JAMSquared

Every year my family gets together for a family vacation. Usually we go in August or September, but with three babies scheduled to be born between August and November, an earlier trip was a necessity. This year, we went to South Padre Island. James and I had never been to South Padre before and we had a lot of fun. Check out Dzubi Dzubi Dzu and SEW Very Blessed for Julia’s and Sarah’s commentary on our trip.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Jason, Julia, James and I joined Sarah, Brian, and Cameron on their plane to Harlingen when it stopped in Austin. Cameron ended up spending most of the flight sitting with James and I. Cameron really likes his Uncle James. He also enjoyed shutting and opening the airplane window shade.

From Harlingen, it was about an hour drive in the two rental SUVs to South Padre Island. After getting settled in at the Redfish Inn, we went to eat dinner at the Shrimp Haus Restaurant, next to Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark. My Dad and I had read a really good review in the June 2009 issue of Texas Highways about this restaurant, but we were all gravely disappointed. Afterward, we walked the boardwalk to the beach where Cameron got his first taste of the Gulf of Mexico and got soaked in the process.

Friday, May 22, 2009

After eating breakfast, we drove to Brownsville, about 45 minutes away, to go to the Gladys Porter Zoo. There were a bunch of school children at the zoo, but it wasn’t too crowded besides them. The Gladys Porter Zoo is one of the first zoos to utilize cage-free exhibits. I think my favorite exhibit was the Western Lowland Gorillas.

On the way back to the island, we stopped in Port Isabel. We climbed the 75 steps of the Port Isabel Lighthouse, which was originally built in 1852. The view from the top was outstanding.

After relaxing at the inn for a little while (so Cameron could take a nap), we returned to Port Isabel and ate dinner at Marcella’s Italian Restaurant, which was much better than the Shrimp Haus the night before. Afterwards, we watched “Will Some,” the fire-eating pirate perform some tricks before boarding the Black Dragon for some high seas adventure. We learned the pirate code. Jason, Julia and Brian practiced their fighting skills with water-shooting pistols. We saw dolphins, including a baby and his mama, in Dolphin Cove. The pirates gave us a pirate look even if we didn’t necessarily want one, because it was all about equality. For James, they just added curlicues to his mustache. Brian, Jason and Julia played hot potato with a rubber crab and buckets. Jason and Brian did the pirate limbo. The evening ended with a good view of the fireworks over the Laguna Madre bay.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

After breakfast at the inn, we went to the gulf side of the island to hang out at the beach. We jumped in the surf. I ended up losing my sunglasses when an especially strong wave knocked me over. We built sand castles. Jason asked two sun-bathers to judge for us and they picked Sarah and Brian’s sand creation.

We cleaned up and had lunch at Tom and Jerry’s Burgers and Beer, a decent restaurant on the main drag. This was followed by our annual stockholder’s meeting on the covered porch of the inn. We had dinner at Louie’s Backyard, which had good atmosphere, okay food and excellent dessert. Dinner was followed by the adults playing a game of Cranium that Jason and Julia won.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Brian, Sarah, Cameron, James and I went to the beach after breakfast. Cameron was no longer distracted by playing in the sand. He fearlessly ran into the water. He wanted more wave action.

While we were at the beach, the rest of the gang went in search of paddleboats to rent on the bay side of the island. When they didn’t find any, they rented a 4-person covered bicycle that the four of them pedaled and Jason controlled directionally. Based on the pictures they took, it looked like fun.

Lunch was at the Padre Island Brewing Company. Brian, Dad, and Jason sampled the five beers they brew on site. Lunch was followed by a nice nap. I think all that fun in the sun wore me out. Dinner was at Scampi’s Restaurant, which happened to be across the street from the inn. It was by far the best meal we ate all weekend. We again played Cranium after dinner and this time James and I won.

Monday, May 25, 2009

After a relaxing breakfast, we packed up and drove back to Harlingen to catch our flights home. I was sad to see the trip end, but we had a lot of fun.

The pregnancy has reached the half-way point, week 20. The pregnancy has been great. I had no morning sickness or fatigue during the first trimester. The second trimester has brought on some fatigue, but otherwise I feel great. I haven’t gained any weight yet, although my weight has shifted around since my belly is starting to be noticeable and my bras no longer fit correctly.

I had wanted to do weekly photos of my profile, but that hasn’t gone quite as planned. Below are the three profile photos I’ve taken so far. I’m going to try to continue on at least every two weeks from here on out.

Last Wednesday, I had my 20-week appointment with my OB and everything looked good. Thursday morning, James and I went to have an anatomical screening at the Texas Perinatal Group. It was really neat, because we got see Baby JAM’s heart beating and the upper lip and brain development looked good. The doctor said everything was right on schedule and estimated the baby weighed 11 ounces. We also decided to find out the sex of the baby. I know I’ve told everyone that I didn’t want to  find out and James said I would change my mind, but my OB recommended we find out since I had a gut feeling about the sex of the baby. She thought it would be better to find out now instead of us to going the next 4.5 months thinking the baby was a boy and possibly being wrong. So check out the video of Baby JAM’s heart beating and the ultrasound photos and see if I was right.

The last weekend in April, a big group of people got together in Midland for a family reunion. Everyone there was related in some form or fashion to Freda and Cecil Evans, James’ grandparents. It was a lot of fun.  We got to see a bunch of people we hadn’t seen in a while.

The first activity was Saturday lunch at Tampico Spanish Inn, a favorite Mexican food restaurant in Midland. While there, we were able to get a group photo. It pays to have a tripod in your camera bag like I do.

After visiting at Granny and Pawpaw’s house, we went to the hotel that a lot of people were staying at to watch the kids go swimming in the indoor pool while the adults chatted.

After dinner with James’ parents, Tami (James’ sister), Randy (Tami’s boyfriend), and Dawson (our 8-year-old nephew) at the Cracker Barrel, we went back for more visiting at Granny and Pawpaw’s house and some genealogical research for me.

Sunday entailed more visiting, watching the “kids” play in the yard, and a fried/grilled chicken dinner from KFC.

Earlier in the month, we had out of town guests, the perfect opportunity to try something new for breakfast. The picture (thanks Mona for snapping a pic) doesn’t do the ooey-gooey breakfast justice. It was delicious. And it was even great a few days later reheated.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

Source: Pillsbury Christmas 2008 (Yes, I know. I have a cookbook addiction.)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 12.4-oz. cans Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
  
• 1 3.4-oz. package vanilla pudding and pie filling mix (not instant)
  
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  
• 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Using 1 tablespoon of the butter, generously grease 12-cup fluted tube pan. Place remaining butter in small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute or until melted when stirred.

Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; cut each in half crosswise. Place half of roll pieces in greased pan. Sprinkle with half of the pudding mix and half of the brown sugar. Drizzle with half of the melted butter. Repeat layering with remaining roll pieces, pudding mix, brown sugar and melted butter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake for 24 to 28 minutes or until rolls are deep golden brown and dough appears done when slightly pulled apart. Cool in the pan 2 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter.  (Don’t use a regular dinner plate as your serving platter unless you want icing to drip off the edges of the plate.) Cool 15 minutes.

Remove lid from icing. Microwave icing on high for 10 to 15 seconds or until drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm coffee cake. Cut into wedges. Serve warm.

Yield: 16

Mother’s Day has always been a time when I think about how much my mother means to me. It has never been so meaningful as it was this year. Because this year, as I was thinking about how much my mother means to me, I was wondering how much I would mean to the little one growing inside of me. On Mother’s Day, little baby JAM was 18 weeks along, 2 weeks shy of the halfway point of the pregnancy. At 18 weeks, baby JAM was theoretically 5.5 inches long and weighing 5 ounces. I also should be starting to feel the baby kick soon, but as of yet, no flutters.

This year for Mother’s Day, I decided to use last week’s Mojo Monday sketch 85. Then I picked blue for my Mom and purple for James’ Mom, their favorite colors.

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Close as a Memory and All-Year Cheer II
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Rose Red
Designer Paper: Stampin’ Up Afternoon Tea
Ink:  Stampin’ Up Whisper White Craft
Markers:  Stampin’ Up Rose Red, Always Artichoke
Accessories:  Stampin’ Up Whisper White 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon; Icicle Stickles
Tools:  Stampin’ Up Eyelet Border Punch

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Close as a Memory and All-Year Cheer II
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Pale Plum, Certainly Celery
Designer Paper: Stampin’ Up Enchante’
Ink:  Stampin’ Up Whisper Perfect Plum
Markers:  Stampin’ Up Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery/Always Artichoke
Accessories:  Stampin’ Up Certainly Celery 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon; Icicle Stickles
Tools:  Stampin’ Up Eyelet Border Punch