Weekend Dish is a place for me to get a little more personal! If you just come to Sunny Side Up for the food, feel free to skip this post but be sure to check back this week for new food photos and recipes!

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done one of these! I just can’t believe how quickly August has disappeared. Not that I want to rush things, but there are a lot of exciting things right around the corner – my due date (!!), fall, football season, cool crisp air and warm delicious food. I’m almost too excited for my own good! On that note, let’s move along to the Weekend Dish!

Blog Recap –

Tuxedo Layered Cheesecake – I always look forward to making my birthday cake and this year was no exception. I think this rich, chocolatey, cake was the perfect way to ring in my 30s.

Brownie Fudge Ripple Ice Cream – This ice cream was a great way to use up some left over brownies that I had. The fudge ripple just took it to the next level, really creating a an amazing ice cream.

  Citrus and Soy Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Pickled Cucumbers – This dish was inspired by my birthday dinner at a local restaurant. The soy and citrus create a sweet and salty sauce that is perfectly complimented by the pickled cucumbers. Huge hit at our house!

Mexican Quinoa Bowls – A quick and easy, healthy, and delicious meal that is a regular in our dinner rotation. You don’t want to miss out on this!

Pregnancy Update –

Check that belly out!! I’m 38 weeks pregnant and I can’t believe how much I’ve grown! I don’t really realize it until I look at pictures. Actually, the funny thing is that when I took the picture on the left I really, really felt like I had “popped” and looked sooooo pregnant. I did have a bit of bump going on, but nothing compared the basketball I’m smuggling now!

I think a lot of people at this point are getting tired of being pregnant. I can understand why, and I am definitely getting a bit more uncomfortable, but I can’t say that I’m tired of being pregnant. I keep thinking that once she’s out, she’s out. She won’t ever be back in. All of these secret little kicks, rolls, and hiccups of hers that only I can feel are feeling even more special now that I’m nearing the end. I’m selfishly enjoying my alone time with her. 🙂 Buuuuut, on the other hand, I am so crazy excited to meet her that I wish she could come out and play NOW! I guess I just have to accept that I can’t keep her in forever, and I can’t really evict her earlier. She’ll get here when she gets here. 🙂

My life through Instagram –

My obligatory cat picture. I looked over and both cats looked like they were just passed out drunk. Guess the kitty food was good. 😉

I was naively optimistic and thought I could put my rings back on one day. Not a great idea. Cold water and oil didn’t work for getting them off!

A soaked, frozen paper towel and Windex DID do the trick. I guess Windex really is magic!

Tiff is getting pretty comfortable in the baby’s nursery. I’m pretty sure she thinks it’s a special room designed just for her.

Last week I went on a freezing extravaganza! I prepared lots of meals and stocked my freezer. Hopefully this will make for some less stressful evenings once baby gets here.  *Also, I’m considering writing up a post on freezer meals. If you would be interested in a post like that let me know!

I’m a walking fool these days!

Well folks, that’s all I’ve got for today! Thank you so much for stopping by and reading. Make sure to come back later this week for fresh new posts!

Weekend Dish is a place for me to get a little more personal! If you just come to Sunny Side Up for the food, feel free to skip this post but be sure to check back this week for new food photos and recipes!

Holy cow! I just wrote “8/4” in the title of this post. 8. As in the 8th month of the year. As in August. Wow, time is flying. Speaking of time flying, this is going to be a short and sweet Weekend Dish so I can get to writing a recipe post I’m pretty excited about!

Blog Recap –

Peanut butter. Chocolate. Buttery, cinnamony, crumb topping. Need I say more? Peanut Butter Coffeecake with Chocolate Chip Struesel

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, it’s August. Baby girl is coming in September. Which means next month. Actually, her due date is September 4th, which just so happens to be exactly one month from today. Eeeekk! I have some of the typical new mom fears, but overall I’m just really excited. I can’t wait to meet her and bring her home. Even more so now that we spent the weekend putting together her nursery. All that is left is setting up the glider/ottoman, which will be arriving this week!

My week through Instagram –

The other day I couldn’t find Tiffany anywhere. Finally I checked behind the shower curtain and, yep, sure enough there she was. What is it with cats and hanging out in the tub? Weirdos.

I’ve been slowly washing and prepping all of the cute baby clothes. Teeny tiny dresses and seriously important Bengals onesies. Cutest load of laundry ever.

I have not made nearly enough ice cream this summer (probably because my standing mixer/ice cream maker spent most of the summer in a storage box). I took steps to correct that problem earlier this week. Results were amazing and coming to you soon!

That’s a wrap! Thank you so much for stopping by and reading. Look for a really exciting birthday recipe this week!

Weekend Dish is place for me to get a little more personal! If you just come to Sunny Side Up for the food blog, feel free to skip this post but be sure to check back next week for new food photos and recipes!

Blog Recap – What went down on Sunny Side Up this week –

Homemade Italian Dressing – My recent cravings for tangy salad dressing and mishap by a certain pizza company that forgot to deliver my tangy salad dressing led to the creation of a Homemade Italian Dressing that I’ve fallen in love with!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad – I used my Homemade Italian Dressing to create a fresh and light pasta salad using some of my favorite roasted veggies.

Sweet Southern Boy: A virtual baby shower for Nikki – This week I co-hosted a virtual baby shower for my good friend Nikki of Seeded at the Table. We had a really fantastic turn from some really great bloggers. And it was great to celebrate Nikki’s sweet baby boy.

Pregnancy Update –

Sorry! Cheesy bathroom self-pic! My belly was just looking especially round (and I happened to blow dry my hair ALL THE WAY and put on make up, not a bad day to take a self-pic). I am exactly 19 weeks in the photo.

The most exciting update of the week is that I felt a pretty solid kick on Sunday night! Up until now I’ve felt little bubbles or pops, that could absolutely be baby but I was never 100% sure. This time, I knew for sure it was a kick! Since Sunday I’ve felt it several more times and I’m in love! I’m sure that as she gets bigger and starts kicking things like my ribs and bladder I will be a little less in love with the kicks, but for now I’ll enjoy every last one!

We also started thinking about setting up a registry this week. Even though it feels kind of early, it’s kind of nice task to keep my mind occupied. Our amazing families have also offered to throw us a shower during our trip home in May, which is just over a month away so it’s about time to start thinking about and researching the things we’ll need.

On that note, we are strongly considering cloth diapering. I’ve spent a lot of time researching the benefits (long term cost, reduce incidence of diaper rash, decreased environmental waste (though I also know there is some debate on the added water needed for washing)) and I think it will be a good fit for us. But it’s totally overwhelming. If you have any advice on cloth diapering and getting started, we would love to hear it!

That’s all the pregnancy related news this week!

My week through Instagram – A photo recap of my week –

This has been my go-to “Pregnant Lady Cocktail” for the last few months. Cranberry juice and soda water with a twist of lime. It’s so refreshing! You’ve gotta try it, even if you’re not pregnant!

The much anticipated season premier of Mad Men was last Sunday! The episode was 2 hours long, and although I liked it, I kind of felt like it had to be 2 hours to accommodate all of the commercials! 5 minutes of the show followed by 5 minutes of commercials. We totally need a DVR so I can fast forward! Did you watch the premier? What did you think?

I had a really daunting afternoon of writing papers for school, to help myself feel more motivated I set up on the balcony to soak up some sun while I worked. Our cat tree is outside and Tiff wanted to enjoy the sun as well. At one point I looked up and she was completely passed out with her big giant belly hanging through the hole of the cat tree. Of course as soon as I grabbed my phone to take a picture she woke up, but you can still see her belly hanging low. I love that fluffy ball of fur!

I love this little furball, too. She’s much lazier than Tiff but she’s also much cuddlier. She spends about 80% of her day on our bed.

Around the Web – What I’ve been reading/watching on the inter-webs in the past week – 

Cloth Diapering 101 – Awesome video series on the basics of cloth diapering. Super helpful.
Citation Machine – This is totally boring, but it’s been a lifesaver for me over the past year of working on my BSN. I use this for every paper, discussion board post, and assignment that I do for school. I spend way more time on this site and the Ebsco online research database than I like.
Fabulous Food Blogs Facebook Group – Lately there has been a bit of a debate on Facebook about photo and recipe copyrights. There are a TON of groups that have taken photos from blogs and reprinted the entire recipe right in the description, without permission from the blogger and without giving any credit to the blogger. Obviously people love food and love sharing good food, which is GREAT when done right. So a group of bloggers got together to create a site that shares the love of food in a responsible way. Lots of delicious food photos with direct links to the original recipe source! Check this group out!!
Foodgawker– Another great place to get your foodie photo fix!

 That’s a wrap! Thanks for reading and have a GREAT weekend!