Ice Cream Maker and Other Diversions

So, a few weeks ago you heard about our ice cream maker mix up. Don't worry, it has all be solved now, and we have tried out our new toy! To see the ice cream maker go here:
Ice Cream Maker

So you fill up one end with the cream mixture and the other with ice and salt. Then you roll it, or shake it. If it is full, this takes about 30-40 minutes. Now after our first adventure my arms were starting to get really sore, as you can imagine. Then I realized that this ball we were rolling and shaking was the weight of the baby inside of me. No wonder I'm tired all the time!

All in all, we like our new toy. Our only issues are that we wish it came with a scraper. You aren't supposed to use metal to get the ice cream off the sides BUT we don't have any utensils in the kitchen that are the right shape and hardiness to get the ice cream off the sides without a little hassle. We are thinking of running to the fancy cooking store to see if they sell something that would work for our application. (supposedly a thin wooden spoon works nicely, we'll have to see)

We have been busy trying to keep ourselves entertained, but not too far from home. (You know, just in case. . . ) We went out for Mexican food and to the game store last week. I've been feeling big and sore this week, so we have done lots of things that can be done from the couch. (TV, and card games mostly)

A Real Piano!

Well, it's not often lately that we have exciting news that isn't related to the baby, but this is exciting for me:  we got a real live piano (instead of the keyboard I've been using since high school)!

For those of you who know about different types of pianos, yes, it's a spinet piano (a Baldwin Aerosonic).  I've always just judged pianos by how they sound and feel, but apparently according to some people on the internet, spinet pianos are a form of child abuse.  Apparently this particular piano escapes the intense criticism sometimes.

Honestly though, who cares -- it's a real piano, I like the sound and feel, and it means that I don't have to wait until I'm old to play on something other than a keyboard.

Baby Pictures (no, she hasn't come yet)

As Elissa said last post, we really haven't been doing much besides preparing for the baby and working a little extra (to prepare for having time off when the baby comes).  This last week we did see the doctor, though.  We have pictures to prove it!
Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3
Isn't it amazing how good their imaging is getting?  It's like you can see her face even before she was born.  And she's cute. (which isn't a surprise, 'cause her mom is cute too)

Another interesting thing that happened was that we decided to get an ice cream maker ball (I don't know how many of you did this but it's basically the same thing as when you get a skinny metal can and put the ice cream ingredients in that, then put it in with a bunch of salty ice inside a bigger can, then roll the can around).  We were excited to see it in the mail today, until we opened it:
Our new Ice Cream Maker (trust me, you want to see).

Elissa had this all happen while I was at work, and worked with people to get it fixed, except that it's a little inconvenient.  Anyway, we hope you all had a good week, and.... yeah.

Getting Ready for Baby

This is a really late post, as of late it seems like Daniel has been working late and I have been busy getting ready for baby. I know that those are good things, but they aren't very interesting to post about.

The last Saturday of June, the ladies in the ward threw me a  baby shower. It was lots of fun, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the best dressed baby in the whole neighborhood! It was fun to see some friends from the old ward as well.

Since then, I've been trying to figure out the last few things I want to get ordered/bought before baby comes. I think the list would be shrinking, but I keep coming up with more things! I finally picked out a car seat which also arrived last week; now, if baby comes early we can now take her home!

Last Week of June

This is a really late post for this last week. We didn't do much around here. We did finally pick out and order a car seat (just in case baby girl decides to come early to the world) which came this week.

Daniel has been hard at work trying to get things on his project in a state that he won't feel bad about taking paternity leave when the baby comes. So, he has been super busy with work stuff.

This last week was girls' book club. We read Laughing Without an Accent. I really enjoyed it. So, if you are looking for a light, funny read this might be the book you are looking for!

Keeping Busy

Well, Elissa's at a Relief Society activity tonight and it's probably about my turn for a blog post anyway.  I've been keeping pretty busy at work and don't remember a whole of interesting things that we did this week, but let's see ...

On Saturday we went to a labor preparation class (basically we learned all about the things that can and/or do happen when you're having a baby and your options, etc).  We also got to see their post-partum rooms, and I have to say I don't think they're roomy but I feel like you could fit two of the IHC rooms I'm familiar with inside one of these, so that's kinda nice.  We also got some "free stuff" (we did pay for the class), so that's always cool (it was baby bottles, etc).

Not sure there's been a whole lot else besides spending time with each other and trying to get ready for the baby.

Elissa's Birthday Present

I promised all of you a big reveal of my birthday present, well here it is!

I know, there are some of you out there saying "you got a light fixture for your house for your birthday?" Yes, I totally did. We bought this house and loved most everything about it. We have even kept the original paint colors, but there was one thing that we both agreed that we did not like at all.

Behold! Our old hanging dining room pendant light. It didn't light our dining area well, and we thought it was pretty silly looking. (Silly looking, unless you want to buy it from us for hundreds of dollars. If that is the case, we obviously think that it is an amazing, quirky piece of Americana that just doesn't fit our style :P ) Fortunately, it was a fairly inexpensive change, and Daniel was really handy in hanging up the new one.

Saturday we went downtown to see the Austin Civic Orchestra do a free concert. It was their pop concert with the theme of "you just missed it." They did anniversaries that they just missed last year like John Williams birthday, Paramount pictures 100th birthday, and Cats among others. Admittedly, I was excited because they did a Star Trek themes medley.  Since we've been watching the shows I've wanted to hear the themes one after another.

This week we also visited the doctor, and as far as I know Baby Girl is also healthy and happy. What I know for sure is that she likes to snuggle  more than she likes to kick; which is mostly fine with me!