Bump Watch: Week 17

Due Date?  January 17th.  Handsome Husband thinks he/she will be born on the 9th, though.

How far along?  17 weeks and 1 day.

Size of baby?  He/she is the size of a sweet potato.

Weight gain?  8 lbs.  I didn't gain any between Dr. appointments, but I had a bit of a foodie week after and packed 5 pounds on.

However, some of it was water retention from the sodium and a couple lbs came off since I've been on my feet so much with school starting up again.  

Maternity clothes?  Oh, totally!  I am just now starting to show so I wore maternity shirts and such to emphasize that I was chunky for a reason.

Movement?  I don't think so, but I've been wondering about a couple of incidences.

Food cravings? I had a massive chicken wing craving the other day!

Ice water is a must every day still.

However, most of the time I'm not craving anything in particular.

Just my normal likes and such.

My new mini fridge to aid in my daily ice water crisis.

Separate freezer...SCORE!

Gender?  We aren't finding out.

We think it will be more exciting!

Believe me you, thought...the anticipation is killing me already!

Don't worry, though...I'll stay strong.

Labor?  None.

Bellybutton in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Deli turkey.

Copious amounts of Diet Coke (aka teacher crack) during the school day.

A glass of wine while cooking or blogging.

Looking forward to...?  Feeling movement.

Here's to more smooth sailing!

Laters,

Mrs. B

High 5 for Friday 8.9.13

1.  I had the privilege of going to see Maroon 5 with two of my besties this past weekend.

I. Had. So. Much. Fun.

Handsome Husband commented that he doesn't know if he's ever seen me laugh that hard before.

We seriously had tears rolling the entire night.

2.  I have been prepping to go back to school this week so HH has been preparing dinner.

I was particularly fond of Wednesday's dinner. :)

It's such a great feeling knowing that my partner in life supports me when I am overwhelmed.

However, I'm worried that once he goes back to school as well we might starve!

3.  My room is put together!

I made a few changes and additions to it this year.

I was going to take some photos for a room tour post, but didn't get to it.

Next week!

4.  I am back in the thick of things as of this morning.

I currently have 24 new nuggets, but could easily be at 25 on Monday.

All in all it was a pretty great day.

I'll be writing about it next week...sometime...

5.  Since my corporation hasn't outlawed personal fridges yet (and because the baby needs ICE water and yogurt) I went out and picked up a new one to share with my coworker.

It's gigantic!  (As far as personal fridges go...)

I LOVE that it has a separate freezer.

I can fit a ton of ice in there!

Happy baby.

I hope you also had a great week!

Laters!

 Mrs. B

It's Baaaaaaaaack!

Holy fast, Batman.

My summer is O.V.E.R.

It feels a bit strange to say that and have it actually be true.

You know...because I usually say it's over once August starts, but this time it's actually true.

This sums it up nicely.

I'm holding my could-be-really-ugly freak outs in (so far).

My room is clean.

My cupboards are somewhat purged, but clean.

I have my plan for tomorrow.

However, I HAVE 28 NUGGETS ON MY CLASS LIST RIGHT NOW!

Um...hi...that's a lot.

Who knows though.

I could have anywhere between 20 and 28 nuggets actually show up.

Ermahgerd.

Wish me luck...lot's of luck.

So, the days of swollen feet and ankles, 

endless hoards of dull pencils,

stacks upon stacks of need-to-be-graded-right-now papers,

"I've gotta go to the bathroom",

"He/She budged",

inhaling my lunch,

tripping over chairs,

wanting to change my name by the end of some days,

and more are back.

So, I am off to rest my weary feet, eat the yummy dinner Handsome Husband is cooking, and stare at the wall for a hot minute.

Laters!

Mrs. B

No One Ever Believes...

...that I'm actually an introvert.

I found this great article a little while ago and it sums up my situation perfectly.

I may be a very social person, but that doesn't mean that I'm an extrovert.

As a friend of mine so eloquently put it, "I'm an introvert who leads the life of a social butterfly."

I have been told that I could talk to a wall and the wall would talk back.

I love hanging out with my friends and being social.

I love teaching my nuggets and talking with my coworkers.

However, in order for me to do that, I MUST MUST MUST have time alone.

Whether it be blogging, trolling the internet news sites for some random bit of gossip, watching a show I've already seen, or crocheting it has to be done.

I went through a very bad time in my late teens/early twenties.

Panic attacks GALORE.

I now realize that it was in part because I couldn't recognize that I was actually an introvert and was therefore going against every fiber of my being.

Whether a person is an introvert or an extrovert isn't determined by how they act around people.

It's determined by how they recharge their emotional "batteries".

Introverts recharge alone, extroverts recharge around others.

So, which one are you?

I'm off to be alone! :)

Mrs. B

High 5 for Friday! 8.2.13

Woot woot for Friday!

Boo hoo for my last Friday before school starts on Monday.

1.  I have crocheted my brains out this week.  I have made 8 hats, 7 decorative flowers and zero progress on putting my granny square quilt together.  

I have a few more hats to make for some friends.

I LOVE the easy patterns I have found over at Sarah's blog.

2.  I have loved doing the crossword puzzle each day this summer. 

I'm sure going to miss it when school starts.

3.  I went into my classroom for the first time all summer and made a little headway.

Simply putting my desks where they belong made a HUGE difference.

4.  I got my polish on today.

I don't usually paint my own nails because I'm not patient enough to wait for them to dry.

However, the dealership that we got our Escape from has a manicurist on staff.

And it's free!

This may become a weekly thing until the baby comes...

5.  I had my first, true pregnancy craving this week.  

I wanted chicken wings from a place we never go to.

They had to be the real deal, too.

No boneless wings for this baby.

Handsome Husband laughed at my insistence.

I hope you had a great week, too.

Please forgive me if I don't post every day since the school year is starting up and I never know what could happen!

Check out the other H54F blogs here.

Laters!

Mrs. B

Let Them Eat Pasta

My Aunt Sarah came up with that title...she's so witty! :)

So, I wanted to share this little gem that is partially inspired by Pinterest but put into action by an instagrammer I follow.

Have you all seen the "One Pot Pasta" recipe floating around on Pinterest?

I have the awful habit of being an I'm-gonna-pin-it-but-I'll-never-try-it kind of gal.

However, when I saw that my Instagram friend had tried it and given instructions I was a woman on a mission.
And ermagerd!!!!!
Magic in a pot. 

I tried it for the first time last week to figure it out and see if I needed to change anything.

And it's a good thing I did!

The little tweaks I made to the recipe made it sooooo much better.

Here's what you need:

12 oz. of linguine (one normal-sized box)

4 cups of chicken broth (I used a 32 oz. container)

2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes with the juice

2 TBSP olive oil

garlic to taste (which means I used 4 heaping spoonfuls)

4 sprigs of basil leaves chopped or torn

2 TBSP red pepper flakes

1 TPSP oregano

1 medium onion sliced thinly

**optional**

chicken breast

parmesan cheese

I put all the dry stuff in first.

The first time I made this I put the items in as I came to them...bad choice.

The noodles sat in the liquid as I was chopping the onion and such and became a gooey, sticky mess.

They were clumped together in the most unattractive manner.

I added the wet stuff right before turning the burner on.

Bring it to a boil uncovered.

Once boiling, cover and lower to a simmer.

Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

I cooked it for 15 this time because I wanted the noodles more al dente than the last time. 

**Optional**

I baked some chicken while I was cooking the pasta to round out the meal.

I put sea salt and pepper on it before cooking.

Doesn't that look good???!!!

The broth, tomato juice and olive oil create a light, yummy sauce.

Garnish with parmesan cheese if you so choose.

It was pretty awesome to hear Handsome Husband mumbling, "So good!!" while he was eating.

Let me know if you try it!

Laters,

Mrs. B

The Nursery Has Begun to Become...

This whole baby thing-a-ma-jig is starting to get more real.

For one thing, I think that my belly bulge is starting to become more baby than residual I-shoulda-worked-out-more gut.

For another, I painted the room that will be the baby's nursery!

I am in LOVE with the color I picked.

I wanted to go a little outside the box with whatever was chosen.

A BIG thanks to Julie Bergdall of Red Door Design for helping me pick the color!!!

We are not finding out the gender of our child, so it had to be neutral.

However, I did not want to go with the old standbys...you know...grey, yellow, green, etc.

While this color may not be neutral to some, it goes with so many more colors that even I thought.

We will be accenting with rich colors like dark grey, rich red, navy blue, yellow, and white.

Here's the before:

The grey wasn't bad or anything, I just wasn't feeling it for the nursery since I know that I want to use grey as an accent color.

This color is called Breaktime by Sherwin Williams.

It's a compromise for both Handsome Husband and me.

His favorite color is blue while mine is green.

It brightens the room and makes me want to put the whole dang nursery together now!

However, Handsome Husband and I rent our house out during Notre Dame's football season and we need this room for some revenue for a while yet.  :)

Here's the list of to-dos for this room:

paint walls

hang curtains

set up crib

sand and paint trim

find an area rug

wall art

pillows and other decorations

replace ceiling fan with one with a light

replace outlets and light switch with white ones

crochet a blanket (or five) for the room

We've got a way to go, but plenty of time!

Laters!

Mrs. B

As for a little side-note...I will NEVER paint with another paint ever ever EVER again.

I have used Sherwin Williams' paint plus primer for the living room and nursery and have been blown away.

The dark wall in the living room needed two coats while the others only need ONE!!

The same thing for the nursery!!

It is quality, quality, quality.

LOVE!