Two Weeks!!!

It has already been two weeks since Lois was born, and she is doing amazing! I could not have hoped for a better delivery. My mom flew in two days earlier than she was planning, because at my last doctor's appointment I had progressed to 4 cm, but we had no idea that little Lo had no plans of going anywhere. She stayed in there for another 8 days!

On Thursday, May 10th, I started having contractions at 4 in the morning. I was nervous that I wouldn't know what a contraction felt like since my water broke with Silas and I never had any contractions on my own, BUT I definitely knew these were the real deal! They started at about 5 minutes apart. Jack and I got to the hospital around 5:30am and it was super busy. It was another two hours before I got checked in triage, and I was 5-6 cm. By the time I got into the delivery room, I was 7-8 cm. At 8am, I got an epidural, and it was a beautiful thing! The doctor ended up breaking my water, and by 11:30ish I was fully dilated, but I didn't start pushing until close to 1. The nurse told me to push, and then quickly told me to stop, because Lois was almost here! The doctor and his crew came in and I pushed again and little Lo was here! All 9 pounds 2 ounces of her!

My parents left this past Monday, and so this is my third day on my own.  So far it has been a really smooth transition going from 1 to 2 kids. Lo has been super easy. She eats really well and has been sleeping 5 to 6 hour stretches at night. Silas is also doing great! Whenever I ask, "Do you see Lois?" he goes and kisses her on the head. Precious!

Enjoying being a family of 4.

Little Lois.

 Silas showing sissy his cars.

Cloth Diapering

I have no idea why, but I have really wanted to start using cloth diapers. My only experience with cloth diapers was when I used to babysit for a family with 3 kids who used them and they grossed me out the front door. So why would I ever want to start using them? I think part of it is because it definitely is more cost effective, and with little Lois about to join us, diapering two kids is going to get expensive. But I think the main reason is because I am a sucker for cute fabric!

These are two wet bags I ordered off amazon using my swagbucks! So cute! I've started using some Bumgenius and Fuzzibunz pocket diapers that I ordered from Target, and I'm waiting to get some from sunbabydiapers.com. I'll keep you posted on how this new endeavor goes.

FULL TERM!!!

Yes! I am full term at 37 weeks! I went to the doctor on Friday and Lois' heartbeat was 143 bpm and I was 2 cm dilated and 70 percent effaced. The doctor said this is pretty normal especially for your second baby. That's all for the update, but here's some pictures of us enjoying this beautiful Kentucky weather!

36 weeks down, 4 more to go.

Four more? It still sounds so far away. I went to the doctor last Friday and had an ultrasound and I got to see our sweet little girl. She is almost 6 pounds! She was head down in the ultrasound, but I think she has flipped a few times since then. I can't wait for her to be here and get to experience life with a newborn again.

I finished her nursery and it turns out I like pink a whole lot more than I thought I did! I still have to wash some of her clothes, but other than that I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Silas is almost 17 months old and he is doing great! He is so full of life, and he keeps me on my toes. It's funny how it works out to where the bigger and slower I get, the quicker he gets. I guess I have him to thank for keeping my weight gain down this pregnancy! Here's some pictures of our life lately...

Fried Ravioli

Eh. 2 stars. I think it depends on what kind of raviolis you use. I just used Bertolli cheese raviolis. These would probably be better if the raviolis were homemade. At least they look pretty though, right?

Here's the link to the recipe, but seriously, only try it if you use different raviolis than I used.

Bad Decision

I love love love banana pudding, and Publix makes a really good batch. I miss Publix and their commercials that make you cry, because there are none here in Kentucky. I also miss my mom getting groceries for our family. She is the best grocery shopper because she gets all the goodies, and this one time she got banana pudding…for my dad. But I didn’t know it was for my dad. Actually, I think I did, and that’s why I planned on only eating a little bit. But like I said, Publix makes a good batch and so I ate the whole thing. That was bad choice numero uno.

Bad choice number two came soon after. My friend and fellow buttercreamer Sarah and I made the dum dum decision to make it up to my dad by trying to make him some homemade banana pudding…no Jello pudding but the real stuff. We bought the ingredients and headed to my house, and this is where things fell apart. We had to use a double broiler, which we had no clue what that was and the recipe said to stir constantly. So that is what we did for the next 5 hours. We would take turns, but this stuff would not turn to custard. I really don’t think I’m exaggerating either with the 5 hours. 

This was just one of the many memories that came to me as I delved into making a homemade banana cream pie. I’ve never made anything this seriously homemade before.

I started by cooking a Pillsbury crust, which is not homemade and knowing Grandma Brocco would have disapproved I caved and made Grandma and Betty Crocker’s crust.

I read to put beans in the crust to weight it down.

I cooked the crust and simmered the custard, and things almost went awry because I didn't know simmer means to almost boil without actually boiling, but things worked out. And yes, Jack and I ate the whole thing! It's hard to give 5 stars, but this is as close as its gonna get! 

Here's the link to the recipe if you want to try.

And here's the link for the homemade pie crust.

Enjoy!

"Everyone needs a good pot roast recipe..."

...or at least that's what I've been told. As a cook, I'm still a major novice, and I'm still figuring out if the meat is from a cow or a pig and which part its coming from. It's tricky stuff. But this is what I've figured out so far. I used eye of round for the roast, and that was just because there was a sticker on the meat that said pot roast and it was on sale so I figured I was on the right track.  Jack told me that the meat was from a cow and so I found this chart, and grosssss. But this roast was SUPER easy, and made the house smell really good. I give it 4.5 stars! 

Ingredients 

• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 5 1/2 pounds pot roast
• however many you like baby carrots.
• 
  
• Directions

1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture. Add carrots around the roast.
2. Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours. 

Bottoms up!