pregnancy week 37

Happy full term, baby Lucas! 

Nothing much to say about this week. We didn't have an appointment, so I don't have any stats to give. My belly seems to have gotten a little lower. I've been asked at least a dozen times when I'm going to pop him out and had my first run in with a stranger wanting to touch my belly. Conner is impatient as ever to meet his baby brother. So are mommy and daddy. We have two packages coming in from friends who kindly made Lucas some stuff for his nursery. I'm so thankful for everyone who has taken time to get us gifts, make us something, or even send well wishes. So very ready to have our new little guy here. Hopefully soon!

Here's a picture of Chris and I from his unit's social gathering last night. I call this the 'pregnant poodle' dress.

adventures in cloth diapering

Ahh, diapers. Something you HAVE to use when a baby comes along. I mean, unless you live in a nudist colony. Then I'm not sure how that works. When Conner was born, I had no idea what a cloth diaper was. Never even heard of them until we had been at Fort Bliss for about a year. I met a bunch of ladies who used them and it really piqued my interest. We were just about to start potty training Conner, though, so I didn't think too much into them. We knew we were just going to go straight to underwear at that point. 

And then I got pregnant again. Thus began the never-ending cycle of wants and needs for this baby. One of those was will we use disposables or convert to cloth. At first, we were all in just for the cost purposes in the long run. Then we went back to 'Well, it would be less work to just do disposables'. We decided I wanted to find a class to get more information before we made an ultimate decision. 

I joined a playdate group called MOPS. While at my first meeting, I noticed that a majority of the women cloth diapered. Through MOPS, I found out about a non-profit program here in the area called Cloth 4 Everybum. I was able to get signed up for that class. I got a ton of useful information, including what I needed to begin with - where to start! They gave us a cloth starter kit with almost every kind of cloth diaper on the market. I was SO thankful, because now I can try out the different kinds and see which works best for us. The program is ran entirely on donations, so unfortunately there were no prefolds in the kit. Those are what I was most interested in. I'll get to that in a moment. Anyway, I plan to donate back whatever we decide to not use, that way others can have the opportunity to take this class and receive the starter kit as well. It's absolutely wonderful that they have something like this. The class was taught by Stacy and Amy from the Low Country Real Diaper Circle, the local chapter of the Real Diaper Association. Fantastic group of ladies!

So here I am now, with my starter kit and a little less overwhelmed by the idea of cloth diapering. Here are some points as to why my husband and I decided we definitely want to convert over to cloth diapering.

-Cost. We were at Wal*Mart and happened to notice that the big box of Pampers (the only kind of diaper our oldest wasn't allergic to) had went up by $10/box since we last bought any. Are you kidding me?! $30ish for a box that will last us a few weeks. Ridiculous. Especially when I can techincally diaper my kiddo from birth to potty training for around $400 with cloth!

-Environment. Did you know that disposables do not decompose? So essentially, they go to the dump and sit there building up over time, forever. Gross.

-No chemicals. These days, it's hard to find a true-to-nature product that doesn't have chemicals with all of these nasty side affects to them. 

-Cuteness. Seriously, have you SEEN these modern day cloth diapers?! This is probably the reason why the 'cost' part goes out the window with most cloth families. They can't stop buying cute ones. Haha!

Now, this is not to say that I think disposables are absolutely horrible. As previously mentioned, we used them with Conner and I don't regret it. We just chose to do something different this time. The benefits are just icing on the cake! I stated before that my starter kit didn't have any prefolds. It did, however, have a cover. So I got home and started my interwebs searching. I knew I wanted to have more covers and prefolds. Again, it was what we had very first considered. After week or so of searching around, reading reviews, etc., we decided to go with Thirsties Duo Wrap covers with snaps and some unbleached Indian cotton prefolds. I also wanted to try out some flats after seeing one of the ladies who taught the class change her daughter into one. Same idea as the prefolds, but not as bulky. Here I was, with the knowledge handed to me and Amazon.com beckoning me to make my first fluff purchase.

I took the night to talk it over with my husband. Before I went to bed, I had placed an order for 12 prefolds, 12 flats, 7 covers, a large wet bag, a small wet bag and some snappis to hold the prefolds and flats in place under the covers. All of that is enough to diaper Lucas for 2 days. I would have to do laundry every other day, but I do that anyway. As for the added cost of detergent, electricity and water for the extra load I'll be washing, it'll pretty much be non-existent. We already use All Free and Clear, which is safe for cloth diapers, so no extra cost there. The extra load of laundry will barely touch our water and electric bill. I'll maybe see a few dollars extra throughout the year. Back to cost. For all of the items I mentioned above, my total came to $180.27. The covers and prefolds are the smaller size that should last him until he's about 9 months, depending on his growth. I'll have to buy the size 2 covers and bigger prefolds at that time. So add in an additional $120ish. The bigger size should last me until potty training. All together, $300. There are a few extras I would like to add, but those are just that, extras. They are not essential. But for the sake of argument, I'll add that in, too. I would like to get a diaper sprayer and a drying rack for our laundry room, for the days it's too crappy outside to line dry. That's another $50ish. I'm still under that $400 mark! I would have to spend approximately $3,000 to diaper Lucas with disposables, if he were to potty train around the same time as Conner did. So it's kind of clear there why I chose the cloth route!

Oh, and when they say that fluff mail is incredibly hard to wait for and totally exciting to get, they were not lying! I got my package today, a whole day earlier than it was expected to arrive, and did a happy dance! Not to mention the several hundred times I have tracked the package in the past week. I can not wait for my little guy to get here so that I can put these on him!

pregnancy week 36

It's getting very close! 

-Four weeks until his estimated birthday. 

-My uterus is measuring slightly ahead at 37 weeks. 

-His heart rate was 158 at my appointment. 

-As of right now, he is head down, but not "in position" yet.
-I'm pretty sure I am carrying baby hulk. He's bruised me quite a bit from his kicks and rolls.

I decided I should probably go ahead and get at least his hospital bag ready. I'll make a post about that once it's finished. We're all anxious as to if he'll come on or before his due date, or be stubborn like his brother. 

egg in hole grilled cheese

Um, I think grilled cheese sandwiches just got even better. Just sayin'. I'm posting ingredients for just one sandwich, so x2 for each additional sandwich.

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread

1 egg

1 slice of cheese

butter

salt

pepper

Preheat a skillet over medium heat (or a griddle set around 250F). Butter both sides of the bread. In one slice, use a circle cookie cutter and cut a hole out of the middle. Save the circle of bread. Place all bread in skillet (or griddle) and crack the egg into the hole in the bread. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the egg is white on the bottom. Flip it over (all bread). Add a slice of cheese to the bread with the egg. Cook it until your desired likeness of the egg. If you like the yolk runnier, about 2 minutes. If you like the yolk cooked a little more thorough, about 3-4 minutes. Put the naked piece of bread on top of the egg/cheese bread. NOM NOM NOM! It's really delicious. The picture doesn't do it justice.

pregnancy week 35

The only new news is that this kid is being a pain in the butt and decided to flip into the breech position. He's been head down since 16 weeks. Of course he would flip breech now. A little less than 5 weeks to go, so I hope he flips again!

We went to the beach for some competition for Chris's company. We got a few belly shots. Here is my 35 week shot.

homemade play dough

I'm cheap. I hate buying things at the store like play dough, which will probably get played with twice and then dry out. I can thank the Pinterest Gods again for showing me many homemade play dough recipes. This is the one that worked best for us. I found the tutorial (with step by step pictures) over here. It was easy, I had all the ingredients in my pantry already and it has kept my toddler and the little girl I am babysitting busy for a while. I guess I can also add my BIG child (aka my husband) in on that list. He's currently building play dough cars as I type this!

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour

1 cup of water

1/4 cup of salt

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

food coloring

Throw all of the ingredients into a medium sized sauce pan. Doesn't matter what order, but I put the food coloring in last. I suggest a wooden spoon. It's easier to work with. Mix everything until almost all the clumps are out. Heat it up over medium heat while continually stirring. It will eventually clump up into a ball of dough (as you are stirring!). This took maybe 4-5 minutes. Take your dough blob and sit it on the counter. It's a little hot, so carefully knead it with your hands to make that play dough consistency. Now it's time to break out the rolling pin and cookie cutters and let the kids go at it!

Finished blob 

And here is my little man cutting sharks out of his portion of the dough

This is probably better than the play dough I've bought from the store. Once you are finished playing, store in an airtight container and it's good for about 6 months (says the original link)!

mozzarella stuffed meatballs

I saw these on Pinterest and I knew I had to make them. Who doesn't love meatballs? Add in mozzarella and it's a little piece of Heaven. I served these on top of white rice with brown gravy. Yum! The blog I was directed to didn't have any ingredient list, so I used the one I normally use, but added in the mozzarella. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon oregano

2 tablespoons parsley

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon bread crumbs (I used Italian flavored)

1 egg

mozzarella cheese, cubed

EVOO

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, mix together the first 9 ingredients. Generously coat the bottom of a glass baking dish with EVOO. I used about 2 tablespoons. Separate your meat mixture into 9 equal globs. You can make them smaller if you'd like, but will have to adjust baking time. Smash a glob to a semi-flat status in your hand. I know, my cooking lingo is awesome. Place a cube of mozzarella in the center and then shape the meat into a ball around it. Continue with all 9 globs. Put your stuffed meatballs in the EVOO drenched baking dish and pop that bad boy in the oven for about 35 minutes. Mine came out perfectly cooked. Look at these. DROOL. See the mozzarella oozing out?

teriyaki pork chops

It has been a loooong while since I have posted any new recipes. I know I've mentioned in a few posts some of the reasons why I have not been posting them, but I've decided that enough people have messaged me on Facebook asking for more ideas that I will start back. 

So, you all know I love my crock pot, right? Lol. I've been reading up on freezer meals lately. Seems like a good idea since I will have a newborn and be losing my husband to the sandbox around the same time. I wanted to try some of them out first before I freeze them, just to be sure I'll actually like it. Tonight we did teriyaki pork chops. I will definitely be using this as a freezer meal!

Ingredients:

3-4 pork chops, about 1 inch thick

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

If you are freezing it, put all those ingredients into a freezer bag. Doesn't matter which way you put the ingredients in. Get as much air out as possible. When placing in the freezer, put it flat so you'll have more room. The instructions, which you should probably write on the bag, unless you have an awesome memory, are just as simple. Cook in crock pot on high for 4-5 hours, or low for 6-7 hours. Keep in mind, you should not put the entire bag into your crock pot. Just the contents. So after freezing, just pull the bag out before bed and put it in your refrigerator to thaw and then put it in the slow cooker the next morning. Best part? Once you put this in your freezer, it's good for 3 months. I also suggest writing the "expiration" date on the bag.

deployment craft #2

Since I already did a craft for the kiddos, I thought I'd also do something sweet for Chris. I did some browsing around on Pinterest and found a cute little thing where she wrote letters for specific times and sent them with her husband. I used that as a sort of tutorial to do mine. 

Here's what you need:

blank cards (or cardstock to make them)

envelopes

writing utensil

decorative embellishments

twine (or yard)

You probably have everything listed just laying around your house. I went to A.C. Moore and found tiny cards that had tiny envelopes to go with them. Saved myself some time there. Instead of decorative embellishments, I used my mad drawing and coloring skills to decorate my cards. I then carefully (read: very quickly) jotted down a bunch of reasons why he might need a little pick-me-up. On the front of the envelopes I wrote "Open Me When..." and then the reason beneath. I'll list some examples below once I finish explaining the craft. Then it was on to the cards. On the front of the card, I did some doodling to go along with what "Open Me When" was on front. Inside the card, I wrote whatever I wanted to. Then I sealed the tiny card in it's matching tiny envelope. After 45 minutes or so, I had a tiny stack of tiny cards ready to be tied up. I wrapped twine around the cards and hid them in my dresser. I plan to give him the card stack as he is leaving, briefly explain what it is and let it be. I mean, if you read "Open Me When..", it's kind of self-explanatory, right? Then again, he is a man. So a brief explanation will work along with it. Lol. Swear I'm not sexist. My husband and I just have a good sense of humor. 

My hope is that he can open these cards when he needs them and they brighten his day a little. He can use these in between getting mail and care packages from everyone. Here is a small list from the top of my head of reasons I wrote on the cards. I'm too lazy to go grab the cards and write them all on here, as that would require unwinding the twine and all that.

See how cute it is?!

"Open Me When"

-when you leave: Inside I wrote a little note about how we would be with him every step of the way.

-when you really want a home cooked meal: Inside I wrote about the day we refer to as 'the meatloaf incident' and how MRE's and chow can't be worse than that.

-if you get sick: Inside I put a band-aid (clever, I know) and said 'feel better'.

-when you really miss the kids: Inside I had our 2 year old draw things for him.

-when you can't sleep: Inside I wrote how I sometimes steal all of the blankets and the positive is he doesn't have to fight me for them.

-when you miss me: Inside I wrote a bunch of reasons why I love him.

-when you are on the way home: Inside I wrote how we made it and we can't wait to see him.

Those are just a few examples. I can't wait to give them to him. I know it's the little things like this (no pun intended) that will make his days easier. 

pregnancy week 34

So much for posting every few days, right? I have got to get better at this! At least this time I have a valid excuse. My husband was given a long weekend and we used it to get all of our last minute things finished up. We also cleaned the crap out of the house. Anyway, to the update!

Pregnancy-wise, there isn't much new to say. Had another appointment. He was being a big pain in the rear and was refusing to let them get a heartbeat. Want to know what is super painful? Having a doctor hold a tiny human that is inside of you still. OMG. That was the only way we could keep him in place to get a proper reading. Still 160. My uterus is still measuring right on cue. I have another appointment in 2 weeks. That's when the real fun begins. Checks, yay. Not

Still forever pregnant.

bringing home baby: lessons learned

Don't worry, friends. I have not had my little bundle of joy yet. However, a lot of ladies in my pregnancy group are on the verge of it as the time is drawing nearer. This is my second go-around, but there are MANY things I wish I would have had a heads up on when I had Conner. Particularly, things to make the transition home easier. So I've come up with a list of things that were helpful to keep on hand and that I plan to stock up on before Lucas makes his arrival. We'll call this "Bringing Home Baby: Lessons Learned".

I'd like to also add that my first delivery was vaginal. Every birthing experience will differ slightly, so your items may need to be adjusted. Please, add any suggestions in the comments below! :)

-Pads. I can't stress this one enough. I had no idea I would go through so many pads. The hospital provided me with a few, but I needed a ton. I mean, I bled for 2 weeks straight (and some people bleed for much longer). I suggest the overnight size.

-Tucks pads and a squirt bottle. Seriously, it makes clean up after going potty much easier. The hospital gave me both, but I plan to get a few more this time around. **Addition from Sarah V. - Most hospitals also give you a can of medicated spray with the squirt bottle the slightly numbs the area.**

-GOOD toilet paper. The last thing you want is an infected vagina from leaving behind tp!

-Swaddle blanket. Yea, the nurses showed me how to swaddle. I'm not a nurse though, and somehow Conner always managed to bust out of his. Swaddle blankets with velcro helped so much.

-Snacks. Especially if you are breastfeeding. It makes you hungry (and thirsty!) so having fast, healthy snacks on hand helps a lot. Stock up a little basket of granola bars, apples, bananas, 100 calorie snack packs. It'll be a lifesaver at 2am.

-Water bottle. A nice, big one. I have one of those insulated ones, so the water stays cold for a while. Fill that sucker up and keep it by your bed.

-Stool softeners. If you've never experienced the unpleasantness of the first poo after having baby, just trust me. These will help it not be such a painful experience.

-Extra memory card. I took A LOT of pictures of Conner the first few weeks. So many, that I had to have 2 memory cards because I didn't have enough time to upload and clear them from my camera every day lol.

-Batteries. Check what size batteries you need for your bouncer, swing, etc. Nothing is more terrible than having a fussy baby who will only stop if he's in the swing and then the batteries die and you have no extra.

This is my second child, but will be my first time breastfeeding. Hopefully I can get it to work out for me, as it's something I really want to do. A few other items I will have on hand and ready-to-go for this are:

-Nursing bras. I already have a few, as the underwire in my regular bras are terribly uncomfortable even in pregnancy. Plus, they are nifty and just snap right down for feedings. How cool is that?

-Disposable breast pads. At least for the first week. I hear that until your body adjusts to your baby's feeding schedule, you leak a lot. I have some organic, washable breast pads, but I'll be saving those for when my supply has evened itself out.

-Lanolin. Cracked, sore nipples? No thanks. This stuff is safe to use after every feeding and helps prevent or help heal those sore boobies that are bound to happen regardless of any precautions you may be taking.

Hopefully this post will help some momma-to-be's out a little bit. If you have any 'must have' survival items for the first week home, please comment and let us know! I know some of the prior mentioned things are kind of gross, but hey.. pregnancy, birth and children are both beautiful AND disgusting. At least I'm giving you a heads up. :) Keep a look out for my 'what to bring' post coming in a few weeks. Remember, second go around = lessons learned from the first time!

pregnancy - week 33

I've been severely slacking on writing blogs. I've decided that since I am so close to the end of the pregnancy, I want to blog weekly about happenings. This will also help me prepare for blogging more while Chris is deployed. I will not be adding pictures every week until the last 4 weeks.

Anyway, week 33. Here are the highlights:

-I sometimes still just feel 'fat' rather than pregnant. 

-I am back to not feeling hungry, but eat regularly anyway.

-Lucas is still head down, as he's been since 16 weeks.

-His body is usually stretched on my right side.

-BH contractions are a normal, every day occurrence.

-He gets hiccups at least 3 times a day.

-My belly button has a mind of it's own.

Here is my 32 week photo since I never posted my 32 week update.

See what I mean about sometimes still feeling like I'm not pregnant? He likes to keep towards the back on the right side, so most of the time I don't have the nice little pregnancy bump. Conner is getting just as impatient as I am about meeting his baby brother. Several times I have caught him in the nursery just looking around. Speaking of the nursery, we have almost everything ready for the little guy. Just the miscellaneous things are left and waiting on a few deliveries to finish decorating. Also waiting on the delivery of his coming home outfit. Super excited about that!

I'm sure you all noticed I stopped posting recipes. It's not because I haven't found new ones to try. It's more because I haven't had much time to do so. I'll try to throw one in every once in a while, along with the crafts we'll be completing. :)