Potpourri

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR SHARING THIS TIME WITH US! We just wanted to share some pictures and video from the past two weeks. It was hard to decide what to post because we're...well...both indecisive.

First, let's compare newborn pictures of Edie and Allison. Although their eyes are closed, they have definite similarities (hair, face shape, chubby arms, etc.)

EDIE (2 wks.)

ALLISON (1 1/2 wks.)

Mom and Ana were both able to come out. They've totally spoiled Edie with attention. And they've read...


and read...

and read.


Edie and Allison are already best friends. They play together all the time...supervised.

Edie likes to poke and prod at important things like Allison's eyes or body slam her when giving kisses.

Mom got the girls cute matching outfits so we tried to play Sarah Ward and have a photo shoot. This is the best we could do:



We need help, Sarah!

And now for some videos:

Edie being cute.

We'd like to dedicate this next video to our friends Mike and Stephanie (who've also recently welcomed a new one into the world):

Thank you for the recipe! Please note that Ana ate and thoroughly enjoyed the egg rolls. They were delicious!

Allison waking up from a nap.

More, more water show.

This is Ana and Edie dancing. Please note that no other spectator was dancing. Ana was very bold.

Then, Edie wouldn't rest until everyone was dancing.

Edith Meets Allison

Allison was born yesterday (March 4, 2008)! As any self-respecting father in such circumstances I have assumed the position of backup blogger.




Things could not have gone smoother at least from my point of view. Mandy spent most of her labor sewing a new blanket. Her contractions got strong just after our 1 mile hospital commute which naturally took about an hour as we debated important issues such as whether the camera was packed and where Edith should sleep. After our arrival, Mandy was given an epidural and her water was broken which really set things motion.



At the next visit (40 min later) the doctor asked "are you ready to have this baby". Neither Mandy or I believed him until he got out his equipment. Four pushes later (one of which was a laugh) Allison came out like she had been greased with butter. Mandy was walking around in no time.





In the meantime Mandy's mom flew into town (who was gratefully picked up by Mandy's cousin Chad). As for Edith, she had the slumber party of a lifetime with her friend Nora. Apparently the two of them would not go to bed for all of their giggling and song singing. Later the next morning after a sad (and emotional) parting with Nora (and Nora's toys) Edith met Allison.

I taped the occasion





Edith likes to count toes if you can't tell (three, four, six, nine, ten...). Note that Edie found the emergency cord (and of course set the alarm).

We are so grateful that everyone is healthy and that Allison is finally here!

Does it get more fun than this?

Edie's learning to count. She's getting pretty good at it. This video shows Nate's incredible cinematography skills, as well as Edie in her early counting stages. I'll dialogue it for you in case you can't understand what she's saying:



Nate: You wanna count?
Edie: count
Nate: Can you say "one"?
Edie: see, see, ok
Nate: Ok, say "one"
Edie: "three"
Nate: "two"
Edie: "three"
Nate: "three"
Edie: "four"
Nate: "four"
Edie: "roar" (which is her way of saying 'five')


Jess got Edie these finger painting tools for Christmas. She loves them! We have a wall covered in original Edie artwork.

A BABY SHOWER

I just have to say that the ladies in the Lynnfield Ward are spectacular! On Saturday, my friends Liz and Emily threw Cat, another expecting mother, and me a baby shower! It was so fun to get together with all the ladies and eat chocolate and talk about child birth. What more could anyone want?

Mandy and Cat
(due 6 days apart)

This is Liz with her two girls, Abby and Samantha. The party was at their house. They made the most delicious chocolate desserts, as shown above, and also had the house decorated in cute pinks, browns, and whites.

Decadent chocolate heart-shaped brownies topped with peppermint whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and nuts... Need I say more?

Chowin' with the ladies

Some people even got things for Edie! This doll, from Pam, was to help Edie not feel left out. She takes it with her everywhere!

We had so much fun and I can't believe how nice everyone is out here. It's the next best thing to being with family.

Flan

One night, Edie and Nate made flan from scratch! It was the most delicious flan I've ever eaten. Here's the recipe if you're interested...or just ask us and we'll make it for you!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup and 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 13 oz cans evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need 6 ramekins or other specialty flan cook ware and a large baking pan to put them in.

Pour 1 cup sugar in warm pan over medium heat. Constantly stir sugar until is browns and becomes caramel.

Quickly pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the sides. Reheat caramel if it starts to harden.

In a mixer or with a whisk, blend the eggs together. Mix in the milks then slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins. Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it's ready.

Remove and let cool. Let each ramekin cool in refrigerator for 1 hour. Invert each ramekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard.

(It was late, which explains the heavy lids)

Valentine's Day

We should've taken a video of Edie saying, "Happy Valentine's Day!" It's so cute.

I made her a pillow out of some leftover tricot and embroidered her name and a pink airplane on it. She was so excited about and still won't get in or out of the crib without it.

Edie and I made a candlelight dinner for Nate of swiss chicken, asparagus, and lemon rice. I put her hair in sponge rollers and put her in a very cute dress. It's ironic that sponge rollers make her hair straight instead of curly, but she looked very cute! I also finally got out of my pajamas for the first time in days to surprise Nate.

After dinner, Nate took us to Jordan's Furniture store to watch the water show. We also got some ice cream and looked at furniture. A truly romantic evening.

Edie can't get enough of the water show. Good thing it's free.

This is me on Valentine's night, 37 weeks along. Doctor says so far nothing is happening and I have a long road ahead of me.

LOTS OF LOVE!!

Project Blanket

This post is probably boring to most Kanoodle readers, but I promised Ana I would record each step of my first solo, real-life sewing project. I know some of you will think I am completely amazing (and I don't blame you), but I owe my incredible talents to my mom, who taught me how to use a sewing machine, and Ana, who taught me how to make these tricot blankets...oh, and Nate, who gave me my machine.

1. After cutting out the pieces of the front and sewing them together, I taped the tricot material to the floor, stretching it as tight as possible... on my hands and knees...with a basketball in my shirt...by myself. Whew!

2. Next, I cut the batting to match the quilt top and placed it on the tricot.


3. Then, I patiently safety-pinned the layers together, starting in the middle and working my way out to the edges.


4. Afterwards, I stitched in all the ditches, following Ana's orders to go very slowly. I was then able to remove the safety pins.

5. I trimmed the tricot around all the edges and folded and pinned them into place along the border of the blanket.

6. I sewed the border into place, leaving the corners open for my hand stitching.

7. I trimmed the corners and molded and pinned them into place, followed by a tense surgery by hand.

That's it. It's done. Allison can come now.

Yellow

Edie's learning her colors!




She's funny because whenever you ask her what color something is, she always answers with "yellow" first. But she can pick out different colors when you ask her.

It's been great to hear from some long lost friends, like Sarah B., Morgan, Hillary, Tanya, etc. Thanks for your comments!

In other news, Jeremy and Tracy had their baby (#2) Elyse. She's really cute!

Also, Carrie and Tyler have set the date for August 8th (8-8-08) in the Bountiful temple. Hopefully we can get together with all you Utahns/Idahoans then.