25 Weeks

Apparently my Belly Book doesn't know what it is talking about, because according to other reliable sources I have three more weeks of my second trimester. Phew! I enjoy the clock not ticking down on me too hard to get her room ready.

 

25 Weeks!

Total weight gain: 16 pounds

Movement: She is moving all the time! I watched my stomach move every time she kicked last night and I was just beaming. I love feeling her move and she isn't keeping me awake at night so far!

Speaking of stomachs, she is very crooked right now. She is definitely hanging out on the right side and when I look down, I have a rather crooked stomach. 

Cravings: Not really craving anything super specific (other than the chocolate chip cookies), but I still am enjoying fruit. I got some Florida-grown strawberries and they are delicious! I haven't had anything on my mind that I have just had to have that instant.

Everything is still going great! The hardest part for me right now is not being able to do the things I want to get her room together. Old furniture needs to be moved out, new furniture needs to me moved in, and I hate asking other people to do things for me. I normally would break my back (and my mother-in-law's) but I have refrained since I am trying to be a good pregnant girl and follow my instructions. 

We have picked out a first name, but we are still trying to decide on a middle name. We have a possibility, but I keep rolling it around in my head to make sure we both like it before we set it in stone. I will let you know as soon as we decide!

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The Un Gardeners

There is nothing that puts a smile on my face quicker than beautiful Spring flowers popping their sweet little faces up this time of year. I love them so much that I even crawled around in my yard and snapped some photos of my gorgeous bulbs making their way out. I had this bright, happy post planned out in my head and it was going to express my happiness for my flowers and the following images:

Ok. I love, love, love, love, love ranunculus. I love them so much that they were on the top of my list of wedding flowers, however, we could not get them because their blooming season do not coincide with my wedding date. I was a little bummed, but it was ok. Imagine my glee when I was walking out of Home Depot two weekends ago and they had these beauties for $4.99. I was ecstatic!

 

After about twenty minutes of deliberation on the which pot was the perfect pot to bring home and to my mother-in-law, I finally loaded them in the car.  I could hardly wait to get them home to my mother-in-law because Ben was not feeling my ranunculus excitement.

I have babied these flowers, brought them in when it was cold, loved them, taken pictures of them. Sheer bliss.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. I look outside and my chickens (that I have discovered I don't love so much anymore) were on the porch (that I have just bleached). I go outside to shoo them off and find them in sheer bliss as well.

Here are my beloved ranunculus. Or what is left of them. I may or may not have cried when I saw the devastation. I blame that on the hormones.

This is not the first time something like this has happened. 

I had a beautiful pot of succulents. Gone.

Most of my snowflake flowers. Gone. 

My pine straw in my flower beds.

Mayhem. 

It's a good thing they are giving me fabulous eggs because we almost had chicken and dumplings for supper. No hormones involved with this one. Please pray for the safety of my chickens.

And the rapid recovery of my ranunculus.

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Lingerie Time!

One of my dear friends from Georgia asked me to do some cookies for a bachelorette party she was attending this weekend. These were the most fun cookies to make! I wish I had lingerie that looked like this. My nighttime garb currently consists of pajama pants and t shirts!

Contact me at thehunniepot at gmail dot com if you are interested in ordering!

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Cookie Craving: Check!

Since I showed you the picture of Belle's cookie cake in the last post, I know I have you craving chocolate chip cookies. Oh wait... maybe that's just me! I had a cookie craving this afternoon and wanted something quick, easy, and tasty and this recipe fit the bill. I especially like it because you don't have to wait for butter to soften because it calls for melted butter. Odd for a cookie recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised. I found this recipe at one of my go-to recipe blogs, Brown Eyed Baker. I followed her directions on how to make "bakery style" cookies that aren't smooth when done. (See step 4) I made smaller cookies instead of the large one that the recipe calls for and I do have to say they were yummy! I had company walk through the door just as I was taking them out of the oven and they approved as well!

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup and they were delicious!)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray. (I used my Silpat and they came out wonderfully)

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

Enjoy!!

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Cowboys and Cowgirls

 A few weekends ago my niece and nephew had their second and third birthday parties together cowboy style! As usual, everything looked wonderful and the kids had a ball. I made a cookie cake for Belle - there may or may not have been some pregnancy cravings influencing my recommendation of the cake for the day :)

 

 Matthew loves all things Toy Story, so his mom decorated the most precious cake with Woody adorning the top. 

 They both racked up on cowboy supplies and toys.

 Matthew received a toy gun and as you can see from the pictures below, he liked it just a little.

 

Now I think I'm craving cookie cake again!

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Easter Chickens

Instead of the Easter bunny, I have Easter chickens! Just in time for Easter, my Ameraucanas have started laying their beautiful blue-green eggs. Every time I open their laying box, it's just like the Easter bunny, or Easter chicken, came!

 

They make me so happy! I might have to stockpile them so I can hide them when it comes time for the real Easter Bunny to come!

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24 Weeks

I had a little bit of a heart attack this week when I opened up my Belly Book that I have been writing in and it says "Welcome to the last week of your second trimester!"!!!! Does that mean I need to move all of the piled up furniture out of her room and start making the nursery a real nursery?!? I keep thinking I have all the time in the world, but she is sneaking up on us!

24 Weeks!

She is the size of a cob of corn and weighs over 1 pound!

Total Weight Gain: 14 Pounds

Still moving tons - pretty much all throughout the day - and Ben said she kicked him in the back this weekend while we were sleeping. I'm afraid she may be like her momma! Poor Ben!

I have been craving blueberry pound cake and yes, I did bake to satisfy my craving. I also have been wanting some homemade bread. Maybe I will get brave enough to bake it and post the results on here!

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23 Weeks

23 Weeks!

Little Miss weighs about one pound and is the size of a mango.

I am still feeling wonderful (aside from the fact that I really am not digging this whole weight gain thing) Total weight gain: 14 pounds

She really has started moving more consistently. She was moving just at certain times of the day, but now I feel her all throughout the day. She isn't really kicking me, just moving around. I am feeling her a little higher now, but it could be her arms. Still all movement on the right side, so I am thinking she is still sitting prim and proper and head up.

I have been having some super weird dreams - mostly about pregnancy. I have been beating poor Ben up in my sleep (which isn't all that unusual!) and I semi-successful at sleeping on my sides. No more stomach sleeping for me right now - she and I both are too uncomfortable.

She has a painted nursery and a crib sans mattress! Fabric is on order and my dear mother-in-law and I are going to venture into sewing baby bedding. I'm sure I will be much more of an observer than a sewer, but I can't wait to start putting it together! Stay tuned for a nursery post when I get it all together!

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22 Weeks

22 Weeks!

This week she is about the size of a spaghetti squash.

Movement: Still moving and kicking me on the lower right side.

Total Weight Gain: 13 lb

Cravings: Not really craving anything right now!

I went to the doctor this week and her heart was beating at 150 beats per minute. She is on track and growing like a weed!

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Trust Me

Since it is cooler this weekend, it would be an excellent time to try this recipe. You must cook it before it gets too warm for soup. Trust me. It's that good. I have been in a hump lately and have been searching for new recipes to try. I feel like I serve Ben the same things over and over again so I have been trying to step outside of my box and try new recipes. This was super easy to make and I didn't have all the ingredients that the original Southern Living recipe called for so I just compromised and it tasted just fine.

Image via Southern Living

2  (6-oz.) packages long-grain and wild rice mix

10  cup  chicken broth, divided

3  tablespoons  butter

1  cup  sliced fresh mushrooms

1  cup  chopped onion

1  cup  chopped celery (I didn't have celery so I left it out)

1/4  cup  butter

1/2  cup  all-purpose flour

1/2  cup  milk (I used skim - original recipe calls for half and half)

2  cups  cooked shredded chicken breasts

1. Bring rice, 4 cups chicken broth, and 1 seasoning packet from rice mix to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. (Reserve remaining seasoning packet for another use.)

2. Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add mushrooms, onion, and celery, and cook, stirring often, 10 to 12 minutes or until tender.

3. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute, or until thickened and bubbly. Gradually whisk in remaining 6 cups broth, and cook, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Whisk in milk. Stir in mushroom mixture, chicken, and rice. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. (Do not boil.) 

Ben is not a brothy soup person and this is right up his alley. It is more like a casserole in a bowl rather than a soup and is it delish! Try it!

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21 Weeks

21 Weeks!

This week she is about 10 1/2 inches long and the size of a carrot.

Movement: I thought she turned but now I'm not so sure. She is still mostly kicking me on my right side. It has changed from a poke to a more weird feeling - like a swoosh. It's hard to explain.

Total Weight Gain: 11 lb

Cravings: I really want a big fat sushi roll right now. Oh well! I am out of luck on that one!

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