Growing babies & gardens.

I've had a few things I really ( somewhat selfishly) wanted to accomplish before baby came. These aren't things that needed to be done so baby could be welcomed into this world in a better manner, I just knew I probably wouldn't get them done at all in the next few months if I tried to after he is born. Those things included: going to see The Great Gatsby (check!), getting my plants in the garden (check!), and teaching my first Doterra essential oils class (check!). As of 9:30 this morning (yes, I do my best work in the early hours of the morning), all those things are accomplished!! Baby, pleeeeease hurry up and get here!! I know it's just a matter of days, but it feels like an eternity right now!

This year I've concluded that it really is better to buy your plants from a local nursery. I did a mix (since my number one goal this spring season was growing a baby, not a garden) since I wasn't able to starts my plants from seeds. Maybe next year. But anyways, I noticed a few things when I was walking around Lowe's looking for plants, after taking a gander around a local nursery.

Lowe's didn't have a great selection. At all. I was on the hunt for kale, and they didn't have it. I wanted sweet red peppers, and they didn't have them. I couldn't even find any regular lettuce! Plus, I was really shocked when I realized Lowe's was actually more expensive than the nursery. The nursery had really fun plants like lemon cucumbers and a variety of mints, all of which I couldn't find at Lowe's. So next year I will be sticking to the nurseries.

I re-lined my square foot garden and got a few plants in over the weekend, but I was able to get the rest of them in this morning before it got too hot out. Here's the before:

And the pretty, much more green, after:

This year I decided on a whim to plant:

-kale
-sweet red peppers
-broccoli
-zucchini (these did so great last year that I still have a few chocolate zucchini muffins in the freezer that I pull out when I need them on occasion!)
-cucumbers
-mint

I've already got strawberries coming back from last year, as well as much of my herb garden that I transplanted from a friend. My beloved rhubarb that I thought the neighborhood lawn mower guy totally killed for good last year also came back! :)

I think I shared this before, but last year was my first year trying the square foot garden. I loved it! I maybe had five weeds to pull all summer, and again, just a few that needed pulling over the weekend. After leaving it uncovered for stray seeds to find throughout the fall and winter (a no-no for gardening), I was very thankful I only had a few to pull. One thing I didn't realize when I planted last year was how big the plants will get! I tried to put two in one square foot, which is not the point of square foot gardening. haha So I spaced them out correctly this time.

I was also terrified to harvest ANYTHING last year! It is so, so fun to watch the plants grow in your own front yard, but I had no clue how to actually take advantage of the veggies. haha I bundled my broccoli much too late in the season. I NEVER pulled a single lettuce leaf, and let me tell you, I had some gorgeous lettuce growing last year that could have filled many salad plates! I did pick a few banana peppers, but those are easy to pop off. I didn't do enough research, but I don't really think research is required. Just work up the guts to use the wonderful bounty of your garden. Even if you fear doing it wrong and hurting the plant, let the plant be a plant and do it's job. If you pull the kale leaf off the wrong way, the plant can compensate and continue it's growing. haha Don't waste your garden like I did last year. ;)

 

 

I am stoked about this purple kale!! I can't wait to throw it in some smoothies!!

 

I hope all you gardeners out there are having fun in the dirt this week. :) The only problem I ran in to was digging into an ant hill on accident when I planted my azalea bush. The only reason I noticed was because of the slight burning sensation that was coming from inside my garening gloves. haha By that time they were all over my shoulders and everything. So, my boy scout husband decided to hose me off in the front yard. Even when I got in the shower some had followed me in there! I rubbed melaleuca oil all over my arm and it quickly stopped the burning. :) God was so smart to include healing properties for His kids to take advantage of in His creation. :)

 

xoxo

All natural beauty: things I've experimented with this pregnancy.

There we go! One day shy of 30 weeks! I really wish I could live in skirts these days, and I would but I'm slightly clumsy and I find myself tripping in them a lot. haha And a pregnant lady who trips all the time really is hazardous.

Since it's been warmer I realized my dull, white legs will be showing soon. ;) As usual, I've been on my pinterest boards looking through all natural beauty tricks for fun. I've used this trick twice now, and I really like it. Although, I did just finish cleaning our bathroom and found all the coconut and olive oil very tricky to get off. Any suggestions? Haha It's quite comical to watch me and my belly curve around the toilet to clean behind it, and get in the tub to scrub, scrub, scrub.

About two weeks ago I noticed my cheeks finally started to become very, very dry. I've used half apple cider vinegar and half water as a toner through most of my pregnancy. My skin freaked out a bit as I entered into my second trimester, but this stuff seriously cleared it right up. I think after allllll these weeks of using it with really no moisturizer (shhh...I know that's probably terrible for my skin, but I really do drink tons and tons of water and the skin on my face doesn't seem to need much else most of the year) it may have started to dry me out a bit, but I found this moisturizing facial cleanser last week and I really, really love it!! I was super worried it would make my face extra oily, but it didn't at all!! I love using all natural beauty recipes that only have a few ingredients because I remember how to do them easier, making it so that I actually use them. I started looking for a new cleanser because I recently read that they are trying to get rid of all exfoliants with plastic scrubbies in them (something about fish and landfills?), and since I've used the same one for literally years, I started looking for natural alternatives when mine goes off the market. I love that the baking soda actually makes your face feel scrubbed and cleaned, and it really does get all your make up off. I switched to using the ACV toner only once a day or so, and I've really noticed a difference. I swear, the day after I used the coconut and baking soda mixture, my cheeks were already brighter and rosy.

My other favorite natural winter skin repair that I started about this time last year was mixing one egg white with some fresh squeezed lemon juice. You make the paste and let it sit as a mask on your skin for about 20 minutes. The protein from the egg helps rebuild your chapped winter skin. I ONLY use real lemon juice because you just never know what's in the store bought, prepackaged kind, and I don't what who-knows-what sitting on my skin.

At first I started doing these weird experiments when B wasn't home, but I don't care anymore. He knows I'm a weirdo. haha I don't think he was home the one time I experimented with tumeric, turning my face orange. (It was a good thing I try these at night, or else I would have had to go out looking like an Oompa Loompa.) Honey is the ONLY natural ingredient that doesn't work well with my skin. Any other thing I've put on my skin has really done fine, some things just work better than others for me.

I really want to try this all-natural mascara sometime. I've used the same Clinique one for ages because I'm allergic to all other ones. I used to use mineral veil, but it's just too expensive for me to keep buying, so I want to try to make this one sometime. I could go on, and on... ;) I really find this stuff interesting and it's always a fun challenge to try something new, especially if it saves money. The one product I do buy and haven't been able to bring myself to experiment with making on my own is my foundation. I have again used the same thing for years. It's Naked Minerals Pressed Mineral Foundation. My mom is an esthetician and actually sold this stuff back when I was in junior high I think. I like it because it's not a powder. With powder you seem to waste more than you actually use. It also doesn't make my face oily. Other loose or even pressed mineral foundations I've tried make my face oily very quickly. They've done all sorts of fancy tests with this stuff that I can't remember right now (thank you pregnancy brain). I do remember they tested being able to sleep in this stuff and it doesn't harm your skin. Also, there was something about being able to put it in an open wound (not that you would really want to, right?) and it didn't cause any extra harm. Being a pre-school teacher means the people I spend the most time with during the day don't really give a hoot what I look like, as long as I know how to put the puzzle back together. But my basic beauty routine that I stick to most days includes this foundation and a tiny bit of mascara, if I even get that far. haha Anyways, enough about Naked Minerals. I love the stuff. :)

Sidenote: Any things you guys did around the house that were very helpful for when you came home with a new baby? I actually have time to be home today and get caught up on cleaning and organizing, which is ALWAYS energizing to me for some reason, so I sat down and made a very, very basic grocery list in case anyone has to do that for us while we're in the hospital. I figured it's nicer to have a stocked fridge when you first come home so you don't have to figure out who has more energy to go out and grab the basics to get by for that first week. Any other suggestions? The only other thing (besides trying this natural carpet cleaner today) that I really want to have done before baby gets here is getting my blinds cleaned. I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE doing this. I always did as a kid, and I STILL do. That's why they are dusty pretty much all the time. I don't know how to do it well, and they are white plantation shutter type blinds, so they show dust, and the black streaks from cleaning the dust. Sigh Anyways, again...what other things were helpful to you to have done at home when baby came home? :)

xoxo

Over a week, and here's why...

I can't breathe. Ok, really, I can obviously breathe since I'm alive and blogging, but I have to concentrate really hard to simply SIT and BREATHE most days. Baby is NOT hanging low anymore. He's climbed up my rib cage and is squishing my lungs. Anyways, this leaves me quite exhausted. Want to pray for me? I could really use some extra energy to get through my work days. I'm supposed to be (and hopefully will be) working up until  my due date, but seriously....who would have thought bending over multiple times a day to clean up all the toys in a classroom could knock someone out for the week. That's how I've been feeling. It makes me physically tired, but its also been making my tummy upset. Maybe because everything is being squished together so I can grab one toy here, another toy there. haha I haven't had energy for much else besides focusing on work and home. So no blogging for the last week.

Anyways, besides that...I drove past Wendy's and Burger King today, all before 11 a.m. and all I could think about were the chocolate frostys they have!! So I had to rush home and make myself a healthier version that I'm quite pleased with. :)

1 banana (not frozen, but I usually use frozen)
a squirt of agave
1 tablespoon coacoa powder
about half a tray of ice cubes (depends on how thick you like yours)
almond milk
leftover coffee from this morning
three strawberries

It's so yummy!! And not too bad for you, and I took care of that sweet craving while filling up my tummy with good fruits. :) When I worked at Starbucks I LOVED making smoothies for my meals with all sorts of weird things in them: I always had spinach in mine, Greek yogurt, almonds, chia seeds, wheat germ, whatever fruits I had on hand, one packet of honey, some dark chocolate chips...I promise, promise, promise you don't taste the spinach. Yes, it looks weird and gross, but they're really sooooo good for you, and quite filling too. Enough about my random smoothies.

I'm at 29 weeks tomorrow. I have some time this afternoon, so I'm going to pack our hospital bag. Advice? What things were you glad you had on hand? What was useless? Some things I've been reading from around the web say its nice to have little gifts for the nurses, as well as mints or something to suck on during labor (since you can't eat...still not sure how I feel about that?), ohh...I can't remember what else. It's still a bit early to think we need to head to the hospital, but you never know I guess. I was planning on doing this last week while B was out of town, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It just seemed way too real that this is all happening. I can't even describe it now that I'm thinking about it. haha

While continuing to think and pray about what God wants this baby's birth to look like, I found this blog post to be very helpful. A friend shared it with me and it's seriously one of the most encouraging things I've read yet. In thinking about diets, natural birth, birth orders, epidurals, essential oils, being vegan, Hypnobirthing, blah, blah, blah....the list could go on, God's continued to put a passage from 1 Timothy on my heart.

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge any persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussions..." 1 Timothy 1:3-6

God really showed me a few weeks back that I was wandering into vain discussions with myself on learning and reading about natural birth. All of the things I listed above really are just myths, things we can never, ever truly be certain about. I will never know for sure if an essential oil can cure my cold. I will never know for sure if I will make it all natural this time. I will never know for sure if an epidural would be perfectly fine for me and my baby. I will never know if I will live longer of this diet or that diet. Only if it's God's will would any of these things happen. I was, and continue, to get caught up in things like these, placing my faith in these things instead of in Christ. Trusting in those other things instead of Him was and is sin (Romans 14:23). His Word is one of the only absolutes I can stand on in faith, and I knew all of my anxiety was coming from trusting in these things I was never meant to trust in. There's been quite a release since He gently showed me that. I've also come to the conclusion that I'm honestly not going to make a decision and stick to it when it comes to this whole giving birth thing because the only person who knows how its going to turn out already has the whole thing planned out for me, and I want to rest in His plan.

Well, off I go to back our hospital bag! :)

xoxo

The Prego Questions!

Because everyone is just dying to know these answers....not. haha I've just had lots of nothing but thoughts about baby and adjusting to my new uncomfortable body this week, so why not just continue with the theme here? ;) I found these cute questions on this blog.

How far along are you: My doctor and I have made a compromise haha So I'm a few days short of 27 weeks now. :)

Size of Baby: Huge! lol The Bump has a cute chart that shows the size of the baby at each week based on a food. So this week my little babe is the size of a head of lettuce.

Maternity Clothes: Ha...well, I think I have four shirts that I remember off the top of my head, and a few dresses. I don't think I'm going to buy anymore though. My of my sweet student's parents got me a be band last week, so that's been really nice to just wear under normal clothes and get the extra length I need on shirts. Other than that, I'll probably have to start sleeping in B's old t-shirts soon. ;)

Stretch Marks: Not yet haha I have an odd combo of things I've been doing to try and prevent them, but obviously I can't do much if they do happen. I use Mango Shea lotion, Neutrogena Norwegian body wrap, and Doterra's Wild Orange oil mixed with some coconut carrier oil. I just grab whatever I have on hand. The Neutrogena is the same lotion I've used since high school. My skin would get so dry that when I'd shave my legs they'd just bleed afterwards. This was the lotion my mom found that really helped. I used the mango shea butter because I read that any lotion with shea works for stretch marks, as well as any essential oil. Luckily, while reading my book on essential oils during pregnancy, I learned that Wild Orange is one they specifically suggest using. So I did, but some days the smell can be a bit strong for me and it makes me sick, so I really have to be careful when I use it. (I ONLY suggest using Doterra's oils during pregnancy. Noting else has gone through the testing like they have to check for purity and quality, so who knows what else you're really putting on and in your body when you use another brand of essential oils.) Anyways, there's my spiel about that.

Weight gain/loss: I don't really care who knows this. lol I'm about 19 pounds as of my last appt. My doctor said I'm gaining a bit quickly and he really wants me to try and stay at 30 total since I'm little, so his suggestion was cutting out dairy and bread. I do looooove my Greek yogurt, as well as cheese, and I could eat a few bagels a day, so yes, I'm guilty on both those accounts. haha I've been having some fun switching up my diet this week, as well as trying to cut out white flour and sugar as I go into my last trimester. (starting TUESDAY!! EEEK)

Sleep: I'm feeling much more comfortable. I take off the top pillows on the Boppy body pillow that's for your arms and use that to support my tummy. Using the whole thing just made me soooo hot at night, and it was like having a person laying between my husband and I, which we didn't really like. But this has made me much, much more comfortable. It's just finding the TIME to sleep during our crazy schedule. ;)

Best Moment of the week: When B was scratching and poking my belly before School of Worship last night. :) It has freaked him out so far, but without even realizing it he just seemed to be scratching it (which made me VERY happy) and poking around while waiting for these to start last night. :) It just felt like a very natural, dad-like thing to do. :) Am I crazy? Yes, I think he's wonderful. :)

Movement: Oh my goodness!! Since he's my first I have nothing else to compare him to. The first long, long while he was really chill. Everyone told me that. My doctor, the ultrasound tech, and I knew he wasn't a crazy mover. But these last few days I seriously feel like he's trying to bust out of the oven!! It's like he takes both his feet at the same time and tries to pop my belly!! He's crazy strong.

Symptoms: Still no period. ;) haha I couldn't resist. Other than that, I'm just really, really uncomfortable in basically any position. I think I'm coming to the end of being able to bend over and help my student's clean up toys. I'm feeling lots of pressure under my ribs.

Food Carvings: I have wanted a vanilla cone from McDonald's alllll week (probably because my doctor said no dairy) haha

Gender: Boy!! :) I prayed for a boy. I would have been just as happy with a girl, but I really, really prayed God would bless our family with an older, godly brother to love on, guide, and protect his other siblings. :)

Belly button in or out: haaaaa! It's almost out!! That's so crazy!! One of the most painful things I've experienced during pregnancy is (well, I don't actually know what it is) when he starts kicking the belly button! It's like he is literally pushing it out from the inside!

Anything make you queazy or sick: Essential oils. haha I put some rose oil in my humidifier about a week ago, a normal, safe number of drops, but I just think the scent was too, too strong. So basically any of my oils are making me feel sick now.

Labor signs: Not that I know of haha

Wedding ring on or off: On. :) I don't really think I've had any sweeling at all....yet.

What I miss: Get up and bending over with ease.

What I am looking forward to: meeting my handsome little man!!! Ahhh...can't wait!!! :)

Nursery: Sigh...basically at a stand still until the shower. I'm not sure what I do, so I'm not thinking about it too much. It's honestly the least of my worries when it comes to planning for this little guy.

Emotions: haha This week I've totally relied on myself to be nice, instead of asking the Holy Spirit to help, which resulted in....me not being very nice. I've noticed I say the first thing that comes to my mind without even thinking a lot more and use "pregnancy" as an excuse. Really, it's just sin. So Jesus had a good headrt to heart with me yesterday. :)

Stupid things I have done: Well, I called all the men on my husband's side of the family wiener-meanies while we were playing a boys vs. girls game a while ago. I was VERY tired and sick of playing games, so....yeah, again, first thing that came to find just came out. They all got a good laugh, but the phrase has since stuck around.

Name: Not telling the world on here just yet. :) We have two names, but B has decided he just wants to wait to see what he looks like. :) So cute!

Currently:

I'm staying quite busy this week between work, life, and workshops and School of Ministry really kicking off tomorrow. (Yay!) That means lots of random writing projects and tying up lose ends for projects.

Here are a few things I'm currently interested in, doing, learning about, excited about, supporting, etc:

Creating yearbooks for my students. Since we're a small private school we don't do the normal yearbooks. I like what we do even better! Each month we make one craft as a class that incorporates the student's picture and put them all together in a book that literally keeps track of the student's growth and crafts or the year. I think it's such a clever way to preserve the art that would otherwise be easily lost.

Reading this blog. It's amazing to me how open and encouraging Bekah is about post-baby bodies. (Something I may or may not have been thinking about a bit these days....;) haha)

Craving cinnamon rolls!! B keeps encouraging me to make them too, despite a lack of time to bake this week, but I did find this recipe that I really want to try, and these ones which B has already tried and said were delicious!

Liking Doterra Essential Oils. I've recently been a skeptic of lots of things all natural since reading this book (which I highly suggest to anyone getting in to alternative medicines, very helpful for pros and cons), but I've been doing my research on this locally based company, and they seem pretty legit! I went to a class this week to learn more about them, purchased a book on pregnancy and essential oils to see if I could use them during labor in any way (since I guess I should start thinking about this stuff), and planned a class that I'm hosting at my house (if anyone if interested in coming, let me know!)  I got the Wild Orange oil at the class, and I'm interested in trying it in my natural cleaning supplies.

Watching this beautiful and moving video. Cry not to cry while watching!

So happy this is my Friday! I'm going to curl up with a book for the rest of the evening and hopefully see my hubby at some point. ;) Thursday are the busiest day of our week, and I honestly hate them, but I'm learning to find ways to keep myself busy during Thursday nights. Tonight that included working out and putting together yearbooks. God's providing lots of grace and energy to stay caught up on work during this second half of my pregnancy. I'm very thankful for productivity. :)

xoxo

Fighting a cold while pregnant...

My parents are on their way back to Colorado Springs right now, and I haven't seemed to be able to pull myself away from the kitchen table for very long this morning. It's probably due to three very busy days in a row, but I'm exhausted and praying I'm not actually succumbing to the cold this season. I've accepted that livable exhaustion is probably going to be the new normal in my life for the next eighteen or so years, but this added sluggishness from the start of a cold is no fun.

 Since I'm pregnant and too tired to look in to what I can take to fight a cold, I've decided to stick with my tried and true remedy: Aztec Sweet chili tea loaded with honey (yes, I know I'm not technically supposed to have this). This spicy, sugary goodness coats your throat well. The last two times I've felt a cold come on I've also squeezed a few oranges by using my favorite fruit juicer, but we didn't have any on hand this morning. I like to think I'm naturally getting tons of vitamin c this way. I'm a semi-all-natural fan (haha) meaning I truly have fun reading up on natural healing methods in my spare time, but I am by no means strict about it. These are just two of the ways I usually fight colds, and so far this season they have worked.

I'm thankful for the awesome maternity clothing sales we scored yesterday! I truly hate the idea of spending so much money on clothes that will only fit for about four months, but just this past week I was realizing how short all my regular shirts were getting, and since my students only talk to me and stare at my belly, I figured it was time to start looking for some deals. And we found some! (Another silly pregnant story: I've been using the rubber band trick to keep some of my regular pants up, but when I went hiking in the cold Friday, I only realized once my butt was half frozen that this trick failed and my pants had fallen down!! HA! Good thing we were in the forest!)

A friend recently told me how comfortable H&M's maternity pants were. It truly has been hard to find any maternity pants for me since I'm petite, and even the smallest ones I found at Gap (see below) make me feel like I have a poopy diaper on sometimes. I do looooove the true denim feel of them though, and the demi panel is my favorite!!

Anyways, I decided to take a peek in H&M to see if I could find any maternity pants. Low and behold, there was an entire two racks full of $10 maternity pants! They were skinnies, and fit so well! They are now my favorite brand of maternity pants I've been able to find so far. I also debated between getting some shirts that were on sale in a bigger size so I can just wear them after pregnancy, or just sticking with the regular maternity shirts that were the same price, but I could only wear for the next few months. After we decided I resembled a boat in the oversized shirts, I stuck with the cute, tailored maternity shirts. My mom also found some great deals on a maternity sweater and smock dresses at Gap (have a mentioned that my mom always seems to be able to smell the hottest deals at soon as we walk into the mall?), which will be much appreciated in this colder than usual Utah winter.

 

 I love a lot of Gap's matenity clothes because I've found you can just add a belt to the waistline and you can't even tell they are maternity clothes! My closet usually consists of mostly basics and classic styles so that I can wear them season after season, and mix and match the colors that will never go out of style. It truly was hard for me to recently buy a purple belt, when the same one came in olive. I'm trying to do the same with maternity clothes so I can use them again in the future.  

 

 

By far my favorite thing that my mom found yesterday was this adorable bib. Love it!

 

 

Alright, enough of my ramblings from the weekend! It was such a huge blessing that my family made that quick trip down to see us. God knew ahead of time and cleared B's and my schedule for us. He's sufficient like that! ;)

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11

*Edited*

When we were deciding on starting a family, something I thought about often was how it's God's design for a husband and wife to be blessed and mulitply, and since He loves families and desires for families to grow, He's going to take care of families. I can't express how thankful I am for both sides of our families to come around us in support like they have. God is such a good provider emotionally, spiritually, and physically, and He has reached out to us in love through our families and our extended church family. God is faithful to His plans.

xoxo