Feeling better

It's been awhile since I last posted a blog. I just thought I'd have more to say if I wait longer between posts. Mark and I had our first midwife appointment about 2 weeks ago. We heard the heartbeat for the first time and it was so cool! It was beating at about 160...fast like a girl :) I really don't care what the sex of the baby is, just as long as it's healthy, but it would be cool if it was a girl since my sister and my sister in law just had baby boys last year. It's time for a girl! Mark is currently in the process of painting the baby's room a beautiful shade of robin's egg blue and a peachy apricot color. I think it will match the decor perfectly. Check out the no VOC paint that we bought: freshairechoice.com.

For the past 2 days I haven't been nauseous or thrown up once..so maybe this is the end of morning sickness? I sure hope so. I'm 14 weeks right now and this is the time that all the books and websites say that I should start to be feeling better. I have noticed that if I indulge my unhealthy cravings, I tend to end up feeling nauseous and throw up later on in the day. Maybe it's my body's way of telling me to eat healthy for the sake of the baby :) Not a bad thing! I have been having good cravings though too. I can't seem to eat enough fruit. And what a great season to be having fruit cravings! The nectarines and strawberries are so delicious right now. My mom's grapevines are at the peak of ripeness and next month is fig season. I've been lucky and found one ripe one the other day. It was darn tasty.

Starting Tuesday, I'm going to be taking a prenatal yoga class at Blue Anjou yoga studio in Lewisville. I haven't really exercised all that much since I got pregnant, partially because I've been so nauseous and partially because it's been so darn hot outside. My normal exercise routine included daily 30-45 min walks, and I could usually tolerate the heat pretty well, but since I'm pregnant, I figured it's not all that wise to be walking in 95-100 degree heat. I guess everyone knows by now that BellaRosa has officially closed. We had a long run...9.5 years to be exact, and while I'm a little sad that I'll never walk into that store again, I'm also relieved. Finally having only one job that will actually provide steady income has been something I've never really experienced before. It's always been BellaRosa plus one other job. I'm so grateful that I met Rachelle and she's been able to provide me with a great career and future career opportunities. Only working 35 hours a week instead of 50 should allow me to be able to attend a yoga class, childbirth classes and many other things that I've never given myself the time to do. I'll have my weekend back. Saturday and Sunday off!! I haven't had that luxury since I was 18.

Since this is a gluten free blog also, I thought I'd share a recipe that I'm going to make today. I've been craving coffee cake or cinnamon rolls for the past few days, but being gluten free means that I can't just run to the local Starbucks for coffee cake or the grocery store to pick up a container of cinnamon rolls (making them homemade is healthier anyway). Haven't tried this recipe yet, so we'll see what happens.

adapted from this recipe: heythattastesgood.com


Cinnamon Coffeecake Muffins
1 stick butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 c GF flour mix (or, alternately, 2 c rice flour mix, 1 t baking powder, 1 t baking soda, 1 t xanthan gum)
1 t vanilla
1 c sour cream
Topping:
1/2 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
1/4 c nuts (of your choice, optional)

Beat butter and sugar, then add eggs. Mix in flour, then vanilla and sour cream, and beat until completely mixed. Scoop with an ice cream scoop or plop with spoons into a greased muffin tin, if you have extra, grease some ramekins and use those for the rest of the batter. Mix the topping ingredients, and sprinkle on top, then bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until they start to brown and a toothpick or thin knife inserted in comes out clean.

Well, that's all I got for today. Will blog more later!!