BABY registry ADVICE!?!?! :)

Well, we are halfway through our pregnancy and couldn't be more thrilled! The bump is growing, our baby room is starting to fill up, and now it's time to start thinking about baby necessities before it's time to REGISTER :) I have been so blessed to already start stocking up on some cute clothes and baby basics from family, friends, and awesome child care parents. But now it's time to start picking out fun new things for our first little baby boy.

I need ADVICE. I would love ANY and ALL opinions on what items have been a

--"must have"--

--"waste of money"--

--"just plain fun"--

for your newborn babes. So any of you experienced mothers out there... please help me out!

Also any advice you have on brands of car-seats, carriers, pack-n-plays, strollers, joggers, etc... I'd love to hear it. I am experienced with caring for babes and kiddos, but when it comes to quality, SAFE, yet affordable purchases, I am a novice and would love some guidance... :) THANKS ALL!

Food Fixin' Friday

I'm joining the ranks... stepping it up in the blog world and starting a weekly recipe post each Friday! (thanks Kel at oxboroughchoas.com for the idea).

My recipes will always be GLUTEN and TREE-NUT FREE because my dear husband has food allergies and celiac disease. Hope you enjoy!

Cream Cheese Chicken

Ingredients:

* 1 can of gluten free Cream of Chicken (or Mushroom) soup

* 1/2 cup of chicken broth

* frozen chicken breasts

* 1 packet of Italian salad dressing mix

* 2 cloves of minced garlic

* 1 block of reduced fat cream cheese (to add later)

* Gluten free pasta (to add later)

Directions:

Put the soup, chicken broth, chicken breasts, italian salad dressing mix, and garlic into the crock pot. Cook on low for 6 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and can be shredded. Shred the chicken using 2 forks and add in the cream cheese. Cook on high for another 30-40 minutes until cream cheese is fully melted and sauce thickens (depending on the soup used, you may need to add a bit of gluten free all purpose flour to thicken.) While waiting for the cream cheese to melt, prepare the gluten free pasta as directed (add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pasta to prevent sticky noodles when done). Serve the cream cheese chicken/sauce over noodles... and enjoy!

The BIG Baby REVEAL!

To find out, or not to find out... that seems to be the going question in pregnancy these days. We decided we wanted to find out the gender of our baby, but still add the element of surprise! So we chose to do a "baby cake reveal". We had our big ultrasound yesterday (Aug 4th), and we went and asked our technician if she could text message a baker the gender of our baby, without telling us... which she did. We then had my dear sister-in-law Kelly's friend, Amy, create a cake that was either blue or pink on the inside! We then waited the entire day, until our baby "reveal party" where we had our family and close friends over to share in the big surprise with us. :) It went out just as planned, without a hitch, and the cake was PERFECT (thanks Amy!).

If you know my husband, you know he "knew" it was going to be a boy from the beginning. Everyone else thought girl... I honestly didn't have a clue. No "mother's intuition" for this girl. just a growing baby :) But my husband's knowledge came about in a unique way, let me share...about 5 years ago Adam was out in La Crosse (where we went to college) spending some time with God praying, and he had this moment where he felt like God was telling him he would some day have a son, his first-born, and he should name him Caleb... which means man of courage, with a "different" spirit from the rest. (I will share more about our choice in name later). So ever since that moment, we knew our first son would be a "Caleb". So cutting through that cake yesterday we were THRILLED to see blue... a unique story of God's faithfulness. We can't explain the excitement we shared. Honestly a day we won't forget, and a story we can share forever. :)

Thanks to all for sharing in our excitement and big day. Our little peanut measured a week behind... so we may be pushing that due date back to the new year! Currently it stands at Dec 29th, but after our next doc appt it could be January 7th. EEEK! Either way, we feel blessed and can not wait to meet our little guy!

below is a link the video of us cutting the cake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fDXnLDKNJI&feature=player_embedded

16 weeks and counting... :)

Kelly yelled at me for not posting more on my blog... so here is a preggo update! :)

***@ 16 Weeks PREGGO***

Some stats

Size of baby: Avocado!

Maternity Clothes: Just busted out my first maternity outfits. First pair of maternity shorts, otherwise i'm living in cotton flowy skirts, and sundresses! :) comfy is key.

Gender: ????? we find out in 3 weeks! what do you think it will be?

Baby bump: starting to pop out more and more. our dear childcare children remind me of this every day.

Sleep: On average, waking up about 3-4 times a night to go potty. lovely.

Cravings: bagels and strawberry cream cheese (especially brueggers!), fruit (watermelon and grapes), and french fries. (could be worse... right?)

What i miss most: running! i know i should start back up, but the motivation to start now is NOT as easy as it sounds. Sticking to my walks for now. I also miss jeans, haven't worn a pair in probably 2 months.

Symptoms: Still tired, pee a lot, and some muscle cramps... need to stay hydrated! other than that... doing well! just excited to see the belly pop. :)

What i'm looking forward to: Our AUG. 4th ultrasound when we find out what the gender is, as well as feeling those first movements of baby w!

The fret is OVER!... mostly :)

Yay! Last week we said see you later first trimester! And we couldn't be happier... both my husband and myself. :) (he was ready to give me up)

I find it so fascinating that literally within a week of hitting that week 12 I was noticeably feeling better. The biggest problem was the nauseousness and it dropped to just a few times a day rather than all day... and after i switched to taking my prenatal vitamins from the morning to now in the afternoon/evening, i am almost puke-feeling free! It's so great! And not only do i not feel nauseous but i feel like i am gaining more energy, which means i have to un-train myself from those glorious afternoon naps ive been taking everyday (thanks kel). :) Today is my first attempt... wish me luck!

now i'm ready for a bump, not this pooch looking thing i have on my gut... but a perfectly round belly. am i dreaming? maybe i need to lay off the carbs and get my butt back into working out! I'll try. I'll try. I have a few weddings i'm in (unfortunately for them) coming up... the first one next month... and i have some filling out to do for those big dress sizes we estimated i'd be in! yikes! (any advice out there past preggo bridesmaids?!)

Peace out, and God bless. :)

First Trimester... uck!

Ok, so let me start off by saying i'm LOVING the fact that i'm pregnant, i'm so excited and wouldn't trade it in for the world. but WOW, who knew i'd exhibit every symptom possible in early pregnancy! Somebody please tell me it gets better the fatter i get (and if it really doesn't get better, just pretend for my own sanity) :)

I can handle the sore "girls", constant bathroom breaks, and even the obnoxious acne... but the fatigue and "morning" (aka "all day") sickness has me going nuts. I am nauseous all day long... praise God i have held down the puke thus far... but i am definitely not a peach to be around the past month. no wonder my amazing sis in law lets me have my "naptime" everyday and my dear, sweet (not so compassionate) husband has been filling his spare time up with numerous guy times, and jobs around the house. :) lol

Ok, venting is done. I'm thankful everyday, and i remind myself everytime i feel sick... its a sign that my baby is swimming around safe and sound. Just ready for trimester 2, few weeks to go!

PS. is it sad that a few of our daycare kids have told me several times "oh there's the baby", pointing to my tummy. really? one can pretend i've already popped, right?! :)

Our luck of the draw... with Dogs

Someday I will share our tragic story about our beloved first dog Mauer, whom died 3 months ago at just over a year old. But to give you a brief synopsis, we were in and out of the vets office with multiple health issues with our poor pup from day 1, spent thousands of dollars searching for answers as to why he wouldn't gain weight, why he was so anxious, etc... we ended our search with answers thanks to the U of M vet (expensive, but well worth their expertise). Mauer died from a liver shunt on Feb. 22, 2010. :( One of the saddest days Adam and I have ever experienced together.

Since Mauer had passed, we didn't wait long before adding a new pup to our home. I was gone for a girls weekend, (less than 2 weeks after Mauer had passed) came home on Sun. to a Mauer look-a-like sitting in my living room next to my guilty looking husband. I ran out of the room crying. Let's just say I wasn't expecting that. Long story short, Adam had agreed to "foster" (whom he had already renamed "Milly") for All Dog Rescue (an amazing animal rescue, where we got both our pups... www.alldogmn.org). After a few short days she won my heart and we officially adopted 6 month old boxer-lab mix Milly a week later. I called her my therapy girl...turned our sad depressed days from losing Mauer, into days full of joy and laughter again. :)

Anyways, the whole point of this post, is that Milly too has health issues that we are trying to narrow down. We sure pick out the cutest pups, but ones that need some extra loving attention, apparently. We have already been to the vet 5 times since we've had her (3 months), mostly due to skin/allergy type infections... but trying to figure out what the underlying issue is. She also struggles with big time separation anxiety and we have tried a lot! From diet changes, to personal dog training, doggy daycare days, behavior modification, and vet visits... we are running out of options here! But we won't stop until we find some answers... just hoping this time it's an easy fix. :)

Seriously, these dogs are more work than having infants! I think we will be ready for the baby come December. :) and 100% worth it... right?!