Autumn Harvest Chili

So I made Rachael Ray's Autumn Harvest Chili last night. E helped. She always wants to help cook nowadays. It's fun! She washed veggies, peeled the onion (I sent her to wash her hands afterward and as I was drying my face off this morning I noticed that my towel smelled like onions), mixed spices, stirred, poured stuff etc. I probably wouldn't eat the veggie chili by itself. I prefer the meat kind. But served on top of the roasted butternut squash it was actually really good. I didn't put as much of the ancho chili stock in as the recipe calls for b/c of E and also b/c I get a wicked heartburn very easily right now. I also made sure to boil the chili at the end and not just simmer it for a little bit. I wanted to make sure the alcohol was completely gone. Well, if you clicked the link you probably saw a picture of what it was supposed to look like. Here is my picture - overflowing a little bit... =)

What do you write for a title when your post is just a bunch of random info?

So I was going to write a new post but then E came up to me with a book and I got distracted. Can't really remember what I wanted to write. We read The Alphabet Book. She's doing so good. I think there was one or maybe two letters she didn't know the sound of. She even knows when they have more than one sound.

Potty training is also going well. She rarely has an accident anymore. She's in underwear all day long except for naps/bedtime and when we go out. Half the time the diaper is dry after naptime or when we come back inside so I should probably start skipping the diaper at those times too.

I really hope we found new tenants yesterday. They seemed nice and very interested and we could really use the rent money.

I am 28 weeks pregnant now and have my next doctor's appointment Thursday. The biweekly appointments start after that and they told me that around week 30/32 they will start the weekly ones since E was a preemie. I am hoping to make it past all of the holidays this time. E was 5 weeks early and if that happens again this baby will be here mid December.

I don't know where I stand when it comes to the flu vaccines. I know it's really hard to get hold of the swine flu vaccine here so I don't have to make up my mind about that one just yet. But what about the regular flu vaccine... they said that the people who got it last year are more likely to get the swine flu than the people who didn't get it. What?! And all of a sudden you start hearing about all these people around you who are starting to feel sick or knows someone with the flu (one or the other). It makes me want to hibernate!

Last night I made Pasta Fagioli but I read the recipe wrong and added twice the amount of pasta, lol. It was more of a stoup than a soup. Still ok though. Tonight I think I'm making a harvest chili. It's vegetarian and it's served on oven roasted butternut squash. I hope it's as delicious as it sounds. I'll let you know.

We are slowly getting the kitchen cabinet doors painted and put up and everytime E sees a new door she goes: "Look, doors! It's beautiful!" I must agree. C is doing a wonderful job and I am really enjoying my new, brighter kitchen.

E's first "huvudfoting"

Yesterday E woke up from her nap being all cranky. She didn't know what she wanted. "Let me down!", "No, not down, up!" She whined and cried about everything, until we brought the paint out. After she was done painting she wanted markers. I had my back to her as she was drawing but I could hear her talk. She was mentioning body parts so I turned around and she had made her very first "huvudfoting"! I don't know what you call it in English but if I direct translate it, it would be a "head footer". You know, where they draw a head and attach the hands and feet to it. I got so excited I took it away from her so she wouldn't color over it. (Yes, she got a new piece of paper and she made a frog, she said.) Here's her "head footer".

Potty Training

Potty training is actually going better than expected. She goes on the potty more times than she has accidents. Yesterday she only had one accident, well two, if you count the one in the tub. Today we put her in a diaper as we headed over to dad's fire department for some fun and when we got back home it was still dry. I put her on the potty just before putting her down for a nap and she went right away.

E and #2 to do list

Potty training... I wish I had better news. E is still not interested. We tried no diaper a couple of days ago. She had 4 accidents in an hour! I would ask if she needed to go on the potty. She would say no and 2 seconds later cry b/c she just peed her pants. We are giving it another try today.

Another thing we need to do is getting rid of the pacifier. Not looking forward to the process, but I want it done by the end of this month. Next month I want to get her a big girl bed and I would rather deal with the screaming when she's still stuck in her crib.

Coming up with a name... she's still a nameless little girl. It might be a B or another E. Maybe a P. A, C, H and S are on the list too. It's just harder this time.

Getting the nursery together. But this won't happen until we get E her big girl bed. Does anybody know how to make a stepped down crib bumper look like new again?

Should we get a sit and stand stroller or not? The only one that will work with or car seat is the Joovy and I would like the ultra light if we get one (preferably the orange one) but it's a bit expensive. I keep checking craigslist everyday for different baby items. Mainly for the stroller and bed, but who knows what else might show up as a good deal there.

another little update

I am tired today! Last night, as C and I were watching TV, the doorbell rang. It must have been 10:30pm at least. It was one of our tenants. She was heading to work, but could not get out of the driveway b/c someone had parked on the street right in front of it. We had to call the cops who had to call the tow truck. And even though the car alarm went off no one came to claim their car. I bet they were confused this morning when they came to get their car! After being out in the cold air we weren't that sleepy anymore, and there was a trowdown on the food network that made us hungry so we grabbed something to eat. And then we watched some more TV and fell asleep on the couch.

Today E and I went on the nature walk I talked about last time I was on here. J and her boys came too. It was such a beautiful day! E was very fascinated with the leaves that were falling off the trees. While we were away C and his dad started putting the shed together. It's almost done now.

Dinner tonight will probably be tuna noodle casserole, since I forgot to defrost any meat today.

Nature Walk

I'm taking E for a nature walk next week. My goal is to talk about creation and then let her discover a bunch of the things God created. We will bring homemade binoculars on the expedition. We will also bring a snack or lunch depending on what time we're going and some tape. The tape will be taped onto our arms as a bracelet, but inside out. Then we can stick small objects to it and make a nature bracelet. Other things we might do there, or another day at home are:

• falling like leaves, blow in the wind etc
• leaf hunt (find a yellow leaf, a small leaf etc)
• collect leaves and sort them by color, size and shape
• rake leaves (definitely at home)
• play in the leaves
• make a leaf mobile, leaf place mats (with contact paper), leaf wreath, dry leaf collage
  
• paint with objects we find outside (instead of using regular paintbrushes)

It should be a fun week.

10/6

Today

• we bought a birthday gift for L and shipped it.
• we shipped a magazine and some paintings from E to my mom and A on their birthdays. (They will arrive a little late.)
• I showed the apartment to a lady who has 3 kids under 5. She seemed nice though and she really liked the place.
• we took a bunch of silly pictures.
• we made chicken tortilla stew and are waiting for C to bring home some limes that I forgot I needed.
  
• E stuck a sticky lollipop in my hair.
  

Apples.........................

I think our apple week officially started yesterday as we went apple picking. We picked some Empire apples for eating and some Macintosh and Cortland for baking with. We also bought some apple cider and cider doughnuts, of course. Today E and I sat down and looked through the pictures we took at the apple orchard and then we read "A Day at the Apple Orchard". After that we ate one of our Empire apples. We also did some apple stamping, where you cut the apples in half and paint them and then stamp with them. I realized I'm not very good at cutting straight, which you need to be to make a good stamp. We still had fun!

here's a quicky...

This morning I got a txt from one of our tenants saying that their thermostat sparked and smoked when they turned it on. N came over to check it out (thanks!!!) and it turns out that the oh, so incompetent former owners had made another mistake when they hooked it up. C and N will fix the problem tomorrow morning. Tonight we have a wedding to go to. Congratulations, J & C!
I bought a pair of shoes to match my dress and a pair of thigh highs. I couldn't find any maternity nylons and my legs definitely need to be covered with something. I have to go put on my make-up now, before E wakes up so this will be a short post.

ramblings...

We're almost back on schedule now. It's still hard to stay up past 10 at night (or even 9) but 10 is a pretty good time to go to bed so maybe we should just land here.

We went to Target yesterday. I spent a little more than I thought I would, but they had so much cheap stuff so I got a bunch of fall clothes for E. I think we might be all set for this season now. They had pants and shirts for $3-5! So I guess in the end I saved b/c now I don't have to spend twice as much or more at other stores.

We went to Walmart today to pick up some art supplies for the curriculum we're starting, probably next week. I also bought a birthday or Christmas gift for E. I have been doing that all year long. Last year was so hard coming up with everything all at once, and I'm not talking money wise really, more like ideas. I also have a list where I write down any gift ideas that pop into my head.

We have a wedding to go to tomorrow. I bought a dress yesterday. It makes me look huge! But then again I'm not one of those people who get a tiny little bump when they're pregnant. Nope! I get big!!! Just ask the doctor. I gained 8 lbs in 4 weeks. She was a little concerned. I blamed it on my Sweden trip, that I was eating all my good food. But my mom told me she didn't think I ate that much. And the same thing actually happened with my last pregnancy too. All of a sudden I just started to gain a ton of weight. So I guess that's me... I get fat when pregnant. Oh, well. Nursing will take that off again I hope. It worked the last time.

We still don't have a name for the next kid. I wonder if we ever will..... Is #2 a name? I suggested several Swedish names, but C didn't like any of them. I don't think he will agree with anything that doesn't sound American. In fact he keeps clinging to this unisex name I really liked for a boy...

Naptime is almost over. I cleaned out the misc. toy drawer. Only half of those toys made it back. I hope E won't miss the rest.

Well, #2 is resting comfortably on my bladder so I have to go...