27 weeks

this Washington weather just can't decide what it wants to do! it was sun sun sun last week, and now we've had days full of cloud + rain. yuck! BUT it looks like the sun will be returning and I just.cant.wait. 

we just love being able to enjoy our days outside and then eating dinner out on the back deck is one of my absolute favorites. this year Harper is old enough (& walking) to where she can play in the backyard while dinner is being prepped :) there isn't anything better! 

to think we will be adding little baby brother to this mix in just a few short months- ahh! get's me all giddy inside to think what this summer is going to be like with him here :)
oh and his nursery furniture came! yahoo!!
it was delievred 10 days earlier than we expected. I was completely shocked. that never happens with deliveries! especially the ones you are highly anticipating :)

banner / hoorary everyday

tank / gap

How far along? 27 weeks

Total weight gain: 25 pounds

Maternity clothes? I need to start looking into some maternity tops, because my options from my closet are running slim! 

Best moment this week: appointment with my midwife, Susan for sure! you know how I love going in for these checkups! :) baby boy sounds great and is growing well. we're actually measuring to be about a week ahead, but Susan believes that's due to him being long ;) that's what ya get with a 6'6" daddy!

Worst moment this week: last week I had my glucose tolerance screen- which I passed (yay!). but the downside is we found out that I'm hypoglycemic. so my blood sugars can really drop down on the low end. which makes me feel real yuck if I don't eat to keep my blood sugars up. Brandon and I have always joked that I get hangry (hungry + angry). well apparently there's a reason for it- low blood sugars! and that's likely what the sickness in the night has been related to. however, I've found that if I make sure I have a snack right before bed, that makes a huge difference! which makes total sense. we also found out that I'm anemic with low, low iron. hello- reason for the tiredness! and in comes the iron supplement. so... with all that I'm having to really make an effort to focus on myself and my nutrition (good thing I have that RD behind my name) ;)
Current symptoms: t i r e d feet at the end of the day! I'm really feeling this extra weight. I vacuumed the house and mopped the hardwoods yesterday and after that, my feet were aching with any weight that I put on them. that might be the last time I clean the house in awhile ;)

Movement: I really feel him all throughout the day and I can't help but try to imagine what he looks like in there moving around in my belly. those little arms and legs are active!

Happy or moody most of the time: I felt like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday morning, but getting out of the house for a couple errands made all the difference.
Looking forward to: the sunshine that is suppose to be coming our way this weekend!!

*oh and as you see I'm sure, I changed up the background on the blog page.
goodbye pink and hello white! it feels so much more fresh to me :)

Xoxo

-Brittney

26 weeks

I've worn red white and blue more than once this week, but this weather's gotten me all happy inside and wishing it were July- where every day is a sunny day!

I forgot I had the sunglasses on when I had Brandon snap this picture quick (he disagrees with me when I say 'quick' for a picture) :)
We were just about to head out to the backyard to soak in the rays and eat some lunch. Hello 80 degrees!!

How far along? 26 weeks

Total weight gain: 24 pounds

Maternity clothes? bottoms- yes. tops- no. but tops that are longer and stretchy of course :) I just went and bought myself a pair of maternity shorts now that it has been so warm outside. In the hot afternoon I've just been dying wearing jeans.

Stretch marks? nothing new here. so far! fingers crossed new ones won't come. but then again if they do, then they do.

Sleep: love it!

Best moment this week: my mama was here visiting so we had a fun few days spent with her :)

Worst moment this week: saying goodbye when my mom had to leave. the pregnancy hormones really do not help, but I'm generally a big teary mess at the airport!
Current symptoms: umm... I can't think of much. at least not much that I would consider much of a 'symptom'. I've noticed I'm a little congested again, but that's no fuss. my feet do get tired by the end of the day for sure! withe these nice days, we've been out doing more so I'm on my feet nearly the entire day.
Miss anything? right now, nope!

Movement: oh yes! I love how movements keep getting stronger. I sometimes wish I could peek into my belly to see him when he's moving around.

Food cravings: well... do I call it cravings or more 'I'm pregnant so I give myself a little more room for splurging' :) those macadamia clusters from costco... let's say I should not have bought them!

Looking forward to: I have a midwife checkup on Monday, so I'm certainly looking forward to that and hearing little baby's heartbeat!

These baby cousins don't know how great they're going to have it.

Growing up only 2 months apart!

xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

OUR TABLE || banana bread

banana bread. everyone has made it right?! well I hadn't e v e r made a loaf until just recently!

being that I am not a lover of bananas anyway, bread made with bananas certainly didn't sound like something I would ever want to make. so needless to say (since Brandon loves bananas), if they don't get eaten quick enough- they're an unappetizing brown color, and over time in our household many bananas have gone in the trash! 

but that all has changed now :)

there were a few brown bananas sitting on our counter a few weeks ago, so I decided to give it a whirl. and if I ended up not liking it, Brandon and Harper could enjoy all the bread they wanted!

while I was looking through recipes, I ran across one with a picture that showed an icing over the bread.

I was sold.

I settled on this recipe and followed it. for the most part :)

I have a delicious family zucchini recipe that I've made hundreds of times so decided to combine the two recipes a little.

bread ingredients:

5-6 ripe bananas

2/3 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

3 cups flour

icing ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

-preheat oven to 350 degrees

-peel and mash bananas. (I put them into the food processor- much quicker!)

-add all (bread) ingredients, except flour until well combined

-slowly add flour

-pour evenly into two 4x8 loaf pans

-bake for 1 hour

-while bread is baking, combine all icing ingredients. pour over bread once it is finished baking.

in some ways almost look forward to when the bananas turn brown now :) and if it's only one or two, I'll throw them in the freezer until I have enough to make bread.

Happy hump day! enjoy!

Xoxo

-Brittney