Freezer meals and pregnancy

This is going to be a long post.  Brace yourself or just stop reading here. 

FREEZER MEALS

If you read the last post you know that I decided to start making some freezer meals.  Maybe not full blown meals but everything is complete to the point of actually cooking.  I cooked 8 lbs of ground beef with onions, carrots and green bell peppers.  I seriously never thought of adding carrots or green peppers but man, does it smell delicious!  The carrots are a bonus because you can't really taste them.  You see the reason why I can't post pictures?  I can't get over the lines.  Yuk!  I'll do my best to describe what I did and the photos aren't posting in order.  Wonderful.  Bleh.

Anywho...I went to two stores, Kroger and Food Town.  I got most of my produce from Food Town and they didn't have any marked down meat so I stopped by Kroger on the way home and hit the jackpot!  I spent a total of $71 at Food Town and $101 at Kroger. If I was a coupon clipper, I'm sure I would have banked but that's ok.  It was my first time buying like this so I'm cutting myself some slack.  Within these two stores I bought a lot of things that will last our family at least 2-3 months.  Flour, sugar, nuts, oatmeal, pasta, butter and cream cheese.  I also purchased a new muffin tin and a huge mixing bowl.  By my calculations I spent less than $130 (not counting above items) and got at least 2 weeks worth of food.  It's probably more like 3-4 weeks according to John.  This ground beef is lean and was marked down to $2.59/lb.  This 5 lb bag of carrots was on sale for $3.50 so I bought two.  The green bell peppers were 5/$1.00 and the onions were $.59/lb.  WHAAAAAT!  I was so proud of myself.  Looking back, I should have loaded up on the onions and bell peppers. I won't bore you with every bit of produce that was purchased but I will say that I got a lot of produce.  I bought 2 large heads of cauliflower and pureed it, added a little bit of cheese and viola!  I've found that cauliflower is awesome but I have a texture issue.  I know this and I'm ok with sneaking it into meals whenever I possibly can.  I literally added probably 2 cups of shredded cheese to the entire batch of pureed cauliflower and got a perfect cheese sauce for pasta or any other dish that needs a cream or cheese base.  What you're seeing below in quart size freezer bags:  4 bags of the cauliflower/cheese mix, 4 bags of shredded carrots, 2 bags of pasta sauce (with broccoli puree) and finally 2 bags of broccoli puree that can be added very quickly to a casserole, chili or any thing else you may desire.  BTW- a five pound bag of carrots makes A LOT of shredded carrots.  :)

With the Kroger meat madness, I scored some pork chops, skirt steak, sirloin and a rump roast.  I need to figure out what to do with the rump roast but the others are super easy.  If you find some meat marked down but you don't want to have it this week, go ahead and buy it.  Portion it appropriately and drop in some quart size freezer baggies with your favorite marinade and there ya go.  Freeze it and it will marinade as it thaws. 

PREGNANCY #2
If you have ever had a breathing problem then close your eyes, remember what that feels like and that has been my life for the past 2-3 weeks.  The shortness of breath and labored breathing have been manageable up to this point.  I've had asthma all of my life and these symptoms are no stranger to me.  My triggers have always been sudden weather changes, some pet dander and exercise.  I'm currently taking weekly progesterone shots for preterm labor and I'm very excited to see if I can take them up to 37 weeks, which is the maximum. 

I noticed after each shot for the first two weeks I experienced some shortness of breath but it only lasted a couple of days.  I mentioned this to the home health nurse during her Thanksgiving week visit but a cold front had just come through so I told her I wasn't sure if it was the weather changing or the shot causing my symptoms.  She told me to just watch it and keep her and my doctor posted. I thought this was reasonable so I got my shot on Tuesday and on Wednesday we drove to Marshall to visit my family for Thanksgiving.  Wednesday evening was awful.  I was coughing and couldn't catch my breath.  It felt like a mild asthma attack.  Took some meds and was fine.  Since that Wednesday, I have used my rescue inhaler every 3-4 hours consistently.  This isn't healthy.  I no longer have a primary care physician here in Houston since I went to work for Memorial Hermann.  Not that they don't have any, but I wanted to keep my same doctor and he is not affiliated with this hospital.  Tuesday of this week I couldn't take it anymore.  I cracked my nebulizer and needed a new one and all of my albuterol solution was 8 years expired.  After calling my insurance company to see if they would cover the cost of a new one, I went to the RediClinic at our local HEB to get a prescription order for new albuterol vials and an order for the nebulizer.  I found a company that carries the specific nebulizer that I truly want and it won't get here for approximately 2 weeks.  Ugh.  Luckily my neighbor is letting me borrow her son's nebulizer until mine arrives. 

If you ever need a nebulizer I highly recommend the OMRON brand.  They last forever and their customer service is great.  Being a nurse, I've seen many nebulizers which I'm sure are fine and they work (that's all that matters when it comes down to it) but they always tend to fail after repeated use.  Here's a photo of the one I want:This sucker is 5 inches tall, 2 inches in depth and uses some sort of fancy ultrasonic technology so that all medicine in the vial is vaporized.  WOOHOO!  Talk about truly portable.  I'll get my mom to send me a photo of the 20 lb machine I used from infancy until about the age of 16.  It's funny to see the difference. 

See wha ha happened was...

This will be the third time I started this blog post and for some reason when I start uploading photos the site goes berserk.  So...

I know, I know.  It's been a really long time since I've updated my blog.  It was always something I would get to later.  Woops.

Quick updates:  
Where are you working now? 
I now work at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in the OrthoTrauma service line.  It's very busy. 

What's going on with your family?
Harper Anne just turned 2 years old last week!  If this site will work with me, I'll post a video from her party.  I knew she was going to want an Elmo birthday party but leave it to my kid.  I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted and she clearly said, 'football'.  Wait, what?  Yes, my child asked for a football birthday party.  Immediately after she told me this she ran around the house screaming, 'Go Auburn-War Eagle'.

I'm currently trying to upload a picture of her cake but again, this site isn't uploading my photos correctly.  Boy do I love the quality of the video...I'm seriously considering moving my blog.  Ugh.

We are expecting baby #2 during the first week of April and IT'S A BOY!  My due date has been every day of the first week of April which is laughable because it really doesn't matter.  Doc says that if I can make it to 34 weeks, the baby will be 'safe'.  Uhhhh....how about we set our goals slightly higher?!  I'm pushing for 37.  Always the optimist I suppose.  Honestly making it to the first week of March would be awesome. 


This pregnancy has been very different.  I wouldn't say difficult but it has been emotionally and physically exhausting.  I've had several complications and I was put on bedrest at 17 weeks.  Loads of fun.  I had a cerclage placed at 14 weeks and began contractions shortly after.  We tried the Terbutaline but it just wasn't effective at reducing contractions but was very effective at raising my heart rate to a very unhealthy level.  Nifedipine was what I was prescribed with Harper Anne so we tried it and SUCCESS!  I'm still having contractions but they are occurring at an acceptable rate and duration.  Remember that 2 year old I have?  The term 'modified bedrest' gets pushed to the limit. 

Tomorrow I will post about my new obsession with getting freezer food prepared and divided into appropriate portions.  Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos also.  

Wow!

My last post was on my birthday....LAST YEAR!  It is truly amazing how much things have changed since I last updated.   :)  I know, I know.  Harper Anne is 13 months old and is a firecracker to say the least.  The pictures included in this post are from her one year photo session. 

Harper Anne is a very independent, loving, energetic girl.  She absolutely LOVES to dance.  I will include a video of her dancing in my next post (which I promise will be this next week not 8 months from now).  I'm still nursing which is proving to be awesome when it comes to her being in daycare.  Yep.  She's in daycare.  I still cry when I think about this.  I don't like trusting other people with my most precious treasure.  I have a very hard time with this.  It wouldn't be so bad if she could talk and tell me what happened at her school that day or who her friends were at school.  That I could handle a little better.  Instead, I'm handing over my child to people I don't know who promise they've done their due diligence in screening their teachers and helpers.  With that said, Harper Anne is only there for about 5 hours each day and her teachers are so nice.  They really want Harper Anne to adjust well and that's proving to be harder the second week than the first.  On her first day of school, I walk in with her on my hip and we are in the lobby when the office manager asks me to sign a form.  I put Harper Anne down for a moment and was talking to the office manager when Harper Anne starts digging in her bag on the floor.  She pulls out her blanket and walks off.  That's not the kicker.  She throws her arm up and yells 'Bye'.  The office manager looks at me and asks if she heard her correctly.  I said 'yes' with a huge lump in my throat.  It was at that point, I realized she was not a baby any longer.  She had grown up.  Where in the world did she get this independence?  I blame her daddy.  :)

I went back to work but we were fortunate enough for me to be able to stay home with Harper Anne for 13 months.  It was awesome!  I love being a Registered Nurse.  Although there's so much pressure, a experienced a moment last night that made me realize what being a nurse is all about.  Last night my shift ended at 10pm.  We were filling out some paperwork around 10:45pm when the next shift's CNA came to tell us about the blood pressure of one of the patients. It was seriously elevated.  Looking through her chart and the vitals I had taken earlier, we realized that this wasn't normal so I went in and was prepared to take it again.  I knocked on her door and tried to open it.  The door had no give and wasn't opening at all.  I could tell the light was out so I called for her and she quietly told me to give her a minute.   I heard the scooting of furniture as the door finally opened.  The sweetest, most innocent face of a fearful elderly woman greeted me and apologized.  She apologized for putting furniture in front of the door but told me she was scared and isn't used to being alone. 

She has been a resident for almost 4 months and has dementia.  On her bedside table was a small shrine to her husband who had passed away a few months before she was admitted and a couple of seriously old magazines.  As I walked her back over to her bed, she began to get teary eyed telling me over and over that she was sorry.  She said that she couldn't lay down because she was so nervous.  I explained to her that we needed to take some slow, deep breaths.  She asked if I would sit with her and hold her hand.  It was at that point, I couldn't deny the similarities between her and my Meme.  My Meme had dementia, previously moved some furniture in front of her room door and was fearful at one point towards the end.  I immediately went in to granddaughter mode.  I wasn't just her nurse.  I was someone who she hoped would calm her fears and help her. 

In nursing school they always tell you that your presence is therapeutic.  I'm sure I understood this at the time but not in the capacity that I did last night.  Yes we called the doctor and yes we kept taking it to make sure that it had gone down from 216/171.  That 'stuff' got done because it's nursing 'stuff'.  The 'stuff' that I was happy to do: pray with her, share a kind word with her and give her the reassurance (along with some Ativan) that everything was going to be alright.  That kind of 'stuff' is what tells me that I'm doing exactly what I need to be doing in my life right now. 

I drove home crying.  When I got in bed to find my wonderful husband and munchkin asleep, I started to wonder if someone did those things for my Meme.  I prayed for the first time on my own last night.  Not for the very first time but for the first time in a long time.  I'm crying as I write this knowing that it probably doesn't make sense.  That's ok.  I know that up in Heaven all of my grandparents are looking down at me smiling.

So long...

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted.  A lot has gone on.  Harper's 5 month birthday on the 24th, we visited my family this past weekend and my birthday is today.  Harper is becoming so active but still remains my little 'sleep-fighter'.  I'm really surprised how her personality is really starting to show. 

I've got more pictures on the camera but am too tired to look through my bag and find my camera-to-computer cord. 

Exam

The end of this week I'm scheduled to take my Exit Exam for school.  I only have a few more days of studying left and I'm thoroughly enjoying taking breaks with my early birthday present.  Harper and I are walking several miles a day (almost every day) weather permitting.  I'm not a big jogger but would like to be.  Jogging stroller manufacturers recommend that you not jog with an infant under six months old.  That's my excuse for walking just a little while longer.  When she turns six months old, I'll have to come up with something else.   :)   In reality, I'll keep walking with my neighbor because I really enjoy walking with her - she's too much fun!

I mentioned that we went to the hairbow place last week and took some pictures.  Harper had such a great time!

Speaking of Harper having fun...she got a new toy.  She absolutely loves it! 

I should really get back to studying.  I took a short break to run some errands for school, worked on my special project and if the weather were better, I can guarantee you that I would procrastinate more by taking Harper for a walk but I must get back to studying!  I told John that I was starting to get really nervous and he had a great point:  if for some reason I don't pass, I can take it up to three times and I'll know what to study for next time.  That's actually been my motto for months but I only have a few more days...

Picture Day!

Today was picture day.  We drove to Katy for some pictures at JC Penney and a photo shoot at a hairbow store. We had such a wonderful time!

Harper is teething.  If you've ever been around a child that's teething, you know what we're going through.  The greatest part about her teething today? She was an absolute angel while we were taking pictures at Penney's AND at the hairbow place!  While at Penney's she got fussy towards the end but she was hungry.  At the hairbow place, she was so calm.  We were there for at least 2 hours and she was just hanging out like a big girl.  They were having a photo shoot and needed some kids to model their merchandise.  She was so well behaved - she was acting better than other girls much older than her.  She was hammin' it up and cooing, laughing and talking to the owners and photographer.  I can't wait to see how some of them turned out!

Below are some pictures from Penney's.  They are copyrighted but it explicitly says on their web page to 'click here' to download the photos.  Go figure.  Since they give you instructions on how to download them, I assume that it's ok to put them on my blog.  If not, I'm sure I'll get a letter.  :)

Loving this weather!

Harper and I couldn't be happier that the weather is finally great!  It's been beautiful with the exception of Saturday when we had decided at the last minute to go to the Texas Bluebonnet Festival.  We woke up early Saturday morning to rain and the weather map proved that there was more to come.  Oh well. 

We've been really great about staying outside and getting some sun.  Taking as many precautions as possible, Harper loves being outside.  Yes, I realize that I have the whitest child on earth but we still get out and have a good time.  We try to walk with our neighbor as often as both of our schedules permit.  At first, we walked around the neighborhood.  Then we got a hair-brained idea to walk to CVS which is a little over 2 miles from our homes.  Then we decided to walk to Walgreens which is a little further because of the sidewalk (I try to acknowledge EVERY step we take).  We walked to HEB which we thought was a lot further than it actually was.  Even though we were disappointed in the mileage (it's roughly the same distance as CVS), a small treck doesn't have a sidewalk which makes it slightly tougher.  It also gives us the opportunity to change up our routine if we need to go to the grocery store.  Our next big hike will be to Kroger which will be 7 miles round trip. 

I'm looking for a jogging stroller.  My neighbor loves hers and takes it on our walks.  I'm looking for a gently used one solely because I don't want to spend $300+ on something I don't need but simply want.  Doesn't make sense to me.  Hopefully I can find one on Craigslist or in a resale shop. 

I have a ton of pictures of Harper that I'm going to post.  These were taken over the last 2 weeks.  Some of them I've emailed and others I just haven't had the time to send out. 

Harper is the greatest baby ever!

Harper's first Easter.  Above are pictures of our very busy but fun weekend!  We got the chance to hang out with family and old friends.  It was great catching up and introducing Harper to everyone.  Thanks Anne for the blog entry title!

FOOD!

Tonight Harper had her first bite of food which was avocado.  It was so cute.  She already knows where the camera is.  Oh Lord, we've created a monster - a very cute, messy monster!