Out with the Old and in with the New!!!

WE GOT A NEW CAMERA!! 

(Pretty, no?! Yes I am a girl and think our new camera is pretty!)

I was so excited I can’t even try to build the suspense and tease you….I just have to blurt it out!!

Our last digital camera took a shit right after vacation. (Thank goodness it made it through that.)  We have had the camera since 2003, so it has been a good camera.  But it started acting up recently and then just died this past weekend.  Died meaning the shutter won’t close and it only turns on to tell us to turn it off.

Terry and I talked about it, and considering we have some rather important events happening in the coming months we decided we needed to suck it up and buy a new and reliable camera.  We weighed our options and tried to figure out what was the best for us. 

Option 1: We could just get an inexpensive camera for about $150….but how long would it last and what would the quality of pictures be like?  We don’t just want something to get us by and we don’t want to turn around in a few years and get another one?  However, it is the least expensive option so an option nonetheless.

Option 2: Some of the nicer and slightly more advanced cameras seem to be around $189-$220.  We found one we really liked and it was a possibility.  It would last awhile and take good pictures. 

Option 3: At the top of the range was the Nikon Coolpix L120 for $279.  This was higher priced than we wanted to go as we wanted to stay below $250 for a digital camera.  However, this camera was amazing.  I went straight for it and told Terry to not pick it up as he would not want to put it down.   I love Nikon, plus this camera had great reviews.  It takes AMAZING pictures and videos and should last a long time. BUT, it is above our initial price range.

So which camera did we get? the affordable but basic camera, the mid range camera that would be a solid and financially reasonable camera, or the camera slightly above our budget but with all the bells and whistles we wanted. (it is like House Hunters, no?!  Yeah, I watch that show too much.)

We choose…..the third one!  The Nikon camera!!

I. LOVE. THIS. CAMERA.

Yes, it was slightly above our price range, however the difference in what we got compared to the mere $50 - $75 in price between the other cameras we were looking at made this pretty much a no brainer.   To us, we can justify spending a little more on something that is going to yield great results and be a fantastic camera.  Had it been even $100, $150, $200 more, I am not so sure we would have gotten it, but at this price and for what we got we were SOLD.

As for the camera, it is wonderful.  We have only played around with it for a few days, but the quality of the pictures it takes is ridiculous! So crisp and vivid. It is easy to take a video and the video quality is better than our old video camera!  It is also very user friendly…which I like a lot. 

I don’t know what all the fancy features mean….but here is the camera if you are curious.

I would totally recommend this camera for people who want a good digital camera, especially for people like us who may not be able to afford or may just not want to spend the money right now on the more advanced and expensive digital cameras.  This is 100 times better than your standard digital camera, but very reasonably priced for the product you are getting. 

The only potential drawback some may see is that this camera does take standard double A batteries.  You can put in rechargeable batteries, which terry and I may eventually do after Henry is born, but it does not come with the camera.  However, for as often as we use our camera this is not an issue for us at the moment.  Plus, I actually like that we have the option that we CAN use double batteries.  For our old camera we had one set of rechargeable batteries, so we had to remember to charge the batteries before we went somewhere or if they died in the middle of something had to wait till we could recharge them.  Now we can use whatever is available to us!

Oh and we also got a new memory card, our old one was SO small we could only store about 100 pictures at 3 megapixels on it at any given time.  This new one we can hold about 4700 pictures at 8 megapixel (is it megapixel…is that right?  I don't know what I am saying as I am so not technologically savvy). AWESOME!!!

Yep, we now are ready (ok at least picture wise) for the next three months!!

Some Very UNWelcomed Guests

It is summer….my least favorite of the seasons. And with summer there always seems to be an increase of bugs in the house. With three cats bugs have it pretty tough in our house, but unfortunately we have some very unwanted guests in our house.


ANTS.

(Insert picture of ants here. I refuse to post a picture so you can imagine if you like.)


I hate them and we got them.

Yep, over the weekend we started noticing those big black ants in our house and yesterday it started getting worse. Yesterday as I cooked dinner I killed about 15 of them. GROSS.

Terry is getting ant traps, but we have yet to find where they are coming from. I HATE ants and unlike spiders, I don’t think twice about killing them. (No, watching the movie Ants didn’t make me more empathetic towards them.)

I really hope we find where they are coming from soon, or I will scream. There is nothing like making toast in the morning and having three large ants come towards your breakfast like you made it for them. No, we are not a bed and breakfast ants….so please leave my food alone and leave our house NOW.

Terry has talked to others and they say ants are really bad this year and we are not the only ones with problems. He thinks a lot of it is because of all the moisture in the ground from all the rain that it pushes them to find other places to live. BLECH.

Yeah, I really don’t care much WHY we have ans, I just want them out of our house NOW.



*P.S. Speaking of summer...where the hell did spring go?! I refuse to accept that it is summer already. Nope, not going to do it.

Caprese Chicken Recipe

This is one of my FAVORITE things to cook. I shared it with Ky and thought I would share on the blog. It is perfect for the summer!


Ingredients:

-Chicken breast (grilled, baked, or breaded*)

-Fresh basil (chopped)

-Small onion (diced)

- Garlic

-2 containers of cherry tomatoes halved (I actually use more but we really love tomatoes in this house.)

-Fresh mozzarella cheese (thin to medium sliced). If you can’t find fresh shredded mozzarella cheese is ok, but if you can get fresh use that!

*Now you can grill the chicken, bake it, or bread/fry it (to bread and fry the chicken I suggest pounding out the chicken a bit so it cooks all the way through and the outside doesn’t get burnt but stays golden brown. Then for the breading - place pounded out chicken (or chicken cutlets) in flour, then egg wash, then bread crumbs and fry up in a skillet with a little vegetable oil). I have tried both breaded and grilled and both are wonderful.


Instructions:

- Grill/bake/fry some chicken breasts. (Your preference.)

Pounded out chicken

- While the chicken is cooking........In a skillet with a little olive oil and over medium heat cook up a small or half a medium onion diced with some garlic.

- After a couple minutes (just enough time to let the onions start to soften) add the halved cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Let them cook until the tomatoes start to fall apart and are soft and the onions are soft and cooked.

- Remove from the heat. Add as much chopped fresh basil as you want and let heat through.

- When the chicken is done cooking place chicken on a baking sheet or oven safe container and add the tomato and basil mixture on top of the chicken breasts.

- Add slices of fresh mozzarella over the tomato mixture. You can also add Parmesan cheese if you like. Sometimes we do sometimes we don't. Heat in the oven/broiler or toaster oven just to let the cheese melt a bit. (You are not really cooking, just melting)

- Serve with a salad, veggie, pasta or whatever sounds good!

I don’t measure…so I am not sure about the quantities but you can adjust as you go and make how you prefer :)

ENJOY!

Pregnancy Update - 25 Weeks

Baby's now the size of an eggplant! Wow, that seems big.  So THAT is what is inside me....crazy.



"Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight is about a pound and a half, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair."

I then found this baby morpher website and put in our pictures.  As Terry does not take a single serious picture this is the one I picked for him!

Yep, that is the man I married and the future daddy to our son.....and I LOVE it!!!

And my picture....even though I don't have the red hair anymore I liked the picture :)

And this is the baby we made.....

HAHAHA - Awesome

Surprisingly this may not be too far off.....the curly hair, chubby cheeks and headphones. Yep, that may very well be our son!! This is actually one of the better baby morphing sites; normally the kids look deformed :)


Otherwise I am doing great. I go in for another ultrasound next Tuesday and I am hoping our stubborn child will take a good picture! Last time all we were able to get pictures of was his junk and his feet. Nice. He is totally Terry's child. I also go in for my sugar testing Tuesday....now that sounds like fun. I am also feeling pregnant and slowing down a bit but it is all good.

The only other thing I have noticed is that I am being told rather frequently that I don't look 6 months pregnant (6 times in the last 2 weeks!). I was asked twice this week; when will you start showing more. And my favorite; are you on a diet.

Let it be said again, we are ALL different with different body types. So please, how you looked 6 months into your pregnancy is not how I will look. I have also read that first-time moms often start showing later because their muscles haven't been stretched by a previous pregnancy. Also, I am 5'10 and have a long torso which means Henry has more space to fill, lengthwise before he starts to move outward. And granted you may be concerned about no weight gain because I am basically at my pre-pregnancy weight. But I lost some weight the first trimister and being I was also overweight to start with and I really should only gain between 12-20 pounds during my pregnancy and I still have 15 weeks to go and my Dr. isn't concerned....I think things are just fine! It bothers me sometimes when people say that stuff...I don't know why. Other times I just laugh because there is nothing about the way my body looks that screams....you need to eat more! I mean really folks, I am not a tiny girl. And also, I feel like it is my JOB right now to eat and in all my life I have never been able to just eat and not worry about the weight gain. So this is what a high metabolism feels like! anywho....

As for Henry, I think he is doing good. We "passed" the 2nd trimester genetic quad screening test which we took since Terry is adopted. And I am feeling Henry move a LOT more, especially when it is time to eat or when I eat....the piglet loves his food! Terry still can't really feel him move, but I can tell the kicks are getting stronger and I hope soon T. will get to feel some big kicks!


25 weeks....wow, this really does go fast!

Ah….Home From Vacation!!

(A very long post)


So this past week Terry, my parents, my sister and her boyfriend all went to Hilton Head for a MUCH needed vacation! It had been a very long time since T & I went on vacation and some relaxing time away was very much needed.

Overall the trip was FANTASTIC! We had 7 nights at this beautiful condo and pretty much relaxed and ate for the entire trip. Yeah, my kind of vacation!!

We left at 1:00 am Saturday morning…yes ONE am!!! In retrospect, maybe not the best choice. The trip down was looooooong and even though Terry slept for about 6 hours before we left, just driving on the boring road in the dark made him naturally tired. Of course I stayed up as Terry can fall asleep anywhere so I figured we both needed to be up. Luckily, my doctor wanted me to stop every couple hours, so that gave us both time to walk around and wake up. We ended up making 10, yes TEN, stops along the way. CRAZY!! You know the trip is only about 12-13 hours, right?!

Reststop and visitor's center in TN. Our favorite!

Terry liked it :)

It was actually a nice trip down as we just took our time, enjoyed many of the rest areas from here to Hilton Head, and listened to music. Only drama came when we were in the hills of Kentucky and as we are driving up in the mountains with few to no exits we see the gas light come on. Now as I recall I suggested at our previous stop when we were at a ½ a tank we should just fill up, but someone else doesn’t like to fill up until we are at least at a ¼ of a tank. So in a mild state of panic knowing we hadn’t seen exits for awhile, we took our trusty TomTom* that our friend let us borrow for the trip and found the nearest gas station was 5 miles away. Terry usually doesn’t worry about that stuff, but it was a little tense as the last thing Terry wanted to do at 8am was to have our car run out of gas on the mountains! Longest 5 miles of the trip I must say. However we made it to the gas station and my 14 gallon tank drank up 14 and ½ gallons of gas!! Nice. Let’s just say we didn’t make that same mistake on the trip back.

The mountains after the gas situation.

We arrived in Hilton Head at 5pm. We unloaded our car, looked around at the awesome condo and ordered pizza for dinner since we were ALL exhausted. By the time I went to bed at around 9:30 that night, I had been up for 36 hours with only an hour nap during that time. Basically, everyone in that house was ready for an early night!

But the condo itself was really nice. (Great pick Mom & Dad!!!) Two full bathrooms, three bedrooms, full kitchen, dining room, living room, a deck with a grill, a balcony, about a mile from this cool plaza, and about .2 miles from the beach. It also had two pools and was really quiet.

Outside

Our Room

Turtles in the lagoon. See those three little heads? 

There were like 15 turtles in this little lagoon.

Getting Sun

Hello Turtle!

I probably took at least another 20 pics of just turtles :)

The rest of the week was great. The weather was actually fantastic, sometimes even a little chilly in the evenings – PERFECT! Sunday it was in the 80’s but it wasn’t again until Friday and the Saturday we left that it got back up in the upper 80’s and was humid. The entire week it was in the 70’s/low 80’s. YAY!!

We also walked a LOT! (Which made me feel a little better about all the food I ate.) There was a shopping plaza about a mile away from where we were so we walked there a few times. Mom, Kristen and I even spent a morning at an outlet mall and had a lovely time together and got some great deals on clothes! Ok, Henry made out really well at those outlet malls…..but who can pass up a $5 pair of OshKosh jeans or $7 footie pajamas from Carters?! Not us.

And the food….oh the food!! We ate some really great food while down there. I think my favorite was Skull Creek Boathouse. It was the first place we went too and the food was AMAZING! T & I got hushpuppies & hot peel and eat shrimp as an appetizer (YUM!!), and then Terry got clam chowder and a mix of fresh seafood for dinner and I got Dungeness crab legs. This place had everything and I think everyone had an amazing meal!

We also tried the Old Oyster Factory one night and we had some amazing oysters Rockefeller, Terry had raw oysters and a seafood pasta for dinner, we had more hushpuppies and I had this spinach and crab stuffed flounder. Again, it was all wonderful!! Oh and for dessert we got 2 desserts to split between four of us. An amazing key lime cheesecake and a dark mouse with berries. *drool*

We found a New Orleans place called Kenny B’s and had some delicious Po’Boy sandwiches and beignets. Totally my kind of food and SO good.

There was also this cupcake place called Sweet Caroline’s Cupcakes…..it had awesome cupcakes. Only complaint there was the cupcakes are $3.50-$4 EACH! How can I get my cupcake on for that price?! Maybe it is good they were not cheaper or I would have eaten more than I should have!! I had the red velvet from there and this one which was a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting INSIDE the cupcake and then chocolate fudge ganache on top with vanilla frosting on top of that. Think a ho ho cake times 100!! Honestly, I would have paid more for that cupcake.

We also ate many many many other places while down there and most of them were really good. There were a few duds, but really no complaints at all!

One day we headed over to Savannah. My husband LOVES this town. I mean he wants to retire there or even move there tomorrow. I had never been, nor had pretty much everyone else, so we took a 90 minute trolley tour of the town which was great. It is a very interesting town full of lots of history. Very fascinating. We also ate at a great place called the Cotton Exchange Tavern….BEST clam chowder and BEST clam soups we had. DELICUOUS! We also got some pralines, which I had never had because there is nothing about pecans I enjoy. HOWEVER, the pralines there were amazing. Sorry pecans, when put inside a freshly made praline you are delicious! We walked into the candy store and you instantly got a cavity as the smell of cooked butter and sugar just surrounded you. It smelled amazing. We brought back plenty of pralines for us as well as some Honey from the Savannah Bee Company. Terry also had to get a drink and walk around the town so he got a frozen drink called “Call a Cab”. It basically was 151 Rum with a bit of fruit juice. Awesome. He was a bit tipsy after that. I really want to go back to Savannah. We didn’t realize that many of the tourist things close at 5pm, so you can’t get into the church and many buildings after that which was a bit of a bummer. But we did get an overall good look at the city which is great for first-timers. And there is no doubt in my mind we will be back to check out many of the places we didn’t get around to seeing.

So pretty there.

Besides eating ALL. THE. TIME. We also played putt-putt, went to the beach, and explored Hilton Head. It is a quiet place. Things close early and there is not a lot to do, but it is relaxing which is really nice. A week was a perfect amount of time to not get too bored there and to not get to too annoyed being in such close spaces!!

At the beach. Lovely.

Kristen and I

He will NEVER take a serious picture :)

And one last thing, during this trip I felt very much pregnant. I guess you don’t feel as pregnant when you just come home and flop on the couch, but it really hit me that I was pregnant. Between trying to get comfortable at different places, all the walking, sweating from EVERY PORE on my body (no human should sweat as much as I did….and it wasn’t even that hot), finding clothes that fit but were comfortable, being tired, always being hungry or really full, stopping what felt like every 5 minutes to pee, having to tuck my swimsuit top into my bottoms because my belly kept flopping out of the swimsuit (attractive), always breathing like I just ran a marathon, not enjoying having to bend down to get my golf ball during putt-putt and instead having T. get it for me…..yep I felt pregnant!!

Here is me on vacation at 24 weeks. Look at the stretching on that shirt….It is giving it all it can, no?!

Honestly, at times it was a little annoying (like how much I was sweating – seriously, it was gross – I WAS GROSS). BUT I also embraced it too. I have really tried to embrace EVERY step along the way, and even the one where I had a break down in the car because I was tired, hungry and felt stupid because I had to stop every 90 minutes….it may have taken me longer, but I eventually embraced that moment of crazy as well. I embrace the fact that I have to wear panty liners EVERY day and when it was really hot I started to sweat and after I sat down the bottom of pants were damp. Nice. I embrace having to eat at least two prunes a day or else things just don’t move right in my body. I embrace that sometimes I have to walk at a pace meant for people 3 times my age. I embrace, for the first time ever, my husband rubbing my feet (under a blanket of course) because it actually feels amazing right now. I embrace that my skin is perpetually flushed and blotchy. I embrace that a portion of what I eat ends up in my now enormous cleavage and it is totally ok for me to reach down in there and pick it out and eat it. Don’t judge me. I embrace having to take a huge vitamins that make me gag EVERY single time I take them. I am trying to embrace the fact that I am hungry every 2 hours but there is a very fine line of eating too much which will most likely cause me to have to take Tums after I eat. And I spent most of the vacation embracing the fact that our lives are about to change and to just relax and enjoy this time because soon it won’t just be T & I anymore but we will have a little one in our life to take care of. And that this is totally worth EVERY SINGLE MOMENT of this so-called uncomfortableness I am going through right now. This vacation really helped me step away and take time to reflect on what is going on, spend time with my family and helped me to embrace this beautiful and slightly scary moment in our lives. This vacation was planned a year ago, but couldn’t have happened at a better time!!

So in summary: Vacation was great, I ate A LOT, I am sort of a gross person to be around right now, I am embracing pregnancy, and I feel so thankful and grateful that we all got to go on this vacation. Thanks again Mom & Dad….it was wonderful and we are SOOOOO appreciative.





*We borrowed our friend’s TomTom navigation device and I must say that I believe that thing saved our marriage. We ordered maps and a trip tik from Triple A, but I fully believe that human error is possible and can cause some heated discussions when you are already tired of driving and being in a car for so long. We have gone places like Ann Arbor or Cincinnati and had our “trusty” google directions, but it never fails that at some point those directions are wrong or one person think they know the route better or you miss a step in the directions and then let the arguing commence. But TomTom, in his wonderful British accent, told us with plenty of time to spare “in 2 miles you will exit on the right”. What, ok…thank you Thomas (we called him Thomas…seemed more fitting for such a wonderful English gentleman). His directions got us where we needed to go and he never tried to mislead us. That TomTom knew what he was doing and I thank him as it saved T. & I from what I can only imagine would have been inevitable fights and possibly one person left somewhere in Kentucky.

Wordless Wednesday - Cat Picture Edition!

The thing is, I love our cats. I mean I may be borderline crazy cat lady! (Like I would totally put a picture of all of our cats on a sweatshirt and wear it IN the house - see borderline crazy cat lady.)  So I am always snapping cell phone pictures of my favorite little feline friends!!


It took him about 15 minutes to finally get this on his head. And then he just sat there.

"Is this a good look for me?"

"Soooo, I don't really know what to do now."

"TA DAH!!!"

I was cleaning out our pots and pans cabinet and looked away for 2 seconds and Belle and Charlie found their way into the cabinet.  It is hard to take them out because they want right back in, so they played in there for 15 minutes until they got bored.  I am such a cool mama to the kitties :)

"I got the top shelf!!!"

"This is the coolest thing EVER!"

I woke up to find the two of them laying at the foot of the bed "looking" at each other while they slept.

"Don't you try anything funny...I am watching you!"

"I can totally hold this pose longer than you!"

After we put together the stroller.

"I am ready...lets go!!!"

*I don't know if Wordless Wednesday will ever really be totally wordless.  It is just not my thang.

A Day Late, But It MUST Be Said

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

We love you so very much and I HOPE that I can be as wonderful a mommy to Henry as you have been, and still are, to Kristen and I.

You are beautiful, giving, caring, strong, extremely talented & artistic, so very kind, oh and one smart cookie! (I know where I get!!)

You never ask for anything; well except for us girls to be happy and for us to love and care for one another. And really, I don’t know what we could give you that would come close to repaying back all the laughs that have been shared, tears you’ve wiped away, booboo’s you’ve kissed, hugs you’ve given, lessons you’ve taught, and moments we’ve shared. But know this, you are loved SO much and not a day goes by where we don’t appreciate what any amazing mother you are.

Believe me when we say that in all of time and space, we could never find a mother more wonderful than you and feel so lucky to say you ARE our mummy ;-)

Love you BUNCHES and BUNCHES!
Jenn & Kristen

And your other kids…Terry, Henry, Sebastian, Belle & Charlie

Pregnancy Update – Week 21

I don’t know if I will do this every week, but I was in the mood to share today!

21 Weeks - Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like he's practicing martial arts as his initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to his activity as you get to know him better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

How are you feeling?

I am feeling great, really.  I do have some indigestion, which I know is usually of my own doing based on what I am eating.  Note to self, I cannot have a piece of Edwards Key Lime pie an hour before I go to bed….no matter how much I want it!  TUMS have become my new best friend, and I am getting use to it as I have had indigestion pretty much the entire pregnancy.  Otherwise, this is the question I get asked the most, and I am happy to say at this point I am feeling really good.

Any weight gain?

I think I am a pound or two shy of my pre-pregnancy weight, which is fine with me.  I really didn’t want to gain too much with this pregnancy just based on my weight before getting pregnant, and I am happy that at just over half-way there I am just now starting to gain extra weight.  I know it will happen, just wanted to wait till after 20 weeks which is good!

Have you registered yet?

Nope, not yet.  Probably because we just keep buying everything ourselves! Though we have many things picked out that we want and have received very helpful advice on some great products.  (Thanks again Ky…SO helpful!) Since I have received advice on what is important to get and what isn’t, have ideas of good products, and we have a direction of what we want to get I don’t feel nearly as overwhelmed and after our vacation feel ready to tackle Babies R Us and Target!

A few peeks at what we are going to get for Henry……

This is the bedding we will get, I LOVE it. 

 

You can see the collection HERE.

I think I must have this lamp!

 We also really like this highchair.  It is wood.

 

Can you feel the baby kick?

Yes, but I am still anxiously awaiting Henry to give me some good hard kicks and kick more regularly.  At this point I no longer question if that is him kicking or just gas, but depending on where he is I can’t always feel him very well. He usually is kicking around 9:30-10:30, around lunch time and/or some time later afternoon after I eat and a bit in the evening. I know Terry is also anxiously waiting for the day he can feel his son kick!  He puts his hands on my belly hoping he will move a little.  I know the day will come very soon and then there will be a time where I wish he didn’t kick as much….but right now I just want movement!

How is Terry?

He is great. I have never seen him this happy and excited.  I am always texting him when the baby kicks, so he can feel included.  He loves to rest his hands on my belly waiting for a kick and I think we are both loving calling the piglet by his name!  It is wonderful, and even though he wasn't always sure if he wanted to be a father, I knew it was there and it is fun seeing changes in him now and I can't wait to see more once we have our child! 

Here are a couple pictures taken at 21 weeks.  Yes they are bathroom pics at work, but I wanted to send them to my parents that morning so they could see my growing belly, so decided to just take them in there!

Best thing someone said to me this week?

“You look great. You have a glow and you just look really really good!”

Talk to Me – “It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told.”

*I apologize up front as I will be using the word moisture in this post.  I hate the word moist, but it is necessary in this post.

“It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told.” Sorry I just love this quote, but I must say this is NOT me! I have never been one who faithfully uses lotion.  In the winter when my hands become extremely dry and painful I use Neutrogena Deep Moisture hand cream and it works wonders!  Occasionally (and by occasionally I mean once every 3 months) I will moisturize my face with some AVON lotions.  But as for using lotion on a daily basis on either my body or face, I do not do that.

Now when I was younger it never seemed like that big of a deal; my skin was fine.  But over the years I have noticed my skin become dryer and maybe not as elastic.  But still, I do not moisturize at all.  I refuse to wear lotion during the day, as it just feels greasy and heavy and I hate that.  I hardly wear makeup because I just don’t like the feel of stuff on my face for a long period of time.  And even at night my face and skin feels heavy when I put lotion on plus I feel like the blankets stick to me.  (Ok, I KNOW they don’t really stick to me, I am just weird and don’t like to feel constricted when I sleep and lotion makes me feel that way.)

At the beginning of the year I wanted to make a conscious effort to moisturize daily. I bought Vaseline Cocoa Butter lotion and try to remember to use that on my stomach, legs and arms. I mean it is sitting on my nightstand right by where my glasses go…so by “try to remember” I mean “when I feel like remembering”.  I also use an AVON daily lotion on my face. So far, I think I may remember to do the body lotion once every week or so and the face lotion even less.  Baby Steps, no?

I hear all these people on shows talk about the benefit of using lotion daily.  I even googled ‘What are the benefits of using lotion” (yes I did) and they say it re-hydrates dried skin, helps with anti-aging, smooth calluses, feels and smells good, help yourself relax, protects your skin, and makes your skin glow. Ok, sounds good but does it work?

So, riddle me this friends….is it important to moisturize your skin daily?  Do you use lotion?  If so, what do you use and how often?  Is there a big difference between a $5 lotion and a $50 lotion?

And what about exfoliating, do you do that TOO before you use lotion? 

I realize I am not getting any younger and should do what I can now…but does that mean using lotion?   I see my mom, who has beautiful skin and doesn’t really use lotion, and just wonder if it is mostly about genetics or does lotion really help with the elasticity and look of your skin?

*On a side note, I know it sounds really lazy to not just take a few minutes to put on some damn lotion.  However, it already takes me forever to get to bed because I have to pee, not once but twice, before I can fall asleep.  I have my contacts to take out, teeth to brush (and have a routine with that), like to pluck anything on my face that shouldn’t be there, and lets not talk about how long it takes me to set my alarm (I may be slightly OCD in a few areas of my life).  And then we have to shave and moisturize and do all those other daily/weekly things to keep ourselves going.  It is just too much sometimes!

Boy or Girl, Which Will OUR Baby Be?! Well We Know……

So it is pretty darn official, considering our ultrasound tech handed us a circumcision brochure as we left the office (haha)…we are having a BOY!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Looks like most of you knew it too :)

No matter which it was we were going to be equally as thrilled, but actually SEEING our baby and now KNOWING our baby instead of calling him “it” just makes everything 10 times more real.  It is weird just HOW real this feels now. 

I was wondering about myself because up until this point I was excited but didn’t feel that strong connection to the baby.  I mean I called him something generic, couldn’t feel him move much or that noticeably, and didn’t always feel like he was “there”.   Over the last week the excitement for actually finding out made me feel so much closer to our baby and today, as I laid in the office and she told us, I filled with this emotion I had yet to feel up to this point.  Tears of joy filled my eyes because not only was our baby healthy but from this point on we will not be calling our piglet “it” but by his NAME, a name that holds so much sentimental value to both of us.  This is real and now feels real.

SO, are you sharing his name you ask? Yes.  We have had this name picked out for YEARS so no need to "hide" it any longer.

His name is Henry Donald H.!!! 

Henry was my grandpa’s name and Donald was Terry’s grandpa’s name and both of these men were strong and amazing individuals who met SO much to each of us.  Both of our grandpa’s passed away before Terry and I started dating but we are excited to carry on their memory and give such a strong name to our son! (OUR SON – AHHHHH!)

So the details of the appointment.

Well overall, everything went well and Henry is healthy. PHEW! I was more anxious about this than anything else.  At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what the gender is, as long as our little one is HEALTHY! 

The heartbeat was 143bpm.  He had a nice, strong heartbeat.  He weighs 12 ounces.  I forget how long he is or if they told us that….I was totally distracted!  He is still on schedule for his due date in September.  The only issue was that our sweet, stubborn baby boy was ALL CURLED UP IN A BALL!  His feet were above, yes ABOVE his head.  His knees were by his face and his face was pretty much buried between his legs.  Now while this gave a PERFECT view of his, well junk (seriously, it was all just hanging out there plain as day to see…that’s terry’s boy) it also made it difficult to see the rest of his body.  We saw some cute little feet and toes, a cute butt and his junk.  Great :)  We may go back in a few weeks for another ultrasound to see if the ultrasound tech can get a better view of the spine (she tried everything!).  Not that there were any concerns because she said everything looked great, just want to make sure.

I wish we had a picture to share, but because of how tight our baby was wrapped up and how incredibly LOW he was, the pictures make him look like a black and white blob.  Maybe in a few weeks! 

This is getting SO fun now!  A mini-Terry....well now that is just awesome.

On a side note: how can babies be comfortable like that?!  I get they are all cartilage and stuff but how was he comfortable like that?!  The wonderful ultrasound tech said she sees that a lot, especially at this age.  She said the positions babies get in is very funny to see!  LOVE IT!

Talk to Me – Diapers

So a quick question – what diapers do you recommend using?  What brand worked best for you?  Does a certain type of brand work better depending on the age of the child?  Any brand/s to avoid?  Any other information I should know when choosing diapers?

Things like diapers we were going to start buying in small quantities now when there are good sales, just to stock up a little bit so we do not have big expenses like that once the baby is born. 

Ok, I apologize for all these posts about being pregnant.  I promise I will blog about other things too but there will be some posts about pregnancy and baby stuff mixed in as well.  It is tough because I have a million questions about this new phase and I really appreciate the feedback, but I also have other stuff I want to share that is not pregnancy related…..just at the moment this is what is on my mind!

Belly Photo - 19 Weeks

Ok, I am not really a fan of putting pictures of myself up on this blog (so sorry if they scare you)!! However some people have been asking for belly photos and as I am nearing the half-way point I thought I would reluctantly post a couple pictures.  I have been taking pictures every few weeks, but nothing consistent.  Though I think I am going to start taking a weekly picture from this point on now that I have a bump to show!

Not easy to tell from the front, but you can kinda see the belly.

Side View - Oh there it is!!

Don't forget to guess what you think is growing inside me either on the side poll or HERE!

Pregnancy Update

So I haven’t really done a pregnancy update on the blog, so I thought I would do one today.  It is kind of boring, not too much going on right now....the babe is just doing its thing!



Currently, I am 19 weeks along. According to babycenter, our baby is the size of a large heirloom tomato and weighs approximately 8 ½ ounces and measures 6 inches from head to butt!

Also “Your baby's sensory development is exploding! His/her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that s/he may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to him/her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.”


I know the hearing, or at least feeling the vibration is working because we went to the RUSH concert Wednesday and I felt definite movement inside. The babes loves RUSH! Over the last couple weeks I have felt flutters and sometimes I am not sure if it is in fact the baby or gas/my body and other times I am fairly certain it is the little one but either way the flutters have been very light. Well at the concert there was NO question that this little one is moving and it was most likely because of the loudness and vibration from the concert! Loved it.

Friday I had a regular doctor appointment.  The Doctor had trouble tracking down the little one. She said she could hear movement, but it took awhile to find the heartbeat. Not going to lie, those minutes I was a bit worried something happened. But then she found it and as quickly as she found it, the baby would just float away! FINALLY, the little one was still long enough for her to check the heartbeat (140 bpm) and for us to hear it and everything seemed good. PHEW! I really had no idea the baby moved so much inside. She said this child is active and as it gets bigger and has less room to move I will feel it more. I am excited for that and excited for Terry to feel the little one move!

My last appointment was 5 weeks ago. Up until that point I had lost 7 pounds. At this appointment I had gained 3 pounds (which the doctor said was good), my blood pressure was wonderful, no swelling in my ankles, and my only complaints were some bouts with indigestion (which I never really have had before) and a couple times I had some mild achiness which she said was normal pulling from the growing uterus. I am also “showing” more now and so far things seem ok. Let’s keep it that way please!

Overall I am feeling well and loving this!  Terry said to his friend that he loves how well I take to pregnancy.  He said I am not moody and for the most part just mellow, I am healthy, and except for the forgetfulness and the occasional worries I am calm and collected.  I am not insulted because I think the poor boy was a tad worried, knowing what a nutter I can be without the extra hormones in me! 

As for preparing for the piggy, we have a lot of stuff done but still have a lot to do before September….and between school and just things previously planned we have been BUSY! Hopefully this summer when terry is done with school we can get some more stuff crossed off our list.  Not stressing yet as we have many of the "big" things taken care of.


As I said previously, next week we find out the gender. Stay tuned for that :)

Poll Time – What Are We Having?!

I can’t believe it is already that time in the pregnancy, the time where we will get to find out what we are having!  I am fairly certain at this point it is infact a human baby.  There was that one weekend where I got really drunk and passed out on a farm, but I am 92% certain nothing happened…..though that goat was looking at me funny when I left in the morning. Hmmmm

Anywho, since we are fairly certain know it is a human baby I thought I would do a poll and see what YOU all thought the gender was going to be.  For those thinking, “Hey Jenn why would I know?”!  Well who knows, maybe you have some kind of psychic ability or maybe you are like me and even though you are guessing you like the feeling you get when you get it right! 

As this is our first, I honestly have no reason to think one way or another what the gender is and have had NO thoughts what the gender is.  I even had my first baby dream the other night since getting pregnant and it was of us in the ultrasound room finding out the gender.  The ultrasound tech was going through her normal stuff and we get to the reveal and she is about to tell us and a bunch of birds fly in the room and we have to leave.   I have no idea what that means, but even in my dreams I am not making a guess!   

I do wonder if that because we have had a boy name picked out for years and would like to use it because of the sentimental value and we cannot agree on a girl’s name that maybe it could be a girl…or maybe because we have our boy name it could be a boy!!  I don’t know, and honestly I just don’t want to guess.  I know it is cliché but I don’t care what we are having and I really just want a healthy baby, no complications, and I want to make it through this process as healthily as possible.  Plus, I don’t want to have my heart set that it is one gender then feel bad if it is the other gender.

SO because I refuse to guess, but still LOVE hearing what you all have to say and think it is fun to guess…..I will leave that all up to you!  Go ahead and leave your comments and/or vote on the side of the blog!  I will be finding out next week on April 21^st, the day before my birthday!