OUR MENU + THE NEW THM COOKBOOK

I'm just eleven days away from my due date!  I can't believe that at any moment I could go into labor!!!  This pregnancy has gone by so fast!  I was kind of hoping I might go into labor from pushing the grocery cart around this morning but no such luck :)  I did treat myself though while I was out today at Kroger and bought the new Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook!  Ah.  I'm so excited to look over the whole book and to try some of the delicious looking recipes.  I've been needing some inspiration so hopefully I can find some time to make a few new things before little man arrives.  If not, they will have to wait a bit.  

I'm making this a short post because I really want to get my hospital bag packed before the little ones wake up.  Liam doesn't normally nap but he wasn't feeling himself today and crashed out on me on the couch this afternoon.  So he's laying in his bed right now resting and Alanna is asleep.  So here is our menu plan for the week assuming Jude doesn't come but who knows???  This menu might be thrown to the wind in the next few days!  

Friday:  Dentist Appt for boys 11AM & Small Group 6:30PM

B- Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats (Crossover from the peanut butter)  

L- Chick-fil-a (The boys have a dentist appointment at 11 so by the time we get out of there they will be starving and the office is 35 minutes from my house so we'll be eating out.)

D-  Leftover Broccoli Soup (S)

Saturday:  Grocery Shopping & Nathan's parents coming to visit.

B- Me: THM Pancakes with greek yogurt & raspberry jelly (E) (from freezer) Kids:  Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes with maple syrup (from freezer)

L-  Me: Apple Pecan Salad Kids: PB & Jelly, apples  

D- Homemade Pizza & Salad (E)

Sunday:  *Church

B- Breakfast Casserole  (S)

L- Alfredo over dreamfields pasta, peas (S)

D-  ChocolateBanana Bread, Shake (E)

Monday:  * Soccer Practice

B- Me: Muffin in a mug  (S) Kids: Whole Wheat Banana Muffins  

L- Me: Turkey & cheese roll ups , fruit & yogurt  (E)  Kids:  PB & Jelly, fruit

D- Taco Soup (E) 

*This recipe was a huge hit with my family! 

Tuesday:  *Field Trip

B- Scrambled Eggs with cheddar cheese, fruit (S)

L-  Me:  Tuna fish wrap (E) Kids:  Tuna fish sandwiches, fruit

D-  Chicken, Egg, Veggie, Noodle Soup  (S) 

*I'll try to write up the recipe to this later next week since this is my own recipe. 

Wednesday:

B- Me: Trim Healthy Mama Pancakes (E)  Kids: Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

L- Leftover  Chicken Soup (S)

D- Chicken tacos/salad

Thursday  *My Dad's Birthday

B- Overnight Oatmeal (E)

L- Broccoli Soup (S)

D-  Baked Chicken, sweet potatoes (E)

Friday: *Small Group

B- Ham & Cheese Omelets (S)

L- Me:  Chef Salad (S) Kids:  PB & Jelly, carrots & ranch

D- Sloppy Joes

*Our snacks usually consists of:

Air-popped popcorn, yogurt, fruit, nuts, cheese, smoothies or shakes, etc.  If we are out somewhere I will give the kids easy snacks like pretzels or goldfish.  When we're at home I don't typically give them those types of snacks.  

*Desserts:

-Coconut Flour Rolled "Sugar Cookies" *The kids have been asking to use our new fall cookie cutters.  Normally I would make cream cheese sugar cookies but then I end up eating WAY too many of them and wishing I hadn't.  So I've been on the search for a recipe I can enjoy as well.  I'm going to try this well.  If they don't like it, I'll let them make the regular recipe but I'm hoping I will like this one so I have something I can enjoy quilt free. 

-Old Fashioned Apple Pie.  *I've been wanting to make this since last fall but never gave it a try.  If Jude doesn't make his arrival this weekend I'm hoping to make it.  I love my normal apple pie recipe but it uses regular flour and I'm really wanting to find one I like that doesn't use white flour. 

-Pumpkin Cream Pie. 

38 WEEKS

October 7, 2015

 
Weeks pregnant: 38
Weight gained: 38 pounds.  I weigh 150. 

Gender:  Boy.
Maternity clothes:  Yes.  I took all of my regular winter clothes out of the shed and tried on one of my sweaters.  It definitely would not fit over my belly.  

Sleep: Sleep is ok until a braxton hicks contraction hits.  The past few nights I've been waking up screaming (cause I was screaming at someone in my dream).  Maybe the pain from the contraction is causing me to have bad dreams and then waking me up.  My back pain at night is also pretty intense right now.  I had a nightmare about going into labor last night.  I dreamed that I was in labor but then my labor stopped and they were forcing me into a csection and I was screaming and crying.  It was not a fun dream.

Best moment in the past two weeks:  I think enjoying the nice cooler weather with the kids has been pretty wonderful.  The heat was really getting to me and now that it's cooled off some, we've been able to be outside a lot more.  The air feels so fresh and clean and we are just loving spending time out in it.  

Worst moment in the past month:  About two weeks ago I had a physical issue arise due to the pregnancy and it was very painful and difficult to deal with.  It's still not totally resolved but the pain has subsided some.  

Miss anything:  I think I'm really missing being able to sit, stand, run, walk, breathe normally right now.  My belly is so big and I get dizzy pretty easy so I'm ready to get myself back to "normal" (whatever that may be lol) so that I can run around with the kids again and have more energy for my husband. 

Movement: Yes!  We have seen his hands and feet pushing out so hard on my belly.  It's pretty awesome. 

Cravings: No cravings.  I just get fuller faster since my belly is so big.  

Queasy or sick: No.   But I've been gaining weight kind of swiftly the past few weeks so I guess I'm eating too much!

Looking forward to:  Yay we're finally going apple picking tomorrow.  We couldn't go Saturday because it was raining.  This is one of my favorite things to do each year so I'm really really excited about it.  Maybe the hills will bring little man out a few days early :)  

And other news...

I had my 38 week appointment with my midwife on Monday.  I found out she's on vacation from tomorrow until the 26th!  Which means she will not be there for Jude's birth.  I was devastated.  She felt so bad though and said she had thought she had planned her vacation during a time when she wouldn't miss a lot of births and then realized she would be missing mine.  She gave me her cell phone number though and told me to let her know when I go into labor.  That helped me feel better but I had hoped so bad she would be the one to deliver Jude.  She's amazing.  She hugged me for like  5 minutes before I left and was just encouraging me.  She's become like a friend to me and I'm so thankful to have found a midwife center that is so wonderful.  

I also realized tonight that I still haven't written up my birth plan that was supposed to be turned in last week Oops!  I better get on that soon.  And I still haven't packed my hospital bag.  So I'm planning on working on both of those things this weekend.  I'm so busy the next few days I'm not sure if I can get to them before Friday afternoon.  If little man decides to come before then, I will be rushing around the house packing I guess.  I plan on doing a post on "what's in my hospital bag" soon as well.  

I'm almost done with my freezer cooking meals.  All the dinners are done and two of the items on my breakfasts list are done.  I have a few batches of muffins to make and some banana bread.  I'll be writing up a post on that as well pretty soon.  

We spent my 38th week day doing school and having some fun at the park.  Here are some of my favorite images of the day.  

Well I'm off to catch some sleep since tomorrow's a busy day of apple picking and then Ruy's soccer game that evening.  

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

MY MENU PLAN & FREEZER COOKING LIST

It's been raining here for almost an entire week.  We're all pretty over it.  I was especially over it today since Ruy's soccer game had to get cancelled and we had to cancel our trip to the apple orchard to go apple picking.  Instead of all that fun stuff, I spent my morning grocery shopping in the rain with three kids.  And then went home and spent two hours freezer cooking for after Jude is born.  As sad as I was about not getting to go to Ruy's game and the orchard...I did get a lot done with the freezer cooking which was really important so I am very thankful for that. 

Here is what my freezer cooking list looks like. I wrote this list planning on making double of each recipe to get 20 meals.  I crossed out what I got done today.  I plan on getting the rest of the dinners done tomorrow and then working on the breakfasts later this week.  When I get it all finished I'll do a post with all the recipes, pictures, and my thoughts on how it all went :)  Please let me know if that is something you're interested in. 

Dinners

1Taco Soup

2Spaghetti

3 Lemon Chicken

4Chili

5Chicken Fajitas

6BBQ Chicken

7Slow Cooker Meatball Veggie Soup

8 Black Bean Soup

    9White Chicken Chili

1 0Cheeseburger Pie

Breakfasts:

1 Banana Bread

2 Banana Muffins

3Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

4Pumpkin Muffins

5Whole What Banana Pancakes

  6Trim Healthy Mama Pancakes 

 Grocery shopping wasn't too bad today even though it was raining because thankfully it was just misting.  If it had been pouring I might have been a bit overwhelmed.  I kept the kids occupied in Sam's by letting them snack on Goldfish the whole time!  Sometimes you do what you have to do. Kroger didn't go as smoothly as Sam's Club but we made it out alright :)  We headed to Chick-fil-a afterwards and Alanna said Chick-fil-a for the first time.  We pulled in to the parking lot and she said "te-tu-la!"  Proud.Mommy.Moment. haha.  

And just for fun here is a picture of my baby bump this week & my sweet pea helping me cook.  This is her new favorite place to be when I'm cooking.  She says "seat" and points to the counter. 

Hope you find my menu plan helpful and I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday tomorrow!!

Friday:  Small Group 6:30PM

B- Egg & Ham tacos (S)

L- Me:  Apple Pecan Salad Kids: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Raisons

D-  Bean, Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas (S) (I used a very small amount of beans on these to keep it an S)

Saturday:

B- Me:  Muffin In A Mug with Cream Cheese Frosting (S) Kids:  Whole Wheat Banana Muffins   

L-  Chick-fil-a (Cheat)

D- Homemade Pizza & Salad (E)

Sunday:  *Church

B- Apple Overnight Oatmeal (E)

L- Alfredo over dreamfields pasta, Peas (S)

D-  "Snack Dinner" Turkey Pepperoni, String Cheese, Fruit, Popcorn (E)

Monday:  *Midwife Appt & Soccer Practice

B- Me: Muffin in a mug  (S) Kids: Whole Wheat Banana Muffins  

L- Me: Turkey & cheese sandwich on sprouted wholewheat bread, fruit (E)  Kids:  PB & Jelly, fruit

D- Taco Soup (E) 

*I'll be leaving the corn out of this recipe. 

Tuesday:  

B- Scrambled Eggs with cheddar cheese, yogurt w/ fruit (S)

L-  Leftover Taco Soup (E)

D-  Pizza & Salad (E)

Wednesday: *Awanas 6:30pm

B- Me: Trim Healthy Mama Pancakes (E)  Kids: Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

L- Broccoli Soup (S)

D- Taco Pizza (S) 

*My whole family loves this pizza and it's super easy to make. 

Thursday *Soccer Practice

B-  Cake Batter Overnight Oatmeal (E)

L- Turkey & Cheese Paninis, yogurt with fruit (E)

D-  Leftover Broccoli Soup (S)

Friday: *Small Group

B- Ham & Cheese Omelets (S)

L- Me:  Chef Salad (S) Kids:  PB & Jelly, carrots & ranch

D- Mexican Casserole 

*I believe this would be a crossover meal from the beans/chips and then the cheddar cheese.  But I really wanted to try it out. 

*Our snacks usually consists of:

Air-popped popcorn, yogurt, fruit, nuts, cheese, smoothies or shakes, etc.  If we are out somewhere I will give the kids easy snacks like pretzels or goldfish.  When we're at home I don't typically give them those types of snacks.   

*Desserts:

The kids want to make some sugar cookies using the new fall cookie cutters I bought.   Looking for a recipe that is on plan though so I can enjoy them too :)  I'm also going to try to make an on plan pumpkin pie. 

IT'S BABY MONTH + A LITTLE BIT OF OUR WEEK

Yesterday was the first day of October which means....It's Baby Month!!!

I can't believe that Jude is due 19 days.  I have so many things that I still need to get done before he arrives.  Here is my "to do" list. 

1.  Deep Clean House (I've done both bathrooms so far)

2.  Go through the kids clothes and put clothes in totes

3.  Make a Good Will run

4.  Buy the last few items that Jude needs

5.  Make freezer meals

6.  Pack hospital bag

7.  Clean & vacuum the van

8. Do a DIY project for Alanna's room

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things but I think that list is going to keep me pretty busy for now.

The freezer meals and deep cleaning are pretty time consuming and hard to get done along with home-schooling, but I'm really hoping to have it all done by the end of next week.  I function so much better in a really clean organized house and I know I will love having some meals in the freezer once Jude gets here. 

The past week I've been dealing with a physical issue caused by the pregnancy and it's been pretty painful.  I won't go into details about it because it's not anything that most people want to chat about so I'll spare you all that.  But it's made this last week a little challenging and I'm really ready to have Jude and work on getting better.  

We've had a lot of rain here this week so we've spent a lot of time inside.  I think all of us are ready for the rain to stop so we can enjoy some much needed outside time.  We were supposed to go to the apple orchard tomorrow but that is most certainly not happening now.  I'm so bummed.  I'm hoping we can go one day next week.  

This week Liam sneaked out of the house for the first time.  Yes, I agree...he's a little young for that :)  He was in quiet time the other day and I had his window open letting some fresh air in.  I was paying bills and all of a sudden I hear the front glass door open.  I knew I hadn't heard Nathan's truck pull in the driveway so I wondered who on earth it could be?  Then I could tell it was a child messing with the front door knob.  I opened the door and Liam was standing there in his Buzz Lightyear costume that I just bought him.  (He's in love with it and wears it almost every day) I said to him "Liam what are you doing outside and how did you get out here?"  He said "I went out the front door!"  I told him he did not because I was sitting there by the door the whole time.  He finally said he opened the screen and went out the window!  Never.a.dull.moment with my little Liam! 

Ruy had Crazy Hair Night at Awanas this past Wednesday.  I totally forgot about it until about 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon when Ruy came up to me while I was folding his laundry and said "Oh Mom don't forget it's Crazy Hair Night!"  AH!!!  I quickly got all the kids together, threw them in the van, and rushed up to the hair store to buy some hair glue for his hair.  Nathan did his hair while I got the kids dinner and then we rushed out the door to get him to Awanas on time.  I could not believe I completely forgot about it!  But it all worked out despite my forgetfulness.  Ruy loved his hair and he said everyone else thought it looked pretty cool as well.  

The kids have been trying to find ways to burn off some energy through all this rain we've been having.  Thank goodness for our big front porch.  At least they can still have somewhere to "run" just a little bit.  The boys have been sword fighting on the front porch the past two days while Alanna just runs back and forth and watches them.  She tried to sneak down into the rain a few times as well.  

 

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!!