All Natural

I feel like such a cheapskate at times. Cheapskate in the sense that I love a good bargain and I do everything I can to save a buck or two.

I have a confession to make. I'm not using cloth diapers on Anna to help keep disposables out of landfills and save the environment. It's great and all but the real reason is so I don't have to spend $20 buying diapers each week. I'm also not making Anna's baby food just because it's healthier...gasp! I feel horrible just typing these words. It's amazing that I haven't had to buy one jar of baby food yet because I've given her food we already eat (bananas, avocados, and brown rice). And it's so easy!--well so far. Maybe I'll cave after she begins eating a wider variety of foods but for now I'm thankful I can throw what we already have into our little Ninja food processor, save a few bucks, and know it's the best we can give her. That's the thing I love about introducing foods to Anna, the best foods we can give her are the cheapest! Why wouldn't I do this for her? Why wouldn't I give her the best? Why wouldn't I save money? Some may say it takes longer than just popping open a jar. And they'd be correct. But like I said in my second sentence above, I'll do everything I can to save a buck or two and that means I'll take a little time to prepare Anna's food knowing it saves money plus it's better for her. All I see in front of me is a win-win!

Since Anna's only 6 months old we're just now introducing solids to her. She's had bananas (come to find out she doesn't like them at all! No more Anna Banana **sad face**), avocados (which she loves!), and brown rice (we're still on the fence). This week I'll be introducing pears which I'm hoping she'll just gobble down. I've been reading Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron who shares everything you need to know about feeding your baby including age appropriate foods, offering a balanced diet, and recipes. It's been a great resource as we begin this new stage with Anna. After reading some of Yaron's tips and advice I'm realizing that not only does it save money preparing Anna's food it really is the best option for promoting a healthy life. And that makes this Mama happy!

Super Porridge from brown rice with avocado (brown rice makes 3 servings)
1. Measure a cup of water on the stove to boil.
2. Measure 1/4 cup of brown rice into blender. Grind it very well, for about 2 minutes.
3. When the cup of water starts to boil on the stove, turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Sprinkle the ground rice into the water while stirring briskly with a wire whisk. Cover the pot and keep it over low heat for about 10 minutes. Stir frequently with the whisk to prevent scorching on the bottom and to remove lumps.
4. After letting the cereal cook over low for 10 minutes, it's ready.

Wait, it was that easy?! YES!!

I make Super Porridge the night before and store in the refrigerator in individual serving bowls (it lasts for 2-3 days). In the morning I pop a bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds, add Anna's vitamin D, and it's ready to eat! For a little flavoring I add avocado--and hopefully later this week pears.

Preparing and freezing avocado
Take a sharp knife and cut avocado in half crosswise so that you have two "cups". Remove the huge seed. Use a spoon to scoop out flesh from peel and place on a flat dish. Use a fork to mash flesh on dish. Spoon into ice cube trays and pat flat with your clean fingers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Serving size: 1/2 to 1 food cube every day. When ready to serve pop a cube out and into the microwave for 20 seconds. Then I stir the avocado into the super porridge for a yummy breakfast for Anna!

Wow! Super easy, super healthy, super cheap! Now that's my kind of meal :)

I'd love to hear what you've served your little one! What are your favorite recipes?

This Pineapple was on a Babymoon!

Miss me!?

Actually, you were probably relieved that you got a week without me bogging down your inbox, bloglovin', or Facebook newsfeed! The only person who might have missed me is my Mom, ha!

So where have I been all week? You ask...well, there's this new thing that new parents go on called a "babymoon". It's the last vacation before baby gets here. When I first heard of this idea I knew we had to go on a babymoon since we didn't really have a honeymoon (downfall of getting married at 19 and in college).

So we've been on Amelia Island, Florida for the past week, soaking up the rays, living it up in the waves, eating, eating, and more eating, and talking non-stop about the little one who will change our lives forever in less than 2 months! Rafts, coolers, and beach umbrellas are the greatest inventions when it comes spending hours on the beach. Seriously, I don't know how we lived without these things before!

Since we were without the internet (it was actually really nice not being plugged in 24/7) I wasn't able to post my weekly update (again, my mom is probably the only one who wondered why it never showed up on Wednesday). We still took my weekly picture on Wednesday even though this post is a few days late, and I've included some other pictures of our amazing week. Enjoy!

How far along? 31 Weeks

Total weight gain: 26 lbs

Maternity clothes? Most of the time 

Stretch marks? Nope 

Sleep: Most nights are ok but I get those occasional few throughout the week where I’m wide awake, I have to pee 5 times, and/or I can’t get comfortable!

Best moment this week: BABYMOON!!!

Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night

Movement: Several times throughout the day…now it’s beginning to hurt!

Food cravings: Nada

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender: GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks—they’re starting to worry me, she is ok, right?

Symptoms: Back and rib pain, Braxton Hicks, peeing, shortness of breath, memory lapse, clumsiness

Belly Button in or out? Outie!

Wedding rings on or off? It's on but getting tight!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Working on the nursery this week (and I’m being for real this time, something will get done!)

The sunsets are breathtaking!

We loved Arte's Pizza so much that we ended up eating there Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! A little ridiculous, I know, but we couldn't get enough! 

The Crab Trap was delicious! We shared crab legs and shrimp, my favorite :)

We did a little perusing around downtown and ran across a quaint little shop that sold candles...check out the scent of this candle! It actually smelled really good! ha!

We ate lunch at T-Ray's Burger Station (at one time was a gas station--looks kind of sketch, eh?) and was voted best burger in Florida! It got my vote! 

 We ate breakfast one morning at the Parkway Grille which had Uh-Mazing pancakes! 

A HUGE Thank You goes out to my Aunt June and her husband Rick for graciously allowing us to stay in their vacation home on Amelia Island for the week! Your generosity means the world to us!

Ruta-whata? and Father's Day Surprises

Have I mentioned that my sister, Emily, will be attending college at UNC-Charlotte come this fall, which is less than 20 minutes away from us?! This is such exciting news! Besides the fact that she'll be so close to us while the rest of my family lives 7 hours away, I now get to have another sister live by me while she attends college--Stefanie lived less than a mile from me while she attended Anderson University in Indiana. This makes my heart so happy! And having a very special aunt who will love her and spoil her makes Juice Drop very happy too :) I'm so excited that my family is here in Charlotte this week while Emily attends orientation! On Thursday we'll all head down to our old vacation spot in Ft. Myers, Florida for some much needed family time and sprucing up Grandma's house to rent out. Here's to hoping 11 hours in a car will all be worth it!

How far along? 27 weeks 

Total weight gain: last week's appointment was 19 lbs but I'm SURE I've gained a few more pounds since then

Maternity clothes? Most of the time

Stretch marks? No :)

Sleep: Good, not great 

Best moment this week: Celebrating Father's Day with my baby's Daddy :) even though it led to major Braxton Hicks--see below, and my family getting into town and being able to feel Juice Drop!

Miss Anything? Being able to hike 5 miles with ease

Movement: Yep! And she did this crazy move the other day where I felt like my stomach was having a seizure--read that it was hiccups :)

Food cravings: Junk, junk, and more junk!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Gender: GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: Crazy Braxton Hicks! see below

Symptoms: Rib pain after eating and when sitting too long, heartburn, back pain started up this week and it's not fun at all, have I mentioned Braxton Hicks? 

Belly Button in or out? Outie 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very Happy! 

Looking forward to: Spending the week with my family in Florida! This will be the first time I've visited where I grew up going on vacation in 8 years and I'm so happy Travis gets to go and experience the Vinsel family traditions :)

Father's Day was very special this year. Even though our Juice Drop isn't here just yet, we still celebrated Travis being a first time Daddy. I planned out the whole day full of surprises complete with a french toast breakfast, a hike at Crowders Mountain State Park, and finally a fancy dinner at Basil Thai Cuisine--Travis' new love is pad thai :)

Eye spy with my little eye something camouflaged with the branch! Do you see it?

Let me just say, going on a 5 mile hike at 6 1/2 months pregnant is probably not the best idea. I thought I would be fine, you know, drink plenty of water, take my time, stop to pee if I had to--there was no chance of that with all the traffic along the trails, so I ended up having to hold my pee for 4 hours!

About half way through we took another trail back because we heard it was about a mile shorter--thank God!

Above: this is my face when I had to go to pee within the first mile of the hike
Below: this is my face when I thought about all the steps I was going to have to climb at our half way point--about 3 hours in

Can we just talk for a minute about Braxton Hicks and the fact that I thought I was going to go into pre-term labor right there in the middle of the forest? So after researching I learned that I pretty much did everything I could to bring on these wonderful false labor contractions. This is what I found from thebump.com:

How did I get Braxton Hicks contractions?

They’re just a normal part of pregnancy. The tightness you feel in your uterus during a Braxton Hicks contraction comes from the tensing of the muscles in your uterus. Being really active, a full bladder, sex and dehydration can all trigger Braxton Hicks contractions.

Ok, so check, check, check, and uh, yep, check...I wasn't too concerned until I was still having these quite frequently on Monday as well. I thought about calling my doctor but after I took a chill pill, put my feet up, and drank about a gallon of water the contractions started to mellow out. I would have to say I learned my lesson and will not be taking any strenuous hikes until after Juice Drop arrives! Phew!

We were almost too pooped after the hike to go to dinner. Travis later told me if it wouldn't have been a surprise he would've rather stayed home but after finding out where we were going and that this restaurant offered his new favorite delicacy he was all in. What a great ending to a perfect rousing day!  

Next week I venture into the 3rd Trimester!!!

P.S. What's a rutabega?! ;)

Our First DIY Project

We did it! We completed our first ever DIY home project, and I'd have to say it came out a success! Travis loves anything that allows him to be creative, whether it's designing, drawing, building, and even decorating, yes, decorating :) He made our first bed frame and headboard as a wedding gift, which was then sold at a yard sale a few years later--still a little bitter, let's not talk about it. But this project, this was our first that we did together! Ok, maybe he did most of the work along with a few kids from the neighborhood, and I was there for moral support and to hold the pieces of wood together while he drilled. Travis had been wanting to make a dining table for a long time. He was so excited to create and build a center piece where so many people gather to fellowship and eat. He knew exactly what he wanted it to look like and couldn't wait to begin. Once all the materials were bought, it only took us a weekend to complete--pretty impressive for us!

What we used:

*Wood (spruce) planks from Lumberyard (two pieces of 2" x 10" x 16' boards): $24
           -we cut each 16' board to make two 6' pieces and used the extra 4' for shelves

*Smaller wood planks from Lumberyard (two pieces of 1" x 4" x 36"): $8
           -these boards were cut to 27" and are used to hold the four top pieces together

*Legs from Ikea: $12 (at $3 each)

*Black paint: $4

*Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane: $12

*2" Wood Screws: $3

*Power sander or hand sander

*Fine Sanding Block

*Mineral Spirits

*Power drill

*Not that this is required to make a table but we got our chairs from Ikea for $14 each

How much we spent: around $65

How long it took: 3-4 hours (not including waiting for polyurethane to dry)

How we did it:

Travis hand sanded (poor guy) the the boards.

He applied polyurethane to keep the natural look of the wood and painted the smaller boards black.

We screwed the legs into the two outside pieces (on the bottom--do I really have to clarify that? lol).

We laid the four boards together side by side (top of table facing down).  The two black smaller boards were placed at each end perpendicular to the large boards (not quite touching the legs).

We drilled the smaller boards to the large boards with four screws per large board to secure.

We flipped the table over and ...

Blim Blam! We have ourselves a dining table!

Who's ready for dinner? :)

A Vintage Baby Shower

Last Sunday the MAI women celebrated Heather and her baby girl with a beautiful Vintage Baby Shower. Kari and I hosted this fun afternoon, and besides the food, we did not have to buy one decoration! We actually had random stuff laying around our houses that when put together had the vintage feel. 

Beautiful, glowing Mama!

Gift table with a place to write special and encouraging notes to Heather

Food Table!!! Kari prepared a delicious spread with baked brie, spinach and cheese pastries, mini chocolate cupcakes, and strawberry whoopee pies...I brought the veggie tray, nuts, and punch lol

Beautiful roses from Kari's garden 

These looked so real!

Caitlin made Heather and baby Kiah a beautiful mobile for the nursery

Jaeda and Kalea enjoying the delicious food!

3 Mamas!

Jaeda and her Kiah "pillow"

Without the belly you wouldn't even know this lady's going have a baby!
She's gorgeous!

My gift for Heather was a travel case baby wipes cover and some baby wipes.
I can't wait to make one for my baby girl :)

Spending time planning and prepping for this wonderful day was well worth it! Heather is a beautiful woman and a great friend. I'm so excited that we get to share in the joy of being new mamas together and having our girls grow up together! 

This is my face thinking about my baby shower!