Special Delivery!

Hello all!  I know...a 3 month hiatus is a bit extreme, even for me!  However, I promise I have a very good reason.

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!

I thought about posting sooner, but it was a case of my mind (and heart) being SO FULL that I just couldn't bring myself to write any of it down.  If I had started, I don't know if I would have been able to stop!  

As I've mentioned before, Bryan and I had been trying to get me pregnant since February of 2011.  Having gone off of all my RA medications back in November of 2010, we knew we only had until January of 2012 to try.  At that point, my rheumatologist really wanted me back on my meds...and as of the beginning of this past December, we were beginning to feel that was exactly what was going to happen.  In other words, we were getting a bit discouraged.  At one point, we even decided to stop trying altogether.  Obviously, that decision didn't stick lol.

On Christmas Day, I took a home pregnancy test, and it came back positive!  I'm now 13 weeks along, and we just had our first trimester screening ultrasound.  The baby looks completely healthy, and sure likes to kick and squirm!  I can't feel the movements yet, of course, but they were fun to watch on the ultrasound screen!

In another 5 weeks we'll find out for sure what we're having!  I'm just glad the baby is healthy, and glad to have made it through the first trimester.  I know I'm still very early in my pregnancy, but all signs are indicating a strong, healthy little one growing inside me!

The increase in my sense of smell is unreal, and the nausea hasn't been pleasant...but it also hasn't been too bad!  I've only thrown up once!  And this past week it finally started to get slightly better!  That said, morning sickness is a misnomer.  I get nauseous in the evenings, which has made figuring out dinners a challenge!  But that's ok...hopefully in a couple more weeks I'll be mostly nausea free and can start cooking again!

Our due date is September 2nd, but the baby will be here in August.  Because of my high risk status, my OBGyn wants to schedule an induction sometime in the second half of August, which is perfectly fine by me!  Oh, and you can bet your behind that I WILL have an epidural lol!

So, that's what's been going on with me the past few months! 

 Bryan and I are so very excited about our little one!

Menu Planning Tuesday!

Life is good!  It's been extremely busy lately, which explains the lack of posts.  However, I'm going to make a concerted effort to start posting regularly again.  Heck, I can always squeeze in a knitting post or two!  Speaking of, I'm almost done with my Gan Gan's Christmas shawl!

Other than that, Thanksgiving has come and gone.  It's strange to me that we're already at the end of November 2011.  Normally, we head to the hill country for Thanksgiving, but not this year.  I had some doctor appointments to sort out, so we stayed in town.  That's not to say we didn't still have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We celebrated with Bryan's Papa and Mimi, and Aunt Kris and the kiddos, on Wednesday night, and then we spent all day Thursday with Bouncer and Alicia and his parents!  It was a wonderful day and--thanks to Alicia--a wonderful meal!  The Aggie football game could have had a happier ending, but it was a wonderful holiday overall.

Oh, and Bryan finished painting the living room!  Now, we just have to touch up the stairwell, and paint our bedroom and bath!

Anyway, that's a brief update--on to the menu plan this week!

Breakfast:  some combination of egg, toast, fruit and/or yogurt with cottage cheese with milk

Lunch:  turkey and cheese sandwich or PBJ for me, leftovers or buying for Bryan

Dinner:

MONDAY:  We went out to eat.

TUESDAY: Grilled Shrimp Tostadas.

WEDNESDAY: Gan Gan's Meatloaf

THURSDAY: Feta and Basil Stuffed Chicken

FRIDAY:  Salad with Pan-fried Lime Chicken

SATURDAY:  Bryan has a ride, so I may or may not be on my own.  If I am--sushi!  If not, out to eat!

SUNDAY: Spaghetti with Meatballs and Garlic Bread

Knitting Up A Storm: Baby Booties!

No, they're not for me.

I have several amazing friends who have either just popped out a baby or who are about to!  I am so happy for them and their hubbies, and for the little ones who are about to enter into some pretty amazing, loving families.  To celebrate their arrival to this crazy party we call life, I bought a great knitting pattern book called Blankets, Booties and Bears by Debbie Bliss and picked out several booty patterns to attempt.

These projects were not without their challenges, especially because they were all knit on size 2 needles.  Talk about tiny knitting needles!  Also, these were my first attempts at baby booties, and as such, incorporated my first attempts at several knitting techniques.  But it was so much fun to watch these projects grow and come together!

The first set was a pair of purple and pink booties for Kaz and Ron's Eva, who should make her appearance towards the very end of the year!

 The second pair of booties were little blue boots for Arena and James's Andrew, who arrived a bit ahead of schedule.  He's growing and getting stronger every day and sure is a cutie!

The second set of booties was actually two pairs of cute little boots!  Melissa and Dustin are welcoming twin girls this coming January!  I didn't want to make anything "matchy matchy", so I reversed the colors instead!

If the babies get their daddies' feet, then these will fit right away!  If not, they might have to grow into them.  But either way, these booties will keep their little toes all nice and cozy!

Menu Planning Wednesday!

Hello y'all! I promise there are posts in the works that have nothing to do with menu planning. There's a knitting project post and a life update post and a friends post and a faith post. But all of that has to wait until I can actually type on a keyboard again instead of playing hunt-and-peck on the IPad's touchscreen. Yes, the RA is still that bad. But things could still be worse! And let me just say I am so grateful for the blessing that is my wonderful husband. Anyway, here's this week's menu plan.
Breakfast: eggs w/ toast, yogurt w/ fruit
Lunch: Ham and Cheese Sandwich or leftovers
Dinner:
Wednesday: Feta and Basil Stuffed Chicken
Thursday: Fettuccine w/ Alfredo Sauce and Immitation Crab Meat
Friday: Big Salad w/ Lime Chicken Tenders
Saturday: Leftovers or out to eat
Sunday: Spaghetti and Meatballs w/ Garlic Bread

Menu Planning Monday!!!

I'm posting this from my hubby's IPad! Why? Well, I am SUPER-flared today and can't type on an actual keyboard. Heck, even this touchscreen is really hard because of my silly elbows. Gah. However, it is Monday and that means I need to menu plan! After all, I can't slack off only a week after determining to get back in the swing of things! Now, I have to admit that we ended up going out to eat several times last week with friends who were in from out of town, which means I will recycle most of my plan from last week. Also, this is going to be a pretty short post...I really don't know how long I can make my hands cooperate. On that note, here's the plan! Breakfast:  I have finally discovered Greek yogurt! I live the Chiobani in particular. That's breakfast, along with some fresh fruit! Lunch:  sometimes sushi, sometimes sandwich, sometimes a wrap Dinner: MONDAY:  Salad with Pan-fried Lime Chicken (we didn't have it last week) TUESDAY: Feta and Basil Stuffed Chicken WEDNESDAY: Rigatoni with Tomato, Basil and Olive Sauce THURSDAY:  Grilled Shrimp Tostadas FRIDAY:  Macaroni and Cheese with Carmalized Onions and (maybe) Ham Chunks SATURDAY:  Leftovers SUNDAY:  Spaghetti and Meatballs with Garlic Bread

Menu Planning Monday! Getting Back To It!

My Aggie Football Menu Planning post aside, I've really been slacking on my menu planning.

Bad stay-at-home wife, bad!  Lol.

Honestly, I've been suffering from cooking burnout--and since we don't have a kiddo yet, I just decided to take a hiatus.  We've been eating out quite a bit.  However, it's time to get back up on the cooking horse.

Why?

Well, my wonderful hubby has informed me that he misses my cooking!  I didn't realize that my cooking was good enough to miss!  Add that to the fact that I've been watching our food budget slowly creep up the past couple of months...yeah, it's definitely time to start menu planning and cooking once again!

I'm actually writing this post this past Friday (hello future self!), mostly because I've got plenty of time today to really look at recipes and try to liven up my routine dinner choices.  So, anyway, on to the menu plan for this week!

Breakfast:  some combination of egg, toast, fruit and/or yogurt with cottage cheese with milk

Lunch:  turkey and cheese sandwich or PBJ for me, leftovers or buying for Bryan

Dinner:

MONDAY:  Chicken with Creamy Mushrooms and Peas

TUESDAY: Sit and Stitch!  I'll pick something up on the way.

WEDNESDAY: Rigatoni with Tomato, Basil and Olive Sauce

THURSDAY:  Grilled Shrimp Tostadas

FRIDAY:  Salad with Pan-fried Lime Chicken

SATURDAY:  Bryan has a ride, so I may or may not be on my own.  If I am--sushi!  If not, out to eat!

SUNDAY:  Macaroni and Cheese with Carmalized Onions and (maybe) Ham Chunks

Small Rant: That Would Have Been Good to Know

Let me start off by saying life is fantastic!

My husband is wonderful and supportive, my pups are (pretty) good dogs, and I've got amazing friends.

We might not be pregnant yet, but we still have three more months to try (including this one), and I've been feeling very positive about the whole thing the past couple of days.

OK, now onto the rant.  As I mentioned in my Sharing The Journey post, there have been several surprises on this whole ride towards (hopefully) parenthood.  And they're starting to kinda piss me off.  

So, here's my list of things it would have been good to know:

1) Long-term methotrexate use can lead to hormonal issues and infertility.  Which IS listed in the side effects roll call, but apparently this is NOT one of the side effects that reverse after MTX is out of your system.

That would have been good to know.

2) Long-term NSAID use has a high correlation with LUFS.  This supposedly self-corrects once the NSAIDS are out of your system, but you have to KNOW to stop taking them.

That would have been good to know.

3) Texas does not legally require insurance companies to cover IVF--so they don't.  At all.  Even when the same insurance company offers a policy that DOES cover IVF in another state.

That would have been good to know.

4) My insurance only actually covered Clomid treatment and monitoring until the dose made me ovulate.  This is referred to as the "testing" period.  Now, we're on our own.

That would have been good to know.

5) OK, so I already knew this from dealing with my RA meds, but it bears repeating:  ALWAYS check the list of covered medications and check which ones need prior approval BEFORE going to the pharmacy to fill the prescription. 

Whew.  I feel better now.  Thanks for listening.

And now it's time to clean this place up and figure out dinner for tonight--Bouncer and Alicia are coming over!  Yay!