9 Months!

Nine months in, nine months out!!!  Zane has been on our mind for over a year!  What a joy!  Three weeks into our pregnancy we found out we were having a baby!  Nine months later, we held a little boy in our arms!  Nine months after that, he's a squirrley baby going all over the place!  He is such a good boy.  He loves eating and playing and especially playing blimp with Daddy.  It is so wonderful to have him in our lives!

Almost 9 months

Got a war scar on his cheek!  Poor baby. 

Handsome little guy!  9 months old!

Always has his hands in his mouth!

Hello!  I'm always on the move!

Daddy and Me at 9 months old!

Mommy and Me

Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend with Zane's grandparents and uncle!  Saturday morning we got up early and went to Bay City where I ran in a 5k (3.1 mile) race!  I am so happy that I did it!!!  And I got 2nd place for my age group.  That doesn't really mean much though because there weren't very many participants!  ha!  I was still excited though. 

 

 

 

Jeff and Travis helped John put up a fence in their yard.  They got it up and it looks great!

The crew.

Pretty blooming plum tree.

 

Crawling!!!!

I don't know where to start today!!!  There are so many firsts!  Zane has his first tooth!!!  It's on the bottom and I could feel it with my finger!  Also, he has started pulling up!  He did it a couple days ago and then again today.  And lastly, he is crawling...forward!!!!  I am just so proud I almost cried!!!  He did a couple "steps" yesterday or the day before, but this afternoon, he just started crawling forward for a long ways!  I am just thrilled!  I have some pictures and video to share!

Already getting into stuff!

Pulling up!

Mmmm, a cereal box!

I thought it was so cute. 

I don't know why he is frowning.  He did great!  I thought it was so cute how his arms were around all that stuff!

Tried to get a picture of his tooth!

Crawling at 8 months, 3 weeks!

Whole Orange Cake

I made this cake yesterday and wanted to share the recipe.  It is interesting because it uses two whole oranges-peel, flesh, just about everything.  I wanted to make it just to see how it would taste and if it would be good.  It is and Jeff likes it, so yay!

Whole Orange Cake*
Serves 12-big pieces

Cooking-oil spray
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 oranges (about 1 pound), ends trimmed, then cut into chunks.  Take out seeds if there are any.
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp orange juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Coat a bundt pan with cooking-oil spray.  In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in eggs.

Whirl orange chunks in a food processor until mostly smooth but not pureed.  Add 1 1/2 cups orange mixture to batter and beat until blended.  Add flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder to bowl and beat until smooth.  Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs-about 55 minutes.  Cool pan on a rack 10 minutes, then invert cake onto rack and let cool completely.
Whisk together powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl.  Drizzle over cooled cake.  Let glaze set, then slice cake.

Whole Orange Cake

*"Whole Orange Cake." Sunset Mar. 2013: n. pag. Print.

And because every post should have a picture of this little guy:

 

I wanna go fishing Daddy!  :-D

Video Extraveganza

Pillsbury Bake-Off

Hi Peeps!  :-)  Guess what?  A Christian friend that I grew up with in North Dakota has made it to the semi-finals of the Pillsbury Bake-Off!  This year, they are having the public vote to see who gets to go to the finals for a chance to win 1,000,000 dollars!  Only 33 people will be selected.  Soooo, my friend needs your vote!  Please go to this website, http://www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff, register, and then vote for Renee Herrington with a recipe for Crescent Wrapped Stuffed Peppers!  Registering on their website I think only requires an e-mail address, set up a password, and your birthday.  It's not a big deal and only takes a minute.  There is a link on the right hand side of the webpage for voting after you've registered.   Let's help take Renee to the Bake-Off finals!!!

Little Backyard Helper

Zane got to help me out in the backyard today!  We planted some jalapenos, bell peppers, yellow squash, and then later I planted a few green bean seeds, and replanted my orange tree to a bigger pot.  He was a great helper and got to see lots of birds fly in to the bird bath for a little drink!