Seven Weeks & Feelin' It

7 Weeks Pegnant

I wasn't sure what was ahead of me.  Up until this week I was feeling fine with the exception of wanting to sleep most of the day and all night.  This week however, has brought on some serious aversions.  Our homemade chicken broth is stewing in the slow cooker like usual but boy does the smell send me to the bathroom for some dry heaving!  Not very attractive I know but it is all too true.  No actual vomit, YET! Just the ultra uncomfortable silence sitting at the toilet waiting in discomfort.  Eli  and I consider it a blessing though!  It doesn't feel good but the outcome will be wonderful, that's for sure!  I thought I'd be able to continue life as usual but so far everything has been put on hold, including laundry, weekly house hold duties, even cooking.  This morning we had blueberry pancakes but I had to take a nap break because the smell sent me to the bathroom... So far everything I eat makes me nauseous which is why I'd rather be sleeping or lying down than doing anything, still, being pregnant is an absolute blessing!

Eli has been a sweet heart.  He helps when  he can, getting things I might need when I've already cozied up in bed, suggesting I eat something when I haven't wanted to think about it, etc.  I am so thankful to God for him, he is a blessing! 


Here is a neat video about pregnancy in the first nine weeks if you're interested. 

Also, some additional information from babycenter.com about your seventh week of pregnancy:

(Text is directly from site)

How your life's changing:

Your uterus has doubled in size in the past five weeks, and eating may feel like a chore — or worse — thanks to morning sickness, which by now may be in full swing. (If you're feeling fine, don't worry — you're lucky!)
You may need to pee more than usual, too, thanks to your increasing blood volume and the extra fluid being processed through your kidneys. (By now, you already have about 10 percent more blood than you did before you were pregnant. And by the end of your pregnancy, you'll have 40 to 45 percent more blood running through your veins to meet the demands of your full-term baby.) As your uterus grows, pressure on your bladder will send you to the bathroom as well.
About half of the women who feel nauseated during the first trimester will find complete relief by about 14 weeks. For most of the rest, it'll take another month or so for the queasiness to ease up. It's unlikely, though, that the need to pee more than usual will ease up. In fact, research shows that both the frequency and volume of urine tends to increase over the course of pregnancy.

Until next weeks update, have a blessed week!

Answered Prayers

6 Weeks Pregnant

Eli and I have been praying for a family since we got married on 26 June 2010. And here we are, a testament to an answered prayer! We are currently six weeks pregnant!  Truly a miracle!  God has brought us SO far in the last year and eight months of our marriage.  It started out very rocky and tumultuous due to my having something likened to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with aggravated Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and major anxiety disorder (MAD) that I had no clue of.  All I knew was that I panicked at nearly every event Eli and I were together - feeling like I was going to be abandoned, forgotten about, overlooked, etc.  This caused me to become very intolerant, aggressive and  jealous.  I was constantly worried that my husband was going to forget about me and leave me so I was wrapped up plagued by constant fear and anxiety.  We started marriage counseling with a Christian Marriage and Family counselor named Joseph Kozinski who not only negotiated his price to fit our budget but took God's perspective and made it ours as we ARE His children.  After seeing that I needed more help than just talking through things and explaining PTSD to us, he set me up with Dr. Kohut out of San Bernardino to help evaluate and place me on an anti anxiety medication.  I have had the most normal and rational life ever since which has allowed my marriage to soar and my body chemistry to regulate and to conceive!  I have never been so clear headed emotionally!  Thank You Lord for your never ending involvement in our lives and for seeing us through the good times and the bad!  We are forever Yours.

Now back to the pregnancy!  So far at six weeks I have been feeling a bit tired.  Usually right after I do something, anything, I feel like rest is needed.  Also, my baby feeders are quite tender.  I feel cramping in my uterus area from time to time which is totally normal.  Eli is SO happy!  Neither of us can keep our mouths shut about it!  We love telling people that we are pregnant and especially to pray for a full term and perfectly healthy baby!  And now that you know, please join in on the prayer ; )  I plan on keeping you all updated week by week with the priceless belly pictures so keep reading and I would love to hear your thoughts!

Lots of love,
Candace

Ohhhh... Fudge... My Mouth Is Watering!

    

 The first time I made fudge, I was, oh.... say 17 years old or so.  I melted the butter with the sugar over a low heat... then the chocolate chips... stirring and stirring, so it wouldn't burn you know.  I had little to worry about in terms of sugar diabeties, excess fat, blood pressure and the sort because I was, well, I was 17!  Those were the days I could slam down an entire pizza by myself without gaining a pound or even worrying about the health stuff.  These days are different!  It's been over a decade since those "eat anything, when ever and where ever" days and my outlook on nutrition differs greatly.  It took some extremism (eating disorders, no fat, calorie counting, you name it, I went there!) to finally arrive at the conclusion that I want a fully nutritional diet, the way God, the Creator and Savior of the world, intended.  That includes unaltered full fat, unaltered cholesterol, preferably organic, grass fed (never grain fed, not even at the end of their lives), no processed sugars of any kind, soaking grains, nuts and seeds, make everything in your own kitchen; Picking up what I'm putting down?!  That's right!  I've put down the boxes of manufactured foods in order to pick up raw foods that I make and enjoy (enjoy the awesome flavors as well as the nutritional benefits!)  All that aside, being that it's the Christmas season (yes, I am a Christian and celebrate Christmas), we needed some fudge around here so I went on the hunt!

Here's What I found!  Got your pen and paper handy?!  Enjoy this simple delicious recipe that is full of health benefits and nothing fake!

Ingredients: Five Total

• 1C Coconut Oil
• 3/4 C Carob Powder (you may use Cocoa Powder but Carob is a bit healthier and hardly different in taste plus, carob is naturally a bit sweet where cocoa isn't!)
• 1/4 C Honey
• 1/4 C Almond Butter (Try making it yourself.  I'll follow up with a post on "how to" within a day or so)
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Add it all to a bowl, preferably stainless steel.  Get a pot of water (approximately 2/3 of an inch of water will do) nice and hot.  When it starts to boil, put the bowl of ingredients on the pot, making sure the bottom of the pot is not touching the bottom of the bowl, we want indirect heat here.  Stir constantly until all the ingredients are mixed well and totally melted and dissolved (approx 5-10 minutes).  Next, line a baking dish with parchment paper and pour the mixed and melted ingredients into the dish. 

When it is totally solid, slice into cute shapes of your choice ; ) and enjoy!  Keep these babies cold as coconut oil melts at around 70 degrees.  Try putting nuts in it next time!

The original recipe came from a compilation of YouTube videos which you can find here.  The nice lady in the video series says the credit for the original recipe goes to Dr. Jordan Rubin.  Dr. Jordan Rubin is the author of "The Maker's Diet" which I plan on following come New Years when the food madness of this beautiful season is passed.  I will keep you posted and am planning on blogging about the details!  Looking forward to it!

As usual, I would love to hear your feedback!  Tell me if you made them and what you thought of them!  I personally think this is my new recipe for the rest of my life! 

A Fun DIY Lampshade!

I have been wracking my brain with what to do for this lampshade that my darling husband got for free from his friends grandmother.  It has a cool vintage mint color along its spiraled stand and the light hinges and extends out about a foot over our brown sofa.  I tried to paint these colorful flowers over the cracked-cream color shade, aiming to make it look mosaic or something but after a few weeks, my eye still hated it!  So I ripped it off in hopes  of discovering a fanciful look for this poor lamp, now with no shade...  I was brainstorming as I was cooking dinner, looking at different ideas online (multitasking!) and at the time, I couldn't find what I had in my mind : / rrrrgg!

I was stuck looking back and forth from dinner in progress to this naked lamp shade trying to think of what I could possibly do... Then!  Then I looked over at a roll of ribbon I picked up from Costco a few weeks ago and it suddenly all came together!  Out came the trusty hot glue gun!  I started measuring and cutting ribbon in lengths that would lay from top to bottom...

Starting with one strip, I lined the shade-skeleton with hot glue, the width of the first ribbon, and wrapped the edge of the ribbon around the skeleton of the shade and over the hot glue (obviously, right... o geez!).  There it stuck, all beautifully finished, so I did the same with the top of the ribbon.  The second and all the rest of the ribbons were lined up with the edges of each ribbon before it at the bottom and bringing the ribbon up, they overlapped the last ribbon by at least half so it would all fit...

Turns out, it looked cool!  Taking pictures with my iPhone does not do it justice!  It does dim the light quite a bit because of the dark ribbon but I am totally satisfied for the time being and now that I have done it once, I can do it again with different kinds of ribbons!  Seasonal even!  Oh, I love being a homemaker!  Thank You Lord!

There you have it!  A DIY lampshade!  Have fun all and let me know if you'd try it or if you have tried it!  I'd love to hear about your lampshades!!!

From, "The Candace Way" to "University of Ambition"

 Just a little FYI regarding the changes to "The Candace Way."  I was personally not sure if the readers of TCW really knew what the title actually meant so I decided to change it.  "University of Ambition" is ambiguous enough to embrace anything a blogger could think of.  A creative yet positive title is what I was looking for; Hopefully we have reached that goal.  We are still going to have an intriguing time here at the UofA so stay tuned and keep watching as I share my life and creativity with you.  Please feel free to share your thought with us any time by posting a comment.  We care about your thoughts too!

Sincerely,
Candace