Shopping Spree

 

  I am 15 weeks pregnant now and I am dieing to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. I really have no preference either, I just want to know! I am chomping at the bit to shop for Baby. 
  Today I decided to shop! I needed expert advice so I asked my 7 year old to help me pick out a stuffed toy. We picked out two because they were both so cute.
  The first one Jakey chose was this Shaggy Plush Bear (medium) from Restoration Hardware.





 




















  Then he really liked the Shaggy Plush Bunny (small). We sat there looking at them until I finally decided that Baby must have both!

  I am happy to report that I have felt great for the past couple days. Hopefully the morning sickness is behind me for good :o)

And Six Becomes Seven

Here is another sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worth all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant….Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother’s heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her life-long prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, how wonderfully blessed

-Elizabeth Prentiss

Bell Pepper Pizza

I was inspired by this recipe I found on Pinterest

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/08/recipe-for-grilled-zucchini-pizza.html

Bell Peppers (red, yellow and orange)

Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

Pepperoni

  First I cut the bell peppers on either side of the stem leaving the middle section to use elsewhere. The pepper sides were kinda like shells. I placed the shells on a cookie sheet, lined with foil, skin side up and broiled them until they looked good to me (a little bubbling and a little black). I, then, flipped the shells over and filled them with mozzarella cheese and topped each one with a pepperoni. I popped the pan back into the oven, under the broiler and checked every minute or so until the cheese was melted and a little brown.
  These were a big hit with my family. I think next time I might add some fresh diced tomatoes and basil next time.

Summer Dress For Paris

   

I made this Boho Maxi Dress out of super soft super light jersey knit fabric I found on clearance a long time ago. The belt is just some brown fabric I folded so the raw edges were inside. The hem, sleeves and neckline are all raw edges. No hemming, yay!!! 

For the tutorial on how to make this dress click on the link below.

                       http://sweet-verbena.blogspot.com/2011/07/boho-maxi-dress-tutorial.html

Diastasis Recti Part 2

Today is my first time trying the The Tupler Technique. I have to say that I'm a little frustrated because I'm having a hard time keeping it in place. The splint keeps riding up. I'm kinda curvy so in order to have it close the gap I have to have it tight but my waist is much smaller then my hips so my hips (or my fat, LOL) are pushing it up. I'll keep trying to make it work and I'll update again.

diastasis recti

Diastasis recti is a separation between the left and right side of the rectus abdominis muscle, which covers the front surface of the belly area. It is also called abdominal separation.

This is not a picture of my belly, I'm not that brave. I found this pic on the internet but it is pretty much what mine looks like.

I've had 4 babies, 2 of them being twins weighing a total of 14.5 pounds. My last baby was 10 pounds. I have been stretched to the max!!!

I didn't know I had abdominal separation until a couple years ago. My friend saw me pushing on my belly wincing in pain and asked what was wrong. I didn't know what it was but I explained that when I bend over or sneeze my ab muscles pinch "something" then whatever was pinched would spasm. She said she thought she had read something about it once but couldn't remember the name. The next day I looked up "ab muscle separation" and found diastasis recti. I was frustrated when I found out that all those years of doing crunches to try and flatten my belly was making the gap worse. Drat!!

If you have this, or think you might, you can look up more info about it on the internet. I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV. I did self diagnose and I'm trying a treatment to see if I can close that gap.

Here are some links for you to check out.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001602.htm

http://www.raisingarrows.net/diastasis-recti-from-a-moms-perspective/

This is what I bought to help. I should get it in a few days. I'm not dedicating my blog to this but I'll update to say if it's working or not.

http://www.diastasisrehab.com/diastore/product_info.php?cPath=1_7&products_id=36&osCsid=b5gupdp06oe79oimpgqca0t492

(I'm not being paid by this company to use their product or to review it, I only want to heal the "great divide")

How can you take a bad picture when you have someone as cute as Amelia as your subject? Well, here is Amelia and she is as cute as a button!! She is my best friend's little girl and she has a way about her that she comes into the room and everyone pays attention to her. I was taking pictures of the flowers and when she came out my camera took over and couldn't help but to turn it's attention to her.

Valentine's Party

   I didn't want to be the annoying person with the camera during the party, I hate my own picture to be taken so I took pics of the tables and put the camera away when people showed up. It was a nice night, a beautiful night.

Beth put out crackers, cheeses and grapes for an appetizer. We decorated with flowers, candles and lots of mason jars. The white milk glass dishes were my Grandmother's and they are so beautiful that we had to use them.

   Beth and I decided we wanted to use lots of candles and we have lots of mason jars. Who knew it would turn out so beautiful. We used Groupons at Field of Flowers for all the flowers. The mirror is from Ikea.

   Dinner was simple and served buffet style: meatballs cooked in a crock pot, salted potatoes and asparagus. Dessert was mini cheese cakes, eclairs and homemade chocolate hazelnut pudding. We wanted everything to be simple and easy so we could enjoy the party.

   On the way home today I stopped at the park for a little photo shoot. I haven't used my camera in a while so I feel like I'm getting used to it again.