I’m back, if you noticed I was absent

I don’t know why I haven’t blogged lately. I think sometimes there is just too much to blog about and it’s too overwhelming to narrow it down and focus on one thing. But atlas, my floors need cleaning and Ella’s taking a nap and I really don’t want to clean my floors.

My new niece entered the world last week (yay!) unfortunately while I was away on my trip (boo) but I got to see her about three days later and she’s a little doll. Tiny with lots of black hair. And the labor went so well, and it seems as if the mommy and daddy are adjusting well to life with two kids. This simultaneously eases my worries about my upcoming due date and scares the bejeezus out of me. I mean, can we all be so lucky? This may mean that I’ll be the one who’s in labor for 36 hours while my oldest child is deep in the trenches of her terrible twos. Otherwise I’m staying extremely positive.

So, anyway, I guess I’ll just touch on a few things as of late …

1. Our trip was really nice. That Opryland hotel is quite amazing. Ella really loved the boat ride through it, taking the shuttle bus to the mall, riding the train and the carousel at the mall, and our really nice Lincoln car that we rented to take there. I guess she pretty much likes any kind of ride. I thought it was really funny when we got back and while riding in my car she said “I want to ride in the Lincoln!” I said “Me too, Ella. Me too.”

2. I did manage to ruin my new phone on my trip. I don’t want to really get into details, and it’s already been replaced. But it was a few long days without it. I’ve already grown so fond of having Internet and e-mail and instant messaging all on my phone all the time.

3. Ella did pretty well going to the potty on our trip. She would actually tell us when she had to go and we would pull over for her. I did have her in pull-ups the whole time because I was way too nervous of the site of poop in public at some fabulous restaurant or shop in Nashville. And she did have a few accidents but, pretty good.

OK, that’s all I really feel like writing for now … but stay tuned, we’ll know little baby’s gender in exactly ONE week from today! A lot of us seem to be guessing boy now.

Italian Beef recipe – easy and awesome

My computer is frozen so I’ll take a minute for a quick blog. My friend gave me a recipe for “Italian Beef” the other day, which I had never heard of, and it was so good it’s going to become a regular dish at my house.

Here it is.

Italian Beef

Ingredients:

1. Chuck Roast
2. Jar of Pepperoncini peppers
3. Packet of Goods Seasons Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Put Roast in crockpot. Add packet of seasoning. Cut off stems of peppers, then pour entire bottle of peppers, juice and all, all over dish. After cooking on low for 8 -10 hours, shred and put on sub-type bun, place provolone cheese on top and place in oven for a few minutes. Also, the juice made the bottom of my bun a little soggy, so you may want to flip it over in the oven just once.

And that’s it! Enjoy!

Ella’s message to the baby

I’ve kinda been blogging a lot lately. Hopefully the family is enjoying staying current on recent Ellaisms, but also I’m trying to write these things down for my own sake, to look back on one day. Maybe I should print out these Ella stories each year and put them in a book for her …

Anyway, yesterday we were talking about the baby more and I told Ella she could talk to it. “Do you have anything you want to say to the baby?” I asked her. She leaned in real close to my belly and whispered “I want to lay down with you.” What a sweet little message.

Babies and butts

Ella and I discussed babies this morning on our car ride. I mentioned to her that Aunt Rachel will very soon have a little baby. She said “Rachel has a baby in her belly like you have a baby in your belly?” “Yes, I said! Exactly.” Then she added, “Daddy has a baby in his belly too. And I have a baby in my belly.” So I guess she’s not completely understanding just yet!

Also, a few weeks ago when I mentioned that we would be meeting a friend and her new baby for lunch, Ella said “Is it the baby from your belly?” “Not that baby,” I told her. Although I was glad she seemed excited to have lunch with our new baby.

Last night Ella started yelling “Mommy, mommy, Maude has a butt!” Maude is our cat, by the way. I said “What?” She kept yelling it “Mommy, Maude has a butt! Come see it!” And sure enough, there was Ella, lifting up Maude’s tail, inspecting this newfound discovery. Steve explained to her that we all have butts. Sometimes the strangest sentences come out of your mouth when you have kids.