Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Today I decided to post a recipe! haha.

I haven't done it for a while and I want to start blogging more, so I am going to try to start taking pictures when I make things (food, clothes, crafts, etc.)! 

I hope you guys like it!! :)

So this is a banana bread recipe that I use ALL the time! 

And I usually just do banana bread, but Austin really wanted chocolate chips in it, so I put them in this time, and you can also put walnuts in, but I am kind of just a plain banana bread type of girl. haha.

But any way you make it is delish when you have this recipe! :)

It is out of a cookbook my mom and I made that has tons of family recipes in it! :)

Ok let's get started!

Banana Bread

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter (softened)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1/3 cup water

1 2/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips or walnuts

cinnamon sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F

Grease your pan

Mix together the sugar and butter

Add eggs

Add bananas (I had 3 bananas, so I didn't measure out 1 1/2 cups, so it could be more or less, banana bread is forgiving. haha.) and water.

Beat for 30 seconds

Add flour

baking soda, salt, and baking powder and mix until combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips (or walnuts, or you can skip this step completely)

Pour into the pan (you can either use 1 pan or a couple of those small ones, I've done both and it just kinda depends on if I want 1 loaf or a couple small ones!).

Grab your cinnamon sugar and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, depending on how your oven cooks.

Once you poke the bread with a toothpick and it comes out clean, take it out of the oven.

Transfer onto a cooling rack...

And ENJOY!!! :)

Have a great Friday night! 

*Aubree*

It's A....

I have been so excited for this and I can't believe it is already here!!

I am 20 weeks this week which is half way through my pregnancy!! WOOHOO!! 

And now the news we have all been waiting for..

It's A...

GIRL!!!

We are so excited to be able to call our baby a she now rather than it! ha. And we love our baby girl so much already and are so excited for her to get here!! :)

At our appointment we were looking at the ultrasound and baby girl just did not want to move. She was so modest! haha. She had her legs crossed and her hands were laced and in front of her face! So we found out it was a girl but she couldn't get a picture she wanted for us because baby girl just would not uncross her legs! ha. And then she tried to get some 3D pictures of her face, and she just did not want to move her hands out of her face! ha. But then she finally did move her hands to the sides of her face but turned the other way so we couldn't see her, but she gave us a thumbs up, so I guess that was our queue that she had had enough of the poking and she wanted us to stop, but she wanted us to know she was fine! haha.

So we only got some 3D pictures of her legs crossed. ha. And the ultrasound tech said that she thinks our baby girl is going to be a cuddler because she was just cuddled up in there. haha. And she also said that she would probably be a good sleeper because we were shaking the ultrasound thing and poking her trying to get her to move, and I was rolling around and nothing worked. haha. She would move a teeny tiny bit, but not enough to be in a different position. ha.

Our doctor said that she looks really healthy, and everything looks great! :)

He said that she is in the 65th percentile for her size, so I may have a normal sized baby, or I may have a 10 pound baby like Austin was... We'll see!! :) haha. 

Anyway, we just love our little girl and we are so happy that we know what gender she is now, and we are just so excited for her to get here now!! :)

Now I can start figuring out room plans and start getting baby things for her and I can start to make some baby girl things now! :)

So stay tuned for some sewing projects and crafts and posts about my pregnancy! :)

And then of course posts about our cute baby girl once she's here!! :)

*Aubree*

P.S. So the story of the kitty stuffed animal in the picture.... since we have kitties at our house then our brother-in-law and Austin's sister calls our house kitty city! haha. So when Aust saw this stuffed animal he was like, "We have to get this and we can say that we are having a baby girl and she will be joining us in kitty city!" hahahaha. So that is what we did! :) Well we sent out a text to our families and told them that, with a picture of the outfit and the stuffed animal kitty. ha. So now you all know too! :)

SO so So Excited!!!!

I am so excited for tomorrow!

We find out the gender of our baby!!!

YAY!! 

I can hardly stand it!

I can't believe it is already here!!

And I can't believe I am half way done with my pregnancy this week!!

Time flies!

haha.

I still haven't felt the baby kick, but I think I have felt it flutter a few times! :)

We love our cute baby so much already and can't wait to stop calling the baby an "it" and start calling the baby a "he" or "she" WOOHOO!! :D

And we can't wait until we get to meet our baby! :)

Any guesses on what you think it will be?? :)

Have a great Monday night and I will let you all know what the gender of our baby is ASAP! :D

*Aubree*

Food and Thoughts

No pictures today, but some fun news.. I am 18 weeks and my baby is the size of a bell pepper.. approximately 5 1/2 inches long from head to bum and is 7 ounces!! YAY!! :) Hopefully I will be able to feel this baby SOON!! I am getting SO anxious!! :) 

Speaking of my pregnancy.. I had been craving cinnamon rolls for a while, but I went to make them and I didn't really want to make mashed potatoes because my yummy recipe calls for them, and so I found a recipe for Cinnamon Roll Cake from my new cookbook I got for Easter! :) I made the cake and it was so good, but it didn't satisfy my craving for cinnamon rolls, so I gave some of the cake to a couple neighbors to leave us with only a couple pieces left, because I would have died if ate that whole cake to myself! hahaha. Well and Austin too. haha. So yesterday I made cinnamon rolls and only ate a bite sized piece to satisfy my craving and then I froze the other 3 1/2 dozens cinnamon rolls! hahaha. Ya now I will be stocked up on those yummy things until probably after I have my baby! haha. :)

Also from the cookbook I got I made sweet and sour chicken and it was seriously SO SO good!! And I made some steak fries from it too!! Oh man.. That cookbook was a good but dangerous gift! hahaha. :) 

Oh and for the mashed potatoes, I made Shepard's Pie and made extra mashed potatoes and then it was perfect for the cinnamon rolls. Because Aust refuses to eat instant mashed potatoes.. haha. He cracks me up, but I guess that is how a potato farmer would feel. haha. :)

So as you can tell, I have been pretty into food lately. haha. And I am still loving eggs in my pregnancy ha. Aust said the other day to me, "Man I am so glad you are done with school because I love when you make food like this and keep the house clean." :) He always knows how to make me feel good! 

Now onto another note, my heart breaks for everything that has happened lately, from the Boston Bombing, to the fertilizer explosion in Texas, to the sinkholes. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved and the families.

Since all of this has been happening, it has just made me so grateful for what I have been blessed with, and it makes me just want to make sure that all my family and friends knows how much I love them and how much they mean to me. I have been blessed with the most wonderful husband and our cute little baby which we find out what it is at the end of this month!! :) I am so grateful for my family, I have really been blessed in that part. I am grateful for this beautiful state I live in, and I am grateful for the wonderful people that I come in contact with from day to day. In the midst of all these sad events, we need to remember all those wonderful people that are helping others in these events. I am so grateful for all the selfless people in this country! It makes me sad to hear about these people that just have a change of heart and want to hurt others. I don't know what would cause them to want to hurt others, but it just shows that when there are people like that and they hurt others, the good come together and and become Christlike.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I will be BBQing with Aust, my sister-in-law Hailey, and her boyfriend! :)

*Aubree*

15 weeks and the Awkward Hand...

So as of yesterday I am 15 weeks!!! AHHHH!!! Only 5 more weeks until the half way mark and finding out what we are having!! :) I am so excited! :) Right now my baby is the size of an apple!!! haha. 

Well... I have a story for you guys about our baby announcement pictures...

So we took them and we took the first couple in this pose (which is what I ended up choosing)...

 Then we took a couple in this pose which I didn't really like...

 Then I realized I forgot to put on my wedding ring, and so we took a couple zoomed in on the baby, but I was trying to hide my ring finger, which led to the awkward hand...

Doesn't that look like an awkward position?? hahaha... Ya so we went with the first pose, cause Aust was getting too cold for me to get my ring and take more pictures. haha. We decided it's ok that my ring isn't on.. everyone know's we're married anyway!! haha

Well I sent the announcement to my brother, who is on his mission, and he wrote back and said, "Did you forget to put your wedding ring on, or did you get pregnant out of wedlock?! haha jk." 

Ya Andy, you know me.. hahahaha. Just kidding. I told him, he was the only person to notice I wasn't wearing my ring other than Aust and I. haha. So that was good. 

But don't worry... I am married, and I don't forget to wear my ring anymore. haha. (Most of the time)

Anyway... enjoy this Easter weekend!! :)

I hope you take time to remember what Easter is really all about! :)

So enjoy your weekend, and don't try pulling the awkward hand in a picture... it just doesn't flow! hahhaa.

Or do... and feel really awkward... like I do every time I look at that picture!! hahahha.

Ok... I'm done!! haha. Peace!

*Aubree*

P.S. Only one week left of this semester and then I am done until the baby comes!!! YAY!!!! I am so excited and so ready for this semester to be over!! :)

My Pregnancy so Far... :D

So I hope everyone enjoyed our surprise!! :) 

We sure do! hahaha.

This is a long post, so just know that if you continue to read it! haha. (It's for documenting purposes)

Well this pregnancy thing is quite fun! :) Well kinda...

So we found out in January that we were expecting and we were shocked/surprised/SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!! There were tears of joy and lots of hugging {and kissing ;)}! :)

Well we decided we were going to keep it on the D.L. until our first appointment! :)

I called the day after we found out and scheduled our appt. 

And then a week went by and I took a few more pregnancy tests, just to make sure! haha. :)

And they were definitely positive! YAY!!

So I started adding more fruits and veggies to my diet and less sugar. :) I tried working out at least a little everyday, because I want to make sure I am still in shape during this pregnancy. Well sometimes I would just get so excited that I would kind of throw out some hints to people whether it was in person, on instagram, and I even threw out a few hints on my blog! ha. :) Well some people caught on and I was like "CRAP!!" So I would act like I had no idea what they were talking about! I was able to get away with it at first, but then when I was about 6 weeks along, smells got SO bad!!! One day I was at DYW practice and the garbage had not been emptied from the game the night before, so there were nachos and hot dogs all up in there. EWWW EWWW EWW... I want to gag just thinking about it! haha. I couldn't get far enough away from that garbage can!! haha. Then when I was about 7 weeks along I started feeling the nausea come in.. but it never got bad. I just couldn't stand to even think about some foods. But usually when I would start feeling sick, I would just work out to get my blood flowing, and that usually helped. :)

About a week before our appointment, Hannah was over and was like, "Hey I don't mean to be nosy, but can I ask you a question?" I said sure and she was like, "Are you pregnant?" I immediately smiled so big and said NO!!! hahahahaha. Ya.. I was caught off guard and was totally busted! haha.

Then the day before our appointment, Austin's dad asked him if we were pregnant and Austin told him we were, so he told me I could tell my mom! hahaha. So I immediately called my mom and told her! haha.

We were going to make up a Mad Gab card to tell everyone, but then Austin parents and Hannah had already guessed and then I couldn't keep it from my mom after that. haha.

Well it came time for our very first prenatal appointment and I was so excited that I left all our tax stuff on the table! (We had an appointment with our accountant after our prenatal appointment, but obviously we had to cancel. haha) We got to the appointment and I was filling out the papers and looked at Austin and was like, "Aust, I'm just so nervous. I don't want them to tell me that I'm not pregnant!" He assured me everything would be okay. Well they finally called me back and did the norm (weight, height, blood pressure, ya know) then they took us into a room. I won't go into details, other than they told me to use this hospital gown they had sat on the chair and when I got in there all I saw was a big piece of paper, so I went back out and asked where my gown was and the lady was like, "Oh it's just that piece of paper, you just drape it over you.." Uhh.. ya awkward.. haha. anyway.. that was probably TMI. hahhaa. There isn't anymore detail though.. don't worry! haha. Well the ultrasound tech came in and started the ultrasound and I was so nervous that there wouldn't be a baby, but instantly this cute little baby popped up!! :) Oh my gosh.. I know you can't really see what baby's are like in ultrasounds, but our baby has the cutest little nose!! It is such a cute little thing! :) hahaha. She showed us it's legs and arms, and measured the heartbeat and told me that I was due on September 19th, 2013! :) She checked a few other things to make sure everything was okay, and then she left. haha. We went into another room and waited for the doctor and we couldn't stop looking at the pictures of our baby!! :) AHHH I'm so excited!! :) 

Then a nurse came in and gave me a flu shot and started to draw my blood, and I have never seen so much blood before!!! HOLY LOLY!!! It was coming out so fast that the blood was bubbling!! haha. Well then she would have to switch the vile things and one time she accidentally moved my needle a little and then moved it back and blood started running down my arm, but I caught it before it hit my shirt! haha. Then she left and I washed the blood off. After some waiting, Dr. M came in and talked to us and then we were on our way! :) 

After our appointment we told all our siblings! :)

One day I decided to be super healthy for breakfast and eat a whole apple. When I had like 2 slices of the apple left I started feeling clammy and spit spit started quadrupling. I ran to the bathroom and threw up. That was the only time I have thrown up being pregnant, so I just steer clear of apples. ha.

Well then we had our second appointment last week and we got to hear the heart beat! :) It was so exciting!!! :) Except for she couldn't find it at first and I was about to freak out but then she found it and Austin was like, "What is that other noise?" And she said the womb.. the water swishing around. Aust was like, "Holy cow it sounds like a hurricane, is the baby's heart supposed to be beating that fast?" hahahaha. He is a concerned father! haha. :) I can tell he is going to be a great dad! :) After a couple minutes she pushed to hear the heart beat louder or something and all the sudden silence.. well the heart beat went silent. I looked up at her concerned, and she said, "Oh the baby just moved!!" hahhaha. My baby had had enough of that poking, it was like, "Stop being all up in my grill!! Fine I'll move to somewhere where you can't find me!" haha. Ya you are going to be hearing commentary from me of what I think my baby is saying in there! hahaha. 

After our appointment I couldn't wait any longer, so that is when we announced it to the world. haha.

Anyway.. now I am 14 weeks and in the 2nd trimester!! I still have a tiny bit of nausea, but I can tell that it will be gone before I know it, which I am excited about! :) And Aust is even more excited because when he wants to eat out, the only thing that sounds good to me is taco bell (weird I know) and then I don't cook much anymore! haha.

Well here are some pictures so enjoy! haha. And please don't look at my face in any of these.. I look nasty! haha. And in some of them I am slouching really weird to take the picture. haha. So just ignore that. :)

7 weeks!

Look at my cute baby! :) And my cute baby's nose!! :D

9 weeks

12 weeks

14 weeks

I know that I am wearing a different shirt in each of these, but basically, my belly hasn't grown much. haha. I haven't gained any weight, but my belly pretty much so far just looks like a fat belly without the weight gain. hahaha.

Well, have a great Thursday night, I don't know what you will be doing, but Aust and I will be watching some March Madness!!! hahaha. :) If you are doing what we are, I hope your teams win that you chose on the brackets!! hahaha. :) This is the first time I have done this, so I am excited! :)

Enjoy your night!

*Aubree*

A Little Surprise! :D

SURPRISE!!!!! :D

I was going to wait an extra day to post this, because I was sending emails out to family, but I can't get the email to send, so I decided I mind as well just let the world know on my blog! :) hahaha.

We are BEYOND excited!!! :D

My due date is September 19th, 2013 (Which also happens to be my dad's birthday!).

We had our 2nd appointment today and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat today, and the water swishing around in the womb! hahaha. At our 1st appointment we had an ultrasound and I was BEYOND excited to see the baby!

I was nervous because last year (March) I had a miscarriage, and the only reason why I say that is because when I went through my miscarriage, I read a blog that helped me out, and so I might post some of my feelings about that and hopefully it will help people that are going through, or have gone through that experience. 

So that is why we waited so long to announce, and we didn't even tell siblings until after our first appointment (8 weeks and 5 days), because I was nervous we would get in there and they would say, "Oh you aren't pregnant!" So when I saw our little baby pop up on the screen I was so overcome with joy! 

FINALLY!!! haha. :)

We counted down the days, and when I passed the mark from my miscarriage, we celebrated that I made it past that point! And now I am even farther past that point. YAY!!

Everything looks great and healthy! :) I am 13 weeks on Thursday!! :) I haven't gained any weight yet, but I am hoping I will get a little pregnant belly soon!! haha. 

So again.... SURPRISE!! haha. 

Have a wonderful Tuesday!! :)

*Aubree*

P.S. My sister-in-law had her baby yesterday, and she is such a cute little baby!! We just love her! :)