What I've Been Reading Lately

Pregnancy has literally zapped my energy and after a day at work I am beat. My usual active, perky self has turned into a bookworm. Here are a few books I have read lately that I would highly recommend...

1. "Radical" by David Platt

2. "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey

3. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J.K. Rowling

4. "Unveiled" by Francine Rivers

5."Same Kind of Different As Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

22 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 22 weeks and 5 days

Size of baby: Baby McDaniel is around 1lb. and is the length of a small squash

Gender: A sweet baby BOY!

Movement: This baby is very active. I feel him usually in the morning and right when I go to bed. Sometimes he'll keep me up at night just kicking away. Roy has been able to feel him too and it is just incredible.

Sleep: Sleep has been much better. I am feeling well rested, but need many hours of sleep. I guess I better enjoy that now.

What I Miss: Fitting into regular clothes. I am making the transition to maternity clothes and nothing fits me. I still miss exercising more than you know. It will take me forever to get back into the shape I was pre-baby. I am already making plans for a mega boot camp after this baby! I miss feeling "normal" and like myself. This baby has just taken over.

Cravings: Good southern cooking! Last week I really wanted country fried steak with mashed potatoes, mac 'n cheese, and corn bread.

Symptoms: I still get nauseous, but not very often. A few times during the day I won't feel very well, but it usually goes away. I am very sleepy ... all of the time. My belly itches often and I am assuming it is because it is every growing :) I am steadily gaining weight and climbing to numbers I am not excited about. I have gained about 14 lbs so far. Yikes!

Best Moment this Week: I got to see my sister for the last time until she welcomes a sweet new baby. It has been such a treat to be pregnant at the same time. We always WANTED it to happen that way, but never planned for it to turn out this way. I love my sister and am thrilled that she will be the mommy of a precious little blessing. I love feeling her little angel moving around in her tummy. I can't wait to meet my new niece/nephew!!

Bonnie's Baby Shower

I saw my sister this weekend for the last time until she has her baby (she is due Sept. 1st). We are all on pins and needles waiting, especially since we don't know whether she is having a boy or a girl. What a sweet surprise! She is almost 38 weeks pregnant and we are ready to meet this little bundle of joy.

This past weekend she had a baby shower in our hometown of Port St. Joe, FL and it was wonderful! The hostesses did such an amazing job with the decorations and yummy snacks. It was such a treat. Our family is so blessed with such wonderful people in our lives!

I still can't believe we are having babies so close!! 15 weeks apart.

The "mom -to -be" with the hostesses. The shower was lovely!

Opening gifts

What a cute diaper cake!!

Loving Paula Deen!

With an incredibly tight budget since marriage (almost 3 years!), cooking has always been a challenge. Roy and I have to eat cheap and usually what is cheap isn't always healthy. I prefer to eat fairly healthy (can't deny my sweet tooth!) but have found cooking healthy on our grocery budget next to impossible. Praise the Lord that we have never gone hungry and that Roy has NEVER once complained about my cooking. I am sure he has thought many things to himself about my lack of cooking abilities, but I am getting better.

Once seminary is over hopefully our grocery budget will grow so I will be able to cook actual meals more often. We can only eat so many pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches :)

The other day I had some time on my hands so I whipped up a dinner menu and decided to put a few Paula Deen recipes to the test. I surprised Roy with some yummy beef stroganoff over egg noodles with a little side salad. He was indeed impressed and it wasn't difficult to make!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb cubed round steak, cut into thin strips
House Seasoning to taste
all purpose flour
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, sliced
8 ounce fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can beef broth
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream
cooked egg noodles

Directions

Season the steak strips with House Seasoning, then dust with flour. In a large skillet, quickly brown them on both sides in the olive oil and butter. Remove the steak from the pan. Add the onion slices and mushrooms to the pan drippings. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is tender. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour. Put the steak back into the pan with the onion and mushrooms. Add the mushroom soup and beef broth. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, covered. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding salt and pepper, as needed. Stir in the sour cream the last few minutes, right before you serve. Serve over cooked noodles.

For dessert I made Paula Deen's Chocolate Chip Pound Cake and holy moly it was awesome!

Sea Bands

My pregnancy has been incredibly challenging. My first trimester was awful. I was nauseous all of the time and all I could do to ease the pain was try to sleep, which I did as much as I could. I am beginning to feel much better, with occasional throwing up (nice, right?), nausea, and headaches. I finally told my doctor I needed SOMETHING to help me deal with the sickness, especially with school beginning again very soon. He was very hesitant to give me any medication, considering I am not throwing up all day everyday. I could not agree more, but still needed something to help me cope with the constant sickness.

He suggested Sea Bands.

The moment he said it I knew they were bogus. They are these bands you wear around your wrists. They look like sweatbands and are far from trendy, but I am sporting them with no shame. Through the use of pressure points on your wrist they can naturally relieve most nausea symptoms, including those that come with pregnancy. I really wasn't buying the idea, but for $7 I figured I would give them a chance. I wear them 24/7, even to sleep. I am convinced they are working! It is crazy. Maybe I have mentally convinced myself that "I need my Sea Bands" in order to function without feeling sick, but I really haven't been sick in about a week. It is amazing!

Let the fun begin...

We are seriously on cloud 9 since the ultrasound tech told us we were having a BOY! Roy and I can't stop talking about our precious baby. We decided to register a few days ago. We wanted to do this together and I knew if it was anything like doing our wedding registry, Roy would have a blast. He just loves scanning anything and everything with that gun!

I am overwhelmed with the thought of being a mother and registering was icing on the cake. I had no idea what I needed or how much of what I needed. I guess I will just figure this thing out as we go. Thankfully, my sister is 15 weeks ahead of me so as she is learning about motherhood she can pass things on to me. It is very exciting though!

You can view our registry here: http://www.target.com/registry/baby/SAKLQXM28UXE

I am ready for the next 20 weeks to fly by! My clothes don't fit anymore which is incredibly depressing. I am trying to slowly transition into maternity clothes. They are super hard to find at thrift stores though. I am working on my maternity, loose fitting clothes wardrobe. Fashion has never been my thing so thinking of trying to be fashionable in maternity clothes is just not happening. I will be in survival mode for the next 4 1/2 months.

I rearranged my closet to put the things I know can fit into easily together. With work getting ready to start up again, this should be interesting. I can't wear t-shirts and Nike shorts like I have been all summer.