20 Weeks

How far along? 20 Weeks! Halfway!

Total weight gain/loss: +10 eek! I've over-indulged a bit too much these past couple weeks. Time to really buckle down and start eating healthier and better. 

Maternity clothes?. Still wearing most my regular jeans, there is 1 pair that I can't wear anymore. Most of my shirts are still ok as long as they're long enough.

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Pretty good  most of the time, toss and turn a little but nothing too bad.

Best moment this week: Wasn't exactly this week but we did find out we are having a healthy baby boy!

Miss Anything? Still missing lunch meat but I mostly miss sleeping on my back right now! I obviously don't worry too much about it once I fall asleep but it's a hassle when I wake up in the middle of the night and have to turn to my side.

Movement: Yes! Started feeling him move around 17 weeks and Adam's even been able to feel him move on the outside.

Food cravings:  Nothing particularly anymore, pretty much all food is good :)

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nothing really. I've noticed my sense of smell has started to increase a little though.

Have you started to show yet: Yup, the last couple weeks I feel like I've "popped"

Gender: Baby Boy! Nolan Ruger Dietz

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In but it's starting to get flat

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Size of Baby: According to my pregnancy app baby is the size of a banana, 10 inches head to toe and weighs about 10.5 ounces

Looking forward to: Buying furniture for the nursery soon and picking out bedding and cute things!

Here's another picture of my little man:

Crafting for my son!

We have finally decided on a name for our son! After going through countless names (and a really picky husband :) ) we have a name! So, of course, I immediately had to do a craft to hang up in his room.

Here it is!

Adam cut out the big letters for me from a scrap piece of wood we had around the house and I painted them blue.
I then bought smaller letters from Michael's, painted them white, then hot-glued them onto the big letters.

Simple and easy project and I can't wait to have it hanging on his door!

We can't wait to meet Nolan Ruger Dietz!

Apple Pie Braid

I love apple pie, it's seriously one of my favorite desserts. When I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to try it! I made it last year for Thanksgiving and it was big hit so I decided to make it again this year.

Here's what you need:

Apple Filling:
3 medium sized apples (whatever your preference is)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Pie Braid:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil

Glaze:
1/3 cups confectioners sugar
5 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


How to make the Apple Pie Braid:

Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices. Place in a pie pan mixed with all the other apple filling ingredients. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F

While that's baking mix together all the dry ingredients for the pie bread. Add water and oil and mix for 6 minutes in medium-high speed.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray (I found this the easiest thing to do) and roll out the dough to about a 12x16 inch size- using a rolling pin spraying with cooking spray makes it a lot easier)

Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut 1 inch strips in the sides of the dough leaving the middle third solid with no cuts.

Fill the center of the braid with the pie filling and then criss-cross the dough strips to make it into a braid.

Bake the braid for 25 minutes at 350F.

While it's baking you can make the glaze for the top of the braid. Whisk together the confectioners sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla.

After the braid is done baking allow it to cool for a few minutes before adding the glaze. It's also recommended to put a cooling rack on a cookie sheet under the braid so that the glaze doesn't soak into the braid and make it soggy.

Here's the final product! Slice, serve, and enjoy :) Vanilla ice cream is also a good addition to a piece.

16 Weeks

How far along? 16 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +7 at my appointment- I hate that my appointments are on mondays. I always eat too much on the weekends and go in there feeling like a cow haha. Usually by the end of the week I feel like I'm back to "normal".

Maternity clothes?. Still wearing my regular clothes! Still need a belt with my jeans so probably still have some time before I really need maternity clothes- hooray for having a long torso and room for baby to grow!

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Pretty good  most of the time, toss and turn a little but nothing too bad.

Best moment this week: Getting to hear the heartbeat is always a good moment for me. Other than that, Adam and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary last tuesday!

Miss Anything? Lunch meat! I hate heated up lunch meat so a cold piece of ham sounds so good right now.

Movement: Nothing yet, they say it could happen anytime now.

Food cravings:  Tacos! I could eat tacos every day.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nothing really. I've noticed my sense of smell has started to increase a little though.

Have you started to show yet: Maybe a little but I'm still not quite convinced it's baby yet.

Gender: Don't know yet. We find out in 15 days! (december 4th)

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Size of Baby: According to my pregnancy app baby is the size of an avocado, 4.6 inches long and 3.5 ounces.

Looking forward to: Finding out what we're having, picking out a name, and decorating the room.

Harris Teeter Super Doubles

I was finally feeling good enough to go early to Harris Teeter this morning and shop their Super Double sale (all manufacturer coupons $2 and under doubled)

Here's what I bought:

With coupons, and some online coupons loaded to my loyalty card, I got McCormick grill spices for free, McCormick cinnamon for free, Febreeze car vent for free, Dawn dish soap free, box of Triscuits free, and Glade air freshener free. I got the shaving cream for $1 each after coupon. Dog treats were $1.35 each after coupon.

The green giant canned veggies were buy 2 get 3 free and so was the Ragu pasta sauce. Ore-ida potatoes were buy 1 get 1 free.

I had to get some other things that weren't on sale but we needed for dinners and other things.

Overall I spent $45.81 and saved $57.75, over 50% savings!

12 Weeks

I promise this is going to be more than a pregnancy blog. I just haven't done anything crafty recently or made any new foods, I'm just starting to finally get over morning sickness!

How far along? 12 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +4 at my appointment yesterday

Maternity clothes?. Bought my first shirt a couple weeks ago, don't really need it yet but it will be fun to see it fill out throughout the weeks.

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Good!

Best moment this week: Got to hear the heartbeat for the first time in almost 6 weeks yesterday. The stinker was hiding low and to the left so it took the doctor a little bit to find it.

Miss Anything? Lunch meat! I hate heated up lunch meat so a cold piece of ham sounds so good right now.

Movement: Nothing yet, still have some time until that happens

Food cravings:  Tacos! I could eat tacos every day.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nothing too much right now.

Have you started to show yet: Maybe a little but I'm still not quite convinced it's baby yet.

Gender: Don't know yet, we might get to find out the beginning of december.

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Size of Baby: According to my pregnancy app baby is the size of a plum (2.1 inches) and weighs .49 ounces.

Looking forward to: Finding out what we're having!

Coming soon....

That's right! We're having a baby :) Estimated due date is May 6th, 2013 and we are so excited!

9 week survey:

How far along? 9 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +2-3, depends on my morning sickness

Maternity clothes?. Nothing yet, hopefully not for a while!

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Good most days, some days not so good.

Best moment this week: Being able to share our news on Facebook so everyone officially knows! I was tired of keeping it a secret :)

Miss Anything? Lunch meat! I hate heated up lunch meat so a cold piece of ham sounds so good right now.

Movement: Nothing yet, still have some time until that happens

Food cravings:  Not really cravings, just seeing commercials for certain foods or seeing them in the store make me want them.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  The smell of garlic powder almost made me sick, can't use that anymore. And some foods make me sick one day and are fine the next.

Have you started to show yet: Nope

Gender: Won't know for a while!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy as long as I'm not feeling nauseous 

Size of Baby: According to my pregnancy app baby is the size of a green olive (.9 inches) and weighs about .07 ounces.

Looking forward to: Finding out what we're having!

Halloween Crafting

Yes, yes, I know it's been too long since I've posted. Shame on me.

Now that we're over that we can move on to my recent craft!

Kristine and I got together when she had a day off work and we did our Halloween crafts together, it was grand!

I was inspired by a pin on Pinterest and the fact that it called for scrap pieces of wood and we have plenty of those laying around our yard since Adam's building our new barn.

I got 3 skinny pieces of wood and a larger one for the bottom. I grabbed some halloween colors of paint and started.

I painted the smaller pieces orange, green, and white- for a pumpkin, frankenstein, and ghost.

Pumpkin, Frankenstein, and Ghost!

I had Adam screw them onto the  base and I plan on painting "Happy Halloween" in front of the monsters.

Kristine made her own craft also!

It was a good time :)

Buffalo Chicken Fingers

3 posts in one week! I'm on a roll! Woo!

I've been trying to find some new recipes to try since we're both trying to eat a little healthier and I was getting tired of grilled chicken.

Thanks to the lovely world of Pinterest I found this great recipe for Buffalo Chicken Fingers.

Here's what you need:
Chicken breasts cut into finger strip size pieces
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon water

In a bag mix together the flour, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt

On a plate mix the breadcrumbs, 1/2 teaspoon garlic power, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl mix the egg whites with the tablespoon of water.

Take the chicken pieces and put them in the flour mixture bag

Sorry for the terrible quality, I was trying to take pictures with messy hands

Shake off the excess then put them in the egg bowl

Shake of the excess egg and roll it around in the breadcrumb mixture

Then place all the pieces on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray

Cook at 400 for 8 minutes then flip over and cook another 8 minutes.

They were amazingly delicious! They had a little kick to them and were perfect dipped in ranch or bbq sauce. I will definitely be making these again.

Target Savings

I rarely go shopping for anything besides clothes and little things at Target but occasionally they have some great deals you can get using coupons!

You are able to combine and regular manufacturer coupon and a Target coupon towards one item (you can get Target coupons from their website or sometimes they have them in Sunday inserts).

There were some good deals this week on a few things I've been wanting to try and I knew we could use around the house so I went to get them.

I got 2 Glade oil diffusers, 2 Glade air sprays, 1 Scrubbing Bubbles Kitchen cleaner, 2 Bic razors, 1 Scotch Tape, and 1 Papermate pens package.

All the Glade products were free after coupons, Bic razors were free, Papermate pens were free, Scotch tape was .50, and the Scrubbing Bubbles was $1.89- that should have only been .89 but there was a mess-up on my part with the coupons I was using and they deleted a $1 coupon I had towards it and I didn't figure it out until I got home, oh well.

I paid $4 for all of that and saved around $25. Crazy to think you would spend close to $30 without coupons if you bought all of that! Why would you not use coupons?!?!

Harris Teeter Super Doubles Trip

I got my coupons prepared and went to Harris Teeter this morning to hit up their Super Double coupon sale they have going on this week.

This is what I got:

Sorry its so dark! The light is broken in our kitchen.

I spent $16.82 and saved $61.58!

Breakdown:

• Ziploc bags on sale for $1.49 each, I had a $1 off 2 coupon which doubled to $2 making each box $.49
• Honey Nut and Frosted Cheerios were 2 for $5, I had a $1 off 2 coupons which doubled to $2 making each box $1.50
• Frosted Flakes were on sale for $1.99, I had a $.70 coupon which doubled to $1.40 making each box $.59
• Dr. Pepper 10 was on sale for $1.19, I had a $1 off 2 coupon which doubled to $2 making each 2 liter $.19
• Tampax were on sale for $4.49 each, I had a $2 off 1 coupon which doubled to $4 making each box $.49, I also had an e-vic coupon loaded to my card which took an extra $2 off the Tampax making all of them free!
• Schick Shave Gel was on sale for $2.49, I had a $1 off 1 coupon which doubled to $2 making each $.49
• Finish dishwasher tabs were on sale for $2.89, I had a $1 off 1 coupon which doubled to $2 making it $.89
• The water was on sale for $2.50

I'm hoping to make a few more trips this week with whatever other coupons I can scrounge up and get some more great deals before the shelves are cleared out!

Home Renovations

As many of you know our house is in a constant state of renovation. As in, it feels like it will never end. If I were to show you what the before and current pictures are this post would have a bazillion photos- it's crazy.

One of the few projects we have finished recently is our fire place. Here's a before picture:

Here's an after picture:

Our original plan was to use the stone all the way up the entire fireplace but we didn't have enough to do that (they were leftovers from something else that were given to us). So we stoned most of it, Adam built the mantel, and we stuccoed-ish the top and painted it. It's really like 95% done, we have to finish the grout in the stones and put a frame around the actual fire place.

In case you were wondering from the original picture we also took down the wall on the left, added a new smaller wall that only sticks out  about 5 inches from the side wall, added laminate floors, new recessed lighting, and painted.

I would be happy to add other before/ after pictures of other rooms of the house if anyone is interested!

Smartphone Savings

I'm always looking for ways to save money, especially for things that aren't necessarily a necessity such as clothes, books, etc.

A few of the couponing blogs that I follow have mentioned an Old Navy app that they use on their smart phones called SnapAppy (you can find it just by searching for Old Navy). You use the app to take a picture of any Old Navy logo and it'll spin a wheel and you can potentially win a prize! One of the first times I used it I won a prize called "Snap 5" which is a $5 off coupon!

I headed to Old Navy today, since it is their annual $1 flip-flop sale, to look around and see what I could find. I managed to snag a pair of flip-flops in my size and a pair of shorts. The shorts I found were normally $15 but they were on sale for $10 and I used my SnapAppy coupon and got them for $5! With the flip-flops being on sale I managed to snag both items for $6.41 with a savings of $12.94!

Thanks Old Navy for putting out a free app and making saving money super easy and letting me get new clothes!

There are many other stores that put out apps of their own that offer special discounts and coupons you can use. I have the Michael's app downloaded and got a 20% off coupon for my first purchase, I also have used a Kohl's coupon through an app called "Coupon Closet". Just check around and you will never know what you will find!

Crafty Canvas

A few months ago I decided to actually do a project I had pinned on Pinterest ( This was my inspiration). I was very excited to finish it and hang it on my wall in my dining room. Adam and I realized that doing just 1 was going to look funny so I proceeded to do 2 more. Here's a tutorial on the last one I did.

I used:
A blank canvas (I can't remember the exact size but just pick a size that will fit where you need it)
Contact paper
Scissors
Spray Paint (I kill the atmosphere but I love spray paint!)

My wonderful Mom helped me with this project :)

Here we are cutting out letters- we printed them out on regular paper then put the contact paper over it and cut them out

Then I set up the phrase on the canvas

Then took the back off the contact paper and stuck the letters on the canvas

Then Adam and I spray painted the mess out of it (mixture of black and grey)

Then after the pain is dry, peel the letters off the canvas

Then hang and enjoy!

Here's all the canvas' I did for my dining room.

Pretty easy to do and a lot cheaper than going somewhere and buying something.

Super Doubles Success!

As you all know I love to coupon :). Starting today through next Tuesday Harris Teeter is doing their "Super Double" coupon event, the only difference is they're doubling up to $2 instead of the normal $1.98!!

Here's a picture of my haul today:

(I also bought some chicken and hamburger that's not in the picture)

I spent $27.39 and saved $49.92!

Here's a break down:

Chinet plates- Free

2 6pack Propel Zero water- $1 each

Hartz dog treats- on clearance so after coupon they were $.28

Front Porch ice cream pints- $.50 each

Nissin Noodle cups- Free

KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce- Free

Smart Balance milk- Free

Glade Decor- Free

The chicken was on sale

The soups, rotel, seasoning, and hamburger were all regular priced.

Again, if there are any questions I would be happy to answer them and help you save money! I have definitely seen a decrease in my own spending whenever I have to grocery shop so it's totally worth it!

Swagbucks! Free money!

A little over 2 years ago I signed up for a website called Swagbucks (www.swagbucks.com). It's completely free and all you do is use them as your day-to-day search engine instead of google or anything else (swagbucks is powered by bing.com). As you use the search engine you randomly win "swagbucks" that add to your account automatically. An easy way to win is to download the toolbar into your browser and then you can just use the search box easily, I use it to get to basic sites like my email or craigslist or facebook instead of typing the address into the web browser. On fridays they have "mega swagbucks" where you can win more often and higher amounts!

With all the gift cards I've earned I've been able to buy books, shoes, pet supplies, and other things amazon.com has to offer.  I've also saved up the gift cards to use around birthdays and Christmas time to buy gifts for people so that we can save some money and not spend so much out of our own pockets.

There are some things you can do every day just to get some little bucks such as clicking through the "NOSO" on the home page (just skip through 5 ads, type in a phrase, then you get 2 bucks), voting in the daily poll, and checking out if you qualify for surveys. For the surveys, if you qualify, you can get anywhere from 50 to 250 swagbucks for completing one! But the easiest way to win swagbucks is just to use the search engine. You can also play games on their website that will earn you swagbucks and watch Swagbucks TV to earn bucks too!

I've usually been able to average three $5 amazon.com gift cards per month that each cost 450 swagbucks. They also have many other gift cards as well as other prizes to buy, like target gift cards, iTunes giftcards, and many other things. 

My referral link is http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/BLStarlin and if you sign up using that for every search you win swagbucks I get the same amount (up to 1000 swagbucks then it stops) and if you get people to sign up with your referral you get the same thing! Now I know that sounds slightly pyramid scheme-y but it's really not. As long as they sign up using your referral link that's the end of the connection you have and you stop getting swagbucks from their searches once you've received 1000 swagbucks from them.

If you have any questions please feel free to let me know and I can help explain and walk you through it! Like I said it's completely free and I've never received anything unsolicited from them. My mom uses is as do both of my sisters so it's safe :). Like I said, if you have any questions please let me know!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

I enjoy chicken nuggets and when I found a recipe on Pinterest for them I decided to try it out! (You can find the original recipe here)

Here's what you need:

Chicken breast (I cut up 2 breasts which was plenty!)
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
Oil for frying (we have a deep fryer so I didn't have to worry about using a pan for frying)

Mix together milk and egg in one bowl
Mix together all dry ingredients in another bowl
Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces

Dip the chicken pieces into the milk/ egg mix, shake off excess, then put into the flour mix and coat well.

I put my deep fryer on 360 and place a handful of pieces at a time into it for 6 minutes. The original recipe calls for frying in a pan 2-3 minutes on each side to make sure it's cooked.

Finished product! (Well, some of it :) ) Because it's fried I served these with some sweet potato fries (not sure if that helps but it made me feel better haha). Serve with a variety of dipping sauces!

We try not to make this too often since it is fried but sometimes chicken nuggets are just what you need!

Triples Success!

I woke up early and headed to Harris Teeter to get my deals with triple coupons!

Here's what I got:

I spent $9.82 and saved $50.24!

All of the hot sauces were free, the 2 dish soaps were free, the floss was free, the 3 bags of Pepperidge Farm cracker chips were .25 each, the box of Trix was .50, the rest was all really cheap.

I may head out and get a few more things as the week goes on but this is my biggest trip.

Preparing for Triple Coupons

I did a post a few weeks ago about Harris Teeter's coupon special event, Super Doubles, starting this Wednesday they are doing their other special event Triple Coupons.

The rules of Triple Coupons are:

1- They will triple coupons up to .99 cents. A .50 cent coupon will be worth $1.50, a .75 coupon will be worth $2.25, etc.
2- They will triple up to 20 coupons per day (you can use more than 20 but they will not triple)
3- You can only use 3 "like" paper coupons and 2 "like" printed coupons
4- You can stack their online digital coupons with paper coupons.

Again, my biggest piece of advice is to let someone else do the work for you! Find some couponing blogs that you like and follow them. I follow Moola Saving Mom and she is by far the best I have ever seen! She sets up lists and tells you what items you can get for free, where to find specific coupons, and which deals are the best. Here's her triples list she's made up so far, it will probably be updated one more time later tonight with all the unadvertised deals she finds.

I've already started my list and gotten a lot of my coupons together so I will be ready to go early in the morning when the store opens! Let me know if there are any questions and I will be more then happy to help anyone out :)

Crafting for my new nephew!

My sister-in-law is having a baby exactly 1 week from today! I am so excited and cannot wait to meet this little boy :). Of course I bought her the typical gifts for her baby shower; diapers, outfit, shoes, etc. But I wanted to make something for him also so I decided on a banner with his name (which I found the idea on Pinterest from the Michael's website here).

Mine looks slightly different since I couldn't find the exact plaques they were suggesting and used different colors.

I first painted the plaques, front, back, and sides.

Then I cut out scrapbook paper to fit on the front of the plaques.

Then I hot glued the letters onto each plaque.

Then I hot glued the plaques onto ribbon and attached a D-ring to the top so she could hang it wherever she wants.

It's so cute and I can't wait to meet little Bryson next week!

Cleaning Supplies: Pet Edition

I figure it's about time for me to write a post on cleaning. As everyone knows Adam and I have 2 dogs and they are our little furry babies :) (ok, not so little but still our babies).
This is Roxy:

This is Puck:

As we all know, dogs are messy!! Occasionally they tend to get sick and it is gross. Luckily we don't have any carpet throughout most of our house so we don't have to worry about a lot of stains. Our dogs do have carpet in their crates though and that is where they tend to get sick. My sisters gave me a basket of cleaning supplies when I got married and inside the basket was this little gem:

Woolite Pet Oxygen Stain & Odor Remover. I've used this every time the dogs get sick in their crate or on the 1 area rug we have in the house and it is magic! It gets rid of the stain every time and there's no smell left. All you have to do is pick up the mess, spray Woolite generously over the area, let sit for a few minutes, then dab up with paper towel. I highly recommend this for every pet owner out there!

Monkey Bread

I love to bake! Love it! Cakes, pies, breads, muffins, you name it I love it. Pinterest has been my kryptonite when it comes to baking with all the amazing recipes there are. I found a recipe for monkey bread recently and had to try it!

Here's what you need:

2 cans of Pillsbury Grands rolls
1 stick of butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon (my sugar and cinnamon is already mixed together)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cut up your biscuits into pieces and mix a few pieces at a time in the cinnamon sugar mix

Put the pieces in a very greased pan (I used 2 pie pans)

Melt your butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in a pan and let boil for a minute. Then pour it over the biscuit pieces.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, let cool, and enjoy!

I turned my pie pans upside down and dumped it out. The top of it was a little crispy just where liquid wasn't on the biscuit pieces but besides that it's sooo good!!