Baby 3 Gender Reveal!

For no reason that we can articulate now, my husband and I were just plain SURE that this baby was going to be a boy.  We had no evidence, no proof, just a belief and a hope....

I did this same thing when I was pregnant with Grace, I was just sure, from the day I found out I was pregnant that this was going to be my girl.  So much so, that I was already adding girly things to my registry well before we ever found out for sure.  

Luckily, that time I was right, I mean, I had a 50/50 chance...

Anywho, the day we went to the doctor to find out baby gender we were ready to just finally be told we were having a boy so that I could start getting things together and making quilts like I did with my other two and so on and so forth.

I made these yummy cake balls with a secret colored center to reveal to the kids what the baby was going to be

literally I could eat white chocolate on just about anything...

So, this is how we told the kids....  

When the ultrasound technician spilled the beans that baby #3 was in fact a girl we were so confused.  We made her check another time and still another after that....

But alas, Baby Girl it is.  We weren't disappointed, we had already decided that we would be overjoyed no matter what we were having, but to say that we were shocked was an understatement.

We had to take a couple of days actually to recalibrate.  We had friends and family practically knocking down our door trying to find out what they told us at the doctor, but we couldn't utter it, strictly because we were still in disbelief of it.

After we got it together and got used to the idea and then excited about the idea we decided we would reveal it to our kids, and thusly everyone else through facebook.

We are Very pleased to be bringing another beautiful little girl in the world to love and pamper!

Have you been shocked by your baby's gender before too like we were?  I would LOVE to hear about it in the comments!

Homemade Restaurant Style Fried Calamari

I'm gonna teach you to get Restaurant quality Calamari in the comfort of your home!

Even from the time I was a kid I have always LOVED calamari.  It was my favorite thing to get when we would eat out at Italian places.  If it's done right, it is just oh, so good!

Hover over this image to pin it!

Last year I saw that in the freezer section at my grocery store they have frozen raw calamari, I was shocked!  You see, since we live in such a rural area, they don't carry some of the fancier or odder things because there just isn't a market for it.  Anyway, I decided to be bold and buy it and I took it home and cooked it up and holy smokes, it was so easy and sooooo good.  We went through it so fast it was ridiculous! Ever since then I have been wanting to make it again and do a post about it.

Well, I forgot about it.....

 I try to always add something new when we have leftovers, to make if feel a little less redundant.  So, Monday evening I was looking through the fridge and freezer trying to come up with something for to go with leftover spaghetti when I happened upon a package of frozen raw calamari and thought, YUP!  What a perfect combination!

Perfect Avocado Ranch Dip

I am a complete and total sucker for all things Avocado

I love the color the smell the texture the flavor

the whole bit

This dip envelopes all of those things and adds it with the cool refreshing flavor of ranch

This dip is awesome with chips or veggies 

we also use it for quesadillas, sandwiches and burgers.

Due to the versatility and deliciousity (is that a word?) this is the Perfect Avocado Ranch Dip

It tastes Fancy but is so easy to make!

Florentine Stuffed Chicken Breasts

When I was a teenager I worked at this restaurant and they served this dish called

"Chicken Florentine"

I had never had it before so I tried it and let me just say it was just 

INSANELY delicious

I don't know about you other cooks and wives out there, but I get in food ruts

We get into a groove where we eat the same things every week

And so my husband started asking if I would make something different

I have no problem trying new things, 

in fact, I quite enjoy it, but it's always a little daunting.

Triple Heart Tuesdays #2

So,  last week really wasn't too bad for a first ever Link party!  

I'm keeping a positive outlook that it will continue to grow each week!

Thanks to each and every one of you!

As for this week's features I have chosen my three favorites

{Which was pretty hard even with just the handful of entries as we had!}

Y'all please go ahead and take a Featured button!
You earned it with your awesomeness!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://thesepiapuppy.blogspot.com" title="The Sepia Puppy" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w439/Bethany_Kline/featuredbutton_zps06f30543.jpg" alt="The Sepia Puppy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

*******

First choice, was this amazing yet simple creation for a relaxing bath

the DIY Spa Like Bath Shelf

From the incredibly talented Kenz @ Interiors by Kenz

Next was this mouth watering creation

The Chocolate Covered Rolo & Ritz Cracker Sandwiches

{Hubba Hubba! these look sinful!}

Compliments of Kaylee @ Couponing and Cooking

Last, but certainly not least is this very cool and adorably named

Crazy Cat Lady Scarf

Crocheted by the Clever miss Lisa @ Hook, Yarn and Stinkers

I was so excited to have all of the visitors we did last week and I'm ever-so-thankful 

for each and every link up!

Spread the love and visit the features if you have time, they all have awesome blogs!

*******

All right my Darlings, let's really BRING IT this week!!

Tell your friends about The Sepia Puppy

and bring them over to link up!

Fearsome Dragon Cakes

Ya'll may remember me saying in my Tristan's jar cupcakes post that we were planning a party for the kids' birthdays on Saturday the 17th. 

We decided a while back we were gonna make this a dragon themed party because that's something they are both really into.  

I searched the world of pinterest and found a really awesome tutorial to make a dragon cake!

I altered it just a tad to make it fit my cake plate and I think they turned out fantastic!

so, here we go.... a SERIOUS undertaking...

Tristan's Birthday Jar Cakes

Yesterday was my Son's 8th Birthday

And since we are having a big Party this weekend 

We didn't do the whole shebang 

But my husband suggested we at least do cupcakes or something like that and so i decided to make the rainbow jar cakes you see all over pinterest.

I want ed it to be a "dry run" in terms of coloring the batter because I wanted to do rainbow cakes for the party Saturday...

Colored batter.  

I freaking love gel food coloring btw 

Oktober Brat Rolls

If there was ever something my mother taught me 

it was how to make due with the stuff you had.

She was especially an expert at this when it came to food.  

Growing up in a 10 person family made dinner time.... interesting...

There were plenty of times where my mom would just look in the fridge and the pantry with no plan whatsoever and throw together the most amazing meal.  

those always ended up being the best dinners.

So yesterday afternoon I was all too fed up studying and got busy on planning dinner.

And here is what I threw together:

My Week Off from School

You may or may not already know that I'm going back to school. 

I go to Liberty University Online and I love it!

However, (isn't there always a "however??) I love my off time as much as any other stable-minded person.

Mummy Bait

Around Easter I found a really awesome recipe for a chex mix the likes of which I had never seen

It was called "Bunny Bait" {from Life in the Green House}

and it was a huge hit at our house!

So I decided to make a Halloween Version and have Dubbed it

MUMMY BAIT! 

This stuff is crazy good!

"Pumpkin Better Than... Cake" success

Let me start by saying, 

I love finding an awesome recipe on Pinterest 

And then discovering that I already have ALL the ingredients!

That was this case with

Something Swanky's "Pumpkin Better Than Cake"

This looked so gooey and yummy I just had to make it

I had no excuse not to!

I had everything!

Well Almost Everything...

Fried Ravioli

I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it was worth a try. 

I rarely fry anything, but i thought this would be a great idea for leftover ravioli

(when there actually are any)

and so i pinned it to my noms pinboard use later.

Via What's Cookin, Chicago?

Waheezy fo Sheezy - A Tradition

For those of you who don't know, Waffle House is a southern staple. 

period.

They started in Avondale, GA 

(which is only about 2 hours away from where I live)

It's probably one of my top 3 favorite restaurants of all time.