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.