Moving is one of the hardest and most unpleasant things you will ever do ranking right up there with making a speech in front of your freshman history class and walking around all day with an ingrown toenail. This move was made even more interesting because of the pregnancy. I’m now 27 weeks along and have grown a little massive. I’m not allowed to lift anything heavier than the cat and I tire easily. This means that the majority of the heavy lifting was done by my wonderful saint of a husband who really deserves that new Guitar Hero game. We began two weeks ago after finding a house that we loved immediately. This was one week after buying a car that perfectly suited us. The moving began at Thanksgiving. For a solid week, we brought over carloads of random boxes and stuff every night. Ben worked himself to the bone and then kept going. We bought a new (to us) fridge and had everything delivered last Tuesday. Then Wednesday we had all of our connections set up. I tried to take care of the majority of the business side like getting utilities transferred and shut off and hiring the movers. It’s hard to just sit and be pregnant while watching your husband and 54-year old mother sweat buckets while bringing boxes back and forth. I feel like an incubator sometimes. We’re in the new house now and the last load is being brought over tonight. Then it’s the fun of arranging everything. I can actually help with that part and it’s exciting to look around and see the potential of this cute little house.

And now for the Official Funny Moving Story:

Ben took Monday and Tuesday off to watch me after a small medical issue and to help with the move. On Tuesday, he was with the movers the majority of the time. He came in once to give me an update. I looked up at him and saw that he had brought a little friend from outside. There was a GIANT grasshopper sitting on his left shoulder like something out of a Disney movie. Completely oblivious to Gregory the Grasshopper, Ben stood and talked to me. Now Ben has a serious fear of all insects, especially the ones that hop or fly, so I knew I couldn’t say anything without him screeching like a woman and turning cartwheels. He finally realized that I was looking at his shoulder with a puzzled expression and asked what was wrong. I just picked up a pad of paper and told him to hold still. He froze and kept a running stream of OHMYGODWHATSWRONGISTHERESOMETHINGONMESERIOUSLYTELLMENOW until I knocked the little booger off of him. When he saw the size of his little buddy, he rightly freaked out. He’s also loving the fact that I keep telling everyone this story and will most likely try to think of something embarrassing to post about me.

That medical issue I mentioned? Well, Sophie gave us a little scare on Sunday night. I had been having pains all day and they just kept getting worse. I finally called my doctor around 5:00 that night and she told me to go to Labor and Delivery to just get checked out. We knew it was probably nothing but it was the safe thing to do. We got there and I got hooked up to all of the tummy monitors which ticked Sophie off royally. She kept bumping and moving and even kicked one off at one point. The doctor checked me and said that I was only dilated to a one and that I really just needed to take it easy for a while. Stay down and drink lots of water was the best thing for me. We went home around 8:30 and Ben stayed with me the next day to make sure I followed orders. Sophie and I are doing just fine and I’m faithfully following the doctor’s recommendations.

December is going to be an interesting month full of parties, doctor appointments and general Christmas stuff. We should be calming down soon and hopefully get a little rest before February when Sophie makes her big debut.

Internet has been down during the move. I’ll be posting soon about all that goodness. I’m also trying to catch up on emails.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and Ben’s office is having a potluck on Wednesday. This is a dressing recipe I have made for years and people really seem to like it. Try it out this year.

Veggies:
4 - 6 Ribs of Celery
2 - 4 Carrots
1 Large Yellow Onion or 2 Small White Onions
1 Any Color Bell Pepper
6 - 10 Mushrooms (Baby Bella or Button)

Seasonings:
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Dried Sage
Garlic Powder
Dried Thyme
(You can also use poultry seasoning but then you would cut down / out the sage and thyme.)

Other:
2 Loaves Cornbread (8-inch pans)
1 6 oz Package Stuffing Mix
2 Boxes Chicken Broth or Stock (Low sodium is usually a good bet.)

Start out by making your cornbread the day before you make your dressing. Throw about a tablespoon each of your seasonings into your batter. After the cornbread has baked, let it cool and dry out overnight.

The next day, chop all of your veggies. I like a small chop on the celery, carrots, bell pepper and mushrooms and almost a mince on the onions. You can omit any veggies that you don’t like or put more of the ones you do like. Make it to suit your tastes. Now you have a choice. You can saute your veggies on the stovetop. Use a little EVOO or butter and start with your celery and onions. When the onions are soft, add your carrots and peppers. When those are soft, add the mushrooms. Season everything liberally with your seasonings. Now if you don’t want to use your stove top, throw all of your veggies into a mixing bowl. Season liberally with your seasonings and toss with EVOO. Lay all of your veggies out onto a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 400 degrees until everything looks soft. Stir the veggies around on the sheet every 20 minutes or so.

Time for the actual assembly of the dressing. Crumble the dry cornbread into your slow cooker. Mix in the stuffing mix. Add your veggies and stir to combine. Sprinkle just a little more of your seasonings into the dressing and mix. (Just a dash of each will do.) Add enough chicken broth to just moisten the cornbread. You do not want soupy dressing. REMEMBER: YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE AWAY. Stir your dressing and turn the slow cooker on Low. Now walk away. Do something else. Watch a football game or parade. Come back to check on your dressing in 2 hours. If it looks a little dry, stir in enough chicken broth to moisten the cornbread. Close it and go away. Keep checking every couple of hours. I usually let mine cook on Low for about 6 hours.

This is great for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner potlucks. The dressing can sit by itself and keep warm without you having to baby it. I hope you like it!

UPDATE: I tried something different this year and I like how it turned out. I added a package of stuffing mix to the dressing. It gives it a little more body.

I went to a baby shower on Saturday for my sister-in-law’s sister. She has about 4 weeks left and she looks wonderful. They also just moved into a new house. They are settling in with their daughter and waiting on their son to make his appearance in 4 weeks. It was fun to meet other women and watch her open all the cute little baby things. I also have another friend whose blog I sometimes follow. She is expecting a little girl in March and just posted her registry.

All of this made me start thinking about when to register. I decided to start them online first and then visit the stores in December. My mother suggested that I register at 3 different stores in order to give people a choice. (If they prefer one store over another or they don’t have a particular store near them.) I’ve set up registries at Babies R Us, Target and Walmart. Now I’m asking for mothers to tell me about the baby items that you have found to be indispensable. Tell me what seemingly good baby things actually turned out to be useless. I would really like to make some good decisions and I’ve found that referrals always give me a good start.

YES!

The Poteet Pirate Band is again #1 in the state!

(My belly is slowly getting more and more noticeable. Mostly when I’m naked.)

KC: Look! Feel how packed in she is!

(RB feels on my belly and smiles.)

RB: Wow! That’s crazy! It’s so firm!

(RB reaches around to give me a hug and cops a feel.)

RB: Your butt is getting firmer, too.

(I feel around curiously.)

KC: I don’t think it feels any different.

RB: Trust me. I know your butt better than you do.

Time for the obligatory “summarize what’s been happening because I haven’t blogged in 3 weeks” post.

The Poteet Pirate Band 20 year reunion was a couple of weeks ago. I was more of a Choir Wonk than a Band Geek but still enjoyed flag corps and percussion for 4 years. The weekend started on Friday night at the first high school football game I’ve attended since 1997. I paid no attention to the actual football part of the game. Poteet has never been known for it’s football team. Games were really just practice for the Saturday marching contests. It was nice to chatter with friends of old and see the State-bound band. The flags looked PHENOMENAL as usual. State is this weekend so everybody pray for the Performance of Pride. The next day everyone met up at the school for a mixer. There were more people there on Saturday and it was neat to see some friends that I haven’t seen in 10 years or more. Of course, there were some pictures that I would have liked to see burned but it was fun.

Other than that…well I’m hard pressed to think of anything else interesting going on. Ben works his butt off during the week and we’re usually pretty quiet on those nights. Recent weekends have seen us out searching for a car and a place to live. Because having a baby wasn’t enough of a giant thing to think about. We found a good house candidate last week and we’re looking at cars this week. Please pray that God leads us to the right decision for each.

The pregnancy is going well but is starting to feel like it will NEVER END AS LONG AS I LIVE FOREVER AND EVER AMEN. I appease myself by buying more little girls clothes and imagining them filled with Sophie. I’m starting to dream about Sophie, too. Last night I dreamed about holding her and marveling at her full head of hair. That’s right. I dreamed of Sophie with the dark brown hair. Soon I’ll be able to distract myself with holiday planning. I’m really ready for my little girl, though.

New volunteer options are coming open at church and I hope to tell you about them soon. Again, pray that God uses me wherever He needs.

Life is good.