The store didn't have any pork shoulders, but I have plans to put together another meal for BBQ Pork Sandwiches. The meals will be taken out of the freezer the night or day before and placed into the crockpot the next morning. For our little family, this is about 2 weeks worth of meals. All we'll have to do is make a pasta or a rice to accompany the crockpot dish and maybe a vegetable side and we have a complete meal.
The meals took about an hour for Rob and I to put together and another 20 minutes to make the muffins. The only thing that had to be cooked was the ground beef for the spaghetti sauce. Not bad at all!
The muffins are good! Honestly, I'm not sure they'll make it another month.
I still want to make some more muffins (maybe banana nut) and a few casseroles (lasagna, enchiladas, chicken spaghetti) and we'll be good. These came in super handy after we had Avery. Another great thing after we had Avery were prepared meals from the Stonehorse Cafe in Tulsa. Stephen brought us a few frozen meals from their market and they were delicious! They are vacuum sealed and you place them in boiling water to cook. Each said they contained two servings, but if I recall we had a bit leftover from each one.
One step closer to being ready!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
We had a busy and fun weekend. Two of my very best friends came in from out of town for a baby shower brunch on Sunday. Friday evening they came over for food and drinks and to check out our new house!
Saturday we went to Jonas' birthday pool party. Avery had lots of fun playing in the pool and checking out all of Aunt Marilyn's flowers, fountains, and fish ponds. She was crashed out within minutes of leaving.
Saturday night I went out with everyone for dinner and drinks (minus the drinks). I lasted until about 11:30 pm-not bad considering!
Sunday morning was my baby shower brunch at the Palace Cafe hosted by Lauren A, Stephen, Lynn, and Shannon. I tried to get a few pictures with Avery before we left. She was not in the mood.
The brunch was wonderful. We received so many thoughtful gifts for baby boy and it was so nice to get together with everyone.
The girls
Sweet Emery
Tiny bathing suit!
Beautiful arrangements by Stephen
Avery and Memaw
Sweet blanket made by Grammer
Grammer, A, and Gigi
The ladies + Stephen
All the guests
The brunch was very sweet and Rob and I appreciate everything to help us welcome our new addition (who, yes, still has no name).
Your baby is standing tall (so to speak) this week at about 20 inches and continues his steady weight gain (he’s about 5.5 pounds). While he won't get much longer, he will continue to pack on the pounds — including large amounts of baby fat — right up 'til delivery day. Something else that's moving at a mind-boggling pace these day: fetal brain development!
I had a doctor appointment this morning. Baby's heartbeat was around 125. I either gained 1.4 pounds or 3.4 pounds-I can't remember how much I weighed at the last appointment and I didn't ask. My will to care is dwindling.
I had a very busy and fun weekend (another post on that later) and I am TIRED this week. My back still hurts when I'm on my feet much but the major problem has been solved and I don't need to see the chiropractor again unless it comes back. My wedding rings are my swelling barometer. I can still wear them most days. Sometimes they are pretty tight and I always take them off in the evening (I used to never take them off). Overall, I am feeling ok. I don't have much energy, though. I really need a burst of energy to tackle the baby's room and get some freezer meals made, though.
I only have 3(!) doctor appointments remaining. I received my hospital pre-registration paperwork.
I took Avery with me this morning. On the way in, she said she would get a sucker. I told her I didn't think they had suckers at mommy's doctor. As soon as we walked back to the exam area she spotted a jar of suckers on the counter.
Your baby is up to a whopping 5 pounds – even though the extra belly weight probably feels like 15 to you. His/her eyes are fully open now, only closing when it’s time to sleep. Even so, that doesn’t mean the eyesight is up to par, considering it takes awhile after babies are born for them to focus clearly.
Your baby can now determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes in the amniotic fluid surrounding them, possibly acting as a “flavor bridge” to breast milk, which also carries different food flavors from your diet.
He's recognizing and reacting to simple songs, if you're singing them. (If you're not, start! He may find them soothing after birth.)
He's also urinating about a pint a day.
This week and last week? So, so tired. But my back is doing better since my chiropractor visit, and for that I am so very happy. Not only was it really painful, but I can't stand not being able to pick up Avery, not being able to sit on the floor and read her bedtime books, etc. My back still hurts, but it's a very manageable "you're pregnant and (DUH) your back hurts" hurt. I go again tomorrow, so hopefully we can keep the problem under control.
We still haven't decided on a name, although we are narrowing it down and ruling some names out. On the way home yesterday Avery suggested the name Stinky Shoe because "that's a pretty good name." I told her if it was such a good name we might call her that.
I haven't made any further progress in the baby's room. It's pretty much a mess. I have a ton of clothes I need to wash. Some friends have offered us all of the clothes their little boy has recently outgrown, so we should be set on clothes. As it is, we have so many newborn and 0-3 outfits. He will definitely have clothes. I just need to wash them and put them away.
I also need to get started on the decor. I would love to do something like this, but I'm a little overwhelmed at the idea of finding all the different letters.
Photo courtesy of http://www.designsponge.com/2011/03/before-after-katies-bright-and-modern-nursery.html/comment-page-1#comment-206773
Hopefully some of this will start coming together in the next couple of weeks!
Friday night. I brought Avery a cupcake leftover from a party we had at work. I thought it would be fun to have a movie night with popcorn. It was rainy outside and my back was killing me, so really it was an excuse to lay on the couch. Next time I'm giving Avery fewer choices, as we (she) ended up watch a Veggie Tales movie.
Saturday morning the stars aligned to cross an item off the bucket list. My back felt a ton better and Rob's plans to play golf were canceled, so we headed over to a nearby blackberry farm. They were supposed to have blueberries too, but they said the birds got to them. So we picked some delicious blackberries.
We had a lot of fun and picked a few pounds of blackberries. We spent the rest of the day playing outside.
Avery helped Rob with dinner. The "Home Alone" was due to Avery mistakenly thinking we were out of tortillas.
Sunday we crossed yet another item off the list by visiting the lake. We had a picnic and played in the water for a couple of hours.
Later on, Gigi and Pepaw came over for dinner. Rob grilled a great dinner and we had Pioneer Woman's blackberry cobbler for dessert. Avery, Rob, and Pepaw fed the horses and Avery showed off her tricycle skills.
Saturday night baby boy was rolling around everywhere. Of course, he tapered off when I tried to catch it on my phone. It's sort of like watching paint dry, but if you're into that sort of thing, here you go:
I have exactly 6 week until we have the baby, and I have quite a bit to pack into those 6 weeks. After that, I'm not planning on much of anything. It will be the hottest part of the summer, I won't be able to get into the water (so I won't be able to be outside for too long in the Oklahoma July/August heat with no water), oh, yeah-and we'll have a newborn. So because of that, I'm trying to cram a whole summer into 1/2 a summer. Not just for me (although it is my favorite season), but for Avery as well. I just don't feel like I'll be able to take her to do anything fun for a while after baby boy is born.
That being said, here's some of things I want to do in the coming weeks.
Berry picking. There are few berry farms in the area and I would love to take Avery to do this. She is crazy about blueberries, plus we go through a lot of them in smoothies.
Blue Hole. We went once last summer and I'd like to make it back one time this year.
Drillers Game. We went to a game a month or so ago, and I'd like to go to at least one more. No, I don't care anything about baseball. It's just something fun to do.
Splash park. There is one not far from our house and we need to take Avery over to play.
Ceramic bank painting. I got a Groupon for this and thought it would be fun to make something for the baby's room and something for Avery's room.
Summer Reading Program. I need to take Avery by the library to sign up for the reading program.
Skiatook Lake. We live about 20 minutes from this lake, and I'd like to spend a day there.
Freezer meals. I did this before I had Avery and it was so nice for the first couple of weeks to have meals prepared that just need to be placed in the oven. Obviously this will be the heat of the summer, so to avoid using the oven a lot I've been looking into freezer meals that just need to be thawed and placed in the crockpot. I'd also like to make some healthy muffins to take out of the freezer for breakfast.
Putting a small wrench in my plans is the intense back pain that started Wednesday evening. I went to the chiropractor this morning and apparently my pelvis is twisted/flipped up near the base of my spine on the left side. This is causing inflammation and, naturally, pain. I literally cannot bend forward and going from sitting to standing (and vice versa), and rolling over are all extremely painful. So I'll be leaning towards some of the less physical activities for this weekend...
Friday evening Rob put the finishing touches on the swingset that Avery's grandparents went in on for her birthday. It arrived last Tuesday and he spent every evening and into the night each night working on it. My mom stopped by after work and we hung around waiting for for Rob to put the final bolts in (which he had to run to Home Depot for missing bolts at the last minute). Excuse the very shoddy camera work. She was pretty excited. She loved it and spent a LOT of time outside playing on it this weekend.
Saturday we went to the lake for the day.
Gigi and Pepaw got Avery a fishing pole. She practiced casting and reeling with only a plastic fish on the end of the line. Good thing because had there been a hook many people would have been snared. She definitely got the casting thing down, though. She was a pro by the end of the evening.
Sunday we just spent time around the house and did some grocery shopping. Avery wanted to eat her cereal outside on her swingset.
Sunday night Rob made a delicious dinner of sliders, grilled potato wedges, and grilled corn. I did nothing to help. Oh! For dessert I threw together some strawberry shortcake (i.e. I washed and sliced some berries, placed them on a store-bought cake, and topped with store-bought whipped cream).
Monday morning Rob made breakfast and I got ready to take Avery to see The Lorax (yay for the $1 movie!). We stopped at Quick Trip where we each picked out a treat for the movie (sorry, I'm not paying $4 for one package of candy at the theatre). Popcorn, however, must be purchased at the theatre. It's a necessity.
We spent the rest of the day playing outside in the slip and slide and on the swingset. And while we LOVE our new house, I miss our old neighborhood pool.
Again, Rob (are you seeing a pattern here?) made an awesome dinner of fajitas. Avery chose a popsicle for dessert, but still hit me up for bites of my ice cream. Also, suddenly she is a pro at riding the tricycle. She has been able to pedal for a long time but didn't quite have the steering thing down. Now she can turn and has good control over exactly where she wants to go-all while ringing the bell.
The weekend was mostly fun but we did make some progress in Avery's room. We ordered the dresser that matched her bed and it came in on Friday. Rob put it together while we were at the movie. I'm still not sure I'm in love with the way things are arranged in her room but I guess for now it will do. I re-covered the wall letters that spell her name to match her new bedding. We still need to hang those as well as a few other things. I also thing I'm going to try to get Rob to build a book ledge for one wall in her room.
Not to sound greedy, but I definitely could have used another day! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend as well.
