Its coming along!

So I am making progress on the baby's room. There are still several things I want to do but for now I am getting there. here are some pictures of what I have done lately.

this is the front layer of the curtains. My sister had ordered a bunch of fabric for her baby room a few years ago and then passed the leftovers on to me. I had just enough to do panels of the polka dots and then had to buy some brown to do the backing.
I picked a light cotton brown so some light would still get through but it would be dark enough in the room. I think they turned out pretty cute!

This is the Lady bug I made (with no pattern) for her. Its certainly not professional but I think its cute. I might add some eyes too but I like it like this.

This is the shelf I painted and the little wooden ladybugs I painted for her room. I have 5 of them and am not sure what to do with them yet but I am sure they will come in handy. Those booties are socks that look like they have ballet shoes on! they are so dang cute.

Well its coming along. More to come and only a few weeks to do it!

oh and we are going to name her Adalee Mae Kempton! (unless she comes out looking totally not like an Adalee and then we will have to figure something out.)

Helping Daddy!

Last Saturday we had a day of projects. Jason and Tolson had so much fun working in the back yard. we are building a fenced in area for the trash cans and yard tools. the welding was all done and now it was time for paint and pickets. Tolson did a great job helping but of course you can give a three year old a paint brush without.....
getting some in his HAIR! Normally no big deal but this is oil-based paint that is made to put on metal so it doesn't come off very easily. We tried to wash it out but no luck. So Sunday morning we gave him a hair cut (which he needed anyway) but there was some all the way to the scalp so he now has a black spot on his head. Oh well he had fun!

they also cut the cedar pickets and screwed them onto the frame. Tolson loved helping Jason bring the wood over and give him the screws. Jason would have him put a screw on the end of the drill and tolson would say ticket please, then Jason would give him a pretend ticket and then tolson would put one on for him. Love his little imagination. I love that my boys love to work together. Jason is such a good dad. I know that these projects would be so much easier and faster if Tolson didn't help but what fun he has doing it and he gets to learn a lot too.

Camping trips!

OK so here are some pictures from our last two weekends of camping. I know I was a little crazy going camping TWICE being 8 months pregnant but hey I love camping. The first weekend was a family reunion with Jason's extended family and the second was my family (parents and three siblings and their families). We had a great time both weekends and loved being up on Mt Graham. Who can argue with 70 degrees, cool breezes and shady trees. Anyway here are some pictures of our fun.

I know they look like beer bottles but one of the treats we enjoy when camping is Henry Weinharts Root Beer. If you haven't tried it, do, it is sooo good!!! Tolson had fun playing with the bottles and making Beer goggles!!!
My sister brought her Quad and the kids had great fun taking rides on it. We camped up from an organized site so we had to go get water and take the trash down and this came in very handy.

Tolson loved playing with his older cousins. They are so good with the little ones and are always willing to help. We roasted hot dogs for lunch one day and the kids had a great time.

These are pictures from the first weekend(sorry they are in the wrong order)

This is Tolson playing with his Favorite Uncle Neil. After camping on the Mt we came down to Safford and had a swim party /BBQ and he loved playing in the water. What a great uncle to take him around and help him swim! They both had a great time!

This is Tolson with his cousin Amulek. They are great pals and loved exploring and chasing bugs. they were taking bread out to the woods to feed the animals. I hope they remember these adventures together.

So that was our fun weekends camping on the beautiful Mt. Graham. It was hard to come back to the heat of Tucson but we will survive (I think) camping and being pregnant wasn't too bad I just had to remember not to wear myself out too much. We definitely ate too much food but we went on a lot of adventure walks and explored with the kids. I have wonderful memories of camping growing up and hope that I can give my kids the same fun adventures! If any of you ever want to get out there and make some camping memories call us and we would be happy to go with you. Happy Camping!!!!!

Cheesecake!!!!!

Ok so I have never made a real cheesecake before. I have done something close but not a real baking one. We were having some of Jason's family over for Sunday dinner and He requested a cheesecake. Usually his brother is the gourmet cook and does fun amazing things for dessert but he didn't really want to make a cheesecake so I volunteered. I found a few recipes and then combined them to make my own. It was not that hard and turned out really really good. It had a brownie layer on the bottom, then a layer of caramel and pecans, then the cheesecake layer then caramel, pecans and toffee bits on top. Oh man it was good. I am going to have to write down the recipe so that I can make it again. In fact I am going to put it on here. So here you go!!!

Brownie turtle cheesecake

1 package brownie mix and the ingredients to make it

3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 cup caramel ice cream topping

2 Tbsp flour

1 Heath bar smashed into small bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 10 inch springform pan. Prepare brownie mix as directed on box and spread evenly in pan. (if it looks like its going to be too thick leave some out) Bake 35 minutes or until set. Cool on wire rack.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add in sweetened condensed milk. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. In small bowl mix 3/4 cup caramel with flour and add 1 cup pecans. Spread over brownie mix not getting too close to edge (it will stick to the pan). Pour cheese mixture into pan and spread evenly. Bake at 300 degrees for 50 minutes or until set. (it will still move a little in the middle but you don't want it like jello! If you over cook it, it will be dry.) Remove and cool at room temp for several hours. Chill in refrigerator. Remove sides of springform pan and garnish with remaining caramel, nuts and toffee bits.
Tip: to cut a cheesecake dip a knife in ice water between each slice.

you will want to make this a day a head or first thing in the morning the day you want to serve it. It does take time but is not difficult to do. I hope you enjoyed the recipe and maybe will try it some day! Good luck and happy cooking!

getting ready

ok so as of tomorrow I will be 32 weeks. I am starting to feel the pressure of making sure everything is ready for our little girl to come. So this is a picture of what my nursery looks like. ok just kidding. not at all! I really like this set and am going to use this "theme" in her room but I am going to have to make the stuff I want. Buying this stuff is way too expensive. It doesn't look like it would be too hard to sew on a lady bug shape to a blanket so I am going to try it. I will let you know how it goes. I have a bumper pad from my sister and bed skirt that I am going to use that is brown and pink with brown polka dots. It will match perfectly and go great with this theme. I started going through the clothes today and hanging some up and am going to have to wash some of them so her room is starting to look like a baby room now instead of a big mess. We got the dresser up stairs yesterday (thanks to a kind neighbor) and now I can start filling it. My mom bought me the cutest socks for this little one. They look like they have little black patent leather shoes on them but they are socks, pink purple and white! soo cute. so there you go that's whats been happening here.

We got a big bed for Tolson on Saturday and he loves it. He feels like such a grown up boy. although he always tells me that he doesn't want to grow big. sorry to say son. its going to happen if you like it or not!!!!

So there you go. I guess the countdown is sort of on. !!

Happy again.

Ok so I didn't want everyone to worry so I just wanted to post on here that it was only a few days and it passed. I am on top again and feeling great (except being tired all the time and having feet or head in my ribs) We are starting to get a lot of things ready and get a lot done in preparation for this baby girl. and I think we have decided on a name. (if it changes don't be mad) We really like Atalie Mae Kempton not positive on the middle name either but its looking like we will do atalie for the first name. anyway there you go. Getting very excited to meet this little girl!

Bad Day!

WARNING: Ramblings of a pregnant lady.


ok so generally I am a pretty happy content person! its something I kind of pride myself on. I don't get upset easily and I don't stay that way long. I can usually see the good side of anything or anyone and am happy with life in general. Yesterday was not one of those days. Monday night when going to bed I felt like crying but didn't have a good reason. I didn't sleep well and tossed a turned all night. So Tuesday when I woke up feeling the same way I was not excited. I tried to just get on with the day and figured my day would get better but by 10am I had already felt like crying 3 times. I know I should just cry and get it out of my system but there was no real reason so its not worth the crying headache. I got my tennis shoes on and got to work trying to get the house clean and checking things off my list but never really got over the blues of the night before. This is a very frustrating feeling for me. I am generally very in control of my emotions and being pregnant throws that out the window. Sometimes I think I would rather be sick then feel anxious, scared, worried, grumpy, etc. I know some of you are thinking no way pucking your guts out every day is so much worse. It may be, I don't know but I wonder sometimes. I have really been doing good with this one and have been feeling good... until yesterday. I know there are things I can do and things I can take to help right now but I just hate not being able to just choose to be happy, its frustrating! I love being a mom and I love being able to bring a child into the word to join our family but ugh! anyway I guess I just wanted to put down in words how I was feeling and get it off my chest. Today is a new day and I am going to try to have a good day. I really am so blessed and have so many wonderful things and people in my life. I am thankful for the great friends I have and the blessing of my wonderful Husband and son. I am grateful for where I am in life and for all I have experienced. I know its been a while but I am going to share my list with you again of some things I am grateful for today.

1. my life
2. my husband
3. my health
4. my baby girl (coming soon)
5. good friends

thanks for all the love and support I feel each day. I hope your days are good and that you can choose to be happy.

p.s. you know its a bad day when you can't even make chocolate chip cookies that turn out right. at least they still tasted good!!!!