Sequel Update

James and I went in for my 32 week doctor appointment yesterday! Man, I can't believe I'll be 33 weeks tomorrow! I had Isaac 5 weeks from where I am right now in this pregnancy. Crazy.

Anyhoo... baby is doing well. His heart rate was 135, which is good. He's still head down. Also good. I did have a little protein in my urine, though. The nurse told me this, and I know it's a sign of pre-eclampsia so I was a little nervous that my blood pressure would also be high (another sign of pre-e). Since I was nervous about it, naturally, it was higher - in the 140's over 93 (or 97, I can't remember). The doctor took it again a little later and it was 130-something over 90. Still high. So she had me do some blood tests and another urine test at the lab after my appointment to check my liver and kidneys. I haven't heard back yet, but I'm assuming no news is good news. When I had my liver enzymes checked after my gallbladder disaster, it only took an hour or so to get the results, so my doctor should have them by now. I won't even go into what would happen if I do have pre-eclampsia because I really think the doctor would have called me by now if I did.

The doctor also said that we'd have one more ultrasound before baby comes so that we can check his weight to make sure I'm not going to try to VBAC a 12 lb baby. I have mixed feelings about this, however. I know that late-term ultrasounds are not very accurate in predicting a baby's size, and I've heard stories about women who are told they're going to have 10 lb babies, and found out after the birth that baby was actually only 7 or 8 lbs. I really don't want large size to be the deciding factor for a repeat c-section, only to find out that baby was really nowhere close to as big as they thought.

Next up - our hospital tour! You might be wondering why a couple who's had a baby before would need a tour of the labor and delivery floor. Well, because they've remodeled. Or rather, they are in the process of remodeling. Unfortunately, this could mean that I'll have a roommate, which would suck. Big time. I can't imagine trying to recover from childbirth (especially a c-section), feeding your newborn every few hours, having visitors, and trying to rest all while someone else in the same room is doing all the same things but at different times! Talk about hectic! Sorry, but I really don't want to have to wake up every time my roommate needs to feed her baby. I barely want to wake up to feed my own baby! My doctor assured me, though, that if there are enough patients where rooms need to be shared, they will try to put you with someone who will be discharged soon. So, hopefully I wouldn't have to have a roommate for the entire stay. I guess we'll see what happens.

Our next appointment is on June 6th. I'll be 34 (almost 35) weeks then!

Chocolate Cobbler

Let me start by saying that this recipe is a pregnant woman's dream. Or any woman's dream. Any woman who loves chocolate.

I got this recipe from Tasty Kitchen. I sure do love that Pioneer Woman. She knows what's what.

Here's what you'll need: 
1 cup flour 
2 tsp baking powder 
¼ tsp salt 
7 Tablespoons cocoa  powder, divided 
1-¼ cup sugar, divided 
½ cups milk 
⅓ cups melted butter 
1-½ teaspoon vanilla extract 
½ cups light brown sugar
1-½ cup hot water

First, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa, and 3/4 cup of the white sugar together in a mixing bowl.

Then add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the flour mixture.

Then spread it into an 8 inch dish.

Now combine the rest of the sugar (½ cup), the brown sugar, and the remaining cocoa powder (4 tablespoons).

Sprinkle it evenly on top of the batter in the dish.

And now for the weird part. Pour the hot water on top of the whole thing. If this step feels weird to you, you're not alone. I'm not sure how, but it works. Just believe.


Pop it in the oven for 40 minutes or until the middle is set. 40 minutes worked just fine for me.

Here's what it looked like when I took it out of the oven. And it smelled fantastic!

And it tasted heavenly. I only wish I would have had some ice cream or even whipped cream on hand. Instead, I just drank a big 'ol glass of milk while I ate it.

This would be a great dessert to make when you have company. It will impress, and it requires very little prep. It's ooey and gooey and delicious.


Ok, I might have to go get another piece. Now.

Mother's Day

I know this post is a little late, as Mother's Day was over a week ago, but I wanted to share all the cool stuff I got. :)

On the Friday before Mother's Day, Isaac brought home a gift for me that he made at daycare. It was super adorable.

It's a brick, painted green, with Isaac's foot print on it. It's meant to go in a garden, but I don't have a garden, so it's on our front porch. Just as good if you ask me.

Here's the card that was tied to it. So cute!

Then, on Mother's Day, I got a cake. Pregnant women like cake. James commissioned our good friend who decorates cool cakes as a hobby to make me one.

Isn't it cute? But wait, look at the other side:

It's James, me (complete with a little blue dot that is Sequel), Isaac, and that's Gizmo in yellow on the left. I sort of cut him off in the picture. And James is handing me a flower. It was adorable! And delicious. Funfetti cake with raspberry filling.

It was a good day for this Mommy!

Cheesy Chicken Pesto Ravioli

Wow, it's been a whole month since I last posted! Time flies! How have you been? How are the kids?

Ok, so I've actually had this recipe ready to post for a while and just never got around to it. I made it up myself. I got the idea from my co-worker. She told me how to make "Lazy Man's Lasagna" with frozen cheese ravioli (just layer it and add meat and sauce). I misunderstood, and thought you still had to boil the ravioli before baking it, which doesn't seem so "lazy" to me, but I was mistaken. Apparently you don't have to boil the ravioli before hand, so that might work in this recipe, too, but it's not how I did it. What can I say? I like to be difficult. In fact, if you don't need to boil it first, this would probably make an excellent freezer meal.

Oh, and I waited so long to post this, that I lost my list of ingredients and measurements, so you'll have to bear with me.

Here's what you'll need (I think):
2 chicken breasts - cooked and shredded
1 - 25 oz bag of frozen cheese ravioli
1 packet of pesto mix
1- 15 oz jar of alfredo sauce
1 - 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
Lots of mozzarella cheese to put on top

Here we go!

This is the kind of ravioli I used.

You want to boil it first. (Unless you decided to skip this step. It might work, it might not.)

And while you're boiling the ravioli, you might as well prepare the pesto mix according to the package. Here's the kind I use.

Here's what it will look like when it's ready. It looks gross, but tastes oh so yummy! You're going to use the whole thing, just to make sure we get all that delicious pesto taste. (P.S. Like my new saucepan?)

When the pesto is ready, mix it with the ricotta cheese. Seriously, I'm drooling.

Next, you'll want to break out the alfredo sauce. This is the kind I always use. It's delicious.

Spread a thin layer of alfredo sauce on the bottom of the lasagna dish.

Then arrange a layer of ravioli.

Spread a layer of the pesto/ricotta mixture on top of the ravioli.

Sprinkle some of the chicken (which, for the purpose of this blog, has already been prepared. I think we all know how to cook and shred chicken by now) on top of that.

Then pour on some of that alfredo sauce.

You're going to repeat these steps one more time, and then top it all off with lots of mozzarella cheese. I think I used a whole pack (2 cups), but I can't exactly remember.

I often forget to take pictures after I take my concoctions out of the oven, and this is no exception. So if you really want to know what the final product looks like, you'll just have to make it yourself. Trust me, you won't regret it! I thought it was going to be really rich due to all the cheese and sauce and such, but it was actually not overwhelmingly rich. It was very, very good. This is most definitely NOT a diet food, though. I doubt that needed to be said, but I thought I'd give that little disclaimer anyway. If you're looking for some good old fashioned, carb loaded, comfort food, this is it.

It even gets the 1-year-old kid seal of approval!