We Know, We Know!! ...and I'm not Gonna Lie, I Couldn't Be Happier!!!

Whenever anyone would ask me what I was "hoping" I was having, I would say,  "I would be happy either way (ofcourse), but for financial reasons, it would be easier to have another girl, since we already have all the clothes and everything that we need.  We are only planning on having two children, so I would really like them to be the same sex, so they can grow up and be really close with each other."

Joe on the other hand, would have been happy either way (ofcourse), but since he is a dude, he definitely wouldn't mind being able to teach a little boy some guy stuff and to pass on his family name, seeing as how he is the last male in his line (that he knows of).

To be honest, I have never pictured myself having a son. For as long as I can remember, whenever I imagined my children, I always imagined them as little girls. Always. The idea of me having a son wasn't a bad one, it was just one that never really seemed a reality. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my father had all girls, and that so far, all of his girls have had only girls. Whenever people would ask me if I had any "feelings" either way about what the gender was of the baby growing inside of me, I would usually reply with something like, "I kinda feel like it's a girl, but that could be because we have only had girls in my family so far". 

I felt very strongly that the munchkin was a girl. In fact, I didn't even consider boys names very much at all (although we did have one in mind) and I had known what the name of my first girl would be for like eight years before she got here. I even told Joe early on in our relationship that I really hoped he liked that name, because my heart was pretty much set on it. It was the heroine from one of my favorite books and from the first time I read it, I fell inlove with it and just knew I would have a little girl one day that would have that name.

I grew up with two sisters. They are my dearest and most wonderful friends. I can't even imagine my life without them. They have helped to shape me and mold me into who I am. I know from the bottom of my soul that they are always there for me, that they will always love me and have my back. I can tell them anything. Anything. And I never have to worry about being judged or looked down upon. There is something very different about being around one of my sisters and one of my friends. There is nothing held back, no filtering whatsoever of my thoughts or ideas. When we are around each other, it is always completely open and honest, even if sometimes brutal. And I love that. I couldn't help but want the same thing for the munchkin.

Halfway There and a Look Back in Time

Today I am 20 weeks along in my pregnancy. I really can't believe that it has gone by this fast! I also can't believe how seriously great I have been feeling. I am enjoying this pregnancy and have actually been feeling quite comfortable. I recall, at this point during my pregnancy with the munchkin, that things were not nearly as laid back as they have been this time around. I remember being uncomfortable pretty much all of the time and that thinking being pregnant was a very huge chore (although still worth it) that one had to go through in order to bring a baby into this world.

I started wondering at what point things were going to start getting super uncomfortable. I thought what better reference, then to look back at my old blog posts to see what was going on then. I knew things were going better this time, but I was actually shocked to see just how uncomfortable I already was at this point in my pregnancy before and had actually been feeling that way for some time already. I sure had alot of complaining to do!

I thought it might be fun to share some of the quotes from those posts here, to look back on how things were then and then share how things are now.

Here's an excerpt from a post I wrote at exactly 19 weeks along with the munchkin:
"My throat is on fire!! I have been getting acid reflux. Bad. From what I understand this is one of the most common things that pregnant woman go through, and I had read there was a good chance I would suffer from it as well. But having never experienced acid reflux or heart burn before in my life, I had no idea how awful it could be. I have been getting it since early on in my pregnancy, but the last two days have been just awful. I feel like my entire esophogas is on fire!


I am having ice cream for lunch today because it feels good and the concern for my growing ass is being outweighed by the burning acid in my throat."

Valentine's Day, Some Belly Pics and Maybe a Little TMI...

I’ve definitely had better Valentine’s Days. I guess I’ve also had worse as well.  I’ve been sick for the past week. It has seriously sucked. I haven’t gotten sick much in the last couple of years, but seeing how your immune system is so much less effective while you are pregnant, I haven’t easily fought this one off and it has really dragged out. It started out with a slight sore throat early last week. I thawed out a bunch of homemade chicken broth from the freezer and started drinking it around the clock. Normally, this nips things in the bud immediately. I guess I made the mistake of discontinuing that once I started to feel better on Thursday, because after a good day Friday, it came back even worse Friday night. My throat was so sore, it hurt to swallow my spit. It felt like little pieces of glass were poking around in there. It was awful. I was up throughout the night trying to gargle salt water, just enough to fall back asleep. I didn’t get much sleep that night.

Joe had left town for work Thursday night and wouldn’t be returning until late Saturday night. Saturday morning I was really hurting. I called my mom (thank goodness she lives less then a mile from me) and she so very kindly came and picked up the munchkin to hang out with her for the day. I laid around all day, drinking more chicken broth and eating whatever I could that I thought might help me feel better. I definitely wasn’t up for going to the store, but luckily we had a bunch of oranges in the house so I could try to stock up on some vitamin C. I really wasn’t feeling much better by Sunday morning, so I started googling home remedies for sore throats. Joe was home now too, and was also feeling pretty crappy, so we were a pretty sad pair.

I came across a website that recommended gargling with cayenne pepper. I remembered hearing this once before. I started reading all of the comments in the forum and came up with a concoction based on what other people had had some luck with. In a coffee mug, I put 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp unrefined sea salt, 2 Tb apple cider vinegar,  and 1 Tb raw honey. I boiled some water, then poured it into the coffee mug. Once it cooled enough, I started gargling it for about 30 seconds or so. I took a break and then tried again. I kept doing this till it was gone. It took me about and hour or so to finish it. It was pretty nasty, not gonna lie, but it was doable and it did not make me want to gag or anything.  By the time I was finished, my throat was feeling considerably better. I was amazed! I did this a few more times throughout the day and by the time I went to bed, I was actually able to get some sleep that night and was feeling better by Monday morning. 

My sitter called me bright and early Monday morning to tell me that she had come down with something herself, so she wasn’t going to be able to watch the munchkin. It was snowing pretty badly out and my tires are pretty bald, so it actually worked out. And I got to stay home and snuggle with my favorite little kiddo. Now my throat was less sore, but I was beginning to hack up gross stuff and cough constantly. Yay.

I seriously couldn't believe that throughout the whole ordeal the munchkin didn't get so much as a sniffle! I was so relieved.

So then we came to Tuesday, Valentine’s day. Joe had class anyway, so me and the munchkin were mostly on our own. We all had dinner together, before he headed off to school. I got a hair brained idea and decided that it would be cute and fun and romantic to do something with my nappy hair and maybe put some make up on my face. I was feeling much better, and it was Valentine’s Day, it might be nice to have some “romantic time” with the hubby that night. After I cleaned up a little, I decided to throw on a dress, then one on the munchkin too, so we could take a few fun pics of my baby bump ( I hadn’t done this in a few weeks anyway, and was long overdue). So I got out my tripod and we took a few shots. 

Chunky Guacamole A.K.A. The Best Guacamole Ever! (sugar free • gluten free • low carb • dairy free • gaps)

I am home today from work with an unexpected day off.  My sitter is sick and couldn't watch the little munchkin today.  It's snowing outside and my tires are bald, plus I get to spend some bonus time with my favorite little person, so I'd say it all worked out pretty good. For me anyway, not my sick sitter. I hope she feels better soon!

For part of our lunch, I decided to throw together some guacamole. I just absolutely adore chunky guacamole.  And nothing is better then the homemade kind.  This is my top secret recipe.  I guess it won't be much of a secret anymore.  I love that it's quick and easy and always gets rave reviews when I bring it to a party. This is delicious served as a dip or as a topping on chicken, burgers, tacos, or all sorts of other things.

As far as the seasonings, I am totally guessing here.  I usually just throw the stuff into a bowl and taste it as I go, adjusting accordingly. This should be pretty close though.

This is a party size recipe, so definitely cut the recipe down for a smaller amount.  This is best eaten fresh. It will brown easily if it sits around too long.

Why I Am Feeling So Lucky Today...

I just can't believe how lucky and blessed I am. I get to be the mother of this sweet little girl.

Someone's Got an Attitude!

What Have I Been Up To? Well, Let Me Fill You In...

I have been so busy lately in general, and haven't had much time to blog. Thought maybe I would give an update on what has been going on with me lately....

I have been mostly just hanging in there, trying to get through Joe going to school and working more then usual and not being home near as much. I have been getting read for nice weather and all of the up coming photo shoots! I have a new lens on the way, along with lots of new studio equipment so I can have a better set up indoors.  I can not wait to get some of this stuff into action. Hopefully we will be doing some major potty training soon. I soooo want the munchkin out of diapers before the new baby gets here. So I have been planning our attack on that.  I have been trying out all kinds of new recipes, not only to make our meal rotations more interesting, but to find some good ones to freeze to build up my frozen meal stock for when the baby arrives. One thing I did make last week that I HIGHLY recommend was a recipe for Cashew Chicken. It was ridiculous. I left out the ginger cuz I didn't have any on hand and added a little arrowroot to the marinade when it was put back into the pan and heated to use as the sauce, but otherwise I pretty much followed the directions.

The Munchkin's New "Big Girl Room"

We are pretty much finished with the munchkin's new room. It drives me batty that I can't paint the walls. It seems pointless though, since we don't plan on staying in this house for that long. Thank goodness for removable wall stickers! Atleast I can add some color that way. I decided to do a woodland animals kinda theme... I wanted to throw in lots of bold colors since the walls, her furniture and the awful carpeting are so light.

Sh*t Crunchy Mamas Say

This was posted in a Natural Mamas group that I am in on facebook.  I am not this bad, but I may be guilty of saying some of the same things. This really cracked me up though...