Wow!  How long has it been since I’ve posted an Eat Clean recipe?  Don’t answer that.   Sorry it’s been so long.  I made these pork chops last night.  I do plan on putting together an Eat Clean menu for next week (if I can get my butt in gear), so hope to have some more recipes to post soon.

Let’s just say that these were good, but we’ve had better.  I’d make them again, but have a feeling I’ll choose other pork chop recipes over this one first.  They’re nice for something different.

View Recipe…

I’ve had a lot of you request a belly pic and I’m sorry it’s taken so long.  I quickly got a shot today (yes in sweats and a t-shirt).  I even took the picture myself (thank goodness for self-timing cameras).  This also explains why it’s a bit blurry and grainy (note to self….no more taking pics on your own).  I’ll have my husband take one of me when I’m actually ready for the day and look a bit nicer.

I’ll say that the sweats I’m wearing are the tightest they’ve ever been.  Ugh!  I need to invest in some comfy pants to wear around the house.  Anyone have any recommendations?

More belly pics will come as time progresses.  Thanks for being patient on this one.

I went to the doctor today.  Nothing exciting to share.  I did get my ultrasound scheduled and was able to talk my doctor into letting me go a week early so I would have the news by the time my Mom, Aunt, and Cousin come for a visit (on the 10th of June).  I happen to be going that day (June 10th) at 1:50pm.  My husband will go with me.  I can’t wait!  We’ll hopefully find out what we’re having.

Thank you Haloquin’s Studio for nominating me!

I can’t begin to tell you the excitement inside me as I got an email from Halo saying that she had nominated me for a Blog Award.  We were partners in a Swap-Bot swap (swapping our blogs).  Who knew she was following my blog since that swap.  What an honor to be nominated and to know that someone actually likes my blog and keeps up on it when they’ve never met me.  Thank you Halo for your kind nomination.  I am overwhelmed!

The guidelines for this blog award are:  “These blogs are exceedingly charming.  These kind bloggers aim to be friends.  They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.  Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.  Please give more attention to these kind writers.”

I have made many friends through the internet and have followed many of their blogs, being kept up to date on the latest in their lives.  I would like to pass this award on to a number of people beginning with:

oh, hello friend — She is a creative genius!  She offers an inspiration blog with tons of great photos and content.  She posts about her life and creations and has a famous (tv/movie) actor Great Uncle (Jim).

{unwrapped} — Her weight loss journey is incredible!  She shares tips and hints about her success.  She’s very crafty too and shows a lot of great creations, along with various personal entries, but all so interesting.

Waiting on our little miracle! — She lets you in on her infertility (and now pregnancy) journey.  To read from the beginning to her latest post, you feel connected with her and her story.  What an amazing story she has (one I’m excited to continue to read on about).

My Heart, My Home — Her website is filled with fun family things, homeschooling, coupon savings, and encouraging posts.

Baby Name Snob — Free of charge, she gives you suggestions for baby names based on your input.  Just give her a bit of information about what kind of baby names you’re interested in and she’ll come up with a huge list of suggestions for you.  She’s very talented at what she does.

Small Notebook — Since reading her blog a couple years back until now, she’s really evolved (people seem to know who she is now).  She has great content about family life, saving money, organizing your life, and so much more.

Roni’s Weigh — I came across this blog this past year and fell in love.  She has so much valuable information on weightloss, tips, hints, recipes, you name it.  She’s so down to earth.  You’ll love her!

Tammy’s Recipes — Her recipes are amazing, easy to make and understand and she has pictures for everything (you can’t beat that).  There’s even a rating system for each recipe.  She offers more than recipes though.  Check out her kitchen tips, menus, and so much more.

I hope you have enjoyed “meeting” my friends and reading their blogs.  If you have a blog, please feel free to share it in the comments section.  I’d love to check it out.  Feel free to nominate your own blog award on your blog too.

I just purchased one of the most beautiful necklaces I’ve seen in some time.  Ok, so this may be just my opinion, but check it out to see for yourself.

I’ve enjoyed shopping on Etsy for a couple of years now.  I love people’s creativity and love handmade things (they are truly one-of-a-kind).

I came across Moon Over Maize’s shop the other day and fell in love with a necklace she makes.  It’s a “Pregnancy Curves Necklace”.  Until I read the description, I probably wouldn’t have noticed that it was the silhouette of a pregnant woman.  The center circle represents a woman’s uterus and the beads are the birthstones of her children.

While I have no clue when my child will arrive (since I’m due November 3rd), Monica (the creator of this amazing necklace) is going to give me two birthstones (one for October….in case I go early, and one for November).  I can then remove the one that doesn’t apply.  How smart is that (her idea, not mine)?  What’s even more cool is that when you have more children, you can just email her and she’ll send you the birthstone of your next child to add to your necklace…..FREE.  You can’t beat that.

What a beautiful memory that’s simple, yet elegant and goes with everything.

Today marks week 16 for me.  In another four weeks we’ll have our ultrasound and hopefully find out the sex of the baby (fingers crossed).

Here are some developments of the baby thus far:

The baby’s skin is still translucent and wrinkly, but more fat will soon accumulate under the dermas to plump him/her out.  If you could peer inside right now, you’d be able to see all of his/her veins under his/her skin. And speaking of veins, the baby’s heart now pumps about 25 quarts of blood per day.

The baby is already preparing for the Nikon camera as he/she practices all sorts of facial expressions, such as squinting, yawning and grimacing, which will come in handy when we introduce him/her to pureed spinach.  Also, his/her eyes are now locked and loaded at their final destination, facing forward rather than to the sides. (Whew!)

The baby weighs about 3 ounces this week and measures between 4 to 5 inches, about the length of a tube of mascara.

I’ve been having fun on The Bump forums.  I recently ran across a post advertising the Baby Name Snob blog.  It’s all about naming your baby.  Theresa and Jessica enjoy searching through baby names and coming up with suggestions for you…..for FREE.  You just give them some guidelines (like…you want the name to start with a “P” or you want a unique name or you want it to be German, etc…).

Of course, when I heard about this, I had to write in and I got a response today.  I have to say, I’m very impressed with how quick they are and some of their name ideas.  Head on over to the Baby Name Snob website and read my post.  Feel free to come back here and leave a comment as to what name you like the best.  It’ll be another 6 weeks before we have our next ultrasound (and hopefully find out the sex of the baby).  No worries, we’ll share, but I’m not sure we’ll share the name once we pick it out.  We might leave that for a surprise (there has to be some suspense somewhere).

I’ve had some people on Etsy convo. me to make requests for custom orders (envelopes, recipe cards, and journals) lately.  My recent sale was a request for a bridal shower gift.  The brides colors are indigo and emerald and the person throwing the shower requested indigo recipe cards and even had me change some titles, add some things, and rearrange the layout of my current recipe card item for sale.  I have to say that I actually like what she requested better than what I had to start with.  I love peoples input.  Anyway, here is what I made for her.

Since we’ve been telling people this past week, we’ve got some great responses.  One suggestion was to consider renting a fetal doppler machine.  This was a recommendation from someone in our Bible study who did the same thing.  It allowed her and her husband to hear the baby’s heartbeat whenever they wanted and let them both feel connected to the baby (not to mention a little peace of mind).

We rented a fetal doppler for the next two months (to get us to the point where we’ll get our next ultrasound and see the baby, not to mention I should hopefully start feeling the little guy or gal by then too).  The process is so simple and we got a top-of-the-line machine (valued at $600) for such a  cheap rental rate.  This allows us to hear the heartbeat and to record it.  I hope I can figure out a way to put the recording on my blog when we get it recorded.  What a great keepsake to have on hand.  We thought it would be fun for the parents to hear since they didn’t have this technology when we were born.

We tried it out for the first time last night and it took a bit of time, but we finally found the heartbeat.  It was as strong as could be, just beating away.  What a beautiful sound!  I can’t wait to hear it again!