28 Weeks and officially in the 3rd trimester

Pregnancy update for the masses:

Things are going well. Wednesday I had my midwife appointment and the only "issue" is that I'm anemic... I already knew this because I've been pretty sluggish and tired and weird things make me feel faint. I'm working on a solution though, I have some gross iron drops and I'm trying to eat super iron rich foods and I can definitely feel a difference.

I'm not sleeping well, but this has been pretty constant in my second trimester. I get pretty exhausted right around Zeke's nap time (I know I should nap when he does, but i get so busy!).

My uterus is measuring right on now which is great considering that it's been measuring big at my past few appointments. Now he's getting pretty settled in I guess. I am feeling almost constant movement these days and am pretty ready to meet this guy. I realize I have 12 weeks until the due date still, but I'm pretty done at this point.

Ezekiel is doing great. He's been having some days where he is pretty off, but I think I'm realizing that its because he's teething. If I give him his teething tablets he gets pretty sweet, pretty quick. I love that kid so much! =)

I'm pretty sure we have settled on a name for baby 2. =) I've told a few of you, but I don't think I want to make and announcement until we are sure, or maybe even until he's here (I know, I'm mean for keeping you in suspense!). We're still working on middle name ideas... It's been pretty tough to find one. We'll figure it out in time... I hope!

Warm Pasta Salad

So last night, I wasn't sure what I should make for dinner... I was thrown off by locking Zeke in the car and by the time that was all done and I relaxed for a minute, Nate was almost home. So, I needed something fast! Here's my creation that turned into something quite amazing if you ask me.

Warm Veggie Pasta Salad

1 lb uncooked pasta (I used Penne)

1 chicken breast (you can use more, but that's all I had and mine was precooked)

1/2 a shallot diced

2 cloves garlic diced

pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbs Olive Oil

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 bag frozen broccoli florets

1 bag frozen green beans

1/3 cup Newmans Own Family Recipe Italian Dressing

1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

Cook the pasta. In a large sauce pan saute the shallot and garlic in olive oil on low heat until tender. Add the bay leaf, pepper, pepper flakes and chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces. Add broth, broccoli and beans to the sauce pan. Increase heat and put a lid on it. Once veggies are warm through, remove from heat and remove the bay leaf. Put the cooked pasta in a bowl. Add half the dressing then add veggies. Add the remaining dressing and the cheese and toss. It's awesome.

I didn't measure anything... I'm just guessing on the measurements. Good luck!

Just some updates on our life

No pictures today... mostly because I don't want to search for any. Yes, I'm feeling lazy.

Ezekiel is finally getting it!

A couple nights ago, I was sitting on the couch and Zeke walked up to me and started pulling my shirt up. Then climbed up on the couch and started rubbing and resting his head on my belly. It was so sweet! Then he started saying stuff into my belly (to his brother) like "toys" and "share". After a while of this, he decided he wanted to read a book to his brother so he plopped down right next to me and put his arm over my belly as if he was putting his arm around a friend and started looking at books... shouting out exciting things that he saw like trains, tracters and airplanes. I cried. I'm so thankful that Zeke is starting to understand what is happening. It's not just Momma anymore... His brother is in me too and boy does he love his brother!

Pregnant brain!

Yesterday, I had just parked the car outside the house and was getting ready to come in so I threw the keys in my purse, opened the door, locked and closed it... instantly I realized that I Zeke's door was also locked. I tried all the doors and windows and then in a panic ran to my neighbors house to see if I could use her phone. Thankfully she was home so I called Nate who reminded me that Joe (my brother) had a slim jim kit! so Nate called Joe who thankfully lives close to us. He was home alone with his son Kaden so they came over and tried to get the doors unlocked. It didn't work. Joe tried forever, but it wasn't working so then he was able to get a triangle window open and he had a long hook he could use to dig in my purse to find the keys. That worked! By then Zeke was pretty upset... it was 45 minutes after the door was locked! Zeke was sweaty, but thankfully it wasn't too hot outside so he wasn't suffocating in there. Joe is my hero and so is Laurie (my neighbor) for being home, letting me use her phone and sticking around for moral support and so is Nate for remembering that Joe had a lock kit. It took me a while to recover... It's hard being a Mom and trying really hard to be strong for your kid when you feel like a complete idiot for doing something like locking him in a car.

Humor

Zeke is now getting a pretty developed sense of humor! A couple nights ago, we had Jem & Heath over for dinner and Zeke entertained us all night! He thought Heath was hysterical and laughed at almost anything Heath would do. Then today he was pointing at things outside and giving them the wrong name. Like pointing at a bird but saying Grandma! Then I'd say "no silly!" and he would laugh and laugh! Then he'd do it again. Sometimes he gets in a crazy mood and crouches down and walks around the house like a monkey, then he shouts something and runs off to his room! silly kid. I love seeing what he does next.

That's all for today. At least it's all I can think of. Hopefully I'll blog better next month! We'll see!

Midwife appointment and other adventures

This morning Zeke and I met up with Jolene and Kaden and went for a walk/hike to Whatcom Falls Park. It was pretty fun! Zeke liked the waterfall and got to play on the slide and on the swings! He had a great time. Unfortunately on the way home, Jolene got a headache and Joe was called in to the rescue. I hope you feel better Jolene!

Zeke and I stopped at Haggen and Starbucks for a treat and then headed home. Once we passed Woburn St., Zeke decided that he wanted to walk, so he walked all the way home! That's over a mile of walking for the little guy! He did awesome! He was walking and running, jumping in puddles and asking his favorite question "whats that?" He heard frogs and birds and made friends with a cat and a couple dogs on the way home. He did great by staying close to me and never running out towards the street. I'm so proud of him! He's growing up way too fast.

In other news, my midwife appointment was today. I'm measuring a little bit big and my midwife said that she felt a walnut sized calcified fibrous tumor (tumor meaning it's a foreign growth in my body... nothing serious). She said that 40% of pregnant woman get them. Sometimes they're in the uterus and sometimes they're outside... Mine is outside and on the top of the uterus. She said that there is nothing to worry about, it just happens. The heartbeat is strong and he's kicking all the time! I'm a little anemic, but hopefully that will be remedied with some extra iron supplements. All is well!

We also found out this week that my insurance doesn't cover home births. Which was pretty hard for me to swallow at first, but we decided to go with the Birth Center instead of paying an arm and a leg to stick with the home birth. I'm starting to get excited about having it there... Mostly because it's pretty much exactly like giving birth at home... it's just someone else's home. I don't have to clean up after and if it's the middle of the night, we don't have to wake Zeke up, we can just have Grandma & Grandpa Allen come over and sleep on the couch while we're out. There are definitely positive points to doing it at the Birth Center rather than at home.

Yummy Apple Spice Muffins!

I don't usually post recipes, but this one was requested so here it is! I rarely bake a recipe exactly the way it is laid out because I like making things a little bit healthier. These turned out awesome!

This is the recipe I used courtesy of www.epicurious.com, but I changed it a little. I'll add in my changes with Red text.

For muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups Unbleached whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup packed light brown sugar - 3/4 cup unpacked real cane light brown sugar (I really don't like things too sweet!)

1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted - 1 Stick melted butter

1 cup unsweetened applesauce - I did an overflowing cup to make up for the 3 less tablespoons of butter

1 cup pecans or walnuts (3 1/2 ounces), coarsely chopped - Instead I added 2 fuji apples cut into small pieces (I'm not much for nuts in my food)

For topping: - I skipped the topping because It's just more sugar, but I'm sure it's great with the topping too!

2 tablespoons granulated sugar1/4 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground allspice1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

Prepare muffins:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.

Grease muffin pan. - I used paper muffin cups

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl.

Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well, then add butter, a little at a time, whisking until mixture is creamy.

Stir in applesauce, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.

Stir in nuts (and/or apples) and divide batter among muffin cups.

Stir together all topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool slightly.

I cooked mine for 20 min at 400, but the bottoms burned slightly. Next time I would bring down the baking temp to 375 and increase the time just slightly.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Applesauce-Spice-Muffins-108784#ixzz0g2Gv7BbZ

A beautiful day for a bike ride

Today I was pretty determined to get outside, but this morning Zeke had other plans. He definitely didn't want to go out before his nap. So, while he was sleeping I sat out on the front porch (which is actually just a slab of cement... not much of a porch) and had some awesome snacks of dark chocolate, strawberries and blueberries and read a book. I felt so free for an hour and a half while he napped. It was awesome.

After his nap, I got him ready and we went out for a bike ride. =)

Warning, these photo's are out of order... I'm not sure why or how to fix it so deal with it!

This is our view on the trail on the way home from the park

Zeke saying "cheese"

Zeke and I in the shed waiting for Nate to get home after we got back from the park

Zeke thought this bump in the trail was a slide. =)

The trail headed to the park

On the trail on the way home.

Zeke always wants to stop to see the water when we go out on the trail.

He's so cute in his trailer

A nice lady took a picture of us.

Playing on the toys

Being a goof

Beautiful Boulevard Park

Recent events

We've had a lot of stuff going on lately... for instance, we got a new dishwasher finally!!! After 5 months of hand washing dishes, I'm very thankful for the new one.

Nate is working hard while Zeke is laying down on the job!

Now he's helping!

Zeke got is first bike! It's a balance bike. He's slowly warming up to it... I think he'll be zipping around with that thing in no time!

Zeke is sleeping in a toddler bed now! He's such a big boy! We got it so he could take his time transitioning into it. The day we set it up, he took his afternoon nap in it and has slept in it every night since! Crazy kid!

We went to the Museum of Flight to pick up some airplane toys from the gift shop. Zeke was elated by all the amazing airplanes sitting outside and flying overhead. I can't wait to go back again to experience the museum with him. He just loves airplanes!