banana bread

I made 8 little loaves of banana bread yesterday. I had a big bunch of bananas that nobody ate because of the crazy week we had. I secretly love it when that happens because I love to make banana bread and banana cake with cream cheese frosting. Last time I made the cake so I opted for the bread this time around. Here are the recipes if you have over ripe bananas laying around. If you don't then buy some and hide them from the kids so you can make some. :o)

Banana Bread

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 milk + 1/4 tsp. vinegar to sour milk

4 ripe mashed bananas

Add vinegar to milk and set aside. Mix sugar, butter, and eggs. Add baking soda to flour; Blend sugar and flour mixtures together. Add soured milk and blend well. Mix in mashed bananas and pour into 2 greased bread pans or 4 small bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Moist Banana cake with cream cheese frosting

3/4 cup softened butter

2 1/8 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 cups riped mashed bananas

frosting

1/2 cup softened butter

1 8oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Grease and flour a 9X13 pan. In a small bowl mix mashed bananas and lemon juice; set aside. In medium bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt: set aside In large bowl cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs one at a time add 2 tsp. vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternating with buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until tooth pick comes out clean. Some ovens take longer. Remove from oven and place directly in the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make it very moist. For the frosting, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth, add vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix until smooth. Spread on cooled cake. I think this cake taste best cold the next day. You can add nuts to either of these recipes. I like nuts...just not in my baked goods.

Thank you all so much for your advise. I took Brek and Brittany some food which included a couple of loaves of this bread. I played with baby Mark and cleaned up the apartment a bit. The ladies from church brought them in dinner Monday night and tonight. I feel so bad for Brittany. She is so sad and cries a lot. It's hard for her because she can't pick up Mark for a while, which makes her feel like she's neglecting him and she just doesn't feel good physically. It's so much harder than they ever imagined. I pray that she will recover and adjust to all the new changes quickly. I'll be there for whatever she needs along the way.

I picked this up today while grocery shopping. Getting ready to go watch it with Mark. I'm sure you can guess that Mark loved this movie. It's so funny! It reminds me of Chad because I saw it in North Carolina when I went to visit him.

Oh baby!

Thank you all so much for the sweet comments. They are appreciated more that you can ever know.

Brittany and John are home now. Actually they sent them home Sunday night. I wish they would have kept them until Monday, but what can you do.
Baby Mark is not not quite sure what to think about John. He is just too young to understand at this point. He has no concept of "easy or soft". Brittany's mom spent the day at their apartment yesterday to help out. When I talk to Brittany she says she's tired, but okay. When I talk to Brek he says she's not doing well and she is feeling completely overwhelmed. How can she not be? and what am I to do? I told her to call me if she needs ANYTHING, but I don't know if she'll call. Do I wait for her or do I just help with what I can? I don't want to step on toes, but I also want her to recuperate while she's trying to establish new routines and getting use to having two babies under the age of one. They really did appreciate the clean apartment and laundry done, so I'm glad we were able to do that.

Speaking of babies, this is Mark's new (used) baby. We both really miss the big black bike, but this one is so pretty and he is slowly making is his own with personal touches. I was suppose to go on a couples ride with him and several others last Thursday night, but I went to the hospital instead. Secretly I'm was glad they sent us to the hospital, because it's been way too hot to ride so it gave me a real excuse to back out. I would love to do it in the fall when the temps come down a bit.

Cody and Cole started school yesterday. This was the first time EVER that I didn't get first day of school pictures. I feel like such a loser mom. I didn't hear Mark's alarm, I didn't hear anyone getting ready...I didn't hear anything. I woke up to an empty house and I felt terrible! I know I've been overly exhausted, but I don't like letting anyone down.

My house is in serious need of cleaning and I have tons of laundry to do. I have hopes of scrapbooking this week once I get caught up around here. I really miss being creative.

He's finally here

We all went to Brittany's doctors appointment on Thursday afternoon. She was huge, uncomfortable and 3 days over due. They checked her and she was dilated to a 5 so they sent us to the hospital.Just starting out in labor and still in a good mood.

Brek putting slipper socks on her cold feet. Her feet ended up swelling up so much that those hurt her so we ended up putting on hospital socks.

Brittany ended up having a very long 21 hours of labor. She progressed very slowly and almost went c section at the end. Brek, Alison (her mother) and I were with her the whole time. Brittany's dad and grandpa came and gave her a Priesthood blessing. I know that's the reason she was able to deliver vaginally. By the time we got to the pushing part her epidural had worn off and John was face up so so she had horrible back labor. Brek and Alison helped her with pushing during contractions and I stood there taking pictures and bawling my head off. I felt so bad. It was such a hard labor and delivery for her. The memories of me going through that 5 times came flooding back as she was going through it. My insides were shaking so hard. I'm just so proud of her. She did an amazing job.

John Ray George was finally born at 1:13 Friday afternoon. He had a really rough start. They had to use the vacuum to help get him out. The cord was wrapped really tight around his neck and it had to be cut off quickly. He wasn't breathing or crying. His 2 minute apgar score was a 3. I was crying and praying a begging for him to breathe. A dozen doctors and nurses rushed in the room for him. Brittany kept saying "why isn't he crying?" I finally heard a tiny cry. There was never a sweeter sound than that. After 4 minutes his apgar score was up to an 8. Our prayers were answered. No words can express just how much it meant for me to be there for my grandsons birth and to witness his first breath. My heart is so full of gratitude.


As you can see, Brittany is very pale and obviously worn out, but so glad to hold her sweet baby.
He weighed 8 pounds 2.2 ounces and 22 inched long with his cone head. He's a little shorted today since his head is shrinking.
The two proud/tired grandma's after it was all over with a mere 45 minutes of sleep in 39 hours...and not all at once. It was like in 15 minute shots. I left the hospital and took the long drive home so I could get Cody and Cole to their schools for meet the teacher night. By that point I couldn't even speak in clear sentence form. I'm sure I didn't make the best first impression, but after all of that, I was so physically and emotionally drained that I really didn't care.

We went back to the hospital today and we finally got to hold that sweet hairy baby. I know I'm his grammy, but isn't he just so cute?! :o) Brittany has had a really hard time. She passed out last night (Friday) and she's had a fever. She's lost too much blood. They've given her 4 units of blood today and have her on antibiotics. They are keeping her until Monday and I'm very glad they are. She really needs to rest.
After visiting them I took the boys to Brek and Brittany's apartment. We wanted to get it totally cleaned up for her and have all the laundry done too. 7 long hours and $30 in quarters later we finally got it done. Mark still needs to steam the carpets, but that's it. We brought baby Mark home with us for a few days until they get to go home. He is sleeping peacefully upstairs and that's where I'm headed too. It's 12:41 a.m. and I'm a little out of practice with babies, but I do remember they get up way too early!

Got?

GOT CINNABON CINNAMON ROLLS!

(shame on me)GOT MILK!

(gotta have milk with cinnabon)

GOT HEIDI SWAPP AUGUST KIT!!!

(one of the lucky few...it's beautiful!)

BUT...WE STILL GOT NO BABY!!!!

UGGGGG!!!!!

Name tag challenge

I was "name tagged" by Sweet Miss Andi, my dear blogging buddy from Florida. Those of you that know her can't help but love her. I know I do! Oh how I would love to go shopping with her. That girl can shop!

So here's the challenge to my blog friends. Write 8 of your blog friends names in a unique way and post them. Then come back over and let me know. You must write the blogger's name that tagged you, then add 7 others. Be creative! I used this to do the names. I chose some that I haven't seen chosen on other blogs. I would love to do all of you, but I can't so here's just a few of my blog friends: I was sucked into Cindi's blog with her delicious recipes. Those that know me know I love to cook...and eat. :o) She has an adorable daughter named Alison who earned herself a kitty with good grades.

Pam is one gorgeous girl! Not only is she beautiful on the outside, but on the inside as well. She is the mom of 2 cute boys. She is hugely talented and I adore her.

Don't laugh, but I don't even know Velvet Bricks real name, but I do know that I really like her. She has a sweet spirit and is a elementary school teacher. I would love for her to be Cole's teacher. She is already back to school molding the minds of her new class.

Amy Mowbray has been my good friend for several years now. She should be at the beach right around now for her annual family vacation. She is the organizational queen and the most amazing scrapbooker. Plus she's cute to boot!

Elisha gave birth to a very handsome baby boy named Kyler a month ago and already looks fabulous. Her toddler son Ryan is so darn cute....which you can tell on her blog, because she is the best photographer. Her photo's ALWAYS blow me away and leave my jaw sitting on the keyboard.

September is another long time dear friend who is an amazing mother to her teenage son Josh. She is a very talented photographer and has the biggest heart. She has gone back to work full time so she deserves her very own parking spot. I love her!

Deanna is book publisher and a new friend to me. We have so much in common and I immediately clicked with her. I truly enjoy everything about her. She's a real sweetheart! I look forward to a long term friendship with her.

Chad doesn't have a blog, but I saw this and had to add him. I just got a phone call from him. That was the second one since he's been in Afghanistan. I miss my boy so much and my heart aches everyday. I'm just going to say it....I HATE having him there and I don't care if that makes me look bad, but I'm his mother and in my mind KIDS should not be recruited in their high schools. They are too young to make those kind of life altering decisions. They clearly don't have all their brains yet. Yes, I am proud of him and fully support what he and the troops are doing, but he has committed 8 years to the military and that is something they shouldn't be able to hold over an 18 year olds decision that was pressures into by a recruiter...sigh. Done venting. He says he's doing good and getting ready for guard tower duty. He has received 10-12 rubber duckies and he loves them and proudly displays them in his room. He's going to take pictures for me. Thank you ladies for those of you who sent him ducks. :o)

STILL NO BABY! Brittany is frustrated...I'm frustrated! Okay clearly she is more than me since the baby is in her tummy, but I'm having sympathy pains for her. Brek works nights and has Wednesday and Thursday nights off so what we are hoping for is a Wednesday delivery. Keep your fingers crossed!

picture palooza

Here are a few pictures from my sister Coleen's house. She has a 6 year old son Kaden, then she got a foster baby Mariella who is now 4 months old. They recently place two brothers in her care as well. Fransisco is 2 and Ky is 2 weeks. He was 3 days old when she got the boys. After spending 2 full days with them I discovered that they are really good babies who have adjusted to their new home. Coleen is an amazing mother and as much as I dreaded helping her, I ended up enjoying it. Even Cole had a good time, but he has always loved babies, so I'm not at all surprised.

Have you seen these teeny little cars? They make me giggle. I half expect to see a dozen clowns pile out of it.

I found this double stroller WITH a car seat on craigslist for Brek and Brittany. Got an awesome deal. I also got a small crib to keep in their room for the new baby. Friday night we were all at the hospital. Brittany was having contractions every 6-7 minutes, so her doctor told her to go. By the time she got there the contractions had slowed down. She was dilated to a 3 and 60-70% effaced. They sent her home. She was so disappointed. So for now we are waiting. I carry my camera everywhere just so I'll be ready when I get the call.
My friends stopped by with a delicious loaf of pumpkin bread. I had a few slices and when I woke up the next morning to take the rest to Coleen's house I discovered that it was missing off the counter. Apparently Pappi thought it was tasty too. I've got to learn to keep things out of his reach....grrrrr...He makes me crazy!


Saturday was family day. We went to lunch and the movies. We saw Transformers. It was pretty good. The boys loved it. Did you think they could behave in public? NOPE!

With the rain we received recently our bushes are in full bloom. Cody was really impressed with them since they are kind of ugly without the flowers.
As you can see I haven't gotten very far with painting the bathroom, but at least I've started. That is on my to-do list, but I'm secretly hoping for a call to go to the hospital so I can procrastinate a wee bit longer. :o) I hope to have new baby pictures soon!

Pepsi, Coke or other?

I know I'm a huge Pepsi drinker, but dang do I ever love this Coke machine! It's so stinking cute! Trying to remember...thou shalt not covet...thou shalt not covet. This was in a ladies house. Not sure if she knew I took a picture of it, but I HAD to.

So what's your favorite beverage of choice? Me - Pepsi, but if they serve Coke then I get a Sprite with a wedge of lemon or a Dr. Pepper. No diet soda for me. It has to taste good. (Disclaimer: I have been drinking way more water too...to offset the guilt of soda intake)

Well I have a dozen pictures that I've tried to upload, but apparently photobucket has a 1,000 photo limit and I seem to have met that quota with this pictures so my album is way full. I just upgraded to the "PRO" so that I can get up to 50,000 photos. Photobucket has my money, but I still can't upload my pictures. Doesn't seem quite fair to me. Sent and email, but I'm sure to not hear back tonight...hopefully soon!

Brittany had a doctors appointment today. She is dilated to a 2-3 and 50% effaced. They scheduled her next weeks appointment, but the doctor doesn't expect to see her at it. She is due on Monday. I hope to report a new George baby very soon.

I've been helping my sister Coleen with her daycare and foster babies today and tomorrow. I don't know how she does it everyday. I know I did my many years of baby/toddler duty, but I was younger then and in better shape. I guess my brain forgot how hard it is. It must be that same part of the brain that lets one forget the pain of labor long enough to get pregnant again. Coleen is my hero. I'm totally exhausted and in major pain. It seems that my body and the 5:30 a.m. alarm do not get along. Gotta hit the showers. Maybe that will help ease the pain. I've should have been asleep hours ago. You moms who have babies and young children to chase around, I commend you for your great efforts. It's the toughest, yet most rewarding job in the world.