Just the two of us.

Tomorrow marks my 38th week of pregnancy. 

THIRTY-EIGHT WEEKS.

It seems like it was just yesterday that Scott&I arrived home from a beautiful trip to New York City only to find out about our little miracle forming in my womb. 

And now, after a move to Hawaii & a million new memories--

She is about to make her grand appearance any day now. 

This season for S&I has been amazing. 

I've truly had a great pregnancy and we've grown so much closer as a couple, praise God! 

But as time is dwindling down to Baby H's appearance, I can't help but feel a little saddened at the fact that it will no longer be the two of us ever again. 

I was telling him the other night that I wish I could just know the day she was coming, so I could know beforehand our last moments of just us.

Our last morning of staying in bed&cuddling until we want to get up.

Our last date.

Our last night to stay up late watching movies.

Our last lazy Saturday.

Our last drive to church. 

Our last time to make dinner together.

Our last day of just us. 

Just so I could hold on to each moment a little tighter.

And that got me thinking. 

When and what were my parents' "lasts"? 

Many of you don't know this, but another reason I have cherished this season of pregnancy is the fact that I will be becoming a Mommy at the age of twenty five.

Why is this fact cherished? 

Because my own Mother was twenty five when she became a Mommy to me.

I was her miracle forming in her womb when her and my dad were 

"just them".

And I feel like I have been given the rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of what my parents were like when it was just them.

The pure joy from when my Mom first found out she was

pregnant with me.

The butterflies she must have felt telling her husband he was going to be a Daddy.

The excitement of that first ultrasound&seeing me as their

little jellybean. 

Hearing my heartbeat for the first time.

Celebrating the news with all their family and friends.

When she first felt my flutterings

&then giggling when my Dad first felt me.

When she looked into the mirror at her changing body, proud of the miraculous process going on inside of her.

And my Dad telling her she'd never been more beautiful.

Sitting on their couch watching her stomach move as I showed them how much I loved hearing their voices. 

And those times when I had the hiccups.

My Daddy talking to me through her stomach before falling asleep.

Sitting in my nursery, dreaming about their new life. 

Wondering when I was going to make my grand appearance & getting ready in every way they could. 

And finally, cherishing their lasts as a couple before children.

I know that when Baby H arrives, life will never be like it was before our children--

when it was just the two of us.

And quite frankly, I don't even know what that looks like yet.

But I do know how much I love my parents&the childhood they gave us,

the kind that was full of laughter&adventure.

And I am over-the-moon excited to give that life to our children, 

together. 

Just the two of us. 

I made a promise to myself.

 Pregnancy.

The season that Mr. Cummings & I are in right now.

It's a beautiful season--one that is accompanied by extra hugs, kisses, and prayers. 

Extra pictures, laughter, and cuddles.

Extra money spent, hormones, and fears.

But with all of those extras, time is not one of them. 

Quite actually, time is running out. And far too quickly. 

Which is why, when I caught myself telling everyone all the time, 

"I can't wait until Baby H gets here"

God let me know that my attitude needed to change.

I can wait.

In fact, I want to wait. 

I want these last few months to be memorable. 

I want to live in the moment of feeling her inside of me & watching Scott's face light up when he feels her.

I want to live in the moment of dreaming about her.

I want to live in the moment of dating my Husband before she arrives.

I want to live in the moment of just being us, 

because there will never be a time when our family was just the two of us ever again. 

(As my mom has always said, "Once you have kids, you will always have kids.")

I want to cuddle on the couch and watch a movie without having to hear cries and jump up exhausted.

I want to go on adventures so when we are asked,

"What did you guys do before kids?" We can answer them.

 I want to live in the moment of slowly watching my belly grow, knowing God is knitting our sweet blessing together.

I want to be able to have as much 'me time' as possible.

I want to spoil Mallow with extra cuddles&walks.

I want to be able to slow down & take it all in

before she gets here and time really flies by.

I want to hold onto the anticipation of what it will be like to hold her for the first time & watch Scott melt as he does the same.

I want to experience all of our 'lasts' whole heartedly before we experience our 'firsts' as parents.

After Baby H arrives, Scott&I will never again be a family of two. 

We will be PARENTS.

{Still giddy&terrified at that thought.)

And really, we are over-the-moon excited for that day, 

but until then.. we'll just be over in Hawaii soaking up our last days as just us. 

I can wait until Baby H gets here.

Twenty FIVE weeks.

We are close to ending our 25th week

&

the bump is slooooowly growing! 

I swear I'm going to wake up one morning and it will be giant,

but for right now..this little bump feels huge to me.

This week we have been exhausted, but little miss seems to grow stronger and stronger. I love feeling her movements & I absolutely love when Scott is able to.  

This past week he got to feel more than just a kick and the look on his face was priceless! 

One extremely proud Daddy already. 

I've had more than a few people tell me that I needed to upload more pictures, so here is my journey so far. 

The first picture is at twelve weeks (Baby was the size of a clementine) when we were living in a hotel at Waikiki and I'm pretty sure I was the only one who could point out a bump. 

After that, we made it a point to take weekly pictures.

 Bleh haha not my favorite thing to do,

but we will appreciate it & hopefully she does too! 

We just get closer&closer to August!

In just a couple of weeks, I'm flying home to Utah to celebrate my baby sister who is graduating high school (trying to hold back the tears that she's officially an adult and starting college. Plus, realizing I've been graduated for SEVEN years!) and rejoicing in this little babe of ours during my baby showers! 

Such an exciting season!!!

{Hawaiian Living}

Hawaiian living.

So, I know that I have been terrible at writing these past few months. With moving, unpacking, being pregnant,&trying to make a home in a new place--I just frankly haven't wanted to write anything down yet. But now that we have that behind us...

Viola! I'm writing a new post! 

"We live in Hawaii" is often a frequent statement that S&I say to each other. Not because we are clueless to where we are currently living, but because it still seems so unreal. It's usually said by us during a reflective moment at the beauty that surrounds us or when we think about Little Miss being born here. 

I'm not sure when (or if) it's really ever going to sink in. 

Living here is MUCH different than vacationing in Hawaii. 

We don't just spend our days at the beach drinking yummy drinks, eating at a restaurant every night, or mastering surfing. 

Instead of Hawaii being a vacation destination, it has become our new and lovely home where we are just going about the normal things in life:

Work.

Church.

Grocery shopping. 

Cleaning.

Yard work.

Walking our puppy.

Putting together a nursery.

Making friends.

And then on the weekends we try to venture out and take advantage of what the island offers. 

But some weekends are spent hanging out at our house watching movies&cuddling.

BUT there are some quirks about living in Hawaii that I want to share with you guys. Like, the fact that no one told me that the whole state has gotten rid of plastic sacks at stores and you have to bring your own. (What!) We had to find this out the hard way, more than once because I am notorious at forgetting that places like Target doesn't  have any. So then you place everything back into your cart and into your car, one item at a time...

Or the fact that this island doesn't have some important stores. 

Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Joann Fabrics.

NONE. 

Add my creative-I need crafting materials for the nursery-self crying in the corner! 

Let alone all the restaurants that I may or not be craving...

Or the fact that when driving around the island, sometimes we forget that Hawaii is part of the states and not a third world country. Seriously, after going to Mexico, Cambodia, and Haiti--there are some places that you wouldn't know the difference. 

Oh, the fact that we only go to downtown Honolulu if we want to be surrounded by MILLIONS of tourists. 

And most of the time, foreigners.

Every restaurant has multiple languages on their menus.   

Two words: Rice & Spam.

Everrrrrrywhere.

Hawaiians have rice with every single meal, yes, EVERY meal.

Even breakfast! haha which the Husband loves. 

Even if there isn't anything to put over it, you still have rice.

And you can order spam anywhere, even fast food restaurants.

Uh, no thank you! Been there, tried it.

Once was enough. 

(And even then, Mallow loved the extra treat from under the table..sh..)

 When you come in contact with someone, 

you are greeted with a hug and a kiss. 

Even if you are strangers. 

Believe me, you become fast friends!

This one caught me a little of guard, but I definitely get my quota of hugs in a day. 

We went to our first local BBQ the other day and learned how different it is. First, everyone takes off their shoes outside the home as a sign of respect. (Even the guy who set up our internet took off his boots every time he came into our house.) Second, you are treated like family from the very moment you step inside. And third, when you are starting to leave, the host hands you a plate full of food. Everything you just ate and loved all wrapped up in a plate for you to take home and enjoy the next day. In Scott's words, "They need to teach the rest of Americans this tradition!" 

He was beyond excited! 

Oh yeah, you can drive all around the island with people in the back of your truck. Even on the highways. 

For a pregnant woman who is already feeling her mothering instincts, this is SCARY. Especially when our first time having people in the back of our truck was heading down from the mountain with all the switchbacks. 

Hawaii is EXPENSIVE.

This part was definitely an eye opener to me + culture shock.

Most everything has to be imported here, so it makes sense, but still a shock when you're living here.

Thanks to the military, they try to make up for that a little.

Island time is real. 

BBQ at four, really means that people will show up at six.

Haha this is taking some time to get accustomed to. 

The homeless population here is an outrageously high number.

There was a time (maybe it's still going on) where states on the West Coast were actually paying a one way ticket for homeless people to move to Hawaii. You'll drive past an empty lot only to find it completely packed with tents for a homeless community.

 You'll also notice it under all of the bridges.

The awesome part is that our church here makes it their mission to help out and minister to these communities. 

Although there are a lot of differences, and sometimes we really do feel like we are living in a different country, it has been such a great adventure for us! We are loving all the new experiences&learning about new cultures and traditions.

We are having a blast finding new Uncles&Aunties for Baby H.

And we are absolutely loving this pregnancy season! 

(Even when I get hangry & overheat in this awesome weather. hahah)

And LOVING being around Mountains again.

So, here's to living in Hawaii!

B A B Y || C U M M I N G S

B A B Y

C U M M I N G S.

_________________________________

If you haven't heard yet, Scott&I are going to be having a BABY--

due in August.

To say that we are excited would be an understatement. 

We are truly looking at our baby as a perfect gift from God and there are no words that would describe how we are feeling. 

Answered prayers!

With countless amounts of prayer, Scott&I both agreed that we would start trying for a baby when he got back from his last deployment because we knew the next three years would be steady in Hawaii-- no deployments. 

Thank the Lord!

I had a feeling right before Thanksgiving that I was pregnant, but we were on our way to New York on vacation, so we agreed that I wouldn't test until we got back. We had a blast during our vacation, but come that Monday morning I couldn't wake up fast enough to take a test. Within seconds, two very distinct pink lines showed up. 

I was completely shocked!

So, naturally, I went to the store and bought two more.

Again, within seconds they both told me what I had already known:

I was carrying our precious baby.

To tell Scott the wonderful news, I had a blank puzzle that I wrote on each piece to tell him why I love him. Then I hid the two pieces that told him that he was going to be a Daddy and when he came to the last two pieces, I handed them to him! 

Oh his reaction will forever be in my heart!

To celebrate, I thought I would be funny and I gave him pickles&ice cream. ---He didn't get the joke, which only made it more entertaining for me. 

I wrote this on the back of the puzzle! :)

Fast forward a little bit, we were able to tell all of our family and close friends-- almost all in person, as we were in Utah for a month over Christmas. 

To see everyone's excitement was almost too much to handle. 

Oh, sweet baby of ours, you are so very loved and adored already. 

For those wondering about my pregnancy so far, I haven't really been sick. I will get headaches and nausea, but that's about it. Oh, besides being EXHAUSTED all of the time! But that is going away thanks to almost being in the second trimester. (!!!!!) 

One of the parts that I haven't enjoyed was how much I love eating salads, but since I've been pregnant I can't seem to think about them without feeling nauseous. I really hope that goes away soon so I start to eat salads again. 

I just want to thank everyone for being so excited & supportive during this season for Scott&I. We truly feel blessed to have everyone there for us and to love Baby Cummings so much already! 

{Psalm 139:13}

Garlic Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Garlic Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

So, I've been trying a lot of different healthy recipes lately, 

and this one is definitely tasty!

 Scott recently came home from a training and I had been wanting to try this cauliflower alfredo sauce, so we made it into a date night of experimenting. We took a recipe and then tweaked it to become our own. Here is our recipe:

{INGREDIENTS}

• 8 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5-6 cups cauliflower florets
• 6-7 cups vegetable broth or water
• 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon pepper (more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper (to add the spicy factor)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ cup milk (more to taste)
• Parmesan cheese (however much you want)
• Optional Chicken and Veggies

{directions}

Garlic: Sauté the minced garlic with the butter in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook for several minutes or until the garlic is soft and fragrant but not browned (browned or burnt garlic will taste bitter). Remove from heat and set aside.

Cauliflower: Bring the water or vegetable broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 7-10 minutes or until cauliflower is fork tender. Do not drain.

Puree: Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cauliflower pieces to the blender. Add 1 cup vegetable broth or cooking liquid, sautéed garlic/butter, salt, pepper, parsley, Cayenne pepper, onion powder, Parmesan cheese, and milk. Blend or puree for several minutes until the sauce is very smooth, adding more broth or milk depending on how thick you want the sauce.

We then put the puree, with the chicken and/or veggies, in the nonstick skillet over medium heat before serving over noodles.  

Leftovers: If the sauce starts to look dry, add a few drops of water, milk, or olive oil.

We thought that it might have a gritty texture and it definitely didn't! You can also make this and use it as pizza sauce. We will be making that soon as well!!! 

ENJOY! And let me know how you like it:)

Chipotle Black Bean Burgers, Y U M.

Chipotle Black Bean Burgers

I recently within the past couple of years decided that I really, really like black bean burgers. 

Except when I'm actually craving a hamburger--different textures.

Anyways, I've been telling Scott for a while now that I was going to find a recipe that we would like.

 TA-DA.

I'll just have to make them again when he gets back.

But I won't complain. 

 

Four burgers:

* 1 (14.5 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed

* 2 Tbs. minced white onion

* 2 cloves garlic, minced

* 1/4 cup chopped almonds

* 1/2 cup corn (can use frozen corn, thawed)

* 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

* 4 Tbs. jarred chipotle spread 

(3 Tbs. for mixture, 1 Tbs. for buns)

* 1 egg

* 4 sliced pepper jack cheese

* 4 onion buns, split and lightly toasted

* mixed greens

* sliced avocado or guacamole

* coarse salt, to taste

{Preheat oven to 425}

In a large bowl, add the beans and lightly mash with a fork. Add the onions, garlic, almonds, corn, cilantro, 2 Tbs. chipotle spread, egg and a small pinch of coarse salt. 

Mix to combine.

Using your hands, equally form the mixture into 4 patties. 

Arrange on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Carefully flip, add the cheese and bake for 8 to 10 more.

Spread the remaining chipotle spread on the bottom of each toasted bun and serve with greens and avocado slices. 

Or I just used the fresh guacamole that I made yesterday. 

Easy&Delicious.