Sneak Peak of Levi

Levi had his newborn pictures taken yesterday.  He was such a cute little model!  Here is one sneak peak

 

Maternity Pictures

So this seems totally late, but right before Levi came I had an urge to take some maternity pictures.  I was searching for a photographer and one had a free maternity session with a newborn session so we decided to try it.  I have never been into big belly shots but they seemed flattering enough for 3 days before he came out.

The Kassebaum Family

 

Levi's shoot will be on Columbus Day

Welcome Levi Matthew Kassebaum!

On September 30, I was feeling stressed out so my Mom offered to have Katie over for a slumber party at her house the next night.  After gymnastics on October 1st, Katie went over to the beach for her fun filled night.  I was looking forward to a relaxing afternoon with a pedicure and then going out to dinner with Dan and maybe doing a little shopping the next morning on my way to pick Katie up.  I wasn't really sure what to do so I decided to watch some Criminal Minds from 2 until 3, during which I started having some mild cramps.  I was so excited to be having any sign of labor since I didn't want to be induced again.  After the show, I took a bath and continued to relax.  I told Dan to stay at work and get some stuff done.

About 3:15 I started having very short, mild contractions.  Dan left work around 3:40.  By the time he got home at 4:10, I felt pretty icky and decided to start timing my contractions.  The doctor said they have to be 1 minute long, 5 minutes apart, for one hour before coming into labor and delivery- oh and be very painful.  Mine were like 30 seconds long, 1 to 2 minutes apart and painful, but not unbearable.  I wasn't sure what to do so we kept timing them.  We got through about 3 cycles before POP! My water broke at 4:18 and we still weren't sure if we should go in or call, but my contractions were getting stronger so I had Dan go upstairs and pack the bag.  By this point I couldn't do anything during the contractions.  We left about 4:35 and Dan drove about 90 the whole way down to the hospital.  We arrived around 5:15 and Dan ran in and got me a wheel chair.

The took me to a triage room to assess me and decided I was 5 cm dilated so they said we would go to a delivery room.  I asked immediately for an epidural but they had to start an IV first.  Apparently my veins were terrible and I was really dehydrated.  I had 3 people sticking needles into my arms in various places to get the IV going.  They were trying to wait in between contractions, but I told them to just do it since there was no time in between them.  Then I said I thought I was pushing.  They told me not to push, thinking I was crazy and then checked and I was 10 cms dilated and ready to push (this was 20 minutes later)  I told them I wasn't ready and that I wanted medicine but they said there was nothing they could give me and the only way to end the pain was to have the baby.  Not exactly what I wanted to hear since I had done nothing to prepare for a natural birth.  They didn't even have the baby cart in there or any doctors.  A midwife happened to be walking by, stop in, and delivered the baby.  I asked her for anything to numb the pain, but she would not give it go me so I peed on her ;) As I was pushing, they finally got my IV in.  I hadn't even taken my normal clothes off before he was born.  No discussion of our birth plan- I wasn't actually admitted as a patient yet.

Levi Matthew was born at 6:06 pm on October 1st in what was deemed as an uncomplicated delivery :)  He came out with a fury.  They placed him on my belly to clean him off and to cut the cord (some corpsman's idea).  He was 7 pounds 13 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.

Halloween Wreath 2013

How did I not have a Halloween wreath?  Maybe I do and my pregnancy brain has made me forget about it, but I decided to make one today anyways.  All part of nesting, right?  I didn't exactly feel like buying anything for my wreath so I had to come up with something I could make from the stuff I already had- I do have a whole closet of crafting goodies.  

First I wrapped my wreath in orange, black, and lavender yarn.  I liked the lavender to lighten it up a little.

I was going to make one that looked like it had a witch crash into it so I started to make a tutu, but it didnt look right so I made a tutu spider web....

And added a spider, and tada!

Finished it in about 30 minutes including figuring out what in the world I was doing :)  My neighbors are already putting out decorations so I left it on the door.  

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Katie's New Balance Beam

We clearly don't have enough to do around our house so today we decided to make Katie a balance beam to practice on between gymnastics visits.  She was practicing on the cover for our mini blinds or the cement wall outside our house- both weren't the best options.  Now she has a little beam for our family room. 

Dan nailed some 2 by 4s together

Stapling the pleather suede to the new beam

Trying it out.

Katie's doing tricks

She can stand on one foot

She did an amazing somersault on the beam and stayed on and can hop across the beam.  So much fun.

Pregnancy Freezer Meal- Chicken Pot Pie

I think I am actually getting into this whole making two meals and freezing one of them thing.  Tonight's Chicken Pot Pie was easy and so good.  Katie and Dan helped a lot so we got two pies whipped out super speedy.

Katie helped me peel the potatoes and carrots

Then she decided she was pooped and needed a snack. This is why my house is never clean and there are random pieces of bread everywhere!

Making the inside

yum.  note to self.  If you plan to actually serve this dish, you should wait until it cools so it holds its form better

Ingredients (Makes 2 pies- one to eat and one to freeze)

• 2 cups diced peeled potatoes

• 1-3/4 cups sliced carrots

• 1 cup butter, cubed

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1-3/4 teaspoons salt

• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

• 3 cups chicken broth

• 1-1/2 cups milk

• 4 cups cubed cooked chicken

• 1 cup frozen peas

• 1 cup frozen corn

  2 packages (14.1 ounces each) refrigerated pie pastry

• Directions Preheat oven to 425°. Place potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, covered, 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender; drain. In a large skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat.  Stir in flour and seasonings until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken, peas, corn and potato mixture; remove from heat. Unroll a pastry sheet into each of two 9-in. pie plates; trim even with rims. Add chicken mixture. Unroll remaining pastry; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in tops. Bake 35-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Yield: 2 potpies (8 servings each). Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked pies. To use, remove from freezer 30 minutes before baking (do not thaw). Preheat oven to 425°. Place pies on baking sheets; cover edges loosely with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°; bake 70-80 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°.

Braided Spaghetti Bread

Last night's dinner was this braided spaghetti bread :)  I'm not sure this was any easier then just making spaghetti and french bread seperatly and took longer, but Katie got a kick out of the bread, and when it is dinner time, sometimes pleasing a 2 year old is worth a little extra effort.  Plus it looked impressive if you were having kiddos over for company at dinnertime. 

What you need:

- Spaghetti (we used less than half a pack)
- Spaghetti Sauce (by all means, make your own if you want- at 8 1/2 months pregnant, Preggo is good enough for me)
- Italian Sausage or whatever meat you like
- Refrigerated bread dough- we used 2 Pillsbury french brad loaves.  (again you could make this)
- Mozzarella Cheese and Parmesan 
- Egg
- Garlic Salt
- Olives, Mushrooms, Peppers (all optional)

What to do:

Cook spaghetti, add cooked sausage, sauce and any other things you like in your spaghetti.  Roll out the dough.  Plop spaghetti on top. Put chunks of mozzarella on top. Cut slits in your dough and braid them together.  It doesn't have to look perfect.  Brush some egg on top and sprinkle on some garlic salt and Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes (or what your bread dough calls for)

Adding some extra cheese

Ready to braid the dough

Katie loved helping with this meal

Then brushing the egg on top

being silly while it bakes

looks good enough to eat.