I interrupt this Maternity Monday with a public service announcement to the scorpion population living in my house rent-free:
I have scrubbed my house clean, hired a second pest control company, and turned my backyard into ground zero of chemicals for the mass genocide that’s coming to said scorpion population. Move on, or pay the ultimate price.
The clock is ticking.
Aaaaand I’m back to being nearly a week behind. Whatever, deal with it just like I have to deal with the fact that I’m in constant search for the bathroom….
Our baby is 18 weeks old (give or take Bad Mommy’s lack of counting exactly), the size of the baked potato that I’m about to inhale for lunch, and can hear what I’m saying now. “You stop kicking and let Mommy eat or so help me God I’m coming in there!” While we’re on the topic of movement, let’s discuss how adorably annoying this is. They are getting less “I think the baby just moved” and more “I was totally just kicked or punched” and “Awww, baby is rolling over!” It’s a crazy sense of relief when the baby is moving and fist-pumping his way to freedom because it reminds me that the little munchkin is still there and breathing amniotic fluid like a champ. While we were laying down watching TV the other night, the baby started to move and I told Angel to put his hand on my belly and see if he can feel it (I’ve felt it outside myself only twice). I asked him a few times “did you feel that?!” but alass, he hadn’t. I thought he started pushing on my tummy to see if it would help but instead he was like “I felt that one!!” with a big, adorable smile on his face. So apparently he wasn’t pushing, the baby was just coming to saying “hi” to Daddy.
I’m also hungry. But not until I start to eat. It’s weird. I’m not hungry at all, I get food in front of my face, and all of a sudden you don’t want to be the thing standing between a starving pregnant lady and her lunch (or you will be destroyed).
The pregnancy pillow is still the greatest thing EVER. While very comfortable, trying to roll over with this sucker is a giant exercise in AWKWARD. Molly has also decided that she likes it as well because now she can sleep up against it and not get kicked or rolled over onto in the middle of the night. She has no enjoyment of risky sleeping, apparently.
We find out on Tuesday if I’m busy baking a boy or a girl. Angel and I have always been in agreement on the “find out the sex” front because truth be told, we’re either surprised at 19 weeks, or at 40. I am still convinced that it’s going to be a boy, but more and more of a feeling now that I’m in for a huge surprise come Tuesday. Or maybe this baby will be modest and we won’t have a choice but to wait until 40 weeks? There’s no real wrong answer here, provided that everything is healthy and fine and this little boy or girl stays put until he or she is fully cooked, amen.
I have a case of the Mondays. The fact that I’ve been good about cooking, cleaning, and being domestic no longer has any sense of accomplishment when I wake up on Mondays. Ugh!
On a bright side, my new Windows 7 computer apparently changes the background of my computer every 15 minutes and cycles through my photos. It’s a small thing, but I’ll take whatever I can to make Monday’s better. Here’s the photo that I turned my computer on to this morning:
Mayan Ruins in Tulum, Mexico
More later when I get past my Monday morning funk (a.k.a. drink my coffee- to hell with my attempt to cut caffeine).
Here’s what I made for dinner last night (HIGHLY recommended):
Prep: 25 minutes
Marinate: 30 minutes
Cook: 6 minutes
Makes 4 servings
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cooking oil
10 green onions, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 cup fresh mushrooms
12 garlic cloves, minced
1 can water chestnuts
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup cashews
Rice
1. Cut chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. Marinate chicken in water, soy sauce, and vinegar for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Drain chicken, reserving marinade. Stir cornstarch into marinade, set aside.
2. Pour oil into a wok. Heat over medium-high heat. Add green onion, mushrooms, and garlic to wok. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until tender. Remove vegetables from wok.
3. Add chicken to wok. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Push chicken from center of wok. Stir marinade mixture and pour into center of wok. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Push chicken to center of wok. Return vegetables to wok. Add water chestnuts, crushed red pepper, and cashews. Cok and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through. Serve with rice.
What I created last night with an order from my diaper cake website (www.rockabybabycakes.com):
So you know how I’ve been saying that I’m experimenting with all of these crafting projects? Well, I feel like I’ve completely fallen off of the wagon. I’m knee deep in a scrapbook, 2 diaper cakes (that I’ve sold!!), 200 hand made paper leaves for Marissa’s wedding, and Jessica is on her way over to make 30 valentine’s for her son’s class.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s usually suck because I know that I have to go to work tomorrow. HOWEVER, I have tomorrow OFF!!!!! I’m seriously loving this stay-at-home thing. I have a turkey breast defrosting to make honey mustard glazed turkey for dinner, a stack of coupons that I clipped out of today’s paper, and an afternoon of crafting ahead of me. I feel like I have grasped my domestic goddess title.
After last weekend’s amazingness, I’ve spent this weekend being productive from the confines of my house. Leaving to pick up pants from the alterations lady and go to the grocery store took some serious thought and a small pep talk.
I cleaned my house. I made homemade guacamole just because I could. I mopped the floors. I don’t know if you all understand how rare that is so I’ll say it again: I mopped the floors. I ran my errands, finished up some work work (because I’m being audited and that’s lovely), and now I’m rounding the bases by sitting on my futon, having never changed out of last night’s pajamas, watching the Kardashian marathon.
Molly greets you all by snoring next to me so loudly that I keep turning up the TV just to hear.
A quiet weekend is clearly what we all needed.
And then Angel slid down the stairs and possibly sprained his ankle.
Or perhaps the more appropriate title to this post is “Most Expensive Weekend On Record.”
No joke.
On Friday night my beloved dog, molly (of who I am obsessed with) started throwing up and acting really weird. Naturally, this always happens right as this night-owl is going to bed at midnight, so… awesome. She ended up in the animal hospital and the 3am x-ray showed the vet and I that she had a tummy full of rocks. ROCKS. Take a minute to think about this: the dog went out the dog door, took a stroll around the yard, and decided that rocks sounded more appetizing than the food inside. She had to spend the night in the pet hospital, followed by all day Saturday, and then came home Saturday night on puke watch 24/7. She still has a tummy full of rocks so one puke from her and the only option left is surgery. Ugh!
Home. Bandaged leg and all
Meanwhile, I proved that my iPhone is just no match for a tile floor. I completely shattered the screen on it when it flew out of my hand as I was trying to hang it up. So one trip to the Apple store and a new phone later, Angel suggested I get one of these cases for it:
Big and Bulky, and possibly bomb proof
So that’s awesome.
Saturday over. I assume we’ve crossed the annoying, expensive threshold. Incorrect assumption.
On Sunday morning Angel’s headed to the old house to make a few minor repairs before the renters move in on Thursday and I’m sitting up in the loft scrapbooking (duh) with Molly curled up next to me still on suicide watch….. BAM! Angel backed into the garage door. Broken door, broken car, 100% annoying. So I spent Sunday trying to get garage repair men out to the house to fix our house.
Most people enjoy weekends. I was DYING (thankfully not literally) for this one to end! The Rivas household should live in a plastic bubble. That may be safest for everyone.
A small glimpse of the mess that has become of my office floor (I haven’t fully taken hold of photography yet. I’m trying to pace myself. Clearly.)
What Lies Within 