today marks me being 20 weeks pregnant. CRAZY! this means i am officially half-way done with this pregnancy - where oh where has the time gone to?! i don't have a picture today (because i feel like poop), but promise one for later this week, so showcase my 20 week belly. according to a few educational sources, the baby is now about the length of a banana and weighs in around 10 ounces. i have been feeling him/her moving every so often, and can definitely tell that my belly is getting bigger. i can also feel the belly when i am carrying L around - when she pushes against it or lays too hard on it, it's slightly uncomfortable.

i definitely do not feel better today - i feel worse than yesterday. my head aches, my belly aches, my teeth ache and i am congested like none other. lame sauce. i miss my dear husband a lot every single day, but it's times like these that him being gone really gets to me. i am the one that has to always get up with L in the middle of the night (i don't mind it AND i know i live with my parents, but i would feel terrible waking them up - not that they wouldn't want to help, but when i know i can always handle it, then i just deal with it) and when i am feeling terrible, it's hard - i just want him here with me to make me feel better! and i just feel so sorry for L, because now that i feel so sick, i can only imagine how she feels and she has no way to vocalize it other than to cry. the poor baby woke up last night and just had this high-pitch wail that meant she was just hurting. it broke my heart. she finally fell asleep after an hour. and woke up this morning smiling, laughing and chatting away - at least she's a fairly happy sick baby! i am hoping that another good (mostly solid) night's sleep will make some vast improvements for both of us.

the above picture is of the amazing muffins i baked yesterday - which were a hit, i might add. they are just so good and it's so hard to not eat them all at once! they remind me of an old-fashioned cake donut - only they are baked instead of fried! the recipe follows:

7 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp

2/3 c sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 c buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

for the topping:

2/3 c sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

6 tbsp butter (melted)

preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease 9 standard muffin cups (or use paper outers).

combine butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. add egg and beat until pale and smooth in texture.

in a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. add this mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. stir until just evenly moistened. batter will be a little bit lumpy.

spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. fill each about 3/4 full. bake muffins until muffins are just golden and a toothpick comes out clean - this is about 20-25 minutes. once done, put pans on wire rack for about 5 minutes to start cooling. then transfer muffins from pans to rack to continue cooling.

meanwhile, mix sugar and cinnamon mixture for the topping in small bowl. in a separate bowl, melt remaining butter. once muffins are cool enough to handle, dip the top of each muffin in the melted butter, then immediately dip them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, coating it evenly. tap off excess and place back on rack to finish cooling before serving!