Ten on Tuesday, Kinda

Usually I take the questions being posted on Chelsea's blog but this week I didn't think my answers to the questions would be worth reading, so I'm going to update you on ten things going on in my life.

1.  OMG - I saw on the news last night the Kroger will no longer be doubling and tripling coupons. I think this is a HUGE mistake for them. That is basically the only reason I go to Kroger. HEB is closer and has a better produce section, but I can save more at Kroger with combining their sales with my doubled or tripled coupons. I'm sure there will be a ton of upset shoppers. Not cool Kroger! Not cool!

2.  OMG AGAIN - This morning I realized that Beltway 8 is now connected to Hwy 59 by my house.  I'm sure you don't care but this is a big deal for us.  The beltway / connection to 59 has been under construction for at least two years.  The fact that I don't have to sit through a million red lights on the access road to get onto 59 is huge news.  YAY us!  BOO that I now have to pay a toll to use it.  Boy, do I love Houston. 

3.  I'm currently in a bible study and we're reading "When Wallflowers Dance" by Angela Thomas.  I'm really liking this book a lot.  It's about really engaging in your relationship with God and becoming the person He has intended for me to be.  It's really challenging me and making me think.  I'm really getting a lot out of this book.

4.  We went to our friends church this past Sunday since he was preaching the main service.  He was also talking about having an intimate relationship with God and he showed this YouTube video and I thought it was a great skit about letting God mold your life. 



5.  Next weekend is my baby sisters 18th birthday (sniff, sniff - I remember when she was born).  We are tentatively having a crawfish boil - if we can find enough crawfish and I'm very excited about this.  I mean I guess it's cool that it's my sisters b-day but CRAWFISH! - that's something to be excited about.  (Just kidding Becky - mostly!)

6.  I am super excited about getting the baby's room setup.  I will do another update here soon with more pics, but for now there's not much to actually see.  However, I've made some decisions and some purchases which is good and I'm currently still within my budget!  I will post more pics soon.  I'm also going to the Dr. this week so I'll do a baby bump update a few days after that, so stay tuned. 

7.  I recommend you buy stock in tums.  I'm telling you, this pregnant lady carries them around everywhere she goes!  It's a must have item in my purse.  I'm glad the heartburn waited this long to find me, but it's found me now and I am on Fye-ah!  Lol.  Tums has been a life saver.  By the way - the fruit kind - not so good!

 

8.  I've told you before about my list-making habits.  It's who I am, I like lists.  My to-do list is outta-control.  It makes me feel better to write down every little thing I'd like to do or need to do, but then the list is forever long.  I'm ok with this.  However, I've had to segment my to-do lists and for now I'm focusing on the 'baby' to do list.  Soon to do - schedule a tour of the hospital and an infant first aid class.  I'm not sure if I want to take any other classes, but first-aid is a must have for me.  I know nothing about caring for someone who is hurt and my sister, the nurse, will not always be available.  But I totally expect her to answer all of my phone calls - even if it's at 3am!  But I need a back-up plan.  I know 911 is always the best option but I can't call them every time my kid sneezes.  They'll get mad at me. 

9.  My dad's website is now launched.  Surprise, I've been working on my dad's website.  Well it's not really his website. . per-say, it's the website for the church that he is the Sr. Pastor of.  We had a similar site before but it was on this horrible CMS system that shall remain nameless.  We moved it to Wordpress and updated some of the features.  It's like 99% done but you can view it now.  (In my official voice) I acted as the Sr. Project manager on this project and the client and the team are very happy with the results! 

Go to http://www.agapegroves.org/ to check out the website and my home church.

10.  I've been thinking about highlighting some of my favorite blogs here.  I'm not sure if I'll do that regularly, but for today I recommend Harpers Happenings.  This is the blog of a stay-at-home-mom who has the CUTEST! little girl named Harper.  Harper is very entertaining and the stories her mom tells are hilarious.  I love it when they post videos  (check this one out) . . . seriously good entertainment!  Go check her out if you want a super duper dose of cuteness.

Well that's all for my Ten on Tuesday.  Sorry if it's too long.  :)

TTFN,
Stef  

I've Seen Her Before

I don't watch Celebrity Apprentice (or regular ole apprentice for that matter) but I saw some of the previews and part of an episode and I kept thinking that La Toya Jackson looked like someone I knew.  I know I've seen her on TV but I kept thinking there was something else I recognized about her.

Then it hit me!  She looks just like a character on one of my favorite movies - "The Emperors New Groove".  That movie is awesome and I could go on forever about how great it is, but that's another story.  I think La Toya Jackson looks just like the villain in the movie, Yzma!   What do you think?  Wait for it. . . .

Ta-daaaa!  Am I right?!  or am I right?!  I mean, it's like the same person!  I'm really not trying to be mean to Ms. Jackson, but I think the resemblance is shocking. I hope she doesn't read my blog and get offended.  Do you think she will? . . read my blog that is?  NAH, prolly not.

Anywho!  Just wanted to share that with you. 

Too-da-looo! (Hey I just made a rhyme)

-Stef

Making Progress!

We’ve slowly but surely been getting ready for the arrival of our baby boy. We only have 95 days left so I’m feeling like it’s crunch time. It’s kinda overwhelming knowing where to start or what needs to be done, so we just started with one item and moved on to the next – one thing at a time, right?!

We have started to register and are about 90% done. We still need to find a stroller and car seat which is very overwhelming. We’re not sure what the best option is so we’re starting with researching online resources and asking friends.  I'm sure we'll figure it out - at some point.  :)

We have started on the room. My friend Mandy helped me clean out the baby’s room. We had kept it an empty room (we had future plans for it) but the closet was stuffed with all my Christmas stuff and all the stuff that just doesn’t belong anywhere. For now, most of that stuff is going in the attic, but some of it had to be moved to my husbands’ “room”. He had taken over one of our spare closets for his hunting stuff and it’s now split in half to share with my crafting stuff. I made sure nothing was touching his hunting stuff. . . I wouldn't want to get glitter on the camo!

I’ve found the baby bedding at Target. I mostly picked it out for the colors but I also love the fact that it’s not “babyish” but “boyish” instead.

We’ve pretty much picked out this crib and changing table from Babies R Us. It may change between now and the time we order it – which needs to be done like yesterday! We also need to decide on a recliner / glider. Those things can be expensive! I don’t want a cheap one because I want it to be comfortable but man I do not want to pay more than the cost of the crib for a CHAIR!

We’ve started the process of painting the room! WooHOO! I’m so excited. My wonderful hubby took me to Lowe’s on Saturday and we picked out paint to match the bedding. On Sunday, we finished moving everything out of the room and taped off the room. Then my honey started by painting the ceiling! He started painting the walls on Monday.  I’m so excited that we’ve started and it’ll be finished soon.

The darker blue is for the walls and
the lighter blue is for the ceiling.

The room is taped off and here is a pic of the ceiling. 
The walls are in progress now!!

I’ve also started planning some of the decorations. I’m probably getting most of the items off Etsy, but I also found a cool photo mobile at Urban Outfitters that I’m going to use to make my own mobile. I’ve found some of the other items at Target like a mirror and a shelf, so it's all starting to come together!

We’ve also been gathering the necessary items for our little Mr. since all his family members have been giving him bibs and clothes and diapers. I’m also buying a few diapers here and there when they’re on sale and I have a coupon. I know I’ll find a brand that works, but for newborn diapers, I’m just buying what’s on sale. I figure we’ll change his diaper so much in the beginning that it won’t really matter much if the brand turns out not to be my favorite. Maybe I’ll be wrong about that though.

We still have so much more to do but I know it’ll all come together and it makes me feel better to be making progress. It'll be exciting to start moving things into the room soon! 

Ten on Tuesday

These questions were provided by Meredith and hosted by Chelsea at Roots and Rings.  This weeks questions are mostly about food and it's making me hungry!

1. What condiments are always, always in your fridge?
Always always always honey mustard.  My hubby loves honey mustard and I like it too so we always have to have some stocked up.  I usually have mayo and mustard too but I don't really use those outside of making tuna salad or chicken salad.

2. How do you like your steak cooked? Your burgers?
I like mine medium well - well done.  I used to only order well done but sometimes that means crunchy so I've learned to like medium well.  BUT if I cut into my steak or bite into my burger and the juice is red -  back to the grill it goes! 
 
3. What’s your favorite use for fresh tomatoes?
Sliced on my hamburger or diced in a salad.  We go to this seafood restaurant that serves their salad with diced cucumbers and diced tomatoes and for some reason it's just so delicious!
 
4. What’s your go-to dinner when you haven’t planned anything in advance and you don’t feel like going out?
I'd have to say spaghetti or what I call Ruby stew (which came from my friend Ruby), which is basically a Mexican stew.  Both are super easy, super fast and super yummy!
 
5. What’s your favorite snack food lately?
I'm going to have to say ice cream.   I've always liked ice cream but with pregnancy I'm finding that I am definitely craving ice cream and cannot say no if there is ice cream around.  I'm also craving sweets so anything chocolate is fine by me!
 
6. What’s your favorite weekend breakfast to make at home?
I love biscuits and scrambled eggs.  My husband would like to add sausage or bacon to that list but I'm not a huge breakfast meat eater.  If I have people over and need to cook breakfast I go for this super easy and yummy breakfast casserole. 
 
7. What’s your favorite thing to grill? How do you do it?
We are not huge grillers.  I'm not sure how to cook a steak so burgers are usually on the menu if we're grilling, but I like to make grilled shrimp if we're doing a BBQ as an appetizer or just a yummy side dish.  I peel the shrimp and marinate them in this tomatoe vinegrette dressing that I have, then you just have to grill them for a few minutes each side and they are SO yummy!
 
P.S.  I think I've used the word yummy alot in the post.  Like I said, now I'm hungry for something 'yummy'!
 
8. What’s your favorite wine for under $10? If you’re not a wine person, what brand of beer is your favorite?
Hmm, I like this wine called Toasted Head.  It's a chardoney and it taste like the grapes were grilled or something.  It's pretty good.  I like to use wine to cook too.  If I'm sauteing some fish, I usually pour a little wine in just to give it a little extra flavor.  I haven't had wine in forever because before I became pregnant, we were trying to get pregnant - so no wine for me.
 
9. Give us your most delicious cocktail recipe.
Hmmm. . . I don't have one.  We dont really mix coctails at our house so. . I can't help you here. 
 
10. How do you like your eggs?
Is this question from The Runaway Bride?  I think it is.  I prefer my eggs scrambled - all the way.  NO runniness.  My second choice is fried - all the way.  NO runniness!!!  Is runniness a word?  My spell check didn't say it wasn't so I'm going with it. 
 
I hope you enjoyed todays post!  Until next time!
 
Take care,
Stef
 
 

The Really Old Dude

So I was at lunch today with my coworkers and we were sitting outside under the patio. This really, really, really old dude pulled up in his mini van, parked right in front of our table and made his way slowly into the restaurant. About forever later he came out with a to-go order and started heading to his car. I was watching him because I was totally planning to jump my pregnant self up and save him if he took a tumble, which I was sure he was going to do. He was almost to his car and he just kinda stopped and paused for awhile. He started looking at our table then slowly made his way over to our group.

He said, “Hey – What side of the chicken are the feathers on?” and someone in our group said “the outside”. He said we were right then we all laughed a courtesy laugh.

AND THEN – he said he had one more for us. “One day, this lady gathered up all of her bills and burned them, do you know what her name was?” (silence on our part) then he said “Bernadette”. Then we all laughed.

Then he said “have a nice day” and went on his way. I think he enjoyed making us laugh.

I’m thinking - ba dum ching

Baby Bump Update - 4th edition

Hey everybody, it's time for another baby bump update!  It's been only 3 weeks since my last update but it seems like forever.  You can read the previous 1st, 2nd and 3rd bump updates if you like.

Dr. visits:
I'm 25 weeks pregnant now.  I just went back to the Dr. on Friday.  I didn't see the Dr. because she was in surgery and I didn't want to wait hours for her to be back, so I just saw the nurse.  My blood pressure is normal and the babies heartbeat is strong.  I took the glucose test on Friday as well.  I've heard horror stories about that test and it was pretty gross, but not totally unbearable.  The worst part was having to drink it all in 5 minutes, that's what started to gag me.  I haven't heard the results yet, but I'll let ya know.  I've gained a total of 11 pounds so far but I think it would have been more if I hadn't have gotten really sick twice in a row.  I told you about how I got a kidney infection and before that I came down with pleurisy, so that was fun. 

Clothes:
I've been looking for some maternity clothes, but really I don't like them!  The stores are offering stuff that is SO not my style.  I'm going to have to buy some short sleeve stuff soon because it's getting too hot for the stuff I do have.  I just bought a pair of maternity shorts that are cute, so that's good!

Bump:

23 weeks - Taken at my sisters wedding!

24 weeks

25 weeks



Sleep:
I've been sleeping pretty well, except for the 3 or 4 am wake up call to use the ladies room.  Also, I keep getting cramps in my calves in the middle of the night.  I think I scared Curtis half to death, one night I got a really bad cramp and I shot up in bed and was all like "OW! holy cow that hurts" and his alarm went off at the exact same time.  He must have thought the world was ending.  :) 

Movement:
I'm feeling him move so much more lately.  Some of his moves are actually visible now from the outside which is weird but very cool.  I'm not sure I notice any specific times he's more active but it doesn't seem to last too long before he gets tired and goes back to sleep (I assume).  He liked going to church yesterday and was moving a lot, Curtis got to feel a couple of good kicks.  My friend Mandy likes to wake him up to make him move, so she'll be responsible for making him take naps after he gets here.  ;) 

Other News:
My belly button has pretty much disappeared.  It only took a few weeks for it to go from normal to flat, and Curtis was doing a daily check on it.  Haha.  I bought a few really cute outfits for the baby which is so exciting and he's been getting cute clothes from his aunts and grandma's already.  We still have so much to do to prepare for his arrival so we're going to have to buckle down and get a lot done - and soon!  I feel the time is ticking away.  (Isn't that a song? Haha).

I hope everyone has a great week and I hope we all stay well, no more sickness!



Holy Kidney Infection, Batman!

If I don't quit getting sick! I'm going to scream . . . or do something else. . . like cry!  The 2nd trimester is showing me who's boss.  I think it's because I bragged about not getting morning sickness during my 1st trimester, the 2nd trimester decided to laugh at me.  I ended up with a flu-like sickness, then came pleurisy (which is a lung infection) and just when I was getting over that, I ended up getting a bad kidney infection last week. 

On Wednesday, I started feeling really bad, and by lunch I was shaking and couldn't even sit through lunch. I went home early and by Wed night I had fever, chills, shakes, sore throat (which turned out not to be related). The dr. told me to take tylenol and see if my fever would go down. By about 8pm it hadn't gone down so my hubby took me to the minor care center. They gave me two bags of fluid via IV and a bag of antibiotic. Luckily, they didn't admit me to the hospital like they originally suggested!  I'm now on an antibiotic and am feeling much better. 

A kidney infection is NOT fun!  Thursday was still pretty bad but I was feeling a little better by Friday.  Someone told me I'm like their grandma who had also recently had a pleurisy and a kidney infection.  I guess my immunity level is now that of a little old lady. 

Well I'm 24 weeks pregnant now and with that came the heart burn, but hopefully that's the worst of it.  I'm just praying I can get through the next few months with no more sicknesses!  I'll just take the regular discomfort, back pain and lack of sleep that supposedly come with the third trimester. . . please!

Just FYI - Drink more water!

Take Care!
-Stef

Ten on Tuesday - Provided by ME!!!

This week's questions are hosted by Chelsea but provided by ME!  Yay.  I am so pregnant because I remember submitting questions to Chelsea but when I first read them, I didn't remember submitting these questions.  But then I re-read them and I remember now.  I'm such a dork!  But you know you love me anyway.  :)

1. What type of cell phone do you have and how would you rate it?
I have the original Droid.  I would rate it "pretty good".  It's a great phone for finding things on the web, checking Facebook, playing games, it's decent at email, it's great for navigation, etc.  BUT the biggest downfall of this phone is the actual phone functionality.  The phone part is touch screen and the end button during a call is right where my check is and so I endlessly hang up on people during our conversations.  It's frustrating to use as a phone but as a smart-mini computer type thing - It's great.

2. What has been your most serious injury?

I would have to say when I collapsed my lung.  Warning to all you peeps out there, don't hold in your sneezes.  Apparently you can pop a lung or an ear drum or blood vessels or whatever.  It was when I was in college and I sneeze all the time because I have allergies so I used to hold in my sneezes - you know to be girly and dainty and not sneeze like an elephant.  So, apparently I had some sort of weak spot on my lung and then one day I held in my sneeze and popped a hole in my lung.  I didn't know why my chest was hurting but I didn't want to go to the Dr. because I was prepping for finals and needed to finish my photography project.  About 24 hours later I finally went to the Dr. and ended up having to be hospitalized for a week with a chest tube.  Let me tell you, I DO NOT recommend this.  That was SO incredibly painful and I always feel really really bad when I hear someone has a collapsed lung.  So, I learned my lesson and now I sneeze like an elephant - loud and proud.  :)
 
3. What is one movie you hate and why?
Most people love this movie, but I really dislike the Princess Bride.  I can appreciate this movie now - in a way, but when I was little, it scared the bejeebies out of me.  I mean really. . . there are giant shoulder biting rats, quick sand, electric shock torture, etc.  How is a little girl supposed to sleep after that! 

4. How many email addresses do you have?
A bazillion.  Ok more like 6 - 8.  I know it's crazy talk, but I have lots of different 'projects' and I used to setup different email addresses for each one of them.  My couponing email address, my house buying email address, my I don't want to give you my email - email address, my friends and family email address, my work email address, and the list goes on.  I now realize this is kind of dumb and really hard to keep track of.  But regardless, I'm kinda stuck with them now and don't have the energy to switch people from one to another.  So, we'll just go with it for now.

5. What website do you waste the most time on?
Probably Facebook.  I follow several blogs and read those almost daily, but I have access to Facebook on my phone and through my IM service at work, so I'm connected to Facebook almost 24/7.  I am started to get tired of that though.

6. Which mexican restaurant makes the best salsa?
I love Chuys but mostly because of that yummy jalapeno ranch, and I love going to Lupe Tortilla's because of their yummy charro beans they serve with their chips, but my favorite salsa would be Papasitos because they serve it warm and its not too tomatoey or spicy.  Yes tomatoey is a word.

7. What is your dream car?

Corvette.  Hands down.  I've always loved the look of these cars and I think they are so cool.  I'm not sure I would ever buy one though.  I mean, I'd have to have money to burn because you can only fit like 1.5 people in that car.  Our friend Jeff wants to get one eventually, so I'll just live vicariously through him.  :)

 
8. If you could spend up to $100 with no strings or restrictions or guilt, what would you buy?
Hmm, well right now I need to buy maternity clothes, but that doesn't sound so fun.  I'd want to use the money to go on a really nice date with my hubby. 
 
9. What is your favorite board game?
I'm not sure.  We don't have alot of board games.  Monopoly is one of my least favorite because it takes like 10 years to play a game.  We have a game called sequence that's pretty fun so I'll go with that.
 
10. How often do you change your hairstyle?
Maybe once or twice a year.  I hardly ever get a haircut because I don't know where to go, and it's really expensive and I can never decide what I want to do with my hair.  When it's short I want it long an when it's long I want it short.  I am considering cutting it soon though. 

Sorry this got wordy.  I hope you're not bored. OH and by the way - this is my 100th post.  HOOTIE - HOO