Pregnancy Workbook Questions and Answers - Month 8

33 weeks This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue...

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Broccoli Pork Stir-Fry

Easy Chinese Dish with lots of flavor! serves 3 recipe found in Cooking for 2 Easy Chinese dish that tastes delicious! 1 (3 ounce) package pork ramen noodles 1 cup warm water 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 2/3 cup cold water1 1/2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce1 teaspoon white vinegar4 teaspoons canola oil1/2 pound pork tenderloin, thinly sliced6 large fresh mushrooms, sliced1...

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Rich and Creamy Tortellini

Rich and Creamy Tortellini serves 6 recipe found in Taste of Home, June/July 2011 Yummy Italian goodness My grandma had a ton of cooking magazines sitting on her couch when we were visiting earlier this month. There were a ton of awesome recipes so I'll be cooking lots! Cook a 9 oz package of refrigerated cheese tortellini according to package directions. I also cooked sweet Italian sausage and added to the recipe for more protein. In...

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Seared Skirt Steak with Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes

Easy Steak Salad serves 4 recipe found in Women's Health January/February 2011 Yummy steak salad with loads of flavor! 2 cups cherry tomatoes 2 TBS balsamic vinegar 4 cups arugula 12 oz skirt or flank steak 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 2 cloves of garlic salt and pepper, to taste I added feta crumble too 1. Heat the oil in a cast-iron or stainless-steel pan (or grill pan) on medium high. When the pan is very hot, season the steak with a few pinches...

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Baby Shower #3 - Month 8

32 weeks! By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. Can you guess who got a hold of the camera? Picture taken by Karl...duh! OK...this...

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Healthy Dinner in a Pinch

Christie's Concoction serves 4 recipe found in Christie's head :) Tasty little dish with lots of veggies It was Saturday night. I wanted something healthy and didn't have a lot of energy, but thankfully after my morning workout with my trainer, I headed to the grocery store and bought a lot of healthy foods so I could whip something together - problem was I didn't know what I was going to whip together. Karl was ice fishing and it...

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Tasty Banana Bread

Banana Bread serves 12 recipe found on All Recipes.com Nice and moist banana bread! Yummmy! I had a few black bananas lying around the kitchen and a huge craving for banana bread. I spent Sunday morning Googling looking for the best recipe. This one had 4.5 stars out of 5 and over 6700 people commented how much they loved it. So why not try baking it, right? 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter 3/4...

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Growing Belly - Month 8

31 weeks This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this...

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Tuna Noodle Casserole

Tuna Noodle Casserole serves 4 recipe found in Better Homes and Garden (May 2008) Can't forget the potato chips! 3 cups medium noodles (4 oz.) 1 cup chopped celery1/4 cup chopped onion1/4 cup butter1/4 cup all-purpose flour2 - 3 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard2 1/4 cups milk1 12 ounce can chunk tuna, drained 1/2 cup bottled roasted red sweet peppers, chopped Potato chips, optional 1. Preheat oven...

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Bloom Blog Tour Guest Post (and a recipe!) from Julie Anne Lindsey

Introducing.... Julie Anne Lindsey A wonderful friend, writer and critique partner Thank you Christie for having me over to your super lovely blog! This is my very first blog tour and I am so excited. I’m really stoked to be here because you always have the yummiest recipes to share! I wanted to give you my chocolate/peanut butter Buckeye recipe BUT thanks to the snowpocolypse  in Ohio right now, I think something warm and cuddle-up-kins...

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Baby Shower #2 - Entering Month 8

31 weeks Minnesota Baby Shower What an awesome baby shower thrown by my sister-in-law, Kelly and Karl's aunt (and godmother) Janie. I'm overwhelmed right now with all the love and generosity I've received from so many people. We are feeling so blessed and so lucky. Jeez we know a lot of awesome people. We had quite the spread of food! YUMMY! Well, I just realized (yes, as I'm putting this post together) the shower...as in the...

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Ten Weeks Until the Big Day - Entering month 8

30 weeks Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light...

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3D Ultrasound at 29 Weeks - Month 7

week 29 The Coolest Gift Ever! We must thank Karl's parents (big time) for hooking us up with one of the coolest gifts - a 3-D Ultrasound. This was just something cool. Thank you! Thank you! It really was awesome. Of course, baby was being stubborn once again and wouldn't totally turn his/her face to pose for us! At 20 weeks our ultrasound tech said our baby was the most stubborn baby she's worked with in a long time. At 29 weeks,...

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