33 Weeks

I haven't taken any maternity pictures of myself with this baby. Shame on me. Everytime I think about doing it, it never happens. I just can't seem to get myself organized, made up or even put makeup on. But next week, I am determined to get some done and then I will share.

Here I am with Sunny at the exact time I am with this baby now.  It seems like yesterday. Pregnancy with Sunny was a breeze. I felt so good. I can't say this time around I feel the same way, but hey, nothing is expected to be the same. Sunny was a very fussy baby. Maybe this one will be mellow. She is having a huge dance party right now, keeping me up. I do love it, especially those hiccups.

I was definately smaller. They say you are bigger each subsequential pregnancy and that is true.

I am so hungry all the time too. I crave nothing but bread all the time. Ohhhhh, a slice of crusty artisan bread or a sour dough bread bowl filled with my favorite soup. I just dream of the savory.

As far as how I feel comfortable wise. Well, she has dropped it seems and is always right on my bladder, making me pee about every 10 minutes. The pressure is not the best feeling. I know with Sunny I had the exact same thing going on, but experienced it about 37 weeks instead. She had dropped so low I couldn't even be checked for dilation without being sedated in the hospital. It was that bad. This time around, I have a feeling I might just tick off those nurses once and again who insist they need to check me and I am fighting them. It's my body for crying out loud. Do as I say!

Here is a little update on Sunny.  She is still fully potty-trained. talking very fast, and stopped taking naps. After two consecutive naps in one week last month, I got a little excited and felt she had changed. But, no naps. I just got to accept it.  She starts pre-school this week and will be gone 6 hours a week. I am so nervous, anxious, and excited about it.

I hope we're off to a great school year!

Slow Cooker Beans & Rice With Sausage

Several months ago, Rodney and I became dept free. Afterwards, we came up with a plan and made a budget for our family that we could hang on the wall and see at all times.  Since we are big on investments for our future, we knew a lot of money would be going towards that, plus our fixer upper house.  With me being a stay at home mom, we knew additional sacrifices would need to come into play with our food budget.  Budgeting is not the easiest practice for me, but with said list we came up with, it has been a huge reminder that our food budget needs to stay within a certain amount each month. We decided between 70-80 dollars a week sounded good and so far, it has worked well.  I actually thought that was going to be impossible, but with careful menu planning, it has been easier then I thought.

When planning out weekly menus and avoiding eating out as much as possible, I found that our biggest and cheapest staples are potatoes, rice, beans, flour, and tortillas.  We tend to buy in bulk to save money and find that by doing so, our food budget stays right on point.

Rodney served his mission in Florida and was exposed to a lot of Cuban food. Cuban food which is similiar to Brazillian food, is centered around a lot of rice and beans.  I have no problem with rice as I ate a lot of it when I lived in Hawaii for a year.  We prefer jasmine white rice over brown rice anyday and find it's one of the most versatille foods to work with.

 I have so many recipes I want to share, but I will start with this one.

Served alongside steamed brocolli or a crisp salad, this meal is one of our favorites. Not only delicious in every aspect, but toddlers seem to like beans.  If you have a very picky toddler as I do, try introducing beans to them.

Slow Cooker Beans & Rice W/Sausage

• 1 cup diced yellow or white onion
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 4 (15-ounces each) cans kidney beans, undrained
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons coarse or freshly cracked black pepper (see note above)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 1/2 pounds kielbasa or chicken sausage, sliced 
• Hot, cooked brown rice, white rice or quinoa for serving
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DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all the ingredients except the kielbasa/sausage in a medium slow cooker and give it a good stir. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. Add the sausage and cook until warmed through (anywhere from 20 minutes to another hour).
2. Add additional salt to taste before serving. Serve over hot, cooked rice (white or brown) or quinoa.

recipe source Melskitchencafe.com