Mommy Mondays Week 29

My last week in the 20's! I can't even believe it. Each week we're that much closer to meeting baby girl, my husband and I are getting really excited. The paint for her nursery has been purchased, hopefully we can paint within the next couple of weeks. My dad is working on refinishing a dresser and bookshelf for her, then we just need to buy the crib and changer. I can't wait to see how it all comes together. I feel like I should apologize for my lack of posting lately, I can't even manage to get this one up on time. Life. What can I say, it's been rough.

Mommy Mondays Week 28

Hubby and I are currently in Las Vegas until tomorrow, and I completely forgot to set an alarm to remind me to post. I should have typed this up before we left and scheduled it, but my pregnancy brain has me feeling pretty air headed lately. This past week seems to have flown by, and now I'm officially in the third trimester! I can't believe how fast time flies, I must be having too much fun. I really do enjoy being pregnant. It's worth the aching back, throbbing feet, tummy troubles, itchy stomach, and headaches! Just to feel Isla move and see her grow every week is such a miracle. Seeing my husband get more and more excited every week is the sweetest thing. I know once she's here his heart will melt. Can't wait to meet her. 

DIY Maternity Photos Using your iPhone

My husband and I are both awful at taking pictures. Since I've been pregnant, the only pictures I had of myself were the once a week bump shots. We've been to parties, gone to happy hours, and socialized with our friends. But we have no pictures to prove it. I wanted to snap a few pictures in order to do a name reveal for our little sweet pea on Facebook, for our not so immediate family and friends who didn't already know her name. I didn't necessarily need to involve my hubby in this, but we were both home and the weather was so nice it turned into a mini photo shoot. 

I had some friends asking who took the pictures, who the photographer was, how they were edited, etc. I thought it was easiest to explain it all in a blog post. Hopefully you will find this helpful, and if you're camera shy it might entice you to take some pictures to remember your pregnancy. I took my maternity pictures pretty early on, I'm just now in my third trimester and I was 26 weeks in these photos. My bump is small, but that's okay. I would rather take these pictures while I can see my feet and haven't entered full-waddle-mode quite yet. 

Low Sodium Taco Chili

When I want a quick meal that's slightly healthier for a fast food item, I pick up chili and a baked potato. The other day I decided to go ahead and make my own chili to have over sweet potatoes. Regular chili is delicious, but I wanted to incorporate some new flavors. This taco chili is full of nutrients and low on salt. If you aren't on a low sodium diet, I definitely suggest adding extra cheddar cheese and taco sauce to yours. My husband said it was even more delicious that way. I also completely forgot to buy peppers at the store. This recipe would be fantastic with fresh green chili peppers or jalapenos for extra heat.

Mommy Mondays Week 27

I am finally in my 7th month of pregnancy! I feel like a lot has changed in terms of my looks the past week. I wake up looking quite pregnant, and strangers are noticing it as well. I know because they either make a comment, or I can feel their eyes on my stomach as they stare. It's a little awkward. 

I always thought week 27 marked the beginning of the third trimester, but according to my Baby Center app it's the end of the second trimester. For all the moms and pregos out there, when do you think the third trimester begins? The picture this week was taken, a day early, by my bestie. It's not often I'm out in the sunshine with someone else to take a picture of me!

Lower Sodium Beef and Potato Soup

*I wrote this two weeks ago, and told myself I would make it again to snap a decent picture. I only have one I took quickly to show my husband, then we ate it all. This happens a lot. So I never posted this. I've decided to go ahead and post it anyway, so it's definitely in past tense. I've been doing the low sodium thing for a while now and it's helping tremendously.*

During pregnancy, salt is your worst enemy. I've been swelling up like crazy lately. Mainly I've been too focused on overall calories, when I should be focusing on sodium. I'm eating 2000 calories a day and still gaining 5 lbs in one week, which is impossible by the way. So I've decided to stick as closely as I can to 1500 mg of sodium per day, plus extra potassium.

This soup can be fancied up into a stew if you feel like adding flour and taking the time to cook it out. I personally like the kinds of soups where you throw everything into a pot, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer. So although this soup is more watery than a stew, it tastes just as good. Plus no added salt!

Lower Sodium Sausage, Potato, and Kale Soup

Another soup recipe, and what to do with those other sausage links leftover from this recipe. Hubby and I love Olive Garden for the soup, salad, and bread sticks. The only downside is the sodium. Nowadays I'm not even worried about overall calories because I always stay right around 2000-2200. I am however worried about sodium content, which has put a damper on eating out. I decided to spice up the leftover chicken apple sausage and try a lighter version of our favorite soup, Zuppa Toscana. This doesn't taste as good as the real deal because I'm using milk instead of cream, and I've omitted the bacon. Give this a try if you're also stuck on a low sodium diet like me!

Sausage Lentil Soup

My apologies for all of the soup recipes lately. Trying to go low sodium has been difficult, and soup has been something that's easy. This soup turned out amazing. I honestly didn't think I would end up sharing the recipe, because it wasn't a recipe. I had random ingredients and tried to make them work. Thanks to my pregnancy brain I left the grocery store with chicken apple sausage, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and parsley. Did not think it through. Luckily I had lentils and canned tomatoes at home, and this turned out wonderfully! Feel free to substitute the chicken apple sausage for Italian, spicy, or whatever you have on hand.

Mommy Mondays Week 26 on repeat

We found out from the doctor last week that my ultrasound confirmed my due date is February 11th, so it's been pushed back a week. I'm sad because it means I have to wait longer to meet my little one, and she might be a valentines baby! I don't know why that bothers me, I just don't want any holidays to take away from her special day. 

When they originally moved my date up a week, I didn't know why. I figured they were just going by my cycle date, but even then I would have been due in January based off that. The doctor said my fundal height is 23-24; so I'm measuring small, but normal, for how many weeks the baby is. It could be that she's a little baby, or that she was in a position where she wasn't taking up as much space. Either way, I'm fine with her being smaller rather than larger. I'm terrified of delivering a 10 lb baby. Mainly because I'm already up 18 lbs, and being a week behind means I've gained just a little more than I "should have" at this point. From here on out I'm going to eat better. All those late night Taco Bell trips in the first and second trimester are starting to catch up to me.

Single Serving Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup

I had a sweet potato hanging out on the counter, and some leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge. I've been making pumpkin spice lattes in the morning, but that only uses one tablespoon of pumpkin at a time. I really wanted to use up these ingredients before they went bad, so I made myself a single serving of soup. It turned out great! It was quick and easy.