The Bump II {4} - Recap: 20-24 weeks

Energy & Motivation

I've been so busy the past few weeks so I can't say I've gotten a lot done but I have definitely gotten back some energy. I'm so glad this has happened because for the past few weeks I have successfully planned our weekly menu (lunch and dinners) and followed it about 75% of the time. To go from literally eating the same (separate) meals for months on end to this is amazing (This couldn't have come at a better time. Dare I say I was getting sick of tomatoes...) I'm really enjoying the time to figure out what we could have and then come up with a grocery list that goes about the store most efficiently. One thing we need to work on is to determine other items we need to buy for the week too, like toiletries and other house supplies. We've always bought those items on an as needed basis but that always meant we were more likely to grab food items that we didn't necessarily need. With this little babe on the way, we need to be better about all that extra spending!

I'm anticipating a few more brain cells to free up now that Owen's birthday has come and gone so I will be making and following our preggo and eggo to-do list closely. I've got some exciting ideas rolling around up there and now is the time to get some of these things done!

Cravings

Cravings with this little mister have gone from greasy to salty to sweet. For about 17 weeks it was all about the hashbrowns and literally just that. I could have eaten those at every single meal. Then came the insane desire to have my dad's homemade beef jerky. I was sooooo ready to tackle that one myself but he cautioned me against it and then so did my doctor. Well fine. This was during the time I was horribly unmotivated to do anything so I ate pasta and tomatoes for just about every evening meal. That got old at about 20-21 weeks and luckily so did my desire to have beef jerky. Instead, that craving was replaced with all things sweet. I'm trying to not indulge quite as much but that's just plain difficult when your co-workers bring in lots of treats or there are leftovers from events. At home, it's pretty much been powdered donuts. At work, if I truly can't help myself, I go grab a king size of peanut butter M&Ms that specifically says to "share" on the package. I'm pregnant - does that count as sharing? I can tell he likes it because he'll move around like crazy when I eat them.

Pregnancy Symptoms

Looking back at the symptoms I had when I was pregnant with Owen, I think I'm pretty lucky. I haven't yet experienced heartburn or acid reflux which I hope continues. That was pretty awful and annoying. That has been replaced by the occasional massive headache and some joint pain that comes as goes. Sleeping isn't too bad these days either which has been nice. I'm not completely bothered anymore if I wake up and can't fall back asleep right away. One night I just turned the lamp on and read until I got tired enough again. Gspice just sleeps right through it. Darn him.

Owen did get sick a few weeks back, which was manageable. But then I got sick. That was no fun. I'm not 100% sure it was exactly what Owen had but if it was, I was pretty contagious so I opted to stay home for a few days. I was well enough to work a little from home which was nice. What I didn't appreciate was the massive number of fever blisters I got on my lip - holy cow that was brutal. I could tell they weren't cold sores that I am used to getting because that usually is just ONE and I can typically address it before it gets too out of control. With these, I put on Abreva like it was my job and they still got to a pretty terrible state. Ew. Ew. Ew.

Movement

Baby movements are still pretty limited even though I know he's busy squirming and moving about. I can feel lots of hiccups and some really soft kicks and punches. I've had Gary feel a few times but the little stinker decides to be stubborn and stops whatever movement he's doing. I think that means I just need to eat more peanut butter m&ms :)

Ultrasound!

We had another ultrasound at 20w2d which confirmed this little boy is healthy and progressing like normal. They estimated he was about 13 oz at that appointment and his heartbeat to be right around 150. We never heard the weight estimation with Owen but I suspect they were similar in size. Let's hope - I loved Owen's squishy newborn size! 

This may be the most unusual gender photo I have ever seen....

Bump Update
I have definitely grown a bit faster with this one. I've only gained about 5-6 pounds at this point but man, this is quite the bump! It hasn't bothered me one bit but a few people have expressed surprise knowing I'm only so far along. Yes, I know. March is still 3 1/2 months away. I don't need you to remind me :) However, when I look at the bump in the mirror, I know there's a lot of growth left to happen. I was huge with Owen at the end and I'm nowhere near that uncomfortable stage yet. I'll admit, I'm not really looking forward to that!

What's for Dinner {30} - Rosemary Herbed Pork Chops with Shallot Wine Sauce

It has been quite awhile since I've posted a What's for Dinner post! To be real, it's because I was barely cooking a dinner for us to be worth sharing. For months there were no new recipes tried, no looking up fun ideas on Pinterest....NOTHING. But alas, I have come back to life! I recently got back in the groove of menu planning and for the first time ever, we've done a decent job sticking to it! So look forward to quite a few new recipes in the coming weeks and possibly months - you know me, I'm not always completely on top of this blog thing :)

I'll start with the fact that this was not a big hit with Gspice. He alerted me afterwards that he's not a big huge-chunk-of-meat person. Um, what? Who did I marry? I say BRING ON THE MEAT! Gary was ready to throw out pork from our diet completely! I got a little worked up because I have a love affair with pork.

Let me ride off on a tangent for a moment - I attended a really nice winter wedding in Chicago back in 2009 with this lovely brood...

At this wedding was the best pork I have ever had. I was so obsessed, I asked for their business card. One day I wanted to have them cater one of my events. I'd hold an event in Chicago simply to have that pork again. Don't believe me? Look at how they presented and served the big cuts of meat!

Then came a few too many vodka cranberries for the both of us....

We both got pretty sick which was NO good - a topic that Andrew's parents will probably never let us live down. I don't mind - it's such a fun memory :)

As you can guess, I've wanted this meat to be a staple ever since. It never has been because I'm still terribly intimidated by it. I told Gspice that we should stick to a more tender cut so we haven't thrown in the towel just yet.

I, however, really liked this dish. And to me, that's why it's worth sharing!


Rosemary Herbed Pork Chops with Shallot Wine Sauce from Bam's Kitchen

*2 tender thick cut pork chops (I used bone-in pork chops)
*1 T olive oil
*1 1/2 T rosemary, freshly chopped
*2 t Seasonings (dried onion, salt, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, orange zest and paprika)
*1 c whole unpeeled mini onions (I quartered whatever onions I had - shallots and odd shaped white onions I got from the Farmer's Market)
*1 c white wine (1/2 for roasting and 1/2 for sauce)
*1/2 c water
*S&P to taste
*1 T butter

Pre-heat oven to  375 F.

Rub your pork chops with olive oil on both sides. Season pork chops with fresh rosemary and seasoning mixture. Heat up an oven-proof skillet or pan to a medium-high heat and sear for just a minute or two on both sides of seasoned pork chops. Remove from heat.

Next, add 1/2 cup of wine and onions. Bake your pork chops uncovered for about 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F or 160 F if you like well done, depending on how thick your pork chops are.

Remove your pork chops for the pan and rest covered for 5 minutes. (Do not wash the pan that you cooked the pork chops in.) Instead place the pan you cooked your pork chops in over medium heat. Add wine to deglaze the pan.  Add water. Chop up a few of the caramelized mini onions (shallots) and add to the wine sauce. Allow the wine sauce to reduce to about 1/2. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the burner and add a tablespoon of butter to finish the shallot wine sauce.

Serve pork chops with a drizzle of shallot wine sauce on top. Enjoy!

CSA News {2} Edible Landscapes

The Edible Landscapes at Luther weren't technically part of our purchased CSA but I thought it was a good addition to it. I made so many more trips to the Farmer's Market this year but there wasn't always all the ingredients I hoped to find. And with the market only offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays, I sometimes needed an herb or two sooner than that.

After I decided to get a Fitbit in order to make sure I walked more, I began wandering by the gardens a number of times each day. Finally, I decided to stop by and see what this was all about. I was honestly really confused that there was a garden that I could go to and simply take whatever I wanted.  There was quite a bit actually - leafy greens, cherry tomatoes, tons of herbs, kale, watermelon, ground cherries, beans, etc. I most often grabbed the herbs.

I'll admit I didn't take too much from the landscapes but it did provide a bit of excitement for me to think about having our own garden one day. I envision having a small raised garden in our backyard that our little boys can help with (I'll put them on weed duty!) At this point, I'd want roma tomatoes, kale, flat leaf parsley and basil. Let's just get rid of what I can our massive weed garden first and then we'll be good to go!

Perhaps one day soon we'll have one of these in our backyard:

Read more about our CSA share!
CSA News {1} - Where did we buy our share from??
CSA - Community Shared Agriculture

The Bump II {3} - Recap: 12-20 Weeks

Here we are, already half way through this pregnancy! This has definitely gone by extremely fast and my guess is that's because the fall is always so busy. Unfortunately, I've had a good number of sick days for lots of terrible headaches and the like but at least my energy has come back to life. I'll take it!

After experiencing what I thought to be pink eye on a number of occasions last spring, this time around has been so much easier! I've mentioned the headaches and really hope they don't come as frequently anymore. Missing work for a headache is just annoying! What a complete waste! Not so much as of late, but early on I was having lots of trouble with dizziness  and being light headed. I feel like my body has regulated a bit which I'm sure helps with my energy level :)

Sleeping is as it's been since the beginning. Frequent trips to the bathroom are completely normal and occur one to two times a night. The past week was a bit tough though. I'd get up to go to the bathroom and then be so awake that I couldn't fall back asleep for an hour or two. Having to get up a second time made me so angry!

Cravings still include those holy hashbrowns, but not nearly as much as before. My strong desire switched to homemade beef jerky which I've been told to stay away from by both my dad and doctor. Sadly, I've decided to listen to that advice. Oh well :( Really, though, I'm not craving much of anything else. Finding something to eat is still pretty difficult. Talk about annoying!

My bump had definitely appeared and has been quite a bit more obvious early on! We told people a heck of a lot earlier for that very reason :) Here's the bump on September 17, 2014.

The Bump - 15w5d

Of all our activities over the past eight weeks, the absolute highlight was our 16-week ultrasound. I was a hot mess and began crying right before lunch - while at work! I couldn't compose myself so decided to leave early. I kept myself busy at home between the tears until our late afternoon appointment. I was doing quite a bit better at that point except for having to drink the 32 oz before going in. I had to go soooooo badly! This little nugget must have been sitting right on top of my poor bladder. We couldn't confirm 100% but from what we could see, everything is going well and progressing appropriately. There was a lot of movement and flipping around - all I really needed to see :) And I must say, I am appreciative of the photos we got. They are so beautiful!

And of course - we got a gender reveal! Owen's going to be a big brother to a baby brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were both expecting a girl so what a lovely surprise :) We are so excited to have two boys be the best of friends.

 

Little Mr. {11 Months}

With more energy during the second trimester, I have finally come back to posting more near the time Owen actually turned 11 months. I find that completely inspiring (knowing that I will be running around with two little ones soon enough!)

As my energy has returned, Owen's has gotten more and more intense. He is showing so much of his personality now and it is so sweet and adorable. Owen loves to explore and get his hands on everything. He likes to look and touch and chew, then look some more and then of course chew it until he's no longer interested. Then it's on to another toy. This little explorer can also fit in to some pretty tight spaces and maneuver around just about anything. We now find him behind some of our living room chairs on a very normal basis. Little squirt! And he climbs ALL OVER US if we join him on the floor. I think Owen is beginning to favor his daddy, which at this point is absolutely okay with me. I can't handle him crawling on top of me quite like Gspice can right now.

Owen began one of the most adorable habits this past month, waving. It's not the waving back and forth yet but the cute slight flickering of his fingers. It started with mostly the older generation which I found to be so sweet. They are some of the nicest people and thought Owen was so cute. His waving now includes all other adults and some littles too.

I wasn't quite correct with my thinking about Owen's tooth development last month. He didn't get two or three more teeth, but just one. He now has the upper left central incisor poking through but I do know that he is working on more. Owen probably chews more now than he has every chewed before. Beware of your fingers or anything else he can get his hands on!

Photos this time around proved extremely difficult with my wiggly boy. My goodness! I managed to capture a couple that work and a ton more that are just simply adorable. The couch photo is what is practically impossible to achieve. I might have to think of another idea for our next babe!

 

Anyone else think our little man is in desperate need of another haircut???? I am trying my hardest to wait until sooner to one year but I don't think we can do that. His bangs will be covering his eyes if I do!

Catch up on Owen's First Year!
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