Heading to Michigan...

Right now I am on my way to Grand Haven, Michigan with my mom to visit my mom's friend Kristen Wisen. I guess they are expecting snow which will be fun! I don't know if it will look like this winter picture of the light house there but it will be cold. I am not exactly sure all we will be doing while we are there but I am taking my camera and will have pictures when I get home next Wednesday.

Red Velvet Cake

Most everyone, I am sure, has heard of Red Velvet Cake. Until recently I had only seen and heard of Red Velvet Cake made with cocoa powder. I recently bought Martha Stewart's Baking Favorites DVD and on it was the recipe for Rachel's Red Velvet Cake but the cocoa powder has been left out. So this recipe makes a white cake with the red food coloring added making a brilliant bright red cake instead of a chocolate red cake. Not only is it a brilliant red it is also very yummy. I know some are a little nervous to use the amount of red food coloring needed but my sister-in-law was telling me about food coloring made with beets. So if you are one who avoids red food coloring perhaps you can use this alternative. Here is the link to the recipe on Martha's website.

I made this cake for our family gathering this past Sunday. I thought it was a very appropriate cake for Valentine's Day. I added pink food coloring to the frosting to make it even more festive Valentine's dessert.

A Family Gathering

On Sunday all the Dannells family and my parents came to our house for Sunday dinner. My sister-in-law Ruhiyyih had arrived on Saturday from Washington DC to spend Valentine's with her sweety Matt. It was wonderful to have everyone over to our new home. Ruh has been working so hard to get it all painted and I have been busy getting everything organized and put away. We enjoyed my mother-in-law Bonita's soup, homemade naan, and a fruit salad made with her homemade yogurt. You can see all the wonderful food she is making on her blog FlitzyPhoebie. My sister-in-law Laurel brought a homemade soup as well and my mom brought a salad and fruit. My brother-in-law Taraz made a carrot cake for dessert and I made a red velvet cake. Oh and I can't forget the cute little chicken sandwiches I made using a heart shaped cookie cutter, perfect for Valentine's Day. The center piece of the table were the dozen colorful roses my hubby had sent to me at work on Valentine's Day. My mom had her camera ready!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Tubby Little Cubby

I've decided the nursery is going to be Classic Pooh. Well a mix of Classic Pooh and the Pooh I grew up with. At first I was thinking I wanted the nursery to just be solid neutral colors and then I would add decorative accents but once I went to Target and saw their Classic Pooh bedding I decided I really wanted Pooh. I love Winnie the Pooh! I remember how much I loved watching Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and Tiger Too and Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood. There were many others too. And when you think of Pooh he just makes you so happy. He's the "tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff"! Here are the lyrics to the theme song. :)

Deep in the hundred acre wood Where Christopher Robin plays
You will find the enchanted neighbourhood
Of Christopher's childhood days
A donkey named Eeyore is his friend
And Kanga and little Roo
There's Rabbit and Piglet
And there's Owl
But most of all Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff
He's Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh
Willy nilly silly old bear

So I am registered for the bedding and I went to allposters.com today and bought three 11X14 prints from the Pooh cartoons I grew up with. Once I get them I will frame them and hang them in Daniel's room. Here are the prints I picked. There are a few others I would like and maybe eventually I will get them too.

Here are the ones I am hoping to buy someday.

I'm Registered!

I just finished registering for baby things at Target! I had so much fun! I am sure I will add things as time goes on as I think of more things I will need. Feel free to give me any advice on items that you couldn't have lived without with your little ones! Just go to target.com and look up Annie Dannells. :)

It's a Boy!

Here is my little Daniel Dannells! (We are still deciding on a middle name.) We are so happy! Ruh is a very proud dad! He was beaming from ear to ear when the ultrasound technician said "boy". At first you couldn't see anything because the umbilical cord was right between his legs. But towards the end the cord moved and "it" could be seen! At first she thought I may have placenta previa which is when the placenta is over the cervix which means c-section since the baby's way out is blocked. But later on she found a different angle and saw that my placenta is a good distance away from my cervix so no worries there! She found two small cysts on either side of his brain. She took the pictures to the radiologist and came back and told us that this happens in 7 out of 10 babies and they normally disappear before the baby is born. They do like to keep an eye on them though so I will be going in for another ultrasound in about 2 or 3 weeks. She said most likely they will be gone at that ultrasound. They are only .3 cm in size. So please pray they will disappear. I guess they are nothing to worry about but when you hear "cysts" and "brain" it is a little alarming. She found that I am two weeks ahead of where the doctor put me. So tomorrow I will be 22 weeks along not 20! That's kind of nice. My due date is now June 16th not the 26th. The picture is not very clear because he was squirming around. I had a piece of chocolate cake before the ultrasound! The little guy was all hopped up on cake! :)

Monday...

onday morning! I am very happy I did not have to work today. I was able to sleep in today which I have not been able to do in over a week. I slept very well thanks to being able to sleep on my stomach again. You might be wondering how in the world I slept on my stomach when I am 20 weeks pregnant. Before I was pregnant I always got my best sleep on my stomach so once I was pregnant I stopped. Well, my friend Hannah (who is also pregnant) was telling me about a birthing class she went to and they explained how to sleep on your stomach even towards the end of your pregnancy. So I took two pillows and lined them up parallel to each other where my stomach would be on the bed. I then laid down on top of them and had one leg bent and the other leg straight like a flamingo. I can tell you I was in heaven! It was so comfortable and any pressure was taken off my back and stomach. I am so happy I get to sleep on my stomach again! This is also good towards the end of pregnancy as the gravity helps the baby to lie in the correct position for birth.

I have just eaten my breakfast and am getting ready to hop on the treadmill. Tonight we are having my brother Ben's birthday party since he is leaving for Vietnam in a few days and will be there on the 10th for his birthday. I am making Martha Stewart's Ultimate Chocolate Cake for him. I will make sure to take pictures of it! He will be in Vietnam for two months and then he will come back to Washington for a little bit and then head back up to Alaska to work at Denali for the summer. I am not sure if he will be here when the baby arrives at the end of June.

Here is something very cute I found on one of the craft blogs I like to read. It is a little crocheted robin! I read the pattern for it and it is so simple to make. The one in the picture is meant to be an ornament but I wouldn't use it as one. I am thinking I would love to crochet a whole little herd of different animals for the baby's room. I wouldn't let the baby play with them as there are little beads for the eyes but I think they would be cute sitting on a little wood shelf hung on the wall. If I have time today I want to make a practice one with extra yarn I have lying around. I am going to try and look up crochet patterns online for other little creatures. I would definitely pick different colors for the yarn than the one in the picture.

Tomorrow is my ultrasound! I feel like a little child on Christmas Eve. It feels like today is going to go by so slow because I am so excited for tomorrow. I am glad Ben's party is tonight as I need to do some cleaning and of course make the cake. This will take up some time and hopefully make the day go by faster! Be watching for ultrasound pictures and video tomorrow evening!