Let's try this again.

I've been wanting to blog for quite some time. I have good intentions and then, well, I just don't. Josh is supposed to be making me a custom .com but he's busy and I'm tired of waiting. We all know patience is a virtue that I don't possess. Let's play catch up.

Cohen is now 16 months. Already? He's currently getting his bottom molars and is a cranky beast. He doesn't want up, he doesn't want down, he doesn't want to play, blah blah blah. Cranky toddlers suck. He likes to eat, follow me around, and play with Pierre.

Ellie is going to be 3 in two months. Again, already? She's a typical middle child, full of sass and energy, snuggles and smiles. She's pretty cute, especially when she's not throwing a fit. She enjoys following Emme around, whining, "helping" me cook, and snuggling.

Emme just turned 5. She had her birthday party at a gymnastics studio and all the kids had a blast. I made her some super cute rainbow cupcakes.

We decided to combine birthday gifts for the girls this year and we went with a swing set. They have (had) so. much. stuff. and didn't want to play with any of it. We bagged up 3 trash bags of toys and decided no mas. They get to keep the "classics" like their doll house, kitchen, books and puzzles but other than that, it's all gone. Can I get an "Amen!"? Josh is being slowly killed by the swing set assembly but it should be done Friday, just in time for a nice weekend to stick them outside. Em is finishing her last year of preschool at St. Matthew's. She absolutely loves it and so do we. It was a good switch for us, no doubt. She's learned so much and has made a few really great friends. I'm excited to send El there next year. I enroll Em in Kindergarten in just a few weeks, I'm not sure I'm ready to let her go. I'm not ready for her to lose her innocence. Not to mention, I'm not ready to have to watch shows like iCarly and Hannah Montana.

I've been enjoying some great new recipes lately. Have I ever mentioned how much I love food? Well, I do. A lot. Here are some great things I've made this week.

Braised chicken thighs and mashed cannellini beans. This meal was superb. I think next time I'll make a slurry and thicken the braising liquid. I'll also double the beans- they were the perfect accompaniment.

BBQ Beef Shepherd's Pie. I made this for us and some friends that just had a baby. I really enjoy this dish because it's hearty, comforting, and has BBQ sauce. I live in Kansas City so loving BBQ sauce is a requirement. I served this with a fresh spinach salad.

Southwest Sloppy Joes w/ honey lime coleslaw. Ummm...yeah. Delish. And easy. I don't put the black beans in my sloppy joes because Em detests beans so I serve them as a side, jazzed up with some cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion powder, and salt and pepper.

I also made a yummy mushroom risotto last night. I made some extras to make into risotto cakes this weekend. You just take your leftover risotto, add some egg, cheese, a few more herbs, coat in panko and pan fry. Risotto is so darn cheap and can turn into such a decadent meal. I highly recommend 'er!

Well, I've got the girls set up at the kitchen table with bowls and assorted ingredients letting them "cook" so I'd better balance the budget while they're occupied.

Cohen Joshua Swank
11-21-2009
3:23am
8lb. 14oz.
21"

We got no decent pics of the girls from Halloween. Oh well. 'A' for effort, I guess.

I went to the doc today and am still a 2 and 70%. I'm going to buy some evening primrose oil and raspberry leaf tea this weekend. I'll be getting membranes stripped next Friday and I plan on walking the mall and getting a pedicure afterward. I'll spare you the rest of the details. :) Of course I'm still feeling huge and fat and sooooooo ready to not be pregnant. I can't wait to fit into cute jeans and tops again. And cut off my hair!

Ellie has her speech evaluation tonight for speech therapy. Hopefully she will qualify!

Wow. I'm tired. No, beyond tired. Utterly exhausted would be good to say. I can hardly get anything done and our meals have been...well, less than divine. Sorry, family! But I'm like 20 months pregnant now and Cohen is huge so everyone needs to suck it up.

I hope he comes soon. I'm contracting like crazy and just need him o-u-t. I went in for a NST the other day and was only hooked up for 20 minutes. In that 20 minutes I had 4-5 contractions and 2 of them were off the charts. I'm 36 now but only 2cm and 70%. Better than nothing I guess! Next week I should be able to get my membranes stripped.

Here is a pic of the nursery Josh worked so hard on. We don't have any Red Sox decor yet but at least it's painted and clean.

I've been beyond tired lately. It's getting a little ridiculous, honestly. That being said I've pretty much completely slacked at cooking this week and after a few days of eating junky stuff, I'm ready to peel my lazy butt off the couch and cook dinner. Or as ready as I can pretend to be.

Saturday-Saturday, in no particular order:

The Pioneer Woman's lasagna with caesar salad (making an extra for the freezer)
The Pioneer Woman's steak bites with baked potatoes, and green beans
BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, broccoli slaw, and baked beans
The Pioneer Woman's pan fried pork chops, broccoli, and salad
Leftovers
Grilled brats, corn, and Lipton pasta side in the cabinet
Beercan chicken, peas, and another Lipton rice side in the cabinet

I don't care if it's Thursday, I have to do a "Not Me!" post. It's just required. And because I'm so not computer savvy and don't have any earthly idea how to add the link to my blog post, know that I got this idea from MckMama.

It was definitely not my child who tried to poke the poor dogs eye out earlier this week. Definitely not Emme.

Emme absolutely, positively did not try to set the house on fire during nap time by melting a plastic tube of cold sore medicine on Josh's nightstand light. Nope, not her.

Nor did she wake up at about 5am today because of the thunder and lightning, proceed to come in the living room and turn on the lights, pull all the blankets and pillows out on the floor, make a bed for herself next to the dogs kennel, take off her pull-up and put on a swim diaper, get all of her Play Dough out and spread teennnnyyy tinnnnyyyy little pieces all over the carpet (all while using her new kids cookbook, of course), and spill a huge cup of water on the kitchen floor. She totally didn't do that. I have such great mommy senses that I always know what my children are doing, even at 5am.

And I'll go ahead and assume Ellie just did not shove half of her snack cup of Rice Chex into Josh's speaker. Sorry, Babe.

Here is the other blog/group I own with 2 other ladies. We originally started on babycenter.com (and are still there) but we keep getting blasted (in a good way!) with new arrivals asking the same questions. Hopefully this will serve some purpose for all the new parents dealing with the reflux, allergy, MSPI, etc. roller coaster. It's a long, sucky one, that's for sure. It's got everything you need to know about medication, dosing, formulas, reflux, MSPI (milk-soy protein intolerance), procedures, oral/feeding aversions, etc. Check it out if you're needing some help!

In other news, Grandpa passed away peacefully about 2:30am Saturday morning in the comfort of his own home. My mom, grandma, and his sister got to be with him in the end. I got a text from my mom about 3:10 and went over there to be with them for a few hours. Left Grandma's about 6am, went to the grocery store, and eventually took a nap. Services are going to be Monday and Wednesday this coming week. Oh, funny story. We were going for a viewing of him last night with the family. The whole way there we were explaining that Papa is up in heaven now totally healed and feeling better again, so we wouldn't see "him" necessarily (try to explain that to a 3 year old!). We get there and she's sitting on Josh's lap, she looks over at my Grandpa laying on this table all done up, looks at Josh utterly confused, and says, "Is THIS heaven, Daddy!?" Lol! It was the cutest thing ever!