7QT- Starring my 33-34 Wk Pregnancy Nesting

It has certainly been a fun and crazy week! As is the case with most families, we've had fighting and laughing and everything in between.  

But did your family have this this week?

1. Dress-up and tea parties

So posh.  

2. Book of the Week

This was such a sweet little find at the library this week.  ALL the girls loved the love and sweetness in this lovely picture book. 

3. Baby Names

In case you missed it from an earlier post, we did a baby name consultation with Kate at Sanctanomina.com for fun this time around.  Definitely check it out and tell us your thoughts!  So far, I believe the top suggestions from people center around Zoe, Zelie, and Tessa for girls and Blaise and Jude for boys, but there are seriously a TON of great suggestions both on her list and in the comments section too.  

4.  Family walks

We took one every night this week (and planning on a nice one tonight).  One evenings walk was to a concert at a nearby park.  2-4 miles every night and the kids slept great. 

 

And we all enjoy the beauty of God's creation all around us.  So beautiful. 

5. Craving?

I don't know if I'd call it a craving yet, though it probably will be as soon as this bag runs out...

These Boulder Canyon sea salt and cracked pepper chips are my new favorite thing.  I ate 3/4 of a bag of them yesterday...

6. Freezer meals

In this post last Sunday, I mentioned a few freezer meals I'd made.  Well, I had a whole list and had found some great deals at the store, so this week I made a bunch more....

Savory Chicken and Sausage & Peppers from this website (I just did one bag of each for now)

Beef Roast with Carrots from here and a slightly different version of Cilantro-Lime Chicken found here (minus the corn).  I actually made two recipes of that and threw one in the crock pot for dinner that day.  It was really good.  I made rice to put it over, but you could obviously make it into burritos/tacos too, and I had a bunch of salad greens, so I made my meal into a big salad (just add tomatoes and avocados and it gets even better). 

Sweet Balsamic Pork roast

2 bags of meatballs (I used a similar recipe, but I'm gluten-free, so used almond flour instead of bread crumbs and there was no ketchup in the version I used)

I made like 4 lbs worth of meatballs, and used some of them to make this Meatball Soup as well.  Additionally I froze 4 cups of homemade chicken stock to add to it when it's time to cook and eat. 

Teriyaki Chicken  (though Kayla isn't a huge fan of pineapple, so I omitted that and added a cup of water and a little ground ginger and a heaping tablespoon of honey)

&

this Cranberry Pork Roast

So far, I've got 16 meals all ready and I think I'll make a few more as well since we have the freezer space (a nice benefit to having a fridge of our own and renting a place that came with one). 

7. Smoothies

I'm also freezing up bags of fruit mixtures to make into smoothies for an easy and healthy breakfast/snack after baby comes.  Thanks to some awesome fresh and frozen fruit sales at Sprouts this week, I have well over a dozen baggies already and tons more fresh fruit cut up in the fridge for some healthy goodness now.  

Join the link-up for 7 quicktakes 

with This Ain't the Lyceum and share yours. 

7 Quicktakes - end of June-beginning of July

We've had a whirlwind two weeks with my parents visiting, the 4th of July, and my brother's family visiting.  Plus it's summer.  So this is a smattering of what we've been up to in a nutshell the past few weeks between the family visits.  

1. Glucose test

 

I took it, I passed. Yay! 

Ava wasn't really a fan of my leaving for my appointment that day though.  What a sad sack- she was breaking my heart. 

2. Reading/Time Outside

We spend A LOT of time outside these days.  We ride bikes and scooters, we take family walks and go to parks, we visit with the neighbors, we read books, we eat outside, we play in the water table/kiddie pool, we soak up the sun, and we eat popsicles (our favorite is a brand called Outshine--they make them with real fruit and don't add extra sugar-win!)

 

3. Coloradans

I guess we can "officially" call ourselves Coloradans now that we got new CO plates for both the cars.  

4. Pregnancy- 3/4 of the way done

I'm 31 weeks now, but last week we took a picture one day to commemorate 30 weeks and being 3/4 of the way through this pregnancy (unless of course baby decides to stretch the pregnancy to 41 or 42 weeks...)

That day was also one in which the dramatic and crazy and tired came out in 2 out of the 4 girls and the emotions were cray-cray.  I think that term is silly and slightly over the top, but it is totally appropriate in this situation so--using it.  

5. Fourth of July

We went to the local parade in the morning and I got terrible pictures.  

  

Exhibit A: I couldn't actually see, so this family selfie accidentally doesn't have Elise's face in it.  Oops

Exhibit B: I tried one of the girls who all blinked or whined or both about the SUN IN THEIR EYES!

Exhibit C: an action shot of Elise and Ava (blinking) and dancing on the side of the parade route

Later in the day we went to a BBQ at a friend's house and then watched fireworks at a park near home.  Sophie did not enjoy them at all.  She doesn't like loud noises and bright flashing lights apparently.  She hated the fire engines in the parade as well.  

6. Summery treats

Frozen grapes (and blueberries...and later cherries, per the suggestion of an Instagram friend)

YUM!  If you haven't ever tried this, do!  A delicious, healthy, cool treat for a summer day. 

Additionally, my new favorite preggo snack is fresh fruit with fresh whipped cream. 

Fruit by itself was really not a big appeal to me, but recently I suddenly had a thought about fresh whipped cream (probably because I've been meaning to make Chris a nectarine pie which would also absolutely need some fresh whipped cream on top) and suddenly CRAVING.  I could eat this all day (and I'm loving this modern day Jane Austen-y book--Lizzy and Jane).

7. Swim Lessons

Kayla and Elise are taking swim lessons for several weeks.  Both girls are loving it thus far. 

First day photo

 

 

And of course the others enjoy the free swim time while swim lessons are going on.

 

7 Quicktakes Friday- June is Busting Out All Over

Just a few updates and mostly pictures from our week here.  You can join the link-up for 7 Quicktakes Friday with Kelly here.  

1. Third Trimester

I'm 27 weeks either yesterday or today so I'm officially in the third trimester now.  That wonderful trimester where you FEEL and ARE huge, and this will be my second pregnancy being huge for the entire summer, so woohoo!  Plus this is the trimester that is really like two trimesters because everyone knows that the last 2-3 weeks until baby's arrival always feels like another trimester altogether.  But it's still nice to at least feel a little closer to meeting our little monkey in person.  

Here I am last Sunday, at just a few days past 26 weeks

2. Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 

I was able to get to Mass by some miracle on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with all four little gals in tow AND they were all extremely well behaved.  GRACE!  #pleasecanthiscountasamiraclesomedaysoicanbeasaint!  Anyway it was beautiful and the priest gave all the girls such a lovely blessing when we went up for communion.  He even gave the little one inside a special blessing which after the grace I'd already encountered with good behavior at Mass made me cry a little.  #alsoiamapregnantemotionalhotmess

The girls really liked the fruit tray Sacred Heart we had for a healthy! treat later that evening.

3. Playdates

I am just loving meeting new mom friends and having playdates so our kids can get to know each other too.  A friend I met through Blessed Is She (Megan) set up a playdate for a decade of the Rosary at a nearby parish and then fun on the playground by the church afterwards.  The girls were thrilled and Kayla met a new friend and immediately wanted to set up more future playdates.  

4. Morning Walks

To ensure that I'm walking (waddling to some degree if we're being really honest) daily, I have taken the girls to the closest park the last few mornings in addition to our normal evening family walks.  The two older girls ride their bikes and I get some major exercise in pushing the other two in the double stroller.  We have to get out of the house before 9 though otherwise it's pointless because it's already so warm.  The sun in CO is HOT even when the thermometer only reads 75...

5. Evening Walks 

And of course we grab evening walks together too.  Chris got some sweet pictures a couple nights ago when we walked to a nearby park and let the kids play for a few minutes.  Elise was anxious to show Chris her newfound talent of pumping on the swings!  Oh how I love when they get to the stage where they can pump and swing independently.  Oh, glorious day in parenthood!

 

 

such a cool picture; I love it

 

And we usually catch at least the beginning of the sunset (often over the Rockies) on our evening walks.  

(photo by Chris also)

 

6. Hailstorm

Earlier this week, the weather was lovely and sunny in the morning and then as evening approached, it hailed for about an hour.  I've been in hailstorms and most last a few minutes, sometimes 10 or 15, but I've never experienced a hailstorm that lasted so long.  When it was over, it looked as though it had snowed, there was so much hail accumulated on the lawns and decks.  And it was merciless to our poor flowers (but most of them have already begun to make a recovery, so YAY!)

 

7. Library Summer Reading

The girls are busily devouring books (which is a year round thing, but they are even MORE motivated in the summer when they pick up their summer reading chart at the library).  They find cozy spots all around the house and we've also taken blankets and books outside and read in the sunshine which they really love.  I have several titles that I borrowed on my Kindle to read so I'm right there with them.