Long Weekend and 20 Weeks

Friday night after we got off work we went to Montgomery and went with Rich and Melissa and the boys to Bicknell to eat pizza. YUM! It was so good. We went back to their house when we were done and hung out for awhile.

Saturday we were at home all day... Ryan painted the front living room red. When the paint started going on I wasn't so sure what I had been thinking, BUT now that it's dry I love it! The room is still a disaster because we're getting new trim- which is currently sitting in our garage waiting to be painted. We went to Home Depot Saturday night to pick it up. Our old trim was really ugly and... well old... so we figured since we were redoing we might as well like it.

Sunday we went to church and then to Ryan's parents for lunch. It was so good and it was the one time in like 2 weeks that I've actually been full! We came home and I was so tired and my back was aching so I layed down and tried to take a nap, but couldn't fall asleep. Boo. We went to my parents for supper and to visit with my grandma a bit since she is leaving for Arizona this week.

I was so excited to be off work today. Perks of a government job I suppose. Thank you Christopher Columbus. :) B and I cuddled and watched cartoons this morning and then headed to Washington to run a few errands. I cleaned today... with lots of breaks to hang out with my little man. It was a nice day off with a perfect mix of relaxing and accomplishing things that needed doing around.

Brycen wants to be a "jack hammer man" for Halloween. Lol. Not sure where he came up with that one... but we ordered a toy jack hammer online and he got this hard hat for .50 :) I'm pretty sure he'll be the cutest "jack hammer man" around!

20 Weeks. Today marks 20 weeks... which I'm happy to say is past my halfway!

What I've noticed this past week is that my posture is terrible and my back is really starting to ache. I've def. felt this little guy a lot more which is very reassuring. He's more of a squirmer/wiggler as opposed to my other two boys who were def. kickers! We'll see if the kicker comes out in C or if his personality is just much different than his two older brothers.

People keep asking Brycen if he is excited about being a big brother- it warms my heart that he tells them, "I'm already a big brother, now my mommy is going to have THREE boys!" He is so wise.

Soup-er Friday... I mean Saturday!

Courtney is doing crock pot recipes this week! I have to say the crock pot is one of my favorite kitchen appliances!! Like Courtney though, I def. pull mine out more in the fall/winter months. At my bridal shower they had everyone bring their favorite recipes. I loved this (and I know lots of people do it) because it gave me lots of ideas as a newly married bride. One of those recipes was from a lady I worked with at the bank at the time. It's called:





Easy Cheesy Crockpot Chicken





You will need-


6 chicken breasts


2 cans cream of chicken soup


1 can cheddar cheese soup


garlic powder (to taste)


salt and pepper (to taste)





Sprinkle chicken w/ salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place in the crockpot. Mix together the soups and pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 6 hours.





Can serve this over rice or noodles.





I haven't made this for a long time... now I'm thinking I need to!





I also have a recipe for--



Crockpot Baked Beans (this was my Great Granny Shoultz's recipe). I always make this for those family dinners that are so much more abundant in the fall/winter with all the holidays.


You will need-

2lbs drained beans
1/4 c maple syrup
4 tbsp bbq sauce
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c ketchup
1 to 1.5 lbs ground beef (cooked and drained)
bacon bits (the real bacon kind)
small onion chopped (we don't like onion at our house so i just use chopped onion spice for the flavoring

Combine ingredients in crockpot. Cook on high for 5 hours then turn on low/heat (whichever your crockpot has).

I usually double this recipe to take somewhere.
I'm not a huge fan of baked beans and I like these :) maybe it's all that sugar... lol :)

Now ya'll go on over and share your favorite crock pot recipe.

I'm making chili in mine today for supper! YUM!!!!! :) I can't wait to eat it! Seriously, I don't do much except eat these days!! :) haha

Verse-a-Day

"I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

Isaiah 12:2


This verse really touched my heart today. I have a problem with worrying and being afraid, of many different things. It is much easier to speak "of" the truth than it is to live it out though. I KNOW the Lord is my strength and my song... and my salvation, but I need to do a better job of living that out. It is so hard to fully trust HIS plan for my life instead of MY plan. The unknown is always scary, but the Lord says there is no need to be afraid.

If I can pray for you today (or tomorrow) or whenever, please let me know. Our burdens are always so much lighter when lifted to the Lord.

Please, pray for me. Pray that I can get through the rest of this pregnancy with the joy and happiness that I had while pregnant with Andon. I fear the unknown, but I'm praying not to be afraid and to trust the Lord. He is my strength and and my song... my salvation.

Appt. and Hair

Yesterday I worked until 1pm then my mom and B came and picked me up and we headed to Evansville. I had my appt. I stepped on the scales and I knew the damage was done! I told you people I've been super hungry... I wasn't lying! I had gained 6lbs in the 4 weeks since I had been there last... That makes for 7 total pounds and I'm halfway so the Dr. said, "keep eating you need it!". She actually thought it was great I had gained that much... whatever, all I heard was "keep eating" and I can def. do that! :) Actually I left there and went and got a hot fudge sunday, no joking around here! Anyway, my BP was 110/70 and Corbin's heart rate was 165. This time he actually cooperated. As soon as she put the doppler on my belly I heard it... sweet relief every time. It was actually a quick appointment... My cousin Kayla (the one having Kaydee Mae) was in the waiting room waiting to see Dr. R when I got out of my appt... she has been doing much better and they took her stitches out and she still hasn't had Kaydee which just amazes me since she has tried so hard to get out all these months! She is being induced on Friday morning if she doesn't come before then so keep them in your thoughts andn prayers for a safe delivery. I'm so stinking excited for them! Anyway, I start going to Dr. R every other week now... so I go back Oct. 20. I actually don't mind all the appointments, they are reassuring to me.

After my appointment we headed to Owensboro to see our friends, The Hamilton's. Liv cut Brycen's hair and then her mom (my other mom, my mom's BFF) took B to ride go-carts at an indoor place. He LOVED IT!! My mom and I stayed at Liv's shop and got our hair done. I went dark and got my side bangs back. (I have no idea why blogger won't let me move my pictures down here so they are at the top). We went to eat supper at Texas Roadhouse after we got our hair done. YUM! We didn't get home til 10pm though so I was worn out! Thankfully I'm off today so B and I slept til 8! lol.

I HAVE to go to WalMart today... since I haven't had cabinets for awhile I hadn't been doing much grocery shopping, but now I have everything back in my cabinets and they are pretty bare-- not much food! Plus, I'm out of pop and that just can't happen! I'm so thankful B doesn't even like pop b/c that's a bad habit I have! Well, guess I better get off here and get the dreaded trip over with!

After we left the dr. we headed to Owensboro to see our friends The Hamilton's... Liv cut Brycen's hair

19 Weeks

19 Weeks

It's my half-way mark!

You would think that was exciting... and it is...

but it is also nerve-wracking.

I know the closer I get to the third tri-mester the higher chance of me getting sick.

I sorta feel like a ticking time bomb.

I'm just praying to be able to make it to 38 weeks so Corbin can be full term and healthy.

Not sure I could deal with leaving my baby in the NICU... not after this past year.

Tomorrow I go for a regular check up with Dr. Reisinger... I really love her.

I appreciate her so much more after having to go to a specialist... he's not my favorite person.

I can't wait to hear his little heartbeat again.

I can feel him move so much more these days. It's becoming more reassuring now.

I know he has to be growing, because all I can do is EAT.

I've never been so hungry in my life!

I'm all set for a boy, but I still feel the same urge to buy stuff for Corbin that I did the other two.

I do need to buy a baby book.

I think I'm going to go ahead and have a yard sale...

the boys will be 5 years apart and that seems silly to keep clothes that long.

I think I'll keep like 0-12 months and sell everything after that.

Anyone need boys clothes? lol.

So this is probably the most random post ever...

Oh yah, I'm going dark tomorrow... ya know, like dark hair... :)

I'm pretty excited about it.

I'll update about my appointment... but it might not be until Wednesday...

it will depend on what time I get home tomorrow.

Going to Owensboro so Liv can do my hair after my appt. She always gets it right...

think I'll get bangs again... my hair grows so fast!

******************************

I typed this post today and thought I'd just add the picture tonight...

when I reread it I thought I sounded kind of annoying....

and thought I might delete it...

but I'm really just being honest....

so I guess I'll leave it!

Bigger this week?

Soup-er Friday-- Weekend Edition!

My dear friend Courtney has started Soup-er Friday- this week it's the weekend edition :) If you don't read her blog you should hop on over there and check it out. She has great craft ideas, recipes, and adorable little girls who always make me smile-- plus Courtney is pretty darn funny!

She started this a few weeks ago and I kinda sorta haven't gotten around to posting anything yet. I thought I'd go ahead and make up for the past few weeks...

The first week was soup.

The easiest I make is veggie soup. It's one of my favorites. My grandma's is way better than mine, but I usually always have all the stuff laying around to make this sooo....

I use my crock pot. Simmer on low for 8 hours or cook on high for 5-6.

You'll need-

Package of Frozen stew meat (chunks)
Big can of tomato juice
veggies
salt and pepper
1-2 pototatos chunked or 1 can of potatos sliced

I just stick the stew meat i nthe bottom of my crock pot (still frozen), but if you need it faster thaw it out first.

I usually just use a bag of frozen mixed veggies and dump on top of the meat

I also normally just use a can of potatoes (we're going for quick to prepare here people). Drain the water off and pour in.

Then I put the salt and pepper on top of all the stuff and then pour on the tomato juice.

Put the lid on the crock pot and let your house start smelling like fall :) I usually stir once everything is unthawed, but you wouldn't have to.
We just had this last week and it was pretty yummy :) The leftovers are good heated up too!


I think the Second Week was appetizers or Football game food :)
My nacho cheese dip is what I usually "fall back" too... it's quick and simple and always good!

You'll need-
a jar of salsa
1 box of mexican velveeta
1/4-1/2 cup of milk, depending on how creamy you like it

also, if I don't have mexican velveeta I usually always have regular velveeta and you can substitute that and then use a can of nacho cheese soup.

Put in crock pot and melt.

Good w/ doritos too :)


This week is breakfast foods! I'm not a huge breakfast eater... actually in 8th grade our health teacher (he was really mean and smoked like a chimney) wanted us to keep a food diary. We had to try and be healthy and eat every meal... I refused to eat breakfast and ended up standing in the back of the room for refusing to eat breakfast and writing "nothing" in my food diary. My mom was like, "Chelsa, just WRITE SOMETHING, ANYTHING"... Nope, I wouldn't do it. I used to be really stubborn... oh who am I kidding, I still am! That's like the only trouble I got into in school (well, besides for talking!). :) Back to the sticky buns--

These need prepared the night before.

Grease bundt pan well. Line bottom of pan with chopped pecans (you can leave the pecans out, I don't like them so I don't use them). Drop 24 (or how many ever will fit in your pan) dough rolls (1 pkg Riches frozen rolls) over nuts (or no nuts!). Sprinkle with one small package of butterscotch pudding (NOT INSTANT PUDDING).

Melt 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 3/4 tsp. of cinnamon. Mix and drizzle over rolls. Sprinkle with more nuts (or not if you don't want too!). Cover with foil and let stand on the counter overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. Do not over bake (so check them before the 25 minutes is up!). Turn the pan upside down as soon as it comes out of the oven... onto a pan or whatever you want.

YUM YUM YUM! Easiest sticky buns ever and sooo good!

Hope ya'll go over and share your recipes b/c I love getting new ideas :)

Some Sneak Peaks

I know i've been keeping everyone in suspense with all these on-going house projects we've been doing! lol. I still don't want to post pictures b/c we have lots of little details to do in the kitchen and front living room (like paint, tiling for backsplash, etc...), but I thought I'd post a few sneak peaks :)

Here is the laundry room before. EW.

Here is the laundry room cabinets Ryan made for me! (We also painted in here).
Here is the butt ugly kitchen before... I mean I really despised this place.

I know this is a tiny little sneak peak, but HELLO, can you even imagine? It is looking SOOOO good! We have our new counter tops on and now all the doors on! There is still trim work to do and tiling to do for the backsplash and painting on the wall, but I can tell you I just smile every time I see it! It looks sooo country- which is what our house is done in. It just fits perfectly. They aren't as white as they look in this picture, they are a country/antique white. Ryan has done an amazing job!

This is the front living room before... you can't tell so much from this picture, but this carpet was stained TERRIBLY! Just ask anyone that's been to my house! I love the new carpet! It makes the room sooo much more cozy (probably b/c I'm not afraid to touch the floor!). Seriously, no matter how much we cleaned the carpet the stains wouldn't come out (they were from the previous owner). We still have painting and trim to do in here.
Our old table

LOVE OUR NEW ONE! It is so country and goes so much better w/ our house. I can't take a picture of the whole room b/c it's a mess w/ stuff out of our kitchen!