#TBT

Here we go. It's Wednesday, May 29, 2013. I wake up around 11am and think to myself, "Flo should be in town Sunday but let me go ahead and take a test, ya know, just for the heck of it."

Catch up: I took my last birth control pill at the end of April. We were going to try and have a baby! I mean, I was almost 30 and you know folks can't be having no babies this late in life. Plus, we had both been hippies back in the day, if you know what I mean, and that can cause sterilization. So, I had made up my mind that it would definitely take us forever to get pregnant. Surely.

Back to Wednesday. I tinkled on a stick and it said yes. Well, actually it said "pregnant." I was shocked. How could I be pregnant?? I've only been off the pill for a month! It was supposed to take 6 months for this to happen. Right? Wrong. Way wrong. So, here I am, pregnant.

Oh. My. God. I'm pregnant. What am I going to do? I don't even like kids.

Complete fear.


Oh. My. God. I'm pregnant. Ahhhh...I'm having a baby!

One thought later, complete happiness.

I've learned that hormones are in complete control of your mind, body and soul once you conceive. One year later ~ hormones are STILL in complete control.

Thank God James would be home for lunch in like 15 minutes. For 15 minutes I paced, cried, had a cheesy grin, paced some more, went back to look at the test, shook like a leaf and tried to think of a clever way to tell him. He walked through the door, I held up the test and blurted, "You know what this says?"

So special. So clever.

I finally convince him that I was for real and not playing a joke on him and we called our parents. Neither of them answered, so I took a picture of James poking his belly out like a pregnant woman & I held the test out in front of him and we sent them a picture. (Kicking myself that I didn't save this picture somewhere.)

They answered then.

I knew I wasn't very far along so I didn't want to tell a lot of people. I wanted to get out of the 'danger zone.' I had never been pregnant before and didn't know if I could even carry a baby. Plus, I had only taken one pregnancy test.

Remember what day it is? Wednesday. Know what event takes place on Wednesdays? Church.

Fast forward to 6 pm. Just getting ready to start church and our pastor walks up to me (in front of everyone) going on about me being pregnant. What the crap? I haven't even told my family. Here he is telling our church. I scan around looking for James and see him, phone in hand, showing people the picture. Dude, for real? Of course, I had a meltdown. We left church. I flipped out on him. (Hormones...)

So we had to make hurried phone calls to our family and tell them before the church grapevine took our precious news public.

This is pretty much how I remember this day.

I am completely in love with this little girl. I am completely in love with being her mommy. I can't imagine life before May 29, 2013. I can't imagine Irelyn not in our picture. She is the sweetest baby. I know I will fall more in love as she gets older. But today, one year later, I can't imagine being any happier.


My life isn't perfect but it's perfect for me.

Happy Throwback Thursday!!

I was 5 weeks when I found out. This ultrasound was at 7 weeks.

I'm baaacccckkkk...

So, several of you have requested that I keep my blog more updated than I have been. 

Ok. I hear you.

Let's talk about my worst enemy right now...the 'baby weight' I gained while prego. All 65+ pounds of it. 

(Did I mention Irelyn weighed only 7.3 of those pounds?! Ha)

Do I regret my inner fat chick way of thinking? Hmmm...today I regret it. When I'm drinking an ice, cold DP and eating hot fries...no. Not. A. Single. Regret.

Here were my thoughts on eating & pregnancy: 

"Eat what you want, when you want. You only have this excuse once. And besides, you can take Plexus after you have the baby and lose it all anyway."

No one told me that baby weight tends to hang on a little tighter than regular fat. And I had forgotten that I gain about 10 extra pounds on birth control.

So, in dishonor of my inner fat chick, I cooked a 'healthy' meal tonight. And it was actually very tasty!

James called it 'Shrimp Étouffée.' A true Cajun would laugh in his face.

What you need:

- 1/2 to 1 pound of steamed shrimp (my local grocery store steams & seasons them for you!)

- 1/4 to 1/2 box of whole wheat rotini pasta

- butter (I don't know the healthy version of butter.)

- salt, minced garlic & minced onion (seasonings)

What you do:

- Boil your pasta; drain (duh!)

- Peel your shrimp*; add to pasta

- Pile on the butter (Again, I don't know the healthy way to do this!)

- Add seasonings to your liking

*This shrimp is a little pricy. Well, more pricy than the frozen, tiny ones. You can use whatever shrimp you'd like!

I made way too much! 4x this recipe! But this would feed 3-4 people.

So this was missing something. James decided to add cream of mushroom (yes!), shredded cheese (nah...not cheddar anyway) and milk (yes!). **Taste the original before adding these ingredients.**

But that's totz not all. I made veggies!! 6 of them and they were delish!!

What you need:

- 1 red bell pepper (cut in strips)

- 1 small onion (sliced however)

- 15 (+/-) baby carrots

- a lot of mushroom slices

- 1 squash (sliced)

- 1 cucumber (sliced)

What to do:

- Throw them all in a baking dish. Add butter (I got a little crazy with the butter). Season with minced garlic and salt (or whatever seasonings you'd like).

- Bake at 350 forever. Jk til the veggies are tender. I forgot to time it :) Maybe 30-45 minutes. This feeds 4-6 people.

This was a pretty good meal. My inlaws and husband loved it! I wanted a cheeseburger. Ha. Nah. It was very good! We will be having this again!

And the perfect one is still perfect. I'll write more about her next time. She's rolling all over the place now. She always has a smile on her face and is the most pleasant baby I know! 

Irelyn McKenna - 14 weeks old