Whats for dinner?

If you are wondering what your going to make for dinner tonight you should make these black bean tacos. They are super easy and super tasty.

Quick Black Beans with Cumin and Oregano

Olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. Mexican-style hot sauce, or more to taste (this amount makes mild beans)
some cloves of garlic, pressed
1 (15-ounce) can black beans (I used Bush's)
¼ tsp. salt, or to taste

Pour a glug of olive oil into a medium saucepan, and warm it over medium heat. Add the onion, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and pale golden. It should be just starting to caramelize; it might scorch a bit in areas too, and that’s just fine. Add the ground cumin and oregano, and stir well. Add the hot sauce, and stir well again. Add the garlic, followed by the beans and their can juices. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook until the beans are soft and warmed through. Taste, and salt as needed.
Top with you choice of toppings.

recipe found here

I leave you with my big belly. If you try the recipe out let me know what you thought.

Blabla

Blabla has some seriously cute toys and clothes for little ones. I am in love with nearly everything on their site. Here are a few of my favorites.

week 19

Wow, 19 weeks. Time is seriously flying by, its amazing. The baby is still moving around like crazy. Last night it was really going crazy in there so I had Dan come over and feel my tummy and he felt his baby move for the first time. It was an amazing moment. I cant wait for more of those moments. My tailbone is still sore and achy (has been for the last months or so) and my midwife doesn't give me much hope of it getting better. She actually told me that it is possible I will break it while birthing my baby. Ouch. Please pray I don't, I couldn't imagine trying to care for my baby with a freshly broken tailbone. Lately I have been experiencing some achiness in my lower abdomen, I read this is the ligaments that support my uterus stretching to accommodate its increasing weight. Its nothing to be alarmed about either, thank goodness I was getting a little worried. Another thing about my body I have noticed some change in is my complexion. I am breaking out like a early teenager. It could be from pregnancy but I did recently change my face wash so that might be the culprit. I order my usual face wash last night so I'll be back to using that again and hopefully this acne will go AWAY.

Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature.

I had to share this photo. All the ones before it the baby had plenty room and looked like it was just floating around in there. Look how cramped it looks now.
Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

walking

I try to go for an hour or longer walk everyday to stay in shape and to get outside. Today Jack and I took a walk down the road about a mile to the river bank and played around in the tall grass. Jack rolled around in dead smelly fish, almost fell in the river and got scared by two big Labradors. It was pretty fun! I am so proud of my little pooch, he listens to me so well that I don't need a leash to walk him. He is under pretty good voice command and knows to stop before we cross roads. Now I just need to get him to stop rolling in smelly things.
Fall is definitely in the air. On our walk my nose and hands got chilly.

I hope it snows more than rains this winter. I would much rather continue my walking in the snow than in the rain.

rainy walks

The other day Dan and I went for a walk in the woods. Since it was pouring rain we put our rain gear and rain boots on. It was my first time putting my rain pants on this season and lets just say both pairs I have no longer fit. ha. I had to wear mine slightly zipped and unbuttoned. After we geared up we realized we looks like little twins. So the whole walk Dan refereed to me as "Twinnie". We found a bench and took a picture so everyone could witness our twinnieness.

Hannah took some more photo's of me. Here's a sneak peak.

finally, boat trip photos

I guess they are better late than never. This Saturday was amazing outside. Hot, sunny, no wind, just beautiful. I am pretty certain it was our last stint of warmer weather. From here on out we will just be transitioning into winter. I hope and pray it will snow A LOT this winter. There is seriously nothing I love more than snow. I would take a beautiful snowy day over a beautiful sunny day, no joke. Snow is just so peaceful and quiet. Anyway, a few Saturdays ago Dan, my Dad and I took my Dads boat out. We cruised it around in the channel for a while then found ourselves a private beach to park on and have lunch. Jack ran around like a crazy dog. The tide was coming in pretty fast so we all got back in the boat and cruised around in the channel for a little while again. It was so beautiful out there. I did not get many photo's cause its hard to get good clear photo's on a bumpy boat ride. But I did get some. Enjoy!

Auke Bay Harbor as we were heading out

I love it when my Dad is happy!

Our private beach and private lunch

the harbor on our way back in

Smoking and Hair cuts

(sorry for the mirror version, I took this with photobooth)
So, for those of you who don't know, I work in a drive-up coffee stand. Pretty much I hang out of windows and hand people coffee all day. Sadly there is a large number of regular and not regular customers who come daily and smoke in my face. They have always done it and it has always made me furious. Now that I am pregnant I am taking a more serious stance against it. I made up some signs to hang in the windows quoting the local Second Hand Smoke Control Code. Hopefully this will help. If it wont make them STOP smoking at the window at least I have the quoted law in print to back me up with I argue with them about smoking at the window.

In other news I have an appointment to get my hair cut today. I am very nervous, because I am insanely attached to my hair. Last time I grew it long and cut it I cried for three days, no joke. Although I don't plan to cut much off it's always shocking how much has to come off to make it "healthy". Wish me luck.

week 18, already

week 18

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.
I cannot believe I am almost half done growing this baby. I still feel him/her move all day long (gets this from Dan), I think this will be my favorite part of being pregnant and probably the only part I will miss. Since the baby can hear I make a point of singing songs aloud when I am alone. I always get excited for Sundays worship at church, the baby will know all the worship song when he/she is born. The baby also gets to listen to Dan play the drums during worship. Ever since I told Dan the baby can hear him now he always greets the baby and lets it know he loves it A LOT. He's going to make the best Dad. I think Jack is sensing the baby in my belly, he likes to cuddle up around my tummy when we take naps or when I am just sitting around watching a movie or am on the internet. I am excited to see their first encounter. Oh yeah, I have also been doing my Kegel exercises, to strengthen my pelvic floor, everyday! Along with other ones to strengthen my transversus abdominis, the inner most abdominal muscle, I hear strengthening the muscle can help you push during labor. I figure its never to early to start working these muscle out!

Here's a quick photo I just took with photobooth (I do the other ones on Wednesdays). I just found these jeans at the consignment shop today. They are a size 4 and I can wear them comfortably, which is funny cause all my other jeans I can button but they definitely are not comfortable. I keep searching for clothes at the consignment shop that I am willing the stretch with a big pregnant belly. I am not willing to sacrifice my current wardrobe to the belly.

BIG belly

is it just me or did my belly double in size between these two weeks?
I did read that my baby will be have a big growth spurt from week 16 to week 19, maybe it just did all of its growing in one week. I can officially say I do not comfortably fit into any of my jeans anymore and I have been wearing dresses everyday for the last two weeks. Also my baby is moving around like crazy in there, it gets that from its dad! I have to say that feeling it move is one of the most wonderful things I have ever experienced. I can't wait for the little bean to grow more and move more so Dan can actually feel the movement. He still tries to catch the movements now, but I think the baby is too small to feel the movement from the outside. Ever since I stopped having morning sickness everything seems to be flying by. I can't wait for the next couple of months to unfold.

sunshine

I uploaded some photo's from our beach trip on Sunday. I still haven't charged my other camera to get the photo's from Saturdays boat trip but I will soon, promise.
Sunday was beautiful, again, and hot. So after church we went to the beach with some friends. Dan and I adopted our nephew Asher for the afternoon, took him to the beach and fed him hotdogs. It was so hot out almost everyone got into the 45ish degree water. It was a shocking but welcome relief from the hot sun beating down on us. We all knew this would probably our last stretch of good weather before fall starts coming. So we stayed at the beach all day!

Dan and Jeremy running into the water

Asher and Holly

Savanah

Oh yeah, I am also featured on the Sometimes Sweet blog. Click HERE to check it out!

week 17

sorry about the weird font, I have tried a million times to fix it and it wont fix it.
week 17

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

(sorry for the horrible Photo Booth photo, but I am lazy and pregnant)

Wow, I am 17 weeks pregnant. It went so slowly in the first trimester but now that I am in the second trimester time is just flying by. I think it is because I am seeing my belly grow and feeling the little bean move around in there. I feel most movement in the evening when I have settled down and am either watching a movie, reading or just laying down going to sleep. Sometimes it'll just be a little thump but most of the time its like 5-7 thumps in a row. Its so exciting I wish Dan could feel the baby moving in there, I think he would cry! I read that the baby can most likely hear my voice now, so whenever I am listening to music and a song comes on I sing it!


picture stolen from my Dad's facebook page

Anyway the weather has been beautiful and today Dan, my Dad and I took full advantage of it. We took my Dad's small boat over to an island in the channel and had a little picnic on a beach all to ourselves. (I have pictures but my camera is dead so I'll have to load them later) After we had lunch we cruised the boat around the channel for a while and then came back in. It was still early in the day so Dan and I took the scooter and motorcycle out for a ride in the valley (yes, I am pregnant and road my scooter) We went to the thrift store where I found some vintage retro fabric and a Levi's infant jean jacket! Then we went to the used book store and consignment shop. We each found something but not as cool as an infant jean jackets so its not worth mentioning. After we completed our typical Saturday shopping rounds we went and got some stuff to BBQ. Took it over to my Dad's house and cooked it up and had a delicious dinner to finished the beautiful day off with.
I hope tomorrow is beautiful, again!

sunshine

I am enjoying the warmth and sunshine before it is gone.
See you later.

matrnity photo's

My sister in-law Hannah took some maternity photo's of me a few weeks ago. We are going to try to do these every so often throughout my pregnancy. You can look at her photography blog here.

week 16

Something is definitely in there or I am just really bloated!
Yesterday I hit the 16 week mark and I have to say that I feel more pregnant now than before. Well, other than the puking my juts out part, but at that time I just felt like a sickly person not pregnant. I have a definite baby bump going on there, although it can still be mistaken for a fat belly at times. A customer last week commented to my co-worker about me "putting on weight" and once he told her I was pregnant she just said "Well, some women put on a lot of weight during pregnancy." When my co-worker told me this I got somewhat emotional and went to the bathroom to text Dan about my feelings on it. He made me feel better, like he always does. But to top it all off I saw her the next day and she didn't even mention anything to me about being pregnant. Which hurt my feeling even more. I have been serving this lady coffee with a smile and friendly "hello" for four years.
So, some might say its too soon to feel the baby move but I know I have felt movement from the baby.
week 16

Your baby measures up to an avocado, now, and weighs 3 1/2 ounces. (Length: 4 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)
Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Sunny days and evening walks

It has been sunny this past week so Dan and I took advantage of it by going on some long walks in the evenings. We ventured over to the brotherhood bridge trail since it is a short walk from our house. I love that trail cause there are so many options of off trails to take. Walking in the evening has been helping me sleep and also helping with my energy and just all around feeling good.
I took my camera on one outing and took some photo's, shared below. I want to express my frustration with my lens. The one I am using is one my sister left when she moved. It went to an old film Canon camera. It's a 50mm but is already zoomed .45m for taking photo's of close ups (like flowers). I find it insanely frustrating to use for photo's of any sort, although I do appreciate having it instead of not having one. Also it is older and I think it may be affecting to quality of photo's I am able to take. My dream is for a wide angle lens. When I take photo's with the lens I have I feel like all my photo's are being cut off and would be so much more dramatic with a wider angle.

I am so curious as to why some trees have these huge growths on them

Jacks favorite thing to do whenever we are around sand

I love the big leaves and color or devils club