News from my Brother volume 3

I have 6 months! wow time flies by fast. thanks you all for your love and support and happy thanks giving. i really want pumpkin pie and eggnog. our p day ended at 2 on monday because of the temple trip on wednesday and a thanksgiving thing for all the zones on thursday. our day wasn't too great because my comp was really upset about it. tuesday morning we were called to the office to have an interview with the president. i wasn't nervous until i told the pres something about my comp i thought he already knew. i was a little worried about it but then at the end i found out all was fine. my comp is now only going to recieve half his money at the start of the month and then the other half halfway through the month. wednesday we had the temple trip and i love the new movie. i was so happy that i could understand it all in spanish. thursdays activity was fun and i got to talk to all my buddies from the ccm again. friday was ok. we had a leader come and teach us a bit to inspire us which was good. saturday we found 2 new families to teach and had 6 lessons. and yesterday we had an attendance of 110 people. yay. thanks for your love and support hope all is well and i will writes you next week.

Craving Struggle

Wow, I want cookies!

I have already had two today, I will not eat anymore!

I have two plates of cookies in my kitchen! Thank you to the wonderful ladies who brought them by... But your temptations are very hard to resist! As of the moment I'm not saying "no" to anything, I'm just counting calories so I'm allowed a couple cookies. But seriously people! I want to shove them all in my face!

Sigh...

I need to go drink some water ;)

Until Next Time!
Spicy

Mini Triumph

Phone Update

I really really really wanted some chocolate today when I was checking out from the store. It wouldn't be that hard. It was right there. All I had to do... was grab it! No. It wasn't worth it. Last time I grabbed something at checkout and ate it I felt awful afterward! Just let it go... but I really REALLY wanted chocolate.

I was up next.

I walked passed the chocolate... and didn't look back.

Seriously, it's ridiculous how small that is... but it made me feel SO good! ;) Mini triumph people! They build up!

Until Next Time!
Spicy

Nov 15th

Update From My Phone

Okay, I know it's been a long time. Sorry about that. Lots has been going on and I promise to do a few catch up posts. Bear with me while I do those and write my life away. I'm having some mental breakdowns and breakthroughs and they are big. I'm excited to have blogger on my phone so I can type out a quick thought when I need to. It will be encouraging when I'm in a rut. I can just hop on here and tell you all about how miserable I am and then I'll feel better! Haha. Seriously though. It's about to get uber personal up in here. ;) Well...  As personal as I get. :P

Lately the struggle has been all about food. I do great until after lunch. For some odd,  annoying reason my mind thinks it's my reward/dessert/punishment time and all I want is candy or dry cereal (like fruit loop cereal,  not the good cereal) or) LW's gold fish (I always feel bad about that one)... So that needs to stop. Anyway... I'll keep you posted!
Until Next Time!
Spicy

November 6th

News from My Brother Volume 2

this last week was so much better than the previous one. Monday we finished with only one lesson but it was cool. don't remember why just remember that it was cool. Tuesday was bad. don't need to write about that. and then Wednesday. Wednesday was fantastic i loved the multi zone meeting where we learned how to plan more effectively and our lessons taught and new investigators grew so much. I also got some packages and letters from you guys. i got those chocolate almonds and also those delicious cookies. we didn't have any lesson that day but we ended the meeting at 8 pm and our lessons feel through. Thursday was fantastic. we had 7 lessons and 12 contacting and made a ton of lessons planned for Friday. Friday we had most of our lessons fall through but we still had a good turn out for the day. Saturday we had a great activity and we did more than 50 contacting opportunities that day and went on splits with three members. it was fantastic. my comp found a family that came to church the next day. Sunday, YAY WE FINALLY HAD INVESTIGATORS IN CHURCH!! our goal for people in church was 100 and in our ward we had 9 investigators. 4 of which were mine. yes! success. thanks for your love and support. Sunday other than that kind of sucked. my comp got really mad at me for the whole day because i wanted to go with the zone to this place called town house which serves American food. we found a way to do it. i am going with a buddy of mine who came with me from the ccm and he will stay at the house with my buddies comp. thanks for your prayers and thoughts and stories and support. i still have ten minutes if you want to talk. no i didn't carve a pumpkin. they don't exist here. this is a juice carton. this other guy was the mini missionary that i am really good friends with.

 

News from my Brother

Our brother (Spicy and My) is currently in El Salvador serving a mission. He gets to spend half an hour on his missionary email account every Monday! This is when we get to hear from him and how he is doing. I have come to LOVE Mondays! Here is his message from today:

On Monday we played soccer and then wrote then we rested, bought all our stuff fro the week and then rested until our dates (appointments; he often is thinking in Spanish while writing in English). I forgot to write in my journal on Tuesday so i don't remember what happened. Wednesday we had a multi zone meeting where we learned a ton of stuff about how to better work with the members and how to teach using the pamphlets that we are given to use. It was fantastic but really long we didn't get back until 7 at night. Thursday in celebration of my birthday the zone went and bought a cake and soda after the zone meeting. It was fun and we worked pretty well that day. I love living right next to the zone leaders. They have a ping pong set and we play every morning for about an hour with them. so fun. We also had a thing called floutas. They are kind of like an El Salvadorian style calzone. They're not too bad. Friday we didn't do a whole lot. My companion likes to walk or something because he keeps changing to plans to walk 20 minutes from one end of our zone to the other. I don't fight him on it or even talk to him about it because he gets angry and then we don't have the spirit with us. Saturday I fasted with my comp and our mission leader for our investigators I didn't see any benefit from it other than enjoying lunch the next day.W e taught a less active person that says because of the things he has done and seen he feels like he can't go to church. I told him not to worry about that; all is ok in the eyes of God if he wanted the forgiveness.  Then I shared the conversion story of Alma. He said he would go to church but he ended up not going. We only have one progressing investigator and I still have not had any baptisms in my whole mission. What is it that I am doing wrong or that the Lord wishes I learn? Sunday nothing special happened and now I get to write you guys. So happy. Love you all.

 

We truly love and miss him! We pray for his safety and health unceasingly! We know he is serving the Lord and are so grateful for his example and service in the world. 

Thankful Thursday

Welcome to Thankful Thursday!

I remembered where the link up was so we are LINKING UP! :D WOOT!!!

Sweet! :D 

Lets go on with this!

1.) Toddler Giggles. On days where LW makes me want to pull my hair out. When I have mental and emotional break downs. When I am fighting, really really fighting, the urge to scream at him. When he has effectively dissolved every ounce of patience I have left. (all of which happened yesterday) His giggles make everything better. Today is a much better day and I love listening to him giggle. 

3.) A Loving Hubby. I miss my hubby every day when he leaves for work and I can't wait to see him when he comes home. Some days I miss him more then others. Yesterday, with having the bad day that I did have, missing him as much as I did on top of everything else was not helpful. I was so thankful when he came home and was very patient with me as I became more normal. He helped with LW more then usual, did most of the talking throughout dinner while I tried to be happy. We laid LW down, he went right to bed, and instead of finishing our plans of cleaning the hubs let me have a nice shower and then we cuddled and ate popcorn. It was exactly what I needed. Just time with my hubby/best friend. :) I say it often, but it is just as true as the first time I said it. He is the BEST thing that ever happened to me. I love him so much.

I only have two for you today, but I think that is good enough. :) Sadly I didn't do Workout Wednesday yesterday, but from the day I was having, I think I can be excused. I did have a great workout though. Maybe I'll share it with you next week instead, unless I have a different one... or maybe I'll share two! You'll just have to wait and see!

Also, I purposefully didn't update belly stuff this week. I will again next week though. I'll be 34 weeks! Crazy! Check back tomorrow for Five on Friday Link Up! :D

Until Next Time!

Spicy

Weekend Recap Mon 30th

Wow! I can't believe it's the last day of September! Crazy. This month has gone by so fast. Actually this YEAR has gone by really fast. Wow... Anyway!

Nothing too exciting to report about this weekend, except for the fact we moved LW to a new room and a new bed... a toddler bed.

Yay for Cars :)

This bed has actually been up for a couple weeks. He has loved going into the new room and playing in it and on his bed. He even wanted to sleep in it before this weekend. The room wasn't quite ready yet though and neither were the hubs or I, so on Friday this is what I did to LW's old room (the nursery).

I took all his crib bedding out and put it away and replaced it with our baby girls things. (bumpers and sheet made by my sisters and mom and aunt, blanket with tassels made by mom-n-law)

LW didn't have practically any decorations in this room anymore. They were taken down a while ago by either me or him, so all I did was add wall decorations given to me by my sis that I call Sassy. 

LW walked in after I had put the butterflies on the wall and started laughing. It was funny. 

The room is not done yet, I still have quite a few things I want to do in there. A few decorations I need to finish and hang up. I also have a ruffle skirt to put on the crib as well. I'll post pics when the room is all finished.

I LOVE the girl theme of this room! I so needed a girl. Boy stuff is cute and fine, but girls are just SO FUN! I can't wait. Literally... I am so done being pregnant. Haha.

Moving LW to his new room and bed is really the highlight of the weekend. I know some moms are going to hate me for this, but it went great! Friday night we followed his same routine (after keeping him up all day/no nap) which usually goes something like this... Change diaper, get in PJ's, brush teeth (which he loves), read a book, family prayers, get in bed, and lately after LW lays down with all his blankets and stuffed animals he looks up at me and says, "Sing?" So I sing. We did all that, he was great. The hubs and I said Nighty Night and we walked out.

We stared at each other in the hallway after closing his door. He has slept with his door closed for a LONG time now so that wasn't any different. He was totally quiet. The hubs was making jokes about how in five seconds or something he was going to start screaming his head off, while I was going... "stop jinxing it, maybe he will be fine." About a minute later LW did start crying, but not screaming. 

The hubs and I walked into our room and waited with LW knocking on his door asking for "Mommy". Oh, what a heartbreak, but I was determined to do this and would not be swayed. He was doing pretty good so we let him cry it out for about 7 minutes before we walked into his room. We took him back to his bed, tucked him in again, I sang a short version of a long lullaby he loves and we walked out. He immediately started crying when we started walking away and was at the door seconds after we closed it.

I was prepared to do this for a long time if necessary. The hubs and I had agreed that after ten more minutes we would go in again. Five minutes later, LW was quiet. A half hour later the hubs and I were laughing in disbelief. Had it really been that easy?

Well, it had. LW slept the whole night and knocked on the door in the morning when he woke up at 8am. Saturday we went to a book signing to visit and support my sis-n-laws books! She is the author of the Seers Trilogy. It's amazing, just saying. :) We didn't get home until after 8pm, LW usually goes to bed closer to 7pm. He fell asleep in the car and barely budged when we transferred him to his bed. He was awake and asked me to sing so I did, but we walked out without any fuss and he fell straight asleep. 

 Last night wasn't quite as easy, but it was still good. We laid him down, walked out, he cried for maybe a couple minutes, then went quiet... then the hubs had to walk over to his bedroom door and he started crying again, but only for a few minutes then was quiet.

All in all, it is going really well. I look forward to the day when he doesn't follow us to the door after we leave, but I will take what we have over what other people go through any day. :)

Now I know baby girl isn't due to arrive for a while, but we want LW used to his bed before she makes her bebut. She wont be sleeping in her crib right away, but we also don't want him associating "losing his crib" with her. All in all, it's just easier this way and he is obviously ready enough for it.

Now... to try naps today... :S Wish me luck.

Until Next Time!
Spicy

Five Friday Favs

LINK UP!!!! YAY!!!!

My first link up since being back to blogging! It's a fun one too! Woot!

Welcome too.....

1. FALL/AUTUMN!!! I may be a little obsessed.

PB Pumpkins - via pintrest

via pintrest

via pintrest

via pinterest

I could post a million pictures of things I love about fall/autumn time so I'll just leave it at that. I'm obsessed with long sleeves, sweaters, boots, and all things pumpkin. :) I LOVE cold weather! Everyone here has been complaining about the sudden weather change, it went from 80 degrees to 50 degrees in two weeks(we even had a SMALL amount of snow on our playground in our backyard this morning), but I am loving it! Bring on the cold! :D And it's been super rainy and I love that too. I just love it! :D

2. Planning. Another thing I may or may not be obsessed with.

I love planning things out. I love having things to write in my day planner! Right now I'm currently obsessing over workouts and running and eating healthy. I want to wright it all down! But I have a rather small day planner and I don't like using pencils... so then I have to cross stuff out and then it looks messy. Maybe I should just get over my "no pencil" thing. ;)

3. Creativity.
      Do I really need to explain this one? I have a blog. I'm a writer and aspiring author. I draw. I have had a blast coming up with ideas to decorate our baby girls room (a lot of them I can't do because they would cost to much). Creativity all around is amazing.

4. BOOTS!!!


I may or may not be obsessed about these as well. I only have two pairs of boots... I need more!!! XD

5. Running.

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

I WANNA RUN!!!! I want to scream that at the top of my lungs! I miss running! Why did I ever stop? Oh ya... I got injured. I could have gotten back into it though, before becoming pregnant and then I could have continued running throughout my pregnancy, but starting to run in your third trimester after not running for ... a long time... is not smart or safe. I can not wait to hit that pavement after this baby girl comes and I've been cleared by the doc. :)

So if you are out hitting the pavement or trails or even the treadmill, run a little for me please! :D And I'll do the same for you when I can. :)

Happy Friday! :D
Enjoy the weekend!

Until Next Time!
Spicy

Thankful Thursday

So I thought I was going to be all original and come up with Thankful Thursday and be like, HEY Link Up with me! Then I was browsing a ridiculous amount of blogs and saw someone doing a Thankful Thursday link up, bummer. To bad I don't remember which site it was, otherwise I would be linking up right now.

I am Thankful for...

        1. The ability to move! I want to say run or walk, but moving is appropriate. There are a lot of people out there who can not move, they can't walk, they can't run, and I am so very grateful that I can. I found this site www.whoirun4.com and I am thoroughly inspired. I want to be paired up with someone, but I feel I should be 'not pregnant' before I do so. That feeling may change, but that is just how I personally feel. I can't wait though!

        2. Love. I am so very thankful for love. A life without love is no life at all. The hubs has given me the greatest gift of all. Love. I find more of myself everyday I am with him. He loves me for me. He is the one person on this entire planet, in this entire universe that truly knows EVERYTHING about me. He is my best friend. We miss each other so much when he is at work and if we have a day when one or the other is extremely busy and we don't get to see each other or spend time with each other very much, it's very hard! A little while ago we made a deal, a promise. It may be silly to some, or even ridiculous to others, but I love it and I love that he loves it too. We as a couple, are going to do everything in our power to NEVER be apart, even for one day. Hours, fine, that's inevitable, but a full day... even the thought makes us both sick. I LOVE that we LOVE to be around each other. I LOVE him.

         3. Inspiration. I came across something this morning. More like it fell out of my pen while I was writing in my journal and then made me feel bad. I found something inside of me that I have known is there for a long time, but it was kind of just in the back of my head. I didn't think about it much because it made me feel terrible. Let me give you a little insight to what I'm talking about.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- many call us Mormon, but that isn't our name. Part of our beliefs is that our body is a temple, a gift from our father above. Now... I'm going to get real personal here for a moment... I am in NO WAY trying to offend anyone, this is just how I FEEL. With that said... What on earth have I been doing to my body? I am overweight (not thinking about the fact that I am pregnant right now, I'm talking about non pregnant me) boarder-line obese. In what way is that treating my body like the temple it is? I should be doing everything in my power to take care of my body! Talk about a slap in the face considering I was pigging out on cookie dough last night while dinner was cooking(no it didn't have egg in it). Ouch. With this new found thought/inspiration I took a new approach to today. I've been kind of watching what I eat and how much, but I haven't let it consume me... Today, I have been eating extremely healthy, minus the cup of Hot Chocolate I had this morning, but it was 59 degrees in my house and I needed something warm! Yeah!

Sorry, little too much attitude. :P I went on a walk today with LW even though minutes before I had decided not to do it. It was cold, I was tired, I needed to clean, but in reality I was sitting on my butt not really doing anything. Then LW went and grabbed his shoes and put them on his wrong feet, came up to me, and said, "Walk?" I told him no. He was upset. I grabbed something to put away(half cleaning) and said maybe we would go after I was done cleaning. That changed very quickly and I changed my clothes, threw my hair up in a ponytail, and was ready to head out the door. LW even grabbed MY shoes for me! (they were the wrong ones and he was very upset when I went to put them away, but then was happy again after he saw I had grabbed another pair).

We came home and had lunch and LW wanted a few goldfish. I gave him a few and was about to grab a rather large  handful when the thought, "My body is a temple" came to mind. I put the goldfish away and grabbed almonds instead. That may not seem like a huge deal to some, but it was for me.

I've been making little goals here and there and two of the three I've set in the last month are quickly becoming habits. I'm making another goal, a challenge, to myself (you can join too if you want!).

found on pinterest

My challenge to myself is to view and treat my body like a temple. To build it up so it can withstand anything and keep it pure. I'll be starting a new page, I don't know what I'm going to call it yet, but it will be a journey to building my temple. I'll post pics of food I eat, write down choices I've made, and post pics of my ever developing temple there as well. I'm competing with myself to build a better me.

Until Next Time!

Spicy

32 Week Tummy Update

It's been quite some time since I did a belly update so things have changed a lot!

Ready for the pic?

I have a belly! Well, I did last time too, but it was much smaller. Sorry there isn't my awesome white board ;) but I didn't feel like it. :P Now a comparison from last time I was pregnant...

I wish these pics were more similar so you could see more of a difference, but if you can't tell. I'm carrying very different and I'm smaller. I know some people might not see much, but I see a ton! like those shorts I'm wearing in my 1st pregnancy picture, fit me great then, but this pregnancy... I don't wear them much, partly because it's getting cold here now and also because they are big on me! My arms are still smaller then they were last time. And my face is thinner, but that is hard to tell because in the current pic I have my hair down and the older pic it's up which makes your face look thinner. My hair is also longer now, but that's besides the point, haha.

Okay! Belly update stuffs...

How far along? 32 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I'm no longer answering this question, I will tell you when I'm done being pregnant.
Maternity clothes? Mostly! I still have some of my non maternity stuff that I'm wearing, crazy right?
Stretch marks? No new ones, and the old ones aren't really showing up, yay LOTION! But really got the stretch marks last time around 36 weeks so we will see. I'm lotioning up like crazy though to keep them away as long as possible.
Sleep: Bah, bad question. I wake up multiple times a night. Not really for any reason, just because. I seem to be constantly restless and I can't get comfortable. 
Best moment this week: Um... ?
Miss anything? A good nights sleep! Being comfortable. Serious working out and running! I want to run so bad!!!!
Movement: YES! Like crazy! She likes to kick the hubs when we are going to sleep, hahaha.
Food cravings: Not to much anymore, but when I do crave something it's usually sugar or chocolate which is weird because chocolate isn't really something I love. I mean I enjoy it, but I would rather have other things. Unless it's a reeses, but then we are getting into chocolate and peanut butter and that's a whole different story.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope, not anymore.
Have you started to show yet? Um... yes
Gender: GIRL!!!!!!!
Labor Signs: Some Braxton Hicks/Contractions nothing serious.
Belly button in or out? Officially out. Weird... That's another difference. With LW I never had an outy because of my extra fluff. I don't have as much this time so I have an outy. Weird.
Wedding rings on or off? On :) I only take them off at night because my hands swell when I sleep, but then in the morning they go right back on! :D YAY! I had to stop wearing them early on with LW because of swelling.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Usually happy. But LW and his toddler tantrums definitely make that hard... really hard.
Looking forward to: Not being pregnant anymore. I'm so done, being a mom of a busy body toddler definitely makes this whole pregnancy thing a lot harder. Plus, I want to workout HARD and run and run and run and not be in pain. I think the relaxagin (or however that is spelled and said) is making it's way around. I have old injuries flaring up that cause me daily pain. Both my shoulder and my ankle. Not fun.

YAY! Only 8 more weeks to go, two months! Yikes! And only 5 more until I'm full term. :D YAY!!!! 

Until Next Time!
Spicy!

Weekend Recap

This weekend we took care of mowing our lawn and cleaning the kitchen. Done.

Just kidding!

I found a new trick on Saturday!

... Of course... it was after LW woke up and had dried blood all over his face. :(

Poor kid had a bloody nose sometime during the night. It was on his cute little pillow, his sheets, his pajamas, and even his stuffed Pooh Bear. I walked in to get him up in the morning and he held out his hand and said, "OH NO!"

LW is a clean freak. Even at two years old. He gets it from his Daddy. What two year old BOY hates being dirty? Isn't that in their job description? To be dirty? Anyway, he had dried blood on his hands. I was terrified when I walked in the room because before I turned the light on... I was SO worried he had made a nice present for me in his diaper and then got his hand in it... ew. That would have been really bad to have all over his face. I'm glad that hasn't happened and I'm knocking on wood that it never does.

Now, I've had a few people ask, why do you think he had a bloody nose? Well.... both the hubs and I are unfortunately very susceptible to bloody noses and living in a dry high desert like Utah doesn't help. As a kid I had them all the time and thankfully they slowed down as I got older. Then I moved here and both the hubs and I have one probably close to once every two weeks. They aren't bad ones, but they are still bloody noses. Sorry kiddo...

Anyway, back to the story.

I quickly grabbed a wet wipe and tried to get some of the dried blood off his hands, but if you don't know... dried blood isn't the easiest thing to get off or out of things! The hubs and I agreed it would be best just to stick him in the tub. SO we did. He had a nice bath with the hubs while I stuck his sheet in the laundry.

THANKFULLY he didn't get any on his blankets, which really surprised me because he cuddles with those things like crazy. Yes, multiple. He has two that he will not sleep without.

Unfortunately though, it was all over his pooh bear. He loves Pooh Bear, or as he calls him "Pooh Pooh". Cute kid. I snatched the poor little stuffed creature away and hid him while I did some research.

How on earth do you get blood -- old, dried blood -- out of stuffed animals? I couldn't just throw Pooh Bear in the wash, he'd get ruined and LW would be devastated.

I was getting so frustrated because I found other people asking the same question and TONS of people kept saying, "EW! Throw it out!"

I'M NOT GOING TO THROW OUT A TEN DOLLAR STUFFED ANIMAL!

You can do that, I'm a penny pincher and that is just ridiculous, it's a little blood. It happens. Get over it and clean it, oh brother.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. ;)

I finally found someone saying, "Poor hydrogen peroxide on it, it's what nurses use to get blood out of their clothes."

My first thought was... 'won't that ruin the color?' So I tested it on the pillow first. I didn't want to poor the peroxide right onto the pillow though so I poured a little on a rag and scrubbed. It didn't hurt the color one bit and it came out great with some scrubbing.

Next... was Pooh Bear. A part of me wishes I had taken a before picture, but at the same time i don't want to remember Pooh Bear with blood all over him. That's just to sad. And I have a feeling this wont be the last time something like this happens.

I started with the rag and although it was coming out, I could still see where the blood had been. After a few minutes of frustrated scrubbing I finally poured the peroxide right on the spots of blood in little amounts at a time.

It fizzed...

It bubbled...

I thought I was ruining my childs favorite (well, one of his favorites) stuffed animal.

Then it cleared.

And this is what I saw.

Nothing but a slightly wet Pooh Bear!

Hydrogen Peroxide wins! I was so happy! And once he dried, LW was more then happy to have his little stuffed Pooh Bear back. It all came out beautifully and left Pooh Bear still looking the same as before. No crusty stuffed animal fluff. Just a good old stuffed animal.

Yay! Best Mommy Award goes to me! And the peroxide, haha.

Thanks Hydrogen Peroxide for bringing the smile back to my little guys and pooh bears face. ;) Haha

And here's a picture of his royal cuteness just for your enjoying pleasure.

Until Next Time!

Spicy

Weekend Recap

What did I do this weekend?

Saturday I woke up and changed a struggling, fighting, screaming two year olds diaper and said, "I'm done! We are SO potty training you this week!" See, I don't have anything going on this week besides the grocery shopping I did this morning so it is perfect! He fights me every time I change him, but Daddy changes him and all is good. Ugh. Sometimes I wish HE was the stay at home parent and I could be the one to come home to a suddenly happy, loving toddler.

Then we went out to lunch with a bunch of family to celebrate the onslaught of birthdays we have in September. We went to Sizzlers, I had the Malibu Chicken and LW ate most of my fries. :( Then I stole some from the fry platters in the center of the table and all was good. Ha!

On our way to lunch

Saturday night, the hubs and I set up a toddler bed. Dun, dun, dun..... LW LOVES it! Until he realizes we are serious about him sleeping in it. Saturday night he crawled right in and we thought, "Wow, well... if he wants too okay." We weren't going to have him sleep in it Saturday. Well.... he didn't. The second he realized we were actually going to put him to bed in the toddler bed he jumped out of the bed. So into the crib he went.

We will be putting him in there soon though and it's going to be... fun... The room isn't quite ready yet, so the bed is just sitting there all together with all new Cars bedding and he can get in and out of it as he wishes. This new bedroom is bigger and we did not want to move the crib. I've heard a lot of people say to put the toddler bed right where their crib is... that's not going to work for us. Baby is coming in a couple months and we want him in HIS room before then. A.S.A.P! I also don't want him associating "losing" his current room with the new baby, we don't want any more resentment then what a first child already goes through when the second one comes along.

Sunday was a big day of relaxation, lots of cuddling, and family time. :) And it was much needed.

It feels good to be back to blogging. I know this is only the second post I've done this month, but it does feel good. I had forgotten how much I loved it. :)

Until Next Time!
Spicy

Where Did September Come From? Is Fall Here Yet?

Oh Wow! I can not believe it is September already! What?! Where did the time fly? Then at the same time... CAN FALL GET HERE ALREADY!?

Who else has fall fever?

I can't wait for...

Long Sleeves

Boots

Fuzzy pajamas

Sweaters

Blankets

Boots

Hot Chocolate

Sweaters

Pumpkin EVERYTHING

Boots

Sweaters

Pumpkin....

Did I mention Boots, Sweaters, and Pumpkin!? OH! I love fall/winter! Just get here already!

Well, I couldn't help it and I dove right into fall with THIS recipe from At The Picket Fence.

picture courtesy of atthepicketfence.com

I feel like I'm terrible at food pictures so I'm using her's. It just looks so good! :D

 Now, as per Spunky and my religious beliefs and personal choices, neither of us drink coffee. Which posed a BIG problem when I was craving this delicious hot pumpkin flavored with coziness and love drink. Until I asked one of my other sisters... let's call her... Sassy, who worked at a coffee shop, for some help. Thanks to Sassy's advice I was able to make this without coffee and substitute a few other things to really make this drink my own. 

Pumpkin Pie Latte (coffee free)

Ingredients:

2 cups White Hot Chocolate

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk

1/4 - 1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree, per taste (I really like pumpkin so I added a little more then half cup, didn't keep track, sorry)

1 1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

Whipped Cream

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine half and half, vanilla almond milk, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and bring to a low simmer while whisking. Be careful not to scorch.

Divide White Hot Chocolate between four mugs (or don't and keep it all for yourself ;) ). Slowly add pumpkin mixture. Top with whipping cream and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Drink up! 

I also added a crumbling of graham crackers on top of the whipped cream. Delicious!

I guess I'm not waiting for fall to come to me. I already caught it and I'm not letting go!

Until Next Time!

Spicy

Weekly Goals and a little Annoyance

Okay, I'm going to rant about how annoying people are for a minute then get to my weekly goals so if you want to skip this part you can.

Why are people so annoying? Why do they feel like they have to tear anyone down when they are trying to be better? Why does the world see things so unhealthy!?

I've mentioned before I'm not where I wanted to be (health or weight) when I became pregnant again, but I am healthier then I was last time! I am eating better this pregnancy as well and continuing my workouts which were very sporadic during LW's pregnancy. Also, having an OB/GYN who doesn't listen to you or thinks your lying about eating well and working out or thinks your anorexic because you lost 3lbs is stupid.

So here's the deal for the world to see and know. I lost 10 lbs with LW before I started gaining weight. You want to know why? I was fat and when I found out I was pregnant I instantly stopped eating candy/sweets and stopped drinking soda. Guess what my OB/GYN at the time said? "You have the weight to lose and it's good not to consume those things anyway." Ta-da! I didn't gain a single thing until I was close to 28 weeks pregnant and then I gained about 20lbs. People are different! Some people gain weight their entire pregnancy, some don't gain until the second, some don't gain more then 15-20 lbs while others gain 50+ lbs (not recommended or healthy, but I'm making a point). Everyone is different and every pregnancy is different as well!

And guess what?! Whether your pregnant or not, eating healthier will make you lose weight. I'm NOT trying to lose weight, I'm just trying to be HEALTHY! I eat a TON. I'm not on a "diet", I'm just eating healthy. My OB/GYN doesn't know anything about me because she won't spend more then 5 minutes in the same room with me, I'm just a number to her. A patient should feel like a person, not a number.

I'm not thin or have super defined muscles (though I am pretty muscular) so looking at my "cover" and hearing I'm eating healthy and working out may be hard to believe. But I am. The world needs to GET OVER the whole "eating for two" thing about pregnancy. You're NOT eating for two adults, you're eating for yourself and a little TINY baby who needs about 300 calories. Look it up. And getting pregnant doesn't mean it's "fat time" or "gaining weight time" or anything else that this world believes which is really sad. Pregnancy is a beautiful thing and it should be just as healthy as life should be.

Our baby girl is healthy with a steady 160 heartbeat. So there. :P

Whew... now onto my goals and a much happier note!

Weekly Goals!!! (July 8 - 14th)

1.) Walk everyday. Walking is easy and a great exercise. It doesn't have to be a fast pace, just have to get up and move. Plus, it gives me a little "me time" while LW just sits back and relaxes in the stroller. May have to do this at night after he goes to sleep though this week... we'll see.

2.) Keep a Food Log. I know food logs can be faked, but mine aren't. Keeping a food log will keep me on track with what I need to be eating for the baby and for myself. Plus, pregnancy makes me super forgetful so I have to be writing down everything anyway, haha.

3. Complete Three Strength Training Sessions. This can be circuit training, weights, intervals... whatever!

4. Have fun with Spunky! I'm way excited that Spunky is going to be staying with us for a couple weeks! We are going to be doing everything together and it's going to be awesome!!! What better motivation to workout and stay on track then being with your sister who is also trying to be healthier? Perfect!

Here's a little update on LW: He's a tyrant. He hits (we are working on that, A LOT). He screams. He's upset about everything no matter what. He has started refusing to say Please, which then I wont give him what he wants which results in a tantrum. Oh well kid, ya gotta learn. Recently he's become a very picky eater and will cry about everything I put in front of him (not putting up with that). Aside from all the things he is doing that are driving me crazy, he also does the most adorable things and is the cutest boy ever. He is talking a lot more, which is really really cute. He loves getting "feel better kisses" and giving them as well. He asks for a hug every now and then. He sings with me when I sing and will sometimes sing on his own with a wide grin. He LOVES anything and everything having to do with cars. He is the cutest little boy ever!!!

And he is so getting potty trained over the next too weeks, haha! Wish us luck!

Until Next Time!
Spicy

Week 2 Log

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but hopefully the last two recipes I posted will make up for it....?!
Day 1

Weigh-in: 216.4 (a 4.4 pound lost from last week)! I'll take it!

Ate:
Breakfast - a peach and some watermelon
Lunch - Leftovers from Date Night (chicken enchilada cooked with corn tortilla and some orange chicken)
Dinner - No real dinner, just snacking
Snacks - Fritos corn chips, cheetos, sunchips, snow cone (bad day for me) Back on tomorrow!

How I felt: I feel pretty good today. I think it was a good idea to let myself enjoy dinner last night even though I am in the restrictive phase of this new lifestyle. It was good for me mentally (and I controlled it! Huge victory!) and it was good for me nutritionally because I don't think I got the nutrition I needed the few days before. I'm back on today and feeling strong, optimistic, and just trying to stay cool. It is so hot (going to be 109 all week)! I think I'll try a swim class this week.

Day 2
I'm only going to weigh on Wed., Fri., and Sunday for a little while and I am going to post some more pictures.
My TMJ acted up this weekend so I am having a hard time eating well. Fruits and veggies require a lot of chewing.

Breakfast: A pop-tart! Ug. I can't believe it. So lame. Ok, get over it, do better for the rest of the day.
Snack: A few bites of watermelon, water, ibuprofen for my jaw
Lunch: Steamed mixed veggies (steamed very soft), two small turkey sausage patties, three thin slices of mixed cheese.
Dinner: Chicken Tacos
Snack: Junior Mints (we went to the movies).

Day 3
I didn't weigh, didn't go to the gym, and didn't do well with eating. I don't even know what I ate, so there is no log. Lame! I feel terrible having "failed" again! But, I'm not calling this a fail - it is just a bump in the road. I'll get back on the road again and keep on going. I have to trust the process.

Day 4 - Wednesday
I was worried about weighing today due to the date night on Saturday, and the eating on Day 3, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Weighed - 216.2 (down 0.2 from Sunday morning)

Ate:
Breakfast - Shake with fruit
Snack - water and skinny cow bar
Lunch - Shake with fruit, some frito chips
Dinner -

Can you tell I was on the go today. No gym, but lots of errands.....

Ok, last half of the week was terrible. I didn't update my log and I have no idea what I ate. Man, having a food addiction is so HARD! I didn't believe that was actually a thing until I realized how hard it was to eat well even when I had all the will power and reasoning in the world! Let me tell you, it IS a thing. It is so HARD, but I am determined not to let an addiction (to anything) run and/or ruin my life! Here's to this week! I'll be with Spicy, too! Yipee!!!

Root Beer Pulled Pork

I am so happy with this recipe. Only three ingredients (four, if you count the rolls) and it is convenient! I found it on SixSistersStuff.com. The meat was a hit! It was just sweet enough (like you want a good pulled pork to be) and really tender. My roasts were a little frozen still, so I put them on high for about 4 hours and then put them on low till we ate 2-3 hours after that. Delicious!

Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Ingredients:
1 (3 pound) pork roast (I used boneless)
1 (12 oz) can root beer (since I cooked mine on high, I actually added a second can of root beer after the first four hours because it had reduce slightly and wasn't covering the meat)
1 (18 oz) bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (we love Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy)
8 hamburger buns (we used dinner rolls!)

Directions:
Spray your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place roast inside slow cooker and pour the root beer over the meat. Cook on low for about 6-8 hours (or until meat easily shreds).
Take the roast out of the slow cooker and shred using two forks (it should just fall apart). Drain the root beer out of the slow cooker and place the shredded roast back inside. Stir in the bottle of BBQ sauce. Keep warm in the slow cooker until serving.
Place meat on hamburger buns and serve.
Makes 8 servings.

Recipe source: Allrecipes

Honey Sesame Chicken

I found this recipe while I was looking for crockpot meals because it is too hot to cook on the stove and certainly too hot to use the oven. It was really good! Hubby liked it a lot, too. That is a huge plus. My sauce didn't thicken up as much as I would have liked, so I'll use more cornstarch next time. I will definitely be making this again!

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
Recipe adapted from: Baby Center

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
Salt and pepper
1 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (could also use olive oil or canola oil)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional – doesn’t really add heat, just adds more flavor)
4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
Sesame seeds

Directions: 
Season both sides of chicken with lightly with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

*You can also sprinkle more red pepper flakes on top if you want more heat.

20 Weeks Down; 20 to Go - Gender Reveal!

I know you all have known for a while now that we are expecting again, but this is the series of pictures used to announce it to everyone else and to reveal our baby's gender!

Gotta love LW's silly tongue sticking out face

Which will it be? Boy or girl?

Make a wish!!!!

WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!

YAY!!! The Hubs and I are so happy we are having a GIRL!!!! I was holding in the biggest squeal of excitement when ultrasound lady told us the gender. Hehehe!

Now all the planning,crafting, buying, decorating, and preparing can begin! 

The only other thing I have to say before some comparison pictures and the weekly update is... my OB/GYN is annoying. I miss my midwives. :( Now back to the happy stuff.

Left - 20 Weeks with LW.          Right - 20 Weeks with Babe #2

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 0+/-
Maternity clothes? Maternity pants, yup. Maternity shirts, not really. They still look funny on me. Sticking with my regular clothes as long as I can.
Stretch marks? No new ones.
Sleep: Better then last week, but still not great.
Best moment this week: Learning the gender and being able to FINALLY plan stuff! I've been nesting like crazy!
Miss anything? A good nights sleep and laying on my tummy. Eating what I like. I'm so picky with this pregnancy, blasted food aversions. My HIIT workouts!
Movement: YES!
Food cravings: Some hot, thick, fluffy dinner rolls with cinnamon honey butter smothered on them.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Have you started to show yet? Yes.
Gender: GIRL!!!!!!!
Labor Signs: No.
Belly button in or out? In, but it's looks funny.
Wedding rings on or off? On :)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Usually HAPPY!
Looking forward to: All the planning, decorating, and fun stuff like that! :D

Only 20 weeks to go!!! Some days I can believe I'm 20 weeks and others I can't believe it at all. I still don't "feel" pregnant. I didn't really feel pregnant with LW until later on either though. Guess that is the same so far. Anyway, sorry this is late. Make sure to come back tomorrow for Workout Wednesday! Friday will be week 21 with another update! Also, check out what Spunky's been doing the last week with her new plan; just click here! She's working on her second one so watch for it this Sunday too! 

Until Next Time!
Spicy