I believe you have my blog

I heart naptime ..... giveaway.

2011-01-20T10:38:00.001-07:00

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/2011/01/silhouette-sd-machine-giveaway-wahoo.html

Go to I heart Naptime to try to win a silhouette.

House of Smith's

2011-01-20T10:24:00.002-07:00

http://bit.ly/f7pz6v

Check out House of Smith's for a silhouette giveaway.

designdazzle... giveaway

2011-01-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-silhouette-machine-giveaway-valued.html

Go to this cute site to try to win a Silhouette.

beneathmyheart give away

2011-01-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2011/01/amazing-silhouette-giveaway/

Check out this cute blog to win a Silhouette!

tada another silhouette.

2011-01-19T15:10:00.001-07:00

The Shabby Chic cottage is giving away a Silhouette.

http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/2011/01/silhouette-giveaway-and-ah-maz-ing-deal.html

another one

2011-01-19T14:56:00.001-07:00

All Things Thrify Home Accesories and Decor, is giving away a Silhouette. Check it out.

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2011/01/giveaway-silhouette-sd-machine.html

Sorry... I only blog when I want to win something.

2011-01-19T13:44:00.003-07:00

Right now Keeping it simple is giving away a Silhouette. And I want one so very bad. So if you want to win one, you can try..... and if you do win one, you must promise to let me come over and drool (and cry a little).

Let's all get a new dress.

2010-03-22T08:39:00.002-06:00

So I am in love with this company. I've been in love with their dresses since I saw them the first time on Studio 5. They are an online Utah company and I've never really been comfortable with purchasing something I've only seen online. BUT.... they are having a Trunk show at Riverwoods in north Provo on March 27.. so this coming weekend. I firmly believe that my mom and sisters should come to my house this weekend, look at gardening stuff, pick up the sand box, and go to this dress show with me. Please check out their website and fall in love with me. You can even take a test that will tell you what your body style is and then will recommend what dresses to go with your shape.

Black Belt Madness

2010-02-04T15:17:00.005-07:00

Jon recently got his black belt in TaeKwonDo and we had to do a photo shoot. My goodness these boys are cute.

HeeeYa HaPAH (to quote Isaac's favorite sayings)

You are under my Mortal Kombat mind control.

Get the MOMMA!!

Catch me.

ARRGH I'm a pirate ninja.

This is one of the many boards that Jon broke. This was a speed break done with his knuckles. You can see the indentations.

I don't wanna be a ninja. Pick me up.

My cute boys.

What a STUD!!!!

2009-12-03T10:34:00.002-07:00

Seventh Form... for Jon

2009-09-12T11:25:00.002-06:00

Tada

Yoplait giveaway

2009-09-01T09:51:00.001-06:00

Go here. Maybe win. If I don't.
http://www.sweetlifeinthevalley.com/2009/08/other-stuff-frozen-yoplait-yogurt.html

Snips and Snails and Puppy dog tails....

2009-08-25T18:00:00.004-06:00

Introducing Micah Voigt (i love this onesie)

my boys

Finally Here

2009-08-21T10:03:00.001-06:00

Yep you guessed it they are finally here the long awaited for pictures of..... the house.

Rose by our front door

very rare picture of a very preggo me

Now pictures of the inside of my house. BEWARE... House not CLEAN!!! I decided that if I waited to show pictures of my house once I had gotten it clean you would never get pictures. At the time of these pictures I was nesting, and when I mean nesting I was filling my freezer with baked goods and frozen dinners so I wouldn't have to really cook once the baby was here. So my house wasn't clean until the night before Micah was born. It had all my relatives quite frustrated that I was trying to get them to go to sleep, and I wouldn't even sit down. And since the baby has come, the house has been all clean only three times. Now is not one of those times.

view from my front door

view of my front door

kitchen table (covered in baby bag and cookbooks)

kitchen

cookies

cute vinyl lettering that the previous owner put up. (I love it.)

stairs up to the top level

linen closet

the boy's room (with a car bed that is now in use)

boy's closet with a loft big enough to fit a twin size bed

Ikea bookshelf I stood in line for hours to get 1/2 price

bathroom (it looks better if I clean up after getting ready for the day)

Very boring master suite and the Ikea chair I spent hours in line to get for 1/2 off too. (I think I'm going to repaint this very boring room next spring.. or sooner)
Uggghh and reframe those pictures. Or get rid of them.

family room (with a sick little boy in the monster sak)

spare bedroom, right now it's a craft room

laundry room and a full bathroom behind it

scary closet

short storage in scary closet

Hooray for pictures of the house

Trying to win a prize

2009-06-06T18:21:00.002-06:00

You should go to this website.
Look at the adorable cakes and maybe enter this giveaway. If you don't live in the area. I have several family members that do and would probably love it if you gave it to them. Thanks.

Pictures I promised from long ago.

2009-06-05T14:53:00.003-06:00

Easter egg cookies. When I cut them out they started out as the size of the small eggs. After they cooked they spread to the size of the large ones.

I only made two colors of frosting. White and yellow. So I made an egg.

Jon made a 3D egg.

This was my attempt at a Martha Stewart design.

Going up to Bridal Veil Falls

Split seconds before the foot went into the water.

Crying because mom won't let me walk in the freezing ice melt.

Bridal Veil Falls

Takin' this rock home

Really wanted to take this rock home.

(next post is house pics... I promise)

Neighbors

2009-04-28T21:10:00.003-06:00

I have new neighbors and they are all so wonderful and friendly. The day we moved in our neighbor two houses down gathered his kids together and they each provided a service. The younger ones took Isaac to his room and kept him out of the way. The Mom talked with me and made me sit down. And Dad and the older boys moved boxes from my garage all around my house. It wasn't until a week later that I discovered who my neighbor is.
His name is Derek Hegsted. He painted this

and this

Very talented man and very wonderful kind family.
It just makes my new house all the better.

speaking of house.... I'd love to show you the pictures I've been taking. But I can't find my connection cord. I'm going to have to work it some other way.

House HOuse HOUSE!!!!!

2009-04-16T09:09:00.004-06:00

house now

house in bloom

more pics later...

What?? Where??

2009-04-10T11:20:00.003-06:00

So... I can't find my camera. We're in the process of packing up our apartment and it has been placed somewhere to keep it safe. So safe... I can't find it. So no pictures. No pictures of the flood from my washing machine. No pictures of my carpet all torn up and the wind tunnel hallway. (None of my stuff was ruined in the flood. I might have had a panic attack, but my calm demeanor was all that was ruined.) You wanted pictures of my Easter cookies and how they spread double in size ... nope. (I didn't make homemade.) Maybe I'll save some of them and by tonight or tomorrow after packing up the rest of my house we'll find the camera and we'll have some pics. Well, we'll see.

What I did this weekend

2009-03-23T09:01:00.004-06:00

Saturday morning we woke up and got out of the house by 9:00 AM.
I'm pretty impressed with myself. I guess if I have something fun to do in the morning I can be very enthused about waking up, eating, makeup done and getting the toddler ready for the day. AND the husband out the door. I didn't want to be late. Luckily it only took us 30 mintues to get to IKEA. So I "thought" we were doing fine, "We've got thirty minutes, we're good." But then we see the front door. BIG HUGE line streaming out the front door. I calmed myself thinking oh no... it's okay... they're here for the free breakfast. And I ate so the lure of free bacon only tempted me for a second. But when we finally got inside we discovered that there were several long lines going on. It felt like Black Friday. Day after Thanksgiving mania. But lo and behold the brilliant folks at IKEA are smarter than the WAL-MART folks. No massive crowd surrounding teeny tiny pallets of portable DVD players. No one rushed the poor clerk and tore open the packaging before the correct time and ran off with five DVD players that they only grabbed because of the feeding frenzy behind them.

Shake it off... it's March. We're months away from even thinking about that horrible day. Or perhaps you'll be like me and never ever go again. No digital picture frame is worth that. Save up your money and buy early. Sleep in on that lovely Friday. It's good to have Christmas done early. (I think I'm dreaming of a fantasy world here.)

And we're done... back to IKEA!
No here at the haven that is IKEA, they handed a special piece of paper to every one who stood in line and there were several clerks keeping the order. No line skipping, no grabbing from the pallet and running. Every one got their turn. And they split the lines up. If you wanted the $10 pot, you stood in one line. If you wanted the 99 cent jars you stood in another. At the end of the line which was way behind me they ran out of papers and those folks didn't get jars... but at least you knew you weren't going to have to stand in line and you could buy something else (or leave).

I could almost, maybe, do it again. They made the chaos bearable. But I don't handle lines very well. That's why my family only goes to the movies in Ogden. When you can go to a movie the first day it comes out and know with out a doubt that the tickets you bought will provide seats that you picked out so you can all sit next to eachother. HEAVEN! We'll see about the IKEA thing.

The jars are lovely... and the fact that I paid 99 cents per jar makes me smile when I look at them.

And this little ice cube tray doesn't hurt either. Starfish shaped soaps... they are gonna be cute.

Sunday I made these.

They get better.

Yes I used my finger to scrape this bit of caramel out of the pan and promptly ate it.

Now if you thought they were good before... now they either get better or inedible.

Half of my family will eat them, and the other half will decide that they'll order pizza. Too bad, more for me.

In desperate need

2009-03-18T12:00:00.004-06:00

You know when you are wandering about shopping and you see that THING... the thing that you are absolutely sure that if you don't have it you'll be miserable. So you pick it up and put it in your cart and walk around and pretend you own it until it's time to leave the store and you sigh and realize that you really don't need it and that you really can't afford it. So you put it back and really try to make yourself believe that you don't need it. That is the way I feel about these salt and pepper shakers.

But I've only seen them online. (Thanks to Bed Bath and Beyond's emails)
So I've pulled up the web page and I look at them every time I pass the computer in my small front room. Perhaps I'll get sick of them... and perhaps I'll just have to go to the store this weekend and put them in my cart and pretend I own them for a few minutes.

It's the same with these containers from IKEA

perhaps if I buy those containers... I'll probably have to make these soaps to fill one of them to put in my bathroom.

I think I can afford 99 cent containers.

Anonymous lurker request

2009-03-16T15:58:00.004-06:00

My anonymous lurker requested more pics. So I decided to give them some. I guess I just needed to be asked. I'm such a lazy bum.

Working on the square foot garden

Using daddy's tools

making sushi (sorry, I couldn't rotate the pic)

so STRONG

The boy got loose

We've got another egg smashing, tool wielding, cookie eating little boy on the way!!!

More pics.... sorry that's about it.

2009-02-10T11:14:00.004-07:00

at least he got the eggs on the table....

touched the fireplace grate... he knows what hot means now :(

The cutest Harry Potter ever

Halloween cookies (human, buffalo and moose)

Chocolate chip pancakes

Pictures of stuff

2008-10-27T16:56:00.005-06:00

Swinging at Grandma's

Josie's B-day Cake (no explosions)

Wedding Cake (with big explosion)
My parents were sealed in the temple and I offered to make a wedding cake. They got to see it before it SPLODED.... jam didn't really work for a filling.

Really big bottom part of a soon to explode wedding cake

Green Beans (we grew them HOORAY)

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (so tasty)

My Begonia bloomed (we didn't kill it)

Wet strips of newspaper (Make the cake cook levelly?? Flatly?)

What have you been doing????

2008-09-12T13:40:00.005-06:00

Living.... and being busy. Not so busy that I couldn't update the blog. But hey, sometimes we're lazy.
I had a birthday and Isaac had some secret cupcakes.

Jon's family came to visit back on the 23rd of August, and it was a long wonderful week. We so rarely get to see his family, so Jon took the entire week off. Here are a some pictures.

Hiking the "Y"

One of the few who made it the whole way.

My boys at the Zoo

One of my favorite things at the zoo.

My "taller than my husband" 14-yr-old brother-in-law

and sadly that's where my pictures ended. But here's a list of what we did.
Saturday - Grocery shopping and Watch KungFu Panda
Sunday - Church and family time
Monday- Hike the Y. Visit the museum. Movie in the park.
Tuesday - All day at Boondocks in Draper
Wednesday - Hogle Zoo. Temple Square and talking with a family friend.
Thursday - Lazyness until Jon and Family went swimming, I watched Ace of Cakes and Iron Chef on my butt on the couch.
Friday - Some shopping around Orem and another Museum and a really late BBQ.
Saturday - Drive 4 hours to Idaho Falls and see a baptism, eat at Chuck-a-rama!!! (Woohoo no cooking!)
Sunday - Drive back 2 hours to Tremonton and eat dinner at Grandma Jo's. She makes excellent burritos and ice cream sandwiches.

Jon's family left after ice cream. It was great to hang out with everyone. I'm glad I had the next few days to do absolutely nothing. It was glorious.

Nevermind....

2008-08-01T18:38:00.002-06:00

I had Jon go in and preorder a book for me. I'll just pick it up sometime tomorrow.

I have a question??

2008-07-31T12:22:00.003-06:00

How are you or your loved ones getting your copy of Breaking Dawn? Mail order, waiting up past midnight, waiting patiently until your birthday?

Please leave a comment.... I haven't decided what I'm doing yet. I had a friend I was going to go with. But she's unable to go now. Decisions... decisions.

James Bond Cake

2008-07-31T11:33:00.004-06:00

This cake is amazing! Bullet holes and airplane crash. Click on it for an up close look.

It's a blog-a-thon

2008-07-29T13:10:00.002-06:00

I just sat down and I can't stop blogging. I've been trying to think of things people would be interested in. But I just decided that I'll show what I'm interested in. And if you like it.... great.

We were invited over to a friends for the 24th of July and had a Bring your own Meat BBQ. We had chicken breasts in the fridge and I was having a conundrum (b: an intricate and difficult problem) If you ever have chicken at a BBQ, it's never cooked right. It is always overcooked. Everyone is so nervous about cooking it all the way through that they burn the outside. YUCK. Burgers have the same problem. Burned on the outside, they shrink into golf balls and the center isn't cooked. Sigh... people who can't BBQ shouldn't.

So I wouldn't embarrass myself. I studied up. I go to cooksillustrated.com (sadly you have to pay to use their recipes) I've never had a single problem with any of their recipes, and they are so informative. I signed up for it. If you ever need a recipe or information, please feel free to leave me a message and I'll help you out. I'm full of random knowledge... and I don't judge. I may not even know the answer... but I'll sure find it for you.

So anyways here is the recipe I found.

Grilled Lemon-Parsley Chicken Breasts on a Charcoal Grill

This chicken can be served with a simply prepared vegetable for a light dinner. It can also be used in a sandwich or tossed with greens for a salad. The chicken should be marinated no less than 30 minutes and no more than 1 hour.

Serves 4
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
Table salt and ground black pepper
3 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each), trimmed of excess fat
Vegetable oil for grill rack
Large disposable aluminum baking pan

1. Whisk together mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil, parsley, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in small bowl; set aside.

2. Whisk together remaining tablespoon lemon juice, remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, remaining teaspoon sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, garlic, and water in medium bowl. Place marinade and chicken in gallon-size zipper-lock bag and toss to coat; press out as much air as possible and seal bag. Refrigerate 30 minutes, flipping bag after 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, light large chimney starter filled with charcoal (6 quarts, or about 100 briquettes) and allow to burn until coals are fully ignited and partially covered with thin layer of ash, about 20 minutes. Build modified two-level fire by arranging all coals over half of grill, leaving other half empty. Position cooking grate over coals, cover grill, and heat grate until hot, about 5 minutes; scrape grate clean with grill brush. Dip wad of paper towels in oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate. Grill is ready when side with coals is medium-hot (you can hold your hand 5 inches above grate for 3 to 4 seconds).

4. Remove chicken from bag, allowing excess marinade to drip off. Place chicken on cooler side of grill, smooth-side down, with thicker side facing coals. Cover with disposable pan and cook until bottom of chicken just begins to develop light grill marks and is no longer translucent, 6 to 9 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken and rotate so that thinner side faces coals. Cover with disposable pan and continue to cook until chicken is opaque and firm to touch and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 140 degrees, 6 to 9 minutes longer.

5. Move chicken to hotter side of grill and cook, uncovered, until dark grill marks appear, 1 to 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken and cook until dark grill marks appear and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 160 degrees, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let rest, tented with foil, 5 minutes. Slice each breast on bias into 1/4-inch-thick slices and transfer to individual plates. Drizzle with reserved sauce and serve.

*So before I marinated the chicken, I pounded it between two pieces of plastic wrap getting it all even. I knew that Ben and Liz weren't going to have prepared a two level fire so I improvised. Pounding it flat, and cooking it with a metal cakepan over the top turned out just fine. Also when I cooked it, to test for doneness, I poked it with my finger. It's something I learned from the chefs at Magleby's. I've also seen that Mary Craft lady do it on TV. If it feels squishy, keep cooking. It's a learned art. When it feels firm with a little give, not hard (hard means overdone). It's done. I then took it off the grill, and covered it with the pan again and let it sit. So the juices redistribute. (Jon thinks I'm full of it when I say that, but all those chefs on Foodnetwork can't be wrong.) If you cut it right away the juices will all run out. After sitting I sliced it on the bias and we served it on italian herb wraps, with tomatoes and lettuce. Honestly, the chicken didn't need the sauce. It was wonderful without. But it was still very good with.

Also, if when you slice the chicken and it wasn't done... toss that baby in the microwave if you are at someones home. (Also some thing I learned from the chefs at Magleby's) If you aren't near a microwave, toss her back on the grill.

Acts 2 & 3 (smushed into 1)

2008-07-29T12:00:00.005-06:00

So here is the frosting. We've decided it's not my favorite. Make sure your shortening is fresh (it can go rancid) and not butter flavored. It turns a bright yellow. You don't want yellow, white works better. I'm working on another recipe. A swiss meringue buttercream for a wedding cake I'm going to do.

Here are your ingredients.

Add pwd sugar, salt and vanilla. MIX. In this recipe you don't have to sift the powdered sugar, we're going to melt it all.

We added hot boiling water and mixed.

Mix thoroughly.

Then add the butter and shortening clumps at a time. Whip forever.

It really is beautiful frosting, fluffy, creamy. Mom just didn't like it, so we're going with another recipe she will like. I did make a second batch, with fresh white shortening. There was no way I could make blue frosting with a yellow base. We were over loaded with frosting at my house.

Here are pictures of the cake. Sorry I didn't get pictures of putting it together. I promise to take pictures of the cake I make for my b-day. Yes... I make my own b-day cake. I know what I want. And I don't want a box cake, or a Wal-mart cake. I want a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse. Is that too much to ask for?

We've got M&M fishes, starburst stars, mini twix treasure chest, graham cracker sand, chowmein noodle coral...

What more could you ask for.

Perhaps a sea horse, and a lobster made of M&M's.
The little lobster is my favorite little character.

A fluffy buttercream recipe
(will store in fridge for 2 weeks if covered tightly)

*In bowl of mixer combine*
6 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

*with the whisk attachment, add and whip at low speed*
1 cup boiling water
Whip until smooth and cool

*Add and whip until smooth*
2 3/4 cups shortening
6 ounces slightly chilled butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume (10-20 minutes)
Yield 9 1/2 cups

Cookies and Cream filling

*in the bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, whip until stiff:
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

*Gently fold in*
20 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed into medium pieces.

(This stuff is sooooo good.)

This is where I got the idea for the cake.
http://brightideas.com/birthdays/themes/deepsea/cakestreats/c_1220_1.jsp

I'm a punk.

2008-07-22T21:26:00.003-06:00

3 acts... my eye. It crashed and burned after the first act... we didn't even really get to intermission. I will show you how to make frosting. And I will show you the final result. I just didn't get pictures of how I did it. Sorry. I'll take pics of the birthday cake coming up.

Here is a little boy lovin his cake.

and lovin the camera

I love you baby. You are my everything.

Congrats on surviving for a whole year. Happy Birthday... back on the 8th.

Dancing Baby

2008-07-02T20:46:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to share a little tidbit.

Baking a Cake in three acts

2008-07-02T12:31:00.035-06:00

I have more friends than I thought. I'm so glad to see you two more people. I'm so glad... I'm making you a cake.

Sorry that's a lie. It's not for you. Isaac's 1st birthday is next week. So I'm saving myself some stress by making this cake in a 3 act kind of way. So let's get started.

Here are the players

First we'll start with the hardware. This recipe calls for two 10" pans. So that's what I got.

Second we'll take the bottoms out of my pans, and trace them onto a sheet of parchment paper.... What!? the bottom of your pans don't come out. That's okay, just trace around the bottom of the pans.

Then you have to cut out the perfect circles and prove to the world what a good circle cutter you are. And if you don't want to prove anything to anybody. Cut them like I did. There is no judgment here!

Now we prepare our pans. Grab your baking spray. I love this stuff. Gone are the days of sticking your hand into a container of Crisco and getting flour all over the sink. Plus this stuff smells like cake batter.

(Well I tried to get them all in a line. I need Kate's design program. And Kate's knowledge of the design program. Okay. I admit. I just need Kate.)
So here we are we've sprayed the bottom of the pan, put the papers in, and sprayed the whole pan. Sides and all. Whew! Who knew it took so much to make it so your cake won't stick to the bottom of the pan.

So now we prepare our ingredients.

The most important step!!!
Entertain the BABY!

We'll start with the dry ingredients.
flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar. And we'll sift these together.

Why sift? Because when I worked at Magleby's as a baker of desserts. We got a really lumpy batch of flour. So after we'd baked a couple cakes we realized the lumps weren't beating out. So we bought a sifter and sifted. It also makes a lighter cake.

It's a thing of beauty. Set it aside.

Now we turn to our handy dandy mixer. Make sure you are using the paddle attachment and not the whisk. You'll incorporate too much air into the batter. Add your butter, sugar, and salt. We're going to cream these together.

This is not creamed.

This is more like it.

Give the baby more toys. He's mad.

Don't forget to scrape the bowl, it's important. I just didn't take a picture of it. Now we're going to alternately add the wet and dry ingredients. Start with your dry ingredients. I sifted mine onto the bendy cutting board. Add 1/3 of the dry, with mixer on low.

Let it mix for a few seconds, you don't want to overbeat this mixture. Please, please, please don't overbeat this mixture. The cake will do funny things if you overbeat. Repeat with me. I WILL NOT OVERBEAT. While it's mixing add the vanilla to the milk, and add 1/2 of your milk mixture to the bowl. Mix for a few seconds and scrape the bowl.
Add 1/2 of your leftover flour, accidentally make a mess, then add the rest of your milk mixture.
Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Now if you have an extra mixing bowl for your Kitchen Aid. Go ahead and grab it. If you are poor like me. Scrape the batter into another bowl, ooohh and aahhh over how pretty it is, and wash out your bowl.

Make sure you get all of the grease from the butter off of the bowl. Now we're going to whisk egg whites. If you don't get all of the fat out of the bowl, the whites are not going to fluff up the way they are supposed to. Put the bowl back on the machine and put the whisk on. Put the whites in and turn that sucker up high.

Beat until you get a nice stiff peak. In Provo because we have a high elevation, you'll want to go a little softer. Go ahead and take a little of the whites and mix it into the batter to lighten it up.

Now we're going to fold in the rest of the whites.
*Quick folding lesson. Take your widest spatula (rubber scraper) and slice down the middle of the batter, scrape the bottom and up one side, bringing the batter on the bottom onto the top. Rotate the bowl while you do this. Be very gentle. If you are too forceful you'll deflate the whites.

Keep folding until there are thin streaks of whites left. You don't have to mix 'em all in. Beautiful!

Split into two pans and bake in a preheated 350F oven.

Bake until sides start to pull away, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes away with a few crumbs. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before removing from pan. And wrap with plastic before you put in the freezer if you are making this in 3 acts.

White Cake
makes 9 cups

3 1/3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cream of tartar

6 oz unsalted butter (room temp)
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 t salt

1 1/4 cups milk (room temp)
3/4 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup egg whites (room temp)

Preheat oven to 350.
Sift together first three ingredients, set aside.
Cream together, butter, 1 1/2 c. sugar and salt.
Mix together milk and vanilla into a pourable measuring cup.

With mixer on low, add 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the milk. After scraping bowl, add 1/2 of the flour and the rest of the milk. Scrape bowl again then add the rest of the flour.

In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Then with mixer going add 1/2 c sugar and beat until whites are a stiff peak. Fold into batter. Divide into prepared pans and bake 25-30 minutes. Or until sides pull away and tester comes out clean.

So my cakes turned out okay. But I did it wrong. I added all of the sugar at the beginning. Well, you win some... you lose some. (I think)

Spending money on things we lost

2008-06-30T13:04:00.002-06:00

This post is a sad one. Isn't it the worst when you go to your travel bag looking for something you had taken with you, when lo and behold.... you left it plugged in the only available outlet in your hotel in California. So this weekend we quit pretending we'd be able to find it and bought a new battery charger for our camera. So I can take pictures again.
And after the family reunion last weekend I can't find our cell phone chargers... so we also had to purchase a car charger for our phones.
So sixty dollars later... our electronics are charged and raring to go.

We have been trying to get the elusive shots of Isaac dancing. Yet when the camera comes out he stops and runs (well wobbles quickly) to grab the camera to push as many buttons as he can before I can pull away. Buttons are so wonderful!

Kate- I too have the struggle of not being able to post videos. I'm hoping that maybe I can set them up on you tube and then create a link. We'll see what happens.
Thanks for being one of the two people who visit my site. The other being Roger, well Roger and Brittney, so I guess three people. Love you guys.
p.s. (for Roger and Brittany) I have now watched almost all recent episodes of Doctor Who from Rose to The Doctor's Daughter. Thank you for creating an addict out of me.

thepioneerwoman.com

2008-06-17T15:01:00.004-06:00

This woman is hilarious. I love going to her website and reading about her random happenings. I highly recommend visiting her site daily, for her new recipes, photo school and giveaways. Please visit and enjoy.

thepioneerwoman.com

update: She's having a giveaway 6/18/08. Make a comment on her confessions blog and try to win a Zune. Good Luck

high in the sky Apple PIE hopes!!!!

2008-06-08T20:02:00.003-06:00

I'm getting ready for a Family reunion and I am in charge of kids games. We've got quite the list going, and I decided that a pie eating contest would be great... WHO DOESN'T LOVE PIE! (Well you might not like pie... and you don't have to be in my contest. So we're good.)

Jon and I are having a lovely conversation about who's got the better idea... and how I'm right and you're wrong... so to stop the madness (not anger.... insanity). I need blogger friend help. I know you are out there. You secret blog readers. I am one. I understand, sometimes I just don't have a comment. But the baby pics are lovely THANKS.

One of us would like to make a PIE, with crust, filling and whipped cream on the top. Then cut the pie into pieces and whoever eats their piece first without hands... Wins.
The other would like to buy little throwaway pie tins and put just filling and whipped cream, no crust, and make you eat out of the tin, with no hands.

So I need COMMENTS. Should we do it *with crust or *without. And also please include what kind of pie you would want for this family friendly competition. (Remember kids don't eat mincemeat)

craftzine.com

2008-06-04T10:54:00.003-06:00

This is the best craft website ever. I am absolutely stunned by the imagination and talent of the people shown here. Who would have ever thought of an octopus ring?

Or cupcake shaped bathfizzies?

Well now you know!

It's time again for the SALMON FRY!!!

2008-06-03T13:53:00.003-06:00

And yet... sniff sniff. We are not going this year. Due to the rising price of gas, the rising price of Salmon Fry, and that we were up for Graduation last week. Our pockets are seeming a little on the empty side.

So those of you who live so near to the pure JOY that is the sauce you put on the salmon, think of me. And if somehow you have a recipe for the sauce.... send it to me. I will pretend I'm there luxuriating in the flavor that is BUTTER. And I would probably forever be your slave.

Take a deep breath.... now hold it.

2008-05-22T15:11:00.002-06:00

So every once in a while there comes along a pic that reminds you of something you saw on tv. Well this one reminds me of all those cartoons you saw when the guy wanted to make himself look stronger. So he sucks in a deep breath and his tummy goes in and his chest gets bigger. Then he goes and saves the girl from the bad guy. Well this is my little hero.

The phone is for ewe!!!

2008-05-15T08:42:00.002-06:00

I loved 90210 in the 5th grade... You?

2008-05-09T15:53:00.018-06:00

(This paragraph is an edit. I was so excited about the GPS that I forgot to tell you why we went. Jon had a work conference, so they paid for the hotel, car, Jon's airplane ticket and $50 a day for food. So we went on vacation.)

I am SOLD!!! GPS units are so cool. We had a rental car in LA and decided to get one of those Garmin things. It was so awesome not having to argue about how to get anywhere. We would plug in an address and poof... we had a map. Or if we were looking for something to do, we could look for entertainment, restaurants, GAS stations. Awesome! I so wanna buy one. But looking at prices, I don't think I can afford one. Oh well.

So before we left on our trip we looked up all the free things we could do. We went to the California Science center where they were showing some pretty cool stuff.

This is a real rock... that looks like a hologram.

This is a whole bunch of Stick Bugs. (I mean a WHOLE BUNCH.)

My beautiful family.

The Body World exhibit... (it was $19 per person, we didn't see the whole exhibit... just the free stuff. I got to touch some of them. That's pretty gross.)

LA Wal-Mart oooooh la la

The free exhibition Rose Garden

The next day at the Farmer's Market

What the GATEWAY wants to be when it grows up.

fruit and candy right next to eachother... my kind of place!!

Isaac was so cute... he got a free cookie.

Malibu We weren't too impressed. The big houses were up on the hill... but the beach was covered with all of these itty bitty sad looking houses. There was a shopping center, but I was saving my shopping for......

Rodeo Drive (not a great pic) but sometimes I feel like such a tourist. (Guess what the zip code here is folks!!!)

Sprinkles cupcakes... That line was huge... and if I'm gonna sin on a Sunday I want it to be easy, so maybe if there wasn't a line???

Made up for the sinning thoughts by helping some really slow people find their way.

You mean I came all this way for this???

2008-05-06T15:32:00.006-06:00

So... um the day after I posted last was my mother's birthday. And I made her birthday gift. It started with printing the pattern off of the internet and piecing it together. I decided I would embroider it and spent 4 days with a hoop and needle in my hands. But I think it turned out. And it's being used, it didn't disappear into the closet. So I think she liked it.

I've been taking a break. As you can tell. I'd like to say I deserve a break... but I think I was just punking out. So I'm working on my next post. We went on vacation to LA and I took some pictures. Check back soon.

Mommy Tag

2008-04-07T11:40:00.004-06:00

1. Typically what time do you wake up? about 8... although that varies from day to day

2. On a good night what time are your kids in bed?By 10:00

3. How long have you been a mommy? 9 months as of tommorow

4. How old were you when you became a mommy? 24

5. What is your favorite kids tv show/movie? My fave show is little einsteins.

6. What is your least favorite kids tv show? Doodlebops... oh they hurt my brain

7. What is your favorite chore? my least disliked chore is....mopping the floor with the swiffer.

8. What is your favorite meal to cook? Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke Pizza from Papa Murphys (Take and Bake)

9. What is the meal you cook most often? Stir Fry with Oyster sauce

10. What is your kids favorite meal? Baby food Fruit. And lately he feeds himself those melt in your mouth Peach Stars.

11. What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids? Kisses. Many Many kisses.. I have to remind him to calm down so the baby will stay and play.

12. What are 5 things that make you smile when you're being a mom?
1. When I'm in the kitchen making dinner and he climbs up the back of my legs and stands up holding on for dear life.
2. When I find Baby and daddy playing together and no one is crying.
3.When he gets tired and flops his head down on my chest.
4.When he does something he's proud of and calls me to make sure I see it.
5.When I only wake up once during the night to feed the baby and he sleeps for the rest.

13. If you could take your kids anywhere where would it be? Outside on our very own yard. We don't have a yard here at our apartment.

14. When was the last time you went out without your kids? I went to a concert in the beginning of March.

15. What is your favorite past time/activity to do with your kids? Walk outside.

16. Name 1 thing you said you'd never do as a mom: Get a mini van.... They've got some pretty nice ones now.

17. What is your favorite quality that your mom has? She always calls me just to tell me she loves me.

18. What is your advice for new moms? Take time for yourself. Go out with a friend once in a while. And when people say your baby needs to sit in the sun because they are too pale... Don't listen. Your baby is beautiful. Pale and all.

19. What is the scariest or most heartbreaking moment as a mom? When I left the ironing board sitting against the wall and went into the kitchen. Seconds later I heard it come crashing down. Luckily it hit the top of a box and not the baby.

20. What is your most joyful moment of being a mom? When he kisses me. It's very rare and I have to start it. But when he doesn't turn away it makes me so happy.

21. When was the last time you were told 'I Love You' by one of your kids? I agree with Amanda. "Well I have yet but hugs and kisses mean the same thing to me!"

22. I tag: no one... sorry.

Here comes Peter Cottontail

2008-03-25T09:44:00.003-06:00

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We were up visiting Tremonton this weekend. We had a big birthday party/easter party and almost everyone was there. We drove up to Marble Park and tried to fly kites but the wind was so fickle so we sat on blankets and chatted. After a few hours it started to blow so we could fly kites, but it got so cold the babies (and us) we had to leave. So we went back to the house and moved all the couches so we could chat. We stuck the babies in the center of the room and all of the adults proceeded to watch babies. Simple minds, simple pleasures. I love hanging out with my family and I love having all of us around. Yes... I have to drive two hours to get there.... but the memories are worth it. Sunday morning we woke up and the Easter Bunny had been there. He left one of his friends for Isaac to play with.

He'd clearly been sneaking into the fridge munching on the carrots we were going to use for dinner. But he'd left the broccoli alone so we did get our veggies.

Hoppy Holidays

(Sorry I couldn't help myself.)

Adventures in Babysitting

2008-03-13T17:31:00.003-06:00

Do you guys remember this movie? The scene I remember is the friend has lost her glasses and is cuddling a rat.
Well my situation is a little different. I'm currently in Highland, at a friends house taking care of her 5 kids. She's gone for a few days and needed someone who could stay the night. So Jon and I are going to be here until Saturday morning. So far it's going well, we're going to have a calm evening eating Corn Dogs and Mac & Cheese .... no one is cuddling with rats.

The next day...... Well last nights dinner was a bust. I mistakenly supposed that because there were many many cans of green beans in the pantry that, maybe they eat them. So I opened two cans to feed everyone. These kids have a horrible allergic reaction that causes them to have a horrible flavor in their mouth and pull horrible faces. And then must wash their mouths out with water from the sink. After much discussion we find that the only person who eats veggies is the dad, and the mom hates everything veggie. So the kids caught the veggie disease from her. It's so funny to me. We had to eat veggies all the time when I was a kid. And now I love them. Peas, Corn, Zucchini, Asparagus, Sweet Potatoes... almost all of them. And even Artichokes I know they look confusing, but mmmm mmm mmmm dipped in butter. My mouth is watering. I think I'll have one for dinner tomorrow. Luckily for tonight we are having frozen pizzas and I'm pretty sure that there aren't any evil veggies on them.

Oh so because I felt so bad about opening two cans of beans, Jon and I had two large helpings. Mmm Mmm Beans.

You can learn a lot of things from the flowers, but especially in the month of June.

2008-03-05T09:06:00.002-07:00

I took Cami's test and.....

I am a
Snapdragon

What Flower
Are You?

Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh.

Anything you can do I can do better.... I can do anything better than you.

2008-03-03T09:57:00.004-07:00

If you click on the name of this blog you can watch a fun commercial.

So what do you think. I'm in love with Amigurumi. It's just crocheting. The Japanese just decided to have some fun with it. You would not believe the styles and patterns out there.

This little guy is a creature called Brobee from Yo gabba gabba on Nick Jr. This Alliecat30 gal did a truly amazing job... I just bumped it up and made him my own. I gave him to my nephew Tyke for his birthday this last weekend.

This eel was a replacement for an inchworm I had made and given to Isaac. But I didn't have any poly stuffing so I used real cotton balls... When a baby chews on cotton balls it does not end well. So I found this pattern for the eel (thanks snuffykin for designing it). And it's wonderful Isaac loves sucking on the head and I can wash him. (Hooray for washing machines!!) I'm now planning on making an alien rabbit I found at etsy.com, this wonderful place to sell and buy homemade items. I hope you check it out and find a new creative hobby... or just buy something cool.

Excuse me... is my tag showing?

2008-02-27T21:47:00.003-07:00

I carry this bag and the diaper bag... I don't feel embarrassed, I have a baby.

Contents:
old shopping list
X96 freeloader card
2 quarters
travel bottle of aleve
itty bitty contact case
Bear River pride pin (it came off my keys)
ear plugs
SEVERAL receipts
nail buffer
Trident gum
jump drive cap
sanitizing wipe
coupons (diapers and sweetened condensed milk)
gum wrapper
last year's b-day cake recipe
almost empty baby food container (ewww)
lip balm and lip gloss
cuticle cream
comb
wallet
business cards
several love notes from hubby
NOT used tissues

I don't know who to tag..... get back to me.

Would the real Valentine's day please stand up?

2008-02-18T17:53:00.016-07:00

Valentine's day was lovely. I think I got everything finished that I wanted to. I finished my heart cakes and gave them to the Provo Canyon School boys. I didn't put the cute sayings on the hearts...but I'm sure that no one missed them. Maybe just me. The cake recipe was wonderful, but I used the Billy's vanilla vanilla frosting. It was too sweet for this cake. Billy's frosting is better for Billy's cake. Next time I'll either follow the recipe or use a cream cheese frosting. I also made some sugar cookies and used the BVV frosting. They were wonderful. I did go a little bit overboard when making these cookies. It probably only frustrates me, but I was going for a more professional look and when you bake your cookies they always spread. So when you get the cookies out of the oven re-cut them. And then eat all the edges that are leftover. Looking at the close up of the cookies the center cookie at the top was not re-cut... the cookie with the three large dragees is the re-cut version of that cookie. You really don't have to do that... I was just being anal that day... and really wanted cookie edges.
For dinner we had New York steak, Roasted Balsamic Onions, and Garlic Potato Souffle (which sounds gross and doesn't look good in the picture.. but it was really tasty.) We didn't spend any money on presents this year so we went the crafty way. Here is a picture of Jon's paper dolls and a picture of my wooden valentine.

And what is any blog of mine if there isn't a picture of the baby.

Valentine's and a Virus

2008-02-11T11:23:00.009-07:00

Isn't this the cutest little man. He's been so sick. We went to the doctor after a bit of mommy panicking and discovered that Isaac has RSV. Respiratory Something or other Virus. Constant runny nose and yucky cough. We've got him on a breathing treatment and it was so funny watching him play with the machine. His grandma Sara came down to take care of us for a day and when she saw him she said it looked like a baby crackpipe. We thought it was hilarious. If you don't think it's hilarious.... please forgive us heathens.
Remember when I said I was about to go crazy with all of the crafting. It has started. I'm having so much fun. It starts with my valentines plans. Whenever we'd go to Wal-mart to look for baby christmas presents, Jon would want to look at the Transformers. He would get so disappointed that they were just action figures. They wouldn't transform. Well I found these paper ones... thanks to Nicebunny. No these don't transform... but they sure are cute. I found this one that transforms, I just haven't tried to put him together yet.... he scares me. Cuttin' Sewin' Gluein'. It's gonna take some intense baby being asleep time.

I'm making these little cakes I saw on the Martha Stewart site. I love being able to watch the show clips on the internet. I was so sad when channel 4 took her off the air. Did you know if you stay up until 2am you can watch the previous days show on channel 5. They are so kind.
I'm not finished making the cakes yet... I had to freeze the little devils before frosting them so I can get the edges super sharp. So while I was freezing those, I made suckers that I saw on Paula Deen. Don't all y'all just love Paula.

I feel like such a stalker

2008-02-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

I am now addicted to looking at blogs. No one is safe. Especially if you have a crafty or foodie blog. I'm probably coming after you next..... (insert maniacal laughter here.) It all started with homemadebyjill (a link connection is on my list 'o links). I am so amazed at what this gal can accomplish. I've decided to be her when I grow up. And from her blog I've been following others and finding many crafty things I'm gonna try. Jon should be terrified. I'm ready to go nuts. Our home will never be the same.

I need help. How do you put in a link? i.e. if you see the name homemadebyjill in my script and you move your pointer over it, the pointer changes and makes it so you can go to her website.. I've been trying to figure it out so you could go to the Sweet Potato recipe. But alas... I struggle. HELP (please)

Things I'm doing...

2008-01-30T14:45:00.001-07:00

I made a Sweet Potato Pie. When you think of Sweet Potato Pie, do you think of that country song too? Paula Deen sure knows what she's doing. It was wonderful. Similar to a pumpkin pie but different. I think I might like them even more than pumpkin. When I make it again, I'm going to leave out some of the sugar. I'm sweet enough. :) I'm also not going to do the meringue, a dollop of whipped cream would be wonderful. The meringue is pretty, but I did something wrong because when we were cutting it, the meringue didn't slice... it tore and balled up. (It's probably because I didn't serve it until the next day.)

I've got more things to share, but Isaac is sick. It is completely impossible to accomplish anything. At this moment, he is throwing a fit and I'm having to move him around to keep him happy. It's hard to be happy when your nose is constantly running. And your mom keeps wiping it. I'd be mad too. There has been one truly saving grace. During the times that he is inconsolable, I have found that a piece of black licorice is amazing. Messy, but amazing. Heaven bless Sweet Potato Pie and Black Licorice.

Tagging.... isn't that illegal?

2008-01-23T11:52:00.001-07:00

Five random things about me....

1. I am a recipe fanatic. I have one bookshelf level filled with cookbooks and in the area above the books I have file folders filled with printed off recipes. I have only used about 1/4 of the recipes I have. I currently am trying to really look at the recipes and throw a bunch away. I also am trying to use more of the recipes... but I find that many of them call for really expensive ingredients.

2. I have been daydreaming about winning the Publisher's Clearing House. We're not hurting for money... but I've been imagining what I would do with it if we won. I would buy two hybrid cars, pay off loans, buy a house, and take the gumpaste flower classes I found online for $500. And that's just the orchids. There are plenty more things I'd do...but you're gonna get bored.

3. I love cinnamon toast. I currently have not made anymore cinnamon sugar and I am not going to. I go nuts when I'm hungry for a snack.

4. My two toes next to my big toe on my right foot are the same size. It's genetic I have other family members that are the same way.

5. I think about baking desserts during Sacrament Meeting. If you've ever seen "Waitress" I do the same thing, but without the crazy names.

6. I know there were only supposed to be 5 but I've been tagged twice. I want Katie to know I also make lists.... It's how I get through some pretty boring stuff. Or how I remember everything. If I don't make a list... I will forget several things.

7. I love the television show M*A*S*H. I think Alan Alda is hilarious.

8. I want to go on a Caribbean cruise so bad. We were hoping to go on one this year, but cars are dumb and expensive. So I look at all the brochures like you would look at the sears christmas catalog and plan where we'd go if we were going to go this year.

9. I very much dislike the band U2. I apologize to all those who are fans. I do not hold it against you. You might not like my choice of music.

10. I go to Jon's work every Wednesday and teach the boys how to cook. At first I really didn't want to do it. But now I really enjoy the boys. They just need someone in their lives that isn't expecting something. Someone to just have fun with. I'm glad I get to help out

Temple, Hospital and Peas

2008-01-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

We've had quite a bit of fun this past week. Monday we were on the road by 4:30 in the morning. My family drove up to Rexburg and we were able to tour the new temple. Who knew that they had groups going through at 7:30 in the morning. We were back in Tremonton around noon and around then was when we received the phone call that we were going to send Grandma Jo to the hospital to have her shoulder replaced. That pretty photo of the sunset is from her hospital room. Also this week Isaac learned to eat peas. Peas are almost as good as pears. He is so much more brave than I am. I opened the jar and almost gagged. So let it be said.... Babies are very brave. (Except when it comes to laying down in the bath tub.... that I have learned is terrifying.)

Don't go changin

2008-01-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

So I've made some adjustments and I hope that I can do some more as we go. I am so jealous of some peoples blogs. I love the look and design. I am practicing... so someday I will know more about blogs. I received a comment from Evelyn quite some time ago and I've decided that I too am a "blogger stalker". And if I'm going to be looking into your lives... I must be kind and let you know how I'm doing. So here we go.

A very nervous trip to Bear Lake.

2007-07-30T12:08:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we drove up to Bear Lake with the family. Mom, Dad, Josie, Stacie, Tyke, Jon, Isaac and Me. They finally talked me into getting on the boat with Isaac. I was a nervous wreck. Everything turned out just fine and the lake was beautiful. It's amazing to compare the two small boys. Tyke is only a few months older than Isaac, but the size difference is amazing. But soon you won't even be able to tell. Such adorable boys. Sorry about the first picture... it's kind of dark. Josie is holding Tyke and Jon is holding Isaac.

Isaac is finally here!

2007-07-16T11:12:00.000-06:00

Introducing.... Isaac Russell Voigt

Born July 8, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
6 lbs 12 oz
19 in

Jon and Mom were with me when Isaac was born and Dad and Josie had just run down to grab themselves a burger. By the time they got back the doctor was walking down the hall and congratulated them on a handsome baby boy. We all thought the labor and delivery would last longer. But I'm one of the lucky ones.

We spent two days in the hospital and it was so helpful having the nurses there to help me with feeding. Breastfeeding can be quite difficult. Isaac got a little bit of jaundice, but not enough to need the phototherapy.

Mom spent the week with us in our apartment at Wymount and that weekend we moved to our new apartment in South Provo. We're slowly getting closer and closer to having all of the boxes unpacked.

Grandma Jo came up on Saturday the 14th and she has been here all week. It has been so helpful with an extra set of hands to hold Isaac. That way I can unpack boxes without constantly having to go pick Isaac up when he fusses.

I can't wait for every one to meet Isaac. He is truly the greatest blessing in my life. It's so wonderful to hold him and I just get this bubble of giddiness in my chest and it comes out in a giggle. He's so perfect.

the work baby shower

2007-06-29T11:22:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures of my work baby shower (back on June 2nd). We painted and designed onesies. It was a blast. I was so impressed by the designs they created. I'd be proud to let my son wear them in the privacy of our home. Just Kidding. The ladies I work with are amazing. I'm going to miss them when I leave. Christy (my co-worker) was so great to have the party at her house.

Jon and I finally have an apartment set up for when they kick us out of Wymount. Jon graduated and is no longer a student so we have to move. We were hoping to buy a home, but house prices are crazy down here in Utah County. So we decided to get a cheap apartment and save up a nice down payment on a home. We are also having to purchase a new car. When we put our carseat in the back of our Hyundai, we have to move the front seats so far forward that our knees bump up against the dashboard. I'll miss our little silver Hyundai. It's been a good little car.

A belly and Apologies

2007-04-13T08:54:00.000-06:00

I will start this blog out today with a photo of my belly and my cute husband and an apology. Kate... I am sorry that I have never updated this blog. I struggle mentally with this process for some reason. I will do better.

New kid on the blog

2007-02-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

I'm opening up a new blog so I can be as cool as cousin Kate. I am 17 weeks along with the pregnancy and Bean (Bean is the baby's nickname) is getting bigger and bigger every day. I think I've been feeling the baby move today. We've been trying to decide between baby or gas. I'm hoping for baby. It feels like lightly poking a balloon, but you are the balloon and you are being slightly stretched. I had a bunch of people tell me that it's supposed to feel like a feather.... so we're gonna wait and see if the feeling gets stronger. I'm having the big ultrasound done on February 20th. I'll let people know what we find out. I'm so excited.