Prego Picks: Edition 5

Let's play a game.

What's this?

l

l

l

\/

Did I hear

"it's a Leachco Snoogle Total Body Pillow!"?

YES, you are correct! It's also known as THE BEST INVENTION EV-AH for us preggy peeps!

I first heard about it from my friend Jodie, here.

I thought it looked fabulous, but I didn't think much of the price. boo.

Delight thyself also in the LORD;

and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Psalm 37:4

Well, the Lord gave it to me...for 88% off, less tax, carry the one...

Seriously, while at a consignment sale in the fall I "just happened" to notice the pillow tucked under a table in the back of the store. It was the last day of the sale and most things were marked half-off. When I saw the price, I knew that puppy was mine! I walked away with a $50 {at most retail stores} pillow for $12!!

Yee-stinkin'-haw!!

Thank you, dear Lord!

{a good wash in the washing machine and it was practically brand new!}

And look at all the fun ways I can lie...

Oh, the possibilities are endless.

Gotta run...I've gotta go practice sleeping! ;)

Oh. my. word.

Pardon me while I pick my jaw up off the floor.

{It may take a while, so go ahead and scroll down for the news...}

l

l

l

l

l

l

\/

As many of you know, I met The Pioneer Woman on Monday night and despite a looooooong, three-hour wait in line, I lived to blog about it! ;)

{story of my life, right?}

Well, well, WELL!!!...she took my little blog post and linked it to her post about her night in the Rock!

Oh. Yes. She. DID!!!

You can go here to read all about it...and she linked Stacy's too!!

I say, that is just REE-diculously awesome!

Cough. Cough. Wheeze. Wheeze.

The moment many of you have been waiting for....

Here's my sister's fool-proof homemade cough syrup

{free of preservaties, dyes, and anything but natural ingredients!!}

It's technically "Annette's" recipe, but I'm still trying to figure out who she is... When that happens I'll be sure and link to her. :)

Raegen's had a nasty cough for a few weeks so Stacy gave me this recipe that her family uses. She has adapted it from the original version to better fit her family {dbl lemon juice and honey}

Homemade Cough Syrup

Ingredients:
3 radishes, pulverized in blender

1/4 red onion, also pulverized in blender

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 lemons, juiced

1 cup honey

Mix all ingredients together in blender.

~

An aside...we received a blender as a wedding gift just four short years ago. I had all these dreams of making milkshakes and fruit smoothies, but truth be told it's probably been used less than ten times. It's a Hamilton Beach 450 Watt Glass-pitcher Blender. It's great for mixing water. I would say you could fluff cool whip in it too, but that may be taking it too far. I've known for sometime that we needed a new one so I asked my friend Kibs what kind she had...as she uses hers very often and it's always reliable.

She also has a glass-pitcher Hamilton Beach, but it's a 600 watt blender....and four years newer! :)

I hit the stores scouring over every minute blender detail and finally settled on this one...

It's an Oster BRLY07-Z00 1000-Watt Fusion Blender I found at Target. Though target.com does not have it listed...only the 600 watt. ?? But you could purchase it online, here. Though I would go to your nearest Target instead, because I didn't pay that much for mine! :)

PEOPLE!

We are talking 1000 watts of raw blending power, pulverizing everything in its path! It has SIX power blades. SIX, MY PEOPLE! Not four as most blenders do. I have to say I did feel as though I was channeling "Tim the Tool Man Taylor" while standing in that aisle.

"grunt, grunt, grunt!!"

More power, more better. Right?

Moving on with the recipe...

The next step is to strain and serve.

{though I would like to point out my blender "blended" so well {including a few accidental lemon seeds that fell in} that I did NOT strain at. all.}

Young children should take 1 teaspoon, three times a day

Adults may take 2 tablespoons, three times a day

Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.

I try to use plastic as little as possible so I was thrilled when I found this cute little glass turet at Wal-Mart to store the cough syrup.

Raegen makes the most awful face when he takes this, but once swallowed he smiles and says, "Eeet's yummy!"

Happy Birthday Nana!

Room with a view...

{unless you really, really like us...as in you're a grandparent that wants to see their darling grandson...you may want to skip this lengthy post 'o pics I have today. I do this as much for my own memory and record keeping as anyone...and today's a doozey!}

Last Tuesday while we were on vacay, it was daddy's BIG 3-0!

What could be better than waking up to a beautiful boy, a gorgeous view, and perfect weather?

The business conference was held at the Orlando Resort: Marriott World Center. Rather than stay elsewhere for a few days, then change hotels to accomodate Billy's conference meetings, we chose to stay at the resort all week...and it was mah-velous! We could see Epcot and Downtown Disney from our room.

As well as the many pools, fountains, and golf course at the resort.

For our first big day of rest and relaxation we choose...


You thought I was going to say Disney, didn't ya? Maybe in a few years, but for this trip we felt Sea World was more appropriate for Raegen's age. Plus, they have a great option where you can get your one-day pass validated and return for a second day, FREE! Okay, so it's not really free, right? I mean we DID pay for it when we bought the first ticket, plus there's a parking fee each day....

B and I visited SeaWorld three years ago when I was pregnant with Raegen. In fact, I was around 21-22 weeks with Raegen and during this trip I was 23 weeks with Mr. Bojangles. One thing we enjoyed greatly on our trip when it was just the two of us, were all of the shows so we made sure and saw them this go-round with Raegen.

Our first show was "Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island"

It was just as great this time around though they did add a few dialogue changes and included phrases such as "I'm going to go update my Facebook status"

It's amazing how well the animals are trained. Afterwards we stopped by the Pacific Point Preserve to see the sea lions up close.

Then we took a journey through Penguin Encounter where Raegen and daddy had their picture taken...

in the same spot we had ours taken just three years earlier!

{Can you tell we've upgraded our camera since then?! Best birthday gift ev-ah!!}

Next on the agenda was the "Believe" show in the Shamu Stadium. But first! We presented daddy with his birthday gift while chowing down on our hotdog lunch! ;)

I had big plans to send him away for a weekend of rollercoaster rides with R & M for his BIG 3-0, but when the conference date was announced those dreams went down the drain. So, instead we gave him some money towards his "surround sound" fund. :)

Shhhh...the show is starting!

This trainer was trying to get Raegen to mimic the "jump out of the water Shamu!" hand signal...and he did!

Those whales are soooo ridiculously large!

We stopped by Shamu's Happy Harbor next. An area we didn't explore on our last visit, mainly for lack of kids. :)

Immediately we spotted Shamu and I was curious how Raegen would react. Thankfully there were no tears, only a look of confusion.

Just beat it!!!!

Raegen and daddy waiting in line to ride the Jazzy Jellies...the anticipation is killing B!!

Raegen wasn't tall enough to ride any of the rides by himself, but he could ride if accompanied by an adult.

Originally I was going to ride Ocean Commotion with Raegen, but once I saw the Ocean Commotion in motion, I backed out! It was a little much for me and Mr. Bojangles!!

But Raegen thought it was great!

I'm not sure who was more excited to ride Shamu Express, a children's scale rollercoaster. I even warned B that there was a 30 minute wait and he replied, "I've got nothin' but time." :)

While they were waiting to ride, a group of

colorful guys

on stilts

carrying drums

and jumping in the air

showed up.

Raegen and I headed over to get a looksee.

They put on a great performance, dancing and jumping in the air.

As Raegen and daddy inched toward the front of the line, I found the perfect spot to snap their rollercoaster ride pics.

But sadly they were busted when their turn came...Raegen was just two inches too short to ride. :( Oh, the drama...from them both! :)

The Flying Fiddler quickly turned that frown upside down!

He was by far, the tiniest rider...

But clearly, no one had more fun!!!


Oh my word did this boy cackle!!!

He thought it was more than wonderful!


It didn't quite compare to the Flying Fiddler, but we finally found something I could enjoy with my little king...Swishy Fishies!

He was a little disturbed when the ride ended and begged to ride again. The attendant was kind enough to let us keep our seats because there wasn't a line at the time...but then he changed his mind and wanted off! Of course!

And then he saw IT.

He stopped dead in his tracks, plopped to the ground, and began removing his shoes. When we realized what was going on in his mind we quickly said, "No, no, no...you don't have to take your shoes off." Though all he took in was "No, no, no", which resulted in an unfavorable response. Imagine that.

For it was THIS that had caught his eye...

Never have I been so thankful to be a pregnant mama!! It was definitely a job for dear 'ol daddy. ;)

It was a never-ending maze of tunnels and nets that reached sky high. What a great daddy to carry him through it all...again, and again, and again...

After a day of little rest and lots of walking, it was time to head home for a nap! But first Raegen ran into a few more characters...

"He's o-tay mama"

Giving "knucks" and parting ways...

CLASSIC photo op...

Daddy, Mama, Mr. Bojangles @ 23 weeks, & Raegen

Daddy, Mama, and Raegen @ 22ish weeks

I should dig out the one of me, Justin, and Stacy from looooong ago! :)

"Look at these birds mama, they're great to chase!"

"Easy big guy!!"

After a nice, long nap we headed to dinner to celebrate B's birthday. We dined at Hawk's Landing, a restuarant located within the resort.

Like father, like son...

We started with scallops...

then enjoyed a NY strip with a loaded potato,

hot dog and fries,

and Yellowtail Snapper with a side of asparagus for dinner.

Unable to bake a cake for the big day as I have in the past,

I chose instead to have the waitress surprise him with dessert.

Or maybe it was for me? Regardless, it was delicioso!

Afterwards we headed upstairs for a little unwinding

maybe a lot of unwinding...

Then settled in for some rest to do it all over again!

Mama did a bad, bad thing...

You can usually find something positive in any situation just by choosing a different perspective.

I don't

think

that's

the case

here.

The little king has no idea this happened and I plan to keep it that way! ;)

Why didn't I bring my GirlScout "sit-upon"?

I interrupt this week long slide show of vacation pictures {I think can do that, it is my blog}...

to bring you "The Pioneer Woman grabs her overalls, kicks off her heels, and heads to Arkansas!"

Monday night I headed south with a few friends to meet The Pioneer Woman. Yes, THE Pioneer Woman...not to be confused with THE Ben Stein. Completely different.

A HUGE thanks to my sister, Stacy, for saving us a spot in line.

I had no idea we'd still be standing there three HOURS later! Did I not learn anything in my years as a Girl Scout?

Law #1: Always be prepared!

{in other words, never leave home without your sit-upon!}

Trying to figure out where all these people are standing and why they have shopping carts? The great state of Arkansas hosted The Pioneer Woman at Wal-Mart. We're fancy like that.

I waited in line with my friends Angie, Jessica, my wonderful sister, Stacy, and baby Henry.

This will have to suffice as my 24 week picture as I didn't get a "belly shot" today...and Jess is 32 weeks! THIRTY-TWO!! I don't know her secret, but I plan to find out and bottle it for myself!
Marlboro Man also came with PW and signed books. There were some sweet gals in line in front of us that were kind enough to take our picture....more than once, twice, or thrice!!

They thought I looked familiar so I told them I was MckMama, but they knew better...it didn't help my case that Stacy was holding Henry at the time. He could pass as a small Stellan. Maybe. Not.

MM signing my cookbook...

The line snaked all the way from the front center of the store, through the main aisle connecting housewares and clothing, and past fabric/crafts. By the time we made it to the front baby Henry and I were all tuckered out.

Here are the sweet gals that played paparazzi for us all night. They forgot their cameras so I took their picture with my camera and will email it to them.

The Pioneer Woman, Mama Red Head, and Lady Zebra

{check out PW's camera! It's a Nikon...I knew she was good people...}

Me, PW, Stacy, and Henry

PW and Jess

PW and Angie

My friend Laura was also there, but I couldn't find her again after we met PW {and I did try!}. The line was still terribly long...

still stretching to the back of the store...

It was a long three hours in line, but I had fun spending time with my friends and sister. It was also nice to meet new folks. Though my "hanging out" preference involves a comfy couch and a glass of Diet Pepsi!

P.S. There is no reason to tell my husband she signed a "cook"book...he would expect me to use it! ;)