Who needs a new rug?

When we moved into the house almost 2 years ago, I was a little wary of the fact that our living room carpet was cream colored.  Two kids, a cat and a light colored carpet...not a good combination.  After all this time of scrubbing out stains by hand, and it really never getting it clean, I bought a SteamVac finally.  I thought this particular one had the best reviews, and was totally affordable.  It was actually only $134 when I ordered it.

So I finally used it today, and I cannot believe how well it worked.  I did a little pre-treatment with some generic carpet cleaner.  I used hot water straight from my tea kettle, mixed with the hottest tap water I could get and a Deep Cleaning solution.  And then I went to work...

Halfway done, and the difference is AMAZING.

I'd have to say this is the best "investment" I've made yet.  It was so worth it and I'm so happy we decided to buy this rather than renting one, or buying new rugs.  I keep walking into my living room and just gaping at how clean it looks.  I want to roll on it and sniff it.  And bar the kids from ever entering it again.

And now I can comfortable think about placing a baby on the floor without shuddering.

Wordless Wednesday

13 weeks...

13 weeks, 3 days, and seriously, far too many days remaining.  I'm so tired, still...I guess I need to put an order in for some 2nd trimester energy.

13 weeks...the baby is the size of Shrimp...

Lilia asks me daily how the baby is growing.  How big is the baby now? The baby is in your tummy, right? How big will she be when she is born in December?  Questions, questions, questions! It's very sweet, and it's fun to educate her the best I can.  Oh, and I say She, because Lilia says She, because she wants a baby sister.

We picked a midwife, after a week of interviewing various ones.  All were wonderful, but I'm very positive I made the right choice.  I love having one less thing to worry about- and finding a suitable midwife was amongst my top worries.

Now to survive the next 27 weeks...

Is it HOT enough for you?

This is my window thermometer.  The Red is Outdoors, the Blue is Indoors.  I live in Central NY.  This should be illegal.

So today, I am grateful for Central Air, and cheap pools.  Because seriously, today would be unbearable without those things. Oh, and Sun screen.

Good Bye Pre-K

Lilia's last day of Pre-K was Friday, and they had a little graduation ceremony for the kids in the class tonight.  It was quite the affair, with the kids singing songs, getting their diplomas, and then having refreshments.  One parent even put together a slideshow DVD of the years big events, and gave each family a copy.

My little attention ham is growing up!

I think Lilia had a really fun time, but she's going to miss school a lot.  She loves going to school, so much so that on days school was canceled, she'd cry.  But the good news is the school year is only a few months away, and she'll be at the same school, with many of the same kids, with a wonderful teacher whom she adores already.  It's nice too, because I don't dread that first day of kindergarten at all- I know how much she enjoys it, and I know it's a really good school.  John went there, with many of the same teachers and principal.

Now we just have to survive the summer.

I'm Back!

Did you miss me?

I took an unannounced hiatus for the last few months, mainly because I was sick as can be.  Turns out, I was pregnant, and it seems that with each pregnancy I have, I get worse morning sickness.

But here I am, 12 weeks along, and feeling a lot better than I was. I have energy for the first time in forever, and even managed to get things done around the house.  At the end of the day I'm definitely more tired, but at least now I don't quite so useless.  I managed to survive, but for one reason only- I have the most awesome husband EVER.  I'm glad that my first post back can be on this day.

Feeling better meant I could make pancakes for breakfast.

Lilia LOVES pancakes, and Letters.

Despite being the end of the semester, and being super busy, my husband stepped up and just took charge of the house and the kids while I whimpered in the corner of the house with my bucket and pillow.  He made meals,, he did laundry, he cleaned, he shopped...he took care of the kids- baths, school, playing, clothes, hair, lunches...the man was a SUPER man, and he never once complained about it, nor did he guilt me for all the work he did.  I am telling you- I am one lucky woman.  As I started to feel better, he didn't push me, he still pampered me and made me feel like a Goddess.  Last week, he drove me to three different midwives (all over an hour away from Herkimer) so we could interview them.

Liam ate his L and M before we could grab a picture!

And today for Father's Day? Do you think he took a break?  Nah- he took the kids outside and started working on cleaning and filling our small pool, and then went to Walmart and went shopping.  Now the pool is slowly filling, the kids are napping, and so is he.  I don't know how I ended up being so lucky, but I'm so happy to have such an awesome husband.  "Happy Father's Day", and "I love you, John" don't seem to be enough to convey how happy I really am.


For dinner, I'm making him his favorite meal- Home made Manicotti.  It's the recipe his Grandmother gave and taught me.

Shells:
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients- the batter will very thin.

Lightly grease a  7 inch skillet with oil, and place over medium heat.

Place about 1/8 cup of batter into the skillet, and cook like pancakes.  It should be very very thin- like a crepe.  They will also cook up very fast, so be careful!  I always just cooked it completely on one side, for about 1 minute, and then about 5 seconds on the other side.

Filling:
2 pounds course ricotta
4 eggs
1/3 cup grated mozzarella + more for topping
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 TB parsley

Spaghetti sauce

Mix ingredients together, except spaghetti sauce.

Scoop 1 TB of mixture into the center of the manicotti shell, and roll up.  Place rolls in a single layer in a baking pan (I usually end up with 2 pans).  Layer sauce and additional mozzarella cheese on top.  Cover, and back at 375º for 25 minutes.

We usually freeze one pan, and you can take that out to defrost in the morning/afternoon, and then bake in the evening.  I also half the ricotta recipe quite often.  I never seem to make quite enough shells for the full recipe of filling.  It's absolutely delicious, and one of my favorite recipes to bake (mainly because of the memories I have of learning to make it with John's Grandmother.)  And it's probably John's favorite dish ever.  It's super good with home made sauce, but I didn't get a chance to actually make any, so it's a jarred sauce tonight.

Manicotti- fresh from the oven and being devoured very quickly.

A few necessary changes.

I'm going to go somewhere I've never really gone to on my blog.  Personal life issues.  But, this is going to be a big part of my life now, so I figured why not talk about it here.  I've had some health issues for awhile, and I admit, I'm not the best at taking care of myself.  But forces of nature were aligned in a way that I've been forced to take care of myself, and make some really hard chances to my life.

New staple...

I'm not thrilled, but I've had to cut all sugar, flour, pasta, rice, potatoes, and most fruit from my diet.  I can't even seem to have "artificial" sweeteners.  I'm trying to be positive, and look at it as a "challenge" to find alternatives...but really...I'm going to sulk a little and complain on how tough it is.

My normal preferred breakfast is steel cut oats.  I love oats, cooked in milk with fresh fruit added.  No need for added sweeteners of any kind.  Right now, I'm eating 2 eggs a morning, usually mixed with veggies, and a side of cottage cheese.  I haven't completely given up creamer in coffee, but it's one of those measure carefully types of situations.

Rinsed well, these are pretty decent.

Lunches are probably the hardest, just because I love soup, or ramen, or sandwiches.  Since all those are off the list, I've had to be pretty innovative.  Last week I made pizzas out of eggplant.  This weekend I did the same with zucchini.  I also made a spaghetti meal out of Shirataki tofu noodles.  They aren't the best, let me tell you.  They really taste like nothing.  If I made them again, I'd aim to use a better sauce, and maybe add some turkey meatballs, just for flavor.  More veggies, and a thicker sauce might help as well.  And cheese.  Or seasoning.

Dinners are the easiest though.  It's easy to pick a protein, do something delicious to it, and serve it up with a ton of vegetables.  We've already done a good amount of grilling in this warm weather, and I can think of a good number of slow-cooker recipes.  It's not easy though- some days you really just want a piece of bread, or a plate of pasta.  Or a bowl of oatmeal.  And we won't even get into desserts and snacks.  But as I adjust and learn new recipes, I'll try to share them.

At least I haven't had to cut dairy- home made yogurt with some chia seeds, a few blueberries and a small handful of granola have been the only thing that keeps me going in the afternoon.  I truly mean that too.