Preparing for baby & other ramblings/recipes

I'm currently 38 weeks 2 days pregnant and things have been semi-eventful with my pregnancy in the last week. I've been having contractions everyday now for a week. Nothing to keep up with but some of them are definite reminders of the pain I have coming my way, lol. Last Saturday night & Monday morning I had several hours of contractions that came pretty consistently but dwindled into nothing and weren't painful. I've been loosing mucous for 4 days now (TMI, I know. I'm just being real so if you can't handle it, skip my blog posts.) My energy level has picked back up since the week before. I'm wondering if this is a sign he's coming soon or just simply because I exhausted myself 2 weeks ago. Either way, I'm enjoying getting things done. My last prenatal appointment was last Wednesday (37 weeks 5 days). My midwife and I decided it may be beneficial to know how far I'm dilated if at all, since all of the active contractions I've had lately. As of then, I was about 40% effaced and 3.5 cm dilated. I know that doesn't necessarily mean he's coming soon or even if labor will be fast but it's still a little crazy to know I'm already that far. Some moments I feel as if he could just plop on out at any given second.

37 weeks 4 days

I'm so excited for a couple packages to arrive. I went ahead and ordered baby boy's Amber necklace. (Baby girl has been wearing hers since she was 3-4 months old). I also ordered a Super Organizing Tote from ThirtyOne to use as a diaper bag for my two sweet babies' diapers and such!

I've been working on more cloth pads but still need to make quite a bit more. I get so bored when doing things repetitively. I had to switch around and do different parts of the pads for the 6 new ones I've made because I thought I was going to go insane doing the same steps over and over and over. I have several other sewing projects I'd like to complete before baby boy arrives. I ordered sling rings to make a ring sling as well as fabric. Both are (were) in but JoAnn's sent me some off the wall fabric made similar to duct tape so I had to send that back since the store doesn't accept returns from online purchases (pain in my rear). I just went ahead and ordered it again and hope to see my refund on the other soon. I hope they get it right this time because time is ticking! I made baby girl a ring sling for her baby dolls and she looks so sweet wearing it and seems so proud when she has it on. I have about 10 cloth diapers that the elastic needs to be changed also...YIKES. I did attempt the legs of one and it doesn't seem like they should take very long but it's just an annoying process. Of course I had to try things my way first and one of the legs looks horrendous but will function so that's all that matters. I guess I should be matching up thread colors to fabric colors too but that is just too tedious, IMO, for something no one really sees. By the time I'm done using the diapers I'm uncertain of what kind of value they'll have anyway so I'm not too concerned about that aspect either, especially since all but 3 that are needing to be repaired are Alva's. 

My latest pads plus one from before. (still need to add Velcro or snaps to the wings)

Aside from sewing and making last minute purchases before baby I have been trying to plan a few freezer meals and precooked freezer snacks to make life a little easier once I have two little ones to care for. I have yet to prepare the meals but at least I've picked out a few healthy choices to attempt to make in the slow cooker. 

I made these Paleo Breakfast Muffins (added Chocolate & Cacao chips) yesterday (one batch to eat and three to freeze)

This morning I made these Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (no sugar) for enjoyment :-)

I'm so happy to announce how much better my life has been since I've been away from FaceBook. I have way more time to do things I actually enjoy when I can find a moment to myself & better thoughts throughout the day other than what I read about what so and so did over the weekend on FB. (not that I was THAT consumed but I'm sure you can relate to what I mean by that statement). I do get on Pinterest a lot but I think that's a healthy hobby since I get many project ideas, healthy meal recipes etc. from there.

I've been thinking a lot on a deeper subject about how my lifestyle has transformed over the last 7 or so years that I will make a separate post about! It's good stuff! lol

I think this is a pretty good update of my last week so I will end here....

Oh, almost forgot. My poor little seedlings started looking rough so I transplanted them to bigger containers and planted more seeds in larger containers in hopes that at least a few survive. I REEEEALLLY want a successful garden this year and to learn as well!

Almost a month has passed since my last post...

I cannot believe that it has been almost a month since my last blog post. I really just haven't had time or felt like being on the computer. Typing a post on my phone is just too tedious, lol.

Since my last post I did get some of my seeds planted and I have quite a bit of sprouts. The day I saw that they had sprouted you would have thought I had won the lottery or something by my reaction. It's so exciting, lol. The photo is of that first day of sprouting (8 days after planting) of the onion seeds.

I have been rather busy since my last post. We were given a baby shower, cleaned the house like a mad woman, purchased some things needed for baby boy & his birth and had our home visit with our midwife, assistant midwife and learning assistant last week. I'm not sure if I mentioned previously that I have been attending a Whole Foods Holistic Eating class since January or not but I had to miss last week due to our home visit being rescheduled and I missed this evening because I just simply did not feel like going. I have lost my energy and strength this week. Thankfully, SO has stepped up and has been doing some housework and cooking for us. I am ever so grateful for that. I have just had to let go of the thought of needing to get things done and let my body relax. I typically only watch TV one night a week to catch up on my DVRed shows but this week the TV has been on probably everyday. I'm not proud of that but at least I haven't been glued to FaceBook. I did sign on today to update folks and to post some recent photos but that's about it. Since I have been staying away from FB I have been able to get a few sewing projects done as well. I am no professional by any means but am pleased with the things I have been making. I just need to work on my cutting and sewing lines. 

Above are cloth menstrual pads. These particular ones are made of 8 layers of flannel, microfleece and PUL fabric. I just need to add velcro or snaps on the wings.

 Above: Burp cloths made of terry cloth & flannel

Above: insulated mason jar koozie *I stopped regularly drinking out of plastic bottles about a month or so ago*

I'm currently 36 weeks 5 days pregnant! My daughter was born at 38 weeks 6 days. I guess we shall have to wait and see when little boy will decide to come. I'm pretty relaxed about when that time comes as far as labor goes. I hopefully won't have the stress of "when to go to the hospital" since we are having a planned home birth. 

Alright, I think that's enough for this post. My shoulder is killing and I need to get in bed! I may or may not have a newborn during my next post.

It's been a while...

Man! I sure have been busy lately! I'm sure there won't be much slowing down in the future either!

Unfortunately, I didn't get my onion seeds sewed last Thursday but hope to tomorrow or Tuesday. I also still have to build my compost bin. I had to "trash" the stuff I had been composting for a month because I couldn't properly take care of it because of weather and what it was in :-/

Baby girl and I took our last out of town visit to my sister & brother-in-law's house this weekend before baby boy arrives. We had a nice relaxing time. No hour by hour itinerary or real schedule...just a go with the flow weekend! Little miss LOVES my sis' dog. She woke up in the mornings and the first thing out of her mouth was "DOG". She's such an animal lover like her mommy! YAY She was pretty interested in the cat too but the cat wasn't so much a fan of her, lol.

I'm pretty excited to have turned my cousin onto blogging...she's outdoing me now, LOL! It's nice to read the thoughts of others rather than "what you're doing" posts on fb 25443248 times a day! Real stuff!

My due date is fast approaching! Eeek! My oh my life is going to change a lot. I have an appointment with my midwife tomorrow & will also be ordering my birth kit for a planned homebirth! It's getting real ya'll! Our shower is this weekend and our home visit with the birth team is next weekend. After that, my due date will only be a few weeks away! I yi, yi! I'm starting to get a little dreadful for the pain. I've had several bad pains this weekend just with moving certain ways etc and boy oh boy...they caught me off guard and silenced me for a minute or so. I'm so hoping for a better experience this go round...not that I had a bad experience with my first labor/delivery but the medical folks definitely put a damper on things for me!

It's getting late and I have to get up pretty early and get out the door before 9. Happy bloggin!

Daily blogging didn't last, LOL

After two consecutive days of blogging, I fell off. I think that's okay though. It may not be very realistic of me to try and post everyday but maybe every week. 

I really don't know of much to post about today other than an update of staying off FaceBook. I have only signed on 1 or 2 times in a week and that's been just to check messages, check close friends' pages & photo posting! I'm okay with that. Definitely not getting lost in scrolling through my news feed seeing what everyone else is doing.

Next week I will begin my gardening journey for the year. Last year I did not have success with a potted garden. I will start my onion seeds next week. I hope that I can have success this year as organic produce is SO expensive. We eat very healthy in this house so it can get very costly. 

As far as this blogging goes I hope to post some type of informative/creative post soon other than bore folks with my daily ramblings. I think I will have to make two separate blogs for the sake of you all, lol.

Until something more interesting comes along...happy day!

Day 2 of blogging...

Day TWO! Let's see how long this lasts! 

I still haven't figured this blogger website out completely yet but I just saw that I could make another blog...wondering if I should make one for personal daily posts and one for informative posts or just keep them all in one place. I suppose I shall wait a little longer to see how many of each I post and go from there. Who am I "talking" to?, lol. I sensing that this is going to become a personal journal before it becomes anything else. 

So, today was a typical day in our household. Made breakfast/coffee, watched Kathy Lee and Hoda, baby girl napped & I browsed the computer for a few things/paid some bills, played, ate lunch/snack, cleaned dishes, played, started preparing for dinner, washed diapers, made dinner, ate, played, straightened up, folded clothes, played etc etc etc. Ya know, everyday activities around the house.

For dinner I cooked two new to me foods...dried baby lima beans & pork ribs (yes, organic, lol). The beans were good. The meat grossed me out. I only ate a very small portion of the meat. It had great flavor but I just can't get down with the whole eating off the bone thing so....I didn't. A lot of the pieces I cut off and cut up still had fatty material and that is disgusting, IMO. Little miss wasn't a big fan of the meat either. I'm planning to make bone broth with the leftover bones! Pretty excited about that. I also saved the broth from boiling the ribs before sticking them in the oven.

Instructions I used for cooking the ribs

I made my own sauce which included Ketchup, Dijon Mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Soy sauce, sesame oil, Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika & raw organic honey. I didn't measure any of it. I just taste as I go.

Welp, that's really all I have to say for now, haha...until tomorrow or whenever!

Finally jumping on the blogging bandwagon & laying off FaceBook.

My very first blog! Wow, lol!

I set up this account almost a year ago with intentions of helping people who are interested in the same things as myself since I've learned so much from other blogs as well as to get my own thoughts out of my head and into the world for my sanity.

FaceBook has become such a negative part of my life because I have let it. I'm finally putting my foot down against myself and limiting my use of it. I Love the idea of keeping up with old friends, distant relatives and even the people I'm close with but I am sick of reading about others' drama, complaints, negative lifestyles, ignorance and my own "obsession" of scrolling through my newsfeed during a commercial or at a drive thru etc. It's really ridiculous behavior but some people are far far worse than myself and they don't even realize it (sad). I deleted the FB app off of my phone months ago but that still didn't stop me from logging on numerous times throughout each and every day. Last night I downloaded the Blogger app so that I can be reminded to blog and steer clear from FB, lol.

FaceBook is the topic of conversation so very often and it is so annoying. I'm guilty of bringing it up, too. "Did you see ____'s fb?" "I saw that on FB" "let's take a pic so we can post on FB" "I can't wait to post this on FB" "quote of the day to go on FB" "have you checked FB?"  SHUT UP! and GET OFF FACEBOOK!!! OH M GGGGG-uh! (that's how I feel, lol)

Okay...enough FB ranting.

I'm not sure yet how I will organize all of these blogs. I'm sure it will be easier to keep rants, raves and ramblings separate from informational blogs...so, maybe I will start there, haha! I'm also uncertain of how much personal information I will share due to my blogs being public for everyone and their brother to see. (you all know there are some drama searching folks out there looking for a rant to go gossip about)

So...should I end this first "introductory" blog now? I guess so. I don't want to bombard you all with a novel of whys and hows in this first post.

Feedback/suggestions/advice on how to get going is welcome!