I think I set my own personal spending record on Friday.  We went to Lebanon and had some major car preventative maintenence done(timing belt, other belts, water pump, spark plugs, and oil change!)... a visit to the dentist for everyone (except Joseph, but he still got to choose a toothbrush)... replaced (and upgraded) our old hand mixer (which died, smoking, a couple weeks ago)... bought a bread machine (with my saved babysitting money)... and restocked our shelves from the Co-op.  :)  Sadly, we didn't get to LISTEN.  Lil'Nathan and Mary were both sorely disappointed on that score b/c he needs new snow boots and she needs new snowpants.  I was bummed out b/c it was their annual hobby sale and who can't use more yarn and crafty stuff?

But, fear not, we will return next week.  Mary needs to re-visit the dentist.  (Okay, that's sad.)  So, Daddy will go with her, and the boys and I will go to LISTEN.  (That's good.)

So, yes, a new bread machine.  It's a Zojirushi Home Bakery, and we got it at King Arthur Flour.  It had great reviews everywhere I looked and was highly rated for whole grain breads.  I wanted something to insure we could always have fresh bread, even when I didn't have the time or energy to knead it. So, I researched, saved, and then just decided to go for it.  So far, so good.  (I know, two whole days.  But no buyer's remorse!)  I ignored all the recipes it came with and dumped my own in yesterday afternoon.  It turned out great and this morning the kids were thrilled to have tasty toast.  (My kids get very excited about toast.)  This afternoon, we used it just to make the dough and then made breadsticks to go with our lasagna.  Very happy with the dough it made--well mixed, beautifully kneaded.

And just in time, too, I guess.  Much to Joseph's dismay, our little visitor, Tripp, will be moving to Utah in Feb and we won't get to babysit anymore.  I told him--Joseph--not to worry.  We will soon have our own baby for him to hold.  He wants a boy and he wants him to sleep in his room.  Hmmm.... we need to work on that. 

No, we don't know if the baby is going to disappoint him in the gender department, but it won't be sleeping in his room any time soon.  (He said he'd bring the baby to me when it gets hungry.)  Joseph wants a boy so it can sleep in his room.  Lil'Nathan wants a girl so it won't sleep in his room.  Mary wants a girl if it will like pink and girly things, but not if it will be a tomboy.  In that case, she said, she'd prefer a boy who doesn't hate pink.

The ultrasound last week, by the way, went well.  The doctor wants to see me one more time, at 33 weeks, to make sure the renal pyelectasis remains proportionally the same, like it has over the last 8 weeks.  He just wants to be sure it doesn't get worse, but I don't think he expects it to go away.  He said the bladder and amniotic fluid look normal, so he doesn't think it's causing any obstruction.  He estimated the baby at just over 2 1/2 pounds.  And though it's still too early to worry, this kid is breech.  Or transverse.  But it hasn't gone head down yet.  I'll worry about that later.

Nathan got a fabulous deal on mangoes at the produce market last week--9 for $4.  They were chopped up yesterday and some were devoured instantly, some saved for later (though they are all gone now), and some turned into yummy ice cream.  (The recipe called for whipping the cream before adding it to the mango puree.  Anyone ever try that before?  It worked out great!--and gave us a chance to try out our new hand mixer, much to the kids' delight.)

Hmm... spell-check has vanished as a pre-posting option. I wonder what I'll discover next...