The Pollock Potluck

make it monday

>> 5.20.2013 – Make it Monday, recipe

This weekend it was rainy and cool, so I got back into the kitchen and did some baking for today's

My go-to website for dessert recipes is Six Sisters Stuff. This recipe for Congo bars is yet another winner in my book. These bars taste like the perfect chocolate chip cookie without all the work of making individual cookies. Oh my, they're so good, I think I need to go eat one right now...

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter, softened

2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 package milk chocolate chips (I only had semi-sweet chips in my pantry & they worked great)

1 cup chopped pecans (I didn't use these because I'm cheap!)

*sorry these pictures are terrible; it was so dark & dreary when I made these!*

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

I found it easiest to first combine the flour, baking powder & salt in a bowl, stirring to combine.

Then I poured the flour mixture into a sifter,

and sift onto a piece of wax paper.

3. Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition.

5. Add vanilla and mix.

6. Add flour mixture to wet mixture and combine.

7. Stir in chocolate chips. (& nuts if you choose to use them)

8. Coat a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into the dish.

9. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don't over-bake!

Go ahead & cut a corner to sample while it's cooling. These are so, so yummy when warm!

sponsor opportunities

I have decided to nix my sponsor slots. I loved having Heather Miller as my blog sponsor the past few months but honestly, I'm not a "big" enough blog to have sponsors. HOWEVER! I do have a great group of loyal friends and I'd love to be able to share great, small businesses with my readers.

So, here's what I'm thinking...

I'm going to change my "sponsors" button (on the right) to a "shop" button.

To be a shop sponsor, there's no monetary commitment.

Here's what you do:

Interested in sharing your small business?

Email me! teacherpollock@gmail.com

If you're a small business that I believe in, you'll find a nice little ad space on my homepage!

the first bumpdate, 11 weeks

>> 5.17.2013 – baby #2, bumpdate, Pregnancy

I'm going to attempt to do weekly updates on my pregnancy, calling them "bumpdates," from now until the end of this pregnancy. If you've been reading this blog for any period of time you'll understand that the key word here is "attempt." I have a hard time following through with series-type posts, but I'm going to try really, really hard to keep up with this one. I only have three pictures of my first pregnancy bump. Truth be told, I had a hard time accepting my growing body and struggled with looking at myself, let alone taking pictures & sharing them. This time around I'm so much more comfortable with my body & actually enjoy the changes, as uncomfortable as they might be. Pregnancy is truly a gift and such a beautiful season of life. I hope to document it so I never forget this chapter of motherhood!

So we took these pictures after church, during the brightest part of the afternoon.

Annnnd hubs tried to zoom in on the bump when I wasn't paying attention.

Obviously neither one of us has a flair for photography. :)

And some obligatory bump information that I'll try to update each week along with my pictures.

how far along? 11 weeks (I'm actually 12 weeks today, but I'm going to start with this one a little late & then get on schedule next week)

size of the baby? a lime!

maternity clothes? some. I love my maternity jeans and have had to buy some larger tops/bathing suits.

symptoms? This week the round ligament pains won. I was literally at the mercy of these sharp abdominal pains for four of the seven days. I couldn't do much and had to spend lots of time stretched out on the couch. Thank goodness for a laid-back toddler who self-entertains well. and chewable children's Tylenol.

sleep? terrible! I'm such a light sleeper now and wake up at the slightest sound. On average I'm up 3-4 times a night and only sleep about 7 hours.

movement? not yet.

cravings? This week it's been ranch. I've made ranch oyster crackers, bought ranch potato chips & even made a homemade ranch veggie dip. Me craving veggies? I must be pregnant!

aversions? I gagged on a piece of edamame last week. And mixed greens, the lettuce that has the spiky edges, makes me sick. ugh, just thinking of it makes me cringe.

gender? I'm guessing another boy, since I'm carrying this pregnancy pretty much the same.

belly button? halfway in, halfway out. This is how it was during my pregnancy with Luke & the half that stuck out never went back in! Secretly I'm hoping it all sticks out this time around!

weight gain? 9 pounds. I go big at the beginning!

(oh yes, I'm going there. One of the things I try to do as a blogger is be honest & authentic. I'm going to keep it real & share my weight gain with you. Let's pretend it's all baby weight every week, k?!)

favorite moment of the week? having my 11 week appointment. My midwife couldn't find the heartbeat with the handheld doppler (I have a retrograde uterus, making this common until the baby is bigger) so we had to do a full ultrasound. I was so excited to see the little bean moving and shaking on the screen! My midwife took lots of pictures for me and I left the appointment on cloud nine. There's something about seeing your baby in 2D, complete with arms & legs and a little flicker of a heartbeat, that makes you fall in love. It also makes pregnancy feel "real" for me.

(I think the head is on the left, feet on the right in this photo)

See that little leg and BIG FOOT below?!

My midwife loved that giant paw kicking around and took a picture of just his/her foot!

Look at the little bean's profile!

(head's on the left)

how we told my parents

>> 5.16.2013 – baby #2, Pregnancy

I knew I wanted to let Luke tell our families when we were expecting. I had picked up a "Big Brother" shirt at the Gymboree Outlet back in the fall when we thought we were adding to our family. Thankfully, I had saved the shirt and it fit perfectly when we decided to share the news with my parents on Easter weekend.

This next video is short & shaky, but I'm glad we captured the initial moment my mom found out.
My brother & his family were also up for the weekend, so we were able to tell everyone at once!

We couldn't let Luke show his shirt to John's parents in person (remember?) but we did text them pictures of him in his shirt to share our exciting news. I think Luke makes the cutest Big Brother! :)

how we found out

>> 5.15.2013 – baby #2, Pregnancy

The story of how we discovered we were pregnant is a funny one. John & I were ready and waiting for another child to join our family. Each month when my "special time" rolled around, I was always hopeful that I'd have a positive pregnancy test instead of a regular cycle. And in March, that special time arrived. Only John knew it before I did.

My cycle was late and I thought I could be having some early pregnancy symptoms. However, the early pregnancy symptoms are many of the same symptoms as PMS, so I wasn't really sure. I took a test, one of the cheap $1 store tests, and waited about 60 seconds until I saw the result window appear, with just one line. Another month with a period, another month not pregnant. After quickly texting John to tell him the sad news, I decided to drown my disappointment in a giant fountain Diet Coke and continued on with my day.

Fast forward to that night, I'm in bed before John (like usual) just resting and trying to get to sleep. He comes upstairs, lays down next to me in bed and says, "So what's that test in the downstairs bathroom?" "oh that's the pregnancy test I texted you about earlier today," I told him. "So two lines means you're not pregnant?" he asked. Immediately my heart skipped a beat, but I tried to play it cool, because there was no way my husband was reading the same test I had read that same morning. I explained that the first line was a control line that showed the test was accurately testing and the second line, if it appeared, was the one that detected the pregnancy hormone. John told me there was definitely a second line and I should go double-check.

I tried my best to walk down the stairs, jumped into the bathroom and discovered that same beautiful sight: two pink lines. I couldn't believe it. The second line was oh so faint, but still definitely there. The take home message: Always, ALWAYS follow the directions on the pregnancy test. If it says not to read the test for at least three minutes, wait the three minutes!!!

I came back upstairs and told John I'd go get another test in the morning. That evening I prayed long and hard that the Lord have His will with our family. And if this was our time to get pregnant, I prayed that my body would continue to support this precious new life. If this wasn't our time, I prayed that the Lord would help me to trust in His plan & not be crushed.

The next day I went to Walmart, bought another $1 test, got a free water cup from the McDonald's that sits inside the Walmart & took my second pregnancy test in the handicap stall. (Sorry for that, Luke!) Sure enough, there was another, faintly pink second line. I could barely contain my excitement. I decided I would buy some more tests and take them first thing the next morning, right after I woke up, as the tests recommended. (Again, follow the directions!) Sure enough each day that I took a test I got a darker second pink line.

It's still surreal to me. I can't believe that we're having another baby! I often look in my rearview mirror and smile, thinking that this time next year there will be two babies sitting in the back of my Tahoe. God is so faithful and withholds no good thing from us! For those of you in my shoes, those wives so desperate to become mama, know that I'm praying for you. I've been there and I know how excruciating the wait can be. However, I also know that nothing is better than the Lord's will. I encourage you to continue to pray that God reveal His will for your family & I'll be doing the same.

hold up

>> 5.14.2013 – baby #2, Pregnancy

AHHHH!

I'M PREGNANT!!!

We are so, SO excited and are so thankful for this answered prayer! God is so faithful!

Okay, so let me backtrack a bit into this pregnancy. First, I have to tell you that I made a HUGE rookie blogger mistake about a month ago. I was journaling my early weeks of pregnancy in a post that I was saving as a draft, waiting to publish it after we shared the news with all of our family. But then I did the unthinkable and accidentally hit that bright orange "publish" button instead of the subtle white "save" one right beside it. I literally screamed as soon as it happened, went back into Blogger and totally deleted the post in a furry. Turns out even though the post was deleted, it still would show up in various readers because it had technically been published at one time. oy vey.

Within hours some of my best blog friends were emailing me and texting me saying, "ARE YOU PREGNANT?!" to which I tried to play it off and said, "what are you talking about?!" They, of course, saw right through me and let me know that my post was still a teaser in blog readers & sadly, there wasn't anything I could do about it. I immediately called John & told him we had to scratch our plan of telling his family in person a few weeks later and had to call them, THAT NIGHT, to make sure they didn't find out online first! oh and I had such a cute plan to tell all the family, where I would let Luke walk into their homes wearing his Big Brother shirt. Leave it to me to ruin my own best laid plans!

Thankfully now the news is out. We've told all of our families, shared it on Instagram & Facebook and now it's on the blog so obviously the whole world knows. I'll be back tomorrow to try and recollect some of first trimester (since I deleted the post I was working on way back when.) Until then, I want to say a huge thank you to the sweet readers who emailed/called/texted to congratulate me after my big blog oops. Not only did it feel good to know that there were people praying for me, I greatly appreciate you girls keeping my secret safe! I love the blog world & you guys, my readers, you're the best. :)

an extra special Make it Monday

>> 5.13.2013 – Make it Monday, photography

Today you get an extra special Make It Monday.

So special in fact, that I waited until tonight to publish it!

I had this precious pin saved under my board titled "oh snap!"- a board full of photography inspiration. I knew that I wanted to do something similar when we found out we were expanding our family.