Oh Pregnancy - 6 months

24 weeks

We are starting month 6 in this pregnancy. This one has been my hardest pregnancy yet. I actually told Steve the other night "mark my words I do not want to go through this again, 3 is a great number of kids for us."

During previous pregnancies once I hit mid-teens I usually felt really good. I remember getting a little nauseous with Payton in my late teens, but I was mostly smooth sailing until the end of pregnancy discomfort of being big set in.

The last 24 weeks have been some of the hardest times I have physically and hormonally gone through. I wrote HERE at the end of my first trimester how hard it had been for me, and I was hoping for better days. Well the better days have been so minimal, the tough ones have stuck around a lot longer than I hoped.

I am not a women who has loved being pregnant during any of my pregnancies. This pregnancy has gone from first trimester yuck to hormone-over-load-can't-tell-you-why-I-cry-and-feel-overwhelmed-about-everything to complete exhaustion to the last few weeks of such pain in my body I feel like I am 38 weeks pregnant and should pop any day.

I felt like as soon as I got over the first trimester yuck, the hormones took over, then those subsided and complete exhaustion hit me, then as soon as I felt a little energy back, my body completely aches and hurts to move at all. I have been seeing a chiropractor and he is so wonderful, really trying to figure out the pain (mostly lower back) and the last few days I have felt some reprieve. 

I feel like I have become a negative-nelly which I hate. I have wanted to be real and let people know I don't have it all together and I am having a hard time handling this, but yesterday it hit me, I am tired of being in this rut. I am tired of telling people I hurt and I am over this pregnancy. I did calculate the other day that I have been pregnant 9 of the last 13 months, no wonder I am ready to be done. 

BUT today I have decided to make a change. I am choosing to be positive. I am tired of being negative, I am choosing to use positive words associated with this pregnancy. I really believe in the power of positive words and thoughts. I am choosing to be productive, even when I feel life sitting in my rear and staring at nothing. I have been debbie-downer and sittin-sally for 6 months, I am over it. This most likely will be my last pregnancy, so I want to have some fond memories of it, if they are not coming naturally, I will look hard for them. So here it is to a great last few months of my pregnancy. I know my husband and dear friend Hilary who both hear me whine the most will enjoy the change. My kids will probably notice too, but most importantly, I want to be more myself and enjoy myself.

Oldie but a goodie

I am usually the girl that loves wearing big earrings. For some reason recently I have been keeping it more simple, so my go to earrings most days are these

Where might you ask did I purchase these shiny little studs......

I couldn't tell you because I bought them 13 years ago

I wore them to my senior homecoming. The choker is long gone, but those earrings have survived many purges, and I am so glad they have. 

That good looking little guy is my little brother, he was a freshman. I am not sure about the serious faces, I don't claim to understand my teenage self :)

Eating our way through KC

This past weekend Steve and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. Our actual Anniversary was Tuesday the 16th, but we had friends who took our kids overnight, so we enjoyed a little "Stay-cation." I was still recovering from flu like symptoms and it was cold and rainy all weekend, so we are glad we didn't have major plans, we did what I love most, ate out a lot and napped in the cold rain.

Steve was gracious to let me choose where we ate, as he has many more lunch meetings out and gets to eat at his favorite places often, and the kids and I don't have many lunches out at all, and if we do get to treat ourselves out, it is usually Chick-fil-a.

So here are some of my top places to eat in KC (in the order we ate at them).

The Chicken and Asparagus is my favorite 

(Andy's Wok website)

Their Five Star Cheese Pizza on Honey Whole Wheat crust is my absolutely favorite pizza anywhere!

(Minsky's)

Five Star Cheese
International blend of provolone, feta, Monterey Jack, Romano and Swiss cheeses with alfredo sauce, sprinkled with Rosemary

This was the first time we ate here and the following skillet stole my heart and made me want to go back. I even had leftovers the next day and it tasted as good.

(TheEgg&I)

Cambridge Skillet

Diced ham, bacon and hollandaise sauce on a bed of ranch potatoes with melted cheese and two eggs any style. Served with an English muffin. (I substituted for fruit cup)

We had a groupon here and I have been wanting some good old manicotti and they did not disappoint
(Garozzo's) 

 
 
 

 We ended the weekend in the woods hunting together. We didn't see any deer, but it was a beautiful evening and since I haven't been in the woods in almost 3 years with Steve, I know he enjoyed having me there. He knows I won't go out in the cold, so this was probably his last chance to get me out.

Thanks to our friends who watched our kids so we could have some husband and wife time!

Baby Girl Nursery

One of the exciting things about having a girl is that I have a reason to redecorate the nursery. If it was a boy, I would have stayed with the same decor that Colton has. I knew when I painted those walls navy that no matter if we had a girl next, the navy was staying.

This is Colton's room

That was actually his room when he came home, it has been adjusted some as he has gotten older and I have had to make some things safer.

My new favorite colors right now are Navy and Bright Pink/Fuchsia. A sweet lady from church is making this little girl a baby quilt and wanted colors. I knew immediately I wanted the navy/pink combo, but wanted one more color for a fun mix. I went with a light turquoise. 

I was about tickled that when I started looking on pinterest for navy/pink combo and room ideas, the most popular color added was turquoise. I was on to something. I didn't find rooms with the colors, but check out these 2 outfits.

These pictures convinced me to add a little gold to the room too. I have a great gold mirror that might replace the brown one now (I was just going to spray paint it pink, but the fancy gold might be a nice touch).

Since I have the navy walls and white furniture to work with, I am just on the hunt for some good bedding (actually fabric to make my own dust ruffle and curtains), rug and fun accessories!

By the way, I am referring to this baby as baby girl, not because we are keeping the name secret, but because we do not have a name yet. I have a favorite in mine, but Steve hasn't agreed to it yet but hasn't found anything he likes better. We will take any suggestions. Both Payton and Colton end with a "N" (actually they both have "ton") and the boys name we had picked out ends the same way, but I am having a hard time finding a girls name that I like that ends with a "N." I am not stuck on having it that way, but I do like 2 syllable names. I know weird quirks :)

Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend we went to a new pumpkin patch in Edgerton. They had a bounce house and big slide which was about all our kids cared about. Really, there were pumpkins there? They didn't even notice. It was a really cold day so we were thankful the sun came out while we were there.

My little daredevil loved going down the slide all by himself

Dinner Time

This isn't the type of meal you will see in my house right now

One area I have wanted to improve on recently (ok, really the last 8 years since being married and in charge of cooking) is meal planning.

I have attempted many times to meal plan for the week, never sticking with it.

I don't necessarily love cooking, I do it because my family needs to eat.

I would rather spend time decorating my home, but that doesn't fill bellies.

Right now I cook

as healthy as I can

as cheap as I can

as quick/easy as I can.

I appreciate healthy meals, don't want a bunch of processed food. Our food budget is tight (I do stay home and this is an area we really try to save on). 

Let's face it, little ones don't allow me to spend hours in the kitchen prepping an amazing meal.

And to be real honest, even though we sit together for Family dinner most nights, I wouldn't call them the highlight of my day.

One kids is whining she doesn't like it (she hasn't even tried it and will not have any other options besides what is placed before her, I will not be a short order cook).

The other little one either says "NO" and shoves his plate away, or eats what he wants and then proceeds to dump the remaining food on the floor (we are actually making progress here as he is starting to hand the plate to me when he is done).

Steve and I try to have conversations, but that doesn't always happen too easily. 

So I feel like at this stage of life, I don't want to spend hours slaving over a made-from-scratch meal, just to have it not appreciated. 

All that to say, for the sake of my husband I really want to be better about being prepared for meals and actually cooking them.

So I need your help please. 

What are easy (somewhat healthy) meals that you make that your family loves?

Any venison recipes would be greatly appreciated as I have a freezer full of venison and hunting season has once again begun.

I would make soups all winter long, but Steve has asked for a little more variety, I have married a meat and potatoes man while I am a lettuce wrap kind of girl. So we are trying to find things that work for our family.

So any suggestions and links to recipes would be great!

Thank you friends :)