Pregnancy Journal - 31 Weeks

Pregnancy Journal - 31 Weeks

How Far Along? 31 Weeks

Size of Baby: Head of Lettuce - 18 inches and 3.2 lbs

Gender: Sweet girl!

Maternity Clothes: Chris was so sweet to take me to the mall after our car seat class on Saturday. I found 2 great dresses at Motherhood Maternity and I'm happy to say I wore a dress everyday this week! Pants are just not comfy at this point...

Best Moment This Week: Getting an A+ on our car seat installation! Chris was the class favorite this week as he not only installed the car seat to perfection but also swaddled the fake baby impressively. The nurses really enjoyed him.

Nursery: No new developments...we are hoping to work on the last few craft projects for her room this weekend.

Movement: Lots and lots!

Cravings: Cinnamon Applesauce, Baked Cheetos, Strawberries and Chocolate Milk

Symptoms: Seriously big and itchy belly - some days I actually have an outtie! Still peeing often and the stairs at my school are so not enjoyable anymore. 

Sleep: I have really good nights and some not so good nights. I also snore now...poor Chris.

What I Miss: My energy...I need a vacation.

Looking Forward to: Our 32 week check-up, my baby shower in a few weeks AND May 27th (or around that day...I definitely want her fully cooked!)

Five on Friday

What a week! I really got used to lazy breakfasts and staying in my pajamas until mid-morning during Spring Break last week. This week has been a whirlwind of meetings, trainings, and just getting back into a routine. I don't know about you guys but I am SO glad the weekend is finally here!

1. Our Car Seat

We ordered our car seat from {Diapers.com} when they had a fabulous sale going on Chicco products. We chose the Chicco Keyfit 30 after it received several 5 star reviews from friends and family but we also liked the look of it better than the other options out there. I'm excited to have it installed this weekend during our car seat class at the hospital!

2. Sno Cones

Holy moly, guys. I've been craving a sno cone since I found out I was pregnant - conveniently sno cone stands close around September. After 7 LONG months, I was finally able to satisfy my craving over spring break - SO GOOD! Looking at this photo, I may need another one this weekend...

3. Toms Wedges/Pedicure

I bought these Toms wedges off {Zulily} when they had a super sale about a month ago and I just love them! This is my first pair of Toms and I want more! I was also able to get together with a few of my girlfriends for a pedicure on the last day of Spring Break. It was HEAVENLY and my toes look so great!

4. Ikea Vases

I've been lusting after these "vases" from Ikea for a few months but we've always got our hands full with furniture by the time we make it to the decor section. Well, I finally picked them up on my way out during a mid-week spring break trip. They look so gorgeous on our living room shelves! 

On a side note, We bought these shelves almost a year ago and I've been slowly trying to collect pictures/artful trinkets to make them look nice. I'm very OCD about it and it's been driving me crazy. I still have a few shelves to go but these vases really helped!

5. Zoey Gifts

We got together with some of my favorite people (Chris's aunt, uncle and cousin) to celebrate his uncle's birthday and his aunt gave us the sweetest embroidered gifts for Zoey!! I just cannot get over how precious these things are - Zoey's going to be so stylish! We plan to get more things monogrammed, like our diaper bag, and we'll definitely be sending them to TRBG Designs - check her out on facebook {here}. Her work is amazing! I'm just blown away by the cuteness.  

                    Linking up with a few of my favs - April, Christina, Darcy & Natasha!

Have a FABULOUS weekend, everyone!

Pregnancy Journal - 30 Weeks

Pregnancy Journal - 30 Weeks

How Far Along? 30 Weeks (Lets not even talk about this picture...I'm tired)

Size of Baby: Butternut Squash - 17 inches and 3.1 lbs

Gender: Sweet girl!

Maternity Clothes: This warm spring weather and internal heater of mine has left me lacking in the clothing department - pants are just not fun to wear when it's this warm out. I've been shopping around for a few comfy, casual dresses that could possibly be used for nursing/after baby too. Hoping Motherhood Maternity will have what I need this weekend!

Best Moment This Week: A good dr. appt, hb holding at 143 and measuring right on. We go every 2 weeks now and I love that. We celebrated our 3 year anniversary on Wednesday with food and cake reminiscent of our reception food - I can't believe it's been 3 wonderful years with my love! I was also offered a contract renewal for my current teaching position so that was great!

Nursery: No new developments but I am still planning to post an update soon! Her closet continues to fill up with adorable clothes...

...two of my absolute favorites from my mom. I can't wait for her to wear these!
Movement: Oh yes and they're getting stronger everyday! Her quarters are getting tight and I feel every little wiggle. So sweet!

Cravings: Cinnamon Applesauce, Baked Cheetos and Strawberries

Symptoms: Growing belly (the comments about how small I am are not as frequent...ha!), LOTS of pee breaks, shortness of breath and some aches and pains when she stays in one spot for too long.  

Sleep: I'm still sleeping great but definitely up at least 2-3 times a night to pee.

What I Miss: On Fridays, we're allowed to wear jeans with a school t-shirt...after three years at my particular school, I've built a pretty spectacular collection of spirit shirts, unfortunately only 2 fit at the moment. :( Jeans days just aren't quite the same these days.

Looking Forward to: Our car seat class/installation, a visit from my brother-in-law and our next dr appt in just over a week!

Pregnancy Journal - 29 Weeks

Pregnancy Journal - 29 Weeks

How Far Along? 29 Weeks

Size of Baby: Small Cabbage - 17 inches and 2.9 lbs

Gender: Girl!

Maternity Clothes: Just shopping for postpartum clothes and some comfy, nursing pajamas now.

Best Moment This Week: Spring Break! Seriously, it's been so nice to get some things, baby and non-baby related, knocked off the list on my last break before baby! We also had a great time at our first baby class, looking forward to part 2 on Saturday! 

Nursery: Chris and I hung Zoey's artwork and floating shelves this weekend! The room is nearly complete, we just need all the nifty baby items to put in it and definitely more clothes. :) Update coming soon.

Movement: Lots and lots! I swear I felt either fingers or toes the other night when she moved...it was awesome. She is one active little girl and I love it. 

Cravings: Cinnamon Rolls and fruit :) Luckily, I can eat all of that (in moderation, of course) and not worry.

Symptoms: Growing belly, aches and pains when I sleep on one side for more than a few hours and LOTS of pee breaks!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping great! A lot of women complained of not sleeping well in the baby class and I have no idea what they're talking about. Feeling fortunate.

What I Miss: Fitting into regular clothes...I'm dying to shop the new spring trends and I definitely can't for a few more months!

Looking Forward to: The rest of spring break (lots of friend and family time), My last monthly prenatal appointment next week (we go every 2 weeks from here on out), our anniversary AND my baby shower, coming up next month! The countdown is on (75ish days) and there is plenty to keep me busy!

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Oh my word...I finally got up the energy to make this recipe for Black Bean Veggie Burgers and they are SO GOOD. I had to stop by and share this delicious recipe with you guys.

{via}

The recipe comes from {Tastes Better From Scratch}. I changed it up every so slightly...

Ingredients: 

For the Burger:
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1/2 green bell pepper 
1/2 small red onion 
2 tsp minced garlic
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs 
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin 

For the Chipotle Mayo Sauce: 
1 cup mayonnaise
2 chipotle Chilies in adobo sauce
1 Tbsp adobo sauce
Juice of half a lime
 

For the Burger:
Drain the liquid from the black beans, rinse and dry. Coarsely chop the bell pepper and onion and place in a food processor, along with the garlic, and process until finely chopped. Strain mixture to remove excess water.

Put black beans in a bowl and mash well with a fork. Add the vegetable mixture and mix in the chili powder and cumin. Add the beaten egg and bread crumbs, mix well.  Form mixture into 4 patties. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes on each side.

For the Mayo:

Add all ingredients to the food processor and process until well blended.

Please visit {Tastes Better From Scratch} for the full and original recipe. I basically removed the salt and pepper (it didn't need it in my opinion) and lessened the cumin (my pregnant self is not a fan of cumin but it does add flavor).

The mayo is superb and compliments the burger so well! I ate the burger on a whole grain sandwich thin w/ just the mayo and it was perfect. You could add all sorts of fixin's though, if you like.

Enjoy and be sure to check out {Tastes Better From Scratch} - I will definitely be trying more of her amazing recipes!

Pregnancy Journal - 28 Weeks

                                            Pregnancy Journal - 28 Weeks

How Far Along? 28 Weeks - 3rd Trimester!!

Size of Baby: Head of Cauliflower - 16 inches and 2.5 oz

Gender: Sweet girl, at least we hope since her room is super girly!

Maternity Clothes: Just starting to look for post-pregnancy clothing and nursing stuff. I'm all set on maternity clothes!

Best Moment This Week: I found out on Friday that I passed my 3-hour glucose test with flying colors!! I may have gone a tad overboard with sweets - time to get back to the gym. I also got a bonus day off due to the crazy weather on Monday. Much needed.

Nursery: We had a few more prints made and framed them this weekend. We just need to hang everything up and we're nearly finished! I'll post a complete update soon.

Movement: Day and night! She's such a fun little baby! I like to guess what body parts she's sticking out, it's super entertaining and very distracting. She also gets the hiccups every night around 7, poor baby.

Cravings: Lemonade and everything sweet. I need to reel that in a notch...I feel a major weight gain coming at my next appointment.

Symptoms: The exhaustion has returned but that could be a sign that Spring Break just needs to happen.

Sleep: Starting to get aches and pains if I sleep on one side too long. This leads to more tossing and turning and less sleep but I'm still getting a decent amount so I won't complain yet.

What I Miss: Nothing comes to mind!

Looking Forward To: Spring Break, our first birthing class on Saturday, my last 4 week appointment and our anniversary!

Friday Favs

Another week down AND it's the end of February! I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend, hanging out with friends, and picking up our glider!!! Pics to come :) It's going to be a great weekend!

1. Expectant Mom's Parking

After a long morning of fasting and being poked for the 3-hour glucose screening, I stopped by Kroger to grab a few things (mostly desserts as my last hoorah or celebration, depending on the news). I was able to park in Kroger's expectant mom's parking and not only was it exciting but it was extremely appreciated that day. It's the little things.

2. eBay Maternity Shopping

I blogged all about my Maternity clothes {here} but this particular purchase is by far my favorite and I thought it was so sweet of the girl I purchased this from to include a personal note. People are great!

3. Shopping for Three

I had to take the entire day off for my glucose screening so I took advantage that afternoon and spent some time shopping at Kohls. I picked up some new black flats for me, a couple pairs of shorts for Chris and a little dress for Zoey! It's so fun to think that I get to include her in my family shopping from now on. :)

4. Nursery Curtains

I blogged a Nursery Update {here} but I am just so in love with how these curtains turned out that I have to add them to my five. It's not often that things turn out exactly the way I picture them in my head. I really love visiting her nursery now that it's more complete - it's so peaceful.

5. Our Baby Monitor

We received the {baby monitor} off our registry from Chris's parents last weekend! This was an item we researched quite heavily and felt was super important since the nursery is upstairs and our room is downstairs. After playing around with it, at this point and time, I definitely give it 5 stars. It has excellent signal throughout the house, 2-way talking, reads the temperature of the room, can pan and tilt AND play lullabies. It's really going to give this crazy worrier some peace of mind once our baby girl is here.

Have a super weekend everyone!

                 Linking up with a few of my favs - April, Christina, Darcy & Natasha!