Confession #3: I'm Still Getting The Figure Suit

Happy Friday everyone!!

It's a beautiful day here in God's country! In case you haven't heard, Sunshine Mama is pregnant and very happy to be so.

Thank you all for you wonderful words of congratulations and excitement for our family for this very wonderful news. We are so excited to have baby #6 on the way.

New babies and pregnancies are a blessing but can definitely throw a wrench in say....plans to be in a figure competition.

We didn't find out we were pregnant until five days ago. So, up until that point plans had been made to have a figure suit specially designed by a professional suit designer just for me. In fact, a sizeable little "non-refundable" deposit had been put down to have this suit made. I think I have up a year to have it made.

But yesterday, guess what came in the mail? These fabric swatches from which to choose the colors and fabric for my suit. I told the gal that I wanted the suit to be black but mentioned that I thought I also might look good in red or blue. I also want the suit to be in velvet. So, now all I have to do is to pick the fabric of my choice and let her know, and then keep her updated on my dimensions. I'll also let her know how I want the cut and style of the suit to look. There's also a little final "phone fitting" to make sure it's just the way I want it.

I don't know about you, but suddenly the red and blue look really appealing. In fact, I think I just might change my mind about the black and get it in blue velvet. What color do you guys like?

When I first found out I was pregnant, I felt like getting the suit made for me now probably wouldn't happen. I mean by the time it's made, I may be showing a little bump. But, then I started thinking about it. What if I was a swimsuit model...(bear with me, I know... big what-if) Those gals model swimsuits for a living. What, do they stop modeling swimsuits the second they find out that they're pregnant? NO, they keep modeling swimsuits until....I'm totally speculating here....but until, they can't anymore.

And not that I would do this, but how many pregnant women have you seen walking around in a bikini with a little baby bump? I mean pregnant women do go swimming.

My husband told me he totally thought I should just get the suit made anyway since it's already half way paid for. And the more I think about it, the more I really like the idea. I also want to get the five inch clear high heels that go with the outfit.

Yes, you read correctly. These figure competitors get to (have to) wear minimum five inch heels on stage. The higher heal is suppose to accentuate the calf muscles. And I have to admit something, I love high heels. Now, five inchers might be something I need to get used to. But, honestly I'm kind of pumped (ok, pun intended) at the idea of getting a snazzy little suit made up for me and then prancing around in high heels.

Every girls' dream right?

At the very least, I can get pictures taken and maybe even use the suit next year when I get back in shape enough to be in another figure competition.

So, that's my confession. I'm going to have this figure suit made for me despite being pregnant. I hope all these confessions aren't rocking your world too much. I suppose the next big confession would be that I'm actually still going to be in a figure competition. Wouldn't that be interesting? A pregnant figure competitor.

Hmmm...I just wonder. My body fat is already pretty low. And you do have to suck in your abs on stage anyway...

An Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe:

In the meantime, I thought I'd post this chicken noodle soup recipe that I cooked up last night for the family. I'm trying to stay away from white flour, sugar and processed foods. I think I stayed away from everything processed except for perhaps the chicken bouillon.

What I did was to take a family favorite chicken noodles soup recipe and just modified it with healthier ingredients. Everyone absolutely loved it. There was a lot of butter in it, so I would just hold back on the butter or substitute it with Smart Balance light, if you wanted to cut down on the total calories.

Comforting chicken noodle soup:

2 quarts of water

eight chicken bouillon cubes

4 1/2 uncooked wide egg noodles (I used whole wheat fettuccine noodles)

3 cups of cooked chicken (I used chicken that we had de-boned from those 10 pound packages of chicken quarters that you can get at the store for really cheap. We cooked it up all day in the crockpot so that the meat was really tender)

2 --10 3/4 oz cans of condensed cream of chicken soup (I made up my own cream using whole wheat flour. )

To make the equivalent of about 22 ounces of cream of chicken soup you do as follows: on medium heat in pan heat six table spoons of butter, with 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste. Once the butter is melted, you add six table spoons of whole wheat flour, three cups of milk and stir frequently on medium heat until thickened and bubbly, at which point you cook a few minutes more.

I swear, cream is the easiest thing to make on the planet. And depending on the different spices you have in your cupboard, you can make all different flavors of creams for all of your vegetable or meat dishes.

As you can see in this picture, I was cooking the cream while I was waiting for the noodles to boil. This is what you do with the rest of the soup.

In large saucepan, bring water and bouillon to a boil. Add noodles and cook uncovered until tender ( about ten minutes). Do not drain. Add soup (the cream you made), and heat through. Remove from heat and stir in one cup of sour cream.

I did not have enough sour cream to add to this soup, but it still tasted very creamy and delicious anyway.

I had enough chicken to make a batch and a half, and now the family will be eating soup (and quite happily I might add) for the next two days.

Well, I think that's it for today; I hope you all have a great day and a nice weekend!

Sincerely,

Sunshine Mama

P.S. To those who asked, I'd love to post some monthly pregnancy pictures.