Ramblings of a tired pregnant woman ...

I have neglected the blog over the past couple of weeks so I thought I would share a few things that are going on in our lives right now (in list form).

(1) The heat heat has finally subsided some this week. There is actually a hint of cool in the air in the mornings and evenings. We have enjoyed playing outside more and hanging out with our neighbors on their back porch. It has been nice to get out of the house without melting.

(2) The kids start preschool this week. I went to their open house this week and met their teachers. I think they are great! The kids are definitely ready to go back to school and so am I!

(3) All the big kids in our area have gone back to school now, which makes traffic into work very bad. Even if I leave a little later than normal. My commute to work has gone from 20 minutes to about 30-35 minutes. I am glad I don't have to drive it that much longer (at least for a few weeks anyway).

(4) Baby Luke is still growing. I really don't think my belly can get much bigger. I have officially gained 40 pounds this pregnancy (which is 10 more than ever before).

(5) I am super busy at work. In fact, I worked over 100 hours this month. Normally I work between 60-75 hours per month.

(6) David is a fast food restaurant spotter extraordinaire. He can spot Sonic, Chick-Fil-A and "HotDonalds" from a mile away. He is also very good at spotting Target.

(7) After 15 years of playing their lottery, Will finally got tickets to the Masters golf tourney (one of the practice round days) in April 2011. He got the letter in the mail yesterday and he was super-pumped.

(8) Claire was evaluated for free speech services through Metro schools last week. They are almost positive that she will qualify which will put an extra $150 back in our pockets every month (and we had really affordable speech therapy through a good friend).

(9) Will wants to put our house on the market in October so we can move into a neighboring county with a better school system. I want to wait until the spring for my sanity's sake! And, I don't want to lose our free speech! (See #8)

(10) We have not been to the pool since our vacation in mid-July. How sad is that? Maybe we can squeeze in one more pool trip before it closes Labor Day weekend.

Happy Tuesday!

Menu Plan Monday: August 30-September 5

This menu plan is brought to you by ... my mother-in-law. We were in Alabama this weekend for a baby shower and she loaded us up with some good eats to help me out with the cooking this week. I am pumped about not having to cook much at all this week. Plus, she sent some of our favorite things!

I have big plans to catch-up on my blogging this week for those of you out there who might like to read about more than what we eat every week! HA!

Monday: beef & vegetable soup, cornbread

Tuesday: taco salad

Wednesday: roast with carrots & potatoes, lima beans, rolls

Thursday: Tomato basil quiche, sausage links, coffee cake, fruit (this has been on our menu for three weeks now ... even if we don't eat it this week, I am making it and putting in in the freezer for later!)

Friday: grilled turkey tenderloin, mac & cheese, fried okra

Saturday: Game Day spread ... I haven't quite figured this one out yet but it will definitely involve some buffalo chicken dip and I might even have to bust out some of our favorite chili. (Sadly, we will be watching the Crimson Tide in front of the computer since their game will not be televised.)

Sunday (lunch): eat out with coupon

Sunday (dinner): leftovers

Check out other menu plans here.

Menu Plan Monday: August 23-29

This menu plan will be short and sweet this week. Our fave thing from last week that was a last minute addition to the menu plan was pesto-crusted grilled cheese. I served with sliced tomatoes and chips and Will and I both loved it. Can't wait to have it again this week. I thought the garden veggie frittata was also very good, but Will did not give it high marks. After that meal he said, "where was the meat item?" I actually meant to serve it with sausage links, but I forgot. It was still very filling though with muffins and fruit.

We will be having some quick meals and lots of leftovers this week as we have something every night this week and have a baby shower this weekend in Alabama.

Monday: pesto-crusted grilled cheese, sliced tomatoes, chips

Tuesday: Poppyseed chicken casserole w/rice, green vegetable, rolls

Wednesday: Tomato basil quiche, sausage links, blueberry muffins or coffee cake, fruit

Thursday: Leftovers for Will and the kids (I have book club!).

No cooking this weekend! Yeah!

Check out other menu plans here.

35 weeks down ... 4 weeks to go!

Finally! Some good belly photos done by a professional.

I meant to do a pregnancy update sooner, but I kept forgetting to take a belly picture, and then decided to wait until after Jadie took our pictures this weekend since I knew she was going to do a few maternity shots. I am very pleased with the outcome!

As of yesterday, I was 35 weeks along. I will be induced the week of September 13-17 (at 39 weeks) so I only have 4 more weeks to go. I have gained about 5 pounds since my last update bringing the total weight gain up to about 35 pounds.

I am going to the doctor every week now. Yesterday, I was dilated to 1cm. Last week, my cervix was still closed ... so, there has definitely been some progress. Over the past 2-3 weeks, I have had some really bad pain in my lower back and pelvis area. My doctor said it was something called symphasis pubic dysfunction, which means that the ligaments that normally keep my pelvic bone aligned become too relaxed and stretchy and that causes pain and instability. My treatment options are Tylenol or wearing a maternity girdle. Um, no thank you in this heat. I will take some Tylenol and just deal with the pain!

The baby has dropped a little bit, which makes sitting more comfortable, but now my belly button has popped out. This is a first for me! The heartburn is a little better now too. I don't really crave anything food wise and can't eat my whole meal without feeling full-up.

The sleep is going much better. I just can't get enough of it. I have been getting in bed right after we put the kids down at night (around 8:30) and I'm still exhausted all day long. But, on the plus side, my blood pressure is still low and I haven't experienced any swelling (yet), which is shocking considering how hot it is outside.

I am starting to get a little freaked out by how soon this baby is going to be here. I'm ready for the baby for the most part, but it's trying to get the rest of my household situated before the baby comes since I will be out of commission for a few days. And work is really busy. Depending on what date I am induced, I only have 10-12 more work days. Yikes!

Look what we did this weekend ...

We had some new pictures made by the amazing Jadie Thomas. These are Claire's 4-year and David's 2-year photos. I usually do them in April around their birthdays, but decided to wait this year until later in my pregnancy so we could do some maternity photos too. As always, they turned out great!!

I hope to get my side updated soon with the new pictures. But don't hold your breath since I'm working the next three days.

Menu Plan Monday: August 16-21

I'm really not in the mood to plan our menu this week because I am so very tired and it is so very hot. But, I'm also not in the mood for sandwiches and cereal for dinner every night either. I haven't been to the grocery store yet, which means I will have to go Monday or Tuesday night after working all day (hopefully our milk will stretch until then).

We have a few leftovers that will sustain us until I can make it to the grocery store ... I hope!

Monday: leftover Squash, caramelized onion and tomato pasta, salad, garlic bread

Tuesday: leftover Chicken puffs, fresh green beans & new potatoes

Wednesday: Garden veggie frittata, blueberry muffins or sourdough toast, sausage links

Thursday: grilled pork chops, fried okra, squash casserole, bread machine wheat rolls (seriously, I have had these pork chops on the menu plan for about 3 weeks now and we still haven't eaten them. Good thing they are in the freezer!)

Friday: family dinner out (I really hate cooking on Friday nights for some reason)

Saturday: date night

Sunday (lunch): Tomato basil quiche (this is a new recipe I am trying since we have basil coming out of our ears right now and I don't really need to freeze any more pesto), cantaloupe/watermelon

Sunday (dinner): leftovers

Check out other menu plans here.

This & that

We have had a busy August ... and it's only halfway over. Due to all the busyness, the blog has been a little neglected. Here is a snapshot (in list form) of our life over the past two weeks.

(1) We have played outside in the 95-100 degree heat and gotten hot and sweaty. Then acted really silly at dinner.





(2) I've done a lot of laundry due to all the playing outside. These are my helpers ... and yes, that is dirty laundry they are wearing.


(3) Claire got a haircut. We love it except that now she looks SO GROWN UP!

(4) Claire also went for a follow-up hearing exam (which was supposed to be done last summer ... oops!). She has some very mild hearing loss in her left ear due to the hole in her eardrum from her tubes that were removed last year. So, now we get to go to the ENT and have her eardrum patched. That should fix the problem we hope!

(5) Will sanded and painted the new crib. In our hot garage.

It is now fully reassembled in the nursery and pictures have been hung. Still waiting on name letters that I apparently waited a little too late to order. Oh well, maybe Will can hang them while he is home on paternity leave. (Yes, he gets two weeks paid paternity leave ... at least one of us will get paid while we are home with the baby!)

(6) I have been in nesting, I mean organizing mode around the house. Look at all the neatly organized art/craft supplies put away so the kids cannot freely access them. And they are close to the kitchen where we do most of our art/crafting.

I also organized the downstairs toys. All of the junk that was stacked on top of the shelves is now neatly stored underneath the train table. I don't know why I never thought to use that huge, empty drawer before.


(7) We tried out some new local Mexican fare at Swanky's Taco Shop and The Local Taco. Both were very good, but on the fancy side of Mexican food. Of course, I'm more of a sloppy Mexican kind of girl and the kids only eat chips and cheese quesadillas, which are pretty much the same everywhere!

(8) My kids discovered pudding. I don't know why I've never made pudding before. It is a much healthier treat than candy or ice cream, which my kids usually ask for (and I oblige if they have eaten a good meal). I got this 6-pack of pudding for like 25 cents at Publix one day and the kids love it. It's very messy, but very good!

(9) Claire started ballet this week at a new studio. It is about 5 minutes away from our house. She is "a little sad" that she is not taking ballet with her cousin Evie anymore (and she will gladly tell you all about it), but I just couldn't drive her 30 minutes away for ballet every week anymore. At our new ballet, she has to wear a black leotard instead of a pink leotard and Claire has been crying that she didn't want to go to "black ballet." All was forgiven though when Ms. Beth (her new ballet teacher) had Skittles after class and drew rainbows on her hand. She had a really fun time I think!

(10) Will got to spend a few nights at a fancy hotel about 8 minutes from our house for a work meeting. It was bad enough that he was away, but somehow, it seemed even worse that he was so close by and not sleeping at home. We survived even though I can now barely bend over the bathtub to give the kids a bath!

See ... we have been busy. I think they will only be busier as the month goes on as we start back to our Wednesday night routine at church, Claire starts soccer, we get ready to start back to preschool and I try to finish up a bazillion things at work before I am on maternity leave for a few weeks. Of yeah, have a I mentioned that we are having a baby in less than one month now?!? Yikes!! I need to go take a nap now.