Gooey Sticky buns recipe....yum!! :)

Upon request...here is the recipe!!

                                Andy's Sticky Buns recipe:

Ingredients:

Dough--

3 3/4 C. Flour

1/3 C. Sugar

1 Tsp. Salt

2 packages of active-dry yeast

1 C. heated milk

1 egg

1/3 C. butter, softened

Caramel--

3/4 C. dark brown sugar

1/2 C. unsalted butter

1/4 C. light corn syrup

3/4 C. pecan halves

2 tbsp butter, softened

Filling--

1/3 C pecans, chopped

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

How to:

Mix 2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl. Add heated milk, egg and 1/3 c. of butter, beat at low for a minute or so. Add flour if necessary*. 

Put on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. 

Grease a bowl and put the douugh in it. Cover it with a towel and let rise for 1 1/2 hrs. 

Caramel--

Stir constantly 3/4 C. of brown sugar and 1/2 c. of butter to boiling. remove from heatand add the corn syrup. Pour into a 9x13 and sprinkle with pecan halves. 

Filling--

Mix pecans, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp broan sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. 

Flatten dough into rectangle about 15x10 inches. Spread with 2 tbsp of butter, then dust with pecan filling mixture. 

Beginning at the 10 inch, roll up tightly and pinch edge closed. Roll and stretch, mold until cylindrical. 

Cut into 8. Place in pan, not touching. 

Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 12 hours**. 

Bake at 350 degrees fro 35 minutes. 

Take them out and flip them upside down onto a cutting board or baking sheet, so the caramel drizzles over.

Notes:

-I had to proof my yeast first, and did it with water, instead of milk, so when I added it, I used 1/2 of the milk and then the water/yeast mixture. It turned out just fine this way, so if your a non-dairy person, you could probably use all water and no milk at all.

-*When it says "add flour if necessary", I added 1/2 cup at a time while mixing intermittently, I ended up adding quite a bit to get the right consistency. 

-I used light brown sugar and dark brown corn syrup, so don't worry if you don't have the exact kind.

-I cut my rolls the opposite way, so they weren't as wide, but I ended up getting 15 smaller ones, instead of 8 big ones. 

-**I didn't want to refrigerate overnight, so I let them rise right away. I warmed the oven, then turned it off, and let them rise in the warm oven. I'm pretty sure it was less than a 1/2 hr and they were huge.

-I think because of how huge and close together they got (I would probably use 2 9x13's if cutting it the way I did) they were a little dry. So I made the caramel mixture again, and poured them over top and then put them in the after-warmth of the oven...that way they were really gooey, and drizzled over the sides...yum!!

Thanks Andy for the awesome recipe!! :)

Baby nursery...in progress (with pictures)

I still have quite a few things to do...like ya, know...clean, vacuum...actually make the room look nice? ha ha...
I just thought I'd post a few pictures of what I'm working on. 
I want to print this off and display it:

I also rreally love this one...just not sure if the shades of yellow will match enough, but we'll see:

If that one doesn\t work...I may make something like this instead...on canvas with paint and vinyl:

I'd like to make something like this cloud mobile...just not sure if it would go or not:

Here are some pictures of what it currently looks like (excuse the mess...and its not really set up, just placed kind of wherever, ha ha)....this is the elephant and lamp that will probably end up staying on the dresser...and the grey blanky in the backgound (although it's a little darker than I had hoped...so I'm still looking for another throw and a pillow for the glider):

You can see the dresser really well in this one, we re-did one we bought off of kijiji, and iI just love how it turned out:) The grey carpet is super shaggy and comfy from Costco:

This shows off the wall color well, its called "bunny gray", but looks kinda blue-ish too...with a chair rail halfway and then white on the bottom. We wanted it to look like board and batten kind of. The curtain is white and gray from ikea:

This is an ikea crib...it's the exact one I wanted...off of kijij:) There are 2 little shelves, one on either side...and the crib bedding will be navy. Navy, gray and white are the main colors...with little pops of yellow hopefully:

Here's another shot of the crib, I love how small and simplistic it is. The shelves will all have baskets hopefully, if I can find enough small ones:

A better shot of the curtain...it has some small flowery pattern on the bottom, but it's not too noticeable, so I hope its not that girly:

And the crib again:

The closet was too messy to take a picture of yet, but it has another dresser, just small and white, for bigger clothes in it. 

Hopefully I get the chance to clean it up and hang a few pictures before the baby comes:)

33 weeks:)

This past week has been quite a bit better. I decided to try and get out of the house a bit more...which worked really well for the first 3 days of the week. 

On Thursday I thought I'd take the boys swimming, and I tried really hard not to do much moving around or lifting or anything while we were there...but I think it was a but much. I spent the next 1 1/2 in bed...and then most of the weekend on and off in bed...so maybe no more swimming with the boys for a while, ha ha. 

One unfortuante thing is that my cramps/contractions/whatever-it-is-that's-happening-with-my-body (I felt like I shouldv'e hashtagged that...ha ha... #toomuchinstagrammingforthismamma) aren't getting any more regular, which is a great thing, but they are getting much stronger when they do happen--not such a good thing. 

I keep imaginging how tired I'm going to be when I actually start "real" labor, after feeling like I've been in labor for weeks and weeks, ssuuuppper awesome I bet. 

I meet with my OB again this week, so hopefully we'll have a chance to chat more about the c-section vs. VBAC thing. It's a little more risky than I had hoped to do a VBAC this time--so I haven't really decided what to do yet...plus, I've been a little distracted with the whole bed-rest and contraction-thingy that we've been up to lately. 

One super awesome thing is that I got a whole stash of baby boy clothes, all really cute and tiny--way more than I ever had with the other boys. I got a great deal off of a swap-and-buy online, and they make me SO excited to meet this baby (and dress him up?!). 


Some of the loot:

And more:

We are NO farther on the naming-baby thing...although we do have a pretty great list going--we aren't much further in narrwoing down this little beans name. We'll probably wait to think more about it until he's born. 

Well, I've almost made it to the 34 week mark, which is awesome!! 34 weeks is the relative "safe zone" as far as baby-having goes. There are signifigantly less problems after 34 weeks, as the baby has done most of it's growing as far as neuro and lung development go. So that's great news:) 
(I was seriously doubtful about making it to even 34 weeks just 3 weeks ago)

Who knows when this baby will greet us, it could be any day...or not for several weeks (boy do I love not knowing...not!)...but when he does, he will have an awesome nursery and super cute clothes awaiting him:) Who could ask for more? ha ha:)

I'm having troubles uploading this weeks photo...but here's one I just got back...it was taken the first week of February:)

32 weeks...

Well, I am nearing the end of my 32nd week, which is great news:) 

At 34 weeks the babies lungs are pretty much fully developed, and if he's born then he'll be healthy and won't have to spend too long in the NICU. So, the closer I get to 34 weeks, the happier I am. 

Last Saturday (about 9 days ago) I started on "bed rest"...I still get up and walk around a bit. Some days are better than others. A few of the days last week I spent most of the day on bed rest in the hospital...but for the most part I just hung out in my bed. 

Oh, and my friends rock. They would come hang out in my bed with me, drive my kids places and bring me yummy treats and books to help me pass the time. They are pretty much the bomb. 

The bad news this week was that I don't have a UTI, which can cause pre-term labor symptoms. I was hoping I did, so they could give me some pills and I could get back to normal for the next 8 weeks...but nope, still no reason for what's going on with me.

My last NST (non-stress test, to check the babies vitals and my contractions) was yesterday, and it was the best one I've had. The nurse told me to still get as much rest as possible, but that she knew I'd have to be getting up and doing stuff with my other children, and seemed okay with that. So, I've decided this week to get up and get around a bit more than last. If I'm feeling up to it, I'll walk to the mail box and back, or even just sit in the car while the hubby runs errands with the kids. 

I'm not sure if I'm really doing any better this week physically, I have good days and bad days...but I am doing much better emotionally and spiritually. I'm a lot less bummed about my situation, and so grateful that my baby is still inside me and doing well:) 

I think that all this sunny weather is helping my mood. Even just sitting out on the front steps yesterday was SO nice. I hope it continues to warm up...the sun does wonderful things for the soul:)

Here's some 32 week pics...it's pretty much the only time I've been out of my pj's all week...so we had to take some photos:)