31 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 31 Weeks
Size of baby: 16 inches long and weighs almost 3.3 lbs. Molly is the size of four navel oranges!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I go to the Dr. on Friday, so we will see, but I'm sure I'm still gaining.
Maternity Clothes: Basically all maternity
Gender: Girl!
Movement: She moves a lot, but some days I start to worry because I won't feel her move very much.  If I lay down on the couch at night we can usually see her moving all around.
Sleep: I sleep great once I can get to sleep - been staying up later recently.  Still wake up for bathroom breaks, though.
Symptoms: Even though I still take nausea medicine, morning nausea has hit many times recently.  I've also had some reflux i think, and am very tired during the day.
What I miss: Getting up quickly, bending over, etc.  haha
Cravings: This weeks' craving was the Pioneer Woman's guacamole - which I made and ate for dinner one night, haha!
Best Moment this week:  It's been a rough week because Emma has been sick, but we took her to the state fair last Thursday and we all had a great time!  I especially loved the food!

What I am looking forward to: We have an appointment on Friday that includes another ultrasound (please pray for continued growth), and then we are off to Hickory to hang with my folks, and Aaron and I are planning to celebrate my birthday/babymoon/ early anniversary all in one in Blowing Rock.  I have a birthday in the same week as my mom and dad so we will get to celebrate with them too!

30 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 30 Weeks!  I can't believe we are in the 30's now.  I feel like we are in the home stretch and I am starting to get in nesting mode (thankful for little spurts of energy to start to do some of these things)!
Size of baby: 15.7 inches long and weighs almost 3 lbs. Molly is the size of a head of cabbage!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained even more at the doctor last week - still within the recommended weight gain limits, but I don't know how I will go 9 more weeks without putting on too much, haha!  Here's hoping that nursing will help me lose the weight quickly like it did with Emma :)
Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity except for the occasional t-shirt and exercise pants.  FYI, it is much nicer to be at your largest when the weather is cooling down!
Gender: Girl!
Movement: Yes, she is moving all the time! Especially if I have any caffeine at night (hey now, a little is allowed).  She has also started moving a lot around my hips and ribs, which is a little uncomfortable, but I love to feel the movement.
Sleep: Some nights it is great, and other nights I can't seem to sleep at all and have to use the bathroom several times.  Trying to enjoy it while I can!

Symptoms: Still some occasional nausea if I wait too long to eat, aching back, tiredness, and some swelling - all of these are pretty manageable though.
What I miss: Maybe sleeping on my stomach and having more energy.
Cravings: I've been craving my friend Caroline's pimento cheese sandwiches, haha!  I even got the recipe from her so I can make them - maybe this weekend :)
Best Moment this week: Taking Emma to Hill Ridge Farms on Friday and getting a good report from my appointment that morning.  So far my belly is measuring great, and we are so thankful!
What I am looking forward to: We are going to the NC State Fair tomorrow - I can't wait for Emma to really enjoy everything this year, and, of course, the food!  We will have another ultrasound next Friday to check on Molly Kate and see if she is continuing to grow well, please continue to pray for our littlest girl!

Fall Fun

Fall is definitely my favorite season of the year, and also my favorite season for fun family activities.  This past weekend we went up to Hill Ridge Farms in Youngsville.  We had a great time, and Emma could have stayed all day.  If you live anywhere around the North Raleigh area, you should definitely check it out and plan to stay for half of a day.  Emma's favorites were definitely the hayride to get the pumpkins, the giant slide, and the bounce houses.  I'm so thankful for all of the fun activities we can do this month, and really spend a lot of time having fun with Emma before Molly gets here in (hopefully) December. 

The bounce house was the first thing she did, and we quickly realized that after the sun came out it would be too hot for her long-sleeved turkey outfit, so we made a quick-change.

 She also loved playing in the sand pit!

 Emma and daddy feeding the goats.

 Fun on the slide.

Cheesing with our pumpkins!

Oh, and I finally finished our fall wreath a few weeks ago.  I think it turned out really cute and was pretty inexpensive to make.  I may put up a tutorial so i will remember for the future or if anyone wants to know how I made it.

Happy Fall everyone!  This week we are going to the State Fair!!

29 weeks

How Far Along: 29 Weeks
Size of baby: 15 inches long and weighs 2.5 lbs. Molly is the size of a butternut squash!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still gaining - hoping it will slow down a little these last few weeks.
Maternity Clothes: All maternity clothes
Gender: Girl!
Movement: Yes! She is moving a lot, and it is getting to that somewhat uncomfortable point where little elbows and feet are poking my hips and ribs.
Sleep: Sleep has been really good lately, except for the middle of the night bathroom runs, of course!

Symptoms: A little nausea now and then, tiredness, and swelling of the feet.
What I miss: I don't miss much as long as I am not really hot and tired :)
Cravings: I made pecan bars this week just because I wanted them, and I am still craving Chick-fila for breakfast.
Best Moment this week: Having a great OB appointment this morning, and enjoying some family time at Hill Ridge Farms (post to come)!
What I am looking forward to:  In two weeks we will have another ultrasound just to check on Molly Kate's growth, so although I am nervous, I am looking forward to see that sweet girl again!  Also, that same weekend we are dropping Emma off with my parents for part of the weekend and enjoying some time for my birthday/ our babymoon/ our early anniversary celebrating in the mountains!  So excited to have a weekend to spend with Aaron and to also see my parents again before baby girl arrives!

Crockpotalooza 2

With fall and winter approaching, not to mention a newborn on the way, I love to start breaking out my slow cooker/crock-pot this time of year and find new recipes that make a few of our dinner times a little easier.  Last year I linked up to Crockpotalooza at Kelly's Korner and shared some of my favorite crock-pot recipes - you can find the link here for my recipes for crock-pot Chicken BBQ and Chicken Nacho Dip - so yummy!

Here are two other meals I make in the crock-pot:

1.  Salsa Chicken
It seems like a lot of people have their own version of this, but this is so simple and so easy to make a large batch to use for taco salad, quesadillas, fajitas, etc.
Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken breasts
Your favorite salsa
1 pkt taco seasoning

1.  Place chicken in the crockpot
2.  Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken
3.  Cover chicken with salsa
4.  Cook on low around 6 hours - I usually shred the chicken with an hour left to cook


2.  Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
I originally found the recipe at allrecipes.  It works great when making mashed potatoes for a crowd and tastes really yummy!
Ingredients:
1.  5 lbs red potatoes, cut in chunks
2.  1 Tbs. garlic, minced (If you cook with fresh garlic much, you have to get a garlic press - makes it so much easier!)
3.   3 chicken boullion cubes
4.  sour cream (8 oz)
5.  1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz) softened
6.  1/2 cup butter
7.  salt and pepper to taste

1.  In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.
2.  Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.


Be sure to check out Kelly's Korner to find lots of other slow cooker recipes!

28 weeks

Lots of things going on recently, but I will start with my week 28 update:

How Far Along: 28 Weeks

Size of baby: 14.8 inches long and weighs 2.25 lbs. Molly Kate is the size of a head cabbage!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Definitely gaining, I think I'm 10 pounds up from pre-pregnancy weight, but considering the earlier weight loss I think I have still gained plenty, haha.
Maternity Clothes: All maternity, except t-shirts and pajama pants
Gender: Girl!
Movement: Yes! She is moving a lot. We can see the movement without touching my belly now so that is fun.
Sleep: I have not been sleeping very well.  Two nights this week I just couldn't sleep at all and would lay in bed wide-awake for hours.  It makes for exhausting days.  I'm also now getting up between 1-4 times a night to use the bathroom - lovely :) 
Symptoms: I had a night this week that I felt very sick, but my amazing husband let me lay down and took over Emma's nighttime routine for me.  I also have noticed more swelling in my feet this week.
What I miss: Iced coffee drinks and sleeping for more than 2 hours without getting up - but it is totally worth it :)
Cravings: Chick-fila breakfast and last night I had a strong craving for a Toblerone, haha.
Best Moment this week: Our ultrasound!
What I am looking forward to: My mom is coming this weekend, and we also have a youth lock-in and a baby shower.

This week was great!  I was nervous about my ultrasound on Friday, but everything looks good.  They weren't looking at her organs, etc., but they did measure her and she is growing just as she should be and the placenta still looks good - Praise the Lord!  We will have another ultrasound in 4 weeks, so please pray that Molly would continue to grow well and there would not be problems with the placenta this time.  

Poor Emma has had a tough last two weeks with sickness coming and going.  We started potty training, and day one went great but on day two she had an upset tummy so we decided to put it off for two more weeks.  We are doing the three-day potty training method, and I think it will work well for Em, but she just needs to be well and I need to have everything I need at home so we won't have to go out.

This morning she woke up and she felt hot all over.  We got her some medicine and a freeze pop, and she said "I feel very much better," haha!  We will see how the day goes, but hopefully we won't have to go to the doctor later.  So, she will be missing her MDO for the second week in a row (she really misses playing with her friends there) and church tonight - but we will be having lots of snuggle time on the couch reading books, watching movies, etc. until she feels like herself again.

This weekend we are having a youth lock-in at church.  I have not been at a lock-in since I was in youth group (haha) and I have not stayed up all night since college, so I am pretty sure I will pass out sometime around midnight - we'll see!  It should be fun though!  My mom is coming down and will be keeping Emma for us - thanks Mom!  Grammy is pretty much one of Emma's most favorite people, so I know she will have a blast this weekend too!