Frozen Turkey

Have you ever bought a frozen turkey breast and want to put it in the crockpot only to find out that your lid won't fit? Well this has happened to me several times - and we have two big crockpots, one oval and one round. Neither one will hold a turkey breast. So I came up with a solution that surprised Mom, so I decided to post it for anyone else who has the same problem. Put the turkey in the crockpot like normal (with you water and seasonings). Then put foil over the top of the turkey, draping the foil over the edges of the crockpot. Put the lid on the best that it will go and your done...for a while. Let the turkey cook until it has shrunk enough so the lid fits perfectly. Remove the foil, put the lid on, and wait until the turkey is done. TaDa!

Week in Review

Yikes - 38 days to go!! That's okay, I am prepared. I have washed all of James' clothes and bedding/towels/boppy covers. Bottles and the pump are clean and ready as well. Today I am putting the car seat in the Nissan (I'll wait another week or two before adding it to the Mercedes). Then at least one car will be ready to go. The double stroller should be coming in this week so then I can practice taking it apart and putting it together so I can be efficient in our outings. The mobile is hung, bedroom is set, and I am packed except for my makeup. Sophia is half-way packed but I can throw whatever clothes she has clean at the last minute. The only thing is that I have the pack-n-play set up for James so I would have to take that down if we needed to take it to someone's house but that would only take 2 minutes. We have gone grocery shopping and the two refrigerators and all the freezers are jambed pack! I think we are ready!

Jim was off most of this past week so it was nice having him around while Sophia was sick. She is feeling much better - no fever or rash since Thursday. She is rubbing her ears a lot but Jim checked and she does not have an ear infection. I checked her mouth and she has one molar that has busted through her gums, which is why I think she is rubbing her ears so much. She is starting to through tantrums. It requires some added patience but the only thing that worries me is when she throws them, all I see is myself in her. I told mom and she said that "Yes" Sophia does seem to have my temperament. Hold on everyone because it might feel like a long Toddler Years.

The earthquake of course happened this week. The funniest thing was that the first thing I did was run for the doorway and wait so I would be closer to Sophia if we had to get her and get out. Jim, on the other hand, stayed in bed and only asked, "Do we still have earthquake insurance?". After having a fire in this house already, it sounds like an appropriate thing to think of.

Next weekend the neighborhood is having a yard sale. I want to participate but don't know if I can becuase Jim has to work. Therefore, I would be here by myself with Sophia doing a yard sale. It might be a lot to juggle depending on how many people will show up for the sale. Maybe I can find someone who can come and help. Fortunately we don't have that many things to put in it so maybe it won't be so bad.

Oh What a Night...

Ah, the joys of parenthood and all the sleepness nights that go with it. Lord knows I wouldn't trade it in for anything in the world though. However, last night was a trial in patience. Jim went to bed at 11:30 and I, of course, could not sleep so I didn't get to bed until around 12:30. It was around then that Sophia started talking/moaning. I was hoping it was just a dream but at 1:00 I finally got up and checked on her. It's a good thing I did too!! She was a furnace! I took her temperature and it was 102.7. I woke Jim up and we swung into a 'Reduce the Fever' campaign. Jim turned on the air conditioning and brought her Gatorade. I gave her Tylenol, changed her pajamas into a t-shirt, and cuddled her. She looked so sweet but sick. Her eyes just looked like she didn't feel well. Well, after all of that, Sophia then wouldn't go to sleep so then we were trying everything to get her back to sleep. FINALLY, at 4:30 (and after Jim had already gone back to bed for about 2 hours, she fell asleep but talked in her sleep the rest of the night until she woke up at 7:30. She didn't read a temperature this morning but as I am typing this she is sitting on my lap with her 3 foot Elmo doll on my lap as well and she is feeling warm again. I wish it was raining since we need to stay inside all day long. Oh well. I will take the time to get ready for James. I had contractions all night long last night (sometimes 8 in an hour!). How much longer will it be before James is here?! Exciting!!

Fever Germ

My little baby has her first fever!! I thought Sophia felt hot all afternoon and I mentioned it to Jim but I didn't want to sound like a worried, over-protective mother (although I will admit that I am and there is nothing wrong with that!!). Finally I convinced him around 6:30 that we needed to take her temperature because she felt even hotter. And, before you go any further with your thoughts... I know I can check her temperature without Jim but I didn't want to be a Miss Worry-wart so if I have someone else a little concerned with me then I don't feel so bad. All this, of course, being after we went to the park to play. Well, Sophia had a fever of 102.2!! We gave her Tylenol and Jim did a little check-up on her but after an hour her fever was only down to 101.8. Poor sweetie! It's funny though, she acted fine until we realized she had a fever and then all of a sudden, all she wanted was to be around Mommy. We laid on the couch together and watched a Baby Einstein. She is so cute.

Burst of Energy

Phew! This morning I had a major burst of energy. I fed Sophia breakfast, got her ready for Gymboree, talked to Mom, vacuumed the whole upstairs plus the stairs (Yes, I did), went through all of my summer shoes to see which ones still fit, ordered the new plates for Jim's car, played with Sophia, got myself showered and ready, cleaned out my make-up table, started packing Sophia and myself for when the BIG Day arrives, did a load of laundry, and made lunch for everyone...all before 11:30. Sophia had even slept in this morning so none of us got up before 7:00! I haven't gotten that much stuff done in one morning in a long time. I think I'll take a nap now.

Baby James Ultrasound

We had another 4D Ultrasound this week. The umbilical cord was all in his face so we didn't get that many good pictures of him but it looks as though he will have big lips like Sophia. He also has chunky cheeks like she did too. I couldn't tell about his nose or eyes because of the umbilical cord. It was everywhere! At times it looked like he was trying to eat it. He was holding onto his umbilical cord at times too and playing with it. He kept bringing his feet up to his face and holding onto them as well. It looks as though he has big feet. I'm not surprised since it seems everyone in this family (including me) have skis for feet. Not to worry though, I haven't bought him any shoes yet so I don't have to worry about returning any of those. With only 40-some days to go, I am getting fidgety. For some reason I want to clean out the medicine cabinets. Why of all things to clean those out I do not know. I also have a list of everything to do and I want to get it all done at once but I am trying to be a little patient. For instance, I want to pack for the hospital now and put the car seats in the cars. But I will wait until next week. It freaks me out a bit to think that Beck had Adam at the end of her 34th week. That would be in a week if the same thing happened to me! AHHH! Anything can happen so I want to be prepared. Especially since Sophia thinks its funny know to play-push me over and then crawl all over my belly. I think her and Jim gently rough house while I am asleep so this is probably where she gets it. Her feet are getting big too so it doesn't feel too well when she digs them into me. I typed up Sophia's schedule today for anyone who has to come watch her while I'm gone so they know the routine. I feel better having done that. Tomorrow I think I'll get the bassinet and pack-n-play changing station ready.

Time to Plant the Peas!

What a beautiful weekend! We spent it getting the yard ready for spring. Our tulips are looking like they are going to bloom in another week and we have some crocuses already blooming. I love this time of year! It was Sophia's first time playing in the yard and garden. Last year of course she was just a newborn. She loved being outside today. I think she is going to take after Jim with being 'outdoorsy' but I don't know if she is going to like gardening yet. She might be like me. It is yet undecided. She did enjoy picking up leaves and grabbing handfuls of mulch. She was curious about the soil but didn't really get her hands into it. She did like planting the peas. The plants might be a little close together in some spots but I think it will be fine. After we finished all of the yard work (um, Jim finished all the yard work) we played with bubbles and sidewalk chalk in the driveway. Some neighbors stopped by while they were on walks and played as well. It was a great evening. I love it when we have people stop by!

Easter Pictures at Last

Here is Sophia early in
the morning, getting ready
to go to Easter Mass.
She wanted to take her
Easter basket to church filled
with Dolly and another toy.
The basket matched her dress
and she looked so cute!!








Jim, Sophia, and Grandma Beeson.












The look of surprise when Sophia sees
that the Easter Bunny has come.








Sophia got Tickle Me Elmo as an Easter gift.
She loves her stuffed Elmo doll and loves
playing with Elmo on the computer so it seemed
like she should like Tickle Me Elmo. The
response though was not as happy. I even tried
again last night with Beck to see if she had changed
her mind but nope, she still screamed.