on re-learning how to drive...

So, Ryan and I have the worst worst worst luck with cars.  I won't go into the whole back story of our sad car saga (you're welcome), but my car had a bad battery connector cable thingy and caused the battery to repeatedly lose charge.  Luckily, we realized this on Tuesday, when Ryan was still in town and available to help me, and took my car to the shop for repairs.  Repairs on a cable that were quoted to us at $300.*  Boo.

Our shop is a really nice place called Eurofix that works specifically on imports (my car is a Saab) and, thankfully, they offer a free rental if a repair will take longer than a few hours.  We were so glad to be receiving a rental since Ryan needed his car to go out of town.

The rental was a brand new Kia of some sort that was very nice and an automatic.  Now, I realize that most cars these days are automatics.  And an automatic is what I learned to drive on and what I drove the first 6 years of my driving career.  However, for the past 4 years of my driving career, I have driven a stick shift.  You would think that driving an automatic would be easier than diving a stick.  You would think.  I HATED driving that car!  I also almost killed myself at least twice.  I kept using my left foot to depress the "clutch" which was really the break, and breaks are a lot more sensitive than clutches.  So, essentially I would stomp down on the break with my left foot causing me the screech to a stop when all I had intended to do was down shift and slow down!

It was  a pretty stressful drive to work, home from work, to work again, and to the shop.  But, I have my little car back again and I am so thankful for it, problems included.

*Praise the Lord, they were able to use a salvaged part from a wrecked Saab and saved us over $100.  I love it when things like that work out!  :)

whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

I love pumpkin.  Anything pumpkin, and I do not believe it should only be consumed in the Fall.  I made these muffins last week while Ryan was out of town and had to force myself to save some for him to try, they were that good.  I am making them again tonight.  I adapted the recipe to include whole wheat flour and ground flax seed for more nutritional value.  Original recipe found here.

Ingredients...

1 C. whole wheat flour (minus 2 Tbs.)
2/3 C. all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. ground flax seed
3/4 C. sugar
1 Tbs. pumpkin-pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1 C. canned pumpkin
1 stick butter, melted

Directions...

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line baking sheet with 12 muffin cups.  I don't have a muffin pan, so I use the liners that don't require one.

2.  In a large bowl, mix first eight ingredients; add chocolate chips, tossing to coat.  In another small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients; add to flour mixture and stir until just combined (don't overmix).  Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full.

3.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until muffins spring back when lightly touched.  Cool on rack

19 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 Weeks, 2 Days

Size of baby: 6.5 inches, 11 ounces; mango
Total Weight Gain: 3 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I can still wear my low rise jeans and pants.  Still rocking the be band on my work pants.  All summer dresses are still wearable.  I have recently spent a fortune on maternity clothes and while they are all super comfy, most are still a bit big.  I am confident I will grow into them.
Gender: Unknown.  Still don't want to find out.  We had the BIG ultrasound today and told the tech we didn't want to know.  She had us look away a few times, but said she wasn't positive anyway because baby was snuggled up so tight and refused to move around despite a lot of effort on her behalf.
Movement: Have been feeling movement for a couple of weeks now.  Mostly late at night and when I am still. 
Sleep: I am still trying to train myself to sleep on my left side and other than waking up to pee 3-4 times a night I am sleeping pretty well.

Symptoms: Fatigue and morning sickness have gotten tons better.  I have made it a whole week without throwing up and have had a lot more energy lately.  Still sleeping a lot.  My brain is gone, as is my ability to concentrate.  I frequently apologize to customers and play the "I'm pregnant" card.

Food Cravings/Aversions:  Still  no crazy cravings.  I am enjoying lots of fresh lime slushes form sonic, but I drink those like crazy every summer.  My aversions are getting better too, I have been eating chocolate when mixed with caramel and/or vanilla and not gagging...so that's a plus.

What I am looking forward to:  Ryan being able to feel the baby move.  Baby showers coming up later this summer as well as maternity pics.  And, of course, November.

This is an iPhone photo of the photo they gave us after the ultrasound.  Baby was pretty sedate but did decide to chew on his/her fist at one point.  It was super cute.  The tech couldn't get a good picture of it though.  Baby measured at 11 ounces and the heart rate was 149.  The doctor said that everything looked beautiful and that the baby looked to be in great health.

in the kitchen again...

I found out I was pregnant on March 16, 2010.  I was six weeks along on March 27, 2010, when I started experiencing "morning sickness."  Since the 27th, I have cooked 6 meals.*  Six!  The smell of everything, from chocolate to dog food made me vomit.  I tried to cook twice during the early stages and both times wound up sick and making Ryan finish cooking the meal.  Once was salmon and I don't remember the other.

About two weeks ago, at sixteen weeks, I started feeling like cooking again.  I kept it simple, and made Ryan deal with the raw meat.  We made hamburger gravy, homemade pizza, and salmon with a maple glaze.  And, I didn't like any of the meals.  Ryan said they were good.  I would have rather eaten my staple piece of sourdough toast.

Then, last week, I did it.  I cooked something that I actually enjoyed, nay loved!  It's a really simple hodge-podge recipe that I have been throwing together quickly for a few years now.  I was just so excited to be enjoying something that I made once again!  Hopefully this will only improve, it has been a whole week since my last mad dash to the bathroom.  Perhaps I'm finally done with "morning sickness." Now I will go knock on some wood!

*Please note that we did eat.  My husband is a pro at cooking his family's homemade chicken noodle soup which we have had once a week throughout the course of my pregnancy.  Other than that we ate out or Ryan ate a sandwich while I had cereal or toast.

preggo-froyo

I was so excited to find out yesterday that Sweet CeCe's is offering an amazing deal for all the pregnant ladies of Nashville!  Throughout the duration of my pregnancy anytime I go to Sweet CeCe's with a friend I get buy one, get one free!

This is an incredible deal for us considering we partake of this establishment 3-4 times a week!  It is just that good, and pretty guilt-free if you're smart about what toppings you pick.  So, if you live in Nashville and know someone who is preggo let them know about this deal!  Also, if you want to go to Sweet CeCe's let me know, I'll meet you there!