Freeze Ahead Meals!

No, I did not complete everything on my to do list (in fact, I only bought the bottle brushes and drying rack...) but I've added another "To Do" for this upcoming weekend. We are making some freeze ahead meals! For those of you who know Chris, he does not like eating any processed foods (I mean I guess I don't either, but let’s be honest, sometimes mac and cheese out of the box is easier!) One time I brought home a jar of pizza sauce and he looked at me like I had 10 heads. So needless to say, we are going to needs some easy go to freezer meals, or we may starve (well, Chris might, I've fine eating peanut butter and jelly and cereal...ok ok not healthy I know!).

So here are some of the ideas so far-not saying we are making all of these. Some are recipes we've made in the past, others are new ones, but I thought I'd share the ideas for some of the other mommies/mommies to be out there! And if you are one of my many followers on pintrest (haha) I've also made a new board with just freeze ahead meals on it, so be sure to check it out for more ideas in the future! My goal is to find recipes with not a lot of ingredients, or at the very least ones we commonly have on hand. Enjoy!

White Chicken Enchiladas -new recipe for us
http://joyful-mommas-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/white-chicken-enchiladas.html

Turkey and Artichoke Stuff Shells -new one for us-likely just use the red sauce we always make. Or if your husband is not crazy, you can just use sauce from a jar...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/turkey-and-artichoke-stuffed-shells-with-arrabbiata-sauce-recipe/index.html

Pasta Fagioli -we've made this several times and LOVE it! Even better the second, third and fourth time around...ok it makes a lot! We use chickpeas instead of cranberry beans-easier to find and cheaper. Great vegetarian recipe!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/cranberry-bean-pasta-fagioli-recipe/index.html

The BEST chicken noodle soup ever! Make EXTRA meatballs and keep them frozen separately. We pull them out and eat them with pasta dishes all of the time. We usually will keep noodles out of the broth for this too, and then add them when we reheat. Sometimes we'll even put tortellini or gnocchi in the soup for a little something different. Seriously, this is so good and a great go to in the freezer)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tylers-ultimate/chicken-noodle-soup-recipe/index.html

Spinach Lasagna Rolls-so tasty and a great way to hide veggies for kids (or from me). You can freeze them in portions of 2 rolls and great to pull out for a lunch or dinner. You can leave the prosciutto out and it is a great vegetarian dish. We've also added shredded chicken in the past if it is something we have left over.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/lasagna-rolls-recipe/index.html

Turkey Meatloaf. Five ingredients What could be better?? (oh and it is by far the BEST meatloaf I've ever had. I don't eat red meat though, so for you beef lovers, you may disagree).
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/twice-cooked-turkey-meatloaf-recipe/index.html

Do you have any other ideas?? Let me know!

And for those of you wondering, I'm still feeling pretty good! Getting huge, but I guess that is to be expected at this point. Emma Clare is getting really strong, and her movements (I don't really think she can kick anymore, she is running out of room..) are really strong! Only about 30 more days to go. I can do this!!

35 Weeks...so 35 Days to go?!!

WHAT? Only 35 days to go? I know, it sounds totally crazy, but we are nearing the end. Like all pregnant women at this stage, I'm "ready" for our baby to come. But, let's be honest, we are totally not ready. But who is? Right? We have everything we need at first, place for the baby to sleep, diapers, coffee for dad...yet my "to do" list and my "to buy" list seem to keep getting longer and longer. And I keep putting them off more and more.

Chris and I were sitting on the couch last night, and he looked and me and said "I really thing we should go get the rest of the baby stuff we need this weekend". WHAT? You want to go shopping for the baby? I don't think that there is any place that Chris (and I for that matter...) hate more than Babies R Us...Good thing I think we can get everything we still need at Target!

So this weekend we are off to buy a bottle drying rack, bottle brushes, blinds for the nursery (yes, this is a big thing we need...I don't know how Emma Clare will feel about all the sunlight she gets in her nursery), extra mattress pad, baby medicine...I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting!

And then there is the to do list-pack hospital bag, sterilize bottles, meet with pediatrician (ok, that one is bad, we should have already done that...but I DO have an appointment to...but I'll be 37 weeks pregnant...stay in there Emma Clare!), install diaper sprayer (have I told you we are crazy people and trying to use cloth diapers...) and again, I'm sure I'm forgetting things!

When it comes down to it, even if none of this stuff gets bought and nothing on the to do list gets done, we know that Emma Clare will come home to a happy and loving home and that is all that really matters! So, I'm not going to let it stress me out. That's right, I'm giving up stress for Lent! Cool, calm and easy...that's the motto!

Have a great weekend! Let me know if you want to tackle anything form our lists! I think we are just going to hang out outside and cook on our big green egg!

Big Green Egg!

Happy Birthday Chris! Chris turned the big 29 this Sunday. For his birthday, the whole family went in together for the Big Green Egg. If you've never heard of this, it is pretty much the coolest state of the art charcoal grilling system. Chris is a complete foodie, and loves cooking, so this was the perfect present for him! His mom came in town, and we tried our best to make it a surprise for him (he knew we were up to something) but I have to tell you I loved seeing his face turn bright red when we sang in the store in front of the big green egg. I think he was surprised! He spent his weekend setting everything up and cooking LOTS of meat on it (oh joy...I'm not a huge meat eater).

We had a great weekend hanging out with Chris' mom and spending time with friends. I must admit though, at 34 weeks pregnant (8 months people!) I was a little tiered each evening. Chris kept making fun of me because every time I would sit on the couch I would all asleep!

I had my 34 week appointment this morning, everything is still looking great! Emma Clare's heart rate is 150 and nice and steady. She is still measuring 1 week ahead. The best news of all-she is head down!! Hopefully she stays that way! Everything with me checked out good too! I'm not going to make my weight gain goal og 15-20 lbs (who were we kidding) but I should stay under 30, and was told that was just perfect (so why tell me 15-20 at the beginning!! hahha). I'm still feeling really good, just getting tired and ready for our little girl to get here already!! :)

Another Week!

Ok, so must admit I had a minor freak out this weekend when I realized that Emma Clare will be here in 4-7 weeks...that is not very long (well, 7 weeks still seems long...but 4 too short. Let's shoot for 5.5). So this meant it was time to kick it in high gear to get things ready! We have a friend who is working on an under the sea mural, and we made a ton of progress this weekend! He thinks he'll finish next weekend, and then I'll post pictures. It was really funny because Chris and I were helping paint in what he had drawn. He'll have to spend some time fixing our mistakes....opps :)

Oh, and since we were the worst parents ever, not reading to our child in the womb or listening to classical music, I must tell you all that we have now read to Emma Clare every book we own (well every story book) and played the classical music provided by the seahorse you see pictured above. That's right, we are kicking butt at this parent thing! Booooo YA!


I'm still feeling really good, just need to take breaks occasionally but other than that no complaints! I'm so excited to time is moving by so fast! I'm ready to meet our little girl! And did you see that our baby is now the size of a honeydew! I believe it!

32 Weeks!

Just had my 32 week appointment. Emma Clare is still doing great! Heartbeat 150 and I'm still measuring 1 week ahead (33 week). Dr. Hull let me know that she won't let me go any longer than 41 weeks, so Emma Clare will be here in less than 9 weeks Yikes!

Good thing we are now super prepared...I mean we did spend 8 hours this Saturday at our prepared childbirth class. Chris left feeling much better, I left pretty much scared to go into labor. I take that back, I am scared of being IN labor for 35 hours. Because that is what they talk about and show you. Good thing my labor will last no more than 6 hours, my baby will sleep through the night and never cry. Right? RIGHT! It was great to see where we would be delivering as well as going over some relaxation and breathing techniques. And Chris had to give me 20 min massage. BLISS! Oh, and I guess we are already bad parents because we have not been reading to our child OR listening to classical music. We do play her music...but it has not been classical. More so Michael Jackson...for those of you who know Chris...

We also were blessed to get 7 HUGE bags and 1 LARGE container of baby clothes this weekend from our friends Dan and Ali. I have a lot of sorting to do! But I think we are now set on clothes until Emma Clare turns 2. YAY!!

In other news, I'm feeling great pregnancy wise. Can still see my feet (may be due to the fact I have really big feet...) and can get around just fine. I do have an awful cold, but I think it is coming to an end. I must say I'm ready to be able to take cold medicine when sick! But if that is my biggest compliant, I guess we're doing ok!