Baby Update!

Today I am officially 2 days past my due date (December 11th)! I cannot believe how quickly this entire 9+ months has flown by....I still remember the day Cody and I found out we were pregnant and now we are days away from meeting our little lady!

Speaking of meeting her, we had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I went into the appointment a little excited, nervous, anxious....ready to hear some news (be it good or bad!). I was waiting to get called back by the nurse when I looked down and realized I was shaking! I didn't know if it was because I hadn't had lunch yet or if I was excited/nervous! Anyways, I did the routine weight check (YIKES!!) and then had my blood pressure taken. My bp has been excellent throughout the entire pregnancy, so I'm grateful it was only yesterday that we had an issue. Anyways, the doctor came in and told me it was a bit higher than normal and since I've had a little swelling, they wanted me to go downstairs to the Labor/Delivery floor to get some blood work and have a non-stress test done on the baby.

Cody and I headed down to Labor and Delivery and I'm not entirely certain I breathed the entire walk! I got to the check-in desk and Cody whispered to me "BREATHE"......I took a big deep breath and told the lady, 'sorry, i'm really nervous'!

They took us to a triage room where I was hooked up to 2 monitors and a blood pressure cuff. One of the monitors showed the baby's heart rate and the other showed if I was having any contractions. A few minutes later a lab tech came in and took lots of blood (not a fan!). After 3 hours and like 15 episodes of That 70's Show later, the doctor finally came in and said blood work came back normal and good, baby is still doing great and my blood pressure finally went down. Then, we chatted about our options.....we discussed induction and c-sections and everything in between (if you know me, you know how many questions I asked!).

Cody, myself and the doctor agreed upon inducing THursday evening at midnight (technically Friday) and starting with some natural options, then if those don't work getting Pitocin to get the ball rolling. We packed up and then headed home.....actually we stopped at the nurses station and asked if we could see an actual room because I couldn't remember what the sleeping situation was for the husband. Poor Cody has a half of a futon thingy to sleep on, but I'm hoping to pack some extra comfy stuff to make it a little more bearable for him!

All in all, I was looking back at yesterday and I'm so grateful it happened. Not that it was really a 'crash course', but it kinda took the sting off of me walking into the L&D floor when I was in labor and having no idea what to expect. Plus, it's kinda nice having some 'light at the end of the tunnel' knowing that if she doesn't come before Friday, we are inducing then. I'm thinking my baby girl might have a little bit of my 'planner personality' ;)

Lots of people have asked us 'do you need anything?' or 'how can we help?' --as of right now, we are set, but my deepest desire is for prayer. I KNOW that the Lord is in control and I've had His peace my entire pregnancy. But, yesterday, when the rubber hit the road and something was wrong, I kinda freaked out a little. So, please pray that my focus is set on Jesus, that my mind is calm and my heart is ready for this little lady to come. Pray for Cody to be calm and an excellent partner in labor, for his heart to be ready and prepared for his daughter. Pray that this will be a beautiful experience for him and I, as we welcome our 1st child into the world. Please pray that above all we have a safe and healthy delivery for mom and baby (be that any means necessary). Of course, I would love to also pray for a short, uneventful, smooth, natural delivery; so if you feel so inclined, you can toss that one up there, too! :)

We love each and every one of you so much and cannot wait to introduce our new addition to you soon!

Until then, we join you in prayer and thanksgiving of God's mighty blessings in our lives!

Merry Christmas,

LaRae

A broken promise

Ok, well clearly I broke my 'I promise not to be vacant from here' promise, from the previous posts. I should have known I would get busy (story of my life...can I get an 'amen'??) Anyways, things are going well...today I'm officially 1 week from my due date. Boy, did this day sneak up on us! We have our Christmas tree up and decor is being finalized in the house. We even got Harper her own little pink and green tree to match her nursery :)

Hopefully, we will have a baby in the next week or two, so we can introduce you to our little lady! Until then, I hope you're enjoying the beginning of winter and more importantly, taking time each day to remember the TRUE reason for Christmas; Christ our Savior being born!

Merry Christmas!!

Love,

The Davenport's

EASY Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins!

I have an obsession....it's Pinterest and all things pumpkin :) So, I've decided to combine my loves and make some muffins!

I have seen a few different recipes for pumpkin muffins, homemade pumpkin cream cheese muffins and some streussel muffins, so I've combined all three to make my own!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese filled Muffins (makes 24 muffins)

Muffin:
1 box yellow cake mix (I used 'golden butter')
1 -15 oz. can 100% pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie mix)
1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice



Cream Cheese filling:
1 'brick' of cream cheese (softened)
1 cup powdered sugar



Streussel Topping: (sorry no picture)

½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees--Combine cake mix, pumpkin and pie spice in a bowl until well blended, using a hand or stand mixer.
2. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar using a hand or stand mixer, set aside.
3. Combine all ingredient for topping and put into the refrigerator to get cold.
4. Line muffin tin with liners or spray with baking spray.
5. Put about 2-3 tbsp of muffin mix in each cup, not very much is needed!
6. Put a dollop of cream cheese filling on top of the pumpkin muffin mix (press into the mix, so it's not too high above the liner)
7. Sprinkle streussel topping over each muffin
8. Make at 350 degrees for about 20-25 mins or until streussel is light brown.
9. ENJOY!!




YUMMO!!

Thanksgiving Countdown!

As you've probably gathered from my previous post, I adore Thanksgiving and Christmas.....basically the season of fall until New Year's day is my absolute favorite time of the year! I love seeing family, the decorating, the Halloween fun and craziness, FOOTBALL season, then the two best holidays ever---Thanksgiving and Christmas! But, to boot, this year, we are adding our little girl to our family in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is going to add ANOTHER fabulous holiday, for years to come!! But, I'm getting ahead of myself... since this year we will be celebrating the holidays from the comfort of our own home (I'll be about a week and a half from my due date come Thanksgiving day and the Doc says staying home is best....I'm secretly very happy!! I've ALWAYS wanted to have Thanksgiving at my house!) We will desperately miss our extended family and friends, but we are happy to open our home to some college kids and families who are, also, unable to go home for the holidays! PLUS, my parents and Cody's parents are coming in town to celebrate with us, too!!! AHHHH I'M SO EXCITED I COULD SCREAM!!!....oh wait, i just did :)

Wow, I'm wordy today! Well, enough blabbing---I'm going to start putting up decor ideas, recipes for Thanksgiving, thoughtful insights, and possibly even do a giveaway for the holidays! WHO KNOWS!?! But, I'm promising to not be vacant from here any longer :)

Let's kick off November with a DELICIOUS holiday recipe that I just made and is insanely simple and SOO YUMMY!


picture from Ourbestbites.com --I forgot to take a picture of mine!

Cinnamon Toffee Dip (adapted from ourbestbites.com)

1 8-oz. package cream cheese (you can always use light/fat-free cream cheese)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Toffee bits (1/4 to 1/2 a bag depending on your preference)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. (about a pinch) nutmeg
Optional: chopped roasted pecans/walnuts
*I was making this for our office Halloween party, so I doubled the recipe and it still worked great!

1. Let cream cheese soften a bit, but not too much (about 10 mins on the counter)
2. Combine all ingredients, EXCEPT toffee bits and nuts (if using), with electric mixer and refrigerate
3. Before serving, add toffee bits to dip
4. To finish add a few toffee bits and roasted nuts to the top of the dip.

Serve with granny smith apple slices and homemade cinnamon chips (recipe below)

Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Chips

8'' soft tortilla wraps
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
*cinnamon/sugar ratio can be altered depending on your taste preference

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

1. Either cut out pieces of tortilla with holiday cookie cutters or cut into triangles with pizza cutter (I did both and they came out really cute!)
2. Place on a cookie sheet (I used a cooking stone at first and they didn't get crispy...use a regular cookie sheet)
3. Using a pastry brush or really even your finger, brush each cut tortilla piece with melted butter
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture

Bake 10-12 minutes (check them at 9 minutes to see if they are browning) If you only have a baking stone, keep them in about 15 minutes to get them crispy.


They are DELICIOUS and go great with the dip or by themselves! Hope you all enjoy!

Happy Fall,
LaRae

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our growing family to your lovely family! We hope you each had a fun and safe holiday filled with lots of yummy goodies! Now, on to the best holidays ever...Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! WOOHOO!!

It's Fall Y'all!

I absolutely LOVE the season of fall :) There is something about the weather, college football, pumpkins, apples and cinnamon that makes me so happy! This fall is particularly exciting because it marked a few days closer to us getting to meet little Miss Harper Gray Davenport :)

Life has been so busy, I haven't even really had time to take pictures or upload any of the very few I have been able to take! But, I do have one special picture I want to share! We had an appointment today and the doctor's office let us get a 3rd trimester ultrasound and we FINALLY got a good picture of her cute little face. Cody is determined that she has my little upturned nose (poor girl!!) But, I'm hoping she gets his fabulously gorgeous and pouty lips! So, without further ado, here's our little gal....

Wait on the Lord...it's worth it!

As many know, Cody and I's relationship would have been considered 'tumultuous'. It may have been compared to a roller coaster or something similar, a time or two. All this craziness, made me depend on Jesus, like WHOA, for my trust and day-to-day sanity!

One of the verses that meant so much to me, during this time, was Psalm 130:5.

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in HIS word I put my trust!"

Talk about scripture being honey to a dry and weary soul, this one did the trick every single time! Granted, I strayed from this verse and tried to take things into my own timing (I can hear faint "AMENS" from our group of friends, scattered all across the world!) But, ultimately, my heavenly Father always reminded me that His timing is perfect and best for my life.

This year, I didn't write an anniversary post. I'm not sure why and it absolutely wasn't due to lack of gratitude or love for my hubby. I think so much was going on with being pregnant and our trip to California that it just kind of got put to the side. Well, I think now is the time! I'm sure Cody is going to be embarassed by some of the details I'm going to unveil but, I just hope he sees it at 'me, being me' and striving to be authentic and real with everyone.

I just wrote on Twitter about how grateful I am for a husband who isn't perfect, but who was perfectly made for me. Our anniversary, this year, was the best example of that! This year we had just returned from a fabulous trip to California and our anniversary was the following week. I had big plans of going to a nice, fancy restaurant and eating like VACATION KINGS, one last time, before returning to our ordinary life and recipes. I made the reservation and told Cody to be ready at such and such time! For whatever reason, I felt like I really wanted to plan our anniversary night, since he is always in charge of date nights and romantic stuff! So, I picked a STEAK HOUSE (yes, men, I am a good wife) haha, just wait, it gets better!

Well, 5:00pm was just about to roll around and for whatever reason I checked our online banking account to see where we were financially....boy am I glad I did that! Our account was hit by some unforeseen charges and our account was low, like "you're kidding yourself if you're going to a nice restaurant and not washing dishes afterward" kind of low! So, I had to go home and break the news to Cody. I was so sad and mad all at once! I mainly do the finances, so I felt completely responsible for ruining our anniversary dinner!!

I walked inside the house and told him I had bad news, we aren't able to go to a nice fancy dinner tonight. I explained the situation and without skipping a beat, he said it was ok and we just got back from a fantastic vacation, so don't worry about it. (that's not verbatim, but it was something like that). After talking some more, we headed to the pantry and fridge to figure out how to make a delicious dinner from a post-vacation fridge and pantry! I must say, I'm quite impressed with our skills....actually, Cody's skills. He seriously made us the most delicious and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever had in my entire life! Seriously, I wish I could remember the non-sense that was put in that thing, because at 23 weeks pregnant, I want to replicate it!

But, seriously, that night was perfect. We stayed in, ate stuff from home and just hung out! I honestly can't remember all the details of that night, but I specifically remember us talking about how, of course, we were 'bummed we couldn't go to a nice, fancy dinner; but tonight was so fun and perfect.' We laughed, were goofy, and just enjoyed being together...I'm sure at some point during the evening we gazed romantically into each other's eyes and cartoon hearts formed above our heads :).

You know, sometimes in life things don't turn out the way you anticipate...HECK, when do things EVER turn out the way we anticipate?? But, most of the time, if we wait on the Lord, they turn out pretty incredible....not necessarily in the way we think, but in a way that is so much better. Even now, a few months later, we haven't gone to the fancy steak house, but I don't think a great steak could replace the perfect evening we had...ok, maybe Cody would disagree with that!

To my honey:
You are incredible. Each and every day I'm grateful for the path God has given us and the sweet story He allowed us to have of His grace and faithfulness. I pray that each day I can be a joy and honor to you, as you are to me. Thank you for loving me and all my flaws :)

Blessed to be your wife,
LaRae Davenport