A Feast Fit For a King

Tonight I made some of Chris' favorite meal items: broccoli and rice casserole, ham and delicious rolls. I used his mother's recipe for the broccoli and rice casserole.

What does he say whenever we finish the meal? Thank you honey for slaving over a meal while you are due to have my baby in six weeks. It must have been so hard to cook this meal and have your feet swell to the point where your toes looks like sausages. Yea...no...but I am sure he was thinking it because he is awesome like that.

This is what he said:
"It tastes good, but it tastes different from when my mom makes it. Is it a different recipe?"
Translation: "I like my mom's better." However, he is way too sweet to ever say that out loud.

I then inform him that it is the exact same recipe that his mom uses and I even used the same brand of items. He retorts with, "Well, maybe it is the lack of mushrooms."

What? Excuse me. Did my husband just imply that he would rather the casserole have more mushrooms? This is the same person who spends five minutes picking out the mushrooms from the better casserole and piling them on the side of his plate because he refuses to eat fungus, right?

Just when I think I have him figured out. You would think after being together for eleven years I would know everything about him. Nope. Surprises me everyday. 

What a turkey. :) 

However, I completely understand that his mom's will taste better to him because, well, it is his mom who was the one making it. It is something about your mom's cooking and their germs that make things taste better. I don't know how that works. It just is a fact. Same thing for grandma's cooking. *However, the same cannot be said about my great-grandma Fern. Love her dearly, God rest her soul, but she was a horrible cook.*

Hopefully, Aisley will be saying the same about me one day. It will make my heart smile. :)

Nephewism 2

Oh my sweet nephew. He is the cutest. Just the other day my sister told me the funniest story about him. I just had to share.

They were backing out of their driveway and he shouts out, "Mom! Stop the car. Stop the car!"

She immediately thinks something is wrong and looks around at all of her side mirrors. She sees nothing so she decides to continue backing out.

Again he goes, "Mom, stop the car!"
She ask, "What is it (insert his name here)?"
"Mom, I don't have my seatbelt on! Are you trying to send me to juvy?"

Yea, he is only five. She asked him if he even knew what that was and he responded back with, "Yea, it's jail for kids!"

She wanted to know where he heard that from and he said she didn't know. He just heard it.

Oh, she has her hands full with him.

No More Driving Miss Aisley

That's right. My driving privileges have been officially revoked. As of Tuesday this week my doctor said to hand over my keys for the remainder of my pregnancy.

Why you ask? Well, it is for a very good reason. I had been having fainting and dizzy spells for about two weeks. Most of the time I was able to lay down, drink water and I soon felt well enough to go on about my business. After a few episodes, I contacting my OB and she instructed me to get my asthma checked. I went to my primary care physician and my OT stats were horrible. Both of the doctors attributed my dizziness and fainting to not getting enough oxygen. Also, I managed to have an upper respiratory & sinus infection on top of having my airways blocked 30%. I left the appointment with a prescription for antibiotics and a steroid inhaler hoping the dizziness and fainting were a thing of the past. Wishful thinking.

Three days later I was on my way out the door. I hoped in my lovely car and started the drive to my destination. I managed to get about a mile from my house when I felt my hands and feet going numb. I started getting tunnel vision and my ears started to ring. I quickly told my mom, who I was on the phone with at the time that I needed to pull over because I was feeling faint. Thankfully I was able to pull into a parking lot and park my car before I blacked out completely. When I came to I promptly called Chris to come pick me up. He was extremely worried. I was scared.

We contacted the doctor and waited for a call back while I laid down. The on-call doctor instructed me to not drive and to take it easy. (To which I laughed inside. My sister-in-law was getting married in a week and I am her matron of honor. I was on my way that day to her bridal luncheon and that night was her bachelorette party that I was hosting. I couldn't take it easy. I had things to do.)

After laying down for a while I begged Chris to take me to the luncheon. We made arrangements for someone else to drive that day and to take me home later.

I made it through the day without another mishap. On Sunday however, I had another one. I was thankfully at home, but still annoying.

After my appointment I had with my OB this Tuesday and discussing what I was feeling she ordered that I not drive for my safety and everyone else. You can thank me later. She is not sure exactly what is causing the fainting. There could be many reasons. I have a few more doctors appointments with other doctors to see if they can figure out the cause and make sure nothing serious is going on.

Just when I almost got over the whole morning sickness thing too. (Which isn't completely gone, just a very mild case now. Probably more like what the majority of people go through in their first trimester.)

Aisley is doing great. I tease that she is made of steel because she has been so resilient through all of my drama this pregnancy. She seems completely unfazed by everything. She continues to grow and process normally. I, on the other hand, have continued to lose weight. My doctor jokingly asked if I was eating. Believe me. I am eating. All the time. I guess I will be on of the few pregnant women that doesn't have to worry about losing a bunch of weight after delivery.

So there you have it. No more driving miss Aisley until she is actually born. I am pretty sure I am going to be the happiest person in labor because I know I will immediately feel better and I will be on my way to driving again.

Baby Aisley's Nursery

Eccentric. Eclectic. Random. Classic. Modern. These are all words that describe my taste. You can take a look into my closet, around my house and see that there really isn't a theme, but made up of things I like. Since I have such a wide range of likes and dislikes when it comes to decorating, I knew that I wouldn't be able to buy a "bed-in-a-bag" nursery.

I looked. And looked. And looked some more. Either everything had flowers and bows and was drowning in pink or it had animals all over it. Don't get me wrong. I love animals. I just didn't want a zoo in my little one's room. Also, almost every bedding selection had pastels in it. Barf. I wanted this room to be cheery. A happy place. Not a place that reminded me of pink fluffy unicorns.

I love birds, especially owls. No, I will never own a bird. They are kind of gross as pets, but they are beautiful. My great grandmother had doves that she kept in the backyard in an big, elaborate cage. Duke and Duchess were awesome. When we lived with her, I would be in charge of helping her take care of them. I thought they were elegant. I love the sound of doves cooing.

Anyways, so I decided on an aviary theme for the nursery. However, I didn't want birds on the bedding, curtains, etc. Enough is too much. Also, now for safety reasons, you are not supposed to use a bumper *ever*, a comforter or a mobile. So you are pretty much spending $160+ on a crib sheet and a bed skirt. I decided to make my own bed skirt and curtains. The fabric cost me $50 at Fabric Factory. I am using crib sheets that are sold separately and the quilt was given to me. It is strictly for decoration purposes right now, but something she can enjoy later on.

My talented mother crocheted all of the items you see on the mobile hanging in the corner. Once everything was crocheted I was tasked with finding a way to put it all together. I used fishing line, twig wreath, sticks and some random decorative twigs and eyelash yarn.

Chris' aunt Debi painted the tree *in about an hour*.  My sister painted the bottom half of the room the beautiful blue. It was formerly maroon. Pretty, but too dark for a baby's room.

I chose a rocker recliner instead of a glider. Advantages in my opinion: no foot stool that permanently stays out and in the way. Extra cushion for those long feedings. Ability to recline and catch a few zzz's if the little one falls asleep after a feeding and has a tendency to wake up when moved.

We decided on Aisley for her name for many reasons. Paisley is over used and I didn't want her to have the initials P.P. (And I am not crazy about paisley print either. If you know me well, you know the reasoning behind this.) Chris liked Ainsley, but I think it is hard to say and it generally used for a man's name in the UK. Also, it sounds like a body part to me. (I will let you figure out which one.) That is how we decided on Aisley. It is a real name. Not common, but for the most part people can spell it and say it when they see it.

I picked up this tree stump in New Mexico during the summer along with the tree branch used for the curtains. I stacked miscellaneous books in order to make the lamp the perfect height. The lamp base was a wonderful $5 find at a local thrift store. I purchased the lamp shade at Target and Chris' Aunt Debi and her creative genius decorated it with the "Old Wise Owl" nursery rhyme.

A wise old owl lived in an oak 

The more he saw the less he spoke

The less he spoke the more he heard

Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

So there you have it. The baby's room is almost complete. We are missing a few things like the changing table pad, a diaper pail and most importantly, Aisley. 

I have my baby showers in a few weeks and cannot wait. I am so excited to share this time with friends and family. I feel so blessed to have so many loving and caring people in our lives. There isn't enough time in the day for me to count our many blessings and name them one by one.