In my "spare" time

In order to not go more insane with school, pregnancy and everything else I have going on, I try to get some creative time in.

Food has been a very touchy subject with me this pregnancy, so any time I find something that I can handle, I have it often. One of my favorite things to make is a healthy egg scramble.

Step 1: Cut up any vegetables you want to add in, the more colorful the better :) I also add in some sort of protein, because it's good for you. In the picture, I had cut up Canadian Bacon to add in. The vegetables I had were mushrooms, green onions, and green, red, orange, and yellow peppers.

Step 2: Saute all of the ingredients in some oil. I don't use butter, and try to use the least bit of oil I can.

Step 3: Add in eggs and scramble everything together. I added 4 eggs and my husband and I shared the entire thing (with a little help from Dev too)

The next thing I created were inspired by what I found on Pinterest and it's from THIS post. I decided to make mine differently, and a bit cheaper too. I'd been trying to find baskets that I could afford, and I finally found these plastic tubs at Joann Fabrics for $1 each!

I took the plastic tubs and picked out some colorful, fun Scrapbooking paper that I had in my stash. I then measured the areas with the holes and cut the paper to those specifications. I used masking tape to tape the paper onto the tubs. I decided on masking tape, because it was a solid color and didn't look too bad. I think it took me about half an hour while watching some TV to finish these. We use them to throw stuff in that needs to go upstairs and then it's easy to clean up the main floor.

And last, Devlin has been going through a pasta phase, it's his favorite thing to eat. One night I was feeling pretty bad and was going to throw in a box of instant mac and cheese. I decided to try to make a better, healthier version and it didn't take too much longer than the instant does.

Step 1: While I was boiling my water, I cut up ham, mushrooms, and green onions and sauteed them with a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Step 2: I added my noodles to the boiling water and while they were cooking, I shredded my cheeses. I used Cheddar, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Feta, and Cottage Cheese. It sounds like lots of cheese, but I didn't use much of each.

Step 3: Once the noodles were cooked, I drained them. I then added in the cheese and let it melt in.

Step 4: I threw in the sauteed veggies and meat and mixed it all together.

Final Product: It was a success! Dev loved it and actually ate all of the veggies and meat, along with the noodles. Jaren and I loved it as well and enjoyed this version more than we like the boxed version.

So those are a few things I've done to have some fun lately. It's great to create things and have fun. I want to do more of course, but I have a very hectic and stressful life for the next 12 weeks. Now I'm just getting ready for tests and more school work, working on my thesis, and planning my recital song list. I can do this!

An update to our lives

I have been pretty bad at keeping up with my blog, but I feel like it's ok since I'm in school full time with 22 credits and a thesis, I'm a mom of a very active toddler, I'm 22 weeks pregnant with a very active baby (this baby can move!), and I'm a wife. But I feel the need to update.

My first pregnancy was easy; hardly any morning sickness, not many aches and pains, etc. The labor and delivery on the other hand was pretty rough. We also ended up with a very easy baby, who slept through the night very early on. We were especially lucky with Jaren and I both in school, it was wonderful to have things work out so well.

This pregnancy is completely different. So much morning sickness in first trimester and nausea every day, even now. I also am so tired, at my appointment yesterday the doctor must have said 4 times "wow you look really tired". I do agree that the bags under my eyes are becoming more prominent, but I'm still holding out for the 2nd trimester boost of energy that I got last time *crosses fingers*. I am not sleeping well at all. I think I wake up an average of 6 times every night and lately Jaren's 'sinus issue' snoring hasn't helped either (he usually doesn't snore)!

I also can't take naps, even when Dev is napping. There must be some sort of chemical that emits out to our dog when I put him down for a nap and try to lay down to take a nap myself. As soon as I am comfortable or barely asleep, she starts barking hysterically like someone is trying to break in or something. There is never anyone there. UGH. Now not being able to nap wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that I am doing 22 credits in school and need energy to get through everyday.

I know I'm ranting, but that is my update for my pregnancy issues. I've also had some semi-concerning contractions already, but the doctor thinks it's nothing. Baby is doing great and measuring right on track. My uterus is measuring ahead by a couple of weeks, but no extra fluid or anything concerning, so I just look bigger :) I will have to upload my ultrasound pictures when I get the chance, they are awesome. And again, we are "team green" and did not find out the gender. I was so tempted to this time though...

Devlin is doing great, he is growing up so fast and will be 20 months old in a few days! Jaren is busy with school and work and trying to keep up with the frustrations that those both entail. School for him is not so bad, but work has been terrible lately. They keep changing his schedule on him with little or no notice, and they also keep scheduling him while he's in class, and on days he's said he needs off. He needs a new job, but has no time to search. We're weighing the options of what to do in that area.

Well, I think that's all my brain is allowing for right now. Time to rest before class!

Testing a ticker

Christmas Game

Halloween Costumes!

For Halloween we went as Hercules, Meg, and Baby Pegasus. I finally found my camera cord, so here are the pictures!

Read and Rant

Check out my Creative blog, where I'm trying to put my crafty things primarily. Check it out Here. I put up a picture of Devlin's costume and a yummy treat to make!

Now for the rant part :)

Today is chilly and snowy, which is totally fine. The president of CSU sent an email out yesterday before it even started to snow essentially stating that he would not be closing CSU today. I found it to be a funny email, but also jerky because he already made up his mind and didn't even wait to see how bad it was.

Last night our trees were bending down almost touching the ground and a few neighbors were already losing branches. Well this morning, we had lost about 3 branches that had fallen into our yard and the whole city looks a mess (branches everywhere, and some falling into the street as people drive!) CSU sent an email stating that they were staying open, but to not park or walk under trees. Anyone who has been to Fort Collins will know that there are literally trees everywhere!! In the span of about 2 minutes walking to class this morning I heard about 5-6 trees snap. I also witnessed someone also get hit by a huge falling tree. It was ridiculous!!

Anyway the point of my rant is that they should wait until they actually see the snow and what it's doing before making a decision and not to make one before anything even happens. I really don't have a problem with going to school in snow, but the branches falling everywhere is just so dangerous!

Here is a picture of the oval, which they had to close down because of all the branches falling into the road and sidewalks.

Maybe it's time...

I need to start taking care of myself more and being "selfish" in a sense. I came to this realization yesterday after I spent the night in the ER. I have been sick this last week and have been suffering from back pain for the last 3-4 months. At my doctor's, she felt my back and told me it was my SI joint that was hurting me (no urine tests or any other tests), so I believed her. It's been getting worse over time, and my gut feeling Friday night was that I needed to be seen, but I didn't go in...

After a terrible day on Saturday and not being able to move without being in intense pain (almost as bad as my back labor with Dev), Jaren called a nurse hotline and explained what was going on. They recommended that we get in as soon as possible, and preferably to go to the ER, so we did. My in-laws were able to take Dev for the night and we went in...

We were there for only a little while because it was not busy, which was nice. I ended up being diagnosed with a UTI, and we found that my pelvis never went back into place correctly after having Dev and that is why I am having the intense pain in my back. I was so glad that it's nothing worse, but also glad that they found out why it's happening. I am now on medicine for both and I'm trying to adjust to it. Unfortunately one of them is making me throw up (UGH!), but I'd rather throw up than feel horrible pain!

So now my only food friends are buttered noodles, crackers, and ginger ale.