Another Ode to Blogs

I can't sleep--Chick woke up at 2:30 and went back to sleep, but I was not so lucky. HH left for work an hour ago, and I've been on the computer since then. I've been catching up on blogs that I didn't have time to read in the chaos of getting ready for Halloween.

Anyhow, I just wanted to say thanks! I love reading about what everyone is up to & seeing pictures and videos. This morning I was treated to two music videos--one was "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" by They Might Be Giants, and the other was "O Holy Night" sung by Renee Fleming. As polar opposite as they are, they both made me so happy! And I loved that Erin blogged about missing a painting that a friend did (it's been packed away lately)...some things are just "things" but others really enrich your life & home, you know?

Anyhow, it's been a nice morning with friends, so thanks!

Prego Pics - please help me decide!

Hi, the pregnancy portraits are done and the gallery is up, but just for a week (until Nov 6th), so hurry and take a look!

Go to http://www.sindea.org/, and click on "your session." Login is "p.j." and the password is "bebe"

I need some help in narrowing down my selection. I'm only planning to get 3 or 4 prints, and I've decided on 41 with HH for sure, leaving 2-3 prints to decide on.

My other faves are: 17 or 28 (with my Chick), and 18, 58, 68 (just me). Please let me know!

(BTW, you'll notice that my quilt & bedroom are the setting for a lot of the pics...YAY!)

New Logo Design

I finished the logo design for Sindea Horste Photography & thought that I'd share : ) It links to her new website, if you want to check out her work.

The gallery for my prego photos should be up at the end of the week...I'll post a link when it's ready!

They start so young, don't they?!

Chick isn't even 2, and already she knows the tricks. If we even SAY the words bedtime or naptime, or try to buckle her into the car when she doesn't want to go...what does she do? She signs and says "Potty!" Of course, once we get her to the potty she doesn't want to sit on it & doesn't have to go. And lately she's started signing "drink" FRANTICALLY when I say that it's naptime. Anything to stall. Is it just in the programming that they know to do it so young?!

Speaking of my Chick, she's going to be a sheep for Halloween (I have yet to make the costume). But I was thinking that maybe she should be Ophelia Frump (Morticia's sister from the Addam's family).... except that she says "baa" so cutely!

In my last post I mentioned that one thing I like about autumn is the apples on the tree in the yard. Here's a picture of part of the tree.

Last night was my midwife appointment. We're to the "every week" part, which is just crazy. I have about a month left still, but that's really not very long. But anyhow, everything was good, but the baby seems to be measuring a little small. I don't know how the measurements were with my last pregnancy, but it's unsettling to me to have anything seem amiss. The measurements aren't off by enough to require an ultrasound yet, but still....

Speaking of pregnancy, last night I used the free Redbox code (a new code every Monday--check in the frugality posts to the right to find the code) and got Baby Mama. I've got to say that it was a pretty funny movie. I thought it would either be too stupid or have too much yucky stuff in it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It did have swearing and anatomy stuff (really, how could you have a movie about pregnancy and not?) but it was cleaner than it could have been, and had a nice ending. Very cute.

And lastly, yesterday I made 3 pans of chicken enchiladas--one for eating this week, and two for freezing. So now I have 11 meals ready + beans & tortillas + muffins. I was going to make the tortillas yesterday, but decided to get real & just bought the mega pack from Cash & Carry. I only used half for the enchiladas, so now we have a good stash in the freezer.

Oh Shoot...Bonnie tagged me

Ok, this is supposed to be 8 things, but I only am doing 6 because that's what I came up with

6 TV shows I Love to watch
1. America's Next Top Model
2. 90210...now you know our dirty secret!
3. Friday Night Smackdown...no, wait, that's on HH's list, not mine.
4. I loved Notes from the Underbelly, but it's not on anymore
5. Any show on HGTV!
6. Good Eats with Alton Brown

6 Places I Love to eat
1. Red Robin (used to be my least favorite until I figured out what I like there)
2. Olive Garden
3. Azteca
4. Home, when HH cooks
5. Anyone else's home, when they cook
6. Changs or any other Mongolian Grill

6 Things that happened yesterday
1. Sunday breakfasts are when I get "special" foods: yesterday was poptarts...and they burned!
2. I took a nap and woke up in the nick of time for church.
3. chick and I watched HH sing in the choir : )
4. I volunteered in the nursery because it seemed short handed
5. Chick did a great job filling in most of the animal noises when we read "Moo, Baa, La la la"
6. I read the 9th month section in "The Pregnancy Book" until I couldn't keep my eyes open

6 Things I love about Fall
1. Halloween (costumes)
2. Autumn decor
3. Christmas Prep
4. Changing colors
5. Bundling up
6. Apples on the tree in the front yard : )

6 Things on my wish list (not in order of importance)
1. "These is my Words" book
2. A couple of Italian cds (Best of Laura Pausini & Best of Nek)
3. A homemade rotating composter
4. Snapware
5. Camcorder (we have to get it soon for the birth!)
6. A healthy birth & baby

6 People I am tagging
1. - 6. You

It's my Lucky Day!

1023! So I really don't know why that's my "lucky number" and honestly I'm not convinced that it IS lucky. Thus far the only really lucky thing that's happened is that Chick slept in almost an extra hour. That meant that I got to sleep in until I woke MYSELF up! And that gave me enough energy to tackle the dishes that have been mounting up!

But really, that's all. And in the history of 1023 being my lucky number the most memorable "lucky" thing was in 1997...Provo, UT...the guy that I had a crush on asked me out on October 23rd. But actually, it wasn't really LUCKY...it was all due to my great friend NIKKO, who was his SIL and coerced him into a double date. Well, whatever works.

Finally some Pictures!

Ok, I finally took pictures. Here we go:

These are the baby gifts that I got at craft group (it doesn't show so well, but the white in front is the album)...there was also body butter & chocolates for me, and a stuffed doggie for Chick (not pictured because I put it back in it's wrapping for her to open after the baby comes).

Here's a picture of me at approximately 36 weeks.

Sorry for the glare...I didn't think about my glasses.

Here is my QUILT! ALL DONE!

Other news:
Last night was my pregnancy photo shoot, and it was SO FUN! It'll be a couple of weeks, maybe, until the proofs are up & I can link you to them. I loved that Sindea let me call the shots, but still had so many great ideas to help.

I'm also happy to announce that I had fun styling my hair for the photos and I officially like my haircut.

Ciao ciao.

A long post about my rollercoaster weekend

Friday

My Aunt took care of Chick while I got a haircut, which I like. Then we went to Walgreens, where I had my first experience with the Wonders of Walgreens and their rebate program. Unfortunately I forgot to take the "$5 off $25 purchase" coupon, so I had to return it the next day (more info on that later).

Then I went home and tried a new rice and beans bake recipe. It turned out pretty well, I think. It's from the Make a Mix cookbook. HH called it "zesty". I'm assuming that's good, since he wouldn't elaborate, but he did eat it.

Speaking of HH, he went to a Cashflow game night and left Chick and I here sick with colds. I was not happy about being left "alone" on a Friday night, but he did bring me a movie that I've been wanting to see. It was PS: I love you. Here's my review...

I really loved this movie, though I was weepy through pretty much the whole thing! I can't recommend it hands down, though, due to a lot of swearing & sexy stuff. It wasn't enough to make me not like it, though (Unlike Catch & Release, which had so little to redeem it that I would NEVER watch it again).

Saturday

Started out great. We got to lay in bed and chat for a while before I rushed out the door to pick up my quilt from the quilter's! It's gorgeous...hopefully it'll be all done tomorrow and I'll post pictures. Then I ran a couple of grocery/shopping errands (Top Foods had a great price on Dole frozen juices), and rushed home (late) to swap childcare & car with HH who went to a scouts outing. While he was gone, Chick and I took naps on the living room floor and worked on laundry and tidying. He got home with tales of woe about the Jeep, which really has had a rough year & we're getting sick of it!

Then I made deviled eggs (a bit too salty, but they were gobbled up regardless), and got ready to go to my craft group. While I was getting ready the Chick didn't get to the potty in time, so she showed me a pile of pooh on the living room rug (as well as some in the potty). Somehow she managed to get some on herself too, so I stuck her in the bathtub, cleaned up the carpet, and hurried to get ready (by that time I was really late).

I rushed down to Walgreens, returned everything & rebought it with the coupon (they were REALLY nice and helpful about it) and bought some more. Then I went (very late) to craft group. That was definitely a highpoint for me that day--I got to sit and visit with the girls, eat yummy food, laugh, AND I got presents! They surprised me with a baby shower. It's great--chocolates for mama (I'm eating some now, as a matter of fact), a present for Big Sister Chick, and baby stuff--a rattle, some soft soft blankets, and an 8x8 album with baby themed papers, rub-ons, etc. I've never done 8x8, and had some misgivings about changing the size for the baby's book, but I'm excited to try something new & HH says as long as it's personalized it'll be great. Anyhow, it was really a fun evening, and I got to start on my quilt binding too. I got home and Chick was in bed, and HH and I cuddled in front of the tv until we were both dozing off.

Sunday

I slept in, put dinner in the crock pot & made DELICIOUS (with secret ingredient) rice crispies to have for dessert. I took a long time getting ready (using some of my new free stuff from Walgreens!), and we went to church. Church was great except that I was having trouble staying awake. Thankfully Stacy shared some trailmix with me, which helped a lot.

We had signed up for the missionaries to come to dinner, but they cancelled, so we had a nice dinner and dessert AND a relaxing evening. The power went out for about an hour, but just as I was starting to light candles the power came back on.

I started working in earnest on my quilt binding, and HH and I got in a disagreement about financial tactics. It's an ongoing disagreement, and one that makes me really frustrated (we don't normally disagree about fundamental ideas), and it ended up with me feeling like he's going to just do what he wants to do anyhow (which is no way to be in a partnership...my opinion is valid too, you know). So I sequestered myself in our room and worked on the quilt binding until almost midnight. I got 2.5 sides done, so I should be able to finish today.

Today

Chick is fussy & I realized that I made a mistake when figuring out the Walgreens rebates (and have to take more stuff back), but we had a good breakfast, I've spent some "therapy" time online, and my Mom just called from their cruise--they're about to go ashore in Hawaii for the first time and they're having a great time : )

That's all. As in the words of Disney's Robin Hood, "sometimes the ups outnumber the downs"...I think that's the case for my weekend, but it's so much nicer when the ups really slaughter the downs.

What I've been up to

Hi. So this week I've been pretty lazy, really. But I have accomplished a couple of things. I've done extra cooking & baking to get ready for the baby. I made extra pear bread muffins, pizza crusts, pinto beans (some mashed for burritos, some left whole), and a casserole--all snuggly sitting in my freezer. Oh, the pinto beans aren't in the freezer yet. They will be though. I still have a lot of cooking ahead of me--I want to have a 1 month supply in the freezer, but I'm doing it a little each day (last pregnancy I did a TON in one day and was sore and exhausted at the end of the day).

Anyhow, besides that I've been learning a lot about couponing. I use coupons--like the 40% coupons for Michaels & JoAnns, or 20% off at Bed Bath & Beyond... but I have never used manufacturers coupons or learned about "stacking" coupons. I've spent (wasted?) a ton of time reading up about it on frugality blogs, etc. I hope to report lots of money saved in the future months : )

Aside from that stuff I've been totally lazy. Chick and I both have colds, so we've been slugs. Today I'm going to get my hair cut, because I get to have prego portraits taken soon! I'm really excited about that. The session is actually in payment for Handsome Handyman putting in a window at the photographer's house--sweet of him to choose a fun photo shoot for me rather than plain ol' money! She's given me the option of doing a logo design to use for print credits, too, so I may go that route. Anyhow, I didn't do professional pictures last pregnancy, so this is a fun new thing this time around!

Oh, and lastly, I had a midwife appointment on Monday. All is great thus far--my blood pressure is down, I've gained 25 pounds total, and I've not started dilating or anything (that's good, because my parents are on a cruise and I was paranoid about early labor). I'm at 35 weeks right now (give or take a week).

Ode to Blogs

I want to take a moment and thank all of you fellow bloggers out there. Not only do I get to share a little of my life with anyone that will take time to read about it, but I also am being totally inspired.

Today I came across a link to a new blog. It's a woman who made a new years resolution to use her crock pot every day for a year. Not only is it an incredibly creative new years resolution, which is inspiring all on it's own, but then I also get to be inspired by the recipes!

Of course she's not the only one. Nikko's blog shows me how to be a domestic Goddess (I'm just in training). Stacy's blog had a great idea not only to have FHE (ok, not HER great idea...I have heard that one before) but to pattern the lessons from her daughter's primary manual (I totally need to get the new nursery class manual so that I can copy the idea)! Katie's blog is interactive and thought provoking (I love that she asks questions). I could name something cool from everyone's blogs, but the Chick is running around in just underwear and I think I should attend to her....

So, I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration. Handsome Handyman says that I could get just as inspired by sitting on a park bench with friends while the kids played...true enough, but what about my cool friends in other states? And crockpot lady who I don't actually know?! You just can't beat the internet sometimes.