What better way to ring in the New Year...

than with the flu? I mean, really, munching on rice chex and sipping warm ginger ale? Who can beat that?

I've had the flu before but getting the flu while pregnant is a whole different animal. It's taking forever to get my strength back. It's been 36 hours and I've finally moved from the bed out to the couch. Thankfully I got sick while we had no plans but, man, I had lots of plans for taking down the decorations and making a list of resolutions.

Now my only resolution is to eat something with flavor. Blech.

Christmas Eve

My parents are scrooges and go to Florida every Christmas. They flew and had us take them to the airport. They offered to take us to breakfast for our troubles and I'm all about free breakfast. Henry (my BIG eater) was out of sorts and only wanted to drink chocolate milk. Have you ever seen chocolate milk the second time around? Yeah. It's that gross. And even though I haven't been sick with this pregnancy I almost lost it. Thankfully he waited until my parents had already been dropped off and we had stopped at a gas station. Charlie freaked out so he and I went into the gas station to get wipes and paper towel and anything we could think of to clean it up.

Poor Henry was stripped down to his diaper and it was COLD. We swung by a Target so I could grab him some sweats and a sweatshirt and then we took him to a walk-in clinic. Because what could be more fun than being sick and sitting in clinic all day?

They stuck us in room pretty quickly but they were short staffed. Thankfully a nurse brought in "Rudolph" for us to watch. At first it was quaint- the four of us hanging out watching a Christmas movie. But when "Rudolph" started a second time it wasn't fun anymore.

The diagnosis? A double ear infection. Oh yeah- tons of fun. The medicine kicked in just in time for Christmas and life was good.

And hopefully there will be no more throwing up in this house for awhile. Because I truly can't handle anymore.

With all the family Christmas parties and the eating, eating, eating, my family has cut back on the food. Our tradition is to each bring our "speciality" soup. My mom makes either cheese and broccoli soup or vegetable beef. My sister-in-law makes homemade noodle soup. I make white chicken chili. We eat out of little bowls and taste everybody's soup and don't feel stuffed!

Here's my white chicken chili recipe (actually my mother-in-law's that I've stolen):

1 lb. chicken breast cubed, browned
1 large can of Randalls great northeren beans
1 block of pepper jack cheese (cubed)
1 medium size jar of salsa


Brown the chicken. Stir all ingredients into a big pot. Warm through and cook until cheese cubes have melted. Serve with sour cream (to cool the kick from the cheese). If you don't like a strong bite you can substitute a milder cheese.

Enjoy!

Did you know?

If you google "show and tell letter u" my post is #2 on the list? I only discovered that because that is the top google search to bring people to my blog. Crazy! Here's the post it takes you to:

Too Much Show and Tell

Homemade Scrubs and Bath Soaks

Because of the time of year (and the day! Dec. 20! Ack! 5 days left!) my brain is mush. Lots of cute and amusing things are going on here but I can't remember any of them. And I lost the card to my camera so I can't even take random pictures of things like Charlie's dwarf snowman and the new bunkbeds Henry won't stay in. So instead I will share some yummy recipes from my last MOPS party.

My MOPS group meets once a month and December is the best. We have a SPA day! This year I called my friend Mindy to go with me. She said, "I'm so busy and overwhelmed I NEED to go!" And it was well worth it.

We made neck wraps, got paraffin dips, foot soaks, and made some amazing bath stuff. Here are the recipes that were included:

Hershey's Spa Chocolate Bath
1 C Powdered Milk
2 T Cocoa
1 t cornstarch
1/2 t cinnamon

Add 1/2 or whole bag to warm bath and enjoy! Warning- the bath water looks so yucky but smells so good! And your skin will be super soft when you get out. Wash out the tub immediately because it gets all over the sides.

Chocolate Brown Sugar Body Scrub
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c light olive oil
1 T cocoa powder
1/4 t almond extract

To use- gently massage onto body to exfoliate and moisturize skin. Not for facial use.

This stuff is so awesome! I have a little bit left of each and I'm saving them for Christmas Eve (since I'm wrapping EVERYTHING that night to prevent Henry from unwrapping anything he shouldn't).

Have a great day!

Bryan and Sarah

I've mentioned these great friends before. We've just found out that Bryan's dad has passed away unexpectedly. They've updated their blog here with all the information. Please keep them in your prayers this week as they deal with all the logistics.

Well look at that...

I'm back! I took a very long blogging break without warning but I have a very good reason why. I've still been reading other blogs daily and commenting now and then but I had a secret I wanted to keep and I knew if I blogged I'd give it away.

Back when I first begin blogging I gave a mini explanation as to why. On December 17, 2004 I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks. This fall we discovered we are expecting our third child! We are thrilled! However, the due date was the same as the baby we lost three years ago (I think I have the year wrong in the post I linked to). Yesterday was the big day- and we made it! I've had my first appointment already and everything looks good. So baby #3 is coming with much fanfare and a lots of fireworks- July 4!

I'm feeling great- just very sleepy. And very emotional! An old friend sent me an email with this video in it and I completely lost it this morning. Join me in my hormonal mess: