22 Weeks and a Visit from the Brown's!

We've had a great and fun week! Jon's dad, mom and sister visited us for 4 days from Charlotte. It was SO good to see them! We hung out together, played card games, visited with my family, took a trip (and an eventful car ride) to Downtown Disney and ate lots of yummy food. Joshua even gave his Gigi (Jon's mom) a couple of good kicks when she talked to him! The last time we were all together was Christmas and I was so sick that I don't remember much of it so it was nice to create some great memories. The next time we see them we will have our little boy added to the mix (CRAZY!) Here are some snapshots of our time together!

The girls hanging out at Downtown Disney

They had a blast (despite the sad faces in this picture!)

K and M took a day trip to Magic Kingdom

Me, Mom, Gisele (and Josh!)

The men having breakfast together

We miss you already!!

We also welcomed a new little niece this week! Mollie Eden was born Thursday afternoon (after making us wait for over a week!) She is a precious little doll baby with chubby cheeks and a head full of hair! We love her already and can't wait to meet another niece this summer, and then our own baby boy a month later! Lots of babies this year and we can't wait!

Our little Joshua is 22 weeks old this week! He is growing and making mommy VERY hungry most of the time. I can't believe we are more than halfway through! Only 18 more weeks (hopefully) until we meet our little guy!

I have another check up next week so I will get to hear his heartbeat again (love hearing that!) And I'll schedule my glucose screening test (not looking forward to that) and Jon and I will take a tour of the hospital and probably start registering in the next couple of weeks! I can't wait to pick out lots of cute little boy stuff!

Josh is moving around quite a bit now! I'm not positive where his head is but I always feel the strongest kicks (or punches) on my left side. Most of the time they are pretty low but occasionally I'll feel some up closer to my belly button (which is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out SO much!) I can make my belly button push out a little when I'm really full and push my belly forward. Jon thinks it's the weirdest thing ever. He's starting to develop a sleep cycle also so I'm gradually learning his awake times. He's very active when I wake up in the morning and occasionally I'll wake up in the middle of the night and feel him kicking me. It's the best and most bizarre feeling!

This week Josh is about 10-11 inches long and could weigh up to one pound already! Because babies grow at different rates in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters I won't know for sure how he's measuring until we get another sonogram (probably at about 30 weeks). So for now we're just guessing (and going by what we're reading!) All of his organs are in place and functioning by now and he's moved on to working on his sense of touch, sight and growing some eyebrows and hair on his head! There's no color in his hair yet but we are really curious to see what he will look like!

22 weeks and feeling good!

How far along: 22 weeks and 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: 7 + lbs
Maternity clothes: I bought 2 pairs of maternity jeans and LOVE them. I think buttons and zippers are pointless and all pants should have a stretch band instead. I also bought a couple shirts in bigger sizes.
Stretch marks: None
Sleep: I usually wake up once to pee (and feel kicks!) but for the most part I'm sleeping pretty soundly
Best moment this week: Having the Brown's in town and meeting Mollie!
Miss anything: I miss being able to eat anything and everything! I have to be really careful or I'll get heartburn and there are still things I can't stand.   
Movement: Lots! I feel him quite a bit now and Jon has been able to feel him consistently too. I'm not able to see him move on the outside yet. He's gotta get a little bigger first.
Food cravings: Orange soda and salad with ranch dressing
Anything making you queasy or sick: I get sick and lightheaded if I go more than 2 hours without eating something (which doesn't happen often). Eggs and raw chicken are still on my NO list.
Have you started to show yet: Yes! Although I still get looks from people like "is she pregnant or just fat?" Haha!
Gender: BOY!!!!
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: Heartburn (I carry tums with me all the time now), and my stomach is itchy from the stretching. I've also gotten some bad moments of hip pain this week.
Belly button in or out: In but stretching!
Wedding rings on or off: On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy mostly, although I tend to shut down or break down if I get too overwhelmed or tired
Looking forward to: Celebrating Easter with family and hopefully getting registered for a few things!

Easy Appetizers

Hey everyone! We've had a busy week over here at the Brown household! I'll be doing a baby update soon and share pictures from our visit with Jon's family. But until then here are two recipes for some easy and yummy appetizers, just in time for Easter!

I made these for Thanksgiving (when I was 4 weeks pregnant and didn't know yet by the way!) and everyone loved them!


Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Goat Cheese

What you need

- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 8 oz goat cheese, diced
- 4 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
- 4 oz parmesan cheese, grated
- 16 oz artichoke hearts, chopped fine
- 2, 10 oz packages of chopped spinach, drained
(this isn't in the picture because I'm a dummy)
- all purpose seasoning








Directions

- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, reserving about 4 oz of the goat cheese and a little of the parmesan cheese

- Taste for seasoning and add whatever you like (If you want it to have a little kick you could add some cayenne pepper!)

- Spread mixture into a baking dish (I used a 4 quart dish) and top with remaining goat cheese and parmesan cheese

- Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and bubbling

- Serve with GF crackers and corn chips!

Bacon Wrapped Brown Sugar Smokies

This recipe is SO easy and delicious. The guys huddled around the plate until they were all gone! I don't have an ingredient or directions picture because they were BEGGING for these!

What you need (you can easily cut this recipe in half if you need to)

- 2 packages beef little smokie sausages
- 1 package nitrate free bacon, cut crosswise into thirds
- 1 1/2 C brown sugar (you won't use it all)
- 4 T chili powder (trust me)

Directions

- Mix together the brown sugar and chili powder in a bowl

- Wrap each sausage in a piece of bacon and secure with toothpick

- Roll each sausage bundle liberally in the brown sugar mixture

- Bake on a baking sheet (or broiler pan and rack) at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until bacon is slightly crispy

- Serve and watch them disappear!

Have a great Thursday everyone and a very happy Easter! Our SAVIOR is RISEN!

Freezer Cooking Day Part 2

Welcome to Freezer Cooking Day 2! As I mentioned in the previous post, I really enjoyed splitting up the cooking over 2 days. It helped me not feel rushed or stressed out and I knew what my stopping points were for each day. You don't have to do it this way by any means, it's just what helped me the most this time around.

Since I had the most time on Saturday, I decided to use Sunday as the "no cook" recipe day. We went to church, I came home and took a nap, made these recipes, and STILL had time that night to relax and hang out with my husband. Here's a list of the recipes (with links) that I made on day 2:

- Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas (Follow freezer directions in post)

- Crockpot Italian Chicken (Follow freezer directions in post)

- Honey Garlic Chicken (I made this twice because its so easy and a favorite!)

- Cinnamon Rolls (I made 2 batches. Follow freezer directions in post)

Here was my game plan:

Step 1: Assemble and prepare all ingredients for Fajitas and place in gallon freezer bag.

Step 2: Place ingredients for Italian Chicken in gallon freezer bag

A 3 ingredient meal! Love it!

Step 3: Assemble and prepare ingredients for Honey Garlic Chicken and place in gallon freezer bags

I made this recipe twice because we love it so much!

Step 5: Clean counters and prepare cinnamon rolls. This was the longest recipe because it required some mixing. But the others were literally 10 minutes at the MOST to prepare.

Step 6: Clean up and RELAX! All done!

This gave us about 17 meals (including lunch leftovers for myself and Jon) plus the granola to snack on and cinnamon rolls for 2 mornings. I'd say it was definitely worth all the hard work! I mapped out when to serve each meal but obviously things change and happen (like um...finding out you're pregnant!) and meal plans get thwarted. All that to say I will definitely be doing this again before the baby comes so that we have have meals ready to go! 

I hope this inspires you all to take some time (even if it's just a few hours) and get some meals prepared! I promise it will be worth it!

Freezer Cooking Day 1

Have ya'll heard of freezer cooking? I'm sure you have and many of you have probably done it before. I myself have done a few freezer cooking days and have always benefited from the results! I decided to do one a few months ago just as a way to make it easier to decide what to make for dinner and also to help with my work schedule. It's really nice having something ready to go when I get home! I decided I would document the day with what recipes I decided to make and how I accomplished making them all. I hope it helps inspire you if you've thought about doing a freezer day before, or at least gives you some new recipes to try!


In order to keep myself from going insane, I prepared all of these meals over 2 days (Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday I did meals that required cooking (stovetop or oven) and then on Sunday I did the meals that didn't require any cooking. I really like splitting it up this way and I was able to make a TON of food and still keep my sanity. I am in no way an expert at doing this, but this is what worked for me! So here is what my Saturday cooking day looked like!

Here's a full list of everything I made (links to recipe by clicking on the title)
- Tortilla Soup (I left out the chicken to make it vegetarian and split into 2 meals)
- Bean and Rice Enchiladas (I made 2 batches, one regular and one with chicken added)
- Twice Baked Potatoes (I left out the green onions and made a total of 16 potato halves)
- Macaroni & Cheese (I made 2 batches. Prepare as directed until baking time. Then wrap and freeze.)
- Chicken Chili (Cook as directed minus spinach, then store in freezer bags)
- Granola (3 batches, store in airtight containers)

Here's how I mapped out my game plan:

Step 1: Drink coffee before starting. If you don't like coffee drink something with caffeine. It's going to be a loooong day!

Step 2: Since I used Saturday as my day to prepare anything that required the stove or oven, I started with the things that would take the longest. The most involved recipes are the tortilla soup, enchiladas, and the twice baked potatoes. 

I threw the potatoes in the oven first, since they had to bake for 1 hr

I started cooking my rice for the enchiladas

And lastly I got my tortilla soup going on the stove

 By the time my soup was finished, the potatoes were done and the rice had cooked and cooled. I bagged up the soup into freezer bags (split into 2, quart sized bags) and into the freezer and cut my potatoes in half to cool off a bit.

Step 3: I started boiling the water for my macaroni noodles, threw 2 chicken breasts in the oven (for enchiladas and chicken chili) and made the filling for the enchiladas.

Macaroni noodles

Chicken baking for enchiladas and chili

Enchilada filling

Step 4: I finished the macaroni and cheese, and placed it into foil pans and into the freezer. I put my hubby to work wrapping the first batch of (meatless) enchiladas and I started getting my ingredients together for the chicken chili.

2 pans of Mac and Cheese ready for the freezer!

The hubby helping me out!

Chopping away for the chicken chili

Step 5: Remove chicken from oven and shred. Add 1 chicken breast to the enchilada filling and set the other aside for the chicken chili. Start the chicken chili, husband finishes wrapping the 2nd batch of enchiladas and while the chicken chili simmers, make granola.

Chicken Chili simmering on the stove

Making 3 batches of yummy granola!

Step 6: While granola is baking, finish the chicken chili and divide into freezer bags (I split it into 2, quart sized bags like the tortilla soup). Start washing those dishes!!

Step 7: When all three batches of granola are finished, have the husband finish the dishes and clean-up and put your feet up and REST! More to do tomorrow!

20 Weeks!

We've made it halfway! I can't believe it! I'm still adjusting to the fact that we are having a little BOY! The husband is already looking forward to taking him to basketball games and teaching him about fantasy football. I'm looking forward to learning how to raise a boy! My sweet mother-in-law, or Gigi as she will be known to Josh, sent us some great boy supplies this week including a book with instructions on how to build paper airplanes, how to hunt, and how to deal with girls! I'll definitely be doing some reading before Joshua comes!


My 25th birthday was this past week so the hubby took us out for a fantastic steak dinner (Josh LOVES steak) and tickets to see Wicked! We had a fabulous time and Josh wiggled around a lot during the show. I think he likes music already!

The hubby and I (and Joshua) at Wicked!

And here's Josh at 20 weeks old! He's now the length of a banana (6.5 inches) and weighs just over 10 oz. This week he's working on swallowing and now has working taste buds! He's moving around in there, although I still don't feel very strong kicks yet, just little flutterings here and there. Some days I feel him a lot and others not very much. I have an anterior placenta currently so that usually makes kicks harder to feel initially. We are looking forward to daddy being able to feel him! 

Hello big belly! Can't suck it in any longer!

How far along: Beginning of 20 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 6 + lbs
Maternity clothes: I haven't bought any yet but I did have to retire my skinny jeans. I've still got one pair of pants that fit really well and I'm using the hair tie trick on the rest!
Stretch marks: None
Sleep: Sometimes great, other nights I'll wake up once or twice
Best moment this week: [And this past week] Seeing Josh (and finding out he is a BOY), going out on a date with my boys, and having enough energy to start spring cleaning the apartment!
Miss anything: I miss my skinny jeans :) Other than feeling large though I feel really good!
Movement: Little flutters and flip flops, but nothing big yet. 
Food cravings: Josh loves beef and Chick Fil A breakfasts! Besides that I'm not really craving anything.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really! (YAY!)
Have you started to show yet: Yep! I can't hide it any longer!
Gender: BOY!!!!
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: I'm still getting occasional muscle pain and headaches. Also I get heartburn if I eat anything spicy. Other than that I'm feeling really good! I feel like I have more energy too!
Belly button in or out: In but stretching!
Wedding rings on or off: On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Sooooo happy!!
Looking forward to: Registering, planning his nursery, and having Pop-Pop, Gigi and Aunt Moo here for a visit (Jon's family)!

Baby Brown Is A...

This was a very exciting week for us! In addition to seeing our little Squinky again (so fun!) we found out the gender! We are absolutely thrilled and can't wait to meet our little......

BOY!!!!

Yep, our little Squinky is a healthy, bouncy, squirmy little BOY! We are absolutely thrilled to be having a son! I was pretty sure he was going to be a girl but the night before the sonogram I had an overwhelming sense that it was going to be a boy. Jon is of course over the moon and I can't wait to have a mama's boy!

 The sonogram tech checked 3 times for us just to be sure, but he was not shy about showing us what he's been working on! It was so wonderful to see our little babe again. I get to hear the heartbeat every 4 weeks at my appointments but we hadn't had a sonogram in 10 weeks so it was very reassuring to see how he's grown and developed! The technician took a bunch of measurements and looked at all kinds of things before she turned the screen for us. She said he looks really healthy and is growing well! Right now he is about 10 oz and in the 54th percentile for weight and height. He's measuring a little ahead of my original due date so they moved it up a few days. Chances are he will still be born in August but my official due date is now July 28th. Either way I'm going to have to endure the very hot summer while being massive and swollen :)

We got to see SO much on the sonogram it was really amazing! We saw his perfect little heart beating away (so comforting!) and his arms and legs flailing around in there. We saw his little feet and hands, spine and his adorable little butt. He was also showing off his ability to suck/chew so we got to see his little lips and jaw moving! He looked right at us for a long time too! He was such a good boy and turned over when the technician asked him to. Let's hope that compliance continues after he's born! It was truly amazing to see how much he has developed and grown in 10 weeks. God is an awesome Creator! Below is a picture of his cute little profile. I think he already has his daddy's nose :)

After our sonogram I immediately went out shopping of course! I've been so good and patient and haven't bought ANYTHING (except the little converse shoes) so I was chomping at the bit to go get some boy stuff! I have to admit that I am relieved boy clothes are so much cuter than they were 10 years ago! I got a few really cute items!

Later that night we revealed the gender and final name to our families! Most everyone had guessed that we were going to have a boy, but there were a few that were pretty confident it was a girl (my dad included!) Since Jon's family lives in North Carolina we videoed them in so they could see the reveal. We had a great time putting the surprise together and everyone is looking forward to meeting our little guy! Here's some pictures from the evening (thanks Taraleigh and Kyle for taking them!)

Jon and Kyle getting everything set up

What will Squinky be?

Jon's family on video

Here we go!

Shower of blue confetti

Hooray!

Showing the sonogram pictures to the Brown's

My sweet grandma, Mom Jo, admiring our boy!

Introducing Joshua Holt Brown!

We will continue sharing updates on our little man and can't wait until he's here!