Tuggles verses the bug ... and a sweet potato

If anyone ever tells me cats are useless creatures, I will most likely laugh at them since they are obviously clueless. Don't get me wrong, my cats don't play fetch, rarely come when I call them (unless I use treats or catnip as a bribe), greet me at the door because they want food, and think they own the world. However, the males in my home (this is my husband and my cat Tuggles) are the official bug patrol - and sometimes I think my cat is more affective than my husband is (but lets not tell HIM that!). So on to the story...

A few days ago, before my alarm goes off, I hear my cat sporadically racing around my bedroom, randomly whining while this is going on. Mind you, this cat is about 18 pounds and NOT light on his feet, so yes, it wakes me up. I lay in bed for a few minutes listening to the chaos ensue, knowing that either 1) he is playing with his imaginary friend (which is ALWAYS entertaining to watch) 2) playing with one of the random cat toys he has, or 3) he has found a bug - and my guess was the bug. [SIDE NOTE: We live on a lake and thus have learned that we deal with a lot more of nature, both inside our home and out. As long as it continues to be a single bug every few months and not an ongoing battle, I can manage.] I slowly roll over and turn on the light by my bed then move to the end of my bed so I can see my whining kitty and his prize. There he is, laying on his belly with a single paw holding the bug in place. He lets it go and it starts to scurry away, Tuggles then lets out another whine and whacks it with the other paw. He proceeds like this for a short time until the bug gets to far away, at which point he runs over to it, picks it up in his mouth (((gag))) and moves it back to the center of the floor again. Now while he is "playing", the bug is slowly losing its legs - and yes, they can be found later on the floor (gross, I know). Soon the bug can no longer move on its own and Tuggles loses interest, at which point I have a bug body left on the floor. That is stage 1 of the bug control in my house and sometimes get skipped.

Stage 2 is where my husband's bug duties come into play. If the bug is small and not crunchy, I can address it myself. However, if it is a larger spider or other type of nasty insect (especially those that crunch rather than squish), it becomes my husbands job to deal with it. This most recent bug is the later, and while it is now legless and has one antenna left, it is still of the larger, crunchy variety and makes me shudder. I contain the insect for my husband (READ: place a glass over said bug - or bug body in this occurrence) and inform the exterminator (READ: call husband and tell him he has a chore to take care of immediately). So, I call my dear husband, tell him Tuggles found a toy and I'm pretty sure he ripped all the legs off so it can't move, and I left it under the glass on the floor, please dispose of it when you get home. (And now why I say I think my cat is the better "bug guy" in my home) I get home that evening and the bug is no longer under the glass (but the glass is still on the floor). Okay, no big deal. I walk into the bathroom and BAM! the bug body is sitting in the bottom of our toilet and I, of course, cannot use it now. Sigh. At least he tries.

Now for the sweet potato - that is the size The Nest tells me our baby is this week. I'm 18 weeks. 2 more weeks and I'll be half way there!!! Now, if we just knew what we having the shopping would start.

and I just *thought* it would be easier...

After looking through all the fun boy bedding yesterday, I figured since I knew I wanted pink, frilly bedding if we have a daughter, I could quickly find a few I liked. Okay, that part is not a problem. What I did quickly learn was the girl bedding I like is SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than the boy bedding - think $200 vs. like $800. :-( The "Miss Princess" is my absolute favorite, but there is NO WAY I can justify spending that much on crib bedding and while the "Chloe" is not that expensive, I don't like it nearly as much. Boo hoo hoo! I guess I keep looking...

Miss Princess - Little Bunny Blue ($850)

Maribelle - Glenna Jean ($540)
Isabella - Glenna Jean ($390)

Coco - Glenna Jean ($390)

Chloe - Glenna Jean ($230)

Baby Ella - Glenna Jean ($430)

Alexandra's Room - Bebe Chic ($510)

Too many choices!

In an attempt to be a little proactive, I started looking at crib bedding. I was thinking maybe I could have a few picked out before we find out the sex to make it easier to shop and determine paint colors. A quick google search later and I had thousands of choices. How do I even possibly begin to choose? I started by looking at boys bedding, since if its a girl, I really want a pink room so I am thinking girl bedding will be easier to pick. So below I've included a few pictures of some of the boy patterns I like - please feel free to leave me comments and let me know what you think - God knows we'll need all the help we can get trying to make a decision! (Just remember, I'm looking at the bedding and not necessarily all the extra decor shown)

Two by Two - KidsLine

Spelling Bee - Lambs & Ivy
Pirates Cove - Cotton Tale
Peek-a-boo Friends - Cocalo
Papagayo - Lambs & Ivy

My First ABC- KidsLine

Moo Cow - Sumersault

Elephant Parade - Cocalo

Big Equipment - Cotton Tale

Baby Aviator - Lambs & Ivy

Oh how I miss thee!!!

This is so totally and completely UNFAIR. I can say for the first time since finding out I'm growing a human I actually have a craving. This is HUGE for me, since food and I have not been the best of pals lately and to actually CRAVE something instead of it just sounding tolerable is landmark in my book. "Great! Grand! Wonderful!" you say? Not so much, and I'll tell you why. I am craving cottage cheese, and not just any cottage cheese but the most delicious cottage cheese ever - Michigan brand cottage cheese. I have tried a few others from time to time and was always depressed, like to the point of throwing it out. And why is craving this particular brand a problem? BECAUSE I'M IN FREAKING TEXAS WHERE THEY DON'T SELL MICHIGAN COTTAGE CHEESE! This is a huge dilemma now, since all I can think about is that wonderful cottage cheese. I found out the Michigan brand is considered "Old Fashion" or "Farmer's cheese" and is a dry cottage cheese. I wonder now if this type of cottage cheese is available anywhere near me. My first try will be stopping by the grocery store on the way home and trying a variety of the brands they offer to see if anything works. If not, then it looks like I'll be hitting up a Whole Foods or Central Market to see what they have to offer. Hopefully I can find something that taste close enough to my prized cottage cheese to help get me paste this hump. If not, it looks like I'll be finding someway to get some of it shipped to me since I can't wait until August to get some (I'll be in the mitten state for my BFF's wedding).

Damn you cravings!!!

Duck, duck, DUCK!

Quack!!! One of our favorite past times it to feed the ducks, and while this is something we normally do off the dock in our back yard, this past weekend I wanted to get up close with ducks and geese. We headed to a local park with a full loaf of bread and looked for one of the more "duck popular" spots. We headed down to the river front and found a perfect spot to sit. Within a few seconds we had all sorts of ducks making lots of noise and apparently calling over all their friends. The white ducks seemed to be the most friendly and were the first ones to climb up on the bank with us. Next we had the Muscovy ducks which were more than happy to eat out of our hand - hence the up close and personal part I like. The mallards were surrounding us in the water and all seemed to be waiting patiently. When you have over 20 ducks around, several of which are making quite the commotion, it gets hard to try and feed them all evenly, but I tried, I really did! As I'm sitting there, my husband starts getting really excited and is pointing to one of the ducks that I at first though was a small mallard. My husband starts repeating "It's a woody! What the heck is he doing here - its a woody!!!" and for anyone that knows ducks, you'll understand how strange it is to see a wood duck at such a pristine park. They are normally only found in the marshes and more wooded areas, which in turn is why they are called wood ducks. This guy however, was up in the area with all the other ducks eating bread and holding his own - and what a beautiful duck he is too. You can see in the image below just how pretty these ducks are. I think we'll be sure to visit that park again!

Baseball, snakes, and an avocado

It has been a relatively busy week and I'm so glad it is finally Friday! Monday I had a doctor appointment for something non-baby related and I finally got an answer to something I've been dealing with since November - along with a Rx to fix it. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the issue will finally go away. Yay! Tuesday I was off of work so my husband and I (along with 2 of his friends) could go to opening day for the Rangers. We even arrived early enough to catch batting practice, during which my wonderful husband caught me a baseball which I am hoping to get signed by several of the players at future games. We LOVE baseball and are both so excited the season has started (and in fact might be going again tonight). The funny part is my husband ordered a beer and while I would have loved to indulge in one myself, I learned that just smelling it was enough to tide me over - random, but it worked. That night after the game was the major excitement for the week though.


My husband needed to sleep since he works nights, but since we had not had dinner we needed something quick. We decided to run up to the corner to pick something up and jumped in his Jeep. When we got back, we walked up to the door where we fiddled around for a few - talking to the dove nesting above the door and then my husband randomly grabbing for the door handle, but on the wrong side of the door for some reason (see, he really does need his sleep!). As we were standing there I just happen to look down and freaked out - I scurried away from the door screaming my husbands name. My poor husband. Being the spider hater he is, he assumed there was a spider near him and quickly leaped back while swatting at his head, face and shoulders - trying to get the crazy eight-legged Satan off of him. Meanwhile, I'm point at the door with random sounds coming out of my mouth since I could not make words. He looked at me, trying to figure out what the problem was and then looked at the door. It took him about 30 seconds to finally see it - there, on the same doormat we had just been standing on in shorts and flipflops was a snake! Once he saw it, I was finally able to make words again and we looked at each other and both commenting on how we didn't see it in the first place - I mean, how did we both walk up to the door, stand on the mat WITH the snake, and not even realize it. Then, how in the world did neither of us get bit, considering we were standing there for at least 2 minutes or more. Yuck. The next half hour was spent going in the BACK door, getting a shovel, and trying to get the snake out of our yard without either of us getting bit. As my brave husband tried, the snake continued to snap viciously at the shovel and anything else that got near it. (((shudders))) He finally was able to move it out of the yard and were able to eat. Needless to say, we are both very cautious approaching our house now - or any other building for that matter. Living on a lake isn't 100% wonderful considering all the random bugs and wildlife we have to deal with, but so far its been worth it.

Wednesday was much less exciting as I had class all day at work and we spent time with my husbands family that night, with the guys all playing Rockband. Uneventful in comparison, but we enjoyed it. Thursday we met with out financial advisor, who gave us the good news that looking at our retirement, its possible for me to go part time after the baby is born for a whole 5 years, stopping my retirement contributions during that time, and still come out on goal in the end. While we have no idea at this point whether I'll be going back full or part time, its nice to know we have the option to do part time and not push our future goals out any. I guess its about time we starting looking at this a little more since the time will come before we know it! Eeek! Back to Thursday though - after our meeting we grabbed some dinner and headed out for opening day at Lonestar Park and bet on some ponies. After admission, parking, a few beverages, and betting (and winning), the evening cost us less than $10 and allowed us to enjoy the nice spring evening. So perfect. I love this time of the year! And while right now we don't have any plans set in stone for next week (other than my OB appt), I'm sure we'll manage to watch some baseball, bet on a few more ponies, and continue to enjoy both the weather and each other. After a year and a half of marriage, I have to admit I continue to enjoy every single second!


One final note - today I am 16 weeks along. 16 weeks. 4 months. Wow. And I hear my baby is the size of an avocado. That means I have roughly 5 months left. Time really flies. I have to share a commercial I saw that really made me realize how close we are. I believe the commercial was for Cooks Childrens medical center, but I might wrong - however the story really made me think. It started with a lady talking about the NICU and how thankful she was for them, she talked about how she gave birth to her child at 24 weeks (that's 2 months from now for me, not very long), and how the NICU was so wonderful and everything. She then ends with a comment about how her child is a normal 7 year old now - after being born so early, the child is in perfect health. My husband and I looked at one another and both said "2 months", meaning if that were us, we'd be full on parents in 2 months. We have 2 bibs and a pair of booties. We are not even CLOSE to being prepared. I think that commercial helped me realized the reality of it all. I know we are waiting until after the 20 week BIG ultrasound to purchase anything, but I know I'm also starting to feel slightly anxious. While I should have 5 months left to acquire the things I need, you never know the hand life will deal you. So as I end this, I ask you to please to keep my unborn child in your thoughts and say a little prayer that everything works out as planned.

Waiting...

I'm still waiting ... and I'm tired. Will this ever end?

Week 14 today

According to some Internet research, our baby is the size of a lemon this week (since week 14 starts today). Wow. It really is amazing to me and I think its finally starting to seem real. I know, I know, with all the morning sickness it should have seemed real, but instead I just felt miserable and couldn't begin to think about what a miracle was going on with my face buried in the toilet - just not happening. However, now that I've made it through the past couple days feeling semi-human, the excitement is starting to come and I want to start shopping. Baby items are so freaking cute - the little hats and onesies and socks, all of it! My husband and I were able to spend one day out looking at cribs and furniture and have an idea of what we like, but alas, we know we won't buy anything until after the big ultrasound so we know what we're having - although I have 2 fears regarding this: 1. That we won't be able to tell whether its a boy or girl and 2. if we can tell, that in the end it will be wrong (my mother in law knows how this goes since the doctor thought my husband was going to be a girl). The way I look at it though is IF either one of these things happen, then so be it, we'll make it through and laugh about it in the end. I just don't understand how people choose to wait until the birth to find out! I'm way too much of a planner and while the unisex stuff is of course cute, the little boy and girl items are so much better! I know we want to decorate the nursery according to being a boy or girl as well as I want to be able to refer to my child as "him" or "her" instead of it. I still giggle when we refer to the little one as "it". But that's just me and my craziness anyhow.

A lemon. That's SOOO MUCH bigger than a bean or a peanut. A whole freaking lemon. And its only going to get bigger. Life truly is a miracle.

I think it is time

It has now been a few weeks since I have buttoned my pants - don't' get me wrong, for a while I still could but when I sat down, the pressure on my belly made me feel even worse (which was NO GOOD!). However, I put on my normal pants this morning and they won't even zip all the way now. Le sigh. I think it's time to buy some REAL maternity pants and I have a feeling once I realize how comfortable I CAN be, I'll want to kick myself for not doing it sooner. I guess my biggest fear is that new clothes can get SO expensive, especially when you need basically EVERYTHING new - but there is no way to get around it so I guess I need to suck it up and just go. My wonderful husband already picked out a pair of camo capri's that I wear pretty much non-stop, but they are not really appropriate for work (well that, and I would freeze in anything other than long pants and a sweatshirt since my current office is so cold).

So here goes - whether its tonight or in the next couple days, I will start visiting Kohl's, Target, Old Navy, Motherhood Maternity - as well as begin searching on eBay to see what I can find. Oh to feel comfortable again!

That's good to know...

Thursday was great, or so I thought. I left a little early to come home and spend so good quality time with my poor, neglected husband and started getting a little hungry on the way so I stopped at Jamba Juice. I figured a fruit smoothie (and yes, a little sherbet) would be good to put something in my belly before I got sick. No such luck. Within 30 minutes of walking in the door I was once again sitting in front of the toilet, wasting the $4.00 or so I had just spent. Luckily for me, it made me miserable for only about 15 minutes. I was good for a few more hours then the night-time nausea came back. The rest of the Easter weekend was pretty miserable and lets just say I am working from home today because sitting at my desk with tears flowing down my checks waiting until my next gagging fit starts isn't my idea of a great Monday. So I continue to wait for the the joys everyone says the second trimester will bring. Today is 13 weeks and 3 days, so its officially the end of the first trimester. We'll pick up the rest of my expensive Zofran prescription today, which hopefully helps. It sure did this morning anyhow.

On a much more positive note, I just remembered the news the doctor had for me at my last appointment (which was last Monday). All my blood tests came back great and I'm not even showing signs of anemia, which is always a concern. But, I also found out my blood type - which sure is a good thing to know. I am A+ which I also believe means I do not have to worry about the whole positive verses negative blood type where I need shots if the baby is positive and I'm negative. So the good news is no extra needles, and for anyone that knows me, understands this is one of my biggest fears - so yay!

What about something OTHER than pregnancy, right? Well, with it being spring, we are anxiously awaiting any and all signs of better weather. One of those items are birds. We put out our bird feeders a few weeks ago and while it took them about 2 weeks to find it, the feeder has not been lacking birds for more than 5 minutes - so this is nice to watch. We seem to mostly have just common finches and doves, but there is also a cardinal pair that comes to visit and this morning I saw a red-winged blackbird which was neat. Another item we love here in Texas are the bluebonnets that grow wild. Now I haven't not seen a single flow, but my husband saw a field full on his drive to court today, which means spring IS here. I'm sure we'll get our camera out and take some pictures in the near future as well. The next few weeks also bring the Ranger's home opener, which we of course got tickets for, and thoroughbred racing to start - and we love going to the horse races! This time of the year is so exiting - I mean fishing, baseball, horse races, BBQ's, warmer weather - what could be better? And while I'm still hoping to start a small garden this year, I am making no promises there. I do know I can't wait to start cooking again, I can't even begin to tell you how tired of fast food and dining out I am. This will one day become more about food again, and that IS a promise.

A good day...

Wow - whats that? A good day so far? Who knew that could happen, but it DID. Granted I still have the rest of the afternoon and evening to go but so far I have felt better than I have in almost 8 weeks. I was even HUNGRY at lunch and went out for some BBQ - its amazing. I am even hoping to skip out of a work a little early so I can go home and enjoy some time with my dearest hubby when I'm feeling good, he won't even know what to do its been so long. It's truly amazing to feel human again and want to do something beside lay on the couch and cry. At this point I have no idea what will come of the evening, but my hubby is off and I would be completely happy if we just snuggled and watched movies - I have missed him so much lately! It's also great since he's off tonight and tomorrow, so for the first time in a while we get a TRUE weekend together, like a normal couple (sometimes I really hate his schedule!). I think we might go out shopping so I can get some pants that fit ... since I hate to admit I have not buttoned mine for weeks now, so I think its time. I think I'm also going to check ebay and craigslist to see what I can find, since I have to imagine a whole new wardrobe will get quite expensive! The thought of getting out of the house while feeling normal has me all giddy inside, so pray it keeps up and that I'm over the worst of it!

On another note, I have several people close to me who are struggling with getting pregnant or dealing with miscarriages so I want to send my good thoughts out to them. While I've been physically miserable, they have been emotionally miserable and I can't even imagine the pain. You never know what the person next to you is dealing with, it could be worse than you think.

One final thought - tomorrow is Good Friday which means this Sunday is Easter, so take some time to enjoy what you have and remember: SPRING IS UPON US! Hooray for warmer weather!

Morning, Noon, and Night Sickness

While I'm still battling the misery of the first trimester sickness, I figured it may be worth while posting some of the things I've been told can help with it (although its rare that I find relief with anything, but its always worth a shot!). So here is my list of things I've been told and more than likely tried at one point in time.

1. Ginger - long known for its ability to calm nausea, you can find this as ginger ale, crystallized ginger (such as candy), gingersnaps, ginger pills, or even ginger tea. I've stuck to the ginger ale - it's helped me burp which at times makes me feel better, but for me, it was no wonder drug.

2. Eating every 2 hours. It seems that as you get hungry, you get nauseous, so this can help prevent that. The main problem I had is that food in general was my enemy, nothing ever sounded good and my gag reflex was horrible, so forcing myself to eat was hard. This was actually a good tip and I am still trying to abide by it, but alas, food and I are still not friends.

3. Vitamin B6 - some people swear by this. Both times I tried it, I think I felt worse (if that's possible), so I gave up. I do know a large amount of women that say taking 25mg of B6 3 times a day, and then half a unisom caplet at night was their wonder drug, so talk to your doctor first, but it might be worth a shot.

4. Preggie Pops - made specifically for pregnant women dealing with morning sickness. These were great at first, but now they make me gag.

5. Lemons - whether its just the smell or actually sucking on them. Smells really offend me, so I can see how the smell can help, but citrus is on my bad list so the thought of sucking on a lemon again makes me gag. (This whole gagging thing has been LOADS of fun, let me tell you)

6. Rx meds - I've tried Reglan, Zofran, and Phenergen - both the Reglan and Phenergen made me feel really anxious, like I needed to crawl out of my skin, it was awful. The Phenergen also made me sooo tired that it would have been great, if I was able to lay still and sleep - but that anxious feeling kept me from being able to lay still - so while I didn't feel as nauseous, I was still miserable. However, I did end up vomiting still with both the Phenergen and the Zofran, as well as continued to feel nauseous and queasy with the Zofran. So in the end, none of these really worked for me.

7. Seabands - these are those little elastic bracelets you wear on each wrist that has a bead you place on a pressure point to help alleviate the nausea, although they are advertised for seasickness but supposedly work for morning sickness. I've worn these on and off and while I'm not sure they've made a difference, I continue to wear them just in case. I've yakked while wearing these too, so who knows.

8. Keep crackers on your night stand, eat before you get out of bed, and take your time getting up. This one I can't say I've tried because I usually feel best in the mornings. I do take my time getting up, and once I get up I immediately grab something to eat which seems to help. I believe this is based on the fact that you were sleeping all night and the lack of food is known to upset the nausea, so it makes sense.

9. Gum, candy, ice - something to suck on and keep your mouth busy. One of my biggest battles is the constant salivation and nasty taste in my mouth - so these help with both of those. There were days when the salivation was so bad I would just sit in the bathroom and spit because I could handle swallowing anymore of my own saliva (I'm gagging now just thinking about it). That was also about the same time that EVERYTHING left a bad taste in my mouth. Gum, candy, and ice were all helpful. The ice was good since it helped keep my somewhat hydrated when I couldn't even stand the taste of water - so I really suggest starting with ice chips, they were and still are my savior.

10. Cinnamon toothpaste - it seems the mint toothpaste is a common food aversion for pregnant women and lots of people have found solitude with non-mint toothpaste and cinnamon was the favorite. My dentist also said I could brush without paste if needed but if you do, I suggest rinsing quite often since that nasty taste will get you.

11. Sleep - this is by far my favorite and as I stated before, I tried to just sleep through my entire first trimester because I was so miserable. Granted I had some bad dreams, but at least I didn't feel queasy in them so it was a good time to rest. There were days I would go to bed at 7pm because I felt so miserably I couldn't take it anymore. So don't feel bad and sleep as much as you can - I hear once the kid gets here its something I will greatly miss.

12. Avoid smells as much as possible. I was really surprised at just how bad this was, I was with my husband once and he went to empty the trash. I got a quick whiff of something and immediately began hurling - it was awful. There were may a times I had to leave the room or breathe into my sleeve when someone was eating something near me. This is also where the lemon comes in handy.

13. Watch what you eat - I've heard everything from high protein to lots of fruits and vegetables can help. I even read where most of the third world countries or locations where processed foods are limited, morning sickness is not something people even have to deal with - so it seems that what you eat and get your body used to BEFORE you get pregnant can help, but once you ARE, you are at the mercy of your body. I tried fruits and still ended up sick, so I just ate what I could manage to get down.

I'm sure I've missed a thing or two, but these are the main things I've seen or heard over and over. Hopefully you can get more relief than I did because honestly, I don't think I got any. My poor husband dealt with me sitting on the bathroom floor crying, telling him I couldn't do this any longer, on more nights than not. Even this past weekend he sat there, helpless, as I sat by the toilet, sobbing, feeling more miserable than a person should have to feel. I am so tired from this all, my body is tired, my mind is tired, I feel like I am at my wits end and don't know how to go on. The knowledge that this Friday, as in 3 days from now, I will be 13 weeks and should mean all this misery is coming to an end as I get ready to start the second trimester is what keeps me going along. I know its not guaranteed, but I believe with all my being that it HAS to get better, that I HAVE to start feeling human again, so please, PLEASE keep me in your thoughts and hope that I am almost out of this phase. I am so ready to be excited and plan for the future, to start looking at nursery items and thinking about all the great things that come with babies, but right now all I can think about is how I am going to make it through the day. So far I have made it each and every day, so I'm hoping the light at the end of the tunnel is close - like REALLY, REALLY close.

Meanwhile, and I know most people will laugh at me for this, I swear I won't do this again. My husband and I talked and figured that between me being miserable, him having to take care of everything around the house and me, as well as what we want for the future, this is going to be it for us. We now we can provide for one much better than two or more. I know everyone will say we'll change our minds once we hold our little one and in the end it will all be worth it, but I just don't see it. I don't know many people that have been as miserable as me for as long as I have so I'm not sure its a fair comparison. I do know of one lady who got sick every day of her pregnancy - EVERY DAY - and because of that, they only have one. So while I hope come the birth I feel that it was all worth it, I really doubt I'll be up for doing this again. But, enough for today - hopefully these post turn cheerier in the next couple days and we can begin enjoying this amazing time. (((fingers crossed)))

Lots of change

Well, after being prodded by several people for a LONG time, I figure its time for an update - and I bet you can all guess what that is from my lovely image. My goals for the year have obviously become null and void since there has been such a huge change in my life. My dear husband and I are very excited about the coming addition, as are all the soon-to-be grandparents, aunts and uncles. My official due date is September 28th, so it looks like I get to be nice and large for the wonderful hot summers here in Texas. Joy. I can also say that today I am 12 weeks along, and it has been a very rough ride so far. Morning sickness is ... well ... more like noon, evening, and night sickness and I am so ready to start feeling human again! I feel like I've been hungover for 8 weeks straight, which is bad, but then add to that all the hyper-sensitivities to smells, the horrendous gag reflex (I hurled after seeing an episode of Family Guy with vomiting), and the fact that food is no longer my friend (which means I also have no idea when I"ll be able to add new foods here again, I apologize in advance). It's truly awful and as of now I swear never to do this again. I know, I know, everyone says once we hold our child it will be all worth it and a few years from now we'll want to do it again, but as of now - NO WAY.

So along with that, I've had to start my 101 in 1001 a little early, and we'll use the date we found out as the start - which is January 20th. My NEW completion date will be October 17, 2010 - which is good since its right before the holiday season. Yay!

I will do my best to keep this updated more often and I'm sure there will even come a point where I post some of the ever loved belly pictures, so be patient. We haven't started taking them yet, but I think I am JUST starting to get the little pooch as my poor pants don't fit when buttoned, its kinda funny and yet a little bit sad. But with that said, so begins our journey!

2008 Update

Le sigh. While I have been cooking for the last few months, I have to admit that the few new items I've tried (READ: less than 5) have not been very good, so no posting. I've been so busy and uncreative that the thought of trying something new has not been on my mind. I am hoping to get back into again soon, but I'm not promising anything (sad to say). What I will try to do however is be much more active on here which will hopefully motivate me to start trying new things again.

Meanwhile, we are starting a new year and I have several things I want to work on for ME.

2008 New Years Resolution: Increase my self-discipline.

This seems to be the main thing in my life that prevents me from reaching the goals I have, whether its from procrastination or from giving in to temptation, I need to learn to be better to ME. Some of the ways I hope to accomplish this is with a set of monthly goals - which will help me work on my self discipline in small doses as well as uses the rule of 21 days for a new habit.

January:
Self: Go to the gym at least 3 times a week
Financial: Have at least one day a week where we don't spend ANY money

February:

Self: No fast food

Financial: Keep dining out under budget

March:

Self: Complete couch to 5k
Financial: Save additional $100 (not for retirement)

April:

Self: Ensure I get at least 2 servings of both fruits and veggies a day
Financial: Have lowest electric usage since moving into house

May:

Self: Play tennis twice a week

Financial: Save additional $150 (not for retirement)

June:
Self: Take lunch to work 4 days a week
Financial: Keep dining out <70%>

July:
Self: Don't eat anything after 8pm

Financial: Keep all budgeted categories under budget

August:
Self: Go without meat one day a week
Financial: Keep dining and groceries <90%>

September:
Self: Eat 3 meals a day
Financial: Start Christmas shopping

October:
Self: Eat dinner at home 5 days a week
Financial: Reduce grocery budget by 20% (shop sales, coupons, use pantry items)

November:
Self: Run a 5k (Turkey Trot)
Financial: No impulse spending

December:
Self: Dinner at home 6 days a week

Financial: Keep Christmas spending below $1k (gifts, decor, parties, food)

So - there is my simple goal list by month, with them all listed out I can keep tabs on my performance and will be forced to own up to my progress. With all the homemade meals, it should inspire me to try some new dishes as well (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!).

And finally, borrowing from Kristin's motivation, I am going to begin working on a list of 101 things to do in 1,001 days. In order to have an end date that sticks with me (December 31st 2010), I am going to START the listed items on April 4th this year. Up until then I will be working on my list and hope to record it here eventually. Feel free to send me some ideas that YOU think should be on this list. For example, one item I know I want listed is "Complete a Will" - although hopefully we'll have then done before April, but with our track record, who knows.

Well, that's me and my thoughts as we start 2008. I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year and may all your dreams for this year come true!

Halloween Popcorn Balls

While it is only September, this is the time of year I start getting excited for the holidays - I blame the stores who put out decorations in August, but still! With than in mind, I've been browsing through old magazines and watching for festive recipes I can try. I started out looking for more soups and stews and anything that contains pumpkin when I came across this recipe. I figured it is simple enough to get things started, and can potentially be a perfect snack for our road trip tomorrow - so here goes nothing!

INGREDIENTS

1 bag microwave popcorn, popped
1 C candy corn
10 oz mini-marshmallows
1/4 C butter

Non-stick spray

DIRECTIONS

Mix popped popcorn and candy corn in a large bowl.

In a medium sauce pan over med-low heat, melt butter. Once melted, add marshmallows and also cook until melted and smooth, stirring often.

Pour marshmallows over popcorn and candy corn, mixing well.

Spray hands with non-stick spray. Form popcorn balls, about 2 in diameter and place on wax paper. Marshmallow mixture is EXTREMELY sticky so use palms to shape into a ball.

Store in air tight container for up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

Swedish Meatballs

These were one of my all time favorites as a kid, although my mother used to make them with hamburger patties instead of meatballs (and serve it with mashed potatoes instead of egg noodles, but still). With it being September and getting ready for fall, I notice my taste buds change and I start craving different foods - this being one of them. However, this is not one of those fancy recipes that takes a large amount of time which means its perfect for a quick dinner.

INGREDIENTS

30-40 meatballs, pre-cooked (I used frozen store bought and just heated them up)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can milk (fill soup can)
1 tsp liquid smoke
Egg noodles (or mashed potatoes)
Parsley (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine soup, milk, and liquid smoke in slow cooker. You can add additional milk if you want a thinner gravy. Mix well. Add meatballs and cook until thoroughly heated. I heat on high for about an hour then place on warm until we are ready to eat.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Strain.

Serve with meatballs and gravy on top of noodles, garnish with parsley if desired.

Tony P's Seafood Guac-tail

A few weeks ago I had the honor of being in my step-sisters wedding out in LA. She, of course, was a beautiful bride - but that's a different story for a different time. While there, we ended up at Tony P's Dockside Grill near Marina Del Ray for a nice lunch on the coast. After debating on whether or not we wanted an appetizer, we saw they offered a Seafood Guac-tail and knew that was the one to go for since my husband is a huge Ceviche fan and I am completely addicted to guacamole - this seemed like the best of both worlds. They brought it out in a deep sundae glass with a small fork surrounded by tortilla chips. With our first bite, we knew this was a something we wanted to try at home. It was the fresh flavors of the tomatoes and avocados and the perfect addition of the shrimp and blue crab - perfect for a nice, warm, sunny afternoon! One thing to note, I used imitation crab meat in mine since I'm not sure where to find the blue crab meat - but it was still de-lish.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 C Tomatoes, diced
1 T cilantro, chopped
3-4 T red onion, diced
juice of half a lemon
juice of half a lime
2 serrano peppers, seeded and diced
2 avocados, diced
4 oz crab meat
12 cooked shrimp, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Mixe all ingredients together, chill for at least 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Don't be a hater!

I know, I know, I know ... it's been over a month and I haven't posted anything new - how sad! Here is where I admit I go through stages, and lately its been the one where we have either been out of the house, whether its for some sort of party or just eating out, and where dinner has been something I've already posted or not worthy of posting (ie. taco's or some other non-recipe item). The good news is once I get back into my rhythm of posting again, you know you can expect new recipes fairly often for a while ... although I hate to admit with this weeks menu, I don't think this is the week I'll be starting, although I do have some ice cream batter in the fridge we're hoping to place into the handy, dandy ice cream maker we got last summer and STILL haven't used ... so anything is possible. I know my wonderful husband wants banana ice cream, so who knows, maybe this week will be filled with all sorts of wonderful desserts.

In the meantime, we've been spending some quality time with our new camera, and here are just a few of the shots we've taken so far:

This is my best friend and I getting ready for a bachelorette party, sadly we live about 1,000 miles apart and see each other once a year if we're lucky. How I wish she'd moved closer!

This is our from our backyard - the sunsets over the lake are truly amazing!
Here, one of Texas's very own, Bluebonnets.
And for the finally - I made my poor husband play animal cop and save on the LARGEST FROG I'VE EVER SEEN! He was sitting in the middle of our road and I almost hit him driving home - but luckily I didn't and instead told my husband to go get the shovel and save his life. I'm still amazed at how big he was.

Not-Quite-Quiche Mini Muffins

Mmmmm breakfast foods! I love breakfast foods but actually don't eat them often because of the cholesterol in eggs and bacon, the sugar in pancakes and waffles, and with my husband working nights it just doesn't work well for us - but today was different. I tried this recipe last week actually and while it was okay, I knew I could do better. Plus, I'm always looking for a reason to use my mini-muffin pans or my pampered chef cookie/muffin scoops.

When originally searching, I was looking for a quiche recipe and realized I didn't have the pie crust or the patience to try and make one. I stumbled across this recipe and read the reviews - seeing that its not quite your traditional quiche, but its a quick and easy way to get something similar. I have a feeling this is going to be a recipe to stick around for a while since now only are they good fresh out of the over, they are good reheated as well - always a bonus!

INGREDIENTS

6 strips of Bacon, sliced (or half a package)
4 eggs
3/4 C Baking Mix (like Bisquick)
1 1/2 Tbl chopped fresh parsley
2 C FRESHLY shredded cheese (I use cheddar and muenster)
1/2 tsp onion powder

DIRECTIONS:

Fry bacon and drain on paper towel. (I use a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat)

Mix eggs and baking mix in a bowl. Add parsley, onion powder, and cheese. Notice the stress on FRESHLY shredded cheese, it tends to mix in better than pre-packaged shredded cheese. Add bacon and mix to combine.

Scoop batter into mini-muffin tin (do not use paper inserts). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Do NOT over cook since the eggs will get rubbery.

We serve ours with Sirachi hot sauce to add a little kick to it. I was a little hesitant at first, but learned quickly that this is in fact GREAT, and is the only way I'll eat them now.

Quaker Granol Bites

Yum. I received my free trial of these Quaker Granola Bites in the mail and set them on the counter for a few days, basically forgetting about them. Until Yesterday. As I stated in my previous post, my husband was up late, meaning he would sleep late, leading to dinner being later, and ultimately causing me to snack - which brings us to these little morsels of GREATNESS. I have to admit these were far better than I imagined, and I will in fact be purchasing these for work snacks.

The little pouches have 90 calories per pack, 0g of trans fat (3.5g total fat though), and have 10% of your daily value of fiber - and fiber is good.

I tried the chocolate ones and loved them, my stepsister told me the peanut butter ones are also de-lish (I am not a huge peanut butter fan, but I might be will to give these a whirl anyhow), and I can only image the cinnamon ones are addicting too.

So, go out and get yourself a box!