What do you think?

So go read this post, and then tell me what you think...

http://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2011/03/28/woman-tracks-down-estranged-father-becomes-pregnant-with-his-child/

It totally weirds me out.

Kale Chips??

These actually sound yummy, and I am supposed to be getting lots of greens in! Definitely trying them next week!

Baked Crispy Kale Recipe | Steamy Kitchen

Manic Monday

Good Monday afternoon! Anyone else already ready to go to bed besides me? Ha! Life has been busy busy and it is definitly catching up with me. Random updates from the Pate household:

- I am thinking we will go with summer sun in the nursery. Now if I can just carve out time for Mr.Pate to paint, or maybe convince my dad (who loves to paint and is super fast) to come up and do it...
- I still have three or four Bradley posts to write to get caught up. I am hoping to do that soon bc it's really good review for me.
- Our birth class is moved to Tuesday this week.
- Our grocery envelope is all out of money this week, so we are just making do with what we got. Lots of randomness this week. We need to get more hardcore about our budget!
- Speaking of budget, I am so sick of rising gas prices and all that goes with them! We need to update out budget majorly... How depressing.
- I have a busy week coming up: a cloth diaper info meeting in bg I am going to tonight, Bradley class tomorrow, wenesday is church and we are starting a Wednesday night meal this week, Thursday is a much needed date night (going to register at target), Friday night and sat morning I am teaching at a girls youth conference (yay I haven't done this in a while!), and Sunday I have a reunion planning meeting and a potluck at church. Goodness!!

What are you up to this week?

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

26 Weeks and Counting...

• How far along: 26 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 19 lbs (started 107, currently 126)
• Maternity Clothes: Mixture of maternity and regular. But the belly band is starting to get uncomfortable, so it may be strictly maternity pants soon. 
• Sleep: I wake up often, not just to go to the bathroom, but I just wake up. I am not comfortable on my side really.  
• Best Moment of the Week(s): A friend came over with her 6 month old on Thursday and I got to see Mr.Pate being so great with him, that was prob the best. He is going to be such a good dad! 
• Movement: Yep. They are getting stronger and more often. He especially likes to move when I get to my desk in the morning or when I lay down at night.   
• Food Cravings: Nothing specific this week, just hungry!!! 
• Food Aversions: Steak 
• Symptoms: Shortness of Breath, Have to pee constantly, crazy dreams, cant bend over very well, really sore tailbone, leg cramps ...
• What I miss: Being able to breathe when I talk and not having to eat every two hours. 
• What I'm looking forward to: Fixing up the nursery (wont start until mid- May), baby showers, and having him here!!!!! 
• Other news: This has been a pretty exhausting week! Justin's cousin passed away, so we had to head to Louisville and back this weekend. We finished up our registry at Babies R Us and are going to do our Target one this week! Looking at baby stuff gets me so excited for the little one!! I am so glad that I am still feeling really well and hope that continues on. 
• Gender & Name: It's a Boy! Griffin Alan Pate

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com : The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

Bradley Birth: Exercises

Bradley Classes are all about preparing you for labor. Just like you would not show up to run a marathon having not trained and prepared yourself, you should not show up to labor without utilizing the time before to prepare. One big thing they emphasis is regular exercise and pregnancy exercises. Here are the exercises and recommendations:

- Regular Exercise:
They recommend continuing regular physical exercise during pregnancy (as long as your doctor has not limited your activity because of issues). Ultimately 30 minutes a day.

- Pregnancy Exercises:
These exercises are designed to specifically prepare the areas of the body used during labor. They also help minimize most of the common pregnancy discomforts.

1. Tailor Sitting: It encourages the uterus to move forward instead of bearing down on the pelvis. Basically this is sitting on the floor with your legs crossed or feet touching soul to soul. Remember good posture and to change your position often. In pregnancy you should not stay in the same position for long periods of time. You can lean back on something or lean forward on your legs. This exercise is recommended "often" instead of a set period of time a day.

2. Squatting: Squatting naturally puts the body in the right position to put pressure on the uterus, it prevents arching the back which is bad for pushing, shortens the birth canal and increases the pelvic opening. It stretches the perineum (helping to prevent episiotomies- which is when they cut a woman to 'prevent' tearing) and shortens second stage labor (with is the pushing stage). Sign me up! haha!

Basically start in a standing position with legs apart. Then bend the knees and tucks your hips under. Stay down in the position for a few moments, trying to have the feet flat on the floor. You made need to practice this one for awhile before your feel will go flat. And you may want to hang on to something for balance. They recommend doing this "often" also. You should stop bending over at the hip, and instead squat to get things or get down.

3. Pelvic Rocking: This one is supposed to give you more benefits than any of them. It tones the ab muscles and the lower back. It is supposed to relieve pressure on the lower back, uterus and bladder, increases circulation, relieve general tension and improve digestion. It helps the baby come forward and relieve pressure.

Get down on hands and knees and relax your lower back. Tuck your pelvis and hips under then release them back to the starting position. Most of the movement should be in the hips and lower back, not arching your back up and down. They say start these slowly and work your way up to 4 sets of 40 a day plus 80 just before bed. Sound like a lot? It is : ) Lets hope they are worth it!

4. Butterfly: This one tones your abductor muscles (outer muscles on your thighs) and helps you pull your legs back easier during pushing. It also reduces the shaky legs after labor.

Sit on the floor leaned back against something with your knees up and together with feet flat on the floor. Have the "coach" place their hands on the the outside of the knees and apply some pressure. The woman should open her legs and push knees to the floor, keeping the feet touching (soul to soul), while the coach gives her some resistance to push through. Then return to starting point and do again.

5. Kegel: Doing your kegels helps you improve the pelvic floor muscle tone. This helps you avoid wetting your pants when coughing or sneezing (common in pregnancy and after), discomfort, lack of sensation during sex, unusual pain during labor, and a long pushing stage of labor.

Best way to describe this one is to imagine you are peeing and you make yourself stop. The muscle you pull in to hold your pee in- thats your kegel. To work it out, pull it in then release. At first just work on pulling the muscle in 100 times a day. Then work on pulling it in and letting it go intentionally (before it will let itself go until you build it up some) 100 times a day. After that work on doing this 200 times and day and holding it in longer.

These exercises take time, but I think they are more than worth it. A lot of the prolonged labor and pain in labor we see today is because the areas of the body we are using are not used to it at all. That makes total sense to me. Have any of you every done any of these exercises or do you know other ones that help during pregnancy?

Ill keep you posted on how these help me out as I go. I have not been very uncomfortable in pregnancy yet and have had little to no back pain, but I have a ways to go so we shall see...

Bradley Birth: An Intro

Before I jump into telling you what I have been learning in my Bradley Classes, I figured I should share a brief intro of what Bradley classes are. So I found this summary on the web and thought I would just use it (borrowed from Babycenter.com):

This method embraces the idea that childbirth is a natural process and that, with the right preparation, most women can avoid pain medication and routine interventions during labor and birth. It's named after American obstetrician Robert Bradley, who developed the method in the late 1940s.

The program lasts 12 weeks and is more intensive than other childbirth education classes. Proponents claim that over 86 percent of Bradley-trained couples have had spontaneous, unmedicated vaginal births.

The Bradley philosophy says that it takes months to prepare for childbirth and parenting — mentally, physically, and emotionally — and prides itself on addressing all aspects of natural childbirth, as well as many pregnancy and postpartum issues. The course also emphasizes educating partners to be effective coaches.
What will my partner and I learn in a Bradley course?:

To make sure the classes are thorough and personal, classes are limited to eight couples and are often even smaller. The course will address: 

• Nutrition and how it affects a growing fetus 
• The importance of exercise (when appropriate) during pregnancy 
• Common pregnancy symptoms and complaints, and how to cope with them 
• Techniques for relaxation during labor and birth, with an emphasis on breathing methods to help you "tune-in" and manage your pain rather than distract you from it 
• Methods to help your partner be an active participant and a skilled coach on labor day 
• The stages of labor and how to cope with the changes your body experiences during each one 
• Medical interventions and how to avoid unnecessary ones 
• How to reduce your risk of having a c-section and what to do if it becomes medically necessary 
• Making a birth plan and how to communicate effectively with your medical team 
• Breastfeeding

Upcoming Post Warning

I am about to start posting all the stuff I am learning about in my Bradley Birth Classes. I just wanted to warn those who are not interested. All of the posts will start with "Bradley Birth", so feel free to skip those if not interested.

24 OB Appointment

(A little late, but whatever)

At my 24 week OB appointment Dr.Gass said everything is looking great! He likes my weight gain so far, and my blood pressure is nice and low. I am showing a little anemic (normal in pregnancy) so I have to take an iron supplement now. But I have not really been eating much meat so I suspected it would happen. I am measuring right on schedule, which means my uterus is right where it should be for 24 weeks. 

For those of you who don't know and are wondering what these appointments are like, every appointment they "measure" your uterus. This is done by having you lay on the table with your belly exposed while the doctor feels (pushes semi forcefully) your stomach. They can feel where the top of the uterus is, and they measure from that spot to just above your pubic hairline with a measuring tape. 

They also use a Doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat at every appointment. Griffin's heartbeat was in the 140s this time. Perfectly healthy, yay! 

We asked Dr.Gass about epidurals this time. I had been told that they are made with narcotics and I am pretty allergic to narcotics so it worried me. I wanted to know my options so if I feel like I need an epidural during labor I dont have a huge surprise added in! Ha! He explained that epidurals are not made with narcotics, but some other drugs sometimes given during labor like demerol do have them in them. I plan on researching this a little more, but it made me feel a lot better about it. He said he thought it would be pretty rare for me to be allergic to it, but we could do an allergy test if I was worried. I dont think that will be necessary, for now I feel comfortable saying if I feel like I want the epidural I will take it. 

We also asked Dr.Gass about the delivery policy, like if he couldnt make it who would deliver the baby. He delivers all his patients baby's unless he is on his annual vacation. We are in the summer, so there is a possibility that we could run into that issue. He is setting his plans soon and then we will see. If he has plans to be gone, we will meet with the other doctors in his practice before to share our wishes etc. I am just hoping its not an issue, but whatever. 

My next visit is in 4 weeks, then I start the every two week appointments. You know what that means? We are getting close! That is just crazy to me. I feel super excited and ready to meet our little man, but I feel like there is still a lot to do to prepare for him. And I am almost sad to see this unique time come to an end. Did anyone else feel like this about pregnancy?

Bradley Birth Class: Pros and Cons

Before I dive into sharing the info I am learning in my Bradley Birth Class, I want to just do an overall post on what I think the Pros and Cons are of the class so far.

Pros:

• I feel way more informed about pregnancy, labor, birth and the beginning of parenting. 
• They emphasis the role of the "Coach" during this process. Usually this role is the husband, but if you dont have one then it can be someone else you trust and lean on. This was important to me because Mr. Pate understands me and helps me through things better than anyone on this earth. He is and will be my rock through this. 
• It focuses on healthy nutrition and exercising during pregnancy. I love this. 
• It makes me feel empowered and reminds me my body was created to do this. Sometimes I feel like we treat labor like something really odd that we have to get through, but women have done this since the beginning of humanity. 
• They teach us coping strategies/ relaxation techniques to prepare us for actual labor. 

Cons:

• There is really an "us" vs "them" mentality against modern medicine and doctors. It comes across pretty strong in the material, the teaching, and even in the comments from the others in the class. You could really come out totally against your doctor if you weren't careful. I love our doctor so far, and I think he loves what he does and has our best interest in mind. I get that a lot of what they are teaching us is against how most doctors handle labor today, but we dont have to paint them in such a bad light. 
• If you are planning to labor in a traditional hospital with a traditional OB, you kinda feel like an oddball. This is funny to me because Dr.Bradley, the guy who started this shindig, was a regular OB who delivered babies in a hospital. 
• We have to drive to TN... this is getting old and we get super tired! 

Thats my thoughts so far. We are only 5 weeks in I think, so we have a ways to go. That means I have a ton more to learn! Ha! 

The Elephants have Arrived

... In the nursery that is! Ha! This past weekend, Mr.Pate hung blinds and the curtains in the soon-to-be nursery (which happens to currently be a mid-twenty year old guys room for now- yeah he doesn't mind the change! ha). Woo Hoo! I love them!!! What do you think?

Please ignore everything else in the picture because it will change. They came out as the pop of fun color and modern element I was hoping for. Yay! 

Our bedding also came in last week, so Mr.Pate and I spread everything out on the table to try and pick a paint color. Here is a look at that process: 

A look of everything for the room so far...

A better view of the cute bedding blanket (Thank you Mist & Ash!!)

View of the bumpers and crib skirt

A close up of the two colors we are thinking about... 

So as you can see, we are thinking a light yellow for the walls. I am leaning towards the "Summer Sun" on the right, and Mr.Pate is leaning towards the "First Light" on the left. Any thoughts or suggestions?? 

Thats the nursery progress thus far... stay tuned as the room develops in the coming months. What do you think?

Blog-a-thon

Hello Spring!! I am loving it!!

I told Mr.Pate this morning that after I deliver dinner to him at the bux tonight (he has to close, ick) I am coming home and having a Blog-A-Thon. He said he was sad to miss it ha!

I have around ten or more posts I would like to write, but haven't found the time. So I am hoping that I will feel motivated and awake enough tonight to get them all typed out. Majority are baby related, sorry for those who aren't so interested in my offspring. There are a few non fetus related ones coming though, don't you worry. So, until then, what are you doing?


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Meal Plan Monday!

Breakfast Options:

• Eggs, Fiber Bars, Cereal, Fruit

Lunch Options:

• Fajita Leftovers from Mexican Sunday
• Ham and Swiss Sandwiches
• Baked Potatoes
• mandarin oranges, pineapple, cheese cubes, yogurt, edamame, pretzels

Dinner:

• Sunday: Dinner for 8 group, I am taking Mac n Cheese and Strawberry Spinach Salad
• Monday: Bradley Class, eat out
• Tuesday: Chicken Fajitas and homemade guacamole with chips (never made it this weekend)
• Wednesday: Dustin's
• Thursday: Porcupine Meatballs
• Friday: Grilled Chicken, Mac n Cheese, brown rice
• Saturday: Leftovers

Recipes: 

Strawberry Spinach Salad

1 Bag of Spinach 

1 carton of strawberries

1 package of walnuts or pecans

1 bottle of Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette Dressing 

1. Mix all dry ingredients. Right before serving toss with dressing. Super yummy this time of year! 

What is your favorite thing to cook during spring??

25 Weeks and Counting...

• How far along: 25 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 18 lbs (started 107, currently 125)
• Maternity Clothes: Mixture of maternity and regular. Now that I have washed and dried my maternity jeans I am totally in love! They are so comfy! 
• Sleep: Still not the greatest, plus I have got to go to bed earlier!   
• Best Moment of the Week(s): We hung up the curtains for the nursery and they are so cute!! Plus Mr.Pate has felt some good movement this week. And our bedding came in! 
• Movement: Yep. Mainly at my desk in the morning or laying down at night. But he is starting to move more after I eat too. Today after lunch his kicks/punches were funny!  
• Food Cravings: Nothing specific this week, just hungry!!! 
• Food Aversions: Steak 
• Symptoms: Shortness of Breath, Have to pee constantly, crazy dreams, cant bend over very well, really sore tailbone (anybody experience that one?), leg cramps again (eh!)...
• What I miss: Being able to breathe when I talk and not having to eat every two hours. 
• What I'm looking forward to: Fixing up the nursery (wont start until mid- May), baby showers, and having him here!!!!! 
• Other news: I went to a pretty good breast feeding class at our hospital this week, and it made me feel encouraged about breast feeding. I think I have gotten a lot of my energy back (or adjusted to being exhausted!) and I am motivated to get stuff done! Our house is looking better and I feel like we are making progress on our to-do lists. Had my glucose test this week and passed! Woo Hoo! I am a little anemic so I started taking iron to supplement. I am just finding myself getting more and more excited to meet Griffin. This whole process has been so neat, and I love how the Lord has designed it all. 
• Gender & Name: It's a Boy! Griffin Alan Pate

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com : Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

25 weeks, can you believe it??

I Passed

I had my Gestational Diabetes screening yesterday and I passed! That means that my bloodwork does not show that my blood sugar is high and I do not need to do further testing.

I was a little conflicted on if I was worried about it or not. On the one hand, I struggle with insulin resistance so I was higher risk for it. On the other hand, I take medicine to help my blood regulate my blood sugar, workout regularly and eat pretty well. All of these would put me at a lower risk. So I didn't really know what to expect. Anyhow, glad it's not something I have to deal with. My sister had GD with my 2n niece and had to eat a crazy diet because of it.

So what was it like? I had hear the stuff you drink is just nasty, so I was preparing to gag. But mine just tasted like orange soda. It had a burn to the aftertaste, but I think orange soda has that too.

My dr office just told me to have a light breakfast that was low in carbs/sugars and to not eat 2 hours before. Some places make you fast from midnight until the test. Anyhow, they gave me the drink and made me drink it all
In five minutes and then they started a timer for an hour. Some places give the drink to you and have you drink it at home. So I sat in the lab for an hour and read. Then, after the hour they draw your blood. That's all.

For those of you who have done this before, was this what yours was like? Share so those who haven't done it yet can be prepared!!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Late Night Thoughts

• The curtains for our nursery are done. I just wanted long panels, so it did not take my sweet friend at church long to make that happen for me. I am dying to get them up and see how they look- even if they wont really stay. Hopefully later this week we will do that and snap a pic or two for you. Hopefully. The curtains are the thing I am most excited about in the nursery so far! 
• My sister & brother in law bought our bedding for us and it is en route to our house now! Yay! My sis is in New York City this week with one of her best friends and they came across a Buy Buy Baby store, which is where the bedding is from. So they snapped these two pics for me so I could better see what the bedding looked like. I really like it. It fits the color scheme we want, has the animal theme and has numbers and letters. Woo Hoo!
• My sister also got to go to Carlo's Bakery (Home of the Cake Boss!). Jealous. 
• I am still wanting to share some posts on what I am learning in our Bradley Class, but I am finding it difficult. With kids and parenting there comes a lot of pressure and judgement I think. People judge every decision other people make, whether its if they chose to work or stay home, how they discipline, if they breast feed, etc. I just do not want my blog to be a place where people feel that pressure. If you are not into Natural Childbirth then I have no beef with that, its your experience and you should do whatever you want. Its the same thing with cloth diapers. I am super excited about them, but I could care less how you diaper your children. You know what I mean?? So I hope to share more of what I am learning soon, but I just want to make sure I share it in a way that is informative and not preachy. Because natural childbirth people can be down right pushy! 
• Along that line, I am not even sure I would classify myself as a natural childbirth person. I just want to be informed and then make decisions from there. Imagine that- I want to know something... Ha!
• One of my student workers came in yesterday and said he needed to ask me something. Then he asked me if he had filed his taxes.... which I told him was probably a question for him and not me??? Ha! Then he said that his friends had gotten money back and he had not. I had to inform him that the government was not going to send him any money until he actually filed his taxes. Poor kid... these are the kind of life lessons I need to remember to teach my kid. 
• I have trouble breathing when I talk. This started after my thyroid surgery, but got better sometime last year. Since I have been pregnant it has been creeping back in and now I cant carry on a conversation without gasping for air. Seriously. It is ridiculous. The funny thing is, it is only when I talk. It doesn't happen when I work out and I still workout quite a bit so I do not think its because I am out of shape. I think I have forgotten how to breathe while talking. I do not know what I am doing wrong, but something is not right. How do I even go about fixing this problem??
• I am at an ugh point with my hair. I really want to cut it into an inverted bob again, but I know that come baby time I am going to want a ponytail. It is just blah right now. 
• I am suddenly falling asleep, so it is time to bid you adieu...

What we are eating around here

( I wish my food looked like this! I need a gourmet chef at my house!)

I didnt make it by Monday, but here is our food plan for the week. We are always gone on Monday nights for our Bradley class right now, and it seems like I keep having things at least one other night of the week too. If I dont get back into planning then we are going to get into a horrible rut of eating out, which is bad for the scale and the wallet!

Breakfast Options:

• Scrambled Eggs
• Fiber Bar and Fruit
• Cereal

Lunches Options:

• Baked Potatoes with Cheese and Sour cream
• Leftovers
• Ham n Swiss rolls
• Spinach Salads, fruit, yogurt, edamame and cheese cubes with pretzels (these are my snacking options for the day)

Dinner:

• Tuesday: Smoked Pork Chops (yummy, thanks mom!), couscous and green beans
• Wednesday: Dinner at Dustins
• Thursday: Ranch Burgers and Oven Fries
• Friday: Dinner out and then the Warren East Musical
• Saturday: Chicken Fajitas, Homemade Avocado with chips, and Cantalope
• Sunday: Dinner for 8 groups at Church (Not sure what my group is doing yet)

Recipes:

Ranch Burgers
1 lb lean ground beef
3 tbs ranch seasoning
4 slices any flavor cheese

4 hamburger buns

1. Mix ranch seasoning into beef.

2. Divide beef into 4 equal sections. Form into 4 patties, try to get them as flat as possible. 

3. Cook on grill or in skillet until no longer raw. Then place a piece of cheese on each patty until it melts.
Yummy!

Oven Fries

2-4 Potatoes (For 2 or 3 people, add more for more servings)
1. Preheat oven to 400 and cover a baking sheet with foil.

2. Slice potatoes into small fries.

3. Spray fries with Olive Oil (if you have a sprayer) or with Olive Oil Cooking Spray and then cover generously with seasoned salt. 

4. Bake for 15-30 minutes, turning once if you want. We like ours crispy so we usually try to cook them as long as possible. 

Alien Baby

I am sitting at my desk this morning, getting back into the grind and all, and little Griffin is just moving a lot!!! Strong movements! The strongest I have felt so far.

AND.... I can see him move! I can see little kicks or hits pushing my belly out!!! Ha!!! My friend Lindsay says hers looks like an alien baby when it does it, hence the post title.

Love it!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

24 Weeks and Counting...

• How far along: 24 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 17 lbs, made up for last week by gaining 4 lbs!! wow! ha! (started 107, currently 124)
• Maternity Clothes: Mixture of maternity and regular. Finally got a pair of maternity jeans this week and found that they stretch out a ton as the day goes, just like everybody says. And it is hard to pull up maternity pants in public... 
• Sleep: I guess I am not sleeping that great. I wake up a lot and never feel rested after a good nights rest, but I am not aware that I am not sleeping well while I sleep. If that makes any sense at all.   
• Best Moment of the Week(s): Mr. Pate felt the baby move!!!!!! 
• Movement: Yep. Still not feeling it consistently all day, but when I am very still in the morning or at night I feel little flips or kicks.  
• Food Cravings: Nothing specific this week, just hungry!!! 
• Food Aversions: Steak 
• Symptoms: Shortness of Breath, Have to pee constantly, crazy dreams, very tight stomach (I can feel it stretching), lower back pain is creeping in, exhaustion, cant bend over very well...
• What I miss: Energy!
• What I'm looking forward to: Fixing up the nursery (wont start until mid- May), Spring!, the bedding coming in!
• Other news: We ordered the bedding this weekend (because it was from somewhere other than where we are registering and its a gift from my sis and bro-in-law) and I cant wait for it to get here! We will start picking the nursery color once we have it. Our nursery curtains are down and sooo cute! I will post a pic soon. We have our next appointment with Dr.Gass (our OB) this week, which I am looking forward to... except the glucose test part! Ick! So Thursday morning I have to go drink the gross stuff and sit for an hour... Good thing I have lotsof reading material. I am currently reading a book on Natural Childbirth, and up next I have "The Baby Whisperer" then "The Womanly Art of Breast feeding" on my list. I went to big consignment sale with my sis this weekend and that was some sweet quality time. Buying boy clothes is all new to us! Ha! We saw a friend there who told me she prefers gowns for nighttime, bc they are easier than all the snaps on sleepers. This is the kind of wisdom I need those of you who have been thru this to share- so keep it coming! I gained 4 lbs in one week, which is the most I have gained in a week so far. But as long as I dont do that every week I am ok with it : )
• Gender & Name: It's a Boy! Griffin Alan Pate

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com :  Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Have I mentioned how much I am loving this journey?? Getting to experience this pregnancy has been a blessing so far, and it constantly reminds me of the creativity of God's Creation. How amazing that He made our bodies to adapt like this to grow a human!! It really baffles me but I love it!

What a pretty day!!

I am loving this weather!! It is a gorgeous day here in Bowling Green. I have nothing to really tell you, just thought I would recap my weekend so far and share random tidbits.

Last night I went to a large consignment sale in TN with my sister. It was legit. We got lots of little goodies for little Griffin at great prices! Yay! I love buying clothes for him because they are so little and cute and it reminds me he will really be here soon!!

Today we are heading to Owensboro with some of our youth to go Ice Skating. It feels weird to go do something cold on such a nice warm day, but whatever.

I woke up and got some house cleaning done, and my poor house needed it badly. We have just been out doing stuff every night lately so the house has been very neglected.

Working out is straight up getting difficult these days. All of the sudden it just really wears me out and I just can't breath! Since I have been working out the whole time, I didn't expect it to suddenly feel so hard. Ugh! But I just need to slow down some and continue on. It will help my body in labor, recovery, and help little Griffin develop well.

I know two people with little premie babies right now and I am just amazed at them. They are so tiny but such little fighters!! I also know one little baby who came on time but is having a rough time with his colon. He is in the hospital again and really struggling with feedings. Please be in prayer for these three babies.

Ok now it's time to take a nap in the church van...

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

My Thursday Night

1. I went to a Newborn Safety class offered by our hospital. I must say our hospital does a great job of offering opportunities for you to be as prepared and informed as possible. And they are all FREE. Love that. Tonights class was actually pretty good too. We learned infant CPR and how to handle choking, how to swaddle, how to bathe an infant, and some other random stuff.

2. Afterwards, I was starving (which is my new normal state of being! Ha) and totally tried to head to our malls (the class was at the mall) Chick-Fil-A. Only apparently we don't have it anymore. When did that happen??

3. So I settled on Wendys and ordered some chicken nuggets. Well at wendys, spicy chicken nuggets are only $0.99... But regular chicken nuggets are $1.67. Really???? Ugh! That is like the dumbest thin ever to me, that I have to pay more to not add spice to my nuggets. Stupid.

4. I am now headed to look for some more maternity pants bc only having 2 pairs is not cutting it. My regular pants with the belly
Band are getting more uncomfortable as I grow. And grow I am doing. Ha! Wish me luck- I only have 30 min before this place shuts down...



- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Let Me Count the Ways

Let Me Count the Ways... I Drive You Nuts

In marriage, you have things that drive each other nuts. Usually (hopefully) these are not important things, and they are not deal breakers. They are simply the things that if you could change them about your spouse you totally would. Here are a few things I have been doing lately that drive Mr.Pate crazy:

•  I steal his lunchbox (all the lunchboxes actually). I bring my lunch to work every day, and often I leave my lunchbox here. So by the end of the week I have used all of the lunch boxes, including Mr.Pate's. A few days ago, he walked in holding one of my lunch boxes (I have 3) and said "Here is your lunchbox so you wont use mine!" I just laughed and said "Well yours is actually stuffed inside that one... haha!" I drive him nuts.
• I put my purse and coat on the chaise lounge when I come home sometimes. Instead of putting these things in their "homes", sometimes I just drop them there for whatever reason. It drives him nuts! He will comment to Joey, "Sorry you cant sit on the chaise Joe, somebody's stuff is all over it". Poor spoiled Joey. 
• I am never really worried about being on time somewhere. The man is sooo time oriented! And it kills him to be late to things. I could care less about being late.
• I put my ice cold feet on him. My feet are always ice cold, seriously cold. Mr.Pate always feels like an inferno, so I love to put my cold feet on his hot legs. He hates it.
• I pick my lips. This is probably the habit of mine he hates the most. 
• I pop my bubblegum. I love to blow bubbles when I chew gum. And I love to pop the bubbles. It happens often. He hates it- especially if I do it during church. You would think I just yelled out a million cuss words with the look his gives me after I pop a bubble in church.

What drives the people around you crazy??

To-Do Lists, To-Do Lists

To-Do Before Griffin Arrives:

• Register at Babies R Us and Target
• Find a Pediatrician
• Tour the Labor and Delivery area at the Medical Center
• Pre-Register for The Medical Center
• Make a Birth Plan
• Tour/Interview the Daycare (or Daycares if we really dont like that one)
• Get Maternity Leave planned and setup
• Clean out the Garage
• Sell the extra crib & other things in garage
• Paint Nursery
• Decorate & setup the nursery
• Wash all baby clothes
• Wash and prep cloth diapers
• Pare down bookshelves/ send extra books to attic (till Mr. Pate gets his "library" some day)
• Learn to use the breast pump
• Make Pregnancy/Baby Scrapbook (I want to make one that shares all my memories from being pregnant, but also tells our children stuff about who we are)
• Clean out yard and get it in decent shape
• Deep clean both vehicles
• Clean the bathroom ceiling (it is gross)
• Replace front door handle

This is all I can think of right now, I am sure there are a million other things that need to be added to this list! Ugh! I am going to post it on the blog as a way for me to keep track of it. I (hopefully) have around 4 months to get this all done. Here is to hoping!

Meal Plan Monday!

Between going down to Hendersonville for our Birth Class every week and events on the weekend, we do not have a ton of time to eat at home right now. But something is better than nothing, so here is my very short plan for this week:

• Monday: Out to eat before Bradley Class
• Tuesday: Brown Gravy Pork chops, Mashed Potatoes and Green beans
• Wednesday: Dustin's for dinner
• Thursday: Chicken, Broccoli, Potato Parmesan
• Friday: Leftovers for Mr. Pate, I am going to a consignment sale with my sister
• Saturday: Youth Ice Skating Trip, Dinner Out
• Sunday: Youth Small Group, eat there

Broccoli Chicken Potato Parmesan

2 tbsp oil

1 lb small red potatoes, sliced ¼ inch think

Cooked & cubed Chicken (2-4 breasts) 

2 cups broccoli

1 can (10 ¾ oz) Campbell’s Broccoli Cheese Soup, 98% Fat Free

½ milk

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat, add potatoes. Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Stir in chicken and broccoli.

3. Add soup, milk, and garlic powder. Sprinkle with cheese. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Serves 4. 

I cannot believe I have never posted this recipe before. Its a Campbell's recipe that we love. Super easy and tasty.

What are you having this week??

These are a few of my favorite things... iPhone edition

It is no secret that I love love love my iPhone. And I have now had it for 8 months! TIme flies when you are loving electronics, haha. Anyhow, I figured it was high time I share my favorite apps/things to do on my iPhone just in case you need a few more distractions in life.

1. Mail: I know-basic- but my favorite thing on my iPhone is having my email right there. My work on is setup to the general mailbox, so it alerts me every time I get a work email. Very helpful!
2. mailpro: My personal email is a Hotmail account. Because of the way hotmail is setup, it does not work with the iPhone mail app. So I had to get a special app for that mailbox. It is $1.99, but it works great and is very handy. 
3. Facebook app: This is a given. 
4. MobileRSS: This is an app for reading blogs on the iPhone or iPad. Love it!! At first I had the free version and it worked fine but had ads, then after I got some iTunes gift cards I decided it was worth the $2.99. If you love reading blogs as much as I do then you need this app (if you read in google reader already- this connects to your google reader setup... but if you love blogs why arent you using google reader?? it rocks!). 
5. BlogPress: This is an app that lets you write and publish blogger blog posts. It may work with a few other types of blogs, I am not sure, but I know it works fabulous with Blogger. It is $2.99 and worth every penny if you blog. I bought a $10 blog app at first (I figured it would be worth the money) and it sucks! This one is super easy to use and lets you upload pics soooo easily. The downfalls are that you cannot insert hyperlinks or categories and you cant schedule blog posts for later (at least I dont think you can- let me know if I am wrong). 
6. Words with Friends: I am sure everyone has heard all about this one. I had the free version for awhile, which wasnt too bad. But they run deals for $0.99 all the time, so I just upgraded one day and it is sooo much better without the ads! (Ps.I am currently in a losing funk!)
7. The Weather Channel: With our weather being so nuts in the past few months, I check this thing every morning when I get up. It is so much quicker than grabbing the laptop or turning on the tv. 
8. BabyBump: I have downloaded SEVERAL pregnancy apps, and this one is my favorite so far. It has a journal to track weight, waist size and symptoms. Then you can look at charts or even email yourself the journal, so if you want to save these things for a memory book there you have it. It also has a space to keep up with pictures of each week, a kick counter, contractions counter, birth announcement and week by week info on the pregnancy. 
9. What to Expect app: This is probably my 2nd fav pregnancy app. It gives you lots of info (prob more than you need). I like that it keeps track of the size etc. 
10. BB&T app: Online banking at my fingertip. Love it. 

Those are my top 10 things I use on my iPhone. If you see me playing on my phone, I am more than likely using numbers 1-6. So fellow iPhone users, what apps am I totally missing out on?? Do share! 

23 Weeks and Counting...

• How far along: 23 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 13 lbs, first week that I haven't gained... kinda odd (started 107, currently 120)
• Maternity Clothes: Mixture of maternity and regular. 
• Sleep: Crazy Pregnancy dreams are definitely here.  
• Best Moment of the Week(s): Listening to his heartbeat and going through little clothes that will be his so soon! 
• Movement: Yep. Still not feeling it consistently all day, but when I am very still in the morning or at night I feel little flips or kicks.  
• Food Cravings: Mac n Cheese again this week & nutella (but I havent let myself go get any)
• Food Aversions: None this week. 
• Morning Sickness: Still none so I hope I am past that.  
• Symptoms: Shortness of Breath, Have to pee constantly, crazy dreams, very tight stomach (I can feel it stretching), lower back pain is creeping in...
• What I miss: Energy!
• What I'm looking forward to: Fixing up the nursery, registering, and Mr.Pate being able to feel the kicks! 
• Other news: This week I began making to-do lists for the next four months. There is so much to do! I also went through a big bag of clothes somebody gave me and began organizing. I cleaned out one closet and am already making mental notes of other areas in this house that have to be cleaned soon. Nesting I guess?? We listened to the heartbeat twice this week, and I just love the sound of it! It sounds like a galloping horse, seriously. One of my sunday school girls told me that the sweater I was wearing didnt fit me because I was pregnant... I thought it looked ok but apparently not? haha! I love knowing the gender now and getting to use Griffin's name. It makes me smile each time I say it. 
• Gender & Name: It's a Boy! Griffin Alan Pate

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com :  Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Wow, 23 weeks. It feels like yesterday I was only a few weeks pregnant and wondering when the bump would finally start to show! This pregnancy is flying by.

The "Why" on Cloth Diapering

I promised to come back and share why I chose to use cloth diapers, and I am back to share just that. As I mentioned last week, I know around 25 people who use cloth diapers. So while cloth diapering is a very unfamiliar and outdated thing to a lot of people, for me it seems very normal. When my friend Amanda got pregnant, I remember us talking about cloth diapers. She is one of the most frugal people I know, so she was toying with the idea of using cloth diapers. She wasn't sure if it would be worth the effort or the money you have to put down up front. She ended up going for it, and not long after I felt like everywhere I turned people were using cloth diapers. When a few of us went up to see the little one, she showed us the cloth diapers. It was then that I was introduced to "modern" cloth diapering.

Since then I have seen many of my close friends use cloth. They all love it. They all say it saves them money, is better for the environment, and it is not that much added effort. Plus, they are much cuter than disposables! Ha! Somewhere along the journey, I decided that if I had children of my own, I wanted to cloth diaper them. I talked to Mr. Pate and he was on board (he still isn't crazy about the idea of washing them in the same washing machine as his clothes). He is especially all for the savings. So if I had to give a list of reasons on why I want to cloth diaper, here they are:

1. Saving $: Cloth Diapers are cheaper in the long run. And if you have another child then you practically diaper them for free (minus the energy and water costs). Score!! 
2. More absorbent and comfy for baby: Everyone says that the cloth diaper can hold more, they have fewer blowouts, and their babies don't feel wet. They also don't get diaper rash as often typically. Most pocket diapers have a lining that wicks the moisture away from the baby's skin. 
3. Less waste: I am not the "green-est" person on the block, but I like knowing that I am helping our environment where I can. 
4. Super Cute: Lets face it, cloth is cute. 

So thats my "why" on the cloth diaper journey. The savings is my main aim (comfort for my baby of course, but I know plenty of babies that fair just fine in disposables- just like myself). You can save thousands of dollars. Sign me up.

I will do some posts soon on the different types of cloth diapers, the basics of how they work, and I will definitely share how the journey goes once Griffin gets here and gives me plenty of dirty diapers to change!

For now, its your turn. If you have a kid, share which type of diaper you choose and why. No judgement here- use what works for you and like it.

Any Takers?

Julie & Julia is one of the movies I watch over and over again. Every time it gets to the part where she cooks this:

I want it sooo bad! I have even googled the recipe a few times with full intentions to make it. But for some reason it kinda intimidates me. So the best recipe I could find was at the Hungry Novelist. Go read it and then someone tell me if they will make it for me. It looks sooo yummy!