Thankful

Our Thanksgiving holiday included good company, extra sweet newborn cuddles, and good food and for this we are extremely thankful. The Zimmers had planned to stay put in Shakopee this year instead of their normal trip to South Dakota because of the impending birth of Brody. So Carissa and I decided on a feast to include both Andrew’s favorite items from his family and the good standby recipes you can’t forget on Thanksgiving. What we didn’t really plan on was Brody being born. This ended up being such a blessing in more than one way. Grandma NeNe came to see her newest grandson. When she wasn’t smothering Brody with kisses and snuggles, Sevea pretty much dominated her time. Grandma taught Sevea everything she knew on how to be a good chef. They started by making a cheese ball and ended the lesson by making biscuits.

Both recipes turned out amazing. Actually I think this year’s spread was the best yet. My contributions included turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cherry salad, stuffing, swim butter biscuits and dessert of pumpkin cheesecake and Hershey sundae pie. All homemade except the stuffing (good ol stove top trumped my homemade attempt from another year) and the Hershey sundae pie (that is just deliciousness in a box you don’t mess around with making yourself). I’d absolutely 100% make the recipes again…..and again and again. Here are the recipes and any notes I had about the recipe after making it.

Mashed potatoes- No recipe really. Use half a bag of potatoes. Cube potatoes and cook until soft (peel potatoes if you prefer…I did not). Mash the potatoes and season with salt and garlic pepper. Add a block of softened cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sour cream. Use a mixer to incorporate and smooth. Add milk to desired consistency.

Sweet potato casserole I wouldn’t change a thing to the recipe. We normally love marshmallows on top of our sweet potatoes but this was so yummy we were willing to do without. I used yams instead of sweet potatoes.

Green bean casserole I was nervous about a non-cream of mushroom soup recipe. However this will be the way I make it from here on out. I mainly used this recipe just for the sauce. I used frozen whole green beans and didn’t top it with crackers. Instead I stuck with the french fried onions both sprinkled inside and then topped at the end. I also thought the addition of some sautéed mushrooms would be nice and boy was it ever. I probably only used 1 cup of cheese as well.

Cherry salad I feel like every holiday needs a cool whip type dessert. We grew up eating a mandarin orange type salad my grandma made…yummo! I’ve made other salads like snicker salad and holiday salad and love those as well. But decided why not try something new. Enter the cherry salad. I would only use 2/3 can like the recipe says not her comment of a full can. I didn’t put in pecans and didn’t really miss them. I used 2 1/2 tubs of cool whip so 20 oz. My cherry pie can was only 20 oz and thought a little extra cherry would be nice so I’d probably do 1/2 another can to make it be 30 oz.

Swim butter biscuits Holy heart attack in a pan….but oh so delicious. I made two batches and didn’t have square pans so I used round ones. The butter started boiling over when I cooked mine. So next time no matter the pan I’d put a baking sheet under just in case. I made no substitutions to the recipe and would not suggest a thing. The biscuits bake up quite a bit so it makes more than you would originally think.

Pumpkin Cheesecake This was my first ever cheesecake. The recipe was simple compared to other cheesecakes since it doesn’t need a water bath and seemed less finicky. I’d definitely make this one again. The only change I made was substituted ginger snaps for the graham crackers.

Andrew and Carissa contributed seven layer salad with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing (which we need to make a tradition on our table), scalloped corn, and potatiskorv (a sausage with potatoes/pork). They were definite welcome additions to the table.

With our bellies full we moved onto arts and crafts time with Grandma. Sevea really took to drawing new things since Grandma was her teacher. We have actually since then had to remind her of how much she listened to Grandma and needed to do the same for us :) Grayson really got into it as well requesting all the things to be drawn on his paper as well. It is pretty cute watching him want to be like the big kid in the house.

Grandma stayed in a hotel for the night so late afternoon we headed over for some pool time. The kids had a blast jumping in the kiddie pool, then going over to the big pool, then over to the arcade games and finally the big slide was opened. Somehow we managed to get the kids out in one piece and daddy was still alive after chasing them around. (No pool pictures as it was a little steamy for the camera)

What a great day we had. We are definitely blessed each and everyday but days like this are truly cherished. Watching your kids have fun and enjoy time with their Grandma is something that I wish could happen daily. But since that isn’t possible I’ll remember to be thankful for the times it does. This Thanksgiving will definitely be hard to beat!

Brody Steven Zimmer

So I was wrong. I guessed Carissa would have her baby on December 1st. Yes it was a long shot due to her track record after having Grayson. But Brynna was born on the 1st and what an easy way to remember how many months apart Brynna and baby Zimmer would be. Even though we thought Carissa would deliver early, the birth was still quite shocking. On Friday November 22nd Carissa and Andrew snuck in one last date night before baby. Carissa felt some contractions but they weren’t necessarily painful and chalked them up to braxton hicks since they went away. She felt great on Saturday and even into late Sunday. The thought crossed my mind that delivery could be near since sometimes you get the “calm before the storm”. However the events of Sunday night no one could have planned for. The Zimmers joined us for supper and all seemed normal. The kids got a bath and off went the Zimmers to put Grayson to bed. We got our kids laid down for the night and started to relax on the couch. I barely got my seat warm and a call comes from Carissa at 8:07 saying that she pretty much peed her pants while reading Grayson a bedtime story and thought it was best to bring Grayson over to sleep at our house just in case something happened that night. At 8:30 all three of them walked through the door and I could tell right away that contractions had started. Little did Carissa know her water had actually broke. This would have been a clear sign that things were going to go much faster than any of us would anticipate. Grayson was settled into bed quickly and off the three of us went to the hospital. Once registered we made our way up to the room and noticed the clock read a little after 9:00.

In walks Carissa’s nurse and immediately all of us were comforted. Oddly enough the room was where Grayson, Cohen, and Brynna were born. This was the same nurse that helped deliver all three of them. Another thing that all these births had in common…quick deliveries! This nurse recognized us right away and without hesitation started to call the doctor to make his way to the hospital. In hindsight the doctor needed exactly that amount of time to make the birth. The nurse then checked Carissa and she was dilated to 5cm. Half way there! And you could certainly tell Carissa was progressing as her pain level was quickly increasing.

She was a champ working through the contractions. Then talk of pain medicine happened. It took me off guard since this talk happens during transition and transition means the end is very near. But this couldn’t be right, she’d been in labor for only an hour. The moment passed and she regained her focus on dealing with the pain. Brody was struggling to keep up with the fast labor and his heart rate would dip during contractions. So Carissa got back into bed and was then dilated to 7 cm. She tried lying on one side and then the other and then on all fours to help with Brody’s heart rate. Next we were all surprised when Carissa uttered, “I’m ready to push.” The nurse checked her and sure enough she was ready. The doctor walked in just as the contractions were helping to push out Brody. He quickly got on one glove to help guide out his head and the nurse helped slap another glove on him while the contraction helped push the rest of him out. At 9:36pm on November 24th, Brody Steven Zimmer was born. It was a shock to everyone how quickly he entered the world.

No time was needed to realize this little guy is loved to the moon and back. What a blessing he is and what a great time we’ll all have getting to watch him grow up.

Side note: Brody’s birth will forever be remembered by his daddy as the game his dear Bronco’s lost after being up 24-0. Now Brody’s quick entrance into the world was shocking but I think Andrew tuning into the game after his birth and finding out they were now down 24-28 almost sent him into shock.

Coming Attraction

The time is coming near to when we get to see the Zimmer’s upcoming attraction. Baby Zimmer #2 will be here so soon…maybe within in days??? So before this little one makes its grand debut, we celebrated with a movie themed day. I think all moms can agree time to watch movies with your girl pals is very limited. I enjoyed ending my sprinkle shower for Brynna watching a movie. So I figured an afternoon filled with popcorn and movies was a great way to relax and celebrate Carissa before the new baby arrives. Carissa’s close gal pals arrived to their own star on the walk of fame. Inside the Baby Time Theater we munched on three different kinds of popcorn including birthday cake popcorn, snickers popcorn, and fresh from the theater movie popcorn. Dessert was chocolate chip cookie popcorn bars and Twinkie cake. Between movies we filled our bellies with pizza and pop. Our attempts to fill Carissa till she burst to get the baby here failed but we’re excited for when this new member of the family will join us.

Blast Off

Troy may not be a rocket scientist but he sure is the best dad ever for building Sevea her very own cardboard rocket. Sevea had lots of fun not only playing in the rocket but helping design the rocket and making it beautiful with her artwork. The rocket some essential items for all rockets including jets and wings. Sevea made sure they included a control panel and of course a map to know how to get to the moon.

Princess Rocket Sevea made for some fun times that afternoon. Captain Sevea even took her little brother Cohen for a ride to the moon and back. His safety was considered and Sevea shared the helmet daddy made.

Sweet ending

The other weekend I mentioned to Troy that when he was at the store he should get dessert. Coming from me this is pretty much a constant request :) Sevea and Troy came home with not only dessert but a fun family activity. Bring on the homemade sundaes! The kids loved getting to pick out what they wanted on top and then the sweet ending of digging into the deliciousness they created. The kids, Troy, and I agree these nights should happen all the time…too bad mommy and daddy’s waistlines don’t agree.