Grocery shopping again

Well, even though I just went and have our food for the month, I had to go out again today. One of our local grocery stores was doubling coupons up to 1.00. This means that if you have a coupon for a dollar off, they will double it to two dollars. WOW! I definitely had to take advantage of this before the sale ended on this Tuesday. My total before coupons came to 185.23 and my total after coupons was 53.08. That is roughly a 71% savings. I thought that was pretty good!!! Almost all of the stuff that I bought are things that I can keep in the pantry. No produce or meat today.

Just a List

After hours of listening to different commentaries on the current President's desires to change the US into a socialist nation I just thought that I should make a list of the things that Obama has said or tried to put into effect that backs these claims:
He wants to tell us what cars we can drive
He wants to make any commentaries / news etc balanced by having the opposition's view required on the same show
He wants his own personal military
He wants to create nationalized healthcare
He stated that no one should listen to Rush on the radio
He against us having our own guns
He wants to censor the internet and monitor it (in an attempt to make it more secure - or so he says)

There will probably be more to come as my husband is very well versed on these issues LOL. If you ask me it is just plain scary!!!

Bran and banana muffins

Well, over the weekend, Nate went wakeboarding. He ended up coming home with a torn ligament in his right leg. He was supposed to go to St. Louis on Monday for work but seeing as though he can barely walk and certainly can't drive, he is staying at home with me this week. He will see and orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to determine if the ligament will heal itself or if we need surgery etc.
The pain medication that he was put on causes constipation so I thought that I would make him some bran muffins to ease his woes. LOL I found this awesome recipe and on accident I left out the last two ingredients on the list. The muffins came out awesome. They are chewy and tasty and don't even need a pat of butter!!! Here is the recipe

1c flour
1c bran flakes
1/3c sugar
1c banana ( I used 6 small burro bananas - Nate had these on his mission and loves them)
2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp cinnamon
1c skim milk

mix the bran flakes, banana, and milk in a bowl. Let sit about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. put in muffin pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. I figure that these come out to about 235 calories per muffin but they do have some good fiber and nutrients in them from the bran and banana!!!

Another belly picture

Ok, so it doesn't look like much right now but but by the end of the day this thing is huge. I am almost 20 weeks at this point. Even though I have only gained 7 pounds since we began the pregnancy, I feel like a big lead weight by the end of the day. I will lay on the couch with Nate and not be able to get up without help. I am thinking that it all has to do with my center of gravity changing!

18 week ultrasound

Perinatologist Visit

So we had a level 2 ultrasound today. I am 18 weeks and 3 days today. The baby is measuring 18 weeks and 5 days. Basically what that means is that the baby is growing very well and is getting all the nourishment that he needs. His measurements are in the 72% percentile which means that he is bigger than 72% of the babies at this stage in development but he is smaller than 28% of babies at this age. I am hoping that he will be 6-7lbs when he is born. I am scared of anything bigger. He weighs 9 oz today. one week ago he weighed 7 oz. He is growing fast. The ultrasound showed that everything is normal (the growth, heart components, 5 fingers, 5 toes, good brain development etc). It also confirmed once again, to Nate's approval, that we are having a boy.

Groceries

Well, as many of you know I clip quite a few coupons for groceries. In fact, if it isn't on sale, I probably wont buy it. So today Nate and i assembled all the groceries on the counter and I will list out what i got and how much it ended up costing. Here goes.
PRODUCE:
5 granny smith apples
5 gala apples
1 cabbage
2lbs baby bananas
1lb carrots
cilantro
3 cucumbers
lettuce
7 brown onions
3 mexican onion bunches
5lbs potatoes
4 grn peppers
7 tomatoes
2lb cherries
1lb strawberries

GROCERY
tortillas
spaghettios
mcCormick vanilla extract
4 12packs of diet mtn dew
3 Kraft dressing
2 bush's baked beans
wheat thins
mayo
parmesan cheese
12 string cheese
24 oz sour cream
3 boxes trix
3 boxes cheerios
2 dove soap
plastic wrap
4 McCormick grill mates
2 kraft marinades
2 pkg angel soft TP
2 coolwhips
2 kraft BBQ sauce
2 glass cleaner
2 colgate toothpaste
1 gallon fruit drink
4 dial hand soap
2 seltzer water
2 wisk HE detergent
2 electrasol dishwashing tabs
1 jet dry
1 pkg tortilla chips
flour
cream cheese
1 cattleman BBQ sauce
1 pkg shredded cheese
hamburger buns

MEAT
2 pkg hotdoags
6 lbs ham shoulder
10 lbs chicken leg quarters

BABY
2 pkgs size 3 huggies supreme diapers
3 pkgs huggies pure and natural diapers
2 pkgs huggies natural sensitive wipes

So, all of this cost me 140.00
Now, if I take out the diapers (which are really expensive than my total is 103.00 . This isn't my best savings but it is pretty good.

Busy little baby

Well, for all of you that don't know, Nate and I are having a boy!!!! We are very excited and Nate of course is thrilled that he will have his own little prodigy. LOL This baby is so busy inside. He is constantly moving and kicking and punching. We are 18 weeks today so almost halfway through the pregnancy. We will have a visit with the perinatologist on Thursday the 21st. It will be fun to see the ultrasound. It will be a lot clearer because this ultrasound will be a bit more in depth than the standard ones you have seen so far on the blog.
Overall I have been feeling pretty good. Nate is doing well also. He is working and traveling quite a bit so he is very busy. And yes, Brutus is doing well too!!! We are all surviving the weather out here. It has been over 100 degrees for the last 2 weeks. We are basically locked in our house during these hot days:(

It was better when I thought it was just gas!!!

So yesterday was the first time that i felt the baby move. I didn't actually feel it but I saw it. On my lower tummy I saw a little twitch. I put my hand over it and the baby kicked me 3 times. Right now I am laying on the couch and decided to take a look at my belly. I haven't felt the baby move inside at all during the pregnancy but I just did a minute ago for the first time. He kicked so hard that it raised my tummy like a 1/4 of an inch. Wow! How neat. But then he continued and now it is freaking me out. It is funny to think that you actually have this baby growing inside your stomach. It feels like little bubbles or twitches in your lower abdomen and if I thought it was just gas it wouldn't bother me. Since I know that it is a little baby it is a big weird feeling. LOL

17 week ultrasound

Isn't that the cutest baby you've ever seen. I will post a 3D one next week after we see the perinatologist!!!!

A nurse should know these things

So.........I woke up at 2:30am and I had this bulge in my lower abdomen that was hard. No pain or anything so I went back to bed. Nate got up at 5:30 because he had to fly to Houston today. I noticed that the bump was still there on my abdomen and was hard as a rock. It would come and go about every 5-10 minutes and it would even go from the right side to the left side. How weird. I decided that maybe it was the baby moving ( although it was too big of a bump ). I went along with my normal stuff and then started feeling tightening and crampy. I then decided that this wasn't normal and that I was having contractions. I made an appointment with my doctor. He confirmed that it was a contraction (Braxton-Hicks contractions) and that the bulge on my abdomen was in fact my uterus. He also confirmed that everything was absolutely normal. I felt so stupid. LOL. The ultrasound showed a good placenta and umbilical cord. The baby is measuring 17 weeks and 2 days. The heart rate was 156/minute. The baby is about 5-6 inches and weighs 7 oz. The ultrasound tech showed me a bunch of things like the four chambers of the heart, the skull and the baby's femur. I will post some pics of the ultrasound today. Nate and I will go and get a 3d ultrasound on the 21st and then I see my doctor again on the 26th of May. Anyways, everything looks great!!!!!

My tummy at four months

Ok, so here it is. Nothing too big yet but you can definitely see the baby bump. I have gained back the weight that I lost when I was sick and nauseated but nothing else. I don't know how that's possible. Doesn't the amniotic fluid or increased blood volume or the fact that my uterus is bigger than a grapefruit count??? Well, I am sure I will be 9 months pregnant and feel too big then so I guess I should just enjoy this. LOL.