Menu Plan Monday 10/1

Alright a start of a new month!!! Last month I lost a total of 7 pounds!! YIPPEE! But six pounds were lost in the first week and one pound in the last-so what happened in between??? Who knows. I did stray a bit but I still stayed below 2000 calories a day. So I am going to give it another try with the low calorie diet and try to watch my fat and carb intake. The website I use to track my food intake shows my diet is about 50% carbs, 32% fat and 18% protein. So I think I need to work on my carb and fat intake and get them both below 20%. My mom just did Atkins for 6 months and lost 50 pounds. But in reviewing the foods that you can eat-I just don't think I could do Atkins. I am a very picky eater and I don't care for too many vegetables. It seems most of the veggies I do like are not allowed on the Atkins diet. Plus I love sandwiches-cold or hot-and I just don't know if I could go without bread. So I am going to give another good go at the low calorie diet for another two weeks. If I don't see the results I want then I might just have to try Atkins. I really want to meet my goal of losing all my baby weight before January 1st. That is 33 pounds, in three months!!!

So this week I am going to try some new recipes from the WW Cookbook,= I borrowed a couple of weeks ago. I love trying new recipes so we will see how it goes.

Monday: Taco Chicken Tortilla Wraps pg 158 w/refried beans
Tuesday: Grilled Teriyaki Chops pg 93 w/corn
Wednesday: Pan-glazed Chicken w/basil pg 105 w/brown sugar sweet potatoes pg 184
Thursday: Roasted Garlic Potato soup pg 162
Friday: Italian Pot Roast pg 91 w/broccoli couscous pg 186 (if i can find couscous)

Menu Plan Monday (on Wed)

OK again I am a little late posting but I did have my menu planned out for the week-although we haven't followed it yet. We decided to pop in a frozen pizza Monday night. Tuesday night I joined the ladies for Bunco-so DH ate some leftovers from the weekend. But we will get right back on track tonight-for two days only and then I'll be leaving with the kids Friday to go out of town. Oh well all that hard work planning just goes to waste this week, but we'll have a few menus to carry over next week.

I am planning on trying some recipes from a Weight Watchers cookbook this next month. I want to try a few a week starting next week! Can't wait-some new things to try.

On the weight loss journey: I have lost another pound. That is one pound this week and a total of seven pounds in 3.5 weeks. Six pounds the first week a big fat zero for weeks two and three-how is that? Oh well-just gotta keep at it. I think I can still make my goal of being at my "pre-pregnancies" weight before Christmas (that is the weight before I got pregnant with our first child). That is 33 pounds to go-YIKES. That will be pushing it but we will see how low we can go!!

Hope everyone has a great week. Here are our menu's for the next two days:

Wednesday: Terriyaki pork loin
Thursday: Poppy Seed Chicken-frozen

What will he do next?

I have mentioned several things that J has done to his baby sister: crawled into the pack and play with her, covered her face with burp clothes... Well today I was on the computer and he was in the living room eating lunch. He came and laid on the floor under my chair and was saying something about his "baby sister". So I ran into the living room to check on her...and this is how I found her...
....J had smeared ketchup all over her face.

Menu Plan Monday 9/17

OK I am a day late but I did have the menu planned just didn't get it online yesterday. Also while visiting my parents this weekend I borrowed a WW cookbook "5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook" and I have found some great recipes!! Every recipe has five ingredients or less and takes about fifteen minutes to prepare. So I went through the book and tagged my favorites-ended up with a months worth of new recipes!!! I cannot wait to try them. But since I was out of town this weekend and had already done my grocery shopping for this weeks menu I'll have to wait until next week.

I weighed in this morning-not pretty. I did so great the first week losing six pounds-now I am up one. Maybe it's just too early in the morning to weigh-I'm sure if I waited until after I nursed a few times I may be down one pound-but that still means I didn't lose any weight last week. How frustrating is that!?!?! I am still staying under 2000 calories and still didn't lose any weight last week...argh! I am definately not going to meet my first goal of losing that baby weight before September 19th. I am still ten pounds away. Oh well. Here is to stepping it up and trying to add exercise into my daily routine.

I made some low-fat brownies this weekend and brought them home. I could see a potential problem: I was cleaning yesterday after we got home (you know leaving DH home alone for 4 days can get really messy)each time I went into the kitchen I had to grab a piece of brownie. So I took some advice from the WW book. I bagged each brownie into individual snack sized ziplock bags and placed them in the freezer. That way I have to set them out to defrost before I eat them.

Monday: Usually salads but we opted to eat out-Corky's BBQ!
Tuesday: Shredded beef tacos (freezer meal), salad, chili beans
Wednesday: Broccoli Soup (frozen)
Thursday: Lemon-Lime Chicken, cauliflower, corn
Friday: Roast, carrots, salad

Menu Plan Monday 9/10

Well last weeks menus were great. I tried broccoli soup for the first time and it turned out pretty good. Although I added much more cheese than the recipe called for it was great. I think I'll try a new soup each week-although my husband doesn't like soup. I pulled out my "Fix it and Forget It-Lightly" cookbook and I hope to try some new recipes each week.

I also did great sticking to my diet last week- I lost 6 pounds!! I ate about 1700 calories each day which is well within the recommended range for nursing mothers. I need to work on my water intake and make sure I drink enough each day.

So here is our menu for the week and here is to hoping for another weight loss this week!

Monday Tacos
Tuesday Salad
Wednesday Chicken and Rice
Thursday Spaghetti-from the freezer
Friday Baked Ziti-from the freezer

Weight Loss

Well I made it through the first week! I've been averaging about 1700 calories a day-although I didn't keep up with it Sunday because I had so much junk food I was afraid to. But I lost 6 pounds in the first week!!! I am know that won't continue but it is such great motivation to lose that much to start off with. I know I would have done better if I had kept up with my water intake and done some exercising. But that will come-still need to get use to my new routine.

Biggest Loser starts tomorrow so I am sure that will keep me motivated. I am also looking forward to some cooler weather so I can get these kiddos out a bit. I think J and I are both getting a little cabin fever. Although we have been getting out of the house here and there we are both use to being on the go a good bit of the week.

So here is to another week of making healthy eating choices and developing healthy eating patterns in my kids and of course losing weight!!

Slow Start

I've been keeping up with my food intake on Calorie Count Plus and it is apparent that I need to work on my food choices. Overall I have received an A for nutritional value, but when you break down my food choices they are overall high in fat and carbs. I've taken in 1641 calories today and only 32 ounces of water-YIKES. At this rate I am predicted to reach my goal weight in April 2009-not acceptable. Of course I have not added exercise into my daily routine yet so surely that will help get me to my goal on time.

So here is hoping tomorrow will be much better. Hopefully I'll get my water in early and will make better food choices. Doesn't look like I'll meet my first goal: getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight (that is before my third pregnancy) since I still have 15 lbs to go.

On another note, Biggest Loser starts tomorrow night. Love that show. It is such an inspiration-apparently not enough to have gotten my motor running-to see people transformed in a matter of months. However, since I do not have the luxury of training with professionals 24/7, I will have to settle for a much slower transformation.

Menu Plan Monday 9/3

Well I didn't do well with the healthy eating/cooking this past week. Hopefully I'll get to it this week. I am doing better with my water intake but still need to do better about staying away from the diet coke.

So this week we are trying a few new items: broccoli soup-which I have never cooked before. I know my husband won't care for it or even try it. But since my mom will be here a few days this week I figured it'd be a great time to try it out. Especially since she is doing the low carb thing. also quesadillas, an easy meal but I've never made them before.


Monday: Salad-as always
Tuesday: Quesadillas and baked fries and maybe some black beans if we have them
Wednesday: Broccoli Soup and salad
Thursday: Hamburgers and beans
Friday: Homemade Pizzas

Momma I not wanna go night night

A couple of days ago my sister came over for a visit. J didn't get a nap that day but he did great and never got grumpy during her visit. That night about 7:30 J told me he didn't wanna go night night yet. He repeated it several times. About fifteen minutes later I looked over at him and found him asleep in this position! His daddy was able to carry him downstairs, change his diaper and put him to bed without him waking up.

Menu Plan Monday August 27th

Ok I am back at it, trying to plan and stick to the menu. I throughly enjoyed having menus brought to my house during the first two weeks following the birth of our daughter. And now it is time for me to get back in the kitchen. I also plan to start eating healthier. I want to lose all my pregnancy weight from the last pregnancy by September 19th, and be at my pre-pregnancy weight by January 1st (that is the weight I was before I got pregnant with our first). And then I'll get started on losing the rest of the extra weight I've been carrying around since my husband and I started dating.

So this week will be easy-mostly trying to use up some frozen meals as we continue to try to get back into a reasonable routine.

Monday Salad-I always try to keep Monday easy and light
Tuesday Roast with vegetables
Wednesday BBQ Sandwhiches-with leftover roast w/beans and baked fries
Thursday Poppy Seed Chicken-a frozen meal w/broccoli and cheese
Friday Shredded Beef Tacos-a frozen meal w/beans and maybe rice


Not sure the nutritional value of these meals-but since they are currently in my freezer and will save me a trip to the grocery store I'll use them this week.

Computer Crash

Lately I've been having trouble printing photos. So I have asked DH to try to fix the problem. Well last night he finally got a chance to sit down and work on the printer. He hadn't been working on it five minutes when the hard drive started making a "clicking" sound. To sum it up-our hard drive crashed and we lost everything.

Luckily I had saved all my photos on a disk several weeks ago and haven't cleared my cameras yet-so I don't think I've lost any important photos. Although I did loose all my bookmarks. Sad since I had over 30 blogs bookmarked. I'm addicted to blogs and have been checking in on several blogs on a weekly basis. I don't think it'll take me long to find most of them.

So anyway. Hopefully I can get all my photos back on the computer soon and get some printed so I can get to scrapping!

2 week checkup

I took JM for her two week checkup today. She is up to 8lbs 4 ounces!! Which is 2 ounces more than her birth weight and 14 ounces more than her check up last Saturday at the hospital. So she gained 14 ounces in 9 days!!! Which is awesome for a breastfed baby!! Nursing is going great-although she seemed to be a natural from the start. She has had two great nights of sleeping in her bassinet in between feedings. We slept in the recliner most of last night-but at least we slept.

Everyone asks how J is doing with his baby sister. Well he is doing WONDERFUL! Of course it probably has helped that we had company for two weeks to keep him entertained. Our company left Friday night so we have really only had one day at home-yesterday was spent with my in-laws and six nieces and nephews. He will spend the night at his Nana's tonight so it'll be a few days before we are back into a routine. That will be the true test. But I have confidence in him, I think he'll still be just as proud as ever of his "baby sister".

New Baby Girl

Well we have a new addition-a little baby girl. It as been very different from our first child. She sleeps a little better-although she still prefers to be held. And she is only eating about every 2-3 hours which gives mommy a little rest in between feedings.

Big Brother is so proud of his little sister. He loves touching her head and tickling her toes. We had a visitor the other day that was holding baby sister, and J told them "Don't take my baby sister". He said it 3-4 times and when the visitor was leaving he had to make sure they did not have his baby sister with them. So cute-think he was worried because someone had asked earlier this week if they could take baby sister home with them-and he quickly told them "No!".

Anyway thanks for the calls, cards, dinners, visits, thoughts and prayers during this time. We've had a lot of help the last week and it has really helped mommy out.

We strayed from the menu a bit last week. Mommy just wasn't feeling up to cooking much. But we did have the ham casserole. I cooked the noodles in the microwave, then added cubed ham, green peas, cheese and a can of cream of chicken soup and cooked it in the microwave for about 7 minutes. It was delicious. Even my husband enjoyed it and he is not a casserole eater.

The Teriyaki Chicken-from the freezer was also great. Will be putting more of that in the freezer when I find another good deal on chicken.

This weeks menu again will be easy and simple since we have yet to get our oven fixed.

Monday: Tosquitos with rice & beans
Tuesday: Lemon-lime chicken (frozen)
Wednesday: Beef Enchiladas (frozen)
Thursday: Grilled chicken sandwiches
Friday: Hamburgers with fries and baked beans

Diaper-wipe pouch

I finally made one! A diaper-wipe pouch! I had cut the material this week and then at my shower I got one as a gift. So then I had a template to help me finish it up-somewhat. I am not a sewer-I have sewed a few pillows but that is it. I can barely sew in a straight line. But I have been wanting to get my sewing machine out and start trying to make stuff. This was a fairly easy project-although I won't tell you how long it took me to actually sew it-especially after I had to rip the seam and do half of it over again after I sewed it in the wrong place. Oh well. It was fun and turned out well for my first try. Also it is big enough to fit my sons size 6 diapers so it works great. I'm sure it'll take me a while to get it perfect, then maybe I can start selling them and giving them as gifts!!!

Baby Shower

Today was our baby shower!!! Apparently it is becoming more and more common to have baby showers for 2nd + babies. We had a great time. I joked with everyone before hand because the only thing I needed was a bottle brush-which can be found for $1. But some friends wanted to shower this baby with love and gifts so who am I to disagree? We were more than blessed with gift cards, diapers, and other great gifts for baby. Now if we can only get the doctor to commit to a date for the section!! I am so ready for this baby to be here. I told DH this morning I couldn't wait for the baby to be here so I could sleep better. He laughed. Yes I know you usually get less sleep with a new baby in the house, but with the pain in my hips and back I can only sleep 30 minutes to an hour at a time. I think with a new baby I can at least grab two hours at a time, plus I'll be able to sleep on my belly again-eventually.

Frugal Fridays

This morning as I was browsing the many blogs I visit, I came across one that blogs a frugal tip each Friday. What a great idea! Especially since we are trying desperately to cut the grocery budget these days. So I wanted to share with you guys.

One of the tips is to make your own laundry detergent. I think I may try this one day. Will have to see how it reacts with DH's skin-it'll be great if it works because the special detergent we buy for him is not cheap. DH has also mentioned line drying our clothes-hmm, not sure about that one. Maybe when we get in a new house I'll think about it more.

Another tip was freezing bananas in the skin. I have heard of freezing fruit but never bananas. J likes bananas but they usually end up spoiling in the fruit bowl and I have to throw them out. So I'll try this tip soon.

Too Much

Well today I bit off a little more than I could chew. We started out headed to a new "eat and play" but when we arrived it had not opened yet. So we drove by another "eat and play"-McDonalds-but they were packed with a Daycare class or something. So I thought we'd give Pizza Hutt another try-they are usually very slow, the play area is always filthy and unsafe. The netting has been torn forever and kids climb all inside. But by the time we got there J was asleep-good thing because the place was packed. I don't remember Pizza Hutt having a lunch buffet. Anyway, I took a drive to a neighboring town that we visit regularly. And by the time we arrived J had awaken from his nap. The place was packed but we still enjoyed lunch and play time. Afterwards we went to the library and J read some books and played with the huge checkers game. Then we went to PetSmart to check out the fish, birds, cats, dogs and other animals. By this time I was worn slap out. I don't think any of the places we visited today had their air on today-it was blazing hot everywhere we went. So after about 4.5 hours of piddling we finally got home and mommy took a rest on the couch. So I think I will try to stay home as much as possible the next couple of weeks-which will be very difficult for me-I like being on the go. But today was just too much.

I'm Addicted to Blogging

Ok so it is official, "I am addicted to blogging". I have suspected for months that I have a problem and today I took the ultimate test-and it proves what I have suspected. I am addicted.

I'm a stay at home mom, and even though we get out of the house more than most SAHM's, I still feel a little disconnected from the outside world. So I spend a good bit of time on the internet each day searching blogs and myspace. Most of the blogs I visit pertain to scrapbooking, photography, motherhood, frugal living, organizing, cooking, gardening and crafts. I have found a lot of great information and have tried to implement some of it here and there. I enjoy getting a peek into someone else's life and seeing what they do to keep life interesting. So here it is proof of my addiction. Oh well guess I could be addicted to worse things.

64%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Menu Plan Monday

Well we stuck to the menu for the most part last week. We had an unexpected (well appreciated) guest and our oven went out. So believe me those pre-cooked frozen meals I have stored in my freezer really came in handy last week. All we did was thaw overnight and heat in the microwave.

I have always read mixed reviews about freezing pasta meals ahead. But for the most part the pasta turned out edible, wasn't as firm as I like it but it was good.

We had a huge ham in the freezer so I thawed it this weekend and we'll be eating on it most of the week-starting tonight. I just threw some in the crockpot to warm during the day, then baked potatoes in the microwave and warmed a can of peas. Easy and simple!

Here is our menu for the week: Hope pour hubby doesn't get too tired of ham!

Monday: Dining out (our house is being shown at dinner time)
Tuesday: Ham casserole-includes veggies
Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken-from the freezer
Thursday: Ham & Potatoes with a vegetable Carried over from last week
Friday: Tacos -might serve with beans or rice (hubby doesn't like either one)

Living on a Dime

Ok so for the month of July I have really kept up with our grocery budget. My DH told me we were going way over budget every month and I just didn't see how that was possible. So I have kept every receipt this month. Actually I do my grocery shopping on Friday for the week ahead so I actually bought the first week of groceries in June-so I cheated a bit there and we STILL went over budget. So I have been checking out a lot of websites about frugal grocery shopping and cooking. I've also found a few coupon sites-however in the past coupons haven't really helped much since I buy all off brand stuff anyway.

Anyway, I wanted to share a website I found tonight that has a lot of helpful hints. This site is packed full of great money saving tips, organizing tips, cleaning tips etc.

36 Week checkup

Well I got home last night about 9:30 after playing bunco with some friends. I headed to bed about 10:30, which is usually a very active time for the baby. But not last night. I tossed and turned and jiggled my belly and baby wouldn't budge. And as you know that really freaked me out. I didn't sleep well last night at all. My son woke up once in the night and I jumped in bed with him for about 20 minutes then went back to my bed-still baby not moving. Then I woke up about 3am and my back was aching severely. So I went to the recliner-and FINALLY baby moved a few times.

This morning when I got up the baby did move a few times as normal. But I was still a little anxious to get to the doctor to make sure everything was still going well.

I got to the doctors office and weighed in-lost 4 lbs-hahaha. I think it's because I got on the other scale this time and it is more in tune with my home scale. The other scale read 5 lbs heavier than my home scale. I know which one I'll be using from here on out! Anyway, I got back into the room and she checked for baby's HB and it was 147. Which is a bit of a dive from 174 two weeks ago-but still very much in the normal range. So I was relieved.

Anyway just as I predicted he wants me back in two weeks for another sonogram. I was really hoping he'd do the sonogram next week-but alas I have to wait. He obviously doesn't realize how anxious I am to get this baby here!

Menu Plan Monday-July 16

OK here is a little something I think I'll share on my blog. There is a blog I visit about organizing. And one of the things she does is a weekly menu. Well I usually sit down and plan my menus for an entire month-Monday-Friday only. I make out a "master" list of what I will need for each week and keep it on my fridge. I also keep a running grocery list on the fridge of anything we might run out of so my husband and I can just jot everything down. On Friday I'll pull the "master" list and double check what items we have on hand and add the items we need to the running grocery list. Shopping on Fridays also helps me prepare for those extra items we need if we are expecting company-which we frequently have!

My husband is an extremely picky eater so soups and "mooshy" stuff is out. So we do eat a lot of meat at our house.

Lately I've been trying a lot of freeze ahead menus and doubling some recipes and freezing half. Trying to make menu planning and cooking a little easier since we are expecting another baby soon. Monday's are usually very easy since I usually forget to plan ahead and set out our meat/meals for thawing.

So here is my menu for the week:

Monday: Chicken strips & fries (frozen)
Tuesday: Chicken Primavera
Wednesday: Ham & Potatoes with a vegetable
Thursday: Baked Ziti (already made in the freezer)
Friday: Poppy seed chicken (already made in the freezer)

Nothing really new for us this week. However I've never frozen baked ziti or poppy seed chicken for future use so we will see how they turn out.

36 Weeks Pregnant

Today I am 36 weeks pregnant. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and hopefully he'll schedule a sonogram for next week!! He wants another sonogram to see how our baby is developing and then we'll schedule the c-section. I am hoping we can schedule the section by 38 weeks-I am so ready for this baby to be here.
I have been getting a lot of rest since Thursday. My aunt came for a weekend visit-however due to certain circumstances she is staying all week. Which is great, JP loves playing with her and I love that someone else is keeping him occupied so I can take several naps during the day.

Nothing much going on around here, just trying to get everything ready for the baby, trying to keep the house cleaned in the event someone wants to look at the house and trying to keep my sanity. I got my hopes up high when we got an offer on the house and since it didn't work out I have been really bummed about it. I was so excited about getting into a new house before the baby was born-I was looking forward to no more stairs to climb several times a day and a fenced in back yard for JP to play while mommy watched from a covered porch. Oh well. We still have at least one person still interested but they still haven't been able to look at the house yet because of a work schedule. Maybe one day and hopefully they will like it enough to put on offer on it.

Disappointed

Well we got an offer on our house. It was low but we had high hopes that we could meet in the middle-but apparently not. I was so excited because the buyer wanted to close in three weeks, and I'd be 38 weeks-so that meant we could potentially be in a new house before the baby is born. Bummer. Oh well. We still have 2-3 people potentially interested but not sure if they are interested in the house and the extra lots or just the lots.

34 Weeks 3 Days

The last few days JP has stayed overnight at Nana and Papa's house. Which gave me some time to rest-haha yeah right. I got all the baby stuff out and washed. Got the crib, car seat and bouncy seat ready to go. Also got some much needed cleaning done-didn't get it all cleaned but got most of it. I was able to sleep in both mornings which was great-I still can't sleep through the night. Waking up every 2-3 hours is just getting me prepared for the baby I guess. Anyway, I took some self portraits today. So here they are...

Our First Herb Harvest!

We harvested our herb crop for the first time today!! We started with just five plants: basil, parsley, thyme, oregano and marjoram. These were some of the herbs we use in a lot of our recipes and seemed easy enough to grow and harvest so we thought we'd give them a try. JP and I bought them and planted them sometime shortly after mother's day. Above is how our herbs looked before we cut them and below is what we harvested today. I still need to string them up for drying and buy a few jars for storing.











We also bought tomato plants and a bell pepper plant. We have several flowers on our pepper plant and one lonely little pepper growing. So far our tomato plants are growing nice and tall but still no signs of tomatoes. Here is JP in front of one of the tallest tomato plants. He loves helping me water them and loves squirting mommy with the water hose!















UPDATED::
Well I have been drying my herbs in the oven today-instead of hanging them to dry. I also bought some containers at Wal-mart but when I got home and opened the package I realized there were only 2 containers when there should have been 5. Yes I only paid $3 for the containers but it's the principal-I paid for 5!!! So I'll be taking them back tomorrow and exchanging them. So I will have wait until tomorrow to store the herbs.

The house is full with the different aromas! It's great and so easy! I can't wait to see how fast they grow now that I have cut them back. And I cannot wait to try more next year!

Last Day of June

Well it's the last day of June, that means we could potentially have a new baby in the house in just four short weeks. Maybe we'll be in a new house by then or at least have a contract on this one. One can only hope and pray the rest is up to God.

Any, today while out to lunch with some friends I picked up a copy of the July issue of "The Jackson Kidz Directory". They recently had a photo contest and I entered some photos of JP and knew they would be putting some of the contestants on the front cover. And sure enough there on the front cover is one of JP's pictures!!! So of course I had to grab a few copies to give to friends and family. In August they will be announcing the winner!

Too Hot for Sno Biz Lines

JP and I went to the park today about 4pm. Yes we waited too late in the day to go to the park but that's the first thing he said when he woke up from his nap-"go to park". Which I had mentioned this morning and intended on doing early in the day before it go too hot. But we got busy playing with his trains and ran didn't get to the park before naptime.

So I thought of a well shaded park in the area and off we went. We arrived to a parking lot full of day care buses (well only three but they took up half the parking lot). These kids had to be 7-10 years old-which can only spell disaster!! But I decided to tackle it anyway. JP lasted about 30 minutes and he was ready to go home. At one point I had to jump up and grab him-apparently he was trying to get away from the big kids and since the big kids were up by the slide and on the stairs he decided to escape through a hole which was about 4 feet from the ground. Luckily I caught a glimpse his little Thomas the Train shoes coming through the hole just as I was passing by and was able to help him down.

After leaving the park I thought what a great time to get a sno cone. BIG mistake. We got out of the vehicle and up to the window, only to discover the guy in front of us had ordered 10 snocones!! But you can't tell a 2.5 year old the wait is too long-and I certainly cannot deny my craving for a snocone..so we waited and waited and waited. We stood in line for 30 minutes in the blazing hot sun before getting out snocones. Needless to say the wait for the snocone was much more draining than the 30 minutes we spent at the park.

Camping Trip

Here are a few LO's I did of our camping trip. We camped out for my niece's 2nd birthday. We all had a great time. Luckily it wasn't too hot and we were able to enjoy cool weather in the evenings. The kids had a great time riding their little 4-wheelers and walking the trails. For the birthday party we were going to fill the pool up-but once we got there we realized we didn't have a hose and we weren't about to carry buckets of water out to fill the pool. The kids had fun pretending there was water in the pool. We also enjoyed a big breakfast Saturday morning with eggs, toast, bacon and sausage. And Saturday night "uncle Robert" and JP sang around the campfire.

We will surely have to get together soon for another camping trip!

Well I am 33weeks 1day today. Although I am loving it I am definately more tired these days. A simple trip to the grocery for milk and toilet paper wears me out. Going downstairs to prepare lunch, eat it, and walking back upstairs drains me completely. But I am trying a new energy drink and trying to remember to take my prenatal vitamins-hopefully this will give me some much needed energy to get through the rest of the pregnancy.

Baby is still moving around a lot. I am thinking this one will be bigger than JP-it just moves around a lot differently than he did. Sometimes it can be painful-I don't remember JP's movements ever being painful.

Names: we have decided on a girls name-but still trying to come up with a boy's name. We have several contenders but nothing set in stone yet. Although if you ask JP what the baby's name is going to be if it's a boy, he'll say...Spencer. That is the name of one of his trains.

Dr's appointment: I go back to the Dr. next Tuesday. Luckily DH happens to be off work that day and I won't have to take Jacob with me. He wasn't too bad last time we went but he wanted to leave as soon as we walked into the door and he tried to run off while they were taking my blood pressure. Hopefully he will get use to it-because he'll have to go with me from now on since DH is no longer off on Tuesdays.

Bedtime routine: we have changed our bedtime routine. Since JP has been in his toddler bed-about 2.5 months now, I have been laying down with him, watching a video with him and staying until he falls asleep. Which means I usually fall asleep or I am too tired to do anything else by the time he falls asleep. So that meant my "me time" was gone-wasted. So I decided to let daddy take care of bedtime. When I am not here daddy reads JP a story, puts him to bed and JP stays in bed. Daddy doesn't stay with him until he falls asleep and JP might get up one time but usually stays in his bed and falls asleep on his own. So I figured it was only fair to let daddy take over "bedtime". The first two nights were rough-JP got up at least 10 times and cried. But since then it has worked great. He's a little reluctant to go downstairs and get into bed without me but I usually walk downstairs and tell him goodnight and then daddy starts a story. It has been wonderful!!! I get "me time" and DH and I get "us time". We should have implemented this months ago!!!

Little football player

This is what we found yesterday while birthday shopping for a friend. We didn't find anything for the friend but we did pick up this adorable LSU football uniform for only $9. The outfit was $3 and the helmet was $6! What a bargain!! He just looks so adorable!! His favorite part...the ball he found while mommy was trying to find the right size outfit.

DOM- "note to self"

Here is my card for Emily's week 10 challenge. I painted and sanded-yet again. Then sewed a piece of patterned paper to the card-my first time to sew on a scrapbooking project. Then I placed the flower on jewel with glue. Then added the brads and rub-ons. I wrote some reminders to myself on the petals of the flower and one last reminder using brads. "note 2 self: remember to life, laugh, smile, dance, sing, and love.

DOM- "what's on my mind"

Here is my attempt to catch up on Emily's mini art journal. This is the prompt for week 13-"what's on my mind..." "....my life at 30". I'll be turning 30 this year and I have been thinking about my life a lot lately. What's next?, where's my life going?, what's my purpose?, ...etc, etc.

Not real thrilled with how the front of the card turned out. I painted and sanded the card, then placed a few strips of ribbon on the top half, then put a flower on it and wrote on it-I hate my handwritting. I think my handwritting really turns a somewhat decent card into a terrible card. So if I can avoid using my handwritting I do. Anyway, on the back of the card I glued a piece of tissue paper to cover the entire back. Then in the swirly pattern I wrote the things that are going through my head these days.

30 Week Checkup

Went today for my 30 week check up. Everything is going great. Baby's HB was 123-which typically means a boy. I thought at first it was a boy, but now I am getting the feeling it is a girl. So who knows. JP still says he is having a baby sister. Now I start going every 2 weeks. I'll keep you updated!!

Our Little Gardener

JP had a great time helping me replant a tomato plant this week. He loves playing in the dirt so this was just right for him. He didn't want to stop putting dirt in the container and kept covering up the tomato plant. We also made little plant labels for our herbs and vegetable plants. he was so proud of them. We were outside when his daddy came home and he couldn't wait to show them off. It looks like we may have a pepper growing already-will have to see how it turns out.

Our attempts at gardening

Well I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to try to grow some herbs and vegetables. I wanted to start off small since I'd need to plant in containers in the event we actually move anytime soon. So JP and I picked up six herb plants, six tomato plants and a green bell pepper plant! I planted three tomato plants in each container until I find a few more "light" containers.
So JP and I had a great time planting one afternoon and he loves to help me water the plants.
Anyway here are our plants two weeks ago after we planted them. I'll take some pictures this week to show any progress.

High Hopes

Well most of you know that we have had some good activity on our house this week. It really looks promising. Our house has been on the market for just about a year now and even though we knew it would take a special buyer we had hoped to have had it sold by now. Anyway, this potential buyer appears to see the potential the house has-much like I did when I purchased it 6 years ago. Even though I never got around to doing many of the things I had planned. Anyway, keep the prayers coming-we would really love to get moved before the baby is born!!! What a blessing that would be!

Preemie Hat

Yes another post for today! I am on a roll!
Here is a picture of one of the hats I have made. A friend of mine had dolls made to replicate the size and weight of her sons at birth(she had triplets at 21/22 weeks). Anyway she agreed to try the hat on to make sure it would fit a "micro-preemie". It does fit but looks a little fuzzy for my taste. Will try a different yarn next time. My plan is to make "memorial boxes" and donate them to the hospital I was treated at after my miscarriage last June. These hats are fun and easy to make. I look forward to putting my first kit together and getting it to the hospital!

Bookmarks

Here are a few bookmarks I made. I've never made bookmarks before but I saw one someone else made and felt inspired to make a few. They were simple and fun and a practical little happy for any friend or family member. It also gave me a chance to use my new embossing tool-just loving that thing!!

27 Week sonogram

Went to the doctor today for my 27 week check up and sonogram!! Was great to see our little baby again and know everything is going great. The sonographer predicts the baby weights 2 lbs 9oz. Of course if you've been pregnant you know this is "just" a prediction and no real indication of how much the baby really weighs. But since I have gained close to 10lbs since my check up last month it was good to hear the baby is weighing about 9 ozs bigger than normal-so that is my excuse for the extra weight gain!!! Anyways. Baby is moving and kicking-still not as much as I would like but as long as I can feel a kick every now and then I know things are still going well. So here is a picture of our precious baby!!!

DOM-"nature"

Here is my card for week 18 of Emily's mini art journal. This is a chipmunk that lives in the stump right outside our front windows. We have seen chipmunks come and go since we moved in six years ago. But this is about as close as I can get to them before they run back into hiding. I was worried my cats would run them off but luckily they have stuck around. They also like to run around under the deck and the bridge. The other day as I was walking along the bridge from our driveway to our front door a chipmunk ran out from under the bridge and made a quick escape into a hole under the pine straw.
This is a view I will surely miss when we move.

"cheese"

"cheese"



Add to My Profile | More Videos

I love watching JP eat ice cream. He licks his cone instead of taking bites and it takes him forever to eat it. He loves watching the other video of himself eating ice cream and he laughs every time he says "cheese". So when I got the camera out on this day he knew exactly what to do. He says cheese about ten times and just cackles because he knows he is sooo cute!

Laughing Baby

Laughing baby...HILARIOUS!!!



Add to My Profile | More Videos

This video is too cute! I love the sounds of kids laughing it is just heart warming!