Words of wisdom

Tickled pink! That's how I feel about the plethora of friends o' mine who have jumped on board the blogging bandwagon!

Today, I ran across a great entry from MamaBlogga with some Advice to Mom Bloggers. Connecting with other bloggers has been the greatest joy and most wonderful surprise since I ventured into the blogosphere. I am no veteran, and certainly no expert, but I have been reading great blogs for months now and find I am entertained, taught, moved, and shaken by amazing writers whom I will probably never meet yet to whom I feel a great connection. (That last sentence is a grammatical train-wreck. Forgive me.)

Had to share!

Menu Plan Monday

As always, thank you to Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie!" for hosting!

This week, I am hoping to get back on track with some actual MEALS. The Coach was on the road for most of May, so D and I have done a lot of soup and sandwich nights.

As much as I love to surf the web for new and exciting recipes, I found myself longing for some good ol' fashioned cookbook perusing. I got out my trusty Taste of Home cookbooks and went to town. Here's the plan:

Monday: Hurry Up Ham and Noodles, Tangy Carrot Coins, Peachy Ice Cream Sundaes
Tuesday: The Cashew Chicken from a few weeks ago I still haven't gotten around to making *blush*
Wednesday: Baked Omelet Roll, Buttermilk Banana Pancakes, Hot Fruit and Sausage
Thursday: Upside Down Meat Pie, Macaroni Medly Salad, Ice Cream
Friday and Saturday - D and me :)
Sunday - Veggie Chicken Wraps, Quick Corn Chowder

This shouldn't be a problem, right?

Something TINY happened!

I've already shared this scoop with my message board amigas, but I am so in love I can't keep quiet!

A few months ago, I loaned our baby swing to the wonderful and sweet mama who owns Full Circle Baby. Full Circle Baby is a darling brick and morter (and online) natural family living shop in the town just south of us, and Lisa helped me get my start in cloth diapering. Last week, she emailed to say they were done with the swing, and could she pay back the favor by passing on some of their newborn diapers? Um, YES!! This was, of course, so totally not necessary as it was no bother at all to let that swing out of the house to a home where it would be used and loved for a while.

Imagine my surprise and true delight when we were given all of THIS by sweet Lisa:


I mean, seriously.

Have you ever seen anything so sweet in your life?! (Well, okay, maybe a FEW things are sweeter, but not many!)

So I have been fondling and petting them and trying to imagine this little Sweet Thing swimming inside me actually wearing these. Oh, the delight!

And now, I am afraid, the shop-for-cloth bug has bitten me once again. I am using Super Woman amounts of self-control to not buy up every tiny little diaper and cover I see! Preparing for an in-town move next month has left our budget crying for mercy, so Mr. Post Man will have a few months of rest before the avalanche of fluffy mail makes its way south.

Oh yeah! I am 23 weeks today, and I think that I can now say I am six months pregnant. Does that sound right?

Warm and Fuzzy!

Oh, I feel just awful that I am just now sitting down to do this! Sweet Friend Julie tagged me last week to do a Top Ten Warm and Fuzzy list. My mind is going thirteen different directions at once right now, and my stupendously poor time management skills have kept me from blogging duties and delights.

But now, here we go . . .

TOP TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL WARM AND FUZZY INSIDE

1) The twinkle in Dacey's eye when she knows she is being cute

2) Treating myself to a latte (Toffee Nut, please!)

3) Freshly painted toenails

4) Phone calls from The Coach during the day "just because"

5) Settling in on the couch for a night of movies or even TV with my Man. We are such homebodies, and we love it that way!

6) Singing along to favorite songs from high school and college when they come on the radio

7) Being in the congregation at church when someone is baptized. We uptight Southern Baptists don't have much in the way of tradition and ceremony - a true dirth of Pomp and Circumstance - but to me, the act of baptism by submersion is one of the most meaningful, beautiful ceremonies! I get tears in my eyes every time.

8) Fresh bed linens

9) Wildflowers in bloom

10) The way D wraps her arms around me and pats me on the back before I lay her down in her crib at night. *big sigh* Perfect ending to any day!

To say that I am totally into the blogging community right now would be the sort of understatement that can only be equaled by something along the lines of Texas in the summer can get a little hot and humid . . .

Everyday I come across fun and fascinating blogs; my bloglines feeds are fat and sassy and I am loving it!

Anyway, one bloggy mama I am crazy loving right now is Boo Mama. Don't let her humble subtitle fool ya - she has hundreds of readers! Today's post on the heartbreak of our children growing up is reflective and poignant (and funny), and there is a little something in most every one of her entries that at least gets me to giggling . . . more often than not, though, I am laughing out loud.

So anyway, just thought all six of my readers might like the heads-up on her. Good blog times!

Flushed under the freckles

Well, this is certainly humbling!

My funny, sweet, sassy, awesome, funny, gorgeous - did I mention funny? - friend Meghan has been so kind as to nominate the old Sorta for a couple of Blogger's Choice Awards!

It's hard for me to post this because I haven't really written anything that would land me in the "best" category for much of anything, but I dearly love Meghan and so I am posting this for her!

Blog Design Giveaway!

Wowza! And hooray!! One of the coolest, hip-est, neatest blogistas I so enjoy reading - Everyday Mommy - is honoring mamas with a Blog Design Giveaway!!

As you may remember from way back when, I have been wanting a new look for oh-so-long now. I have toyed and toyed with the idea of purchasing a design from one of the many talented blog design gurus out there, but in the end I have decided to hold off on that until I get for real serious about blogging. But if someone wanted to tinker around with the ol' blog for free . . . well, wouldn't that just be one of the most memborable Mother's Day gifts eva?

Menu Plan Monday

I gotta tell ya - D has been sick all weekend, and I am not feeling all that awesome today, either. Still, I have mapped out a menu for the week, and we shall see what happens.
As always, thanks so much to Laura at "I'm an Organizing Junkie" for hosting!

Monday - Banana Buttermilk Pancakes, eggs, bacon
Tuesday - Spinach and cheese ravioli - not sure what else
Wednesday - Spaghetti, veggies, cheese bread
Thursday - Popcorn chicken, fries, veggies
Friday - An Ordinary Mom's Chicken Chesnut Casserole
Saturday - Honey BBQ meatloaf, mashed potatoes, greens
Sunday - Mother's Day - we better be going out to eat! :)

Okay, BIG drum roll!

This morning we finally had our BIG ultrasound.

You know, there's a lot to be said for women's intuition. A lot to be said for a mother's intuition. Sometimes, you just know that you know something.

Yesterday in church, The Coach and I wrote down some great boy names that we were really happy with and very excited about. (important to note we weren't doing this during the sermon or anything juvenile like that . . . just during the pass the plate portion of the service . . .) I have been shopping little boys' clothes and found some darling sports-themed bedding. I've been watching my friends interact with their sweet little boys and observing that special bond between mother and son. You know, just really getting into this whole baby boy thing, because I really, really knew that in September we would be bringing home a baby boy of our own.

But then again, there's something to be said for being surprised. Really, genuinely, truly surprised.

It's a girl.

:)

Drum roll, please . . .

Well, not the BIG drum roll yet as we are still waiting for our BIG ultrasound where we will *hopefully* find out the gender of this little nugget. But we do need a drum roll nonetheless because at today's check-up, I got to choose baby's birthday! That was a really surreal thing to get to do, let me tell ya. I live life very much knowing that the best laid plans of mice, men, and pregnant women often go (astoundingly) awry, but if by some grand miracle everything does work according to our plans, then this next babe will be delivered on September 5th!

I was really excited and surprised to get to choose a date this early, but I sure did jump at the chance to pick a date today! Speaking of today, here's me this morning at just past twenty weeks:

(Yes, that would be Mommy's Little Shadow happily playing on the bathroom floor. Good thing I keep my house spic-and-span, huh? Ahem . . .)

And speaking of The D, here's a few pictures from our nature walk at the river center yesterday. It's actually a floating wetlands walk, and as you can see, D thought the wetlands look awfully inviting!

Not much else to report here. As always, I have some bloggy ideas rolling around in my head (and now being recorded on paper), it's just finding a few spare moments to getting them written up that remains the challenge. My friend Laura turned me on to Bloglines and that little helper does an amazing job of allowing me to stay caught up with all my favorite blogs. I may not always comment, but I really am reading! I have a number of friends who have just recently entered the blogosphere, and I have also just stumbled across many in the past few weeks that are really great reading! I may never open a bound book again.

Running behind!

Yes, I rolled over 20 weeks yesterday - the OFFICIAL halfway point. We are having a super busy week, but I promise to come back tomorrow after my doctor's appnt with a better update.

And no, the ultrasound is not tomorrow! Soon though! Very soon . . . ;)

Menu Plan Monday - first one!

I found Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie to be SO very helpful last week, I decided to contribute my own little plans this week.

Here's the plan:

Monday: Fish sticks, corn on the cob, other veggies
Tuesday: Baked potato soup and sandwhiches on foccacia bread
Wednesday: Kids' Choice Yummy Peanut Noodles and baked sweet potatoes
Thursday: Chicken nuggets, fries, cucumber salad
Friday: ??? not sure yet!
Saturday: Chicken pot pie
Sunday: Wonderful recipe from my sweet friend Keara (actually, Sweet Friend Keara's hubby Joe!)
Joe's Famous Breakfast Tacos
2 to 4 potatoes chopped
4 eggs with milk and cheese
Kilbasa- (they like the spicy kind. Bacon works, too, or you can make them meatless with just potatoes, eggs, and cheese!)
refried beans
tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a pan put olive oil and potatoes in to fry. Cut sausage into semi thin slices put in with potatoes. Add olive oil as needed. Fry until potatoes are soft.
Scramble eggs with a little milk and cheese.
Move potatoes and sausage to the side and add eggs. Fry to the way you like and as they are getting done mix with potatoes and sausage until done.
Remove from heat when done.
Heat another pan and warm up 6 to 8 tortillas. Get 6 to 8 sheets of aluminum foil. Spoon or spread refried beans inside tortillas. Add potato, sausage, and egg mixture into tortillas and fold and put into aluminum foil and wrap then put onto a pan and into the oven for 15 to 30 minutes or until warm then eat.

I made these last night and they were so, so, SO delicious!

Reduce, Reuse . . . you know the rest

Are you ready for Earth Day? I wasn't, until I read this from Sara at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. This amazing post will surely inspire you to take a step beyond recycling and work towards really eliminating the amount of trash that comes into and goes out of your home. I am amazed at all she and her family are doing! I hope you will be inspired and motivated, too.

Halfway

So, here we are - 19 weeks! If all looks good, we will aim for a delivery around 38 or 39 weeks, so I like to think at 19 weeks that the nugget and I are halfway there. YES!

It occurs to me I need to change my description of what this blog is about, as I have sort of wandered from the natural family living discussions that inspired this blog to begin with. (Much of that wandering has taken place since January . . .)

Life with D becomes ever more interesting as her flair for drama reaches new heights daily. I was telling my dad the other night that her (frequent and puzzling) tantrums bring to mind phrases from the Bible where great tragedy and pain are spoken of . . . you know, things like "wailing and gnashing of teeth" and "sackcloths and ashes." I am fairly confident that given the chance, she would gladly don a sackcloth and smear ashes on her face to symbolize to all who meet her that verily, verily, she is to be pitied among all children, for her mother hath commanded that she shall not eat of the cat's food from the cat dish, and she shall not use the dry erase marker she foundeth on the refrigerator to color the kitchen floor. Woe to her! Woe to her!

Yep, it's a hard life. Pobricita!