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! 

Ahhhh... There's something so soothing about fall...

 The first things to make my heart leap for fall are the colors!  Oranges, olive greens, burnt yellows, multitudes of reds and so forth as the color spectrum is limitless.  I am absolutely eager to start my holiday decorating at the coming of the full, moisture rich clouds, and the changing colors.  The day light gets a littler shorter allowing for the lighting of warmly scented candles, sooner, with each passing day.  The chilly nights grant the usage of toasty blankets and piping hot herbal teas which seem to sooth the tensions of the day.  

There is nothing like walking into a warm home with the pleasant fragrance of fresh baked goods and flickering candles in the background.  

Beautiful center Pieces from www.KallistoEvents.com

Top view of the two right centerpieces at left.

The center pieces were brought home from a business meeting we attended for Gillespie Insurance Services.  You can see more floral decorating by Kallisto Events by clicking on their highlighted name.



To the left you see a decorative tree about a foot and a half tall.  I try to decorate it for every season in attempt to bring the seasons and holidays alive in our home rather than having them fly by with no memories of them.

The center the the three diagonal pictures is an old fruit stand that I didn't need to use so I stocked it up with some festive items to brighten up our room, bringing the warm fall colors into our home.

And Mr. Turkey here is just an awesome find from Joann's.  He was on sale so I had to give him a home!

Oh the joy of pumpikins!

Then the bows come out and the festive decorations that transform the environment get splashed around the house, as well as out doors!

 This year is my second fall season being married too!  Last fall we were only married for four months and with our tedious arguments, it was obvious.  This year, we are a little more comfortable with sharing our environment with each other as well as growing closer to one another.  Fall could be particularly awesome because this is the season in which my husband and I met in 2009!  We would go for walks in the cool autumn nights, holding hands for as long as we were together, walking closely to keep warm.  So many charming memories from the fall!!!

I especially love that feeling of being freezing and then walking into a warm home!  Oh Lord, thank You for fall!  Actually, I like all of the seasons but I think I like fall a little bit more than the rest : ).

Do you have a favorite season?  What makes it your favorite, I'd love to hear about it!  

My Latest Read: How We Love

In which way do you love your spouse?  Your friends?  How about your neighbors?  What about those chronic issues that seem to emerge and reemerge?   Or are you the one who stuffs emotions somewhere else besides the current moment, planning never to revisit them?  Either way, you are one of billions of people in the world (yes, each and everyone of us) who have learned to love in one way or another from the people and life circumstances who imprinted their pattern into you.

How We Love, coauthored by Milan & Kay Yerkovich, is a book that doesn't talk about gender differences, how men and women are different in relationship, but about  life styles and the ways those styles directly relate to "how we love."  They summarize many studies of the Attachment Theory into six styles of relating and loving, the Secure Connector, the Avoider,  the Pleaser, the Vacillator, and the Chaotic love style which is broken into two - the Controller and the Victim.

Given each of these love styles, Milan (a Pleaser) and Kay (an Avoider) expand on case studies from their own counseling office experiences including an in depth look into their own marriage, and explains how these imprints are taken from, "our first lessons in love" (p. 25, How We Love) as children.  Believe it or not, it is incredibly common for a Vascillator to marry an Avoider, a Pleaser to marry a Vascillator, a Controller to marry a Victim, and for an Avoider to marry a Pleaser.  Too often couples struggle and don't even realize that they are doing the same "dance" that many couples across the world are doing.

The best and most giving aspect of How We Love is their proven methods to break the "all too familiar" cycles and to love your spouse in a deeper more loving way than what one ever thought was possible.  Milan and Kay have developed techniques for deeper communicating, for slowing down when a situation gets out of control, and so much more.  In addition, this book comes with an entire workbook at the end which will further navigate your marriage and/or relationships down the path of success. A couple of my favorite sentences from the book read as follows,

"As you learn to listen and engage more fully with each other, you'll be entering into all the life experience of your spouse - the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the inspiring and the routine, the admirable and the mediocre, the happiness and the pain.  Remember, deepening in your bond means embracing the whole person."  

This is followed shortly with,

" Love consists in seeing into the very center of the twistedness and sin and self-love that are in the heart of another person, and yet not being repelled;  holding onto the grace by which we ourselves are loved and finding in it the strength to descend with another into their darkest place.  If we love other people for their saintliness, then we do not love at all.  Love is wasted on saints.  It is meant for the sinner."  (p. 283)   

We hear all too often about couples "growing apart" or "changing," etc. and the result is divorced relationships, be it a marriage or friendship.  There is such a concept of growing together, not apart.   How many relationships could be saved if we learn to communicate our deepest of feelings and if we learn to accept the deepest feelings of others.  I know that "feelings" is a HUGE task for some, but the truth is that "feelings" are everywhere, and they deserve your attention in order to make relationships work.  And an even more tangible truth is that "feelings" are the very first experience we have as human beings - as children do not know how to relate with words, but with "feelings."

As for myself, I am on a journey to love my husband for who he is and to love myself for who I am.  We have the classic "Avoider marries the Vascillator," but who says we have to do the same ol' dance?!  We want to learn how to truly love and how to truly love deeply.  Change never comes easy, but endurance will overcome!

I want to hear your thoughts on this book if you have read it.  Has it changed your relationship?