More thoughts on pregnancy: anticipation & diet

Yep, it's here. All my days and lots of my thoughts are filled with anticipation of this little guy getting here. I finished registering with a friend on Saturday, and I'm sooo thankful I did that! As a first time mom I had NO CLUE about all the little gadgets that you need for breast pumps/feeding, little tricks for having diapers ready in the car, etc. It was very helpful! (Thanks Stac!) After that, I attended a baby shower yesterday. All this combined with the cold weather is really causing much impatience on my part for May to get here, and secondly, summer!!

Summer means gardening. Actually, summer means your garden better have been in a few months ago with plenty of time to start soaking up the sun. I was planning my garden online through Smart Gardener. It's a sweet tool that help you literally plan out each square in your garden (I have a raised square foot garden box), but it also tells you what grows well in your area according to your zip code. Super easy! One of my favorite parts is that based off of your zip, it can tell you which plants are ready to be planted each week of the year, if any at all. I learned there is a lot more that can be planted in the cold months in Utah than I thought.

After looking over my calendar, I realized the bulk of what we like to eat and that is plantable needs to be in the ground right around week 38 of my pregnancy!! Can you imagine? I'm having visions of going in to labor with dirt up to my elbows....

It's either that, or I just go for it as soon as baby is born. (No...no...no...) I may recruit the help of many of my gardening friends this year. My herb garden will all come back on its own, I just need to get those veggies in! I think gardening will be fine with a new born, since my bed is literally right outside our front door. I can lay baby down for a nap, leave the screen door open, and soak up some rays while pulling weeds. :) And for when I want to hang outside with my little guy, I registered for this super cool portable activity seat.

I can set it up next to me while I garden, put a hat on my little man, and hopefully garden away. Since our condo is kinda small (I'm not complaining, I love my little dollhouse) we love to spend time outside in the cool of the morning or evening. I prefer reading and studying in the morning...now that I think about it....we prefer reading in the evenings too. ;) haha (We literally sat on the couch reading from about 3 in the afternoon until 9 at night yesterday. Sundays...are exhausting, so we really try to Sabbath in the afternoons.)

So much gibber gabber today.

I'm really trying to cut out white sugar and flour in this last part of my pregnancy. I've been reading and hearing from lots of people that it really helps prevent tearing and cuts down on blood loss during labor, as well as after birth. Since I've developed this crazy, untamable sweet tooth the last few weeks I've really been searching for some healthier sweet treats to make. I'm turning to one of our favorite vegan desserts which is an upside down fruit cake. I love it because you really can use whatever fruits you have on hand, or that are in season. Since strawberries have been such a good deal these last few weeks, I'll be using those up, along with the banana a day I'm trying to consume to help these ridiculously scary charley horses that attack at of nowhere. (I'm scared to go to bed at night for fear accientally pointing a toe and causing a charley horse.)

It looks like the blog I got it from doesn't really exist anymore, but I search some more on pinterest and found the recipe in a comment under the picture of the dessert, so here it is for ya'll:

"8 dates 1/2 cup shredded coconut- in processor till thick paste. Slice a banana and line bottom and sides of small container. Spread half of paste smoothly. Layer the fruit-3 layers and spread rest of crust over the top, so it all looks pretty. Refrigerate overight. Carefuly remove from container."

(You don't NEED to refrigerate over night, as long as you make it early enough in the day to set. I better hurry up and finish here so I can go do that!!)

This is what it looks like so you know how to layer it. I use my little ramekins or small containers that I usually store leftovers in. So yummy and healthy! :)

xoxo

Registering for baby & more evidence that we have no clue what we're doing.

We went and registered today. Finally. When is the right time to register anyways? I don't know, but it's one of the things my thoughts turn to at night now while I'm not doing much sleeping.

Registering really just freaked me out more. I think. What it really did was confirm that we have no idea what we're getting into as parents, and only by God's grace will we learn. haha I'm having a good friend of mine go back to help with some of the items I had more questions about, like breast pumps, and also help me register for the things a first time mom just wouldn't think to register for. (Like socks. Do I register for baby socks? AH!)

I found this blog post on what to register for very helpful. Besides being registered at Babies-R-Us, I'm also registered online at MyRegistry.com which I HIGHLY suggest doing. Throughout my pregnancy so far I've really wanted to research bigger ticket items to get the best bang for my buck, as well as learning about things I actually NEED and will use. At first, I started forgetting everything I liked because I didn't have a log of items in one place, but through this website I've been able to keep track of items I like, as well as watch sales and get any items that are a good deal. (For example, I got my diaper bag on Black Friday.) Now I can just keep the extra items I consider must-haves, but I can't register for at Babies-R-Us.

After all my research, becoming more relaxed and practical about what we actually need, will use, want, etc, here are my favorite items that I can't wait to use!

No, Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags were not a need for us. This was a little bit of a splurge my hubby let me get. We had a little extra money one month after he sold a bunch of guitar stuff, and I found a rockin' deal on this bag on Black Friday. Petunia's actual website never had a sale section (believe me, I looked and looked) but on Black Friday one magically appeared! I had been searching and searching for sales since I found out I was pregnant in September. I only found two diaper bag brands that carried backpack to shoulder carriers, which I wanted. (There are many on Etsy, but since they're handmade they are MUCH more expensive than Petunia.) I wanted to have a backpack while having my arms free to carry our little dude around. I saw a mom who had one like this at Ikea once, and I thought it was genius! I also generally have really terrible lower back pain, so anything carried on one shoulder tends to become very painful. Anyways, the other one I liked was the Ju Ju BE BFF bag. I have a smaller diaper bag for when I don't need to carry this huge one around, but if you know me....you know how big my own purse is! haha The bigger the bag, the better. ;) How is my kid going to be a bookworm if I don't allow extra space to carry around extra books? ;)

 

 

 



I asked several people I knew who had used baby carriers, and they all said if they did it all over again, they'd go with the Ergo Baby Carrier. I was all set and registered for a Sakura Bloom sling, but after reading several reviews on them I saw a common complaint of backpain again. My hubby, being an Eagle Scout, says the idea of the Ergo is better for your body because there is a hip strap which allows you to carry your weight in your hips, like a backpacking backpack does, instead of your lower back. We went to Nordstrom's and tried one on, both of us, got all our questions asked, and we were both happy with this one. It really is so, so comfy! And the cool thing is that you can wear it front, back, and on your hip if you want.

I can't remember if I've mentioned B's sudden weirdness about making sure his child and I have nothing to do with BPA products. He usually doesn't care much about that stuff. I'm more gullible than he is by far, so when he actually believes something that's a huge red flag to me. haha So one night as I was doing dishes after dinner, B came in and started throwing away all sorts of canned veggies (mostly tomatoes because we don't use canned much else). "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Not that it was too expensive, but still! We're on a tighter budget these days, folks! Anyways, he proceeded to tell me how all the cans have BPA in them, which is bad for people in general, but especially pregnant ladies and babies. He's so silly and cute. :) He said he doesn't care if I have to spend a little more on jarred food, he doesn't want me buying cans where BPA is used anymore.  

 

That's where Life Factory bottles come into play! They are glass and BPA free!! I find it cute that B wants to protect us in this way. I'm hoping we won't have to use too many bottles (and if we do the world won't end), but I did register for a few of these. They also make water bottles and some other products.

 

A mom I know went with me to pick out a stroller, which I later made B go back and test to make sure he liked too. He literally RAN around the store pushing it to make sure he liked it. ;) Even though I know we'll survive without a stroller, I found her advice very helpful. She said to pick one that you can easily turn with one hand, since you may be holding the baby at the same time you're trying to push the stroller around. She said you obviously want something light, so it's not too heavy to carry around from car to car. She also said to get one with cup and snack holders that are plastic and not fabric, making it easier to clean. We ended up picking the Graco Moonstruck stroller, as well as the car carrier that goes with it.

  

Like I've said before, my baby and myself will survive without all these things. Standing around the store having no clue what half the things in there are for made me realize this is allllllllll about learning to grow in my role as a mom. So, if you guys have any suggestions of these to register for, feel free to let me know! :) I feel like there was a bunch of random stuff we didn't need, but we registered for it anyways because it looked so fun. You only do this for the first time once, so I guess we made the most of it. :)

 

xoxo