3rd Trimester & All I Want Is Sleep!

I don't know how some pregnant women deal with being pregnant plus a highly demanding job. I'm sure that my job is not nearly as tough as most and I have been struggling so much lately just making it through my days. There have been nights when I got home from work and either crashed on the couch or cried...

At the beginning of the month we ended up losing several of the employees in our department for various reasons. What this meant is that because I'm one of the managers in our department I'm expected to pick up some of the hours and responsibilities that those employees had. So for the past several weeks I have not only been working my job, but I am also working evenings/weekends/13 hour days/and I'm back to driving the bus for doctors visits and outings. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but being in my 3rd trimester now you can imagine the toll it takes on me. Plus, keep in mind I don't really have a sit down job and am usually walking up to 4-6 miles per day. I'm almost at the point where I question how much longer I can keep this up and I still have three months left for this baby to cook. What's a girl to do? To top it all off... the state board of health made their appearance in our building at the beginning of the week which adds that much more stress to the mix. PHEW!

Anyways... the reason for the back story is to let you know I'm still alive and kicking and to apologize once again for my lack of post these past few weeks. I have not felt well or had the energy to do any posts and they are backing up in my brain. Hoping to play some catch up over the weekend to fill you in on some recipes and other developments taking place in the Rhoton household...

Right now I'm off to start my last 13 hour day this week... Thank you Lord!   

Mileage Monday... 2 Days Late

Stats for the week of March 2nd - March 8th... I have not been feeling at all well lately. My ribs seriously feel like they could completely split apart with all the pressure that is going on in my belly. I have been dealing with a burning/achy/throbbing sensation for probably the last three days and I have been having trouble breathing. **That is why I have been delayed in blogging lately... I just haven't felt up to par to do it** I know it's just the baby taking up room in my body, but it has definitely not been fun. I talked to my cousin about it since she just had a baby and is littler than I am and she said she had this same thing happen to her and that her doctor told her it is the baby slowly collapsing her lungs. Lovely. I asked what I could do to help. Her response was... "Wait until it comes out." Oh my! I don't want to be a complainer and know that I just need to suck it up, but most nights when I get home I just put on my PJ's and head straight to bed so I can just sleep through it. Sigh....

In other news, the weather is starting to get warmer and my legs are itching to get outside and run!! I have seen so many people around my neighborhood hitting the pavement and all I can do is wish I was one of them. Personally, I will probably wait until after I have the baby to start running again. For me, it is just too uncomfortable on my body right now which makes it not enjoyable. I am terribly excited though to start taking long walks outside with Remington again... even though almost everyday includes a lot of walk for me!!

Monday, March 2nd, 2015 - 7,871 total steps / 2.7 total miles / 151 calories

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 - 9,992 total steps / 3.5 total miles / 197 calories
 
Wednesday, March 4th, 2015 - 14,755 total steps / 4.7 total miles / 406 calories

Thursday, March 5th, 2015 - 7,698 total steps / 2.3 total miles / 134 calories

Friday, March 6th, 2015 - 11,247 total steps / 3.7 total miles / 329 calories

Saturday, March 7th, 2015 - 3,210 total steps / 1.9 total miles / 16 calories

Sunday, March 8th, 2015 - 1,143 total steps / .7 total miles / 6 calories

Totals for the week : 55,916 total steps / 19.5 total miles / 1,239 calories

Sweet Chili Shrimp

This meal looked super simple to make so I decided to take a stab at it. It would be nice meal for a family if you were in a hurry that's for sure.

Sweet Chili Shrimp (www.budgetbytes.com) $7.17

Ingredients

• 1 lb. raw shrimp
• 20 oz. can pineapple chunks
• ½ cup sweet chili sauce
• 2 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1 cup white rice

 

Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray it with non-stick spray. Drain the pineapple chunks and spread them out on the cookie sheet. Place them on the top rack of your oven under the broiler. Keep an eye on them and remove from the oven when they have browned on the edges (about 10 minutes). This will caramelize some of the natural sugars and give the pineapple a great flavor. When they are finished broiling, set them aside.

 

 

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium/high heat. When the skillet is very hot (but the oil is not smoking), add the shrimp and stir-fry (just stir it around as it cooks) until the flesh is white and they have a pink blush on the outside (this will only take a few minutes). Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the pineapple letting a little bit of their juices release from the pan’s radiant heat.

 

 

Stir in the sweet chili sauce and you’re done!

 

 

I served ours over white rice.

 

 

Dan rated this meal a 3.5 stars out of 5 stars. It was good, but nothing special.

25 Weeks

Life in general has been moving along like normal for the most part. I have been keeping busy with work as usual and trying my best to prepare for this transition period that is about to happen. There has definitely been some major changes taking place around our neck of the woods lately.

My pregnancy has been pretty easy, which I'm extremely thankful for. I really can't complain about too much. I am amazed with how much body is changing. Right now our June Bug is the size of an ear of corn and weighing in at about 1 1/2 lbs. However, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball which is a little freaky. My cravings are all over the place... from fast food one week to all veggies the next. I'm just going with the flow.

I have been wearing maternity pants for probably over a month now. When I finally switched over to them all I could think about was why didn't I do this a LONG time ago. It is so nice to actually feel like I can breathe! Also, my cousin, Leslie, gave me all her maternity clothes since she just had a baby recently. How sweet of her to do and a true blessing. I feel like I may make it through this pregnancy without spending hardly any money on clothes I'll only wear for a few months. YAY!

Remington has definitely been realizing that changes are happening and I have tried to make it very clear to him that he is more than welcome to explore those changes. Any new baby stuff we purchase goes straight to the floor for a few days for him to sniff out and discover what they are all about. I have read that keeping your dog away from baby items only makes the transition harder when the baby comes, so he has had free reign of almost everything. He has also become very clingy to me lately... always following me around and during therapy dog visits leaning his head up against my belly. All my residents are amazed at the changes they have seen in him toward me lately.

Dan and I have been hard at work shuffling our house around and getting the nursery ready. I have felt a little badly because Dan has kind of lost his space in our house, but he has been a trooper during every minute and has done nothing but try to make me happy and do exactly what I want. I'm definitely the stressed and anxious one about the baby coming and he is my rock as usual. I am so blessed to have him as my partner... so so blessed.

The most amazing thing I have seen and felt these past few weeks is the amount of movement happening! I am truly shocked at how strong this little human is at just 1 1/2 lbs! One night I was sitting watching TV and our little June Bug was kicking really hard so I decided to try to catch it on video to share with Dan. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched this over and over again in pure amazement!!!

Crazy right! And just FYI... I don't have three belly button holes... two of them are from when I use to have a belly button ring :)

Anyways... more updates to come in the following weeks. Time is flying by so fast that it is hard to keep up, but I will try my best!!!! Hopefully this was a nice little update to keep everyone in the loop!

Mileage Monday

Stats for the week of February 23rd - March 1st... YES! We are finally into March! Can we get some warmer weather around here please!!!! This weekend we had 8 inches of snow... Lordy! I'm officially over this winter! Bring on spring time and some temps over 40 degrees... pretty please!

Monday, February 23rd, 2015 - 14,671 total steps / 4.8 total miles / 461 calories

Tuesday, February 24th, 2015 - 10,592 total steps / 3.5 total miles / 196 calories
 
Wednesday, February 25th, 2015 - 9,705 total steps / 3.2 total miles / 184 calories

Thursday, February 26th, 2015 - 6,789 total steps / 2.2 total miles / 110 calories

Friday, February 27th, 2015 - 11,007 total steps / 3.6 total miles / 334 calories

Saturday, February 28th, 2015 - 12,700 total steps / 4.2 total miles / 441 calories

Sunday, March 1st, 2015 - 9,580 total steps / 3.1 total miles / 188 calories

Totals for the week : 75,044 total steps / 24.6 total miles / 1,914 calories 

Breakfast Pizza

I cracked five raw eggs on a pizza... gross right... no delicious! I have never really made homemade pizza before so I was pretty intimidated with doing it. Luckily, I have a husband who is a good cook and he helped coach me through this first time. After making it though I wondered why Dan and I ever get take out pizza. Hello... homemade is the way to go folks!

Breakfast Pizza (www.budgetbytes.com) $3.24

Ingredients

• Refrigerated pizza dough 
• ½ cup pizza sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1 medium roma tomato
• 3 oz. ham
• 5 large eggs
• 2 sliced green onions
• 1 Tbsp corn meal
• 1 green pepper

If using frozen pizza dough, allow it to come to room temperature before stretching it into shape (it is much more cooperative at room temp). While the dough is thawing, slice the tomato, green onion, green pepper and dice the ham.

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a perforated pizza pan with non-stick spray and sprinkle with corn meal. Stretch the dough into a pizza pan.

Top the pizza with sauce, half of the cheese, the tomatoes, ham, green onions, green peppers,eggs and the remaining half of the cheese (I used monterrey jack on the bottom and cheddar on the top). The eggs can either be placed on top whole and raw or pre-scrambled and sprinkled over top.

Bake the pizza for about 15 minutes at 450 degrees or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

This pizza was very good. Who would have thought eggs on a pizza??? Dan rated this meal a 4 out of 5 stars and I'm excited to make my second homemade pizza ;)

Mileage Monday

Stats for the week of February 16th - February 22nd... Goodness gracious! I am so ready for spring time! Anyone else out there have spring fever! I'm so ready to get outside and take Remi for long walks and Frisbee time at the diamonds by our house! These negative temps are not what I consider fun.

I have been continuing to walk, walk, and walk some more at work, but can no longer wear my dress shoes since my feet are starting to swell up and hurt some from being on my feet so much. I also finally told my supervisor that I couldn't swing driving the bus and transporting residents to and from the store, restaurants, doctor appointments, etc. It has just become too difficult and uncomfortable to bend and move them around and I'm not even that big yet. It will be interesting to see how I feel as the months move forward...

Monday, February 16th, 2015 - 11, 229 total steps / 3.6 total miles / 233 calories

Tuesday, February 17th 2015 - 9,713 total steps / 3.2 total miles / 208 calories

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015 - 14,222 total steps / 4.6 total miles / 258 calories

Thursday, February 19th, 2015 - 13, 257 total steps / 4.3 total miles / 270 calories

Friday, February 20th 2015 - 13,824 total steps / 4.5 total miles / 252 calories

Saturday, February 21st, 2015 - 2,081 total steps / .6 total miles / 17 calories

Sunday, February 22nd, 2015 - 3,111 total steps / .9 total miles / 20 calories

Totals for the week : 67,437 total steps / 21.7 total miles / 1,258 calories