WHERE I'VE BEEN SHOPPIN

Oh the glamorous life of pregnancy and maternity clothes. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely appreciative of the oh so comfy clothes. And as much as I fought it in the beginning the maternity clothes end up being more flattering than trying to squeeze yourself into your normal clothes. When you squeeze yourself into your normal clothes you look fat and feel squished.

But it is frustrating to know that you will only wear these clothes for such a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things. So because of that I have been very conscious of how much I spend on these clothes. I ended up buying a lot of dresses because I LOVE dresses and they are more versatile for work and for social outings.

The website I have bought the most from is Destination Maternity. This website is great because it carries clothes from the more popular places you have probably heard of like Motherhood and Pea In The Pod and also designers. Here are some of my favorite things that I have purchased and in my opinion are ridiculously affordable!

Grey Faux Wrap Dress

Empire Waisted Sweater Dress

You might recognize this one from the one and only belly pic I posted on here.

Purple Smocked Dress

This one is so comfy and when I get it to Starkville can be passed off as maroon on game day! Win win situation there!

And I am so excited about this one. I plan on wearing it to our last home football game and maybe pairing it with some purple tights for Thanksgiving Day and boots. It is brown corduroy and so flattering!

Corduroy Shirt Dress

This is only a few of the dresses I have bought and I seriously don't think that I have paid more than $50 for any of them. I also got a great little tunic from this website that I pair with black leggings and it can be dressed up or down.

For jeans I decided not to buy designer and ended up buying a pair of maternity skinny jeans from The Gap.


I also purchased a simple black pair of work pants from Target that are so comfortable and very professional along with some simple white t-shirts to wear under sweaters and jackets. My friend Mollie gave me some things from when she is pregnant and then I have just been adding pieces from places like Old Navy and Gap. I haven't really had that "what am I going to wear" issue because the things that I have been buying are so affordable and versatile and I usually buy a couple new things every few weeks. And I will always have the wardrobe for future children because most of them are not too season specific.

23 WEEKS

23 WEEKS

How far along? 23 weeks and 4 days. The baby weighs 1.5 lbs and is the size of an ear of corn. These food comparisons are crazy. One week my baby is big and fat like a spaghetti squash and now it is tall and thin like corn. I think the people who made these up reached a bit far for these comparisons. Oh well. We will go with it.

Total weight gain/loss? Not getting on the scale anymore at home. We will just be getting our weight updates at the doc's office. I don't feel like being depressed or stressed about it on a daily/weekly basis. It is going to happen regardless so why worry about it.

Maternity clothes? Still loving them!!

Stretch marks? Nope! Thankful for this.

Sleep? Sleeping pretty good except for when my arms go numb from sleeping on my side and then my fingers swell up. This morning I was up at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep so I watched the end of Heart and Souls where he helps the two ladies do their ghostly life tasks. I cried. After watching five minutes of the ending of the movie. I really love that movie.

Best moment last week? Last week was good. Got to hear a good strong heartbeat from our little girl and got to see some good friends in Starkville. And of course the Bulldogs won again! 7-2!

Movement? Lots and lots of movement. I love it. She has gotten to where now I think I can feel her elbows or feet or knees poking out of me. It is weird.

Food cravings? Orange flavored drinks which I am quenching with Crystal Light orange bottle packets. Other than that no really big cravings.

Gender? It's a girl! Elle Caroline!

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In......for now.

What I miss: Breathing! The last couple weeks I have had shortness of breath like can't breath when I eat or even sitting still. Kenny says I sound like a 400 lb woman when I eat sometimes because of the breathing sounds I make. I know he says this with love though. Showers just wear me out. I shave my legs every single day and I am worn out by the time I get out of the shower. Whew!

What I am looking forward to: Kenny's parents are coming in town this weekend and we have a nice low key weekend planned. And then next weekend my mom comes in town and by the time she leaves we will have the nursery pretty much done! She is bringing the window valances, the custom pillows, the armoire and a ton of other stuff for the baby and the nursery and I cannot wait!

RECIPE SHARING

So I had seen this recipe several times on other people's blogs and thought it looked good and pretty easy for a weeknight meal. So last night I made it for dinner. This is courtesy of Paula Deen so it is not very healthy but just watch your serving sizes if you are to worried about it.

I felt I needed to share because Kenny said after he was done that it was in his top ten of favorite meals I have made. The only problem is he likes everything I cook and I think he may have said this far more than ten times. So we decided that we actually need to write down some of his favorite meals. I like to cook so much that we rarely eat the same thing so it is hard to remember which ones really stand out as needing to be repeated.

Shrimp and Wild Rice Casserole

I bought two boxes of wild rice so I doubled this recipe with no problem. It made a lot. I filled up a 9X11 dish and we have half of it for left overs tomorrow night. So yay!

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) package wild rice
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce can) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Cook the rice according to package directions minus 1/4 cup water. Drain and cool.

Bring 2 cups water and 1/2 tablespoon salt to a boil in a mediumsaucepan and cook the shrimp for 1 minute. Drain immediately and set aside.

Heat the butter in saucepan and saute the pepper and onion until soft, about 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the rice, soup, 1 1/2 cups of cheese,shrimp and vegetables. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well. Spray a 9-inch square aluminum cake pan or an 11 by 7-inch glasscasserole dish with vegetable spray. Place the mixture in the pan and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

THIS TIME OF YEAR

So I know that I am not the only one who is flabbergasted that it is November already. Where has this year gone? I am sure that it has been flying by even more with the baby preparations and then all the football games!

So this weekend I sent Kenny off for his birthday with his guy friends to see his favorite band and I headed to Starkville (yes again!) to see the Bulldogs play the Kentucky Wildcats. There were a ton of people coming in town for this game and my friends and I had a big tailgate planned. SO MUCH FOOD is all I can say. I made Pioneer Woman's Bacon Appetizers
Holiday Bacon Appetizers

And I also made these
Mini Hot Ham and Swiss Sandwiches
The sandwiches were amazing and I want to eat them every day. The cracker and bacon recipe would be really good but I think I kind of overcooked mine a smidge.

So we tailgated all day and then watched the Bulldogs defeat the Wildcats in an extremely intense game where we had horrible referees. But once again a win is a win and I am thrilled for my team!

Sunday, I came home and slept all day. Went to bed early last night and am feeling somewhat refreshed this morning after the big weekend.

I am happy for the next two weekends we have family coming in town but we are staying home and hoping to keep the visits low key. I need some down time. Before I know it I will be playing all my Christmas music!

22 WEEKS

Well first and foremost let me introduce you to this guy! I shall call him Mr. Snoogle. He allowed me to get a pretty decent night of sleep last night!
While it is a bit cumbersome when you want to flip from one side to the other with Mr. Snoogle, he makes it so you are more comfortable in one position longer so you don't spend the night tossing and turning. I give him two thumbs up! Between him and the earplugs hopefully I will start getting more rest. Kenny will just have to get over the feeling of having a third person in the bed because that is how big Mr. Snoogle is. Thankfully we have a king!

Oh and I am listening to this right now. And like any good tween I am obsessed and loving all of it!
And I excited about this to! Will be popping this in this afternoon!


Alright onto the update...
22WEEKS

How far along? 22 weeks and 4 days. The baby is weights 1.2lbs and is the size of a papaya. Which seems smaller than a spaghetti squash but whatever.

Total weight gain/loss? This is an incredibly sensitive subject in the Lacey household right now. Let's just say when I went to my doctor's appointment this week I made up for some lost time. And....I cried in the exam room. I am hormonal people! The doctor reassured me I was still completely on track with the average weight gain of 25-35 lbs. but so much so fast scared me. So no more Halloween candy for me!

Maternity clothes? Still loving them!!

Stretch marks? Nope! Thankful for this.

Sleep? As I already mentioned I think Mr. Snoogle is going to help. Because sleep has not been great. I watched an hour and a half of Project Run the other night at 2:36 am.

Best moment last week? All of last week was pretty good! I got to see my best friend in town from Seattle. Kenny was home from market. We squeaked out a win in Starkville. It rained! And I had a doctors appointment on Tuesday where I got to hear Elle's strong heartbeat.

Movement? Lots and lots of movement. Last night I made Kenny feel and we were feeling something so hard. And then it went away. It could of been an elbow or a knee but then she moved. It was weird.

Food cravings? Orange flavored drinks which I am quenching with Crystal Light orange bottle packets. Other than than no strong cravings. Food is good...but bad I learned at the doctor. Boo.

Gender? It's a girl! Elle Caroline!

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? My belly button has a mind of its own! Yesterday I got home and it was partially out. Ewwww! And this morning its back in. I guess its all how she is moving around in there.

What I miss: Not really missing anything these days besides, well, you know.

What I am looking forward to: Getting some of my stuff back for the nursery in the next few weeks. And Kenny's parents are coming in town and haven't seen me since the first couple months that we were expecting. So we are planning a low key weekend of football watching and hanging out with them. And of course a little granddaughter shopping maybe.

Non-baby related notes:
-Headed to Starkville to spend some time with my girlfriends tailgating and watching State beat Kentucky! It is going to be so fun!
- Rocky Horror Show Glee episode was amazing! I love that show so much!

MOVIN ON UP!

In the BCS standings that it is!! And we are now bowl eligible! So it was another fun weekend in Starkville!

Friday night Kenny and I just relaxed at home and went to bed early. We planned on taking our time in leaving Starkville and did not end up leaving to go out of town until 11:30 that morning since the game wasn't until 6. It was nice to spend some time at home. Once we got to Starkville we just hopped around to some different tailgates. We even went by Kenny's old fraternity house for a bit. I got to see my good friend Rebekah who I haven't seen in forever. So she took the one and only picture that I am in from this weekend. Looking forward to seeing her again this weekend!

Then it was time for the game! Thank goodness we pulled out a W on this one. Like I told Kenny, this game was pretty boring in the beginning because of all the TV timeouts but then it got so stressful. We were so close to losing to UAB! Thankfully our defense showed up there at the end and we got some lucky plays/turnovers! Hoping my Dan talks some sense into our team after that game and we show up ready to beat Kentucky!

On Sunday, Kenny and I got up early, got some City Bagel (of course) to go and hit the road. We were back in Memphis by 11:00 AM. In which I ate and then conked out on the couch for three hours. All these weekends out of town and game days really take it out of me. But its so worth it! Once I woke up from my nap we found that we had stayed the same in the AP and coaches poll but moved on up in the BCS standings. So anxious to find out what bowl game we will get! Hope I can go!

And then I can't wrap up this blog post with a little birthday shout out to Kenny. Happy Birthday!! Yesterday was his birthday and we celebrated with a little sushi dinner date and an ice cream cake that was delicious! For his gift from me I am sending him to see his favorite band with some of his friends. I will miss him but know that it is one of his most favorite things to do in the entire world!

21 WEEKS

21 WEEKS
How far along? 21 weeks and 4 days. The baby is officially 1lb and is the size of a spaghetti squash. That is crazy. I do not feel like I have a spaghetti squash in my belly.

My back however feels like maybe I am carrying around a Cinderella sized pumpkin. Every day this week my back pain has been getting worse. It starts to hurt in the afternoons but already this morning it is killing me! So I am taking all of my What To Expect book's tips to heart. Brought in a heating pad to work. Not crossing my legs and have my feet on a box. I look like such a nerd.

Total weight gain/loss? Here we go with weight! It is just steadily coming. This week I am up to 8-9 lbs gained total. This is in the completely normal range and really in the lower part of the norm. But still :(

Maternity clothes? Still loving them!!

Stretch marks? Was checking for them this morning and still haven't found any.

Sleep? Sleeping hard with crazy crazy crazy dreams.

Best moment last week? All of last week was pretty good!

Movement? Lots and lots of movement. She even kicked for Kenny when he came home on Monday!

Food cravings? Orange flavored drinks still. And other than that....all food is just great. Haven't really had any strong cravings. I have learned to not go grocery shopping hungry though. I end up spending way to much because everything sounds good.

Gender? It's a girl! But one of my constant worries is that the ultrasound tech was wrong and it is really a boy. I have even gone back to watch my DVD from the ultrasound to reassure myself. Is this normal?? Probably not!

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In. But like I said...shallow??

What I miss: Okay, okay, I will finally change this one so it doesn't say alcohol. But can we just make that one a given. What I am missing this week is being able to have my back popped and stretching. Kenny does this thing where I cross my arms and he picks me up and kind of shakes and it pops all the bones in my back. It feels soooo good. And with all this back pain I just want my back popped!! But we have both decided that this method of back popping is not a good idea. And stretching is hard because I lean backwards and it pulls on my upper belly and it is so uncomfortable and kind of hurts!

What I am looking forward to: My fabric gets delivered today so the seamstress can get started on making my pillows! And my mom went to this huge baby gear/children's clothing sale last night and got a ton of stuff for me! I can't wait to see all the cute outfits that she got with little Elle in mind. My friend has given me some cute little girl clothes also. I am finally going to putting some things in Elle's closet because it is empty right now. Sad.

And I have a doctors appointment and we will get to hear the heartbeat again!

Non-baby related notes:
-Can't wait to see my Bulldogs play this weekend and spend another fun weekend in Starkville!!!

-We have been watching the new show Boardwalk Empire on HBO and really liking it. I have to say I am enjoying it far more than I have been enjoying True Blood lately.

- Can't wait for Glee next week!

- Kenny's birthday is in a few days and I am looking forward to celebrating with him!

THERE'S NO CRYING IN FOOTBALL!

Reasons Why It's 8:00 AM and This Is Already A Great Monday Morning

1. Huge huge huge! Mississippi State's Football team is a nationally ranked team on ALL of the polls.

2. We beat Florida this weekend!

3. Kenny comes home from being out of town for a week today.

4. My best friend who just moved to Seattle is coming to visit and stay with me this week and we have a girls dinner planned tomorrow night!

5. The garage sale was a lot of work but successful.

6. I am making this amazing chicken spaghetti recipe that I love for dinner tonight.

7. These next two weekends in Starkville are going to be so much fun!

8. My house is clean and 100% organized right now. It is so nice to come home and just relax.

So as you can tell I had a great weekend. I am still exhausted but it was a good weekend. Friday night we all just went over to Mollie's to set things up for the garage sale. We had sooooo much stuff! Then it was up at em at 5:00 am for the actual sale. We had our first customers with flashlights (crazy!) at 6:20. From then on we had a steady turnout and I made a chunk of change. Money for things you were going to get rid of is always a good thing! Plus it was a gorgeous day spent with friends.

So Saturday after cleaning up I get home at 5 completely exhausted. I had pulled my back the night before and my whole body ached. All I wanted was a shower and to snuggle down on the couch and watch my Bulldogs. So shower-check, pajamas-check, Mississippi State vs. Florida game on TV-no check!!!!

We just switched our cable to DirectTV and up until this point had pretty much loved it. Well not Saturday night! The one channel that was searching for signal, the only one was ESPNU. Every other channel worked except for that one! I was livid. The game had started and I get on the phone with the customer service people who were very nice and doing their best to be helpful. They had me unscrewing wires and resetting the box. Nothing would work! Still no signal on that one channel. And then I am tracking the game on ESPN and I see we are beating Florida!

So I cried. And I mean I cried hard. Kenny was out of town and I just wanted to relax and watch the game and I was exhausted and I am pregnant. It was just a snow ball effect. I might have totally vented to Kenny through text while he was at a sports bar with friends 500 miles away, so he was on the phone with DirectTV from where he was too. I was trying to watch the game on the Internet and that wasn't working either. And I was so tired I did not want to budge off the couch. So I finally threw in the towel. It just wasn't going to happen for me. We were beating Florida and I was going to miss it. So I started to watch The Lovely Bones. Horrible movie by the way.

So about an hour later I switch back to the channel just torture myself some more and what do my eyes see! The halftime show! The channel was working! So I just prayed that it would continue to work once the game started again. Thank goodness it did! So I got to watch my Bulldogs march into victory at The Swamp. It was an amazing moment and I am even more in love with Dan Mullen. Ha!

So yes,we SEC girls love our football and are even reduced to tears over it sometimes. But at least my little breakdown wasn't caught on national television!

20 WEEKS- HALFWAY THERE!

I seriously can't believe I just posted those pictures. And yes my friend and I stealthily took these pictures in our department's kitchen at work. I would have been so embarrassed if we had gotten caught. So enjoy this little pic while you can because I am not sure if there will be any more anytime soon.

How far along? 20 weeks and 4 days. I love my phone app because it counts down the days and as of Monday I technically have less days to go that I have already done. (umm does that make sense?) Anyway the baby is supposedly the size of a banana and almost a full pound.

Total weight gain/loss? I am in between 6-7 lbs gained. If my weight gain stays this steady(i.e. slow) I hope to be right on target for the 25lb goal that my doctor said I should gain. We will see. I mean the holidays are tricky for everyone and I could eat an elephant every hour pretty much.

Maternity clothes? Still loving my maternity clothes. Having the itch to buy some more already. I plan on doing a post about some of the websites I found that have cute but affordable maternity stuff you can buy.

Stretch marks? None. But a friend suggested some bio oil this week for the tightness my belly is having.

Sleep? Still waking up a bunch to go to the bathroom. Some nights I sleep like a rock and then last night I was up at 4 watching my tivoed Glee episode again because I couldn't sleep. Oh well. Right now I have so much of the second trimester energy that I feel fine.

Best moment last week? Kenny got to feel the baby kick!! It was so exciting. She was just kicking away and he felt it a lot! Other best moments were getting the crib put together and getting so much of the nursery layed out. Can't wait to get movin on some of the other stuff!

Movement? Lots and lots and lots of movement. I have even seen the kicks outside of my belly. She is still sitting on my bladder 90% of the time but she must be right in the front to. Because now that I know what she feels like I am pretty positive I have been feeling movement since around week 15.

Food cravings? Umm, all food sounds good to me right now. Talk about it and I want it. But really my only cravings are Orange drinks like Powerade and Gatorade and today I am craving citrus fruit too. Think I am going to go get some clementines at lunch.

Gender: It's a girl! And everyone has started using her name when referring to her. That part is kind of weird.

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In but its getting pretty shallow. A little worried about this??

What I miss: Still with the alcohol. While moving this weekend my mom and I had a little problem with the guy at the U-Haul place. And I eventually cried from frustration and I really really wanted some wine and I crave tequila. Oh well! Margarita's will still be there after the baby arrives.

What I am looking forward to: I have lots to look forward to. All the custom fabric I ordered ships in the next couple days and then the seamstress can start working on creating the stuff for the nursery. And I have a cart full at stuff for the nursery at Amazon that I am just itching to purchase. And then of course I just look forward to Elle getting bigger and healthier!

Non-Baby Related News: I am having my first ever garage sale this Saturday with some friends. It is their first ever garage sale too. I am hoping to sell a lot of furniture that we moved out this past weekend along with other knick knacks and clothes. It is going to be a lot of work for all of us but I am hoping it goes well!

TUBE TALK

So, Teen Mom, who is going to miss it? Last night was the season finale and I am sad. Why I am sad I do not know, but I am. Why are these girls so enthralling to me? Someone I know works at MTV and told me that their top 3 rated shows are: Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and then a re-run of Jersey Shore. That at least makes me feel better that I am not the only one tuning in every single week for a little Gary and Amber drama and cute little Bentley.

Last nights finale even made me CRY! Catelynn and Tyler went for their one year visit to see the little girl they gave up for an adoption. First off can I just say how remarkably everyone in this situation is handling the whole thing. Though I have never been an adoptive parent, I don't know how I would feel about seeing the birth parents all the time and being in the media spotlight. They signed up for an open adoption but still. And that little girl was just so precious and you could totally see the bond she had with Catelynn her birth mom. So I cried.

And poor Maci. I cried when she cried at the mediation because she was losing another night with Bentley knowing that Ryan truly doesn't care either way. It should of been his parents at the mediation. So frustrating.

And don't even get me started on Amber and Gary. I am undecided on whether either of these people should have that child in their custody but know for sure that Gary is absolutely correct in that Amber should have nothing to do with her. That guy she met at Walmart is skeeving me out in major ways and I would never let him close to my children.

So long Teen Mom, I can only hope they bring you back another season so I can keep up with little Sofia, Bentley and Carly.

And onto my other favorite show that is back to their roots!

GLEE!!! Some of the episodes at the end of last season sort of strayed. But this season I think that the writing is back on point and staying clever and smart. Which besides the amazing spontaneous musical numbers is the reason I fell in HUGE love with the show. The last week's and last nights episodes were so good.

I have officially decided that Kurt is my favorite character. I love that he is kind of the the theatre and Broadway anchor of the show. He is always pulling out the big numbers and his voice is amazing. I buy all the music and when I listen to the entire recording of his songs I am just wowed by how talented he is. And while I love everyone I have to say my next favorite character is Quinn. I love her wispy voice and I love the budding romance with her and lippy boy (don't know his name??)

Glee makes me insanely happy every Tuesday night. And that is all.

Tune in tomorrow. Due to some persistence, I might ( key word might) have a picture of my little belly. I know I said I wouldn't but my friend keeps saying that any pictures of me have been totally absent from this blog in months. Ha! We will see.

CHECKING OFF MY TO-DO LIST

As I mentioned before my mom came back into town to continue to get A LOT of stuff done on our house. She is a saint and painted my nursery on Friday while I was at work. Yes I know there are not to many moms around who would do this!

I decided how I wanted to decorate the nursery by finding other people's nurseries online and then pulling the images and putting them in a folder for inspiration. One nursery in particular that I loved and have used a lot of the same resources that she used (another blog post) had painted her nursery gray. I loved the color and decided to do the same thing. It is Benjamin Moore color called Gray Horse and I am so pleased with it.

Our camera is not working so ALL of these pictures were taken on my iPhone. So they are kind of dark. The color is lighter in person I think it will really help some of the other things that I am doing pop.

So after getting the nursery painted it was time to do some moving. We had rented a U-Haul for the day which we all had lots of fun driving. We cleared out the furniture for the guest room and took it storage along with some other things we were not going to be using in the den. Then we took the rest all of our old den furniture to a friends house because I am having a garage sale with some friends this weekend. (I know I can't believe this either) We also picked up our new sectional for our den which I love. So comfortable and gives us so much more room for a baby in there.

On Sunday after Kenny watched some football because he definitely deserved some downtime after Saturday we decided to put the crib together. Of course I took lots of pictures since this is kind of a right of passage. First off, the very important task of reading the instructions.....
Then it was time to get to work.
You always hear from our parents about how hard it was to put the crib together but I think cribs have come a long way since then. It wasn't to bad at all. And it is kind of funny and totally sappy but the baby was kicking soooo much while we put it together.

And I was very pleased with the finished product! The overhead lighting in the picture is killing me! But love the crib!So after this weekend its time to make the room sweet for a baby. We put the daybed up, and I have the rocking chair I bought and the crib put together. Plus we have an armoire from my childhood coming up in a few weeks. Looking forward to keeping all my loyal blog readers updated with the progress!!

COOKIN IN THE KITCHEN

So while I haven't been posting my normal Menu Mondays I have been trying out new recipes and cooking week night dinners. We kind of have to work around some of my aversions that are hanging around that have mostly to do with chicken and other meats. But in some cases I have been able to make it work. Here are some of the recipes that have been a hit!

Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers courtesy of an amazing website Gina's Skinny Taste These were so good. Its almost like a chicken chili stuffed in a pepper more so than your standard rice and tomato mixture. The boys I was feeding loved them!

Pizza Calzones using Crescent dough.I am not sure where I found this recipe. I know it was on some one's blog. So I am so sorry that I cannot give credit where credit is due. But I made these last night and Kenny and I both liked them and felt like next time we would get even more creative with the stuffing ingredients.

My mom is headed into town tomorrow night so I am throwing this Spinach Baked Ziti together tonight for dinner tomorrow. Another great recipe provided by Gina over at Skinny Taste

As soon as it got a smidge cooler I had to make a big pot of taco soup. I love making this on Sunday's because it is fun to eat it in my cute pottery chili bowls and watch football. Then I divide the leftovers into freezable containers for more Sundays to come. This is my go to tacos soup recipe that is extremely simple. I always double all the canned ingredients though. It makes more and I prefer my soups and chili's to have more beans than meat.

WEEK 18 & 19

So I totally realize that this little blog might have gotten a little boring since I am not updating all to often and when I do it is all about baby. I'm sorry. One of the problem's is that our camera is broken so the weekends where we go to Starkville for games or doing fun things I do not have any pics.

This past weekend my mom came in town (Kenny was out of town on a guys camping white water rafting trip) and we got a ton of work done on my house. Kenny and I had been planning on completely redoing our den in early summer but the furniture got delayed and now we are stuck trying to redo the den AND decorate the nursery all the same time. So I have had a lot going on. We got the den and a bathroom repainted (thanks to my mom) and this weekend we are painting the nursery and moving all the guest bedroom and den furniture that we are not getting rid into storage. So we have another working weekend ahead! But I am excited because after this weekend we can get the main components of the nursery set up.

I am one of those people that once I decide how I want things (i.e. the nursery) I am ready to go! I want it done now! This would definitely be possible if money grew on trees. Ha!

So here is the preggers update for the last couple weeks!

Weeks 18 & 19

How far along? Today I am 19 weeks and 3 days. The baby is a size of a mango. But the doctor did tell me that she was about to hit a growth spurt so she and I would be putting on some weight soon so get ready.

Total weight gain/loss? I have gained about 5 lbs. total. Feeling pretty good about this.

Maternity clothes? Still loving me some maternity clothes. My favorite purchases I made so far have been the dresses. I am a dress girl anyway so when I wear a maternity dress I still feel pretty cute and insanely comfortable.

Stretch marks? None. Hoping it stays that way.

Sleep? Still waking up and not getting back to sleep some nights. TiVo comes in handy because I will watch a show at 3:30 in the morning and hope I fall asleep in the middle of it.

Best moment last week? or I guess the past couple weeks was of course seeing our little girl and finding out she is healthy. And starting to get stuff done on the nursery.

Movement? Now I know for sure that it is her I am feeling all the time. I can even feel her kicking on the outside too. Now I just need Kenny to be there at the right time and be patient and keep his hand on my belly so he can feel it to.

Food cravings? Ugg! I am starving all the time! I was talking to my friend the other day and said "are you ever so hungry that you can't get the food in your mouth fast enough?" That is me! These past few days I have seriously eaten a pre-breakfast, breakfast, and then a post-breakfast.

And as far as cravings go the thing about my cravings recently is that most of the time I don't have the food on hand so I never get to eat the craving. This most likely helps in the weight gain department. But here is a list......CORNDOGS! I do not think this one is going away and I need to get some soon. Orange drinks still, spicy food, pop tarts and chocolate (and I normally don't care for chocolate)

Gender? Girl. Still getting used to the idea but excited I get to incorporate a little bit of pink in the nursery.

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In.

What I miss: I am pretty happy right now. There aren't to many things I am missing these days.

What I am looking forward to: Nursery Nursery Nursery. I am so antsy and can't wait to make some headway on it. I am having all these custom pillows made for it because we are having a daybed in the nursery since we are losing our guest room and the fabrics I have chosen are so cute. I'm going to have to do a post on it all because I have found some fantastic resources.

Non-baby related note......

GO DAWGS!!!!

IT'S A .......

That's right! I was wrong! It is not a boy. It is a precious healthy little girl.

Elting "Elle" Caroline Lacey

will be here at the very end of February. Kenny and I are thrilled.

We went in last Monday for our ultrasound. I was sooooooo nervous. The appointment was at 10:45 so I went to work a little while before hand and I was so antsy. Once we were in the ultrasound room the tech started the ultrasound and were seeing great things that meant she was healthy but she was facing my back so we were not getting any good face shots or any of the gender goods. I was surprised how much the tech was poking my belly trying to get the baby to move. So the tech sent us to see the doctor and go over the results and then we could come back for another ultrasound and hope the baby had turned.
The doctor said everything look perfect and at that point I was so happy. Of course I wanted to know what Baby Lacey was, but I was just so relieved to see the baby and know there was really a baby in there (ha!) and also know the baby was healthy. So after we visited with the doctor we went back for another ultrasound PRAYING that the baby had turned. She had!!

We got a great profile shot where I think I see some signs of her looking like her daddy already and then we started to look at the gender. I have seen other people's gender ultrasound scans so I kind knew what I was looking for. The tech was moving around in the vicinity and I said "Ummm, I am not seeing boy parts....and then it showed up clearly. GIRL! No boy parts on that baby. Kenny was just grinning ear from ear! He had wanted a little girl! And I was just in disbelief. So much that I called the baby "he" while saying bye to the tech.

We had so much fun telling our parents and other family. For Kenny's parents we had them be home Tuesday morning and had a florist drop off an arrangement with a big pink balloon and pink roses. I know they were excited when they saw the pink come out of the car. And for my sister I wrote a poem in card and then we told her in person. And for my mom I got cupcakes from Muddy's, one pink, one blue and made her guess as to what the baby was. And then of course there were all the excited phone calls and texts! It really was such a fun week!

These next two weekends we are going to be working hard on some things we are doing to the house that will include painting the nursery. That way we can go ahead and put up the crib and I can start shopping and decorating!

(I will do my combine 18-19 week questionnaire later this week)

WEEK 17

Sorry for no weekend recap. Kenny and I had such a fun weekend. We might of had a little old married couple date night on Friday night as in we went to dinner and did a little grocery shopping. Then on the way home we talked about when we got so old and lame. Honestly though I kind of enjoyed spending the time with Kenny on our date night.

On Saturday we met up with our friends Lowe and Lauren and their little girl Shelton and all went to the Cooper Young Festival in Midtown. It was a lot of fun but the weather had decided it wasn't ready for fall and it was H-O-T. But right at the point where I started thinking we needed to leave we grabbed some lunch at Young Avenue Deli in the air conditioner. After that I felt better.

Saturday night we grilled out with some friends to watch the State game. We were really hoping our Dawgs would play well but that just didn't happen. We will see what happens with the Georgia game. I know we can do it!!

And of course here is the weekly update!

17 WEEKS

Here is what our guestroom/soon to be nursery is starting to look like. Those boxes contain our new crib and mattress and some other things. I reserved our storage unit to start clearing out the guest room soon. We have an attic but we just feel more comfortable putting our stuff in a climate controlled place. Especially since I might be moving my seasonal wardrobe back and forth from the unit since we need more closet space for baby. Once we get the room cleared we will paint and then nursery decorating will commence. My goal is to have it done by or before Christmas so that I can relax and enjoy the holidays.

How far along? 17 weeks 3 Days My my phone app says the baby is the size of a large sweet potato this week.

Total weight gain/loss? I have gained almost 3lbs. Still feeling feeling pretty good about that.

Maternity clothes? Along with the nursery purchases I went on a little maternity clothing shopping spree. It was time and HALLELUJAH!! Maternity clothes are amazing. I guess I didn't realize how truly uncomfortable I was until I got some clothes that fit! I got some really cute dresses for work, some skinny jeans, leggings and a couple of tops. My friend Mollie also gave me some of hers. So now I can just add stuff as I go along.

Stretch marks? None. Hoping it stays that way.

Sleep? The earplugs are helping but I am waking up really early and not getting back to sleep. This morning I was up at 4:45 and finally just decided to get out of bed. I watched last night's episode of Glee again. Ha! It was so good!

Best moment last week? Spending time with friends. Getting our first baby shipments and like I said the gift from baby Jesus of maternity clothes.

Movement? Okay I am pretty convinced that I am feeling baby ALOT now. I love it and can't wait until Kenny can feel it too.

Food cravings? Pickles, Spicy Stuff, Pepper Jack Cheese, Haribo Gummy Bears,(they have to be Haribo) Orange Flavored drinks

Gender? Prediction: Still 100% convinced its a boy. We are so close to finding out!

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In.

What I miss: I am pretty happy right now. There aren't to many things I am missing these days.

What I am looking forward to: We find out what Baby Lacey is next week! I am so thrilled and can't wait! I have a lot of stuff picked out for the nursery that is somewhat gender specific so once I know what we are having I will start nursery stuff! I'm also incredibly ready to know that this baby is 100% healthy. We haven't seen the babe since I was 6 weeks pregnant so I know that once I hear that everything is just fine my happiness will know no boundaries!

And as always non-baby related notes:

- I am getting to see some of my best friends this weekend and I am so excited! It will be the first time since I got pregnant!

- I will also hopefully be watching the Bulldogs defeat the Bulldogs. And surely you know what Bulldogs I am going for.

- The season premier of Glee was A-MAZING last night! Like I said I already watched it twice and I downloaded all the music before the show started. That show has the ability to make me teary eyed. I am a total nerd!

TUESDAY NIGHT DATE AND 16 WEEK UPDATE

Kenny and I had a Tuesday night date last night and it was so fun and nice to get out and enjoy this cooler weather. The Memphis Redbirds are in the playoffs (really good) and have to play the entire series here in Memphis. The regular sweltering HOT baseball season is normally over by now so I couldn't resist a little summer pastime in much more tolerable conditions. There weren't a whole lot of people there so we just grabbed some BBQ nachos and moved around in different parts of the stadium enjoying the game. Is it bad that I kind of want to go again tonight. Ha! We had fun!

The only problem was when I was getting ready to go. Getting dressed is starting to get difficult. Not only am I totally in between my normal comfy clothes and maternity clothes(which I haven't bought yet), I along with everyone else are also in between seasons. Too warm to wear a cozy sweater but to cool for a dress. Arrrggg! Might need to get my ever growing hiney to the mall STAT!

Anyway here is my weekly update! I am officially 4 months pregnant which freaked Kenny out when I pointed it out. With the holidays Baby Lacey is going to be here before we know it.

How far along? 16 weeks 3 Days My What To Expect iPhone app (yep they have an app for that) says the baby is a size of a turnip this week.

Total weight gain/loss? Alright alright I gained a pound. The doctor was right. Le sigh.

Maternity clothes? As I said above. It is definitely time to start purchasing some maternity clothes. Funny how quickly things can change in a week.

Stretch marks? None. Hoping it stays that way but I did put some moisturizer on my tummy this morning because it felt all tight and stretchy.

Sleep? Getting to be great. I think the problem was that I had all of a sudden become an extremely light sleeper so once something woke me up I was up and I couldn't get back to sleep. I solved this problem very simply. Ear plugs. Worked like a charm! I am now sleeping like a rock!

Best moment last week? Getting to relax with Kenny all weekend and reaching the 4 month mark.

Movement? Not sure. Sometimes I wonder if I am feeling the baby or if it is stomach gurgles. I am becoming more convinced that I think it is baby at least some of the time. But then it is still early for me to be feeling things so I talk myself out of believing that. Ha!

Food cravings? Pickles, Spicy Stuff, Pepper Jack Cheese, Sno Cones

Gender? Prediction: Still 100% convinced its a boy.

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In.

What I miss: Being able to get dressed without trying on my entire closet to find something that fits.

What I am looking forward to: 11 days until we find out what Baby Lacey is! Kenny and I are pretty close to having picked the official names for both so yay! Also I will be making our first nursery/baby purchases this week. I am planning on buying the crib and the mattress this week and a couple other small things! Ready to have some of that stuff in the house to make it more real feeling.

And something that I am looking forward to unbaby related.....

FALL TELEVISION!! 90210 and Survivor started this week. Next week we get Amazing Race, Dancing With the Stars and of course GLEE!!! I am sure I am forgetting a slew of others but these are what's on my radar for now!

FOOTBALLED (OUT)

Kenny and I had an amazing weekend at home. We are trying to make it a point to take it easy and relax on the weekends we are home and not traveling to see our Bulldogs play. We watched a movie on Friday night. The rest of the weekend we LITERALLY watched football the whole time. We watched SEC football starting with the Gamecocks/Georgia game. We watched Big East football. The Notre Game vs. Michigan was the best game we watched all weekend IMO. Notre Dame threw it away at the end though. We watched Alabama slaughter poor Penn State and then on Sunday we watched lots of NFL football before watching our standard Sunday night shows.

I am not kidding. We watched football all weekend! I love football but I do tend to enjoy the college games more so than the NFL ones. We also grilled out a ton and ate really yummy food!! On Saturday we grilled steaks and I made re stuffed potatoes and then I tried a new recipe which we both went nuts for. Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts! Yep. Brussels sprouts.

They were the easiest things in the world to make and only cost a $1. So they quickly became our new fave. Kenny was so sad that I had not bought more.

And yep folks! That was our incredibly exciting weekend! But I have to say I am at work this morning feeling more refreshed and relaxed after a weekend that I have felt in months! Maybe it really was what we needed.

And in case you want to make some of your own Brussels sprouts. Here is the recipe! You have to try them. They get all crispy and taste really nutty and buttery. Delish!




Oven Roasted Crispy Brussel Sprouts
brussel sprouts
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F.
Slice the sprouts in half lengthwise, removing any loose, outer leaves and trimming the bottom stems.
Toss sprouts in a little bit of olive oil and add salt and pepper, to taste.

Spread cut side up in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake 400F for 30-40 minutes, until browned.
Serve immediately, or store in the fridge for lunch the next day.

15 WEEKS AND THE BULLDOGS!

How far along? 15 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss? Doctor said yesterday that I gained 1 lb. I am refuting this because that is not what my scale says every morning and I was fully clothed and it was the end of the day so I still say NO weight gain yet. (I do understand that I am supposed to be gaining weight and really shouldn't obsess over one pound)

Maternity clothes? Nope. But its kind of fun wearing my regular clothes and having a little bump. You can own the fact that your tummy is sticking out instead of trying to suck it in. Ha!

Stretch marks? None.

Sleep? Some nights are good. Some nights are bad.

Best moment last week? Having my sister and Kenny acknowledge that this pudge on my belly is indeed a baby and not too many baked potatoes. Its a real bump!!

Movement? Not sure. Sometimes I wonder if I am feeling the baby or if it is stomach gurgles. Can't wait to know for sure!

Food cravings? This is my favorite question! Here is this weeks list: sno cones, jalapenos, anything spicy, since we were in Starkville I totally indulged in City Bagel (several times) and the Grill's cheesesticks, and here is the really trite craving...Pickles!

Gender? Prediction: Still 100% convinced its a boy. Even had my doctor calling it a he yesterday.

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In.

What I miss: The whole alcohol thing was a little tough this past weekend with being in Starkville. Great weather, great game, great friends and I wanted a cocktail!

What I am looking forward to: 19 days until we find out what Baby Lacey is! Kenny and I both went to the doctor yesterday and heard a strong heartbeat. It was at 150 and was much louder than last time. But we are dying to lay eyes on the babe since we haven't seen him since 6 weeks. So my doctor moved our anatomy scan up a little bit and it is at the end of September! I am so excited because we thought it was definitely going to be the beginning of October before we found out! So for now that is what I am most looking forward to. And of course the Bulldogs defeating Auburn tomorrow!!

49-7!!!!

Kenny and I had so much fun in Starkville this past weekend. The Bulldogs looked amazing. I am so anxious to see how we do against a good team. I will be glued to the TV tomorrow night! I wish I could be there!

We managed to eat at our favorite places and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I mean I can't get over how nice it was. And having Monday off was just the icing on the cake. I did end up feeling pretty sick on Sunday from all the excitement on Saturday. Can't wait for the next game!

IT'S HERE!!!

So get your


And your


And get yourself HERE!


Don't forget one of these....


And some of this(Not for me of course!)


Time to cheer on our team!


GO BULLDOGS!!!!

SEE YA THERE!

14 WEEK UPDATE!!

I have seen these pregnancy questionnaires on other girls blogs and so I thought it would be fun (and I would bore you to death) by doing one for my own to look back on. And don't worry. THERE WILL BE NO BELLY PICTURES! Unless it is just me living my life and I post pictures of that and you will get to see my belly then.

How far along? 14 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss? I have lost 2lbs. And this is amazing because I am absolutely ashamed of how I have been eating. My friend Susan gave me a veggie pep talk yesterday (seriously) and I HAVE to do better eating veggies.

Maternity clothes? None. All my regular clothes still fit which I am grateful for. I have a small bump but nothing that is keeping me from fitting into my clothes and no one can tell that I am pregnant. My first purchase will be some skinny jeans and then maybe just some regular dresses that will accommodate the bump rather than going straight to maternity.

Stretch marks? None. Anybody know when I start using a lotion or anything? Would I start this early?

Sleep? I can't get enough sleep. I am still so tired. Maybe its because I wake up at least three times a night to pee.

Best moment last week? Having those oh my god I am having a baby moments and loving it!

Movement? None and probably not for a while.

Food cravings? Just to list a few.....sweet tarts, re stuffed potatoes, cereal, ginger ale and Popsicles.

Gender? Prediction: Totally a boy.

Labor signs? No. I wouldn't know if I was. Ha!

Belly button in/out? In.

What I miss: Honestly, alcohol. I am especially going to miss a nice sweet tea vodka drink this weekend at the Junction.

What I am looking forward to: Watching my bulldogs play the first game of the season this weekend. Eating at City Bagel at least twice and then on Tuesday I have a doctor's appointment where I will get to hear the heartbeat again. I will be sure to update on that!