Somewhere over the rainbow is a magical land of cakes!

On Saturday, I entered that magical land fires a blazin!  If you have known me for any period of time you would know that there is seriously only one dessert that I dream about at night love to eat, cake.  Specifically, yellow cake with vanilla butter-cream frosting.  Can I get an AMEN?!

Amen!Publish Post

So when we were invited to Margaritas and Fajitas this past weekend, I knew that God spoke to me and said, "Chelle, you must make this cake."  I am not one to disobey, so to work I went.  God was definitely looking out for me and my waistline because when he dictated that I take the cake the M&F night, he knew that I would have to share, and therefore be unable to hoard the entire cake for myself.  Me and my trusty mixer got to work!

The finished product

Oh wait, it gets better.  I couldn't just show up with a boring yellow cake. I needed an explosion once people cut into it, but it would not be practical to place an actual bomb inside of the cake, you know for people's safety and all, blah blah blah...

Drum Roll Please.

TIGATIGATIGATIGATIGATIGA

(yes, that is what a drum roll sounds like. don't argue)

So I decided on a a COLOR explosion.  Boom! Hello, sweet sweet rainbow cake! 

I should go on an on about how hard it was and how much time I spent slaving in the kitchen to get just the right concoction of cake and color.  But that would be a lie.  And since this cake was ordained by God himself, I can't lie about it.

It was easy, with a capital E.  I used a standard box mix and 2 cans (eek, that sounds really unhealthy) of frosting.  Just measured out into 6 separate bowls about 1 cup of batter and *colored it.  Then I made sure I greased and floured my pans really really good.  That step was important since it was such a thin layer of cake.  Instead of following the directions on the box for baking, I baked at 325 for 11 min.  Each layer came out perfect and moist.  Assemble each layer with frosting, bada bing bada boom, a cake!

* I wanted to make a note on food coloring.  If you are interested in coloring your food, but not the runny consistency that liquid color gives, you should really invest in some Wilton Gel Colors.  The BEST, hands down.

Fajitas and Margaritas

So it was less margarita for me and more fajita, but a girl can dream right?  I haven't really been craving any off limit alcoholic beverages lately, but there is something about everyone else enjoy nice salty rimmed glasses full of tangy frozen margarita that will make a pregnant girl's mouth drool.

Saturday we were invited over to Jason and Michala Siler's house (parents to the cutest little girl) for a fun game night, delicious food, and cold drinks.  We had such a good time!

Joel and Baby Kennedy also proved to us that having a baby isn't the end of a social life, esp if you end up with a little social butterfly like Kennedy.  She held her own throughout the night including Four On The Couch and Taboo.  Buzzz.....

Jeanie and Rick Landgraf

The Margarita Feast

Again, I repeat, I did not consume any alcohol, but....I might have sniffed the strawberry margarita mix. 

There might have been a pinata, maybe.  Happy Birthday Grace!

Things we learned:

-The fire will not keep us from partying 

-Fast paced pictionary doodling almost always looks like something inappropriate

-Taboo is not easy when played with margaritas

-Pinatas may cause whiplash

-Having great friends is such a blessing

Arizona Monument Fire

It has been a crazy, CRAZY, week here in Sierra Vista.  Never before in my life have I seen the terror that is a wildfire.  Bonfires?  That I am used to, but wildfires are ridiculous. A week ago today, we played at a golf course near the Mexican border, and as we were on our way home, we saw a fire in the mountains.  We mentioned to each other and talked about it a little as the law enforcement race to shut down a couple of roads.  I never thought that a week out I would still be talking about it, and watching it from my back yard.

(This was taken last Sunday about the time the fire started)

Matt and I are in no immediate danger, but every day the fire has progressed more and more over the mountains, and while our home isn't in a threat zone at the moment, other peoples homes and businesses are.  It is really sad.  Over the last couple of days our friends have been given evacuation orders, allowed to return to their homes, only to be given evac orders again.  

The weather here is beyond dry, Matt and I have been here since late March and we have not seen a single drop of water from the sky since, I have no idea how long it has actually been.  The sad part is, the "rainy season" isn't supposed to be here for another month.    The fire is just eating across the mountain side like something I have never seen.  Aside from almost no humidity in the air, the wind is that of a tropical depression.  Today we have sustained winds of 30-40 mph with gusts up to 50-60 mpg, and if you payed attention in school you know how much that just fuels the already monstrous flames.  Here is a piece of info they gave out at a town hall meeting:  The typical piece of lumber you buy at Lowe's has anywhere from 12-15% humidity, the trees here have 0% humidity.  That really struck me.

(At night)

The firefighters and other first responders have been doing such a great job trying to get everything under control and allow families to return safely to their homes, but unfortunately today, because of the high wind and high smoke, there is no visibility for the fire fighting planes to do their job, they are grounded.

Matt and I went out for lunch and as we were driving away from the restaurant we just sat in awe in the parking lot, looking at the mountain side, it was visible to the eye, seeing it just slowly eat away at whatever it pleased.  You could see the flames from a few miles away, in broad daylight.  It was really eye opening, heart wrenching, and interesting all at the same time.  

I wrote this not to freak out our friends and families, but just to try and put a little perspective to what it has been like around here.  It definitely opened a dialogue between Matt and I, as well as our friends about how we would respond to a fire.  We are prepared.  Praying for no wind, lots of rain, and for everyone whose lives are being affected forever!

How is this for weird

One of the things I look forward to every week is seeing what fruit/vegetable baby Neil is compared too!

So many websites have cool apps that week by week give you a relatable comparison to understanding how big your baby is.   

Hearing the Dr. say, "your baby weighs about 7 ounces", just doesn't mean much to me, I am not a weights and measurements type of person.  I can not relate to those kinds of numbers.  So every appointment I just stare into the eyes of my Dr. with a blank smile and pretend I know exactly what 5. 46575 ounces looks like.  

If he would say, "your baby looks like a sweet potato", I would be much more inclined to share a knowing smile with him, because food...well...THAT I can relate to!

Introducing Our Baby

We are having a boy! 

We are both very excited and we asked our ultrasound tech to snap this photo of us right after we found out.

I was lying there on the table as our ultrasound came to an end and the tech said, "Want to know what you are having?"

Umm...yeah!

I watched Matt as she revealed the sex, he was sitting in the chair next to me, and he hopped out of that seat, both hands in the air, like he had rocket boosters attached to his butt.  I think he had to try really hard to keep from giving out a loud yell, one of which would have certainly scared every patient in the office.  I have had a sneaking suspicion that it was a little boy.  We are both thrilled!

We we are introducing Robert Neil Langford to the blogosphere:

We had such a long ultrasound.  He was being extra bouncy, so it took the tech a long time to see all the benchmarks she was looking for.  She described him as being in a one of those bouncy chairs attached to a door frame, he is standing straight up, putting lots of fun pressure on my bladder.  I found out the good news that I no longer have to show up with a full bladder, hallelujah!  His little heart was pumping and beating like crazy, and is about the size of a quarter (how cool is that).  After a tough couple of weeks from our last ultrasound, we were relieved and incredibly thankful to still have a healthy growing baby.

Here is a progression of my expanding waistline: 

Can't wait to share the next update with y'all!

Saguaro National Park

 Have you ever seen a cactus forest? 

I hadn't either until recently.  I didn't even know they existed.  Apparently, Arizona is home to the largest forest of Saguaro Cactus in the nation.  While my grandparents and Mim were here we decided to take the scenic loop through the forest and check it out!

Matt and I kept saying how bad it would be if we were stuck (no pun intended) out there, because believe me...it looked prickly.

I have always had a picture of what a cactus looked like in my mind, but I had no idea they were this big 

We looked like little dwarfs next to this ginormo.

Here is a better view of the fast mountain side of Cacti. 

A fun cactus facts: 

A full grown cactus, approx 50-60 years old, weighs 8 tons...8 TONS!

And finally the gang:

Mim, Me, Duece, Grandma, and Grandaddy

The Great Grandog

The past weekend I had to pleasure to spend some time with my great grandmother who I lovingly call Mim.  The best part was how much she loved Duece.  He was so snuggly with her...the perfect great grandog! 

Now I just need to get off my bootay and upload the rest of my pictures from the weekend!

Wednesday Night Fight

Tonight's fight featured:

Popeye's  Friend Shrimp Po-boy and Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

versus

Chelle Langford

And the winner is....

Apparently tonight I had my first pregnancy related food aversion.