Pregnancy blogging...

Ok I am going to attempt to blog about this pregnancy. With Bo and Joel I tried to keep a calendar and I would forget to write things down adn then I would end up guessing. So I figured that since I am on the computer a lot that this may be an easier way to keep track of things. Be advised I am not afraid to share things so I will use (TMI Alerts) if i think something may To Much Information for some of you! So here we go!

TMI-First Towards the middle of February I realized that I was five days late from when I should have started my period. I didn't think to much of it because I had been irregular since having Joel. I guess my body had trouble getting readjusted to a normal schedule. Then I noticed I was feeling really tired so I went and bought a pregnancy test. I got home and I expected it to be negative because they all have been in the past. As I am waiting I am holding my breath cuz I start seeing two lines.....I was like NO WAY.....REALLY. I was totally shocked and excited! I was so excited I couldn't calm down. It felt like it was my first pregnancy. I immediately started planning on how I was going to tell Jason, I had about an hour before he was due home from work. I thought about calling him at work, about sending him a hint email, about buying a cute little outfit....but none of them seemed right. So when he got home he dropped his stuff off in the living room where I was sitting and then went into the kitchen to get a drink. I then gave the test to Bo and told him to go give it to daddy. There was silence from the kitchen and a second later Jason walks back into the living room with a smile on his face and says "What is this?" Needless to say he was speechless and excited. We were both sitting there and were like....this is crazy....is it for real! I took a second test just to be sure and it came back positive as well!
We then discussed when we should tell people. Bo's birthday party was a little over two weeks away and my parents and Jason's parents were going to be there so we thought that would be perfect. I want you guys to know that keeping this a secret for two weeks was SOOOOO hard for me. Jason's dad Mike was here visiting and I was feeling sick while he was here and I was trying to hide it...I don't think I did a very good job. LOL

Well on Thursday March 4th, I had a dating ultrasound scheduled because I didn't know how far along I was. It was also the day that both sets of parents were arriving. So I totally made up a "Fake" doctors appointment to get my sinuses checked out so that no one would suspect anything. After talking with Jason we decided that we would tell our parents that night and the rest of the world on Saturday. I get home and and everyone asks how my appointment went and I said "The Doctor says I am Due October 21st" They all stop and were like....uh What.....What did you say. Then I reveal the ultrasound picture!

My dad was on his computer and right away facebooks it before I can tell him to wait. So then I feel like I need to post something so that people find out from me! So the whole idea of telling people on Saturday went out the window. Oh well!

So now I am 9 weeks and the past two weeks have been rough for me. I have been really nauseous, tired and just completely drained. I seriously layed on the couch for like 5 days straight and did nothing other than the basic feeding and changing the boys. and when I say nothing I mean NOTHING...Jason really picked up a lot of the slack by doing the dishes and taking out the garbage and feeding the boys dinner so that I could sleep.

Yesterday and today I have been feeling a lot better!! Wahoo. I took all our Laundry to the Laundromat so that I could get it all caught up, I have been working on getting things ready for a garage sale, and just trying to catch up on some basic things that need to be cleaned.

I will eventually start posting prego pictures but for now I will spare you cuz it just looks like I am getting Fatter than I already am... Although I am down 2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight! My belly is starting to pop slightly and I just switched to maternity pants even though I could still button my regular jeans they were uncomfortable when I would sit down.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. In the future they won't be so long but I felt like I had to tell the whole finding out story! I think I want to try posting once a week, so be on the look out if you want to follow my journey!

NEW Pampered Chef Products and Catalog!!!!

I am so EXCITED to share with you the NEW products that Pampered Chef has to offer
To kick off the NEW Catalog I will be doing a VIRTUAL "MYSTERY HOST" party!
Here are just a few of the NEW products!!!!

ALL you have to do to join in the fun is Enter Mystery Host as the Host name on my website

Browse the NEW catalog, make your purchase, and you will be entered to win the Host benefits!Receive:
1 ticket for every $10 order
10 tickets for hosting a March or April cooking show
5 tickets for hosting a catalog show
15 tickets for starting your own Pampered Chef Business

I will be closing the Virtual Mystery Host Party on March 10th. I will announce the winners via email or phone call! I will also post the winners right here on my blog!

Remember in March with a $60 purchase you will receive a 3 piece set of bamboo spoons or spatulas!!!

Happy Shopping and Good luck!!!!

Pampered Chef Incentive!

February and March are huge incentive months for me with the Pampered Chef, so to help me reach those goals I am offering some big incentives for you! If you can help me out that would be awesome. Pick which incentive you would like and either leave a comment on this post, send me an email or give me a call! Thanks!!! Now for the fun stuff:

1) Have you ever wanted to start your own business? Well from now until February 28th The Pampered chef is offering a 50% kit rebate. The full start up kit is normally $155 but you can get the same kit for half the price. That makes it $77.50! How awesome is that! Plus get an extra special gift from me!

2) The February Host special is Fabulous. The top 10 "Host Favorite Items" are 60% off, some of which include the Stainless Steel Cookware, The Complete Knife set, The Stainless steel mixing bowls, The Ultimate Mandoline, The non- stick grill pan and several more! All you have to do is collect $150 in orders...how easy is that!

3) If you host a cooking show or catalog show in February or March with $350 in sales or more, I will personally give you one stoneware item of your choice for free!!! and YES that includes the deep covered baker!!!! An even BIGGER YES is that is in addition to all your free product, discounts and host specials!!!

4) Not interested in hosting a show? Place any $40 order and receive $10 free!!! Place any $100 order and receive $20 free!!! How sweet is that. Stock up now for those upcoming birthdays, house warming parties, anniversaries, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and even Christmas! Just a reminder in February all unglazed stoneware is 20% off, and in March with a $60 order you will receive a 3 piece bamboo spoon set free!

Thanks again in advance for your help! I really hope you enjoy and take advantage of these specials I have going right now! I am thrilled to be your Pampered Chef consultant!!!

Andrea Bindewald
618-406-9478
www.pamperedcjef.biz/abindewald
ajbindewald@gmail.com

To Cute!

My friend Laura and I were out and about doing some shopping on Saturday and we were both blessed with only having to bring one child with us. I brought Bo and she brought Violet, who is the same age as Bo. While sitting at Chipotle both kids were being really good, eating there food. Bo then takes his cup of sour cream and offers it to Violet to dip her chip in. It went something like this.....

Bo " Here violet....want some"
Violet "Ok, thanks"
Bo "you're welcome"
Smiles and giggles

Me "Awe, you guys are being so nice to each other......(to laura.....maybe they'll get married?=))
Laura to Violet "Violet do you want Bo to be your prince?"
Violet "YEAH!!!!"
Bo "ok"

Steak Gorgonzola!

YUM! Can I say again YUM!!!! I have been getting almost if not all of my meal ideas from this blog that I am absolutely in love with. Well Monday night Italian food sounded really good and I remembered that one of the meals on my list was Penne Gorgonzola! Score! Well the recipe called for chicken but I was craving steak so Jason fired up the grill and made to delicious fillets! While he was doing that I worked on the pasta. Here is the recipe ! It was sooooo easy to make and it was soooo good! I almost always get the steak Gorgonzola when we go to the olive garden, and I think this recipe even tops that! I would however recommend measuring out the Gorgonzola cheese, it calls for 5oz and my package was 8 ounces and I just eye balled it and though it was still really yummy, I could tell there was a little to much of it in there. I think next time I make it I am going to add red peppers and maybe some broccoli.

If you have some time look around on the eat at home cooks blog! You will find some great recipes. Jason and I would highly recommend the Peanut Butter and Jelly muffins! They are so good! Enjoy!!!

Potty Training...

This past weekend Jason and I really focused on Bo and his potty training. I am happy to report that I think he has got it a good handle on it! He came to us on Saturday morning and wanted to go potty, so he went and we put underwear on him. He kept them dry all morning and afternoon. He even kept them dry all through his nap. Saturday night we had several friends over and I think there were 7 kids running around the house and he still kept his pants dry up until everyone started leaving, then he had is first accident. But hey only one accident, I can live with that.

On Sunday he had a diaper on during Church but then he was in underwear the rest of the day, again he kept them dry through his nap and for the whole day except during dinner he had a accident, because we forgot he was wearing underwear and while we were eating he asked to go potty and we said he had to finish eating first....oops now I have to remember he is wearing big boy underwear and can't hold longer than a minute or two.

Today he has been doing great as well, no accidents yet! Now he has not gone #2 yet on the potty, I think he might be holding it in cuz he has not gone in his underwear either, but once I put his diaper on for bed within like 10 minutes he has a poopy diaper. So we need to work on that but hey Bo is making huge progress and I am so happy and proud of him!

weight-loss update...

I know I have failed at posting about my weight-loss fails and successes since I started back in Ohhhh October? Well here is an update on some things that worked and some that didn't.
First Jason and I joined the YMCA back in October. We also invested into some good cookbooks, workout apparel, Shoes, and food journals.

**Let me start off by saying to be effective in your workouts having the right gear is essential, Esp. Shoes. Spend the money and get a good pair of shoes.

Initially when we started this whole thing, we were writing everything we ate down. We were working out on average 3 days a week at the Y and doing a lot of Low fat foods. Now let me expand on what worked and what didn't here. First of all I found that writing things down worked for me initially to help me realize how much I was really eating. After a few weeks though, I found my self eating things just to fill my calorie count for the day and I was not necessarily hungry. I was thinking that if I had calories left for the day I might as well use them. However I think that hindered my weight loss a little. So Now I do not write things down but I do take more time when it comes to menu planning and using a lot of fresh veggies and fruit.

Second, we tried doing a lot of low fat foods or fat free foods. In the end it is disgusting. I found it harder for the body to process the fat free foods esp. when it came to anything dairy. So we will not be doing that anymore. Plus if you think about it there is probably more junk in the fat free stuff that will hinder weight loss than if you were just to eat a smaller portion of the normal healthy versions.

Third, going to the gym is proving to be more difficult that I originally thought. I HATE working out, however when I do I feel good after all is said and done. Up until Jason's job got really crazy with long weird hours we were going together 3 days a week. I have not been going regularly since about the middle of November. I have done the occasional day or two but nothing consistent.
Now since I am not working out regularly I need to be watching what I eat. A friend sent me this website, which I think I posted last week, and I have found it to an absolute life saver. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it! Eat at home cooks! Try it! Also with Jason working long hours I have found that I am eating less in the evenings because I am not make huge meals. PORTION SIZE, PORTION SIZE, PORTION SIZE! I started serving dinner on our salad plates instead of the huge dinner plates. I eat less and yet I am satisfied. I also don't eat breakfast, I know there are those of you who will say that is the wrong thing to do, but I am not a big breakfast person. On average I will eat breakfast 3 days a week, and even then it is usually a piece of toast, a granola bar or a bowl of high fiber organic cereal. I almost always have a small glass of juice and a cup of coffee with creamer. Hey it works for me and if I weren't seeing results I wouldn't do it. For lunch I usually eat a deli sandwich, quesadilla, salad, mac and cheese or leftovers. I always have a snack mid afternoon of either popcorn, a handful of candy (for my sweet tooth), whole grain crackers and swiss cheese or pita chips and salsa. I have been making our dinners from the menus on the above website! I drink water, coffee, diet coke and tea a lot. I also love the Hansens sodas and sparkling juices from Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's is my new prefferred grocery store!

One more thing that has helped me is that I am staying busy around the house. I have made a chore chart for myself and I am doing a lot more moving, cleaning, going up and down stairs, and playing with the boys! Now if I can just get ahead and start fresh with all the chores and upkeep then it would be a lot easier. I am really going to tackle the cleaning, organizing and chore cart this coming week. I need to finish the upstairs.....No it is not done yet but I am managing to do a little bit each day. It will get there!

So since the week before Thanksgiving I am proud to say I have lost a total of 14.2 pounds! I have one pair of jeans that actually still fits and all the others are really loose and I have to keep pulling them up and I get the saggy crotch after wearing them for like 10 minutes. I have lost most of the weight in my legs, neck, and a little in my waist/breast area. I would really like to loose another 10 pounds in my waist/stomach in the next month. I am going to TRY and get to the gym at least 2 times a week to do some biking and ab workouts. My ultimate goal is to loose a total of 75 pounds, but I am setting small goals to help me get there otherwise I get overwhelmed and tend to give up. So the small goal would be another 10 pounds by valentines day. I think that would be enough to justify buying a smaller pair of jeans. After that I would like to loose another 30 pounds by July 3, my birthday! Because Jason has told me that once I loose 50 pounds he will give me a $1000 for a new wardrobe! Wouldn't that be an awesome birthday present!

I know this has been a long post but thank you for reading. Let me know your thoughts, ideas and suggestions. Also, what has worked for you when it comes to house upkeep, weight-loss, working out and eating well?

Chore Chart...

This afternoon when I had a free minute I searched online for a chore chart that could help keep me on track to get things done. I Found one that I liked but I didn't want to pay for it. So I changed a few things by adding chores that are unique to me and mt family and this is what I came up with! I am hoping that this will work for me.

Take a look Here

Let me know what you think. The Check boxes are missing, they didn't copy over to Google Documents but you get the gist!

Renewed energy and a cool website!

So today I took the challenge of setting the timer for 1 hour and getting as much cleaning done as I can get done in that hour. I must admit once the hour was up I still kept working, which is great! I was able to vacuum and edge my living room, clean out and re-organize my TV cabinet, put a new box of diapers away, pick up all the toys, and hang up a few jackets. Then I moved to the kitchen, I did the dishes, organized my spice cupboard and coffee cupboard, cleaned off the counter tops and I made dinner and got that in the oven! I felt so much better after I got that all done. I still have to do about 5 loads of laundry tonight so that I can pack our bags tomorrow for our trip, but other then that I am going to read my book tonight! I think the 1 or 2 hours a day is something that I can keep up with!

As for this cool website, My girlfriend Tiffanie sent me this awesome website that I totally fell in love with after browsing it for about 5 minutes. It is called eatathomecooks.com. This mom plans out a weeks worth of dinners and puts together the recipes, shopping list, side suggestions and even a dessert! Plus within each meal she has some of the recipes that are for the slow cooker, others you make two of so that you can put one in the freezer for later that week of to portion out for lunches. Also, what I like about her site is that she uses a lot of fresh, natural, healthy ingredients. I think she has about 30 weeks of menus planned. It is so easy all you do is open up the menu that you want to use, print it off and then go shopping! Talk about easy!
If you choose to use this site, let me know what you think!

I am going chopping tomorrow! So I will let you know how it goes!

Staying on task...

Thanks Karen for giving me the idea for this post! I am trying to figure out a routine/organizer/time management/schedule for everything that I have to do around the house. My question for everyone out there is what are some things/tools that you use to stay on top of everything that needs to get done. Everything from feeding the cat, doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, meal planning, date nights, bathroom cleaning, play time with the boys and relaxation. Do you set one day aside for laundry or do you do a load everyday? Do you clean all three bathrooms in one day or again space them out? Set specific times each day for relaxing, cleaning, cooking, playing etc....?

I am trying, and failing I might add, at finding a way to manage everything at the same time.
Karen, my sister-in-law, gave me the idea that I should set a timer for an hour and do whatever i can in that hour. Or maybe I will do that twice a day once in the morning and once in the afternoon? So I figured I would try it starting tomorrow!

I make all these lists of things that need to get done and yet nothing seems to get done even though I am working on them? I am also known, at least when it comes to things around the house, for saying that I am going to get something done today and then by the end of the day it is only partially done or not at all. Then I get frustrated and then Jason gets frustrated and that is just not good. So any and all ideas are welcome and hopefully I can get into some kind of routine that works and will stick.

Playing with flour!

The other day I was doing dishes and the boys were "helping" me load the dish washer. At one point the door bell rang and Bo & I went to answer it. In the time it took me to go answer the door and get back to the kitchen, Joel moved the chair to the island and dumped my canister of flour that I had out because I was going to make cookies. Needless to say I didn't have any flour left to make cookies.

Ooops.....

Aren't I cute mom!

Unfinished projects.......

For those of you who know me well, know that I have a problem with starting projects and then starting more projects before the other ones are done. This has been something that I am really trying to fix, because not only will it help me be more organized but it will also cut down on the "project clutter piles" that are around the house. The Misc clutter piles are what have really been annoying me lately. All these different projects are sitting there and every time I walk by them it's like they are calling out saying "Finish Me", but something else always seems to come up. Yesterday I started yet another project, that being, I gave the boys their own bedrooms and did a lot of rearranging upstairs. So today's goal is to finish putting everything away, all the toys, clothes, and the decorations. I also need to clean the bathrooms and while I am at it I need to dust upstairs, I don't think I have done that for the past month or two? In my picture perfect world, everything would get put away after using it, the bathrooms would clean themselves, the boys wouldn't get sick, and the laundry wouldn't pile up.....BUT since we live in reality that is not going to happen. I guess what i am saying is that I need to learn to "roll with the punches" better and not let the little things throw of my whole routine. I need to manage my time a little better so that the projects and house cleaning get done in a timely manner...SO I am now off to tackle the unfinished projects upstairs so that it is nice and clean by the time Jason gets home and then I can really relax playing with the boys, making cards, watching old movies all while enjoying a clean house!

Our Christmas Tree:

For those of you who know me know that I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! I love the smells, the lights, the music, the baking, the getting together with family and friends to celebrate Christs birth! This year I got to set up our Christmas tree a little early. I was doing a big open house the day after Thanksgiving and I wanted the house to be all festive and pretty. I always like to do a color theme for my tree. In the past I have done red, silver and black, which I love! I have done red, green and white. This year I did Chocolate brown, red, and green! I love how those colors look together! I get most of my ornaments from Hobby Lobby, they have a great selection and they are always on sale!

I am known for getting tall and fat trees, however this year I was able to find a tall and skinny one that I liked! Well here are a few pictures of the tree, it definitely looks better in person with the lights on at night, I will add some more pictures a little later.

Black Friday Shopping Open House!!!

Holiday Open House

Friday November 27, 2009

Noon-6:00 PM

4509 Boeing Rd

Lincolns Landing Development

Off HWY 161 By Scott AFB

The Pampered Chef

Close To My heart

Party Light

Mary Kay

Handmade Cards and Gifts

And more.

Enjoy one stop shopping to get everyone on your list something special!

Stop by anytime to enjoy special savings!

Door prizes given away every hour!

Enter to win the Grand door prize valued at

more than $50

SPECIAL SAVINGS:

Shop 12:00-12:59 and receive 20% off your order

Shop 1:00-1:59 and receive 15% off your order

Shop 2:00-2:59 and receive 10% off your order

Shop 3:00-6:00 receive free shipping on your order

Enjoy free refreshments while you shop!

For questions please contact Andrea @ 618-406-9478

To do list part 2

Well I must say that my to do list has gotten a lot shorter! YAY! I have finished everything for the baby shower and it was a HUGE success! Now I am working on everyday stuff around the house and trying to keep up with it and I am also working on my open house that I am having the day after Thanksgiving! More details and info to follow...

My to do list:

Well this week and next week I have a lot of stuff to do:
So in no particular order:

- Make Bo some gymnastic pants
- Finish hemming curtains for my bedroom
- Work on making a baby gift
- Finish baby shower invites
- Address and mail 45 baby shower invites
- Work on baby shower party favors
- Work on baby shower menu
- Make baby shower bingo game
- Attend Pampered chef meeting
- Plan Black Friday Vendor Fair Open House (at my house)
- Start planning Christmas lists/gifts
- Go shopping for Baby Shower Decor
- Get Ready for Pampered Chef Vendor Fair next weekend
- Clean house for Halloween party on Saturday
- Close Pampered Chef Catalog show
- Prep for Pampered Chef Show
- Put laundry away
- Do more laundry
-Drink lots of COFFEE!!!!

Childrens Museum Part one...

You might be asking... What is on Bos face? Well they had a self face painting station, so Bo drew on his face!

Joel loved the hand puppets!

Gone Fishing!

TWINS GAME!!!

Jason and his cousin Jared at the game!

Jared made an awesome sign!

This was an awesome play!!! You had to be there. Bases loaded and Delmon Young hit a
GRAND SLAM!!!!

JOE MAUER warming up!!!!

I am in need of a recipe...

So yesterday was one of those cool, fall days and Chicken and Dumplings sounded really good. The problem? I have never made Chicken and Dumplings. So I found a Paula Dean recipe online and thought that it would be a good one. The only changes that I made was I added peas and carrots and did not put celery in. I made the dumplings just like the recipe said and the only difference there was that I used wheat flour instead of white flour. Ok now the soup turned out great! It had really good flavor and was hearty. The dumplings however did not turn out. They ended up being little wheat disks that were not good at all. Could using wheat flour make it turn out bad? So now I am looking for a good chicken and dumplings recipe! Do you have one you can recommend? I would love to try it!

Joel's adventure with Powdered sugar.....and mud!

I thought it was a little to quiet...

Aren't I cute!

Then we walked outside while I was cleaning up the sugar and walked right into the mud...