Chipotle Chicken Tostadas

I went to a baby shower for our niece Ashley a few Sundays ago and made these yummy Chipotle Chicken Tostada bites. I wish I had pics from the shower, but I didn't bring my camera and haven't seen them yet. It was very girly (since shes having a girl) and was SO cute! I pinned this recipe on pinterest and it's from Apple A Day.

Ingredients-
1/4 c. plus 2 TBSP chipotle salsa, pureed (She recommended Herdez brand)

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used 2 chicken breasts)

2 avocados

zest and juice of one lime

2 TBSP red onion, finely minced

1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced

1 Roma tomato, seeds removed, finely chopped

2 TBSP fresh cilantro, minced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely minced (optional)

1/4 tsp. cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

24 round tortilla chips

24 cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions:

1.  The night before serving, pour 1/4 c. pureed chipotle salsa over the chicken breast and allow to marinate, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.  Turn once during marinating time.

2.  Cook the chicken, covered, in a saute pan.  Allow to cool, then shred.  Mix shredded meat with remaining two TBSP salsa.

3.  While chicken is cooling, make guacamole by combining all remaining ingredients (except chips) in a nonreactive bowl.  Mix together with a fork, leaving only small chunks.  Adjust salt and pepper as desired.

4.  Just before serving, top each chip with a generous TBSP each of guacamole and chicken.  Top with a cilantro leaf and arrange on a platter.

They were a big hit and very tasty. I would try to wait until right before to put them out as the chip does got soggy after a little with the guacamole on it. Sorry these are iphone pics so not the clearest.

Where the Wild Things Are Jungle Vinyl & Nesting

Well, I think the nesting has finally kicked in. I have had a ton of energy and wanting to get things done. I really just think it's because we have a certain day and my mom is coming so I want the house cleaned and things ready. The extra energy is helping, but my body can't keep up with my energy level. My feet start hurting and I just can't go for as long as I want.

This is a picture David snapped because I was a cleaning freak and he thought it was funny. Apparently, this is my "David, you better start helping and stop taking photos of me look". I love how my shirt doesn't cover my stomach and I didn't notice. I am not looking so hot in the photo so disregard my overall appearance. I've also decided that I don't wear jeans unless it's to work. I deserve to wear lounge wear, even in public this last week.
Into the Jungle- We have finished Max's nursery for real. The Where the Wild Things Are Jungle has fully come to life in the nursery. I really didn't know what to expect and who knows what is inside David's head, but it exceeded my expectations.

We had over 120 individual medium leaves, more than 50 tiny leaves, 15 fern leaves and some palm leaves.

I love how it turned out.

David put some on the door to make it look like the jungle was coming out the door.

We enjoyed our last weekend of freedom before Max will be here and are getting more and more excited each day!

38 Week Pregnancy Survey

* I put a poll up on the side bar to start guessing Max's birth weight. We can't take bets on when he will be born since we're doing a scheduled c-section so we thought this would be fun. If you'd like to be more specific with your guesses, leave a comment on here. A prize will be rewarded to the closest (if there is a tie, it'll be whoever responded first).

How Far Along: 38 weeks 

Size of baby: Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Total Weight Gain: 28-29 lbs 

Sleep: Still up to pee a few times a night and having a hard time getting comfortable.

Symptoms: I feel completely normal after the version procedure. I was just sore the next day, but after that I don't feel like I had it done.

Cravings: nothing crazy, still loving cereal and desserts.

Gender- Max David 

Movement: He's still in his frank breech position. I can see and feel his little feet on my upper right side poking through with his head around my belly button/left upper side.

Maternity Clothes: Same

Best Moments this week: Having the version procedure over with, even though it didn't work. At least we tried and can now prepare for him to come via c-section. 

What I'm looking forward to: My mom coming into town! She will be here next Wednesday in preparation of my c-section which is scheduled for Fri. Feb. 10th at 9:45AM. She'll stay for a long weekend and then come back a few weeks later to help us out again (what a great mommy I have!). My sister will also be coming in for a long weekend after we get home from the hospital. I am so lucky to have them clear their schedules to come and visit!

I made them valentine themed since we're so close to the holiday and filled them with a variety of candy and chocolates. I think I made 16. I created the tag using a free online template, brought that into powerpoint and then borrowed/stole wording from Leah's nurse goody bags (thanks Leah).

Milestones: We finished our nurse goody bags (just in case) and will be putting up the jungle leaves in Max's room in the next couple days.

To Do List: We really are done with everything. We are going to try to get the car seat installation inspected, I want to make a few more frozen meals, Max's jungle vinyl, House needs to be picked up and cleaned for visitors and Molly needs to be groomed (meaning David needs to cut nails and wash her). 

I can't believe in 1 week we will be parents! This is our last quiet weekend alone in our house with miss. Molly. 

38 week shot. Sorry, I just wasn't feeling a photo today so this is the best I have.

Maternity Photo Shoot

For my NY shower my sister and mom purchased a maternity photo shoot and newborn session with my wedding photographer. I was so excited, because I wanted to get them done, just probably wouldn't have done it myself. I picked a bunch of photos to show you and some of you have noticed my new blog header. Thanks to Pam with Paris Mountain Photography for the great photos, we can't wait for our newborn session with baby Max. 

David was a great sport posing in photos even though he doesn't love being in front of the camera. I love that we have these to show our love for Max even before he is here.

Pics were taken at 36 weeks. We love you Max and can't wait to meet you... SO SOON! Thanks Shell and Mom!!!

Circus Themed Baby Shower

Last week we had my work baby shower and it was just unbelievable the details that Leah and Lacey put into it. They went with a circus theme and it was very fun and extraordinary. This decor could seriously be in a magazine. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

They set up the conference room and transformed it into the circus. 

The food and snacks were so creative, delicious and perfect. 

Max even had his name on debut as the center piece. 

We had a great turn out, here is some pics of people who attended. It was standing room only as the party even began. We did have 1 more guy attend, but he wasn't pictured (we don't discriminate).

We loved the Izze drinks and straws, they were so fun. 

Max got some great goodies and we are so lucky to work with great people. 

We played a baby animal trivia type game and guessing how big my stomach was. Check out all that ribbon!

It was very fun and I had a great time. 

No party is complete without favors and candy of course. 

We had cotton candy and chocolates in our animal themed favor boxes. 

Thank you SO much to Lacey and Leah for being the most wonderful hosts ever. I am so lucky to have them as such good friends.

test-blog not updating

I'm having issues with my blog updating for people to see, so I am putting this up as a test. I did post on our external version appt. from Friday yesterday and tried to repost it today, but it's not working. If you'd like to see it and also the wonderful wall vinyl David has created for Where the Wild Things Are, please go to the blog directly.

External Version Appt. & Vinyl Update

The doctor came in and then told me that they would not be doing an epidural and just using a little medication through the IV. They gave me 1 medicine that relaxes your uterus, which made me feel like I had drank a red bull (heart races) but then they gave me a little pain medication to calm things down. The pain medication just relaxes your tense muscles, you can still feel what they are doing.

So they then brought the ultra sound machine in and checked the baby and the Doctor verified with her hands on where she was going to try to push. She pushed on his head and bottom to try to get him to go. She tried clock wise and then counter clock wise. This was def. uncomfortable, but not unbearable. It felt as if she was pushing my stomach in about 4 inches down and then started pushing. After she started, I just wanted her to keep going until it worked as we were already there and in the middle, but she only did it for 10 mins max. She just said there was no way, he was not budging at all. On a scale of 1-10, the pain for those 10 mins was an 8-9.

Would I do it again? Yes, it really wasn't that bad and it was worth a shot.

After I just laid there waiting for all the medicine to wear off. After about 20 mins or so I got thirsty and asked for water, but she said to only have a little in case I still needed an emergency c-section. The baby's heartbeat did drop once and I had to lay on my side. She said I had a pretty intense contraction, but I didn't feel it. I did feel nauseous. I laid there for about 1 hour and a half to 2 hours. Everything was good to go and I was sent home. She said I was getting light Braxton hicks contractions still (I didn't feel them) but she said it was normal and I can go home. I was pretty sore on Saturday. It hurt to touch the areas she was pushing on, but I feel completely fine and normal now and he is moving like usual.

We have scheduled a c-section for Friday, February 10th at 9:45am. Max will be here so soon!

Vinyl Update: David and I borrowed Darrin and Stacey's cricut to try to assemble more of Max's Wild Thing theme in his room.

 

We printed a BUNCH of leaves that we will assemble to make a jungle (this weekend maybe).

The big accomplishment this weekend was MAX. Check out this Max character that David made from scratch. He traced and drew it out in photoshop and had to piece it all together. You can only print 1 color at a time and at a size of 1ft x 2ft. So you can imagine how much time and effort that went into it. You can also see one of the leaves we put up just to play. 

 Close up shot. I just LOVE him. David did such a great job!