SOCIAL MEDIA

29 Weeks

December 30, 2014

This week was eventful with Christmas and a babymoon! 

However at this size I've had to finally buy a support belt. 



Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 29 weeks
Size of baby: Baby H is the size of a pineapple
Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and bras, and Piko tops. Plus whatever of Jeremy's that fits. - added a support belt to the mix this week
Gender: Boy
Movement: All day, every day. He keeps sitting somewhere weird and causing me to have this strange numbness/pain sensation at the top of my stomach.
Sleep: Really good the two nights we were in a hotel bed that was a lot like my old antique bed I had covered in down everything!
Cravings: Crushed ice, eating it really helps with heartburn.
Highlight this week: We bought all of our baby furniture at IKEA yesterday and have our 1st 3rd trimester appointment tomorrow.

Here are a few highlights from our Houston Babymoon >>>


It literally rained the entire time, but we ate at a lot of great places (Lankford Grocery and Tacos A Go Go are must). Crepes and coffee weren't a bad hangout while we were waiting to check into the hotel. 


As far as things to do, we went to the Galleria (could have lived without it), played Top Golf, went to the Improve Comedy Club, watched a movie, baby furniture shopped, and slept an entire afternoon. 

It was glorious. 

I even scored 113 and beat Jeremy at a game of Top Golf, which I don't think is too shabby for being 29 weeks pregnant. 


After our long nap I realized I was having some serious pregnancy women lip injections. I feel like all the fluid either pools in my face or my feet. 

Now for a little comparison >>> 29, 19, and 7 weeks. 
I couldn't locate the 9 weeks pregnant pic. 



Read More
at

28 Weeks

December 23, 2014

We've finally hit the 3rd trimester!

This are about to get real around here, ready or not.


Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 28 weeks
Size of baby: Baby H is the size of a coconut
Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and bras, and Piko tops. Plus whatever of Jeremy's that fits.
Gender: Boy
Movement: All day, he moves a lot in the morning or at night when I've gotten up. We've finally hit the point were he will stick out a fist or his head and I have a knot sticking out of my stomach ha!
Sleep: Not too bad, the heating pad helps.
Cravings: Nothing really sticks out this week, it's just been so hot that Sonic ice is really appealing. Which I'll have to live without since we are out of school for two weeks. (we have a glorious ice machine at work)
Highlight this week: At the end of the week we are headed to Houston for our babymoon/furniture buying Ikea extravaganza! 
Read More
at

Meal Pinning Monday

This isn't my normal cooking week, but I'll share what we are making! 
[What is Meal Pinning Monday?]
MPM is how I meal plan for our little family. I once spent a lot of time searching the web and my recipe books hunting for new recipes and ideas for what to cook every week. Then, Pinterest came along and made meal planning much easier for me. Every weekend I look over what I have pinned the prior week and decide what I would like to cook and make my grocery list from these recipes. MPM came about as a way to share what I am cooking, and to also see what others are cooking every week to hopefully get even more dinner ideas from other bloggers. If you don't pin your recipes feel free to just share what you are cooking.

Tuesday - Fried Shrimp & Catfish
No real recipe here, but Mom uses the Zatarans Lemon Pepper Fish Fry and it's heavenly on fish. 

Wednesday - Christmas Eve App Party & Christmas Lights


We also make meatballs, sliders, several other dips, and hot chocolate for when we go look at lights! 

Thursday - Christmas Day





There will also be a brined turkey, rolls, and several other recipes I haven't shared just yet:)

Friday - Grilled Chicken with Fried Cabbage
Read More
at

27 Weeks

December 17, 2014

There seem to be some pros and cons of Pikos as maternity wear. 

1. They are comfortable.
2. You look like you're wearing a tent. 
Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 27 weeks
Size of baby: Baby H is the size of a bunch of bananas
Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and bras, and Piko tops. Plus whatever of Jeremy's that fits.
Gender: Boy
Movement: All the time. What's really weird is to watch my stomach stick out all funny when he kicks while I'm in the bath tub. 
Sleep: Not any worse than not pregnant sleep. I just suck at sleep. Sleeping with a heating pad on my hips has helped a lot. 
Cravings: Crackers with Pickapeppa sauce.
Highlight this week: Jeremy finally agreed to ordering the big giraffe for the nursery!

Here are my nursery inspiration pics -

(source)

That's actually the bedding we have:) and the wall color is very similar. The next pic has a better view of the giraffe I fell in love with.

(source)

I didn't get the exact chair, but I did get a gray glider/rocker. We are going after Christmas to get everything else. Hopefully I can land some lamps and black out curtains I love while we are in Houston. Those seem to be the only big decorative pieces I'm lacking. Oh and a pouf, I can't find one that makes me happy.

There isn't an ounce of baby gear in place, no clothing, absolutely nada. 
Well except for the monitor we got on Black Friday.

But he has books for days as of right now! 

Can you tell I'm a teacher? Ha! 

Read More
at

Uncommon Goods Gift Ideas & Giveaway

December 15, 2014

Christmas is right around the corner and it's high time to finish up the gift buying for this year.

I'm not one to spend tons on presents, I really think the season is more about being together. I also think that if you're going to give something, make it something that person could use or might want.

Goodness knows I've gotten my hands on a few things throughout past Christmas's that were less than stellar. (See also... things I found out I was allergic to. Those are the most joyful gifts of all.)

The other type of best gift is the kind I would never find myself but I would love to have found. My mother is great at those gifts, I on the other hand didn't inherit her gift giving ability.

Which makes it all the better than I found a great site that has a variety of products. If y'all are anything like me, it's a little annoying to have to order from 10 different places.

I really prefer to get everything done at one time.

So without further rambling from me, here are a few of my favorite gift ideas for this season... all from Uncommon Goods.

To make it more interesting, I'll share my favorite's from Uncommon Good's Christmas Gift sections and then you can share your favorites with me... and there may be a little surprise in it for you at the end. 

continue reading...
Read More
at

26 Weeks

December 9, 2014

Another week. 

A little larger. 



Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 26 weeks
Size of baby: Baby H is the size of a butternut squash
Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and bras, and Piko tops. Plus whatever of Jeremy's that fits.
Gender: Boy
Movement: Constant. This weekend he stuck his head so far out you could see it on the outside (and not like the kicking), it made my stomach turn and that mixed with the heart burn caused the pregnancy puking to resume. Living with this big baby is like being strapped to a roller coaster ride at Six Flags all day every day. 
Sleep: It's gotten better. I think the massage helped with a lot of the pain I was having. 
Cravings: Cold foods. Celery with vinegar is a good one, plus celery is supposed to help heartburn.
Highlight this week: I survived the glucose test and even finished cleaning up my old rocking horse Rocky Joe. And yes, at 18 months old my mother said I insisted they buy the blue wooden rocking horse and I named him Rocky Joe myself. 



Here's a more accurate - how big Emily is - photo. The Piko tunics skew reality a bit and make me look larger. It's definitely a bunch of baby in there. My always tiny rear-end is now even tinier looking in comparison to my ever growing front-end. 


Apparently they've stepped up their glucose test game in recent years. I managed to not puke, it tasted just like Hawaiian Punch, and I didn't get shaky from all the sugar like I thought I would. Here's to hoping I passed, all of our lab work gets sent off so we never know anything fast. 


 Ole Rocky Joe in the baby room. Don't let the editing fool you, the walls are a bit more blue than they appear. Also, the 28 year old tail was looking a little rough after having lived through 3 kids touching it, I soaked it in White Brite and it made it look a lot closer to a 2 year old tail instead of the nearly 30 year old tail it is. 

Read More
at

Meal Pinning Monday

December 7, 2014

Freezer meal prep is in full swing around here. The goal is to take one of our weekly meals and double it every week until the baby shows up, just to make life easier for the first few weeks.

Later in the week I'll share what my meals are for the months of cooking ahead, plus there will be a linky to link up your own great freezer meals.



[What is Meal Pinning Monday?]
MPM is how I meal plan for our little family. I once spent a lot of time searching the web and my recipe books hunting for new recipes and ideas for what to cook every week. Then, Pinterest came along and made meal planning much easier for me. Every weekend I look over what I have pinned the prior week and decide what I would like to cook and make my grocery list from these recipes. MPM came about as a way to share what I am cooking, and to also see what others are cooking every week to hopefully get even more dinner ideas from other bloggers. If you don't pin your recipes feel free to just share what you are cooking.

Monday - Baked Parmesan Spaghetti (doube to freeze)

Tuesday - leftovers

Wednesday - Grilled Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries


Thursday - Leftover Grilled Chicken with Parmesan Gremolata Smashed Potatoes

Friday - Date Night

Saturday - Irish Nachos

There is a women's event at church Saturday night so I'm taking these::

Sunday - Eating Out
Read More
at

A Simple Christmas

December 5, 2014

This year, being a relatively chaotic year, has made the two of us think seriously about downsizing our Christmas.

In all honesty I've been thinking for months about how to decorate, especially since I knew we would have our own house by the holidays.

Salt dough ornaments, cinnamon ornaments, tons of buffalo print ribbon.

I wanted it to be simple, inexpensive, and a "country charming" feel.

However, the closer either of us got to the season, it felt forced. As in, why spend money on a tree when we haven't even finished unpacking?


It started with Jeremy suggesting that we not get a tree this year. The first year in 3 years we had room for a live tree again. I agreed with him on it, then disagreed, and now that we are a few days past Thanksgiving, I don't have the energy to even do it this year. 

I'm still going to drag out our tiny table top tree, sans decorations. Just the little fiber optic lights to make it pretty at night in the living room. 

Between the tree discussion and where I am now the thought of Christmas cards came into play. 

I had Jeremy pack what we would be wearing and lug it to my parents house for Thanksgiving with the thought that we would do our annual trek to the Natchez Trace and take pictures. 

Then the night before I told Jeremy to let my sister know she could sleep in, I wasn't dragging her out to take the photo. 

We weren't taking a photo at all. 

No Christmas picture. 

I might buy some cute cards and send them to our family, but the effort and money I put into our Christmas cards every year just wasn't appealing. 

Heck, I've said multiple times that the part of Christmas I enjoy the most is Christmas Eve. We all sit around eating appetizers and then grab some hot chocolate and look at lights. 

Last year was hands down one of the best. On top of our usual Christmas Eve shindigs with our tiny family of 7 we dug out Nanny's recipe for tamales and had Pop teach us all how to roll tamales. 

Times like that are what I love about Christmas. Being with my family who I rarely see, doing things we haven't done in ages, and hearing stories of the silly things Pop did when he was younger. 

Not the presents. 

The conversations and memories. 

I can't tell you what I got for Christmas many years, but I can tell you what I did with my parents and grandparents. I can tell you the feeling of sitting around the table snacking, or sitting on the couch eating the newest Blue Bell flavor of ice cream with Pop. 

I don't recall a single thing Granny Aida ever got me, but I do have a good laugh every time there is a good frost outside. The little Puerto Rican woman called us super early one morning, extremely excited and wanting Mom to send Laura and I out side to see the snow. Granted it wasn't snow, but she thought to call us to tell us to run outside and see what she thought was snow. 

That's what Christmas is about. 

Memories. 

After this past year with everything Dad has been through, it's just nice to all be together. 

10 years from now I won't even remember the lack of decorations, or what Jeremy bought me. I'll just remember the feeling of being together and some silly story that someone told. 

So here's to a simple Christmas at our house, with lots of extra time for memories. 
Read More
at

Old Fashion Better than Sex Cake

December 4, 2014

I really expected this to be a chocolate version of the Better than Sex Cake, but considering Nanny hated chocolate it's no wonder there isn't an ounce of chocolate to be found in this recipe. 

She always said that Reese's ruined perfectly good peanut butter, if that is any indication of her disdain for chocolate. 

Old Fashion Better than Sex Cake via @labride

I know a lot of people are coconut picky, just leave it off if that's your crowd. Or even use walnuts in place of pecans. 

This is a Southern woman's recipe, everything in their recipe books seems to contain some coconut and pecans somewhere. 

As a side note, almond milk does not work with instant pudding. Don't even try it. 

The beauty of the recipes that come from our grandmother's between the 50's and 60's is that they weren't from scratch. They grew up with everything from scratch, hence the cake mix and cool whip. These women were ready to leave the from scratch cooking behind. 

For the most part. 

Old Fashion Better than Sex Cake via @labride

Old Fashioned Better than Sex Cake

Ingredients::
1 box yellow cake mix
15.5 oz can crushed pineapple 
1 cup sugar
4 bananas
large instant vanilla pudding mix 
large cool whip
1 1/2 cups coconut 
1 cup chopped pecans
+ingredients needed for pudding and cake mix (according to instructions)

Directions::
Bake one box of yellow cake mix according to directions. 

Mix 15.5 oz can of crusted pineapple and 1 cup sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Pour over cake while hot. Slice 4 bananas over cake. Mix large instant vanilla pudding mix according to directions, pour over cake. Top with large cool whip. Mix 1 1/2 cups coconut and 1 cup pecans and sprinkle over top. Keep refrigerated. 

Old Fashion Better than Sex Cake via @labride

Read More
at

25 Weeks

December 2, 2014

Not my favorite look thus far, hair just wasn't working for me this Sunday. In all honesty though, I'm a cold weather gal for the ease of hair management 100%. 

But let's talk baby. 


Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 25 weeks
Size of baby: Baby H is the size of a head of cauliflower (my uterus is the size of a soccer ball)
Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and bras, and Piko tops. Plus whatever of Jeremy's that fits.
Gender: Boy
Movement: We need to have a discussion this week. Every night since I hit 25 weeks he has started moving at 3:30am every 20 minutes for about 5 minutes at a time. Once I fall asleep again he starts up again. So that leads into the next topic...
Sleep: Haven't had any. Thank you child for wanting to party all night. I literally have a maternity body pillow, a pillow behind my head on top of the maternity pillow, one between my knees, a pillow in between my calves/feet, and last night I added one just to prop up my stomach up extra. None of it has helped and I've been a grouchy old woman every day at work. I need sleep just to be able to have patience. 
Cravings: Super cold water, pretzels with mustard, and the blue cheese coleslaw I made with dinner Monday night.
Highlight this week: Baby's movement has finally gotten to the point where Jeremy can see it and definitely feel it. I was thinking for a good while that this child kicked only when no one was around. However after Laura shook my stomach half to death he as been on a rampage. I also have my glucose test tomorrow and a prenatal massage Thursday.

Here's to hoping the massage works miracles and I can get some sleep.

What did y'all do for the back pain?
I teach and have to be on my feet all day and not in the most comfortable shoes, but nothing is really that comfortable these days. 
Read More
at

Meal Pinning Monday

November 30, 2014

It's back to the grind of work this week, but only 3 more weeks until Christmas.

I'm mainly ready for things in this house to be done, it's hard to be too motivated to do much else with unpacking looming over my head. At this point I've managed to unpack the stuff we use, it's down to the odds and ends that were packed up 3 houses ago that I don't know where to put in here.

So instead of thinking about that gallery wall I have yet to totally locate and put up, I'll just cook and hope the heartburn isn't that bad.



[What is Meal Pinning Monday?]
MPM is how I meal plan for our little family. I once spent a lot of time searching the web and my recipe books hunting for new recipes and ideas for what to cook every week. Then, Pinterest came along and made meal planning much easier for me. Every weekend I look over what I have pinned the prior week and decide what I would like to cook and make my grocery list from these recipes. MPM came about as a way to share what I am cooking, and to also see what others are cooking every week to hopefully get even more dinner ideas from other bloggers. If you don't pin your recipes feel free to just share what you are cooking.

Sunday - One-Pot Paprika Chicken Thighs

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Blue Cheese Slaw

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Tomato and Sausage Risotto

Friday - Date Night

Saturday - Leftovers

Breakfast - Yogurt Parfait

Lunch - BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Read More
at

24 Weeks

November 25, 2014

We finally made it to Thanksgiving break, now it's high time to unpack a few more boxes so this child's chore list doesn't include unpacking said boxes several years from now! 

Nothing big has happened this week, just the realization that more places should carry maternity clothing and it shouldn't cost so much. I only need a super size moo moo for a short period of time, I don't see the need in spending $$$ on it to last 4ish more months.


Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 24 weeks
Size of baby: Baby H is the size of an eggplant
Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and bras, and Piko tops. Plus whatever of Jeremy's that fits.
Gender: Boy
Movement: He gets especially active when I'm sitting still, or when I'm teaching and not walking around much. I'm about positive he knows Jeremy is around and quits moving as soon as I get him to try and feel the baby kick. He started kicking so hard this week that I can see it through my clothing, Jeremy hasn't witnessed this. As soon as I talk or move to get his attention the baby quits. 
Sleep: Propped up to avoid heartburn, and going to the bathroom constantly... but sleep happens. 
What I miss: Life before heartburn. I never had it before pregnancy, this mess is no joke!
Cravings: Anything cold, water, fruit. I would really like to want coffee, but it isn't happening.
Highlight this week: Jeremy's painted the nursery this weekend and a friend let me borrow her fetal doppler.

I've been trying to decide when I want to put the baby name out there, I'm thinking once we've decided on a middle name I'll possibly post it here. The first name will a least be on our Christmas cards this year. 
Read More
at

Cranberry Orange Bran Muffins

November 24, 2014

Let's change this up a bit this week, the only cooking I'm doing is to help Mom with Thanksgiving.

Instead of the usual Meal Pinning Monday, I'm starting with a recipe. Especially since I'm not even touching the blog on Thursday. 


Call me an odd child, but bran muffins were my favorite growing up. I still prefer them to other muffins. 

Yesterday morning I decided I wanted muffins, and in the midst of it remembered my favorite cake I made several holidays ago. 

There is just something about the taste of orange and cranberry together. 

Maybe I'm just partial to dried cranberries, they are amazing on a salad with pecans, feta, and Pearl St. Dressing. 

Back to the muffins, they taste like the holiday season without the pumpkin craze. Don't get me wrong, I love pumpkin, but pumpkins and mason jars have taken over the world the past few years. 


Cranberry Orange Bran Muffins

adapted from Smitten Kitchen
serves 6
Ingredients::
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup fat free sour cream or plain greek yogurt
2 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup dried cranberries
zest of an orange
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup oat bran
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Directions::
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl cream oil and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, sour cream, and molasses. In a separate bowl mix together the whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, oat bran, and cinnamon. Add the cranberries and orange zest into the flour mixture. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine. Pour the batter into 6 greased muffin tins and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. 

*By adding the cranberries and orange zest to the dry ingredients first it gives them a nice flour coating and prevents the cranberries from sinking to the bottom of each muffin tin. Also, be sure to check your muffins at 15 minutes, my gas oven runs hot and they were completely done at that time. It likely would have taken longer in my old electric stove. 


What are your favorite holiday flavors? 

Read More
at

Spicy Ranch Crackers

November 20, 2014

My step mother-in-law is an amazing cook. 

She's the kind of cook that causes you to gain weight no matter what when you visit her, I haven't found too many things I'll turn down. That's coming from a girl who highly dislikes country food. 

I didn't grow up on Chicken Fried anything and I'm not partial to eating it. 

I also hate cornbread dressing with a passion, but hers is divine. I really can't explain it. 


About 3 years ago we were visiting them in Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee over 4th of July when my car was completely totalled and we couldn't get a rental. Sandy offered to drive us the 9+ hours home, and on that ride she had these crackers stashed in a bag in her purse. 

After my first taste there was no hiding the crackers from me and I probably consumed her entire bag. 

I managed to get the recipe the next visit, and I've been making them several times a year ever since. 

They are seriously the best Spicy Ranch Crackers I've tried, and we've made a few recipes over the years. Sandy got them from a lady in their town, God bless that woman and her cracker recipe. 

I will warn you, this last time I used olive oil because I was out of canola oil... don't do that. The olive oil is too strong for the recipe, it needs something without any real taste. 


Spicy Ranch Crackers


Ingredients:
3/4 cup Canola Oil
1 pkg Ranch Dressing Mix (or 3 tbsp of homemade)
3 tbsp crushed red pepper  or 3 red Cayenne torn
1 bag of oyster crackers

Directions:
Pour oil and red pepper into a jar and let sit for 3 days. The oil should change color slightly, that's how you'll know it's ready.

To make the crackers - combine crackers with oil (strained to remove large pieces of pepper) in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. Add in ranch and stir until the crackers are evenly covered and oil has soaked into the crackers. Allow crackers to sit and stir them occasionally until oil has soaked in. Serve.

***Sandy let's her crackers sit in the bowl for several hours, randomly stirring them until the oil mixture has completely soaked in. It really works best this way, letting them sit in the open air, they tend to be less greasy. She also uses 1 1/3 cup of oil, but I've cut it back because it can be overly oily. At least when I've made them.


This makes a really great holiday appetizer, or as just a snack.

I like to keep a stash hidden in the cabinet for personal consumption if we are being totally honest. 
Read More
at

I Heart Pinterest Wednesday!

November 19, 2014

Here's a little of my pin-spiration for the week. 

Now if only once of these pinterest staged bloggers would show up and unpack the rest of my house. 
I'm pretty convinced the baby's room will be the only complete room for a few years to come. 


I nearly died when I saw this today. I know I say I nearly die at least once a week, but coming from someone who got teary eyed placing a Scholastic order for my child, and not just the kids in the room I refer to as "my children" whom I often buy books for... everything is a cause for me "nearly dying" here lately. 


I may have posted this one last week, blame the hormones, but I love this idea way more than purchasing an ornament. 


Mental note for ole Emily - then again I really need a "things you shouldn't eat if you want to not torment your baby while breastfeeding."


Is this not the best idea for a chore chart? 


Husband, I would like you to make this for me. Like back in the day when you made all my coffee. I highly regret you ever telling me what you put in my coffee so I could manage it myself. Sincerely, Me. 


Let's get really honest, I think I'm going to be a toy Nazi. I'd rather education things, or outside toys, or books. These are in my line of cute things I wouldn't cringe over. 


I want to do this with my students as Christmas presents for their mothers, and I secretly would like to do it because I think it looks like fun. (for me too kinda fun)


Y'all know how much I love a good natural cleaner. I honestly feel like I have a head cold if I clean with anything other than natural/green cleaners. 


Don't forget to follow Louisiana Bride on Pinterest for more pin obsessing throughou the week!


Read More
at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)