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