Captivating. Devoted.

Use round steak or sirloin - cut into serving size pieces. Dredge in mixture of flour, garlic salt & pepper. Brown in 1/4" EVOO in skillet. Transfer to crock pot. After browning the meat, add sliced mushrooms, onions & minced garlic & saute for 3-4 minutes. Add water to skillet and heat until boiling. Pour over meat in crock pot. (Make sure there is enough water to cover meat.) Add more salt & pepper. Let cook about 4 hours. Before serving, mix a cup of milk with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Mix until smooth. Whisk into hot liquid and let cook until thickened. Sometimes add sour cream (whisk it with the milk) to the gravy also.

Dressing: Mix and refrigerate overnight.
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sugar
2 T white vinegar

Combine: 1 or 2 bunches of broccoli tips
1 cup raisins
1/2 red onion chopped
1 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 to 1 lb bacon cooked & crumbled
Toss salad with dressing up to 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Dredge pork chops with mixture of flour, pepper & salt. Brown in 1/4" EVOO in skillet. Transfer to Crock Pot (sprayed with Pam.) Add orange juice concentrate to drippings in skillet and heat until melted and scrape drippings from bottom. Pour over pork chops in crock pot. Heat on high about 4 hrs or start on high 45 minutes and then turn down to low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with egg noodles mixed with butter, sour cream & garlic salt.

The World of Cloth Diapering...

I am so excited about all the friends and family I have who are expecting soon!!! Two sisters-in-law in particular... one due ANY day now!! (YAY for more Ellie cousins!!) Anyway, I thought I would write up a summary of our experience with cloth diapers so that I can just reference y'all to one place. ;-) (Maybe this will be more informative than my random emails that I've sent some of you! haha)

PS - Ellie is down for a nap now and may give me 30 more minutes of uninterrupted thinking. Ha! Wouldn't that be amazing??!

So we started cloth diapering roughly 10 days after Ellie was born. Next time around I think I will start on day one with cloth diapers because they're actually a lot easier than I thought. Also, I didn't really have any postpartum blues so I think I could have handled it :) But I already had newborn disposables and we used them up pretty fast!

Knowing what I do now (that I make a pretty HEFTY baby), I would not have bought any XS sized diapers. But hind sight is always 20/20. We barely used those diapers before she grew out of them because I was dumb and didn't realize that ALL of my diapers needed covers. HA!

So lesson #1 for me was: Fitted diapers need covers just like prefolds. Who knew?! *sheepish grin*

Lesson #2: Prefolds are NOT of the devil. I had a nice stack of newborn and infant prefolds and didn't use them until Ellie was probably 6 weeks old because I thought they would be difficult and too time-consuming. One day I just decided to go for it and behold! - I love them! :)

We (or I should say "I" since I am the one who changes the bum covers in this house) put prefolds on in the bikini style. Here's a video example. Actually, I use Snappis so it looks more like this. I have found this to be the fastest/easiest way to put prefolds on Ellie. They seem to fit better, too.

Lesson #3: There's these awesome things called FUZZI BUNZ! After reading this post I was convinced to give these babies a try! By "trying them out" I actually mean that I bought 9 of these things! ;o Good thing I like them, huh? :) Well, you see, they were having a promotion: If you bought 9 one size diapers, you could get $40 of Fuzzi Bunz products for FREE... And I likes me some free things! ;)

I love FB One Size diapers. They're like your favorite jeans that always fit. Er... no, that's not right. Well, they're like the navy blue t-shirts that my husband has that always fit him and just get better with age - or so he tells me. Anyway, FB aren't like my favorite diaper in the whole wide world, but they're super nice. They're my go-to diaper when we're going to be out of the house. The only thing I don't really like about them is that they are bulkier than my other diapers AND they're a pocket diaper, meaning you have to stuff and unstuff them before and after you wash. It's not that big of a deal, but for a lazy person like myself, I kind of prefer the prefolds - which I just have to fold and stack :)

With my FREE FB$ I was able to get a medium FB just to try out - which has fit Ellie since she hit the 10lb mark. It's really cute and not as bulky as the One Size diapers. I also picked up one of these nifty diaper bags. AWESOME! I love it because it's PINK, of course, but mostly because it is handy to just have a bag that hangs off her changing table. And when diaper washing day comes (which for us is about every other day), I just throw the whole thing into the wash! Handy dandy!

I just started using cloth wipes. Why I didn't start doing this before is beyond me... I guess I thought, like the prefolds, that it would be too hectic. How wrong I was! It's simple. I fold about 10 baby washcloths, put them in a square container, and squirt about 8 oz of water mixed with about a tablespoon of Johnson baby wash on the washclothes. Finished. After use I just toss them into the big pink Fuzzi Bunz diaper bag. How hard is that?!

I am still very new at this cloth diapering addiction. Tomorrow, hopefully(!!), we will be getting our new booroi diaper covers and bummis prefolds  so I'll definitely have to add an update to this later.

As far as costs are concerned I think we've spent about $400-$450 on diapers so far. I have enough for 3 days but I wash more often than that - yes, they do get a little stinky if left for very long. But, duh!, they're dirty diapers! 

I just recently started noticing my diapers getting a very icky smell after being washed. I found an easy remedy for this that is not really recommended. My husband and I have a fetish with Bath & Body Home Fragrance Oils which means we have them all over the house! One day a thought occurred to me: This is not recommended by anyone so if someone reads this, tries it, and it ruins their diapers or gives their kid a rash, you didn't hear it from me :) BUT... about once a week I sneak a few drops of clean cotton or fresh linen into our wash load and voila, the stinkies stay away. Wonderful! So far it hasn't seemed to damage the diapers or baby's bum.

Well... baby girl is taking an especially long nap this afternoon so I am finished and might even get a load of dishes washed before she awakens.

I will continue to update on what new products we've tried and loved (or hated). Happy pregnancies to my sisters-in-law and friends! I'm pretty convinced that no one could love cloth diapering as much as I but if you try it out you just might learn to fall in love too. Cheers

(Of course no post on cloth diapers would be complete without a picture of Ellie wearing one!)

It's 7:00AM. I'm really tired... If memory serves me correctly, I think there was a different version of myself who, only a year ago, used to get up around 5 AM every morning to make a big breakfast for her new husband/lover. That Rebecca has been replaced by a much tired"er" woman who can barely roll herself out of bed at 6:00 in order to drink coffee with the boy before he heads out for his job...

My "job" will begin in approximately 30-45 minutes when The Baby Girl awakes from her slumbers. Meanwhile... I take these precious quiet moments to reflect on life as I now know it.

For some reason lately I have been thinking back to when this "blog" first began. Nick Harris is the one who introduced me to multiply. That was back in the day when I was living life to the hilt in Mongolia. Although my former self would probably beg to differ, that was a very carefree time in my life. I had one person to take care of: myself. And although that posed challenges in itself, I had no idea how quickly life would change over the course of the next couple of years.

As soon as I came home from Mongolia I had to suffer the first REAL heartbreak - leaving the boy I had fallen in love with and not knowing if I would ever hear or see from him again. All I could think about was the potential we had for a deeper relationship. Life would be bliss if I could just know that he shared the same feelings I had. Fast forward a few months: Yes, we did share the same feelings. And now we were officially "together" - only 400 or so miles separated. At that point I could hardly stand life as I knew it - just waiting longingly for the day when we were married. I soon found out that marriage wasn't all sunshine and roses. We were as happy as any new married couple could be... but there's a lot of responsibility that comes with marriage. Responsibilities I had not yet experienced. And then there was the anticipation for our own child vs. going to my daily job of watching someone else's children. And then the day came.... when I found out that we were going to have our own child. Fast forward 9 months and here we are with a precious baby girl...

And now I find myself longing for the next phase of life, when she is old enough to comfort herself instead of wanting to be held for 90% of the day... when I can sleep through the night (and, no, 4-5 hrs doesn't count as "through the night")... when she can give us a facial expression other than her constant "glare"... when I have this "mothering" thing figured out.

Is this really what life is all about? Just stewing in today's challenges while impatiently waiting on the next phase... only to get to it just to realize it's even more challenging than yesterday's trials? I can hardly believe that God really has nothing better planned for the present. Actually, I know that He does have better things planned. But if I continue in this pattern of looking so far ahead of time in hopes that things will "get better" I will never really experience the joy in today.

Shortly before our wedding day, someone advised me to not let the day of my wedding go by so quickly that I soon forget the little details of one of the biggest details of my life. I took that advise seriously and because I followed it, I can to this day recall how I felt at almost every hour of that wonderful day. I'm afraid I haven't taken the same spirit into my first days of motherhood. I know, although it seems strange now, that I will look back on these days with a warmth in my heart. I will consider them to be precious days... as Kevin Leman states in his book "First Time Moms", I will only be a new parent ONCE. (THANK GOODNESS for that!!!) :)

Well... It's now 7:45 and my baby girl is in my arms, staring at me with wide eyes as I finish this.

So here's to a new day... of relishing the opportunities God has given me for the present. Accepting the joy that comes in being her mother :)

Nick and I have been parents for 11 days now. My mom left Friday morning after being with us since Ellie was born... after she left and I'd had a good cry Ellie and I just looked at each other as if to ask "What do we do now??!" :) Actually, we have done okay on our own. Thankfully, little chubs is sleeping MUCH better through the night - waking up exactly every three hours to eat. And when she's done she's out like a light.

It is interesting having a first born baby girl... Nick and I are both second borns and pretty easy going. Ellie seems already to have a much more intense personality. Time will tell what she is really like... for now we can't stop laughing at her stern faces. We had to run some errands today at the mall and the whole time we had Ellie in her stroller she looked at us as if she was so upset that we didn't ask her permission to take her out of the comforts of her home. :) Who knows what she was really thinking?! We can only guess... but her facial expressions are just too much!! haha

We took baby girl to Sunday school with us today. It's going to be hard for me to give her over to the nursery workers :) I think I'll wait until she's 6 weeks. I'm just a little to clingy :) Girly decided to pick SS time for making a mess in her diaper... I was disappointed to find that the only bathroom on the floor I was on didn't have a changing station :( Poo!! So I found an empty classroom and changed her on the floor. The only problem with that is that my right knee still has no feeling in it so I had to change her in the most awkward position :) I guess that'll encourage me to let the nursery have her soon!

Life is intersting... I feel like I need to pinch myself to know that this is all really happening. I can hardly believe I'm not pregnant anymore. Now if I could just get my pre-pregnancy body back completely. Actually, the extra flubber is falling off fast since I'm breastfeeding. I've lost more than half of the weight I've gained without even being able to exercise yet. Hopefully the last half will fall off soon...

This week we take Ellie into the midwives for her 2 week check-up. I'm dying to know how much weight she's gained. She lost 7% of her birthweight by day 3. But she feels quite chunky now. We shall see... and in November we start taking her to her first pediatrician appointment. I'm excited to meet the pediatrician! We're going to use an alternative schedule for baby's vaccinations. I have about half a dozen books on the subject and I need to make some final decisions on which vaccines we choose to give her. Ugh... it's tough for me to make decisions like this :)

We are not doing cloth diapers full time yet... I still need to order some more. I probably should not have ordered any tiny size diapers because they didn't last very long :( Right now we only have enough dipes for about half a day. But I am excited to get some more one size diapers and start using them full time.

Well... that's enough randomness for today. I guess it's easier for me to "journal" about baby online because my brain is too tired to handwrite much these days. :)

I woke up at 6:45 on Wednesday morning somewhat excited about the day. My mom and little sister were going to be traveling to see us that day. I don't remember much from the day before but apparently my morning sickness had gotten so bad that day that I had called my mom and asked her to come early (she wasn't going to come until I was in labor). I knew there was a possibility of the baby coming this week because we were going to try natural induction. However, I was still skeptical that it would work because we had already tried stripping the membranes on the previous Friday. At that time I was still just 70% effaced and dilated to 1cm. I walked lots afterward and was taking evening primrose oil in hopes that I would progress before my Wednesday appointment.

But Wednesday morning felt like any other day. I did laundry and mopped the floors before getting ready for my appointment. Around 8:30 I started feeling some pretty strong braxton hicks. I put it out of mind though because I figured it was simply due to the cleaning activity. I sat down to eat breakfast and journal. For some reason the verse in my devotional that morning really stood out to me. It was from Genesis 28 when Jacob was going to find a wife. I wrote in my journal "God gave the promise ['Behold, I am with the,...for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.'] to Jacob as he set out for an adventure of which he could have never known how difficult it would be. I could so, so easily become discouraged as each day passes that I remain pregnant. It's tiring and frustrating! Yet, there is One who has promised to remain with me to the end. He can "bring me back" to the vibrant, healthy, happy Rebecca that I once was. What before then? A difficult adventure. I'm sure labor/delivery and even raising this child and losing the weight I've gained will be difficult. But I'm not alone!! He is with me!!!" Those thoughts stayed with me throughout the day.

About 15 minutes before we needed to leave I could tell that my braxton hicks were getting significantly stronger and closer together. When I started timing them they were exactly 3 minutes apart. Thankfully by then it was time to leave for the birthing center anyway. But I really didn't think this was "it" because I thought the contractions were too close together to be the real thing. I figured again that it was just due to all the physical activity and excitement of the day.

When we left the apartment we both commented on what a nice day it was. The weather had cooled down significantly and it was raining(!!) - after the hottest summer on record for Austin, TX we were thrilled to death and enjoying the rain! As we got on the road, my contractions were not easing up... if anything they were actually increasing. I was actually starting to not be able to talk through them. I think Nick was realizing that things were getting serious and I started worrying that he would drive too fast in the rain to try to get the the birthing center. But there wasn't opportunity to drive too fast because we got stuck in very slow moving traffic. By this time my contractions were less than 3 minutes apart. I really started thinking, "This must be it!"

We made it to the appointment right on time. As we walked in the office, I had tears in my eyes because of the pain. I breathed through a contraction in the entry way before getting to the desk to check in. I told the receptionist that I was there for my scheduled appointment but that I was having contractions about every 2 1/2 minutes. She immediately got Jean Stokes, the owner of the birthing center, and they got ready to hook me up to the monitors. At this point I was still able to talk between contractions and I think the staff wasn't taking me very seriously... Of course I'm a first time Mom and I think they thought it was just VERY early labor, if that.

Once on the monitors we discovered Baby was doing excellent. The heart rate was still about 130 - pretty much what it had been throughout my pregnancy. If the theory is correct that lower heart rates indicate that the baby is a boy, I was 99% sure it was a boy. ;) They went ahead and examined me right away and declared me to be about 2cm but still only 70% effaced. That was not very good news to me. They said *if* this was labor, it was very early. They asked if I had gotten a good night's sleep and were relieved to know that I had because I would "probably be up all day and night."

After being on the monitor for 15 minutes and them being able to see that I was indeed having regular contractions about every 2-3 minutes, they said they I was still not "progressing" and sent Nick and I out to "walk around, eat lunch, pamper yourself." We decided to stay close but walk around and outdoor shopping center. But it was a joke! I was having to stop every other minute to breathe through some pretty difficult contractions. We got a lot of looks from people, including one security guard who Nick thought looked like he was trying to figure out whether or not to call an ambulance. haha! We went into Borders so I could use the bathroom and while I was leaning against bookshelves to get through more contractions, Nick decided to buy a game. :) We walked about 15 more minutes - leaning against big flower pots or chairs or whatever was available for me to bear through more contractions.... and then I decided I'd had enough of this monkey business. Before heading back to the birthing center we decided to go to the grocery and buy some food - gatorade, salad, gum, sprite, etc... As soon as we got in the store Nick left to go to the bathroom and I stood in the grocery doing my heavy breathing and having more people look at me as if in wonder if they needed to call 911. Funny, no one actually asked me if I was OK; they just stared. haha!

Nick went to go get the car and I called my mom who was well on her way... while on the phone I was crying and not even able to talk... but mom helped me to calm down while breathing through more contractions. We walked into the birthing center and the midwives were still not totally convinced that it was going to be *that* soon. They really wanted me to go home and labor until things "got worse." I sort of laughed and asked how much worse. At that point one of the midwives, Roswitha, said that if I was still able to smile that there was a long way to go. She went out to consult with another midwife but by the time she got back in the exam room I was down on my knees, grabbing Nick's jean pockets while he was sitting in a chair, having a VERY difficult time breathing through the next several contractions. Roswitha watched for a few minutes and said, "I don't think you want to go home." YA THINK???!!!! ;-) She made sure that a birthing room was available and came back to tell me I could stay. HALLELUJAH!!!!!!! I was so relieved.

When we walked to the other part of the building where the delivering rooms are, Roswitha asked me which room I had wanted to birth in. I was like, "I DON'T care; just get me in one!!!" :) I think that she was starting to realize that I was definitely not exaggerating how I felt. ;p She left Nick and I in there for about 20-30 minutes and I just lay on the bed while Nick rubbed my back through contractions. They seemed to be about the same in intensity... but when Roswitha came back to check me around 1:30 PM I was dilated to 4cm and about 80% effaced. At that point they considered me to be in active labor and admitted me officially. :) I was so relieved emotionally but physically I was just starting to get worse!

Roswitha had to go back to the hospital to be with another birthing mother who had complications. Meanwhile, Joan came to assist me. Joan was not one of our favorite midwives through the pregnancy, but she was very helpful during the birth! She allowed me to labor in whatever position I wanted and kept suggesting more comfortable positions... but when she examined me, she found the baby to be in a "sunny-side up" position... No wonder I was having such bad back labor! She made me do what was insanely uncomfortable to get the baby to turn... I had to squat with my heels flat on the floor. I was so miserable, but it worked eventually. When that got to be so uncomfortable that I couldn't stand it any longer I labored in the whirlpool tub. It was miserable, but somewhat a relief at the same time. I remember very little from this part of the labor except that I was sweating like crazy!! Joan left us alone for a while but when she came back in I was so exhausted and remember telling her, "I just can't do this anymore! I'm SO exhausted!!!!" She responded, "Well, if you're exhausted then I'm a monkey's uncle." haha! I guess I didn't look as bad as I felt. I felt AWFUL! When Joan decided to check me again (which I THINK was around 4:30, maybe earlier) she was shocked to find that I was already in transition. ;o NO wonder I was so freaking tired!! And no wonder I was at the point where I would have taken any and all drugs available. haha! But I didn't have any available and really, I didn't need any... my body was doing just what it needed to do!

I remember asking Joan in desperation how much longer it would be. Of course she couldn't give me an exact time but she kept telling me that I was going so much faster than they expected so it wouldn't be too much longer. She "called in the troops" - Roswitha, Anabell, Jenny (all certified nurse midwives), Cat and someone else whose name I don't remember ;) - both doulas working on their nursing degrees at the University of Texas. I do remember the doulas arriving and introducing themselves and I so couldn't have cared less... also, it seemed like every time I opened my eyes from a contraction there was someone else in the room. I was so out of it at this point!

Anabelle was somewhat in charge of the delivery at this point - Joan had to leave for the day to pick up her husband at the airport... Anabelle was one of my favorite midwives during pregnancy but when it came to birth I almost hated her. lol! The only reason for this was that she got there at the most horrible time... I was not quite dilated to 10cm but I was feeling the urge to push so badly. She kept looking at me so firmly and commanding, "REBECCA, DO NOT PUSH!" I would give her the evil eye during those most horrible contractions and just wanted to rip her head off. At this point I was no longer breathing through contractions; I was yelling bloody murder through them. Anabelle had me leaning over a birthing ball on the bed... Nick was at my side and I have no clue what he was doing... One of the doulas got on the bed and dug her fists in my back during the contractions. That helped with the pain.

I hadn't mentioned before, but because my labor was so fast and intense, I hadn't been able to eat anything... early in the afternoon they had checked my urine and I was very dehydrated and they could tell I was burning tons of calories - great if you're trying to lose weight, not so great if you're trying to do the hardest physical activity ever! ;) Between the contractions the midwives were forcing me to drink gatorade to get some fluids down. I was so miserable....

My bag of waters was still intact so Anabelle broke them... OUCH!!!! After that I went back to 8cm and I was in the most horrible pain (or so I thought -lol!). I was yelling like crazy at this point. The urge to push kept getting stronger and stronger and eventually I started pushing even though I was under the command of the *evil* Anabelle not to do so. I could not keep from it... :(

FINALLY, Anabelle checked me again and I was fully dilated and allowed to push. HALLELUJAH!!! I was finally able to get on my back and start pushing. That started at 7 PM.... I had one midwife standing off to the side of the bed and when I pushed she wanted me to push my leg against her as hard as I could... I'm not gonna lie, I didn't feel bad for possibly hurting her as I pushed. haha. The doulas were on the bed with my other leg and I don't remember what I was doing with that leg, but it is still numb five days later from whatever position I was in. Another midwife was standing at the end of the bed with a birthing rope... every time I pushed I would play tug of war with her with both of my arms - which were SUPER sore for days afterward.

Roswitha kept telling me when to push and when to breathe. She told me numerous times that I just needed one more big push. She lied! lol! Actually, I think she meant one more push with each contraction... but I kept getting so discouraged when I would give one more big push and there was no baby. At some point the baby's head was partially out... and they made me feel the head. Sadly, I was in so much pain that I didn't care a whole lot. Nick did tell me as I was pushing that our baby definitely had hair! haha! FINALLY... after 50 minutes of pushing... my little baby's head came out and with another push or two the whole baby was OUT! I didn't see or know about any of this until a day or so later, but the cord was wrapped around her neck... they VERY quickly unwrapped it and were rubbing her down with warm, wet towels. They put a hat on her and wrapped a towel around her and put her on my chest. I was the only one at this point who didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. I KNEW it was a boy.... but I kept kissing her face and finally someone said to look. Nick was crying and I guess I was too (there's pictures to prove it... I just don't remember). [I have to stop here and say that I think not finding out what we were having was the best thing in the world!] When I unwrapped the blanket and saw that I had a little girl it was like a humongous happy hormonal rush went over my weary body.... I yelled "IT'S A GIRL!!!!" and was just crying and crying. I totally don't remember much else after that except that I was so exhausted that I didn't care much about holding my baby girl. I just wanted to collapse. Nick took her after they cut the cord and went out and showed the grandmas - my mom had arrived JUST before Ellie was born (not planned but so cool!)... Nick's mom had actually been in the waiting area for a while and had heard me yell out that it was a girl. :)

And that's the story... :) We stayed about 6 hrs post delivery. I finally got to eat a most amazingly satisfying salad and drink a chocolate frosty. My mom went back to our apartment to get everything ready for us... and we just rested at the birthing center. It was so peaceful. We were supposed to sleep but I couldn't. I nursed Ellie a little... Nick was totally collapsed on the freshly made bed. I just rested looking adoringly at my little girl and awesome hubby. I was ready to go home and sleep in my own bed though!

I was instructed to stop on the way home and get some loaded calories - that was a relief after having to watch what I ate so carefully for the past few months. Unfortunately, there is hardly anything open at 2:30 AM ;-) We finally went through the drive thru at What-A-Burger and I got a sausage egg biscuit and orange juice. It was SO GOOD!!! :)

We got home and I could hardly sleep that night. I was so excited and geared up and just overstimulated, I guess. :) I actually didn't sleep more than two hours at a time until Ellie was about 3 days old.

So... that's it in the long version. :) I am the happiest woman in the world to be done with pregnancy and thoroughly enjoying the little bundle of chunkiness!! I can't say that I'm ready to go through it all again anytime in the near future BUT little Ellie was TOTALLY worth every minute of pain!! All in all, God was so good to me! I had a much faster delivery, albeit intense, than most first time moms and He truly did stay with me.

Ingredients:
1 10-ounce package fresh spinach (ready to eat), chopped
(I just used a package of frozen spinach... it worked fine)
3/4 cup bottled roasted red peppers (rinse, chop, and pat dry)
1 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten well
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 cup reduced-fat Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.
1. In a medium saucepan, saute chopped spinach quickly to wilt; drain well.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.
3. Spray a 10 x 6 x 2-inch baking dish or a deep-dish pie pan with non-stick vegetable spray. (I almost always use a 10-inch cast iron skillet if I can.) Pour mixture into pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until set in center.
4. Let stand for 10 minutes, slice into wedges.

Yield: Serves 6.


Next time I will try with ground turkey or sausage. And maybe some mushrooms... But it was pretty good as is.

Tuesday
Breakfast:

2 toaster whole-wheat waffles topped with 2 T jam and sprinkled waffles
8 oz fortified vanilla soy milk
1/2 cantaloupe

Snack #1:
12 oz nonfat decaf cafe latte with 1 almond biscotti
water

Lunch:
Pacific Northwest Salmon Sandwich
1 cup orange juice
Coleslaw
Water

Snack #2:
1 cup fresh fruit with 4 oz low-fat fruit yogurt
water

Dinner:
3 oz pork loin chop
Mashed green potatoes
2 carrots
1 serving Red Beet Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing
Water

Snack #3:
1 serving Naughty Nachos
Water


Wednesday

Breakfast:
Veggie Omelet
1 piece seven-grain toast
1/2 boiled grapefruit
decaf tea

Snack #1:
5 pitted dried plums with 1 almond
1 cup warmed nonfat milk
Water

Lunch:
Crunchy Tuna Sandwich
Cucumber Toss
Water

Snack #2:
1 T chutney with 2 T fat free cream cheese
5 fat-free whole wheat crackers
1 pear
Water

Dinner:
Spaghetti
1 cup Italian veggies
Tossed Salad

Snack #3:
1 slice toast
1 cup nonfat milk

Thursday

Breakfast:
3/4 c shredded wheat cereal
2/3 c low-fat fortified soy milk
1 banana
1 c orange juic

Snack #1:
4 cups air-popped popcorn
Water

Lunch:
Spinach-Chicken Wrap
1 c mandarin oranges
1 cup low-fat milk

Snack #2 -
hot cocoa
4 graham crackers

Dinner:
Salmon
1/2 c brown rice
2 c steamed broccoli
Tomato-Corn Salad
Water

Snack #3 -
Berry Banana Salad
1 Currant-Date Muffin
Water


Here is more info on the diet http://books.google.com/books?id=EkZpgC4OTaMC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=Baby-Wise+Diet&source=bl&ots=SWZTdrXKc1&sig=BISSOiUA3kXktQcIDXCDYYYw-Vs&hl=en&ei=_pdbSu3RDoio8gSIw5jVBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2

And the book can be found online for pretty cheap!!

As sick as I was at the beginning of this pregnancy I couldn't possibly imagine that I'd gain very much weight. Yeah. Whatever. Somehow I've managed to gain more than I have been "allowed" by my midwives.

I've gone through so many health binges that it's a miracle Nick is still living with me ;) He's a gem! He deserves a massive vacation after this baby is born!!! (only if I get to go, of course!)

So I've determined that for the next 28 days I'm going to be fairly strict with myself and follow my Baby-wise Diet as lined out in the "Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy" book by Elizabeth Somer. I like her Baby-wise Diet because I can still eat yummy things but she has outlined how many calories are in each day's meals/snacks.

Here's what's cookin today:

Breakfast:
Whole-wheat raisin bran (I sort of cheated because we already had Raisin Bran Crunch and I didn't feel like buying more of the almost-same)
Nonfat Milk
Banana

Snack #1:
Open-Face Kiwi Sandwich: Spread fat-free cream cheese and a drizzle of honey on toasted oatmeal bread. Top with slices of Kiwi and a few chopped walnuts. 16 oz water.

Lunch:
Spinach and Red Pepper Quiche
Confetti Salad: Mix 2 T thinly sliced red onion, 2 T tablespoons corn kernels, 1 diced tomato, and 2 T low-cal ranch dressing. Place on top of 2 cups lettuce greens.
1 slice bread.
8 oz water.

Snack #2:
1 cup chocolate low-fat soy milk and 1/2 whole-wheat bagel with 1 T organic PB. 16 oz water.

Dinner:
Herb-Roasted chicken: Combine 1 minced clove garlic, various herbs, and salt. Skin and rinse chicken thighs, pat dry, and rub with herb mixture. Spray baking pan and place chicken in pan. Bake at 400* for 15 minutes. Turn and bake another 15 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar while still in hot pan.
1 cup asparagus, sauteed in 3 T chicken broth over high heat until heated through (about 7 minutes). Salt to taste.
Baked sweet potato
1/2 cup cooked instant brown rice mixed with 2 T caramelized onion (cook onions over medium-low heat with a pinch of brown sugar until golden brown).
Tomato Salad with Mozzarella: Slice a medium tomato, top with grated mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, and 1 teaspoon non-fat vinaigrette dressing.

Snack #3:
Hummus on 1/2 whole wheat bagel.
Pregnancy Tea

The Spinach and Red Pepper Quiche is Scrumdiliumptious! (but next time I think I'll add either bacon or sausage for hubby who requires a little more meat.. ;p)

Start:

Dec 7, '07

Happy Anniversary, G&G!
Thank you for the wonderful heritage you've given us!!
We love you!!!
:D