Baby Shower - the Setup

Honestly, we have some of the most incredible, thoughtful, giving friends and family in this world.  No offense to anyone else - but they really are.

To all our friends and family - thank you thank you thank you. Endlessly and forever.  For all of you who traveled to come to our house regardless of the long drive or traffic.  To all of you who gave up an entire Sunday to be with us.  For all the gifts that were far beyond any expectations.  To all of you who spent hours decorating and setting up our house while Jon and I enjoyed a romantic brunch.  To all of you who stuck around to clean up our house so we could relax.  You are incredible.  We love you all so much.

Now, on to the good stuff!

Check out some of these amazing dishes that were at our house - I'm getting the recipes from them and you can be sure I'll be trying them out and posting them here so you can have them as well.

This is just one table of goodies - there was cheese and crackers, kielbasa (the nitrate free kind from my thoughtful mom-in-law), buffalo chicken dip that is to die for, Chili that's so amazing I have very few words, super cute and tasty cold cuts and cucmber sandwiches.

And those were just the appetizers!

There were delicious punch and other drinks.

And pink.  There was a lot of pink.

Decorations in pink, silverware and napkins in pink, plates in pink.

Even a diaper cake in pink!

I didn't get any photos of the actual food but trust me, it was amazing.  There were two types of lasagna- vegetarian and meat.  Spinach salad with pears, walnuts, and dried cranberries.  Orzo salad with tomatoes and olives.  Garlic bread.  Am I missing something?  There was so much goodness, I'm still drooling on myself.

And after the meals, there were the sweets.

I'm sure you will guess that these were catered but everything was made by hand by my incredible friends.  These are chocolate covered strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  Mini and large cupcakes.  Brownies.  Peanut clusters.  And chocolate flowers.  I wouldn't even know where to get the patience to do all this, but somehow, they did.

And did I mention there was a cake?  Not just any cake - this monkey cake!  I was speechless.

Followed by presents and presets galore.

Hilights of the gifts to come.  Followed by the finished nursery. 

Belly pic update - 32 weeks

So I missed the 30 week update because our two extremely close friends got married.  Here's a picture from the wedding though:

In my true fashion, I'm holding my camera.

This weekend marked 32 weeks, or about 8 months.

Okay, so I don't think I realized just how big the belly has grown until we took these pictures.

I also cannot believe that we are only 1-2 months away from meeting the little one!

Anyone want to take bets about who she'll look like?

Next up - my baby shower!

What happens when you leave your child with me

Most of my friends know that I have a tiny little itty bitty obsession with taking pictures.

I also absolutely adore babies and children.  I actually think the reason I love kids so much is because I find it very easy to relate to them - we like the same food (who doesn't love grilled cheese and chicken nuggets?), have the same taste in movies (i.e. Dora Dora the Explorer or Cars) and  have about the same attention span (what? who? ooo a shiny object!).

So when my friends started having babies, I couldn't be more excited!  Although, I'm not sure how excited my friends are when they nor their child can make a move without me taking a picture.

On that note, meet Sofia.

Sofia is my friends' little girl who had the pleasure of being stuck with me for a whole afternoon while her mommy and daddy went out.

We ate some chicken nuggets,

went for a walk in her awesome Bob stroller,

drew squigglies with chalk on the driveway,

had a tea party,

watched about 15 minutes of a movie.

Oh yeah.  And took about 5 million pictures.

Parents everywhere, beware when leaving your child with me.  They may or may not be blind by the end of the day.

Disclaimer: I'm just kidding. I take all my pictures of babies and kids without the flash.  I promise.  Seriously.  Please don't come after me. I josh.

All these photos were taken with my Canon Rebel XSi - check out my review here.

Your holiday gift guide - a DSLR camera

Have I ever told you how much I love the Holidays?  Seeing the decorations in the stores makes me giddy.  I know that it's still early and Thanksgiving is still around the corner and many of you are probably walking around the stores, sighing deeply and wondering why there are already Christmas decorations and Christmas items around the stores.  But me?  Nah uh.  I'm excited!

So to celebrate the stores putting up Christmas decorations, I am going to start an annual holiday gift guide.  I'll just review the items I own and love and if you're struggling to find the perfect gift for your loved ones, check it out.  I'll add all the items to this here handy shopping guide:

And I'm going to add a Linky Tool at the bottom so if you want to pitch in and give your ideas - Link up!

Today I'll start with my love, my heart, my DSLR camera.

I did a lot of research before finally settling on my Canon Rebel Xsi.  The reason I chose this camera above others is its ease of use, the price, and its capabilities.

I really wanted something that would allow me to get started since I've never had a DSLR before, but I also didn't want to buy a "start up" camera that I would have to replace not too long after. 





I actually settled on a Canon Rebel XS which is currently significantly cheaper but when I was finally ready to purchase the camera, the Canon Rebel XSi fell in price so much that it was only about $50 difference!  I couldn't say "no" to that.  (ps- I recommend putting your "wish list" items in your shopping cart on amazon.com because you get notified anytime it decreases in price - that's how I caught my deal).

So let me tell you what I love about my camera.

First and foremost, I LOVE the picture quality.

Picture with digital camera

Picture with Canon Rebel XSi

See?  It's impressive! And that's on an automatic setting.  That's right.

Which brings me to my second favorite thing about this camera - it takes incredible pictures even on an automatic setting.  One of the things that really scared me about getting a DSLR is that I would never know how to use it.  But this camera has made things super simple.  I think the best part about this auto setting is that it also lets you know what settings are on during each shot - i.e. ISO, etc.  I use that to practice later on on my own and try to mimic the settings and then veer off a bit.

Then, once you get the hang of it, it's super easy to start trying out some of the other settings.  I'm still looking for a book or two on DSLR's and photography (*hint hint*) but in the meantime, I've been using the wonderful Google to get hints and advice and learn about this amazing new hobby.

Some things that I think aren't all that great about this camera is that it is big, as are most DSLR's.  I was ready for that though.  But I do wish I waited a bit longer because just a couple of months after I bought my camera a new one came out with HD video capabilities.  I'm not sure that I would pay the price to get that, nor am I sure I want them all in one, but I would like to have had an option.  Overall though, I really have 0 complaints.  Nada.  I love it.  It's my baby.

But be careful because this hobby is super addictive.  These are some items that I bought almost instantly:




This bag holds the camera and a whole bunch of lenses.  I'm not a big fan of the fanny-pack-looking thing and I wanted something easier.  Plus if fits a bunch of other stuff in case you want to pack up a sweater for cool weather or throw in a charger or two.  I love it.











Then of course I bought a whole bunch of SD cards.  And then I bought this 32 GB one for our trip to Dominican Republic because I panicked and decided that there was no way that I would fit all the pictures I would take on the 16GB, 8GB and 4GB cards I already packed.  I may have an issue.  I blame Jon for supporting it.







Now what I really want is this lens:




But there is no way in my life that I will afford it for my little hobby.









So instead I think I'll be asking for these for Christmas:



For all my super awesome far away shots.  Everyone has to have a telephoto lens, right?  Anyways, I read a whole bunch of things about what lenses to get and this is what I settled on for a price I can afford.











And this one for close-ups.  I can't wait to get all in my baby's face with this one.














And this flash because I don't want to blind her with mine.  And it makes everything look more natural.  I'm excited.  Aren't you?








So there you have it folks.  If you are a photography lover or married a photography lover or want to be a photography lover or...well...you get the point.  Here are some ideas for you.  With my commentary.  Enjoy.

I'll try to keep these down to once a week so you don't feel overwhelmed.

Ham and Cheese Puff Tart

Do you ever get bored of eating cold sandwiches?

Well, my friends, you are in luck because I have an amazing recipe for these ham and cheese puff tarts that will have you drooling.

If you think these look great, just wait until you taste them.

But enough about how these look or taste, let's get on with the recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1.5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup whole milk
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Ground nutmeg
• 6 ounces thinly sliced deli ham
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

What to do:
On a floured work surface, roll each sheet puff pastry to a 10 by 13 rectangle.

Mine's a bit crooked.  Oh well.  This isn't a straight edge competition.

Transfer to two parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate.  In a small saucepan, melt butter over mediu heat.  Add flour and cook, stirring, until golden (about 1 minute).  Whisking constantly, add milk and simmer.

Stir until thickened or about 5 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.  Pour sauce in a bwol and let cool 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with the rack in the lower third part.  So here's a little trick to those of you who are impatient like I am.  Don't preheart your oven before you make the sauce.  I did that.  400 degrees is rpetty hot and pretty wasteful.  I ended up making some cookies so I didn't waste the oven heat.  Lesson learned.  Wait until your sauce is about 15-20 minutes into cooling before you preheat it.  Also, learn some patience.

 That was more advice to myself than anyone else really.

Now if you bought the Gruyere cheese that's not pre-shredded, shred it.

Try not to eat all of it.  I have that issue as well.  I have a lot of issues apparently.

Moving on.

Arrange ham evenly on 1 pastry sheet, leaving a 3/4 inch border.

 Top with cheese.

Then pour the sauce on top.

Brush the pastry border with egg.  top with second pastry sheet, folding the bottom edges over top and press to seal.

Brush the top with egg and cut vents in the tart.

Bake for 30 minutes until browned and puffed.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

I love these little guys.

So much flavor and cheesy goodness.

Beats a ham and cheese sandwich any time of day.  Especially since I can't have cold ham.  I should have mentioned that first, I suppose.  But really.  Who doesn't love a puff tart?