Fall ♥

Things I look forward to each fall... my FAVORITE season:

1.  The changing colors of the foliage.  Especially when we take hiking trips in the mountains and stop and have a picnic at a great look out spot.

2.  Picking out halloween costumes and taking the kids trick or treating.  I love watching them run from house to house with such excitement, wondering what they will get next.

3.  Cute and comfy sweaters!!  I'm not a fan of summer because I hate the heat and humidity here where I live.  When it becomes "sweater weather", I know I'm in the clear.  :-)

4.  Cute, slouchy boots to go with that cute and comfy sweater.  ;-)

5.  Cream cheese filled pumpkin muffins..... I made some of these recently because I just couldn't wait.  The family loves them too!  I make a pretty tasty vegan version of these (family doesn't know they are vegan.. shhhh).  Maybe I'll post the recipe here on my blog if anyone is interested.

6.  Pumpkin Spice Latte.  YUM.  I don't drink coffee normally, but I will tear up a decaf coffee with pumpkin spice creamer, or the pumpkin latte from Starbucks.  Mmmm....

♥

Deal from K Sera Sera Maternity!

Enter code:  LOVEMYBELLY at check out, and you will save 10% on your order!

I bought a very cute shirt on eBay from a company called "K Sera Sera Maternity" (www.kssmaternity.com) and I'm very pleased.  It is lightweight, soft, very comfortable, and super cute.  These shirts are also eco-friendly!  The website's "About Us" section states that the company is sweatshop free, and products are made from a blend of bamboo fabric and certified organic cotton.  The fit is great because the shirts are extra long so you never have to worry about your belly poking out when you lift your arms to grab that last container of Peanut Butter Cup Edy's ice cream from the freezer section of the grocery store...


You can find them on eBay like I did, but you can also shop on their website listed above.  I bought this one for myself:

I love so many of their shirts.  Here are another two of my favorites, both of which I'm considering purchasing while I can still wear it (it's alright, I have a friend who is due in April... I can pass it on to her after ;)

Again, enter code LOVEMYBELLY at check out, and you can save 10% on your order.  :-)  Just wanted to pass that along.

Note:  I am NOT affiliated with the company in any way.  I used my own money to purchase the item, and my honest opinion is that I looove it.  :-)

Home Sweet Home

I, again, was admitted to the hospital for more cardiac concerns.  This is definitely becoming frustrating, but I'm keeping in mind that it is important for not only my own health, but the health of my baby.  I have since had to add Lasix (a diuretic) to my medication routine because they found extra fluid in my heart that was leaking into my lungs, and causing lots of swelling in my legs, hands, etc.  I hate taking medications while pregnant, but I definitely feel a difference and I do trust my doctor.  I can finally BREATHE again, including at night, and I'm pretty sure oxygen is important for the baby...

Anyway, I am out of the hospital and just lying around on bed rest awaiting my induction date.  I am now less than two weeks away from delivering my second baby boy and I couldn't be more excited/nervous/happy/scared... the usual.  ;-)

I'm a bit too tired to go into detail about my hospital stay and what has gone on during this past month, so I will update more later as I think of it, but for now, I'm just happy to be home.

Pregnancy update : Week 34

And THIS is what happens when you think you're going for a routine prenatal exam, and end up with an IV... by a nurse who can't seem to find a vein...


Really not a big deal, but I'd like to go into detail anyway.  So I go for my regular check up (weekly for me, although I believe it's weekly at this point in a normal, healthy pregnancy as well), and I also have a BPP scan.  Basically this is just where they check the baby and score him on different things.  They check the lungs to see if he is breathing, check his movements on each part of his body, etc etc.  The doctor informed me that baby got an 8 out of 8 for the little "test" in only 2 minutes.  What a good boy!  Since baby scored so well so quickly, the doctor doing the scan says "Let's have a little fun and turn 4d on so you can really get a good look at him.  We have extra time to kill here".  Let me tell you... the things they can do... amazing!  I loved seeing his little face so clear, and watching him move around in real time!  I teared up because I'm hormonal. all I could think about was how amazing it is to be able to grow another human being inside of me.  :-)

During this visit, I also was able to find out the results of the holter monitor from before.  It showed some abnormalities, but nothing big.  I apparently have an arrhythmia (irregular beat) about every 200 beats or so.  Because of this, as well as the fact that I am in my third trimester and they require an echocardiogram for every trimester, they gave me an order to have the next echo done within the next two weeks.  After we finish up in the office, I head to the cardiology department to see if I can schedule it while I'm there instead of calling later and trying to do it all over the phone, since I had the order with me anyway.

I get to the cardiology lab area, and the woman behind the desk calls the technicians to get an open date for me, looks up from the phone and says "If you don't mind waiting about 30 minutes, they can do your echo today."  I was thinking, "Great!  I won't have to make this drive an extra day next week!", so of course I say "Sure, I can wait."  I was called back in less than 30 minutes and started the echo.  Normal boring stuff, and then the technician gets up some-what quicker than usual and says "I will be right back, I just want to make sure the info and photos have gone through".  I've never had someone go check to make sure the photos from the echo made it to the room next door...but I didn't think anything of it.  I am sitting in this room now for about 30 minutes and I literally thought she went to lunch and forgot about me!

About to get up, get dressed and walk out, I hear her outside of the door whispering, "So is the doctor coming in?".  About 1 minute lady, a woman doctor comes in and tells me that they noticed some "extra flow and leakage" in my heart, and it's bad enough that they would like to do further testing to find out exactly where it's coming from.  They are going to administer an IV, give me 6 injections and try to find out some more information.  I say "injections of what??"  The doctor tells me it will just be saline and will not harm me or baby.  Relief!!

So the nurse comes in to start the IV and the technician comes back to get ready to start this part of the echo.  The nurse tells me this is a "bubble test".  She says if they can see what they need to with the first or second injection, they won't need to do any more.  Now is the fun part where I get pricked, and the nurse THINKS she found a vein, but didn't yet, and starts filling saline up into my tissues and swelling my arm up.  Excellent.  I can't say anything bad about her because I do apparently have tiny veins... almost every nurse tells me this.  But they are usually able to find a good spot to do what they need to do, without the sexy bruising you see above.  So, they begin the process with one, then two injections of saline.  Can't see what they need to.  So with the third injection, I'm told to "push like I'm going to the bathroom... constipation" (her exact words).  I'm feeling good at this point... sexy pregnant woman on a table with an IV, pretending to poop.  Fourth injection, same thing.  Now with the 5th and 6th injections, I'm told to cough without moving my shoulders.  Not impossible, but not entirely easy either.

That's basically the end of the test... they leave, come back in about 15 minutes, remove the IV and tell me I can go home and that my doctor will call me about the results.  I'm entirely confused at this point, but I'm glad to be done this and going back home.

And then 12 hours later, I end up with the super sexy heroin look on my left arm that you see above.  Perfect way to end your day.  lol :-)

Review: "ClosetComplete" Velvet Hangers

I recently purchased these from Amazon.com and got a great deal on these hangers.

Back story:  This past spring, I purchased some of the black velvet hangers on sale at a local Michael's store ($7.99 plus a 40% off coupon, heyyyyy!).  They came in packs of 10, and honestly I fell in love with them.  I forget the brand, and was unable to find more when I decided I wanted to replace all of my hangers with these.  They hold well, are sturdy, but they are thin enough that they truly did free up space in my closet.  I have very small closets, and large amounts of clothing.  Not a good match.

After no luck of finding these hangers again at such a good price (and not being able to wait until spring for the stores to bring them back again), I searched amazon.com.  The ClosetComplete hangers looked like a REALLY great deal.  For a 50 pack of the black velvet hangers, it was only 29.90!  I ordered them right away and sat back and relaxed knowing that soon my closets will look so much better, and feel roomier (I broke down and did some donating recently too, so that should help).  Whatever, I'm pregnant, and looking at some of my old clothes kind of upsets me at the moment anyway.  Boooooo.

So last week I receive my hangers, and I am sooo excited.  To my dismay however, I open the box and find pieces of hanger falling out at me.  The actual hangy part of the hanger (haha, maybe I should say the metal hook?  I like hangy part better though.) was broken off of the black part!  To me, the packaging looked fine, so I'm assuming this is a product issue, not shipping.  Take a look:

Hangers, just hangin' out!.......  Really??  They weren't even IN the package with the rest of the hangers!

So they literally fell out when I opened the box.  I placed them how they are in the photo so you guys can understand where exactly they were broken, but they honestly were already out of the plastic.  That seems odd to me.

After doing my own research, I'm finding that quite a few other people have had the same problem.  I personally decided to take the loss (it was only two hangers anyway) and instead of returning the product, I kept the rest of the hangers to see how they'd hold up for me.  And I figured I'd be able to write a better review if I actually USED the hangers that weren't completely broken.

Hmm... 

So far, I have had no other issues.  They are holding fine, although I am nervous about hanging any coats or any heavy sweaters, so I've left those to the other hangers I had around.  I will try it though and get back to everyone on that.  I have heard that other people had issues with the velvet rubbing off onto the clothes too.  Personally, I haven't had that issue.  I even took my fingers and rubbed vigorously on the hanger to see if anything would come off, and unlike everyone else, I didn't see any "big clumps" of material rubbing off of the hangers.  So, who knows.  I hope they aren't hanging damp clothes on the hangers or something...

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the hangers.  I do feel they are a little less durable than my original velvet space saving hangers, but I also feel that for just under $30, getting a 50 (err, well, 48) pack of these hangers is a pretty good deal.  The clothes in my closet are much more accessible and much less squashed in there now.

:-)

Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake Truffles!

Don't you hate when you hear someone say "That was my idea! I should have patented it when I thought of it!"  Well, I'm going to say it.  I have been making these "cake truffles", as I call them, for years.  Now it seems as if everyone is banking off of them.  :-P  Cake balls, cake pops, cake truffles, whatever you want to call them, are wonderful either way.  Personally, I love them because they are bite sized and the perfect amount of sweetness.  I don't have much of a sweet tooth.  If I go out for ice cream, I always get the 'kids size' because if I eat anything more than that, I feel sick.  Cake truffles are perfect because you have better control over how much you eat.  You can eat just one, or you can eat a few to equal what a normal piece of cake would be anyway.  Maybe I just have a weird thing for "bite sized" treats...  I tend to make all of my cupcakes and muffins in the mini size as well.

Anyway, I thought I would share my most recent baking success with you all.  They were a pretty big hit in my household, so maybe they will be in yours as well.  You can always change things around to fit your own taste or diet (peanut allergies, anyone?) so play around with it and see what happens.

You will need:
Spice Cake Mix (your own or a box is fine!)
Cream Cheese Frosting (1 can)
White (vanilla) Candy Melts (I used Wilton brand, purchased at Michael's craft store)
Apple Sauce / Dried Apples (to taste)
Cinnamon (to taste)
Walnut Pieces (to taste)
Shortening or Vegetable Oil to thin candy coating if needed


1.  To make these tasty treats, I started with my own spice cake recipe.  If you have a recipe of your own, use it, or you can even cheat and buy the boxed cake mix (no one will ever know). ;-)  With my spice cake recipe, I added about 1/2 cup apple sauce to the mix, and about 1/2 (or more) cup of dried apples cut into very very small pieces.  I also sprinkled about a teaspoon of extra cinnamon into the mix (loooove cinnamon!)  Bake it how you normally would, in a 13x9 pan.

2.  After letting the cake cool for a little, crumble it up into a bowl.  Any large pieces can be broken up as you go along.  You can work with the whole cake, or you can cut it into quarters and start there.  Using the whole cake will yield about 48 cake truffles I believe.  If you have the time and patience, go for it!  I do not however, and I usually end up only using a quarter of the cake and freezing the rest for later use.

3.  Add about half or slightly more of the icing to the cake mix and mix all together until it's blended and ready to roll into balls.  I like to mix in a little extra cinnamon in this step too (ok, so I may have a problem).  Remember that if you're using less cake, you have to use less icing too!  You want them to still have a "cakey" consistency.

4.  You can use a melon scoop or your hands to roll the mix into balls about the size of quarters or so.  Drop each ball onto some wax paper and place in the fridge for about an hour, or pop in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

5.  Melt the candies as directed and make sure you are using a bowl deep enough to drop the cake truffles in, and have them be covered by the coating.  Once the cake truffles are cooled enough, you can begin placing them, one at a time, into the candy coating and rolling them around to make sure the entire ball is covered.  (Tip:  I like to use tooth picks so that I don't have weird fork marks anywhere, and kind of roll them around in the candy coating.  I also only take a few of the balls out of the fridge/freezer at a time so that they don't start to warm up too much.  The cooler they are, the faster the coating will harden.  I'm all about saving some time...)

6.  Drop the covered cake pieces onto the wax paper again and have your walnuts ready to sprinkle on the top BEFORE the coating begins to harden.  If the cake pieces are still very cool, the coating will harden fast so you have to basically add the nuts immediately as you place them on the wax paper, and then continue on.  (Another tip:  If the coating begins to thicken in the bowl, add a small amount of shortening or vegetable oil to thin the coating out again.  Add and mix until it's back to the consistency you need... it should drizzle right off of a spoon)

7.  After this, you're done!  Let them sit so that the coating can fully harden, and then eat away.  I used the entire cake this time, and all of the cake truffles were gone in about 3 days.  I'm not sure if that says much since I live with men (hubby and son) and all food tends to go fast, but it seems pretty quick to me!

Enjoy!

YUM!

Pregnancy update

31 weeks!!!

So, I had a check up today and so far everything still looks great.  A little back story...  I have a high risk pregnancy due to a cardiac condition that was diagnosed a few years ago.  I am followed by a high risk ob/gyn at a local hospital that is well known for being one of the best in cardiology as well as maternal fetal medicine.  Due to my unique condition, I'm currently one of the top followed patients there.  I have been seen every two weeks, and occasionally weekly at the hospital.  During my visits, I go through the normal process that most pregnant women go through (weight check, blood pressure check, etc.), but I also have to talk about my condition and how it affects my daily living as well as having a growth scan of the baby.  I was placed on bed rest at only 18 weeks and had to leave my job working with children in an arts and crafts setting, and working retail part-time.  It's kind of a good thing because I honestly couldn't do it any more at that point anyway.  I was having early contractions and everyone was not only worried about my cardiac health, but the babies health at that point too since I was having so many contractions while I was working.  Unfortunately, an echocardiogram done in April did show a small decrease in my cardiac function, compared to an echo that I had done just a few months prior.

Since I am on daily medication for my heart, I also have sonograms every week or two weeks to check the babies growth.  So far, he has been exactly on target!  (oh, and yes, I found out I was having a boy around the 16th week I believe :)  Today, we saw him open his eyes during the sonogram, watched him practice breathing (how amazing!) and found that his arms and legs are actually measuring at almost 33 weeks gestation.  Looks like he's gonna be tall like his mama!  He is in a breech position, and has been for the last month.

I was having some issues with my heart for the last 3 weeks or so where my palpitations seem to be getting stronger and more frequent.  I also experienced a little more weakness and dizziness than usual.  I was sent to the cardiac center of the hospital to have a holter monitor placed on me, and the results were not yet in today so I'm not sure if anything showed up or not, but I'm staying positive.  Honestly, I don't mind the holter monitor because the maximum amount of time they usually keep those on you is 3 days, and I was only prescribed 24 hours with this one.  I have however, had to wear several event monitors which were more of a pain because those I had to wear for a few months at a time.  No fun.

All in all, it was a good day.  It's always pleasant to get to see my baby and know he's doing well inside of me.  Time for some sleep, and I'll be blogging again soon!

MamaFab