Two lines....A Change in Life

Wow! Just in case someone out there doesn't know yet, we are having a baby! The focus of my blog will be shifting as we try to keep family and friends updated on the progress of the pregnancy. It's definitely NOT a time for weight loss anymore!

I still can't believe it! Today we had our first ultrasound and it was truly amazing. I don't think it all seemed real until we saw the little heart beating today. I haven't really been able to enjoy the miracle we were given until today. I had been focused on the heartburn, the crazy cravings, and the ever present nausea. Now I know what's causing all that and WOW, just wow. I know things will get better and then worse again until it's all over, but it's nice to see what's causing all that. It's still the scariest thing ever to me, as I'm not that confident in my ability to parent, but it's happening. What an amazing way to start the new year! (I'll try to post the blurry ultrasound picture soon. I have to get it scanned first!)

Happy New Year everyone!

Gingerbread Men!

Well, we finally broke out the kit we bought 1 or 2 years ago and decorated the dudes! We threw them away of course, but it was fun to decorate them anyway. Next year I want to make my own and decorate them. I'll have to hit up some of my family members for a recipe because I've never made gingerbread before. It's not my favorite, but I think these guys would make some cute gifts!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holidays at Home

Well, we survived the long driving trip to and from Kentucky! It was a nice trip and I got to see lots of family that I hadn't been able to see in years now! It was a cryfest though. First, one of my gifts from my mamaw was a jar of buttons. During my childhood, my mamaw always had a big tin of buttons in her cabinet and I loved getting them down and looking through them and playing with them. Mom found that old tin and filled a jar with them as part of my Christmas present. Wow! That was amazing! Those things are over 30 years old! Next, my mom passed along the word that I was really wanting a vintage apron. I had looked for one during my mom's visit back in October, but never found one I loved. Well... My granny made me one using an old dress that she used to wear to work. It was awesome! I felt like all I did was cry!

The Graduate!

After two and a half years of being apart for most of the day, it finally came to an end last night. Jason graduated!!!!!!! Yay!!!! I'm so proud of him. He's the most amazing husband and I'm proud to say he's all mine!

Animals are a Joy

We will soon be heading to Kentucky for Christmas, but I wanted to share a few animal pictures from the past week or so. There's a new addition to the extended family. My sister-in-law got THE cutest puppy for Christmas and he came to visit us last weekend. Bailey didn't beat him up too bad, but I don't think the little guy liked her too much!





The other picture is of Bandit, just because I think kitties with water on their noses are the cutest!



Merry Christmas to everyone!

Bah Humbug

Where is my Christmas spirit? I seem to have lost it this year and no matter how much Christmas music I subject myself to, it's not coming back. I'm not one of those people who love picking out gifts for family and friends. Most people I know already have everything they want so this time of year ends up being a major stressfest of trying to find gifts. The real joy I find in the season is buying gifts for needy children or nursing home residents. Now those people need things! Jason and I picked 2 kids off the tree at the mall today so that will be fun to do this weekend. (If anyone has a clue what 14 year olds like, please let me know!)

We also managed to get the Christmas lights on the house. We really need more outside decorations, but I'm just not that into those giant blow-up things that everyone has these days. I'd love to have a nice nativity scene to put in the yard, so I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes open for one.

My weigh in is tomorrow morning so we'll see how it goes. I think I had way too much sodium today, so I'm not expecting to finally get to "overweight" status tomorrow.

Here's a peek at my dinner tonight. I had chicken, steamed broccoli, brown rice, and mushrooms. YUM!

One of my Favorite Recipes....

CHICKEN PARMESAN
Ingredients:
½ c. Italian-style bread crumbs
2 tbsp. reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 c. spaghetti sauce
2 slices 2% mozzarella cheese
4 4-oz. BSCB
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and salt in a shallow bowl. Spray each breast with Pam. Coat evenly with bread crumb mixture. Spray a baking sheet with Pam. Arrange chicken on baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Pour ¼ c. spaghetti sauce over each piece of chicken. Cut each piece of mozzarella cheese in half, and place on top of chicken. Return to oven and heat until cheese melts. If desired, serve with pasta and spaghetti sauce.

What a Difference Time (and Weight Watchers) Makes...

I was looking through some pictures on my computer and found these. One is from an Astros game a few years go; the other from our anniversary this past March. I love Weight Watchers is all I can say!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas...

I'm having technical issues with the camera lately (bad user) but I wanted to share the tree and the fireplace. I would post the village but a hurricane of cats have destroyed it over the past week. Trees have been uprooted and none of the people are still standing. (The stockings were hung by the chimney with great care, just in case you were wondering) :)

A good friend at work made my day today (Thanks, Rebecca) by bringing me some stamps sets and a stamp pad she had duplicates of. Wasn't that the sweetest thing EVER? I certainly thought so and I can't wait to use them! I'll post some cards when I do.

I wanted to share a new recipe today. This one is YUM and can be modified to your taste.

Green Chili Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients
10 medium tortilla, flour, fat-free
4 oz chopped green chilies
3 oz fat-free or reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup onion(s), diced
1.5 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can green enchilada sauce
1/4 cup Reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 cup salsa or picante sauce

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x 13 pan with cooking spray. Add a little enchilada sauce to the bottom of the pan. Cook onion in a medium pan until soft. Add chicken, green chilies, salsa, and cream cheese. Mix well. Spread mixture down the middle of tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in pan. Continue until all tortillas are used. Spread any remaining mixture over the top of tortillas. Pour remaining green enchilada sauce over all and bake 30 minutes, covered. Sprinkle with cheese last 10 minutes.

Baking with the Girls

It's wayyy too early to be up on a Sunday morning, but I crashed so early last night that I got my sleep in and just can't stay in bed any longer. I had such a great day yesterday hanging out and baking with my wonderful ladies! We started at 10am and finished a little after 5. Is that crazy or what? We had so many goodies when we finished! Jason took me out to dinner afterwards because I just could not stomach the idea of cooking anything else. :) I had a great dinner of steak, salad, and mashed potatoes. YUM! I'm very proud to say that out of all that butter and sugar madness yesterday, I only ate half of one of the bars I made. I have a huge weakness for S'mores, so I had to have a little taste of that one. (Did I mention we even have S'mores ornaments on our tree? I love those little guys and that was what we decided to make our yearly new ornament!)

Here are some pics of all our hardwork yesterday! Don't drool on yourself!

Hodgepodge for Friday

Ahh....the weekend. I'm looking forward to this weekend as I actually have things planned to do! Tomorrow I will be baking with two wonderful friends; we are getting a big head start on our holiday baking! I hope our co-workers don't mind getting their gifts early as this weekend was the only one that we could really plan on doing it together. I have yet to hear anyone complain about free food, so I'm sure it will be a big hit at both of our offices! I just have to be careful and stay out of the finished goodies. I'm really trying to stay strong about eating healthy and losing weight. I decided to treat this week like my first week of Weight Watchers and do everything right. I am now one pound away from never being obese ever again and I'm itching to get that awesome title of 'overweight'. Is that sad or what?

I had a great dinner tonight that I wanted to share. I had made Meatloaf Muffins (recipe to follow) earlier this week, so I had that accompanied by some steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, and 1/2 cup rice. Very yummy and filling!

Meatloaf Muffins
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground turkey breast
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, finely diced
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 box Stovetop Stuffing mix, any flavor
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium sauce pan, cook onion, carrot, and celery until soft. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Divide mixture into 18 muffins cups (be sure to spray with non-stick cooking spray first)! Cook for 30 minutes or until no longer pink. Enjoy!

As for the rest of the week that just passed, here are a few projects I've been working on:

I love these pictures and I'm not sure the layout really showcases how beautiful they are. I think I need to look for some sort of background paper to relieve some of the starkness. Luckily I did not glue everything down yet. I did love using my new Cricut for the title!









And finally, a lovely card I made: I had a great time playing with this stamp set that I won at my cardmaking class. I love flowers and both sets I won that day were flower sets. Awesome, huh? :) I think some of us craft hoarders sometimes forget that not everyone in the world is as obsessed with pretty paper and supplies like we are.

And finally, what's a blog from me without a cat picture? Jason put the Christmas village down low this year and it has made a great cat bed! We catch them sleeping in it all the time. Here's Bailey from yesterday: