Pretty Flowers, Pretty Baby

I took my Violet Girl to the Botanical Gardens a few days ago! We went early so it wasn't too hot. We had a good time. She had a fun time exploring!

How the Tummy Changes

These pictures chronicle the extremes my tummy has gone through since October 2006. It's amazing how big and round you can get while pregnant! I couldn't wait to look pregnant, I was one of the "lucky" ones and looked pregnant at 12 weeks.

So, here we go on the journey!

Halloween 2006- I got pregnant soon after this...
Here I am, with the "cute" pregnant look.

Here I am lookin' BIG!

July 07- About to POP! (Ignore my bra, focus on tummy!)

Feb. 08-After baby...This pic kinda embarrasses me but I had to show it or it would look like I NEVER had a weight problem. This was the pic I took so I could start checking my progress. I started working out in March 08. I couldn't use the baby as an excuse for the weight anymore!

August 08- I'm almost to where I wanna be! So exciting! I may not ever look exactly like I used to but I think I'm doing pretty well! I look forward to having another healthy baby again someday and would gain the weight in a heartbeat! But for now I'm focusing on my fitness goals!

The Best Part of My Life

Violet-13 Months

These are the pictures Jordan and I took of her playing at the park. They turned out great! I love the action shot of her running and of course the one of her smiling! I think she likes the camera :) Her Grandma K got her the dress at a boutique in San Antonio, very cute!

Violet is scheduled to start Mother's Day Out next week. I think she will eventually enjoy it, I mean she LOVES babies (people her size). But she throws some fits when nap time rolls around and according to my fellow mommy friend's, hers trump all the other kids! AH! So, I hope it's just a phase. But who am I?! I mean look at that sweet, little, angelic face! She's perfect, right?!

Hummus

Today's healthy recipe is Hummus! I have tried to make hummus once before and I forgot to drain the garbanzo beans and it was really gross, don't do that! This time I used this recipe from allrecipes.com,right here-

Hummus III
Submitted by: RC2STEPRated: 5 out of 5 by 701 members
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 10 MinutesYields: 16 servings
"As a spread, dip or garlicky pita filling, classic hummus is both delicious and satisfying. Best of all, it's whipped up in seconds in a blender or food processor."
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups canned garbanzo
beans, drained
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon minced fresh
parsley
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl.
2.
Drizzle olive oil over the garbanzo bean mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

I didn't add that much of the reserved bean juice (gross word!), prob. only 1/4 cup. Just make it as thin or thick as you like it. Also, I started blending with just the 2 cups of beans but ended up using the 2 whole cans.

Serves 16 and it's 77 calories for 2 tablespoons. Jaley helped me with this and she grabbed cilantro instead of parsley, whoops! We couldn't tell though. I also added 1 tsp. of red pepper flakes because I'm obsessed with spicy.

On a side note- Jordan & I took Violet to the park today for pictures. Her Grandma K gave her a cute boutique dress for her birthday and I finally got pics of her in it! I'll post them soon!

Healthy Recipe

I love cooking! I also love eating! But I also want to be more aware of what I put in my body and have a flat tummy. Which I already have...Not really! So, I've been trying new and healthy recipes. These are Greek Stuffed Peppers that came from Ellie Krieger from Food Network. We really like her, I want to be as fit as her when I grow up! Maybe if I eat her food, I will also look like an ex-Wilhelmina model myself! I think I'll start blogging about all the new recipes I try. But my mom gets the credit for this one and it turned out great! And only 210 calories a serving!

Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers
Copyright, 2006, Ellie Krieger, All rights reserved
1 pound lean ground beef 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated (about 2 cups) 1 small onion, minced (about 1 cup) 1/2 cup bulghur 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon salt Freshly ground black pepper 3 red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, cores and ribs removed 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans low-sodium stewed tomatoes, finely chopped 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl combine the beef, spinach, zucchini, onion, bulghur, egg, oregano, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Arrange the pepper halves cut side up in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and fill each pepper half with the meat mixture. Pour the tomatoes over the peppers and sprinkle with the feta cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the meat mixture is completely cooked and the peppers are tender, about 25 minutes longer.

Enjoy my famous food photography!! Doesn't that Feta look yummy?

Good Times

This week was awesome because...1. I got to see this movie right here with Jordan! Yep, first movie I have seen since I was 8 months pregnant! Why do you ask?! Because my daughter was a high -needs (says Dr. Sears.com), constant nursing baby. But that's okay, LOVES her. The movie was good, I'd see it again. To celebrate seeing a movie, I had popcorn AND chocolate. Shhhh!

2. I gotsa a NEW car! I'm very grateful for this, I've needed a car for a while. It's a Nissan Sentra SER.

3. My Grandma, Uncle Gregg, and Aunt Pam are in town! It's always good to see them. Tonight I'm heading back to Mansfield to Parent's House to have a feast with them.
Life is Good People!

Waterpark Fun

Hawaiian Falls Water park-Mansfield, Tx

It is so HOT here! We were so excited to go play at the new water park. The whole family went except for Mr. Clean had to work. It was a friday. Violet had her first taste of a carnival sized corn dog! Do you think she liked it? YEP! And yall remember my "bored" post...So, I was extremely happy to be out of the house. Can you tell in the last picture with me in it?

Got some good news. First off Mr. Clean finished working on the car and got it inspected. AND Justine took it, so I'll be getting a new car soon!

Love My Family!!!

Foods I Love And Love To Hate

Here I am daydreaming about food. It's night time and I've already used up my 1200 calories for the day. Yes, I'm counting calories, again. Gotta get rid of that baby belly! I look and feel better but I miss being pregnant and pigging out! So, I thought I would find pictures of some HIGH calorie foods that I adore.

1. First up, The Red Velvet Cake.

2. The Symphony Bar mmmm toffee.

3. The Violet Crumble (I named my daughter after this) find it at world market.

4. Prime Rib.

5. Pimento Cheese, try Paula Deen's Recipe!

6. Fried Pickles, LOVE LOVE.

7. Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies.

8. Brie on crackers or ciabatta bread.

9. Loaded Cheese Fries. Did you see that report that Outback's have 2900 calories! Not including dat ranch. I be eatin dat ranch!

10. My Dad's Cheeseburgers. (we stuffed this one with pimento cheese, were heffers.)

Goodbye my Fatty Food Friends! I'll miss you! But I have to eat healthy now and be good. And I'm doing real good. These pictures will have to satisfy my cravings.

Love, Piglet Jill

Ps. I was joking about naming V after a candy bar. I named her after Violet Affleck, kidding again. I always loved flower names for girls. Almost named her Lily or Iris.

Really Bored

I'm SOOO bored! I've been in the apt. basically for the past 22 hours!!! Except for the 25 minutes I went to the gym. I don't know what to do with myself. I never thought I would say that once I had a kid. But I'm bored. I accidentally left my phone at my parent's house, so no communicating with people today. Except for Vk and Daddy-O. But he is helping a friend install a tv, so who knows how long that will take. My house is clean, I read part of my book, I worked out, I tried to take VK to the pool only to find out it's closed for maintenance. I was so annoyed and I told the Apt. Guy " I just saw kids swimming, then I get down here and it's closed! That is so annoying, I just got her ready!" Actually I told him twice how annoying it was. I was really mad, I think I've had one too many boring days this week and I've had it being carless! Ok, I'm gonna go try to chill, eat dinner, and maybe Daddy-O will be here soon.

Very bored,
Jill

Broken Jetta

Why are german cars so difficult? I'm so tired of this stinkin Jetta. I've only had it for 2 years and it has problems off and on. They are usually minor but even when it runs perfectly the CHECK ENGINE LIGHT is always on. The Jetta Dealership even fixed it recently for free because all the '01 Jetta's were having problems. Sometime around May it started overheating and would say STOP CHECK ENGINE. So, I haven't had a car to drive in 3 months! The estimate to fix it was around 1500. Matt decided to order the parts and do it himself. Well, after three days of working on it the CHECK ENGINE LIGHT is off but the air won't blow cold! I was so bummed cuz Matt said we would trade it in as soon as it was fixed and it was like the kiss of death after he turned the car on and everything worked but the AC. I was looking forward to that new car! So, Violet and I are stuck at the house, wah!

Welcome to my Family!

I thought I should put names with faces. I come from a big family. Well, fifty years ago, a family of six was probably considered normal. I have 3 younger sisters, my parent's (happily married for like 28 yrs) and I have 5 aunt and uncles on both sides! So, a ton of cousins too. But here are the people I talk about on a daily basis.

Daddy Matt and Me

Our Baby Violet, born 07.07.07









Part of my family from left to right. Jaley,Mom,VK,Me, & Dad.

The Sisters. Jaley,Jordan, Pregnant Me, & Justine.

We are a close family. Meaning we try to all get together at the parent's house every weekend to eat together, shop together, or just hang out. My sisters and I probably look close in age. But were really not, the youngest (on the left) and I often get mistaken for twins but were 8 years apart! Yay, that means I look 17! I think she could pass for 21 though. So, Jaley is 17. Jordan is almost 23. Justine is 20. And I just turned 25 this summer. My boyfriend (yes, he is boyfriend, not hubby..need to work on that) and I share the same birthday, July 19. Our baby barely missed being born that day as well!

Actually everyone in my family was born in July and all our names start with J. Just Kidding! Only about the bdays. Only half of us were born in the summer, July is a busy month. But yes, my parent's did give us all J names and their names are Jeff and Julie. Yep Yep, were weird like that. Our relatives call us J6.

I don't know how to wrap up this long post. So, THE END!

-Jill