blogging the bradley way

The Super Bowl….

Yes, I watched it.  Yes, I asked a ton of lame female questions.  No, I didn’t really “enjoy” the football.  SOME of the commercials were good, especially the Google commercial.  That is exactly how I use google - for EVERYTHING - so it made me smile.  It was a nice calm ending to a nice, somewhat calm, day.

My kids have been extra silly.  I have numerous videos of their shenanigans which I will eventually post.  Emily is so amazingly smart and curious.  I wish I could skip ahead 10 years and see what her main interests will be.  I’m sure she’ll have many…just like her daddy!

I finally have my Michigan library card!  The library in Dexter is beautiful!  The outside is sandstone block.  I’m sure Justin thought I was a weirdo sniffing the exterior of the library….what…it’s SANDSTONE!  My geology nerdiness can be embarrassing.

We are missing family and friends.  Keri….ugh. Move closer!  Christopher, hurry up and visit!

We are all healthy again.  The stomach flu is terrible!  I hope to never experience that again.  Five sick people makes for a stinky house and days of clean up.  I hope to give that stomach bug back to the ward member who gave it to Emily.  Beware Chelsea Ward!

Enjoy these videos and Emily’s snow bear.

When picking out her snack, she CHOSE this. I told her she wouldn’t like it, but she wanted it.

Sorry it’s sideways - but it is super cute and clumsy

Em’s Snow Bear

It has been far too long since my last update.

As we get closer to 2010, I think it’s important for me to remember all the things I am grateful for.

This last year has been an interesting emotional roller coaster filled with early mornings and a fair amount of crying (Madison is the biggest contributor in the crying department), but also a year of understanding, compassion, and self discovery.  We are all so capable of amazing things if we can only find the confidence to attempt!

I am so grateful for such amazing friends!  Christopher, Keri, Jen…I love you all so very much!

I am so proud of my amazing family!  I do believe that my extended family is the most amazing bunch of crazies on this entire planet.  The VanWagenen support system is quite impressive.  My grandmother Montess is such a strong woman who NEVER forgets any of our birthdays.  Grandpa Norm always makes sure that each of us feel important and beautiful.  My cousins are so strong and always stick together.  With the passing of Brian, I have been so impressed at how this family supports and loves.  Colette is amazingly strong!

I’m thankful for my parents.  They have been willing to listen to my constant rambling and emotional outbursts without committing me to the Psych ward.

I’m so lucky to have amazing  in-laws that have taken their time to come out here when I’ve needed help.  Sally saved me from “losing it” on multiple occasions.  They love us so much!

I am so thankful for my siblings and their spouses!  They are all such smart and dedicated people.  My nieces and nephews are the cutest!

I am so blessed to have such wonderful babies.  My Emily is so loving and caring (when she’s not climbing and running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off)  Madison is my little Rudy!  She has so much heart and wants to be the best at anything she attempts.  And then there’s Caleb.  The sweetest baby in the world.  He is such an angel!

I am so proud of Justin.  He is a good man who loves to learn.  He is patient with me.  He tries to understand me.  He takes care of our little family.

I’m so so so so thankful for my opportunity to have faith, even if it’s just a little.  Faith in love, faith in God, faith in people, faith in the human race, faith in my ability as a mother, faith in the possibility of becoming a better person every day.  There were days that even just a tiny bit of faith kept me sane.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to grow as a person.  I am impressed with myself (in a non conceited way) and the things I accomplish, that I had never thought were possible.

Other things I am glad to have (or look at) include:  Hugh Laurie, tootsie rolls, pajama pants, cutips, and my texting buddies…..oh and don’t forget chocolate.

2010 - BRING IT ON - Here we come!

And a few pics:

I’ve been asked to publish more photos of my goofy kids, so here they are!

The girls dancing in their new tutu’s

Maddie being super silly!

And the chaos we endure EVERY day!

Wow, it’s been a while!

I promise we will update on a more regular basis - we’ve been a tad busy.

Updates:

Caleb Call Bradley was born November 14 - 10 days late - weighing in at 6 lbs 11 ounces.  I had to fight for my epidural and was all but impressed by my hospital experience.  I hope to never deliver there again!

Emily is finally “day” potty trained.  Now we need to work on nights.  She also started primary and is constantly making a break for the doors whenever the teachers look away.

Maddie is in nursery.  She spends her time in nursery trying on shoes.  She LOVES shoes!  She’s also my little chatterbox.  She LOVES her daddy - they are best buds!

Jus is still working at the Lab.  He’s slimming down and looks extra “sexy” in his new leather jacket he got for Christmas.

I am basically the same.  With another child, I feel like I’m going to go insane half the time, but I love them all so very much.  Caleb is already up to 11 pounds and is smiling.  It’s those little things (along with 5 hours of Colin Firth in “Pride and Prejudice”) that keep me somewhat sane.

We love our house and can’t wait for summer weather (although our winter weather is quite warm compared to Utah)

Here are some pictures

Enjoy!

We just got home from a very eventful trip to Utah.  Our trip started out with the Bradley reunion at the cabin and ended with Clint and Chelsea’s wedding.

We are so happy to have seen all of our wonderful family (thanks Sally for all your help) and friends (CJ and Tania, Ant and Steph).  

I think we’re excited to be home, the jury is still out.  We need to find a place to live in the next 2 weeks and we’re kind of stressed!  Because we have no time to update on all the details, here are some of the fun moments at the wedding.

Just after the ceremony. (Yes, Clint has LONG hair)

Cameron carrying Chelsea’s dress

Clayton and Cameron making Chelsea feel uncomfortable

Cute Clayton and Emily

Sarah Palin (Aunt Suzanne) chatting with the common folk

Lantz kids

Emily admiring her “Beautiful purple dress”

My Maddie Lou

CHEESE! Jake was the ring bearer, Emily and Eliza were flower girls, and Zach (background) has the funniest grin!

Bridesmaids - Yes, I look like an eggplant in a tent! I had to wear a size 14 (yes, FOURTEEN) skirt to

fit over my belly!

My mom is gonna kill me, but I had to add these pics to my blog.  Hopefully she won’t read this any time soon.  Apparently Clint is teaching her some “gang” signs.  Doesn’t she look intimidating with that band-aid on her thumb?

By the way, Clint is getting married to his long time sweetheart Chelsea on September 13th.  Make sure you congratulate him when you see him. 

Cameron, my brother- not niece, is home and “adjusting” well.  Still a hoot.

Now for the family updates.  We’ve been frustrated and very busy since I last updated.

• We have FLEAS.  Yes, fleas.  My poor growing pregnant body has been attacked by these horrible pests.  I am the only one being affected, and I don’t look pretty.  I think they’re attracted to my sweet smell.  Okay, I’m really sensitive!  No, we are not dirty, we inherited these little friends from our neighbor upstairs who owns a cat.  Apparently he is too worried about his kid to spray his apartment or even try to remedy his problem.  All we can do is continue vacuuming and try spraying again in the next couple of weeks.  Wish us luck!
• I’ve gotten to the point in this pregnancy that my rear is growing faster than my belly.  Just don’t comment about it when I see you.  I may sit on you!
• Yes, I did finish Breaking Dawn.  There were so many things I disliked about this book that it will take me a while to process before I review.  I’m still trying to determine whether I liked it at all.
• SYTYCD ended last night and I couldn’t be happier.  For all you fans out there, I’m sure you agree.  I absolutely LOVE Josh and Katee!  Every thing they danced together was amazing.  Here is one of my favorites.

• We went to Jamestown “gold country” with the Lignell family (Love them) and were able to ride a steam train.  Emily was terrified of the train whistle.  She kept her ears plugged the entire ride.

• Maddie loves to dress herself, as best she can, and has fallen in love with the tie dye shirt from Pineview.

• Here are a couple cute pics of their matching jammies

• This last pic is in response to Adam and Meggin’s blog post about Ty and his diaper wipe obsession. Maddie has one too.  This happened a day before the post about Ty.  

I have to start this blog entry with a small news article I found the other day on Foxnews.com.

Not only was this woman incredibly careless and shall we say, STUPID, but I love the last two lines of the article.  

POTTER VALLEY, Calif. —  A Mendocino County woman who was trying to kill mice in her trailer with a gun ended up shooting herself and another person.

“The 43-year-old woman pulled out her .44-caliber Magnum revolver after she saw the mice scurrying across the floor of her trailer on Highway 20 in Potter Valley, sheriff’s officials said.

But she accidentally dropped the gun, which went off as it struck the floor. The bullet went through the woman’s kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man’s groin before ending up in his coin pocket.

Authorities did not release the shooting victims’ names.

The mice escaped the shooting unharmed.”

So what have we learned here people?  Guns kill people - mouse traps kill mice!

Family News:

• Kara named her baby girl Cameron - she is beautiful!
• Sally stayed an extra week and we have enjoyed having her here.
• I’m a little sad that my family is at Pineview Reservoir this week.  I’m sure they’re having a blast. 
• Cameron, my brother - not the baby,  gets home from his mission the end of this month.  I am so excited to see him!
• We are going to Utah the end of August for about 3 weeks.  We have a Bradley family reunion and a wedding.  It will be nice to see family.
• Maddie is walking!  She is so sweet.
• We watched the 4th of July fireworks at the church and were all wrapped up in blankets and quilts.  It was so cold!  The girls had a great time, although they were both a little nervous.
• Emily has suddenly decided that she loves zucchini.  Not like you and I love to EAT zucchini - she loves the actual zucchini.  She calls the zucchini her “good friend” and tells me we have to be gentle with her.  (the zucchini is a girl) I’ve been told she is very sweet.  Here are a couple of pictures with Emily and her beloved zucchini.

       
• Emily loves to take pictures with the camera.  Here are a few of her “masterpieces”

and Justin’s personal favorite - a closeup of the zucchini

What’s new you ask?

-Kara had her baby girl yesterday
-Sally has been her for a little over a week and Emily is in heaven. “Gaga” is her BEST friend!
-Justin bought a suburban! We cannot safely fit 3 car seats in our sedan, so we went overboard and got something that can fit about 50 people. How many kids does Justin want me to have?
-Emily had her dance recital and she was a hoot! She was the only one that danced the whole time. I am working on getting her video online so you can all enjoy her sweetness.
-Maddie has started taking steps…Yay!
-Farmer’s Market here in Pleasanton is awesome! It is one of Emily’s favorite things to do. We go on Saturday and spend an hour or two picking out peaches, apricots and nectarines. Jealous??
-Our garden is doing really well. We have an over abundance of zucchini and the tomatoes are almost ready. Jealous again??

Now for the pregnancy. People are demanding details so this is all you’re gonna get.
Planned?: Heavens no! Anyone who plans kids this close together needs crazy pills!
Been sick again?: Absolutely! Not such a huge weight loss this time because I’ve been on Zofran.
Boy or girl?: a boy
Is Emily excited?: I think so. According to her, I have a baby brother in my tummy and she has a baby sister in her belly.

If you really want any more details, let me know.

So I was given this recipe by my cute sister and it’s a hit with our family.  I have adapted it to make it gluten free and also use my own homemade Italian dry dressing mix.  So technically there will be 3 recipes.  

You can also make this entire recipe in the crockpot, but I’ve had terrible luck and it ends up looking curdled.

Italian Dry Dressing Mix (you can just buy an envelope at the store)

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 Tablespoon onion powder

2 Tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Mix these ingredients together.  You’ll only use about 1 1/2 tablespoons in the Cream Cheese Chicken recipe.

Cream Cheese Chicken Recipe

3 lbs chicken

1 onion diced

1 garlic clove

1/2 pound of your favorite mushrooms sliced (we like baby bellas or white button)

1 recipe cream of chicken soup (or you can use a canned soup)

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 1/2 tablespoons of the Italian Dry Dressing Mix

In skillet, cook chicken.  Cut chicken into one inch pieces and set aside.

In skillet, saute diced onions and sliced mushrooms until onion is translucent and mushrooms are lightly browned.

In saucepan, add cream of chicken soup recipe - below (or can of soup), 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1 garlic clove, 1 1/2 tablespoons dry seasoning mix, and cream cheese.  Stir until smooth and creamy.  Add chicken and mushrooms and heat through.  (I put mine in the crock-pot for about an hour on high)

Serve over rice

Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

1-2 tablespoons cornstarch

Salt and pepper to taste

In saucepan, melt one tablespoon butter.  Add 1/2 cup chicken broth.  Mix 1/2 cup milk with 1 1/2-2 tablespoons corn starch.  Add to saucepan and stir until thickened.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

IT’S A BOY!!

Oh,by the way, we’re having a baby!

SURPRISE!