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. :)

deployment project number one - visual countdown

Hello! We are starting to gear up for the big "D" and that means - lots of paperwork and crafting! If it were just Chris and I, this would be a breeze. However, we have a toddler to factor in, and soon, a newborn. I want to be sure to make this process as easy as possible on Conner. Lucas will be too small to remember any of it. I've talked to a few people who have been through it already and read a bunch of ideas on how to make deployment "fun", aka less depressing, on Conner. Despite the popular "Momma's boy" theory, he is ALL about his daddy. Maybe that has a little something to do with the fact that daddy has had to be away for good chunks of time throughout his almost 3 years of life. Either way, I'm going to make this deployment fly by for him as best I can by keeping him busy and sticking to our routine.

First thing I knew I wanted to accomplish was a countdown. I thought about just making myself a chalkboard countdown that said "Daddy Comes Home In XX Days", but come on. Conner is almost 3. He can count to 15 and that is that. Anything above that would mean a whole lot of nothing to him. He needs a visual way of seeing how far we've come and how much longer there is to go. I found the perfect DIY project for our visual countdown. It was simple, fairly inexpensive, and it's hands-on for the kiddo!

Aren't they cute? I got everything I needed for it from Wal*Mart. Two little vases, a small thing of ribbon, letter stickers, and some flat marbles. Everything was in the crafting section. I ended up getting two bags of the decorative marbles because I wanted to do the red, white and blue. One was a bag of different blues and one was a bag of red, pink and clear. I already threw the bags away or I would be able to tell you the exact names. You can change this project up so much to fit your family, though. Maybe your kiddos favorite color is green. They have those! Anyway, the most time consuming part of it all was to count out approximately 9 months worth if marbles. That's about 270, for those of you who are wondering. 

So now that we have our little jars completed, we just wait for the 'see you later' to come. Every night before bed, Conner gets to take one marble from the 'Days to Go' jar and add it to the 'Days Completed' jar. He'll be able to watch the jar fill up while the other one empties and know that he is that much closer to daddy being home again! I have these set up on my little bookshelf in the living room right now. We'll be getting a picture of Chris and putting it in between these two jars so he can say goodnight to daddy every night as well. I can't wait to share all of our other projects with you! Stay tuned. 

To give credit where it is due, I originally saw another version of this countdown for weight loss over here and then changed it for deployment. :)

oven roasted vegetables

I don't know why I haven't made these before. I made a cheese sauce to dip them in. It was horrible. I will not be sharing that disaster of a sauce. Lol. Once I find a cheese sauce recipe that works well, I will pass it along. For now, here is the delicious vegetables that would make a great side. We ate ours as a meal with french bread. By the way, swiss cheese does not melt well in a crock pot. Look at the picture. It was terrible. We live and we learn haha.

Ingredients:

5 small red potatoes

head of broccoli

head of cauliflower 

1/2 bag baby carrots

2 tablespoons olive oil

italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Cut the small potatoes in half once and then in half again. You can peel them, or leave the skins. Skins are good for you :). Cut up the broccoli and cauliflower into florets. Put all vegetables into a big bowl and toss with the olive oil and seasoning until well coated. Add as much or as little seasoning as you'd like. I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons. Pour your vegetables onto the baking sheet in an even layer. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. 

chicken enchilada pasta

Spicy food is my weakness. Pasta is my husband's weakness. So what do I do when I find a recipe that caters to both of us? If you answered 'Make a gigantic pot full and devour it', then you are correct! Well, we did not devour it all. There are leftovers in the fridge for another day. Anyway, due to us having to also feed a toddler, I altered the recipe a bit so it was as spicy. You can find the original recipe over here. Her blog is pretty neat.

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

red bell pepper, diced

medium onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of chili powder

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

19 oz can of red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup of sour cream

1 box of penne pasta

First, I marinated the chicken breasts with a southwest dry rub. Cook your chicken breasts and then shred using 2 forks. Start your pasta and cook according the the package directions. Chop the vegetables while you heat up the olive oil. I suggest on medium-high heat. Cook the onions in heated olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and red bell pepper and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add in the shredded chicke, chili powder, salt, ground cumin and enchilada sauce. If you want more heat, add in a can of diced green chiles. Simmer this lovely mixture for about 10 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on your pasta! It should be about done now. Drain that and return to the pot. Add the cheese to your sauce and stir it until melted well. Turn the heat down to low. This is VERY important. Add in the sour cream and stir until well blended. Again, LOW HEAT. If not, your sour cream will curdle and that's just nasty. Now you pour your sauce over the penne and mix it up. Ready to serve! You can add whatever toppings you'd like. I personally like black olives and another tablespoon of sour cream on top. 

pallet flag

Oh my gosh, I am SO excited that we have finally completed this project. I saw a picture of a (much nicer looking) pallet flag and wanted to recreate it, making it look more 'rustic'. I should have taken step by step pictures, but I'll explain the best I can.

First, we had to get wooden pallets. We accomplished this by finding some at WalMart. We used 2 of them. Chris removed all of the boards, splintering them along the way. He then pieced them back together, kind of like a puzzle, and nailed them into the base. 

Next, get some red, white and blue spray paint. Make sure it's weather proof if you plan to put this outside. We used duct tape to tape off the section that would be blue. Sprayed that and let it dry. Next, mark where your red/white stripes will be. We did not have room for all 13stripes, however, I made sure we began and ended with red like it should. Alternate the red and white stripes and let dry. I had a nifty star stencil leftover from a previous project, so he used that for the stars. Spray those white. Once it's all dry, you have a nice (or old, weathered looking) American flag!

For the time being, it's just propped up outside a window in the front of our house. I plan to do something else to make it a better decoration, but that's for another time. I have to draw up my plans for that and get the approval from the boss man. :) Overall, it took us less than $6 to make this. We just needed to buy paint. The pallets were free and we already had the stencil, duct tape and nails. Hope you like it as much as I do!