Our Big Announcement!

Well hello there! Long time no see! It has been crazy hectic here. Funerals, birthdays, holidays and now the big one....wait for it....A NEW ADDITION!

Needless to say it was as far from planned as expected. I haven't been feeling like myself for the past couple of months. I have been so extremely tired, moody, nauseous, what I know now is pregnancy dementia, and of course the bloating that I now know is #4 making his way over.

As if the plus sign wasn't a big enough shock, I go to get some blood work done at the lab and was told by my doctor's nurse that if my HCG levels were over 2,000 I would have an ultrasound to determine my due date. Well my levels were just over 52,000 so they were able to get me in the next day. My husband and I spent a lot of the car ride to the doctor's office discussing how there was no way I was more that 8-10 weeks tops and how nervous/excited/anxious we were. Finally, walk into maternal-fetal medicine for the big ultrasound. Now here's the surprise, we see a fully formed baby....with a penis. The ultrasound tech measured our new little guy at 20 weeks 4 days.

How could I go 5 months without knowing I was pregnant you may ask. I asked the same thing. I was always one of those people who couldn't understand how you could have no idea you had a human being growing inside you. Well let me tell you how this played out:

Let me start off by saying I couldn't go based off my last period because I haven't gotten it back from having Donavan yet so my LMP was October 2014. I didn't know I was missing anything.
As I said before, I had all the symptoms and it was so obvious looking back but I honestly took most of it to summer heat. I am such a crybaby when it gets too hot and the summer heat drains my energy something fierce.
It wasn't until I was getting some groceries and I was feeling great, until I got near the ground coffee and swore I was going to hurl right then and there. Then it hit me like a brick in the face. "Oh my god, I think I'm pregnant." Pregnancy is the only time I ever get sick from the smell of coffee or get heartburn. Quickly I rushed to the other side of the store where they keep the pharmacy stuff and bought a test.
Once I got home I took it. Let me tell you, I didn't even finish peeing yet and those results were up. I quickly texted my husband at work telling him to call home ASAP and I waited anxiously for his call. (Him working overnights at the prison puts a little damper on our away from home communication)
I think he may have been too shocked to even have a reaction because the first time he reacted (that I know of anyway) was at the first ultrasound.

Now the shock has worn off and we have all kinds of emotions going on. We have 4 months to prepare for another baby. Not just another baby, but our fourth BOY and it's scary and exciting all at once. I'm so eager to have you along to take this (short) journey with us. Now that things have settled down some, I'll be better at keeping the updates and bumpdates going!

Easy and Delicious Stuffed Pepper Soup!!!

Welcome back everyone! This weekend for us was a warm one. Warm enough to fool me into thinking that Spring might finally be on it's way over....I was wrong.  Mother Nature teased me once again. Yesterday started out nice so I packed up my kids and dressed in a cute spring outfit and shoes and decided to get out of the house for a while. I got to my friends house and was only in there for a half hour and then suddenly...BAAAMMMM. Snow covered the ground and I had to scrape my windows. Naturally I was freezing and when I got home I just wanted sweatpants and something warm in my belly. Quickly I had to check and see what I had in my freezer, pantry, and fridge and decided to make this soup. It was quick and so incredibly tasty and satisfying. It really hit the spot.
All you need is:

• 1 lb ground beef or ground sausage (I used a combination of both)
• 1 diced onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 12 oz can tomato paste
• 2 5.5 oz cans low sodium V8 juice
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes (I used Italian style for extra flavor)
• 1 diced green bell pepper
• 1 1/2 cups rice (I use brown rice)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• salsa, jack cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips for topping

The first thing you want to do is brown your meat over medium heat and season it with the salt and pepper. When it's almost completely browned, you want to add the onion and garlic until the onion has softened.

Next add in the tomato paste. The heat will help make it easy to mix evenly with the meat mixture.

Once the tomato paste is warmed through it's time to add in the stewed tomatoes, V8 juice and the broth. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the green peppers and cover the pot with a lid and allow the peppers to soften.

This step is completely your choice. If you want a thick stew like consistency take your uncooked rice and put it directly into the pot and cover. If you want it thinner, cook the rice first then add it to the soup. For the sake of having this made quicker because I didn't think to start cooking the rice while I was prepping, I just put the uncooked rice directly into the pot. Either way, it's delicious.

Once you have the lid on your pot, let the soup simmer for about 25-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked completely through if you added it in uncooked. If you cooked the rice first just allow it to simmer about 10-15 minutes before serving.

Now serve it up with your toppings and scarf down. This will give you that warm fuzzy feeling pretty quick.

This is a quick comfort for me during those times when the wind is blowing and you want to cozy up in a hiding hole until the snow and the ice are gone. What are some of your favorite cozy up favorites?

New Morphe Brushes single eyshadows and swatches!

Hey Friends!!

  I'm so excited for this post! I am swatching and reviewing the new single shadows by Morphe Brushes.

I found these while I was digging around on social media and if you are on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube you may have heard of these. They are only $2.29 per shadow and they also have gorgeous palettes. All of which are super affordable. Without any further delays, let's just jump right into it. Shall we??

Below are all 36 new colors Morphe came out with in no particular order. Feast your eyes!

Look at these and tell me they're not beautiful! So pigmented and very wallet friendly. You can fine your own here along with TONS of other gorgeous colors!

Which color is your favorite? Mine is Magic!