Baby Bump

This picture was taken a few days ago. Now I'm at 16 weeks.. =) October is going by pretty quickly! It's interesting to watch this baby bump get bigger in the past few days. I feel like I really "see" the differences from day to day. It's crazy.

Tim and I had a nice weekend. We went to his coworker's son's wedding this weekend. And we also got a lot of little chores done. We washed and cleaned out our cars last night. Honestly, I love to wash and clean my car. I used to do it often when I was young. I used to clean my family's cars. heh And when I lived on my own in Utah, that's how I relaxed on weekends sometimes. hehe

Ok, I know I am getting older when I'm excited about a vacuum. We bought the Shark VacThenSteam and the Portable Steam Pocket yesterday. It's one of those vacuums you see on the infomercials but also sold in stores. I really wanted one, haha. (I told you I'm getting old!) I was really excited to use it. We have hardwood floors and our vacuum is horrible on it. It just sucks up stuff and spits them back out towards my legs (it hurts, honestly!)..even with the "hardwood floor" option. So, yeah.. I needed something for our floors. I tried out the new toys last night and this morning and I'm impressed with them so far. I have one other Shark vacuum at home and it works well, so I wasn't too worried/concerned about this infomercial product's quality/power... I used the vacthensteam on a small section of our floor that I spilled orange juice on =P. It worked pretty nicely. And this morning, I cleaned up the bathroom with the portable steam pocket. I liked it. It's pretty cool to steam clean, looks cleaner and it kills more bacteria/germs on the surfaces with the steam.


So yeah, there's my product review. haha Ok, time to be productive this week again! =)

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

It's been a long week for us. Tim has been going to work early this week for a work event..and I've had my weekly night conference calls. We have been wanting to go to sleep around 8pm.. hehe Last night, after dinner, Tim and I made chocolate covered pretzels so he can bring them to work. I have some set up for my coworkers too. I'll bring them in later today even though I don't work today. They turned out cute.

It's pretty crazy that in 10 days it'll be Halloween (my Tatay's birthday!). I remember going trick-or-treating with my niece, Samara, last year. That was so cute and fun. And this year, Tim and I haven't even gotten any pumpkins. It was cuter when Samara was excited about the pumpkins. heh October just flew by for us.. Thanksgiving will be here in no time. And in less than 2 months, Tim and I will be in the Philippines (!!!) =) I'm really excited for that trip!

Happy Birthday Mena!

Oh what a full Saturday.. literally, full. Tim and I headed to Chicago yesterday for our nephew's 2nd birthday party. Before that, we stopped at Little Quiapo restaurant for lunch. I've been wanting to have some Filipino food for awhile now and this hit the spot! =) It's a Filipino Buffet restaurant and it's delicious. Plenty of food to choose from and I even ordered a Sago Gulaman drink... think, a sweet tea-ish bubble drink. I love it. We were so full from that lunch... and a few hours after that we had another buffet of food at the birthday party. Middle Eastern food this time. My baby in my belly got a taste of everything yesterday! haha I

We had a nice time with everyone. The kids were dressed up in their pajamas for the theme of the party. Tim's other niece and nephew came over too and they're just super sweet. Earlier, before the party, we got Mena to say "Go Blue!" while watching the football game.. hmm.. too bad it didn't help the outcome. Good family weekend.

 

Baby Khoury's Heartbeat

A Precious Memories Baby Documentary Scrapbook Binder

Yesterday, Tim and I went to another OB appointment. We heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time! During the first ultrasound, we only got to watch the heartbeat (super fast! hehe), but this time we actually got to hear it. That was a really neat experience, very touching. It gave me a great natural high for the rest of the day and even this morning =) Hearing it made it feel real.. that a baby is in me right now. hah I wonder how I'll be when I actually feel him/her kick. I'm so excited, haha. We will hopefully find out the gender during our next ultrasound in November.

And yesterday, I also got a package in the mail from Mrs. Hardy, my friend Kathy's mom. She is soo sweet. When I moved to Utah, she used to send me a card for every holiday. It was just so nice that she remembers me during each holiday. Very sweet. And when I opened this package, I was so touched. It's definitely something I would love, hehe. It's a memory binder that has pages to keep track of the baby's progress and experiences. I'm excited to fill it out for the baby. Thank you so much, Mrs. Hardy!!

Michigan Weekend =)

We drove to Ann Arbor on Friday. On our way, we stopped by to visit Tim's godmother in Indiana. It was nice to see her and chitchat. She's a cutie. After that, we went back to our drive. In Ann Arbor, we stayed at our friend John's basement. I'm so glad we brought our air mattress! =) It would have been pretty uncomfy if we slept on the cement floor =P

It was fun to hang out in Ann Arbor again. Tim and I visited the classic restaurants we loved during college... China Gate, Angelo's, and Big Ten Burrito made the cut this weekend. Great places to eat. We hung out with a group of friends and just walked around downtown on Friday and Saturday nights. 

On Saturday, Tim and I headed down to watch the Michigan Marching Band practice before the game. We found a lot of old friends at a couple of tail gates. That was a great time. Ann Arbor was packed! There were so many people in town for the big game. We did a lot of walking around.. and Tim eventually found us a couple of tickets to the game. I also got to meet up with my friend and old roommate, Sarah and her fiance Marc. It was nice to chill with them for a little bit. I haven't seen them since our wedding!

Unfortunately, Michigan lost but either way, we had a great time in Ann Arbor. On Sunday morning, we headed out to Tim's parents place and visited them for a little bit. It was definitely a short visit since we headed back home to Illinois on Sunday as well. So much driving, but it was still a nice time.

Scones, Smoothies, and Michigan Football!

We woke up pretty late this morning. I guess we were both pretty tired. This week has been busy for both of us, so it was nice to just sleep in. This morning, I wanted to try to make scones from scratch, which I've never done before. I followed a recipe from a cookbook I got from my father-in-law. I added dried cranberries and chocolate chips in it. They turned out yummy. I made them pretty huge, heh but they were tasty so it's ok. 

Last night, Tim and I just hung out at Kohl's and random places. We didn't do anything special but it was nice to just chill. We ended up doing a late night run to Meijer and got some fruits to make a fruit smoothie. He made some last night for me and they were delicious. I'm usually not a fruit smoothie fan because they tend to be too tart for me but Tim made it really good. We had some for breakfast this morning too. We also brought a couple of scones next door to our friends Pam and Herb. And now, we're just relaxing and watching Michigan Football. What a nice morning. GO BLUE!

Pot Roast & Sign Language

Tonight, I used my Le Creuset french oven again to make Pot Roast. I just get pretty excited to use a new kitchen gadget. hehe I followed Tyler Florence's recipe (from Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network). Good stuff. The recipe was pretty easy and definitely easy to change up based on preference. I have a few changes in mind but all in all, very tasty. Definitely eating this tomorrow though.. there's a lot left over when only 2 are eating.

After dinner, Tim and I headed out to our sign language class. We like to take random classes for fun. Before, we took ballroom dancing and now, we decided sign language would be interesting. Tonight was our 2nd class and it was a lot of fun. We learned a ton more than the first class. We learned our numbers (which may sound easy at first, but it's not) and colors, and a bunch of other random words because of a color activity. I'm glad we're learning this, it's such a neat skill. And I think it'll be rewarding to be able to use it in social situations.

Apple Orchard & a Homemade Bread!

 We had a really nice weekend. We got to just relax and take a million naps! It was great. I felt like everything I sat down on the couch, I eventually lay down and fall asleep. heh Friday night, we seriously went to bed before 10pm! And this weekend, I feel like I watched a million hours of football too! Goodness gracious.

Today, Tim and I went to church in the morning. We went to an Orthodox church nearby for the first time. That was nice, the people were all very friendly. After that, we just hung out at home some more. Last night, I decided to try out the No Knead Bread recipe from my sister-in-law's food blog. I was pretty excited to try it and a little worried. I mean, this recipe is all over the internet... coined to be so easy that "a 4 year old can do it." So, if I messed it up, I'd feel pretty bad. heh I followed Katie's directions, but I left it out at room temperature a lot longer after taking out of the fridge over night.

While leaving the dough at room temperature to rest, Tim and I headed out to an apple orchard. We drove to Champaign, Illinois to go to the Curtis Orchard & Pumpkin Patch. It's a very cute place, and pretty popular. It was pretty packed when we got there. Tim and I ended up not buying any apples but just walked around & took pictures. hehe We did try their donuts and cider. Their donuts were delicious! I got 2.. hehe

Once we got back home, I checked on the dough and it rose a bit, so I was pretty happy I didn't fail. heh I finally got to use my new Le Creuset french oven and the bread turned out beautiful. I was really excited to see it, feel it, and hear it. I've never made home-made bread before so this was pretty exciting! It was so neat to hear it crunch as it was getting sliced.

Dinner consisted of the bread and some soup. Nothing fancy about the soup... just canned ones but they were tasty. Tim enjoyed some wine while I sipped on ginger ale. =)

Breakfast at Home

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Tim and I are finally at home during the weekend. It's been a few weeks since we got to do this! We have been so busy lately and hardly any downtime to make some nice meals. I plan to change this next week hopefully. After getting my Le Creuset French Oven for my birthday, I've been so excited to use it. Hopefully soon!

This morning, I made Tim these little apple dumplings for breakfast with a nice orange syrup/sauce. It was yummy. And it made the loft smell really nice, very Fall-like. Time is seriously going by so quickly, in no time, Halloween will be here! Tim and I walked around the Farmer's Market after we ate breakfast and there were a lot of little pumpkins for sale. It made us think of our niece Samara last year.. she loved the pumpkins on our coffee table. =) She would count them and move from one side of the table to another. So cute. We miss hanging out with her. We can't wait to see her in the Philippines. =)

I've been feeling fine lately, no morning sickness or anything. Just really tired at times. Tim and I went to the doctor on Tuesday. Everything is going well. The one thing that is definitely different is that I've been having weird and vivid dreams every night. Sometimes happy or funny, sometimes sad. I woke up in the middle of the night crying.. In my dream, I guess I was fighting with my brother Herman about a Swiffer. heh Odd huh? =) hehe

Tim and I are just so excited to relax this weekend. Watching the Michigan game and then we're heading to a BBQ at his boss's house later, so that'll be nice. Other than that, no plans and total relaxation. =)

27, Le Creuset, and a Baby!

I had one of the nicest birthday weekends ever. =) I turned 27 and this weekend was when Tim and I told our family and friends that we're having a baby! =)

Here's our first ultrasound .. it was so neat to see his/her little heartbeat soo fast! 
The cute little round part on the left is the head..

Tim and I drove to Michigan on Friday afternoon and drove straight to dinner to meet up my family. We had Indian food and it was delicious. My cousin and friend, Kat & Carla, were at dinner too. That night, Tim and I wanted to tell them and my brother Herman the good news. Throughout the whole weekend, we had fun times telling family and friends in different ways. Very entertaining for us. hehe I made cards for Carla and Kat.. it was mostly an inside thing between me and Carla. She freaked out when she saw it. hehe And Kat was like "I KNEW IT!!" =) Tim just handed my brother Herman a picture of our first ultrasound of our cupcake. hehe He was like "huh.. whhhat??" Very cute. Carla made me some cupcakes and Kat got me a birthday cake! How awesome!!

On Saturday, my actual birthday, my family and I drove to Frankenmuth, MI. We walked around a bit and my ma got some Christmas ornaments for the Christmas tree in the Philippines. 
Later on, Tim's parents met us up there. My parents already knew the news from last weekend when Tim and I were in California. We all got group pictures taken with the Christmas stuff, the Nativity scene... and then Tim asked his dad to take a picture of us. So, we stand in front of the Nativity scene and Tim goes "Make sure you get the 3 of us." A little confused, Tim's dad paused.. so Tim repeats.. another time he pauses with a look.. Tim says it again and his dad takes a picture with a smile. He walks to us with a questioning look and Tim tells him I'm pregnant. All the while, Tim's mom was off to the side.. confused with the "3 of us" comment... was instructing his dad to take it from the side to get Baby Jesus in the picture. haha She later got it when Tim's dad was hugging us. =) My family just looked on, smiling the whole time. hehehe

It was a funny way of telling 'em. Very cute. Tim loved thinking of clever ways to announce it. I'll probably write in my real journal - all the ways we told people. heh
We had a lot of fun at Frankenmuth. Ate an early lunch there, walked around a bit .. After that, Tim's parents headed out and we went to Birch Run to go outlet shopping. hehe My parents got me a Le Creuset French Oven for my birthday. I love it and I'm really excited to use it.

Later on in the day, Tim and I hung out at his uncle's house. A lot of his family were there.. and they surprised me with an ice cream cake! I was definitely surprised! It was very sweet of them. Tim also announced it to everyone there that we're expecting too. A million hugs happened after that.
On Sunday, my parents, Tim and I went to church early in the morning. Then we did a bunch of errands after that. We also got to walk around a little bit at Meadowbrook at the Oakland University property. Such a pretty place. Very relaxing to walk around there..   Then Tim and I headed out to go back home. Tim stopped by Ann Arbor so I can get bubble tea. hehe My birthday bubble tea. And we ended up hanging out in Ann Arbor for a couple of hours. It was a really nice evening. Tim got me some Michigan gear and we walked around and listened to a guy play the cello on campus. It was beautiful. Perfect night to end the weekend with. I loved it so much. The drive back home was a bit rough since we got back so so late. Thanks to Tim for driving the whole way! (I had no choice, I can't drive his car...) But all in all, I loved this birthday.