August Already? Really??

WOW! So I am 31 weeks pregnant, this kid could come in 7-11 weeks. WHOA! It's getting exciting :-) This weekend hubs and I had a chance to hit some consignment stores where we found some cute baby room accents and a little fleece camo outfit! I LOVE how baby's room is looking! I'll have to get some updated pix of the nursery!

Some randomness first:
1. Something I really hate about myself - I cannot tell a short story. I seem incapable of leaving out minute details.
2. Lately, for several months, I've found myself getting stuck in negative mode. I have no reason to give a negative spin to my conversation. Everything is great. I really have nothing but wonderful things to say about my husband and the baby coming, but I catch this tone in my voice, this rough edge to my conversation... I don't get it. Finally last night I started praying about it, hopefully I will start controlling it now.

Humorous things David has said:
*Walking by a Forever 21 I was admiring how pretty their clothes looked for the coming fall. He says "Yea, too bad they're made for skinny people." OOOooohh the look I gave him! I haven't let him alone about it since, even though he explained he was looking at the guy manikin and how skinny it looked and he was thinking he didn't look like that. Ok honey. Sure. ;-)
*After watching Olympics for a while Saturday, I commented that I was inspired to get into running post-pregnancy. I have visions of jogging with my baby in his jogging stroller (that we will hopefully be getting before he's born!). David says to me "You could start by running to the stove". Nice. The most chauvinistic thing he's ever said! He had a mischievous smirk on his face, but wow! I was shocked!

Ok, that's all folks!

Yesterday Meredith and Jesse were married! I'm so excited. All day I thought of them and prayed for them. Its so wonderful when two God-fearing, loving people find each other and just can't wait to start serving God together.

Last week we had an unexpected early visit to the midwife clinic. I wasn't worried or scared about anything but I had noticed a few things that I decided might be worth mentioning to the office. They said to go ahead and come in for a check up. I felt like it might be pointless to begin with, and definitely after we went did I feel frustration and anger for how the appointment went. I hadn't slept well for a few days, parts of me were hurting I suppose from baby stretching out and his movements have changed some, and I've been getting a few more "practice contractions" that actually hurt. So feeling like that, David even through his own exhaustion from overtime at a physically challenging job, had compassion on me and wanted to cheer me up and make the most of our day. He is so good at taking care of me. I love how it was so important to him that while we had the chance, he wanted to spend time together doing something. He kept saying "We don't get a lot of time together to go out and do anything, lets make a day of it." I love that he was sensitive to our lack of "going-out" time together. So even though I would have loved nothing more than crawling in bed and sleeping the weekend away, and I'm sure on some level he would have to, since he took the weekend off and made a point to say it was for us, I rallied for my hubby who was rallying for me :-)

Our weekend:

He brought me flowers :-) These were such bright, pretty daisies! They really reminded me of Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail" saying "Daisies are a friendly flower", they just look happy! I love how happy David looks when he gives them to me and hears me express appreciation for their prettiness.

My first experience at a Johnny Rockets. David really wanted us to have that "old diner" experience.

We took turns picking out old rock 'n roll and classic country tunes.

Maybe not an old fashioned favorite, sweet potato fries!!!

MMMMmmmm!! Double chocolate malt!

To share!

You know how we love our burgers! I went with the classic and subbed in the "special sauce"!

For the first time in weeks we skipped Farmer's market! We were way too exhausted. It was exciting to sleep in and laze around the house. As aforementioned, when we finally got around, we hit consignment stores! I loved it! We got paid from 2 places I had previously dropped off some things, which funded the rest of our day! Baby stuff and groceries :-) Hopefully I get another check from my fav consignment store in town and I can get some supplies to finish gifts for people. I love participating in a small way in the small business exchange!

We decided on cooking a Mexican feast after all our running around. So fun! 

My first time making Mexican rice!!! I love that it actually turned out! My new pal Candace pointed me in the right direction, and I went from there. It was most gratifying that hubby was actually pleased and impressed with the rice! So here are my tips:

Rice cooker so you eliminate mistakes (unless you're a master rice chef!)

I used brown rice so 1 part rice, 2 parts water

Olive oil in a huge skillet, about an inch worth

Add rice, some garlic powder and black pepper

Apprx. 1 TBS tomato paste, water to equal about 2 TBS total mixture

Stir tomato mixture into rice

Add about 2 pinches of sea salt

Add cilantro at end, dried or fresh (i had dried on hand)

YAY! Multi-grain tortilla, only 160 mg sodium... lowest I could find in the store

I load my tacos/burritos with rice, meat, refried beans, cheese, sauteed red peppers, fresh onion, lettuce, tomato, sour cream! Soooo delicious!

It was a very nice weekend with my hubs. Sunday we ate leftovers and then slept the afternoon away until it was time to go back to church. Church was awesome, we really got to meet a lot more new people, I may have met a new walking buddy! Mother of 2 yr old twins and has one on the way, WOW! I could learn some things from her I'm sure :-)

Monday was such a blessing... Sunday night after David went to bed I got into a stressed, down phase and decided to yoga, then read a couple chapters out of devotional books and read the passages along with the lessons. I turned on Pandora to have study music. SO amazing!!! Laura Story "Mighty to Save" was the first song in the set. That is my ULTIMATE go-to heart jump-start song! The tone of my evening was totally changed. I was able to open myself up to God and just talk to Him about everything that had begun to weigh on my mind. So Monday morning when I woke up I was trying to hang onto everything positive God had shown me the night before. David was part of that. On his own, he began to clean our room, I went up and joined him and he told me he was going to dishes that day and fold laundry. What a sweetie! Because of his willingness to help me after his long night of work, I was encouraged to work on the nursery and meet some other goals I had. He stayed right there with me helping and encouraging me. So much to be thankful for!



Dinner after work last night! A new fav!!! I picked up mandarin chicken in the organic freezer section, little did I know it was meatless. It still turned out great! I sauteed it in sesame seed oil for a richer, nuttier, more Asian flavor. I used a whole romaine heart for the salad base, chopped raw almonds in the food processor, added sunmaid dried cranberries ( the least amount of sugar in dried cranberries I could find in the store), layered the "chicken" on top, and made my own dressing out of sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, a touch of light soy sauce, and sesame seeds! YUMMY! Hubby even liked the chicken and now I have a new meal idea for us: this "chicken" with rice, onions, mandarin oranges, and making our own egg rolls. It will be a date night in with "take out" made healthy, Chinese!

Have a great week ya'll!

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~





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~