24 Weeks (and a muffin recipe!!!)

How far along: 24 Weeks.

How big is baby: The length of an ear of corn

Total weight gain:  20 + lbs

Sleep:  I am officially lacking in sleep. My hips are killing me, I have to roll over every 5 minutes to relieve the amount of pain one side is in. Random side cramps also wake me up and make it so I can barely breathe. I guess she’s just getting me ready for her arrival.

Best moment of the week: It’s been a pretty chill week. There really hasn't been a lot going on. We should be having a lovely evening tonight tho!

Food Cravings:  Nothing…

Food Aversions: Nothing…

Symptoms: I’m uncomfortable and itchy!!! Winter has finally hit the PNW, and with it all the moisture in the air. My skin is the Sahara desert and is covered in little war wounds from my constant scratching. Poor skin. I’m trying to moisturize every second of the day to prevent my little knife hands from going to town.

Mood: Just cuddly I guess. I want cuddles from my babies and Ryan a decent amount of time. Other than that I’m just fine.

Movement: So much movement!!! She must have grown a ton in the last couple days, because she has been kicking my butt!!! I could feel her little fingers pushing on my stomach the other day. It’s such an amazing feeling that I will miss for sure. The only time it bothers me is when I’m trying to walk to do something.

What I’m looking forward to: Thanksgiving next week and all the baking that comes with it!!! As per usual I’m looking forward to the arrival of my little girl, and Christmas shopping for the kiddos!!

I do want to give a little shout-out to my mama who turned 70 today! She has been one of the biggest inspirations for me as a woman, as a mother, and as a person in general. She loves harder than any person I know and is the epitome of a beautiful woman who has aged gracefully.

I promised on Facebook that I would share a recipe for something I made this week. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of it (I’m sorry!!!!!), but trust me when I say they were sooooo delicious! They were gone within 2 days. My son, Ezra, learned all about cranberries in school last week. As a result he realized he had never tried one and requested that I bake him something with fresh cranberries (they HAD to be fresh not dried). I found a recipe for White Chocolate chip Cranberry muffins, and I think this will become a breakfast tradition. I don’t even love cranberries and I loved these.

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Muffins

You’ll need:

½ C unsalted butter (1 stick), softened

½ C granulated sugar

¼ C light brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ C sour cream OR Greek yogurt for a healthier version

2 Tbl buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ C all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1 C white chocolate chips

1 ¼ C fresh cranberries (plus a couple extra to top off with)

Directions:

1. Preaheat oven to 425, grease muffin pan and flour it (or you can use liners if you prefer, just note that the white chocolate chips will stick to them) *also note that this recipe yields about 14 muffins.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter, sugars and mix on high speed until light and fluffly (about 2 min).

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla, and beat on med high speed until combined (again about 2 min).

4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again (I tend to stop and do this often).  Add the flour baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and beat until just combined (about 1 min). Try not to over mix as it will result in tough muffins.

5. Add the white chocolate chips and beat on low speed about 30 sec. You can also choose to just hand mix these in the case that your mixer doesn't like mixing in “chips”. Stir in cranberries (do those by hand).

6. Using a large cookie scoop or ¼ measuring cup, scoop the batter into the muffin tin. They should be about ¾ full.

7. Top each muffin with 2 or 3 cranberries and bake at 425 for 5 minutes.

8. Without opening the oven door, turn down the temperature to 350 and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes. The total baking time should be 23-25 minutes. Once you hit the 20 min mark use a toothpick to check and see if they need a couple minutes longer or are complete. You don’t want over baked muffins….no one wants those.

9. Allow muffins to cool in pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Recipe adapted from http://www.averiecooks.com/2014/11/cranberry-white-chocolate-muffins.html

23 Weeks

How far along: 23 Weeks.

How big is baby: The length of a large mango

Total weight gain:  Close to 20lbs :/ I just keep telling myself that I can lose it just as easy as it came once my little girl is here. I plan on being very strict with my diet and using Isagenix as my main source of nutrition (that will be amazing for not only me, but baby girl too).

Sleep: Well my daughter has decided her favorite time of day is when I decide to lay down to go to bed. I will lay on my side and she will kick off the bed….. While it’s very cute, when I’m rather very tired all I want to do is sleep, not feel my adorable daughter jump up and down for an hour or two.

Best moment of the week: Not going to lie, this week was sort of a letdown. The kids grandparents were in town so they spent it with them at their dad’s house. Ryan went back to work after being off for the last 3 months from getting back surgery, so I was rather alone haha. Apparently the needy pregnancy gene kicked in, cause I was throwing all kinds of pity parties. The best moment this week is today/tonight, while my husband will be away hunting (that sucks a lot since I do enjoy his company), I get to have a special weekend loving on my babies. There will be tea parties, sushi dates, and movies.

Food Cravings:  Maybe bagels? Really I haven’t wanted anything in particular.

Food Aversions:  For once guacamole was sort of gross to me (it was a sad moment).

Symptoms: Permanent stuffy nose, random contractions (more Braxton hicks kind), more ligament pain from sitting or lying in certain positions, itchy legs, lack of sleep….that about covers it.

Mood: Lonely and a little bummed out. I’m hoping to change that this weekend. I think just being around the kids will help lighten my mood.

Movement: Tons of activity for longer periods of time. She loves when I lay down and eat/drink anything. She’s definitely getting bigger. Bella finally felt her move around and she thought it was the coolest thing ever.

What I’m looking forward to: Baking!!! Lots of baking. I’ve been watching way too many baking shows and holiday competitions on TV haha. We are down to 15 weeks now (technically I turned 24 weeks today, so I’m always a week behind when I post) and I’m starting to get a little impatient. 

Ryan and I as children. We've been trying to imagine what our little girl is going to look like.

22 Weeks

How far along: 22 Weeks.

How big is baby: The size of a Papaya

Total weight gain:  I will be finding this out next week at the Dr’s. I will say that I found a picture of me when I was pregnant with Ezra at 24 weeks and I was a A LOT bigger than I am now. That makes me happy haha.

Sleep:  I randomly wake-up at least once a night after apparently having been sleeping on my back (a big no no) and have a huge side cramp form overly stretching my ligament while trying to roll over to my side. Usually at that point I realize I have to pee as well, but the minute I stand up I realize that I can’t breathe, because of the back sleeping, and have to take like 5 breaths to get back to normal. Meh.

Best moment of the week: Halloween was pretty great! Bella was a princess in a blue dress (who was absolutely NOT Elsa……) with blue and purple hair. At one point when someone asked if she was Elsa she shook her head and said in a very Christian Bale sort of voice, “I’m Batman.” I love how alike we are. Ezra was a SWAT member, and also a little candy thief haha. You know the families that leave bowls of candy on their front porch and say take one (we’ve all done it), well to Ezra that meant take a handful. Ryan was a Lumber Jack and I was a pregnant cat. 

 The best moment of the week was also my daughter’s soccer team’s last game. I’ve learned it’s so rewarding watching kids that you coach take all the things you’ve taught them and do them on the field. We had the best game of the season and I was such a proud couch by the end. 

Food Cravings:  Nothing to report on.

Food Aversions: Thins that I tend to eat regularly. I’m starting to get sick of the usuals.

Symptoms: Just the random ligament stretching pains.

 Mood: Stupid stupid emotions. Any sad news story or youtube video or ridiculously happy news story makes me cry. Looking at my kids when they are being cute, or sweet, or just sitting there concentrating on something makes me cry…. Bleh. Same goes with getting annoyed. I’ve been getting annoyed at the smallest things. Below is one of the many things that caused me to cry.

Movement: Baby girl punched her daddies hand this week. She is starting to be more active throughout the day. It’s such an amazing feeling. I remember this now with Bella and Ezra, it was my favorite part about being pregnant.  

What I’m looking forward to: Dr. appointment next week. Other than that not a whole lot. I’m starting to sort of count down the days till I get to meet my baby. We are at 16 weeks now!