A to Z: O-U

This week I forgot to post our menu, so I am going to do a quick update on what we did.

For the week of O-U, this is what we made.

O- Orange Glazed Carrots
P- Pork Roast and Sauerkraut (in Crockpot)
Q- Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms
R- Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallots
S- Shrimp with Feta Cheese
T- Tilapia with Jasmine Rice
U- Upside Down Chili Pie

I combined the vegetable dishes with main dishes and added a few quick meals to the menu for just in case. The two other dishes I added included Sausage Jambalya and Creamy Chicken Pasta. Today is Saturday and we had other meals carry over due to the hour change of Mr. Man's work schedule.

I wish I would remember to take pictures to share with all of you, but sadly I ALWAYS forget! Maybe next time?

Freeman Facial Mask!

Ok, so I am officially obsessed with this new facial mask that I bought a few weeks ago. I can not stop using it because it feels absolutely yummy on my skin.

This product is the Freeman Facial Clay Mask with Avocado and Oatmeal. Seriously, this mask is amazing. It beats even my top of the line masks that I have purchased before. I paid about $3 for this at the BX if anyone is wondering. Totally worth every single cent. I'm actually afraid that they are going to stop selling it, so I am thinking about going and buying another.

Anyway... how I found this product randomly. I was browsing the BX one day for a facial wash, a simple one to use on my skin to remove my makeup before I actually do my skin care routine. As most of you know, my face broke out really bad whenever I first found out and I was pregnant. It got so ridiculously bad, and never settled down until my 3rd trimester. It is now doing a lot better thanks to Proactiv, which was my last resort. I do still have lots and lots of scarring that I will work on getting rid of, but I really don't want to use anything harsh on my skin until after I have baby. So anyway, I was searching for a facial cleanser to use to remove my everyday makeup. As I was searching through the section and reading different ingredients on each of the bottles, a avocado caught my eye. Weird, I know. When I noticed it was a mask, I was interested because I did need to buy another bottle of my current mask. However, this was really intriguing with the avocado. I really have never seen a mask with avocado. Never. Anyway, I bought it of course and tried it the very first night I had it home with me.

The consistency and texture is absolutely amazing. Seriously, more amazing than ever. It's creamy instead of being so dry. And it goes on so smooth. It makes your face feel even smoother. I was simply amazed.  And as it was sitting on my face and drying up, I could feel a sensation. Hard to explain, so I won't even try, but it was absolutely amazing. To top it off, when I wipe it off, it comes right off. Now hard scrubbing or frustrating for the chalkiness of others to release from my skin. Simply Amazing.

There really is no point to this blog other than that I am simply obsessed. I had never heard of the brand before, so I thought I would just write a small experience with the product in case others were interested. I googled the brand and found their website, too. They have a huge variety of stuff. And the masks come in different scents and such.

And of course I bought this product with my own money and am getting absolutely nothing out of this blog post. I'm not into that sort of thing, but I really did think it was worth writing a small review on since I had never heard of it before. Maybe I am behind the time or something, but either way... totally worth it!

My Husband is The Sweetest:

Originally, I was going to blog about all the upcoming events that we are about to endure on this little journey we call life; however, last night Mr. Man tackled my heart.

We were laying in bed, and I could not sleep. Thanks to the Pouch being ever so large and Baby A constantly working her way down between my hips, I loose lots of sleep due to the exhaustion and pain. I was laying up on my pillows - basically sitting up - while Mr. Man laid in his spot and watched some TV. He kept asking how I was feeling, and I would tell him, "I'm fine." Well, I dosed off for about 5 minutes and when I woke up the TV was still on. The TV always wakes me up and makes me hot from the lights shining off of it (I know, weird). I politely asked Mr. Man if we could turn it off. To my surprise, he was sleeping! I felt so bad because I did not realize he was sleeping. But he did not get upset at me for waking him up. Instead he grabbed the remote, turned off the television, and snuggled up to my belly that was basically at his head and told me about how he was dreaming about us having the baby. This story is so sweet and makes me all happy inside, but the truth behind is....

This has been going on for a week now! Every morning I get to hear a new labor and delivery story, a new play date between Baby A, Daddy, and Mr. Buttons (and yes, sometimes me). Or I get to listen to visions that he sees in his dreams of her being older. It amazes me at how ready Mr. Man is for me to have this baby. I thought I would be the one that was impatient, anxious, nervous, etc. But in fact it is the complete opposite.

Every single night, he goes in her room and messes with her clothes, sits in the rocking chair and stairs at her bed. Every single night, he asks me if I'm ready. Every single night (and morning) he snuggles up to my belly and talks to her. Every single day as the days go on, he amazes me.

Not only that, but he is so supportive. Recently I have began having contractions and now with being so exhausted and achy, he has become so in-tune to me. He tells me to sleep when he realizes I am so tired. He temporarily puts me on bedrest (lol), too. He tells me if I go anywhere to ALWAYS have my phone with me and never to hesitate to call him at work. He's amazing. He does and says more than I have ever imagined.

He's going to be such a great Dad, such an amazing, supportive, gentle, loving father.

Ahhhh, he makes me smile....

Winners: (English Giveaway)

Hi guys,

I'm back to announce the winner of the English Giveaway! Seriously, this was so hard to make a decision on because I had 4 people enter it - 4 amazing people should I say. Whenever I read each of the comments, I knew that you guys were readers because you all always comment. I made a decision on how I would do things. Ready?

You are all WINNERS! You read that right! I have decided that I will put together 4 little packages to each of you with my favorite English things.

The names of who all entered:

Sierra
Jenn
Mrs. S.
Rebekah

In order to claim this, each of you will need to send me a private email to CajunBombshell1@yahoo.com with your mailing address. I am not sure when these will go out, but my plan is to finishing shopping this weekend and mail them out by the beginning of next week.

Thank you guys so much for being so supportive, and I hope you enjoy your little gift of sweetness!

Reminder:

I just wanted to give one last reminder about the English Giveaway. Sunday will be the last day to enter, and I will announce the winner on Monday. You can enter here!

Today, Mr. Man and I will be going to eat some yummy ribs and go to the movies. Movie of choice (thanks to Mr. Man) is Hall Pass. Have you seen it? Do you want to see it?

I will be back around on Monday! Hope you guys are having a fabulous weekend!

Labor and Delivery Class

Yesterday we had our Labor and Delivery class. Mr. Man and I went together. It was in the evening from 6pm and 8pm, which meant that Mr. Man had to take some time away from work to get it done. I went back and forth on whether or not we should take the class, but then I found out that they actually tour you around the hospital so the Dads know where to send the Moms when they go in to labor and where all the facilities are. In the end, we decided to go because Mr. Man informed me (by accident) that he did not know where Labor and Delivery was in the hospital.

I thought instead of explaining it to him or showing him one day while we were up there that he should see for himself. The lady that "taught" the class is an amazing doctor up at hospital. I have been very unfortunate that I have not been able to see her, but this class made me want her to delivery our baby. It won't be my choice, unless I have to be induced, but it was still a thought in my mind.

We began the class by watching a labor video. I seriously had no desire to see it, but I guess people should see one. This whole pregnancy I have had no desire to watch a birth. The closest I have come is to what the movies portray, and I am OK with that. Now, I have educated myself to the best of my ability, and I know that not everyone has the same experiences so I am ready in my own way.

At the beginning of the class, the Dads had to massage our hands. The goal was to find out how soft or rough we like to be massaged. Mr. Man is horrible at this. He is such a rough massager. We were giggling the whole time because he was tickling more than anything. Then she was explaining how to do certain types of massages and my husband would be like, "Like this?!" and squeeze or pinch the living daylights out of me. Good thing I have a great sense of humor, too.

Then we had to pull out our "to-go" bags and find one thing in it that we felt was extremely important or something we thought no one else would have. I did not bring my bag because I was the one that decided I was not going to make multiple trips to the car in order to bring in what I needed. Mr. Man and I were driving from 2 different directions, and he was going to be "right on time." I already had to carry up the food that I made, our pillows, drinks, and my purse. I couldn't imagine trying to carry in another 2 bags. Needless to say, I had my notebook that had my list in it, and I used that. There was a lot of interesting things that people decided to bring and showed. There were some that wanted to show off certain items that they had. Others were simple (like me). I did give Mr. Man the right away to tell them about my Wonder Woman undies, but he shyed away from it really fast. *Thank goodness!*

After that, we toured the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital. We discovered that the baby stays in the room even in a situation of an emergency, which I thought was interesting. We were able to view the rooms and see what was available to us. I was pointing things out to Mr. Man and he was surprised to see some of the things in there.

While we were in there, the lady wanted 3 Dad volunteers to demonstrate a labor. Of course, she turns to look for Mr. Man because he had been being such a jokster the whole time. She found me in the crowd of people, but couldn't find my partner. That was funny. But I pointed in his direction and she quickly said, "You! I want you to lie on this bed." Mr. Man was like, "Ummm. Ok!" She pulled another guy and told him to strap him up with the monitors and things. It was the funniest thing ever. I really wish I had my video camera. She left the room, then came back in and asked Mr. Man if he was comfortable. Of course, Mr. Man just stated that he guessed because he had no idea what he was about to do. She stood as his bottom and told him to open for the baby to come out. Mr. Man just gently opened his legs a little, and she said, "I'm not sure how big you think your baby is going to be but she will not fit through there." So Mr. Man threw his legs in the air wide open. *I am giggling as I type this!!* She made the other two guys hold Mr. Man's legs and he had to pretend to have contractions and push. I am telling you, this was beyond hilarious! She made him rotate into different birthing positions, too. She even pulled out the stirrups and sat up the bed. Like I said, I really wish I had a camera. Greatest memory thus far of our pregnancy!

That was basically the end of our tour. She showed the guys were to find things that we needed in the room and what chairs did what in the rooms because there was about 3 different kinds. She explained that they had a DVD/VCR in every room and on and on.

At the beginning of the class the woman asked how many of us where passed 36 weeks. It was only me and another woman, which happens to be Mr. Man and I's mutual friends. She said that almost always one person has to go be seen in Labor and Delivery or goes in to labor during the tour. I knew it wasn't going to be, but I do have to say I can see why. We walked everywhere we went and we had to go to multiple stories, and we climbed the stairs. Did not take the elevator! Many of the Moms were huffing and puffing and wanting to sit all the time. I was excited to get some exercise in because I am trying to stay as active as possible to help progress things along. By the end of the class, Mr. Man went back to work and I came home.

This morning when we woke up, Guess what news we received?! Our friends that were there with us had went into labor last night after they had gotten home and been home for a couple of hours and had their baby girl bright and early this morning! It was amazing to think about, but at the same time guess who's next?! Yikes!  Anyway, they never could find out what they were having because the baby always had its legs crossed or closed during the ultrasounds. They had decided just to wait it out and let it be a mystery baby. They already had a boy and really wanted a girl as this was their last baby. They did have a little girl this morning. Her name is Ava Claire! Pretty amazing to think about.

The Labor and Delivery Class was fun and very educational. But now it's on to the real thing for us. When I had my appointment on Monday, the midwife told us that she thought I would go by 38 weeks. She said the baby was "very low and ready to go." She said I was all baby and could see me getting tired all the time and having lots of pain due to it. I guess the ticker has beyond on when I will actually deliver. People are placing bets on dates at Mr. Man's job. For me, I don't feel like it will be very soon. Although I do know I have been having contractions, but none that intensify or become closer together. We sha'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

Recipe: Garlic Lemon Chicken

 Garlic Lemon Chicken (in a Crockpot)

Ingredients:

·         1 (3 lb) broiler-fryer chickens (whole or pieces)

·         1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano

·         1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary

·         3 garlic cloves, minced

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         1/4 cup sherry wine or 1/4 cup chicken broth (I used chicken broth)

·         1/4 cup lemon juice

·         salt and pepper

Directions

1.    1 Wash chicken; pat dry; season chicken generously with salt and pepper; sprinkle half of oregano, rosemary and garlic inside cavity of chicken; melt butter in frying pan and brown chicken; transfer to slow cooker or crock pot; sprinkle with remaining oregano, rosemary and garlic; add sherry to frying pan and stir to loosen brown bits; pour into slow cooker.

2.    2 Cover, cook on LOW (200 degrees) for 7 hours; add lemon juice and cook 1 more hour (total of 8); transfer chicken to cutting board; skim fat from juices and serve over chicken.

For this recipe, I used chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken. Since I did that, I cooked it for 6 hours instead of 8. Just remember to check it, and always with chicken make sure it's fully cooked.