Week 19

Not a whole lot to report on this week. We had our sonogram on Wednesday October 14th. We didn't want to find out the gender, but it was still nice to just see that there is actually a baby inside of me!!

Micah and I both think the best part was actually seeing the spine and such. It's so fascinating to see all the little parts.

They told me to finish drinking 30oz of fluids 1 hour before our appointment, and I must be the only one who actually does that, because the sono-tech was VERY surprised about the size of my bladder! He checked whatever it was that he needed to check regarding my bladder, then let me use the potty before he showed us the rest of the babe. It was nice to be able to relax. :)

10 things I like about my hubby

I read a post over at Mama M's Place that inspired me to list out 10 (of the MANY things) I like about my hubby. So, here goes:

1) He plays games with me - even ones he hates!

2) He is always impressed with everything I get done in a day, even if all I did was get dressed and "grow his baby."

3) He is a peace maker, considering unity to be worth the effort.

4) He continually seeks out ways to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit in his life.

5) He makes a priority to cuddle me in the mornings before he leaves for work, even when he's running late (which is usually my fault!).


6) He's always seeking to learn new things about everything!

7) He has such a love for his family and especially his siblings and nieces and nephews. (The picture is of him and my niece Hannah. She made him that birthday cake - and sampled the frosting too! ;-) I love that he always makes a point to know each one of the kiddos as individual people, not just another member of the herd.)

8) He enjoys making up new concoctions to feed to me - even if I am super picky! He considers that part of the challenge.

9) His "take charge" attitude when he realizes that something has got to get done, or that I'm feeling overwhelmed.

10) His commitment to all things, in the proper order, whether it be God, me, his family, church, work.


That was a fun exercise. I love that man!

Week 18

Week 18 began with me getting my first borrowed maternity clothes - thanks, Shawna!

The next day mom and I went to Mommy and Me, a local used clothing store, to try on maternity jeans and see what styles I might like. We also did some registering at Toys R Us and then met up with my sister-in-law Jessie to borrow some maternity clothes from her.

Jessie had a huge tub of all sorts of maternity clothes. (Thanks!) Mom and I were both really excited to realize I actually needed them now, so we went back to her house, where I tried everything on and gave her and my niece Hannah a modeling session! :) It was sure nice to have clothes that fit!

On Tuesday, October 6th, I had my first appointment with the birthing center. Because so many people were curious about the birthing center and how my delivery there would go, I had a pretty big entourage with me. But that's a whole other post!

At my appointment, I learned I weighed 152 pounds, up from 145 at the beginning of my pregnancy... though I like to think at least five of those pounds were due to getting off of our South Beach diet. I had lost a little over 20 pounds between October and June, so I wasn't that concerned about a few of them coming back.

New Year Resolution Update

So, a month and half ago, I informed you that I was going to try my hand at cooking 50 new things before the end of the year.

I was hoping to get a good chunk of those under my belt before this babe came, but seeing as how I'm just shy of 38 weeks, and I've made little progress, I'm not seeing how that's going to happen!

But, I did want to share with you the progress I have made so far:

1) I made guacamole on 12/11


Which was my first ever attempt at peeling these bad boys:


2) cinnamon rolls on 1/3 for an Elder/Deacon lunch at my church

3) blue cheese dip on 1/14

4) cake balls on 1/18 which was the first time I used the candy apple red Kitchenaid that my parents gave me for Christmas. These were so good, I made them again a few weeks later!

5) brisket on 1/21 because I got it on manager's special and I have been feeling the need to expand my horizons where meat is concerned.

6) mashed potatoes on 2/17. Yes, you read correctly. Yesterday was my FIRST EVER time for making mashed potatoes. Can you believe that? We just don't eat potatoes much around here - and actually, we didn't even eat these ones! We sent them with dinner to a friend who just had a baby.

I used my mom's recipe, which is pretty much the worst possible way you can have potatoes, I'm pretty sure. You boil peeled and cut up potatoes (I had about 10 or so in a 3qt sauce pan), then mix in a whole package of sour cream, a whole package of cream cheese, and some garlic powder. Then you put it an oven safe casserole dish, cover it with pats of butter and sprinkle with paprika, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so until everything is nice and bubbly. That's it.

They're super easy, and way tasty - but not exactly a dieter's friend!


So, that's my list so far - 6 items. I've got a lot of other things written down that I'd like to try out, but I'm not going to post them here - because I'd like a lot of them to be a surprise for my hubby!

Week 17

Week 17 was from September 25th through October 1st. (I really should get a move on these posts, huh?!)

It was during this week that I thought maybe I felt the first flutters, though I couldn't be sure.

It was also this week that a pair of my regular pants wouldn't button! I wasn't really showing yet, but my pants had gotten snugger and snugger until one day I couldn't wear them at all. I figured it was time to seek out some new clothes!

Sometime before then, I started regularly sleeping with a body pillow in order to try to keep me on my side. It was really hard to learn to sleep on my side, so I wanted to make sure I could by the time it was actually necessary!


This is a picture of our bed, with the body pillow in its normal position (under the covers, smack dab in the middle.) Because of the pillow's prominent position in the bed, my husband has affectionately (or, maybe not so affectionately!) named it "the boyfriend."

I'm not so sure he liked me choosing to "cuddle" with this pillow instead of him! But, you do what you've got to do, right?

Tie Dice

I've mentioned before that my husband is a pretty fun children's ministry leader. But, it definitely bares repeating!

At Manna March, we have weekly themes that are usually linked to the topic for that week and it's corresponding verse.

On the night that we were learning about peace, the theme was to dress in tie dye. But, my dear husband likes to put a little twist on the outfits he wears. And, since I get the wonderful pleasure of being a stay at home wifey, I got to make him this:

Here's a close up:

It's a tie with dice on it. "Tie-dice," get it?! :) He's pretty clever! And, I had a lot of fun making it.


I don't get to be nearly as cool as him. I just borrowed my mom's tie-dye shirt, and tried to convince her I wouldn't stretch it out! (I was about 21 weeks pregnant in this picture.)

I can't wait for Hoover to see how "groovy" his parents are!!

Babysitting Gabe

I started babysitting a sweet little boy named Gabriel when I was about 16 weeks pregnant.

I was still in the stage of my pregnancy where I got exhausted pretty easily. And Gabriel was in the stage of his life where he was working himself down from 2 naps a day to 1. These things did not seem to mix very well!! :)

So, most days I pulled out this Elmo seat to buy me 15 or 20 minutes of a stationary Gabriel. He could crawl around like crazy, so this was a life saver in the middle of the afternoon, even if it didn't last very long!


We sure did have a lot of fun - and even managed to get some things done! Like:

Playing with tupperware and exploring underneath the kitchen table.



Discovering the joys of Alice.com.


Folding laundry.


And sampling solid foods.


It was a fun 6 weeks or so, and great practice for what lies ahead in my near future!

Hope everyone has had a great week, and just a reminder, don't forget to check out the garage sale today or tomorrow!

Garage Sale

If you live near me, or will be in town, be sure to come out to the big garage sale this weekend benefiting Haiti Lifeline Ministries.

It's at 21st and Gage (Journey Church) from 7am-7pm on Friday, and 7am-4pm on Saturday.

There will also be a bake sale and silent auction! Should be able to find some pretty neat stuff!!!