Sweet and Sour Pork

So upon request here is the recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork. I asked Jeni what recipe she used and she said it's from our Aunt Sonia so I gave it a whirl and I really liked it. I wasn't fond of this dinner growing up so I was really hesitant to make it, but I needed a new dinner idea. This tasted different than the stuff I remember.

Sweet and Sour Pork
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb pork cut into cubes
1 well beaten egg
Sauce:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vinegar (cider or rice- I used rice)
1/3 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. catsup
1 tsp. soy sauce
2 T. cornstarch
2 T. cold water
1 c. pineapple
1 medium green pepper, cut up
cooked carrots (opt.)

Combine flour and salt. Dip pork cubes in egg and then into flour. Brown in oil til brown and done about 6-8 mins. In skillet combine sugar, vinegar, juice, catsup and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Blend cornstarch and water together and gradually stir into sauce mixture. Keep adding until you reach desired thickness. Add warm pork cubes, pineapple, green peppers and carrots. Heat together while stirring until heated through. Serve over rice.

I didn't fry the pork cubes to save time and calories. So I just cut the pork chops up into cubes, sauteed them until they were done and set aside. Then I made the sauce and I didn't need to use all of the cornstarch/water mixture. Then I added the meat, pineapple and peppers. It was good.

Kate's Castle

Kate informs us daily that her room is a castle. She calls it her "pink castle". It goes along with this whole princess theme she is obsessed with lately. I probably don't help the obsession along when I buy her a princess backpack and princess flip flops (or "slip sops" as she calls them). It's really cute though to see how her imagination is developing. She pretends really well and so it's fun to listen to her playing and overhear what she talks about. She definitely picks up things faster than I realize. And just today as we were leaving our development, Kate asked about Tinkerbell (refer to Tinkerbell post). She says "Where Tinkerbell go?" I thought it was hilarious she still remembered this girl. I told Kate she was back in school again (some of the schools around here have mid-winter break).

Last night, Kate was "helping" me cook dinner and I was on the phone with Melanie. Kate was wanting to stir the pork around in the pan. (I was making sweet and sour pork which turned out so good. Everyone loved it. Thanks Jeni for the recipe recommendation!) While she was on a stool next to the stove she lost her balance and fell onto the pan and then onto the floor where all the pieces of meat and pan went flying. She was scared and she got burned on her finger a little. I think she touched the pan on her fall down. But luckily the pan or meat didn't land on her. All I could say to Melanie was "I gotta go" and hung up. After getting Kate happy and making her stick her hand in a cold glass of water I cleaned up the mess, finished dinner and I did call Melanie back. :) We have a gas stove so it could have been much worse had she touched more of the hot things. I hope Kate learned her lesson and will let mommy do the stirring and cooking- she can just watch. I've told her this multiple times, but you know how they love to help cook.

Preston hasn't been rolling over lately. I don't know what his deal is. He first rolled over right before his 4 month birthday. He rolled a handful of times, but hasn't done it lately. Kyle has yet to see him roll over so he doesn't believe me when I say he did! He's still eating pretty good so I hope that he keeps it up and puts on some weight (and rolls). We are actually taking him for a feeding evaluation next week because he's not the fastest eater and except for these last two weeks, he hasn't been interested in food. That's not the case now, but I made the appointment a month ago so we'll keep it and see what they have to say.

Good News!

I just got a call from Preston's doctor about the EEG he had done a week and half ago and it's normal!!!! We are happy about that. He hasn't had an episode for 3 weeks now so we don't have do to anything more for now (unless it happens again or more often). Yea!!!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

We had beautiful weather this weekend and so we took advantage of that and went to the zoo Saturday morning. It was a fun family outing. We have a membership to the zoo so we try to go often. It's nice to have a membership because there's no pressure if you don't or can't see everything. Kate rode the carousal and talked about "riding a horse" the rest of the day. She loved seeing the giraffes, elephants, monkeys and lions. Preston was good and hung out in the stroller.

Then that night we went to some friends house and had a yummy dinner followed by playing the Farming Game. Kyle and I both grew up playing that game and it's so fun. The couple we played with liked it too so we had fun playing for a few hours. It was a late night for everyone! We kind of payed for it the next day with tired kids (and parents!). :)

I am a dental hygienist and worked full time for 2 years and then only one day a week for almost 2 years after Kate was born. It was great to get out of the house and nice to earn extra money. My coworkers are great and even though I quit working last September before having Preston, they still invite me to things. They are too nice. Well, last week they gave me the option of filling in whenever I want or working one day a month. I thought about this long and hard. It would be nice to keep up my skills a little, get out of the house and bring home some extra cash! (This job pays well so even one day a month is good!) So I talked to my family, Kyle and I prayed about it. Kyle wasn't sold on the idea and I was giving him the pros and cons. I asked my friend, Kati, who used to watch Kate one day a week if she'd be willing to watch the kids. (She has two of her own the same ages as my kids so it would be like watching two sets of twins!) She said yes, but then thought about the craziness of it all and decided against it. After getting her answer I talked to Kyle again and we decided that I would not work. I can always fill in if I really want, but I feel good about my decision. I figure why add more stress to my life (like if the kids are sick that one day I need to work and trying to find someone to watch them is tricky). Kyle said I could work the one day a month if I would feel more fulfilled, but he said "we only raise these kids once and it's worth it for you to be home with them". I have a good husband. I should be grateful he's not pressuring me to work and that he appreciates and values a stay at home mom! So onto the next poopy diaper and load of laundry!!! ha! :)

Tagged...

My friends Courtney and Megan both tagged me (my first time!). I know this is really long, but here it is.

#1- Ten years ago:
I was in HS and enjoying my senior year.
#2- Five thing on my To-Do list:
(this was from today) do laundry, go to Target, go to Post Office, go visiting teaching, take a nap (Preston was up through the night for a bit)
#3- Snacks I enjoy:
My all time favorite is powdered donettes with chocolate milk! yum!
#4- Three bad Habits:
I have a hard time throwing away stuff until I get on my rampage as Kyle calls it, I put off doing laundry and/or chores, and I'm not patient enough.
#5- If I suddenly became a Billionaire:
I would build my dream house, pay off everything, travel, shop and then save.
#6- Places I've lived:
Mattawa, Rexburg, Cheney, Seattle, Everett
#7- Jobs I've had:
worked on my Dad's farm baling hay, quality cherry checker for Stemilt, worked in a deli (yuck) and dental hygienist.
#8- Things people don't know about me:
I like to make cards using rubber stamps (when I have the time or energy :)), I worry too much and make lists all the time.

Next one:
How long have you been together? We will be married for 8 years in May! Long time.

How long did you date? We knew each other before he went on his mission. Then dated for 5 months before getting engaged. Then we were engaged for 6 months before getting married.

How old is he? 29 (almost 30!)

Who eats more? He does most the time, but I can keep up (I shouldn't though) and it also depends what food it is.

Who said "I love you" first? I think he did. He first said he "cared" about me. I think he said that because it's not so serious. :) I actually thought it was cute. Then as we got more serious it turned to "love".

Who is taller? He is, but not by much especially when I wear heels.

Who is smarter? I am book smart and he is everything else smart. He knows more random facts than anyone I know. He loves trivia games and I hate them (and I'm the one that loves games!).

Who does the laundry? I do, but he helps out a lot.

Who does the dishes? I do most of the time, but he does do it a lot. It depends on what's going on at night and who is home.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.

Who pays the bills? Me!

Who mows the lawn? Kyle does. It takes him a long 15 minutes to do it! :)

Who cooks dinner? I do or else we would get mac and cheese all the time. ha!

Who is more stubborn? Probably me, but he is super stubborn too.

Who kissed who first? He kissed (or pecked) me first! He was nervous and I was still in high school. We laugh about it now.

Who asked who out? He mainly did, but my Mom asked him one time when he was going to ask me to a dance because she needed to make my dress! I was so embarrassed! :)

Who proposed? He did at the Las Vegas Temple.

Who is more sensitive? I am.

Who has more friends? I do.

Who has more siblings? I do. I have 5 and he has 1 and 2 half.

Little Guy

I meant to post these pictures with the previous post, but forgot so I had to add them.

I thought this picture was funny because Preston has been making this funny face a lot lately. He'll suck his lips in and it makes me laugh.

I love his rosy red cheeks and lips in this picture. He hasn't been the best eater, but lately he's been Mr. Piglet. He's been eating 6 oz (or more) every 3 hours! That's a lot for him. I don't mind feeding him when he eats like that. Now hopefully he keeps eating that way so he packs on the pounds.

Tinkerbell, Paint and More

If you are dressed like a princess, Kate will do whatever you say. I found this out yesterday when we were outside. This girl came up on her scooter dressed like Tinkerbell. (I've never seen this girl before.) Kate touches her dress and says "Pretty dress. I like your dress." Instantly, she's hooked. I was putting our neighbor's garbage cans away in their back yard and came out to find Kate heading up the sidewalk to this girl's house. I asked where she was going and Tinkerbell informed me that Kate was going to go play at her house. I told this girl that we didn't know her and that Kate had to take a nap soon anyway. (I found out this girl was 7 years old and she told me more about her family and her life than she should probably know- poor girl!) After visiting with her more, we all ended up going down to the playground to swing. Kate was in heaven. She kept repeating "I'm swinging with Tinkerbell!" Since that day Tinkerbell has come over twice to ask if Kate could come play. Kate was napping. Maybe another day Tinkerbell...

My Mom sent us a Valentine's Day package with yummy homemade chocolate candy and this watercolor paint set for Kate. Kate LOVED it! She spent a good couple hours painting away. You can tell why with the next picture.

All the colors look the same- black! It's a mess, but she was having a blast. She's almost used up all of the paint. I will probably have to replenish our new little Picasso's paint supply soon. :)

My sister, Marci, came up to go shopping with me today. I have a lot of gift cards from Christmas that are burning a hole in my wallet. I'm excited to use them. She is on break from school all week. We had fun trying on a lot of shoes and jewelry. It was nice to have someone to go shopping with and someone to help out with the kids. My friend watched Kate in the morning so we could go shopping in peace while Preston slept in the stroller. It was nice. In the afternoon we ran more errands and Marci bought Kate some pink glittery "princess" shoes and I was afraid Kate would want to sleep in them. I think it would be an understatment to say that she loves these new shoes. What's funny is the box they came in has princesses all over it. She loves the box almost as much as the shoes. Kyle said we should have just asked to have the box for free and she would have been happy with that! Here is Kate in her princess dress (over her pajamas) and she's modeling her new shoes.

We were lucky and had a beautiful day on Monday. It was in the low 50's and blue clear skies. We took advantage of the nice weather and met Kyle at a park near his work and had a picnic lunch. Kate played on the playground and we had a good time out in the sunshine. Gotta love the sun! I can't wait for spring/summer.

Another Doctor Visit

Since Preston was about 2 months old, he has been having these random episodes (they've only happened 5 or so times total) that possibly may be seizures. I mentioned them to his doctor so she recommended seeing a neurologist to get an EEG done. Today was the day for the test. It's very important that during the test Preston fall asleep. Being sleep deprived is crucial to get the best results. Well, with a 4 month old baby who is partially on a schedule, how do you plan their sleep to ensure they'll sleep during the test? I was a little worried about this whole sleep issue. About an hour or so before I was going to leave for his appt the lady from the neurologist calls to say she had a cancellation so I could come in earlier if I wanted. Kyle was going to come home to watch Kate so I called him to see if he could come home right then. He could, which was nice. I woke up Preston- he had only been sleeping for 15 minutes- so he was sad to get woken up. But as I was driving to the doctor I kept talking to him and touching him to make sure he didn't go back to sleep. I wanted him nice and tired so he'd go to sleep for the test. On my way to the doctor I was driving a little fast down this hill and was almost to the doctor's office when a police car pulled up behind me and pulled me over!!! I was not happy. This is my first time being pulled over so I was a little nervous. The policeman was nice, but he gave me a ticket! I was hoping he'd see that I've never had a ticket before and give me a warning especially with a screaming baby in the car (I was glad he was crying for the policeman to see!). I wanted to tell the policeman a sob story and how I was in a hurry to the doctor so my baby wouldn't fall asleep in the car, blah, blah, blah. But I didn't. I'm going to contest it and get it reduced and then it won't be on my record- or so this is what the "nice" policeman told me to do. Anyway, we get to his appt and he slept really good for the test. We find out the results in 10 days or so. I had to take a picture of him though. He looked so cute with his head wrapped up and his chubby cheeks. But then it was sad to see him so upset and all wrapped up so I'm glad this is temporary! With his head wrapped like that he looked like he just had a face lift. :) All those colored wires were coming out from the back of his wrapping. They were nodes all attached to different areas of his head. It was amazing to see the technician quickly place them on. Each colored wire had to go to a specific area on the head. Hopefully, everything will be normal. Poor baby.

Surprise!

Well, I have to update my blog from yesterday because my parents surprised us and came to visit since the pass opened at midnight last night! We were so excited!!! Kate has been loving it. She welcomed everyone to "Kate's house", told Sara to take her coat off, requested Jared to pick her up and told Marci who came later to come in and see her friends! My mom brought sugar cookie dough and made cut-out valentine cookies with Kate. Everyone got to see Preston "perform" (aka roll over, smile, kick, coo, burp, etc.) It's fun to be with family! What a fun Sunday. Much more exciting than what we had planned. :)

Bad Weather

My parents were planning on coming over to visit us this weekend. They were coming over to attend a funeral, but then they were going to stay the night with my sister and then go to church with us. We were really excited to see them since the last time was at Christmas. Plus, Preston has changed a lot and I was excited for them to see him. Well, the mountain passes have been getting A LOT of snow lately. So much that I-90 pass has been closed several times this winter. Well, it just so happened that this weekend it was closed!!! So my parents couldn't get over here. We were all bummed. Kate wanted to see "Grandma Vicki and Grandpa". In fact, all three passes over the mountains were closed today. That is a big deal. Hopefully, it will stop snowing and people can get to their destinations. So anyway, instead of having a fun time with family we cleaned house, ran errands, I went to a baby shower, planned sharing time and Kyle cleaned and vaccumed out his truck. We were productive, but it just was not as fun as being with family. :)

Kids

Thanks for all the comments. I have loved reading them and they've made me laugh.

Many of you know that Preston has been to more doctor appointments than Kate has in her 2 1/2 years of life- easily. He has seen a pediatric doctor(many times), two different opthamologists(for his displaced pupil), physical therapist (for torticollis, but it actually wasn't that and he's doing good looking both ways), ear nose throat specialist (because he snorted, but all is fine), hearing lab (because he failed his hearing test twice, but passed) and probably some I have forgotten. Needless to say it's been a busy past 4 months of taking him here and there and trying to keep Kate entertained. Preston is doing better and I think we see the light at the end of the tunnel. He is getting over his second bout of RSV and once that goes away I hope it stays away. We have learned to clean up a lot of spit up and do breathing treatments with a nebulizer. Where is spring?! But the exciting news is that he rolled over from back to front on Tuesday at 4 months old. I love seeing him learn new things and Kate is very attentive. Sometimes too much! She treats him like a doll- she wraps him in blankets, puts necklaces on him and wants him to play with her princesses. Funny girl. Kate is Miss Independent wanting to do it all on her own. She still isn't completely potty trained. I'm contemplating hiring someone for when Preston needs to be potty trained! Any takers? Kate has learned her letters which I can't take full responsibility for that one. I don't really know how she learned all of them. I would tell her a few every now and then, but it's been fun to quiz her. She's obsessed with dressing up in princess dresses, playing with princesses and watching princess movies. She used to watch Cars, Toy Story and Monsters Inc, but those DVD's have taken a break since Christmas when she got princess figurines. My oh my...

Here are some newer pictures.

Kate is reading to Preston (notice Kate's Princess dress)

Kate with her infamous eyes crossed- I told her to smile and this is what she did!

Kate with a good smile :)

Kate with her new apron and a face I see quite often!

Preston concentrating hard on his toy

Preston rolling over from back to front!

First Time for Everything

I've succumbed to the blog world... I told myself and others that I wouldn't do a blog, but here it goes. :) (I can't believe I'm doing this!) I have enjoyed reading my friend's blogs and keeping up with their lives. I have been accused of being a stalker though. I tend to look at people's blogs that I don't know and it's been fun. :) So after all this I have decided to make a blog for my family. We'll see how this goes. Let the journey begin...