Me and my Little Miss: 2011

Monday, 5 December 2011

8 Weeks and the bump is starting to show - slightly

8 WEEKS ALONG...

How far along? 8 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: No weight gain or loss.

Maternity clothes? One pair of pants is a bit uncomfortable around the tummy.

Sleep: Not too bad, thanks.

Have you started to show yet: I think I have. Probably not obvious to other people though.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Hot stuffy weather.

Best moment this week: Telling our Grandparents and siblings, everyone is so excited.

Movement: Far too early for that.

Food cravings: Milk... mmmm milk

Belly button in or out? In

What I miss: Eating dinner without having breaks between mouthfuls of food.

What I am looking forward to: The morning sickness hopefully starting to subside.

Things I have been experiencing: My bump showing in the evening.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty happy most of the time, obviously not when I am feeling crappy.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Milestones: The embryo is measures about 18 mm (3/4 inch) in length. Their arms and legs are growing and location of the elbows and toes are visible. The feet and hand buds have appeared. Starts to practice moving. The stomach is being made from part of the gut. The face is beginning to take shape. Your baby's mouth and nostrils are starting to develop. Teeth begin to develop under the gums. The eyes can now be seen as small hollows on each side of the head.

Size of the baby: The size of a grape

Monday, 28 November 2011

7 weeks along...

Being the organised person that I am I have begun keeping a record of things that are going on with me and my pregnancy. We have begun to take some photos to document my growing bump. Thanks to Pinterest I have some great ideas about how we might document it.

According to my dating scan I am 7 weeks today.

I did the following a few days ago and thought I would share it on my wee blog.

How far along? 6 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: Lost 2 and a half kgs in the first two weeks of pregnancy and since then I have been going up and down by half a kg.

Maternity clothes? No but I have gone up a cup size in my bra.

Sleep: The last two mornings I have woken up feeling uncomfortable around my mid section.

Have you started to show yet: Not too sure, feels like it is too early however I do think I am poking out a tiny bit.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Lots of things at the moment unfortunately. Some smells, traveling as a passenger in a car, some foods...

Best moment this week: Having our dating scan and seeing the flickering heartbeat of our wee baby.

Movement: Far too early for that.

Food cravings: Potatoes, hot chips (yes potatoes but in a more delicious form) and bread

Belly button in or out? In

What I miss: Eating whatever I want. I cannot eat hummus, blue cheese and sushi. I also really miss going for walks, but I am far too tired in the evenings to exercise.

What I am looking forward to: Telling our grandparents and siblings that we are expecting.

Things I have been experiencing: I have been hungrier over the passed two days, I am suffering from tiredness, nausea especially when I go to the supermarket (for some strange reason).

Happy or Moody most of the time: Unfortunately I have been moody. I am really not enjoying it.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Milestones: At this stage the limb buds are present. The head, tail and arm buds are recognizable. The earliest from of the liver, lungs, thyroid gland and heart have appeared. The primary brain vesicles are forming.

Size of the baby: The size of a pea

We love our little bubba already.

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

HARD WORK!!!

I am finding this pregnancy thing very hard work!!
I am just not feeling myself and I am starting to find it very difficult.

Don't get me wrong, I am so happy to be pregnant. I have wanted it for a long time. It is exciting having something growing inside you and knowing your life is about to change forever.
Lets just say, hormones have a lot to answer for!!

I would describe myself as a pretty positive person and I like to be happy and on the go.
Since being pregnant I am finding I am really grumpy, tired all the time and I am just not being very positive at all.

The kids in my class are wondering what the heck is going on at the moment. They are a volatile class anyway (very chatty, some have behaviour issues, very strong personalities), add in the fact there is only a few more weeks of school before they head to college, the hormones that are racing around them with puberty, their behaviour this time of the year is not the greatest by any stretch of the imagination. But and it is a big but, add into the mix pregnant teacher and my goodness tempers are frayed.

Everyday I am feeling a bit yuck and at night I am so tired I don't want to go for walks, which I enjoy. I just sit in front of the TV and play around on the internet. I am finding it all a bit boring but cannot be bothered doing anything else.

Anyway I am hoping that as my pregnancy goes on I will start to feel a bit better about things. I am hoping the sheer exhaustion will pass after the first trimester and I am hoping that my moods start to settle down. Maybe I should go to the health shop and see if they have something I can take?

A good thing is that I only have around 3 weeks until I am on holiday. Then I will be off work for 6 weeks or so. This is during my first trimester which I am thankful for.

Monday, 14 November 2011

New recipe...

Tried a new recipe tonight and I will be making it again, for sure.

Very nice indeed!!

Chicken and mushroom filo parcels

1 tblsp olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

2 cloves crushed garlic

300 grams chopped button mushrooms

400 grams chopped chicken thighs (fillets)

375ml can light evaporated milk

2 tblsp chopped tarragon

8 sheets fillo pastry

cooking oil spray

1 tblsp sesame seeds

snow pea tendrils (to serve)

extra fresh tarragon (to garnish)

Heat half the oil in a large pan. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms; cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Transfer to a small bowl.

Heat remaining oil in same pan. Add chicken; cook, stirring, until browned. Stir in milk; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, until sauce is reduced and thickened. Stir in tarragon then mushroom mixture; cool.

Layer two sheets of fillo together, spraying with a little oil between each layer. Spoon one-quarter of the chicken mixture along one short end of fillo. Fold in sides, then roll-up to enclose filling. Place parcel, seam-side-down, on greased oven tray; spray with oil. Repeat with remaining fillo, oil and chicken mixture. Sprinkle seeds over parcels.

Cook in a moderate oven, 180°C, for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serve parcels with snow-pea tendrils; garnish with extra fresh tarragon.

Friday, 11 November 2011

Things I am loving...

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

I am loving that I could share some good news in my previous post!!! (You will have to scroll down to read it, it adds some suspense.)

I am loving that Andy and I are sharing this good news with our parents today!!!

That is all, have a great week!

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Good news time...

I was hoping that I would have known this good news a bit sooner. However as a friend told me, yesterday, 'Good things come to those who wait'.

Anway...

I have not been well for two weeks, ironicly enough I have felt much better in the past three days. I have felt nauseous, crampy tummy, headaches, tired etc. Basically pregnancy symptoms.
I had taken a few tests but they were all negative. Much to my frustration.
I had become bit worried because I could not recall ever feeling this way before, I was googling stomach ulsers and other stomach ailments (suprisingly enough typing in my symptoms pregnancy would always be the answer from google).

Andy and I went to the doctor. He asked me to get a blood test and then get another one in a week.
He wanted to check my hcg levels, pregnancy hormones.

I was thinking that I would get the difinative answer to the question lingering in the back of my mind, 'Am I preggers?'.

The next day we got the results and my levels were 6. Anything up to 5 is normal and I was 6. Bugger, not the difinative answer I was hoping for!

So another week feeling yuck and waiting to have more blood drained from my veins.

Yesterday morning I got to medlab nice and early had some blood taken and at 5.20pm last night I found out my hcg levels are now in the 380s!!!

I AM PREGNANT!!!!!!

Woooohoooooo!!!

You see, I can announce it on here. No one who read my blog actually knows me. Very few people read my blog anyway. In a way it is me announcing it, but to no one in particular.

I wrote a post http://nzbusybee.blogspot.com/2011/09/getting-pregnant-or-should-that-be-not.html in September talking about my frustrations with not getting pregnant. It seemed to me that everyone else was getting pregnant around me, Andys cousin, good friend at work, brothers partner (and others) and I felt like I was left in the cold.
I am in the cold no more!!

So on this morning at 4.34am, yes I have woken up at ridiculous o'clock today, I am announcing to no one in particular that my wonderful hubby and I are expecting our first child in the middle of July.

Sooooo exciting!

Sunday, 6 November 2011

Free!!

I love free things!!
I was looking through Pinterest and found links to some great free printables.

Again, sorry for the long links. I don't know how to do fancy small links yet (I really should figure that out).

Kind Over Matter has some great printables, here are some lovely Christmas ones...
http://www.kindovermatter.com/2010/12/free-holiday-printables-galore.html

Some not so Christmas ones from the same site...
http://www.kindovermatter.com/2011/02/nice-thing-to-do-positive-printables-v.html

I love the colours pink and green together and topped off with pictures of cute owls makes these tags the cutest things ever!!
http://go.tipjunkie.com/pr/5138/www.myowlbarn.com/2010/12/christmas-gift-tags-by-kelly-medina.html

This site is a bit of a pain because it has a long list of printables to download but no pictures,
Here is one link which they call their past printables.
http://www.thehandmadehome.net/category/freebies/

And here is a link to their page with all of their super cute printables in a list...
http://www.thehandmadehome.net/freebies/

I am going to spend some time going through a few of these sites, I have looked at Kind Over Matter before and there are some great things on there.
I would really like to try and find some more Christmas printables.

Enjoy!

Saturday, 5 November 2011

Things I am loving...

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

A few quick things I am loving for this week...

I am loving my husband! I have not been well for a while now and I came home from work on Friday to find a beautiful bunch of flowers, new outdoor furniture (we saw it a few weeks ago and were planning on purchasing it) and mysky!! I have been saying to Andy for ages I would like mysky, seems a bit silly really considering the small amount of TV I watch but oh well, FUN!!

I am loving the gift ideas I am finding on Pinterest for Christmas.
Today I found this great site http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/gift-guides/yummy-packages-38-homemade-gifts-from-the-kitchn-recipe-roundup-133621.

There are some great edible gift ideas on there, I particularly like the chai tea mix, dukkah and homemade vinaigrette.

And finally I am loving (and kind of not loving) the fact my husband has begun the renovations on our bathroom. Loving it because it means in a month or so I will have a fancy new bathroom and not so loving because it means I have to live with this for a while...

At the moment we have two blue tarps which block the view into the bathroom. In a few days time we will be climbing through the hole in the wall into the bath if we need to use the toilet etc.

The fun and adventures of renovations!!! I am thankful that my husband is a great worker and this will actually get finished in a really good time frame. I don't know what I would do if he was one of those men that took months and months to finish one small task and then not finish it entirely.

Have a great week everyone!!

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Yep, two posts in 12 hours...

I have wanted to do this post for a while but have not had time.

I have just had two weeks holiday (the joys of being a teacher!) and this holiday was filled with super fun stuff. I thought I would dedicate a post to my super fun holiday.
Not all events were snapped with my trusty camera, not too worry.

Rocking out to Def Leppard and their support act Heart, man oh man those women know how to rock!

Heart

I am suprised I had a voice left after this concert with all the singing I did. We had awesome seats too, always a bonus!!

Oh Def Leppard!!!

Mini break in Wellington...

Highlights were...

Zealandia sanctuary. Seeing an array of New Zealand native birds (and a tuatara) up close was great!

This gonna sound super geeky, but I Andy and I enjoyed a tour of parliament.

Aunty Margarets tour of the Warirapa.
She took us to Cape Palliser which was just stunning.

250 steep steps up to the lighthouse

Worth it for the beautiful view


Lots of seals to see along the way.

I am sad to say a highlight was ordering room service (for the first time in my 32 years) desert and watching X Factor.

OMG, cookies and cream cheese cake (mine) and brownies (Andys)

Experiencing the magic that is Chow!! What a restaurant!!! Chow - come to Auckland!!!!!!!!!!

Spending time with my awesome husband! I am one lucky lady!

Back at home...

Catching up with good friends for lunch, reading and general laxing out.

Enjoying good friends, sunshine and sweet tunes at the Fontera Big Shout at the Domain on Labour Day.


Lots of people enjoying the sun


The legend that is Dave Dobbyn with the other bands singing Slice of Heaven

Other wee snippets, coming across yarn bombing in the centre of Auckland made me smile.

Fish and chips and a Movenpick Ice Cream at Mission Bay.

So many choices. I am boring and always get the same, a scoop of Vanilla Brownie and a scoop of Caramelita

Playing around with my fancy new camera

I have mentioned this before and I will mention it again, I LOVED the rugby world cup. I loved the excitement associated with it and loved how New Zealanders got behind it.

Andy and I were lucky enough to be given tickets to the Rugby World Cup Final, New Zealand vs France. What a game!!