15 Week Photo

Finally! I hope to have a collage of photos documenting the changes every couple-to-few weeks. (I mean is there really a big difference in wk 15 and wk 16? No..probably not, but if there is, I'll let ya know :) 

Enjoy!

15 Week Baby Bump Photo Time!

Welcome!

Well we've reached the 15 week point!

You know what that means?? BABY BUMP!

I'm finally confident that this gut sticking out might actually be caused by a growing baby and expanding uterus, rather than gas and whatever I had for breakfast/lunch/dinner for the day. So we took some pictures! 

I hired my excellent and FREE photographer (my talented husband) to snap some of these lovely photos in our oh-so-cozy-and-urban apartment complex. Enjoy! 

P.S: I'm wearing blue simply because its my favorite color, and most of my wardrobe is blue/teal/turquoise. We know we're having a baby...but we don't know the gender yet! :D 

First Listen to Baby Alley's Heartbeat! (and other updates!)

Watch the video to hear babies heartbeat! (00:40s).

I finally have a small (I mean LARGE!) update in the baby part of things! I've been anxiously waiting for my 14 week (Ahhh!) appointment at The New Birth center. My last one was barely 10 wks, and we were not able to hear the heartbeat on the Doppler (however, we did get to see it on the ultrasound!). So I have been counting down the days until the next routine checkup.

Low and behold... We heard it! YAAAY!! I've been waiting for this moment forever. I've been truly blessed with minimal morning/day sickness and not much decrease in energy (excluding weeks 7-9)... So it's very reassuring to hear a scientific reminder that there is indeed a baby growing in there!

I still can't feel any kicks though (we did HEAR a kick!). I guess that comes around week 16-20. Hopefully sooner than later!

My midwife for today's appointment was Whitney, and she was oh so sweet. There are several midwives at the birth center so all the patients get to swap around and meet them all to begin with. The midwives rotate through who's "on call"  for deliveries, so you really don't know who you will get when you go into labor. This way, you are familiar and pretty comfortable with all of them.

Still no exact results on my blood type. 3 tests later I'm still "borderline O-" so they've just decided to treat me as such. Which means I'll get the RhoGAM shot at 28 weeks and then right before labor. It keeps me from building up antibodies to th Rh+ blood type (assuming my baby has a positive blood type).

In two weeks I go for my QuadTest (which is basic genetic screening). In four weeks we go in for our 18 week checkup, and in 5-6 weeks we do the anatomy scan to check if everything is built right and also to learn the gender! I'll be honest... I'm really hoping for a boy!!

Stay tuned! :D

P.S: CONGRATULATIONS to my sister in law, and her husband! They just found out they are having a little boy! Elizabeth is due a month before me, and it's been such a joy to be preggers together!

Love, Dana

The New Beginnings of a Family Blog

Hello!

I'm glad you stopped by to visit! Over the past several weeks, I've felt the urge to create a personal family blog. Facebook seems to become less personal each and every day. Important updates and new get lost in the feed, and then there is the worry that a huge chuck of my 200 sum friends really don't care about what I have to post. Who can blame them? Not everyone cares about my pets, vacations, horses, food, and baby information like I do!

But a lot of people DO, so this blog is for them!

Last June (2013) Seth and I discovered we were expecting our first baby! As predicted, this brings a whole new element to our life, and I want to write about it a ton!

Why the name Furry Heartbeats? Well, we have a lot of hair around here, with a long haired dog, cat, and horse. My pets are very important to me, so I wanted part of the title to reflect them. When I think living life to the fullest...I think of heartbeats. A beating heart keeps us physically alive. The gentle thud thud thud reminds me that we are fragile, and each second is a gift from God that should never be wasted.

If you wish to read about my various baby updates, family trips and adventures, adorable pets and gorgeous horses, then check back often! I'll have each post sharing to Facebook, so you can get updates that way. OR, you can subscribe via email and get a notification whenever I have a new post.

See you around!

Easy Easy Easy Peanut Butter Granola

 Its time, my friends, for you to glorify your yogurt. To take a bland and oddly textured food stuff and turn into something with flare and pizzazz by adding in a scrumptious CRUNCH.

That's right - granola, a yogurts best friend. Or in my case, Greek Yogurt - the only kind I seem to be able to stand anymore. I guess I just ate too much Yoplait in college...

I've been told by my midwife to really "beef up" (no pun intended) the protein in my diet. I can only stomach so much meat at a time before things start to go south. Turkey smells horrible, and I'm pretty sure everyone else at home is tired of all the chicken I've been cooking...Bandit included.

So I've taken a sabbatical from my non-dairy diet and have ventured into the easy protein found in many dairy foods (Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, etc), all followed shortly by a handy dandy Lactaid pill. Thank the Lord for those.

Anyways..enough typing. Here is the super-duper so-easy-the-cat-could-make it recipe for peanut butter granola.

Ready? It's a duesy...

2 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. honey
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. oats (I used about 1 1/2 c. of oats)

I stopped measuring anything in the kitchen about a year ago (unless I'm baking, of course. Mom always told me to measure when baking). So if you prefer to use a couple "blobs" of peanut butter (who can measure that stuff anyways?) and a couple real long squeezed of honey (also, unmeasurable) - feel free! 

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of delectable granola.

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray (or rub down with olive oil, which worked perfect for me) and set aside. Combine peanut butter and honey in a bowl and microwave until peanut butter melts (approximately 30 seconds). Stir.

Stir cinnamon and vanilla into peanut butter and honey mixture. Add oats and stir until oats are completely covered in peanut butter mixture. Spread out oat mixture (real good!) onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 7 -8 minutes until granola is slightly browned. Let cool until granola is crunchy.

Bon Appétit!

I Present to You, the Worlds Best Taco Soup! - via Our Best Bites

OK, first...I was completely distracted and totally forgot to take any pictures of me making this. I SWEAR I made it though. I'm borrowing a photo from Our Best Bites which is were I found this fantastic recipe. I've added their badge to my blog (lower right) as a tribute to their fantastic blog with all the yummy recipes. You should really check them out!

But anyways, this soup is seriously the bomb, yal...and I've got three people who will back me on that (those who got to enjoy it for dinner last night).

I made this on the stove top (and let it summer for about 20 minutes after I added all the ingredients).

Taco Soup

Recipe from Our Best Bites

1 lb. extra lean ground beef (93% lean or or leaner)
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1.25-oz. packet taco seasoning (about 1/4 c.)
3 c. water, divided
2 28-oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
2 15-oz. cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained

Toppings: Pico de Gallo, light sour cream, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, tortilla strips, guacamole, etc.

Heat a large soup pot over medium. When ready, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. When almost brown, add the taco seasoning and 1 c. water. Add the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 2 c. water, bring to a medium boil, then, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. Serve with desired toppings. Makes 10 12-oz. servings.

Slow Cooker Instructions: After browning the meat, place all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for about 6-8 hours.

Freezer Instructions: Because of all the canned goods, you’ll just take up a lot of space in your freezer if you freeze the whole recipe. However, after it’s been cooked, the leftovers freeze extremely well. You can even try freezing individual portions in 12-oz. freezer-safe containers and then reheating them for a quick lunch.

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I topped it with cheese and sour cream (then I downed a lactaid pill) but the soup would totally be delicious without those toppings if you wanted to go completely non-dairy (which you should, because dairy is bad for you ;). 

I also served it with saltine crackers...which I could eat for a snack. They are so yummy! 

Enjoy!

-Dana