Thursday, October 25, 2012

Getting ready for baby

The last few days have been so busy around here & I've finally been able to get some important things done. Last week I ordered the invitations for our couples baby shower next month & I am so excited with how they turned out! I custom designed them on storkie & they are so adorable! :-) 

Although I'm excited for the shower it's also a little bittersweet because I'm so far from home & don't have that many friends out here in Virginia. I do have a few great friends here & my coworkers from the bank but I am really sad that none of my family will be able to come. I have really been missing my mom & sisters a lot during my pregnancy, even more so lately. 
 
I am just hoping the few friends I do have here are able to come. It was a little tricky choosing a date to have the shower since my husband will be going underway a few times next month & the thanksgiving holiday is coming up. We are doing a couples shower so people can bring their so's and also because I always hated the traditional baby shower. 
 
I was never a fan of passing around the diaper with a melted candy bar inside it and trying to guess what kind of candy it was. Or the oh so fun "who can drink from a bottle the fastest" game. No thank you. ;) I just want to hang out, eat some good food & celebrate the blessing of our baby boy with good friends. I still have quite a bit of planning to do with our lovely hostess Megan, and it should be fun to put the shower together. :-)

I also had the pleasure of taking the dreaded glucose test last week & throwing the whole thing up right in front of my doctor. Fun times...
At least I was able to keep it down for 45 minutes & they still took my blood for the test. Next week I am getting my tdap shot so that should be fun as well.

I also scheduled our 3d/4d ultrasound for next month & I am so excited to finally see some more pictures of our little boy. We haven't had an ultrasound since I was 19 weeks and that was already 10 weeks ago! This one should be interesting as well since we will be able to get a better look at Baby Taylor & hopefully see some of his facial features. ♥ 

Along with the ultrasound I also scheduled our lamaze classes & am anxious to attend them with my husband. Being that this is my first baby, I am really nervous about the whole labor/delivery part & would love to get some tips & information so I can at least feel a little more prepared.

We still have a lot to do in preparation for Baby Taylor but I am beginning to feel a little better since I'm making progress on my to-do list. He's not even here yet & I am already realizing that being a mom is a lot of work but the best job in the world. ♥

Friday, October 12, 2012

Homemade Orange Chicken

Last week my husband and I were at our local Kroger picking up a few items when we came across this Panda Express Orange Sauce. 

We decided to give it a try and make our own orange chicken. I was a little nervous since we didn't have a recipe to follow but we gave it a shot and we were both very pleased with the result.

 It came out delicious! I posted the picture on my instagram and had a few requests for the recipe so I decided to post it here.

This is what you'll need:

-One package chicken breast (about 3 pieces of chicken)
-Panda Express Orange Sauce
-Chicken breading
-mayonaisse
-olive oil

For the chicken breading we use a brand called House Autry but you can use whatever brand they sell at your local grocer. Now lets get started! 

1) First you'll want to cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, kind of like little nuggets. 
2) Next take the chicken and toss it into a large bowl. Pour in a couple table spoons of mayo and evenly coat. 

3) Then coat the pieces with the chicken breading. Once they are coated brush the pieces with olive oil. Coat in the chicken breading one more time. 

4) If you have a deep fryer this is the easiest way to cook the chicken, but if not you can always do it the old fashioned way. I set my fryer to 360 degrees and dropped it in the fryer for about seven minutes. We had enough chicken that we had to do three batches. 

5) Preheat your oven to 360 degrees. Now you'll need a pyrex dish. We used a 13x9 but an 11x7 would work just fine too. Coat the bottom of the dish with olive oil and place the cooked chicken pieces in the dish. 

6) Now you are ready to coat the chicken pieces with the orange sauce. Once you have poured it over the chicken use a spoon to make sure the sauce evenly coats the chicken. 

7) Now pop it into the oven for 7 minutes and voila! Delicious and easy orange chicken. ♥ 

Hopefully you like it as much as we did. 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Baby Bump-date Week 27

Hello Everyone! I hope you're all having a great week so far, I know I am. :) I can't believe I am already 27 weeks along. It seems like we just found out we were being blessed with a child and now we are almost done with this pregnancy. There's only 91 days left until my due date! I know my third trimester is going to fly by with all the holidays fast approaching. Anyway, I am feeling good overall just a few little bumps along the way. 

I have officially switched and already seen my new Doctor and I am so glad I did. I have the dreaded glucose test next week to determine if I have gestational diabetes or not. I am not too worried about it but am not looking forward to having blood drawn again. I had to spend three hours at the doctors last week for my first appointment. That included a urine test, blood work, a flu shot and of course a full exam. Baby Taylor's heartbeat was strong and he seems to be doing great. ♥ 

I love feeling him move and kick, and lately I have been able to feel it a lot more! It's an incredible thing and pretty indescribable. My back and feet have been hurting more frequently now, but other than that I am still able to do most things with no problem. I'll admit getting out of bed and off the couch is a lot harder than it used to be but I know it will all be worth it in the end. I keep joking with my hubby that he needs to invent some sort of device to make these things easier, like a pregnancy cane! Haha. 

I am wearing pretty much all maternity clothes at this stage in my pregnancy and am so glad I invested in some maternity jeans. I have been lucky enough to find some that fit great and aren't too long since I'm pretty short, (Thank you Motherhood!). As for tops Target has seriously been a life saver for me. They carry extra small tops and have such a cute selection. I just got a few new sweaters yesterday at our brand new Target here in Virginia Beach ♥. 

I have been cooking and baking a lot more now that I am staying home and it has been so nice to have time to do these things for my hubby. As far as cravings go, my love for Mexican food has returned and I am craving it all the time! I have also been wanting ice cream after dinner nearly every night, and thank goodness we don't keep it in the house all the time, otherwise I'd probably gain 100 pounds. Other than that nothing too unusual. 

We still have a lot to do to prepare for our little one, like tour our hospital, take a birthing class and register for our baby shower. I am a little behind on all this and it's starting to stress me out but we plan on getting a few of these things done this weekend. Overall I am just looking forward to the next few months and meeting our son! :) 

Here's the info on our little boy this week. It's so interesting to know what's going on in there. ♥ Happy Thursday Lovelies. 


Baby Size
14.5 in
cauliflower
Baby Weight
2 lb
Baby
This week your baby looks like a thinner, redder, more wrinkled version of what he will look like at birth, but in the next few weeks more fat will fill out his appearance. Your baby's immune system is continuing to mature as are your baby's lungs which are still practicing breathing amniotic fluid.
Body
Just when you were getting used to your second trimester, you may find new uncomfortable symptoms beginning during your third trimester. You may notice more leg cramps due to the pressure of your uterus on your veins and nerves running from your torso to your legs. Remember to stretch and move your legs to ease or prevent cramping.
Activities this week
Now is a great time to sign up for a breastfeeding class. If you are a first-time mom and planning to breastfeed your baby, it's a good idea to take a breastfeeding class or sign up with a lactation consultant. Ask your doctor or midwife for a recommendation or call La Leche League who can help you locate breastfeeding resources in your area.


Monday, October 1, 2012

Inspiration


For so long I felt uninspired, it was like my brain had bloggers block. I prayed God would send me some wisdom and a dash of creativity to launch my blog in a new direction, because the truth is I love writing. It gives me a way to release emotions that otherwise have no place to go. I can't stress enough how much I missed it since Isaiah came home from deployment number one. During that first deployment I wasn't working and had time every single day to write my blog, as well as reading other blogs & building relationships with my fellow bloggers.

Since moving to Virginia and starting work right away, my free time was basically next to none. Spending time with my husband in the rare moments when we both weren't working took priority. I am glad it did because he was only home for a few months and in February 2011 he deployed for the second time and was gone for an excruciatingly long eleven months. The day he left marked the beginning of the hardest year of both of our lives. Even though I had more free time with my husband deployed, I just couldn't seem to find the words.

My faith and our marriage were both tested and there were so many times when I felt like giving up entirely. There was such an utter sense of hopelessness and my heart ached only for us to finally have some time together. When it was finally time for him to come home, it didn't even feel real. I couldn't actually grasp the fact until I was driving to Naval Station Norfolk to pick him up. Our first two weeks together were perfect and after that reintegration really began.

Sometimes when I think back on it all, it seems like a bad dream, a blip in time. Although while going through it, it felt like the longest eleven months of my life. I am so thankful to God for getting us both through it and bringing him back to me safely. You know the funny thing about love is, you think you love someone more than anything and yet somehow as you go though life and endure it's hardships that love grows even deeper. You realize you love that person even more than you thought possible, and this realization makes you thankful for that love. I look at my husband now and can't believe how far we've come. I wonder how I got so lucky. What did I do to deserve a love like ours?

I still don't know, and perhaps I never will but I am blessed and thankful for it. Sure we have our spats and plenty of obstacles have shown up in our path, but somehow God has gotten us through it all. After the hardest year of our lives he has blessed us with a beautiful little boy growing inside me. Every day is one day closer to meeting our son and our dream of finally having a family will soon be coming true. With every kick and movement I feel so lucky for all that the Lord has given us.

It is because of this gift that I choose to share our story with you all, the story of our love and our lives. As we embark on our newest adventure into parenthood, I want to remind myself to live in the moment. To soak in everything around me, embrace the changes, and enjoy the little things. Welcome to my new blog and I hope you all enjoy reading about the next part of our journey!