Week 25?

I have been slacking on the blog front. It is exhibition time at school, which on top of a lot of other shit means that I work 7:30-7:30 most days, have no time to do anything at work and am generally stressed and exhausted. Exhaustion leads to mild depression for me, which makes me more exhausted. If I can sleep it off I am fine, but if I can't it gets worse. It also triggers insomnia. I am sure you see the catch 22 here. So, after posting about sleeping all the time I faced a week that entailed not sleeping, stress, exhaustion, a lot of crying and mild breakdown (or three). At least Mike is on nights :) Anyway, Friday night I crashed hardcore, I don't think pregnant Donna can do insomnia the same way (plus Mike was actually gone--I have a miserable time sleeping alone if he is here, but if he is at work I am usually okay). Anyway, I slept all day, went shopping with my mom and had dinner with Mike, just to go to bed at 8:30 and sleep another 12 hours. I woke up in a much better mood and opted to not spend my only day off (I am counting yesterday as mental recovery and NOT as a day off) cleaning. So I went baby shopping...

It didn't go well. For one, I am out of clothes because I didn't do laundry yesterday. So I wore my only remaining pair of maternity pants in my closet. It is a sad day folks, I have grown out of a pair of maternity pants. That cannot be a good sign. Anyway, I was super uncomfortable. I went to get a pedicure figuring the massage chairs would be nice, and they were, except my pants hurts my belly. Then I went to Home Depot to get some room stuff and got very hungry. So I blew $100 on some Martha Stewart organizational bins and came home, where I spent the next hour in my underwear eating roasted potatoes on blood oranges (not together).

Finally I went grocery shopping, in a comfy, albeit dirty, pair of large maternity jeans. I got general groceries and stuff for dinner tonight, that I suppose we will call Valentine's Dinner. Plus I made two pans to go in the deep freeze for when the baby arrives.

For our last Valentine's Day as single people this is what we are having:
Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells in a Pesto Cream Sauce
Romaine Salad with red onions, cucumber and avocado
Extra thick brownies with balsamic macerated strawberries and whipped cream

As far as baby goes (or went about 6 days ago):

That oh-so-handy sense of equilibrium is kicking in, and baby's learning to distinguish right side up from upside down.

Your baby weighs 1 1/4 pounds and is a little more than 11 inches long, about the size of a small bag of sugar. In the last third of pregnancy, he'll double and triple his weight. Your dexterous baby can touch and hold her feet and make a fist. Your partner may be able to hear his heartbeat by pressing his ear against your belly. Your baby has a regular sleep schedule now and active and inactive periods. You may or may not be able to discern what those periods are. his nostrils, which have been plugged, open up.

And in mama news (although thankfully this hasn't actually happened yet):

Got a dark line running down your belly? That's your linea nigra, and it's totally normal. Pregnancy hormones might also be making your complexion a little spotty. Switching to oil-free, water-based, noncomedogenic makeup should help clear things up.

Welcome to the third trimester! You're really in the homestretch now. While reaching the third trimester feels like great progress, with it comes a return to fatigue, dizziness, and constant trips to the bathroom. To relieve back, hip and leg pain now, try to keep walking, swimming, practicing yoga or doing any other nonweight-bearing activity. This also can help you recover faster physically after childbirth. To make sure you'll enjoy your baby shower, schedule it between weeks 30 and 36; you'll still be spry enough to enjoy it.

And my favorite piece of advice this week:

[ tip ] Skip the elaborate nursery decorations and spend the savings on an extra-comfy rocking chair. At 3 a.m., baby won't know the difference...but your back and bottom sure will.

What's Cooking

I want to cook a lot of food that can be frozen and then baked/reheated after the baby comes. I am not going to want to cook or even have the conversation about what I want for dinner. I hate that conversation. So I think this is the best option. I figure 20-30 trays of food will make all the difference in the world. I don't even like takeout very much, so this is the best option. We can just grab a bunch of fresh produce for salads and stuff and be good for dinners and breakfasts for a long time. My only issue is freezer space. We actually have a regular, albeit small, refrigerator upstairs and a beer fridge downstairs plus a deep freezer. However, Mike and I are talking about buying a cow to cut back on cost, I am not sure how we will fit all of this in the fridges, especially since they are already full of deer. Hopefully Mike and clean out the freezer from anything too old (although I think it is in good shape after our European adventure this summer). Hopefully there is room, but there won't be if we store the other half cow for someone else. Anyway, for a later date I suppose. I figure if I find recipes now that I like and I start making 1-2 per weekend, I will be set. I have 16 weekends left and I am sure I won't bake for all of them, but having all of the recipes picked out will help a lot, so this is what I am thinking. I figure it will feed us for now too.

If anyone has other great, freezable meal ideas, let me know!

This weekend:
Blueberry Muffins
Spaghetti with meat sauce

To make soon:
Dinners:
Turkey Sausage Lasagna
Chicken Tikka Masala
Stuffed Peppers
Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells
Roasted Veggie Meatloaf
Skillet Lasagna
Cream Cheese Chicken
Chicken Enchiladas--my recipe
Cornbread Casserole--my recipe
Honey Lime Chicken
Chicken Spaghetti Bake
Baked Ziti
Chinese Meatballs
Chicken Paella
Chicken Paprikash (modified from this recipe)

Sides:
3 portions rice
1 portion Spanish rice
2 portions mashed potatoes
Frozen veggies
Egg Noodles

Breakfasts:
Pineapple Muffins
Banana Waffles
Smoothie packets (fruit, spinach, yogurt)