Hey friends! I hope you’re having a good week. I am hoping to get all caught up on these posts before I go into labor- hard to believe I’m even saying that already! The second and third trimester just flew by.

It’s another absolutely gorgeous morning here. I’m sitting on the couch with my decaf coffee & the windows open listening to the birds chirp. Does it get much better than that?

Diving in- late March, our neighbor brought to our attention that Moose had pooped in his yard- we felt terrible!! He was so nice about it though, but there was no getting around in that moment we were the bad neighbors. Our yards are all connected since we live in a townhouse with little space in between, so Moose must have made himself a little too comfy going over the imaginary line- enough to drop a poop. It was a wakeup call that we our current way of letting him out on the leash was not working, and we’re looking into other alternatives. Anyway- there is no excuse, and we just felt so badly this happened.

We decided to put a little gift together to apologize for his trespooping – Bar Dog Cabernet, A Nervous Dog Coffee Bar giftcard (a coffee shop not far from here) & a card.

A few days later, we got back a gift on our front steps with a toy Moose, a Kong Frisbee & a note from our neighbor thanking Moose for the gift, saying not to worry and to feel free to visit any time. Can you believe how gracious he was about it all? We are lucky to have him as a neighbor!

And Moose loved his gift!

April 2nd, we took Moose to Oak Hill trail- my favorite trail for running when I lived here back in the day. Below is a picture of the “Secret Garden”. The rule is, you’re not allowed to talk when passing through the Secret Garden (I learned this during cross country in high school), and we respect the rule still today . No idea where, how or why this rule originated- but thinking about it now…. it was the only time you could get a group of high school girls to stop talking for any length of time. Maybe our coach invented the rule, Ha!

While on the trail, we found an open area and let Moose run the hill there. He was having the time of his life!

That evening I had a mean craving for a chicken sandwich. We decided to order some Wendy’s and fries-my cravings for fast food have definitely returned in the third trimester. At least I had a healthier stretch in the second, lol. Also, have you had that Wendy’s Ghost Pepper sauce? It’s delicious!!!

I was also craving a milkshake so intensely this night, I couldn’t think about anything else. I ordered a handspun strawberry and fudge milkshake from Pav’s Creamery along with a cookie dough and brownie sundae (DJ got a sundae and the Death by Chocolate sandwich to save for later). While I’m admitting everything in this blog post, I have my ultimate pregnancy confession… Not only did I put in two ice cream orders… I proceeded to dip my sundae into my milkshake. Yes, I dipped one form of ice cream into my other ice cream. I think it’s the most indulgent, pregnant thing I have done this whole 9 months, lol. And wow oh wow, was it worth it- I almost called Pav’s to tell them they made a pregnant woman’s day. It was one of the best milkshakes and sundaes of all time. Can’t wait to get it again!

April 5th we had an OB appt., and per tradition, we got some CoreLife afterwards.

On April 6th, DJ’s coworkers threw us a surprise baby shower!! Well, surprise for DJ- they looped me in on it 😉 It was so beyond sweet. For lunch, each person brought a dish so we had a yummy spread of chicken salad sandwiches, meatballs, veggies and fruit with fruit dip, a quinoa salad, pasta, homemade chocolate chip cookies and rice krispies!

I absolutely adore all of DJ’s coworkers, so it was great to see them and catch up. We all enjoyed the spectacular spread & then they even had gifts that were so stinking thoughtful & creative too! It was pretty perfect because everything they got were things/books we didn’t have yet. We felt so honored they did this- it was really special <3. And DJ was definitely surprised!!

That evening, I was feeling like salmon, so I made salmon over cauliflower pappardelle (love this stuff), mixed with butter, spinach and mushrooms. Pretty simple, but so yummy.

April 7th, Moose was a sleepy boy after a full day at Marie’s playing with his friends.

After work on April 8th, I had a mean craving for some caramel. I stopped into the first Walgreens I could find nearby and grabbed some Werther’s Original Caramels. I didn’t care as much for the hard candies, but the chewy caramels really satisfied that craving!! April 9th I finished up food prep- I figured this is good enough for now, and we’ll probably get tired of crockpot meals anyway at some point.

Here are the recipes I made:

Sweet Potato And Basil Soup 

Slow cooker lentil soup

Chili

Chicken Tikka Masala

Low Carb Lasagna (I recommend using less salt than it calls for, otherwise it is way too salty!).

Mexican Casserole 

I also made some lactation cookies!! I tried a small bite & they are delicious. Cannot wait to eat these. I also have some Boobie Bars on standby, lol.

In the late morning of April 10th, we went by our family’s house to visit for a while and then we had our maternity shoot! Will share those pictures soon :).

We returned that evening and got ready for the week, while cuddling Moose in between chores.

That week was a big week of figuring out child care for after maternity leave. I visited a couple day cares, and I think we have a plan in place. It’s probably been one of the most challenging things to figure out because of my ever-changing work schedule, but I’m relieved we have something in the works! I felt like this guy trying to figure it all out 😅.

April 15th was a gorgeous day. We took Moose out on a walk per usual.

DJ had a lot of work to do that day into the evening, but we took a short break to go out on a second walk at Virginia Kendall Hills as we remembered the significance of Good Friday.

Moose loved scaling these hills! They were a touch more difficult for me than they used to be I will say, hah.

Then Sunday was Easter! He is Risen! We spent the entire day with family starting with an awesome church service. The rest of the day, we ate delicious Easter meals and watched our nephew do an egg hunt/basket hunt- it was so stinkin’ cute.

Even our girl got her first Easter basket! <3

Can ya handle the cuteness?!? Also, we are obsessed with that Night-Night Ohio book- adorable.

More phenomenal food! I have been wanting steak so badly, so when my mom-in-law and Gordie suggested it for dinner, I was not about to turn it down! I never want to order it at a restaurant because it feels like a crime asking for it well done, but Gordie graciously cooked it all the way through for me, and it was soooooo gooooood. It was a great Easter in every way!

April 18th, I started the day with oatmeal, cottage cheese, berries and honey. This combo sounds probably… unusual- but I have been loving cottage cheese mixed with my berries and oats lately!

I also have been doing an odd combo of savory/sweet with toast with raspberry jam, cottage cheese and eggs. Idk what it is, but I crave this!

That evening, I ordered chicken fingers from TGIF’s as a second dinner after seeing how good they looked when DJ ordered them the day before. Chicken fingers have for sure been a third trimester craving.

That week, the nesting kicked in out of nowhere. It is such a real thing! I got this sudden rush of energy after being beyond exhausted for weeks. I cleaned & organized everything I could get my hands on. At one point, DJ goes, “you’re dusting again?!” hahah, yessssir.

Anyway- I watched The Dropout on Hulu while doing my cleaning, and wowza, that show was phenomenally done- I got through it in just a few days. It’s mind-blowing that it’s a true story.

Back to the cleaning- it felt SO good to have the whole place cleaned & now it’ll just be a matter of keeping it clean until she makes her grand entrance :). Talking to you, Moose 😉 (Ok and talking to myself a little too if we’re being honest, lol).

I also got my hospital bags mostly packed- both the labor bag and postpartum bag.

I also figured out gifts for the L & D and postpartum nurses this week. I sent this to my mom, and her response cracked me up.

LOL- I am admittedly extra, I know it- but it is just extra funny coming from my mom.

April 19th, we had our last ultrasound as a position check and to check fluid levels. She is head down and fluid levels are looking good! All systems are go. And surprise, surprise, we went to Core Life after as tradition has it.

Now it’s really just a waiting game, while trying to survive 8 hours on my feet at work & going to the weekly OB appt. I told my manager I’m just going to try to work until delivery- so far it’s been going well, my feet are just very swollen at the end of the day, but really I can’t complain!

Alrighty, I should probably go tackle some of these remaining things on the to-do list staring me in the face. I think one more recap post I’ll be all caught up & then baby will be here!

Questions for you:

• How is your spring so far?
• For breakfast- do you tend to lean savory or sweet? A combo?

<3,

Mackenzie