Midweek Update

Even though hubby worked crazy overtime this weekend, when he got home around 11:30 Saturday morning, he still made a point to make it a great time for us! He said it was "Miranda Appreciation Day," but he actually does those semi-regularly, so I decided to change it and make it "Team Diranda" appreciation day! It was our 1 year, 1 month, and 3 day wedding anniversary, afterall ;-)

 We had spent the majority of our time out at farmer's market (which is AWESOME!) then in stores. I get burnt out in stores sometimes and just need to get out of town! Hubby was understanding and brought me out to the lake! Just seeing it brings peace to my soul!

 Hubby geared up and set about making a place for us by the water!

 Who needs chairs though when you can sit on giant rocks?!

 And of course, boys always have to dig around and see what's hiding under rocks by the water!

Hehehee... My super-cute macho man! No one makes me smile like him!

I'm 6 MONTHS PREGNANT ya'll!!! Its crazy how fast this is coming along! I get to meet my baby in about 3 1/2 months! Aaand David had to do a photo shoot ;-)

 
I have cut my hair FOUR times since pregnancy... It's so nice to have it short for ease of styling and lightness for this HOT weather!! I cut off 10 inches in February, then mid march I cut it again, Then towards the end of April, and not about 1-2 weeks ago just cut it again! At least 2-4 inches each time. My hair has always grown fast, but this is crazy!!!

 *What I wore: tank/dots; skirt/maternity-borrowed from boss for the duration of this pregnancy; skinny belt/shade clothing; bracelet/grandma's jewelry box; wedding rings on a chain for my necklace; shades/kohls

 Aww Papa Bear and Mama Bear! HAPPY!!!

 There goes Papa Bear, blazing the trail for big 'ole Mama Bear, to tired to make it up the hill to the car!

 When we got home we made dinner! David is always on the onions, he chops and caramelizes. In between he hands me anything I need, looks for other things to do to help dinner along.

 My plate: Burger loaded with bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions (lightly caramelized), and mayo. Summer squash (from farmers market!) sauteed in olive oil, seasoned with thyme, some sea salt, fresh lemon juice. Guacamole for building good fat to fill out my son's face and grow his brain! Homemade tortilla chips.

 Hubby's plate: Two barbeque bacon burgers. :-)

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Project Update!!! Since buying the yarn I have completed all the squares, turned the squares into 4 rows, and now I have to join the rows, and then add the border in chocolate brown yarn!

I will be so excited to have my son's play mat finished and hopefully start making him some cute little toys and maybe a blanket!

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This is TOTALLY my theme song!

http://youtu.be/THAaNPIxEek?hd=1

Hope everyone has a super-blest day! Yay for it being Bible study day!

Best,

M~

Reflections on becoming "Mommy"

We so enjoyed our 21 week ultrasound (that should have been 20 weeks, but scheduling, you know ;-))

We were amazed at how much more our son had developed in just 5 weeks!!! We think he has the cutest little profile! I mean, look at that NOSE!!! And his tiny, perfect, TOES!!! I get choked up at ultrasounds, is it just me?

A couple days ago hubby and I went into a christian bookstore. He was hoping to find some helpful materials for a guy at work, I was hoping to get a song book so anytime I want to sing to my son if I'm forgetting the words, I can just look up the song. I also wanted an uplifting praise/worship CD with as many of our favorites recorded as possible. Now that baby is hearing pretty well and responding in his little baby-in-utero way, I want him to be surrounded by positive, spiritual influences; whether we're in the car, I'm at work, whenever, wherever!

So while we're doing all of that, I wander past the relationship/parenting/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-sex section. So many books I've always wanted in my personal library were there. I was hoping to have these books on hand for when I had children. Titles such as "When God Writes Your Love Story," Eric & Leslie Ludy; "Secret Keeper Girl," Dannah Gresh; and I noticed a host of new books you can do as a study with your kids at age appropriate times. Afterwards I realized, the conversations I picture in my head I'm picturing having with a daughter! All of a sudden it hit me again, I'm having a SON!!! Oh my goodness, IM HAVING A SON!!!! It struck me harder in this moment than before because of the marriage class David and I have been attending at church and the conversation David shared with me he had at work, telling a guy he had to be the guy his daughter looked at for who she would look for in a mate, now. I realized, I'm the first girl my son will really know. I have to be the example of purity, Godly, christian example to him of what he should hope to find in a mate someday. How I treat his father, how I present myself, how I interact with those outside the home, how I dress, how I talk, how I talk about others, OH BOY! I've thought about my example a great deal over the years, I want to be who I'm supposed to be before God any way, but all of a sudden this is feeling like a much weightier task, it is a much weightier task. Proverbs 31:28 "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her..."

Oh Lord, may I be this woman to my family.

Best,

M~

Overdue Update

Life gets so busy! Every new post idea I come up with keeps getting pushed back further, then when the time comes so much has built up because so much time has passed!

Lets just dive in! We'll work backwards.

I'm pretty much 25 weeks pregnant. Last night I took a walk with a friend and realized how much harder 1.25 mi can be, especially when I'm going up hill and down. Up hill I have abdominal cramps and feel like my legs don't have as much strength, down hill I feel way too much momentum! I had to take things nice and slow, a tent Caterpillar crossing the path beside me out-paced me.

Wednesday morning I got to do Holy Pre-natal Yoga again with Emily. The meditation portion we selected before the practice centered on Romans 12:1 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
The point in the meditation is that as moms and wives our lives can feel pretty ordinary with laundry, cooking, caring for hubs and babies. However, everything we do in our daily lives can be dedicated to God. We can offer our ordinary, daily grind to Him as our living sacrifice. I found that encouraging!

Tuesday was our pre-natal appointment. All good news! We loved the midwife we met this time. She gave birth to her first baby in January as a patient of her colleagues. We were excited to hear that, and also that she has personally delivered 450 babies in 6 years! I hope she's on call when my son decides he's ready to come out and meet us!

After our appointment we had a blast meeting up with some of our friends for lunch!

It's great to hang out with a young mom who knows something about what's going on with me! Hearing about the ups and downs of motherhood, the joys and woes of pregnancy, its just fun to chat about shared and unique experiences!

Their cute little guy is 2 and has his own personality! Love that the whole family hangs out together as much as possible!

Little guy is so sweet, he wanted his pal "Lamby" to get in the picture too!

My hubs, getting some practice in hanging out with a little guy. David coaxes this little dude into trying a fist bump. Check out his wind up!

You can tell the little dude is taking this seriously!

OHHHH! And David psyches him out. What a meanie!

After we parted ways, hubby and I had some dessert :-) Hubby's ice cream in the first picture to the left is more adventurous... birthday cake with brownies, reeses pieces, and marshmallows! I kept mine simple. Sweet cream with chocolate jimmies! I love my sprinkles! I also had to have a chocolate duet with walnuts!!! Boy did our son go wild after all that sugar!

Sunday we took our latest bump photos. I've decided to do some weeks together since thebump.com usually does a range of sizes for at least 3 weeks. I know my little bud had blossomed to a beautiful 15 ounces by 21 weeks, so these may not be completely accurate for my guy, but it's fun to have a close visual approximation.

 *What I wore: dress/thrifted about 4 years ago; short-sleeve top/old navy; cami/don't remember
You can tell I'm getting bigger now! I'm wearing my wedding rings around my neck. I had too many close calls! No cutting the rings off this girl!

So for weeks 23-24 I decided to combine the cantaloupe picture. Here is what our son was up to:
For week 23 he was supposed to be about 10.5 to 11.8 inches long and about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces. As stated above, we know from our 21 week ultrasound he was already longer than this and already weighed 15 ounces. He grew nipples, has a fully formed face (which we saw in the 21 week ultrasound), supposedly he can pick up on loud outdoor noises and something as common as a dog barking.
Week 24 again, thebump.com gives the same measurements, which I know are not completely accurate for my baby. The cool thing his, he's getting closer to being able to survive in the world outside my womb. He's supposed to be gaining fat in his face which will help him with tasks such as nursing (Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth, chapter 5).  His skin is becoming more opaque and gaining a pink glow! (thank you newly formed capillaries) :-)

My symptoms... some braxton hicks, hips go out one at a time every other day, yoga helps though. I've gained 20lbs now and its apparent in my clothes. Last week I retired at least 6 skirts, two tops, a couple dresses. David was sympathetic and we found a skirt, dress, pants, and some summer-weight cardies at old navy. My boss also passed down some maternity skirts and dresses she got from her boss when she was expecting!

Whew still more... Friday night hubby was actually off work! He did lots of OT beforehand to be able to get off, but poor man really needed the downtime. Our new neighbor invited us to the ball game, so we had a night out with new friends!

 To top it off the home team won! Here are our boys celebrating their victory!

My handsome hubby! I love him :-)

Ok... finally... what I've been eating lately... aside from some desserts... I do try to eat healthy foods for baby and me :-)

This is a great, quick meal.

*Couscous - 1 cup couscous with one cup boiling water (boiling water in the microwave makes it super-fast!) pour water over couscous and cover about 5 min, fluff with fork.

I poached chicken in olive oil and butter and seasoned the meat with black pepper and garlic

Since couscous really holds the heat, after adding spices curry, crushed red pepper, and garlic, I put frozen stir-fry veggies directly in the bowl, fluffed the couscous around the veggies and re-covered.

Added the chicken then some shredded parm. Yum, yum!

For a quick lunch before work, I made a two-egg egg salad. It was supposed to be three, but one egg went down the garbage disposal :-( Some mayo, whole grain mustard, paprika

Spread egg salad over a bed of garden veggies and a side of watermelon and whole grain toast. Filling and effective.

Last night's dinner... SOOO yummy! I made my own alfredo sauce, whole grain spaghetti, and chicken, tossed with some oregano and parsley, with fresh cut tomatoes.

Sauce: 3 TBS butter melted in sauce pan on med-high heat, 3 TBS whole wheat flour, once the flour begins to bubble a bit (the rue), add slowly one cup of milk, stirring with whisk the whole time. I added another one half cup of milk, waited for mixture to warm all the way through, then I slowly added about one cup of shredded parm, stirring with whisk the whole time. As the mixture began to thicken, I added black pepper, crushed red pepper and some garlic.

Again, soooo YUMMY!

I call this my AWESOME cereal!!! I really needed something that would fill me up more and stay with me longer for breakfast. I got some whole grain, multi-grain flakes from the organic section, a bag of whole, raw almonds (chopped in food processor at home to make for better cereal size), a bag of dried blueberries, and made my own granola, put it all together, it's one jam-packed nutritious cereal that keeps me full for hours! That's not easy to do these days!

Granola, 1 batch - 2 C old fashioned rolled oats, 2-3 TBS ground flax seed, 1/2 C honey, 1/4 C canola oil, cinnamon to taste. Mix and spread evenly on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, put in oven pre-heated to 400 degrees. After 10-15 min, stir granola and spread evenly, bake for another 5-10 min (depending on how dark you like your granola)

Let cool on baking sheet then crumble. Store in air tight container up to 10 days. Mix in all your favorites... dried fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, be creative!!!! David likes when the granola is still warm, for me to mix in peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. The chips melt all over and its like dessert granola!!! SOOO good plain or over ice cream :-)

Ok, that's enough out of me for one post... maybe a couple posts ;-)

Best,

M~





Mama Needs Her Girlfriends!

I haven't stayed up so late for fun in such a long time! Thursday night my awesome raw foods, yoga-doing, massage therapist/accountant, spiritual encourager Gal Pal, Emily came over to show me some pre-natal Holy Yoga. It may sound strange, but seriously, you HAVE to check this out!!!! It was not only the best my body has felt for days and days, but it was uplifting and encouraging and helped me deal with some of my motherhood fears lately. Let me explain - Holy Yoga is based on the scripture Mark 12:30 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." Instead of just learning the proper terms for each position, you're given encouraging thoughts to consider as you exercise, and you're encouraged to practice to worship music. On the DVD Emily brought over, before you click on the practice you want to do, you're taken to a screen to select a meditation. We ended up choosing all of them eventually, but the first is titled "Motherhood" and verses from Proverbs 31 (the worthy woman) come on the screen over a background of waterfalls, natural scenery and soft music. I'm telling you, very encouraging! As you go into your practice, the instructor will make encouraging comments about carrying the baby and the blessing we have. At the end of the practice, after the relaxation, she offers a prayer of thanks for the practice and for the baby "we're" carrying. I'm telling you, it was a wonderful experience!

If you get a chance, check it out!!! I thought the DVD from Crunch Mama, "Yoga Mama" (on netflix) was great, this is way better!!!

After yoga it was time for a snack break (peanut butter and honey oatmeal for my yoga buddy ;-)) and we dove into some great spiritual discussions about how we're called to face trials for God's glory, see John 11, especially verses 4 and 40. Its so amazing, from the retreat I attended on loving well at the beginning of the month with E, to the retreat E just attended on faith, and what we've each been thinking about/learning in our own lives, everything has just been tying in together. Well, in the middle of all that awesomeness, my new next door neighbor texted to invite hubs and me to the baseball game for the next night. Here, the three of us went to the same two colleges, know most of the same people, and she and I just happen to be going to the same church! I invited her to come over and join in the conversation and she did! It was great! Just a couple girls sitting around sharing their stories and encouraging each other in their walk with the Lord! The girls didn't even go home until 12AM!!! Way unusual for this budding mama-to-be!! So worth it!

So, hubs and I went to the game (pix to come), and starting today we're celebrating hubby's first father's day, I guess "Father-to-be Day"! I'm so excited! I'm taking him to Avengers, (he's been dying to see it)

and he gets to pick where we eat. He's so touched it makes me feel bad I haven't done more "treat hubby days" before this.

Updates to come: how the weekend turns out and 23-24 week bump update!

Have fun celebrating the father's in your lives!!!

Best,

M~

11 Things I'm Afraid to Tell You

I saw Chaunie doing this over at http://www.tinybluelines.com/ and thought I would give it a whirl. I'm usually really bad at admitting things that may be shameful, any way embarrassing, or reflect poorly on myself... I guess that could be #1 ;-)
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Btw: The TIATTY movement was inspired by a post from Jess Constable of Make Under My Life and Ez of Creature Comforts. To learn more about the TIATTY movement, you can read Jess’ interview with Laura Rossi from the Huffington Post. You can also visit Robin over at Farewell Stranger to read other TIATTY posts as well.
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1. I REALLY hate sleeping on my left side. I've been practicing since 16 weeks because I knew it would be difficult for me. Now that one hip or the other is constantly going out, and I can't seem to find a good position for my left arm, I end up cheating half way through the middle of the night and defaulting to the right side, and more horrifically, sometimes even... my back. Sorry baby :-(

2. I love healthy foods, I want to keep giving my baby all the right nutrients... but my splurges have become more frequent. Hello raspberry cream cheese toaster strudel! (yea, we spent last week together).

3. I've wanted soo badly to get an Etsy Shop going, and going to part time and having more down time due to pregnancy was supposed to be the opportunity to really get some merchandise stock piled so I could open a shop... well my motivation has hit all but zero and I'm doing good to keep even one room clean in the house at a time. I can't craft in chaos, its just my personality.

4. I REALLY do want to be popular :-( I struggle with wanting to be surrounded by people and wanting to be inside the "in" crowd... then when I get a pretty social week I feel overwhelmed and want to be alone.

5. This is hard... I feel selfish for even thinking it... it kind of relates to number 4. I want to be one of those girls who is showered with baby showers! I KNOW! What's wrong with me?

6. I think 11 is alot of things to admit.

7. I sucked my thumb until I was 8. Ok, I wasn't even trying for this one.

8. I secretly hope my son is a star musician (piano, violin?) and a super-sports player (football, basketball, soccer?)

9. I REALLY want my son to have dark curly hair.

10. I've always been relieved to have moved away from home. I didn't even get homesick first semester age 17.

11. I'm afraid I'll never be "successful". I know, what does that mean? As a Christian I should only be concerned with accomplishing what the Lord expects of all of us... loving Him, Loving others, showing our love through service. But I have an education, I had/have big dreams, and I just keep taking one assistant job after another that NEVER goes ANYWHERE!!! Sigh... see, I hate to admit this because I love my husband and we're doing good... what more should I want from life? We're about to be a family for crying out loud. That's why I would never admit this out loud.

Anyone else want to share? Find out how over at tinybluelines!

Last Night....

I had fun all by myself :-)

After work last night I went to the library. I was in the mood for a read that would be inspirational, uplifting, something that could teach me something... teach me something other than how to birth my baby, feed my body, or "fix" my marriage! This was so the right choice! I'm way into it already :-)

While I read I played my Pandora station "Symphonic Classical" soo peaceful!

I had to take a picture of my button... 'cuz folks, its totally on its way out! I had to capture the essence of what was. You can't quite make it out, but I totally have the linea nigra. Not as dark as I've seen, but it's been around since at least 8 weeks.

 Before work I put chuck roast in my own marinade (Sesame seed oil, lime juice thyme, and red pepper flakes). Seared on both sides in a deep skillet for 4-5 minutes each, then in a dutch oven with more oil, the marinade from earlier, some garlic powder and black pepper, at 400 degrees for 20 minutes covered, then 14 uncovered. Juicy, flavorful and yummy! Great topper for leafy greens, snap peas, and tomatoes. I added bleu cheese and lemon juice, YUM!!!

Once my dinner was ready I flipped on the game! I like basketball, but I don't usually watch televised sports. Maybe its the extra testosterone from carrying a boy, but lately I've been in the mood for action movies and desperate needs to watch sporting events. I loved the first half of this game! I decided I should always watch finals because the teams that get here definitely know what they're doing! I only made it through the first half though because prego-mom is too tired to hang ;-)

In other news- Favorite quotes with regards to my current situation:

"You look like a toothpick with an olive on it!"

"Honey, you're so tiny your maternity jeans wouldn't even fit me"

"You're 25? I thought you were 20 or 21" ok, that has nothing to do with being pregnant, but I thought it was funny and it had been a long time since I heard how young I look, I wasn't sure if it was still true.

"That's not even a maternity dress, is it?" I get this alot, I'm trying to make the most of my clothes while I still can.

That's all for now! Laters!

Best,

M~

Lately...

Let's start with POSITIVE DAY! After last post I decided I needed to have a positive day :-)

I have the sweetest hubby in the world! He is so ready to be a papa! He keeps taking good care of mama too ;-) Last week when I was having a rough day, he had run some errands before coming home from work. He detoured through baby clothes and brought home some ADORABLE outfits for his son! He also brought flowers for mama :-)

The next day he surprised me with yellow daisies and a chai tea latte! He's such a sweetie!

We did our bump photo on Friday... I can't believe how much baby boy and I have grown! The months seem to fly by.

 

So obviously we're a little bigger ;-) My papaya-sized boy is busy! With his working eyes now blinking away, sensing light, and kicking away. With all the growing he's done, he's had to get plenty of sleep. Apparently at this stage he needs 12-14 hours of sleep a day. I think I got the hang of his schedule though, 7-9am wake up and kick mommy a couple times. Late evening around 5-7 a couple kicks, 8-10 a few more kicks and then all is calm again.  I think possibly I've had a couple braxton hicks contractions. Good practice for trying different pain-relieving poses.

Nursery Update!

Saturday we finally, for hubby's sake! got out and bought our baby a bed!!

 Seeing the whole nursery corner together. We're excited about our multi-use pac'n play!

Close up of the "napper" rocking seat, demo-ed by the blue bear; and the changing table, demo-ed by the white gorilla. 

Me practicing with the changing table :-) 

 Showing how the rocking seat works with the little bear. Can't wait til our "baby bear" is sitting in that seat!

Papa Bear practicing putting the fitted sheet on the bassinet mattress. 

 Papa Bear practicing tucking in the little monkey. So cute!!

The bassinet in all its glory! I love how big it is, the music and animal sounds are adorable! And when baby boy is bigger, he will hopefully love playing in his play yard :-) 

That's not all! Saturday after finishing in the baby room, we went to a beautiful, perfectly fairy tale-styled wedding!!!

Had to get a shot with the bride, then a few shots with my prince charming in the parking lot ;-)

Have a great week ya'll!!

Best,

M~