Chess Cake

*Note: the only reason I'm posting recipes, crafts, etc on here is so I can add it to pinterest and have a source for others to come back to. I get so annoyed when the description is completely written out under the picture and takes up half a page

Okay, back to the cake. My husband's favorite cake growing up was a cake his grandma made him. When we started dating I had never heard of a chess cake, but after one bite I was hooked. A few weeks ago I decided to surprise him with one and since I don't have the recipe I had to do some guessing and I finally have it!

Also-please excuse the pictures, they were taken with my cell phone.

You'll need:

3 large eggs
1 box of yellow cake mix
3 1/2 to 4 cups of confectioners powdered sugar
8 oz of cream cheese
1/2 cup of butter





Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your cake pan

Mix in a large bowl 1 egg, cake mix, and butter. It'll look something like this





Take the mixture and press/pat evenly into the greased cake pan



Mix in a medium size bowl your 2 eggs, sugar, and cream cheese



Spread evenly over the mixture that's in your cake pan...mine never looks that pretty but it tastes good!



Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Hope you guys like it!

Rolling

With this baby, I have taken more time off work than I did with Kellen. I haven't rushed back to work and to be honest I'm really dreading leaving her more than I thought I would. This decision paid off yesterday when Alaina rolled over for the first time! I can't believe she's not even 11 weeks old and I'm already having to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn't roll and get stuck on her side/back/stomach! ha







Please ignore my voice and my husband's cheering...we were clearly excited!!

Veggie Dip

As a child, my mom and I would make this dip and between the 2 of us devour it in a day. I was craving some the other day and had mom send me her recipe. I've tweaked it a bit and must say it's even better than I remember. This would make enough for 2 people to snack on for a few days, but we usually doubled it.

You'll need:

2 large tomatoes chopped

4 green onions chopped

1 small can of chopped ripe olives

1 small can of chopped green chiles

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 teaspoons of garlic salt (I usually just taste and add more if needed)

Mix and refrigerate for 6-12 hours

(Please excuse the extra can of chiles, I was doubling the recipe)

Chop up the tomatoes and green onions. Add together and mix



Add in chopped chiles and olives. Mix again before adding in your oil and garlic salt. It should end up looking like this

Now it may not be the prettiest thing you've even seen, but man is it good! I usually refrigerate mine overnight and eat the next day. Enjoy!

Alaina Bree

So she finally made her appearance...granted it was 2 months ago. She is absolutely perfect in every way and is my absolute angel.

Yes, she's been in the hospital at 1 month, has refused to eat, and is in OT but this girl is my soul. The one I'll pass all my "girly" knowledge to. The one who will fight me on everything as soon as those teenage years hit. The one I'll want to harm boys over who don't recognize how amazing she is.

And as of Thursday she's already hit 2 months and in 10 more I'll be celebrating her year. After that it'll be like she's going off to kindergarten so fast. She's my only little girl and my princess.

Truths

So I'm on the home stretch in this pregnancy and to say I was happy about this revelation would be an understatement. My body has officially checked out. Given up. Done. Imagine something that is made for an object of 50 lbs now has 100 lbs crammed in there, this is basically how I feel everyday.

I hate complaining about these things though. I'm always scared I'm gonna offend those who want to be pregnant, but can't. Or those who were pregnant and have lost their baby somewhere along the way before their due date. But to act like everything is alright is not me and the truth is me and pregnancy just don't jive well.

There's also the fact that I know I'm not really living this pregnancy up, knowing it'll be my last one. There hasn't been any celebrating her kicks and movements, taking belly pics to look at later in life with her. Instead there's griping about the swelling, lack of sleep, and general uncomfortableness I'm feeling. I feel like I've robbed myself and her of those intimate moments between mom and child that no one else can see or feel.

Kellen has been having a hard time understanding why mommy can't play with him like I used to. Saturday I broke down (unfortunately in front of him) because he wanted to play tag and my body just simply wouldn't allow it. I hate that I'm not the mother to him that I should be, that I'm jeopordizing our time together. I've tried explaining that once I'm not pregnant things will be normal again, but I know that's not truth. Then comes the hard task of giving both my kids the equal amount of time in a day when that's not always going to be possible. I feel like I'm already failing at this mother of two thing and I haven't even started.

And don't get my me started on the fact that we haven't even named her, that's a whole other post that I'm too mentally wiped out to entertain.

Long time gone

So yeah, it's been a while. Too say I've been overwhelmed is an understatement. After finding out we were expecting again, my husband and I put our house on the market and it sold within 3 weeks. While it was a total blessing we had no where to go until we found a new place. Enter my parents house.

We've been here since May and are currently still here. To say it's been hard is not giving the situation justice. The whole experience of going from a family of 3 to being moved into a house with my parents has not been easy on any of us. Especially Kellen who doesn't understand where his things are and why we don't go "home" everyday.

The silver lining is we have put an offer in on a home, they have accepted and we are waiting now for the all clear signal to move in! Which is a positive because it means my new baby will have a home ha! Oh and it's a GIRL!

working itself out

While packing some of my house up recently (you'll understand more on that later), I ran across something I had written last November.

"Some days I feel in total despair. When I see others announcing they're expecting again I feel the green-eyed monster take over me. A feeling that is never comfortable to have.
I wonder how others can manage to afford, manage a whole new lifestye with a second child. I would love to give Kellen someone to have that sibling bond with. Most times though I'm pulled back to reality that it's probably more than we could handle.
I love my son-his smile, personality, smell, laugh-he is my whole heart. I can't help but wonder if we are missing out on something more as a family."

It's hard to admit those things to yourself and others. When you are envious of others, it's never a pretty sight.

I found out last month that I am expecting. At first all my fears came back and I cried, and not tears of joy. By late that afternoon, I was over the moon with excitement. We are jumping in full force and hoping we don't sink.

My due date is exactly a year from when I wrote this last November. Some things are just meant to be and he will now have that bond I have craved for him