40 Weeks

I know I'm a little late, but will recap as if I didn't already have my baby.

At Week 40, I was feeling more and more ready to have Eli. My body had just about enough of being pregnant and was preparing me for labor as the Braxton Hicks were keeping me up several nights a week. 

At my last appointment I was still only dilated at a 1 and almost completely effaced. I was a little bogged down with only being a 1, but also knew that could change at any time. My doctor set up an appointment to be induced the following Thursday, Halloween. I liked the idea of having a Halloween baby, but the thought of being this uncomfortable for another week made me want to cry.

I finished up the week at school and said my goodbyes to my students and that I would return after Christmas. I'm glad I did finish up the week because it gave me a bit more time to prepare for my substitute and get my grades in.

Eli's birth story coming up!!

Smorgasbord #9

I've been trying out some new recipes and wanted to share one that was a HUGE hit in my house. Chris said this was the best meal that I've ever made. It's called Crockpot Cheese Tortellini and Sausage and I found it here. I made it on a day that I was around the house because there was a tiny bit of cooking beforehand and it only took 5 hours in the crockpot.

The only thing I added to the recipe was a green bell pepper because it had been sitting in my fridge and needed to be used before going bad. I also took the Italian sausage out of the casing and ground it in the skillet with the pepper.

 This recipe was unbelievably delicious. It had so much flavor with the sausage, tomatoes, and tortellini. We couldn't stop eating it and it made enough to last us for a couple of days. I brought the leftovers to my mom's house the next night to add to her Italian soup and it was a hit with my family, too. My brother went on about how much flavor it had and wanted the recipe.
 I'm keeping this one in my head when Eli arrives and I need something to last us a few days.

 I also got to play with this sweet girl while her momma went to the State Fair last week. She was so much fun and was trying out her new trick of spitting. I could snuggle with this baby all day long. I can't wait until she can play with her new cousin soon enough!!

Treats for Nurses

Since Eli's due date is just around the corner, I wanted to make the nurses and my doctor a little treat for taking such good care of us since we found out that we were expecting a little Gilburt. 

I've been so tired lately that I knew making my usual whoopie pies would be out of the question. I wanted to make something with a Halloween flair, but was also easy enough to make in under an hour. I found these Witch's Hat Cookies on Pinterest that lead me to this blog. There wasn't much to the recipe because they were so easy and self-explanatory.

I bought Keebler Fudge Stripe Cookies, Hershey Kisses, and white icing that I dyed orange. 

All you have to do is turn the cookie upside down, make a circle of frosting around the hole, and place the Hershey kiss on top. 

I bought the platter in the Halloween section at Wal-Mart and found the orange ribbon around my house.

The nurses loved them and thought they were very festive. 

I would suggest these cookies for an easy treat to take to school, work, or at home for your own little Halloween sweet tooth fix.

38 Weeks

Here I am at week 38!! Only a few more weeks to go and we get to finally meet our little Gilburt! This past week has been tough physically and mentally. My body is starting to get sluggish and even the easiest physical activities have become a chore. I'm experiencing Braxton Hicks every other day, or so. It's been a bit uncomfortable to teach and hide the pain so my students aren't freaking out on me by thinking that I'm going into labor.

Also, I'm getting ready to go on maternity leave and I want to make sure that my students are taken care of so that the transition back to school can be as smooth as possible. I know that I need to stop worrying about things that I have no control over, but I really don't want to spend a ton of time reteaching my kids because the sub didn't help too much.

 I'm on weekly visits now. My doctor checked me at 36 weeks and I was dilated at a 1 and my cervix was beginning to thin. That bit of news made it seem very real and that we are only a few weeks away from this little guy changing our entire world. My blood pressure has been a bit concerning to my doctor the last two weeks, but he still says that baby is sounding good and nothing unusual.

I toured the hospital last week and got to see the delivery and postpartum rooms. Our hospital is only 10 minutes away from home, which is comforting if I go into labor at home and for close family to help out with our dogs or bring something from our house.

11, more or less, days to go!!

State Fair 2013

***I can blame mommy brain for this one. I forgot to post this from over a month ago!!. Here ya go!***

Chris and I went to the State Fair of Texas this Sunday. It was a gorgeous day to go and see the exhibits and eat all of the fried food we could eat. With me being pregnant, we made sure that we took breaks and sat down for a bit when needed. 

We found this shaded grassy area and opted for a picture.

While we were sitting there we ate some fried Thanksgiving dinner that was new to the fair. These were scrumptious! It was the perfect blending of turkey and dressing fried up with a side of cranberry sauce and gravy.

We weren't done eating yet. We went into an exhibit hall and got in line to try dips and soups. You can see what looks like an assembly line of people dipping pretzels in different dips. We bought two soups and two dips. I'm wanting to make the soups while I'm on maternity leave since it's getting cooler and it's a very low-maintenance meal.

We met up with my sis and BIL later in the day and I meant to take pics of them and Marley at her first fair, but it became very crowded and my feet and body were just about done for the day. We did manage to eat a Fletcher's corn dog, nachos, hamburger, and ice cream before leaving. We were stuffed by the time we made it to the car with three bags of goodies for the home and a few Christmas presents.

We can't wait to take Eli next year so we can continue this family tradition.

Baby Shower

My baby shower was on Sunday and it was such a nice event. I loved seeing my friends and family that could make it. We received so many gifts that will come in handy pretty soon. 

We had a British gentleman theme for the shower. My hostesses did a fantastic job decorating and providing my favorite meal, hot dogs. I know that's a terrible and plain favorite meal to have, but I LOVE hot dogs.

The cake resembled the invitation with a baby stroller and British bird.

We received a few British onesies from friends beforehand and put them up as decoration with some bunting we had hanging in our patio. It helped with the theme of the shower.

My sis was sweet and brought her glider for me to sit on as I opened gifts. It helped out with my low back pain and was much softer to sit on than the chairs provided.

One of my cousins bought this British fabric to eventually be made into a blanket for Eli. I can't wait to see it as a blanket. We used it as a tablecloth to display maternity pictures and sign-in.

 

 Decor for the tables that had either M&Ms or Cheez-Its in it

I was hoping it didn't show too much how tired I've been feeling, but oh well. I had a great time and my family came over later in the evening to help sort and organize all of the gifts we received.

 We lack just a few more things for Eli before he makes his big debut in a mere few weeks. It's starting to get real and we get a bit more excited every day about this little guy entering our world and changing it for the better.