One of the most frequent questions people ask me is, "Are you going natural?" That is such a tough question for a first time mom to answer.

I would LOVE to go natural (and I hope I can), however *Insert Disclaimer Here* as a first-time mom, I have no idea of what to expect and I have no idea what I can handle.

I love reading birth stories where first-time moms went all natural. I think that's awesome. I've read so many statistics and research that shows natural births are often better for mom and baby - less side affects, less interventions, quicker recovery, etc.

So ideally, I would really love to go natural. My plan is to use some of the pain coping techniques I learned in my birthing class, try to stay home as long as possible, and have my husband positively coach and support me.

I am also a realist... and I realize going natural just might not be in the cards for me. If I have induced labor with the help of pitocin, it might make my contractions stronger and more painful. Or I realize I might have a sunny side up baby and have extreme back labor. Or I could just determine that the pain is too much for me to bear. If that's the case, I am ok with looking at pain options. I've known a couple of people who've had bad experiences with epidurals, but lots of women that have had great experiences. I would never look "down" on women that opt to use medication.

So I've decided to keep an open mind. I'm hoping to go natural, but I'm not going to be disappointed in myself or devastated if I don't. We'll see what happens! How many of you ladies out there went natural? How many had medication? Were you happy with the outcome?

A few weeks ago I went to a Silpada Jewelry party for the first time. My friend Brenda hosted the party at her house and our Silpada Consultant was Alicia. In addition to socializing and eating yummy food, we got to try on lots of beautiful jewelry. It was so hard not to order every beautiful piece I liked!

I ordered a beautiful sterling silver hammered ring and a pearl necklace. I am so happy with both pieces. Maybe sometime in the future I will host my own jewelry party - it's a great excuse to buy more beautiful accessories!

Yes, I am the weird dog lady that has birthday celebrations for her pugs.

On Sunday we celebrated my little black pug turning 3 years old! We put party hats on the pugs and gave them some treats. LOL. The things we do for entertainment... We have to hurry up and have this baby before we get any weirder...

I received the Honest Scrap Award from Hello Sneakers, Goodbye Heels! Stop by her blog when you get a chance.

The next step in receiving this award is to list 10 random things about myself.

1. I love animals, especially pugs! I almost went to school to be a vet.
2. I hate being late for anything (and I get bugged when other people are late). I'm like a time nazi! I'm learning to be more "flexible"...
3. I'm a pretty messy person (ok, I'm a VERY messy person). I really hate folding and putting away laundry. I think it's equivalent to stubbing your toe or walking across hot coals.
4. I love trying new food, especially ethnic food. Sushi and Thai foods are my favorites!
5. I love traveling and hope to go to some new places after the baby is born. I went to Italy for work a couple of years ago, and we took our honeymoon in Cabo, Mexico. I'd love to visit Spain, France, and England. My favorite US vacation spots are San Diego, NYC, Vegas, and Washington DC.
6. I love TV and movies. My favs currently are The Bachelor, Private Practice, Castle, America's Next Top Model, Teen Mom.
7. I'm on team Jacob!
8. If I could be any type of celebrity, I'd want to be an actress. Someone like Jennifer Garner or Mandy Moore.
9. I love home decorating. I wish I had an unlimited budget and my house would look straight out of HGTV.
10. I love sweet wines! As soon as I have this baby I'm gonna buy me a nice bottle of New Mexican Blue Teal Muscat.

Now, I get to pass the award on to ten of my favorite bloggers!

1. http://screamsandhugs.blogspot.com/
2. http://thedailymomdiaries.blogspot.com/
3. http://boutiqueonfeet.blogspot.com/
4. http://debbiellbriskincare.blogspot.com/
5.http://sophisticatestyle.blogspot.com/
6. http://thebuzz4moms.blogspot.com/
7. http://mommastuffblog.blogspot.com/
8. http://www.kerrisklutter.com/
9. http://paperscrapsandsunflowers.blogspot.com/
10. http://subconsciousmessages.blogspot.com/

I love reading the Small Burst Blog. It's a great blog about crafts, Etsy finds, home decor and lots of other fun stuff! Recently, she posted about Elizabeth Designs, a fabulous Etsy shop specializing in handbags, wallets, clutches, etc. I instantly clicked with Elizabeth's chic fabric selection.

I am happy to say that I entered the Small Burst giveaway for an Elizabeth Designs wristlet (a cute little wallet to carry the bare essentials) and I won! I can't wait until I receive it!

I also could not resist ordering a Katie Tote bag from Elizabeth Designs. They are currently on sale for $30. So here's my bag that's on the way:


Check out this great Etsy shop for affordable, handmade bags!

In celebration of my birthday, I'm having an ONLINE Boutique Shopping Party at Boutique on Feet! Buy something nice for yourselves ladies. Mother's Day is also coming up and Boutique on Feet has great gift ideas.

Here's How the Party Works:

For one week during April 18 - April 25, shop at Boutique on Feet and get FREE SHIPPING AND a FREE GIFT/ w purchase. During the week, there will also be special promotions just for my guests!

At the end of the week, I will receive special "hostess rewards" for hosting and based on sales made through my party.

Boutique on Feet has handbags, jewelry, fashion and accessories at remarkable prices. Shop now just in time for Mother's Day!

When checking out, you must use coupon code (no spaces):  marcie04

I purchased this purse from Boutique on Feet not too long ago and I love it! I'm planning on getting another handbag and perhaps some cute accessories, like sunglasses and a bracelet.


Here's some other products that caught my eye:

I attended my first card making class hosted by my friend Christina, a Close to My Heart consultant. She also has a blog: Paperscraps and Sunflowers - check it out.

I had a blast! She helped us make a set of four cards, which are absolutely adorable. I think handmade cards are really neat because most people are used to getting the standard Hallmark cards. Close to My Heart also sells these nifty card kits which include everything you need to make a set, so you don't have to try and make up your own designs.

This could be an addicting hobby...

Wow! I cannot believe I'm already 30 weeks. Only 10 more weeks. So here's my update...

Pregnancy Update:

• How far along?: 30 weeks.
• Total weight gain: 17 pounds! Yikes!
• How big is baby?: 3 pounds and roughly 15 inches long.
• Maternity clothes?: Oh yeah!
• Stretch marks?: Still none yet, but I've heard so many women say they got some the last couple of weeks, so I'm not celebrating yet.
• Sleep?: NOT good. My belly needs lots of support and I wake up with my hips hurting.
• Best moment this week?: Feeling hiccups!
• Movement?: Movements are feeling stronger as the baby gets bigger.
• Food cravings?: Nothing in particular...except maybe ice cream.
• Labor signs?: Just Braxton Hicks.
• Belly button in or out?: Still in... not sure if it will pop out.
• What I miss: Sleeping on my belly.
• What I'm looking forward to: My upcoming baby shower!
• Milestone: Hitting the 30 weeks mark!

So, a couple weeks ago I submitted my spinach enchilada recipe to one of my favorite blogs, Our Mommyhood for their Meal Planning Menu. They posted my recipe and some other yummy sounded dishes that I just had to try.

I decided to try the Slow Cooker Sloppy Joe Recipe from Kerri's Klutter. Check out her blog. This recipe was so good, and so easy!

I recently started following a new blog that I found from the Mom Bloggers Club.

24 Hour Days: The Crazy Life of a Mom - Taking One Day at a Time. This blog is written by Bethany, a very cool, 20 something mom.

Bethany had this great idea to network with other bloggers by interviewing them and posting the interviews on her blog. I am her first interview! Check out her post with my interview here. This is a great way to get new followers and meet new bloggers!

Thanks Bethany!

Unfortunately, I have to work, so I won't be able to enter all of the great giveaways today, but thought I'd spread the word.

The BlogFrog, the SITSgirls, Today’s Creative Blog, Skip to My Lou, and Tip Junkie are hosting a Spring Fling!

All of the blogs are giving away $6,000 worth of products from 5:00 am to 8:00 pm, but you only have an hour to enter the each giveaway.

Good luck to all and win some prizes for me since I'll be working!

I decided to try this new recipe I found from Kraft Foods. I made this side dish with salmon, but it would go awesome with Chicken Parmesan, or any other Italian-style main dish. It was very tasty and my husband really enjoyed it too.

The recipe says its best to let it refrigerate for a day and then heat it up the second day. I didn't have time to do that, and it was still very tasty, so I imagine its even better if you make it ahead.

I'm also thinking it might be good to try using mozzarella cheese instead of parmesan...


Ingredients:

1/3 cup Italian dressing
1 large onion chopped
1 small unpeeled eggplant, cubed
1 medium zucchini, cubed
1 large red pepper chopped
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 can Italian style stewed tomatoes drained, cut up
1/3 c shredded parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. parsley chopped

Directions:

Heat dressing in large skillet on medium. Add onions; cook 5 min. or until tender. Add eggplant; cook and stir 5 min. Add zucchini, pepper, and mushrooms; cook and stir 5 min.

Add tomatoes, bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer 15 min. or until vegetables are tender; stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into casserole dish; sprinkle with cheese. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake 25-30 min or until heated through. Sprinkle w/ parsley just before serving.

Makes 14 servings 1/2 cup each.

We had an eventful Easter Weekend (and thank god the weather was so nice). Today we visited both of our families' houses, hunted for some eggs, and ate WAY too much food! On Saturday, the hospital had a duck pond at the Annual Main Street Easter Egg Hunt. I had to be there to help set up and watch the duck pond, so Jeremy and I decided we'd bring our 1 year old nephew to enjoy the festivities and also bring our two pugs to enter the "Parade of Pooches".

I didn't have time to make Barney and Fiona any Easter Outfits, so I bought some doggie clothes at Petsmart (which were ridiculously expensive!). Fiona had a very cute pastel dress (which wasn't very flattering for her rounded shape and extra "rolls") and Barney was outfitted with a baby blue polo shirt. I bought rabbit ears for both of them, which they sort of wore for a little bit, but were trying to shake them off the whole time.


There were about 50 dogs in the parade! Mostly poodles and terriers, but there was one other pug (a black one like Fiona). I might be a little biased, but I think the pugs should have won the award for best dressed and cutest doggies! I have no idea if they won any of the pooch awards because the parade was at 12 and they weren't giving awards out until 2, which I thought was kind of crazy, so we left before they gave any out.

Here's another pic of me getting ready to show off my pugs. Check out the expression on the face of the kid next to me! I wonder if he's looking at the pugs or looking at my giant belly...

Whoo Hoo! I'm 28 Weeks, and in the third trimester. Time is sure flying. The good news is that I passed my 3 Hour Glucose Test, so no Gestational Diabetes! I'm so relieved. I'm still going to keep an eye on my sugars though...and try and eat better.

Pregnancy Update:

• How far along?: 28 weeks.
• Total weight gain: 15 pounds. I'm still trying my best to keep within the 25-35 lb range.
• How big is baby?: A little over 2 lbs.
• Maternity clothes?: Pants, most definitely. Shirts... some of my pre-maternity still fit, some don't.
• Stretch marks?: Not yet, but my skin is on fire!!!
• Sleep?: Ok, but not as good as it was pre-pregnancy.
• Best moment this week?: When I was at work, looked down at my shirt and saw wet spots. I was totally embarrassed and completely mortified! Needless to say, I'm using those covers daily now.
• Movement?:Tons of movement. Baby is very active!
• Food cravings?: Carbs, carbs, and more carbs.
• Labor signs?: Just Braxton Hicks every couple of days.
• Belly button in or out?: Still in... not sure if it will pop out.
• What I miss: Walking without waddling and getting out of breath!
• What I'm looking forward to:My ultrasound on Monday.
• Milestone: Passing my 3 Hour Glucose Test. Whoo Hoo!