39 weeks!

One week to go?! Maybe.
We're in single digit days now of our hopeful arrival day, so either way we're very very close!
I'm getting anxious/excited for him to get here, and just meet him.
Daniel has been very anxious about his arrival as well.
Every time I sigh, look mildly uncomfortable, or well just about do anything these days he's asking me if I'm okay, or if I am going into labor.
I think he's ready for this show to get on the road too.
It's just a matter of when...
I am having a lot of pelvic pressure today (and last night), it was very difficult finding a position to sleep in for long. So hopefully that means that more progress is happening with my cervix and what not.
Guess we will find out at my appointment on Wednesday.
We're ready and waiting for you D!

In other "news" Daniel and I went on a picnic for lunch. Nice middle of the winter weather we have here isn't it? It was in the high 70's with a very slight breeze. Good for summer weather but not so much winter. I can't imagine what summer will be like this year if it's already this warm out.
Lunch: Individually jarred sweet tea, chips, apples, sandwiches, peanut butter, and carrots.

My "country" get up.

Just a little bit of progress

Yesterday I actually had some noticeable contractions (pressure wave). They caught me off guard each time and took my breath away for a moment, but I quickly used my relaxation techniques from Hypnobabies and just let it come. They weren't anything long, about 20-30 seconds and I only had hmm maybe 10 all day. We also went for a long walk to Starbucks. It was quite amusing to me I noticed that when I was experiencing a "pressure wave" my walking slowed down immensely! And after it had passed my speed picked up again.

This morning I had another Dr appointment. Since I was having a few "pressure waves" yesterday and a lot more pelvic floor pressure I decided to allow for a cervical check to take place just to see what was going on. Honestly knowing dilation and effacement isn't important. Just because you are at 3cm and 50% effaced does not mean that you will be going into active birthing mode soon, but it is cool to say "hey once that active stage hits at least that is blank number of centimeters that I will not have to progress through". That said I'm at 1cm dilated, 70% effaced, and I think he's at -2 station. (I was able to use my relaxation techniques during the exam so I didn't really even feel anything, where as most women say that it is uncomfortable and they feel a lot of pressure) My Dr could feel his head right there and easily, which made me glad because I had still been worried that he wasn't fully head down. So things are right on track for having a happy healthy baby!

Breastfeeding class tonight. No idea what to expect with it but it should at least be informative.

38 weeks!

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the year of the (water) dragon. Daniel and I have had our fingers crossed that D would hold out on coming till at least today so he would be a dragon, just like his daddy. Yay for listening!

My oh my, two weeks to go. It's hard to believe that it's so close. It's really anybodies guess as to when he will make his debut. He's still ever so slowly gaining more baby fat but I have no clue how much he might even possibly weigh at this point. Which part of me is glad about because if I did know and he was "measuring big" I might start freaking out about having to birth a "big baby" and consider being induced early "to avoid him getting too big". Which I don't want either of (the induction or the fear).

As weird as it sounds I am at the point right now where I look forward to giving birth, it's exciting and unknown. Sure a little scary because when you don't know what you are getting into you are just nervous but I believe that the mind is powerful and that you can set yourself up for success by having a positive outlook vs a often negative one.

Since my last appointment and tattling on D to the Dr about being much more lazy than he usually had been, he has decided to become much more active again. So there has been a lot more rolling and pushing his knees and feet out. Which daddy loves because he gets to play the "grab the feet game".

I can't wait for him to get here and for that next chapter to get started.

Chicken Noodle Soup with Lentils

I have a bunch of sickos in the house this weekend, and my sister asked if I would make chicken soup. So here is what I made and trust me it's super easy!


Chicken Noodle Soup with Lentils (for extra protein)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup dry lentils (rinsed)
1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/4 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, sliced
6 cups chicken stock (broth)
2 cups egg noodles

1) Pour your chicken stock (broth) into your pot and turn flame onto medium low heat.
2) Chop up your celery, carrots, and chicken breast and add to your stock (broth).
3) Cover pot with a lid and turn heat up slightly.
4) Chop up your onion, slice the garlic, and rinse off the lentils then add to pot as well.
5) Place lid back on the pot and set the timer for about a hour and thirty minutes being sure to checking your soup occasionally to make sure it is not boiling over.
6) After your timer goes off check to see if your lentils are fully cooked.
7) If they are, add your egg noodles and place cover back on the pot.
8) Allow it to simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until noodles are cooked.
(Add 1 cup of water if you notice that your amount of broth is getting too low. Add more or less of anything you want.)

Everybody (sick and non sick) loved this soup, so enjoy!

Spa Day!

I was treated to a spa day this afternoon (thanks hunny). I went and got a mani/pedi, oh man it was so nice!

The girl really fixed up my nails. Shaping them up and taking care of the cuticles, I also got a nice hand massage, which would have been more enjoyable if the chair I was sitting in moved more so I wasn't having to lean forward so much. Then I got to soak my feet for a while in some nice warm water with some sort of herbal bath salt added to it, and she did up my toes.

After that I was able to choose what scrub and lotion I wanted out of probably 12 different ones. I chose oatmeal-pumpkin-spice for my scrub and green tea something for my lotion. The scrub smelt so good! It was something that I would want to eat it for breakfast if it came as an actual oatmeal! So I got a nice calf and foot massage with that. The girl joked that she would end up putting me in labor from the foot massage, it didn't not even a noticeable braxton hick, but man did it feel amazing! By the way my ankles aren't swollen,but for some reason they seem to look it in these pictures.

I had my toes done in blue so they would be all pretty for when D arrives and I tried to find a nail polish that would match, but it looks more teal on that what it looked in the bottle. In the bottle it looked much darker and a lot more blue than green. Either way I'm happy with it and had a great time getting pampered and relaxing. It will probably be the only time for this to happen before D gets here, then I will have to find somebody to watch him if I want to go get my nails done.

Getting To Know You Hop #2

Time for another Friday of Getting To Know You today's question actually comes from yours truly! "What inspired your blog name?" I think this is a great blogger getting to know you question because the title of your blog is the first thing people see when they visit, it gives them a sense of what your blog is about and therefore you.

Here we go.
If you've followed my blog for a while you would have noticed that the title has changed. When this blog first started it was called "Barefoot, TRYING To Get Pregnant & In The Kitchen". Why? Well because at the time I was still trying to get pregnant. This blog was a way for me to document that (often painful) journey so I could one day look back and remember that "wow I went through that, survived, and am stronger because of it". It will also probably be a good reminder how much I wanted baby D when he is driving me up the walls.
It was a play off of the whole "Barefoot, Pregnant & In The Kitchen" that we so often hear.

Well once I got pregnant the title no longer really fit so I dropped the TRYING threw the FINALLY in boom! Perfect blog name (for me)! I have actually already been asked what I will be renaming the blog once baby D arrives. And I am still not sure. I do not plan to change it too much but it definitely will have to fit with our new life.

So what about you? What inspired your blog name? Follow the link above to link up with others and see what their response was! Have fun!

Inspired by Finn-Baltic Amber Review

I'm not a huge fan of chemical drugs for painkillers, which means that I usually just tough out the pain. And let me tell you when I was getting constant migraines, oh it was just pure misery! Reason being when I would take pain killers they didn't work or depending on what the drug was it would just give me horrible side effects that weren't worth it.
Don't get me wrong, they do have their place and are effective but I would prefer to use a natural homeopathic option to try and help with my pain.

I had heard a lot about "teething necklaces" being used for toddlers/infants who are having pain from teething and it working great for them. But when I first heard about these "teething necklaces" I thought that they were just some sort of chew toy that had been attached to a string that the child would wear around and just gnaw on whenever they were uncomfortable (similar to Teething Bling).
I was, however, very wrong.
These pain management necklaces, as they should more appropriately be called if you ask me, are made of high quality Baltic Amber and are NOT meant to be chewed on. As said there are moms that swear by these necklaces.

Ok, so how does it work then? Well according to the Inspired by Finn shop site when you wear the amber the skin's warmth releases trace amounts of healing oils from the amber. These oils contain succinic acid and are absorbed into the skin. Succinic Acid is a natural component of plant and animal tissues, and it's presence in the human body is beneficial in many ways. It is scientifically accepted that the darkest colored amber generally contains less succinic acid than lighter colors.

So while that's all well and good as far as explaining how/why it works, and I had heard from lots of different women about it helping their children AND others using it for their own aches and pains I was skeptical as to how effective it could actually be. I mean you are not actually ingesting anything like you would with herbal pills or tinctures, you are just setting it on the skin. It couldn't work that fast or effectively... I had to try it and see if it really was as amazing as they said!

Now obviously baby D is not here yet (and I pray that he is not one of those babys that starts teething at 4 months) so I can not try out the amber on him so I was my own "test subject". I have to say that while it does not take away all my aches and pains it does seriously help!
Being in the last trimester with the weeks winding down to a close my back/neck/shoulders have been extremely achy.
Now maybe it is just a mental thing but either way I find that when I have the necklace on my neck/shoulders do hurt less and I feel more loose and (almost) energized! Over all I just feel better than before when I didn't have it on. So I truly believe that baltic amber can and does work as a natural pain reliever and I will most definitely be using it for D when he does start teething!
I am also going to get another necklaces for Daniel because he has wrist problems and I think wrapping the necklace around his wrist a few times will really help.

Seriously I believe that this stuff works and would recommend that everybody at least give it a try, what do you have to loose? You know except for that pain in your neck there.
So check it out for yourself, visit Inspired by Finn and look through their large assortment of youth and adult sized amber or hazel wood. Use the code SAVE during checkout for 15% off your order. You wont regret it!

I ordered the raw (unpolished) multicolor (rainbow) screw close necklace. It's actually quite beautiful and I get compliments on it all the time when out.

Sorry no giveaway this time, but I really love the benefits I have experienced while using the amber necklace so I'm thinking eventually I will have a giveaway and just pay for somebody to have their own so they can fall in love with it too!

37 week bump!

And here is the 37 weeks bump picture. Sometimes I still laugh because I feel like it looks like I just stuck a basketball or that fake belly up under my shirt. However the crazy active little man trying to bust out my belly reminds me that nope it's not fake.

Believe it or not I still feel pretty good. Not too big or over stretched for the most part unless I am trying to get out of bed in the evening to go pee, then I feel like a turtle stuck on it's back. I can tell though that over the next few weeks or day or however much longer he will be cooking will become uncomfortable as he really, really starts to drop, I'll survive though!

Full Term!

37 weeks means that D is now full term and could come at any time. But he's already been told several times that he is not allowed to till the 23rd or later! I think that he'll listen and stay put...till his due date or even later! Hopefully not later though I don't want to have to deal with my Dr trying to push induction or anything like that.

According to web pages D weighs about 6.5 pounds and measures a little over 19 inches, which is about the length of a Swiss chard. If he is going to be born with hair then he's got it by now!
For the first time last night I actually had noticeable braxton hicks contraction (aka practice contraction) I know that I have had them previously in the second trimester and more recently but they were not anything that I noticed unless I was sitting there "looking" for them. Nope last night I felt these ones, they weren't frequent so I wasn't worried at all about actually going into labor but they did make it more difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep in, and Daniel kept stealing my pillows that I had built up into a fort around me.

Daniel and I met up with a friend (who lives far up north) yesterday. She and her daughter were down to spend time with the little girls dad who is stationed down here. She had some newborn sized diapers for me and a beautiful Petunia Pickle Bottom "Morning in Mumbia" clutch diaper bag! I love it!

It's small, well much smaller than a size I would have chosen myself but Daniel says that's a good thing because I already tend to "over pack". So a small bag will make me just take the things that we WILL need. This will be good for small/short outings like going to church or dinner for the evening. For longer outings we will have Daniels Star Wars Daddy bag!

So here we are 3 weeks to go. Another appointment on Thursday but this week actually looks like it will be pretty mellow, guess I should it enjoy it while I still can!

MyMemories Winner!

First, thank you My Memories for doing this giveaway with me, and thank you everybody who entered! Don't forget that if you didn't win you can still buy the My Memories Suite V3 and take $10 off your purchase total by using the discount code, STMMMS7531.
(And this software is worth it!)

So without any more delay our My Memories Rafflecopter winner is.... #39-Shanna W!

Congratulations! I will email the company and get you your FREE download code and once I have it send it to you so you can get started with all your scrapbooking projects!

Thank you again to all who entered!

"Getting to know you" Blog hop.

Getting to know you blog hop. Each week a question will be posted that helps other reads get to know you a little better. Week one the question is what do you love most about blogging?

My favorite thing about blogging is being able to look back at old posts and see where I am now vs then when I first posted. I also just love being able to document what is going on with me in my life right now, especially right now being pregnant. It will be great to look back and recall all those amazing moments that we so soon forget. I also love being able to go to other peoples blogs and read about their lives and again a different perspective...and freebies! Freebies are awesome so I love checking out different giveaways to enter.

So what about you? Why do you like to blog?

Total Fail

Daniel and I went to the CHP station (California Highway Patrol) for car seat instillation this morning, it didn't go as planned. We have an Airflow brand convertible seat, meaning it can go from rear facing 7-40+ pounds then turn it forward for the rest of the time so we decided to go with that.
First the guys that they had doing the instillation were old, like my grandfathers age old, they were not professionals just CHP volunteers. Which is fine you can still know how to install a car seat but not be "professional".

So anyways we have the car seat out of the box just sitting in the back seat so they can just start working on it. From the second they started working on it I could tell that they were not doing it right and just really had no clue what they were doing. I will have to take a picture tomorrow of how they were trying to put the car seat it, my face must have been priceless because I swear I felt my jaw hit the floor. They pretty much had the car seat laying flat, with the foot area up against the back portion of the seat and the top on the passengers seat (the passenger seat was pushed completely forward and folded in half by the way) so you can just imagine how ridicules this set up looked.

What was their solution? I quote "we had the same problem with that guy over there (they point to the man next to us with the LARGE SUV) he had to go get the infant seat with base and we were able to get it in then." I just looked at them and said "well that is great that he was able to go get an infant seat/base which cost as much if not more than our convertible seat but we can't and that was the point of getting the car seat that works as a convertible." The oh so smart officer then said "well I understand that but these convertible seats just don't seem to really work for rear facing we had to tell a few other people that already this morning as well."

Oh! I get it! It's not the seat it's the people trying to install the seats that don't actually know what they are doing! Seriously you can't get the convertible seat to fit in the back of this mans LARGE spacious SUV there is a problem and again it's not with the car seat.
So Daniel and I told them forget it, and we took off. We told my mom later what happened and showed her how they were trying to put it in and she was floored as well.

In other news of the day. We had a doctor appointment this afternoon, it went great. Since they canceled last weeks appointment we did my group B strep test today as well as an ultrasound. No pictures though, the machine was really bad quality. It was just to check and see how D is doing and make sure that he is head down. I'm very happy to report that he is head down (as he has been the whole pregnancy) with his butt up to my left side and his legs stretched out over to my right pushing his feet into my ribs.
I really can not say how much of a relief it is to know that he is head down and will soon be dropping, I'm not sure of his stationing because my midwife doesn't do cervical exams till 38 or 39 weeks. I was actually glad about this because personally while it's cool to know it doesn't always mean anything as to when you will go into labor. Her reasoning for not doing them is because she doesn't want to risk separating or rupturing the water and sending the woman into labor before actually ready.

Just a few more weeks!

36 weeks!

One week away from full term!
4 weeks or 28 days left in our count down but as I've been saying D could and will come whenever he wants.
However there are still 2 weeks till I am ok with him coming, we have to make it till at least the 23rd. February would still be preferred because then I would be able to finish up my last few weeks working with the Jr High program as planned. But lets be realistic how often do things actually go as planned?

D's kick, rolls, and punches are getting even stronger and more painful. He's gaining about an ounce a day now, but I have no idea how much he possibly weighs at this point. But Thursday we have an appointment and will have scan done to see if he is head down and approximately how much he weighs. So hopefully I will have a picture or two to post after that appointment.

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Review & Giveaway!

I don't think that I have said before but I really enjoy scrapbooking. I think that it is a great way to make use of and share pictures that you love and are wanting to remember what was going on at the time the picture was taken.
I also love how creative some people are able to get with it and just how beautiful their pages/pictures turn out. I however, am by no means anywhere close to a "professional" scrapbooker, but the few pages that I have done I am proud of.
But...as much as I enjoy scrapbooking I never seem to really have the time or the money to get all the cool paper and embellishments for the projects that I would like to. So I never actually get anything done.

I was given an opportunity to try out the My Memories Suite V3 and though I am still a total newbie at it and my pages don't look anywhere as nice as some of the examples I have seen from other My Memories users, I have had so much fun trying it out and learning how to navigate it!

Now let me tell you as somebody who is not all that tech savvy, it's so easy to use! When you download the program it comes with some pre installed paper/backgrounds as well as fonts, embellishments, and layouts that you can use to make your project look just fantastic! Plus with My Memories you can create greeting cards, invitations, gift tags, calendars, the possibilities are seemingly endless!

If you don't find anything in the pre installed options that you like (which I would find hard to believe considering how many you are given) you can go to the My Memories website and either check out the FREE kits available for download (yes I did say free!) or you can look through the countless other pages of kits available for purchase. The prices of the kits available for purchase are very reasonable on average they look to range from $1 - $10! Out of all the kits that I have seen available for purchase none have been over $10.
As soon as you make your (difficult) choice on what kit to purchase you download it right away, there is no having to wait for some software to be sent to you, you can use it right then!

I think that this product is one that most any mom or grandparent should at least try and here is why. As said scrapbook material is expensive and time consuming to try and cut/layout everything before pasting it down, and it also takes up a lot of space. With My Memories all you need to do is buy your kit, choose your picture (which is already on your computer so no printing needed!) and drag and drop. Most of us are on our computers often just "hanging out" so you save time with the digital scrapbook software. I'm definitely excited to have this product to use as D grows up!

My bet is that you are wanting to run over and buy this awesome product right now so you can get started on all those scrapbooking projects that you have just been putting off, but wait! You can enter to WIN you own My Memories digital scrapbooking software download for completely FREE! No shipping, processing, nothing! That's a $40 value for free, just enter below and fill out as many entries as you can for more chances to win!
This contest will run from midnight January 7th to midnight January 15th (EST). Of course, you can buy your own My Memories Suite V3 and use the code STMMMS7531 for a $10 discount, and if you have friends of family who you think or know would be interested in having their very own My Memories package you can send them that code to use as well! The code never expires and can be used as many times as needed, so no worries if you don't win and still want to get the software.

Here are a couple of the pages I have done so far with the My Memories software. Like I said I am still learning how to use and navigate it...so they are not great but definitely not horrible!I can't wait to use it more!

Just a picture

Just a picture of some beautiful flowers that Daniel and I saw while out on our walk that I wanted to share.

35 weeks! & Anne Geddes winner!

First congratulations to our Anne Geddes Beginnings giveaway winner-Elle Nguyen! I've sent you an email notification with instructions so you can receive your prize. Thank you all who entered, there will be another giveaway starting this weekend so be sure to check back on Saturday to see what it is!

Well here we are.
35 weeks down and 35 days to go!

It makes me giggle that it's 35/35. The next 5 weeks are going to scream by and before we know it D will be here! I have to be honest when we first found out that we were pregnant again part of me never believed that we would make it to this point, but God is amazing. Weekly Dr appointments start this Thursday and are pretty much ever Thursday after that. We have breastfeeding and baby basics classes coming up this month as well.

Baby's hospital bag is packed! Mine isn't quite yet but I do have a list all ready to go so either Daniel or I can just throw the things I will need into it. I also have my birth plan all written out and ready to review with my Dr. Oh but back to the bag... For D I have two different outfits picked out, one to wear while in our 24 hour hospital stay and the other to wear home. I have cloth diapers packed up as well. I have a cute fitted for going home and pre-folds with covers for while in the hospital.

Daniel and I are still working on our at home Hypnobabies study. It's coming along much slower than I was hoping, but so far I am still enjoying what I have read and find it very motivating.
I am still feeling really well at this point. Or well not so great today because it appears as though I have a bad cold which is making me all stuffy, achy, and sleepy and all I want to do is go sit in a nice hot tub that will turn me into a raisin but I can't do that. But as far as the pregnancy goes I'm still doing great! Daniel and I have been going on more walks just to keep me a little more active and get some fresh air. I can't wait for when we go on walks and carry D around with us (you know not in my "tummy").

A final look back at 2011 and welcome 2012

2011 has (had) been quite the year to say the least. Full of ups and down, smiles and heartache, as well as all the typical monkey wrenches that life loves to throw your way. I don't think that it is a year that I will ever forget. From my brother passing away, to finding out that we were expecting again and seeing the pregnancy/D grow healthy, and lots of little things in between but I am ready for 2012; and look forward to everything that it will bring most important of which will be our healthy son!

I don't make resolutions per say but Daniel and I have two main goals for the year. First to buy our own house. We have been talking about what city/town we should live in, if we should look into moving states or what will be best for our little family. We would like to get this in motion as soon as possible but we know that we need to have some money saved up for a down payment as well as a few months worth of mortgage payments so it probably will not be started till summer time. Second is to get our car loan paid off. I already have around 4 months paid in advanced on it and by my calculations we should own it free and clear by October of this year! Earlier would always be better but heck to have a truly realistic goal that we will reach is best!

Hope that you all had a good, fun, safe new year celebration and that your year will be blessed!

Our first picture together in 2012. I'm a pretty lucky girl since I got to kiss this guy at midnight!

My dad set off fireworks