Oh boy

25 weeks pregnant and feeling extremely large today. It's almost as if I've doubled in size since last week. People are extra friendly now, so that's nice.  This week I have been going nursery crazy.  We have decided on this crib:

 We thought about getting it in a cool grey color, but sometimes grey can come out blue so we decided white was best.  Also, later on down the road if we have a girl we wanted to be able to use all of the big pieces again. White is very gender neutral. Maybe pair it with a teal or an eggplant for a little girl.

In my last post I talked about this amazing rocking chair my mother scored at a Pottery Barn outlet.

You can't see the bottom but the wooden rocking part is exposed.  It didn't come upholstered, so what you're seeing is just canvas.  This way I can pick out the fabric myself. I already have this soft, sturdy and easy to clean charcoal fabric picked out. It has a bit of texture which I love. I seriously cannot wait until this piece is finished! It is my favorite in the entire nursery so far.

I also mentioned how I wanted to re-purpose an old dresser as a changing table. Personally, buying one online I would be paying too much money to get flimsy particle board.  Luckily, I found one in a consignment shop outside of the city this weekend.

 It was in great condition and only needed a face lift. The $85 dollar price tag was extremely doable and I'm never afraid of some sanding and paint. We decided to invest a paint sprayer, we do a lot of painting, so this shouldn't take long. Another thing I love about this dresser is the amount of drawers and how deep they are. I'm going to find some great patterned paper and attach it to the bottom of the drawers.

 I found this elephant fabric through hours of searching online:

Now usually I don't like animal prints in nurseries because I think it's so predictable. But I fell in love with this. I love the little modern elephants. Paired with this soft poly fabric:

Will make up the other side of blanket, probably with the same chartreuse ribbon.  The elephants will also be on the crib skirt so the crib will definitely be the focal point.  Hopefully I'll have enough to include a little scrap on the pillow for my rocking chair. 

I decided typography was the best idea for the wall art. We wanted something a little more original than "you make me happy when skies are gray".  We found a few sayings from children's books, lyrics, and movies that I love but I need to decide on my favorites.  It's easy to get these made on Etsy and then get them framed with a pretty matte. Plus, these great paintings from Hong Kong courtesy of my sister:

Love the little monster.

Well, other than nursery overload this week was pretty quiet. Aside from my complaints about my lower back.  Taylor has become a pro at digging his knuckles just in the right spot, and I am very thankful for that. We are all signed up for our birthing class in March and I'm strangely excited about it. I know I'm going to learn a ton.  We have our 'plan' in mind but would love to know all of the info about all of our options.  Only 15 more weeks. Unreal.  I find myself going through his clothes repeatedly. Just looking and feeling his little clothes makes it all the more real that one day my little guy will fill them. I think about him every second of every day.

On the mom-front, I am trying to be as prepared as I can be. Babywise has proven to be the most insightful book I have read, and I am only on the fourth chapter.  In my personal opinion, I love how much it focuses on becoming a family and the importance of carrying on a marriage life.  Never stop dating.  It's also about the baby learning to self-soothe and a bunch of other things when it comes to parenting. I've heard some mothers hate the book but personally I love it.

Now for the recipe this week:

Enchilada Stuffed Pasta Shells
This has become one of our regular meals and we love it. Promise it won't disappoint!

Ingredients:
15 jumbo pasta shells
1lb ground turkey
2 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
½ teaspoon dried minced onion
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup refried beans
1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese
*Feel free to add black olives, sour cream etc.*


Directions:
Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain and set aside. In a large skillet over medium heat brown ground turkey until no longer pink. Drain any excess fat. Stir in onion, oregano, basil, and cumin. Stir in 1 can of the enchilada sauce. Stir in refried beans. Set aside.
Step 2: Fill each cooked pasta shell with the turkey/refried bean mixture. Coat an 11 x 7 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and pour half of the remaining can of enchilada sauce evenly over the bottom. Place each shell into the bottom of the dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tops of the shells.
Step 3: Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. During the last few minutes of cooking, uncover and sprinkle the tops of the shells with Colby-jack cheese. Bake until the cheese has melted.
(Makes 3 servings)

*Don't forget to add some cilantro before serving. Makes a BIG difference.*

-B

Ballooning

Tomorrow I'll be in the 24th week of my pregnancy, hooray 6 month marker. Lately, I've been getting bigger by the second. It's gotten to the point where I can no longer sleep comfortably. Sleeping on my back is a no-no now, I can feel him sitting on important things in there. And even sleeping on my side hasn't been working. Hopefully it will get easier, but I have a feeling as he gets bigger it will just get worse. Bending down to put on my shoes and pick up things has gotten to the uncomfortable point too. Again, this will just get worse with time! I need to get some slip ons..

The nursery is starting to come together. We decided on a crib and nursery colors. I decided to make the bedding which is a fun project for me to keep me busy. Plus it's fun knowing no one else will have my bedding but me.  We also found a great upholstered rocking chair! A complete steal.  It's still unbelievable to me that we found it. It will be a great piece that we take around with us all over the world.  I can already picture my little guy crawling up in my lap for a bedtime story.

It's hard to believe we are already half way through January. These last few months are going to fly by, before I know it my son will be here and Taylor will have his wings. I still find myself getting impatient though!

Alright for this week's recipes I tried an Apple Butter Pork Tenderloin which turned out AMAZING. I promise it is worth the time.

 APPLE BUTTER PORK LOIN
DOWN HOME BAKED BEANS
Apple Butter Pork Loin Ingredients:
2 (1 ½ pound) pork tenderloins
seasoning salt to taste
2 cups apple juice
½ cup apple butter
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Season the pork tenderloins with seasoning salt, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish or small roasting pan.
3. Pour apple juice over the pork, and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
4. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven.
5. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon and cloves.
6. After the hour, remove pork loins from the oven, and spread the apple butter mixture over them.
7. Cover, and return to the oven for 2 hours or until fork tender.

And then for something sweet, we tried out some homemade donuts. Well, easy "homemade" donuts. I didn't make the dough. Here is a website that includes step by step photos I recommend taking a look at.

Ingredients

• 1 ten count can Texas style doughnuts (or your preference, just not flaky layers)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 stick margarine, melted (or butter)
• Vegetable Oil For Frying

Instructions

1. Pour oil into skillet to the depth of a little less than 1/2 an inch and heat on medium to medium high for about five minutes. In a bowl, melt margarine. In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.
2. Using a plastic bottle cap, cut the center out of each biscuit. Drop dough into hot oil, watching carefully and turning when golden. Once doughnuts are golden on both sides, remove to paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all dough is cooked, including doughnut holes.
3. Dip both sides of each doughnut into melted margarine, then press both sides into cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.

These were just as good as they sound and incredibly easy to make. Watch out for your fingers though, I burnt some with the oil.

-B

December

Well I didn't do a very good job of updating my blog during the holidays. It was pretty busy. A few days in Los Angeles with my sisters. A week in Las Vegas with the rest of my family for Christmas . (We came out even!) And finished out the New Year in Summit County skiing at Keystone with Taylor's family.  Unfortunately I didn't get to do any skiing. Such a bummer because I've only used my new skis one time.  Taylor finished out the vacation with no injuries (a miracle), unlike last year which had him coming home with a few broken ribs. I reminded him we really need a paycheck.  So while I put my feet up in the ski condo, elevation took its toll. Ever since I started visiting Taylor at the Academy, I would get sick. I left feeling awful, ready to get back to flat Oklahoma. As soon as I walked off the plane I felt ten pounds get lifted off of my face. A few days in my own bed and I'm finally getting better.

The holidays were amazing, now Taylor and I are enjoying the lull before all of the big things start happening.  The month of May will be an awesome disaster. We have Taylor's Assignment Night, which is an event where they tell all the fly boys in his class which planes they will be flying as well as their first assignment. I'm due maybe two days after this, so we're praying everyday that I don't go into labor during this. Quite possible. I will be stressing, wondering where we will be getting stationed.
I am due May 7th. Taylor graduates May 18th, which will have my parents and Taylor's whole family heading out here.  And then finally, Taylor can take his short paternity leave to relax with his new son and exhausted wife.

In the meantime, I am starting on little man's nursery. We are slowly transitioning the 3rd bedroom from an office into his new room. He already has a good start on his tiny wardrobe. I had fun at Baby American Apparel and Baby H&M, and his Grandma went to town at the Osh Kosh outlets. Today I started his registry with the help of my sis, or else I would have been totally lost. I had no idea babies needed so many things.

As for the name...Taylor and I have favored a few in the past few months, but have landed on one that we love. We won't announce it for a while though, sorry!
Next week I'll post some photos of little things I have for his nursery. I think I'm going to start posting a recipe with each post too. Pinterest has expanded my cookbook immensely.

Pink or Blue?

Every year for Thanksgiving we travel to Tennessee to hang with the Ragland clan. It was a particularly long travel this year, 15 hours in the car with a pregnant woman who has to pee every 30 minutes. They say that little side effect goes away in the second trimester, but they lie. It was so nice to be able to relax and not worry about anything, with my only task being to eat.  I love eating. 
My stomach had been flat until the day we left Tennessee, finally deciding to pop out at 17 weeks on the dot. Still not looking pregnant, but happy to know my tummy will only get bigger now. It's like a reminder, Hey I'm in here.
The day after we arrived back in Oklahoma, I had my next appointment. The Doc had told me he wanted to check the organ development of the baby this visit, so when I got there I had high hopes of finding that little organ that would tell me if I was going to be buying blue things or pink things. Once I sat down on the exam table, he let me hear the heartbeat again. Still the most amazing sound I've ever heard. But after that, he said my ultrasound wasn't going to be for another 2 weeks. I asked if he thought it was because I wasn't far enough along and he said not at all, but the 'big' ultrasounds they do at the hospital and not his office, and in a small town booking an ultrasound appointment takes a couple weeks. (lots of preggo ladies, not a lot of appointments) So I left, blatantly disappointed.

Then I remembered a few weeks ago having some nurses come and give a briefing on base. They each talked about locations in the city who would give ultrasounds to determine the sex of the baby, also 4d ultrasounds. They each had went there, even working at the hospital it was hard to get an appointment. So I called the Doc and he recommended a place in the city, called Stork Vision, run by doctors and nurses. He could tell I was bummed out and encouraged me to make the call. He said it wasn't uncommon to be impatient when it comes to bonding with your child. They had ONE appointment left the next day.

With Taylor working from 5-5, and the appointments at the hospital and Stork Vision being M-F, we both knew either way, he wasn't going to make the gender ultrasound. My hubby isn't the emotional type, so he was fine with me finding out without him. Luckily, I am also not the emotional type, and I had no problem making the drive to find out the big news alone. So I drove up to...

..my heart beating out of my chest. I told myself if they told me it was a girl, I was going to wait until my hospital ultrasound to confirm. Because they say it could still be a boy, with the goods tucked underneath him. However, confirming a boy is a lot easier. His  goods would be showing from all directions.

So I walked inside and it was extremely glamorous. Like a baby palace. My sonogram room had velvet couches, a chandelier, thick carpets, a huge flat screen. I was impressed. Then the next minute my little nugget was on the flat screen. This is so much cooler than a hospital ultrasound. The nurse probed my tummy and I got to watch the little one squirm around until finally she paused it, pointed to a little part and said..."You're having...a little boy."  Again, I'm not the emotional type, but hearing those five words took my breath away. She explained to me the image, and also showed where the umbilical cord was, to assure me she was not mistaking the parts. Then she showed me how they were apparent from every angle. Yep, definitely 100% a boy.  

I couldn't stop smiling. When I left, they gave me a DVD of my entire ultrasound, so Taylor could watch the whole thing too. So I zipped over to Target, might as well while I'm in the city, just to buy something real and tangible, that I could hold and know my son would be wearing it one day. I landed on this...

Perfect, since his Daddy is a pilot. As I was driving home, my husband called and I told him yes, I found out. I said but would you rather wait till I come home? Absolutely not, he says. So I told him I was carrying our son. WHAT! Taylor had been convinced we were having a girl since the beginning. I however, felt opposite. Needless to say he was over the moon. For those of you who know Taylor, I am expecting our little boy to be identical in attitude. Scraped knees, giving his mother a heart attack jumping off things twice his height, more scraped things, lots of band aids. I deal with these things from my 24 year old husband, so I am fully prepared.


So now, I am just waiting for these last five months to fly by. Now that I picture my son every moment I am awake (and when I'm fortunate, when I'm dreaming), I cannot wait to meet him. Hold him and snuggle him and smell him.

Now, I get to start the fun part of designing his nursery and buying boy things..

Week 13

This Halloween was pretty low key. So far my favorite costumes I saw were an entire family dressed up as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dobby, Dumbledore, and Mcgonagall. And another as Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion, complete with Toto. It's finally starting to really get cold in Oklahoma and I love it.  Expecting snow soon. I love it because I can wear big comfortable sweaters and be comfortable as I expand.
Speaking of, today I am at 13 weeks 3 days of my pregnancy. My morning sickness has died down which I'm grateful for, and believe it or not, I'm finally starting to feel pregnant.  All because of this:

Baby Rags looked nice and healthy to the doc. It probably was the most surreal thing to watch the little one squirm around on the screen, but not be able to feel anything.  Very trippy.  Now I'm not a crier, so I just laid there and kept saying "That's so crazy.. That's so crazy.." He printed out a lot of pictures to help me get a grasp on things.

I haven't started showing yet and Doc didn't expect I would until next month. I'm pretty excited to get that little bump. So right now I'm focusing on being able to see family for Thanksgiving :].  And how much amazing food I will be eating. And the Monday after we get back I have my next ultrasound. And well, that will be a very special visit.. As my friend would say, I get to find out what flavor it is.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, and check out these adorable babes.

Complete with wasabi and ginger.

My sister-in-law's favorite, probably.

And the best for last. My little neice Elise! I am just in love with her.

-B

Stir Fry all the time.

Baby Rags hasn't been too picky for these past 12 weeks. The smell of garlic which I used to love is now a negative. Taylor discovered this when he sprinkled garlic powder on some ribs he was boiling and it woke me up from a deep sleep. I spent the rest of the day barricaded in my bedroom with a towel under the door, muttering very mean things.
One thing Baby has been craving is stir fry. When I realized I wasn't getting enough Vitamin C during the day (I'm not a fan of orange juice), I needed a recipe with lots of bell peppers (which contains almost triple the amount of Vitamin C as an orange). So I call my go-to lady when it comes to cooking and my mother-in-law recommended a stir fry that was easy to make and healthy. I have now entered into a relationship with this meal, and have had it twice in the past three days.  I'm reheating my left overs as we speak.

I'm 12 weeks now, just over the hurdle into my second trimester. Praise God.  The first two weeks I found out I was preggo was probably the worst for me. I hardly left my bed and was miserable because I always felt nauseas. The thought of making it another 8 weeks feeling that way was really depressing. But eventually, I learned how my body worked, and as long as I was never on empty, I felt better. Certain things triggered me to get sick a handful of times, but after my sister's 23 weeks of vomiting during her pregnancy, I considered myself blessed.

Free Pattern Here

I found this adorable dress and bloomer pair online. If little Rags is a girl I definitely plan on sewing these. 

Admit it I would be the most handy mother ever if I make this.

This doesn't have anything to do with motherhood but I plan on getting my hair cut soon and this is what I landed on. Maybe a tad longer in the back.

I was a little hesitant to share this in case anyone snagged these ideas, but oh well. This is my favorite nursery I have come by.  I have already found the black and white chevron rug which I am in love with. The soft grey, white, and Tiffany blue color scheme with coral punches is genius.  The only change I would make would be the chair. I'm a rocker. Obviously this is, again, if Baby Rags is a girl. Which  not a single person seems to think, by the way. But if I'm having a boy, I plan to keep to the chevron rug and grey and white colors, but make the blue more of a boy blue. Not baby boy blue, but a deep blue.  My heart gets pumping just thinking of a whole new room to decorate. It's like Christmas.

And next week, I'll finally show some pictures of Baby Rags. Who is the size of a peach this week! Slowly making my way through the produce section.

-B

Dinobaby

Also this.