21.5 Weeks.

I'm not typically a weekend updater, but I realized that by Monday this picture will be null and void, since I will technically be twenty-two weeks then and not twenty-one like I am in this picture.

HUGE DIFFERENCE here, people. Ha ha.

And ... the chances of me getting another picture taken in the near future are pretty slim.

So, here you have it:

The baby bump.

Have a lovely weekend.

Creamy. Yummy.

When it comes to soups, I'm a huge creamy soup fan. You know, the kind that isn't as good for you and usually involves significant amounts of fat and such. YUM!

As I made my menu for the week, I perused teh Internets for a creamy chicken noodle soup recipe that I could make in the good ol' crock-pot. I didn't find one that I loved, but I found parts of several that I loved, so I put them all together and made my own.

Oh my. Oh MY.

It was creamy, rich, amazingly yummy. My husband praised it and my kids devoured their bowls. I also devoured my fair share. So, if you're in the mood for something creamy and hot as the cold weather rolls in, here is my recommendation:

Way Yummy Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

You will need:

4 cups chicken stock

2 cans cream of chicken soup (I usually try to be all healthy and shy away from using "cream of ..." soups, but this time? NAH.)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (remember me not being healthy?)

2-3 cups chicken, shredded (or chopped or whatever you prefer)

3/4 bag of egg noodles

veggies of your choosing (chopped carrots, chopped celery, chopped green onion, etc.)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Dump everything in your crock-pot except the noodles. Cook on high for roughly thirty minutes, and then set to low.

Let it simmer all day and make your house smell amazing.

About thirty minutes before meal time, dump in the egg noodles.

Cook noodles until satisfied (I let mine thoroughly cook so they would have a dumpling-like creamy texture).

Add salt and pepper as needed.

(NOTE: I'm going to go ahead and recommend that you make your own chicken stock. I know, it sounds like a pain if you've never done it before, but it's way easy and you just can't beat the rich flavor. I seasoned my stock with garlic, green onions, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and it tasted amazing. I like making my own stock because I can control the salt content (I think store-bought tends to taste a bit salty, and the low-sodium option tastes a bit bland ... I guess I need a happy medium!). Especially when I'm using other canned soups which are already salty enough--it's nice to have a mellow but rich stock. I also used my chicken from the stock and it was all flavorful and yummy and YUM.)

Dump in bowls and watch your family devour it!

Happy eating, friends!

Have a lovely weekend.

Cheers.

It wasn't until I was pregnant with Naomi that I had a false alarm.

I mean, she was my second. Meaning I HAD DONE THIS BEFORE and really, should know how contractions and labor and baby pains and all of that felt.

So, one night I laid in bed with what I thought was horrible back labor. Ughhh. It was searing and uncomfortable. Back labor was the primary labor I experienced with Cub, so it was all I knew. I was about 37 weeks, so my husband called his brother to come and stay with Caleb while he and I headed to the hospital.

After much monitoring and adjusting and urine sampling they came in and told me I was dehydrated.

Note: DEHYDRATION MIMICS BACK LABOR.

I had no idea. I drank water all day and all night but it didn't seem to matter. They said they were glad I came in because I needed to be put on fluids to catch up to the hydration level I needed to be.

This time around, I'm feeling just as dry.

I joke that coffee is my primary beverage of consumption but, of course, it's not. I drink my allotted amount, maybe ... three times a week? And if you ask my friends they will tell you: I never finish a cup. I'm a slow drinker and a slow eater and by the time I'm halfway through my delectable brew, it's cold and I'm done.

Weird.

So, after I've had my approximate 4 ounces of coffee, I spend the rest of the day guzzling water in the lovely blue mug pictured above. Classy, yes? My husband picked it up for me at Lambert's Cafe when he was a sponsor for our church's junior high camp. So romantic. But, really, it's been quite useful. Every morning I fill it up with ice and then fill it with water, and guzzle away. By the end of the day, I normally have consumed four or five of these bad boys.

Please note the mug is the size of my head. This ain't no easy task.

What's crazier is that I fill it up before bed and continue drinking it all night. I'm THAT DRY. And my coffee days are no drier than my non-coffee days. I live in a perpetual state of thirst. Weird. What's even weirder is that in my pregnancy with Cub, when I was pregnant allllllll summer long and drank a lot of coffee (I was working then and Starbucks happened to be on my way to work ... wait, no it wasn't .... but it was still easier to access ... excuses, excuses ...) and I wasn't dehydrated one bit. Ever.

Huh?

So, can someone please tell me if this is a blood sugar thing, maybe? In your expert opinions? I'm borderline hypoglycemic and my glucose tests in pregnancy are always very low, so I have to wonder if that matters ...?

Anyway. Back to my blue mug.

Have a lovely day!

The Front Living Room.

After receiving two atrocious (horrific, terrifying, half-of-what-we-pay-for-our-mortgage) electric bills in a row this summer, we decided it was time to cover the windows in the formal living room, which is the room you see first when you walk in our front door past our entryway. I had left the windows uncovered because the light! The beautiful light! was gorgeous and I loved how it streamed through onto the floor.

I did not, however, like how it helped keep our house at oven temps.

So, after tearing open one of the atrocious electric bills, I hopped in the minivan and sped to Hobby Lobby. I purchased lots of fabric, some curtain clips, a curtain rod, and sped home. I did a really terrible job installing the curtain rods (can we say crazy-lady-stripped-screws?) but by the end of the evening, we had curtains (read: strips of fabric).

I liked how tall they were, how they touched the molding and pooled on the floor, accentuating the eight-foot ceilings. However, the color was always a bit ... dark, clashing with the muted green walls, and I quickly discovered that curtains that pool on the floor become instant targets to two toddlers who like to wrap themselves in fabric. One of the brackets pulled loose and dangled precariously for a few days (eh, remember the stripped screws?) before I finally decided that the blazing days of summer were over, the cool days of fall were beginning to make their appearance, and, thusly, it was time to brighten up the room again.

I bought some sheer curtains, a new curtain rod, and with renewed ambition, I took down the old rod and brackets, filled in the gaping holes (eh, remember the stripped screws?) with spackle and touched them up with paint, and installed this new rod with more precision and, now, expertise.

(Note: tapping a nail and then removing it in the place where you intend to put a screw is a handy way to help the screws go in like butter, especially when you are standing on a step ladder, pregnant, while holding a power tool.)

The room instantly lightened.

The curtains touch the bottom of the window sill (the windows are especially low in this room, so I think it looks fine ... and is much, eh, safer with the kiddos) and while they don't reach as high as the others did, I think this looks more proportionate. I like.

As the days grow chilly, I know I'll appreciate the sunny patch on the floor, keeping the house warm. And bright.

Ta-Da!

Have a lovely day.

Itchy.

I really love getting my hair cut. The lady who cuts my hair is amazing. Her name is Connie and I have a hard time referring to her as my "hairdresser" because she is my slightly older and much wiser friend and "hairdresser" just sounds so ... not friend-ish. She does everything out of her house which is wonderfully relaxed and I've been known to sneak over when my friend is getting her hair done, just so I can sit and chat with the two of them.

You get the idea.

So, the other day, I slumped into Connie's chair and whined that I needed a change. As she nodded and "Mmm-hmm"ed, she parted my hair and our jaws both dropped.

It was there.

DANDRUFF.

Three flakes. THREE. I have never had dandruff (dry hair, but not a dry scalp) and I sat there with my jaw dropped, stunned that this pregnancy not only cheated me out of the voluptuous curly hair I had with the other two, but that it also added DANDRUFF.

A fat belly and dandruff. Sweet! High fives all around!

She suggested that before I reach for a default bottle of Head & Shoulders, I should instead try Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner. She said it would work like a charm and then she snipped away, once again reading my mind and cutting my hair exactly the way I wanted without me being able to describe it accurately. She's awesome that way.

I then started my hunt for this stuff.

Target is where I purchase my typical Matrix hair stuff, so I looked there first. I'm not sure if they didn't carry it or if I was looking for the standard black and white Paul Mitchell bottles, but either way, I couldn't find it there. I was bummed. A few days later I took Cub to a kind of hole-in-the-wall salon where he's had his hair cut since he was born and waited patiently while he sat through his trim. I happened to glance up at their (small) product shelves and lo and behold, there was the stuff! On sale, no less! So, I purchased the shampoo and conditioner set and rushed home to wash my hair.

Oh, y'all. Love it. LOVE IT.

Slightly tingly with a great fresh scent. I don't feel like my scalp is burning. And, best of all, the finished product is ridiculously smooth, clean hair. My hair felt light as a feather. Love.

So, if you happen to peer into the mirror and see a few little flakes waving at you from your scalp, may I suggest you try Paul Mitchell Tea Tree formula shampoo and conditioner. You will not regret it, and then you can wave GOODBYE to those pesky flakes.

Have a lovely day!