Just a quick update

So I went to the doctor today and it was just another five minute visit. So ya feelin' ok? Yup. Any pain? Nope. Okay we'll see you back next week.

Thanks. No news. I had some contractions last night, but of course they stopped. The doctor did estimate the baby to be about 8 lbs RIGHT NOW. If I go a couple more weeks, he'll be large and in charge. Who wants to put their money on 10lbs??? Any takers???

On a positive, yet somewhat scary note...It looks like we may be getting bigger quarters SOON. Like in the next week or two. Of course, baby Sean will wait until they hand us the keys, tell us we have five days to be out of our current house and then, and only then will he decide that he wants out. Gotta love Murphy's Law.

Tick tick tick tick tick tick

The clock moves so slow when one is waiting for something to happen. Like giving birth to a very large bundle of joy.
We are officially at 37 weeks today. It is now countdown time. Feel free to place bets on when the baby will actually show up. I am taking the following days/events for mine:
a. Sunday, during the day. My child care arrangement here at Ft Lost in the Woods is leaving with her family to go to Disney World (I'm so jealous, Gwen) Sunday morning and my mom won't be in town until Sunday evening. So there are about 8+ hours that I won't have anyone to watch my kids
b. Sometime in late June; my children have a mission in life to make me miserable.
c. Next week, when housing calls and tells us our new place is ready and we have 5 days to move.

On a positive note, my diaper bag is finished and packed for the hospital (my suitcase is also packed). Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. I love it, it's awesome!!!!

You asked, so I'm delivering....soon I hope

Okay, several of you have popped up on Facebook and asked me to post pictures of my belly circa 9 months. Here you are. I'm gonna deliver a 20lb baby. It will be a world record. For those of you wondering, as of my last doctor's appointment last week, my total weight gain from my starting weight until now has been a whopping 4 lbs. No I didn't leave out a number. This is ALL baby. At my first appointment I was 210, I am now 214. I should weigh somewhere around 150 after this beast comes out...lol. I wish. Believe it or not, I'm not that miserable. Oh dont get me wrong, I'm miserable, just not as bad as with the twins.


Here I am from the front...not so bad.....




And....turn to the side....BAM!


This is a comparison picture of me just days before I delivered 9.5 lbs of twin baby.

Bring on the Pink!!!!!!!!!!!

If any of you have linked to the blog about April Rose in my side bar, click over there now and see what B's friend is up to. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is "Hope in Pink" day. It is B's official due date and anyone who has been following her story will be wearing pink in support of B and baby April. Throw on something pink, say a prayer of hope and healing, and take your picture! I will be.

Monday Munchies

I realize today isn't Monday, but I've been working on this post since Sunday, seriously. It takes forever to get photos to upload here. Must be that awesome Lost-in-the-Woods internet connection. We're so high-speed here.
This was dinner Friday night and it was really good. Nice for summer, so light and fresh. I'll put the whole recipe at the end.

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa
First the Chicken.

It takes a marinade that looks something like this:
our marinade ingredients: olive oil, lime juice, salt & pepper, onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro

Add the olive oil to the chicken breast.

Take the cilantro, onion, jalapeno, salt, pepper. lime juice, and minced garlic and throw it in the bowl with the chicken. Let it marinate for 30 minutes or so while you prep the salsa.
Then just throw it on the grill and grill the chicken.



Now for the salsa....

your ingredients:

That would be tomato, jalapeno, garlic, onion, lime juice, avocado, salt and pepper.

Chop the tomatoes.

Then add the onions.


Next, the garlic. Note the garlic press.....every kitchen needs one....love garlic, hate the nasty smell it leaves on my hands. This little tool saves me. You can actually leave the paper shell on the garlic clove. Just scrape it into the trash when you're done.




Then add in some lime juice.



Next, the jalapeno. This little plastic thing is a jalapeno tool. i'm sure it has a real name, but who knows what it is. However, if you don't have one, and you love jalapenos, get one. If you can find it. My mother gifted this one to me. I love it!!!






The results speak for themselves. (I'm kinda a weenie when it comes to heat. I like the flavor, but I don't care for my mouth to be on fire.) Now, with your lovely, cleaned out jalapeno, chop it up and add it to the mix. Add a little salt and pepper too.


Then chop your avocado. These bad boys keep forever in the fridge. Leave them out on your counter overnight before you use them. I didn't, and they were really too green.


After all that chopping, enjoy your salsa. It is super yummy. Perfect for summer.


Now for the recipe:
The chicken:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 small onion
1 jalapeno
2-4 tbsp chopped cilantro (depending on taste)
juice from 1/2 large lime or 1 whole small one
dash of salt, pinch of pepper

Combine all ingredients except the chicken, stir well, add chicken and marinate for 10-30 minutes. Grill.

The Salsa:
2 avocados
juice from 1/2 lime
1 tomato
1/2 small onion
1 jalapeno
1 clove garlic, minced

chop the tomato and onion and combine in a bowl. Add the lime juice, chopped jalapeno and garlic. Mix well. Chop and add the avocado, stirring gently. Serve with chicken.

It's been a while....

So it's been a while since I've posted anything noteworthy. I have fallen off the wagon on Monday Munchies and Tuesday's Tornadoes so I will be blessing you with a little of all of the above, even though it isn't Monday or Tuesday. I have the greatest kids on the planet (at least I feel that way sometimes, but we all know it passes quickly). We accompanied Mr. Smartypants to softball practice and here are some delightful results of said trip:

How is it that Scratchy can go from this....

...to this so quickly??


Oh yes, this is why (please notice Scratchy's rear).

She busted it in the puddle. It was quite graceful....wish I could have gotten it on camera. Not unlike her graceful mother...who, by the way, spent Sunday (that would be Mother's Day, if you're keeping track) in the Labor and Delivery Ward at the hospital. No, the new baby isn't here yet (give me some credit, I'll let you know). I gracefully tripped over my own two feet and slid into homebase in the fellowship hall at our church. Nice, right. It's genetic...just ask my dad...he's picked my mom up off the floor too many times to count.

So what exactly happens when grown men gather to play softball, you ask? Well, they forget to call the parks and rec department to get keys to the field to practice so they get locked out, but decide to have practice anyway. What happens when one of the grown men hits a ball over the fence into the locked field???

This:

Noodle becomes "ball boy" and must scale an 8 ft fence about 50 times over the course of an hour.

Where is Itchy in all of this....well, being Itchy of course...
I'll be back later with a recipe and maybe some other stuff too. My connection takes forever to upload pictures.

Since we all have nothing better to do...

Not really, I mean, I know we all have tons of stuff going on in our lives, but there is a little event (if you can call it little) going on tomorrow that I would like to remind everyone of. Yes, tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. If you aren't signed up for a time slot through your own church or religious organization, I would encourage you to stop at some point during your day and talk to the Big Man. Not sure what to pray for? Well, the event is coordinated so that we can collectively pray for "the powers that be". Aka the Government, the Military (a special shout out for this one, we need it), the Media, Business, Education, Church, and Family. It was signed into law as a nationally recognized day by good ol' President Reagan in 1988 (thank you Ronnie) who must have had insight into where our country was headed and what would be needed to our country from digging itself a hole straight to...well you get the idea.
Still not sure what to pray for?? Well, here's some stuff that will make you want to fall to your knees and cry to God...

President to observe National Day of Prayer privately
(um, a paper proclamation??)

High School Teachers Influence Student Views Of Evolution & Creationism, U Of Minnesota Study Finds

The American Family in Decline

Not to mention that everywhere you turn, our business and financial system seems to be crashing down around us. We should all say a prayer for all the Madoffs out there ripping off innocent Americans and throwing our financial system into chaos.
There are a million and one other things to pray for, but, lest we forget, there is much in our country that needs our attention. I hope you take time to speak to the Big Man about things that bother you.

Big Mike's Potato Salad

Today marked the 7th anniversary of my introduction to the joys (read: pain) of motherhood. Yup, that's right, Noodle turned 7 today. Wow, has it really been that long? I've been a mom for 7 whole years??? No way, not possible...but then again, I guess it is, because, well, it is. One would think that this would make me an expert. But no. Seven years and three and a half kids later and I still run across issues daily that make me scratch my head, rub my chin and shrug my shoulders. I have spent the last 7 years making mistakes. I would hope I have learned from my mistakes, and I'm sure sometimes I have. But so often I doom myself to make the same mistakes again...like failing to learn to never give your kids peanut butter on a spoon and let the go to the living room to watch tv. I have spent the last 7 years screwing up so bad that I sit in wonder that my son is still alive, much less seemingly well-adjusted. If there was ever a poster child for parents who screw up but the kid still turns out ok, it's him. I am lucky. No, I am blessed. I look back over the last seven years of screw ups and see how God has taken care of us. I can't blame anyone else for how he has turned out so far. Often it was just he and I. But on the flip side, there are many who can take credit for how well he has turned out, mainly God. My parents have been and remain to be a huge influence in his little life. They guide him with patience and grace that a parent lacks. It must be the mellowness that comes with old age. My sweet, darling husband deserves a HUGE deal of credit for the last four years. With Noodle's real dad often working overseas, he lacked a father figure, until Mr. Smartypants came along. Mr. Smartypants took Noodle in, treated him like he was his own flesh and has continued to do so even with the arrival of his own flesh and blood. There is NO man, aside from Christ, that I would hope my son would model himself after other than my husband. I'm blessed like that. I hope that my sons will model themselves after their father and hope my daughters will seek men like their father to marry. I could ask no more for any of them.
I have actually learned much over the last seven years. I have learned that God has given me way more patience than I ever imagined I possessed. I have learned that the person I thought I would be is not who I have turned out to be. But I like this me much better than the person I thought I was gonna be.
We spent all day Saturday celebrating Noodle's birthday with a barbeque, cupcakes and a pinata. Now I sit here and contemplate celebrating seven years of the blessings of motherhood while I enjoy my tenth helping of leftover potato salad, recipe courtesy of Big Mike all the way from Iraq. Maybe he'll give me permission to share the recipe with all of you. But, if I am allowed, I will only post it on one condition...you can never, never, never show it to your doctor. Just the ingredient list would cause cardiac arrest.