Albertsons had 5 pound bags of red potatoes and small Yukon golds on sale buy one, get one free. I took advantage of this sale and remembered how to make the World’s Best Mashed Potatoes.

6-8 Small Potatoes
1 C Milk (I use fat free.)
2 TBLS Unsalted Butter (Butter takes the taste to a whole new level.)
Kosher Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder

Wash your taters. You can peel them if you want but the skins carry a lot of nutrients. Chop them into large cubes. Put the tater cubes into a large pot and cover with water. DO NOT heat your water and then try to drop the taters into the pot. I did not remember this step and ended up burning my arm. Bring the water and taters to a boil. Cover and boil for 12-15 minutes or until you can easily pierce with a knife. Drain your taters and put them back into the hot pot. This will evaporate the remaining water so you don’t end up with soggy spuds. In another pot, heat the milk with the butter. DO NOT BOIL. Just melt the butter down into the milk. Add the milk / butter to the spuds slowly and a little at a time. You can always add more but you can’t take away. Mash your spuds with the creamy mix until you get the consistency you like. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Serve to a happy husband while he watches 2 football games at the same time.

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family!  Eat lots of pie, hug your youngun’s and oldun’s and listen to Bing all day.

OK, I’m going to use this post to vent. It may be a little hard for some to read. In other words, Grandma, CLOSE YOUR BROWSER NOW. I’m OK and I’ll be even better once I get everything off of my chest.

My moods have been all over the map but it seems like I have the same reaction to any kind of stress. I have cried so much that I think I’m going to be dehydrated in a week. I wake up in the morning and I always feel sick. This is similar to my first trimester except for one small difference. Now I can almost keep everything down and then…POKE. Sophie kicks me in just the right spot and I yak. This makes me cry because I feel so out of control over my own body. Then I drag my body around trying to do laundry and dishes and I cry because I can’t d everything I want to do. I get too tired and I have to stop. I’ve been napping during the day because it’s hard for me to sleep any longer than 3-4 hours at a time. If I sleep too long and don’t get enough done during the day…I cry. Last night I TOTALLY botched dinner. I burned the chicken and put too much water in the rice. I had taken too long of a nap and hadn’t gotten to shower. I stunk, I had heartburn, the dinner was terrible and my wonderful husband came home to a basketcase. I felt like a winner. I have an awesome opportunity to serve at church during the week but I can’t do it right now because I can’t fit behind the steering wheel. I feel useless and brainless.

Then I sit down and I pray. I remember that God loves me and cries when I hurt. He puts amazing people in my life like my husband, my mother, my grandma and my friends. He gave me a church where I can worship and serve. Then I put my hands on my swelling belly and feel the kicks of a beautiful little girl that He has given us. He knows my faults and still trusts me enough to give me this wonderful child to raise. I stop crying and smile again. I’m loved and safe.

I feel a little boring every time I come here to post. It seems like all I can talk about is the tiny person lodged under my pancreas. (Heh…now Ben will be singing that song ALL DAY LONG.) There is actually quite a bit more going on and I’ll try to explore a bit.

We’re settling into the new house. We spent a good chunk of last night rearranging the kitchen into a workable space for me. Now I get to clean and contact paper all of the cabinets today. I have a plan to get rid of about half of my kitchen stuff at the same time. Ben and I have been methodically going through everything as we unpack and we’re collecting a big pile of stuff for a garage sale in the spring. I look around and I’m compelled to declutter in order to get ready for the influx of baby things. So far, it’s going well. I’m also planning on *gasp* *shudder* COOKING for the first time in weeks tonight. Time to start the normal housewife duties again. I’m really hoping to have the house presentable by the time Ben’s parents come down at the end of the month.

I made an exciting purchase last week. I’ve been using the same hardcover NIV bible since 6th grade. Ben and I went to Mardel to look for some wall hangings and ended up in front of the bibles. I began looking through some different translations and realized that I would like to switch to NASB. I fell in love with the Thompson Study Bible and eagerly thought about how this could drive my devotionals for the next couple of months. I could go through my old bible and transcribe all of my notes. It was exciting to think about what I would discover. Unfortunately, I had forgotten how expensive good bibles can be! I was reluctant to purchase a $50 bible and was set to put it off and just use what I have. Ben said that a bible is an important thing and I shouldn’t feel like I have to scrimp. He also suggested looking for it online. We came home and checked Amazon. I ended up finding it for nearly half the price and Ben encouraged me to get it. It’s here now and I love it. I can’t wait to see what God will do with this opportunity.

Mood swings and nausea are back for the third trimester. Just a thought of something my wonderful husband does can bring me to tears. He has been so incredible throughout this whole process. He works so hard during the day and then comes home to a moaning Jabba-sized lump on the couch that he can’t wait to kiss and cuddle. He keeps plugging away at the boxes around the house and still takes time on the weekends to get us out for a date. When Sophie starts pushing too hard and I have to breathe through the pain he hovers and anxiously asks to do anything to make me feel better. Then he lights up when he feels her kick his hands. When I want tacos and fries for the twentieth time in 5 days he valiantly goes out in the rain to get them for me and remembers to ask for no sauce even though I didn’t mention it. He cuddles against my back at night to give me more lumbar support and doesn’t mind me taking up 3/4 of the bed with my 19 pillows. He even suggests that I find more pillows to make myself more comfortable. I am married to an amazing man. I thank God for him every single day. I can’t wait to see him in his daddy role.