37 weeks

was actually last Friday, but I am finally able to post a picture today. 

and a few other pics...

top left: the mustang statue & 3 lil' Texans
top right: kids running up the steps... preggers couldn't keep up
bottom left: The Fearless 3 & saber tooth tiger
bottom right: preggers poses next to massive oak tree (did not make her look smaller) while offspring try to climb (they were terribly unsuccessful... obviously related to chimps)

Happy Wednesday to you!

Make Ahead Meals

Yesterday it hit me that this could possibly be the last week I have pre- (4th)baby. (I tend to have my babies 10 days early.) Although I had all the baby stuff "ready" it wasn't organized at all... just sitting in a corner in my room. So, I organized, cleaned, washed lots and lots of laundry, started packing the kiddo's overnight bag and started wondering what happened to all those freezer meals I wanted to make. Oh, I never made any! Well, that has to change.

Last night I made spaghetti and doubled the amount of sauce so I could freeze half of it. Half a meal in the freezer! Here's what else I plan on making (if you are interested):

Muffins
Made a batch this morning- I omitted the chocolate chips (for certain people) and used cinnamon chips, a dash of nutmeg and pumpkin spice- they taste great! Yes, this recipe uses sour cream and I have used yogurt in it's place before with no problem. They are delicious.

Cafe Rio Chicken I made this for the first time last week and Tim thought it was amazing. I doubled the recipe so I can freeze half and make dinner with it tonight. I'm thinking it would be good for chicken enchiladas; we used it for tacos last week.

Mini Bisquick Quiches I'll be making these tomorrow. I like that I can freeze them and just pull out however many we want to eat instead of making an entire quiche that may not get eaten- picky children.

Broccoli Cheese Soup I've had broccoli cheese soup three times in my life- sad, I know. Anyhow, I'm going to try this out and hope it rocks.

Roast
Making a roast is not difficult. I just throw a 3-4 pound roast in the crock pot with salt and pepper and about a cup of beef broth. Set the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours and that's it! You can toss some baby carrots in there about half way through cooking and make some mashed potatoes and boom! Meal made with minimal effort, but tastes awesome.

Stuffed Pasta Shells
I made these a few weeks ago and the boys told me that they could eat them every night. Here's what you need: 27-30 jumbo pasta shells, cooked (or boiled, whatever). A large container of small curd cottage cheese, an egg, half a cup of frozen chopped spinach, basil to taste, a handful of mozzarella. Mix all that together and then spoon inside shells. Top with your favorite pasta sauce and generously cover with mozzarella. Bake at 350 until bubbly. *This fed our family of hearty eaters with leftovers*

White Chicken Enchiladas These are good! Not spicy, but obviously you can add whatever you want to make them spicier. I will probably freeze it with the sauce (I know, it says not to, but I'm a rebel) because I don't want to have to think about anything besides pulling out a meal and popping it in the oven when I'm surviving on 3 hours of sleep.

Chili and cornbread muffins
My recipe is pretty simple and sorry, I rarely measure any ingredients. 1 pound ground meat, chopped onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, tomato sauce + beef broth or water. I usually just add the spices until it smells right.

I will most likely make and freeze some waffles or pancakes, too. If I think of anything else I'll update this post, but I think for now this list will work well.

last week

Once again blogger won't let me upload pictures so you'll have to use your imagination.
I pretty much abandoned the blog last week so here's what's been going on. First of all, Rose is doing much better. Two trips to the doctor, a chest x-ray, two prescriptions and a nebulizer to get her better, but at least we didn't have to take her to the ER or spend any time in the hospital. (The doc we saw on our first visit gave us instructions to take her straight to the children's hospital if her breathing worsened over night. Thankfully it didn't; it was much better that evening.) So, she's finishing up her medicines and hasn't needed the nebulizer in a few days (yay!!), but over the weekend D started his cough-cough-coughing once again. I hate seeing my kids sick. Plus, it's tiring for all of us.

Thanksgiving was nice. My brother in law made a smoked turkey that was so, so good. I didn't really overindulge. I wanted to, but being super pregnant I can only eat a little bit at a time before I feel stuffed.

Friday we went to the museum like we did last year. We made it through a bit quicker this year, partly because we knew where the cool stuff was and partly because the kids walked faster. I also had Tim take my 37 week preggo picture- you can imagine it looked about the same as the 36 week one. After the museum we went to Maudie's for lunch (just like last year) where I did eat until I was stuffed. I did not regret it at all. In fact, I didn't even get heartburn.

Saturday the kids and I spent the day lounging around while Tim worked on house stuff. It was a very successful day. Yesterday I gritted my teeth and went grocery shopping (it was definitely crowded, but not as terrible as I thought it'd be). D wasn't feeling great, but around 3 in the afternoon we loaded up and headed to the back stock tank where we got real country-fied and took turns shooting our pellet gun. If only blogger would let me upload the pics, they are really awesome.

Today D is still feeling less than awesome so he's home from school (although we are going to get his school work later) and I am diving in to cleaning. This baby could come any day now and I want everything to be organized before she does. Okay so I gotta get things going or it'll never get done!

just a quick update

So D has this whole week off for Thanksgiving break. When I was in school I believe we only got off Wednesday- Friday so, it's kind of awesome that he gets an entire week off. Yesterday we did our final grocery shopping trip prior to turkey day and the stores were already insane. It was so crowded and people were not as polite as usual, but I managed to not get caught up in the rush everyone seemed to be in. I even bought doughnuts since the kids were being fairly well behaved (we ate them afterwards while we waited in line for super cheap gas).

D and Ry spent most of the day outside riding their bikes and I repeatedly loaded and emptied the washer and dryer. (Now I need to put all that laundry away.) I also made a pie for Tim's work's t-day lunch that is today.

Today I'm cleaning up and then taking Rose to the doctor since she isn't feeling well. Last night was miserable, but even when she was obviously feeling terrible she managed to give me lots of big smiles. She's got a cough and "noisy breathing" which will almost always prompt us to visit the doctor. A cough and runny nose I handle just fine, but wheezing or grunty breathing makes me paranoid about it becoming pneumonia. Of course all the doctor's offices are busy since kids are on school break and it's a great time to get checkups done, but after talking to a nurse she found us an afternoon appointment. Hopefully we'll have her feeling better soon and I'll update tomorrow.

adios friends.

36 Weeks

 It's hard to believe I'm only 4 weeks away from my due date.... especially considering I've never made it past 38 & 1/2 weeks. Every once in a while if I look at the calendar or really think about the time I have left to get prepared I sort of freak out a little.

Even though I'm getting uncomfortable carrying this little lady I am totally okay if she wants to hang in there until due date or even later. (I know, it sounds crazy!) The fact is, we are trying to get a major project completed before she gets here. If she comes early I doubt we will be done, but give us 4-6 weeks and I think everything will be ready. (It's a house project, okay? I'm sorry I'm keeping everyone in the dark about it! It's a little nerve racking.) Even if she does come early, it will all work out fine, it would just be nice to have the house stuff completed and out of the way.

Only half a smile because it's very windy outside and it's cold(ish).

On we go with actual pregnancy details. Yesterday I had an appointment... the not highly anticipated 36 week appointment (let's just say it was not just a weight and blood pressure check- more invasive). Anyhow! I didn't gain any poundage which shocked both me and my doctor (I've never not gained for an appointment), but there were no concerns about that. The nurse commented that I was "really looking pregnant" and I thanked her (I don't know why) and said that I was feeling really pregnant which made her laugh and have to retake my blood pressure.

The little rib jabber is still head down (and had better stay that way) and still in a pretty high station. Progression? Yes. (Not gonna go into detail here, ladies you probably know what I'm referring to.)  I am to see the doc in two weeks because unfortunately they will not be hosting a Thanksgiving party for all the preggy ladies next Thursday. At that appointment I will be one day shy of 38 weeks. (I bet I will have gained some weight at that checkup no thanks to pumpkin cheesecake.)

Still having lots of flamage which has caused me to wake up in the middle of the night and chug some milk and I waddle unless I'm in public and then I suck it up and walk normal. I think? I may have waddled through Target yesterday I really don't know. Oh, and a new one- snoring. I slept decently last night, but Tim claims I snored all night and he didn't sleep. I said "no way" and "now you know how it feels". (Love you Honey!)

I feel like I have rambled enough and it's time to hit the publish button and walk away. So I will do that. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!