Summer Wrap Up

We have had record high temps this summer.  I'm pretty sure that spring never happened.  We went from -32 and 15 feet of snow to 106 degrees overnight, it's true, that's how it happened.  After a weekend of highs in the 90s again we are finally headed back down in temperature with a high of 65-70 tomorrow and a high of 55-60 on Wednesday!  FINALLY!!!  This pregnant lady can't handle anymore 90 - 100 degree days.  I want to have the windows open and not have it be hot and sticky in our house, I want to wear sweatshirts, I want to be coooooooooold and have a nice cup of hot chocolate(with whipped cream, of course!)!  I'm hoping that we have a nice long fall and we don't go straight into winter, I know Kara still wants to spend a lot of time playing outside and at the park! 

It is kind of sad to think that summer is over now though.  I never went to the zoo this summer, or the pool (obviously I am not about to get into a swimsuit right now), only went fishing once.  I think summer seems a lot longer and less enjoyable when you can't enjoy a nice cold beer.. can't wait for next summer!

Things we did do:  Joe turned 29, Kara turned 3, weekend at the lake, weekend in Bemidji, lots of time spent swimming at Grandma Julie's house, Rock the Garden, parades, Minnehaha Falls, went to Woodbury Days where I won a sweet bike, celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary, went to the state fair (watch for a full post on that with all the food we ate!).  We made 4 or 5 trips to the Surly brewery this spring/summer, which was horribly difficult for me... have you ever been in a brewery and smelled the delicious aroma of hops and other people's full pints of beer and not been able to have on for yourself?  It's not easy, and it's not fun.

Kara at the lake:

I brought Kara to her first rap show, and we got to take our pic with Sims! 

 

Kara's birthday party

Things I am excited for in the fall:  Having the windows open, going to the apple orchard, carving pumpkins, eating pumpkins, drinking pumpkin beer, the leaves changing colors, fall colors, fall smells, apple cider, Grey's Anatomy!  I love fall, it's one of my favorite times of the year.

As far as my pregnancy goes...I finally felt the baby move from the outside at 23 weeks.  Now I'm feeling her and seeing her move on a daily basis, but I would still like to say that having an anterior placenta sucks!!!  Kara will snuggle with me and lay her head on my belly and say "oh, the baby is kicking my head".. haha, I'm pretty sure that Kara has never really felt the baby kick, but it's pretty funny.  Baby name = Penelope!  Not really, but I'm about 98% sure that we have a first name picked out.. but I'm not going to tell you what it is! :) As of today I have 96 days until I can have a beer my due date, not that I'm counting or anything.  I am totally set on not going past my due date this time around, so I really hope this baby doesn't have her own plans...  We have been majorly slacking on preparing our house for the arrival of baby girl #2.  With only 3 months to go, we should really start working on that.  We have to find a way to fit both girls, a crib and a bed, and 2 full wardrobes into one rather small room.  Joe, Kara and I also brewed up some beer that should be ready right around my due date.  It's an Imperial Espresso Stout that we plan on calling Up All Night Stout!  I can't wait for it to be ready and to try it, it smelled ridiculously good while we were brewing!  After we were done brewing Kara said "The baby is going to be sooooo happy that you made her beer!"  haha, how cute is that?

Ooooh... I found the most amazing onesie at Target, how perfect is this!?  And it was on clearance for $1.12!!

I sewed this blanket/quilt for the baby, I love it and I want one for myself! 

Hopefully Joe and I can get motivated to get the house ready for the baby soon.  We did switch our computer room into a toy room, that should help keep the clutter of toys around the rest of the house to a minimum, I hope!  Next I think I need to go through all of Kara's old clothes and decide what we can reuse and what we need to get rid of! 

One last thing.. we have tickets to go see Yo Gabba Gabba live on Thursday night!  I think it will be lots of fun and Kara will absolutely love it!  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures! 

Feeling Uncomfortable In My Own Skin

A little back story on my weight loss journey...  My weight has fluctuated a lot my whole life, constant ups and downs, but mostly ups... I was overweight when I got pregnant with Kara, gained about 30 pounds during my pregnancy, lost 28 pounds within 6 weeks after her delivery and then put 20 pounds back on my first month back to work... at that point I realized I had to make some changes, lose weight, be active and be healthy!

Me at my heaviest - Christmas 2008

I changed my eating habits and started counting calories and the pounds starting falling off! 

On my way to being skinny! 

Over the course of the next year I lost about 70 pounds by eating healthy, counting calories and starting daily workouts, sometimes even waking up at 4:30 am to workout!!  I was doing things that I never imagined I could do.. like completing the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and I started running.. me?... running? who would have ever thought!?!?  I was really proud of my accomplishments!

Over the next year I maintained my weight loss and fluctuated + or - 10 pounds, but I was at about 80 pounds weight loss and feeling great!  By no means was I skinny, I was still about 20-30 pounds away from where I wanted to be but I was comfortable with my weight, confident, liked the way that clothes fit me and just overall felt good about myself. 

Fast forward to April 2011 - I was suddenly having problems breathing while I was running, having weird cravings, exhausted all the time and just generally feeling crappy.  Why this sudden change in how I was feeling?? 

That's a pretty good reason to feel like shit, right?  Being pregnant has pretty much put a halt on exercising and eating healthy.  I have severe food cravings and aversions, constant nausea and heartburn and zero energy.  Every time I  try getting back on a workout schedule I survive a day of working out and then am too sore to workout for the next week... so that's not going so well.  I've been packing on the pounds over the last few months, and quite frankly I am terrified to know how much I will gain this pregnancy!! I am really hoping that I am just gaining really fast at the beginning and it will slow down and I won't have much weight gain between now and the end of my pregnancy.

And a shot from last weekend @ 22 weeks pregnant ...bleh...

I am back to feeling uncomfortable in my own skin, which is really hard to deal with after so recently being so proud of my accomplishments and weight loss.  I guess the moral of my story is that this is just a chapter of my life, I am growing what will soon be my beautiful daughter and a little bit TON of weight gain is totally acceptable right now.  I know that I can get back to where I want to be, it will just take lots and lots of work after this little baby comes! 

Oh My Growing Belly!

I've been a horrible blogger.  Here are some horrible pics of my growing belly with baby #2, hopefully this makes up for my horrible blogging skills... 

And here is a picture of baby #2 from our 20 week ultrasound!   Isn't she pretty?  Yes, it's another girl!!  Kara was right all along!  

That's all that I've got for now!  I've been trying to get back into sewing, and want to sew some things for the new baby... I'll be sure to post pics if I get around to making anything!

Watermelon!

Today's obsession is watermelon, sweet, juicy, wonderful, delicious watermelon.

My mom makes this sauce that she drizzles over fresh fruit (don't know where she got the recipe) but it's absolutely amazing, and that is specifically what I was craving today.  So here is how you do it:

Start with fresh fruit - I used watermelon and red grapes.  It's also delicious with strawberries, blueberries and cantaloupe, and probably any other fruit!  Cut fruit and place in bowl:

Mix equal parts of lime juice and honey:

Pour mixture over fruit, and enjoy!  I especially like it after it has sat for awhile and all the flavors soak together, I also prefer it chilled. 

I am going to let it sit overnight, and let all the flavors soak together... then I am going to put the watermelon chunks and grapes on skewers and try freezing them, I'm pretty sure it's going to be delicious!  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Here is a recipe from Bon Apetit that I really want to try too! 

Surprise!!

I have been working on multiple blog posts about our surprise for over a month, but I just don't feel like finishing any of them, none of them seemed quite right... so here it is: 

We're having another baby! 

Here is the timeline of events:

• April 13th - Positive pregnancy test
• April 14th - 2nd Positive pregnancy test.. had to make sure the first one was right :)
• April 27th - First ultrasound to determine my due date, I found out I was 6 weeks 4 days pregnant with a due date of December 17th.  A Christmas baby!?!?!  I have always said how badly I don't want a Christmas baby, but I have gotten more used to the idea over the last couple months, so I think it will be just fine!
• June 1st - Second doctor appointment, at 11 weeks 4 days.  The doctor couldn't find the heartbeat, so she sent me on to the hospital to have another ultrasound... you could say I was freaking out a bit at this point.  Got to the hospital, had the ultrasound and saw the baby right away, moving, kicking, heart beating.. it was great!  Baby measured right at 12 weeks!

So, we found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks 4 days, and kept it a secret from most people until after the June 1st ultrasound... that was a long 7 weeks!  Especially since I feel like I look 6 months pregnant...

We told Kara right away, and she is super excited!  We bought Kara a 'Big Sister' t-shirt and she loves it, she wants to wear it constantly!  She is also obsessed with looking at pictures of the baby on my phone via the babycenter app.. which are obviously not pictures of our baby, but she thinks they are!  Last week she put her hand on my belly and said "The baby kicked my hand" haha, she is too funny!  Kara is 100% convinced that we are having a baby girl, and so far I am too... only a few more weeks and we will be able to find out!

Anyway, that is our big exciting surprise!  Now that it's out there expect lots of posts about cravings, mood swings, etc..... 

Here is baby at 6 weeks 4 days, heartrate 114, pretty much just a blob!

And here is baby at 11 weeks, 4 days, heartrate 167 - I tried to outline the baby because it is very hard to see in this picture, but on the ultrasound I could see the baby's head, body, arms, legs.. such a difference 5 weeks can make!