Baby Higgins #2 Update

So I had my first real appointment with my OB this morning. When she came I mentioned the huge difference between dates that I received when I had my sonogram. This concerned her and so we did *another* sonogram in her office. Apparently I was wrong... as wrong as you can be when you know good and well you did NOT have a period at the end of June... Anyway. The baby is extremely healthy and I am only 8 weeks 6 days. This means a due date of April 3rd and we will probably schedule the c-section around March 26th. YES I am already thinking about that. If you know me, you know I am relieved to know this information. My OB said she still saw a yolk sack with the baby and no arms or legs kicking around which are two things that wouldn't be present in a sonogram if I was 12 weeks. She also said that I should be glad that I am not 12 weeks because she would assume something was wrong with the baby and without the heartbeat (which I got to hear) she would think I had a miscarriage. So. Dates don't always matter. It's all up to your body and what it wants to do. Also, she said my Altenelol (heart medication) does not seem to be affecting the baby at all. She kept saying over and over how healthy the baby was. Probably because she was just as shocked as I was. So, healthy baby, not as far along as I thought/wished I was, another sonogram :) Good morning.

A Pure Heart

I have been doing a lot thinking lately about wasted time and a pure heart. I don't want one... and want to strive for the other and until the other morning, they seemed like two entirely different things. We have such a limited amount of time and such a limitless amount of things to do. I found a quote the other day that said, "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted". To me that means that only you can deem what is worthy to spend your time on. When it comes to me, if I find pleasure in it, then I will continue to do it. That is also the same for people in my life. If you bring me happiness or I look forward to hanging around you, then I do not think you are a 'waste'.

This whole concept was really weighing heavily on me the other day while I was at work. It was before the store opened and I had just finished listening to Miranda Lambert's song "Heart like Mine". I have really been trying to focus on loving people for who they are and forgiving them for their eccentricities, because everyone has them. A line in the song says that Jesus could understand a heart like mine. That particular line really spoke to me. It is up to Jesus to understand everyone else and not us. It is up to us to love others and try to make the world a better place.

This is easily done in the larger sense, but for me, my hang up becomes my day to day life. Sure I can listen to Christian music to soothe my bad mood or I can volunteer my time to helps others out, but can I control my temper with bad drivers? Can I keep my cynical view of the world and people to myself? Not usually :) To me, even if I get happiness from being sarcastic or snarky, does that waste my time? What is the main outcome of those things? Can it really change things if I try to only put good words out there? Yes! But I truly believe I can do this and still be myself. I can be sarcastic and dry without being offensive. I can not have strong opinions about things that don't necessarily affect on a personal level. I will try to have my own thoughts and not adopt those of others because I think I lose a lot of my personal identity that way. Not hopping on a bandwagon in regards to my family, friends or even Facebook will help me have a pure heart because at least all the things I will put my efforts into will be original emotions.

Everyone should always be on a journey for self improvement, because if you are not, you can become stagnant and it will begin to affect parts of your life. Or at least I believe that to be true. Over the next few weeks I am going to watch what thoughts come to my head and figure out if they are pleasant or pertinent enough to be said. I believe this will help me be a happier and nicer person and if we want the world to change (be it big scale or just immediately around us) it has to start somewhere, so why not me?

A Wreath for Laikyn

So my new obsession in Pinterest. Its a web site and an app for my phone. If you don't know what it is, you should check it out! Anyway, I found a wreath on there I decided to make as a gift for my friend's new little girl. I followed the tutorial for the original wreath and learned a few things along the away.

First you need a round wire hanger and you need to bend it into the best circle you can make.

I was experimenting with the right length of fabric to achieve the right look. Longer is better. But there is your circle and don't worry about making it perfect. Once your fabric is on it, you would be able to tell where it isn't perfectly round.

You need 1/4 yard of fabric. I cut my fabric into 1/2 inch strips and had plenty left over. I also chose four different patterns, so if you choose more, you can buy less. This is where you can make your own choice for your own wreath. The tutorial I was following said to cut your strips to the right width and then cut them in half. So that is the length I used. Now, I wish I had kept them longer so have more a messy, shabby effect, but it is up to you. To look like mine, cut the strips in half lengthwise.

I would say it will probably take you 2 hours to do this process all the way through. It took me longer, but I had to stop to take care of Emily. I also can't sit still for that long tying fabric in knots. I kept my fabric in the order you see above and kept a pattern. I also sometimes double knotted the fabric on the wire (which is the way the tutorial instructed) and sometimes I decided one knot was good enough. I think this helped it not look so uniform.

That is the finished product. I made a bow out of ribbon for one side and painted a wooden block for the middle initial. I am not sure if you can tell, but the wood is 'distressed'... as much as you can distress a small block of wood. The letter is from the scrap booking section and was all one piece. To do this, you can also use ribbon, but I felt like fabric was much more cost effective and I was able to find the same fabric Kayla used for her daughter's bedding and incorporated it.

It was fun and easy and actually really cheap. Probably about $10 for all of it. Although, I did get the fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby.

Have fun!

Idle Hands

With all the anxiety surrounding my mother's time in the hospital, I needed a distraction. I have been saying for many weeks now that I will just build (insert type of furniture here) instead of buying it. I have been inspired by a site I found online and it has given me some (foolish maybe) confidence about my ability to build furniture.

Some time in the near future Emily is going to need a big girl room and her nursery will hopefully be housing another addition to our family. In getting ready for this step, I am trying to clear out the play room of anything not related to her. So, that mainly means my arts and crafts and the computer/business (bills blah) stuff. I have wanted for a long time a place for me to feel inspired to write and read and I want to do all this in front of a window. So I built a desk to fit in a small space by our french doors in the back of our living room. It took me about four hours total to do this project (I would have finished in one day but I had to go to work) and the only thing I had to pay for was the paint. All the wood came from scraps that we have had from earlier house projects.

The wood I will change into my desk!!!

The top frame for the desk slats

Legs and top frame

Getting ready to place top slats

Slats placed. Yes I know some of the boards aren't flat and some might call them warped. I say they are perfect for the rustic look of the table and nothing is perfect. Huge metaphor for my life right now :) Feel free to roll your eyes if you feel the need to.

The finished project!

Eventually I will make a colorful memo board of some kind, but I ran out of "resources". But I have already felt inspired when I sit at my new desk. Especially since I know I made it myself :)

Monkey See, Monkey Don't Do!!

There are days that I wake up feeling less that awesome and even on those days, my daughter will still watch my every movement. I did not realize how she watched *everything* until yesterday I walked up to her and she had her hand beside her head. She has had some bad allergies lately (both of us actually!) and I was worried I would have to go to the pediatrician for an ear infection. Nope. She had one of my bobby pins in her hand and she was in the process of scratching her ear with it. Those of y'all that know me well know that I do this... I know I know. My ears ITCH and bobby pins and mechanical pencils are the best solution! I blow my nose, so does Emily. I yawn, so does Emily. I stick dangerous things in my ears... so does Emily. It was a good... reminder.... that I have a 20 month old daughter who watches her mommy very carefully. I love her to death and even on my semi-awesome days, I need to set a good and SAFE example. I have too many bad habits I need to keep to myself!

Menu in Weeks

I tried to blog my menu an entire month in advance. I am not sure what I was thinking. There is no way I know what I am doing or what will sound good a month from now. So instead, I will plan the next two weeks. This makes more sense with our budget because my small, part-time paycheck is what we eat off of, so my hours reflect in the level of gourmet my food is :)

Asian BBQ Chicken with Fried Rice. The fried rice recipe takes a lot of things I don't have in my kitchen, but hopefully since I stock most of the tings in the chicken recipe, it will balance out budget wise.

Bacon Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken. I am thinking some steamed brown rice on the side. Something healthy for my husband.

Round Steak (recipe below)

Roman Chicken

Buffalo BBQ Chicken

Slow Cooker Beef Tips (recipe below)

In between we are going to eat leftovers and see how far that gets up. One of our bad habits is making too much food and then throwing it away when we get tired of it the leftovers. That wastes money, which we can't afford to do! So these next few weeks are an experiment.

Round Steak

2 lbs Round Steak

2 can green beans (whichever style you like the best)

2-3 potatoes (however many you think you will want)

2 cans cream of mushroom soup diluted with milk. This step is not an exact science. start with a cup of milk and figure out if you like that consistency.

Cook in crockpot on low for 6-8 hours.

Beef Tips

2 lbs lean stew meat

1 dry onion soup packet

2 cans cream of mushroom soup (diluted with milk. start with a cup again)

1 cup fresh mushrooms (I don't use many and I keep them big because John picks them out)

1 bag of egg noodles

Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over Egg Noodles or Rice.

I will let you know how this new 'experiment' goes with our budget and our appetites :)

Creative Outlet

I thrive better as a person when I can be creative. That is a very true statement. For some reason I have gotten away from this and I am not sure why I did that to myself! Now I have the time and nothing to use as an excuse as to why I can't create. So, my first official project was turning an 80s headboard into a shelf for my entry way. I did not take pictures of it before I added the shelves, but I think you can get the idea from this picture. Please excuse the fact that I took it with my phone.

You can see the two white shelves that we added to turn it into a shelf and a kick board on the bottom. Then I sanded it, painted it and tried an aging technique. This is something I will keep trying to perfect ;)

For my first project I am pretty proud. I need to fill the shelves, but that will come with time. A friend of mine and myself have been spending a lot of time on Ana White's website. She posts free plans for building furniture and we are going to take on some of the projects. At least creative outlet is cheap will benefit my house :)

Mommy Confession: Discipline

Emily is finally entering the terrible twos. I thought she had reached this stage a while back, laughing that my daughter was 'ahead of the curve'. Little did I know what the terrible twos actually meant. Emily is beginning to exhibit the characteristics that I want her to have... when she is in middle school and being hit from every side with peer pressure and temptations. Not when she isn't quite two and learning things for the first time. I feel like everything I say to her is 'No!' or do you want to go to timeout? She is so stubborn and honest and independent... and an exact replica of both of her parents. I definitely want Emily to have some independence from us and that ability to learn mistakes on her own, but I want her to know what is okay and what is not. I want to teach her right and wrong now and not let it get out of hand for later. But my worry is I say too many negative things to her and not enough positive. So when she does something over and over that she knows is wrong, I have to be consistent. But I also start to wonder if I am fighting battles that I shouldn't have engaged in in the first place. But if I stop now, will I be inconsistent. How do I be a good mom that shows constant love and deal with a strong-willed child? How do I teach her what is right and wrong and be consistent when she repeatedly does that wrong thing and still be the person she wants to run to for comfort? How do I discipline well and love intensely?

May Menu

I have several friends who have inspired me to start planning yummy meals in advance. Since I am going back to graduate school in the fall and have a part time job, eating a budget is something I am having to learn, but I am up for the challenge. Being prepared and planned as far as meals go is the first step. I try to use ingredients over and over. For example, I made rice and beans to go with the Chicken Enchilada Casserole, so I planned Mexican later that week to use the left overs of the sides with. Along with the homemade salsa. The corn tortillas the taquito recipe calls for I will reuse when I make the tacos. I make sure not to waste any ingredient I purchase and stretch it.

So this month we are going to eat:

Crock pot santa fe chicken

Sesame Beef

Creamy chicken taquitos

Beef tacos in fried corn tortillas (using the rest of the corn tortillas from the taquitos)

Turkey Stuffed Zucchini

Creamy Chicken Tacos

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (recipe below) with Spanish Rice

General Tso's Chicken

Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair

Pot Roast

BBQ Chicken Pizza with homemade dough (recipe below)

Buffalo BBQ Shredded Chicken (served on hamburger buns) so that way we have lots of leftovers and quick meals.

Meatball Subs

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (received this recipe from a family member during my bridal shower - Thanks Aunt Cathy!)

1 1/2 cups tortilla chips lightly crushed

1 7oz can chopped green chilies

1 onion chopped

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar

2 cups shredded chicken. I use a whole chicken fryer... however much meat it puts off

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can diced tomoatoes

1/4 cups cream or whole milk - whatever you have

cilantro

Lightly grease baking dish. Line the bottoms with half of the chips. Place the chicken, onion, chilies, tomatoes, rest of chips and cheese in layers in that order. Mix the soup, sour cream and cream/milk. Pour over top. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 lb chicken

Small bottle Head Country BBQ Sauce

1 small red onion

3 T butter

1 t of garlic

Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

Pizza dough - I have a recipe to make my own, but lately I have just been buying the package of frozen dough and seasoning it myself to match the kind of pizza I am making.

Cook chicken in crock pot for 4 hours on low. Put BBQ sauce, garlic, butter and onion in with it. Take chicken out of crock pot and shred. Roll dough out. Spread mixture over dough and spread cheese over top. I didn't put an amount of cheese because I leave that up to your tastes. I use lots of cheese, always. Bake in oven at 425 for 15 minutes. Keep an eyes on the pizza. All doughs cook differently. Wait for cheese to bubble.

A Big Gap!

I can't believe the science spectrum was the last thing I posted about! That was before Christmas... I won't go back that far, but just to catch everyone up on our family. Currently, I am in between jobs... again! But I will begin part-time work at Naturalizer Shoes (a blast from the past) which will allow me to spend more time with my baby girl. I quit working at Estacado in October and have been on a path of self-discovery (as corny as that sounds), but it is true!

I will start graduate school in the fall at Tech. I will be in the Marriage and Family Therapy program and I am really excited. Once I quit teaching and could think straight, I realized that the part I missed most about teaching was the guiding of the students. So I am going to become a counselor and I really want to focus on foster kids somehow. But I really want to focus on kids. Between then and now I get to spend lots of time with my little girl since God keeps shutting doors on jobs for me. He is speaking; I should start listening.

John is doing well. He has started a second job which was a great thing when I lost my job this week! But he is enjoying both jobs and says he doesn't have a problem balancing the two plus his family life. Emily and I miss him in the evenings, but know it isn't forever and it is good for our family.

Emily is perfect! We had her 18 month well check last week and she was 31 pounds and 34.5 inches tall! Our pediatrician says she will probably be 6'2" which means she will tower over her mommy! Hopefully we have a while til that happens and I can enjoy my 'little' girl for a lot longer. She is running and climbing all over everything and can say over 20 words. Of course most of them are in Emily speak, but John and I are becoming fluent very quickly and communication is getting easier.

I don't have any pictures to post that aren't of facebook! I will definitely keep up with this more often :)