Chronicles of a Pregnant Mom Jan. 30,2008

Well we made it this far, what's a few more days? I'm only a week away from my due date, so I'm not "early" anymore. I am in the early stages of labor however. So I've been having alot of contractions, and the low back ache and the nausea, and then my feet and hands swell up. I know if I went and walked I would help the real labor to kick in, but I don't want that yet. My other kids I was walking, let me tell you. So this is kinda new for me. Usually I'm having the kid by now.

So still no baby, and it's still good. I know, I'm crazy. Most ppl are trying to get the baby out, not keep them in and this point. But it's what I gotta do right now. I think we'll make it though, I'm not worried, I have faith that it will all work out just fine. However it does, we'll all be fine.

I will post as soon as I can after she's born.

Oh and for you enjoy "warm" weather, come visit, it's only 6 degrees here today. Windchill in the negative teens again. I think it was a record setting day for school closings.

Jen

What's for lunch?

When I was visiting my inlaws a month or so back ( I see them all the time really!), we were there for lunch time and we were all having sandwiches. Well I have to tell you how they made these, because since than, I can't get enough of them. I LOVE lunchmeat sandwiches. Turkey, Ham and cheese are my favorites. So any variation on them are worth trying for me. Here's what they did.

First they had some really good bread YUM! I'm not sure what kind it was, but it was long like a french bread but really soft, not to sweet, but sweeter than regular bread. Anyhow it was good. I've used regular wheat since and it works, but the other was better.

SO separate your bread, or just get 2 pieces, butter each side and toast it in the oven. I use a regular oven at like 350, just until the butter is melted. If you have a broiler , that would work too.

After it's toasted, place on one side your meat and cheese. I like to use a variety of cheese and meat. Muenster, Cheddar and Provolone are my fav's. Ham, turkey, roast beef, corned beef and even the salamis if you like. Put it back in the oven and toast untill the cheese is melted and than bring it out.

Mayonaise, mustard, lettuce and tomatoes go on now, add your top and YUM! Enjoy.

Jen

Chronicles of a Pregnant Mom Jan. 25,2008

10 MORE DAYS!

I need/hope/pray to make it 10 more days. Mark will have some time off starting then, and will be here all day. That takes the worry out of, will he or won't he make it home? You see our hospital and babysitter is about 40 miles away from home. I just don't think I'm going to be able to load up the kids and make it there alone. At least that's the worst that could happen right? I know, it could be worse. But we are hoping that she'll wait till the 4th and I won't have to worry about it.

10 more days mean, 10 more days of sitting around and taking it easy which is difficult with 3 other kids here. My house turns into a war zone when I sit to much. My kids help ALOT, but I can't expect them to do it all, they are after all only kids. The oldest isn't even 8 yet. Just keeping the 2 yr old out of trouble is enough work. And I've officially hit that miserably pregnant stage. Sleep is very scattered, yesterday I woke up at like 4 am with really strong contractions (again), but couldn't get back to sleep, so I was up all day. I did squeeze a little nap in, but David wasn't sleeping, so I couldn't sleep really sound. It lasted only an hour too. When I don't get woke up with contractions, I wake up cause my leg. shoulder or arm is asleep, or my hip is stiff and sore. I'm not a side sleeper, so now is not a good time to try to, but on your back is worse. So I wake up to roll over and of course have to get up and go to the bathroom. This happens every 1-2 hrs. if I do sleep so heavy that I don't wake up, I am stiff as you can get when I do. [sigh], the joys of pregnancy. You see if I wasn't waiting for Mark, than I would be out walking, and if I was out walking, I'm sure we wouldn't make it. Even going to the store starts the contractions, and pushing the cart certainly doesn't make it easier. I had a huge relief yesterday, I had to get diapers, had to, couldn't wait any longer. Well my niece had a half day, so she came with me. It was so nice having someone else make sure David didn't lose his gloves and climb out of the cart, and push the cart, and chase him when he did make it out. It worked out very well. I truly thank her for coming with me. It was a huge help. I even got to stop and sit down and not have to worry about David getting board and running off. I know they have seat belts, but how they expect a child who can undo the clip to not get out is beyond me!

So we're trying very hard to be lazy and sit down alot. Walking across the house is tough. My belly actually is sore. The underside of my belly, from the weight is sore, when I stand up. My ankles and hands keep swelling up too. I've been drinking a ton, previous labors have started early due to dehydration, so I'm staying hydrated, which doesn't help the swelling either.

So my happy to be pregnant post are probably over with now LOL. I'll keep you all updated still, but it may not be pretty LOL.

So that's all for now. Time to go check the laundry, trying to not let everything get behind. I'll only stress about it later if I do. And I think I'm ready for some lunch, hmm 12:40 YUP!

JenD

Taco Bake

A friend suggested this recipe. It came from the Kraft recipe book which you can subscribe too. They send them out at no charge 5 times a year. They always have some really simple and great recipes in it. You can see them here, and find where to sign up to recieve them as well.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/FoodFamilyArchive/

Taco Bake

1 box mac and cheese
1 lbs ground beef
1pkg taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

prepare mac and cheese as on box then add sour cream. brown ground beef, drain and add taco seasoning simmer 5 mins.

put 1/2 mac and cheese into pan then all of the ground beef and 1of cheese and then the other 1/2 mac and cheese. bake @ 400 for 15 mins then top with salsa and rest of cheese. bake 5 mins more.

Wonderful wonderful

Great Mom clip!

I've seen this before, someone reminded me of it, so I thought I would post it. It is truly funny and true!

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

Homemade Chicken noodle soup

Being 9 months pregnant and all, I'm all about quick and easy these days. So when it comes to dinner I'm looking for a crock pot dinner, something filling but I don't have to stand over. Since it's barely got about 20 degrees today, I thought soup sounded really good, so here's what I threw together. I should add that soups are not my strength, they usually come out kinda bland. I think I figured out why. I always use broth, or buillion and seasonings, BUT a little tip I recently found out makes a HUGE difference when your cooking. A show called "Good Eats" aired a segment on spices and seasonings and pointed out that if you really want to get a good mixture of spices, use them separate and mix them yourself. Meaning, don't use seasoned salt, lemon pepper, and other blends BECAUSE (and you can look on the back and see), the first ingredient in all of these is SALT! So that means that most of the "blend" is salt. I was adding a ton of salt but very little of much else. So unless you get "Mrs. Dash salt free" look on the back of the bottles of any "blends" you use. Be sure to not salt extra.

Anyhow, so here's how I made my soup.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast (I use these frozen, the pre-packaged kind)

1 can of chicken broth (buillion has lots of salt too)

3 cans of water

about 1/2 c. baby carrots

1 1/2 onion, sliced

1 celery stalk, chopped

I didn't measure, but added probably about 1-2 t of each of the following spices

Garlic Powder

Rubbed Sage

Basil Flakes

Parsley Flakes

Mrs. Dash Salt-free Garlic & Herb blend

Old Bay Seasoning (this contains salt as well)

I then let all of this simmer in the crock pot for the day.

After the chicken was good and cooked, I pulled it apart into chunks with a fork.

When we were almost ready to eat I added noodles and mixed vegis. I used a frozen blend of bowtie pasta and mixed vegis, but regular egg noodles would work.

I simmered this some more till they were all cooked than we ate. The kids loved it and so did I. It was super good!

For those of you enjoying the down south weather, I just wanted to let you know, IT'S ONLY 4 degrees here right now!!!!! The wind chill is in the NEGATIVE TEENS! BRRRRRR

It's been like this all day, oh, well it did reach 10 degrees for a little bit LOL. It's suppose to be the same tomorrow. Bundle up if you venture out around here!

Just thought I'd share LOL.