Pregnancy Update

My pregnancy has been moving along smoothly so far, I am currently at 22 weeks. Time just seems to be flying by!! We had an ultrasound a few weeks ago & everything was looking good, except they were having a hard time getting a good look at the baby's heart. They scheduled me for another sonogram this Wednesday and I'm praying for a healthy baby!!!

Since this is my 3rd pregnancy and I knew the gender of the girls, I had decided early on that I wanted this one to be a surprise. My husband however, had other ideas!! He wanted to know from the get-go and I was having a hard time convincing him to wait. Of course it was easier to say I'm going to wait when it was too early to tell anyway!! My reasoning was, we already had 2 girls and were hoping for a boy, so why not wait and if it turned out to be a boy, we would be overly excited on the day of his birth! And if was a girl, we wouldn't really be dissapointed because we would be so happy to meet our precious child!! I know it sounds sad to even bring up the word dissapointment, but honestly I may have been just a tad for maybe 2.5 seconds if I had found out in a sonogram.

During my sono the nurse said the cord was in between the baby's legs so she couldn't see the "parts". I looked at Kevin and said "See, it's a sign we aren't supposed to find out the gender!" But even then I couldn't stop myself from looking and trying to figure it out. The heartbeat was 139, which the old wive's tale says boys generally have lower heart rates than girls. My girls were always in the 150-160's, so at this point I'm thinking "boy". The Dr came in and was asking a few questions & told us the nurse can work her magic and get a better look at the baby if we wanted her to. Curiosity was taking hold!! AND, I gave in :) She proceeded to tell me she is very certain it is a boy and pointed out what she could see. We were thrilled!!! I'm still a bit apprehensive though and waiting for a 2nd look to confirm.

I thought my 5 yr old would love to see the baby so we decided we will bring the girls with us tomorrow. Can't wait!!! Praying tonight that our precious little one is healthy as can be.

Starting Our "Elf on the Shelf" Tradition

Well, it's finally happened, our Elf on the Shelf
Elf has arrived!! Better late than never right?? I first heard about this last year, but didn't know much about the whole idea. This year, it seems most families I know have their own Elf at their house and now that my girls are 5 and 2, I thought it was time we join in!!!

Keira informed me in early December that there was an Elf at her school in the classroom and how he moved every night to a new location. I said "Oh sounds like we need one of those, we'll have to go buy one." To which her response was "Um no mom, you don't buy him, he just shows up!!" DUH. She was so excited about it, I knew we had to get one. I procrastinated at first after seeing the $30 price tag, I thought that was a lot for a small little elf figure and a book. But once I realized that, A)There was no getting it on sale, and B) How much fun other families were having with the elf, I figured it was time to get on board!!

On Monday of this week while I was at work, I told my hubby we have to get one today!! He had to go to several stores before purchasing ours at Barnes & Noble. At home he found a fun spot for him to hang out and be spotted somewhat easily, atop our tv which is mounted over the fireplace. After picking up Keira from school, he hinted around for her to be on the lookout for something new. The second she spotted him, he said she was beyond excited!! She even had tears in her eyes, sweet girl! I am sad I missed that :(

That night we read the story aloud and she decided to name him "Frisbee". A little odd I know, but the book gives examples of names for the Elf in the story and one was "Fisbee" so she thought Frisbee was better :)

Here he is this morning, hanging out on some upper cabinets.

If you don't know the basics about this whole phenomenon, here are the highlights: The "Elf" appears at your home at the beginning of December (or whenever you get one!) and he watches over the children. Every night he flies back to Santa Claus to report on your child's behavior, good or bad. He has magic powers but these powers are lost if he is touched. He returns to a new location in the house and the children have a lot of fun seeing who can be the first to find him every morning. On Christmas Eve, the Elf flies back to be with Santa until next year. This is where it is worth the $30, you can use him over and over!

The hope is that knowing the Elf is watching over them, your children will behave for fear of Santa hearing a bad report. It's only been a few days but we are having a lot of fun with him so far, and the girls definitely respond to the threat of Frisbee telling Santa!!

My totally favorite pasta-A Jamie Oliver recipe

I am in love with this pasta dish and have been since I first saw it made on an Oprah segment. Just reading the ingredients list many people are a bit skeptical. However the first time I made this, my husband and I LOVED it!! I've also made it for family/friends and had good results.

The recipe name is Jools' Favorite Saturday Afternoon Pasta. Jools is Jamie Oliver's wife. This is definitely a recipe we use a lot around here. The link is to the original posting of it on Oprah's website several years ago. There is something about the perfect blend of cinnamon, red onion, basil and lemon flavors and fresh parmesan that give it a TON of flavor while also remaining light and refreshing. We use whole wheat pasta and sometimes have a hard time finding rigatoni so we use penne and it's delicious!! Otherwise we pretty much follow the recipe exactly.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

I'm very excited that my church announced a new Women's Bible Study starting in January! It is a Beth Moore study entitled James: Mercy Triumphs. It is an in depth study of the Book of James, who was Jesus' brother. You can purchase a workbook throught your church usually or at many national Christian book retailers. The study includes a a workbook, videos and discussion time. You can read more about the topics covered here.

As I mentioned, we are starting in January & meeting every Wednesday which is perfect for me since it is my only day with both of the girls in school!! I am looking forward to growing in my faith and learning a lot through this study. And I have a friend joining me!!

I know that Beth Moore is very popular and I am WAY behind in that I have never done one of her Bible studies. I have truly been missing out!! If your church is doing a simliar study, I'd love to hear!! I will be back every week after our study to report what I have learned and hopefully hear some thoughts back from you. :)

Tasty & Lean Turkey Chili

With the weather changing and the temperatures dropping, chili is one of my favorite stand by recipes to make every Fall & Winter. As a healthier alternative, my family and I started making chili using ground turkey instead of ground beef. We usually buy the Jenni O brand Lean, which is 93% lean and only 7% fat. I used to use the McCormick's chili season packet, but decided to look for a recipe using individual spices and then we could tweak it to our liking. I found this recipe a few years ago at Allrecipes.com and it is definitely a keeper!

Here are my ingredients, minus the onion, garlic and turkey, which were already in the pot :)

I followed most of the recipe, however we like extra beans (can you believe it, my kiddos eat beans! hooray!)so we had 2 cans instead of one and also added a small can of tomato sauce. I had pinto beans on hand instead of kidney beans and I think they work just fine. To offset the added ingredients, I also added a tad more chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper. We like it a bit spicy!




Simmering long enough is definitely the secret to getting the best flavor. The recipe calls for 30 minutes to simmer but even a little longer is better.

I used my new Le Crueset which I am in love with and it turned out fabulous! Add a little shredded cheddar cheese on top and a side of cornbread and you are set!! Best of all there are plenty of leftovers for another meal or you can portion some out to freeze for a later date. Enjoy!

Money Saving Mom's Budget book- A Must Have!

I've been a reader of the Money Saving Mom blog probably since 2008. She has a wealth of knowledge she shares on everything from budgeting, cooking, couponing, saving & paying cash for items, living well on less, freezer cooking and more. All while raising and homeschooling 3 children. Now, she has a new book coming out this January compiling years of experience on all of these topics. It is called The Money Saving Mom's Budget and is now available for Pre-order on Amazon.

Hurry and get yours today! And don't forget to check our her blog, if you are not already a reader and let me know what you think!!

My not so secret, SECRET.

I have been away more than I planned, but I do have a very good reason! It seems my body has been taken over by a small human, baby #3!!!

Here he/she is at 11.5 weeks.  They still couldn't hear a heartbeat with the doppler so I had another internal sonogram.  Saw a strong 160 bpm! Baby was apparently napping, I would have been worried at the lack of movement if I hadn't seen the heartbeat. Dr said they were resting, and then they had a big hiccup and their whole body shook!!  Very cute :)   It's amazing to see how well developed they already are so early on. You can see the legs outstretched and the torso and left arm. The right arm and head were more visible in person than in this photo. Here they sort of blend in with the uterus wall.

My husband and I had been on the fence about whether or not we wanted to go for a third child. It was quite an adjustment for us going from one to two children, but we eventually got the hang of it. And I just had a feeling that somehow my little family was not yet complete. In July we decided to "see what happens" and what do you know, the first month we were very blessed and a little shocked to find out another baby was on its way!!! With 2 little girls, we are both hoping for a healthy boy this time. Although another girl will fit in just fine!

My due date is April 22, 2012. I'm very excited to have an April baby! Maybe he/she will even have an Easter birthday every 5 yrs, we'll see. My other kids birthdays are May & June, so it will be a busy time every year. They will all be a month shy of 3 years apart. Perfect spacing to me!

I am currently 17 weeks 5 days. My sonogram is scheduled for next Wed at 7:30am. Why so early, I do not know. Hoping that means we will be first and not waiting. This time around I really wanted to wait and not find out the baby's gender. I feel like it would make for a great surprise and be fun to do something different, especially since this should be our last child. My husband however now has a different idea and wants to know. I'm hoping we can come to an agreement before next week. My agreement :) So far most people I have told just can't believe I'm not going to find out, I even have a few friends being a little pushy on the subject. Which in fact makes me even more determined to wait! The way I see it is we have all the essentials, and if it's a girl, we won't need a thing. If it is indeed a boy, we would need clothes and boy bedding. But we use a bassinet the first couple months so the bedding can wait. I'm sure I can get a few boy outfits to have on hand, and besides, that's what grandma's are for!!! I know the second that baby arrives, both grandmothers will run out to shop!!

I will definitely post next week on the sonogram results. Praying for a healthy, developing baby!!!!