Let me give you a little insight into my day:

I rocked Jack for an hour and a half to get him to fall asleep… and then his nap lasted 40 minutes.

We ran to Bed Bath and Beyond and he told the cashier that the lotion I was purchasing was, “For mommy’s nasty feet.”

(Which, to be fair, was my explanation for it when I put it in the cart ten minutes prior.)

And then we headed over to Allison’s house for a playdate this afternoon and he proceeded to terrorize poor baby Harper, repeatedly placing toys on top of her head and launching balls at her. She took it like a champ.

So is it any wonder that I just whipped up a batch of these? For myself. Everyone else in the house is asleep.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies. You can find the recipe here. I’m usually kind of ambivalent about shortbread (chewy cookies are more my speed), but these contain chocolate so I was willing to make an exception. Plus they’re EASY and I already had all of the ingredients on hand: Butter, peanut butter, sea salt, flour, powdered sugar and chocolate chips. I used semi-sweet mini chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate and crunchy PB instead of smooth.

You mix the dough, roll it into a log and wrap in wax paper, then refrigerate for a couple of hours:

Then slice & bake.

They’re rich and buttery and immediately melt in your mouth. Okay, I’m going to go eat cookies now. By myself. Good night!

We’ve had some busy weekends lately, but this one definitely takes the cake. I got up Saturday morning and headed to Camille’s baby shower for sweet Miss Adeline- yet another future member of the Baby Girl Party of 2012 (we know ELEVEN baby girls making their debut between February and June). Then it was home to pick up Brian and head to my college friend Liz’s wedding. It was gorgeous- the reception was at Arlington Hall and I couldn’t get over how pretty everything was:

Liz was a BEAUTIFUL bride. I’m so excited for Dr. & Dr. Buschur

Then it was home to pick up Jack and relieve the babysitters (Uncle Zach & Aunt Lulu), then over to my cousin’s college graduation party. Brian and I were both pretty much dead on our feed… though apparently more him than me. Once we got home that night I realized that he had been “rocking Jack to sleep” for an hour and a half so I just gave up and went on to bed and let him sleep in the glider.

This morning we were up early to head to Fort Worth for Liz’s post-wedding brunch at Joe T. Garcia’s. I LOVE Joe T.’s, but we rarely make the trek over there. Luckily Jack was a total champ in the car, and once we arrived he had plenty of time to run around and play outside. All of my spare change is now in this fountain…

Joy and Chip came in for the wedding, too, so we also got some awesome snuggle time in with Mr. Merrit.

The sweetest, most chill baby ever.

Speaking of babies, allow me to blow your mind for a second. This afternoon Jack and I were playing “letters” (don’t ask- the kid is obsessed with the alphabet) in the den while I lounged on the floor. I was laying on my back and then raised up to look at something… and check out my stomach:

This is the only exposed belly shot you will EVER be subject to here, but it was too weird not to share. Seriously- what the hell is that??? Her head? Back? Is she sideways in there? Needless to say, baby girl is running out of room. Six more weeks.

Off to edit pics. Hope I didn’t scare you too badly with that one.

I bit the bullet today and bought a bunch of gigantic, super thin tank tops to get me through the next few weeks. Like these in every color. And this one (but in coral). Basically I came to the conclusion- as I was sweating my ass off walking around the mall- that I’m probably going to die of heatstroke before this baby arrives. It’s not even May yet and already pushing 90 degrees. So while you have to deal with flu season with a winter newborn, summer isn’t looking like a picnic either (take heed, people: FALL and SPRING babies are the way to go).

Anyway, I did have fun shopping while Jack was in Mother’s Day Out. I made a little dent in supplies for the hospital bag and of course somehow wandered into Sephora and wandered out with a lipstick. Ooops.

At our Early Childhood PTA auction a couple of weeks ago I bought a place for Jack at a Picasso Party- basically a big playdate with a bunch of paint, random art supplies and canvases. Jack had a blast “creating”:

Surprisingly, he did not try to paint baby Sam.

I literally had to climb in and DRAG him out of this trampoline by his ankles when it was time to leave.

Brian got home early tonight (NFL draft night = coincidence? Doubt it) and we headed to our local cheapy cheap cheap Mexican restaurant, Mexicali.

Hey… I like tacos.

No, it’s true. I really do.

This draft BS is bo-ring. I’m going to retreat to the bedroom for a little 16 & Pregnant. Happy weekend, y’all!

We had one of those dreaded NO NAP days today. I rocked Jack to sleep and put him in his bed, but as soon as I adjusted the covers over him, his eyes popped open and that was the end of that. I tried rocking him for another half hour, even climbed in bed next to him (no small feat at 8 months pregnant in a tiny twin bed- I had two kids kicking me the entire time) but all that got me was a fun little facial-prodding. Like tiny fingers up the nose, grazing my eyeballs… good times.

Luckily dinner was easy. I actually cooked it yesterday but we ended up going to dinner with my parents, so all I had to do tonight was reheat.

The recipe was Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken from How Sweet It Is. I actually halved the recipe (we only had 3 chicken breasts in the freezer). For the beer I used Shiner Light, and for the BBQ sauces I used a combination of these two:

SUPER excited to find the Carolina-style sauce at Target. Vinegar-based BBQ sauces are my fave, but they’re hard to find around here.

Anyway, the recipe really couldn’t be easier. Dump chicken (I didn’t even thaw it first) in the slow cooker with BBQ sauce and beer and cook on low. The recipe said to cook for 8 hours, but I think that was too long… 6 hours probably would have been fine. Then remove chicken, shred with forks and return to crock pot.

Served with Alexia fries and broccoli.

Bedtime seems to be going about as well as naptime, judging from the screeches coming from Jack’s room. Anyway, if your kid is boycotting sleep and/or you need a laugh click here. It has nothing to do with anything, but it made me ugly snort-laugh last night when I read it.

Send some happy sleep vibes our way, ‘kay?

I get a little sad when I think about the fact that the next several weeks will be the last time it’ll just be Jack & Mommy. We have such a sweet, predictable little routine, and though I know he’s going to love having a little sister, I’m sure it’s going to be an adjustment for him (for all of us, really).

Anyway, I’m trying to soak up as much fun time with him as possible. Today we headed to the Arboretum for a picnic lunch. Of course I couldn’t resist snapping a few (or 50) pics of his adorableness.

When did he start looking so OLD??? Excuse the Cheeto-face.

Sorry for inundating you with Jack photos. I can’t help it. But just one more…

We met my parents for dinner tonight. Despite the fact that he already had big bowl of lime Jello, Jack managed to sweet-talk my dad into getting him strawberry ice cream, too. He was pretty proud of himself.

Ooooh, I love that kid.

It’s always a crap shoot as to whether Jack is going to actually eat his dinner or not. Tonight, however, was a WIN. He cleaned his plate and asked for more twice. Gotta love that.

(However, I got all cocky and asked him, “So buddy, you like your mommy’s cooking!!”

Completely stone-faced: “No.”

“Oh. Okay.”)

I found a recipe on Pinterest for Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs. You can find the recipe HERE. I followed the meatball part of the recipe exactly (be sure to use fresh parsley- it makes a big difference).

I made a few alterations to the sauce part, though:

1. Added chopped celery and carrots to the oil along with the crushed garlic cloves.

2. Used two 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes instead of one.

3. Added a splash… or two… of red wine, a can of drained sliced mushrooms and a bunch of fresh basil.

OH, also- I baked the meatballs in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes before placing them in the slow cooker. Once I added the meatballs and sauce to the slow cooker, I cooked it on low for 3 hours.

Served over whole wheat thin spaghetti:

The assembly is a little more time consuming than some slow cooker recipes, but it’s really good and we have a ton of leftovers. And the fact that Jack went to town on those meatballs makes it worth it x 1000.

We had a fun day- Little Gym, birthday party, daily Target run. But now I’m beat… is it sad that I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s nap? Oh well.