Waiting...

That seems like all I have been doing the last week. It's a bit premature I know but I'm so ready to have this baby. I went to the doctor on Wednesday and I was dilated to a one and was 50% effaced. I am really excited about that because that never happened to me with Emma. On my due date I wasn't dilated or effaced at all.

So I have some questions for you lucky moms who actually got to go all the way through labor. What did you do to ease the pain of contractions? How was your recovery? What helped calm you?

I am going to wait as long as I can to get and epidural if I get one at all. I'm convinced that that's the main reason why I had to have a C-Section. That and I don't think my hips widened at all. (And I don't have hips. I'm built like my mom who also didn't have hips growing up but after having my brother got some).

For those second, third, fourth time mommies... what helps to ease the older kid(s) into having a little brother or sister at home? For those blog stockers out there reading this... I want your opinions too.

On a different note I have quite possibly the cutest little girl in the whole world (sorry but I'm really sure I do). Emma is such a little sweetie!This is a picture of her Sunday after Church. She let me do her hair in french braids! I haven't ever really been able to french braid hair. I didn't have any sisters and my mom had/has short hair. I think the first person I ever attempted to french braid their hair was Serena at girls camp our last year. I'm so excited to be able to do the "girly" stuff with Emma.

She is growing up so fast! Her favorite thing it do is play outside. What I love about her is she will put on her dress up clothes and want to go roll around in the dirt outside. That's my girl! She also loves to help me cook and clean! I've really appreciated this help recently. I haven't had to bend over and pick up a whole lot of stuff which has been good for my breathing!

Emma is a very active little girl! She loves to run and play hard with Jacob, myself and our dog Annie. We take Annie to an of leash dog park in the area and Emma loves to run around and chase the dogs.

She's a climber too! I can't believe how well Emma climbs. I've had a couple scares at the playground when I turn around and catch her climbing something that's really high up.

And now Emma is able to read her name and "Mom and Dad". She has a fascination with letters and learns them very quickly. It's fun to watch her try to copy the letters onto paper that she sees.

And no blog post would be complete without a recipe or two. I have a request to post a Lemon Bar recipe. So here is that one:

2 cups flour
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 cup butter
4 beaten eggs
2 cups sugar
1/3 c lemon juice
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Sift together the 2 cups flour and powdered sugar. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture clings together. Press into an 8x8 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Beat together eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Sift together the 1/4 c flour and baking powder. Stir into egg mixture. Pour over baked crust. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes longer. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar. Cool. Cut into bars. Yield 9 bars.

The last couple times I've made this recipe it hasn't turned out. Here is another one from Taste of Home that I'm going to try next time. I think they pretty much halved everything in my recipe.

• CRUST:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Domino® or C&H® Pure Cane Powdered Sugar
• TOPPING:
• 1 cup Domino® or C&H® Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Domino® or C&H® Pure Cane Powdered Sugar
• Orange peel strips (1 to 3 inches), optional

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, butter and confectioners' sugar; press into an ungreased 8-in. square baking pan. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, flour, lemon juice, extract, baking powder and salt until frothy; pour over crust.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until light golden brown. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Sprinkle with orange peel strips if desired. Yield: 9 servings.

I can't think of what else I want to post for a recipe! I'll give you some of our quick ideas for dinners that we use a lot in the Spring/Summer months:

BLT Sandwiches (had them on Monday night)
Taco Salad
Baked potato bar (we bake the potatoes outside on coals if it's really hot)
Fruit Salad (when it gets into the 107s here in the summer all we really want to eat is fruit and I also get some baby carrots and broccoli to eat too)
Spaghetti!
Breakfast for Dinner (one of Jacob's favorites)

I will sometimes if I'm on top of things make Jello and add bananas, strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries to it and we eat it as a side for dinner. Sometimes, I even get whipped cream to put on top (gasp!).