Livin' the Dream in Lima

I'm really starting to feel pregnant... not sure if that's a good or bad thing! Nothing too crazy this week, I had a busy week of cupcakes and then it was off to the beach with my parents for a little getaway! 19 weeks at the beach They drove from IL to OH and picked us up; then we journeyed on to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. What a cool place! It's a huge estate built by George Vanderbilt in 1895 (well, completed in 1895. It took about 6 years to build.) It has been restored to pretty much its original condition - complete with 65 fireplaces, 33 guest rooms, and 43 bathrooms. Nuts! We took a tour of the main house, and we also did a behind-the-scenes butler's tour, which was really neat. After spending a day and a half at the Biltmore, we journeyed on to Myrtle Beach, SC, where my parents had a condo on the beach for the week. It was so nice to just relax and soak up time with family. You betcha we celebrated pizza of the week! (Yes, I brought my...

What's this? A recipe post??!?! Haha... we are currently on the beach and it is a rainy day, so I thought I'd have a little fun. I only have about 5123 recipes in my arsenal from the last several months that I'd love to write about. We'll start with BLT Pizza . My Business Man and I have decided that this summer is the summer of pizza. Homemade pizza night once a week, and we're going to try not to repeat anything. Here's what we've done so far (with links to recipes where applicable): Week #1: Margherita Pizza Week #2: Strawberry Bacon Balsamic Week #3: BLT (posted below!) Week #4: BBQ Chicken - simple bbq sauce topped with chicken, cheese, & onion Week #5: Pepperoni & Cheese  It's been fun to come up with something different each week... I thought BLT would be a unique twist on pizza. I love BLT's in general, so why wouldn't it be good on a pizza? I browsed online for some recipes, but most of them had a big slop of may...

18 weeks, and feeling pretty good still! Nothing really notable this week... I'm starting to feel a little more bump-a-licious. Though a lot of people are still telling me I don't look pregnant at all. (Though I am hoping my usual summer 'six-pack' doesn't quite look like the picture below, ha.) One of the highlights of the week was a day trip to Cincinnati with my friend Lindsey . We hit up IKEA, the mall (hello GapMaternity!), Noodles & Co for lunch, and my beloved Trader Joe's. I finally got myself some maternity skinny jeans, and I am wishing I would have done it weeks ago! They are so comfy. And exactly  like the Gap skinny jeans that I usually wear. Except with a stretchy waistband. On Friday night, we were invited to a Dayton Dragons baseball game... now I am not usually into baseball, but I'm not one to turn away free tickets to a fun event! We were actually in a suite with several other people from Lima, and enjoyed some tasty foo...

Another week has passed! Apparently Poppyseed is now the weight of a turnip. Who even eats turnips? I have no idea what a turnip even looks like, let alone how much it weighs. And honestly, what's with the constant comparison to fruit & veggies? I have to admit, while I've been eating a good amount of fruits & veggies, that's not what I've been craving. ;)  I stumbled upon this Junk Food Baby Size Chart , which seems to be much more accurate in helping me understand how big the baby is. This week, looks like Poppyseed is almost  the size of a can of pop. (Make that a caffeine-free Diet Mountain Dew to be exact. No worries, gone are the days when I would have 3-4 cans over the course of the afternoon. Now it's maybe one every other day.) The theme of this week has been FOOD! Now that business has slowed down a bit, I've actually had motivation to cook fun meals. We ate really well last week. (Which means this week will probably be a combinat...

16 weeks down, 24 weeks (give or take a couple) to go! It's hard to believe how quickly the time is flying by. Poppyseed is roughly the size of an avocado this week, and he/she has been treating me pretty well! I've had some tummy aches after eating large amounts of vegetables, but I think that's mostly due to a lot of fiber than anything else. Guess I'll just have to eat more carbs... :-P [ Random side story : The other morning just after we woke up, my Business Man put his hands on my belly and asks me, "How's the guacamole doing in there?" Haha. I was so confused... we had pizza for dinner the night before. Then I realized that he probably meant avocado. Now it's our little inside joke.] I had my 16-week appointment today, so that was fun. Nothing too exciting really happens at these appointments, which I guess is a good thing! Weight, blood pressure, and then find the baby's heartbeat. It was beating a quick 160 beats/minute today... ...

Well, I've made it into the second trimester! Supposedly when all your energy comes back... however this is my busiest season for Sara's Sweets so I don't think I would notice any extra energy even if I had it! Ha. The past couple weeks have been pretty uneventful - just working a lot and living life. Poppyseed is now the size of an apple, which is crazy to me! I still can't really understand where he/she is taking up all that space.  Baby bump? Or did I just eat one too many cupcakes? I am still fitting into one  pair of jeans from before I was pregnant. And I'm deathly afraid to wash them, because I know they won' t fit once they shrink up in the dryer! (You know it... freshly washed jeans are the worst! Even not pregnant!) Luckily it's turned into summer in these parts and I can wear a couple pairs of shorts. Plus all my running shorts. Ahhhh, the joy of working from home most days. I'm still running along, although I've slowed down a ...

Well, that's cat's out of the bag... we're having a baby! I know it's been a hot minute (2+ months) since I last blogged, but I'd like to at least semi-regularly write about this pregnancy. So I can look back and see how crazy I was from all the hormones running through my body. Ha.  I credit my friend Lindsey with our pregnancy announcement. She is much more creative than I am. At least I baked the cupcakes?? I'll start with just a few details of the last 3 months. How we found out:  A pregnancy test. Duh. I had been tracking my cycles for awhile, and was a couple days late. Not wanting to get my hopes up, I forced myself to wait until I was at least 2 days late before taking a test. And there was a super faint  line! My Business Man told me not to get too excited but the next day, there was a much darker line. After confirming with a blood test by the doctor, it was official! And we were officially excited. I had my first appointment at 8 ...