i'm back! and some yummies.

It's been way too long since I last visited the blog. Sometimes you just don't feel like it, yanno? Life happens, but hopefully my blogging slump is over! 

We haven't been up to a whole lot, but this last weekend was a busy one spent celebrating the marriage of Mike & Lexi. I'll share those pictures soon. Other than that, I've just been working, growing a human and getting ready for her to join us out here :)

I have been trying out a lot of new recipes lately, though. They've all been a success and husband-approved! I found them all on Pinterest, of course. 

Seriously, everything I do is inspired by that site it seems like.

veggie stuffed bell peppers

This recipe was loosely based off of THIS one. I wanted to make mine a little heartier for my meat loving husband. I knew if I was going to feed him a vegetarian meal, it had to have substance. I think I succeeded because he loved it and didn't miss the meat!

Black Bean & Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 bell peppers (dice half of one)

1/2 medium onion, diced

1-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can rotel tomatoes

1-1 & 1/2 cups cooked rice (spanish, brown, white)

2 tbs. taco seasoning

3/4 cup frozen corn

1/2-3/4 cup whatever cheese you like

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut the tops off of the bell peppers, or cut them in half if they are larger. 

Pull the seeds and veins out of them and reserve one half to be sauteed.

Roast the peppers until tender (about 15 minutes).

In the meantime, saute the onions, garlic and half bell pepper in olive oil.

Once the veggies have softened, add black beans, rotel, rice (I used spanish that I had leftover) and taco seasoning.

Stir to combine. You may need to add 1/4-1/2 cup of water if it looks too thick.

Cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Stir in the corn then scoop into roasted bell pepper halves.

Top each pepper with cheese and place back into the oven until the cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Some other things I've made recently...

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Green Chile & Pineapple Pork Tacos (making this tomorrow)

Quinoa fried "rice"

Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

All of these recipes have been winners!

The pork tenderloin was definitely our favorite -- so yummy!

*****

Be back tomorrow with the 30 week bump-date :)

28 weeks!

headed out to register!

 How far along: 28 weeks! THIRD trimester! 

Size of baby: According to thebump.com Jaqs is the size of an eggplant! She's around 15 inches long and weighing in somewhere around 2-2.5 pounds.

Total weight gain: Up 15ish pounds. I don't have a doctor appointment until 30 weeks, so I'm not exactly sure.

Gender: Baby girl!

Movement: Yes...now we're sometimes able to tell where she is by a bulging head or hiney sticking out one side! I think she must not be able to do her gymnastics as easily now because my whole belly shakes when she turns.

Sleep: Sleep's still good, thankfully. I'm using a body pillow now, so that makes getting comfy easier! I'm usually up at least once to use the bathroom but have no problem falling right back to sleep.

What I miss: Nothing!

ready to tackle the list

Cravings: I've been on a fruit and cottage cheese kick lately...so yummy! But before you roll your eyes at that, please know that Rob & I ate his entire birthday cake between us this week. Whoops. Couldn't help it...Bob's Red Mill GF chocolate cake is delish! And most of our friends are cleansing...WHATEVER! ;)

Symptoms: Shortness of breath at times and foot cramps. I hate the way those things sneak up on ya!

Maternity clothes: Still working with both.

Best moments this week: 

--Knowing we've arrived in the 3rd & final trimester...WOW.

--Building our baby registry. So much fun, but also scary. Little people are veeeerrrry expensive.

--Jaqs' nursery is finally underway! I'm SO excited to see how it'll all turn out. Her bedding may even be done by the end of the month :)

 THE list. Yes, I'm old school and prefer a hand-written list over a typed one. Anyway, this baby registry has been kind of overwhelming me, but I think we've mostly got it knocked out now! I still need to make a few adjustments to it, but I'm glad to have that checked off our to-dos. It's hard to know what your baby will like and what's necessary, but we will learn as we go, I'm sure.

And one more little tid-bit...these beauties arrived today:

BumGenius 4.0 cloth diapers.

I've been going back and forth on cloth diapering since before I was even pregnant, so when Cotton Babies was having a clearance sale on the all-in-ones last week, I took it as my sign to go for it. There are many benefits to cloth diapering, so I'm really hoping that Jaqs and I will both embrace and love it. If you have any advice on the matter, please do share!!

lingerie + "last" fling

Last weekend was Lexi's lingerie party in Abilene. 

Her sister and cousins hosted a fun girls-only party, and Lexi got some adorbs stuff!

some of the girls

anna + kasey 

high school besties -- NGC!! 

food table

homemade sushi

 lexi playing a panty game + 'lingerie' from her mama!

lexi + the maids 

This weekend some of the maids hosted a Bachelorette party here in Temple. 

Lexi wanted a low-key girls weekend as opposed to a crazy night out.

We had a lot of girly fun and ate a lot of yummy food!

 lexi + bachelorette barbie...she had a crazy night!

myself + the bride 

reception TOMS!

custom painted just for her 

michelle + kristen + lexi + big mama

Hope you've had so much fun being celebrated, Lexi! We're all looking forward to being there for you on one of the best days of your life! Savor every moment. LYLAS!