Evapaul Petite

Nic and I have opened up a new esty shop!
we'll now be making customizable modern birth announcements-
buy them here

yay!

I sent Gabrielle Blair [aka design mom.. kind of my idol] my letter to daphne before she was born and was thrilled when she emailed me this morning saying she published it! Gabrielle is pregnant with #6 and posts stories of growing families every wednesday. if you're currently pregnant, i would guess you won't be able to get through ANY of the posts, they are so emotional. I'm not nearly as hormonal but it's still hard for me :)
Go check out Daphne here!

Baby Evie we love you already!!!

After years [literally YEAAAAARRRRSSS] of desperately trying to conceive/wanting a baby so bad it hurt- my brother Christian and sister-in-law Errin are pregnant at last and found out tonight that their baby is a lady. I couldn't be happier for them (though i would have been just as happy if he was baby Espen instead of baby Evie) to quote sweet Errin:

As much as pregnancy is a struggle (and Lordy, how we know it is a struggle), I love it. I love every minute of it. The heartburn, the crazies, the constant peeing, the sore beebees, the round ligament pain, the nausea, the hunger, all of these are reminders that I am taking part in a miracle.


I'm so happy for your miracle!

[this is Errin practicing her baby skills with little Dotter]

can't wait for daph and evie to be crazy cousins together!!!


Errin & Christian are coming up for my graduation (walking at graduation) next weekend and I'm so happy. I'm planning on giving them all the hand-me-down clothes they can handle.
Oh, and another thing I think is super cute- Daph's middle name is Ryn, after my grandma Kathryn. And Evie's middle name is Kate! Both after Nana (I'm assuming :) and I think that is super adorable. We all love grandma Pedersen too- I guess Edith is just harder to pull off.

ravioli lasagna

real simple is one of the greatest magazines ever. i love it so much.
they gave me the idea for this fabulously easy dinner.
it was so simple and so delicious.
i think you'll love it.

i used a weird size pan (because it's super old and teal and awesome) but I'm sure you could use pretty much any size casserole pan.

put 1/3 of the sauce (i used a whole jar of spaghetti sauce, you may need more if you use a 9x13 pan) on the bottom of the pan,
put down a layer of defrosted cheese ravioli then more sauce (i added italian sausage to the sauce because i had some left over from another recipe that i needed to use up) then a layer of mozerella cheese, then more ravioli and finish with more sauce and more moz cheese.

bake at 425 for 20 minutes.
I finished it off with 3 minutes under the broiler because i like the cheese to be a little crusty.

seriously SOOOO easy (and much cheaper than buying lasagna noodles and riotta cheese) and nic and i both loved it.

are you going to make it?

everyday daphne #8

shirt target $4. i love girly shirts that aren't tooooo girly. (no need for the word "cutie", "daddy's little princess" ect) i like the little puff sleeves and scalloped collar.
skirt old navy $4 [50% off clearance is the best]
leggings $5 target
chucks.

i know i say this every time but she's looking so grown up!

RANDOMEST pics from my iphone

i finally plugged my phone into the computer last night and just had to share some random shots from the past 8 months or so. enjoy :)

we're the librarians at church. this is what we do.


saw this bus matchbox car at daph's friends b-day party. wanted to steal it. didn't.

not a very personal personalized licensed plate?

showing daddy daph's new hat on a windy rexburg day.

took this pic for my old dorm roommate emily, our dorm was the one next door but i parked in front of this one. i don't think i ever sent it to you em. here it is.

i remember i was shocked by her naughtiness at this point. HAH! it's gotten a lot more crazy around here. also, i miss those pj's.

i cannot believe how much daph loves animals. they got right up to her and she loved it.

we got a lot of old clothes from nic's grandma to sell in our etsy shop. i though this was a skirt but NOOOO. just giant, supppper wide 70's pants.

trying to show ashley my new (at the time) hair cut/color.

yum. lobster.

really exciting thing to get in the mail.

wow broulims. thanks for the general discount.

daph's first kids meal. i didn't feel like sharing my meal with her that night.

wow. what an ambitious photographer- $130 to shoot a wedding. bet she's good.
new sunglasses.

los pockets!!!!


more pockets. showing aunt ashley the cute dresses she bought her.

daph loves dora so we got her the map/backpack. she even says backpack backpack
(always twice)

everyday daphne #7

we wish it was spring (for real..)

shirt old navy $8 [bought this is 3-6 months and loved is so much we had to go back while they still had it and buy it in 6-12 months. now i'm wishing we had 12-18 but it's way too late]

shorts $3 target. [nic calls them her dora shorts]
leggings .50 from DI
chucks.

not related, this was the other day but just a couple super cute pics of daph :)

copeland

this weekend our friends courtney and talmage invited us to go to SLC with them to see copeland's farewell show. we said no on friday but then changed our minds to YES on saturday at 12:30 and we left at 1:15 and drove straight to the venue for 6:30 doors. Janell and Dave were so kind to watch daphne for about 28 hours so we could go kid-free. we're go glad we went.



we don't listen to copeland much anymore.. but, we fell in love to copeland.
we had been dating on and off for a few weeks when we went to see them in boise in july 2004. we've been together ever since. we listened to copeland a lot while we were dating and it always reminds me of that sweet, sappy, carefree and hopelessly romantic time in our lives.

there was 3 bands before them... they were all pretty OK.
but copeland was incredible.
they played all the good ones and even though our backs and feet and EARS were aching, it was completely perfect.


we were lingering at the merch table after, hoping to catch a minute with aaron (vocals/guitar/piano) and we were so happy that we got to. nic told him that we were married because of him and now we had a baby so basically, he started our family. (it was really cute, i wanted to cry basically all night, but especially then) we told him how we saw them 6 years earlier in boise and we've been together ever since.


we took a picture with him and i'm glad we got to capture (through a crappy iphone picture) that happy memory.

to some people, this story might seem really stupid. but, we're really emotionally attached to copeland. we needed to go to that show to have some closure- again... i realize that if music isn't important to you- i'm sounding like a crazy person right now. we finished the weekend with the cheesecake factory and a stay in the ramada inn murray (classy!) and it was just the best.
here is brightest for your enjoyment.

everyday daphne #6

daph looks really grown up and cute today- the pictures do not do it justice. i'm just too lazy to try and take more- and she is the opposite of lazy- running all around instead of posing for my pictures. we're not cooperating with each other.
I looked at my inbox this morning and only had maybe 7 emails to respond to. I quickly did my work and declared today: Daphne FUN day! we really haven't done anything TOO exciting but I've worked less, played more, took a trip to the library (where she threw a HUGE fit when it was time to go. sorry library patrons... that was not her inside voice) bought fantastic mr. fox (which she only watched a few minutes before getting restless so we put her down for a nap so she didn't ruin it for nic and i :) and now she's playing with one of my bras while I blog and I'm not taking it away from her... see... FUN DAY!

[still sleepy from nap time- she stretched forever when she got up today- it was so cute]

purple bubble tank target $3
sweater- thrifted.
jeans- old navy $10
converse- ebay.
headband- free because i'm lucky :) but buy them here: http://www.daisydoodaisydoo.blogspot.com/

i can't believe how toddler-ish she looks. no one told me how heartbreaking this would be.

house for sale.

we're sad to see nic's cousin rebecca, husband lonnie and their two cute boys move to nevada- but perhaps our loss is your gain! they are selling their seriously adorable townhouse in Pocatell0- if this was in denver, i'd want it for ourselves :)

check out all the details at her house blog:

http://www.pheasantridgetownhouse4sale.blogspot.com/

i LOVE their master bedroom. I've always admired and loved rebecca's style- she looked like anthropologie before it even existed (in the west :) i love the far nightstand- a trunk and their bed and pillows. but, i guess is about the house not the furniture.. don't mind me.. just coveting.

the OTHER chocolate chip cookies.

after the initial chocolate chip cookie throw down- i preformed a few other taste tests throughout the week (same dough, i'm not THAT crazy to make batches and batches in one week) and though cookie A won hands down the first night, cookie B (which was actually cookie C the first night, confusing, i know) was the favorite of many later in the week.
So, i'm sharing this recipe as well! It IS super yummy and the cookies turn out rather perfect looking- the way I always want my chocolate chip cookies to look but they never do.
my problem? I don't stock vanilla instant pudding (though maybe i should)
but i do always have the other ingredients on hand... so I still side with cookie A, i love the nutty taste of the browned butter and in a pinch, i always have sugar, butter and chocolate.


Jami's chocolate chip cookies
-------------------------------------------
preheat oven to 375

Cream together:

1 cup softened butter
1/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 large box vanilla instant pudding (not made up :)

Add in:
2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
chocolate chips- your favorite variety and as much as little as you'd like.

[yesterday i made 1/2 reeses chips 1/2 chocolate chips. YUM]

bake for 7-10 min.

everyday daph # ... we had a busy week last week.

daphne and i barely got dressed last week... it was a crazy, busy week and I'm kind of relieved it's over. Though, maybe this week will be even busier - who knows :)

Yesterday I went to a second hand baby store and scored a couple of items for daphne. it was kind of arduous going through all the racks- but when i found these 2 things the trip was worth it.

dress $2.50
cardigan (which i love love love) $1.50
*i think navy is her color. those eyes are insane when she's wearing navy.



just had to throw this one in.... daph... you're eyelashes are out of control.


we're so happy that ben, melissa and cove moved to UT from texas, we'll be able to see them much more often now. they came and stayed with us this weekend and it was so fun. cove and daph played SO cute together. she gave him lots of kisses and he didn't seem to mind :)

best cocolate chip cookies (seriously)

last night we had a bake-off after lost. it was a bake-off between me and... me. (nic made fun of me for having a bake-off against myself. perhaps i have some control issues? :) I read on say yes to hoboken about 2 great chocolate chip cookie recipes and decided LOST night at the bingham house was the perfect setting for a chocolate chip cookie throw down. (i wish bobby flay would have showed up) the winner was clear... and wow.. these cookies were awesome. i have some more in the oven right now. breakfast anyone?

america's test kitchen ultimate chocolate chip cookies ---------------------------------------
preheat oven to 375

combine 1 3/4 c. flour with 1/2 t. baking soda

in a saute pan melt 10 T. butter (unsalted) stir for 3-4 minutes until the butter is light brown- not burned. then, stir in an additional 4 T. to the hot butter.

cream together: butter (let it cool for a bit so it doesn't scramble the eggs)
1/2 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk then, combine with flour mixture.
lastly, stir in 1 1/4 c. chocolate chips (we prefer milk chocolate in this house)

line cookie sheet with parchment paper bake cookies 10-14 minutes
[the steps in the original recipe are a bit more complicated than this... i'm just kind of a lazy baker, but- it worked- and this is not turning into a cooking blog, i promise. though i love a good cooking blog]

my day.

2 trips to the post office.
1 paper cut.
1 four minute shower.
1 crazy 14 month old who destroyed the house ALL day
2 recipes of chocolate chip cookies to make for the LOST bake-off tonight
1 new photographer's branding contract
3 new wedding invite clients.
14 emails sent
2 invites and rsvp's designed
4 conversations responded to
2 episodes of dora watched
1 trip to our old house to pick up a package that i accidentally got sent there. (it wasn't there.. yet)
7 tantrums (not me.... daph)
1 load of dishes in the dishwasher
3 client packages wrapped up
1 pizza ordered
1/3 of said pizza eaten
1 trip to walmart
1 snickers bar devoured
37 times i've had to stop daph from unplugging my computer.
4 the number of times i wished i had cadberry mini eggs in the house
3 times i've checked the weather- wishing i was enjoying 50 degree + weather in denver this week
2 times i've listened to the AA bondy album today
3 times i've put away all the clothes that daph has taken out of her "bottoms" drawer
2 blog posts
1 friend request on facebook
7 twitter updates
2 customs formed filled out while chasing a toddler at the post office.
2 pieces of french toast cooked for my husband this morning.

ok.. make that 8 tantrums by daph today.

curry!

my little thai princess missionary companion taught me to make thai curry just like her mom does.

are you scared of curry? some people really are... but just trust me... it's awesome.


while pregnant with daphne, i had to take a break from thai food and pad thai still makes me queezy though I'll make it for nic on occasion- but, i've just gotten back into making curry. As to not be wasteful of the open jar of curry- i've made it 4 times in the past 10 days. woahhh that's a lot of curry. Good thing we love it.


Here is my [adapted from sister joysakoo] thai red curry recipe:

[makes 5 bowl-full servings]

-------ingredients--------
2 T. vegetable oil
3 t. red curry paste [see pic]
2 cans coconut milk [i prefer light and can't taste a difference]
1/2 can bamboo shoots [fancy!.. they say that on the can. it's awesome] cut into matchsticks
1 red pepper sliced thin
1/4 C. brown sugar [plus maybe a little more to taste]
ground chili paste to taste [we add maybe 2 t. but warning.. it's HOT]
you don't have to add a protein but we like 2 chicken breasts
salt to taste

above- red curry paste. below- ground chili paste. sometimes it doesn't have the gold label, this must be the wonka edition.

I like recipes with lots of pictures- so nic documented the process as i made it yesterday.

first, do all your prep.
cut the peppers, bamboo shoots and open your cans.
put about 2 cups of jasmine rice in a rice cooker. YUM
for the chicken- i like to cut it into VERY thin slices- this way you don't have big chunks of chicken that don't have much flavor. I defrost my chicken about 1/2 as long as i normally would so it's still pretty frozen. Then, you can basically make little shaved pieces of chicken.. this way it cooks almost instantly and soaks up all the curry flavor.


in a large pot heat oil on med heat and add curry paste. my companion's instructions were: "cook till smells good" i thought that sounded funny- but it's true- just wait till you smell it, it's divine!

add both cans of coconut milk and stir till combined

add chicken and bamboo shoots.

stir often
add red peppers in the last 5 minutes of cooking.

let it simmer till vegetables are al dente and chicken is cooked through.
(i usually let it simmer for about 20 minutes or so)

then, stir in brown sugar and start tasting! if you would like it hotter, add ground chili paste.
if you think it needs a little extra sweetness, add a little more brown sugar. then add about 1/2 t. salt or just enough to make it awesome!

[daph helping me in the kitchen]

serve a bowl of curry and a bowl of rice. some people dump all their rice into their curry, i prefer to do the combining 1 bite at a time. you'll find you're rhythm.


make it! then tell me about it!