wedding season.

last weekend, we were in colorado for a wedding.  this past weekend, we were in austin for another one.  i like weddings.  emme absolutely adores them.  i think i might love them as much as she does if i looked as cute in dresses as she does.  one of these pictures isn't from either wedding, but i love her twirling and eating breakfast in the driveway (i don't usually let her eat away from the table, by the way, but she wasn't interested in eating until it was time for school, and i'm not one to let her skip breakfast completely either....). 

soup peddling.

it is still in the 80s and 90s here.  i have resigned myself to the fact that it will be this way for a while, and that's ok because the 80s are SO much nicer than the 100s, and at least we have something that resembles a breeze most days. 
but, even though the temps don't reflect it in texas, it is fall.  my favorite time of year.  and this time of year makes me want to make and eat soup.  it's easy and filling and comforting and great.  and i love that you can throw a bunch of random stuff in it when you need to get rid of something. 
monday night, emme and i made tortilla soup together and it was delicious.  she also loved helping, and was so excited to eat the soup that she helped make.  yesterday, i threw ingredients for a crockpot potato soup together (though i modified a bit).  it also turned out great!  ek was especially thrilled about watching the immersion blender do its thing, even though she kept telling me it was "too loud, mama".  recipes below - both of these are keepers, i think.  they are both really quick, really easy, and really tasty (for adults and kids). 

tortilla soup:
- 4-6 cups of chicken broth (i used 4 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water because i didn't want to open another carton...)
- 1 rotisserie chicken, culled
- 1 small onion (i used a purple onion)
- 1 tbsp garlic
- coconut oil
- 1 large zucchini, sliced
- 1 can of ro-tel, drained
- 1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
- 1-2 tbsp of cumin
- kosher salt to taste
- avocado, cheese, tortilla strips, lime (for garnish)

* saute onion in coconut oil in the base of a soup pot/dutch oven.  add the garlic, then zucchini and stir until relatively tender - about 5-7 minutes.  add corn and ro-tel and stir to mix.  add broth and bring to a low boil/simmer.  add salt and cumin, then stir in chopped chicken.  let everything mingle and cook for 10-30 minutes (however long you want, really, without evaporating all the liquid), then serve in bowls and garnish with whatever you like. 

crock pot potato soup:
- 5 lbs of potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch cubes (i used yukon gold, but i bet you could use whatever)
- 8 cups of chicken broth
- 2 leeks, white and light green parts, sliced thin - OR - 1 large onion
- 1-2 tbsp garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 16 oz (2 blocks) of cream cheese

* put potatoes, garlic, leeks or onions, salt and pepper into your slow cooker.  stir everything around a little (it will be really really full) so the onions/leeks aren't resting on the bottom.  pour in all the chicken broth.  leave in slow cooker for 5 hours on high, 10 hours on low.  add 2 blocks of cream cheese and wait about 20-30 minutes for it to soften/melt.  whip out your immersion blender and blend away.  garnish with grated cheddar cheese, bacon, or chives, if desired.  

duck (and emme) goes potty.

we've been working on potty training.  truthfully, ek's school is great about creating awareness and focus on the potty, so really we've just had to reinforce at home a bit.  it's been my secret hope that emme would be potty trained before #2 arrives, so we won't have to figure out how to manage cloth diapers between two kids in two different sizes (most of our diaps are the adjustable one sizes, and i am not interested in messing with that elastic between every load of laundry).  but, she is young and i don't want to put unnecessary pressure on her, especially during this time when there are already a lot of changes. 

anyway...we've seen a lot of success lately.  last week, her teacher told me she thought we were about two weeks away from moving to underwear full time.  whoa.  i sort of think we might be slightly farther away than that, but i can see the light!  she is very aware of the potty and loves the success of going on it.  she almost always does her "big business" on the potty - both at home and at school, so that is HUGE...especially with the cloth diapers.  yuck. 

so, at the bookstore last weekend, i decided to pick up a couple new books for ek.  one was a big sister book, so we can start talking about what life is going to be like as a family of four.  and the other one is called duck goes potty.  i liked it because it's simple and fun and there are lots of big colorful pictures.  it's probably not the most instructive potty book out there, but she LOVES it.  it totally does the trick of getting her excited about sitting on the pot.  the one thing that is particularly odd/funny about this book is that duck misses the first few times he tries to potty (the lesson here being that you don't need to beat yourself up if you have some accidents, i guess?).  but, the second time duck misses, he poops on the floor right by the potty.  so, the book has a cartoon drawing of poop on the floor.  this weirds me out beyond belief, and emme doesn't miss a THING.  she flips to that page every time, multiple times a sitting, points to the poop and says "he poo poo on the FLOOR, mama!".  she is scandalized.  i am trying really hard to reinforce that the potty is where that belongs and that it's ok that duck had an accident, but the point is that he learned to sit on the potty like a big duck.  oh, the conversations these days at our house.  sigh. 

24 weeks.

week: 24

baby stats: this is one of those weeks where all the sites are different.  one says bebe is the size of a cantaloupe, one says an ear of corn.  i have a hard time reconciling these food items with this squirmy kiddo, but whatever.  brain development is happening and lots of weight gain (for the baby) right now.  good times.  

aversions/cravings: not a huge appetite week for me.  i want a bite of everything but i don't want a full plate of anything.  

bump: still growing and hanging out mostly in front these days (as opposed to my last pregnancy where i was pregnant in my neck/face/arms/etc).  

worries: had our 24 week appointment this morning, so that made everything feel good.  have also felt lots of wiggles lately, so i'm maintaining some semblance of normalcy.  

looking forward to: holidays.  crossing things off my many, many lists.  

boy or girl?: boy.  

missing the most: got invited out for sushi last week and opted out, even though there are things i could eat.  it's just not the same when raw salmon is not involved.  

pregnancy milestone: 6 months down!  heartburn in full effect.  leg cramps off and on.  braxton hicks contractions here and there.  

what's different this time: i haven't really gained any weight.  it's crazy.  i'm up a net 2 lbs from where i started, which could be attributed to just about anything in my universe.  anyway.  it's not a huge deal, but for someone like me who is a little bit of a piglet and who has a hard time with self control, i am pretty proud that i am keeping things in check this time.

just a quick side note: when emme pats my belly gently and then kisses it when we talk about the baby, it's pretty much my favorite thing of all time ever.  

school lunches.

i like packing emme's lunch for school.  i know, that seems kind of crazy.  and there are definitely days when i'm like...what can i possibly put in there and how can this one activity take such an inordinate amount of time?  but overall, it's something i enjoy because i like feeling like i am taking care of her in some small way, even when i'm not there.  and i love imagining her opening her lunchbox and looking at all the things inside and deciding what to taste first, etc. etc. 

lately, we have been doing better about at least starting lunch packing the night before.  i attribute this to us wising up, and also to the fact that i now have a two-lunchbox rotation.  ek's original lunchbox was the full size goodbyn lunchbox.  i liked that one a lot, but since she's gotten in to warblers, she basically refuses to drink milk at school, so when i saw the goodbyn bynto lunchboxes on sale for 2-for-1 on gilt a few weeks ago, i bit the bullet.  SUCH a good decision.  we are wasting less milk and less food daily, and we have two lunchboxes in rotation (since these are dishwasher safe and we don't always run the dishwasher every single night and/or remember to turn it on before bed).  anyway...my goal each day is to give her fruit, veggie, protein, grain and ideally something fun...or, one of the food groups could be something fun, if possible.  below are a few of the lunches i've packed recently. 

 limas, hummus, raspberries, dried apples, babybel cheese, and chicken/rice casserole (leftovers are such a help). 

 orange slices, babybel, raspberries, limas, homemade sweet potato "fries", pb&j.

 leftover chicken/veggie lo mein, apple slides with peanut butter, sweet potato oven fries.

 spinach/yogurt/berry/flax smoothie, pepitas, hummus & cheese sandwich, apple, roasted carrots with coconut oil and paprika.

 leftover baked chicken, roasted zucchini and squash, mashed potatoes, pear, and kiwi. 

kiwi, orange slices, pepita/raisin trail mix, cream cheese & jelly sandwich, dried mango, hummus.

23 weeks.

week: 23

baby stats: this kiddo weighs just over a pound and is the size of a large mango, which i think is smaller than the papaya of last week, but since i don't make this stuff up, i will just go with it.  its lungs are developing, and its hearing is more and more acute...supposedly, hearing our dogs bark while in utero is going to help him/her sleep through that when s/he's out and about.  it worked great for ek, so i'm optimistic about that...

aversions/cravings: i am craving lots o' sweets these days.  mostly ice cream.  

bump: getting bigger and bigger, but not super crazy yet, i don't think.  i haven't gotten any "are you sure that's not twins" comments lately, so i consider that a bonus...

worries: not too bad this week.  the increased movement (frequency and size of movements) helps a TON in this department.  

looking forward to: cooler weather.  little tiny clothes.  

boy or girl?: i still think boy.  emme now almost exclusively refers to the baby as "baby sister", though...

missing the most: we were in colorado for a wedding this weekend and i was wishing i could ride a horse.  but that is fleeting and very temporary, since i don't do a ton of riding when i am not knocked up, anyway.  

pregnancy milestone: i can say the heartburn is back in full effect now.  much later than with ek (heartburn started consistently in like week 9 with her), but here with ferocity.  

what's different this time: the impending holidays.  when talking to my mom last night, i realized that in addition to being on the "back 9" of my pregnancy, i also have to contend with halloween, ek's second birthday, thanksgiving, and christmas, all before this little human arrives.  yikes!  

family pictures.

so, emme is now 22 months old (!).  in the last almost 2 years, i can count basically on one hand the number of functional pictures we have of our family.  it's sad.  i always look like a hobo, and justin is always behind the camera, so....there you have it.
anyway.  justin's friend kate is a super gifted photographer and they decided to do a little services trade a couple months ago.  kate had a sunday morning free, and i wanted to knock out a super quick session before i was more pregnant (as it is, i look super bloat-y in all the pics, but what can you do?), so we met at a nearby park and did some family picturing.
despite the fact that is was crazy windy and my hair was frizzy beyond belief, i love the series.  emme was kind of cranky that morning, but she held it together for most of the pictures, and i'm sooooo glad we have a small glimpse of this time captured.  i hope to be better about doing these in the future.  maybe with some sort of serum for my hair and less of a pregnant face....

22 weeks.

week: 22

baby stats: bebe weighs close to a full pound now and is the length/size of a spaghetti squash/papaya depending on which site you ask.  pancreas is starting to produce insulin, which is rad.  also, the sites all seem to mention tooth buds forming under gums this week, which reminds me of how creeped out i get by the idea that some babies are born with teeth. 

symptoms:i've been headache-y and have a cold/allergies AGAIN.  i don't know how much of that is pregnancy, but it's annoying. 

aversions: nothing, really.  still not loving protein.  i've been craving potatoes non-stop.  i also crave sweets, but i think that's more because i know it will make the bebe move.  ha. 

bump: a man at the park on saturday asked how far along i was.  after i told him, he said he would have guessed 25 weeks.  that seemed really specific to me, but i guess i am still bigger than what an average person expects an average pregnant woman to look like.  whatever that means.  i love this bump and it wasn't too much in the way when i was getting a massage this weekend (thanks again mothers day gift!).  i also still maintain it's different and smaller than emme at this time. 

worries: all of them, but trying to stay rational and positive.  baby was crazy busy on friday and saturday and has been relatively quiet yesterday and today.  this fuels my paranoia, but then i remind myself that i am a crazy person and everything is perfect and lovely. 

looking forward to: continued progress in the house/nesting.  this weekend we got emme's big girl room 90% of the way there.  we need to get some stuff on the walls and i need to finish her quilt, but she slept in her big girl bed for the first time last night!  huge deal.  she is loving the room, and i'm excited to be able to focus on trying to make the nursery feel slightly different/unique for #2.  also, the minor cool snap we're having is giving me TONS of energy.  yay fall(ish)!! 

boy or girl?: i really don't know.  our housekeeper, who told our friend wendy a few weeks ago that she thought it was definitely a girl, told me on thursday that she thinks it's absolutely a boy now.  this voodoo from other people always sways me. 

missing the most: nothing this week.  i don't really feel deprived at all right now, which is nice.  i can't say i don't kinda sorta wish for a glass of wine on the porch in this lovely weather, but hot tea is almost as good...

pregnancy milestone: tuesday night, justin felt a little kick for the first time.  i love that SO much and can't wait for more.  it made me tear up a little bit, i'm not going to lie. 

what's different this time: i'm really far behind.  i know everything is going to get done and that you don't really need that much stuff for them when they're super little, etc....but i still feel like i am just forgetting stuff i'm supposed to be on top of....

jj's visit, labor day weekend and curry.

last week, emme's school was closed on thursday and friday.  since we'd just taken days off to go on our sweet vacation, i didn't feel great about taking more time off (even if i would have loved to).  fortunately, my parents are non-stop awesome with their willingness to help out in these situations, so my dad fled the scene of the hurricane and came to austin.  since he was with her and i was in the office, i don't have a ton of pics from their adventures, but i can attest to the fact that ek had a great time with her jj.  she woke up every morning asking for him and was not really interested in seeing mama or daddy.  he took her to the pet store, to the central market playground, etc. and they read books non-stop.  friday night, the four of us had a fun happy hour dinner at contigo and jj hit the road after brunch on saturday.  we loved having him stay with us, and emme relished the extra attention. 

the rest of the long weekend was a great combination of productive and restful.  i wonder how much more organized our lives would be if we got a three day weekend every week.  sigh.  i taught a friend how to quilt, we brought the dogs to the park, we did some swimming, i organized ALL of emme's clothes (past, present and future), justin painted an area in the living room that's been needing a touch-up AND the hall, laundry got done, and the kitchen got scrubbed and decluttered.  of course, we all woke up with colds on tuesday morning, so it was kind of a frantic back-to-reality day.  emme decided 4:45 was an appropriate time to greet the day and spent the morning as a cranky mess, including coloring in green crayon on the couch upholstery.  ugh. 

finally, just a random mental note (if i write it down, i will remember it)....i had some red lentils in the pantry and have been wanting to be better about making stuff like that.  i found a red lentil curry recipe online and conveniently had pretty much every single ingredient i needed on hand (which is basically akin to a magical event in my house).  the curry paste i had on hand, though, was green curry paste (which i had never used).  it was HOT.  like, open up your sinuses hot.  i like a little spice.  but this was crazy.  and of course i served it to emme before trying it.  ha.  she took a bite and was like "too spicy mama", which is one of her favorite things to say these days (maybe we should stop letting her taste the salsa?  anyway...i threw a bunch of greek yogurt on it to calm it down a little...and it was tolerable for us, but emme mostly stuck to the roasted zucchini.  so here's my tip...when feeding toddlers, go for the yellow curry.  or be VERY conservative in your curry paste contributions...

21 weeks.

week: 21

baby stats: trigger now weighs in at about 3/4 of a pound and is the length of a carrot - 10.5 inches or so.  eyebrows and eyelids are in full effect and baby is starting to look more and more like the baby we will see in a few months.  whoa.  

symptoms: nothing really this week.  we were back to work after our vacation, so lots of stress and catching up, but baby-wise, all is well.  

aversions: i'm 100% back into food.  still trying to keep my appetite within the normal range, but it is nice to be hungry and to like food all the time.  i'm into sweets again...when my dad was in town last week, we got some peanut butter fudge ice cream from target as a little treat, and i swear i can hear it whispering to me from the freezer....

bump: still plugging away.  i think i'm carrying more forward and out this time, but i've been too lazy to look at the round 1 pictures to do a compare/contrast.  

worries: i think i'm keeping the kidney situation in perspective.  i think about it and pray about it, but for the most part, i am not exceedingly worried about it...perhaps because i know there is literally nothing i can do but wait and pray.  the knowledge that my placenta is anterior has helped a lot with my worries about how much/how big movement i'm feeling.  

looking forward to: fall!  i know it's only labor day weekend, but football season and september mean fall is close at hand.  fall means sweaters and scarves.  yes, please!

boy or girl?: this is the first week i've kind of felt girl.  maybe it's the sweets cravings (i loved sweets with emme), or that the movement feels similar to ek.  or maybe it's just that i spent several hours going through baby girl clothes this weekend and it got me thinking about all the cute stuff i'd be able to put on another girl...

missing the most: advil.  i'm not one to take medication that often - even OTC stuff - but i have had wicked headaches this pregnancy (i blame part hormones and part allergies) and, though i refuse to take anything, i feel like it would be so great to just pop two ibuprofen and be done with it.  

pregnancy milestone: i don't think we have one this week.  still no linea negra.  still no outside-the-belly movements (though i think i saw a little thump last night, but i was the only one).  

what's different this time: time is FLYING this go-round.  i mean, seriously...we are already in september.  i've felt like january was so far away, but it's just not.  i also know that with all the activity and holidays coming up, the rest of this pregnancy is going to go by even faster.  i should probably start making some to do lists....