Overnight Oatmeal

This stuff is yummy. Overnight oatmeal is the easiest breakfast food I've ever had to prepare and it's packed full of healthy fiber, whole grains, calcium and protein. It's served and eaten cold but you can warm it up if you like and the topping options are endless. Once prepared, refrigerate it overnight and by morning time you will have a delicious and nutritious breakfast that you can grab on the go.
The following recipe is basic and makes 1-2 servings. You can prepare the overnight oatmeal base in larger quantities and then separate it into pint size mason jars or like below, prepare it all in a quart size mason jar.

What you need:
1 quart size mason jar with lid and rim
Uncooked Rolled Oats
Milk
Plain or Vanilla Yogurt
Toppings - I will be using almonds, cranberries and honey

What to do:
For the base, pour 1 cup oats, 3/4 cup yogurt, 1 1/4 cup milk into the quart size mason jar. Put the lid on and shake well. Basically its 2:1, dairy to oats. The more yogurt, the thicker the base. The less yogurt, the thinner the base.

Now add your toppings of choice. I added a handful of almonds, a handful of cranberries and a tablespoon of honey. Cap it and shake it again! I've also used frozen berries which sweetened it considerably so no added honey necessary. Another delicious version is chopped up green apples and lots of cinnamon. If you double the base, then divide it into pint size mason jars, you could create lots of different flavors. The only hard part is deciding which flavor you want in the morning! Hope you enjoy.

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DIY Burlap Nursery Banner

I wanted to make something special for my little guy and what better than a burlap banner?! There are lots of cute banners on Pinterest and Google so after lots of searching, I pieced together what I think is the best way to make one - it's easy, quick, cheap and super cute.
You can make the banner pieces any size you would like and depending on what you want the banner to say, keep in mind how big/small it will be once hung. I knew that I wanted my banner to hang across a wide wall and that it would contain nine letters so when I made my template, I made sure to size the triangles accordingly at 6" wide and 7.5" long. I think the total cost of this project was under $5 because I already had a lot of things around the house like the heavy paper, ruler and permanent markers. The burlap was less than $2 at Jo-Anns, the yarn less than $3 and the clothespins are from the Dollar Tree.

What  you need: 

1 yd burlap

1 piece heavy paper

Ruler

Permanent marker

Scissors

Cotton yarn or twine

Clothespins

Sewing machine + thread

Computer + printer

What to do: 

Create a triangle template with your heavy paper. I drew a horizontal 6" line and put a dot at the 3" mark. From the 3" mark, I drew a vertical 7.5" line. I then drew out the triangle by connecting the tip of the vertical line with the edges of the horizontal line.

With a permanent marker, trace your banner pieces with the template onto the burlap. In my case, I traced 9 triangles then cut them out. Since burlap is woven, it can come apart easily so I cut outside the lines in case parts came unwoven and I needed to trim. If your burlap is wrinkled, iron it straight.

With a sewing machine, sew along the edges of the triangles as close as possible to prevent the burlap from coming apart. 

Find a font for your banner. There are a few websites where you can download fonts for free and I used "Typewriterhand" from dafont.com in size 350. You may have to play around with font sizes because at this point, you have a specific space on your triangles where the font can fit and you don't want the font to be too large or too small. Once you have your letters typed up, print them out and you can start your letter tracing. Place your  burlap over the paper and with a permanent marker, trace the edges of the letter onto the burlap triangles. Fill in the letters a couple times over and voila! Repeat for each letter you need. 

Next, cut your yarn or twine to the length you want for hanging. Arrange your letters and hook onto the yarn with the clothespins. Hang where you like and you are done! You should know have a beautiful DIY burlap banner.

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Baby Holguin - 30 Weeks

Only 10 more weeks to go! It sounds like a long time but to us it's nothing compared to how many weeks we've come so far. Just when I think my belly can't or isn't growing any bigger, we take these pictures and we both say "WHOA!". In addition to growing, the baby has transitioned from quick little kicks to big, drawn out rolls. Sometimes I can feel an arm or a leg drag across my whole tummy. Sometimes it tickles, sometimes it hurts but every time it's an amazing feeling that I can't really describe. Right now, as I type, I can actually see him moving around under my shirt - it's cray cray!
We've got a lot of things going on this next month and are trying to stay organized to keep up with everything. We start a 4-week birthing class with Providence in about two weeks and we have a maternity photo shoot coming up. Since the little guy is due at the end of April, we will start some serious preparation at the beginning of the month just in case he comes early. Thanks to my amazing, awesome, wonderful and generous friends and family, we had two beautiful baby showers and have almost all the things we need to welcome our baby home. The diaper bag is packed. The crib is setup and made. His stuffed animals are waiting for him and all we need to do is wait.

What we've learned: Our baby is about 4 lbs and over 16 inches long. All of his vital organs are completely formed and ready for use except for his lungs which are still very delicate and need a couple more weeks to develop. From here on out, he will gain about a half a pound a week. Which means I will probably gain 5 pounds a week and turn into a giant beached whale.

Cravings: Nothing super crazy. I have subdued the never ending thoughts of donut holes and have cut back on buying more than two cartons of OJ at a time. My only problem is eating too much sugar throughout the day - a little candy here, a cupcake there, a delicious buttery cinnamon roll from Great Harvest as my afternoon snack. Ya that's a tough one.

Daddy duty: Thanks to the thoughtfulness of friends and family, our baby library has grown and Andrew is still reading to baby H almost nightly. Our new favorites are the Spanish books that Aunt Kina got us! Andrew has also been a champ at cleaning the house and doing the dishes. I like to call him my bang maid - anyone seen It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia??

My crazy dreams: They continue to be ridiculous and completely unrelated to baby stuff. I think if I even tried to explain them all, you would be lost but lets give it a go. WARNING: UNCENSORED MATERIAL. I dreamt recently that my friend Mary and her boyfriend Jeff owned a really popular bar in town. In real life, Jeff is a great looking guy but in my dream he was basically a meth addict - sores on his face, sunken cheeks, skinny - and I kept thinking why is Mary still with him?? Gross! Mary was the badass bartender who didn't take anybody's shit and had the utmost respect from all the patrons. So I'm at their bar and they start a game with all the patrons that involves a piece of cardboard with various cutout holes of different sizes. The men have to try to fit their ding dongs through one of the holes and pee through it. If they make it, they get a free drink! Woo hoo. So I proceed to watch these men drop their drawers and take delight in this stupid game. Then they try to convince me to play it! I have to scream and yell that I'm pregnant and there is no way I am peeing through a gross cardboard hole, plus I can't even drink. So ya. Thats it.

Nursery updates: We got a beautiful crib from my mom and an antique rocking chair from my grandma that are the best parts of the nursery so far. I made him a burlap banner that I will post a DIY about later. The dresser drawers are full of baby onesies, pants, shoes and socks and all his blankets are ready for some cuddle time. It's just a matter of organization at this point but it's coming together.

Doc updates: We had an ultrasound about a week ago to check my amniotic fluid levels because they were high at the 20 week appointment. The results came back as normal however my cervix measured a little shorter than it should be at this point in my pregnancy. Ultimately the cervix shortens completely in order to prepare you for delivery but it usually doesn't start this early. It's nothing too alarming but I need to be aware of any contractions and go back for another ultrasound in a couple weeks. It could also mean that he will come earlier than 4/26 - which I am secretly hoping for - but no earlier than 37 week, please and thank you.

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