Saturday Seeds + Pregnancy Update (27 Weeks!)

Y'all!  Has it really been since December 15th from my last Saturday Seeds post?  Wow.  The holidays, then moving, along with other fun life happenings really got the best of my weekend writing!  At least when I started this "regular" update again, I warned you that it probably wouldn't happen every week.  😉  I wasn't lying, huh!?

Well, here we are, back again with an update to my life beyond food.  It's the evening before the Super Bowl and I'm stoked to have a group from our new church plant over to hang out, watch football, eat good food, and get to know each other better!  Ben painted a projector screen in our bonus room (I'll post a DIY on that someday in the future), and we'll be sitting around on folding chairs because we do not yet have furniture in there! ha!

Anyway, let's get to the usual Saturday Seeds "stuff", starting with a pregnancy update! Yay!

Pregnancy Update:

Ok, so the photo above was two weekends ago when I was actually just 25 weeks pregnant and we met up with my BFF down at the Gulf coast in Panama City Beach.  I haven't taken nearly as many belly photos this time around, because I seriously just never think of it!  And, when I do, it's usually at a time when I'm pretty greasy and gross looking.  Yeahhh.... take a pic then?  No thanks!

But, here is the most recent photo I finally let Ben take of me two days ago:

I love how Judah just runs in and grabs my leg while we're taking these photos!  He usually hates posing for the camera, believe it or not.  But, when he does, it's priceless.  He's actually starting to really understand the whole "I'm gonna be a big brother" thing lately.  He keeps saying "There's the baby's room.  He's not here yet, but soon!"  Or, he'll pat my belly and start singing a made up song to the baby.  He's even tried to feed the baby one time by placing tortilla chips on my tummy!  I think he's going to be a great big brother, and also a big help!

My next prenatal appointment is February 11th.  This is when I get to drink the "lovely" sugar solution they try to pass off as a fruit drink, for glucose screening.  If you have ever been pregnant, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  My friend, Lauren, who is due just days before me with her second child, too, (btw, we are seriously living the same life right now) recently downed her drink.  I hope I can chug it as well as she did!  😉

Baby Boy is moving, kicking and rolling!!  It's to the point where I sometimes can't sleep very well at night.  I'm glad for the reassurance that he's okay but, holy cow, sometimes it just plain hurts!!

Oh, and we have a name picked out now...for sure.  But, yep, you can't get it out of me just yet!  It's top secret until d-day!! 😉

This Week On Pennies on a Platter:
This section highlights the recipes posted this week on Pennies on a Platter and other updates to the blog, if any.

There are actually some updates coming to this blog of mine.  Can you believe that soon we celebrate SIX entire years of the existence of Pennies on a Platter??  Well, later this month, you are going to find out about some big changes!  I'm excited to announce exactly what those changes are, but you'll have to wait just a little bit longer.  Soon, though, I promise!

This is what we made this week:

Baked Southwestern Chile Dip - An easy and impressive game-day dip that can be prepped up to 4 hours in advance then quickly baked before your party guests arrive.

Ham & Cheese Soft Pretzel Sliders - Soft pretzels and beer are the perfect pair for game day. Serve as sliders with ham and cheese sandwiched in between and we'll call it a TOUCHDOWN!

Nutella No-Bake Cookies - No-fail, no-bake chocolate-hazelnut cookies. Warning: You can't eat just one!

Loving Lately:
Here I will share with you my favorite things of late, along with other snippets that have caught my eye from some of my favorite blogs and websites.

Method All-Purpose Cleaner in French Lavender Scent - Since we moved into our new home, I have been researching the best cleaning products for it.  For example, we have never had wood floors, so I have no idea how to keep them clean!  After a quick status update on Facebook, I found the Bona is the best!  But, the cleaning product I am obsessed over right now, is a multi-purpose cleaner I found recommended by America's Test Kitchen.  Pictured above, it's called Method All-Purpose Cleaner in the French Lavender scent.  Seriously, guys, this is the greatest ever!  It might be a little pricier than some, but it is worth it.  Everything feels clean with no smears, and the scent left behind is super lovely.

Knitty Momma Etsy Shop - Two years ago, my older sister bought Judah the Elmo hat (scarf and gloves, too!) pictured above from her friend who makes THE cutest knitted hats. Then, for this last Christmas, she sent him the dinosaur hat made by the same friend.  Well, come to find out, this friend of hers has an Etsy shop called Knitty Momma where YOU can buy her super adorable hats, too!  They are of exceptional quality and really just the cutest ever!  We have received so many compliments on Judah's two hats.  He's now outgrown the Elmo one, but the dino one is super fun, too.  And, if you're a Ninjago fan (I still have to figure out what it is all about) you definitely have to check these out!  Oh, and she does booties, scarves, adult hats and custom orders!

Vine App - Have you heard about this new app yet?  I guess it's owned by Twitter.  It's basically like Instagram, but instead of photos, you take short videos and share them with your followers.  It's a lot of fun!!  You can find me on there (after you download the app) as "Pennies on a Platter".  Click here to see one of the videos I took this week.

My Life as a Professor's Wife, Mom, Christian and Food Blogger:
Want more insight into my life as a Professor’s wife, mom, Christian, friend, relative and food blogger?  Then, read on!  If not, ignore this section. 🙂 This is a place for me to write what is on my mind and journal some of the crowning moments of my week.

Wow, where should I start?  It's been a very stressful week as last Friday (over a week ago) we decided to finally potty train Judah.  Many close friends advised us to wait until Judah was a little older (even over 3 years old) to potty train, because it's much much easier and goes a lot faster this way.  Well, after EIGHT wet accidents on day one, I almost gave up.  But, we persevered into the next day which ended up being much better, surprisingly! Now, after just one week, he is completely potty trained, day and night, #1 and #2!  Yipee!!

Here are a few things we did (not saying it will work for you and your kid, but it worked for us):

• The day before we started, we took Judah to the store to choose his own new pairs of undies.  He picked a set of 8 Thomas the Train ones.  (I later went back and bought some more Disney ones, once I found out how quickly we were going through them with all the accidents on day one!)
• Friday morning (day #1) I asked Judah if he wanted to try and go potty on the toilet.  As I expected, he said "no" and wanted nothing to do with it.  So, I put the underwear on him and let him just run around with just undies on (it's been warm weather down here).  My thought was, this way, if he goes potty in his underwear, he will be very comfortable!  But, little did I realize, this was going to be a bad idea because then his pee got EVERYWHERE!  Luckily, we have hard floors that was easy to mop up.  In the middle of the day, a friend told me to put jeans on him so they can catch more of the wet without it getting all over.  This worked great and it made Judah feel even more uncomfortable when he wet his pants!
• Day 2, Judah surprisingly wanted to try using the toilet.  I think it is because he remembered how uncomfortable he was the day before.  We sat him down on the toilet to try, but eventually, I got Cheerios out and he wanted to stand and try to "shoot" them.  He got the biggest kick out of that, and that's how he now goes potty!
• I never used pull-ups or plastic diapers or anything but underwear.  And, I did night time training at the same time.  Since I have plastic around his mattress, it did not bother me to have to watch his sheets and blankets every day for a week.
• I did set a timer one day for every 20 minutes as suggested by a friend (I think it was day #2) but that didn't work because Judah seems to be able to hold it in pretty long.  So, every 20 minutes we were sitting on the toilet for like 30 minutes with the iPad!  Fun for him, not fun for me.  Later, I decided to have him try going every 45 minutes instead.  That worked much better for us.
• After day 5, he finally started telling US that he needed to go potty instead of us having to ask him.  Yay!
• Day #6 (after a few days of going #2 in his undies) he actually went to the potty on his own and then came and told us he went poopy! (Sorry if this is TMI!)  😉  He's now done this several times.

Anyway, that really is too much information.  Oops!  But, I really hope I"m helping some of you parents out there who are going through potty training.  It's super exhausting and intimidating and every kid is going to be different.  Hang in there!!

Not only have we been exhausted from potty training, but a few nights ago, poor Ben sliced off part of his pinky finger while working with a tool out in our garage.  We were in the ER Thursday night and now have to change his bloody bandages three times a day.  I'm not gonna lie, it's really disgusting and I can barely do it.  But, it's amazing how quickly I've gotten used to the gaping hole in his finger and all the blood (ew!) and just get it done.  He's on pain medication that really changes his mood and is pretty creepy at times, but we're getting over the hump and his finger is already starting to heal.  It should grow back, too!  Phew!

Well, that sums up the week.  I wish I had time to go back the entire month and share with you some more things we did!  But, I need to get to bed so I can be refreshed and ready for our Super Bowl party tomorrow.  🙂  Good night and have a great time with your friends on Super Bowl Sunday!!

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