Jumping on the band wagon... Meal plan this week

Well gosh, if everyone's doing it :) Let me know if you want any of the recipes

Wednesday: Macaroni (my dad's special recipe, but I didn't have about half the ingredients, so it wasn't quite the same)

Thursday: Leftover beans and rice

Friday: Alfredo (we had leftover cream from Jonathan's birthday, so this is how I'm using it up) and broccoli, (the broccoli was super expensive, so we'll probably have canned veggies)

Saturday: Leftovers (We're going to a super cool festival, so who knows if we'll even be home for dinner)

Sunday: Crock pot beef stew

Monday: Tacos - chicken, bell peppers, onions, cilantro, with lime rice and possibly homemade re-fried beans

Tuesday: Leftovers

I just have to say, produce prices right now are insane! If I find anything under a dollar a pound I get excited! Apples right now are close to two dollars a pound! They are even coming into season! Gosh... I also think half of my shock is because I'm used to stores in Provo (Rancho markets, and Buy low) that had something for several pounds for a dollar. Any suggestions on how to still eat fruits and veggies without paying an arm and a leg for them would be much appreciated.

World Travelers... well sort of.

This last weekend we went to Georgia to visit Ty in the hospital. It wasn't the happiest of reasons to go down there, but it turned out to be a great experience. We got to see Ty a lot (something we didn't think we'd be able to do) and he was happy, and in good spirits. Amy and Jeff also came down, so it was wonderful to see them and spend time with them. I miss being close to the majority of my family, but it does make reunions that much more sweet when we get them.

We also spent a lot of time with Robert and Ruth and family. It was really fun to see their home, and see them in the place they are most comfortable. (Does that make any sense?) I feel like you really come to understand a person the best when you spend time with them in their home. You get to see the way they parent their children, and what food they choose to eat, along with other priorities in their life. I feel like this gives you a window into who they are a lot more than seeing them anywhere else. (I discovered this theory on our way home actually, because I thought I knew Robert and Ruth pretty well from the few times they have been up to Utah, and the phone conversations I have had with them. But I came to understand who they were so much more after I spent time with them in their home.)

Another thing we discovered on our way home from this trip was that we have traveled A TON this year! In the past 12 months, we have driven coast to coast, and have visited at least 8 states (Utah, Idaho, California, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Washington DC (I know this isn't a state, but work with me), and Illinois), and been out of the country once (up to Canada) and we have driven through 17 states! That's a lot! Jonathan has visited even more because of his trips for school/work. It's been fun, and each trip was well worth it, but whew... that's a lot of car time :)

Will I ever pop?

The past 48 hours I have been feeling very self conscious about not showing. I'm almost 18 weeks, I should be looking pregnant by now...
I know I should be grateful that I'm not big yet, and I should enjoy this time that I have without a huge belly, because heaven knows I'll be big for a long time, and I'm sure by the end of the pregnancy, I'll be wishing I was smaller. But I'd love to actually look pregnant, and not just that I'm growing out of my pants.
When did everyone pop? When did you start looking pregnant? Is this a premature worry of mine? ... Probably

Jonathan's birthday!

Well... it's official, Jonathan is now a quarter of a century. When I was younger my mom would often say that one age felt so much older than another, ie 39 felt so much older than 38, or 50 so much older than 49 etc. I always thought that was a little bit silly, but now that I'm getting older (but not old) I know what she means! 25 sounds so much older than 24! I'm glad that I have a good 7 months to prepare for my 25th birthday ;)

We had a really good day though, it was a little different not being able to spend time with family, but it was nice none the less. I remembered on Saturday night that I didn't think of a nice birthday breakfast or lunch! We talked about it, and decided that we had all the stuff for Ebleskivers, so I made him those before he went to a stake priesthood meeting at 9. Then he came home and picked me up and we went to get an investigator with the missionaries. That always takes longer than anticipated, so we were 5 minutes late for Sacrament meeting. Oops.

Jonathan gave a talk as well, it was really good. He talked about what we have learned from waiting on the Lord. It was a nice reminder to me how much we have grown and been blessed in the year and a half of struggles we have had.

When we got home we had some cereal and I started on dinner... Feijoada... MMM :) It turned out really well, and Jonathan was happy to get his rice and beans in. I also enjoyed them, so we might be able to slowly add them to our diet again :)

We opened gifts, (I wrapped up all the clothes we bought) and I also snuck in the present that I got him, he wasn't expecting that :)! We had a really good day, and we ended it with talking to almost everyone in his family. (Thanks for all the calls everyone! It made his day more special).

Oh I almost forgot that we had chocolate mousse! I made mom's recipe and half way through I realized that there were raw eggs in it... so I skipped that step, but that meant that the mousse was chocolate and whipped cream... oh well, it was really good anyway :).

Pregnancy progression

Here's my baby bump thus far :)


4 weeks... (right when I found out)


8 weeks


12 weeks


These next two are from this week (16 weeks)

[caption id="attachment_151" align="alignnone" width="225"] I couldn't decide which one showed my belly better, so I put two in from this week[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignnone" width="225"] Week 16 again...[/caption]

I have started telling people in my ward and stuff (Jonathan has told a few classmates) and the response I get is that they never would have been able to guess that I was pregnant... I guess there's something to be said about not knowing how I looked before I got pregnant. :) I feel like I'm getting pretty big, and it's starting to become difficult to hide. :D

Chicago and Labor day

This weekend we took a trip up to Chicago. Some of our friends from Missouri were up there for a business trip, and invited us to hang out with them on Friday night. Jonathan was pretty excited about meeting up with Jordan, of all the friends he has made since we have been married, Jordan is the only one that he keeps in contact with on a regular basis. I haven't done as well keeping in touch with Jordan's wife (Emily), but it was so good to see her. As soon as we met up with them it was like old times! We walked around downtown for a little bit, then ate some deep dish pizza. It was really, really good! Chicago can make some good pizza! Then we walked around a little more and stopped at a random jazz concert in the park. We didn't stay long, but we had fun just talking and hanging out.

We slept over in Jordan and Emily's hotel, and then hung out with them for a few hours till we both had to leave. It worked out pretty nice that we met up in Chicago, then we could go to the temple as well. We did an endowment and a sealing session. I love the temple. I felt really close to the Spirit, and came home with some good questions to ponder about. I really like doing two ordinances right after each other, I feel like my spiritual radar (as President Livingstone would say) functions much better when I stay for two ordinances.

Yesterday I convinced Jonathan that he didn't need to go to school on a holiday. It actually didn't take too much to convince him of that, the longer we are married, the easier it is to convince Jonathan that it's a good idea to relax on holidays. I still have a bit of work to do in other times of the year, but I think he understands how important it is for me to spend quality time with him on holidays.

He did have some homework he needed to finish up, so the first half of the day was pretty normal, but then after lunch we went shopping!!! Jonathan had gotten some birthday money from my grandma and my mom (well, the check hasn't come from my mom yet, but it's in the mail) and we decided that he desperately needed some new clothes. We stopped by Joann's first because I wanted to get supplies for a diaper bag I'm making. (I'm going to try craft sewing, and see if I like it better than sewing clothing.) We spent way more than we were anticipating... even now, thinking about how much everything cost kind of makes my stomach turn. I had planned how much the fabric was going to cost, but I forgot about all the zippers, and the interfacing, and the fusable vinal for the changing pad, and ....... grrr. Being crafty sometimes doesn't save you money.

Anyway... then the fun part came, we got to go clothes shopping for Jonathan! I just have to say, Labor day is a great day to shop at the mall (and probably a few other places too) we went to Old Navy... actually they didn't have that many sales, but then we tried a few stores that neither one of us ever step into on a regular basis, American Eagle, and Aeropostale. At American Eagle everything in the store was 40% off! Seriously??? and then at Aeropostale almost everything was 50% off, some stuff was even 60% off! So, here comes the bragging moment, we shopped for a little over an hour, and we got 6 new shirts and a pair of jeans for just a bit over $80. I was so proud of us! Jonathan even stepped out of his comfort zone a bit and got some bright colors. We only had an hour to shop because we had plans for the evening, and we were very efficient. I was so proud of us! We had a lot of fun!

Pregnancy Funnies

There have been some situations that Jonathan and I just have to laugh about! I have started a Journal of just funny things that have happened during this pregnancy. Here they are.

June:

Before I even knew I was pregnant I started loving fish. We went out to eat a couple times and each time I got something with fish and LOVED it! I don’t even like fish!

By about week 4 or 5, just barely after I found out I was pregnant, I was craving sushi. Hard core craving sushi! I told Jonathan that I kind of wanted sushi (girl language translation: I need some sushi), and he told me to try not to think about it (because I had already started getting dinner ready) that wasn't what I wanted to hear, so I tried again… “I kinda really want sushi”. After a few times of saying that, he picked up what I was putting down and offered to run to a restaurant and grab a roll for me. That’s not what I wanted to hear either, so I told him I wanted to eat sushi at a restaurant, then he offered to take me, and watch me eat. No… he needed to eat too… I told him that, and he said “do I need to get some sympathy sushi too?” at that point, I burst into tears (we had been laughing through this entire conversation) and he was a bit confused. “Are you laughing or crying?” I said I was crying, and he held me while I bawled my eyes out. This wasn’t just a few tears trickling down my face, it was a full fledged bawl baby session. The funny thing was, I couldn’t stop. I knew how ridiculous I was being, but it felt so good to cry! … Needless to say, we got sushi, and Jonathan ate something too.

July:

Earlier in the month, when I was about 6 weeks pregnant, I tried to eat some beans and rice for lunch, and they weren’t hitting the spot. At all… I told Jonathan that baby may not like beans and rice. He got this super sad look on his face and said “no, baby likes beans and rice”… he wouldn’t believe it. Every time I brought it up, he would deny it.

The other day (around July 13) we had beans and rice for dinner, with salad and cheese and ranch (basically, almost every possible thing I could add to beans and rice to disguise the flavor) and I took my first bite and found it wasn’t revolting! I expressed my surprise that it wasn’t gross and Jonathan said “I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!” he was so excited! I just had to laugh, he was so happy! I again expressed my surprise and he said “I KNEW IT! IT’S MY BABY TOO!”

August:

I am starting to get a belly on me. There was one week that I think I grew a lot. Almost each night as we were getting ready for bed I would turn to Jonathan and grab my belly and say something like; “Look! I’m getting so big!” and he would respond in the affirmative, but not as enthusiastically as I was hoping for (especially later in the week, after I had said it for a few days in a row) then I would respond “this is the biggest I have ever been!” One day Jonathan started laughing at me and said, “ya, and you’ll be even bigger tomorrow” then he said “Oh my goodness Melissa! This is the oldest I have ever been!” just to make his point. Point made… :)