Last nights Dinner...

Hunter sat in the car in the parking lot of the grocery store and searched the Martha Stewart Food app on his iphone until he found recipes that hit the spot.

Here's the three winners that made up our dinner. Winner Winner Pork chop Dinner!

1. Lemon-Parsley Pork Chops

2.Sausage Stuffed Peppers

3. Apple, Grape and Celery Salad

At first we thought it was going to be too much food but it really wasn't. The lemon flavor really popped in the pork chops, I LOVED that the stuffed peppers where stuffed with couscous instead of rice, and the apple salad was perfect lighter side to balace out the other two peices of the meal.

Hunter made the apple salad first and let it refigerate until the rest of dinner was read.



Next he made the stuffed peppers.


His working spread


Couscous my fav!


The only thing Hunter added that the recipe didn't call for was a can of diced green chiles.






And into the oven they went...



After some time baking you top them with cheese and put them back in the oven.

While the stuffed peppers where baking he prepared the pork chops.


Flavored with a little seasoning...




The lemon and parsley mixture....

And all came together beautifully.







It was a yummy dinner! Thanks Hunter Stewart :)

Sidenote: you all may or may not notice that my pictures are pixalated a little. It's because I'm lazy and don't feel like loading them to picnik to resize and then to photobucket. So I'm loading them straight to photobucket and resizing them in the html code. It sort of bugs me because what's the point of our good camera if I'm going to ruin the look of the pictures when I post them...but it's just sooooooooo time consuming. (whiney voice) Anyone know any sort cuts?

But take a look - you can really notice a difference when looking at the title of the recipe on the ipad!!

The below picture was uploaded lazy way just to photobucket and then resizing in html code.



This was uploaded to picnik first, resized and then saved to photobucket. UGH SO much Better!!! I need to stop being lazy...

24 weeks!

Size of baby: An ear of corn! About 8.5inches long and 1.5pounds in weight.

Weight Gain: It happened. I hit the 150 mark. Actually the 151 mark :( Have gained 21 pounds so far.

Maternity clothes: Yes most of the time. I find that I look better in shorts/skirts and tops as oppose to dresses. Dresses just make me feel and look so much bigger than I am. I do sport a few of my regular pants still to work with the belly band. They come no where close to fitting in the waist of course but the fact that they still fit in the legs and buttocks is a good thing.

Gender: It's a boy! Hunter Lee Lunsford V

Movement: Lots! I can def tell little Hunter its growing because his kicks are getting stronger and stronger. Instead of little pokes her and there a few of them move my whole stomach. It's a weird feeling. And I swear last night I felt his little foot. I put my hand over where he was kicking me last night and pressed down gently...i felt the hardest little knob of something and then it moved. I think it was is foot! :)

Sleep: Pretty good, up twice a night to pee still so it's interrupted sleep but could be worse for sure.

What I miss: Feeling normal and my old body. I'm really trying hard to enjoy these last couple months of pregnancy because I know it will go by fast but man I'll be happy to just have the little guy in my arms instead and this basketball out of my stomach!

Best Moment this week: hmmmm, well we had a Dr's appt last Wednesday. Always great to hear the heartbeat. Everytime the nurse would put the dopler on him we'd hear his heartbeat and then he would move. She eventually asked me "He keeps moving from em, are you feeling that?" I laughed and said Yep! Little Hunter says "Get that machine away from me..."

Looking forward to: OH soo much!! It's not all necessarily around the corner but I'm looking forward to more nursery progress, our trip to Rochester NY in August, my shower weekend with lots of family in town from far away, our birthing classes, football season starting and our baby moon! It's going to be a busy 3 months! :)

Cravings: mmmmmmm, soft serve ice cream. Really craving that right now but what's with the new thing I'm hearing that pregnant women shouldn't eat soft serve because of the risk of Listeria in the machines from old ice cream accumulating at the bottom. UGH! can we eat ANYTHING! ????

Symptoms: Lower back pain, upset tummy (my tummy has not felt right for weeks!) I feel like pregnancy is giving me IBS. I know TMI! Nasal congestion in the mornings, and tightness in my stomach...the mornings are better than the evenings. By nighttime I'm over being pregnant but when I wake up in the morning I'm feeling much better and ready to continue. No stretchmarks yet! (and hopefully ever!)

Some other note worthy pregnancy items going on (it's been a productive week):

1. We scheduled two more DayCare tours for next week. Need to get back on this daycare bandwagon and figure something out. As of now we are on two waiting lists but neither of which are likely to have availability by next Feb when we need them. One of the two we are meeting with next week has availability so that's good!

2. I scheduled all of our hospital classes for mid September! We are taking a birthing/labor class, taking care of baby class, hospital tour, and infant CPR. It's a total of three 2.5hr classes during the week. I'm debating on taking the breastfeeding class...experienced mom's out there do you think I should? It's free....

3. I signed back up for Yoga!! A new yoga place opened up down the street from our house and it offers prenatal yoga classes every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays! I've been twice so far and am loving it. Just great for the aches, pains, swelling and stretches!

4. We got some disappointing nursery news :( Wallpaper guy came to give us an estimate and told me I would need 4 more rolls of the paper I want to use. At 125 dollars a roll it would cost us 725 dollars just for the wallpaper not to mention the cost for him to hang it....not happening. Guess we will be hitting up some paint samples this weekend.

5. We booked our baby moon! Marina Inn at Dunes Grande in Myrtle Beach for four days three nights! There was a groupon out there for it this week so we got a great deal. Will be mooning September 23rd to the 26th!

6. Our Dr's appt last week went well. I measured right on target and baby's heartbeat was 152. My next appt is August 9th where they will do the glugose test. After that appt I start going to the Dr. every 2 weeks instead of four. Exciting!

7. Annnnnd left of the baby to-do list is to pick out a pediatrician.


Pictures: I think I grew....what do you think? GAH and I have such a pea head!! I swear the bigger my body gets the smaller it's making my head look :( ha!





I'll try to post some nursery progress pictures next week...what little progress there has been :)

Off to Grandmommies house we go....

Hunter and I are ashamed to say we had not been to visit his grandmothers in Danville, VA since Thanksgiving :( And it's only two hours away from us :( Bad grandkids!! Of course, they are the sweetest and most understanding of our busy lives but they shouldn't be. Bad grandkids!

Well we had a friday to sunday visit last weekend and really enjoyed catching up with everyone. Danville, VA being a small town is always a relaxing place to go to. Unlike Charlotte, there's no hustle and bustle surrounding us and becuase I'm away from the chores of my own home I'm forced to sit down, read a book, work on some crafts, and eat of course! And what do you we do on say a saturday night in Danville VA? Well we pickle of course!

Hunter's father has several flourishing gardens back home and brought to Danville bags and bags of cucumbers! (not to mention the bags and bags of squash, zuchinni, and green beans too).

We sliced the cucumbers and decided on making Bread and Butter pickles! this recipe was the lucky winner of the one we followed and I think it was a good one. The boiling pickle juice smelled just like store bought bread and butter pickles!! (ok, even better than store bought!)

If you have a garden and some unused cucumbers don't be afraid to pickle them! The recipe and idea of pickling seems daunting but it's not hard...trust me! Maybe some pictures will help you visualize the process :)


If you have never heard of some of the ingredients listed (I certainly hadn't) here's what they look like...


Your Vinegars


Pickling salt


spices

I asked what this did but forgot...you need it though :)


First step sterlize your jars


Slice cucumbers and onions and place in a large pot with pickling salt




Stuff the jars compactly with the cucumbers and onions.





Boil all the the spices according to recipe and then fill the jars with the bread and butter liquid.




Boil lids


secure all the tops...i actually helped with this part :) and can we say WHOA BABY! eek, not my best angle!



Boil completed jars


Remove from water after boiling for 10minutes and in the middle of the night you will hear the jars "POP" and suction down!


All done! Aren't those jars pretty too? They can be found at your local Walmart! I can't WAIT to enjoy these this fall! :)

Thanks to our Gram and Grammommie for such a fun weekend. We promise it won't be 7 months before out next visit!! xoxo

Baby girls nursery....what would have been

If baby boy inside of me was a baby girl this is what I had planned for her nursery :)



1. Elinor Pink Graham and Brown wallpaper. This no doubt would steal the show and I could keep all else fairly simple.

2. A fancy monogrammed pillow. I've had this image for so long I have no idea where I originally found it.

3. RHbabyandchild frayed ruffle & vintage stripe bedding.

4. Ikea Hemnes nightstand

5. A neutral window panel these are from PBkids.

6. An equally neutral yet still beautiful nursery chair. Was thinking linen and loving these from RH babyandchild until the reality of cost set in.
I must add we ended up getting a tan linen chair from USA baby for HL5 and I love it just as much for more than half the cost. We went with the little castle Valentino glider in Riviera linen! Total cost $460! A steal I thought for a high quality glider!

7. Ikea Hemnes dresser - We are still going with this for Hunter's nursery although after measuring realized the double dresser won't fit so we'll be going with the 3 drawer chest. 100 dollar savings, love our small nursery! :)


8. And lastly the Kendall PB crib. This would have been Hunterette's and now is Hunters. We were going with this crib either way. In my opinion you can't beat the price tag on this puppy for a high quality PBkids crib!

Awww saying bye bye to the inspiration board of sweeet Hunterette's nursery. I do love it but love my growing little boy more! :)

Easiest cheesecake ever...

Have you all heard of this stuff? Philadelphia cheescake filling?

I had plans over the fourth of July to make a cheesecake. When shopping for ingredients at Walmart in the cream cheese section I saw this tub. Um, well...that seems a heck of a lot easier so I tried it. Just as good folks...I may never make a normal cheesecake again!



Graham cracker premade crust
Tub of philadelphia cheescake filling
Tub of coolwhip



I won't tell anyone how easy it is if you dont... :)

23 Weeks!

My back hurts...just the first thought that popped in my head as I sit and type this. Moving on... :)

Size of baby: A Papaya! About 11 inches long and over one pound.

Weight: This morning scale said 146.7. But then again I always weight myself in the morning, nekid. So who knows what the Dr's. scale will say this after noon fully belly and clothes. I'll be happy as long as I haven't hit the 150 mark yet. Just not quite ready for the big 5-0. 147 would be having gained 17 pounds so far.

Gender: Our son! Hunter Lee Lunsford V

Movement: Yep, lots last night. I actually got to lay in bed and instead of feeling my stomach I just watched it. For a good 10 minutes just starred at my belling moving around. So cool, and such a GREAT piece of mind :) Keep moving for me Hunter!

Sleep: Good. I def feel like my stomach grew this past week and as a result I am tossing and turning a bit more. Furthermore, Hunter must be putting more weight or pressure on my bladder now again because I'm back to the up 2-3 times a night to pee. no fun.

What I miss: hmmmmm I struggle with this question every week. I guess because I know I miss stuff but all in all I know this is all short lived so none of it bothers me that bad. I of course miss my old body, miss having a beer on the back porch with my husband, I miss not feeling like I got ran over by a truck if I stay up past midnight. I miss being able to eat stuff without thinking about what it is. But again, yes I miss all of these things but not to the point that it is effecting my mood or that I am bothered by it.

Best moment this week: Watching Hunter put molding up in the nursery. Something about watching daddy work on his son's room made me smile. Not to mention it's a good feeling knowing progress is being made towards the kid having a room.

Looking forward to: Dr's appt today at 4:30pm!! Can't WAIT to hear the heart beat and see what I weigh. It will be the first time they measure my belly too.

Cravings: I never think of something on my own that I want. But the second I see a picture of something yummy or hear someone talk about a particular food, I want it.

Symptoms: In the "what to expect when expecting book" They list out a slew of symptoms one might be experiencing by month. I'm in my 5th month now and here are the symptoms from the book's list that I have....

-Fetal activity - check!
-Vaginal discharge - TMI...but hey it's a symptom
-Soreness in lower abdomen
-Occasional headaches and dizziness
-Nasal Congestion - I wake up congested every morning. Clears up after the shower.
-Sensitive gums - until I read this as a symptom I was wondering why my gums where bleeding when I brushed and flossed when they never had before. check!
-Hearty appetite - suweeet, I'm normal! :)
-Leg cramps
-Itchy abdomen
-Protruding naval yes please :)
-Backaches
-enlarged breasts. that's an understatement....

Pictures: Hunter snapped these bad boys for me last night :)


My t-shirts fit awesome these days ;)

You sure know how to make a preggers girl feel good...

Ya'll are so sweet. Thank you for commenting such kinds words, you have no idea how much they lift my day. My pregnancy thus far has been super easy and I have zero complaints but overall as some of you know, you still don't feel your complete self or as pretty as you would like. Compliments to a pregnant women do wonders to her happiness and self esteem. I'm going to remember this going forward and always make sure to return the niceness :)

In other news I never updated you all on the eggy's from our backyard a month or so ago. Well they did end up hatching and the little birdies have grown big enough to fly out of their coo coo nest. Just in time for me to begin watering my potted flowers again! They were on the verge of no return.

Here's a pic of the sweet chirp chirps fresh as they come!

I don't know about you but I'm REALLY looking forward to this three day weekend! Cleaning, golf, sunbathing, nursery progress, and spending time with in-laws and friends is what is on our agenda.

I really hope everyone has a fun and safe fourth. God bless America!! xoxo