Adventures in La La Land

I'm leaving for Ladies' Retreat tonight. Woohoo! So excited!! Never fear, though. I wouldn't want you all to miss out on another riveting blog entry from me! So here you have it. The Saturday 7 on Friday. 1. Guess what? I have another new recipe for you! And guess where I got it? That's right - Plain Chicken ! Haha. I love that blog. The girl has similar tastes as me (simple, cheesy, bad for you.) :-) This week's recipe was Cream Cheese White Chili. I have a few different recipes for White Chili, but this one was super easy and delicious. Justin surprised me once again by saying, "This is really good!" How can't it be? There's an entire brick of cream cheese in it. Haha. I did use the 1/3 less fat version so I feel a little better about myself. Cream Cheese White Chili 1 can black beans 1 can corn, undrained 1 can Rotel, undrained 1 package ranch dressing mix 1 tsp cumin 1 Tbsp chili powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 8 oz package light crea...

*Warning: this entry contains a gross picture of my bare belly. Proceed at your own risk!* :-) This isn't the gross picture. That is yet to come. :-) Baby is the size of a grapefruit this week. How far along?  23 weeks Total weight loss/gain : About another pound or so. 8-9 lbs total. Maternity clothes?  Yep. My mom said she'd buy me a new pair of jeans this weekend (for my birthday). I'm totally getting skinny maternity jeans. How's that for an oxymoron? ;-) Sleep : I can never get enough. I think I could sleep all day. Best moment this week : Feeling some crazy movement. Other people being able to feel it. Movement : Lots - You can see and feel her punching and kicking from the outside of my body now. Lucy felt her for the first time today! She said, "My sister kick me!" <3 Food cravings : French fries. I got the fry burger from Checkers yesterday. It was amazing. :-) Food aversions : Nothing. Gender : GIRL!!! Labor Signs : Nope. Belly Button in ...

1. I made another winning recipe this week. Slower cooker enchiladas. The name is deceiving. Only the chicken is slow-cooked. You still have to assemble the enchiladas and bake them in the oven, but they were easy and delicious! I loved how tender and flavorful the meat was. And I really liked the sauce on top. Justin said it was too tangy. (I'm pretty sure the recipe is from plainchicken again, but I can't find it. Sorry.) Crockpot Enchiladas 1 packet taco seasoning 1 packet ranch dressing mix 1 can (14.5oz) low-sodium chicken broth 6 chicken breasts 12 flour tortillas 2 cups pepper jack cheese 1/2 cup light ranch dressing 1/2 cup salsa Place chicken, taco seasoning, ranch mix and chicken broth in 6-quart slow cooker.   Cook on low 6 hours.   Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Divide chicken and cheese between tortillas.  Roll up and place in a lightly greased 9x13-inch pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Combine Ranch dressing and salsa. ...

Baby is the size of a papaya this week. How far along?  22 weeks Total weight loss/gain : Idk. I really need to get a good scale. Maternity clothes?  Yep. Excited to start moving on to the fall clothes now that the weather is cooling off. Hoping to get some more maternity jeans for my birthday since I only fit in 2 pairs. Sleep : Good. Although I've been talking in my sleep a lot. I woke myself up last night saying, "I think the phone is ringing." (It wasn't.) Justin responded, "Leave me alone!" But he says he doesn't remember, so apparently he was talking in his sleep too. Haha. Best moment this week : Umm, nothing too exciting has happened in the past week. Movement : Lots. Especially as soon as I lay down at night. Maybe I just notice it more then, or maybe she's lulled to sleep by my movement during the day. Food cravings : Chocolate. Food aversions : Nothing. Gender : GIRL!!! Labor Signs : Nope. Belly Button in or out?   Out. It's actua...

1. Throughout the week, I jot down things I want to write in my Saturday 7. One of this week's was "Potty training going so well." I jinxed myself. By Monday, Lucy was telling me every time she had to go potty and rarely having an accident. Wednesday, we drove to the library, did an hour of storytime, and drove home with no accidents. I was feeling so optimistic and considering her very close to potty trained (at least during the day). Then yesterday she suddenly started having accident after accident after accident. Usually she just pees a little and catches herself, but there were definitely a few times that she completely soaked her clothes and left a puddle where she was standing. What the world? We'll keep at it. I know it's a learning process. 2. I made a yummy new dinner this week. Justin actually said, "This is really good. I think it should be a regular." That's a big deal coming from him. All he ever says is, "Not bad." Haha. It...

Baby is the size of a pomegranate this week. How far along?  21 weeks Total weight loss/gain : +2lbs in the past 2 weeks. +7 total - hopefully I only gain 7 pounds in the second half of my pregnancy too. Ha! (I'm about right on track with the way I gained weight with Lucy, and I ended up gaining 42 pounds with her. Haha. I gain it all in the 3rd trimester.) Maternity clothes? Yep. I tried on some of my bigger short-sleeved shirts this week. Still too big. Bummer. Sleep : Fine. I've actually been feeling pretty well rested lately! Yay, 2nd trimester! Best moment this week : Seeing our baby GIRL on ultrasound! Movement : Lots. I feel like this baby is way more active than Lucy was at this stage. Food cravings : Fruit. I've been chowing on cherries and peaches lately. Food aversions : Nothing. Gender : GIRL!!! Labor Signs : I'm getting to the point where doing anything gives me Braxton Hicks. Bending up and down picking up toys, sweeping the floor, walking up and down...

Yesterday was the much awaited ultrasound! My appointment wasn't until 2:45 in the afternoon, so I had plenty of time to work up a good bunch of nerves. Haha. I honestly wasn't that worried we'd find anything wrong with the baby. I've had 3 ultrasounds already where we saw arms and legs, a healthy heart, closed nuchal tube, etc. But I wouldn't be me if I wasn't nervous. :-) Finally I filled my bladder to the brim with Dr Pepper and headed off to the doctor's office. Fortunately, we got right in. The tech said, "You did a great job filling your bladder!" Haha. She looked at a couple things, then said, "Do you want to know the sex?" I responded with an emphatic yes and she said, " It's a girl! " The first thing out of my mouth was, "Yes! I was right!" Haha. We had an awesome tech. She spent lots of time showing us everything and was great about explaining it all and reassuring us every step of the way that everyt...

1. This was my first full week "at home." I think I've started to settle into a little bit of the routine I crave so much. I made myself a weekly chore list. Bathrooms on Monday, Vacuuming on Tuesday, etc. And I try to do a load of dishes and laundry every day, plus have the house totally cleaned up before I go to bed every night. I'm loving how clean my house is! Plus, I've really been trying to do my devotions every night after Justin and Lucy go to bed, and still get to bed myself at a decent time. As much as I'm loving it, though, we've only got enough saved to live about one more month without my income. I'm really trying not to stress about it . . . 2. Lucy and I went to storytime at the Kent City library on Wednesday. We always went to the one at the Rockford library with Chase and Lyla. Lucy loves it and I was ready to get out of the house by Wednesday. It was a very nostalgic experience for me. My dad used to take us there every Saturday. We...

Baby is the size of a banana this week. How far along?  20 weeks - half way! Total weight loss/gain : Didn't weigh myself this week. Appt. on Monday. Maternity clothes?  So sick of my 4 short-sleeved maternity shirts. My regular shirts are starting to look ridiculous. I started raiding Justin's t-shirt drawer, but then got in trouble for stretching out his shirts. So I guess it's back to those 4 same shirts - sorry if I appear to be wearing the same thing every time you see me. Sleep : The night sweats are getting out of control. I'm going to drown in my sleep one of these days. And I noticed I sleep on my back 90% of the time. I can't help it! That's just how I end up. Best moment this week : Noticing more movement. Movement : Yep. Feeling flips and turns now too. It's still pretty low - well below my belly button. If the baby's so low, what is this huge belly I have? Haha. Food cravings : Soup, sour candy. Food aversions : Nothing. Gender : Unknow...

1. Tuesday was the last day of my nanny job. It's still a little surreal. I've taken vacations before. In the back of my mind, I feel like I'll be going back eventually. I ended up getting the kids each a nice book and a framed picture of them with me. And they gave me a $50 Meijer gift card and a sweet cake. I'm ready for the next chapter of our life, but I feel a little bad for Lucy. Lyla is one of her closest friends. She doesn't understand that we're not going to see much of her anymore. 2. I've been trying to work on my daycare license application. Holy cow. It is so confusing. I consider myself a pretty well-educated, intelligent person, but I can not  figure this stupid application out! I think I'm putting it off because I keep hoping something else will drop in my lap. I just think the timing is weird. Until the week before my job ended, I had a plan for being a stay-at-home-mom. If I hadn't had that plan, I would've been sure to be...