Wow, I had a great day today even though I still have a kick boxer residing in my midsection. First, I went to this really cheesy health fair thing that I was invited to attend by the local Crisis Pregnancy Center.
I drug a new pregnant friend along with me so that I didn't have to attend alone, and boy am I glad I did. It turns out it was not even geared toward pregnant women's health, but just health in general and we stayed about an hour so I could get my free bag of baby goodies.
Was it worth it, you ask? I guess so, I was in good company, I got a bunch of gender neutral stuff for my new baby, and I got to learn more about Asthma than I ever knew before.
Then it was home to a Kinsey ready for bed, and a hubby also ready for his nap time, so I put the little one down and escaped to..... Verizon, where I had them transfer my phone number to the total cool phone my mom gave me, like, eight months ago. I tell you, this is the slickest phone I have ever owned, and they transferred all my photos and contacts for free, so the whole adventure didn't cost me a thing, except that they talked me into a 2G photo memory chip so I can transfer photos from phone to computer in one easy step.
Considering that I have over 200 photos already cataloging the first two years of Kinsey's life on my phone, it will be nice to be able to easily and quickly transfer those to the computer and print some of them. Those candid shots that only a cell phone can catch are some of my favorites.
Next, it was home to relax a bit and then clean up my kitchen before taking on the fun-ness of making peanut butter fudge. That's right, I made fudge, and for the first time in my life I think I actually did it right.
Last year around this time I tried for the 4th time in my life to make it and it was another flop, so for Christmas my hubby got me a candy thermometer! So today I watched that thermometer like a hawk, and I think I may have success with this batch. It is still in the fridge cooling some more, but at least when I touch it, it doesn't smoosh around like the consistency of room temperature butter.
Finally, as an end of the day bonus, my liquid iron supplement arrived and so tonight I can take it and begin the process of boosting my iron and energy before the baby arrives.
Whew, if only every day was like this. So many good things. Tomorrow will be good too though. Have lots planned....
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hungry and in a Hurry...
As a pregnant woman these days, I am almost always 'sort of' hungry, and yet, I am desperate for my naps in the afternoon. So by the time I get up and get my kitchen clean I sometimes have a hard time finding something fast to cook.
Most of the week my meals are planned out to the 't', but on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights my husband skips his evening meal, and so I am highly encouraged to come up with 'no cook' meals, or to finish far enough in advance that the house no longer smells amazing when he comes home.
So this is often the dilemma. I want hot, wholesome meals these days, stick to your ribs sorts, otherwise I wake up hungry in the middle of the night. All of this to say, that I have found several recipes in the last few weeks that are fast, 30 min. or less of total prep/cook time, use ingredients that I typically have on hand, are 2 year old friendly and reheat nicely.
Here is my list I've started that I wanted to share with other busy moms:
Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
Baked Potato Soup
Quick Tuna Casserole (easily converts to easy chicken casserole)
Tex-Mex Beef 'n Potatoes (a bit longer - 45min.)
If you would like the recipes for any of these, let me know and I'll post it in it's entirety. These have become staples in my meal planning for the next few weeks, especially since the weather has been so cool. Soup just sounds good all the time!
Most of the week my meals are planned out to the 't', but on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights my husband skips his evening meal, and so I am highly encouraged to come up with 'no cook' meals, or to finish far enough in advance that the house no longer smells amazing when he comes home.
So this is often the dilemma. I want hot, wholesome meals these days, stick to your ribs sorts, otherwise I wake up hungry in the middle of the night. All of this to say, that I have found several recipes in the last few weeks that are fast, 30 min. or less of total prep/cook time, use ingredients that I typically have on hand, are 2 year old friendly and reheat nicely.
Here is my list I've started that I wanted to share with other busy moms:
Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
Baked Potato Soup
Quick Tuna Casserole (easily converts to easy chicken casserole)
Tex-Mex Beef 'n Potatoes (a bit longer - 45min.)
If you would like the recipes for any of these, let me know and I'll post it in it's entirety. These have become staples in my meal planning for the next few weeks, especially since the weather has been so cool. Soup just sounds good all the time!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Bigger & Bigger
So about a month ago I was thinking to myself, 'self, I am not nearly as big as I was with Kinsey, so maybe I won't get as big this time, maybe I will stay smaller and my hips won't hurt as bad and I will sleep better...'
Ha! Not so fast, pregnant woman, my belly is growing fast now. Growing baby is kicking it into overdrive and the stretch marks I had hoped to avoid this time have appeared. Thank goodness they don't itch yet, that is just miserable.
Still, I am anticipating the arrival of this baby so badly, and I am quickly running out of projects to distract me from dwelling on it. I call people when I have nothing to say, I get on facebook when I have nothing to post, I lay on the couch when I'm not particularly tired, and I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge when I'm not hungry. I guess it is just boredom too, but still, I feel desperate for something to occupy my time to make it seemingly pass faster.
One thing that is occupying my time is my almost two year old, Kinsey, who at least 10 times a day asks to go outside, but it is so cold and she has a runny nose already, I am loath to do so. She just doesn't have a concept yet of cold weather, and even when her little lips are quivering in the cold fall breeze, she doesn't want to come inside.
How do you explain to her that cold equals that quivering lip and a chance to be sick?
Ha! Not so fast, pregnant woman, my belly is growing fast now. Growing baby is kicking it into overdrive and the stretch marks I had hoped to avoid this time have appeared. Thank goodness they don't itch yet, that is just miserable.
Still, I am anticipating the arrival of this baby so badly, and I am quickly running out of projects to distract me from dwelling on it. I call people when I have nothing to say, I get on facebook when I have nothing to post, I lay on the couch when I'm not particularly tired, and I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge when I'm not hungry. I guess it is just boredom too, but still, I feel desperate for something to occupy my time to make it seemingly pass faster.
One thing that is occupying my time is my almost two year old, Kinsey, who at least 10 times a day asks to go outside, but it is so cold and she has a runny nose already, I am loath to do so. She just doesn't have a concept yet of cold weather, and even when her little lips are quivering in the cold fall breeze, she doesn't want to come inside.
How do you explain to her that cold equals that quivering lip and a chance to be sick?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thoughts of a Pregnant Woman
So I don't know if these are typical thoughts for a woman who is 9 months pregnant, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they are not. Oh no, I'm sure the Lord does not bring books like 'Hearts of Fire' to very many pregnant women to read in their final trimester.
I found the book at a garage sale and knew I was suppose to read it. It's by Voice of the Martyrs, but it is about 8 women around the world who have faced persecution and heartache because of their love and devotion the Jesus.
On top of that, I have been having a lot of contractions. Not painful yet, but very real and very uncomfortable, and I live in a church community that puts a lot of focus on the end times and the events that will lead up to the end of the age.
Well in Matthew 24:7-8, the Bible talks about what the birth pains will look like to some extent, 'there will be famines and earthquakes', but then it goes on to say in Matthew 24:9-10, 'Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.'
So here I am, nine months pregnant, feeling just the beginnings of birth pains, or practice birth pains, and reading a book on persecution of Christians. And some of the women in the book were betrayed or turned in by their own fellowships because the people themselves were to afraid to be persecuted, so they testified against their own.
It is a hard read most days, but the Lord has been using it I think to remove from me an immaturity and romantic view of what the end times will look like for me. In my early understanding of the end, I actually felt excited to think that I could be a martyr for Christ, because they get all the choice spots in Heaven. Yet now, having had the Lord revealing the reality to me, I am sobered and it is causing me to count the cost.
I have babies, I have a husband, and those things could be taken from me, so what would be my hearts response to the Lord if the unthinkable happened? It is a hard question, but I am glad to say that my heart is still saying 'yes' to the Lord.
Just as I would not choose to end the birth pains that I am having now, because they are a necessary step in bringing forth this beautiful baby within me, nor would I choose to end the birth pains that will lead up to the return of Christ. No matter what happens, Christ is worth it all, and although the 'global' birth pains may be harder to endure than anything I have ever experienced in my life, I would not choose to skip it, for it is necessary to bring back my Beloved Bridegroom.
So those are my thoughts of late, and I thought I would share the journey of reality that the Lord has been taking me on. When the end comes, it will be hard for Christians, especially Christian mothers, but it will be so worth it!
Blessings.
I found the book at a garage sale and knew I was suppose to read it. It's by Voice of the Martyrs, but it is about 8 women around the world who have faced persecution and heartache because of their love and devotion the Jesus.
On top of that, I have been having a lot of contractions. Not painful yet, but very real and very uncomfortable, and I live in a church community that puts a lot of focus on the end times and the events that will lead up to the end of the age.
Well in Matthew 24:7-8, the Bible talks about what the birth pains will look like to some extent, 'there will be famines and earthquakes', but then it goes on to say in Matthew 24:9-10, 'Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.'
So here I am, nine months pregnant, feeling just the beginnings of birth pains, or practice birth pains, and reading a book on persecution of Christians. And some of the women in the book were betrayed or turned in by their own fellowships because the people themselves were to afraid to be persecuted, so they testified against their own.
It is a hard read most days, but the Lord has been using it I think to remove from me an immaturity and romantic view of what the end times will look like for me. In my early understanding of the end, I actually felt excited to think that I could be a martyr for Christ, because they get all the choice spots in Heaven. Yet now, having had the Lord revealing the reality to me, I am sobered and it is causing me to count the cost.
I have babies, I have a husband, and those things could be taken from me, so what would be my hearts response to the Lord if the unthinkable happened? It is a hard question, but I am glad to say that my heart is still saying 'yes' to the Lord.
Just as I would not choose to end the birth pains that I am having now, because they are a necessary step in bringing forth this beautiful baby within me, nor would I choose to end the birth pains that will lead up to the return of Christ. No matter what happens, Christ is worth it all, and although the 'global' birth pains may be harder to endure than anything I have ever experienced in my life, I would not choose to skip it, for it is necessary to bring back my Beloved Bridegroom.
So those are my thoughts of late, and I thought I would share the journey of reality that the Lord has been taking me on. When the end comes, it will be hard for Christians, especially Christian mothers, but it will be so worth it!
Blessings.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
I'm Back!
Well, I am back I think to the blogspot reality. I was gone for almost a year, and in that time I tried facebook, which I have come to decide is a total waste of my time. I don't like reading about people drinking their coffee or where they are going to dinner. I want to read more interesting things, things that reflect more of the person that I am reading about and what they are interested in.
So I have come back to blogspot and I plan to keep up with it this time. If I can spend half the time on here that I spend on FB, then I should be able to keep family and friends more updated on daily life here in Kansas City.
The only thing blogspot doesn't have that FB has is farmville, which might be a good thing in the long run...
So I have come back to blogspot and I plan to keep up with it this time. If I can spend half the time on here that I spend on FB, then I should be able to keep family and friends more updated on daily life here in Kansas City.
The only thing blogspot doesn't have that FB has is farmville, which might be a good thing in the long run...
Friendship Bread Explosion
So if anyone has ever gotten one of the Cinnamon Bread/Friendship Bread starters that smells a lot like yeast in a gallon zip lock baggie, then you probably also got the instructions that say much the bag, and some of them even say, let air out of the bag daily.
Well I have done many, many of these starters i my day and I know the drill, and yet somehow yesterday I forgot to let the air out. What resulted was not a complete surprise, but still a total mess and the end of my starter. I will now have to bum another starter off of a friend and take better care next time to let all the air out.
Attached is a picture I took with my phone - it was quite a sight to wake up to, with what looked like vomit all over my counter top. Yum - but trust me, if you haven't tried it, it tastes better than it looks in this picture. :-)
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