the mundane adventures of miss jess

dear sarah,

2012-02-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

here you go. wish granted, minus the long hair:

sincerely, josh

separation of church and state

2012-01-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

in an effort to keep this blog from becoming solely a baby blog, i have actually created a separate blog just about henry. that way, you can make the decision for yourself if you would like to see what my adorable child is up to ;)

introducing: oh henry!

life lesson

2012-01-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

just so you all know, here is one of life's most important lessons for you (free of charge--you're welcome):

make friends with photographers + make sure they like you a lot = get lots of awesome pictures of yourself/your offspring for free.

case in point? henry photoshoot seen HERE.

[here's an example so you know it's worth it to click the link above]

along the same lines of this life lesson, steal your friends' fancy cameras and take more pictures, and then make them upload them for you. josh took over emily's camera last night for a bit, and got this adorable picture of henry:

thank you emily and dave for indulging us, and getting lots of fabulous pictures of henry!!

dinosaur museum

2012-01-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

last weekend we went with josh's parents and sister, and our nieces and nephews to the dinosaur museum at thanksgiving point. i charged my camera and everything, and we were all ready to go. when we got to the museum and i started taking pictures, i realized i had left my memory card in my laptop. FAIL. so i got to take like 5 pictures on the camera memory and make peace with the fact that this outing wouldn't really be documented. there was a discovery room that everyone played in before actually looking at all the dinosaurs and stuff, so that's where these pictures are from:

josh and sunny making smoke rings

griffin thought this was pretty cool.

lila might not have totally agreed... haha
i love the way she's standing in this picture :)

sarah and i carrying our babies around. this was a thing you pedaled to make some lights go on. we're pretty cool...

the kids thought the museum was great. i think griffin was the most excited. he kept running up to everything and pointing at all the bones and stuff. he was very impressed. henry slept like a champ the whole time (thank goodness!). it was a really fun time, and if anyone hasn't visited the dinosaur museum you should go! thanks to bob and mary for taking us on such a fun outing :) next time i'll make sure my memory card is actually IN my camera (boo)!

home reveal: part 6

2012-01-11T13:03:00.001-08:00

so finally the nursery is finished! we've been slowly but surely working on it since we knew that Henry was going to be a Henry. so without further ado, here is the nursery reveal!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

we [aka jeff] removed the bizarre chair rail that was on 3 of the walls. we chose a nice rich sapphire blue color for the walls. we didn't have a theme for the nursery, mostly we just decorated based on the color scheme red, white, blue, and brown, and incorporated general animal/nature elements.

thank goodness for gliders, thats all i have to say!

we asked our friend sarah to take some pictures of gambel oak leaves so we could hang a picture of one up in Henry's room. she took a ton of awesome ones, and we picked the one seen above and had it printed on canvas. jeff stretched the canvas for us, and voila!

the changing table...aka jay-z's perching grounds haha

Henry has his own personalized teddy bear from mok and pok (josh's grandparents)! so adorable ♥

some of the other stuffed animals Henry has received. the one on the far right is a pig that was mine growing up that i had named Henry. told you i've always loved the name!

ikea dresser. the little giraffe on the floor was josh's growing up. the stuff on the dresser is from hobby lobby.

we got this pair of antlers from our friend ryan, painted them, and then had jeff mount them for us. i'm pleased with how they turned out :)

and there is the nursery! we're pretty pleased with how it turned out :)

roll tide!

2012-01-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

we totally won because of this little good luck charm :)

Henry's first bath

2012-01-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

yesterday we gave Henry his first official bath! of course we've been thoroughly sponge-bathing him since he's been home, but yesterday we pulled out the baby tub. here is how things went down, with pictures (for prosperity's sake ;))

at first he didn't like it, as you can see.
(also, josh used photoshop to censor this photo, so henry wouldnt be embarrassed in the future)

then henry calmed down and realized it wasn't all that bad.
he was chill for the rest of the bath, and all was well :)

getting all dried off and lotioned up

"i kind of liked that...!"

so fresh and so clean, clean

or as we said in my house growing up, "fresh and clean with no caffeine!"

we made it!!!!

3 weeks already?

2012-01-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Henry is 3 weeks old as of yesterday. it doesn't feel like its been that long yet! on tuesday we went in to the pediatrician and did a weight check to make sure he was gaining enough weight without the supplementing. he is certainly doing well! he'd gained about 2 ounces a day (he was 8lbs 13oz). this little boy will be a chunkster before we know it :)

chillin' after bath time.
my friend mellissa made the awesome towel (those are gambel oak leaves on it!)

i LOVE this picture!

we made the switch over to cloth diapers this week. adorable, no?

he makes the best faces :)

and finally, this picture is for uncle bj. *no paparazzi!*

happy new year!

2012-01-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

we celebrated new years eve in style. well, Henry did. Josh's parents got him this onesie, that says "2012 my first New Years!". here's my little stud (doing his classic superman stretch):

we had our friends jeff and darci over, along w/cute little mona, and we hung out and played games all night. mona loved seeing the baby and the cat most of all. she can't really say Henry, so she just calls him baby. and whenever she saw Jay-Z she would say "meow!". so cute :)

when the countdown ended and the ball dropped, i went over to Henry (Josh was holding him) and kept giving him kisses. Josh was finally like "hello, are you gonna kiss me!?! or just our baby?" haha...oops?

2011 was a really great year for us. we had good employment, we bought a house, and we had a baby. ew, reading that sentence made it seem like maybe this was the year we became adults? ........neverrrrr!!!! hopefully 2012 is as good to us as 2011 was. happy new year everyone!

2 weeks

2011-12-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

henry is 2 weeks old [which is kind of strange when you consider his due date is this saturday]. we went to his 2 week check-up at the pediatrician today. thankfully henry is doing great! he's back up to his birth weight (woohoo! no more supplementing at meal times!), and the pediatrician was pleased with his growth.

here are his percentiles:
weight: 31.75%
length: 35.56%
head circumference: 19.38%

while there is a lot of pooping, peeing, spitting up, and crying--henry is so adorable that it makes up for all the extra body fluids (and subsequent laundry). he can focus in on our faces, and he is so strong that he can roll over onto his side. i love when he takes little naps on me, and the way he stretches and yawns everytime he wakes up.

we love you henry! we're so grateful to have you in our lives ♥

christmas recap

2011-12-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

with henry in the picture, christmas felt kind of weird this year. henry was basically our christmas present, so it felt like christmas had already come. when the hospital brought henry to the recovery room after he'd been all cleaned up and everything, they delivered him in a stocking :) i thought it was adorable:

we went over to emily and dave's house for christmas eve. they made a delicious christmas feast and we had a great time. a girl from our church gave us a christmas outfit for henry as a present, so he wore it that night (until he peed through it and pee went streaming down my boot...). he was adorable, and the feet had little reindeer on them. [pic via emily]

when christmas rolled around, josh and i opened our presents and stockings. the most entertaining present was in jay-z's stocking: a catnip ball toy. he went crazy with it, and it was so fun. we should have taken a video! in this picture you can see it tucked in his paws:

in the afternoon we went over to sarah's house and gave the kids their presents. one of the gifts we got for them was the angry birds game (like the app, but they can set it up in real life). they had a pretty fun time with it. griffin kept calling it the "birdy game".

josh's parents took a picture with all of the grandkids, and then each of sarah's kids got a picture while holding henry (seen here). here are all six grandkids with mimi and bear!

we took a picture of henry with his cousin cameron (who is about 3.5 months old). it's funny because i always used to think cameron was SO tiny. after having henry, cam looks like a giant!! here is a comparison picture of the little cousins :)

this was henry's other christmas outfit, which he was able to wear for all the family pictures, and then we had to change him because he peed through it. he likes to ruin cute outfits/photo-ops by peeing all over them. at least we got some pictures of him in it on christmas (see last blog post too).

christmas ended up being fun and laid back, which worked for us. hope you all had a fabulous holiday! ♥

ho ho ho

2011-12-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

what else?

2011-12-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

henry photo dump. sorry for anyone who is getting tired of seeing my adorable baby. maybe someday soon when i get my normal brain back i will branch out to some other topics on the blog ;) haha. speaking of losing my mind...we do have some funny incidents that have happened since we got home from the hospital...

example 1:
josh came to wake me up one morning and i started searching around the bed for something. he asked "what are you doing!?" and i replied "looking for the button to lift up the bed..." he stared for a second and then said "jess...you're at home in your own bed!" haha. i woke up thinking i was in the hospital still...yikes!

example 2:
the other day i was plugging my cell phone charger in, and it was dark, and i was having troubles. josh was already asleep in bed and just goes "shhhhhhhhhh" in that certain way you do to fussing babies hahaha. it made me laugh pretty hard.

example 3:
this morning henry was crying so i got up. my mom was holding him and couldnt find the pacifier, and then felt it rolled up in the blanket. i had to go to the bathroom so i told her i'd be right back. when i came back it was josh holding henry, and i asked "where were you when my mom was up here?" he was super confused and asked what in the world i was talking about. umm...turns out i went temporarily insane and my mom was never there. it was josh the whole time.

ok, enough with embarrassing hallucinogenic stories. here are the pics!

all my boys!

all swaddled up

trying out his new quilt from my mom

snuggled up with nana (his great-grandma, who visited yesterday)

fashionable. h&m should basically hire him to be a model!

so true (thank you brittany!)

i wish this picture wasnt blurry but i was trying to move fast to capture the moment.
jay-z has actually been sweeter than ever since henry came home. what a good big brother!

4 generations ♥
we're all the oldest children of the previous generation too. pretty cool.

today henry is a week old!! so nuts! i still havent fully come to accept that i am now a mother, but im sure it will continue to slowly sink in :) ok, time to sneak in some sleep!!

family

2011-12-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

while we were in the hospital henry got lots of visitors from aunts, uncles, and cousins. we didn't get pictures with everyone (oops), but here are some that we did get:

snuggling up aunt sarah

with cousin lila. i think he was hungry when this picture was getting taken...

with cousin sunny. she was so good with him, and i'm pretty sure they're bff now.

"aunt" darci captured henry's heart. pretty sure the feelings were mutual.
[pic stolen from darci]

looking glamorous with "aunt" emily. aka aunty em haha ;)

chillin with "uncle" dave.
[pictures stolen from emily & dave]

henry also got some quality time in with "aunt" betsy, but for some reason we didn't take a picture. oops! we'll have to remember to get one next time!!

thanks for visiting everyone! it was fun for henry to meet all his aunts and uncles, and some of his little cousins ♥

henry's birth

2011-12-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

wednesday was pretty much like any other day. we went to work in the morning. i felt some contractions every once in a while throughout the morning, but nothing major. i left work early to go get a prenatal massage. i've been wanting one for a long time, so i finally got one scheduled and went and enjoyed it. i asked for relief and for labor inducing pressure points to be the focus. afterwards i went home and took a nap. when josh got done from work he went and worked out at the gym, and then came home and woke me up. i was still lounging in bed and he called his dad to wish him a happy birthday. his parents answered the phone and were so excited: "is there a baby on the way!?!?!" josh was like "umm, no, theres been little contractions but nothings really happening. sorry. i was just calling to say happy birthday to dad." haha.

not even 3 minutes later, i went to use the restroom and my water broke. i was like "ahhhhhhhhh, josh!!!!! i think my water just broke!!" and then we were both freaking out and laughing and yelling "what the heck!?" josh promptly called his parents right back, which was pretty comical, and i called my mom. it was 6:10pm. i called the doctor and asked if they wanted me to come right in, or wait until contractions picked up. they told me to come on in. first i had to straighten my hair (yes, i am vain and ridiculous, i know), finish packing my bag, and then we headed to the hospital.

we arrived at the hospital at 7:45, and got all set up in a nice room. josh's mother, mary, and sister, sarah, came to the hospital and stayed w/us the whole time. the nurses asked if i wanted the epidural right away, and i thought i would hold off a bit and see how i did. that didn't last long...by 9pm i had asked for the epidural, and got it all hooked up. by 9:30 i had gotten sick. my blood pressure tanked, i barfed, and i almost passed out. they had to give me an epinephrine shot. this happened twice...it was lovely. finally everything got regulated, but contractions weren't picking up, so they started me on pitocin at 10:25. over the next two hours progress was super slow and the pitocin levels kept getting pushed up and up (they started me at 4mL, and by 12:25 it was at 20mL!).

at 1:30am on thursday, december 15, they checked and i was dilated (ew, sorry) to 9, almost 9.5cm. they informed me i would start pushing soon. that felt like a reality slap in the face. everyone laughed at my expression, because i was shocked and slightly terrified. [[also, side note, the epidural never fully set in--probably because everything was happening so fast. so i could feel every contraction.]] the doctor was called and came on over. i pushed for 36 minutes, and Henry was born at 2:17am. it was tough, painful, and took a lot of concentration, but Henry made it safe and sound!

while i was kind of crying almost the whole time, the second i saw Henry i just lost it. i couldn't believe the baby we thought we'd never have was finally here. it was amazing.

8lbs 3oz, 20" long. came out looking unbruised and only had a tiny conehead haha

cry babies

we made it!!

skin to skin. and me eating crackers so i wouldn't puke more (there was a lot more puke involved in labor than i thought there would be haha)

it was great to have sarah and mary there in addition to josh; they were a fabulous support system. josh did really well and only had to sit down from feeling light-headed once ;) it was mostly just from standing for so long, but it's still funny to bring it up. and even though i had no idea this happened, he was able to cut the cord. i wish my mom could have made it to the delivery, but she wasn't able to catch a flight until thursday morning. i'm glad she is able to be here now though :)

after it was all over josh goes "you did it! you did something you thought you would never be able to do!" it made me pretty proud to do something that i've always been afraid of. and i don't think i acted too crazy or anything either haha. there was no screaming or swearing (that i can recall). there was laughing, crying, and a few "owwwww!"s though. we are so grateful that henry is here, and that he is healthy and happy and adorable. ♥

stay tuned for more henry posts coming up!

Henry Gambel

2011-12-16T12:59:00.001-08:00

Born December 15, 2011 at 2:17am (2.5 weeks early). 8lbs 3oz, 20" long. Whole story coming soon. Pictures courtesy of the fabulous Emily and Dave (thanks you guys!).

37 weeks

2011-12-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

saturday marked 37 weeks pregnant. almost there! on friday at my appointment my doctor said theres seriously no more room in my belly, so he thinks Henry will come before Christmas. he actually predicted the 19th. eeeeeps!! this past week i've been feeling it...everything sort of hurts now (my hips feel like they're dislocated!), and i'm not positive but i'm pretty sure i've started waddling a little bit...haha

on thursday we had a bit of a fake out... on the drive home from work i realized that i had hardly felt henry move all day. normally henry is super active and it feels like he's doing barrel rolls all the time, so it was a really big change from the norm. by the time i got home from work i was all worked up, and when i called the Dr the answering service people said to go to labor and delivery. so i [finally!] packed my hospital bag and we headed over. i got hooked up to the monitors and henry's heartbeat was perfect. after a bit he started kicking the monitors, and after they gave me some juice he was back to his normal, squirmy self. i guess he just felt like being a little punk all day!

although i'm still [not so secretly] terrified of having and raising a baby, i just keep getting more and more excited. i'm lucky i have such a good support system to help/encourage/answer all my dumb questions for me. also, i passed a kidney stone today at work (for reals), so i'm pretty sure i can survive labor... at least i'll have an epidural for it!! ;)

whats going on these days...

2011-12-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

i got this idea from my girl paige. i always like filling out these fun little survey-type snippets. let me know if you fill this out! :)

obsessing over: my brown boots i just bought a few weeks ago from Ross. i plan my outfits around them, and basically wear them everytime i go out of the house these days. i'm pretty sure josh is sick of them, but he deals ;)

(side note: josh makes me bounce on that red exercise ball to get henry to drop. he'll tell me to go sit on it, and if i'm not bouncing he will come over like he's going to hug me, and then just pushes me down so i bounce haha. what a tease!)

working on: getting ready for henry! i made a set of burp clothes the other day, and i still have a few more things to make before he gets here. the problem is i'm so tired/lazy/whale-like when i get home from work it feels like all i can do is veg in front of the tv!

thinking about: the rice crispy treats i just made that are sitting on the counter. and how even though i just had one, i want to eat about 5 more. it may happen, even though its basically my bedtime right now... ahhh, consequences!

anticipating: so many things. mostly henry (duh), but also christmas, christmas vacation, christmas treats, and oh yeah... henry!

listening to: right now chelsea lately is on. as far as music, the only time i really listen to music anymore is in the car, and i listen to the alternative rock station. my ipod is ghetto and decided it doesn't like working anymore, so that option is out :/

drinking: ice water. thats mostly what i drink these days. i was on a blue gatorade kick for a while, but then when i was sick this past week i barfed and i had been drinking a lot of blue gatorade... and yeah... i'm sort of off that kick now. i do still love me some sprite or berry 7-up though!

wishing: it was christmas vacation already!! oh, and that henry will come soon :) but maybe not tooo soon, since i havent packed a hospital bag yet... maybe i should get around to doing that one of these days!

[[confession/update - in the writing of this post i have consumed 3 rice crispy treats. don't judge. they are delicious!]]

36 weeks

2011-12-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

36 weeks today! henry will be fully developed by next week (everything is all cooked by 37 weeks), so after next week i'll be ready for the little guy!! well, now that i have that in written form it seems incredibly daunting and i still feel totally clueless... i have to keep reminding myself that if underage hillbillies (ie "16 and pregnant") can do it, so can i. right...? haha

this week my doctors appointment went great. everything is measuring perfect and we got to hear his strong little heartbeat. i've gained 33 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. its pretty much all in my belly, so things are getting kind of uncomfortable haha. henry is definitely running out of room!

this week has been mostly focused on me getting better. who knew a cold could wreak so much havoc!? also, i've slowly but surely been losing my mind. and by slowly i actually mean at an alarming pace! today i left to go grocery shopping and didn't bring my phone or a jacket. i'm lucky i even brought my wallet! there are lots of other examples, but the bottom line is i'm getting pretty dumb.

it's been fun to see peoples guesses for when they think henry will arrive, so keep em coming! :)

ps: this is mostly for my parents [or any rich strangers], but here is my wishlist on pinterest. can you believe it's december already!? i've even allowed josh to start playing christmas music. cuckoo!

35ish weeks, and take a guess!

2011-11-29T12:19:00.001-08:00

for the sake of memory preservation, i had josh take a picture of me last night. i have wet hair and look a little sickly, but my belly still looks like a belly--which is all that matters with these pictures ;) Josh said i was cheating by taking this picture late, so i made sure to add the "+2 days" underneath the week count haha.

if you read my last post then you know that i was sick for half of last week. on thanksgiving i was still functioning enough to enjoy the holiday, so thats good enough for me :)

now, some people have been guessing which day henry will be born, and since it could happen pretty soon here, i thought it would be fun to have a little guessing game on the blog. here are some guesses so far, and feel free to leave yours in the comments (or email me and i'll add it)! note: his due date is december 31.

+me: december 25
+josh: december 20
+mok: december 14
+darci: january 2
+mary: december 23
+leann: december 28

guess away!!

immune system fail

2011-11-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

hello friends. while this vacation was good overall, it was also very miserable. i got a cold. i started to feel it tuesday night and by wednesday morning i knew it was here to stay. being pregnant, cold medicine options are pretty limited. basically everything i am allowed to take for a cold did absolutely nothing. zilch. i need my dayquil!!! i would say that friday it got even worse, and my nose would not stop running/clogging/being disgusting. the following picture is from saturday:

i took it with my phone and posted it on facebook with the caption that this is why there was no 35 week photo being taken. i apologize, but i was so miserable it wasn't going to happen. especially since i look like rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and there was VapoRub slathered all over my nose. last night josh (bless his heart and soul!) went to walmart and picked me up some things to make me feel better. including a lovely humidifier which i've had on full blast since last night. he also got me these really cool tissues you all need to try called Cool Touch, from Kleenex. somehow they feel kind of cold and delicious on your nose. its magic. go get some.

anyways, enough with the pity party. i dont mean for it to come off that way, i just wanted to explain why i havent been blogging, why theres no 35 week picture, and why there are no photos of our christmas decorations yet (even though we lost all self control and decorated a WEEK ago haha). a big shout out to my awesome husband for taking care of me, even though ive been in full out "jess the mess" mode. also, thanks to my parents (and adopted family members ;)) for coming and visiting with us on friday--i hope none of you get sick!! as far as blogging goes, i'll try and do some catch up soon. maybe i'll have josh take a picture of me today and i'll just cake my nose with foundation/concealer first haha.

i hope you all enjoyed a lovely holiday/vacation!

happy happy

2011-11-24T20:55:00.001-08:00

thanksgiving!

this was my first thanksgiving being away from my parents house. it was weird. but i didn't want to make the drive to arizona, or fly when i'm just about 35 weeks pregnant. so we stayed in utah, and josh's parents were kind enough to have us over for a delicious thanksgiving meal, and we brought our friends emily and dave. all the food was amazing, and the company was wonderful. we had a really good time :)

a few things i am thankful for:
+josh, henry, and jay-z
+our families
+all our fun friends
+our house
+our jobs

its been a very good year, and a lot of miracles have happened to us. we couldn't be more grateful. recently i came across this quote, and it is a nice little thought:

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday ♥

34 weeks

2011-11-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

yesterday i hit 34 weeks. i'm almost a mother...WHAT!? **my head just exploded**

nothing super new or different has been going on. henry moves around all the time like a little gymnast, so that should be fun to see how he acts when he gets into the real world... haha. we'll have a little hellion on our hands! last night we went to dinner, saw a movie, and then hung out at our friends house. this was a time frame of about 6-7 hours, and he was moving the entire time. he must have really tuckered himself out, because it was literally constant movement.

i still can't eat a ton of food (booo), but food loves of the week have included blue gatorade, beef jerky, five guys bacon burgers, and wendys homestyle chicken go wraps. yummm. i wish there was a wendys by our house because i would be hitting it up right about now!! and yes, i'm really looking and feeling like a whale these days. sometimes i have to ask josh for help getting out of bed in the mornings. just picture me laying there saying "save the whales! help me up! i'm beached!"

this week i was talking to my mom on the phone one night and jay-z came and snuggled up next to me (usually he is in love with josh so its semi-rare that he will cuddle with me when we're both sitting on the couch). i'm pretty sure he knows all about henry (or he's completely oblivious) because he was laying allllll over him. he was basically just canoodling my baby bump. and it was adorable.

photographic evidence.
[ignore the thunder thigh look, thats an optical illusion!]

i'm getting really excited for christmas decorating (i know, i dont know whats wrong with me either!) so i'm sure that will happen this week and i'll have to post pictures to show off how fabulous our house will look. ok, that was a joke ...sort of ;)

33 weeks

2011-11-12T16:10:00.000-08:00

33 weeks pregnant today. somehow that seems much closer to the end than 32 weeks. which is making josh happy, because he's getting a little impatient. i'm content with still being pregnant for a little while longer ;) haha. henry is super active all the time. one night this week he stuck his leg out so far it hit my elbow, which i swear was over an inch away from my belly. it startled me, and it hurt my insides from stretching so far. i was like "ahhhhh!!!!!" silly little acrobat...

henry gets hiccups at least a couple times a day now. i think its adorable every time. as far as cravings of the week, i'm still in love with those sunflower bagels with honey walnut cream cheese from the bagel shop in tooele. i've also been craving peppermint hot chocolate, so i've been making a lot of morning trips to the gas station this week...yum! all i wish is that my stomach wasn't so squished so i could eat more food!

pumpkin chocolate chip bread

2011-11-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

i grew up on this stuff. every fall my mom would bake a billion loaves for us because we would devour it. it's the best pumpkin chocolate chip bread i've ever tasted in my life. so since i got bitten by the fall baking bug, i asked my mom to send me the recipe. and it is just too delicious to not share, so here it is so you can make some for yourselves!

pumpkin chocolate chip bread:

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves [i didn't have this so i just added a little extra cinnamon instead]
2/3 cup coarsely chopped nuts [i left these out, and just added extra choc chips]
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 9x5x3 inches, or 3 loaf pans, 8.5x4.5x2.5 inches. Mix shortening and sugar in large bowl. Add eggs, pumpkin, and water. Blend in flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Pour into pans. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes; cool slightly. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans. Cool completely before slicing. To store, wrap and refrigerate no longer than 10 days.

bon appetit! let me know if you try it ♥