Kelly Times Two

This entire process of getting pregnant and staying pregnant has been such an ordeal and I doubt it would even be possible without the large amounts of drugs that I've been taking the last several months.  I am typically not one who likes taking any kind of medicine, so this has been such a huge change for me.  Then add the gestational diabetes to it, where I have to prick my finger and draw blood four times a day.  Talk about me being a big chicken!  I was so nervous to start doing that, but to my surprise, it hasn't been that bad, and luckily, I'll get to stop after the baby arrives. One blessing of having this experience is I have learned to empathize so much more with others who have gone through some ailments that I've never had to face such as, urine retention and catheters (in the beginning of my pregnancy, what a nightmare that was), and later, the opposite, incontinence when it comes to coughing and throwing up, nausea, vomiting, heartburn and indigestion ...

Hannah got to be in her first school play with all the third graders in "Paint the Town December."  She was one of the Christmas painters who got to talk about the miracle of the birth of baby Jesus. Remaining groups told about the other December holidays. I made my Christmas cards again this year, which were a lot of fun.  I've posted more details on my card blog to give more of a description of what I created. We took the kids to see The Muppet Movie , which was Hannah's first time to go to a theater since we moved back to the United States. As you can see, she was thrilled to have her big sister home from college. (Instant movie review: we were very entertained by it and I give it a 4 out of 5!) Since we've added another family member, and are expecting one more next month, I had to start from scratch again with matching stockings.  I bought six brand new ones, since it had been a few years since I bought the last four and wanted all of them to match, so ...

One of the most delicious desserts I've ever tasted is Texas Sheet Cake served with a cold glass of milk.  I simply adore the combination and have had a request to share my recipe, so please enjoy!  I've broken it down into the following steps. Step One 3 cups flour 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoons salt Combine the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl with a whisk until well blended. Step Two 3/4 cup sour cream 3 eggs Mix the wet ingredients together well with a whisk in a separate small bowl. Step Three 1 1/2 cups butter 1 1/2 cups water 6 tablespoons cocoa Melt butter in a large saucepan on LOW heat, then add water and cocoa.  Heat until it starts to boil, then turn off heat.  Add the flour mixture and stir until well blended, then add the wet mixture to blend all the ingredients together. Step Four Pour cake mixture into a large jelly roll pan, then place into oven preheated to 350 degrees.  Bake for 25 minutes. St...

These Texas Sheet Cake Hearts were amazing and so festive at my Lia Sophia party last night with a about a dozen friends from church over at my house.  I used special dark cocoa which made them so chocolatey and wonderful.  I made Mini Berry & Banana Fruit Salad cups topped with whipped cream. Who can resist Cream Puffs?  They did not disappoint. In addition to the Mini Shrimp Cocktails that I served, I made three soups, which I never photographed but will post recipes of them at some point. One of the biggest hits were the Lemon Tartlets garnished with a raspberry and whipped cream.  Thanks for joining me, friends!  It was fun to host my first party at home since we moved back from Taiwan in August and made a great distraction from this difficult pregnancy that's caused me to be sick with nausea almost daily.  I've only got six weeks and six days to go until he's scheduled to be born!