Banana Oatmeal Muffins

I'm totally obsessed with anything banana flavored (laffy taffy, banana pudding, banana bread...) and the obsession has only heightened since I've been pregnant! Which is funny because there is only a short window of time where I can eat bananas. They have to still be green and as soon as they start to have the slightest tint of brown I can't eat them anymore. I gag, literally--a little dramatic, I know.

I found this amazing recipe for strawberry shortcake muffins a few weeks back on Pinterest (oh, Pinterest, what did I do before you came along?!) You can find the recipe here. I made the recipe with strawberries the first time and it was so easy, so delicious, and so healthy! We're talking 93 calories per muffin! I thought they were so good my mind started reeling with all the other fruity possibilities, so this week I tried bananas :) Yay for my first attempt at baking anything with bananas!

Ingredients
*2 /1/2 cup oats (old fashioned kind, not quick cooking)

*1 single serving cup (or 1 cup) of plain low fat greek yogurt

*2 eggs

*3/4 cup sweetener of choice, I used the real stuff: sugar! or 2 tbs stevia sweetener

*1 1/2 tsp baking powder

*1/2 tsp baking soda

*2 bananas (I only used one but realized it needed at least one more)

Important: The paper liners don't work well when baking with a base that does not include flour, they always seem to stick to the paper. I sprayed the muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or you can use foil cupcake liners or a silicone muffin pan.


Let the Baking Begin!
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tin with non-stick cooking spray or line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners, (or just use a silicone muffin pan).
2. Place all of the ingredients, including bananas in a blender or food processor, and blend until oats are smooth. *Important: I add the oats a cup at a time and then add the liquids. I have to stop the blender and stir a few times throughout as well. 
3. Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
4. Most importantly: Enjoy!!!

I can't stop eating them!!

Welcome to the 2nd Trimester!

How far along? 14 Weeks

Total weight gain: Gained 2 lbs between my first and second appointment—right on track! I don't have my own scale though so I'm not sure how much I've gained since second appointment

Maternity clothes? Yay for maternity leggings!! I seriously live in them, but since it's getting hotter I may have to resort to maternity biker shorts. I've also decided I'm going to try to make my own maternity clothes! Check out the links below 

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: can't get comfortable and I've started to not be able to sleep on back or stomach which is a bummer, plus it's 80 million degrees in our house since our a/c hasn't been installed yet!

Best moment this week: revealing the big news on Facebook! Everyone has been so nice and encouraging, we feel so loved! 

Miss Anything? working out as hard as I can--really trying hard to keep my heart rate below 140 bpm

Movement: just my organs moving and uterus expanding, nbd

Food cravings: hot dogs! and finally fed that craving with a footlong chili cheese dog at the Cook Out, soooo good!

Anything making you queasy or sick: only when I'm hungry--I've been ravenous!

Gender: don’t know yet--everyone thinks it's a girl, but Travis and I really believe it's a boy

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: peeing all the time! It's gotten worse--4 times in one night, that's a record! hungry all the time, and round ligament pain--I can literally feel my organs moving and uterus expanding for this babe!

Belly Button in or out? In--it's starting to stretch though :)

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: HAPPY! (ask Travis though, he may say otherwise :)

Looking forward to: Stef and Zak visiting next week!! 

This dress looks super easy, super cute, and super maternity friendly! You can see how Meg from her wonderful blog Tripping Over Joy made the dress here.

I also really love how Melissa from Sew Like My Mom made her own maternity clothes. Her blog is awesome, she has so many great ideas. You can find this wonderful tutorial here.

I'll be sure to post pics when I get these projects done--hopefully soon!

The Best Compliment

Ever since we announced to the world we're pregnant I've gotten so many comments like "you can't even tell yet!", "where's your bump?", "are you really pregnant?" Ok, a pregnant woman does NOT want to hear that you can't see her little baby popping through yet! Or is it just me? ha! If it is, then disregard this entire post! So after hearing a week full of "you can't see anything yet's" I received the most amazing compliment ever from a sweet 10 year old little girl.

We were finishing up the Urban Eagles tournament this past Saturday when I was hanging out with Biak, a 10 year old little girl from Burma. It had been a while since I had seen Biak and she didn't know yet that I was expecting. Before we said our good-bye's she looked down at my stomach and asked, "why does your stomach look different?" And before I could get "I'm pregnant" out of my mouth she asked, "you're not pregnant, are you?!" All I could do was smile--she was the first one to notice because of my bump!!! She didn't believe me, "You are not, why didn't you tell me?! Oh my gosh, are you serious?!" Then after lots of convincing "Yes I am, I haven't seen you in a while, I am really am, see, look at my belly bump!", she let out a huge shriek and gave me the biggest hug. I felt so much joy at that moment, not just because she noticed Juice Drop popping out a bit but because of how happy she was for me.

Biak, me, and Dulce at the first UE tourney in February. Biak is on the left.

So if you want to humor me, even if you have to tell a little white lie, just say you see something popping through. It'll make my day :)

P.S. Bought my first maternity wear! Leggings are the best, and yes, I will be living in them from now on.

Introducing... Juice Drop

Writer's block is the worst! Since we found out we were pregnant on January 17th nothing else seemed interesting enough to write about. Every time I sat down to write the only thing on my mind was this baby and I knew it was still too soon to reveal our exciting news. But the time has finally come when I can put my words on paper the screen and share with you the ups, the downs, the joys, the unusual, and the funny things about the miracle of pregnancy!

Where do I even begin? I have so much to say. I started a journal for the baby the day I found out but I think I'll spare you from every entry. I also think I'll save the story of how we found out for a different day. It's a pretty funny story so stay tuned!

Actually I know exactly where to begin...We've already picked out a name for our baby. I've heard so many different names from "the bean" to "little one" and I actually had planned on calling ours "the bump" until Travis introduced me to a different, more unique, name. One day he asked, "Can I call our baby Juice Drop?" At first I thought, "sure, in private; don't repeat out in public." But since that moment, Juice Drop has stuck and we've shared this moniker with our family and close friends and they've began calling our little one Juice Drop as well. I'm sure you're asking, "Why Juice Drop?" Well if you know anything about Travis's high school soccer career you'd know that his nickname was Juicy (apparently it meant that he was fast like...juice?) He even still uses his email address from high school which is juicyjones11@... So when Travis suggested the name Juice Drop, I had to admit it was perfect for our little one.

Without further ado let me introduce you to our little Juice Drop. 

Ready to meet the world September 19, 2012:

And for those of you who are interested in Juice Drop's bump here are weeks 10-13 (Disclaimer: all these photos were taken right after lunch so my bump may be a little exaggerated. Talk about a food baby!)