Accomplished

For a preggo, I feel pretty accomplished tonight. Today, after a super stressful and crazy work day, I was able to:

- go grocery shopping (thanks to Mr.Pate going with me)
- cook dinner
- clean up all the dishes from dinner
- spend quality time with the hubby
- watch Due Date with the hubby (pretty dumb of you ask me)
- do our Bradley homework together
- do all of my Bradley exercises
- get in bed by 10

That counts as a very accomplished and great night in my book. Good night blog world.


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Worry

"Worry is focusing on the what IF instead of the what IS. "

- from Me, Myself, and Lies bible study

[Mrs.Pate posted on my iPhone]

22 Weeks and counting...

• How far along: 22 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 13 lbs (started 107, currently 120- adding this to help me keep track overall) 
• Maternity Clothes: Mixture of maternity and regular. 
• Sleep: Pretty good. No leg cramps this week! Yay! 
• Best Moment of the Week(s): Seeing Mr.Pate practice pushing at our Childbirth class at the Med Center and getting the fabric in for the nursery! 
• 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: This week it was boxed mac n cheese! Yummy. 
• Food Aversions: None this week. 
• Morning Sickness: Still none so I hope I am past that.  
• Symptoms: Shortness of Breath! I cant talk very long without practically gasping for air. It was quite funny today trying to teach sunday school. Have to pee constantly. 
• 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: We got the fabric in this week! Yay! And we got the wall decals too. They make me so excited to actually have a little boy here who will live in this room we are trying to design. We went to the one day childbirth class at the Medical Center yesterday. Labor is a quickly coming reality! I feel like this pregnancy is flying by. I have loved begin pregnant so far. I am still feeling really well and think I am finally getting some energy. 
• Gender & Name: It's a Boy! Griffin Alan Pate 

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com :  At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

A great day

Today was a great day. Nothing extra special or extraordinary, but just great. What did I do today?

• Went to the childbirth class at The Medical Center. It was long, but informative. The highlight was wen the teacher made the guys practice pushing... Mr.Pate on the floor trying to reach his knees was hilarious. Loved it. 
• Spent some time with our friends Lindsay and Matt. They are pregnant too, so its been neat to take the journey with them. They went to the class too, and then we had lunch and chilled. Good times. 
• Went over to my friend Whit's house and spent some long overdue time with her and her daughter Ellie. I gotta get my practice in now right? Ha! It was a lovely time. 
• Met with one of my youth for much longer than I thought at Starbucks tonight. We talked about everything under the sun and then some. It was awesome. 

That is a lot of people interaction in one day-Especially for a hermit like me! It is starting to warm up and once again I am coming out of my self-inflicted hibernation that happens every winter. I think the thing that made today great is fellowship. I forget how life-giving good fellowship is! Last weekend I had the same experience with my girlfriends coming in town, and getting to see our families. It is spending time really talking about life with people that brings more joy to my heart than anything! How do I so often forget that and think I am giving myself more rest or energy by staying home all by my lonesome? Silly logic I think. 

One other note from today, I was once again reminded that the Lord so uses me trying to speak Truth into others lives to really speak it to me. I have always said that I never feel closer to the Lord than when I am teaching. This is because He somehow uses whatever I think I am teaching others to really teach the truth to me. It really sinks in when I am teaching. I have no idea if the people I am teaching or investing in get that much from it, but it is so worth doing just for me to "get it". Tonight with my youth was one of those occurrences. As I tried to implant the Word of God in her, I realized I was really implanting it in me. Truths I could say, but needed to really live out. It was good for me, I needed it badly. I think for a lot of people pregnancy is a time when they feel they depend on God the most and feel the closest to Him, but for me it has been a real struggle. Never before have I tried so desperately hard to depend on myself. That is hilarious to say because how in the world can I be depending on myself right now? This time is sooo out of my control and different than anything I have ever experienced. And yet I am trying to prepare for it with my own knowledge, plan and strength instead of the Lords. Only He is in control. 

Well, those are my late night thoughts after a day that has energized me a bunch! I am very wired right now (even though it is almost 12!) because the fellowship of the day has energized me a ton. Ha! Hope you had a great day too. Good night!

Fluffy Fluff

We plan on cloth diapering little Griffin (love being able to came him by name!), and to say I am excited about it is probably an understatement. I know cloth diapering brings mixed feelings from people. Some people immediately picture old school cloth diapers with pins and diaper services (Mr.Pate was cloth diapered that way and his parents hated it! His dad would always end up stabbing the twins with the pins!Haha!). Others know what modern cloth diapering can look like and think of course!

If you had asked me about cloth diapering 3 or 4 years ago, I would have told you no way! How gross! What changed for me? The amount of people I have personally seen cloth diaper. I think I now know 25 people who cloth diaper. I know thats quite a few and not most peoples normal, but for some reason it is pretty popular with my friends. Anyways, once I started seeing it for myself and reading up on it I knew I wanted to cloth diaper when I had a kid. And now, Lord willing, that time has come!

So recently a friend brought me a bag full of cloth diapers. Yay! I was so excited to have some of my own!! And even better, she brought me a newborn stash to borrow! We will be going with one size pocket diapers, which means they are 1 diaper that adjust in size up until your child potty trains generally. The only problem is you have to wait a little while before your baby is big enough to start wearing those. So it was looking like we probably wouldnt start cloth diapering until I was back at work already, and that kinda bummed me out. I would much rather have some time to try it out and get the hang of it before adding work to the mix.

So here are the goodies she brought me:

The whole stash (minus a bunch more pre-folds)

 Six "fitted newborns" 

 A bunch of prefolds

 This cute newborn cover

 And all of these covers (several Thirsties x-small, 2 small)

 2 medium Fuzzibunz

 2 Happy Heiny's

 This is a Once Size Pocket Diaper. Notice those snaps? They make the diaper shorter or taller. 

 The inside of the pocket diaper

 And for fun, I wanted to see how many of these I could fit into the diaper bag we bought the other day... 

 The asnwer: 12 stuffed diapers/fitteds, 5 covers and some prefolds. 

I know thats a lot of cloth diaper talk, but I am so excited about it. Sometime soon I will do a post on why I am choosing cloth personally and some explantation for those of you who have no clue about any of this.

For now I am curious, what are your thoughts on cloth diapering??

Guess what's here??

Our fabric for the curtains in the nursery:



And our animal alphabet wall decals:



Not the best pics ever, but I am loving them both!!! I think they are both cute but kinda funky and I love that. Yay!!

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

I go back....

As previously mentioned, here is the post on songs that take me back... back to childhood, middle school, high school or college. These are just random songs that keep popping in my head for no reason. I hope it takes some of you down memory lane. In no particular order...

1. Mr. Ice Cream Man (Master P): Reminds me of Willie's van Freshman and Sophomore year. 
2. Champagne Supernova (Oasis): Reminds me of middle school and Michael & Elliot. 
3. The Woman with You (Kenny Chesney)- Reminds me of when I started dating Mr.Pate in college. Such sweet times those were. 
4. No Such Thing (John Mayer): Reminds me of working at Sonic the summer after Freshmen year of college. It would always come on while I was sweeping the lot and closing the store. I made a lot of money that summer. 
5. I'll Fly Away (Nelly Furtado): Senior year of high school... this was one of the first songs I downloaded to Napster and burnt to a cd! Ha! 
6. Hello World (Bella Perez): Its a song from the movie "Down to You" that I feel in love with Junior Year of High School. It was a song my girlfriends and I would drive around and sing at the top of our lungs in my saturn. 
7. Fast Cars and Freedom (Rascal Flatts): The summer after we graduated college and Mr.Pate and I were engaged! I remember loving this song and us driving around with it blaring. I was young and so in love with that man that my heart wanted to burst! 
8. You Look Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton): Willie's van freshmen and sophomore year of high school. We would listen to this on our way home from hanging out wherever on weekend nights and it made me depressed and want to be in love so bad! Also reminds me of Amy and Brandon dating in middle school. Random!
9. Pretty when I'm drunk (Bloodhound Gang): Spring Break Junior year and Gatlinburg.... oh my. 
10. La La LaLaLa (Cant remember real name or who sang it): Makes me think of the mixed cd that Kara made for Hibbard... that we highjacked and loved. We would ride around and sing it so loud! 
11. Why Should I Worry (Billy Joel in Oliver and Company): I remember I had the soundtrack on tape when I was in Kindergarten, and I would listen to this song over and over again. 
12. Ironic (Alanis Morissette): This song makes me think of a Christmas in middle school. I remember going Christmas shopping and listening to this in the blue nissan with Misty. 
13. When Country wasnt cool (Barbara Mandrell): Reminds me of my sister and wranglers. She always sang this so well! 
14. Does He Love You (Reba and Linda Davis): My sister and I used to sing this together like we were pros. Ha! 
15. Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice): When this song came out I was in elementary school. I remember being in my sisters room with her friends (cant remember who for the life of me) and then dancing and trying things like the worm to this song. Ha!
16. As Is & Gravel (Ani Difranco): Cort turned us on to Ani Difranco in high school. These two were my absolute favorites and I sang them all the time! I remember one night, Michael was driving me around in my car (Karen had an out of town game so we were wasting time waiting for her) and he was signing gravel out loud too... it was funny to hear a guy singing the man hating song! Ha! 
17. Summer Girls (LFO): Junior Year after I had the horrid breakup, Cortney and I would ride around in her altima and sing this song. It makes me think of Vol State and baseball players as well as sponge painting butterflies in her room. Ha!
18. Your Winter (Sister Hazel): Just reminds me of high school period. 
19. If I had a Million Dollars (Barenaked Ladies): Reminds me of Starwood and going to see them live. Oh I miss Starwood....
20. Seven Nation Army (White Stripes): College and Duke dancing! 
21. Wait for Me (Rebecca St.James): Sophomore year of college when I was really growing in my faith and starting to actually see the Holy Spirit change me. 
22. Audience of One (Big Daddy Weave): Sophomore & Junior Year of college. 
23. Gold digger: Dancing in my veil in the BCM apartment with the girls. Classy! Ha!
24. Mariah Carey and Boys II Men: Middle School dances. 
25. Surrender: Spring Break on the Myrtle Beach mission trip and Ben singing it. Love that song. 
26. Should Have Been a Cowboy: Makes em think of Karen and Kristen everytime. 
27. Lisa Loeb: Oh High School and drama. 

I feel like I could go on and on, but I am getting pretty tired at this point. Your turn- what songs take you back?? Share! 

A Pattern

One area in my life that I am very weak in is Scripture Memorization. This year I have determined to memorize two verses/passages a month. That doesn't sound like much, but if I am successful then I will have 24 truths hidden in my heart at the end of the year. That's not shabby!

Anyhow, here are the verses I am working on so far:

"We demolish arguements and every pretension that sets itself
up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor 10:5

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14

There is a pattern with these verses, can you see it? They all have to do with thoughts, trust, and true desire. I have been struggling in these areas big time. Since I got pregnant I have been relying on me or the worlds wisdom way more than the Lords. And that's pretty ironic because this is the time when I need to rely on him more than ever before! My thoughts have been consumed with baby stuff, money, work, or me me me. I have worried worried worried. Ugh!!

But if I learn these verses deep in my soul, then I will know that the Lord has good plans for me. I can trust that though life may be hard, he always has his best for me. He alone is my portion. This is why I need to committ myself to these verses, because they speak truth to me when I have fed myself lies!!

Just wanted to share one area I am majorly struggling in...

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

222 Tuesday

I know its not earth shattering, but I just realized that today is 2/22... anyhow...

•  I so have a post I want to type up with a long list of songs from the past and what they remind me of. Not that most of you probably care, but there are a few of you who would highly enjoy it I do believe. I just have to find time to type it all up... ugh. (I know you are thinking- how are you typing this one but dont have time? Quick thought on the iphone are much easier to get out during my workout... thats right- I blog while I workout and build a baby-- super woman!)
• We have gone shopping crazy. By crazy I mean that Mr.Pate and I actually purchased a few things baby related. Watch out! Ha! We ordered the fabric for our curtains (cant wait for it to come in! hope its as cute as I think it is), some overpriced-but-ohh-so-cute alphabet wall decals, and a few random cloth diapers (a less mainstream company that I read reviews on and wanted to see for myself). Now I am like a kid waiting for Christmas... come on UPS!
• I finished the book I was reading and am hoping to post book notes so I wont forget the info. That should be a riveting post people... I apologize in advance. Realize this blog is more for me than you... get over it : )
• I got to see some of my fabulous friends this weekend! Shout out to Elizabeth who brought all of her maternity clothes and a big goodie bag of cloth diapers for me!! Who gets excited over diapers? That would be me... Anyhow- Duke and I went through the clothes and had a fashion show! Ha! She had all kinds of cute shorts that little short me couldnt do (total bummer) but I got lots of cute tops to borrow! They have fun maternity sayings on them such as "I love my bump I love my bump!" how cute!! 
• My fabulous mother went on a shopping spree on Saturday and delivered all kinds of clothes to me on Sunday! Yay!
• The thought of a little boy is totally growing on me. At first, I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed. I was so glad that the baby was healthy and that it was a boy, but there was a part of me that was heartbroken I wouldnt have a little girl. So the idea of a boy is all new to me- but I cant wait! Do you know how fabulous my hubby will be with a son?? I cannot wait to see it.
• I got to hangout with small babies on Saturday- it was wonderful! 
• I am loving when we have warm weather (today is cold-boo)! I can already feel myself coming out of hibernation and suddenly wanting to hangout with people. Thank you people in my life for putting up with me through the cold months. I really do nothing but sit in my house. Dont take it personally. Warm-weather Sabrina is so much cooler... 

Whats up with you on 222 Tuesday?? 



....... oh yea, here is a pic of the overpriced but too cute wall decals:

too perfect for our other alphabet animal wall thing eh???

21 Weeks and Counting...

• How far along: 21 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 11 or 12 lbs 
• Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants, regular pants with the belly band thing and regular shirts mostly. 
• Sleep: Ok I just want way more! I started getting leg cramps in the middle of the nigt this week, which is always a blast. 
• Best Moment of the Week(s): Finding out we are having a baby boy! And getting to share the news with our families face to face! 
• Movement: I have been able to distinguish it a lot more this week. When I sit real still it feels like te baby is doing flips in my belly. It is a hard feeling to describe, but it is really cool. There is a kind of light pressure and then almost like a bubble popped it goes away. 
• Food Cravings: Salmon
• Food Aversions: None this week. 
• Morning Sickness: Still none so I hope I am past that.  
• Symptoms: Fatigue, hungry all the time, majorly short of breath all the time, leg cramps, have to pee all the time
• 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: We started our Bradley classes last week and I can already tell I am going to learn a ton about this whole process. I ordered the fabric for our curtains in the nursery and I am super excited because I think it is so cute! I hope I still think that when it gets here. We went and got a bunch of paint swatches the other night so we could start looking at what color. We got blues, greens, yellows, and tans. Too many options! My friend Elizabeth brought up her maternity clothes for me to borrow yesterday and my mom went shopping and bought me a bunch of shirts and 2 pairs of pants too. Such a blessing! Thanks guys! Elizabeth also brought me a bunch of cloth diapers, but thats another post. 
• Gender & Name: Griffin Alan Pate 

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com :  Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

Gender Reveal Party!

We had our Gender Reveal Party today after church, and it was fun! My parents, Justin's Parents, Sheldon, Dustin (who planned it for us), Sarah and Becky and Gary were all in attendance. We had some food and then played a few games. They were all impatient and kept telling us to go ahead and tell them already! Ha! At one point Gary said, "So the faster we play these games the faster we can find out right?". Here are the games we played (in case anyone wants some ideas for later):

• The Jelly Bean Game: We put pink & blue jelly beans in a glass jar, but more of the right gender. Everyone had to guess which one there were more of. 
• Mom and Dad's Answers: We came up with some questions and had everyone guess what my answer would be and what Justin's answer would be (ex. What color hair do we want? What do we want their first word to be? etc) This one was a lot of fun I think.
• Letter Game: We filled to bags with magnetic letters. The people who thought it was a girl were on one team and the boy guessers on another team. They had to one at a time go and draw a letter out of the bag. They were trying to see who could spell our boy name or girl name first (boy team spelled Griffin and girls spelled Adalay). Team Griffin won. 

After the games, we passed out our Gigi's Cupcakes and let everyone dig in at the same time. They had a little blue filling in them to let them know the gender. Justin's mom was the first one to practically yell out "Its a boy!" Everyone is excited and we had a sweet time of hanging out. Here are some pics from the day...

Sheldon definitely wins best outfit! 

 In the process of spelling Griffin...

 Sheldon trying to guess my answers...

 Becky & Gary and Mom & Dad hard at work...

 And the baby is...

 Group Shot

 Stylin' and Profilin'... 

 Boys being Boys....

I really did not take very many pictures, which sucks. But I am so glad we did this party. It was a great way to get to see the family and have a little fun! Thanks Dustin for your planning, decorations and food and thanks Misty for the cupcakes!

Let's Talk About Sex Baby....

Griffin Alan Pate will be gracing us with his presence hopefully in July! 

Sorry for the wait : ) More details on our reveal party and week 21 to follow. 

I can tell you...

A few things I can tell you:

- Baby Pate is healthy and growing. Sooo cute!
- During the ultrasound we could only see one eye, but it looked wide open. So I kept saying it was giving us the one eyed Willie! Ha
- We were able to find out the gender.
- As advised by a friend, I drank a regular soda before (to make sure baby was active). I am fairly certain it made me tons more hyper than the baby. Mr. Pate was very annoyed by all of my talking! Ha!
- I had to walk up the hill today and I swear I could not breath by the time I got to the top! I sounded like someone who hasn't gotten off the couch in ten years, not someone who works out daily. Is there such a thing as preggo induce asthma?
- Last night, after finding out the gender we went to buy something for the Baby. Typically I think people go buy some outfit for that gender. What did we buy? A diaper bag. Ha! We are such practical people. But it was a pretty cheap one that we both actually liked... And it's actually gender neutral! Go figure.
- I love Amy on Big Bang Theory. Great character Addition. I love how she has self proclaimed herself as Penny's BFF. We just watched this weeks episode and I disliked the Howard storyline but loved the Leonard storyline.

That's all I can tell you... And I'll be back on Sunday to tell you the part you actually want to know : )


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Today is the Day...

Today is the day we (hopefully) find out what gender our baby is! Woo Hoo!! I am sooo excited and not really sure how I am going to focus through the work day until then. Our appointment is at 3pm followed by my 20 week appt with Dr.Gass at 4pm. 

Here is the deal blog friends- we are having a gender reveal party with our family on Sunday... so until then mum is the word. Sorry, you will have to wait till then. Just wanted to go ahead and let you know that so you werent expecting a post tonight or anytime soon. 

In other news, nursery ideas are coming along. The picture below may be a "mood board (Young House Love style)" of my plans for right now. Still not completely set and several things to decide, such as a paint color. Maybe tan, light yellow, blue, green... I just do not know. Hummm.... but here is a sneak peek for now:

The blue fabric will be used for curtains and a cute minky blanket, the other things are the wall decor so far and then middle is bedding I found on Buy Buy Baby for $99 (plus 20% off) for 6 pieces! The cute owls are from a friend and will be painted some fun color for a pop. There you have it for now. Ill update as it progresses. 

Happy Thursday! 

A Tuesday Chat

Just a few updates and thoughts from little ol me...

::: I went to the Thyroid doctor yesterday. I expected it to be a horrid experience bc I am not really digging the guy I see, but I was pleasantly surprised. I don't know if he has just changed or understands me better or what, but his whole demeanor was different. My levels are great (yay) and everything looks good!
::: The news above means my extreme fatigue cannot be mostly blamed on my thyroid, so apparently I am just a person who gets overly worn out during pregnancy. If this is the one symptom I severely struggle with then I am feeling blessed.
::: We went to our childbirth class last night. All day Mr.Pate told people he was spending his valentines day at a hippie child birth class. It went really well and I like our teacher and the couples we are with. I can tell I am going to learn a ton, so I am pumped about that. It will also be a good time with Mr.Pate... We almost got in trouble for laughing during the relaxation part... Oops.
::: We have rented several movies lately- The Other Guys, Life As we know it, Easy A, and Dinner for Schmucks. I cried a ton with Life as we know it, but all the others were a little much. I liked them, but some of the story lines today are getting pretty far fetched.
::: Our church is beginning to have building discussions. We have majorly maxed out the spaces we have and need to look at what to do. This is going to be a long and hard process, I am sure.
::: Some of my girlfriends are coming in town on Sat! I am so excited to see them and hang out.
::: I love that it is warming up!!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

20 Weeks and Counting...

• How far along: 20 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 10 lbs 
• Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants, regular pants with the belly band thing and regular shirts mostly. This week one pair of jeans starting feeling mighty tight in the butt and hip area... maybe I dried them too long? ; )
• Sleep: Ok
• Best Moment of the Week(s): Strangers started noticing I was pregnant and asking me about it! Also Mr.Pate and I went to look at baby stuff in the stores for the first time and that was a sweet time. 
• Movement: Yep, but I dont feel it that often. Not daily that I notice at least. 
• Food Cravings: Salmon, mandarin oranges and I am just hungry all of the time!
• Food Aversions: None this week. 
• Morning Sickness: Still none so I hope I am past that.  
• Symptoms: Fatigue, hungry all the time, random growing pains, short of breath all the time.  
• What I miss: Energy!
• What I'm looking forward to: This week is exciting! We start our Bradley classes on Monday night and we find out the gender on THURSDAY! Sooo excited! 
• Other news: Our birth class at the Medical Center got cancelled this last Sat, so that was kind of a bummer. We have made progress on the nursery, after I complained about being overwhelmed! Ha! I think we have picked out bedding and are possibly going with a tan color. Not traditional, I know, but it works for us. Ill keep you posted. We are hopefully going to paint it during WKU's spring break in a few weeks. 
• Names: 
• Boy name- Griffin Alan Pate 
• Girl name- We decided on Adalay/Adalei/Adelay and now we need to figure out the spelling and a middle name. 

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com :  Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

This should be a big week for us! I go to my thyroid doctor, we start Bradley classes, we have our ultrasound and see our OB, and my girlfriends are coming in town Saturday! Whew! I am soooo excited! 

This is my Confession....

Who is singing Usher after reading that title?? Anyone? Just me? Oh well... 

• Now that I am pregnant, I find myself practically stalking every pregnant person or new mom I know on Facebook. Why? I do not really know. Maybe I want to see what they are going through or what life will soon be like. 
• I have the book Baby Bargains. Its a book that helps you know what to get for a baby- cribs, monitors, car seats etc. It is a little overwhelming, really just the amount of stuff babies need is overwhelming. Anyhow, my confession is that I have been trying to go section by section and plan which things I want to register for or buy. And though I have read lots and looked up lots of stuff online, I just haven't really picked anything. Kinda feels like lots of time wasted... but I had to do something while Mr.Pate closed at Starbucks : )
• I think I am addicted to researching and looking at cloth diapers. 
• I am completely overwhelmed by the thought of decorating a nursery. There are too many options and things are just too expensive. I wish someone would just come do it for me and make it just how I would like it. Any takers?
• This morning I had my first "I am pregnant and I can eat anything I want" experience. I ate an entire package of cinnamon rolls... by myself. In my defense, it was over a 3 hour period and not all at once. And it wasnt completely my fault- I would have shared with Mr.Pate but he was sleeping in too long for me. So I had to make a whole other package when he got up! Ha!
• I had another stranger ask me when I am due today. I am loving that. Then he talked to me all about babies and delivery etc. I think its sweet when people automatically want to talk to you about it. 
• We have a Birth Class at the Medical Center all day on Saturday. I am excited! AND we start our weekly Bradley Classes on Monday night. Woo Hoo! 
• Mr.Pate has been super sweet and helpful thru this pregnancy so far. He helps around the house without me asking him, and he serves me even more and is just sweet. There is also plenty of teasing me going on... especially after my splurge this morning! Ha! 

Late Wednesday Thoughts

::: Last night I went to my first photography club meeting. It was interesting to say the least. Let's just say that majority of the room were AARP members. My mentor is the one who invited me and I am excited to go and learn more, and get extra time with her!

::: At the meeting I experienced a first- the first time a stranger noticed I was pregnant! It was exciting and confusing at first. The lady said "Whens the big day?" and I looked at her like she was crazy. I had no idea what she was talking about. Then she pointed to my stomach and I totally got it. I was so pumped that people can actually tell now! You spend almost half of pregnancy (for some people longer) not looking pregnant; until now that had never occured to me. That lady made my week.

::: It snowed today. A. Lot. At least for us. WKU closed campus at 2, which means I came home around 3:30! Woo hoo! And even better news is that I don't have to go to work until 12 tomorrow!! I am pumped. It may not be a whole snow day, but I will take it with gladness.

::: Even though I am completely over snow and winter, today's snow was actually pretty.

::: I had to participate in a Yoga Audition today (yes, I sometimes get paid to take exercise classes!) and it was a pretty new agey one. At one point we did a breathing exercise where we had to stick our tongues out down to our chins and make funny noises. It felt silly. Ha! But it was relaxing.

::: I have not been feeling Baby Pate much lately, at least I don't think I have. I am having these weird feelings in my stomach, but I think they may be growing pains where my belly is stretching. I am not sure at all really ans that's fine bc I know the definite constant moving will come. But just to comfort me, we listened to the heartbeat tonight. It took forever for us to find it! We kept finding mine, which is considerably slower. But the. We finally heard the Baby and as soon as we did it dissappeared. So we searched again and found it and them it disappeared! Baby Pate was trying hard to get away from that thing that was pushing in on them! Ha! But it sounded good. Yay! Thanks Mist for the fabulous Christmas present. I love it.

::: I am helping plan my 10 year high school reunion. Yep, it's been ten years! Anyhow, things are finally starting to get moving, so I am just hoping for some people to start buying tickets! We have some really fun ideas I think. It's this July, which should be interesting time for me...

::: Bc of said reunion planning, today I was thinking of music from my high school days. Nothing takes you back like music. Ha! I thought of some funny times. That might have to be a whole blog post on it's own.

Definitely time for bed. I am sleeping in and making cinnamon rolls tomorrow... Yummy!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Another Recipe

I forgot to post this recipe with my meal Plan Post, and trust me, you want to make this yummy rice. This recipe comes to me from my sister, who I think got it from her Mother In-Law? Anyhow, we had it at Christmas and Mr.Pate and I loved the flavor! Hope you enjoy.

Yummy Long Grain Wild Rice

1 can sliced mushrooms
1 & 1/2 cans beef consomme
1 can (use the beef consomme one) water
1 box Uncle Bens Long Grain Wild Rice

1. Put all ingredients in the crock pot.
2. Cook 2-3 hrs on Med-High or 4 + hrs on Low.

Meal Plan... Tuesday!

So I'm a day late, whatever! I am trying hard to get back in the routine of this, but I am not doing the best job ever. I finally bit the bullet and signed up for e-mealz, a service I had read about on a blog and heard Dave Ramsey endorse. But then this weekend my friend Cort told me that she does it and the meals are pretty good, so I finally took the leap. E-mealz cost $5 a month and gives you a meal plan for the week with a grocery list. Pretty nifty, especially if you are a person who is not good at meal planning. Since I already meal plan, I think it will be helpful for new recipe ideas mostly. I got the plan that has 7 meals a week! That way i have plenty of variety to choose from. Ill let you know how it goes. On to this weeks plan:

• Tuesday: Salmon, Couscous and green beans
• Wednesday: Dinner at Dustin's
• Thursday: Ham n Swiss Rolls & Baked Potatoes (or maybe Baked Potato Soup?)
• Friday: Cheez-It Chicken & Yummy Long Grain Rice
• Saturday: Either out or Homemade Pizza

Recipes:

Savory Salmon-

4 Salmon fillets thawed

Garlic Powder

Marinade (1/3 cup soy, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup evoo)

1. Mix the marinade and place in a freezer bag. 

2. Season Salmon with the garlic powder and place in the bag of marinade. 

3. Marinade for 1-2 hours, turning once.

4. Broil salmon (I do this on a rack laid over a foil lined baking sheet) 5-7 minutes for each inch of thickness. 

Cheez-It Chicken-

2 lbs Chicken (I use chicken tenders)

2 cup Crushed Cheez-It crackers

1 cup Fat free Sour Cream

I cant believe its not butter spray

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Coat each piece of chicken w/ sour cream then dredge through cheez-its (I put the cheez-its on a paper plate and then just lay the chicken down and flip it).
3. Lay on Baking sheet and squirt with butter spray. 
4. Bake 15-20 min.

Monday Monday

- If it is going to keep snowing on us, then I would like it to be one really-good-shut-you-in-the-house-even-Wku-and-starbucks-close kind of snow. This whole "there is snow on the ground but just wet and mildly slick roads" is gettin real old real fast.
- I think I might be entering the part of pregnancy where I get lower back pain. Either that or I majorly overdid something this weekend.
- I thought the Black Eyed Peas sounded horrid. Anyone else??
- I literally did not watch a second of the game... And about five minutes after it was over I looked up and was like "oh someone won".
- I have begun reading "Along the Infant Way" which is the bible study version of Babywise. I will share my thoughts when I am done, but I can tell how this book would totally get your expectations up. They just so strongly say that if you do this your baby will sleep and be so content. But I know dear friends who totally did Babywise and their child just didn't want to sleep. I still like it so far, but I am trying to constantly remind myself to not have crazy expectations.
- Bowling Green has a Camera Club. Once a month they meet and it's just a way to better your skill etc. I am going to my first meeting tomorrow night!
- I am still so tired it's ridiculous. I sleep tons and wake up exhausted. I am realizing I will prob not experience the burst of energy so many do during the 2nd trimester and trying to remind myself that this can just prepare me for having a newborn.

How was your Monday?

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

19 Weeks and Counting...

• How far along: 19 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 9 lbs 
• Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants, regular pants with the belly band thing and regular shirts mostly. I am really liking the belly band now and I am hoping it will get me through for awhile. I also have dug out two pairs of jeans from my larger days that are still working for me, ha! 
• Sleep: I need more of it! Had some crazy dreams this week. 
• Best Moment of the Week(s): We listened to the heartbeat again this week! And we celebrated 5 years of marriage.  
• Movement: Yep! I havent felt it as much this week as last week, but I have felt a few taps here and there. 
• Food Cravings: Salmon, mandarin oranges (which I wasnt a fan of before) and nutella (I am not buying anymore of that for awhile!). I am just hungry all of the time!
• Food Aversions: None this week. 
• Morning Sickness: Still none so I hope I am past that.  
• Symptoms: Fatigue, hungry all the time, and thirsty a lot. No heartburn this week! Woo Hoo!
• What I miss: Energy!
• What I'm looking forward to: Feb 17th we will hopefully (as long as baby pate cooperates) find out the gender! We have a Birth Class at the Med Center this Saturday- yay! 
• Other news: I have still been trying to research baby stuff, but there are sooo many options! If you are a parent and want to suggest your must have item or brand, please do! My whole church family is so excited about the pregnancy, and I love that! I am thinking I may want green in the nursery, but only if we paint our bedroom a different color bc its green too. Humm... 
• Names: 
• Boy name- Griffin Alan Pate 
• Girl name- We decided on Adalay/Adalei/Adelay and now we need to figure out the spelling and a middle name. Progress... 

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com : Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

So current parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles/babysitters etc, what would you recommend we register for and what would you say is a total waste??