Keeping it Fresh!

I have been super bored with my blog lately- and I'm running out of things to post about! Well, at least I feel like I am. So, I'm gonna try to do something new to inspire me! I'm gonna try to write about something specific each day. I think I'll post Monday- Friday and take the weekends off (I act like it's my job or something, but really blogging can feel like work when you're uninspired!). The schedule will be as follows:

Monday= Monday Meals ( I will post a recipe of a meal I am making that week in hopes that some of you other mommas can use some new ones). And feel free to do the same on your blog! I'm always looking for new recipes.


Tuesday= Toddler Tuesday. This one will consist of all things Ellie & Claire :) Training, discipline, fun, activities, struggles, joys, etc. I realize Claire isn't a toddler yet, but the name for the day was so fitting!- And I do have 1 toddler.


Wednesday= Wordless Wednesday. Okay okay, so I'm bad at being wordless, so there may be the occasional sentence of explanation, but I promise that's all I'll do!


Thursday= Thoughtful Thursday. This day is for me. I will post things that have been on my mind that week. This may be a super random post day just to warn you!

Friday= Frugal Friday. Adam and I are back on track with tackling our debt and sticking with the Dave Ramsey plan! Yaahooooo! This day will be dedicated to tips and things we are doing to trying to live as budget-friendly as possible.


Sound Good?! I hope so. I'm excited about it, and if you have been following my blog long enough, you'll notice that I brought a few things back :) Hopefully I can actually stick with it this time! I will start tomorrow since I don't like putting 2 post up in one day. Until then.......

Nursery Fun

I am getting SO excited to start adding (well enclosing) our room for little Claire! I think I have the color scheme I want to work with, and I'm really gonna have to get creative because she is going to have a small room! It's like a 6 x 6 foot space....tiny! But, she is a baby, and it'll be perfect for her. I'm not super high tech & don't have a scanner to scan in our ultrasound pictures, but I wanted to post a picture of the picture (he he!) so you all could see our sweet little girl!

Claire (Enter Middle Name) Porter :)

Alright, so onto the nursery. Here is what I have come up with so far...there is still time to completely change the whole scheme, but I think I'm pretty set. Ellie's room is painted a really pretty purple and is very colorfully decorated...I'll post pictures of her room once it's clean!....so I wanted a different color for Claire and I'm SO LOVING yellow right now:

I'm pretty decided on pink and yellow. Very girly, and not purple like her sister :) Since it's a small space, I was thinking that I lighter color on the walls would really make it feel more open. Yellow here I come! With the husbands approval of course :) And I like accenting with the rich pink (is rich pink even considered an acceptable term?!?! ha ha! It is now...) I love it love it love it!

And once i saw this awesome wall decor, I was sold! I like it that the flowers pop out, and it's not just a wall sticker. I also think that it could add some nice character to the room...make it feel like less of a tiny box.

And now to the circle crib. The reason I am thinking of going this route is that it seems much more space efficient. Cribs are stinkin big and take up a lot of space in the room! So, I thought of this as a good alternative. Set this baby in the corner of the room, and not only will you have more space to walk around, but maybe I could even put an extra piece of furniture in the room now!

More ideas & photos of our space to come!.....til next time....

-K

Wanna Come Along???

It has been a little harder to blog lately. My mind is so flooded with "stuff" that things are just not coming out clear. Thankfully the "Doula" post was pretty consistent so that you all could actually follow some of my thoughts (thanks for all of your sweet comments by the way!).

So, I have decided to invite you all along. I have lots of mini-projects to do before Ellie arrives. LOTS! I am going to try to get maybe 1 a day accomplished...we'll see! I'm sorry if some of them just aren't that exciting, but I feel like it would give me some good accountability to do it if I include you all :) Here is my first list to get through- We will try this for ONE week to see how good I am. I don't like making empty promises!

1. Make a Birth Plan just in case I have to go to the hospital.
Ok, don't pee your pants or anything, I KNOW how exciting this one is! I bet you all can't wait! ha!!!

2. Complete Ellie's room.
Find white rocking chair for under $100, sew final step for crib skirt, and organize a little more.

3. Condense Baby Wise Info for Weeks 1 & 2 after she is born.
Baby Wise is a book all about scheduling feeding/sleeping times. Another post that I'm sure will knock your socks off!

4. Complete last set of Maternity Photos.
Our awesome friend Jennifer is taking another round of photos for us this Saturday. I can't wait!

That would be 4 posts in a week! Wow. Can I do it????

Doula

Sometimes it seems that all of my schooling towards my nursing degree was a waste. I'm not a nurse- so what does that tell me? Anatomy & Physiology kicked my butt each time I took it. I even shot my anatomy book one day when Adam and I went shooting! It felt good. This has been something that has been really discouraging to me. It's mixed around with a lot of feelings of failure & self-doubt. When I found out I was pregnant, I knew that my efforts towards my degree were about to be prolonged even further! This was both good & bad. I was tired of the constant disappointment failing brought me & happy to get some relief for a while, but also sad that I had worked so hard for something that seemed like wasted time.

I think I may have found the solution though. A happy happy medium. Well, I say medium, but I have no idea really. Recently I have been thinking about becoming a Doula. Need a definition?

dou⋅la / [doo-luh]
–noun
a woman who assists women during labor and after childbirth

....that's a pretty simple definition, because I think they do much more. But that's the sweet & simple. Basically, they are a life-line in labor, delivery, and the transition time that follows. They give you support (emotional & physical), they can be an advocate for you and your partner in the delivery room, and be whatever you need them to be in that sensitive time of giving birth to your child.

Anyways! I went to a mini-doula training this past Saturday (thanks Leigh!), and it was so awesome. It just validated further that doing this career change is the right move for me. I am so passionate about the whole birthing process- the natural, simple process. I think it is so easily overlooked. I am planning on making the move to do this at some point in August after I have a few months of getting use to being a momma! I am going to attend a few births- then do a few of them for free for the brave people that trust me enough to hire me!- and then plan on doing it on my own soon after. I am so excited!

I have also thought about the possibility of becoming a home-birth midwife...but that is further in the future, so we will just have to sit on that for a while :)

Here is a picture of my last visit with my midwife Mary...she is awesome. Look at that massive belly!!
So, that's that, but I also wanted to give you all some pregnancy updates!

*As of right now, I am 36 weeks!!! She is safe to come anytime according to my midwife...Ah!
*I am feeling pretty large...ok VERY large. Sleep isn't the same. But I guess that's what you can expect when a large human is in your belly.
*I LOVE eating ice. Love it. Adam hates it. He thinks I am not a "polite-ice-chewer". Ha!
*I pee almost everytime I sneeze. Wanna hear something funny? I have an extra pair of underwear on my purse at all times "just-in-case". Gross.

Besides that, I am feeling WONDERFUL. Pregnancy has been a blast. A LONG adventure so far. But it's crazy that it's coming to an end soon. Am I ready? No. Somedays I think I am, but most days I feel like I am in un-charted territory (which I am), and it's pretty overwhelming. But hey, how many woman have done this and conquered? Too many to count. I think I'll be just fine...
I will leave you with a picture of me these days. If you see a hint of a double-chin...well, I'm just a little hungrier these days....

Alexa & I

Love, Krystle

Nursery Update

I have a headache, so this post will be short...

Remember those wall stickers that I really liked? Well, it ended up that it was a little too much for the budget...bummer! But, I comprimised on some really cute barn yard stickers...on the box, they put them up over a white changing table...and guess what? I HAVE a white changing table! Yes!

So, I put them up above it, and I like how it turned out :) Her themeless room is coming along quite well...I still need a few more things. Something to put on the wall behind the rocker/glider chair that will go in the corner, a cute rug, and some drawers to put all of her stuff in. It so crazy that I only have 9 weeks left! It is approaching faster than I expected. I'm still anxious but I feel like I still have sooo much to do...which is nice. I will stay busy.

Oh yeah! And I don't have to work full time anymore as of this week.....ahhhh.....sigh of relief. My body is feeling the bigness now, and I think it was perfect timing.
Also, Adam and I watched a birthing video, and it showed a woman birthing the placenta too...nasty. Seriously. I am NOT looking forward to that. We were both a little queasy after that..haha! Oh to being new parents....what a weird journey. Lots of firsts.

Before
After: I am going to put her name in those cute letters with the ribbon above the little animal pictures :)

Her loot above: We have gotten ALL of this stuff for free...such a blesssing. I already have a billion cute outfits, socks, onesies, a crib, and changing table! Wow.

And I just HAD to torture Sophie! I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier!! Ha ha! I am so mean...I know. But isn't it funny?!?!

She was not thrilled to say the least...she wouldn't even look at me! ha!!!

Love, Krystle

Meal Plan Monday

Get ready for Meal- Plan Mondays! I'm pretty good at keeping up with my meal plans, and have always intended on making it a habit to post on my blog so that my friends can have some ideas, and possibly extend the same courtesy!!! I don't know about all of you, but planning meals can be absolutely exhausting. This week it's gonna be pretty simple because we are trying to keep it cheap, but here is my plan:

Monday: Tomato Soup w/mixed veggies, sourdough bread w/butter

Tuesday: Hamburgers, Homemade fries, and cold veggies

Wednesday: Spagetti w/meat, Salad, and Garlic bread

Thursday: Burritos filled with the works (beans, cilantro, onions, tomato, etc.), chips, and salsa

Friday: Chicken Pot Pie- w/no side. This pretty much encompasses a whole entire meal in itself.

Saturday: Left overs!!!

Seriously people, DO MEAL PLAN MONDAY! I would love to have more people in on this. Maybe one day I will upgrade to pictures (well wait, who am I kidding myself, I'm TERRIBLE at uploading pictures!!! I bet you all are surprised I'm even pregnant because there is no proof!).

Anyone else in on Meal-Plan Monday?!!?!?!?

I have started working Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, so this meal planning thing is a total lifesaver!! I would be a mess without it...not to mention spending WAY too much on groceries.

Well, happy Monday everyone. Hope your weeks are excellent!

Love, Krystle

The Prototype

Below I have attached a "model" of our soon to be coffee table for our new apartment. Right now, all we have is a little cheap IKEA table, and we DO NOT like it. Adam and I connsidered buying a new one, then Adam thought of just making one. Adam and Ben (our roommate), worked so hard to make this little guy, and even went to Lowe's to pick out wood and everything for the dimensions. I was so proud of him! Quite the handyman! So, I posted this on here to show you the original, and when it is all completed ( hopefully in a few weeks) I will be posting an awesome custom made Porter table!!! ....oh yeah, and when they were making it, Alexa and I weren't allowed to come home so that they had time to move the our current coffee table, and replace it with the new one! Ha!!!

The view from the top: Note that there are 3 different compartments to store things in :)
They are soo cute. They made this out of a Honey Bunches of Oats box!!!
View from the side
View from the other side.....you can see how small it is because Sophie is soooo tiny (4 lbs to be exact), and she towers over this little guy!!

Love, Krystle

Forcing It

I am determined to keep current on my blog. It's frustrating only posting on a whim. So, here I go! I know that when I start posting on a regular basis, I brain gets going and I hit a "blogging streak". And since I have nothing else of significance to post, I am going to post a little survey thing...

What would you be if you could be ...

A Vegetable:
Probably a carrot...it's the only vegetable I can snack on

An Animal:
Hmmm...a dolphin? Or a bird

A Fruit:
Mango!

A Color:
Purple- Light Purple

A Household Object:
Wow, this one is hard...how about a candle...those are pretty ;) Or a mirror...I know, weird answers!

Article of Clothing:
A Swimsuit!

A Drink:
Apricot Tea

A Famous Person:
Reese Witherspoon or Gwyneth Paltrow

A Film Character:
Meg Ryan...she did so many cute romance movies!

A Cartoon Character:
Belle from Beauty & the Beast

A Car:
Some type of SUV...I need room!

A City:
San Diego...or some other type of beach city

A Country:
This question isn't fair because I haven't been to many... So, I don't know.

A Mythical Creature:
Wow. I have no Idea!!!

A Chocolate Bar:
100 Grand

A Book:
Redeeming Love

A Sport:
Volleyball

A Word:
Gosh..this is hard too. How about content :)

One of Your Family:
My Grandma

That actually took a lot longer than I thought! But the best part of surveys is that you get to tag people!! Yay!

I Tag:

All of my friends! If your name is on my "blogger buddies" side, I would LOVE to read who you would be :)

P.S. I am going to do something brave. I have really been frustrated with myself lately because I just can't get the motivation to work-out, and I am seriously unhappy with myself. So, to those of you who are a part of my other blog, I am going to start posting some before and after pictures...AHH! I mean, they won't be too revealing or anything, and I will be clothed, but I feel like if I do that, it will really make me want to post some pictures of how my body is improving!!! It better. I'm going crazy here!

Love, Krystle

Anyone Interested???

Ok... well.....I was just thinking that most of my "friends" who blog are wives, girls, sisters, friends, workers, etc. So, tell me what you think about this proposal.... What if some of us started a blog together?! We could still obviously have our own sites that would be our primary sites, but we could have a site where we could all help each other out. Whether it be dinner recipes, cleaning tips, fun stories about being any of the different "roles" as I mentioned above, or just anything that we think would be helpful or uplifting to all the other ladies out there in the world...what do you guys think? Anyone interested? Let me know....

Thanks girls!