It's a.....

We found out the gender of our baby the other day! It’s a…

BOY!!!

We have pretty much settled on a name and have been calling him by his new name all weekend. I’ve also started feeling him move around and he’s been using my bladder as a trampoline. It’s awesome, yet totally weird, feeling him move inside of me. It’s surreal really. It feels like popcorn popping inside my belly. He’s pretty active throughout the day. (He’s actually moving right now – maybe he can sense me talking about him?!) The movements aren’t strong enough to wake me up at night though. We were bowling on Saturday night (one of Seth’s favorite activities) and the baby was moving around. Seth was excited that the baby seemed to like the noise of the bowling alley. 

Which leads me to....

Sunday morning I woke up with a bladder infection. Ever had one of those?? They SUCK soooo bad. I really didn’t want to go to the ER…last time I went, it was a 6 hour wait. It was terrible and people in the waiting room were annoying. Sunday evening, it was getting worse each time I went pee and it became pretty painful. And I had to go every 5 seconds, but literally it would be a teaspoon of pee. I called the ER room and asked if there were a ton of people and about how long a wait would be (apparently, I thought it was like calling ahead for a reservation at a restaurant) and was disappointed that she couldn’t give me an answer and all she could say was “it’s been steady.” I figured a bladder infection would be low on the list of priority things in an ER room. Eventually, I sucked it up and went to the ER, where I was pleasantly surprised when I checked in that I would need to go to the Labor and Delivery ER room because I’m 20 weeks pregnant and if there’s any pain in the ab or girly part areas, I have to go to that ER room. After getting lost in a creepy, quiet, dimly lit hospital on a Sunday evening, I found a janitor who pointed me in the right direction to where I was supposed to go. There wasn’t a wait whatsoever and I was in a room immediately! Hallelujah! I was feeling the baby move so I really wasn’t concerned that he was in danger, but I was in pain and that’s the only reason I went, instead of waiting to go to my regular DR on Monday morning. I got some meds, got lost in the hospital again on my way out and then was home at about 8:45 pm. I was only there for about 3 hours and I’m so thankful that it wasn’t all night long like the last time. Seth was home though, so I was bored as hell in the hospital by myself. We were in the middle of making a bunch of cookies for some of his friends that are deployed and I was making mac and cheese for dinner, using a recipe I was sooo excited for! He said he would finish the baking and cook dinner while I went to the ER.

i parked here. because i could! and because i knew it'd be dark and late by the time i left 

I saw this recipe on pinterest on Saturday morning and we decided to make them on Sunday. They didn’t turn out nearly as pretty as they are in the pinterest pic but they are very good. Very rich too. Ours turned out ugly. 

proof ours were ugly!

We put a little dab of brownie mix on the bottom of the cupcake pan, but clearly the original picture indicates just put the Oreo on the bottom. We also overfilled them so they overflowed from the cupcake pan and were really difficult to get out. Oh well, they tasted good and Seth’s coworkers are enjoying them for a while.  

Potato Leek Soup

While my sister was home, we made Potato Leek Soup from a cookbook I got her for Christmas. I've had potato soup before, but not potato leek soup and OMG it was delicious. It was relatively healthy too. I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while. I made some tonight and while it's cooling, here is the recipe. And when it's cool enough to eat, I'm going to sit down and watch Coming Home from Lifetime. I'm prepared with a box of tissues, which I've been told are a necessity.

Without further ado, here is the recipe for Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients
2 TBSP butter (I used EVOO though)
3 medium leeks
5 cups chicken broth
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions

1. In a large sauce pan, melt butter EVOO over medium heat. Cut the leeks into 1 inch pieces. Add to pan and stir to coat. Cover and let cook until softened - about 8 to 10 minutes.
2. In a medium sauce pan, bring broth to a simmer over medium heat. Bring broth to a simmer over medium heat. Keep it hot, but don't let it boil. (I also cut up a few of the green part on the leeks and let them simmer and let their flavor seep into the chicken broth).
   
3. Add potatoes to leeks and pour hot broth over the leeks and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Transfer to food processor and puree until smooth. Return to pot and place on low heat. It should be smooth. Add water if necessary.
   
   (I don't technically have a food processor, but I do have a smoothie maker and that worked just as well. My sister and I may or may not have put this soup into a smoothie glass and we may or may not have eaten it like that. Either way, it worked just as well. Tonight though, I was not in the mood to dig out my wanna be food processor, so I used a potato masher instead. It's a little lumpy, but it all tastes the same).

Enjoy!!!


Oh, and here is the nutritional value. Following the recipe makes 4 servings.
190 calories
7 g fat
65 mg sodium