It's a GIRL!!!

How far along: 19 weeks one day

Total weight gain: +1 at least.  Didn't weigh myself this week. 

Maternity clothes: Lots of belly band.  Can't button most pants now.  Shirts still fit well mostly.  Still loving my dresses.

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: Been sleeping pretty good.  Got new pillows! 

Symptoms: Growing belly, peeing all the time (they lie when they say you pee less in the second trimester!!!), itchy stomach - using vitamin E to help

Best moment this week: As long as I can count yesterday- getting our ultrasound and seeing our precious little baby up close and personal.  It's amazing how developed she is at such a young age!

Miss anything: Nothing lately

Movement: Still little flutters nothing big yet. 

Food Cravings: Pepperoni pizza sounds good all the time - like had it 3 times in the last 4 days - and drinking lots of apple juice.

Anything make you sick or queasy: beef ground beef really (steak is still good), really the rule is if I didn't like it before I got pregnant, don't bring it around now!

Gender: GIRL!  I was so wrong!  The tech said you could definitely tell for sure that it was a girl!  Now we have to figure out a name.

Belly Button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: on

Mood: Mostly happy, been a little stressed with school starting

Looking forward to: Buying pink dresses and lots of bows!  Getting to meet all of my students tomorrow!

18 Weeks

How far along: 18 Weeks 2 Days (frompy shirt!!!)

Total weight gain: +1 YAY! 

Maternity clothes: More Belly Band but some pants/capris still fit.  Still lots of summer dresses. We will see what school clothes fit this week as I go back tomorrow!

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: Been sleeping pretty good.  I think being back in a routine with school helps me sleep better. 

Symptoms: Growing belly, peeing all the time (they lie when they say you pee less in the second trimester!!!), long drives make my back hurt, itchy stomach

Best moment this week: So many!  Starting school and getting into my new classroom.  We also had an amazing weekend trip to St. Louis to see the Cardinals beat the Cubs!

Miss anything: Sushi - been craving it lately

Movement: Definitely feeling little flutters.  It feels like someone poking me from the inside.  I feel it most on the lower right side of my stomach.

Food Cravings: Pizza sounds good all the time, fried fish, and drinking lots of apple juice.

Anything make you sick or queasy: beef ground beef really (steak is still good), really the rule is if I didn't like it before I got pregnant, don't bring it around now!

Gender: I am convinced it's a boy and we find out for sure in 5 days!  

Belly Button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: on

Mood: Mostly happy, cranky when hot or tired

Looking forward to: Working on the nursery now that my classroom is out of our house.  Getting to meet my class of 4th graders!

17 Weeks!

How far along: 17 Weeks

Total weight gain: Still about 0 to -1.  I've been able to eat quite a bit more this past week, so I'm hoping I'll actually see the numbers go up a bit. 

Maternity clothes: Belly band here and there.  Still lots of summer dresses. I'm going to be interested to see what school clothes have to be adjusted in the next week as I head back.

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: Sleep was better this week.  Waking up with lots of headaches lately.  I guess that's just the second trimester. 

Symptoms: Growing belly, peeing all the time (they lie when they say you pee less in the second trimester!!!), headaches

Best moment this week: Having friends tell me that I'm actually starting to look pregnant!

Miss anything: Not much!

Movement: I think I've been feeling the little flutters on the inside.  I'm not sure but it feels like gas which is what everyone says!  Hopefully it will get stronger soon so that I will know for sure.

Food Cravings: I was drinking a lot of Gatorade, but as of today it doesn't taste good anymore!  I really liked the french fries this week.

Anything make you sick or queasy: beef ground beef really (steak is still good), Sam's Club at taste testing time, raw seafood

Gender: We find out on July 30 (got it moved up a week! YAY!) I had my first baby dream this week - We were having a gender reveal party and it was a boy!  We'll have to see if my dream is correct!

Belly Button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: on

Mood: Mostly happy, cranky when hot or tired

Looking forward to: Getting into my new classroom - which means really getting to work on the nursery! Going to St. Louis this weekend to see my first Cardinals game at Busch Stadium! We are marking things off our pre-baby wish list!

Making Magnets: A Tutorial

 

I don’t know what your fridge looks like (on the outside) but this is what mine looked like up until today.  

 We had an assortment of magnets – mostly free or super cheapy ones that bearly kept important and some not so important papers hanging.  Well the hubby recently made the comment about wanting some nicer magnets, so I went hunting around on Pinterest to see what I could find about making cute magnets.  I stumbled upon a variety of these bubble glass magnets that are so cute! 

 I looked around at the tutorials and decided that I could totally do this!  So off to the craft store I went to get my supplies.

To make these magnets you will need:

Glass beads (the large ones found near the floral dept of the craft store)

Cardstock or photos

Stickers or whatever embellishments you plan on using

Magnets

Clear glue

Scissors

Pencils

Hot glue and gun

Once you have all your supplies, you need to decide what you want your magnets to look like.  Do you want a color pattern or theme? Do you want to use pictures or scrapbook paper?  Do you want letters or numbers on the magnets?  How many magnets do you want to make?  I decided that I wanted to make the alphabet with a light blue/grey theme. One thing that is pretty important before beginning this project is that you have to trace and cut-out the paper for each glass bead because they are all shaped differently and that takes some time! 

 Lay down your glass bead on whatever paper you are going to use and trace around the bead.  Make sure you trace the underside of the bead so you don't have a whole bunch of extra paper around the outside of the bead.

   Cut out the part you traced, add the embellishment if you want, and then use your clear glue to glue the bead to the paper. Make sure you hold the bead and paper together for about 30 seconds to let the glue adhere.  

All that's left is to put a dab of hot glue on the magnet and glue it to the back of the glass bead an you are all finished!  

 As you can see, I decided to make some cute flower magnets too!

Here are some pictures of my finished product up on the fridge!  They are so cute and the hubby likes them too!  

Here they are in action!  They look so much better than what used to be up there!  

Happy Pinning!

PinterestRiss

Strawberry Cupcakes

 So let me first preface this post by saying that I don’t cook.  Really, I don’t.  My wonderful husband is the chef in our home and he is a GREAT cook!  I like to try my hand in the kitchen occasionally, but the result is usually a burn of some kind – the scars on my right arm speak for themselves.  But I would really like to get better so here is one such attempt.  I saw this pin last week and thought I can do this and it makes a sweet treat quite a bit healthier!  

I bought a cake mix and we keep Greek yogurt on hand as we eat it and use it in various cooking recipes all the time and we were ready to roll. Instead of using the oil and eggs, use a cup of Greek yogurt.   

This is where I will tell you DO NOT forget to add the cup of water.  I made that mistake and my wonderful chef of a husband caught it as I struggled to make to mix my thick and chunky batter.  Once the water was added, things went much easier.   

I used an ice cream scooper to put the batter in the pan and popped them in the oven for about 20 minutes (be sure to follow the directions on your cake mix). 

Here they are fresh out of the oven.

I put cream cheese frosting on top and viola!  We had cupcakes! Hubby and I both quite enjoyed these little treats!  They are dense but VERY moist!  For a few less calories, they are delicious!  

16 Weeks!

Have to give some credit to the hubby for drawing the ears on the chalkboard this week!  Thanks, babe!

How far along: 16 Weeks

Total weight gain: Lost 1 pound according to the scale at the Dr.  He says I look good though and should even out weight wise in the next couple of months.

Maternity clothes: Belly band here and there.  Wearing lots of comfy summer dresses. 

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: Sleep has been very hit or miss this week.  Last night was AWFUL! Still having weird dreams that wake me up in the night, although none about the baby.  

Symptoms: Growing belly, peeing all the time (I thought that was supposed to get better in the 2nd trimester :/)

Best moment this week: Working on getting the house baby ready.  Done a lot of cleaning and cleaning out this week.  Still a ways to go but what we have accomplished feels great!

Miss anything: Sushi - but considering the smell of raw seafood makes me sick I don't even know that I'd like it right now.

Movement: None yet, but hopefully soon.  I try and focus on if I can feel any movement when I'm sitting still but none so far.

Food Cravings: This week it was Panda Express and ice cream.  I was talking with my hubby today about how I don't crave one thing a lot.  I crave something and then once I get it, I'm good.

Anything make you sick or queasy: beef ground beef really (steak is still good), Sam's Club at taste testing time, raw seafood

Gender: We find out on August 7 - I think I'm ready to say that I predict it will be a boy... have to wait and see.

Belly Button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: on

Mood: Mostly happy, cranky when hot or tired

Looking forward to: Getting into my new classroom - which means really getting to work on the nursery! 

15 Weeks

How far along: 15 Weeks

Total weight gain: lost 2 pounds according to my scale at home since finding out we were pregnant (yes, weighed myself as soon as I found out just to keep track).  We'll see what the official weight is at the Dr. on Friday

Maternity clothes: Not really wearing the maternity stuff I bought really, except the belly band.  It made our 11 hour drive home last Friday SO much more comfortable. 

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: Been a little better this past week.  Having weird dreams though so I'm sure that I'm sleeping very soundly. 

Symptoms: The pooch is growing.  Still pretty nauseous but not throwing up (YAY!)

Best moment this week: Relaxing by the lake and coming home!  There really is nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

Miss anything: Rain!  I know it has nothing to do with being pregnant but I sure do miss the rain!

Movement: None yet

Food Cravings: I been drinking Gatorade all the time!  Lots of stuff sounds good all the time.

Anything make you sick or queasy: beef ground beef really (steak is still good), Sam's Club at taste testing time, raw seafood

Gender: We find out on August 7 - I think I'm ready to say that I predict it will be a boy... have to wait and see.

Belly Button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: on

Mood: Mostly happy, cranky when hot

Looking forward to: Dr. appt on Friday - just like knowing everything is a-ok.  Enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation, I report back to school on July 18!!!