Fashionable bump

I honestly enjoy being pregnant, nausea and all. I remember dreaming of being pregnant when I was younger and fearing it both for the obvious pain during labor and the torturous 9 months. It seems everyone is quick to tell you the negative aspects of pregnancy and seldom share the sheer joy of the experience. I know it's not a bed of roses for every mother but I suppose I've been lucky because I look back on my first experience very fondly.

One aspect that this penny-pincher didn't like then and still doesn't like now is maternity clothes. Don't get me wrong, the fashionistas out there have paved the way for many more favorable options but for a practicalist (I realize that's not a word), buying a bunch of clothes that you'll only wear for a couple months is just nonsensical. This doesn't mean that I don't check the various maternity sites frequently but it's hard for me to break down and actually buy something. I'm cheap, yes I know. I'm beginning to enter the transition stage where my regular clothes are getting tighter but I'm trying to stay out of my maternity clothes for as long as I can. As I sit with my pants cutting off the circulation, I find myself looking...a lot.

Here are some of the temptations I've seen lately:

How cute would this be for a wedding or special occasion?!

Perhaps I'm longing for warmer weather with this one but I love Lily and the colors she uses.

Thankfully, there's Old Navy and Target for us cheapskates. Even with those I wait for sales (: I guess I might be waiting a while for a sale on these summer things since it's only January!

White Chicken Chili and Cornbread

It doesn't take me long to get adjusted to a new routine. Not searching for recipes and other new and different meal ideas has given me a much needed break. I must admit that it's kind of nice to come home and not have to run around the kitchen trying to figure out a new recipe in 30 minutes. I still love the idea of new and different menu items but at this point, I'm fine with just one of those a week. Knowing me, I'm sure that 1 will quickly increase to 2, which will turn into 3, etc.

Last week I finally braved chicken again. That has been one thing that I haven't been able to touch since November. I felt like I had conquered the world after cutting it up! I took full advantage and made enough for Chicken Pot Pie and White Chicken Chili.

I'm not sure why but White Chili has been showing up all over the blog world lately. I'm guessing the frigid temperatures might have something to do with it. Nonetheless, it caught my attention and got my craving level up - and you know what they say about pregnant ladies and their cravings! I don't either but I'm sure it's something bad. I read so many recipes but ultimately decided to just take bits and pieces of all of them to create something more suited for our tastes. Here's what I came up with.

White Chicken Chili

by Danielle

1 double chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1/2 cup diced onion

3 garlic cloves

1 T. olive oil

2 (14.5 oz) cans cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

4 splashes of hot sauce (I prefer Sriracha)

1 (4.5 oz) can diced green chiles

2-3 cups low sodium chicken broth, depending on the thickness you prefer

2 T. cornmeal

1/4 cup sour cream, plus more for garnish

shredded monterey jack cheese for topping

In a dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft and transparent, about 5-7 minutes. Add chicken, beans and next 7 ingredients (thru stock). Simmer 25 minutes. As you stir, try to mash some of the beans with the back of your spoon to thicken the soup. Add cornmeal and mix well. Simmer an additional 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sour cream and stir to blend. Serve immediately with additional sour cream and shredded cheese.

Serves 4-6

To go with the soup, I made Art Smith's Cornbread. Art was Oprah's personal chef for years before opening his own restaurant in Chicago. His style is definitely southern comfort so I thought he'd surely know his stuff when it came to cornbread. The recipe was good but I wasn't blown away by it. I thought it could use a touch more sweetness and a little richer flavor (butter). It's a good, solid recipe though and would be great if you were looking to use it for cornbread dressing, cornbread salad, or something else that will later absorb moisture from the dish. I just love that I got to use one of my grandmother's iron skillets to make it!

Super Easy Turtles

Somehow during my first pregnancy I became known as the "treat lady" and was expected to bring one each and every visit. My sister works at the office and she had a little influence on me. I'm not sure if it was the treats or my sister but I'm certainly not complaining about the great attention I received during my entire stint at their office. That's one place you want to make friends, so treats seemed like the least I could do. I honestly never would have even thought of bringing a treat to any medical office until my sister informed me people did it all the time, especially at Christmas.

Since I set the standard the first time around, I feel obligated to continue the tradition with this pregnancy and office visits. Admittedly, I don't have quite the amount of free time I had the first go round but I'm making do thus far (there's only been 2). I found this recipe long ago and decided to save it for this very occasion. Seriously, this has to be the easiest and tastiest little treat you could make.

Easy Turtles

1 bag small pretzels

1 bag individually wrapped Rolo candies

1 bag halved pecans

Preheat oven to 220. Spread pretzels in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Unwrap Rolos and place one on each pretzel. Pop them in the oven for 2 minutes. They may not seem like they've melted enough but they'll continue to melt on the warm cookie sheet. Take a pecan half and press onto the Rolo, squishing it down a bit. Remove from the warm cookie sheet to your serving platter. That's it!

The baby, through Colin's eyes

Wes and I told Colin fairly soon after we found out I was pregnant that he was going to be a big brother. I should have expected his nonchalant response but there was a little part of me that hoped he'd prove me wrong and jump up and down with excitement. No, he just looked at me, said, "oh" and moved on to the next topic, which I'm sure was either food or books.

Since then I've used him to tell my mom, dad, and some friends that Mommy had a baby in her belly. I thought it was a cute way to spread the news and it didn't involve me getting all nervous and sweaty. He often gets asked if he wants a brother and sister and his reply has always been, "both." Hmm, not so much this time around but I guess that's what we get for asking.

Wes and I have both tried to actively talk about the baby to Colin and I've certainly used it multiple times to try to encourage him to a) sleep in a big boy bed, b) use the big boy potty, and most recently c) eat like a big boy. I'm not too proud to use a little psychological bribery to get the end result I want. None of them have worked thus far but this relentless, nagging mother hasn't given up the good fight yet.

Now for some funnies courtesy of Colin. I overheard him one night ask Wes if he had a baby in his belly. Then he wanted to know if he, Colin, had a baby in his belly. Wes explained to him that only mommies have babies. He was quiet for moment while he took that in but that seemed to appease him.

Tonight Wes asked him what he thought we should name his brother or sister and he first reassured us he wanted 2 and then decided "super babies" would be an appropriate name (that's a Dora reference). He also asked if he could show the baby his room. I think he's starting to get the hint that this is real and there really is a baby coming to live with us. I'm anxious to see and hear what he says once my belly really starts getting big. Note: it's already big, just not REALLY big yet!

Cravings and Gingerbread Waffles

While the gender of our little bean is still unknown, there are a few differences I've experienced between this pregnancy and the one with Colin. First and foremost is the unfortunate arrival of nausea. Unfortunately, it's not morning sickness where I get sick in the morning and that's it. No, I'm lucky enough to get to deal with it all day. I now realize how blessed I was to not have to experience one iota of sickness with Colin. You know what they say, boys are nice to their mommies, while girls take all the beauty. Whatever the gender ends up being (one more month until we find out), I'm hopeful the few nausea-free days I had last week will soon become the norm rather than the exception.

During that short window of hope last week, I delved into my recipe collection and ceased the opportunity to get back in the kitchen. I know most people would appreciate the excuse to stay out of the kitchen but it's a passion of mine and I feel like part of me has been missing since early November. I have a couple of recipes and posts in the pipelines but first up is a great recipe for Gingerbread Waffles. I first found this on A's blog and wanted to make it right away. I did, several months ago, but I omitted the molasses and quickly realized that was a mistake and that molasses is a key component of gingerbread. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, I vowed to try them again after I got some molasses. Wow, have I been missing out or what?! These were great and although A modified the recipe a bit to satisfy her family, I kept it as written and thought it was perfect. These would be perfect for a weekend breakfast or part of breakfast for dinner, as we did.

The best $1 I ever spent!

I heart Target. Who doesn't though, right? I also LOVE their $1 bins and can't seem to go in without checking them out. You never know when there might be a new treasure in there just waiting to be discovered. On one recent visit I discovered these:

I fondly remembered these from my childhood and thought Colin would probably like them too. Wes sort of gave me that look like he wasn't so sure but I was pretty confident, so I just disregarded the look.

I'm not one to rub it in but boy was I right! Colin started asking about his "toy" as soon as we got home. Sometimes I have brief waves of parenting brilliance and this was one of those times. I told him if he took a good nap, we could play with ONE "magic capsule." Seriously, their minds are like sponges. I only said it one time and he already locked it into memory!

Well 2 hours later, no nap, but Colin had expanded his vocabulary by 2 words, magic and capsule. As soon as I walked in his room he asked if we got to play with the magic capsules. I told him no since he hadn't taken a nap. That was a sad moment.

We got over it but the next morning he called to us from his crib saying, "Mommy, Daddy, can I play with my magic capsule now?" I guess the missing nap totally discombobulated him and he thought he had just taken a nap. Nonetheless, we got to play with one at breakfast. He loved it but was a little impatient waiting for it to pop out of the capsule. Then he wanted to know if we could put it back - I'm assuming so we could watch it pop again.

Since then, we've developed a little bribery system with these gems (they're magic to me too). To get him to take a bath, he gets to use TWO capsules. The first night, he attempted to remove his own clothes just to get in there faster. Keep in mind bath time typically involves a chase, resistance, and otherwise hatred of the whole event. Not anymore! He also gets one after a good nap if I'm home (weekends).

We still have 4 more and I'm holding on to them for dear life. I think I need to go stock up though and hope the novelty doesn't wear off anytime soon! I strongly suggest you go pick some of these up yourself and even if you don't use them as bribery like I have, I think your children will love watching them hatch, or pop. It's the best $1 I've spent in a long time!!

I've waited and waited...

...but it's finally time to share a secret with you, my lovely blog readers. I've been keeping something from you all for over 3 months now. What is it? Let's think back over some of the subtle hints I've been leaving. I told you at the beginning of December that I was taking a brief break from the blog for a while - there was a reason for it. As I mentioned in my last post, I've also taken a recipe hiatus - yep, there was a reason for that too. You see, that little trip Wes and I took back in November had a little more significance than just our Christmas gift to one another, it was a chance for me to reveal my little secret with Wes.

As we dined at the very special Alinea, I gave Wes a card. Not just any card, an invitation. He took it very suspiciously and kept asking what it was. He opened it and it said "You're Invited" on the front. He looked curiously at me. The inside was like a typical invitation with the "who, when, where, time" details. It read something like this:

Where: Central Baptist Hospital

When: July 10, 2010

Time: TBA

For a moment, he sat paralyzed. He said, "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes!" I said.

He apologized for not saying anything but said he was shocked and surprised. I completely understood and our server broke the silence by asking something about our dinner. There was a permanent smile on both of our faces the rest of the night. Our dinner would have been special without the news but it was made even sweeter with the news of our newest peapod!

I had kept this a secret for about 5 days and those were the longest 5 days of my life! I wanted to do something special to deliver the news though. It was worth it to see the look on his face and then share in the excitement over a super special dinner.

Oh and to decipher the hints, the break was because I was super exhausted all the time and typically went to bed by 8:30! The recipe hiatus was because I was (and still am) nauseous pretty much all day. I have no trouble eating but preparing the food isn't always fun. I'm glad to report that both of those issues have subsided substantially in the last couple of days.

More stories to come about how Colin is handling all of this and the pregnancy itself. By the way, my due date is still in question but it's either July 6th or 12th. We find out the gender next month!

Phew, it feels much better to get that off my chest and share my secret with all of you. I apologize to those of you who are reading the news here for the first time and that I haven't had a chance to tell you in person. I've tried to contact some of you but everyone is busy and I hope you'll accept my apologies for not telling you in person.

Momma's New Toy

I think I told you that Wes and I agreed to not exchange gifts this Christmas. We decided to allow our little jaunt to Chicago in November serve as our gift to one another. It turned out to be a win, win for both of us because we got to eat at some fabulous places and didn't have to try to figure out some useless gift that the other really didn't need or want. I enjoyed the time to be able to focus on Colin and absorb some of his happiness!

After Christmas I thought of several things I would have liked, had we been exchanging - why is it that you can always think of ideas after the holiday (Christmas or birthday) but not before? Maybe it's just me. Well one of the things was actually something I've been wanting for a long time, Photoshop. I decided to treat myself and buy just the basic PS Elements.

I've had it now for about a week and I've already experience frustration, defeat, and finally sweet success! I got the Mac version and apparently there isn't a way to transfer your pictures from iPhoto straight to PS, you have to put them in a separate place on your hard drive. I'm only sharing that in case there is some other poor sole who has spent the last hour online trying to find out why they are brain dead!

I'm still learning the ropes and I have A LOT to learn. I know there are a lot of applications that aren't available for Elements but I know there are lots that are and some people (the Pioneer Woman) are even generous enough to offer free downloadable actions.

Here's a sampling of my first effort. Here's the before that was edited with iPhoto:

...and then the after using Photoshop.

It's so much crisper and the color is better, I think. Here's another example. I wish you could see the color on my basement wall because this is so darn close, you could use this as a paint chip to match the paint!

This one's color was so bad I resorted to sepia to disguise my flash faux pas:

But no faux pas with PS (except the obvious operator malfunction with his moving arm).

Do you use Photoshop and do you love it? I'd love any tips or tricks you might have for a newbie! At this point, don't assume I know anything! Is there a great site or a book you'd recommend? Remember my time is somewhat limited so a 1000 page textbook is probably out of the question!

Hopefully as I get more familiar with both the camera and PS, you'll see an improvement with my pictures. Geesh, no pressure!

Recipe Hiatus

You may have noticed the absence of recipes during the holidays and there was a good reason (still to come), I promise. I've still been in the kitchen, I just haven't been making any new things. It's been nice to not have to search for recipes but it's also been sort of sad to not get to try new things. I know Wes has appreciated getting some of the "tried and true" dishes of yesteryear but I'm ready for a change.

This weekend I broke the cycle and made some homemade biscuits. After finding this recipe and declaring my search was over, there was still a part of me that got googly-eyed every time I saw a recipe for delicious, flaky biscuits. I came across a recipe several months ago on Mommy's Kitchen of a Southern Living recipe. She echoed my same difficulties of making biscuits, yet declared this recipe to be a winner. With her step by step pictured directions, I was set. Mine still didn't turn out quite as puffy as I would have liked, I think the taste was there and I think I learned to just not roll them out as much next time. The concept of folding the dough on top of itself like a letter is brilliant and provides the air in between the layers that my kneading just does not. I'm anxious to keep tweaking this one to see if I can actually satisfy myself! By the way, if you don't already read her blog, she's a great southern cook and has lots of great recipes with great looking pictures!

The Trying Two's

I apologize for the lapse in posts but I just couldn't think of anything blogworthy. Not that everything I write is profoundly interesting but I at least try to keep you entertained for the brief time you're reading. This post should provide you a good little chuckle or two, or perhaps a little bit of sympathy or compassion for me, the mother of a 2.5-year old! No one said this job would be easy!

Up until just recently, turning 2 was pretty uneventful in the behavior department. Just like any other parent I had heard such horror stories about the "terrible 2's" that I feared that day like the plague. But that day came and went and nothing seemed to happen. That is until now. The stories, the blatant disregard to directions, the overuse of the word "no", the throwing, the fake crying...you get the point - it's begun.

Perhaps it's a rite of passage since all toddlers seem to go through the phase at some time or another but why? How do they know they're supposed to look you dead in the eye and blatantly do what you just asked them not to do? I suppose they come programmed to test their (your) limits and push the boundaries. Unfortunately for Colin, he's run smack into a brick wall that doesn't give. He's spent more time in the "uh-oh" box (his time-out) in the last week than he has in the last 6 months. It is so incredibly frustrating to tell him no and have him smile at you while doing it anyways. This is one instance the cuteness doesn't play a role.

Apparently throwing toys is fun. We've managed to get that under control here and really hadn't had an incident for a while. Yep, just to keep me on my toes, he does it again - at school! Here's my angel of a child, looking precious in his new duds, and he decides to misbehave at school. He gets an evaluation sheet each time and it tells how he ate, slept, diapers, and behavior. Well the "great" smiley face was circled but later marked through and the "good" had been circled instead. There was a nice note beside it that said he got put in time-out for throwing a toy. As a parent, it's both upsetting and a little embarrassing. I know the teachers don't think any less of me but I just feel like it reflects poorly on my parenting skills. When I talked to him about it I told him why we don't throw and that we don't throw at home or school or anywhere for that matter. He couldn't look at me but in the most pitiful voice said, "Mommy, I'm sorry." Um hello, melt my heart! I told him he didn't need to apologize to me but to his teacher. Oh and don't be fooled by the sorry line, he's used that numerous times at home to get out of trouble from purposefully pulling the track apart on his train. Can't be fooled by his devilish antics!

His new outfit from Buff:

How could you get mad at that face? Man I'm a sucker!

I'll leave you with a funny (it wasn't particularly funny at the time) story from the wee hours of this morning. Colin decided 4:30am would be a good time to wake up this morning. He yelled from his bed that "he wanted to come get in MommyDaddy bed," followed by a series of "Dadddy" calls. I was all about letting him cry it out again like the olden days but apparently Wes wasn't game for the ongoing yelling and crying. To make a long story short, he went in twice and told him to go back to sleep. Each time the silence would last for about 10 minutes before the beckoning would begin again. The last time he decided to switch things up a bit and call for "Mommy, " hoping for better results. Now typically I am a softy but not so much when it comes to my sleep! I let him talk for a while until I heard, "Mommy? Are you there? Mommy? Are you there?" I had to laugh out loud. I marched in there no-nonsense style and told him I was asleep, it wasn't time to get up, play with your animals, and I'll be back when it's time to get up. That was it, no more calling out. I'm not sure if he just needed to make sure we were both still there or what but that seemed to appease him.

This picture was taken tonight when he desperately wanted to wear my boots. Please disregard his non-matching outfit - it was a snow day here and those are his pj's with an a sweatshirt on top. Please also disregard my boots from 1997. Again, snowy = not so fashionable. After he got the boots on and demanded me to zip them up, he declared it was "perfect" as he attempted to walk in them. He's a hoot. Thankfully we have more laughs than hair-pulling episodes. I'd be worried for his safety if it were the other way around!