Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch

A month ago my parents gave us their bread maker.  I've let it sit in our kitchen still in the bag unused until a week ago.  I made some bread, and after that success I decided to try to make cinnamon rolls yesterday.  This is the first time that I've ever made them from scratch.  I've made them from a box and a can, but never from scratch. So yesterday early morning when I couldn't sleep, I loaded up the ingredients in the bread maker and let it make the dough. After that I kneaded the dough, made cinnamon rolls, and let them rise one more time before I baked them. I think they turned out pretty good.

Dough resting

Fresh from the oven

Ready to eat - yummy!

Yesterday was also one year ago that we brought Sophie home. She's been such an energy in our house ( a crazy one), and we've all enjoyed seeing her grow up. 

1 year ago - home for only  a few hours

Sophie July 2012 - posing on her chair

 On the baby front - she's still in there. I'm only six days away from my due date, and definitely feeling very pregnant. I could hope that she comes this week, but I have a feeling that she will be late. I just can't wait to meet her and hold her for the first time. Also I would like my feet back. I'm tired of swollen feet.

It's a girl, new floors, and a new car oh my!

The past few months have been really busy for us, which in part explains why I haven't written in a while...sorry. In April Tim and I found out that we are having a little girl...Lilybelle. It was a cool experience and comforting that everything came back normal on the ultrasound. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear the word normal. We kept it under wraps for about a week, (so long I know) and revealed it to Tim's family with a cake (as seen below). She also got a closet full of dresses courtesy of her Nana who kept all of my dresses from when I was a baby. Thanks Mom! All I can say is, it's a good thing that her closet is bigger than mine.

Pink Cake!

Not all her dresses...we ran out of hangers

Also in April, Tim decided to rip up our carpet in our living room/dining room to reveal the not so pretty hardwood floors underneath. That's what I get for working a Saturday. A few weeks later though I had very pretty hardwood floors. But it's not a process I recommend. The stuff you put on the floors to seal them stinks so bad, so I spent a week at my parents house. It was nice to be back home, and I had a good visit with my parents.

Old Floors

New Floors

In May my new car arrived. Yep we finally did it. I upgraded from my 1996 Saturn to a new 2012 Subaru. Such a difference! We had planned on getting a new car at the end of this year, but moved it up so that Lilybelle would come home in the new car, plus I didn't want to have to change out the car seat after a few months.

I'll try to keep everyone better updated in the summer, but for now here's a baby bump picture.

Almost 28 weeks here

I'm pregnant!!!

Well, it happened! I got pregnant! After the miscarriage and then the forced waiting period I finally got pregnant. Tim and I are very excited about it. I'm finished with my first trimester and my energy is starting to return and the morning sickness has passed (or I should say evening sickness since that's when I felt the worst). Our baby is due in September, and I'm starting to get a baby bump, Lame I know, but it makes me happy. Everything is going good so far. I love going to the doctor's office and hearing Thing 2's heartbeat, and in two weeks we get to find out if our little Thing 2 is going to be a boy or girl.

On another note, Sophie finished her latest class and learned how to sit on her hind legs. She knows that we find this adorable and whenever she wants a treat she assumes "stick them up." That's what we say when we want her to do it, only she does it without our prompting. She even does it to the table or Sunny if there is something that the table or Sunny has that she wants. We get a kick out of it everytime she does it. She's gotten quite good at it.

Happy Birthday Tim!

So for my combined birthday/Christmas present my mom got me a Cricut Cake. I was really excited about it, and played with it some on Christmas Day. But I haven't really had an occasion to make a cake and thus use my new toy. Well my dear husband finally obliged me by having a birthday. I decided that his birthday cake would be my guinea pig for testing out my Cricut Cake. I bought some rolled fondant and picked out what I wanted on his cake. I must say that I didn't realize that rolling out fondant was as hard as it was. In fact, Tim actually rolled it out for me. What a guy. I lined it up on my mat, and after a few tries I got it to where I wanted it to be on the mat. Next I chose to have the machine cut out "Happy Birthday." That did not go well at all. I couldn't get the letters to come out. I think that maybe my fondant was rolled a little too thick. But I decided to persevere. I next decided to cut out a 5" cupcake. That turned out really well, and I was encouraged to try the "Happy Birthday," after all practice makes perfect. In this case, it didn't. After three unsuccessful tries I gave up and decided to write "Happy Birthday" with frosting. Overall I'm happy with the cake for my first try, and I look forward to what I can do with my new machine. My cupcake isn't perfect, but perfection is rarely achieved on the first try (at least in my experience).

Tim's Birthday Cake, my guinea pig for my Cricut Cake

On another note, Sophie and Sunny have adjusted to each other very well. Sunny especially likes it when Sophie sleeps with him. I  see her sleeping much more in the future since she just started her Fun with Tricks Class. She had her first class on Saturday and she slept more that I have seen her sleep in a while.



Aren't they cute?!

Sophie Graduated!!!

Tonight Sophie completed and graduated from Puppy Kindergarten from Dog Training by PJ. We had a great past 6 weeks and we learned a lot. Sophie learned down, ring a bell to go potty, climb into a basket, get on a skateboard, and much  more. She starts her next puppy class next week. Tim, Sophie, and I all had a great time. Sophie also got the last of her puppy shots today. She can now go on morning walks with Sunny. Yay!

Our Sophie is growing up. To mark the two milestones of today she got a new pink color (pink is her color).

Isn't she cute!

A First Time for Everything

A month ago Tim and I took the plunge and got a new puppy. We had talked about it for a while, but it wasn't until Tim found a picture of Sophie online that we decided it was time. I was hooked at first sight. After work that day, Tim went to the Nevada Humane Society and picked up Sophie. We were told that she is a Cocker Spaniel Lab mix, but Tim and I aren't so sure. Her legs look a little short.

For the past month, Tim, Sunny, Sophie, and I have all been getting used to each other. Sophie is doing really well adjusting to her new home. We signed her up for Puppy Kindergarten 101, so once a week we go to puppy class and Sophie plays with other puppies and Tim and I learn how to train Sophie. She's already grown, although I don't think she is going to be a big dog.

Sophie - her first day home

Sophie with Sunny- a month later

On another note, I took Tim to his first concert the night we got Sophie (don't worry we got her a dog sitter). We went and saw Parachute, Michelle Branch, and the Goo Goo Dolls at the Grand Sierra. It was a good concert. It was in a big ballroom at the casino and everyone stood. It was a nice relaxed atmosphere. We enjoyed ourselves. A good concert for Tim's first.

Tim and me at the concert

So that's it. Our first puppy and Tim's first concert.

Has it already been three years?

Tim and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary this past month. For our anniversary we decided to go visit my brother's house, his girlfriend, and the surrounding area. My brother recently bought a house that is conviently close to San Francisco, California.  We drove down early Saturday morning and made great time. After we arrived and took a tour of his house, Tim and I set off to see the last Harry Potter movie.  You see, Tim and I have a history with the Harry Potter movies.  When the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie came out we went and saw it with a group of friends. I had just met Tim earlier that day, and it was while talking to him in line for the movie that I thought "this guy in kinda cool, I want to know more about him," and so four years later we went to go see the last Harry Potter movie. We were not disappointed.

Later that day, we experienced our first IKEA store. I say experienced and not visited because that store has a lot in it. Not only can you buy some pretty cool stuff there, but you can also get ideas in their design studio.  Needless to say, I fell in love immediately. I could furnish my whole house with IKEA. Tim doesn't feel the same way, but that's okay.

The next day we went to church down there, and then went to the Oakland Temple. I hadn't been there since I was about twelve and I forgot how beautiful it is. We went to the visitor's center and watched a movie about Joseph Smith. What an incredible man. The day was perfect too. The weather was nice and the view was spectacular. We could see all the way to San Francisco.

Looking at the Temple from the road

Some pretty flora at the temple

Looking down on the temple grounds

Tim and I at the temple

On Monday, Tim and I took BART into San Francisco. That is the way to get into San Francisco. It was so nice not to have to drive in the city.  Tim and I walked around Union Square and went in to the various shops. The stores in San Francisco are much larger than the ones I'm used to, and as a shopping person this made me happy. After we had shopped for a while we walked down to Chinatown and looked at the various shops.  When we had had about enough of walking we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory on top of the Macys store. We ate outside and had a great view of Union Square. After lunch, we did some more shopping and then headed back to my brother's house. We had to leave the next day to get home to Sunny, and Tim had to work, but it was a great way to celebrate three years together.

Tim at the Cheesecake Factory

Me at the Cheesecake Factory

Chinatown, my most favorite place to visit as a child.