What's in a name?

Apparently a lot.
Have you picked out a name for the baby yet?
This is pretty much the only thing anyone asks us...which is totally understandable.
However, we are not sharing Baby Girl's name till her birthday.
At first we weren't even going to settle on one until we saw her but as it turns out my friend Holli was right.
Naming this child has been a spiritual experience but we are still keeping it a secret.
We can't wait to share this baby with everyone and her name...10 more weeks!!

Dinner: Stuffed Flounder

I have been in a cooking funk lately and that just isn't me. 

I LOVE cooking...like really love it and its basically in my blood {not to brag but...I come from a long line of seriously good cooks}.

Culinary lineage aside, I haven't been a star in the kitchen and I don't know if its pregnancy or what but the funk needed to go.

How does one get out of a cooking funk?

By being prepared!

* I searched the interwebs and found some new recipes then did a little grocery shopping {emphasis on "little"...I scoured the pantry and freezer first and only had to pick up a few things}. 

* I put our menu up in the kitchen. I also have a board on Pinterest : Dinner This Week {lots of great recipes there but I love that can pin from other sites too}

* I did prep work during the day {I'm a stay at home almost mom, 3rd trimester pregnant, so this is easy for me but when I worked I did the prep at night or early in the morning}. Having some or all of the work done makes it that much easier to cook and not give into the "I'm tired let's eat out" feeling.

* Stick to the plan! If it's on the menu...cook it!

This has totally been working for me this week and on the menu last night was this Stuffed Flounder recipe.  The original recipe seemed a little bland for us so I read the reviews and found lots of helpful ideas.

 I added more of everything to the stuffing mixture because it didn't seem like enough. I also added fresh garlic, red pepper and salt.

The recipe didn't call for any seasoning in the fish but I marinated it in lemon juice and Tony's {creole seasoning that is great on all meats and veggies- spicy so go easy if you don't like things to be to spicy}.

I was a little worried about the stuffing part but it was really easy. Also, some of the reviewers said that they used red snapper or tilapia instead of flounder. So...if you don't like flounder use something you like. Anyway, just be gentle when handling the fish cause it can fall apart on you. When you are done stuffing just set in in the pan. I lined my pan with foil {I always do this for easy clean up...always}.

We had grilled asparagus as a side...

Super simple, just olive oil, Tony's and lemon juice. I started cooking it when I put the fish in the oven and the timing was perfect. I used my grill pan over med/hi heat just till it had grill marks and started to get a little tender. 

The final product was great and really easy!

Will requested that this be added to the "List" {I have built a repetoire of recipes that we know that we both love and I cook 2 or 3 of those recipes each week...I can make most of them without a following a recipe. Basically it has to be good to get added to the "List"}!

Here is my version of the Stuffed Flounder:

Ingredients

2 small garlic cloves, minced or pressed

• 1 pkg sliced baby portobella mushrooms {I chopped them up smaller}
• 3 handfulls fresh spinach {I removed the stems}, rinsed and chopped
• 3 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
• 4 (4 to 6 ounce) fillets flounder- marinated in lemon juice and Tony's

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Swirl some olive oil in a medium skillet and garlic and cook on low for 2 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes or until the liquid released from the mushrooms has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the spinach to the skillet. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat and drain excess moisture{this is important, you don't want the mix to be watery}. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the vegetables with salt and red pepper, then stir it in.
5. To assemble the fish rolls, place one-quarter of the spinach mixture onto the wide end of each filet. Carefully roll the filet around the spinach mixture. Use wooden toothpicks to hold the end of each roll in place.
6. Line an 8x8 glass dish with foil. Place the fish rolls, seam side down, in the baking dish.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for *15 minutes or so until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and is opaque all the way through.

 *my flounder cooked in 15 minutes, very thin fish will cook quickly


Tonight I am trying a new twist on Chicken Parm! I will report back!


Happy cooking...until next time!

In need of a pause button...

*Before I get into this post I want to thank all who commented on my last post! I am feeling clearer on some things but I think I'm settling down a little. I'm trying to worrying less about the "when the baby comes" and trying to just enjoy pregnancy which brings me to today's topic...

I am almost 30 weeks pregnant...and I can't believe it. 

No. Really. It's just crazy. 

Life since the move feels like a blur. A beautiful, incredible and wonderful blur but, a blur nonetheless. 

I just can't process the amount of time that has gone by. 

I just wish I could press pause and stop time for a little while.

There is so much that I love about this pregnancy and this time in my life but it is just flying by and that makes me kinda sad.

My goal for the next 10 weeks is to slow down (since there is no pause button...darn it.).  I have been so obsessed with what life after baby will be like and I need to shut that down for a while. 

I really love being pregnant. Even with all the unpleasant side effects (ps..there are so many and some that no one ever mentions…just saying) I am happy to be carrying this little person. I love feeling her kick and squirm and get hiccups. It is amazing. 

I still need to prepare for little miss's arrival but I need to reflect a little and take some time to just be pregnant!

Until next time...

Calling All Mommies

Again...there is so much catching up I want to do on this blog (for the journalness of this space mostly, but I also want to share it with you guys) but my mind is stuck on my ever growing belly and as the weeks tick away there is really not much else I think about!

Here is what is weighing on me the most right now:

• Cloth Diapering
• Have any of you cloth diapered?  What brands did you use?  I have done a TON of research and have picked out a few that I want to try {gDiapers and BumGenius} but I'm just curious to know what others are using. We plan to do cloth diapers at home and disposables on the go. Thanks to my cousin Debbie...I have a ton of information already but I am just looking for more opinions. (P.S. If you think that I'm crazy and wish to tell me so...please know that I have already been told.  I may be crazy but we have made a choice to cloth diaper. :-)
• Breastfeeding
• I really want to breastfeed.  {I know some women don't and it is all a matter of personal choice. I'm not pushing anyone to do it...I just want to.} I also really want Will to be involved. He is so into everything "baby" and I love it. He  has even had some really great decorating ideas for the nursery. Anyway, I know that he will really want to have some feeding time and I want him to have it.  So...obviously I will pump but this is cause for even more research! 
• Which pump is really the best? 
• Do we pump and bottle feed exclusively (I know that initially I need to breastfeed but at what point do we introduce the bottle and do I keep breastfeeding while we are using bottles)?
• Bottles? Seriously. Short and squatty, tall and skinny, angled, bottles with the liners.  They all say that they prevent gas and that they are more like breastfeeding but which ones are really better?
• Basically...I have looked into the Medela system. Electric double pump, bottles, nipples and their storage system. Just looking for advice or comments on what any of you have used.

Well...that is basically it. This is what keeps me up at night goggling away! I'm just trying to settle on those 2 things and be as educated as possible before the nugget's arrival. Which is in like 12 weeks. Crazy. I am in my THIRD trimester. I can't believe how fast the weeks are passing.  There is so much we need to do and so little time left! Anyway please feel free to comment about your experiences.  Your thoughts and advise will be appreciated. I know that everything will work out. Everything will be fine...but the biggest change in my life is coming and I just feel the need to be as prepared as possible!

Looking back...Christmas 2010 (Part 2...in TEXAS)

I have so much to catch up on....

Our last memories from Boston,

All of our summer fun,

Home makeover projects, 

Life with our crazy puppy, 

Pregnancy, 

Christmas, 

2012 and all of our goals...

So every time I sit down to blog I have to decide what to blog about. Tomorrow I may just write myself silly and get up to date. Anyway, that is tomorrow and this is today and today we are going to wrap up what I started here. 

Photo dump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Will and I had a great "Pre-Christmas" together but unfortunately he wasn't able to come to Texas with me...

I had to travel alone and my sister Amanda and Franklin {the cute dog in the picture below} were kind enough to pick me up! 

We headed straight to Mama and Daddy's to start cooking and prepping for all the holiday fun!! 

Christmas Eve is spent with my Mama's Family.  We always have seafood gumbo {to give everyone a break from all the traditional stuff}and it was sooo tasty. I am lame and didn't get any pics from that party...but know that lots of fun was had by all!

Sadly...I don't have a picture of the best surprise.  We were planning trip to Houston {Amanda's (pictured above) House} to have our family Christmas because Jake {youngest sibling} and April {oldest sibling} and her family couldn't make it before Christmas. Little did we know they started driving in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve and made home by the time that we were waking up to start prepping for the day! It was like those Folgers commercials! We were thrilled to see them!

My Uncle on my Daddy's side owns a cute restaurant in my tiny home town and we had our Christmas Dinner with the that side of the family there! It was too fun!

There was plenty of room for all the yummy food...

and plenty of room for our supper large family {no one took a picture but we more than filled up the entire dining area}!

We still headed to Houston after stuffing ourselves to meet up with Jake...did I mention that he could't make it with April0? Anyway, we went to Houston and prepared yet another feast!!

We waited for Jake to arrive so that we could open gifts...

I have pictures of the gift opening but it was late and we weren't very pretty so I thought better of posting those!

I do have this one...

Since Will couldn't make it home {There was a chance for deployment so he couldn't travel...} thanks to XBox and Kinect we were able to video chat with him through the TV! It was so fun...we could all see and hear him and he could see and hear all of us!

We had a blast opening gifts and making new memories! It was a great Christmas! 

The next day everyone had to return to their home...but we spent one last day enjoying each other!

I had a good time playing with this picture!

I swear that I have not been over served...but it sorta looks that way!

 We stuffed ourselves at Lankford Grocery {one of the best burgers in Houston!} and then we hit up Sprinkles for a cupcake!! 

I really enjoyed last Christmas.  I love my family and I happy to have been able to spend that time with them!

The Good and Bad of Pregnancy

I love...
Food. It tastes so good. I favor pickles, mexican food, Chick Fil A, anything cooked at my Mama and Daddy's house and breakfast!


The Excitement. EVERYONE is so happy about this baby! There is no doubt that she will be loved.


The Kicks. Who knew being sucker punched could be so fun! I love it...even at 2 in the morning!


The Holidays. This has to be the best time to be pregnant. Sure, I'm extra emotional and I tire out faster when I'm out shopping. Thanksgiving dinner...crack to a pregnant woman. Plus, all that time with family!


Naps.  I have never been one to nap. Now...I understand the appeal! Also, no one judges me. Naps and rest are totally encouraged!


Nesting. It may drive Will a little crazy but the hormones combined with being at home have tuned me into an organizational nut case. I love it. Just this morning I completely emptied my email inbox. It felt amazing!


The Attention. Come on...Y'all know me. Don't act surprised. I love to be the favorite and carrying Granddaughter #1 has certainly elevated me a little! 


That Sweet Heartbeat. It's amazing. Every time. I look forward to those monthly (approaching the bi-monthly) appointments.  It never gets old. 


Ultrasounds. I am happy that I don't have to get more (cause that would mean that there were problems) but there is just something so incredible about seeing that life inside you.  Seeing already that she has a personality and maybe even that she has my nose!




I don't love...


Honestly, the lack of sleep and the occasional back pain are not ideal but I can't really complain. 
I wanted this so badly.  
I will take the good with the bad. 
Most of the uncomfortable things mean that everything is happening just like it should.  
So, will be happy that my big belly makes it hard to sleep!
Also, this could be worse. 
I could be on bed rest. 
I could still have morning sickness (which was so very brief).
I could also not be pregnant (my heart goes out to anyone that is longing to be pregnant...it is such a hard road for so many.).


So...here I was about to to list my complaints and as it turns out they should only be one list. 


*Note* I didn't sleep very well and I really was looking forward to venting...funny how the morning light and  little reflection can change our minds.

Looking back...Christmas 2010 (Part 1)

Looking back at my neglected blog I realized that I didn't post anything about last Christmas! I LOVE Christmas and last year's was so great.  I would hate to forget all the details!

This was our last Christmas in Massachusetts,

last one in our apartment and

quite possibly the last one that would be covered in snow!

We did our usual decorating...

Homemade gift making...

Baking and cooking...

Recieved some awesome gifts from friends...

Thanks Cher!

 I cooked us a Christmas dinner since we wouldn't be together...

 We put on our pjs and opened gifts together...

One of my gifts from Will was a Creme Brulee` Set (torch included!!!)

Success on the first try!

Then the feverish packing began!!

Please stay tuned for Christmas 2010: Part 2!

Happy Birthday, Hunter!

There is this boy (well...young man) who has had my heart for 15 years! This is my oldest nephew, Hunter and today is his 15th Birthday! I just can't believe that he is 15 years old!

This picture is from last Christmas!

I love this kid! He is a great nephew, grandson and big brother! 

He hasn't had the easiest life but he has risen above all of the hard things and become an amazingly strong young man! 

You know the best thing about him???

He loves his family and would always chose to hang out with us! 

How many teenagers do you know that genuinely think that their aunts and uncles are cool!?

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Hunter! Will and I LOVE you so much and are so very proud of you!

See you soon!

Love,

 Aunt Kimmie and Uncle Will

Baby Story: How we found out!

Back Story: (to get straight to the baby part proceed to the 3rd paragraph)


Anyone that knows me at all probably knows that we were having some trouble getting pregnant. We didn't wait to start trying after we got married (we knew we wanted kids and we knew it wouldn't be easy for us). We tried for a year and then sought some help. I had/have (no cure) endometriosis and polycystic ovaries and a severe case of both.  I had surgery and it turned out that some of the cysts had grown on my tubes and they were blocked.  Luckily my wonderful doctor was able to repair all the damage and was hopeful that we would be pregnant soon. Long story short...we obviously didn't get pregnant.  I did feel good for awhile though. Even lost a little weight and started having regular cycles.  This unfortunately, didn't last long.  I finally listened to my bff and went to who we lovingly refer to as our Witch Doctor. Email me or comment if you would like to know more, I am happy to share and will probably post more about it late. I do credit nutritional response therapy (NRT) for my being able to finally conceive (that and the fact that I believe it happen exactly when it was supposed to as part of God's plan for us, more on that too).


Anyway...I tell you all of this to say that we still didn't get pregnant right away but we expect as much. This healing approach (unlike surgery) isn't a quick fix. It takes time to heal our bodies naturally. I did again, feel better and have regular cycles again. At any rate, by this time summer was nearing and bringing with it our move to Texas. For the first time in 2 years I was too busy and loving life too much to be thinking about why I still wasn't pregnant. We packed up, vacationed, road tripped and had a blast!


Not long after we arrived in Texas we adopted a puppy (thinking...it's just not our time to have a baby). That same week I realized I was late and this made me sad. I didn't think that I was pregnant rather I thought that because I hadn't been following my treatment plan and was relapsing back to having irregular cycles.  On Saturday, July 30th, I took a pregnancy test (first time in a while...which is saying something) and there was a faint second line.  The old me would have jumped for joy and ran off to share the news. The me that took that test just could believe it. I decided to dismiss it and go shopping with my Mama! The next morning, Sunday the 31st, I felt like I should really take another test. This one was brightly positive and it didn't even take the recommended 2 minutes.  We were speaking that morning in church and I just couldn't bring myself to spill the beans just yet!


After church everyone wanted to nap and my mind was running full speed on how I wanted to tell Will.  He was almost asleep when I just couldn't take it anymore.  I went to the bedroom (my old room at my parents, we were still living there while we worked on the house) and asked him if we could talk about what I wanted to do to the bedroom that was across the hall from ours (I was constantly droning on about all the plans I had for our home).  He sleepily agreed to hear my plan.  I started describing how I wanted the room to be arranged with a crib and rocking chair...at first he didn't catch on until I said that we should probably get it done by next spring! We hugged, laughed and cried and it was the most amazing moment that we have shared since we became husband and wife!!

Get back up.

Back in February I wrote this.

I had gotten so down. I let what I didn't have put me down.

I wrote this a few weeks later.

The idea of prayer and gratitude being a pathway to healing pulled be back up.

Letting my Savior in, focusing on my blessings and trusting that there is a plan, brought me up.

I came quite a distance. Not alone, mind you.

Those last months in Boston would have been wasted while I pouted.

Precious moments lost.

Thank goodness that didn't happen.

Instead I have wonderful memories of time spent with friends and great trips with Will.

The moral of this story:

There are moments that are sad. Some even tragic.

Some things bring us down and maybe we should be down sometimes.

We weren't meant to stay there.

We were meant to get back up.

Overdue Update

I'm trying to reintroduce myself to blogland and I know my last post was also an "update" post but I'm hoping to get back in a grove of posting. Until then...one more update!


*We had an AMAZING SUMMER! We took lots if trips while we were still in New England. Vermont, Bar Harbor and many trips to Boston. (Trips will be posted individually...I have LOTS if photos).


*Road Trip Extravaganza Summer 2011 was AWESOME! We started by heading down to Washington D.C. to visit with one of my oldest friends! My high school buddy, Jessica was kind enough to host us and be our tour guide!

*Then we drove on over to Ohio to stay with the fabulous Ashton Dene'! This was our first face to face meeting and it was glorious! Baseball game, day at the zoo and Glee Karaoke! #blogfriendsarereal

*Next stop: Illinois! We visited with Will's family and took a trip to St. Louis to go to Six Flags with our niece and nephew! That might have been the best day of the entire trip! Of course we took a drive to visit Grandma Worthen...I love that little lady! The last few days we spent alone in Nauvoo and it was so wonderful! Visiting sites filled with our religious history was a great experience and certainly one I would like to repeat. The pageant was spectacular, moving and so spiritual! 


*Our final stop before crossing the Red River (it was rather low to be called a river) into Texas...Claremore, Oklahoma! Jenn is my sister from another mother! No. Really. We even share our birthday! We get together as often as we can and we just had to stop in on our way home. It was the perfect ending to the Road Trip Extravaganza! We lounged in the pool and soaked up some sun and had lots of laughs!


*Once in Texas we crashed at my Mama and Daddy's house while we waited to close on our house (which took forever)! There were family gatherings and lots of good times!! Once we got into the house there was lots of work to do and more parties to be had! 


*We adopted a sweet puppy and her name is Reba! We love her!


*We are moved in and pretty settled but still working on a few home improvements!


*Oh and we are expecting a little girl due at the end of March! We found out just after we adopted Reba! (lots more to come on this subject!!!)


There is more to come so please come back and check in!! We are just loving life and enjoying the holidays and being with family! I want to share all of these new changes with you and I have also become quite crafty (thanks to being a stay-at-home-almost mom) so I want to share that with you as well!!! 


See you again soon!


XOXO
Kimberly

Oh Hello Little Blog

*Blows very thick layer of dust off this sweet little blog*

Hey Y'all! Its been so long.  The last time that we visited Will and I were gearing up for a long NYC weekend! 

We had a FABULOUS time and things have been CRA-A-ZY since!  We have been working, traveling, entertaining visitors and buying a house. You read right...the Worthens are about to be HOMEOWNERS!!

We close on this little piece of heaven on July 18th! 


Will and I have our trials but we have been blessed in so many ways.  Finding this house is one of them.  We visited Texas for about 5 days in May and we spent one day driving around with Mama and Daddy looking at houses.  Not with a realtor, mind you...just browsing around.  We had some things in mind that we were hoping for and price range that we needed to stick to so we just wanted to see what was out there. We stumbled on this one and from the outside it seemed to have everything that we wanted and the price was perrrfect. We called up a realtor, saw it (and a few others), got pre-approved for a home loan and made an offer.


All. In. ONE. DAY. 



If you know us then you know that this is how we roll.  It is kinda how we got married :-) (if only making babies was this easy for us...)


We are so excited about the move and couldn't be happier about having a home to go to when we get there! 


I promise to check in more and share more about what we are up to! I have so much to share with y'all...if you are still out there!