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:
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.
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.
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!!
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!!
Alice (@mumsmakelists) says
The bump pics are lovely!
I would absolutely love for you to link up at the Baby Shower a linky party for all things pregnancy and new baby - Alice @ Mums Make Lists xx
Suzanne says
I love the Brobee hat! He is my son's favorite YGG character. You look fantastic - almost halfway there!
megan @ whatmegansmaking says
You are seriously so cute. and Judah is adorable - love that cute little face. Sounds like it's been a rough time recently - hoping things even out a little for you 🙂
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious says
I love your potty training advice. Quinn will be three in March and we haven't really driven the issue but I'm so tired of paying crazy $$ for diapers, seriously. He's telling us he wants to go but when I lead him to the toilet its a huge no no! Sometimes he'll sit on it but never does anything. I know he's still fairly young but Huggies..yer killing me 🙂
Good luck in the coming months!
Nikki says
I love not buying diapers right now! Of course, we only have less than 3 months of enjoying that as baby #2 will be here soon. 😉 Yes, wait until Quinn's 3 or after, unless he is very obviously ready. Oh, and I forgot to mention above that we also rewarded Judah with M&M's and Hershey's Kisses each time he went potty. It worked! 😉
sue says
You look gorgeous as ever! Judah is going to be a wonderful big brother. Can't wait for the big day 🙂
Nikki says
Thanks, mama! 🙂
Kelsey says
Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about Ben's finger, but glad everything else is coming along well. You look so adorable, Nikki. I can't wait to see pics of the new little one and sweet Judah helping to take care of him!
Sue Gladd says
LOVE your blog, Penny! And what a huge week for Judah Bear!
The pics of you are fabulous!
Callie says
1. You are so cute with your preggo belly, I can hardly stand it!!
2. I cannot believe that Ben did that... that guy! It sounds like your week has been about as exciting as ours!
3. Yay, Judah!! He IS going to be a great big brother, and I know you feel relieved that he is potty trained. That, is a mutual accomplishment my friend! 😉
Can't wait to hear your bloggy news... you're really going to make us wait a month?? 🙂
P.s. Love you. And I miss you.