The Saturday 7

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's from my favorite food blogger, plainchicken.com:

Tomato Alfredo Pasta with Grilled Chicken

1 McCormick's Grill Mates Garlic Herb Wine Marinade packet 
3 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness
1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce (I'm cheap and just bought Ragu)
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 garlic clove, minced
8 oz penne pasta, cooked and drained

1. Marinate chicken according to packet directions.  Grill 12-15 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink.  Set aside.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain.
3. In a large pot, combine Alfredo sauce, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and garlic.  Heat over medium-high    heat for approximately 10 minutes.  Toss in cooked pasta.  
4. Slice chicken and serve over pasta.  Top with parmesan cheese if desired.

I was worried that it'd be too garlicky, so I didn't use the entire clove of garlic or the entire 1.5 tsp of Italian seasoning, but it was not at all too garlicky, so I'm sure I could've used it all.

3. I finally put something together with the crates I bought at Burley Park for my front porch.

I clipped some random yellow stuff growing in our yard and stuffed it one crate. I'm going to buy a Mum to replace the lovely dying Cosmo that's currently resting on the other one. The porch is still looking semi-empty, so I'll continue to work on it, but that's what I've got so far. Better than nothing!

4. I read a good book this week: The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser. (The link is on the right --> under "Recently Read.") There wasn't even much romance in it. Aren't you proud? :-)

5. I'm really stressing about picking a name for this baby. We had Lucy's name picked out before we even knew she was a girl. I know I have 19 weeks (probably more), but I really like to be prepared. Right now, we have 2 contenders that we can agree on, but I'm not totally in love with either of them. I've read through the social security's top 1,000 name list, read a couple baby name books and am making my way through a third. Nothing is standing out to me.

6. I've been feeling convicted lately that it's my job to raise Lucy to know God - I can't rely completely on church or Veggie Tales or even eventually Christian school. So I've decided to try and reiterate at home what she learned at church on Sunday. This week she learned that God made the earth and everything in it. So we went on a "nature walk" (that lasted about 14 seconds) where she filled her little bucket with leaves and twigs and grass and flowers. Then we brought it inside, and glued it to a paper like so:

She's really been into "writing her letters" lately. All the green under what I wrote are the "letters" she wrote. :-)

7. Speaking of letters, I feel the need to record that Lucy is doing amazingly well learning her letters. I posted a video on facebook of her identifying letters on flashcards. The first time I did it with her, she got 15 right, 11 wrong. The second time she got 16 right. She identifies a lot of them, but can't remember what they're called. I'd like to thank her Melissa and Doug puzzle and the TV show Super Why. So proud. :-)