Dinner Last Week #8

Confession.  This is not what we ate last week.  With this whole pregnancy thing happening I might be lucky if I could tell you what I ate yesterday.

That said, these are some dishes we've recently tried (via iPhone photo).....

My husband has taken to making dinner on Tuesday nights while I'm at yoga.  This was grilled cod with a garlic Parmesan (sorry, I don't know the exact recipe he used) and a side of quinoa salad with veggies and avocado.  I told him if he kept this up he might be cooking all the time!

This is one of my signature "everything but the kitchen sink" salads.  We have red quinoa, left over chicken breast, spinach, heriloom tomato, carrrot, corn, craisins and I'm not sure what else.  I have a thing with hot rice/quinoa/cous-cous and spinach.  Throw your hot item on top and the spinach will slightly wilt.  It's a healthy version of a hot salad.

This was the Turkey Ruben Patty Melt by Mountain Mama Cooks.  The recipe came together quickly with both of us hungry and chopping.  The hubs, who claims to not like Rubens or sauerkraut really liked this. Imagine that.

Breakfast one morning......fried egg sandwich with cooked prosciutto, fresh tomato and a basil ricotta spread.

What have you been eating lately??

♥TCW

The Second Trimester

Hey friends!

Well here I sit 30 weeks so I figured it's time to update everyone on the second trimester, which is now in the books!

My first trimester went very well.  My book.....What to Expect When You're Expecting, 4th Edition, said that us ladies should regain some energy during our second trimester, but it was the opposite for me.  We took an accidental babymoon to Puerto Rico when I was newly prego.....

....hence the beach photo (more to come on this trip, pinky swear).  The vacation was a great time to relax and absorb the news.  By the second trimester we were back in the grind, so I think that is why I became more tired than in the previous months.

The second trimester I seemed to grow and grow....and grow and now that I'm in the third I am still growing.  It's kind of fun to watch this way....

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

I became more consistent in pre-natal yoga (for those in Sac I'm going to Fusion Yoga and I love my instructor, Ilka).  Yoga has been great and made me feel confident in getting in touch with my breathing in preparation for labor.  The pre-natal class is also really wonderful in that you get to spend that time with other soon to be mommies.  

Through pre-natal I was also reminded of the powers of essential oils and I have purchased lavender and peppermint.  The lavender is great for relaxing and the peppermint works well to open up your nasal passages, cool you off on hot days and helps to relieve headaches when rubbed into your temples.

During the second trimester we also did our hospital tour and we are super happy with our choice for delivery - Sutter Davis Birthing Center.  Sutter Davis offers an amazing volunteer doula program as part of their services and we are looking forward to using this when the big day arrives.

We also got to see our munchkin at the 20 week ultrasound!

As you can see she is sucking her thumb!  It was really cool to watch her move around inside of me.  It is good that we already knew the sex because this little lady kept her legs crossed the entire time.  

Speaking of movement, I started to feel her move during the second trimester.  It feels both totally weird and totally natural at the same time.  To me it feels like I have a mini Flipper in there, swimming all around.  She moves a lot after I eat, when I'm sitting still.  She's a stubborn little one though (just like Dad), because she has only moved for him.  When I try to have Levi or the grandma's feel it, she stops moving.  Little bugger.

And ohmygosh, lets not forget about breast pumps!  Did you know some health insurance companies are now covering breast pumps?  I specifically know that some Kaiser and Blue Shield plans do.  I have Blue Shield and I received my *free* Medela Pump In Style Advanced yesterday.  It did not include the big carrying bag or ice pack but came with everything else.  These things retail at $200+, so make sure you check with your insurance carrier before buying a pump!

So that is all for now.  Let's see how big I get during the last trimester!

♥TCW

Hiking Wright's Lake, Kyburz, CA {Mom's Day Adventure}

My Mom & I started a Mom's Day tradition last year of taking a hike.  (You might remember our trip to Pt. Reyes.)  This year we decided to head up to Wright's Lake in Kyburz, CA.

Unfortunately a wind storm visited the area before we did.

It was still beautiful (and much more chilly than we expected) but the trail situation was not good.

After meandering through the campground (where most of these shots were taken from) and trying to find the trail head, Otis the brown dog ran ahead and met a new friend along with two ATV'rs, including the camp host.  He explained that due to the recent windstorm there were several "widow-makers" or trees/branches partially downed that could fall on hikers and campers.  Needless to say, the rangers had closed the campgrounds and all the trails.  Yowza.  He directed us to a trail to Beauty Lake that was semi clear.....

Well, we never made it to Beauty Lake.  This photo is a peak-a-boo shot of Dark Lake which we spied along the trail.  After running into about 3 downed trees in 15 minutes, we turned back towards the campground deciding it would be better to try a trail below Wright's Lake that we spotted on the way in.  You know, instead of meeting our end with a widow-maker.

We ran into some snow, which the dogs liked....

These dogs cracks me up.
Crunchy looks like an angry lion and Otis looks like....well he looks like typical Otis.

While these two numskulls messed around in the snow, we chatted with our friend the camp host for awhile longer.

And I noticed some wind storm damage....just some *minor* asphalt lifting and cracking from a tree being blown over.

Attempting to avoid those widow-makers was probably a good idea.
So, after driving around for far too long, we found ourselves back at South Fork Silver Creek.

Here we hiked up the very wet trail for awhile while Otis made more friends and we spotted foliage and flowers.

And moss....

And rock stacks......

And then our trail was suddenly covered in a couple feet of snow so we decided it was time to go on home.

So that is the tale of our Mother's Day Hike.

To next year and whatever adventures it may bring!

♥TCW

Cool Thing Friday #9

Hey friends!  Long time to chat.  I thought I'd bring you some cool things for Friday, k?

Here we go........

So I told you about our wallpaper situation.  Well, all of that great wallpaper came from Spoonflower. Spoonflower is an awesome resource where anyone can design their own wallpaper, fabric and more from scratch.  You can learn more about them here.

I hope this little girl in my belly is just like these little ladies....



Our internet and phone were down for four days and I kind of liked it.....it was a little like this.

Speaking of phones, I want to try this Waterlogue app.

These sculptures are SO COOL!



An alternate perspective of famous places. (Via)

And....an inspiring ballerina.  (Those legs!)

Happy Friday Everyone!