What Have We Been Doing?

Millie has been enjoying her new blocks.

I've been roasting tomatoes for my soup.

I could have eaten this entire tray of tomatoes. 

Recipe for this soup can be found here.

I have been craving a lot of tomato soup lately. After buying tons of it from Fresh Market, I decided to try my own.  I ate four bowls of it on Monday. It goes great with saltines. 

Notes on soup: It said to use 4 cups of basil. I thought this was too much. I probably used about 2 to 2.5 cups. The recipe said to use a food mill, but I used my sister's immersion blender. My way was a lot simpler. 

She has been recovering from the stomach virus. Saturday night was the worst. Millie and I ended up sleeping together on the couch. After getting sick in her bed twice, this seemed to be the best situation.  We fell asleep watching Thomas the Train (my least favorite kids' show and one of Millie's favorites). It was precious sleeping with her and being able to keep an eye on her all night. However, she does move around a lot in her sleep. I will never be one to let my kids sleep in my bed with me on a regular basis. 

Thankfully my parents were here for the first night of her illness. It is always good to have a pediatrician in the house. It is also good to be stocked up on stomach virus meds. Like my mom said, 

"the sign of a good doctor's kid is having all the necessary medicine handy at all times." There is nothing worse than needing medicine in the middle of the night and not having it in the house. We also travel with nausea medicine. You never know when it will hit. I am thanking God that I have not gotten sick, and I am praying that it stays that way. 

I am 15 weeks today! I'm actually feeling a little better with the second trimester. I have more energy, and I started drinking coffee again. With Millie I didn't feel bad until the second trimester, and I was able to drink coffee the entire pregnancy. This time around I have also been getting a lot of fast food drinks. Sweet tea from McDonald's and Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic have been my favorites.  I've also been enjoying asiago cheese bagels from the Panera around the corner (they have a drive-thru). We will find out if it is a boy or girl on April 1st! I have recently read that you can tell the sex of the baby by looking at the first ultra-sound picture. It all depends on the position of the placenta (right-boy or left-girl) compared to the baby. My problem is that I can't find the placenta in my picture. I'll just have to wait til April. 

We are not completely done with our home repairs, but we have come to a good stopping point. Here are a few before and after pictures.

LAUNDRY ROOM

Doors still need to be put on our new pantry, and we want to put up hooks to hang bags and coats. 

We even have a place to hang our brooms. 

KITCHEN

(Click on picture to enlarge) 

  We are loving our new stove. We went from a cook top to a whole oven. We had to use a lighter to start our old stove, the eyes were slipping out of place, and the white was impossible to keep clean.  

 We still need a new chandelier above the table. I am taking suggestions. 

The double ovens will come out and become a cabinet. The microwave will eventually go in that cabinet. 

We will also get new hardware in the kitchen. 

And one of my favorite parts.....the ceiling!

No more popcorn ceiling (just in the kitchen, hope to do more of house later), and no more fluorescent light or ceiling fan. 

DINING ROOM AND LIVING ROOM

DEN

I know it doesn't look much different in here, but the paint color changed from a light blue to grey. Now the front of our house is all the same color. 

 I'm also loving my new candles. My mom brought them from Mississippi. They are square candles, and I love the fun colors!

Millie and I are also glad Nick is coming home today. He has been in Denver (for work) since Monday. I have the Flight View app on my phone to track his flights. It even shows me exactly where he is while in the air. It also tells me how many minutes he has left on the plane and if it is delayed or on time. 

He is now flying from Atlanta to Montgomery. Isn't that a neat app?

Millie and I mostly stayed home (due to her illness). However, on Tuesday morning we had a nice walk and spent some time at the park. We also ran some errands, and I tutored a few times in the afternoons. 

The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend. We have ordered a play set for the backyard, and we are anxiously awaiting  its arrival. I hope your March is off to a good start, and I hope you are avoiding the stomach virus. Even the queen couldn't avoid the illness.