A whirlwind of emotions!

And they are all great! Sorry I didn't post any pictures last week. It ended up being a crazy week and sadly my camera is dead, so week 30 pictures are stuck on there till it gets charged again. There really isn't a big difference between 31 weeks and 30 though, so it's not a big deal.

So we got LOTS of good news last week! In non baby related news, I FINALLY passed the CPA exam. Woot woot! It feels so good. I took the ethics exam (I got a 100% by the way) and all my application material has been submitted, so I should be sworn in in November. We are so excited. That is partially to blame for my lack of blog posts. We had to celebrate! So for my meal planning, I only managed to make the chicken drum sticks and the beer butt chicken. Both were really good and not that hard to make! This week, Zig is out of town, so my meals are going to be sporadic decisions based on what I feel like come 6:00. Hopefully we will get back on track next week.

In baby news, we got to see our little girl! Yes she is still a girl. I wasn't getting off that table till I knew for sure. Everything looks good! She is a little small and is only measuring in the 37th percentile, but my doctor is not worried at all. I was a very tiny baby (Zig was not) and she just said that they would only be really concerned if she was in the 10th percentile, so that is a big sigh of relief. At 31 weeks exactly, she weighed 3 lbs. 6 oz. It will be interesting to see how she grows over the next few weeks. Right now she is breech, which is not a huge deal because she still has time to turn. The only worry is there really is not a lot of room in there due to my size, so there is a chance that she may not turn. We will have another u/s in a few weeks to see if she heads down, and if not we will discuss some options. I got the feeling, however that my doctor is not a fan of external versions, she would rather the baby turn naturally and is not a fan of all the risks the version can have. For now, we will just see how things go and in the mean time pray she turns on her own. Other than that, baby and I are really healthy! Great news! Here is the picture we got. She looks a lot like her daddy! It will be really interesting to see what features she takes from each of us!

How far along?: 31w5d, today
Total weight gain: +6
Stretch marks?: Only the lone ranger on my hip that came really early on. It will be my luck that I make it to the end and the whole gang will make its appearance for delivery.
Sleep?:Not too bad. It is getting harder. I still tend to roll on my stomach, but that is getting to be a little uncomfortable. I woke up with my hips hurting yesterday, so I think this is the beginning of the end for sleep.
Best moment this week?:Seeing the baby and getting the news about my test! Oh and my wonderful, thoughtful husband bought me a Kindle for passing my exam. I love it!
Food cravings?:Nothing really. It is kinda funny, because if I say "let's have pizza for dinner" that is suddenly a considered a craving...No I just feel like eating pizza. To me a craving is something that I must have and can't live without. Maybe I am wrong...
Labor signs?: None
Belly button in or out?: Still in
What I miss: I can't really think of anything that I miss...I guess that is a good thing
What I'm looking forward to: My Shower! It will be nice to catch up with friends and family who haven't seen me in a while, or at all while I have been pregnant.

Here are my 31 week pictures. Again, not a big difference from 30 weeks. These are camera phone pics, so the quality isn't great...O'well. I look huge...

Menu Planning Monday

Here is my plan for the week.

Monday-leftover lasagna-I made this for dinner last night. It rocks. I took a picture, but my battery is dead. boo. And I don't know if anyone cares because I don't know if anyone even reads this blog, but I will post the recipe with the picture. I am good at sharing. :)

Tuesday-Hot and Sweet drum sticks and a veggie

Wednesday-Not sure...Zig has a meeting. Maybe leftover chicken if there is any

Thursday-Home made pizzas

Friday-Back by request, roasted red pepper penne. I think Zig is in love

Saturday-Sweet Citrus Chicken by Lauren's Kitchen

Sunday-This beer can chicken. I have been wanting to make it for a while and it is starting to get cold, so I think we better get it in before the weather turns. I'll serve with some veggies.

YesterdayI went to Michael's and got a bunch of fun fall decorations. I don't know why, but I am totally into fall these days. Since tomorrow is officially the first day of fall, I put everything out yesterday.

I bought the wreaths last year and my mom bought me these cute little scarecrows and hay stack a few years back.

This is the stuff I got yesterday. It's kind of hard to see but I got a cute little scarecrow, some fall leaf garland and some gourds. I desperately needed some new candles for my candle holder and decided to incorporate something that is both fallish, and could work year round with our current room decor. I had a great time decorating. Funny story:I told Zig yesterday that this fall decor will pretty much stay up till Emily gets here. At first his face went really pale and then he had a huge grin. It's really becoming a reality that in about 2 months we are going to have an outside baby! Crazy!

I caved...

For about 2 years now Zig has been trying to convince me to get a Tempurpedic mattress. Every time he brings it up, I shoot it down, only because the one we have is not that old. We got it when we moved into the condo and it was a really nice mattress. I am so cheap, I couldn't bare to get rid of a perfectly good mattress. So last year, I bought a 4 inch think memory foam mattress topper. WHAT WAS I THINKING! Our bed was big enough as it was (22 inch pillow top plus a 10 inch box spring), and I added 4 more inches to it. I literally have to jump into bed at night. No exaggeration. The bed comes up at least to my belly button. It has gotten REALLY hard to get in and out of bed at night and with the the multiple potty breaks I take at night, it was getting rough. This is not the only reason I caved, because I know what you are thinking "You will not be pregnant forever and those mattresses are not cheap." In reality, I couldn't find any sheets that would fit the mattress, nor could I find a comforter that would cover the mattress. It just looked tacky. The sheets literally only covered the the mattress topper and the pillow top, leaving the rest of the mattress and the box spring exposed and these were extra deep sheets. I really wish I had taken before photos. Anyway, I CAVED! We went to Mattress Firm last night and spent about an hour and a half laying on a couple different models and we fell in love. There was no leaving that store without buying the mattress. I make myself feel better by saying our old mattress was over 6 years old, it had lots of low spots, and it "fell off a truck" so we got it for a steal. Really, it is probably unethical how we ended up with that mattress. Long story short, the new mattress just got delivered and I can't wait to go to sleep tonight. AND Zig swindled a deal and we ended up getting a pretty sweet Tempurpedic pillow for free. We each already had one, but we couldn't resist trying to work out a deal.

Since we went shopping last night, I didn't get to make my easy weekday lasagna, but I have been craving it so I may add it instead of our leftover day. Tomorrow we are going over to Mom and Robert's for dinner and eating stuffed bell peppers, which is awesome because that is what I was going to make tommorrow anyway. We will be having pork chops for dinner tonight, but there is nothing fancy there.

Anyway, here's what's new this week:

How far along?: 29w5d where is the time going!

Total weight gain: +4

Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report. THANKFULLY, but to be honest I haven't checked out my behind or hips in the mirror these days...it could be scary.

Sleep?:Hopefully it will be awesome starting tonight. :) No really, it hasn't been too bad.

Best moment this week?:I took a video of mommy's view of the baby moving. I keep making Zig watch her, without thinking that my view is way different than his. I showed him and he was very entertained. We also got our car seat in the mail. It is so cute and Zig was so excited, he installed it just to try it out. I am pretty lucky to have such an involved and excited husband.

Food cravings?:I can't get enough vanilla greek yogurt with granola. I could eat it for every meal.

Labor signs?: None

Belly button in or out?: In, but it creeps me out. I don't like to think about it.

What I miss:Being cold. I never thought I would say that. I am a cold person people. I get so cold during the winter my feet and hands turn blue. All I have to say is, I am not looking forward to menopause. I have been getting hot flashes likes nobody's business. I hate to be hot.

What I'm looking forward to: Finishing the nursery!

And here are some pictures. These are from Sunday, so I was 29 w 2 d.

Menu Planning Monday

Ok, so we did OK on our meals last week. Not great, but not too bad. We learned that we need to save one night a week for leftovers because I am horrible at figure out the right portion to make. We didn't end up cooking on Saturday or Sunday. Saturday we had leftovers (by the way, the roasted red pepper penne does re heat well, which is good to know) and Sunday I was craving a Frontier Roll, so Zig picked up some Golden Pride for us for dinner. Here is our "planned" menu for the week.

Monday -I have a meeting at Kappa, so I am eating there. Zig gets to finish of the leftovers.

Tuesday -Easy weekday lasagna (can you tell I like quick easy meals...)

Wednesday -Pork Chop with a side veggie

Thursday -Nicole's stuffed bell peppers

Friday - Mark's chili ( I am so ready for fall and all the warm delicious fall foods. This one ranks really high on my favorite thing to eat on a cold day)

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Hot and Sweet drumsticks (This is from last week. I have been wanting to make this for a while, so I hope I get to it this week)

Sundays we typically have Sunday night dinners with my mom and Larry and brother and Rebecca. This is something we started back when Nicole started college. It was just a way for all of us to get together and see eachother once a week. Lately, we have been doing more of a Sunday morning brunch or lunch because Rebecca and Rich have been super busy with school. Either way, we always try to get together once a week. I am hoping I can make the Sunday "dinner" for lunch and maybe have some leftovers for later, but we will see. So this is the plan...We will see how it pans out this week!

Super duper easy chicken pot pie

This meal is so so easy to make and pretty good! The only request I got from Zig was to add more chicken. Other than that, it was a hit!

Super Easy Chicken Pot Pie by Pillsbury

Ingredients:

1 box refridgerated pie crust (softened using directions on the box)

1 big can Progresso Rich & Hearty chicken pot pie style soup (we couldn't find this, so we used chicken corn chowder instead)

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed ( I used the whole steamer bag, I don't think it is quite 2 cups, but it was the perfect amount)

2 tablespoons flour

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie, using 9-inch glass pie plate.
2. In 2-quart saucepan, heat soup, thawed vegetables and flour until warm. Spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. After 15 minutes of baking, cover edge of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges. ( I would let it sit for a while longer, this bad boy gets HOT!)

This is a great week night meal and the fact that it only has 4 ingredients is awesome!

O.M.G.

Ok, so let me start off by saying our dinner plan has really not worked out as planned. Actually, we haven't been too bad. Zig and I were both deathly ill on Tuesday night. Seriously. All we ate was 2 pieces of toast each (and I snuck in a small bowl of ice cream later only because I was feeling a little bit better and that was all that I thought I could eat that wouldn't make me sick again). Last night we had the steak and veggies and tonight I made the Roasted Red Pepper Penne. That is where the OMG comes in. This was delicious. The only modification I made was I added crushed red peppers because we like things spicy! Next time I make it I will probably cut the meal in half (unless we find out tomorrow that the leftovers reheat ok) and I will add some chicken for protein. This was really easy to make and took no time! You can get the recipe here if interested. Yummy! This will definitely go in our rotation.

How far along?: Today, I am 28 w 6 days.
Total weight gain: still +3
Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report
Sleep?: Meh, nothing to brag about. My favorite new comment I get from complete strangers and even some co workers is "Make sure you get your sleep now, because in a few months you won't be getting any!" Really people! Thanks for stating the obvious, but here is the thing, my sleeping now, will in no way help me 3 months from now because as far as I know you cannot save sleep in a special bank for the future. I am trying to sleep, but in order to avoid 3-4 trips to the bathroom during the night, I have to stop drinking water at 2pm. And that is not going to happen.
Best moment this week?: According to Zig "getting to see Emily move around like crazy in my belly." Last Friday we had a movie night and when Zig was tickling my tummy, you could see her moving following his hand. It was great.
Food cravings?:Nothing in particular, but I am loving fruit cobblers these days.
Labor signs?: None
Belly button in or out?: In, but still looking a little weird these days.
What I miss:Not getting up a million times a night to go to the bathroom

What I'm looking forward to: The car seat coming in the mail

So, in other news, my mom and I slaved away at a garage sale on Friday and Saturday of last week and we did AWESOME. Seriously, normally you have a ton of stuff to take to Goodwill afterwards and neither of us had more than maybe a box full of crap. It was great! Plus, Zig and I got around to rolling the rest of the money we found in the garage (Except for some pennies) and the grand total of all the change that has been in our garage or closet for at least the last 7 or 8 years was ::drumroll:: $423. WHAT?!?! What a pleasant surprise!

I also had a Dr. appointment on Wednesday. Everything is looking good. My belly is measuring right at 28 weeks, which is good. I did voice a concern about my weight. I was worried because in the beginning I was told I should gain around 25lbs, so the fact that I am really only up 3 had me worried. There are a lot of moms out there giving me the death glare right now, so let me explain. I mean I am not complaining. The less weight I have to lose the better, but I just want to make sure Emily is getting everything she needs and is growing on track. I am constantly eating! My dr. said that 3 lbs is a little low, but it is clear that I am getting bigger and Emily is moving like crazy, so she is sure everything is fine. Just for piece of mind though, we will do another u/s at our next appointment in about 2 weeks to check her size. It will be nice to see her again (and to make sure she is still a she. This would totally happen to us. We would go the full term thinking we are having a girl and it will end up a boy!).

Finally, here I am at 28w, 3 days. I don't have makeup on...Don't judge

Menu planning Monday...or Tuesday

Here is something that maybe not everyone knows about me. I LOVE TO COOK! Seriously. I really like it. I love to make meals for my family and I live for Sunday night dinners when I can entertain my love ones with a new recipe. You would not know this from the last 7 months, because I don't think I have cooked a single meal in that time. The first tri was because I couldn't keep anything down and nothing sounded good. The second tri was because I was just down right lazy. Now that I am in the third tri and liking food again, I figure there is absolutely no excuse as to why I am not making my wonderful husband delicious meals, since he has been doing it without complaint for me for several months. (We do eat out a lot, and both of us are sick of it too.) So because I know for a fact (and am constantly reminded by everyone who feels the need to tell me that how much my life is going to change in a few short months) that I will not have a lot of time once Emily gets here, I am going to try and cook as much as I can now.

Now, here is my disclaimer...I don't want anyone to think I am all Iron chef or anything. The truth is I am not a creative cook, but instead I stalk an assortment of about 35-40 different cooking blogs I have come across over the last 3 years in search of delicious, easy and somewhat healthy meals I can make for my family. Lately, most of the recipes I have tagged are desserts though. I am not going to lie. Sweets totally appeal to me.

So here is my menu plan for this week. We already strayed a little bit because Zig is not feeling well and I am not able to eat large portions. My attempt will be to list out a weeks worth of dinner choices, but I am not going to hold myself to making one specific meal on one specific day, but here is how I planned it in my head

Monday-Steak, jalapeno poppers, baked potato-this turned into just the later two for dinner last night. Not so healthy, but YUMMY!

Tuesday- Depending on how Zig feels tonight, Steak from last night, with a side veggie.

Wednesday - Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Pesto Penne from Annie's Eats

Thursday- Cheater home made mini pizzas-al la me (and Boboli)

Friday-Super easy chicken pot pie from Pillsbury

Saturday- Baked Ravioli from Telly's Tasty Tidbits

Sunday-Hot and sweet drumsticks, salad and a veggie

I even may get all fancy on you guys and take pictures. Maybe it will help me to be a better blogger. We will see how well this goes! Check back later for my weekly pics and update. I left my camera at home!

I'm a bad blogger

But, in my defense last week was a crazy week. I needed to focus on studying more than anything. I took the last part of my exam on Friday (hopefully it truly is the last time I have to take it.) I don't know how I feel about it, I just know it is over for now and now I just wait for about 3 weeks for my results. I am not good at Tax. I will just leave it at that.

In other news, I have the most amazing husband in the WHOLE world. I am so lucky to have someone so handy. I am convinced the man can do it all. I came home from work on Friday to my husband unloading giant solid wood doors. He decided that it was time for operation garage organization and that he was going to build shelving out of the wooden doors to organize it all. (I think he is nesting.) I kept him really busy on Saturday. Since I had been studying and since we had been going NON STOP for weeks, if not months now, our house was in desperate need of a deep clean. On Saturday, I woke up early to go and get my gestational diabetes blood work done (drinking 16oz of unfrozen orange otterpops (which is exactly what it tasted like) sounds good at first, but it was so sweet and cold, it was a little rough chugging that stuff down). While I was out doing that, Zig swept and mopped the floors and did an overall straightening of our clutter. When I got home, we finished with the rest of the vacuuming, dusting, wiping of surfaces, spot cleaning the carpet, etc. It is a lot of work! Then, since we are having a garage sale this weekend, we decided it was time to clean out the dresser in the guest room, which has over that last 4 years, become where we shove random stuff. We were done by about 12:30 and then were invited to go bowling with Mom and Robert. Zig was relieved when our chores for the day were done. We had a nice relaxing afternoon with our family, which I think is the best way to spend the weekend.

On Sunday, I went to breakfast with my mom, brother and Rebecca and afterward my mom and I went looking for a pack n play for her house. It was nice to spend some quality time with just my mom and I. When I got home, I was literally AMAZED at what Zig had accomplished. I wish I had taken before pictures! Where there were once mismatched shelves, now stood some study wooden built in shelving. He had gotten a ton done in the short time I was away, all by himself. I helped him (ok I watched) build the last set of shelving and then we tackled the organization of all our crap. We got rid of a ton of things that were just collecting dust and did an awesome job of organizing things so they will be easy to find. Most of the stuff in our garage is either holiday decorations or hunting gear. I will take some pictures this weekend of the finished product. I am really so proud of Zig for what he accomplished. We have a ton more room and were able to reorganize some things to make the garage more functional. We also found a huge coffee can full of silver change. Last night we started sorting it into rolls and I am thinking that we have a couple hundred bucks worth! Crazy that we have had hundred of dollars sitting in our garage for who knows how long!

Ok, on to the survey and pictures.

How far along?: 27 w 4 days.

Total weight gain: still +3, which is surprising because I feel like I have been eating like crap!

Maternity clothes?: still bottoms for the most part, I have a couple shirts in the rotation, but I can still mostly wear my pre-pregnancy tops.

Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report

Sleep?: Here and there. I actually found out I am anemic (BOO), which explains why I have been tired lately. I have felt a lot better than I did a few months ago though. I still kind of roll onto my stomach at night, but am getting more used to side sleeping these days.

Best moment this week?: Seeing the baby kick. She is getting much stronger. It is actually really cool seeing her move from the outside and Zig still loves to feel her moving around every night before bed.

Food cravings?:I still don't really "crave" anything. I love salty food and sweets, that is for sure, but there is nothing I really crave.

Labor signs?: None

Belly button in or out?: In, but looking a little weird these days.

What I miss: Nothing really. I am actually really happy right now.

What I'm looking forward to: Getting the car seat ordered and our bedding getting here so we can finish the nursery.

Milestones: We are in double digits. The countdown has officially started. We have 88 days to go till Emily's due date!

And here I am at 27 weeks. We didn't even get around to taking a picture last week. Boo!