28 weeks

Sleep. I miss you.
This belly is getting much heavier and sleeping is getting much harder. It takes a lot of effort to turn over and to get out of bed. If Taylor is awake he'll usually give me a little push. Teamwork. My little man is liking the right side of my belly, he is always curled up there. I'm not sure what is wrong with my left side. He makes me look like I have a lopsided belly. Thanks.
So besides rarely getting a few hours of sleep at a time, this week hasn't been too bad.  A lot of work on a class fundraiser and a good house cleaning. My new year's resolution was to never go to bed with a messy kitchen/living room and to cook an amazing dinner at least four days a week. (Left overs for the rest) So far I've been good. But it's only February.
Now that I'm in my third trimester I should probably buckle down and finish up on the nursery. I really only have a few sewing projects to finish and some wall art to decide on. My wonderful friends are throwing me a baby shower next month and I am so excited. My parents, sister, and mother in law are able to come and that makes it even better.
My doc told me to start thinking of a birthing plan. Yikes. That makes this feel very real.  Some friends of mine are either very close to being due or have already given birth to their precious babies, and I'm a little jealous. I know everyone says the last two months go by the fastest but man, I want to meet you! I have your name picked out, your blanket and necessities all made, and your clothes hanging in the closet.  I can be patient though. For you.

Lately I have found myself in better spirits because of a new Bible study and new friends. I'm incredibly grateful that Oklahoma hasn't turned out to be so bad. Shocked, too. :) Since Taylor's and my Valentine's day consisted of me working all day and him flying until 9pm, we decided to do it right this weekend. We'll head into the city for some shopping and maybe some German food. My favorite.

This week my favorite recipe is probably a healthy broccoli fettucini alfredo. Unbelievable I know. Usually alfredo is full of cream and heavy calories but this recipe is made from a little bit of garlic, light butter, flour, and parmesan. It's super quick to make so it's nice when I don't really feel like cooking.

Broccoli Fettucini Alfredo

(http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2012/02/broccoli-fettuccine-alfredo-548-recipe.html)

(This recipe makes about 8 servings. So it's a good idea to half it, unless you're feeding a ton of people.)

INGREDIENTS		COST
16 oz.	dry fettuccine	$1.63
16 oz.	frozen broccoli florets	$1.29
1 clove	garlic	$0.08
4 Tbsp	butter	$0.45
4 Tbsp	all-purpose flour	$0.06
3 cups	milk	$0.94
1 cup	grated parmesan	$0.96
1/8 tsp	nutmeg	$0.02
to taste	salt & pepper	$0.05
TOTAL		$5.48

STEP 1: Begin to boil a large pot of water to cook the pasta. When it reaches a full boil, add the pasta and cook for 7-10 minutes or until al dente. When the pasta is finished cooking, reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water and then drain the pasta in a colander.

STEP 2: While the pasta is cooking, thaw the broccoli in the microwave and begin to make the parmesan sauce. Mince the garlic and cook it over medium heat in a medium sauce pot with the butter until the garlic has softened slightly (3-5 minutes). Add the flour, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes more. This is the "roux" that will thicken the sauce.

STEP 3: Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the milk mixture until it comes up to a light simmer. As soon as it reaches a simmer it will thicken and should be able to coat a wooden spoon (see photos below). Turn the heat off and whisk in the parmesan cheese. Add freshly cracked black pepper, nutmeg, and salt to taste. Make the sauce slightly saltier than you'd prefer if you were eating the sauce alone. Once it's spread out over the pasta and broccoli it will taste more mild.

STEP 4: Return the cooked pasta to the large pot that it was boiled in (with the burner turned off). Add the reserved pasta cooking water and toss the pasta to loosen it up. Add the thawed broccoli and then pour the parmesan sauce over top. Stir to coat everything in the sauce and then serve!

-B

Home Stretch

I've heard from a few different places that 27 weeks marks the beginning of the third trimester, and then other places that it's 28 weeks. I decided to split the difference. I'm 27 weeks 5 days and finally starting the home stretch of this crazy adventure. It's hard to believe how fast everything has gone by. I'm ready for these last 12 weeks to fly by so I can be playing with my little monster.

So far I've gained 15+ pounds but happily gaining it all in my belly.  I'm in my last pair of jeans so I probably will have to invest in some maternity pants soon, ahh.  Hello stretchy waistband.  My appetite has gone crazy; I can eat all day.  I have to have a constant supply of grapes and apples or else I would just eat junk. Which still tends to happen. One trip I made to the commissary when I was hungry, ended up with me bringing home Snickers Ice Cream bars, Oreos, Muddy Buddies, and chocolate chip cookies. Needless to say, I can never go there when I'm hungry again. If I don't keep it in the house I can't eat it. So it's all juices, fruits, and whole grain cereals for snack time.   Some old symptoms are popping back up, and some new. I have to pee every five minutes and I noticed I have these hot flashes.  This is the one time I could visit my sister's Arctic house and not be cold. I'm also drinking twenty gallons of water a day and my fingers are too swollen to fit my wedding ring on. Only in my hands though, I'm avoiding the cankles somehow.

We had some project time this past week. We decided to turn our coffee table into an upholstered ottoman. Taylor and I were getting tired of our feet falling asleep every time we put our feet up. So we painted the table with our new handy spray gun in the same charcoal gray as the nursery.  I found some great black and white honeycomb fabric at Hobby Lobby and purchased some foam and batting.

We love it.  And it is incredibly comfortable.  If we ever get tired of it, it could probably go at the end of the guest bed.

The rug I ordered for the nursery also came in this week and I decided to put it in the living room for the time being. It was 8 x 10 so it was plenty big, and we needed one for the area. It was dark gray and shaggy-ish so it's nice to sink your toes into, maybe I'll find a different one for Baby? :)

In our base housing we have this one awkward size room that is meant to be the dining room and living room. It's hard to make these bunkers look cute but I did my best. With our new rug I have to say it's at least cozy enough.

My little pup is the best!

The recipe this week is my favorite!!

Curried Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
(left-over) chicken (2 breasts ish)
2 ice berg lettuce leaves
1/2 medium carrot
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp yogurt (or an additional 2 tbsp of mayo)
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 heaping tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 onion powder
1/2 sweet apple
green onions
1 oz cheese
flat-leaf parsley
pepper
salt

Directions:
First, shred the leftover cold chicken with your hands into a bowl.
Chop the lettuce, peel and grate the carrot, chop the onion, and chop the apple.
Combine the mayo and yogurt into a separate bowl and add the spices then the parsley.
Finally add the chicken, lettuce, carrot, apple, onion, and cheese. Careful not to bruise the lettuce, I stirred with a big plastic spatula.

Toast some kaiser rolls and serve. Taylor liked to add a slice of swiss to melt on top of the rolls too. This recipe is one of our new favorites, such a mix of amazing flavor.

On this [blog] they show it step by step with pictures.


-B