A 16 Week Belly Update and Some Saturday Morning Scenes (My Own Personal Concert)

It's crazy that it's only been 2 weeks since I posted my last belly pic.  I feel like I have grown alot too! I am definitely looking pregnant now.  I feel great though.  My energy has come back quite a bit and I don't feel like I need as much sleep any more. I have felt alot more motivated lately to get some things done.  As far as the pregnancy goes, there really hasn't been many other changes since my last check in. I am doing really good and I am very grateful for that.

I have started to feel more and more excited about the arrival of this new little baby. Not that I wasn't excited before, but it was sometimes a little overshadowed with a bit of anxiety. Things were very hard when the munchkin was born. Ofcourse it's all fleeting and it was totally worth every second, but still, I have fears of having a replay.  Every baby is different, just like every pregnancy is different, so I am hopeful and excited that things will be different all around.  I guess only time will tell.

We have started talking about baby names alot more, so that's been fun. If we are having a boy, I think we already have a name. It's the same name we have always wanted. You never know though, we could still change our  minds. 

Only a little over four more weeks till we find out the sex of this little baby boy or girl!

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling (processed sugar free • gluten free • low carb • dairy free options)

I love most things pumpkin. 

This weekend I was on a quest to make a yummy pumpkin muffin. At the last minute, I decided to put a little surprise inside with a cream cheese filling.  I was making 24 so I could freeze half for later, but after the cream cheese filling idea, I wasn't sure how well they would fair in the freezer. Anyone know how well cream cheese stuff does in the freezer? So we are eating lots of muffins this week and passing them out to anyone who stops by. 

I was pretty proud of how these turned out. 

Breaking Out of a Food Rut

This past weekend was all about food. I was getting really bored with our meals lately. Not that I didn't still enjoy what we were eating, but things were getting a bit redundant. I realized I hadn't tried any new recipes in a while and vowed to start doing much more of that immediately! Friday, I made up a 2 week menu plan and picked out a bunch of new recipes to try! It was a mix of breakfast meals, dinners and treats. Thanks to pinterest, it's so much easier to keep track of this stuff now. Maybe now the poor binder in my kitchen will get a break from me always stuffing it with new recipes, when it's already ruined from having too many in it as it is.

Saturday morning, I made some pumpkin muffins.  I pretty much made this one up and I was really happy with how they turned out. I will be posting the recipe in the next couple of days.

Saturday Morning Scenes (Yes I know it's Monday)

On The weekends, the hubs and I take turns sleeping in.  It's awesome to have one morning that I can sleep in as late as I want to (which usually ends up not being that late, but still I CAN if I want to, which is the nice part, especially while I am pregnant and more tired then usual). 

The other great thing (maybe even greater really) about this, is that I wake up early with the munchkin on the other morning and we get to have some play time to ourselves. We get up, make breakfast, then we usually end up on the floor in the living room enjoying some kind of activity.  The TV is never turned on.  I take this time to totally concentrate on her and it's a very special time for me (and I like to think for her too).

These pictures were actually taken 2 Saturdays ago. One of her favorite toys right now is her duplo legos. It's amazing to me the stuff she comes up with. Maybe she will be an architect some day. I just can't believe sometimes how much I love this little girl.

Taco Bowls (Sugar free • gluten free • low carb)

This is a super quick and easy way to get your taco fix.  And if you or someone you are dining with would prefer their taco filling in a shell, this is perfect for that too.  Yum!

We make this all the time and today someone asked me for the recipe.  I realized I have never added it to my blog! I will add a picture the next time I make these.  

Our Gluten Free Update and How this "Experiment" has Impacted our Lives So Far

A little over a month ago, I decided that the munchkin and I were going to go gluten free.  There were some good reasons why I thought it might be a good option for us.  HERE is my original post and why I decided to try this.

I started logging updates in the beginning, but then Christmas and the festivities hit and I totally fell off the bandwagon.  I was hoping to log some info as I went and then present it all together once we hit the one month mark (oops we missed that too).  December 6th was our first day going completely gluten free and it has officially been one month and four days.  I thought I would finally post an update.  I've got some pretty amazing stuff to share!

Here is what I started to log during the first week...

Cell Phone Photo Dump Update!

I don't take pictures very often with my cell phone.  They never look very good and I usually have my camera with me, but sometimes, it does come in handy.  Here is a collection of pics I just pulled off of my camera dating back to last summer.

Sometimes, if I can't decide what to wear, my sisters might get pictures of me playing dress up so they can tell me what dress looks better.  Below are some samples I sent to them right before a wedding.  And yes, I do realize I kinda look like a hooker in the 2nd one.  I actually ended up wearing the 3rd one to the ceremony which was outside and about 100 degrees.  I was a hot sweaty mess by the time they said "I do." Afterwards I went home, freshened up and changed into the first one for the reception, which was thankfully indoors with air conditioning.