Steak & Potatoes

At bedtime last night, Emerson requested that we have egg sandwiches for breakfast this morning. So once I could get up and moving a little bit, she helped me out in the kitchen, and we made her requested egg sandwiches!

She was dancing in between bites, while we were watching Frozen 2, before getting ready for church.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been watching my odometer, as it crept closer and closer to 100,000 miles. I parked the car at home last night at 99,998, so on the way to church this morning, it finally happened! And because I’m dork, I had to pull over and snap a photo of it. My little 2014 Dodge Avenger has treated me well so far, and since she’s completely paid off (yes, it’s a she, and her name is Ava), I plan to keep on driving her until the wheels fall off, or we make it another 100,000 miles!

Look how pretty my little girl was for church today! I love this little hand-me-down sweater, even though it’s a bit too big for her. I know she’ll grow into it eventually, but until then, she still looks adorable!

The family all went out to lunch at Zaxby’s together after church. Our music minster Eddie walked in and said, “Look, it’s Pullen’s Cozy Corner!” And then he offered to take a photo and text it to me, so I could use it for the blog. And I loved that idea! I was so happy that someone else thought to do that, without me even asking!

Emmie and I went home after lunch and I got her down for her nap. I thought I might try to nap myself, but I ended up not falling asleep. So instead, I got a piece of my leftover funfetti Christmas cake from the other day, and some reading material. At our low country boil, my Mama brought me the People magazine because she knows I love Erin & Ben Napier. And Aunt Suzanne brought me the Tea Time magazine, because I’ve already started planning this year’s upcoming Galentine’s Day Tea Party!

Emmie slept for about 1 hour 45 minutes, and then we snuggled for a bit. We went to Walmart for a last-minute grocery pick-up for some random things we needed/wanted, and it took stinking forever. My order was already delayed from earlier in the afternoon, and then we still sat there for at least 20 minutes, and they had to come ask my name twice. But we did finally get the stuff. Once we got home and started putting away the couple of cold things, Daddy got home from taking the boys back today. We spent a little time outside on the scooter, and doing some laundry, and checking the mail, and then headed back in to warm up.

Make sure to press play on the cute little scooter video below. She’s in the whole phase right now, where she’ll do or say or eat a random thing, and follow it up with, “My baby can’t do that,” or “My baby can’t eat that.” And it’s because she’ll ask about the new baby eating popcorn or jumping, and I’ll say something like, “Not when it’s fresh out of my tummy, but one day…” So now she just automatically states, “My baby can’t do that.”

 

After getting a loaf of homemade bread & some potatoes baking in the oven, we finally started taking down Christmas. We never really got around to putting most of the stuff out, which is fine now, because it’s less to deal with, but we did get everything off the tree tonight. And then we’ll take down the tree itself in a day or so.

Will you please look at this bread!? I love this stuff.

At my last pre-natal appointment, they did a little finger prick to test my iron levels, and it was slightly low. So they gave me handout of “good, better, best” foods to eat to up the iron intake. So for tonight, I chose one item off each “good, better, best” list, and made a whole meal out of it. I started by searing the steaks in the cast iron, then added butter & onions, and let it bake in the oven. They were still a little red when they came out, so I finished them up on the stove top. (Typically, I like my steak medium-ish, but when  you’re pregnant, you’re only supposed to eat steak well-done, so that’s how it ended up.)

Along with the steak, baked potatoes & homemade bread, I also made creamed spinach for the first time, and wow, that was surprisingly delicious. I had actually seen this pregnant girl on TikTok make it multiple times lately, because it’s one of her biggest cravings, and it just looked so good, I decided I needed to try it too. And wow, it turned out good. (Saute garlic & onion in butter, add whipping cream, chicken stock and S&P, then simmer for 5 minutes. Add large handfuls of baby spinach to wilt, then add a generous handful of fresh parmesan cheese.) YUM! I gave myself the tiniest steak, but I couldn’t finish the steak or the potato, although I did eat every bite of the bread & spinach 🙂

Tater Tot had cheese noodles & bread, and this face was her reaction to the delicious, buttery bread. She honestly loved it, and ate so much bread. I can’t blame the girl… her Mama loves carbs the most too!

Dinner wasn’t technically difficult, but I was utterly exhausted by the end of the meal (and super stuffed). I made a plea to Jeff to be in charge of washing the dishes, and he readily agreed, since I had made us such a delicious, fancy dinner, without even a special occasion to celebrate. We got Emmie dressed and ready for bedtime, and she chose the llama camping book for Daddy to read to her.

She was so glad to have her Daddy back home tonight, and wanted to hold him forever, and not lay down. It took some convincing, and some stern voices, but she finally gave in and settled down. I’m now super tired and still super full, so we’ll probably watch a YouTube video or two, and then I’ll take my pregnant self to bed!