Puppy Chow -- Now!!

Okay so "Now" in the title just refers to how bad I want puppy chow!  I have a problem... a serious problem when I make this powdery little snack.  I don't stop eating it until I'm sick at my stomach or until it's all gone.  My sister sent me a Pinterest link for puppy chow cookies (which looked marvelous) several days ago but I was craving the real thing.  I had my 12 week check up on Monday and I promised myself I wouldn't make the puppy chow until AFTER my appointment.  (Knowing I have to weigh in makes me not want to pig out before I step on a scale!) 

Here's the recipe I use...
Puppy Chow:
9 C Rice Chex
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C peanut butter
1/4 C butter
1/4tsp vanilla
powdered sugar

Pour cereal in a large bowl.  Set aside.  Combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in microwavable bowl.  Microwave 90 seconds or until smooth, stirring after 1 minute.  Stir in vanilla.

Pour chocolate mixture over cereal, stirring until all the pieces are evenly coated.  (It's really important to make sure the chocolate is evenly dispersed!) *Then pour cereal mixture into a large re-sealable plastic bag with powdered sugar.  Seal tightly and shake until all is coated.  Keep in a tightly covered container.

*One thing I do different than the recipe, I skip the plastic bag step.  I put my powered sugar into my container and shake it in that!  The kids loooove helping shake it and they think they've really done something big when they help me in the kitchen! 

GCB

When I say I never watch tv, I'm really not exaggerating.  I never have it on.  I've gotten out of the habit of watching any shows I ever watched.  My mom was telling me about a contestant on American Idol this year, and I was curious to see her.  I thought I'd tune in to the results show after the kids went to bed.  I channel surfed, watched basketball, and couldn't find American Idol anywhere.  I texted my mom and asked when the show came on and she told me I'd already missed it.  I was sitting pretty comfy on the couch, and the basketball was boring me, so I thought I'd see if I could find anything else on worth watching.  I ran across a rerun of episode 1 of GCB.  It's on ABC (channel 25 for people that don't have cable!).  I thought it was hilarious!!!  It's about these rich women that claim to be Christian.  They are very involved in their church and have it out to ruin the life of an old acquaintance who just moved back into town.  This lady made their lives miserable when they were all in high school, all their husbands liked her (and some still do), and now these women think they are better than her because they are rich and Christian.  Maybe I didn't describe it well, and it's definitely not a show for the kiddos, but it's pretty humerous listening to how they justify getting boob jobs, why stealing store credits for Neiman Marcus is ok, etc.  The show comes on Sundays at 9pm.  This past Sunday was episode #2.  It's a good example of how not to be - definitely worth checking out for a good laugh or two :)

1st Sewing Project

Back in December I found an adorable shirt while thrifting.  It had both arm pits ripped out along the stitch line, but my mom said it would be easy to sew.  I loved the bright colors and the fact it was a "wrinkle free" shirt, so for $2.50 I couldn't pas it up!

Last night I sewed up the pits.  I didn't take any pictures of my stitches because they weren't the greatest, but once it's on you can't tell!  I'm so excited to wear this shirt!  Its one of the few shirts I have that isn't maternity, but still fits (and I'm hoping it fits another month or so)!

Okay, so the best part about this shirt... after I fixed it and tried it on, I kept thinking, "Man, this feels like a nice shirt!  I wonder what stores sell this brand because I need to go buy more!"  (And I'm a HUGE fan of things I don't have to iron).  The brand is FoxCroft.  I googled it and stores like Nordstroms came up in my search!  These shirts sell for $70-80 new!  I can't believe I got it for $2.50!!!  This has inspired me to go thrifting again... this week! 

Pineapple Corer

I've had a Pampered Chef pineapple corer for a good year and a half and have never used it.  No reason why other than I forget I have it.  I bought a pineapple yesterday and I had been looking at it thinking I needed to cut it up, but didn't really want to.... then I remembered I had my pineapple corer!  I couldn't remember exactly how to use it, but I cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple and all the sides.  Note to self, you aren't supposed to cut off the sides!  My pineapple slices were much more consistent, but I lost a lot of juice in the coring process.  Maybe that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't cut the sides off... I will try it one more time, the right way next time, and see if I like it any better. 

Lots of wasted juice

Allie kept herself entertained while I was cutting the pineapple by playing in trash cabinet!

Stinky House

Monday night Kevin was helping with some things around the house.  He volunteered to do dishes and I let him!  When he ran the garbage disposal, he said something wasn't right.  He felt like the water wasn't draining and our line was backed up.  We are familiar with this problem because it's happened at least half a dozen times since we've lived here.  We called our plumbing company and they came Tuesday afternoon.  I went ahead and ran the dishwasher before they got here to make sure things were still backed up (which they were - we had a river in our garage after I did that).  I told the nice plumber that I thought he needed to get under our house and look at our lines, since that had never been done before.  Several minutes later he came back up and said he didn't have good news for me.  He started telling me about our pipes, how they are deformed and laying on the ground....... and I just stopped him mid sentence and told him I'd wake Kevin up so he could tell him all this information (I knew I couldn't accurately relay all these problems to Kevin). 

The plumber and Kevin climbed under the house together.  Once they came out, he gave us an estimate of $1000 to replace a majority of the pipes (which needed done) and Kevin said he wanted to talk to me about it and we'd call them back.  After he left, Kevin went to Lowes to price the materials.  It came to just over $100.  He said he knew exactly what needed to be done, and felt confident he could do it... it would just a lot of hard work and time.  I told him if he was up for it, then do it - I'm always up for saving money! 

I didn't anticipate how bad my house would start smelling.  The first reason why it smelled so bad was I couldn't do dishes for 3 days.  I cooked all day Tuesday and half of Wednesday, but by dinner Wednesday I was completely out of clean pots and pans.  We had Little Caesars for dinner Wednesday (and it was delicious!).  Thursday for lunch I fixed the kids PB on paper plates and I used my last clean cookie sheet to make bagel bites for dinner (served on paper plates).  The second reason my house smelled so bad... Kevin cut that old pipe last night around 4.  His first cut was easy - nothing came out and the line was dry.  His second cut, he found the clog!  Not only did he find the clog, but he was soaked from head to toe in the nasty water/food that had been backed up.  That smell came right up into the house and I was gagging!!!  I lit a candle and that helped a bit.  Kevin, with the help of my Dad, and our neighbors tools, got done last night right before 7:30.  I was able to do one load of dishes last night, another this morning, and get all my pots and pans hand washed!  I have never been so excited to do dishes in all my life.  No more stinky house and this pregnant girl is Happy about that!

Little Caesars 3 meat pizza and cheesy bread!  $12 and delicious! 

Only When I'm Pregnant - Week 11

This post is a couple days late - will explain the reasons for that in my next post...

This week has been really good!  I'm getting bursts of energy back (which means my house is slowly looking less like the county dump) and I'm not feeling the need to take a nap every day.  My sense of smell is still out of this world, and that's hasn't been a good thing this week.  No new or weird cravings.... and I didn't gain any weight this week!  That alone makes it a successful week!  I have my next doctor's appointment Monday and I'm really looking forward to hearing that little heart beat again!

I've been really bad about taking a weekly picture.  I have to be ready at 6:45am if I want the picture taken (that's when Kevin goes to bed).  I'll try to get better about it....... no promises........ I did have thoughts all week about cutting my hair off.  I'm also sad this is the last time I'll get to wear that purple shirt this summer.  I love it!  

 

Lunchmeat While Pregnant

I have REALLY been wanting hot ham and cheese sandwiches!  They sound good about every day for lunch, and even for dinner, but I try to limit myself to one a day.  I had heard you weren't supposed to eat lunch meat while you are pregnant and I wondered just how true that was.  (I just avoided it my first 2 pregnancies because it never really sounded good anyways.)  I did some investigating and found out about a little bacteria called Listeria.  The article said several thousand people get very sick from this bacteria every year, but women that are pregnant have the worst complications (miscarriage, preterm labor, or even death - yikes!).  BUT if you heat your lunch meat until it's steaming, that will kill the bacteria and it's safe to eat!  Good thing I like HOT ham and cheese and not cold ham and cheese!!!  I feel safe to indulge in what Baby wants now :)
P.S. My all time favorite ham and cheese is from Sams Pizzeria on the west side.  It's a little hole in the wall place but all the food is fantastic there!!!

*The Best* Moisturizer

I have a dry hair problem, dry nail problem, and to top it off, a dry skin problem. I have found a wonderful solution to my dry skin... Mary Kay Intense Moisturizing Cream! My MK gal gave me a sample to try. It's a thick cream that leaves my dry skin feeling completely satisfied. I've also noticed when I put it on before my foundation my skin looks so smooth and even! If you have dry skin I HIGHLY recommend this product!!  I keep wanting to do a picture of me with half of my face using the MK Intense Moisturizing Cream and the other half using just regular moisturizer so you can see the difference~!  (I just am usually half asleep when I put on my make up that I don't remember until it's too late!)  I will try to remember this week and get a picture posted!

Strawberries

Schnucks has their 2lb containers of strawberries on sale now!  They are delicious & very sweet! (I've actually had very good strawberries the last couple months so I think this is going to be a good year for them!)  Go get some while they are on sale!

Looking Forward To...

If February was any predictor of March's weather, I'm SO ready for March!  Some things I'm looking forward to this month are:

1. My Easter flowers blooming!  I saw a couple yellow blooms today and I can't wait for them all to bloom!  My sidewalk is lined :)
2. Daylight-Savings time beginning!  (March 11!)
3. Starting our family walks by the river in the evenings.  Allie goes crazy over the puppy dogs we see down there.
4. I have my 12 week appointment on the 12th!  We'll get to hear that heartbeat again and start making some guesses on the sex!  (Even though I feel like I already know what sex Baby is....)
5. I will start my 2nd Trimester ---- hoping my afternoon naps will be less frequent and I can get this house back in order!  (Please don't stop by without my knowledge or you may get lost is the clutter!)
6. St. Patrick's Day!  I use to over look the holiday, but last year I dressed the kids in green, we made rainbow cupcakes, and we really enjoyed the day! 
7. Going to go see The Vow... I convinced Kevin we needed to see it. C'mon date night!
8. We are going to be doing some serious yard clean up the next several weeks (maybe months).  I'm really looking forward to having a backyard I can enjoy where the kids can run wild (and I don't have to worry about them falling in any holes, stepping on any rocks or nails or old fence posts).
9. Kevin grilling out for us!  He bought a new grill last year and he LOVES using it, so I'm going to take advantage of that several days during the week.