Pregnant Kate Update: 18 weeks!!

I saw this on another blog and decided that it would be a cool thing to do every couple of weeks to see the changes! Here goes:


Craving: Cake, sour candy, pie, Anything sweet!

Feeling: Sore. My silly sciatic nerve has been giving me problems...but a hot bath and a heating pad on my back and legs really helps temporarily reduce the pain.

Contemplating: Giving into my cravings vs. eating as healthy as I can. Hmmmm....

Looking forward to: Our ultrasound on May 16th! Cory and Clayton will both be coming with me and it will be such a fun thing to find out what we are having together!

Enjoying: The kicks and rolls and punches! I've felt movement since 14 weeks, but it is getting more and more intense as this baby grows bigger. I am loving it. 


I am loving the time that I get to spend with my little Claybird. We have so much fun playing together and having tickle wars. I am enjoying these last few months of just having him to put all of my effort and love into...because I know that his life is going to change significantly when our next baby arrives. 

xoxo Kate

Finding Peace in the Quiet

So often, we do not take time to breathe and just sit down and think about stuff. I find myself almost constantly busy even though I do not have a job (other than being a Stay at Home Mom of course which is 24/7, 365 work...no exceptions.) I find things to do that will fill my day at home with my son. We sing, play car races, learn animal sounds, play with playdough, put away toys, eat, read books, play outside in the snow, snack, and of course we watch The Lorax! Quiet time only ever comes when he is sleeping...and even then, it's not guaranteed. When I do get the enjoy quiet time by myself, I find that a lot of times the sounds of everyday life may be quiet, but my mind and my body are not. While I should be taking advantage of the opportunity to fill my mind and body with the peace of Jesus, I am thinking about what to make for dinner or when I should actually put on real clothes instead of staying in my pajamas all day...again. It takes much concentration to slow down enough to be peaceful. Why is it this way? I think the hustle and bustle of our world and the constant desire to have everything just right robs us of the quiet and peaceful times we could be having. Of course I'm not saying that as soon as your kid goes down for a nap you should collapse on the couch and just sit there all peaceful like if you have things that you absolutely have to get done. I'm saying that a little peace and quiet goes a long way for a mamma who is constantly on the move and busy all day. Even sitting on the couch for 5 minutes while you pray, or just sitting there and trying to clear your mind of all thoughts for a few minutes helps to bring a little peace into your busy day. If you are REALLY lucky (like I am on occasion), you may get the opportunity to soak in a hot bubble bath...and by all means, do NOT pass that up! As moms, we need to have some time to ourselves to indulge in something that we enjoy. We are constantly caring for the needs of others (be they kids or husband) and it is important that we can have some "me-time" every once in a while....or every evening if you can! The perfect place to get your rest is in the arms of Jesus. He tells us to come to Him when we are tired and burdened and He will give us the rest that we need. (Matthew 11:28) Come to Him in prayer. Come to him in thanksgiving. If we go to Him, He will give us the peace, perseverance, love...whatever we need, if we ask Him for it, He will give it to us.(John 14:13) I know that from now on, I am going to take advantage of any quiet time I get and go to Jesus in prayer and thanksgiving and receive the peace that I need on a daily basis...and you can do it too.

Dijon Mayo Salmon

Tonight I wanted to make some salmon fillets for dinner but I couldn't find a recipe that was easy and didn't require elaborate ingredients. I decided to make up my own recipe! It turned out SO good and my husband said it was the best he has had....and I knew he wasn't lying because his first bite lasted around 10 seconds and he closed his eyes and I'm pretty sure his entire body froze when he tasted it! When I made the sauce to cover the salmon, I did not measure anything...so this is my best guess as to how much of everything I used!

Make sure salmon fillets are thawed and fresh. Whether or not they have skin does not matter. Turn oven to broil.

Place salmon meat side up on cookie sheet with a lip. Lightly dust with salt and pepper.

Put in oven on broil for 6 minutes. (Time may be a little more or less depending on the size of your fillets. Mine were average sized and there were 2.)

While the fillets are cooking, mix together mayo sauce:

1/2 cup mayo

2Tbsp butter

1 1/2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning

1 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard

(If you have more than 2 average sized fillets, you will need to make more sauce. I had a little extra for 2 fillets but just spread it over the fillets for extra flavor.)

After the fillets are finished baking, take them out and put them on the counter. Cover them completely with the mayo sauce.

Put the fillets back in the oven for 5 minutes.

When finished baking, if there is skin on the underside of the fillets, use a spatula to gently separate the skin from the meat. Serve and ENJOY!

Delicious and Cheap Latte

The cost of lattes is so ridiculously expensive. If you want a latte, expect to pay around 3 dollars. At that cost, if you got one every day of the week, it would cost you $21 per week and around $84 every month just for a latte! That is so ridiculous...especially if you are trying to spend less money in this economy.

I have recently discovered a way to get a latte that is just as good for a third of the cost! At the grocery store, in the cold drinks section, you can get a Seattle's Best Iced Latte in a can for about $1. What I have done, is buy one of those and empty it into a coffee cup and microwave it for about 1 1/2 minutes.

Drink. Enjoy. Repeat. <3

Completely

Yesterday was a tough day for me emotionally. It just seemed like nothing was right and that everything was going wrong and contrary to what I had planned. Lately I've been getting frustrated very easily about little tiny things that don't really matter anyways. The problem with this is that it's very difficult for me to tell if it's just me because I'm pregnant or if I have legitimate frustration.

Last night a wonderful thing happened...God reminded me of something. I was laying in bed just listening to praise and worship music while I was trying to go to sleep and I could not sleep. The words from the song "The Stand" by Hillsong were playing over and over in my head. "What can I say? What can I do? But offer this heart oh God completely to You." I hadn't even listened to that song but still those words kept replaying over and over in my mind. I began to wonder if there was a part of my life and something that I have been trying to handle all myself and not giving it to God. Then I realized that all of my frustrations, fears, doubt, discontentment that were constantly filling my mind and my time were things that were also filling part of my heart. I honestly think that the things that you spend time thinking about and dwelling on can become so great that they start to fill up the space in your heart that rightfully belongs to God. It's those things that we keep to ourselves and try to handle on our own that we kinda keep separate from the rest of our heart that we surrender to God.

The lyrics now made sense. Now I know the reason that God put them in my head: because there is a part of my heart (frustrations, ungratefulness, etc) that I wasn't giving completely to God. It's so easy when things are going wrong and they aren't how you wish they were, to focus on those negative things and forget completely about the blessings in your life. We're supposed to be offering those difficult parts of our life as well as the blessings in our life to God equally and completely, leaving nothing out.

It's not an over-night success though. I know that I am going to have to work at this for a long time. It's going to be a constant struggle to remind myself of the blessings in life and to offer all of my frustrations, ungratefulness and all that negative stuff completely to God. It can feel so overwhelming to try to deal with all of your problems by yourself. We are so blessed to have a God that can take all of our problems so we don't have to carry them alone...as long as we offer everything completely to Him.

Better Than My Own

About a month or so ago, my husband Cory and I found out that we are expecting a child. Since we found out this news, there have been many things that I have been anxious about. For instance, I am just about 21 years old and have been married for just about 6 months now (in 2 days it will be our 6-month anniversary) and I am 3 1/2 months pregnant. I never expected in a million years that out of my graduating class, I would be the second married (first only to my sister-in-law) as well as the first to have a child. When I met Cory though, he blew all of my hopes, dreams and expectations out of the water. I think it's kinda funny how when I met the man of my dreams, God took everything that I had previously thought I would be like a year from then and changed it. Just over a year ago, I met this amazing guy at a college intramural volleyball group. I never thought that a year later I would be married to this amazing guy, be pregnant with our first child, and be living so far away from my friends and family. Yes, God changed all of my plans and everything that I expected, but with changing my plans for my life, He has made my life so much more fulfilling in just one year than I could have with my original plans.

Jeremiah 29:11 states, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" I have always read this verse and thought to myself, "Wow, God has a plan for my life that will prosper me and I will be safe with His plan. I will have a great future with God's plan for my life." I have even applied this scripture to my marriage. I know that God has great plans for Cory and my marriage and we will have a prosperous marriage as long as we follow Him. His plans for our marriage are plans of hope and plans of a great future together and with Him. I was talking to my dad on the phone the other day. I told him that I was having problems sleeping at night because I am very anxious about being pregnant and all of the changes that happen when you have a child. I also told him about multiple things that I am nervous about and I seem to be dwelling on those things. My dad reminded me of Philippians 4:8 which tells us," ...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--thing about such things." He told me that while I have a good reason to be anxious about those things, that God's plan for my life right now is not to worry about things that I cannot change...but to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable--think about the promises of God for my life. Whenever I am feeling nervous and anxious about anything, think about the promises of God and say Philippians 4:8 over in my head and think about those things. Last night, I had had enough of my anxiety taking over. I went through Philippians 4:8 and thought about God's promises for my life. Then I remembered Jeremiah 29:11. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" It hit me hard. All of this time, I have been applying that verse only to my life and Cory and my marriage. The thought of that promise also applying to my son that I am carrying never crossed my mind until last night. Even though our son is about the size of a lemon, God has had plans for his life before he was even conceived! God has plans for our son's life that will prosper our son and he will have a great future under the plan of God. Not only that, but God already has plans for our son's marriage. He already has plans to prosper our son's marriage and those plans give me great hope even though I have no idea what they are. I haven't even met my son yet and God already has great big plans for his life. How awesome is that?

So maybe the plans that I had for myself and my life have been thrown out the window and no longer exist, but I have great comfort in the fact that God's plan for my life and my marriage never change and they are always there. God never changes His mind and throws His plans for anyone's life out the window to start over. Fortunately, being human, we can make mistakes over and over and He never throws us out the window either. He is constant and He never changes...and neither does His love for us. That is such an encouragement to a sinner who constantly makes the same mistakes and who messes up constantly. He will never stop loving us no matter what. I don't know about you, but that makes all of my anxiety go away every time I think about it.

It is very good!

Have you ever looked at someone walking on the street or posing in a magazine and thought, "I wish I looked like that?" "They have rock solid abs...I think I need to work out more so I can look like that." or "Look at how long her hair is...that's so beautiful. I wish I looked more like that." We've all done it. We've all seen someone who we think looks just a little better than us. My question is this: who are we to compare ourselves to another human being? God created us all equal and at creation said, "It is very good." When he said this, He didn't say, "Ahh those long-legged girls, they are very good." or "Those body builders, they are very good." He said that it is very good...meaning all of creation...meaning you, me, the short people, the fat people, the people with bird noses, the people with wide-set eyes--we are all "very good."

God made each and every one of us unique in our own ways. There is no one else on this planet like my fiancé Cory. Yes there may be similarities, but there is no one else in the whole wide world exactly like him. The coolest part of this whole thing is that God made man in HIS image. What authority do we have to criticize what God has made...especially when He made it in HIS image? The way that each and every one of us look is special because God made us this way. If He didn't think a certain nose looked good on his creation, He would not have made it so. If He thought that everyone needed to be skinny, He would have made us all skinny. He didn't make us all skinny...and we all have different noses--that must mean that every part of us is loved by God because He created every part of us. He doesn't love any specific type of people more than the other.

Whenever we look in the mirror, I think we should be saying to ourselves, "Wow! I look really great! God did a good job when He made me!" God doesn't make mistakes nor has He ever made a mistake. To God, all body types, noses, colors, and hair styles are beautiful because He created them. So, let's strive to look at ourselves and praise God's wonderful masterpiece instead of criticizing our looks...because after all...we are very good!