The Best Year of My Life

Posted on March 12, 2014 by playinghousewi

I can’t believe how fast time is going. Tomorrow the hubs and I will fly to Mexico to celebrate our ONE YEAR anniversary. Yes, to all you marriage veterans, this doesn’t seem very long, but I literally feel like our wedding was a few months ago. It’s crazy to think that an entire year has already gone by and now we have a wee little one on the way who will be here in less than 4 months. Craziness.

So, in honor of the most amazing year of my life, spent with the most amazing man I’ve ever known, today’s blog is my Top 10 list. The 10 highlights of this past year we’ve spent together…

1) Exchanging our personal vows to each other in front of our friends and family. I cannot explain how grateful I am to have gotten my husband to agree to pouring our hearts and souls out in front of an audience. The words that this man said to me literally brought tears to my eyes. How could I be so lucky? He’s amazing and that moment was one of the best of my life.

Forever.

2) Loving and laughing with my guy. We have so much fun together and I absolutely love my time with him. It’s almost a little pathetic. If I could be with him every second of every day, I’m thinking I’d do it in a heartbeat. Everything just feels a little better with him around.

Splish splashing in Cali.

3) Learning to SCUBA in Fiji together. This was a big accomplishment for us, as Marky has some serious anxiety when it comes to water. But, together – with an amazing Fijian dive guide – we did it and were able to explore over 100 ft under the ocean… together.

4) The Mark/Toby morning routine. Most mornings, I get up first and when Mark and Toby finally drag their butts out of bed, Marky will carry Toby into the bathroom where I’m getting ready to say good morning. I get a sweet, sleepy kiss from both of them and I absolutely love it.

5) Telling Marky that we’re pregnant! The overwhelming excitement we shared at that moment and the monumental concept of the whole thing is just incredible. We created life together. And we made a commitment to each other and to our future baby to bring love and reason and morals and knowledge to her life. We extended our vows beyond each other.

Breaking the news to the daddy-to-be!

6) Running and jumping into his arms. While this is very fun, that’s not the only reason I love to jump into my husband’s arms. Sometimes I feel like a child with my love for him. I get so overwhelmed with love that I want to squeeze him… or hit him. Like a Kindergartner. Something about our run & jump routine fulfills this need. Side note… this is probably what I miss most since being pregnant. A giant belly is not conducive to such expressions of love.

That’s the face of someone who just got hit by 110 pounds running at top speed.

7) Baby & Pregnancy Planning. It has been SO amazing to plan out our pregnancy, birth plan, and child rearing techniques with my husband. His interest in EVERYTHING relating to the delivery is incredible. Already I feel like the most supported mama-to-be in the world. He’s not afraid to read about or watch the gory delivery details. He just wants to soak it all in so we can make the best decisions for me and for our sweet girl. He worries about me and takes care of me. And, he takes the time to read our parenting book and talk through a bazillion parenting scenarios. We have so many, “what would you have done in that situation?” conversations… and I love every single one. I couldn’t have a better partner.

8) Making up. While I don’t love disagreeing or arguing, I do love how we’ve been able to grow from all of our disagreements. With every fight, we get better and better. I cherish the fact that we take every opportunity to adjust our own actions in order to be a better partner for the other. I feel like we have a really great balance of give and take and I feel so comforted knowing that this is something we will only improve on.

9) Mark’s face when he felt the baby kick for the first time. Maybe just Mark’s face period. I just love him. I love seeing him light up and I love being able to share such insane and miraculous milestones with him.

10) Valentine’s Day! Not many men would take their wives all the way to NYC to see a musical. But my hubs had no problem. We spent an amazing and spontaneous day/night walking around, shopping, eating and just being in love. It was the perfect reminder of what we have together. Easy love.

So, lovey, happy anniversary! I love you madly. Here’s to another year of amazingness and to our celebration of the best year ever… which officially begins in less than 24 hours. Oh, and thanks for making me feel like the luckiest lady around. You’re my best friend (if you were with me, I’d give you a high five).

Symptoms

I have fresh fruit juice, sun and sand on the brain! Can’t wait to take my sweet inside baby and the love of my life to MEXICO… tomorrow!!! Also, I’d like to apologize to any of you who may run into us there… I may or may not be rocking a 6+ month belly in a bikini. It just has to happen. Please drink accordingly 🙂

What’s in a Name?

Posted on February 25, 2014 by playinghousewi

There is a chance I might regret opening this flood gate, but as we begin the name discussions, I’m wondering if any of you lovely folks have name ideas you’d like to share. Now, before you feel like this is an invitation to name our child or openly judge the name that we do chose, I must warn you that ultimately, we’re going to chose the name that we feel is best… and once we do, we won’t be looking for anymore suggestions 🙂

Anyway, I really love traditional, elegant names. Pretty much the names of either grandparents or babies… not the “traditional names” we grew up with, like Melissa, Jessica (my sister’s name), Rachel, etc. I also really want a name that is easily nicknamed. For instance, while I love the name Ava, this is more of what I consider to be a nickname. We have a very short, one-syllable last name, which in my book means we need to chose a first name that is strong and has multiple syllables. Another rule… our last name starts with L. I’m not the biggest fan of alliteration, so I’ve been avoiding L names. AND, my husband and I are M&M… I don’t really want to make that M&M&m… seems a bit too kitschy.

Let the suggestions begin… NOW!

Thanks for the help 🙂

Symptoms

It’s starting to get more difficult to bend down. I make grunting noises. I’m not even that big, but somehow, that’s what I’ve resorted to. It’s really most noticeable when I have to bend down to pick something up that I dropped or when I’m sitting on the floor and have to stand up. Oh well, right? Also, I still have a lot of discomfort in my back and neck. I’ve been going to the chiropractor regularly, but the pain always comes back. Thankfully, it’s usually by the end of the day that it gets bad, so at least I’m home.

The other thing that’s been bad has been my poor little feet. I walk around the house in my moccasin slippers that apparently have zero support. After about 20 minutes, my feet are killing… and 40 minutes after that, they’re swollen and super uncomfortable. I’m thinking it’s time to either a) get some arch supports, b) get slippers with more support or c) both.

Also, I’m a little cranky. Maybe it’s all the stuff I have to get done building up or the fact that we haven’t been getting a lot of sleep… either way, I’m definitely chipper today.

Don’t Make Me Decide… The Nursery Debacle

Posted on February 20, 2014 by playinghousewi

To say that I’m struggling with nursery ideas would be a total understatement. I am SO lost. I keep thinking I’m ready to go in one direction and then something makes me change my mind.

I know that generally speaking, I like the neutral colors… grey, cream, beige… with accent colors… maybe blush… or turquoise… or lavender…

Blush accents…

More blush… I definitely don’t like this crib.

Grey, Cream, Blush & Gold… a thought!

Elegant and neutral.

More elegance.

But then I have my moments where I think I want to be a little brighter with my choices and then I get totally lost. Ugh.

Bright colors…

Not sure about the pink, but I like the rest I think.

Similar colors.

Cute driftwood mobile.

Can someone just design the damn room for me? I really suck at making decisions. The same thing happened with our wedding… I was totally paralyzed in making any decisions, so we decided to move our wedding date up by 5 months and plan the whole thing in 3 months. I promise, that will help you make decisions 🙂

Anyway, I know I need to decide, but nothing has really wowed me.

I sketched this last night to try and organize where things will go and what kind of furniture we’ll need…

Don’t make fun of me… this is just one way I plan.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing polka dots on one accent wall. But really, I just don’t know.

Subtle polkas on one wall with white furniture…

Way too bright for my taste, but smaller polkas.

Way too bright for my comfort, but smaller polkas.

Polka accents in gold/blush.

Polka bedding. Also really like these colors… some of the time.

Here are some cute mobiles I found, too!

This first picture is by a lady who had a REALLY cute little lamb mobile on her Etsy page, but now it appears to be gone. <TEAR>

Bun Buns.

If I go the colorful route..

Thoughts?

Our Anatomy Scan AKA the Best Medical Procedure EVER!

Posted on February 12, 2014 by playinghousewi

So I have to be honest, my day yesterday did not start off as I had hoped. In fact, it was pretty shitty. Leading into the day, I was feeling super anxious and nervous. I had started to worry that I hadn’t felt the baby for a day or two and was just totally freaking myself out. Any excitement I had about learning the sex and seeing our baby had been completely converted into stress about the health and well being of our sweet baby.

In the morning, I was running late for work and feeling really chaotic. I had finally gotten into the car to leave and made it down the block when I realized that I had forgotten to grab my little pretzel gift bags for my nurse and doc. Obviously, I had to turn around and grab them. THEN, as I was backing out of the driveway for the second time, I was a bit too far over to the right and felt my car roll onto a bit of snow (aka: off the driveway). I tried to adjust, but being that our driveway is a steep 45 degree angle and was a bit of a slippery mess, I just rolled backwards and got nice and wedged in the snow. Needless to say, I was frustrated and crabby and had to call to have my car pushed out of the snow bank. Simultaneously, I was sharing my stress and anxiety with my husband by giving him shit for not shoveling the driveway from the weekend’s 1″ snowfall.

The husband was also feeling stress and anxiety about our upcoming appointment, so what was really a nothing situation turned into a fight… over the phone… before 10 am. We ended our conversation with a, “this is not a big deal… no worries… see you this afternoon,” but I think we were both still feeling crappy about it. Anyway, then it was finally appointment time and Mark was 15 minutes late to pick me up. When he arrived, things were kinda normal and kinda tense and by about halfway through our drive to the hospital, we were back in our stupid argument over nothing. It followed us into the hospital, where we sat in the waiting room in a whisper fight. And literally it was so stupid… but regardless, I freaked out. I didn’t want us to share this super exciting moment when it didn’t feel like we were on a team. So I told Mark I wanted to reschedule, got up and started balling my eyes out as I walked to the bathroom. When I got out of the bathroom, Mark was there and just held me as I gasped for breath, sobbing. We both acknowledged that the anxiety of the day was what was making us both crazy and that we loved each other and were just being crazy.

We held hands and walked back over to the waiting room together, as a team. That was when the best experience ever began.

As soon as I laid down on the ultrasound table, Mark was by my side, holding my hand again. The excitement was totally overwhelming and then all at once, there was our baby. Our ultrasound tech, Tracey, started at the head and then worked her way up and down and all around the baby. Some of the highlights…

The Heart! This actually made me quite nervous, because we had no idea what they were looking for or what “normal” would look like… and Tracey wasn’t giving any hints. But, regardless, it was pretty damn amazing. We saw all four chambers of the heart and the valves and everything. There is some sort of something that allows them to track the blood flow, so we saw red and blue patters that tracked blood flowing towards the ultrasound wand and blood flowing away… all moving within the heart and out to the rest of the body.
That little butt. Oh my goodness does she have such a cute, miniature baby butt. That was almost too much for me to handle.
Her tiny legs, crossed like the teeny lady that she is. What a princess, this baby is. Throughout the majority of the exam, she sat with her sweet little legs crossed at the ankles. Seeing the little legs and little feet. Oy. So much cuteness on one small monitor.
Her baby mitts. She was constantly moving her little hands around, but they stayed very close to her face the whole time. I’m thinking I need to invest in the onesies with the extra fabric to fold over the baby’s hands so she doesn’t scratch her face.
Have I mentioned how cute her little tush was?
Baby kicks… it was SO crazy to feel the baby kicking and be able to see what the movements I’ve been feeling actually look like. It makes everything WAY more imaginable and real and simply amazing.

Towards the end of the exam, Tracey told us she usually likes to see the baby “spine up” (aka with the baby’s spine facing upwards and their face facing towards the momma’s back), but since baby wouldn’t cooperate, she would move on to gender. I rolled on my side and she shimmied the ultrasound wand to try and get a good look at the baby’s lady parts, but our little nugget wouldn’t cooperate. Tracey told us she was going to give the pictures to the doctor to examine and would hopefully be back to to try to determine gender once the doc was done. I instantly got nervous and desperately asked, “but… you’re coming back right? You won’t make me leave without knowing, will you?” She said she’d do what she could and left us.

THANKFULLY, within minutes, she was back in with us. She told us that the doctor was reviewing the scans and that we’d try again. This time, the baby had flipped so she was able to get her spine photo AND, we were able to see what kind of parts the babe was sporting. Tracey explained that one thing they are looking for is the reflection in the genital area… the labia creates three little lines and the testicles create… well, honestly, I can’t remember! But, after she told us that she said, “As you can see, there are three lines here… you’re having a girl!”

It’s a GIRL!!!

I instantly squeezed my husband’s hand so hard and was literally speechless. I couldn’t do anything but smile and fight back my tears. And honestly, at that moment, I was so excited, but also realized that it wouldn’t have mattered either way. It was just so amazing to know which flavor baby we were having!

The better news came next… Dr… something came in to let us know that everything looked perfect! Baby is 13 oz and the scan looks great! PHEW!!!

We walked out of the appointment with a ton of photos totally glowing! We had our 20-week appointment next, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow. But, all in all, it was just amazing. I have literally never had a more amazing and miraculous experience EVER. We got to see our sweet little baby GIRL and she’s beautiful and perfect and tiny and lovely.

Here are the pics…

It’s crazy what can happen in 11 weeks! Check out the growth since our last ultrasound!

Here’s a shot of the little one’s lady parts from underneath. Notice the two legs, tush and three little labia reflection lines.

Mini hand by the sweet face profile.

Another profile shot!

3D Ultrasound Face Pic! This one is my second fave. Smooshy pout face.

My favorite little face pic. She’s just so precious with her little hand up by her face. I can’t wait to kiss that little face.

This one is a big blur… but there’s that little hand again.

The sweet baby showing her tush just like her puppy brother did later that afternoon. They’re going to be best friends!

Symptoms

I’m feeling great and excited and overwhelmed with love and happiness. Also, I’m starting to get the feeling like these next 20 weeks are going to FLY! Time to start planning the nursery 🙂

20-Week Celebration, Mani’s, Treats & More!

Posted on February 10, 2014 by playinghousewi

I had a great weekend! With Friday marking our half-way point in the pregnancy, we were naturally in good spirits. On Friday, we pretty much just laid low and hung out at home. There’s a chance I was in bed sleeping by 10 pm. Then Saturday, I was up early to meet my mom, sister and niece for manicures (the best way to start a Saturday).

Jessie (my sister) painting Gabbers’ nails… me in the background soaking in the loveliness of being pampered.

Happy Valentine’s Day Nails… I couldn’t resist getting a little festive!

After nails, mom and I grabbed a delicious lunch at my favorite local restaurant, Cafe 1505, and then we were off to do a little maternity shopping. While I have most of my staples, I was in desperate need of a pair of black pants that I could wear to work, some tops, a bra, and potentially some basics for Mexico (shorts, tanks, swimsuit). We were pretty successful in that I was able to get a pair of black pants that I’m in love with, some nice tops including one tank and a short sleeved-shirt or two, and a pair of shorts! BUT, the swimsuit and bra saga were not even a little fun. I almost shed tears a few times. I have always had a chest that is just too big for my frame, so things like swimsuits and bras are VERY difficult for me to find. Maternity bras and swimsuits were no different. Turns out my bra cup size is not made in a small enough band size… or at least not at Pea in the Pod. The lady recommended we go to a different store called Allure, which just so happens to be in the same little mall as Cafe 1505… I’m thinking lunch and bra shopping will be in my near future. As for the swimsuit… ugh. That was just as frustrating. NOTHING fit and I literally tried on about 10 swimsuits. I looked online and Old Navy sells swimsuit separates, which I think might be my best bet. I’m planning to order about 3-5 different styles and sizes and hope that one of them fits.

Okay, enough bitching about shopping. We all know how frustrating that can be… but the positive, is that I came home to my amazing husband who was ready to celebrate our 20-Week milestone. From balloons and flowers to frozen pizza (I have such a soft spot for frozen pizza) and cupcakes, everything was perfect!

I just love these colors and the polka dots! Perfection!

What I walked into!

So, we put our jams (PJ’s) on, made some delicious pizza, and curled up on the couch together. We actually watched, “The Business of Being Born,” which I’ll write about in a different post. What I’ll say now, is that every pregnant woman and her husband should watch this movie. It’s really powerful and is a great reinforcer of the importance of knowing your options at the time of labor.

The next day, Marky helped me make homemade caramel dipped pretzels covered in chocolate and sprinkles. The original plan for these was to just bring them to my doctor and her nurse on Tuesday as a little celebration of us finding out the sex (and the obvious bribery), but I decided to make a double batch and bring some to work. Here’s what I did…

Brought an excessive amount of sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil… then added sweetened condensed milk.

Then, I cooked the healthy mixture over medium-low heat for what felt like forever (stirring the entire time), until it reached 245 degrees F.

Once it was the right temp, it turned the right color! And caramel was made…

So we dipped the pretzels and let them sit and harden on a buttered piece of parchment paper. This took hours.

Once the caramel was hardened (after about 3-4 hours, I ended up putting it in the fridge for a half hour to really do the trick), I melted different colored candy melts in a double boiler, dipped my pretzels and covered with sprinkles.

The result was a lot of REALLY delicious pink and blue pretzels!

And for my doctor and her nurse, I wrapped up some pretzels in a little bag and added a cute bow! Voila!

I poured the leftover caramel into two well-buttered baking pans and let those harden into yummy caramels!

Here’s the recipe for the pretzels if you’re interested: Caramel Pretzel Stick Rods Dipped in Chocolate.

And while we baked, my sweet husband took some time to chat, up-close and personal, with the babers.

And even took the time to listen a little 🙂

How cute is he?

All in all, it was a great weekend with my hubbers and fam! And now, it’s just one day until we get to see our sweet baby on the big screen and find out the sex… and then Friday, we’re off to NY! This week is definitely going to be an amazing whirlwind!

Symptoms

Besides the rough patches during shopping, it was a great weekend. I’m feeling really good… except for some back pain. But, I’m headed to the chiropractor this afternoon and my sweet Milly gave me money for a massage that I need to book once I’m back from NY. All in all, feeling really excited, happy and good!

My Favorite 18ish Hours of Pregnancy Yet!

Posted on February 7, 2014 by playinghousewi

Yesterday, I left work feeling cranky and ready to battle anyone who came in my way. I ate a quick dinner of leftover Tofu Curry with the hubs and we ran out to make it to our 6pm Doula Meet & Greet. I think I spent the entire car ride bitching about… well, everything. Anyway, we arrived at the Meet & Greet and I was feeling a little skeptical. The room was filled with a bunch of doula characters. Going around the room, there was a seemingly quiet and timid woman in her mid- to late- 30’s; a woman with short hair, harsh eyebrows, and giant hoop earrings; a couple younger more “normal” looking women who turned out to be doulas-in-training; a woman who I later referred to as “Big Rachel” due to her tall stature and big hair… she has 6 kids ranging from 4-22; then Michelle, the woman who started to co-op organization… she has 9 kids ranging from 4-26; “the knitter,” a woman who literally was knitting something throughout the entire meet & greet… this irritated me at first, but she was actually quite nice; some younger woman who’s due with her first baby in July and was rudely not showing even a little bit; this hippy lady with short pigtail braids and a perma-smile on her face; a pretty normal looking doula/nurse who just joined the group; and “Genevieve” who reminded me of Jessa from the show, “Girls.” Total free-spirit, but very sweet and knowledgeable. The Doula group is called Mothering the Mother, Inc.

Anyway, these women started talking and answering questions and with every comment made, my skepticism disappeared and Mark and I were loving all of them more and more. Here are the details…

Money & What it Includes:

Let’s start with the money, because no matter how free-spirited a concept, it’s always about the bottom line, right? The whole thing costs $550.
So, for $550 you get an in-person meeting to determine and discuss your birth-plan, talk about goals, have any questions answered, get hooked up with additional resources, etc. Then, throughout your pregnancy, you stay in contact with the doula group. After each doctor’s appointment, you’re supposed to call/email/text and provide an update on what the doctor said, any concerns you have, etc, at which point the doulas can help answer any questions, etc. And finally, as soon as you start laboring, you call the doula group and you are assigned a doula (whichever doula character happens to be on call that day). The doula will come to your house if you’d like and help you work through your contractions and help you to stay comfortably at home as long as possible before transitioning to the hospital. They will then stay with you through your labor and delivery and for about 1-2 hours post-delivery. The doula will come back and see you for a 6-week visit to talk about the birth (and fill in any details you may have forgotten, answer any questions, etc), see the baby, help with breastfeeding, and answer any questions.
Oh! You also get a free labor support class included.

Mothering the Mother’s Current Stats:

19% Induction rate (compared to 23% in 2009 – I can’t find a more recent number, but from 1990 to 2009 it went from 7% to 23%)
9% Analgesics (I can’t find a rate to compare this to?)
20% Epidurals (I’ve found numbers ranging from 50-75%)
0% Episiotomies (Compared to 30-35% in 2005 – WOOF!)
16% C-Sections (Compared to 32.9% in 2009)

“Big Rachel’s” Labor Prep Book/Movie Recommendations:

The Business of Being Born
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
The Birth Partner by: Penny Simkin (for the husband to read)
Big Rachel’s birthing class website: www.betterbirthingservices.com

So, with all that said, Mark and I have decided to hire the doulas. We are really excited about it. It feels like a way for us to be more prepared and feel way more comfortable going into and during our birthing experience. Also worth noting, my crabiness was totally gone after our Meet & Greet. We were both super excited and energized. It was great!

The happiness continued later in the evening. Mark had a ton of work to get done last night, so I went to bed alone. As I do most nights, I laid in bed, poking my tummy or as I like to call it, “I played with the baby.” This time, instead of poking, releasing and waiting for the baby to kick in that spot, I pressed two fingers on my belly and just sat there. THEN… it happened! I felt a serious push back from inside my belly. My stomach was rumbling a little, so I wasn’t sure if I was really feeling our sweet baby kicking from the outside, so I tried it again. AND IT HAPPENED AGAIN! It was such a strong kick it was just crazy and amazing!! I called for Marky to come into the bedroom. I pushed his fingers into a spot on my lower tum and we waited. After a few seconds, he said, “I think I feel it” to which I informed him that he would know when he felt it and that he was probably just feeling one of our hearts beating. So after about 30 or so seconds it happened! Our little baby, future soccer player, gave dad’s fingers a good push. We both gasped and ugh. I can’t even explain how exciting and fun and amazing it was. Feeling the baby from the inside is awesome, but feeling my body between the baby and my husband’s hand was just incredible.

I’m surprised I was able to sleep after that excitement, but exhaustion took over and I was knocked out. I woke up to a dream of Mark and I announcing to our families that we were having a girl. I’m guessing this was a response to one of Mark’s comments last night. After the baby kicked, he said, “Now I really think it’s a girl because that seems like such a ‘you’ thing to do… like the baby’s pushing and saying, ‘get off my bubble’!”

Anyway, the baby played with us again in the morning, which was exciting on its own because today, I am officially 20 weeks pregnant… HALF WAY through this crazy, amazing, exciting, miraculous process. Can’t wait to see you in 140 days, Baby!

Symptoms

Daddy finally got to feel the sweet baby and I could not be any happier or more excited. Love you, sweet baby!

It’s All About Juicing

Posted on February 5, 2014 by playinghousewi

So, while I was away at a bachelorette party this weekend, my husband watched “Food, Inc” and “Fat Sick & Nearly Dead.” The outcome was me coming home to a man ready to go on a juice cleanse. After a bit of an argument on Monday night, we have compromised and are now incorporating 1-3 vegetable smoothies into our normal menu plan.

We have talked about buying a juicer quite a few times, but haven’t done the research yet, and thus, are sticking to vegetable smoothies at this point. I’ve heard that smoothies are better because they maintain the nutrients and fiber, while some of that is lost once juiced. We’ll see how it goes.

Benefits of Vegetable Smoothies (note: these are for smoothies with lots of leafy greens – ie kale and spinach):

Prevents heart disease
Boosts your immune system
Prevents diabetes
Lowers the risk of depression
Spinach increases the feeling of satiety; feeling full sooner decreases the chance of overeating
The body can absorb more calcium from kale than milk
Can help balance healthy hormone levels
Improves triglycerides
Decreases risk of cancer
Provides energy
Maximizes your vegetable intake
Increases fiber intake, which promotes healthy digestion, prevents blood sugar spikes after eating and helps lower your blood cholesterol
They help prevent kidney stones
They soothe acid indigestion because they are naturally alkaline
Some greens have a circulation-boosting effect that makes you feel sexier and gives you an attractive glow

So, what does our meal plan look like? Here’s a sample from the first few days…

Monday

Dinner: Very small portion of wheat pasta with a vegetable-rich pasta sauce and turkey meatballs (leftover from a couple weeks ago – I had frozen the extra) – for the sauce, I lightly sauteed 2 zucchinis, 1 squash, 1 head of broccoli, and a package of organic mini tomatoes. Then, I cut up the meatballs and sauteed for about 1-3 minutes more and then added some random organic marinara sauce I picked up from the grocery store. I put a small portion of pasta (1/2-2/3 cup) in a bowl and covered it with the vegetable/meatball sauce. Mmm! We had leftovers, which I threw in a freezer bag and into the freezer.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Carrot, Beet, Kale, Avocado & Pineapple Smoothie (RECIPE: 4 handfuls of mini carrots, 1 small beet peeled and sliced for easy blending, 3-4 handfuls of kale, 1 avocado, 1/2 a mini can of pineapple juice – Throw it in a blender, then pour into cups or mason jars and voila! Note: This made approximately (4) 16 oz. servings)

Carrot, Beet, Kale, Avocado & Pineapple Smoothie.

Mid-Morning Snack: Blueberry Maple Refrigerator Oatmeal

Lunch: 1/2 Whole Wheat Pita Pocket with light mayo, 1 slice of the “thin sliced” packaged pepper jack cheese, a slice of tomato, spinach and raw mixed stir fry vegetables (I buy a package of fresh stir fry vegetables from the grocery store as a little convenience. Saves a ton of time not having to slice a million vegetables. The mixture includes carrot, red onion, pea pods, broccoli, and bell peppers.)

Snacks (with lunch and throughout the day): Clementine, 1-2 cups popcorn (I can’t remember the brand… maybe Boom Chicka Pop), bag of mini carrots, Blueberry Greek Yogurt

Dinner: 1/2 Carrot, Beet, Kale, Avocado & Pineapple Smoothie, Slow Cooker Tofu & Chickpea Curry over small portion of leftover wheat pasta

Wednesday

Breakfast: The Glowing Green Smoothie (I adjusted the recipe a bit: in addition to the greens, I also added about 2-3 cups of chopped kale, a splash of canned pineapple juice, some extra water and probably 2 TBSPs of Kefir for some extra probiotics. Note: This made approximately (4) 16 oz servings)

Glowing Green Smoothie… Mmmm!

Mid-Morning Snack: Blueberry Maple Refrigerator Oatmeal

Lunch: The Glowing Green Smoothie, 1/2 Whole Wheat Pita Pocket with light mayo, 1 slice of the “thin sliced” packaged pepper jack cheese, a slice of tomato, spinach and raw mixed stir fry vegetables

Snacks (with lunch and throughout the day): Clementine, 1-2 cups popcorn (I can’t remember the brand… maybe Boom Chicka Pop), bag of mini carrots, Blueberry Greek Yogurt

Dinner: Having dinner with Pop & Milly (Mark’s gramps and momma)

A few things to note… it helps if the smoothie is cold, the smoothie is WAY more enjoyable with a straw, a little fruit goes a long way, if it’s too thick – just add more water, the smoothies can keep for 24 hours or more!

Symptoms

My lower back is definitely in need of the chiropractor. I am feeling achy and uncomfortable. As always, my face looks worse than it ever did in high school. Literally, every time I look in the mirror, there is a new zit. I’m starting to get used to it, but it obviously does not make me very happy. Ahh also, for the past 4 or 5 days, I’ve noticed that my hands are feeling quite swollen when I wake up. I wonder if this could be tied to me not getting enough sleep or slacking on my workouts last week. Who knows? Either way, I’m hopeful that between my vegetable goodness, my revived work-out schedule this week, and some extra sleep, the swelling will subside. But then again, maybe it won’t.

Besides these very minor things, I’m feeling pretty good. My moods seem to be very easily influenced, which makes me an extremely happy, upset, angry, excited, jolly, crabby, etc version of myself in a very short amount of time. Let that be a warning 🙂

Also, I’m getting excited for this weekend. Friday marks 20 Weeks… our halfway point!! Mark has a work conference on Friday, so he won’t be home until later, but we’re going to celebrate on Saturday. I’m sure he’ll plan something nice and relaxing and fun for us.

I’ll See YOU in One Short Week

Posted on February 4, 2014 by playinghousewi

In exactly one week from today, Mark and I will get to see our sweet little baby on the 4D ultrasound screen. For anyone who’s gone through this, I’m sure no explanation is needed regarding the anxiety, excitement, obsession, impatience and a little bit of fear that I’m feeling. For those of you who haven’t gone through it, here’s my explanation…

Anxiety I have stupidly answered everyone’s question of, “What would you prefer, a boy or a girl” with the answer, “Girl!” Now, with just one week until the big gender reveal, I can’t help but feel guilty and foolish for this comment. Here are my reasons for gravitating towards a girl: a) I eventually would like to have a girl and fear I might end up with 10 boys in my desperate attempt to get a girl. A girl first would eliminate that. b) There has been a girl’s name that we’ve talked about for quite some time and have had no idea on a boy’s name. This is stressful. c) Baby girl accessories are so cute. As you can see, none of these reasons are a big deal, which is why I feel guilty. Are people not going to believe how excited I am/would be if we find out we’re having a mini man? I mean, my hubs was one cute kid… I’d be stupid not to want one of those little guys on our team. Also, I feel anxious about my reaction when they tell us the sex. Despite the fact that I will be overjoyed either way, will I feel a bit of disappointment my intuition was wrong if it is a boy? Ughh.

Excitement We have not seen our baby since 8ish weeks, and at that time, the little nugget literally looked like a blurry blob… AND, even that was totally amazing. I cannot even imagine how special and amazing it’s going to be to see our sweet love’s face and hands and feet. I’m overwhelmed with excitement. Not-to-mention the fact that I’m excited to finally stop guessing if the babe is a boy or girl.

Obsession All I’ve thought about for the past 4 months, 3 weeks and 5 days has been this little baby. So, I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of obsession. I know there will be other things to obsess about after we find out the sex (ie: nursery decor, registering, delivery, etc), but it’ll be nice to not have gender as one of those things.

Impatience To say that I’m impatient is a TOTAL understatement. I don’t like waiting at all and this wait has, at moments, felt torturous. I’m ready to see this sweet face for what could be the first and last time before we meet face-to-face.

Fear Of course, there is always that looming fear that the doctors are going to see or hear something that isn’t good. I’m trying to ignore that feeling, but sometimes it creeps up on me.

And in other news, I have the cutest animals around. Check out last night’s snuggle fest…

Toby & Ollie sharing a little love.

Symptoms

I’m still struggling from the weekend. I’ve been SO tired these past couple of days and feeling sore and uncomfortable. I’m hoping a few good night’s rests will really improve that, but we’ll see! Maybe a chiropractor visit and the weekend are required? Otherwise, all is well. Trying to get back to healthy eating, which now includes vegetable smoothies. More on that later in the week!

Every Other Day is Now, “Bring your Baby & Puppy to Work Day!”

Posted on February 3, 2014 by playinghousewi

Today I officially start my new, mommy-friendly job! For awhile now, I’ve been bugging my current employer to let me go part-time so I could begin working for my parents part-time. This has been in the works for years, but with the recent turmoil at my job, it seemed that everything was spinning in my favor. And, sure enough, my boss emailed me about a week and a half ago and said that the board had spoken and was willing to grant my request to go half-time while keeping all of my benefits (including the most important: insurance).

This is literally best-case-scenario. Working half-time at my parents will allow me to not only bring my sweet baby bub to work with me, but also bring my pup… which equals my dreams coming true. Not-to-mention the fact that I will reduce our need for childcare by 50%. We are still working out the details of the other 2.5 days, but my sweet Milly (Mother-In-Law) has offered to watch the babe, which could be a great option! Honestly, this has all happened so quickly, we haven’t had much time to digest, work through details or plan for baby’s arrival. Regardless, it seems to be a pretty darn good situation.

My schedule, which began today, will have me at my original job on Monday morning, Wednesday and Friday and with my parents on Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Thursday. I’m anxious to get started with M&D (mom and dad) and get into my new groove!

Wish me luck!

Symptoms

A few times this past week, I’ve been able to feel the little babe do what felt like a full flip in my belly. I could feel him or her graze across the entire front of my stomach, from the right edge all the way to the left. It was a totally weird and awesome feeling that I find myself longing for. It’s just so crazy to think of the little baby flipping around in there.

Also, after a couple late nights at a bachelorette party this weekend, I find myself feeling pretty swollen in the face and pretty much looking like shit. So, it was such a nice and sweet and perfect little surprise this morning to find this note in the bathroom from my amazing husband:

I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

At least he doesn’t seem to notice my face/body bloat, right?

Did I mention that while I was gone all weekend, my amazing husband spent the weekend taking care of our house? He did laundry, he worked on our investments, he ran errands. Such a gem. Definitely feeling like one lucky woman and feeling so grateful for my amazing partner… he’s going to be such a wonderful pops.

19 Weeks (January 31, 2014)

Posted on January 31, 2014 by playinghousewi

19 Weeks (January 31, 2014). I can’t believe tomorrow is February and that next week is the halfway point. Time is really flying! As of now, I’ve gained about 10 lbs, which is okay… maybe a touch high. I’m feeling great, loving life and really enjoying being pregnant. In fact, this morning I felt a super baby movement that I thought could have potentially been felt from the outside. I’ll have to pay attention… seems like it’s coming soon! HOLY SMOKES! I just looked at this picture compared to last week’s and it looks like my little bump has really expanded over the past 7 days. Eesh!