Food For Friday – 1/4 – 1/17

Monday - Craft Night – Leana’s turn to cook
Tuesday -Turkey Burgers and Fries
Wednesday - Chili (turkey or beef?)
Thursday - Game Night – Pepper Jack’s Restaurant?
Friday -Marinated pork tenderloin with potatoes and veggies
Saturday - Pizza (frozen)
Sunday - Rotisserie chicken with rice and veggies

Monday - Craft Night – My turn to cook – Homemade chicken noodle soup
Tuesday - Breakfast for dinner – bacon and eggs
Wednesday - Spaghetti and meatballs with Italian bread
Thursday - Pork spare ribs
Friday - Chuck roast with potatoes and carrots
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Leftovers

Crafty New Year’s Resolutions

I’ve never been one to make (and keep) New Year’s Resolutions.  I mean I’ve made them in the past, but they’ve always been the typical “eat healthier” and “lose weight” resolutions that millions of Americans make and break every year.  I should resolve, once again, to lose weight after having a baby this year, but I’m hoping that my good luck losing 15 lbs prior to getting pregnant will be my inspiration for that!

This year I’m vowing to do two things.  The first will be finishing Darling Hubby’s sweater.  I started making a crocheted version of a fisherman knit sweater about 2 years ago and found that I hated the pattern…that ended up frogged…then I started with the Gatsby sweater and that, too, has ended up in the frogged pile.  It just seems that me and sweater patterns have it in for each other…With the Gatsby it was that I couldn’t get the pieces to be square and that once I started in on the sleeves my gauge had changed so severely that I was using an E hook to get a “close enough” gauge rather than the G I was start out using.  It just made me very frustrated…

Right now I’m working on a 3rd sweater for Darling Hubby…using the same yarn that I used the first 2 times around.  I have a Lion Brand Homespun book that has a nice hooded sweatshirt pattern in it and it says easy, so I’m giving it a try…so far I had good luck with the front and back panels, but I’m worried about the sleeves…I’m just going to keep going until I finish it and see how it looks.  Fingers crossed that it looks good and is something that Darling Hubby will want to wear.

My second resolution is to learn to knit and do it right.  There are so many awesome knitting patterns out there that I’d love to make (maybe a real fisherman knit sweater for Darling Hubby in a few years!), but with my basic knitting skills I’m not comfortable even attempting it.  I can knit and purl with the best, but when it comes to increasing and decreasing and getting fancy with alternating stitches and cables I get totally scared and want to hide!  I know if I put my mind to it, I could learn those stitches and that’s what I resolve to do in 2010.  It helps that I’ll have a cute little bundle of joy to practice making small clothes for.  I think starting off small and working my way toward the big stuff will ease me into it…what do you think?

I think the knitting desire really came about when I started reading the first of the Knitting Mystery books (Knit One, Kill Two) by Maggie Sefton that I borrowed from the library yesterday.  She just makes it sound so easy!

So, I’m putting in a call to all my knitting friends.  Do you think you can help me learn to knit this year?  Help me stick to one resolution in my near 30 years!

20 Week Update

So I’m 20 weeks today.  Honestly, it’s seemed like the last 16 weeks or so have just dragged by in getting to the half way mark…I’m sure that I’ll be wishing for things to go by fast as well as slow over the next 20 or so weeks.

Week: 20 weeks

Weight gain total: 7lbs – I splurged a bit over the holiday with lots of turkey and stuffing and the occasional candy and pie for dessert.  I’m going to try to be really good over the next few months and try to keep my gain around 20-25lbs total.

Cravings/Aversions: In the last week I’ve had a big desire for fresh made lemonade (well, made with bottled lemon juice, filtered water and sugar…not the Kool-aid version.)  That lasted a couple days and went away…still no aversions, which is good.

Pregnancy symptoms: I still have to pee a ton.  On the drive home from Christmas with our families this weekend we had to stop twice in about 30 mins so I could go or I don’t think I would have made it home!  I think it was the combination of the bumpy highway we were on, the fact that I finished off the last of my can of soda before we left and where Fidget was sitting.

Clothing: I can’t wear my jeans anymore…they are just too tight and uncomfortable…I wore them for the last time this week to run to Walmart…Hopefully I won’t show up on that People of Walmart website!!  lol  My SIL did loan me a three pairs of her maternity pants and a couple shirts, so I should be able to leave my house in something other than pajama pants!  I can still wear my corduroy pants because they are stretchy, but probably not for much longer.

Baby: I’m feeling Fidget move pretty much all the time.  He moves quite a bit right before I fall asleep at night and his movements are strong enough to be felt externally.  Darling Hubby felt him move for the first time right around Christmas.

Ultrasound Results

So, I had my big ultrasound this morning and Darling Hubby came along with me.   We found out that Fidget is a BOY and true to his nickname, he wouldn’t really hold still for the u/s tech!  Bug is going to be so disappointed when we tell him (he’s at school still).  He really had his heart set on a baby sister (why, we don’t know! lol)  I’ve had a nagging feeling he wasn’t going to get his wish from week 12 when I heard the heartbeat for the first time and it was really close to Bug’s around the same time frame.

The baby looked great and the u/s tech didn’t see any problems.  The heart looked good and was beating at about 148bpm, down for the 158 it had been at for the past 2 months.  There were no problems with the spine, the brain looked good and the diaphragm and bladder were in place.  There was no indication that there was a chance of Down Syndrome, which is good since I’m not doing the genetic testing.  We didn’t do any of that with Bug and I don’t want to freak myself out unnecessarily.

Darling Hubby and I are very happy.  We both wanted another boy.  We just think they are easier and plus, we already have a ton of boy stuff, can reuse the bedding we already have, and are pretty set on a boys first name, although it’s not 100% set yet.  The middle name is still up in the air…but, we have another 4 months or so. 

In addition to the ultrasound, I also met with another one of my doctors.  Dr. Brosnan asked me, as all the others have the first time I see them, about my desired delivery method since I had a previous c-section with Bug.  I told him I’d like to attempt a VBAC and he said we could and that I need to set a baby weight limit that I am comfortable with.  Anything below that weight I would feel good about attempting to deliver “naturally” and anything above that, we’d schedule surgery.   We’ll see about the weight of the baby about 2 weeks before my EDD with another ultrasound.  Right now, he weights in at about 9oz (I wonder where the 5lbs I’ve gained has gone?!) and I’m hoping that he doesn’t pack on the pounds and be 9lbs 13oz like his big brother (course Bug was 13 days overdue!)  Right now, I think that anything under 8lbs I’ll go for the VBAC and anything above I’ll go for the c-section…

Random weekly info:

Weight gain – still holding steady at 5lbs, which is good.  I’ve been good about not eating too much, although I did eat a whole Moe’s Homewrecker Burrito Sunday night in addition to several chocolate chip cookies I baked that day…

Baby – I’ve been feeling Fidget a lot recently.  He was super active last night at Craft Night.  I felt like I had Tigger bouncing around in there.  Must have been the caffeine from the Pepsi I was drinking…

Symptoms – Still have to pee a ton…feeling great otherwise!

Cravings/Aversions – I haven’t really been craving anything this week…things sound good to me, but it’s not like I *need* it and make Darling Hubby jump into the car at midnight to get me anything.  Still no aversions.

Clothing – my tummy is ever expanding and my current pants are getting snug, although I can still button them and they do hang down a little…I *should* be able to get another month or so out of them.  I’ve asked my SIL if I can borrow her maternity clothes from her last son.  I’m hoping she can find them and lets me borrow them (she did for Bug’s pregnancy, so I don’t see any reason she won’t let me).  I’m sure I can’t fit into the pants that I have (not for another few months) and I don’t want to buy all new stuff when I can borrow…Guess I’m cheap that way!  lol

Here are a couple pictures from today.

Fidget's Profile

3D of Fidget's Face

18 Week Update

I’ve been reading a few pregnancy related blog posts through my tag surfer on wordpress and I’ve seen some moms filling out a little questionnaire each week or so with information about their pregnancies.  I thought this was a cute idea and decided I would do the same.  Here is my version of my weekly update.

Week: Approx. 18 weeks

Weight gain total: 5 lbs – the doctor told me that he didn’t want to see me gain a lot until after 20 weeks and I’ve been holding pretty steady at around 4-5 lbs overall.  After my 50+ lb weight gain with Bug, I’m trying to be really diligent about what I’m eating.  This time around I don’t have a parade of people at work feeding me sweets (read: snickers bars, twizzlers and hot chocolate) on a daily basis, so that might help me keep my weight under control!  I’m looking for maybe 20lbs over all…

Cravings/Aversions: I’ve kinda been in the mood for pudding lately.  I also wanted brownies at 7pm the other night.  No aversions…I love food!

Pregnancy symptoms: Thankfully, my morning sickness went away around week 13ish and I’ve been feeling really good since then.  My energy level is back up, although my brain still has trouble finding motivation to get up and do things…but that’s nothing new for me!  My moods have also improved.  I don’t snap at everyone and yell as much as I did during the first trimester.  I’m still peeing a lot during the day and get up at least once, if not twice, during the night.  I’ve also noticed that my breasts seem to be a little fuller than a few weeks ago.  I do feel hungrier sometimes, but, like I said, I’m trying to be good about not eating myself out of house and home!  Oh, and the gas!  Yeah…I’m super gassy…thankfully I’m home alone most of the time, so no one can really complain about that, but me and the dogs!

Clothing: I’m still able to wear my non-maternity clothes…probably for a few more weeks.  Since I lost 15lbs prior to getting pregnant, my clothes were falling off me, literally.  Just the other day I noticed my pants are getting a little snugger, but they are still loose and falling down, just not as much.  I’m starting to show a little bit, but I’m still kinda in the “I look fat, but I’m really pregnant” stage of things.

Baby: I started feeling movement on Friday (around 12/11) and I think my nickname of Fidget from 2 weeks ago is very appropriate.  I really notice the movement at night when I’m going the bed, but throughout the day I feel a few little bumps.  I swear the baby had the hiccups last night cause I felt lots of rhythmic bumps in the same place for a long time.  The baby is actually really strong already and I was able to feel the movement from the outside as well as internally.  Darling Hubby hasn’t felt it yet, but tried last night and, go figure, as soon as he moved his hand away it started moving again…lol  I hope that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a difficult child!

Sex Predictions:  Well, we are hoping for another boy (although Bug wants a sister).  Some days I say boy and some days I say girl…lately I’ve been wanting to refer to it as he…maybe my mind is telling me something?  We’ll find out (hopefully) on Tuesday morning!

Hopefully I’ll be updating next week with the gender and a better idea of my due date…just in time for Christmas!

And The Sickness Runs Rampant

So another week has gone by.  I’m about 17 weeks now.  I’m still in pregnancy limbo and add to that the fact that today I feel like crap.  No, my morning sickness has not returned…I’ve caught my darling son’s cold.  He was home on Wednesday for his first ever snow day, but wasn’t able to go out to play in the snow (it was 7 inches of the perfect snowman building snow, too) because he was starting to cough and had a slightly runny nose.  I kept him home yesterday just as a precaution and I was glad I did because before lunch he complained of a headache and when I took him into the bathroom to give him some tylenol, he ending up getting sick…so that means today he had to stay home…that’s the 24 hour school rule…I’d really wished we’d have no more sickness after that long lasting coughing thing.  It feels like we just got over it.

What really sucks about it is that today he’s practically back to normal.  His cough and runny nose have improved greatly, he’s running around, bouncing off the walls, making noise and just in general…driving me totally nuts…It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have a completely stuffy nose, burning watery eyes and pain in my sinuses…topped off with a complete lack of energy….I’m not sure if that is pregnancy related, though.  I really just want a nap and to stay curled up under a blanket on the couch all day…and Darling Hubby doesn’t really understand that I can’t just take the Day-Quil like he says.  It’s on my list of medications to avoid and I’m doing just that, despite the fact that without any medication I feel even worse.  I guess, as he puts it, I’ll have to suck it up and deal…it’s just tough when you have no energy and a nearly 5 year old who just doesn’t stop for a second.

On the pregnancy front, I might be starting to feel movement, which makes me happy.  I might be coming out out the limbo after all!  I think, just this morning, I felt something poking me from the inside.  It seemed to feel just like the first time I felt Bug move, which was around 19 weeks.   Hopefully it will continue.  I did read last night on the Babycenter May 2010 birth board that many people around 17 weeks haven’t started feeling anything yet, either, even the 2nd and 3rd time moms.  I just hoped that I’d start feeling something earlier because I know what I’m looking for.  It does still make me worried that something could be wrong, but according to the other women on the board, I’m not alone in feeling this, which gives me hope that things are really fine.  I have only 11 more days until we get the big ultrasound.

Speaking of ultrasounds, my nephew and his girlfriend just had their big ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon and found out they are expecting a baby girl in April.  We are only about a month apart.  It’s funny because I’ve barely started to show and she’s been showing since she was about 8 weeks!  It’s funny how different people have different pregnancies.

Anyway, I just finished working on some worksheets with Bug since he’s been out of school for 2 days.  I figured it couldn’t hurt and they are all similar to or the same as things he’s done at school.  It was so nice to see him in action, writing his name, coloring, tracing, naming his shapes, reading, cutting and pasting.  Much better than just seeing the end result that he brings home.  He even wants to take them in to show his teacher on Monday.

Now, I’m going to watch some recorded tv and work on my new crocheted scarf to match the new coat I bought this past weekend.  It’s going to match the hat I made, too.

Baby Update – 16 Weeks

I’m approximately 16 weeks today (give or take a couple days) and had a doctors appointment this morning.  Things are looking great.  The heartbeat is holding steady and strong at 158 bpm (Bug’s was 156) and the bean was moving all over the place.  The nurse had to keep following it around with the wand trying to get a good steady audible sound for me.  I can probably nickname it Fidget.  lol

The doctor said that everything looked good and I think he thinks I’m kind of neurotic because I commented on the fact that I’m not feeling movement yet and feel like I should since this is my 2nd baby and I know what I should be looking for.  I know that most women don’t feel movement until much later in pregnancy, but I feel like I’m in kind of a “pregnancy limbo.”  My morning sickness has let up and I’m feeling really great and I really have no definitive signs of being pregnant.  I just want to feel something so I know my little fidgety bean is ok in there.  It’s hard not hearing the heartbeat but for 20 seconds every 4 weeks…  There are times when I think I feel something, but always convince myself that it’s not the baby, but something else or that it’s up too high…I’ve even laid perfectly still and focusing on it hoping to feel something…Yeah…I think I *am* becoming neurotic!  lol

We also scheduled my 2nd trimester ultrasound for the 22nd.  Hopefully, the baby will cooperate (and be far enough along) for us to find out the gender.  I’d really like to know.   I felt like last time I had an extra bond with Bug because I could think of him by name and everything and prepare myself for having a boy.  I want that again as well as to prepare Bug for his little brother or sister.  He actually wants a sister…not sure why, but it probably has something to do with the fact that he really enjoys hanging out with the girls in his pre-k class.  Darling Hubby and I kinda want another boy, mainly cause we still have a lot of the “boyish” baby stuff and have boy toys.

The doctor seemed a bit hesitant about letting me have the ultrasound a week early, but I think that’s because he thought I was only 11 weeks along…someone needs to look at my chart next time!  lol  [Insert eye rolling smilie here!]  I’ll be about 18.5 – 19 weeks along and I seem to remember having Bug’s first ultrasound at 18 weeks…Keep your fingers crossed that the baby cooperates and lets us clearly know what it is…

There ya have it…I’ll update again once we have the ultrasound (hopefully with pictures) but I’ll probably post something again within the next 3 weeks. 

Very Overdue Update

Once again it’s been weeks since I’ve written anything other than a menu planning post…it’s sad because I’ve had so much to say, but couldn’t really say anything.

Let’s see…Bug is doing very well in school.  I had his first Parent Teacher conference at the beginning of November.  His teachers love having him in class and his one teacher says he’s very witty and funny.  I was worried that he was going to be the class clown when he got comfortable with the group, but he’s actually been keeping it together and the teacher uses him as a calming influence.  She once told me in the hall that she calls him her “euphoric little bug” since he’s so happy and just flits from one thing to another.  He’s very good in class and is focused and pays attention.

Bug was also invited and attended his very first classmate birthday party.  It was at Chuck E Cheese and he had a good time, ate some pizza, played some games and got freaked out by the giant rat…lol

What else…Oh, I started working on Christmas presents in September.  So far I’ve made a stegosaurus for one of my nephews, a blanket for my MIL and SFIL, mini stocking ornaments for 3 people, a thread crocheted angel ornament for my mom and 2 scarves (one for each of Bug’s Pre-K teachers).  I have yet to make/finish a brontosaurus for my other nephew (I made one, but Bug stole it and named it and I couldn’t very well take it away…) and a unicorn.  Our plan is to buy a book for each child to go along with the stuffed animal.   I still have to make at least 4 more mini stockings.  One for each of the 3 kids and one for my SIL.  Now I just have to wrap everything and get it under the tree…I may hold off on that for a bit since the cat seems to love hanging out under the tree and I don’t want her to tear anything accidentally.

I bought Darling Hubby’s Christmas present this morning.  We agreed to spend only around $50 plus stocking stuffers, but since I was having so much trouble thinking of the perfect present for him and when I finally found something it was nearly double our agreed-upon price, he gave me the go-ahead to spend the extra and he’ll spend a little more on me.  I’m ok with not getting more under the tree…my present is something I know he’s really going to like and enjoy.  We can afford it, so I’m not too worried.  We are done with Bug’s presents, aside from stocking stuffers and we’ll probably get some books, cars, candy and little things for that.

In other news, I’ve been baking.  For the last 16 weeks (give or take) I’ve been baking the newest edition to the Sarandipity family.  That’s right!  I’m pregnant!  We finally broke the news (well, we let Bug do the dirty work) to family over Thanksgiving, so I’m ok with posting for the world to know. I made Bug an “I’m the Big Brother” t-shirt and he was so happy to wear it and surprisingly, everyone caught onto it quickly so I didn’t have to explain.  That’s one of the reasons I haven’t been doing The 30 Day Shred dvd or dieting anymore.

So, I’ve had 2 doctors appointments so far.  The first was a confirmation and blood work and the second I got to hear the heartbeat.  It was 158 beats per min.  Bug’s was 156 around the same time.  I have another appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning.  I’m hoping to be able to schedule the ultrasound for before Christmas, if the doctors will let me.  I should be between 18 and 19 weeks at that point.  It would be nice to know the gender so we could tell everyone at Christmas.

As for the pregnancy, things have been going pretty well.  I had a bit of morning sickness during the first 13 or so weeks.  Luckily it was just first thing in the morning and I wasn’t nauseous all day long like I was with Bug.  I haven’t started feeling movement yet, which makes me kinda nervous since I don’t have the throwing up to keep reminding me that I’ve got a baby growing inside my tummy.  That’s silly, I know.  I’m sure everything is fine, but I just hate feeling in sort of a limbo.  I didn’t feel Bug for the first time until I was 20 weeks…I hope it doesn’t take that long this time around, esp since I know what to look for…Emotionally, I haven’t been as weepy this time around, but my grumpy mood swings have been through the roof.  I feel like I’m angry for long stretches for no apparent reason.  I hate feeling like that and I hate that I take out my frustrations on Darling Hubby and Bug.  Hopefully that will go away soon…fingers crossed for me.

So, that’s about it.  I’ll probably update tomorrow after my drs appointment.  I figure if I blog about everything here I’ll have a running record of everything for when I want to look back on it later.  Blogs can be a wonderful thing!

Food For Friday 11/9-11/22

Again this week I am lacking the motivation to really come up with a menu…plus, nothing really sounds all *that* good to me.  I guess lately I’ve just been too tired to really care about food…or anything really for that matter…just ask Darling Hubby.

Monday - Craft Night – my turn to cook – Taco soup
Tuesday - Rotisserie chicken, stuffing and veggies
Wednesday - Chicken ceasar wraps
Thursday - Game Night – dinner TBD
Friday - Fettucini Alfredo – homemade – recipe courtesy of Manda
Saturday -  Spanish Rice
Sunday -LO/FFY

Monday - Craft Night – Leana’s turn to cook
Tuesday - Catalina Cranberry Chicken
Wednesday - Pork Tenderloin
Thursday - Thanksgiving Meatloaf
Friday - Cheese Lover’s Pasta Roll-ups
Saturday - French Toast
Sunday - LO/FFY

Food for Friday – 10/26-11/8

Monday - Craft Night – Leana’s turn to cook
Tuesday - Ham with a pasta side, mixed veggies and acorn squash
Wednesday - Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese with ham chunks
Thursday - Game Night – dinner TBD
Friday - Chicken cordon bleu
Saturday -
Sunday -

Monday - Craft Night – My turn – ???
Tuesday - Chili with tortilla chips
Wednesday - Homemade meatlovers pizza – pepperoni, ground beef and ham
Thursday - Frito pie
Friday - Philly cheese steaks
Saturday -
Sunday -

I’m not planning anything for the weekends this time around.  We’ll probably have lots of leftovers (though I’m trying to make multiple dishes out of an earlier dish to alleviate that issue) and this last couple weeks we’ve had a big build up of leftovers in our fridge and they aren’t getting eaten quickly.  Darling Hubby usually takes some portion to work with him for lunch, but there still ends up being stuff in the fridge since I’m not good about eating leftovers…