Finale (sort of)

So as you all may know once you actually have the child, you kind of lose all your free time.  At least for the first few months. Well, even know I feel like just trying to go and get my nails done is a task.  I went yesterday and there was a 3 week old!  Not getting his nails done, but you get the picture.

So after Emma was born the saga didn't end there.  Of course it didn't, you say.  With my luck, would you expect anything less?  We get wheeled back to the holding cell (where you go before you get a room).  It was really just a really really large waiting room with curtains and monitors and what not. Once I could wiggle my toes I was finally able to go to my room!  I was super excited to have a room all to myself and not have to change rooms again.  Yay!  My excitement was short-lived.  We get up to the maternity ward and get into my room which had lots of light, was spacious, and all around a very nice room.  It was so nice I proceeded to throw up on myself.  Apparently epidural and I don't mix.  Now, I'm not sure how many of you have had an epidural but you are basically numb from the boobs down.  So it was really difficult when they were trying to get my dressing gown off since I was hooked up to IVs and couldn't really help.  Joy!

Then, not even 10 minutes into our stay, we our told that we have to leave.  Apparently, no one told them that I would have to be on a Heparin drip (blood thinners) and they are not trained to administer them.  I'll have to go to the perinatal unit - which is for high-risk pregnant women.  They were excited because they never really get to deal with the newborn side of things.  I was not since we had to move rooms again.  And this room was not that nice.  But it had a bed for Hubbs.  Though, we later learned it wasn't that comfortable.

Ok this is getting long already.  Let's see if I can hit some more highlights/lowlights and be on our way.

1. I had my baby - HIGHLIGHT!
2. No one knew what was wrong with me.
3. Emma was borderline jaundice and had several tiny holes in her heart (VSDs) - as of the 6-month appointment, all holes are closed up.
4. Nursing wasn't going well.  She was latching just not doing it right so very painful.
5. Still hooked up to IVs, getting no sleep, and no answers.  Oh and no shower.  And no bra.  For those that have given birth and understand what engorgement is, you understand my pain.
6. Had to move rooms again!  I have lost count and this point, have you.
7. Still had nausea which is not that fun.

Ok, so Friday comes around.  People are still not telling us things.  No one is making a decision on what to do with us.  Christmas is on Tuesday.  At this point, we are pissed.  I break down and yell at the nurse (really there was no yelling and she welcomed our input).  We did not want to be in the hospital anymore, I was therapeutic (what it's called when you blood thinners are working), and come Monday no one would want to make a decision and we would be stuck in the hospital over Christmas.  So we pitch a high fit. And finally someone took notice. Our wonderful nurse did her best and we got the thing we so wanted:  to be discharged!

It took us about 8 hours to actually be discharged and then get home and all but we finally got to sleep in our own bed.  I could go into all the gory details about no sleep and what not that took place the next oh 8 months (YES, I have an 8-month old!) but it's not all that exciting.  We have had some ups, some downs, and some really crazy times. But all in all, we have an adorable baby (who happens to be screaming at this very moment, thank you grandma for taking a turn while we ALL recover from the stomach flu Emma so kindly brought home from day care, and no don't judge me for writing this while she is crying, I'm pumping so there - sticking my tongue out at you).

More later on the wonderful life of the Marleys.

Catch up - part three! ( I know, I'll try and wrap it up)

I didn't intend for this to take three long posts but well, a lot of crap happened.  And if I get it all down now, I won't have to later, right?  So being transferred doesn't sound all that bad.  Except imagine being all the way pregnant, super uncomfortable, you just heard that you have blood clots in your brain, and you have to be transferred to a hospital at least 30 minutes away.  Oh yeah, alone.  Hubbs had to follow in the car.  I'm not a wimp.  Not in the least, but frankly at this point, I was a big, giant baby.  I just wanted to sleep.  Little did I know I wasn't EVER going to sleep again.  And apparently you can't just transfer to a nice room in the other hospital.  We had to go to their ER.  And wait for a room.  And wait.  And wait.  During this waiting time I was told quite possibly the worst news for a pregnant woman - you can no longer get up to pee.  Yes, folks, I took it there (and yes, this isn't the worst news ever, but it was pretty damn irritating at the time).  So if you will, imagine you are huge and you have to pee every 10 minutes.  They are pumping you FULL of liquids and you have to haul your large butt onto a bed pan.  Not exactly the easiest of tasks.  So of course I was angry.  And yes I understand fully how serious blood clots are.  But COME ON!  The bathroom is 15 feet away.

Let's just say that I (unintentionally) made this horrible for them.  By the time I get to Fairfax it's after midnight.  And all the probing, questions, test taking starts all over.  I have to tell the exact same story a million different times to a million different people.  It gets quite annoying.  And I'm still in the ER.  With all the other sickies just floating their germs towards me.  Hubbs finally shows up and let me just point out now in case I forget to later that he is the best husband ever.  He rarely complained during this whole ordeal and stayed by my side practically the whole time.  I could not survived without him.

So sometime around 5 in the morning (for those of you keeping track it has now been 17 hours since first going to the hospital). I finally get a room.  For those also keeping track, technically this is my third room in two hospitals.  I'll keep the tally going for you, it gets better.  I get transferred to the Neuro ICU.  I get a HUGE room.  I also get their version of a sponge bath - essentially a baby wipe wipe down.  This left me sticky and mildly damp.  And uncomfortable - in more ways than one.  But in their book, I was clean.  I won't bore you with all the details but I will provide the highlights (lowlights):

- I finally convinced them I could walk the 5 steps (I kid you not) to the in-room toilet (highlight)
- No one knew what was going on with me and I had to continuously get blood drawn (lowlight)
- The doctors were not talking to each other and were very mysterious about when I could actually give birth - no v-birth for this kid.  They told me that I couldn't go into labor because, well, the pushing and stress could rupture the blood clots (yes, clots, 20% of my brain had blood clots).  Now, even a normal person would find that info stressful.  Me, I found it incredibly stressful, which in case you didn't know, is not good to prevent more stress. (LOWLIGHT)
-We got to see baby M practice breathing on the monitor. (highlight)

Then after (I think) 2 days, I get transferred to another room (now the 4th).  I end up on the Neuro floor.  With a roommate.  Who farts.  Yay!  Joy!  Not cool.  May I also remind you that I haven't showered in three days.  And am not really allowed to get up that much (except to pee! - yay!).  I am going crazy.  The drs aren't talking to us.  They aren't talking to each other.  I am getting more and more angry and stressed.  By Monday I was livid.  I wasn't getting enough sleep.  I wasn't being poked and prodded every 4 hours.  I pulled a muscle in my back.  Was gaining weight like a champ.  I was NOT a happy camper.  Hell, camping would have been more fun.

I somehow managed to convince the OB people that I needed to have this baby and I needed to have this baby now.  So, I did.  They scheduled me for a C-section for Tuesday, December 18 at noon.  Not a bad birthday if you ask me. 

My C-section went relatively smooth.  Oh except for that whole "holding" time beforehand (while I waiting in another "room").  I got to meet Boris (like the first LT.).  Told me I had a beautiful name in a nice Russian accent.  I shook the operating table.  But (victory) I was awake.  And Hubbs was next to me.  And at 1:11PM I met my beautiful baby girl.  She weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces.  And had some lungs.  I'll admit it, I cried for a second.  Mainly because I was doped up and got sad that my Dad wasn't here to see her. 

Well, I tried to wrap it up but couldn't.  More later.  Oh yeah, we named her Emma Elizabeth.

Catch up - part deux

So there I am in my fancy hospital gown all dressed up and no where to go.  I have some pretty bad memories of this ER and am not too excited about being back there.  I'm wheeled passed the room my dad was in and find a nice little bed waiting for me in room 8.  Why I remember the number, who knows, but I do.

A nurse comes in and starts asking all the same questions about.  Blah blah blah.  Then she says something that struck me.  It was like she reached out and slapped me.  "Oh you're just trying to have your baby on 12/12/12."  Now to be fair, I thought it would be totally cool to have that as her birthday, but it's not like I was faking symptoms.  Though at this point most of them had subsided and I am starting to think that there isn't anything wrong with me.  You know, the girl who cried headache.

I get hooked up to an IV (not fun at all since I hate needles).  Hubbs is all it won't hurt.  Big, giant LIAR!  It hurt like no other.  And it continued to hurt.  I still maintain that they put it in wrong.  But you'll come to see that I had loads of fun with IVs over the course of my stay.  Yes, a stay, not a visit.  More on that later.

So this nurse leaves and we finally get to see a dr.  Or assistant.  Or something. Some of the details are a little foggy.  At this point I'm starving.  I have to pee.  And I'm grumpy.  Grumpy cat has nothing on me.  So the dr. person tells me I need a CAT scan.  Joy.   You try holding still while pregnant and uncomfortable.  In the mean time I have to have an eye exam.  So we waddle over to the eye chart.  Well, I waddle, Hubbs walks behind me.  He informs me after the exam that I missed most of them.  Great.  I'm going blind.

We are sitting in our room waiting.  Because that is all we do apparently.  And we see a set of hairy legs start to walk towards our "door"  (a curtain really).  And then we hear the following "Sir, I said room such and such, NOT room 8.  That is not your room."  And then through the crack of the curtain we see a man (also in a hospital gown) walk passed our room.  That was a close call.

Throw some boring stuff in there and some time goes by.  We have the CAT scan.  Some more time goes by.  Get the results.  The results show nothing.  So let's do an MRI.  Now needles and I don't get along.  MRI's and I have a very hateful relationship.  I am mildly claustrophobic.  This is not a joke.  Also, again you try being pregnant, a bladder that fills itself every two seconds, and lay still for 45 minutes.  While loud noises are going on around you and you are in a tiny space that is alternately blowing hot and cold air on you.  Sound like a picnic?  Oh and be starving.

I won't bore you with the details but I made it through by signing Christmas carols and nursery rhymes.  I learned that I don't really remember the words to many of them and must remedy that soon.

At this point it is 9, 10 o'clock at night.  I have, thankfully, eaten some dinner.  And then the dr. person comes back.  We are located right across from the nurses station.  So we can hear a lot that is going on.  And we hear the dr. person on the phone with someone.  I believe my OB.  Then we hear the words blood clot.  Now as many of you may know or experience yourself, watching of the ERs, the Grey's Anatomy's, the Scrubs, you have a ton of thoughts, ideas, crazy things that run through your head.  I did the same thing.  And begin to panic.  Hubbs, who is probably going crazy in his own head is frantically trying to calm me down.  It's not working.

The dr. person comes in and explains that I have a sinus thrombosis (don't worry, I had it before Hillary Clinton thought it was cool to have one).  And that I was being transferred to Fairfax.  I don't want to go to Fairfax.  We live 5 minutes from this hospital.  Dr. person tries to reassure me that it's ok and that it probably won't matter because I'll be checked out and then released.  That little dr. person is a big, giant LIAR.

to be continued....

A little catch-up - part 1

So it has been quite awhile.  I know you have all missed me.  All one of you.  But that is ok, because eventually that number will grow and I will have minions.  Million of minions.  Er, I mean followers.  And if not, at least I'll have a chronicle of certain parts of my life. 

Last we talked I was pregnant.  Well.  I'm sure you guessed.  I'm not anymore!  Yay!  I know have a beautiful 3-month old baby girl.  And this post will try and fill you in on the journey to meeting her, as well as the aftermath.

Shall we begin?

Let's go back to December.  I had already been working from home two days a week because of DR's orders.  I had a pinched nerve and sitting for long periods without being able to move (i.e., in my hour+ long commute) were not helping.  But Hubbs had decided that he didn't want me in Alexandria for the last few weeks of pregnancy in case something happened while I was at work.  The hospital would be an hour away and well who wants to drive while in contractions?  I certainly didn't.  So with this argument I requested the ability to work from home starting Dec 10.  My due date was Dec 27. 

December 12th rolls around.  I'm doing my thing, having a day, working on documents.  Then my vision starts to get blurry (around 10ish).  I IM Wendy (my resident go-to-guru for all things baby related and coworker).  I ask her her opinion and she says I should call my OBs.  So I proceed to call them and they suggest that I eat some protein.  Apparently I had had a carb-heavy breakfast.  Well, let's just say that cooking eggs (the only readily available protein in the house) is very hard when you can't see straight.

So I eat the eggs.  I also find some cheese.  Nothing improves.  Now I have a severe headache.  I go back to my computer and relay progress to Wendy.  She suggests maybe I should go to the hospital since blurry vision can be a symptom of preeclampsia.  Greaaat.  I call Hubbs and try not to freak out.  He isn't at his desk.  Luckily we planned for this and I call his boss.  And lo and behold he is in his boss' office at the time.  I try not to breakdown and cry but fail.  I tell him he needs to come home and we need to go to the hospital.  Now he works 1/2 an hour away.  In that 1/2 hour my left arm and left side of my face goes numb.  I am relaying this all to Wendy (quite difficulty and with lots of typos probably).  She is freaking out.  Which in turn freaks me out.  She says I need to go NOW.  I tell her I can't drive.  She says call ambulance.  I call and see how far away Hubbs is.  He's close enough that I hold off on the ambulance.  But I do manage to get our last remaining items together (the hospital bags are already in Hubbs' car - smart thinking on my part if I do say so).

While waiting I get sick.  Which is not fun.  Ever.  I am trying (to no avail) to calm down.  By the time he pulls up I am thoroughly freaked out.  We get in and head to the birthing inn.  Luckily it's only 5 minutes away (how convenient right?).  I call my OB on the way in and tell them that I am heading in to the birthing inn.  We get there, and amazingly get sent right back to the triage area (where they check you out).  They take blood pressure and put a monitor on the baby.  Do a Doppler.  Make me pee in a cup.  All the good stuff.  I even get to see my DR.  And they tell me nothing is wrong with the baby.  That she is "textbook healthy".  By this point I'm thinking it was all in my head.  Just a bad headache from lack of sleep.  But nooooo, they want us to go to the ER to get me checked out.

Off to the ER we go.  Oh did I mention that I don't get to put my clothes back on.  So I'm being wheeled through the hospital in a hospital gown.  I'm freezing and trying to keep my lady bits and bobs from showing.  Don't worry though, it won't be the last time.

....to be continued

Soup warms the heart and body

“To feel safe and warm on a cold wet night, all you really need is soup.”-Laurie Colwin

I feel like I start all my posts by saying how much I love something.  Well, here is the truth.  I do.  Especially food.  Now, I love a good soup.  I love soup at restaurants, but well, not so much at home.  Normally they take forever, with lots of chopping and simmering and I just don't have time for that.  So when I find a good soup recipe that doesn't take too long, it's like I've found Heaven.  I am slowly building my soup recipe index.  And most of them so far are quick soups.  Because when you want soup, when do you ever want to slave over a stove for hours.  You don't.

Pinterest led me to this week's soup (we try and do soup once a week, but sometimes that doesn't work...I get tired of soup).  Well actually it lead me to the website where I found the soup.  But that's ok.  Pinterest can still get some of the credit.  The soup is from Tasty Kitchen and is Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup from Krysten Schwartz (http://mrsschwartzkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/11/tomato-tortellini-soup.html).  She says she found in on pinterest so I'm not sure where the original came from but really, everything gets changed a little along the way.

Ingredients:

• 2 whole Large Cloves Of Garlic Minced
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 cans 10 3/4 Oz Cans Of Condensed Tomato Soup
• ½ cups Sun Dried Tomatoes, Chopped Or Two Tablespoons Of Sun Dried Tomato Paste (I used the tomatoes but think the paste would make the soup thicker, though Hubbs liked having the actual tomatoes)
• 1½ cup Milk (we used skim and it was still creamy)
• 2 cups Half-and-half
• 2 cups Chicken Stock
• 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Pepper
• 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• 1 whole 9 Oz Package Of Cheese Filled Tortellini (We also used a 16 oz package, mainly because I was lazy and didn't feel like saving any).
• ½ cups Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

• Saute garlic with the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat until golden brown.
• When the garlic is done, add tomato soup, tomatoes, milk, half-and-half, chicken stock and spices. Bring to a simmer.
• Once simmering, drop tortellini into the soup.  Cook according to the package.  Well, ours were frozen, which is fine, but the package said to cook in boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes.  That wasn't enough since the soup was simmering, so just watch it and maybe test one to see if it is done.
• After noodles are cooked, ladle soup into bowls and top with parmesan cheese and serve with crusty bread.

I wish I had remembered to take a picture.  Next time I make it I will.  But this recipe was super easy and great on a cold night.  We made it on Halloween (always good to have soup, stew, or chili on Halloween) and we had leftovers until the weekend.  Delicious!

Chicken, chicken, and more chicken

We love the smell of roast chicken.  Or really any meat roasting.  Or cooking.  Or grilling.  We aren't picky.  We love meat.  You couldn't pay me to be a vegetarian.  No way, no how.  And we also love our crock pot.  It's simple, easy, makes the whole house smell good, and makes tons of food.

So I set out to find a recipe that would cook a whole chicken.  Because well, it tastes good and it gives you tons of leftovers.  I scoured the interwebs until I found this beauty:

Whole Chicken Crock Pot Recipe from Food.com.  And let me tell you, it was amazing.

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion (the recipe called for 1 cup and it's optional, but we just chopped up an onion.  Not even sure if it was more or less than a cup, but it worked)
• 4 t salt
• 2 t paprika (I only had smoked, so that's what I used)
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 1 t onion powder
• 1 t thyme
• 1 t white pepper (I didn't have any, so I just used black)
• 1/2 t garlic powder (I always add a little extra since we love garlic in this family)
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1 large roasting chicken (with pop-up timer, if possible) - Now, ours wasn't very large and it didn't have a pop-up timer.  But that's ok.  You work with what you can.

Directions (not straight from the recipe - this is what we did):

• Chop onion and place in bottom of crock pot.
• Place all spices in a small bowl.
• Remove giblets and whatever else is gross inside the chicken.  Wash and dry chicken.
• Place chicken in crock pot.  Rub spices all over chicken.  Flip and rub more spices on chicken.  Flip back over.  We had some remaining spices so I put some inside the chicken.
• Insert meat thermometer into chicken, be sure to get a deep part.  Set temp for 175 (you can use what temp you want, but this gave the chicken some time to rest and continue cooking without overcooking).
• Set crock pot timer (if you want).
• Once chicken is done, remove from crock pot and enjoy!

We served with poultry gravy (thickened with the onions and juices from the crock pot), green beans, and parsley potatoes.  The leftovers were shredded and then used in Chicken Pot Pie.

Let's pop that meal planning cherry....

I know I've been delinquent.  I had been doing so well, posting every day, providing you with amazing tips and musings.  (I think pretty highly of myself huh?  Don't worry, I know there are like two readers of this blog....so my head hasn't grown tooo large.) 

I also wanted to take a little time to make sure I liked my new meal planner and that we could actually stick the to the meals I planned.  Granted we have done well in previous months of using a plan, but I wanted to really give you some feedback. 

So, first I spent some time rummaging through books, blogs, pinterest, etc., to find the recipes that I wanted to use.  I like to throw in some new recipes with some old ones to try some new things. 

Then I had to figure out what order I wanted to have the meals in.  I started with a week left in October, so my "month" is a little skewed but that's ok for us.  I put all my meals in order.  When I put them in order, I make sure to add variety (not all chicken all week, not all grilled food, and so on).  I also (and this helps save money) use leftovers from the previous night(s) to make future meals.  (I'll explain later when I show my full meal plan.)  I also always through in a full leftover night.  This gives us a swing night, but also helps clean out the fridge if necessary before the next week.  I typically don't plan for anything on Fridays, mainly because we use that night as date night or, if needed, another swing night.

Ok, so I have my order.  I have my Monthly Meal Planner printable and then I get out my shopping list.  I used to make each list for each week and then attach coupons and have the lists ready to go each week and just add the new items from that week, including whatever fresh things we need.  BUT this time, I decided we would get as much as we could up front.  I'll explain later what we got but first, to the list. 

I love pens.  (No, don't stop reading, I swear this ties in.)  And I love to use color coding for organization purposes.  So that is exactly what I did.  For all of my first week recipes, I wrote the recipe in brown on my meal planner then wrote the ingredients I needed in brown on my shopping list.  Then I moved on to the next week; I used green.  I wrote all the ingredients in green (even if I knew I wanted to get it in the big shopping trip).  I continued each week with blue and then orange.  So I'm left with my meal planner (nicely color coded) and my list (also color coded). 

This is around the time I take a break, get a snack, walk around a bit.  It may not seem like it, but all of the above actually takes a good amount of time.  But I promise it is all worth it in the end. 

Ok, so now that I am properly rested and well fed, I resume the madness.  Now that I have a shopping list (don't think I'm crazy), I make another shopping list.  This is the list that I will actually take to the store this week.  (Well, two weeks ago, actually - but you get the idea.)  Here is where I write down all the things I'm actually getting (and try and put them into categories so we aren't running all over the store).  So, all the meats, all the cans, produce (just for that week), etc.  I don't color code this list because, well it's not useful and it would take too long.

As I'm making this list, I make sure to check in my pantry, fridge, freezers to ensure that I'm not duplicating items or that I in fact do need something.  This helps if you make your first list some place not at home.  Then I always check with Hubbs and see if he has anything he wants to add.  We are trying really hard to not buy things that aren't on the list because those items tend to be expensive, and well not needed.  Unless it is truly an item we forgot we needed.

Ok, so now I have my meal planner, my first list, my new list, and then I look at coupons!  Yes, another step.  I know you thought you were done.  But, coupons come in handy and actually do help you save money (if you do it right).  We didn't have any coupons for the items we bought.  It happens, you can't win every week.

Then we plan our shopping trip.  We typically do shopping on Friday night (also why I don't plan a meal then) because the stores are less crowded.  The only downside is that sometimes they haven't fully restocked things yet.  But we are adaptable.  However, we are not always great at planning and decided we wanted to go to Costco and Wegman's the Friday before Sandy was supposed to hit.  Luckily, since we both get off work earlier than other people, it wasn't too crazy. 

First, off to Costco.  Here we purchase all the meats we can.  This was also a restocking trip so the price may have seemed higher, but we haven't bought meat in two weeks and we probably won't for at least another two weeks.  We try and remember how much the club packs are at Wegman's since sometimes, Costco isn't the better price.  But we got our whole chickens, short ribs, chicken breasts, and frozen burger patties (don't judge, really great for a quick meal).  We also got our milk.  We bought 4 gallons since we tend to go through milk pretty fast and are lucky enough to have an extra fridge.  I can't really remember what else we bought, but that's ok.

Then we headed to Wegman's.  My baby was hungry, ok I won't lie, I was hungry, and you should never go shopping when hungry, so we ate at Eggspectations before going into Wegman's.  We really like Wegman's.  Not only is it super close to our home and the food is always really fresh, but we find that for most items, it's cheaper than other places.  And saving money is always a good thing.  So, we get everything that we weren't able to get at Costco.  I send Hubbs off with his own little hand basket and I take the cart and get going.  This always helps when it is crowded to let us finish quicker.

He gets done much faster since I give him easier items.  As in ones that he can just grab, as opposed to picking out fruit/veggies.  And then we are done.  We get home and start the long process of putting things away.  Here I have to consult my planner again because I don't want to freeze something that I'm going to need that week.  Makes sense, right?

Once everything is away, I build my meal planner binder.  I know I probably should have done this sooner, but well I didn't have time.  So in my binder, I place my meal planner, then each recipe for each meal (those that are required), in the order they will be used.  All of these items are in sheet protectors.  I find that it is easier to clean those than reprint or clean paper.  I have also placed my first list (the color coded one) on the inside of the cover.  This way, next week, I can check the green items and see what I need to purchase WITHOUT looking at the recipes again.  See, color coding works.

I have also placed extra printouts of the meal planner.  I like to hand write things.  But if you would prefer to be able to type into the meal planner, just leave a comment asking for one and I 'll send you the word file.

Now, you may think that all this work isn't worth it.  But let me tell you, not only has Hubbs pulled out the binder to see what we are having later in the week or what he needs to cook, but there is no "what do you want?"  "I don't care, what do you want?"  moments.  When we get home from work there is no stress.  I check the recipe to see how long it takes and then relax.  I would have wine, but well, maybe in 7 weeks.

And personally, coming home after a long day and a long commute, not having to stress about dinner is a wonderful feeling.  So now, I will show you the actual meal plan.  Some days you will notice are missing.  Hubbs is going out of town one day during one week and I wasn't sure how much I wanted to cook for myself, so that week was kind of iffy.  Also, one of the weeks includes Turkey Day (my favorite holiday of all holidays and will get it's very own special post) so that week was also up in the air since we have some traditions that I wasn't sure we would be doing this year.  But here it is (check out the recipe section for the actual recipes) (side note, this is what was planned - there may be some changes but I can talk about them later]:

Week 1:
Sunday (10/28):  Whole Chicken in a crock pot, green beans, parsley potatoes, and gravy.
Monday (10/29):  Mini pizzas on English muffins
Tuesday (10/30):  Chicken pot pie (made from chicken, green beans, and potatoes from Sunday)
Wednesday (10/31):  Creamy tomato tortellini soup, salad, bread
Thursday (11/01):  Leftovers
Friday (11/02):
Saturday (11/03):  BBQ Short Ribs in the crock pot, mashed sweet potatoes, peas

Week 2:
Sunday (11/04):  BBQ Shepard's Pie (made with beef from short ribs, mashed sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots)
Monday (11/05):  Burgers (frozen patties), salad, string cheese bites
Tuesday (11/06):  Man-pleasing chicken, roasted potatoes, honey glazed carrots
Wednesday (11/07):  Breakfast grilled cheese and home fries
Thursday (11/08):  Leftovers
Friday (11/09):
Saturday (11/10): Out of town

Week 3:
Sunday (11/11):  Meatloaf, green beans, potatoes, gravy - will change since I have since found out we will still be out of town
Monday (11/12): 
Tuesday (11/13):  Lasagna, salad, bread
Wednesday (11/14):  Pancakes, bacon, eggs
Thursday (11/15):  Leftovers
Friday (11/16):
Saturday (11/17): 

Week 4:
Sunday (11/18): Sweet and sour chicken, sauteed broccoli rabe and bok choy, rice
Monday (11/19):  Spaghetti and turkey meat sauce, bread, salad
Tuesday (11/20):
Wednesday (11/21):
Thursday (11/22):  Turkey Day!
Friday (11/23):
Saturday (11/24):

As said above some of those will change based on when Hubbs is out of town, when we are out of town, when friends are in town.  But that's the good thing about the plan, you can change it when necessary and with minimal scaring.

Cookie in a muuhg...what?

Ok, with the violent storm that ripped through our nation yesterday and this morning, and even on Sunday, I decided I needed a little pick-me-up.  So of course I spent a little time on pinterest and found this awesome blog by Sophie (http://lacreativitedelafille.blogspot.com/).  And once there, I found this post....

My Happy Place...: single serving deep dish chocolate chip cookies: Here it is. Yet another single serving wonder. GEEEESH. I can't get enough of this stuff. In case you missed my guest post at  Angela's A...

And I've decided to make this recipe today.  Probably more than once.  Definitely twice since my husband will want one.  I had mentioned to him on Sunday that there are these types of recipes out there and he seemed a little shocked/surprised.

I have re-posted the recipe below (but please check out Sophie's blog and the original source at no. 2 pencil)

single-serving deep dish chocolate chip cookie!!!!

recipe from:  no. 2 pencil

1 T butter, melted

1 T white sugar

1 T brown sugar

3 drops of vanilla (I use the non-imitation stuff)

pinch of salt

1 egg yolk

1/4 c of AP flour

2 T chocolate chips

In a bowl, mix together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and egg yolk.

Add in the flour and salt.  Mix until combined.

Add in the good stuff (chocolate chips).

Put the dough into a small microwaveable bowl, ramekin, or coffee cup.  Microwave for 40-60 seconds or until cookie looks done.

Best served warm.  Enjoy!

We'll be having ours today with some vanilla ice cream on top!

[Please ignore the newspaper, we were prepping for carving pumpkins.]

Meal Planning Printable

So I looked and looked and couldn't find a printable I liked.  I'm very picky.  I write rather large and also don't like having my grocery list on the meal planner.  I don't need to take a whole sheet of paper to the store.  Plus, how is hubbs going to add something?  We are strictly pad on fridge people.  Therefore, I created my own.

Because of the reasons above, you may not like the printable.  But that's okay.  When you are planning your meals, you have to go with what works.  Try a few out and see what works the best for your style, family, etc.

Give mine a try, and if you like it let me know.  Or if you have comments, let me know.  Who knows, this is my first time using one and I may end up hating it.  But at least we will trial and error together.

Monthly Meal Planner printable

If I could spend all day organizing....I would.

Some items I ordered from Amazon came in yesterday.  So I spent the first half hour of being home putting them to good use.  I bought two of these separators (Better Houseware Large Organizer White).

I kind of wish I had bought more.  Because they are awesome.  I would just have to figure out where to put them.  Sometimes I love my cabinets, and other times, well, I loathe them.  We have the built-in slide out shelves and sometimes that prevents us from using that space appropriately.  But I will figure it out.  Maybe I'll look into a smaller (shorter) organizer to see if I can use it that way.  But here is what I did with two of the cabinets. (I only took pictures of one because I got so excited and forget on the first one.)

As you can see, or not see (that's the point) it was very crowded and not organized.  Well, besides the fact that it's all baking-type stuff.  I found out that I have 3 pie pans I have NEVER used.  I credit this to the fact that my loving husband bought me them, mistaking them for cake pans.  I prefer glass pie pans so I've never used them.  I'm thinking maybe I can save them for kid crafts or something.

So this is the "back".  All cake pans go in the back (except the bundt because well, it didn't fit nicely).  Then the mixer bowls sit in front and can easily be pulled out.

I have two mixing bowls because I got tired of having to quickly wash one if I wanted to make icing or another type of cookie.  I still think I need more.  I definitely need more paddles and whisk-type mixers.

So that is what I did.  I did other things, like start more baby laundry, starting putting clothes into the newly divided dresser for the baby, and put all cleaning supplies in a shoe organizer on the laundry room door.  But those didn't get pictures.  But the baby stuff will.  When I can do a really nice long post on how awesome it is.  Because it is.  Awesome. 

Nesting...I'm not crazy, I'm just nesting....Riiiight

So in all the hub bub that has been going on, I haven't had the time to write a decent entry.  I know, I'm a failure, but look pal, I'm growing a human.  You try that sometime.  See how much you get done.  But thankfully I have found the wonderful, blissful, amazing UNISOM.  And I am finally sleeping again.  At least in longer increments than the previous 30 minutes. 

But, let me catch you up on some stuff before I jump into the real reason for this entry.  Let's see.  Well, I'm still growing a human.  I'm still getting large.  I still can't see my feet unless I lean forward.  Shoes that tie are out of the question unless Hubbs is around.  Hmm, we took our baby care class and infant CPR class.  Nice information but I kind of knew a lot of it.  Not saying I'm perfect but being certified in CPR for the past 5 years and having 7 nieces and nephews kind of gives you a leg up on some things.

I finally had a shower.  It had been a long time coming.  I think people were starting to worry I was never going to have one and would continue smelling like I did forever.  But luckily, my amazing friend Jenn (over at http://rememberthepancakes.blogspot.com/), with the help of my family and friends, threw me an amazing shower.  Winnie the Pooh/fall themed.  It was wonderful.  And as some of you may know, I do not like being the center of attention but it still went well.  Here are a few pictures:

I am still trying to convince Jenn that she and I should go into business together.  It's a slow process.  She seems to be hesitant.  I will wear her down.

After the shower, we began detagging and washing everything.  It was a lot.  Four loads of laundry.  Millions of swing tags.  Then once we had it all done we had to figure out how to organize it all.  So I made Hubbs build me some drawer organizers.  He's awesome like that. (picture to come later)

But I still have to put everything away.  That is the goal for this weekend.  Along with organizing some other areas of the house (some kitchen space, laundry space, craft closet).  I may have overspent on some items from Amazon.  And will need to make a trip to the dollar store.  But I was told that this is all acceptable.  You know why?  It's because I'm nesting.  I'm not sure when I became a bird but apparently I am and will nest until I'm too tired to nest anymore.  I will be sure to post lots of pictures once the nesting begins (again, if you remember the earlier organizing posts) and completes (or at least when each project completes) so that you can all see my amazing, awesome skills and house.  Until the next time!

"Any closet is a walk-in if you try hard enough"

(Quote by Steve Connelly)

So this thing growing inside of me seems to make everyone want to nest.  And Hubbs got the lovely idea to redo the closet.  Now here I was just thinking that I would add a few cute boxes and get rid of some old clothes.  His idea involved a complete remodel.  Which is totally fine, we had discussed this previously.  But his mindset was that if we don't do it now, we won't do it when baby comes. 

So he ordered all of the stuff (we went with Martha) (from Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZc1vx/h_d2/Navigation?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#/?c=1&1z0yja9=1z0yja9) in case you want to see the stuff.  And it arrived.  In boxes.  Tons and tons of boxes.  I'm not kidding, there were like 30 boxes in our living room.  Let me remind you that we are having the baby shower at our house, next weekend.  So he had two weeks tops to get this thing done.

This is what the closet used to look like (I can't find a real photo):

It was the really crappy wire bracket shelving and it was going to fall down.  We had too much weight on it and the bars were bowing.

So first we moved all the clothes out and put them in other closets.  This took some time.  Hubbs did most of the work though because he is awesome like that.

Then he ripped everything out.  This was the only photo I got of that process.

Then he patched and sanded the holes from the old brackets.  He's so handy.

Then he painted.  That picture is on the tablet so, you are going to have to wait.  But we just painted it white.  Then he installed.  And installed.  And installed.  And finished!  YAY!

This is Hubbs side.

This is my side.  I have more to the left but couldn't get the whole wall.

A whole system for shoes.  Just shoes.  Can you believe it?

And this is the whole closet.  Sort of.  You miss out on the shoe side but that's ok.  We have already filled it with clothes.  Hubbs finished all of his side but it's taking me quite a bit longer due to the fact that I'm large and have a ton of clothes.  And it's not as simple as work shirts, t-shirts, sweaters.  As it is for some people.  So once it is completely full and I am satisfied with how it turned out, I'll take another set of photos. 

Isn't it purrrty?



If only you were a little bigger...then I would love you more

Oh pantry.  When we were house shopping, my dream kitchen would have a large walk-in pantry.  But we found the dream house with only a little tiny pantry.  I know I shouldn't complain.  At least we have a pantry.  But I just think that we would have more space in other places (i.e., cabinets, counters, etc.) if you were a walk-in.  My all time favorite pantry is the one at my grandparents house in southern VA.  It was HUUUGE! And red.  And had a light.  It was so big you had to have a step stool to reach some shelves.  But alas, as it stands, right now we have a tiny pantry.

So it is a huge problem for me and my CDO-ness when it gets crowded and unorganized.  Saturday morning I spent some time at one of my favorite stores, Target.  I can't walk in there without buying something.  And well, I bought stuff.  Roughly $320 of stuff.  Granted this wasn't all for the pantry.  I also got some new sleep shirts, a maternity dress, some baby outfits, and organization for other rooms.  So don't think I'm that crazy.

But here is a list of some of the items I bought for the pantry:

1.  Lazy susan.  Just one.  That's all they had.  I was disappointed because I wanted to use these in a cabinet too.  But that's ok.
2.  Ice cube bins.  I bought three.  Little did I know, that would not be enough.
3.  2 small baskets.
4.  A wire shelving thing.  It's hard to explain but I'll point it out in the pictures.  I also only bought one.  I wanted to see how it would work before I got more than one.
5.  Dog food bin.  We don't have a dog, but we buy our dry cat food in bulk and it was taking up tooooo much space in my pantry.
6.  Tupperware thingies.  (Great vocab over here).  Storage containers for flour, cereal, etc.

I also went to the dollar store and bought some other little bins.  They weren't as strong as the ones at Target but they were only a dollar and weren't going to hold too much.

So first things first.  I took pictures of the pantry.  Everyone always needs a before look.

Then, I started taking out EVERYTHING (well, except the spices, they were pretty organized already). Silly me thought I could fit it all on the island.  Well, that didn't work and all the stuff took over the island and an entire counter.

Then I went through and threw out all the old food.  I had hoped it wouldn't be that much, but well, I was wrong.  Here are some of the things I threw out:

1.  Three UNOPENED boxes of crackers - 4 months old.
2.  Three bottles of dressing.
3.  Soup.
4.  Opened boxes of crackers.
5.  Chips (two bags) - opened but old and stale.

Just tossing these thing created three bags of trash.

Then I started planning.  And consolidating.  And getting rid of boxes and using storage containers.  There was minimal moving once I started placing things in the pantry and thankfully I finished in one day.  Which also included a lunch with my aunt and mother.  I also reorganized the baking cabinet.  This included tossing old items and reorganizing.  But more on that later.

So I used the lazy susan for canned veggies (Hubbs first question, well what if we get more?....My response, we should use what we have first.  I'm tired of throwing out old food....I continued my rant but it's not important.)  I then used the wire shelving thing for soups.  On Sunday I bought another one and used that for cream of soups and condensed soups. 

I put all sauce mixes into an ice cube bin.  I also used one of those for popcorn.  And grouped my vinegars in one as well.  Who knew I had four different kinds of vinegar?

I then used a basket for snacks and condiments.  Flours got poured into storage containers.  I already had old Folgers containers for flour and bread flour but needed something for self-rising and wheat.  Used some storage containers for already popped popcorn and rice (not already cooked).  I also used some wicker baskets that were left over from our wedding to store our onions and potatoes.  I read online that this kept them fresh longer.  Plus it looks super cute.

With the baking cabinet, I put cake/brownie mix (after tossing a few) into a basket so that I can easily pull it out and pick one. I also put cookie mix in one. I then put decorating items in a Tupperware container. I took out the old hand mixer for donation. And then just generally reorganized things so that they fit better.

Not pictured here are the lazy susans I purchased on Sunday and used for oils and sauces in another cabinet.  That one really got cleaned up and they are much easier to find now.

All in all I think it turned out really well.  Now the hard part will be keeping hubbs in line.  Until next time, when I tackle the next organizational nightmare.

Get ready...set...organize!

As many of you may know, I tend to be a little OCD, or as some of us say CDO (it's the letters in alpha order).  And with a baby on the way (it's really hard not to use her name) I know that things will be crazy and hectic and dirty and well, there just won't be time to do any of this awesome organization that I need to do.  So, what better time than, well, now?  Hopefully I can remember to do before and after pictures and remember to blog about it, but the real goal is to make things easier for when baby comes, get rid of stuff we are no longer using, wearing, or need, and to get clean. 

Places/things to organize (some big, some small, some will take a greater power (aka $$) and may not happen:

1.  Pantry.  This is the first on my list.  I had previously organized everything by shelf but since there was no real system or baskets/boxes to keep things in their place, it got messed up.  Now, I'm not blaming hubs, but someone in the household can't put things back where they got them.  And well the cats don't have thumbs.  So I am hoping to add some labels, baskets, boxes, and lazy susans (poor Susan, she got a bad rap).

2.  Kitchen cabinets/drawers.  We have a lot of items (pots, pans, forks, etc.) and we probably use the majority of it, but some we don't.  And those will be donated.  For the ones we do use, we need to keep them better organized so that we don't end up breaking, losing, or yelling at each other when one of us can't find the damn pot lid.

3.  Drawers at kitchen desk (do you sense a theme...?).  We have four drawers at our kitchen desk that contain various desk-type items:  address book, envelopes to be put into address book, batteries, notepads, pens, cords.  You name it, we probably have it.  So we just need to figure out what goes in what drawer and get a little more organized.

4.  Linen closet.  We have a TINY weird shaped linen closet.  No seriously.  It's tiny.  So I would like to adopt Martha's way of folding sheets and placing them INSIDE the pillow case.  But first, I will have to get rid of the old, stained, crap sheets.  At some point, hubbs will be building a slide out shelf for the laundry room and then we'll move extra linens to the top of the laundry room shelves.  Or so the plan is now.  But we shall see.

5.  Master bathroom vanity.  This just needs to get straightened up.  Along with the medicine cabinet (which doesn't have medicine - they say to not keep it in your bathroom due to humidity).

6.  Closet.  We have a ton of clothes.  We currently have three dressers and a walk-in closet.  Plus some of my non-pregnant clothes have moved to other closets.  So we need to figure out what we need, what we can re-purpose, or get rid of.  At some point we want to actually redo the closet with shelves and rods but that requires moolah.  So for now, we will clean up and hopefully reduce.

7.  Baby room.  This one will probably wait until after the baby shower in Oct.  There isn't much to organize yet.

8.  Office.  This one just needs to be cleaned and things need to be filed.  The closet needs to be reorganized.  But that requires putting together some shelving and well it's down here at number 8.

9.  Medicine/recipe cabinet in the kitchen.  Our medicine cabinet is actually in our kitchen.  We like.  But it needs to be revamped.  Old meds tossed and keepers reorganized.  The recipe cabinet hates me.  I am currently in the process of putting all magazine/printed recipes into sheet savers and then into binders.  Once I get the majority of them into binders I will actually organize the binders.  But well the whole second shelf is magazines so this may take awhile.  The good thing is that if we try a recipe and don't like it, we just toss it.  So we don't end up with tons of recipes we don't like.

10.  Basement.  This is more of a hubbs project.

11.  And then just a general cleaning.  We accumulate dust like nobody.  So that will be done.  And I think we will have a final clean in December (most likely by a service) to get a really good deep clean before baby.

So, first thing on the list...pantry...I tackle you this weekend. 

Why did Tigger look in the toilet....?

To find Pooh, silly... And that is just what we did.  Find Pooh, not look in the toilet.  We decided on having some Winnie the Pooh themed decor in the nursery (is it weird that I think it's weird to say nursery and just want to say the baby's room?).  But we didn't just want Pooh, we wanted Pooh having fun.  And lucky for us, we found really nice wall decals that are easy to remove down the road when Miss Marley is over Pooh.

Hubbs did an excellent job of putting up most of the wall decals while I was at my second (and last) prenatal yoga class (I'll expand on that later).

So here we have Tigger swinging Pooh from a tree.

Then in the middle we have a Christopher Robin quote.

Then we have Piglet waving from the other tree.

And that is the whole wall.  As you may be able to see, the crib is not full of a mattress or sheets, but clothes needing to be washed any my baby scrapbook.  We think the wall turned out quite lovely.


On Sunday, I went to a friend's baby shower.  She is having a little baby boy in October.  And I decided to make her (well, him) a baby blanket to go along with his gift.  So Hubbs and I went off to Joann's and picked out some fabric.  I was lucky to find some that semi matched their jungle animals theme and a blue (or turquoise if you ask the old lady in Joann who told Hubbs that her whole house is that color) that matched perfectly. 

So first I laid the animal one down with the print facing OUT.  Then laid the blue on top.  Then cut to match, more or less.  Then I did some fancy measuring and marking and cut strips into each side.  I then tied to the two fabrics together.  Easy peasy.  And this is what turned out:

And here is a not so good shot of the basket...