a real post!!

hey! its present day natalie, not diary of a blah blah natalie.
ive had fun posting these diary entries, but now its time for a good ole fashioned post about my other babe: bennett.  accompanied by a few "hereswhatsgoingons" and such

1.  i will start this off with the only reason i am even posting something that takes actual thoughts right now {vs. copying and pasting and already-written post} is bc we had an open house this afternoon and our house is spotless.  and its sunday.  which means:  no cleaning/laundry/dishes to do and i have an excuse not to be working.

2.  i became inspired and made fruit leather this weekend.

i actually bought the strawberries to make it on monday, but by thursday all four pounds were moldy and gross {i know! usually strawberries last waaaaay longer than that}.  i just couldnt ever "get" to it, until last night.  so i chopped and blended and simmered and reduced and baked.  and woke up this morning to take the fruit leather out of the oven and it still wasnt done.  finally, after about SIXTEEN HOURS of baking, the sides were done but the middle was gooey.  its DELICIOUS, but just not done.  i baked it for many more hours and i think its as done as it can be.  note to self and any other interested parties: i dont think i reduced it enough...it might take longer than 45 minutes for the mixture to reduce if you have a cooktop that does not posses a good "simmer" temp...it either wants to BOIL or be OFF.

3.  we went to the beach a couple weekends ago {yes im that far behind}.  it definitely was a blog-worthy weekend as it was just the three of us, stephen hadnt had a weekend off in a few months, and the weather was supreme.  here are a few pics:

playing on "docs fishing boat" {where he wanted to be ALL WEEKEND}


scoping out the FUHREEZING cold pool. he only went in to the "first step" and "second step" and thankfully my big strong TOUGH hubby was there to accompany him.  momma sat and sunned on the chair ;)
{aint no way im sticking my pregnant toes in that ice bath.  uh-uh}

this little friend found swimming in the freezing water provided minutes of fun



4.  my appetite picked up this past week. {the constant hunger level when pregnant} i always feel hungry but i get full WAY TOO fast in my opinion.  last time it was THIS

this time it appears to be THIS

equally delicious and definitely doctor recommended for healthy-food-while-pregnant....right?


4.  i think i have ONE more "diary of..." post left, and from then on things will be published in real-time :)  and yes, we have some gender determination coming up VERY soon....so let me know what you think....if you wish...


5.  edited to add: yea there are two number fours....which is why im not to be trusted in writing posts that require thoughts these days...