Pictures

for those of you who don't do facebook, here are the pictures i have posted of sam:

little man sam!

so remember a few weeks ago when i put potential names up for a vote to help us pick a name for little man??  well, it totally worked. in the end, i realized how much i really did want to name the baby sam. i really felt sick about what to name the baby and about 2 days before he was born we went to barnes and noble to pick some books for the boys and i saw the book "sam and the firefly." i thought the name sam looked so cute all by itself and i realized we could solve the dilemma of having cousins with the same name by not naming them the same name!!! we didn't have to name him samuel, we could just name him sam!! the problem was we couldn't think of a middle name that sounded good, so we spent the next couple of days brainstorming. amid the brainstorm we thought the middle name houston sounded cool, but felt too silly naming the kid sam houston... although we were pleased to find out sam houston is not samuel either, just sam. so we'd like to thank him for the precedent :) after sam was born we tried calling him different names, but he was just sam. then my parents came to visit the hospital and my dad mentioned that sam was born on my dad's grandpa's birthday... grandpa thornton.... sam thornton ... that sounded good!! problem solved!! welcome to the world sam, we're so happy to have you!!

little man!

Can you see his face? eyes closed, little round nose, chubby cheeks, and big full lips?

i got to have an ultrasound yesterday to check on  baby's size and it REALLY got me excited to meet little man! it was fun to find out that the little poky thing i've been feeling sticking out is his little knee, and he's head down and ready to go (in the next few weeks, of course)... i even had an epiphany on names! now we're officially down to two names ( at least for today, haha) and we can take them to the hospital with us. the only problem is now i actually really like the two names we've picked and it's making me want another boy. sheesh!

Easy Crock pot meal

Here's an easy and tasty crock pot meal:

Zesty Chicken Marinara Recipe

Photo by: Taste of Home

• 4 Servings
• Prep: 15 min. Cook: 4 hours

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in chicken breast halves (12 to 14 ounces each), skin removed
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 pound uncooked angel hair pasta
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

Place chicken in a 4-qt. slow cooker. In a small bowl, 
combine the marinara sauce, tomato, Italian salad dressing, 
Italian seasoning and garlic; pour over chicken. Cover and 
cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions;
 drain. Serve chicken and sauce with pasta; sprinkle 
with cheese. Yield: 4 servings.


I actually only used 2 chicken breasts for our whole family and 
just cut them up for all of us. It was plenty!

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving equals 730 calories, 21 g fat
 (5 g saturated fat), 160 mg cholesterol, 929 mg sodium, 
61 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 69 g protein.

names

want to know what's fun? when you narrow your list down to three names, (goodbye jack and miles!) thinking you're making some progress, and you go to talk about what you should name your baby and you and your husband decide you're sick of all the names. this is going to kill me.


aaaand i just realized it's may now. and this baby is coming SOON. oh my.

the name game

so i'm about to do something i never thought i'd do, but here's the explanation:

when we were naming george we said we would pick names out of a hat and whatever we picked would be the name. well we drew a name and realized that wasn't actually the name we wanted so we put it back. then we drew another one and put it back, finally realizing that we liked george the best.....

we are having a hard time naming this baby. we have been sort of hush hush about what names we're thinking of, but we think it's time to put the names we're thinking of out in the open and put them up for a vote. the rationale is that if we see a certain name winning the poll and we wish another name was winning, it will help us see which one we like best. it may not make sense to you, but it makes sense to us :) 

so here we go... if you read my blog, please reply with which name you like best... come out of anonymity and be heard :)

Charles (to be called Charlie)

James

Miles

Andrew (he'll have a first cousin named Andrew, who is 11 years older)

Jack

with the middle name Leon. 

Now you know. Now VOTE!

I love road trips

if you know me, you know i loooooove road trips. i start to get a road trip itch if it's been too long between trips.  the feel of a road atlas in my hands gives me a thrill. we spent the last week on an impromptu road trip because dan's grandpa died. so here are my thoughts at the end of this road trip:

- road trips are way more fun when there's not a funeral in the middle of them.
- dan's family is amazingly large. (his grandparents have 13 children, 83 grandchildren, and 120 great-grandchildren, so far.... the funeral was almost entirely family and completely filled a chapel.)
- i was happy to find out that dan's work is not counting any of the days he missed as vacation.
- i have finally perfected the art of packing for a road trip. i am awesome.
- my condolences go to the bird who met its end in the front grille of our car.
- surprise tutorials on driving in snow are not my idea of a good time. yikes.
- mountain streams are a part of my soul.
- goblin valley is awesome. seeing my boys love goblin valley is even awesomer.
- southern utah may be the most beautiful place. ever... besides northern utah.
- i don't recommend having the ac go out in your car in the middle of your trip.
- i am, however, glad the beast took us 3700 miles safely.
- my boys are really, really good kids.
- i do not need a DVD player in my car. ever.
- i do not need a GPS. i am the navigator.
- my house always seems so big when i get home.
- i love road trips.

i am already planning the next one :)