Let’s Chat.

 

 

Hello, my dears. 

Good news!  Today, for the first time, I feel as though I am emerging from the fog of pregnant exhaustion.

I can function.

I can clean things.

I don’t think I will fall asleep every time I blink.

But, I think that I should still take a little nap…just in case…

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Anywho, I thought we should catch up.

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Sadly, tomorrow I am leaving on a road trip for Oregon and I will be gone all week.

Poor Brian will be alone for 8 days, with only a very long To Do List for company…sigh…

If you are one of my real-life-Oregon friends (you know who you are) and you would like to be blessed with our company, give me a call.

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This past week, I have backed the car over my stroller TWICE.

In public.

With Joseph in it.

JUST KIDDING about that last one- but it really makes me feel better about JUST running over the stroller…

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Have I mentioned to you before that Brian is the secretary of our Home Owners Association?

Like, taking notes, recording minutes kind of secretary?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That’s all I had to say about that.  Just thought you might like a giggle. 

Maybe I am going to have to get HIM a secretary’s costume for “special occasions” (wink, wink)

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Do you know how much I hate Earwigs?  They are by far my least favorite bugs.

And let me tell you why:

Spiders are creepy, but when you see one, it is just sitting on the wall, saying, “Hello, there, I’m a spider.”

Earwigs, on the other hand, are sneaky.  They could be anywhere!

Examples: 

In my folded up bath towel

Underneath that sock I left on the ground

In between the pages of Joseph’s coloring book

So, they always take you by surprise!  And then they wiggle off all slithery and creepy…yuck!

I swear that, around the house, yard, patio, garage, etc. I see about 10 a week.

Which is probably some universe-laughing-at-me thing since I declared them my Least Favorite bug.

So, for the record, my NEW Least Favorite Bug is the Lady Bug.

Bring ‘em on.

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If you are looking to waste some time, check out this hilarious song/video.  Really, I die laughing.

OH, but it DOES have a little bit of “Adult language,” (only like 2 words, don’t worry) so for all of you who should NOT be hearing that (*cough* My niece, Brenna, *cough*), feel free to head over and watch this video instead.  Much better.

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And, finally, because no post is complete without some pictures, here is Joseph being goofy with his Daddy’s hat.

  

 

He thinks he is SO funny now days. 

And I am trying to savor this stage when his “jokes” do not involve poop or underwear.  Because those days are coming.

65/35

 

 

Tonight, instead of our usual Thursday’s Culinary Adventure, we will be embarking on an adventure of a different kind.

Hint:  It is expensive, some people claim it is a scam, and it involves urine.

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Anyone?

Well, I’ll just have to tell you…

It’s the Intelligender test!

For those of you who have never heard of this test, let me briefly explain:

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You pee in a cup, dump it into this test tube thingy, twirl it around, and based on what color your urine turns, it is supposed to tell you if you are having a boy or a girl, when you are as early as 10 weeks pregnant. 

Doesn’t that sound fun?

Doesn’t that sound sketchy?

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The website claims that it is 80% effective, oddly enough, and since I don’t care what we are having, I figured that I wouldn’t be that disappointed if it turned out to be wrong.

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For reasons that I am sure you can all imagine, I did not take step-by-step pictures of me on this adventure.

But, I did take a picture of the result:  Please brace yourselves for viewing pictures of my urine.  See how much I love you all?

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See, as long as the pee turns green, and matches one shade of the color on the label, then it is a boy.  The words don’t actually show up, they are already there and you just have to match.

Here is what it had to match to be a girl

Pretty close, right?  Like, disconcertingly close? 

Couldn’t they have chosen pink and blue?

In person, though, you could tell that it had a green hue, and none of the “Girl” colors matched really.

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I looked online at some sample results, and it looked like a lot of the “Boy” results were really dark green and a little smoky/cloudy (They were all further along than me though…).

The “Girl” results ranged from light orange to a bright orange.

And the label said that any green means boy, even if it isn’t “Smoky”. (And really, who wants to have smoky urine?  Isn’t green urine bad enough?)

So…I’m going with boy for now.

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But, here’s the thing.

Assuming that the test is 80% effective:

-Since I took the test on the earlier side (12.5 weeks), I am going to, realistically take the % down to about 75%.

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-Then, I saw on their website that a BOY result is less accurate than a GIRL result, for some reason.  If it says GIRL, it is pretty sure, BOY, not so much.  SOOOOO… since mine said BOY, I’m going to take it on down to 70%.

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-And, lastly, since my result was pretty light…I’m going to say that it is probably about 65% effective.

Which, let’s face it, is hardly better than guessing.  I was already at 50%.

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Or, as I said to Brian this morning, “Congratulations, you MAY or MAY NOT be having another son.”

I should have baked something instead.

Thursday’s Culinary Adventure

 

 

 

Tonight, on Thursday’s Culinary Adventure

starring, my little helper who loves to help Mommy “COOOOOOK!” :

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So, lately I have been having a craving for chocolate.

Except that I am almost positive that it is too early for cravings, which basically just means that I want chocolate. (who doesn’t?)

I recently watched the movie “Chocolat” (which also gave me a craving for Johnny Depp…) and my mouth was watering so much that I knew something had to be done.

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After eating about half a pan of brownies, I realized that they were not quite what I was after. 

Then, today at swim lessons, I saw a little boy eating one of those huge and delicious chocolate-chocolate chip muffins from Costco.

My stomach growled and my fetus told me that it would probably be okay to knock the boy over and eat his muffin. 

I knew I had to make some.

And the rest, dear blog readers, is history.

(I found the recipe here.  I emitted the nuts since Joseph doesn’t eat them yet.)

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You will need:

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. milk

1 egg

2 Tb. veg. oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. semisweet choco. chips

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Dump all of the dry ingredients in a bowl (except the choco chips), and mix them well.

(About this time, I noticed that Joseph had a horrendous poopy diaper.  Which I got to smell for the rest of the adventure…yummy!)

Oh, and if you have ever wondered what flour + unsweetened cocoa tastes like, here you go

(Mid-retch)                                         (Wiping off his tongue)

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Dig your measuring spoons out from where you toddler has buried them,   and measure in all of the liquid ingredients.

Stir well, you don’t want very many lumps.

Yes, you are seeing correctly, I DID give Joseph an egg. 

He wanted one so badly, and after he said “EGG!” about a trillion times, I gave in.  I am trying to let him have lots of new learning experiences, even if they = a big mess for me.

Here he is trying to crack it (head to the side in concentration)

And here is the exact instant the egg broke

…and got all over my floor (please note his messy toes.)

Joseph was then excused from this culinary adventure, and he left some sticky, chocolately footprints as he ran off to find his Daddy.

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Stir in your chocolate chips, and scoop the batter into muffin tins. 

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a fork inserted in the middle comes out clean.

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Taste Testers Say:

Joseph: 

-Threw first bite on the floor

-Then bonked his head on the table

         

-Then decided that he liked it!

-Finally, he started throwing pieces of muffin, and was sent to bed.

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Caitlin (and Joseph):  

 

Brian:              

Summary:

Good!  Not quite as good as the Costco muffins, but that is probably because I left out the gallon of lard or whatever it is they put in there,  so I actually like them a bit better. 

They are not very sweet, which means that I can consume…say…four without feeling sick.  Convenient.

I do think that next time I will use some milk chocolate chips too.

Grade: A-

(I love these pictures:)

            

Writer’s workshop

 

 

Today, I seem to be keeping the baby-induced-narcolepsy at bay, so I am participating in Mama Kat’s writer’s workshop.

The prompt is:  “What are three things we would love to know about you?”

Well, I am not actually sure what you would love to know about me.  I am assuming: EVERYTHING.

So, here are just three random facts that came to me:

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1) I have a secret fear of elevators.  If I don’t have stroller/kid, I will take the stairs every time. 

It is secret, because I never say anything or act differently once I am on an elevator, my heart just pounds a little, and my palms get a little damp.  And inside I’m saying, “Oh please Lord, let me make it to the top!”

I think it is because I have a reoccurring dream that I am falling in an elevator.  Like the cables break, and suddenly I fall to my doom.  Yep, insta-palm-sweat.

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2)  I like cherries and cherry snow-cones, but all other cherry flavored things are gross to me.  Have you noticed that the fake cherry flavor tastes NOTHING like a real cherry?  They should really work on that.

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3)  I hate getting woken up.  And I don’t mean in the middle of the night- I mean EVER.  If somebody wakes me up, even if they do it gently (my mom used to rip open the blinds and sing a horrible “Good Morning” song.  Not so gentle.) I feel a slight surge of hatred for them.

The only thing that I don’t hate getting woken up by is my alarm.  And sometimes Joseph.  But mostly my alarm.

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So, there you have it- were you riveted?

Oh, and a bonus fact:  I have typed this entire post with a fudgecicle held in my mouth.  My tongue is numb, my teeth hurt, but I am happy.

An apology

 

 

I am 10 weeks along today, and I was thinking about taking a “Belly picture.”

Just for fun, I went through some of my pregnancy photos that I took with Joseph. 

This is me 10 weeks pregnant a few years ago:

Seriously?  Does this count as a belly photo?  Was poor little bitty Caitlin-poo outgrowing her size 2 jeans?

I remember looking at this and thinking- “WOW!  I really look pregnant!”

Now, all I think when I look at this picture now is “DAAAAANG!  Look at those ABS!!!”

So, I would like to formally say:

I am very sorry to everyone I sent this picture to.  Everyone who I made say “Oh, wow, Caitlin!  Look at the difference in your tummy!”  When all you really wanted to do was smack me.  And feed me a hamburger.

And I don’t blame any of you for laughing and applauding when, at the end, I looked like this:

Because WOOOOOOAAHH Nelly!  That’s more like it!

Let’s just say, no “Belly pictures” will be posted of me for quite some time.

 

2nd Child

 

 

I had my first ultrasound on Friday, and we were able to get our first sneak peek at our little baby.

Thank heaven, there is only one, and everything looks great so far.

In his/her blog debut:

And in case you can’t see anything (let’s face it, it’s pretty much a little gummy bear at this point):

There you have it!  We are so thankful…

 

And Joseph is so oblivious…

4th of July (On the 10th of July)

 

Joseph has still been going to bed lately- and it is killing my blog-life.  By the time he is in bed AND asleep, I pretty much switch the laundry and go to bed myself.  So, here are pictures of our nation’s birthday- almost a week late.

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If Joseph could pick a title for this post, it would probably be, “It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times.”

He thought that the Pop-Its were AWESOME

     

    

     

And he was pretty okay with the spinning flowers, Happy Pagoda, and the Tanks.

(In my family, the menfolk always lit the fireworks- looks like this will continue…)

(Running a way before it starts)

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But, this is how he felt about the Sparklers

And then, it came time for the Super Whistle Cuckoo firework.

Joseph seemed to be “a bit scared.” 

And, by a bit scared, I mean he climbed up my body and bit my head in a complete panic.

We took a video of the event- but really it seems cruel that I am laughing so hard in it, while Joseph hysterically clings to my head.

What can I say?  I have a sick sense of humor.

So, there you have it, folks.

Oh yes, and no holiday is complete without a little spread.