20 week belly shot

My pride and joy on the inside; big belly outside.

It's a...

BOY!!!!

18 Week Update

My doctors appointment went incredibly well today; the heartbeat was strong and loud and those kicks were so noticeable. I am scheduled for and ultrasound on July 24 or 19w1d. So gender update will be up this coming Tuesday!!!

What's your Favorite Movie?

This movie, Life is Beautiful, has to be  one of my most loved movies. It's a charming take on a humorous love story that eventually depicts life in a Nazi death camp. The main character keeps high spirits for the sake of his young son while facing demise daily. Must watch.

Other movies that fancy my little heart:

• The Color Purple
• Training Day
• Beloved
• Brothers
• Schindler's List
• The Pianist

There are many more titles but I can't list them all... Feel free to list yours to me!

Help Me

Hey everyone, I have been driving myself crazy thinking of ways to gain more exposure to my lovely little blog here. Bottom line, follow me; but wait wait wait, I don't mean to sound pushy but in reality I need your support. I need supporters or even constructive critics here to help me out. I want others to take my blog as seriously as I do and quite frankly, I am running out of options. So HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP! Lend me your time, support and feedback.

Foody update: tater tot casserole

Update to my tatertot casserole pt.1.

Ingredients:
1 package ground beef
Mixed veggies (preferably frozen)
1 large can cream of mushroom
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1 bag of tater tots
1 package cheddar cheese

1. Brown ground beef and drain.
2. Lightly cook the yellow onion.
3. In a large pan, layer beef, onion, mixed veggies, cream of mushroom and tots.
4. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, add cheese on top and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Serve and enjoy.

Tatertot Casserole pt.1

Making my honey a tatertot casserole; currently in the oven. I will for sure take pictures this time for you viewers and post the recipe. Stay tuned!

Officially in Month Five

     So thus far, my pregnancy has been rough but gone so fast. Since reading my first faint positive on April 6, (3w4d) my life has done a complete 360. At this point, I am only struggling to understand what kind of mother I truly want to be and most importantly, how to be the best role model for my child. Before Ryan and  this pregnancy, my life was pretty much fair game to me and I just winged it; now all of my decisions are completely cautious and thought out before acting upon it. Anyway, I didn't really want to ramble on about the mushy stuff so let me get down to the real point of this post.

Symptoms Since Finding out the Big News:

• Nausea (I had this really bad up until my 16th weeks.)
• Fatigue (increased due to my Lyme disease.)
• Moodiness 
• Dry skin
• Cramping (usually light)
• Cravings (mine consist of  tacos and lime juice.)
• Extreme loss of breath and fainting (Due to this I have been removed from work until further notice.)
• Kicks! (I felt the first flutters at 14 weeks, now at 18 weeks, the kicks are pretty distinct.)

     I am sure I have had other symptoms but as of right now, I can't really remember. Other facts/stats, I had a pre-pregnancy weight of 110 lbs and am now at 120 lbs so I am pretty much skinny minnie. My height is at 5'7" so my doctor suggests that at the end of my pregnancy, I gain a total of about 30-35 lbs.

     With my appointment set for this Thursday, I am eager to have my ultrasound performed, this will be my second since my last one at 6w6d. Ryan and I are excited to find out the sex and give this "jumping bean" a name already; girl: Ava Lucille and boy: Darren Scott. Of course I am also hoping to see that this baby is healthy and growing properly as well. With all of the above said, I will update everyone on the sex and my progress after my appointment set for Thursday.

  Thank You.

A bit about my pregnancy

 This will be my last post of the night and I realized that I haven't talked about my pregnancy as far as dates are concerned... My due date is December 17, 2012 and as of tonight 7/15/12 I am 17w6d. Or 18 weeks as of midnight tonight. I will be finding out the sex of my jumping bean sometime next week! Fingers are crossed for a little girl but I'll take whatever. My TTC journey for this baby was rough and painstaking but I will save that topic for another day. I will be doing updates for you ladies out there so just stay tuned. In the meanwhile you can find me on Babygaga at http://members.baby-gaga.com/member1244860. Feel free to ask me anything. To make this more personal; you will see me refer to my partner Ryan ALL THE TIME so here is a picture of us :

Excuse me hair and face, we went to chill at our favorite ranch!

Foody update

So every time I cook and want to talk about it, I forget to take pictures. I will try to improvise however...
Tonight I made a chicken stir-fry with a hoisin and soy sauce mix over rice. Ryan is one of the most unhealthy eaters I have ever met so seeing him eat this put me at ease a little.

The ingredients were as followed:

• 3 small boneless chicken breast filets (sliced)
• 5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons corn starch (for thickening)
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• fresh green beans (optional)
• red bell pepper (half, sliced)
• kale (optional)
• 1 bag of frozen stir-fry veggie mix
• canola oil (use judgement)

1. In a medium sized bowl I mixed the sliced chicken with the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth and corn starch and set aside for about 1 hour.
2. In a wok I used a small amount of canola oil to steam the veggies, including the kale, green beans and the red bell pepper on medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes. *MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE THE VEGGIES SOMEWHAT CRISP!
3. I found it easier to remove the veggies from the wok and set aside, using the wok to cook the chicken.
4. Cook the chicken until it is tender (approx. 7 minutes on medium-high) and then add the veggies back into the wok along with your chicken.
5. Steam some rice.
6. Pour your chicken and veggie mixture over rice and serve.

Quick and easy meal! Serves 4 

Best Place to Buy Baby Products

If you thought this post was to give you my tips or ideas you were so wrong! I am in need of a place that may be a favorite of yours to stock up on EVERYTHING baby; cribs, feeding supplies, diapers, strollers, etc. I have been interested lately however in Jessica Albas' line of "organic and eco-friendly" diapers from the Honest company. Huggies and Pampers sound just as good to me though. Not really on a tight budget here but I am not trying to spend thousands on items that just aren't very necessary. Expensive cribs fit into my category of not that necessary; what baby needs a $500+ crib when ones under $300 serve the same purpose? I am looking primarily into getting a converting crib from Graco for approximately $300 give or take.

 Any suggesting at this point will be appreciated because this momma is LOST!

A Day in the Life of a Pregnant Shopper

This is how I felt during an outing to Babies R Us recently...


So I go to check out the car seats, strollers and cribs thinking I knew exactly what I wanted and I left feeling like I flunked finals or something. There are just TOO many options for my simplistic soul :/

The above picture is not an exaggeration enough to do justice to how PO'd I was! I come thinking I wanted a convertible car seat and leave with wondering should I just get an infant seat, a travel system or whatever the heck else they had! I am a very simple woman and this just proved to much for me. Hopefully next week (when I find out the sex,) I can come back and finish my mission. I need more mommy friends for crying out loud to help me!

Epiphany

Originally, this blog was only going to be featuring my clothing which will be posted next month; but I realized something, I am good at a number of things and currently experiencing so much this year. SO... this is my life blog as of today. Some features will include my recipes I seem to come up with out of thin air, (although some have been tweaked from what I find in books and etc.) I am currently happily carrying my first child and the trials and tribulations associated with getting ready for this event with be discussed as well. My life is one big catastrophic mess that I wouldn't change for the world and since I have a lot to experience I am now ready to share it with the world.

Coffee stained logo

Coffee stained logo, a photo by VintageLucille on Flickr.

First of the many logos for the future online store.