Carnitas Carnitas!

Chipotle. The only reason I go is for a giant burrito bowl filled with delicious shredded pork (ie: "carnitas") and all of the best fixings. It seems only fit to attempt the same thing at home. I have made homemade carnitas about half a dozen times now, each time tweaking the recipe just a bit. This time, I threw in basically any and everything I could find in my cupboard. The results- delicious!! Dare I say almost as good as Chipotle.

The Goods-

2 Tbs olive oil

1 can of chicken broth

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 small diced onion

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1 Tbs molasses

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp red pepper (more or less depending on your heat preference)

2-4 lbs pork shoulder or pork butt ( I have used both with equally successful results)

Toss everything in a crock-pot. Place crock-pot on low and simmer for 6-8 hours. Remove bay leaves. Shred the meat- it should pretty much pull apart for you. Drain most of the excess juices and return meat to pot.

Serve with your favorite Mexican fixings.

Drool. Enjoy.

On this particular night, we enjoyed the tasty carnitas with the Ondrey crew in honor of Hauna's last week in Chicago before leaving for Scotland. Starting this fall, she will be studying at the prestigious Saint Andrews- such an exciting adventure. Good luck Hauna! We will miss you!!

Just Call Me Marshall Phelps

Hey Ya'll,

Marshall here. I have a confession to make. I have been struggling with aquaphobia. The rents have been trying to get me into the water for months now with absolutely no success. After several counseling sessions with my best friend Helo, I decided to face my fears and give the water world a whirl. I couldn't handle being the world's only lab who couldn't swim. A few weekends ago, under the guidance and supervision of my coach Helo, I finally made it into the lake past my paws. Now that I've taken the plunge there's no stoppin' me....

Check out my confidence.

A huge thanks to my BFF Helo for showing me how it's done.

He even gave me a quick swimming lesson out in the deep end. I am working on mastering the doggie paddle and will soon learn how to carry a ball back to shore without drowning. A guy has gotta start somewhere right?

Here I am with all of my favorite beach bums.

And the best part of a day at the beach? Endless rolling around in the sand with my crew.

Here's a quick shot I took of my favorite humans. These two are always up for an early morning at the beach. Thanks guys.

Once home, I take a quick shower,

give everyone my sexiest beach babe pose,

and curl up for a day of worn out relaxation.

Nothin' better my friends. Nothin' better.

I am currently laying low on the couch after a much necessary operation yesterday. I just couldn't keep up with the child support bills anymore and went with the "responsible decision". I am hoping to be back on my four paws and up to my usual tricks in no time.

Speaking of usual tricks, check out this video. Sorry cuz, It's just too funny not to post. You know I still love you!

Until next time,

Woof!

Marshall O. Phelps

I Couldn't Help Myself

You knew I would do it... I just couldn't help myself. I had to make something special to celebrate this sweet little boy kicking around inside of me. Although we didn't run around from house to house re-announcing the sex of our soon to be firstborn, we did have a mini blue themed breakfast celebration at home!

Here's take 2 on the gender revealing sweets...

Being that it was 9am and I am trying oh so hard to contain my sweet tooth before the insulin delivery shows up in a few weeks, we opted for muffins instead of cupcakes.

Sticking with a blue BOYish theme, I figured blueberry lemon poppy seed muffins with a blue lemon glaze would do the trick.

In to the oven they go.

And out they come- looking browned to perfection.

Pushing the red food coloring to the side, I reached for the blue instead, a color I had just pushed aside a few weeks ago. Oh the irony.

The warm muffins were drizzled in blue lemony goodness.

And displayed for all to see and enjoy.

And by all- I mean the proud Mama and Papa.

(Please excuse the "we just woke up" faces. After all- we had just woken up.)

Hooray for BOYS! I absolutely promise you this will be the last gender related baked good I make during this pregnancy. The little man was pretty adamant about showing us the goods this time around and I am now 100% convinced that this baby is all BOY! That being said, I'm off to go return a tutu.. or two.

Baby Copperfield

Hello Everyone!

Jakob here. I haven't written much here on this ole blog. In fact, my contributions have been mostly limited to the comment section. But today, on the occasion of our 20 week ultrasound, I am taking the leap to the main page.

While I have seen the little kiddo a few times at our other appointments, I was informed that the 20 week ultrasound would be the coolest, highest resolution, and most revealing ultrasound to date. I HAD to be there. What father wouldn't want to see his child at every opportunity??

So, without further ado, I give you the much anticipated ultrasound pictures of my first child...

Here is her sweet little profile. She has her mother's nose!

... and here are her perfect little hands complete with 5 fingers each....

and her two adorable feet...

and here's a good shot of her penis...

Wait.. what?? PENIS?! That can't be... oh but it sure is!!

That's right people, baby girl Ondrey would now like to be referred to as baby BOY Ondrey!! He thinks he is pretty funny tricking us over the past few weeks. Check him out- laughing at us!

Look's like this trickster takes after his father (we could be in some serious trouble!!)

It would seem that I was a little hasty in wanting to tell EVERYONE that we were having a girl and Jessica was wise to have added a few blue sprinkles to our cupcakes. I guess "Mother's intuition" was right this time and ALL of the old wives tales 100% incorrect!

While still sobering up from the shock we are super excited and can not wait to meet our SON!

Jakob

Mango Salsa

Mango salsa deliciousness. The perfect combination of spicy and sweet. I can't believe we made it to August without making this summer favorite. A mistake I assure you will never happen again!

The team-

2 medium sized diced mangos

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbs fresh lime juice

1 finely chopped jalapeno

1 Tbs honey

Chop and mix all of your fresh ingredients.Drizzle with honey and stir.

Serve with your favorite chips,

enjoy with your favorite peeps!

1+1=3

One undecorated GUESTROOM

+

One simple OFFICE

(and a kitten that lives up to her name with some serious diva 'tude )

=

A fresh new OFFICE/GUESTROOM

(and a sweet pup who's showing off how homey the room really feels)

and a blank canvas of a NURSERY!

I can't wait to paint the walls and fill this empty space with some colorful furniture and playful decor. Don't worry- the too short curtains will be the first thing to go.

Time to get this baby party started!

Baby O Update #2

Here's your monthly baby Ondrey update. (I know you aren't really asking for the update but I think it will be fun to look back on these little posts someday.. so enjoy!)

How far along am I? I am currently 19 weeks.

What are we having? As you may have heard it's a GIRL!!! Of course with a girl our Doc made sure to tell us that there is always a slight chance that we may have missed a little something during the ultrasound even though we searched and searched for that little something and couldn't find a thing. Everyone felt pretty confident in saying it's a little lady! We will get to double check next week at our more detailed 20 week ultrasound.. can't wait!!

How did we tell our friends and family about the gender? See this post.

Do we have a name picked out? We are almost 100% certain of our decision.

Are we going to tell everyone the name? Maybe will share a little later on if you are good :)

How am I feeling? Big! I know, I know.. I don't even know big yet and still have 20 weeks to go. Everything just happened so fast! If I had to say when I "popped" I would say right around 17 weeks. The baby really decided to make herself known while we were on vacation in Lake Geneva a few weeks ago.

Can I feel the baby moving yet? I'm pretty sure I felt a little somethin' somethin' last week right at 17weeks 6days. I have on and off felt it sporadically throughout the day- more frequently when I'm laying down before bed. I'm still anxiously awaiting that first obvious swift kick. Jakob is also patiently awaiting the day he can feel the little kiddo kicking around.

Cravings? Still sticking with sweets these days. Ice cream for breakfast? Uh huh! Eating the remainder of the gender reveal cupcakes all week long? Yes please!

How have we been planning for the baby? We decided to wait until we found out the gender to really get the planning underway. And now that I've started it's all I can think about! I ordered some bedding last week which will hopefully be our inspiration for the nursery.

Baby pics? We did not get any new photos of the lil miss at our last visit. We will be stocking up on pics at our 20 week ultrasound next week.

Belly pics? Things are starting to grow at a rapid pace. Here's a little perspective.

16 weeks 18 weeks 19 weeks

As for the jeans...

It's clearly over. Life is so much sweeter with a bella band!

The Kitchen Tile Project: Part 2

Check out our sexy new kitchen.

Isn't she so pretty?! I absolutely LOVE the new tile backsplash! It adds so much light to the kitchen and really gives it a modern feel. A HUGE improvement from the "brick walls" we used to have. And the icy clear color of the glass goes perfectly with our minty living room walls- I couldn't be happier. A GIGANTIC thanks to our brother in law TK who put in the tile for us- he did an amazing job and we are incredibly grateful!

The only thing we have left to do is find the perfect light fixture to go above the sink...

After that, it's baby room time!!