12 Weeks

So yesterday Jonathan and I went to our 12 week appt. in Rosenberg at 3:45. They didn't have any openings in Wharton so that is why we had to travel to Rosenberg. It was nice faculty and everyone was really friendly. We didn't do much at this appt. All my blood levels looked fine and nothing was out of whack. We got to listen to the baby's heartbeat again and it was a strong, steady heartbeat! I love hearing that loud beating heart! Makes me smile every time!! :) The doc asked us a few questions and then we got to ask a few questions of concern. My main concern was my tailbone. I sit down quite a bit at work but try to get up and move around every once in a while. We also go walking every evening so I can get some exercise done too. But my tailbone hurts me a LOT! Especially when I sit for a long time but also when I move too fast. He said that it is normal and some people have it worse than others. He said that I should use a memory foam pillow to sit on and that should help with the pain. Other than that everything was good and it was a pretty fast appt. Oh, I also got my flu shot and whooping cough shot as well, one in each arm. They are both pretty sore today!! Afterwards we looked around at JCP and Home Depot until about 6 and then went an ate at the famous Gringos! It was so delicious!! I love that place! We both got our favorites. Mine is the Seafood Enchildas and Jonathan is the San Antonio Burrito. We both got so full and ate way too much! Our next appt. is in 4 weeks and I can't wait! Hopefully we will get to have an ultrasound and see our little munchkin!

Baby on Board

Surprise! We are expecting, July 4th! Apparently we had too much fun on our honeymoon! I originally wanted to wait a while before we had children but that wasn't in Gods plan for us. When we got back from our honeymoon everything was fine. Life went on and everything went back to normal for us. Work, school, and kids. About a week before I missed my period I woke up with a sore throat and my body ached! I was telling a friend and she said, "You better take a pregnancy test!" No way! I couldn't be! She said she felt that way right before she found out she was pregnant. I faced my fears and took the test. Negative. Whew! No big deal, I went to the doctor the next morning and he said I had a viral infection prescribed me a Z-pac and sent me on my way. I took the antibiotics and felt better within a few days. But I still didn't feel myself, not really bad, just different. I should have started on Monday but nothing. I really didn't think too much about it since I had recently taken a test and it showed negative. Saturday morning, Oct. 27th I woke up and just knew something wasn't right. I just felt different but couldn't place my finger on what though. It kept bothering me that maybe indeed I was pregnant. I decided to go ahead and just take a test again just to put my mind at ease. Before I could even flush the toilet 2 pink lines appeared! I was in total shock! Every thought went through my mind, excited, scared, happy, nervous, even an Oh Sh**! I didn't know how to react, I was in total surprise! I told Jonathan to go look in the bathroom, that is where I left the pregnancy test laying on the sink. He walked out and said, "Really?!" all I could do was shake my head yes. He was excited and asked if everything was OK? I just shook my head agreeing. He then asked, "Well can I at least have a hug?" LOL! I just hugged him with a blank stare. I was just still in shock! And really in disbelief!

I went to the doctors office and took a blood test that following Wednesday, Oct. 31st to verify we were really pregnant. I called the docs office an hour later and it was confirmed, we are expecting! They set up my 1st appointment for Nov.29th. I called Jonathan and told him the news and the excitement began. Now the only thing left was to decide when to tell our parents, friends, and family. We had originally planned to tell them after our 1st appointment just to make sure everything was OK. But Thanksgiving was right before it and we could tell EVERYONE then all at the same time. We contemplated back and forth on when to tell our parents and then everyone else. Finally, we decided to go ahead and tell everyone on Thanksgiving, except the kids and my parents. Sunday the day before Thanksgiving we went to 7am Mass, had breakfast with my parents afterwards and then went home to change and then head out to my parents house to help them cut up some deer meat. When we got home, I sat the kids down in the living room and handed them a poem to read out loud. It said: "We are thankful for so many things, our toys, our friends and so much more. But one thing we can all be thankful for, just maybe, Mom and Dad are having a baby!" They were all smiles! Rheanna asked, "Where is it going to stay?" I told her we were turning the spare/storage room into the baby's room. She was relieved, she just didn't want to share her room! On the other hand Jacob was more than happy to have the baby where ever. He even offered to share his room! But then had lots of questions like how can I have a baby? I am not fat! LOL! Love that lil' boy! Once all the excitement settled at our house we headed to my parents house. We had the kids read the same poem to them! Mom was a little in shock, kinda like how I was at first, but Dad was really excited!! He gave both of us a huge hug!! Fast forward to Thanksgiving day, I had shirts made for the kids that said Big Sister and Big Brother. So when we went to Thanksgiving this how we would tell them! First I had to make a call to my brother, JC. He had to work Thanksgiving and was stuck on the island off of Rockport. He was thrilled when we told him! I could feel the love on the other end of the phone. He will be the one to spoil this child rotten! We went to 3 different house on Thanksgiving so it made for one eventful day! Everyone was excited for us and we couldn't have been more happy!

Nov. 29th was our 1st appointment. Jonathan took off in the morning and joined me. We had our 1st ultrasound at 9. I was nervous but excited! When we got to see him or her for the 1st time my heart fluttered! Then she let us listen to the heartbeat, I was in awe and even got a little teary eyed. It was neat to see our little one on the screen and I can't wait until next time! Everything went well at the appointments, although this was one long appointment. Finally once I though we were done I was sent to do blood work. It didn't take long so it wasn't bad.
Symptoms I have been feeling:

• TIRED! I have been really tired! Anytime I would sit or relax for more than 10 minutes I will fall asleep. Although this last week I have gained more energy and aren't feeling soo wore out!

• Hello DD's! Within a months time I had to be re-fitted at Victoria Secret for new bras! I had too make several trips to different department stores too and find a sports bra that would fit and didn't have the razor back. Wearing a bra to bed now is a must! Need the extra support!  

• Nausea/Smells: I have gotten nausea a few times but nothing too too bad. I haven't had any morning sickness what so ever and haven't had to urge to vomit at all. On the other hand, there are certain smells that get to me. Stinky dogs like the labs at our house make my stomache turn. Smoke smell is starting to really get to me. Some of our Scentsy smells are a little too strong for me and give me a tummy ache. Not trying to gross anyone out but fart smells get to me the worst. I know they aren't suppose to smell like roses but MAN! Those make me gag the worst!

• No cravings really. Popcorn was a #1 on the list for a while but that has fizzled out now. Still love ranch! Ice Cream is beginning to make its presence known.

Everything else is going good. I haven't been running instead I walk every evening, not really to far seeing as it gets dark early now and I don't want to be on the roads after dark. Our next appointment is Dec. 20th this time we will have to go to Rosenberg which is fine maybe we can do some shopping while we are there! Here is a pic of the kids holding the pic of their baby brother or sister!

Can't believe how fast time flys......

I can't believe how fast time flies! I haven't been on here in a very, very long time! We were so busy with the wedding planning and also buying a new house! It has been quite crazy this year and now it is already coming to a close. :( I will try to catch everyone up to speed but hang on this will be one heck of a post!

On July 6th 2012 we bought our first home! We have been working towards this goal for quite some time now and eventually got the approval from our mortgage company...FINALLY! We found a cute 3 bedroom home with just the right amount of land to go with it. We are not in city limits but are right on the outside of it. We have great neighbors and many friends that live in the same area. Finally the kids have friends to play with! But before the moving could actually begin we had to CLEAN! It doesn't matter how many times you clean a place I always have to go back and clean it again my way. I guess its just a mental thing. But let me tell you we cleaned every nook and cranny in the house before we moved everything in. I painted both of the kids rooms with a neutral tan color. We replaced the carpet in the living room and also painted the living/dining room. Here are a few pics of the moving process:

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Dining/Entry Before

Dining/Entry After

These are just some of the before and after pics of the house. We have also done lots of work on the yard as well. Cut back all the trees, moved in some dirt in some low places, cut back in the flowerbeds, etc. We are currently working on the hallway. We have all new doors for bedrooms and bathroom, and now just need to paint hallway and trim. Our next big project will be the 'storage' room which will turn into the baby's room! We love our new home and are so much happier here with our own privacy and LOTS of room to run around! We sit on close to 2 acres of land.

The house took up most of our Summer but it was totally worth it. We did manage to get a break and do some camping down at Yogi Bear Park with my parents. This was the 1st year Jonathan and I have went. The kids went last year with my parents and had a blast! It was a great place with lots of different activities for the kids to enjoy! We will definitely be going back! We didn't make it down to the beach this year but did enjoy frequent trips to ELKS Lodge and to Uncle Billy's pond. It was a fun but FAST summer.

I almost forgot to mention: Wharton County Youth Fair 2012! We couldn't be more happy with the way everything turned out for Rheanna in her 1st year of 4-H. She raised Broilers this past year and did super duper excellent!! She got up every morning at 6:30 fed and watered the chicks and stirred the hauls. She continued this in the evening when she got home from school. There were quit a few times where she didn't want to do it but for the most part she did great. She started to learn more about responsibility and being dedicated even when you don't want too. All her hard work paid off when she won 9th place with her Broilers! She made the Top 10 and got to sale in the Sale of Excellence. I don't think she realized just how much of an accomplishment that is. If she continues to do well every year like this she will have a nice little nest egg saved for her College Fund.

Rheanna 2012 9th Place Broilers

On to our next BIG adventure our Wedding:
We had been planning our wedding for a about a year now. Everything was in order and ready to go. Friday, the day before the wedding, came and all the planning was in full force now. We had lots of help decorating the hall, thanks to a special friend, Virginia. She is a life-saver, she helped pull many of my ideas together and made the hall look spectacular! I couldn't be more happy with the way it all turned out. Then Saturday came, we got up bright and early and headed down to Brittany's Hair Diva to get our hair done, then headed to the church. All I can say about our wedding is WOW! Everyone and everything was beautiful. We had the best group of friends and family surrounding us. My dream had come true and this is a day I will never forget. I married my best friend, my true love, and soul mate. I will let the pictures speak for themselves:



Daddy walking his daughter down the aisle



Saying our vows



I now pronounce you Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Eide



Family Photo

Cutting Jonathans cake

Needless to say we had one heck of a time!!! It flew by too fast though! Like Jacob said, "I wish we could get married every month!" The kids had a blast as well. Thanks to everyone that come. We had so much fun and we are thankful to each and every one of you. You made our wedding a day we will never forget! Much love to all, especially my parents, Mike and Susie Orsak who made all of this possible! Thank you for putting up with all my crazy ideas but also for making all of them come true!

4-H Fashion Show

The Wharton County 4-H Fashion Show was this past Sunday at the Extension Office. I was truly surprised to find that there was only 6 entries in the entire Fashion Show! This is absolutely shocking to me. When I was in 4-H we had 5-6 contestants in EACH category, not 6 in total! But that's ok, we still came out ahead!! I have been practicing with Rheanna for the fashion show since last week, and it definitely paid off!!!! Rheanna was the only person who had competition in her group. She was either going to get 1st or 2nd. I was a nervous wreck!!!! We had practiced so hard, I just wanted her to win 1st. But I knew the little girl she was up against was a talker and not afraid of anything! But I just kept a positive attitude and told Rhea no matter what, I was proud of her!

They also had Round-Up the same day and time so we had to wait until Round-Up finished to hear the results. Finally, they announced the awards for the Fashion Show. Rheanna's group was the last one to be called: 1st Place in the Division of Buying Casualty...........Rrrhhean (speaker trying to pronounce her name).........I jumped up and said RHEANNA EIDE!!! I couldn't help it....LOL! I was one super duper proud Momma!!!




Rheanna receiving her 1st place award.



Winners of the Fashion Show. (The girl next to Rhea, was the one she was competing against!)

Daddy was also busy this past weekend working on Rheannas Chicken Coop. We are almost done. We should have it completed at the end of this weekend. Rheanna helped as much as she could.

There is a lot more work done on it now. We have all the tin up except for one side. All we need now is to finish the windows and door. And we should be Chicken ready!!!

Well Until Next Time, God Bless!

A Weekend of Success!

This weekend was the wonderful adventure of FREEZER MEALS! It was a great learning experience and I will definitely be doing it more often! But as of right now, I have plenty to tie me over for a while. I was hoping to get 14 meals done but I ran out of chicken and was only able to do 11 meals. I still think that is plenty, we will only use 3 meals per week so we have enough meals done for 4 weeks! I took pictures from the start to the ending of ALL meals done. So, here you go.....



All of the food to be prepared today!

Sunshine Chicken:  Here is the cast of characters....

Chicken Breast, BBQ sauce, Orange Juice, and Ziploc Bags

First: Cut chicken into chunks and place in Ziploc Bag

Measure 2 cups of BBQ sauce and pour into bag with chicken

Measure 1 cup orange juice and pour into bag.

  

Seal bag, and shake. Freeze flat. When ready to eat, defrost chicken, either place chicken in crock pot on low 6-8 hours. Or place chicken in baking pan and bake on 350 for 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken

The cast of characters: Chicken Thighs, Wing sauce, and Ranch dressing packet.

Place frozen chicken in Ziploc Bag. (Normally you would use Chicken Breast, but I had some Chicken Thighs that were already in my freezer, so I used those instead.)

Pour all of the Wing Sauce into Ziploc Bag with Chicken.

Then, add the packet of Ranch dressing.

Shake bag well. Freeze flat. When ready to eat, pour contents into Crock Pot and Cook on low for 6-8 hours depending on your crock pot.

Crock Pot Ranch House Pork Chops

The cast of characters: Pork Chops, Cream of Chicken, Ranch Dressing packet, and Ziploc Bags.

Place Pork Chops in Ziploc Bag. ( I put 4 Pork Chops to a bag)

Pour in Ranch Dressing packet to bag with Pork Chops

Next pour in Cream of Chicken Soup to bag. ( Yes, I'm a cheapy person and always buy the off-brand.)

Shake together well. Freeze flat. When ready to eat, place Pork Chops in Crock Pot on Low for 6-8 hours. Serve with garlic potatoes.

Teriyaki Chicken:

The cast of characters: Chicken Breast, pepper, salt, garlic, red onion, Teriyaki, pineapple chunks, and carrots.



Place half a can of pineapple chunks and half a bag of baby carrots in Ziploc bag.



Add 1/2 red onion to bag and 2 cloves of garlic, diced.

Cut Chicken Breast into chunks and place in bag.

Add salt

And pepper

Add 1/2 cup of Teriyaki Sauce to bag.

Seal bag and shake well. Freeze flat. When ready to eat, place in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with fried rice.

Lasagna Casserole:

The cast of characters: 1 package of Egg Noodles, 2lb. Ground Beef, green onions, bell pepper,  2 cups tomato sauce, 1 cup sour cream, and 2 cups cottage cheese.

Brown ground beef. Once done add 2 cups tomato sauce.  Stir.

Cook egg noodles according to package directions. Once done let cool in foil pan.

Mix together cottage cheese, sour cream, green onion, bell peppers, salt and pepper.

Place half of the egg noodles in pan, then layer cottage cheese mixture, place remaining noodles on top.

Top with beef tomato sauce. Cover with foil. Freeze. When ready to eat, place in oven on 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken:

The cast: Chicken Breast, 2 cloves garlic diced, 1/2 red onion, BBQ sauce, Soy Sauce, Honey, Coconut Milk, Crushed Red Pepper and Olive Oil

Cut chicken into chunks and place in Ziploc Bag.

Add 1/4 tsp. of red pepper

Add 1/4 tsp. of pepper

Next add 1 TBS. Honey

Add 2 TBS. of Soy Sauce

Add 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce

Shake coconut milk well before opening! Add 1/2 cup canned milk.

Seal bag and shake well!! Freeze. When ready to eat, defrost chicken and cook chicken in skillet on stove top or place chicken in crock pot on low for 8 hours. (I know it looks kinda gross, but it is suppose to be very very yummy!!!!)

Meatloaf:

The cast: 1 1/2 lb. ground meat, 1/2 bell pepper (diced), 1/2 onion (diced), 1/2 sleeve of crackers (crushed), 2 eggs, salt, pepper, and 3/4 cup of milk.

****Oh and I promise there is nothing wrong with the meat, we just make our own ground meat by using venison and pork, so it has a different color to it!!

Combine all ingredients together and mix well.

Place meat mixture in bag and shape loaf size. Freeze. When ready to eat, place in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

That's 11 Meals!!!

Whoa! That was a lot of food!!! It took me a few hours to prepare everything and probably would have been shorter but I was taking lots of photos as well. I started everything around 1 in the afternoon and had the entire kitchen cleaned and wiped down by 4:30. It was fun preparing everything in one afternoon and it is awesome knowing when I come home on busy practice days, we will already have a meal waiting on us!!

Well Until Next Time, God Bless!