Peanut Butter and Chocolate Protein Bars

I've learned throughout this pregnancy that getting enough protein is SO SO SO important. I aim for 75-100 grams of protein every day. Sometimes that's really hard. Especially when I'm having a "sweet tooth" day. I've come up with a solution to my problem....peanut butter and chocolate protein bars.

Here's what's in them:

1/4 cup whole almonds
1 (15.5 oz) can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup honey (or agave nectar)
1/2 chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate)
1-2 Tbsp. coconut oil

1. Grind almonds in a food processor until they are super fine. Dump in a mixing bowl.
2. Put drained and rinsed chick peas in food processor and pulse until pasty. Dump in mixing bowl with almonds.
3. Add peanut butter and honey into bowl. Stir all ingredients to combine.
4. Press mixture into a wax paper lined 8X8 pan.
5. Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a small bowl.
6. Spread melted chocolate and coconut oil mixture over bars.
7. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let chocolate harden.
8. Enjoy!
*Keep protein bars in refrigerator and cute off a chunk when want a treat!

These are a yummy, healthy way to get some protein and enjoy a little something sweet. If you close your eyes and think of rainbows and unicorns, these can even taste like those delicious Reese's peanut butter eggs.

36 Weeks

 

We're less than one month away from our due date. I keep telling myself that the most we will have to wait to hold our little girl is 6 weeks! That's not long to wait! I'm continuing to live by little dates to help pass the time...doctor's appointments, lunch dates, church meetings, family coming, Duck Dynasty season premier...every day gets us that much closer to our life changing. My plan is to stay busy and active until the day she decides to make her arrival. 

My goals for this week:

• Get freezers cleaned out
• Start some freezer cooking
• Wash up her sheets, blankets, towels, etc.
• Get her closet more organized and shower gifts put away

35 Weeks

 35 weeks = 35 days = 5 weeks until our due date! It's hard to believe we're just 5 weeks from our due date. We found out that we were expecting at 5 weeks and now we only have 5 weeks left (hopefully)!

I'm still feeling great and so thankful for a good pregnancy. We were blessed with a shower this weekend. Our church family is so loving and supportive. The shower was beautiful and Little Miss is definitely going to be one well-dressed little girl! It was so much fun to open all the gifts, then take them home and look through them all again. I'm thankful my mom and sister were able to come for the shower. We had a wonderful weekend together and it was special to have them here.

Me with my mom and sister

Amazingly adorable diaper cake! I absolutely loved it!

33 Weeks

We had another great week! I had an appointment this week and everything is looking great. I did have an ultrasound to check on our little girl's weight, because my fundal height and my weight were the same two appointments in a row. Little Miss was being a little stubborn and hiding her head during the ultrasound, but the tech was able to get enough measurements to say she is right on track. She weighs 4 lbs 3 oz, which is perfectly average. It was fun to know how she is positioned and get confirmation for what body parts I'm feeling.

We spent our 33 week mark celebrating at Disney! I had to have a picture for proof. :)

32 Weeks

We're down to less than 2 months until our due date! Of course, I'm trying to keep in my mind that Little Miss could actually be an April baby. I am so thankful this pregnancy has been so smooth this far. I was telling someone the other day that I don't feel like I'm 7 months pregnant. I was feeling winded after doings something a few days ago and couldn't figure out why. Later that evening Little Miss kicked me pretty high up and I realized that she is now squishing my lungs more, thus feeling winded. It just hadn't occurred to me that we're at that point in the pregnancy. I kept thinking "such and such will happen later." Well, here we are at "later."

I am loving how the nursery is coming along. I'm not stressing about getting it done too quickly, mainly because I have other things to take care of. But I also don't want to just be sitting around in the last few weeks, which are probably going to be the longest anyway, waiting for her to come. I probably won't post any more pictures of the nursery until I can do a whole nursery reveal post! :)

Homemade Dog Food

Wesley has some reoccurring skin issues. It first happened last year shortly after we moved to Florida. After being on and off steriod treatments for a while, the vet suggested we switch him to a grain-free food. We made the switch and it seemed to help. But the past couple of weeks he's started itching again and chewing himself raw. I'm sure it's an allergy to something growing this time of year, since this is around the same time it happened last year. Maybe he's just trying to be like me with my allergies going CRAZY!

Anyway, when we were visiting my family at Christmas, my aunt suggested I try making Wesley's food. I did a little research and thought it sounded reasonable. I made the first batch yesterday and it was really easy. Wesley has had 2 servings and he loves it! I think he licked his bowl for 10 minutes after he finished eating last night.

It took me around an hour to make the food, let it cool, and package it up. I was able to make 8 1/2 days of food for around $5. It's not a huge savings from buying his special dry food, but hopefully it will make a difference with his skin condition.

This batch included: 1 lb ground beef, 12 oz pkg. frozen mixed vegetables, half pkg frozen spinach, 1 apple, 2 eggs, 2 carrots, and 2 sweet potatoes, and some olive oil.

It made enough for 8 1/2 days of food. Because the food doesn't contain any fillers like dry dog food, he doesn't need to eat as much.

This Week's To-Do List

We're at 31 weeks pregnant and definitely consumed with baby preparations. After a crazy few weeks and a really blessed, but busy weekend of church, I am ready to spend much of this week focused on getting ready for Little Miss. Here's my list of projects I'm hoping to complete this week:

•  Prenatal consult with a pediatrician and schedule another
• Finish bedding - - crib skirt, quilt, and accent pillows
• Yarn Ball Mobile

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• Our version of an alphabet wall

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30 Weeks

I really don't like this picture of me (hello fake smile and blurry face), but I had already changed out of my clothes before I looked at it on the computer.

This has been such a fun and exciting week! We painted the nursery, got the furniture, and I've been sewing like crazy! I think I might be nesting. :) It feels so good to finally be getting things in place for Little Miss, instead of just piling everything up in the guest room closet. I'm hoping to have made even more progress by the end of this week.

Here's a couple of little glimpses  for now...

28 Weeks

27 Weeks

I can't believe we're already in the 3rd trimester! It is exciting to think that we're so close to having our little girl. We definitely have a lot to do before she arrives and I'm ready to hit the to-do list hard. We got the nursery cleaned out this week and it's ready to be painted after the holidays. I also started a few sewing projects this week. I made a super soft blanket that matches her car seat and started working on her quilt.

Little Miss gave us a bit of a scare this week. Tuesday evening I realized I wasn't feeling her move like I normally do in the evening. I couldn't remember if I had felt her move at all that day or much the day before. I got a little concerned, but tried not to panic just yet. I knew I had been really busy, running errands and on my feet most of the two days, so it might have been that I just wasn't as aware of her moving. The OB had given me a little cheat sheet of common concerns and solutions to use as a first resource before calling the office. I followed the directions on there and drank some sweet tea, ice water, and ate something. The sheet said to do that and lay down in the position you feel the baby the most. If I didn't feel movement within 2 hours, I was to call the doctor. I did all that and prayed fervently. At about 5 minutes after the 2 hour mark, I was about to call the number when I felt her start to move. It wasn't a lot of movement, but enough to relieve my fears. I went on to bed and woke several times in the night to her moving. The  next morning she was moving and dancing all over the place, which made me so happy. Since that night (Tuesday), she's been more active in the mornings and not as much in the evening. That little scare certainly made me even more thankful for each of her little kicks and wiggles.

A Tale of the Furby

If you've watched any TV or been out to the stores at all this holiday season, you have probably seen this lovely creature. Every time I walk by one in the store, I start to shake and whine. These things scare me.

Once upon a time when the Furby was the hot new item the first time around, we had one. I think it was actually my sister's, but I still suffer nightmares. Oh it was fun at first. It was soft, cute (in a strange kind of way), and did cool things. He would talk, move across the floor, and even laugh. I'm sure he had a name, but I can't remember. The fun didn't last very long though. We soon grew tired of Mr. Furby, probably all too quickly for the amount of money our parents spent on him. Mr. Furby had to go. But, knowing our parents generously forked out the dough, we couldn't just throw him away. Mr. Furby needed to die. We tried to bury Mr. Furby in the bottom of a box of toys. But at night, as we were just about to go to sleep, we would hear the demented voice coming from the dark box. I can't remember exactly what he said, but I think it was usually asking to be fed. We tried dropping him down the steps, but he survived. We tried locking him in the dark basement for several days, but he survived. We smothered him with blankets, yet he survived. All the while, his voice box becoming more worn out and demented sounding. I don't recall what we eventually did to Mr. Furby. He probably got stuffed in a box in the garage. I think my mom said she just recently found him and threw him away.

The Toys R Us website has this little tidbit of information about the new Furby:  

"Furby is the ever-popular, interactive toy that has a mind of its own. Who your Furby becomes is entirely up to you. Talk to it, tickle it, play music for it, even feed it! But keep in mind - your Furby will develop its own personality based on how you treat it."

So apparently we made the Furby mean, needy, and demented by our cruel treatment?!?! I doubt being nice to the thing would have made much of a difference. 

If you have young children or you are buying a gift for a child, do yourself a favor and stay far away from the Furby. Sure the updated version is a little cuter with the fun colors. They look attractive and all the "cool" kids are asking for one. But don't do it. Save yourself the years of annoyance and money not well spent. I threatened to buy one for my niece and nephew for Christmas, but I'm a nicer Aunt than that. I do hope my sister likes her gift though....

25 Weeks

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is a very special day! Happy Birthday to my Mom! I'm thankful for her dedication, example, and love!

23 Weeks

Chris, Baby Girl, and I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Illinois with my family. The weather was perfect and the food was delicious! It was good to spend time with some good friends and our family. It's exciting to think that our little girl will be here the next time we see most of my family!

Reveal Party

When we found out we were expecting, I didn't want to find out the gender of the baby but Chris did. So I agreed that we could find out if we could have a fun reveal party and keep the name a secret until the baby is born. I had been seeing ideas for gender reveal parties floating around Pinterest and I practically had the whole party planned before we were even pregnant.




We had our anatomy scan last Tuesday and had the ultrasound tech seal the gender pictures in an envelope. I delivered the envelope to the lady making our cake on Wednesday and picked it up on Saturday. I wasn't the least bit tempted to peek during the ultrasound, take a peek before delivering the envelope, look at the CD we had made of the ultrasound pictures, or even look in the envelope when I picked the cake up on Saturday. But when I brought the cake home and set it on the counter, the thought hit me that the answer to our big question was right behind the layer of icing. I had a slight moment of wanting to cut into it, but knew it would ruin the whole party.

We had about 70 people over to our house for the party Sunday evening. We had just finished up a wonderfully blessed meeting at Little Union which started on Thursday night. Everyone was exhausted, but it was a fun ending to the weekend. 

The cake turned out so great! I also wrapped Hershey's bars in pink or blue paper showing "she" or "he."

A big thank you to Sis. Bobbie Jo and Sis. Abbey for putting the backdrop wall together. This was the first time I made the tissue paper pom poms. They were really easy to make and turned out really cute!

 

Pink and blue punch. We also had chili and a baked potato bar.

Team Blue - - the losing team!

Team Pink

Trying to get Skype set up for my family and Chris' family to be a part of the party.

Deciding how we're going to cut the cake

The big moment! I was completely shocked it was pink! I was sure it was going to be blue.

Still completely shocked!

Making sure our family can see it's PINK!

Chris cut the other end of the cake to be sure it was pink the whole way through! :)

Checking the ultrasound to be sure

 

Cute blanket from the Hulls

It's a GIRL!!!

The cake was yummy!

The party was a lot of fun and so special. It is definitely one of my favorite memories of the pregnancy so far. It turned out even better than I could have ever planned. We love our church family and loved being able to spend this special moment with them. I was also glad to be able to have our families be a part of it. It took a while for it to sink in that we're having a little girl. I had been so sure from the beginning of the pregnancy that we were having a boy. Every time I thought about the baby or would start planning things, I would just think about a boy. When I woke up Monday morning, it really hit me and I'm so excited! I'm already planning my trips to Joann's and Hobby Lobby. I have a list started of things I want to make.

I can't wait to start on the nursery. We have the yellow and grey fabric bought already. We had decided that if it was a boy we were going to do navy accents and aqua accents if it was a girl. So yellow, grey, and aqua it is!

The name is still going to be kept a secret until she's born. That's not going to be a problem at this point because we're not close to having it picked out. 

21 Weeks

Love, love, love this week! So excited to know that we're having a sweet baby girl! My mind has started spinning with all the the ideas of things to sew, make, and buy!

20 Weeks

A List of Ten

A list of ten things I love about fall:

1. Pulling out the fall clothes and feeling like I have a new wardrobe (Although my growing body means a lot of clothes don't fit. So I'm dreaming of a new wardrobe - - leggings, sweater dresses, boots, skinny jeans, cardigans...)
2. Soups, chili, and baked treats
3. Waking up to a chill in the house and snuggling with a blanket on the couch
4. Starting the coffee pot right away and enjoying a steamy mug with pumpkin spice creamer
5. Being able to go on a walk at any time of day and not feel like I'm going to die
6. Having the doors and windows open
7. Colorful fall sunsets
8. Knowing Thanksgiving is right around the corner
9. Enjoying the abundance of pumpkin flavored yummies
10. Knowing our electric bill is getting a little break from having the a/c off!

Fall has always been my favorite season. Growing up in Illinois, my list of fall favorites was a little different. It would include bonfires, seeing the leaves change, and pulling out the jackets. Since we've moved to Florida, I have had to adjust to a new fall season. Even though it took a long time to get here, I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures and no humidity!

Meal Plan

It's been a long time since I've posted what we're eating around the Crouse House, but Brittany inspired me!

Monday: Chicken, broccoli, and cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce
Tuesday: Red beans and rice, cornbread
Wednesday: Pizza or chili
Thursday: Chili/Frito pie
Friday: Out of town
Saturday: Out of town
Sunday: Out of town

19 Weeks