kind of far off from 13.1..... As Emily Gatewood would say "just push yourself to do it".

BY THE WAY!! We're going to be in Canada in 20 days! I'M SO EXCITED! And, my parents have a treadmill that I'm going to diligently use every single day (Eat that fatty body). I haven't been home since the wedding reception over a year and a half ago. Stupid expensive plane tickets. Lucky for us, tax returns paid for our flights....ie-- we paid for our flights. Oh well. Its a long awaited vacation! From the sounds of it, we're going to have a blast! Family dinners, camping at Algonquin Park, Mont Cascades, Kata's wedding reception, the list goes on! Oh Canada. My home and native land....

4 months and Rice Cereal!

We went to the doctor's office today for Brooke's 4 month check up and everything is great! In 2 months, she has gained 2 1/2 pounds and she grew 2.3 inches! She's still a little on the small side, but nothing to worry about because she is obviously growing. Her head grew an inch too, she she's getting smarter! She hasn't been sleeping her usual 8 hours through the night so I asked what could be wrong. The doctor said she's probably teething! I don't know how long this is going to last, but for my sake, I really hope its only a few more days! Getting up every 3 hours is killing me! BUT-- a few nights ago when this all first started, I was so dead tired that after I fed her, I put her back in her bed awake. After 3o minutes of talking to herself, she just fell asleep! So, for naps and bed time when I know she's tired, I wrap her up in a blanket and put her down in her bed. She hangs out for a few minutes and then goes to sleep! Its amazing! Now, if only she will sleep through the night....

We started Brooke on rice cereal today! It didn't go over very well, but after a few days, I'm sure she'll get the hang of it. Here are some pretty awesome photos from the whole ordeal. She makes some funny faces! 

What a fun day!

My day started at about 8:15 this morning when Brooke woke up. We hung out for a little and she was pretty happy watching baby einstein while I ate breakfast. 

Brooke this morning:

Baby Einstein is really that interesting

Then I went to the gym and left at around 9:45. I ran for 45 minutes and then did the elliptical machine for a few minutes. Man, running feels really good to do! Not necessarily at the time, but after, I feel great! Maybe I'll do a 10k before this half marathon. I topped it all off with some bicep and tricep exercises and of course can't forget my abs. I finished around 11:20.

Driving back, I saw some sort of carnival in the parking lot of Broulim's (grocery store). I called Shayna to ask what was going on- apparently it was 'Beach Day'. There was a moon bounce, a BBQ, a small ferris wheel, music, a dunk tank, eating contests, etc. It looked fun and Shayna was going so I decided to meet her there. Oh, funny story, it was 56 degrees today and rainy! Not exactly the perfect beach day weather...

So, I got back from the gym, made some dough for rolls, got Brooke and I ready, and off we went, bundled up for beach day. Since Broulim's is literally a 5 minute walk, I put Brooke in the stroller. She was so good the entire time (even though it was cold and wet) and really cute, if I say so myself. 

Brooke all bundled up ready to go! I had the blankets packed pretty tight, but she wiggled her hands out of them. She always needs some fingers to suck on.

I brought back some free chocolate ice cream and cotton candy for Gordon. Of course, he had homework to do, so he stayed home. (Party pooper)

When we got back, I finished the rolls and made some chili. There's something about cold rainy days that make me want hot, hearty food. Both were particularly good together, and pretty healthy. 

Then we put Brooke down for a nap and watched Enchanted. I've seen it a bunch of times, but it was good to be able to relax. Oh, and I also had a bath to soak my sore muscles! Even though it feels good to run, I still get a little sore from time to time. 

What a good day! I like having stuff to do! 

Here's a quick video of Brooke. She is pretty much like this all the time- talkative, pleasant, sucking on her fingers. Oh, and (!!) she loves sticking out her tongue. Its the funniest thing! Gordon will stick his tongue out and she will do it right back. And, if her mouth is close to an arm, a piece of clothing, the carpet, etc. she will stick out her tongue to taste it! She probably just is curious and is increasing her sensory knowledge using her tongue! I happened to catch a time where she stuck her tongue out. Its not the best photo, but oh well.  

Question---

So, I've been thinking about starting a food blog with all of my recipes that I have been experimenting with. Would any of you read/try/comment on such a blog? I'm trying to figure out whether it is worth all the work or not. I think it would be a good place to have an archive of everything I've created, but would it go completely unnoticed? Let me know.

I made a chocolate hazelnut cake today that was really really sweet and chocolaty. I'm going to be entering this into a competition in Idaho Falls. Now, the question I have is: should I not have this as decadent and sweet to appease the judges, or should I make this how I usually do with all the sugar and chocolate and hope they like it? I don't know what to do. 

Another milestone for Brooke

Zoe and Keegan came by for a visit today! Brooke was thoroughly entertained sitting in her bumbo watching them play. Brooke loves her cousins!