Winter Break, Dinner with Friends & 9 Months Pregnant

After dropping my son off at school this morning, my mom and I pulled over just a mile from our house on the main road to wait for the monks passing through our town on their Walk for Peace from Texas to D.C. The aura they bring with them and their admirable dedication make you feel something that cannot be explained. Today was a very special day, and I pray they have a safe journey to D.C.

A monk put his hands on my stomach and said, “Bless you and your baby,” and I cried. I have been struggling these past few weeks of this pregnancy, and any positivity has brought me so much light. I will cherish the flowers they gave me forever.

I thought I would get a recap blog up today. Even though after all the traveling and holiday adventures it has been short on excitement in comparison, but that has never stopped me from getting one up here. Maybe you can grab some dinner ideas, or something to take away!

This recap will cover the first few weeks of January, during the holiday break, and all the house cleaning, organizing, and prepping for our baby boy’s arrival.

Turkey Meatloaf for Dinner!

Watch the weekly recap come to life in the video above!

One thing I need to make a plan to do is update our previous book club. Even though I took time off the blog during the first half of my pregnancy, I still managed to make it to the library each week and read a new book to my son every night. We are still doing weekly library visits and reading new books. He’s had a lot of favorites I need to share, but we’ve read some really funny books that I should have vetted first.

I want to work on getting a new 2026 book club started, especially with spring and summer plans of lots of picnics in the park with my boys and reading together.

During our break, we did a lot of Lego sets, crafts, dressing up with play clothes, puzzles, and playground visits. I feel like I do a million things in a day with a toddler, and it still is not enough to tone the energy down. That is why I love spring. Not so much the summer heat, but the pool, the outdoor activities, and all the ways to keep him tired throughout the day. Plus, less house cleaning.

Our sweet tooth was off the charts this past month, so we made a lot of our favorite almond flour cookies. The chocolate chip almond flour cookies and the double chocolate almond flour cookies. My son loves being involved in the baking process. We bake and cook almost daily together, so I try my best to make some healthier things too. I keep the cookies in the freezer and eat them whenever I need something sweet.

We did manage to get out of the house now and then. We stopped at my son’s favorite, Improper Pig, for lunch. He hardly ate much during Christmas because he was not feeling good and had no appetite, so when he said he wanted to go eat at Improper Pig, we were so excited that his appetite was back. Of course, he only took about three bites, but at least it was something.

After night after night of foggy skies, we finally had a clear night to set up the telescope he got for Christmas. He loves outer space, astronauts, and anything with the planets, so it was so cool that he was able to look through it at the moon and see some stars. Him and his dad set it up a few times a week now, and it is so much fun.

Again with the appetite. He said he wanted cinnamon rolls, so we Googled all the places we could go to get breakfast and cinnamon rolls on a Friday. Cracker Barrel popped up, and I had never been there before. They had a cinnamon skillet, so we went. This kid ate four cinnamon rolls. They were not that big, but after him losing four pounds over break, I was all for him eating anything he wanted.

Most of the day, I spent time cleaning all the extra baby items like the bassinets, blankets, bibs, and more. We cleaned out our dogs’ closet downstairs and had so many toys, dog games, leashes, dog outfits, harnesses, and things to donate, so we headed to the shelter to donate them.

I sat in the cat room for a while with Kyle, playing with all the cute cats. I have been begging him for one for a while, and he finally said we can get one. Of course, I am going to wait a year until baby boy is a little bigger, and then I am going to start looking into rescuing a kitty next winter.

For dinner, I made one of my favorites. I roast veggies and chicken sausage and add them to pasta. I shared the full recipe here.

On Saturday, I finally got to see Becca. It had been months since I had seen her last, and it was so good to grab coffee and catch up. We usually send each other a million TikTok videos or have call dates, but I felt like I really needed to see her before this sweet baby comes, so we planned to get together early Saturday morning at The Daily Grind in Waxhaw.

I ordered a matcha latte and a yummy blueberry muffin. After our breakfast date, we headed out to walk through the antique stores, and it was so nice just being able to catch up.

Later that afternoon, I took my son over to my friend’s house so he could play with his little best friend. It was nice because she made me the perfect latte, and we sat on the couch for almost three hours while they played together. I do not know if it is just my child, but he literally cannot play alone. It is always “play with me.” That is why he ends up helping me clean, cook, or do things around the house, because he cannot entertain himself, even with a million toys. So it is really nice for him to have playdates.

After church on Sunday, I started washing all the bottles, unpacked some cute new clothes I bought, and officially finished packing my hospital bag. Let me know if you want a post on some cute matching boy sets.

I mentioned it before, but we are not doing a nursery right now. We have the bassinet, rocker, and changing table in our bedroom. We will move the baby into our older son’s room in late spring, and our older son will be moving into the bigger bedroom upstairs, all remodeled just for him.

2-Piece Blue & White Striped Collared Shirt & Shorts Set
Blue & White Organic Cotton Onesie

I love Sunday family football nights. I always make dinner, and then I do a Lego set with my son while we watch the Eagles play.

I made one of my favorites, pesto chicken cutlets. This time, I mixed the almond flour with Italian bread crumbs. Here is the recipe.

I cut the chicken up and had it over an Italian lettuce blend with tomatoes, balsamic, olive oil, Arctic seasoning, and black pepper.

And of course my child did not eat anything I made and had a yogurt pouch and a cereal bar instead. We are in a phase. Lol. But as long as he is eating, I am okay with it.

We ended up doing two Lego sets that night. He got so many from Santa and family for Christmas, so we’ll be doing them for months. They are fun, though!

On Monday, we met up with our best friends and had a park date at the Ballantyne Bowl, lunch at Flower Child, and tried out Copain Bakery’s new location. I am so excited for it to be in Ballantyne. I love the aesthetic and everything they have to offer. Already dreaming of going back.

Flower Child is always delicious. I ordered the chicken enchiladas, and for my son and me, we shared a kids steak and mac and pita with hummus.

Love these two!

The weather was finally nice later in the day, so after a round of scooting around the neighborhood, we headed to the grocery store. My son loves to use the mini carts at Publix, and he is such a big helper. He is seriously going to be the best big brother.

I ended up making another batch of the roasted vegetable and chicken sausage pasta, but with orzo this time, and I loved it. It did not last long in the house because my husband loved it. It was very delicious served cold.

Every morning around 4:00 am, I have my coffee and oatmeal. I have been having a bowl of oats almost every day this pregnancy. It helps me in the morning when I am super hungry but not wanting a big meal.

Around 9:30, after school drop off, I will have a parfait with granola, yogurt, and berries. I keep filming what I eat in a day while pregnant for TikTok, but I never end up editing or publishing it. I need to just do one.

One of my good friends and I headed out for a HomeGoods date and lunch at The Speckled Pear on Thursday. I had their chicken Caesar salad and lobster soup.

I really need to stop, but I think having just a few weeks to go in this pregnancy has given me the shopping itch. I have been fine this entire pregnancy until now. I just keep thinking about the sweet baby boy in these outfits, or him and his brother wearing matching ones.

Lucky Charm Sweater Toddler & Baby
Ribbed Cotton Onesie

It was so nice out on Thursday. It was funny because it was shorts weather and we are expecting snow on Saturday. The South is just like that. We did a few park hopping dates, a library date, and then headed home to make some fudge brownies.

The day before, we picked him up with his grandma and had a donut from the new shop in Fort Mill, Corner Donuts, and then headed to Lowe’s to get a squirrel proof bird feeder. I never had an issue with squirrels until recently, and I cannot have them interfering with my sweet cardinals.

I am back to loving parfaits again. They keep me full but also do not give me that full and tight feeling all day. If I eat too many veggies and fruit, my stomach feels so tight.

Created an updated recipe version (even better!!) for my yeast frosted cinnamon rolls!

We finally did it. We are in swim lessons.

I figured it was about time since he will be around the pool a lot this summer. He is at an age where he is too comfortable with the water, I may have distractions from the little ones, and a lot of his friends are no longer in floaties. He was so excited to get into lessons, which was a big change since it has taken us a year of convincing him. He did so good.

On Saturday, I got a burst of energy and started manically power cleaning. I got all the laundry done and put away, vacuumed, mopped, and decluttered more cabinets. I do not know how many more trips we can make to Goodwill before our house is empty. And since my husband is a minimalist, he JUMPS to the occasion to drop off a load to Goodwill on the weekends. Look at my ankles after cleaning…I am officially in my FLUID RETENTION phase of pregnancy. My entire body looks like I got stung by a bee and it happened overnight.

We had our friends come over Saturday night for some football games. We love doing dinner dates and making meals at each other’s houses while the kids play. Plus, it is even better during football season.

I made one of my favorites, chicken and vegetable pad thai, and baked crab rangoons.

This recipe is so easy and I’ve been making it for years!

The pregnancy insomnia is rough. I know it is probably my body training me for the late nights and early mornings again, but gosh. What is so strange is that I will wake up around 1:30 and lay in bed for two hours wide awake, give up, go downstairs to make coffee and have breakfast, get a little computer work done, and then all of a sudden, after my coffee, I am so tired. I go back upstairs and I am able to sleep until 7:30. Why is the coffee making me go back to bed? Crazy, right.

But one priority, no matter how tired and very pregnant I am, is that we always make sure to make it to church by 8:30 am every Sunday morning. We have not missed church since starting back in August. I really feel so happy in our new church home. It’s my favorite part of the week, and I always feel so refreshed after service, and it makes my week better.

I was really struggling Sunday morning, just feeling so inflamed. My face is so swollen, my legs had inch indentations after wearing socks, but my blood pressure was fine so I was not too worried. I woke up at 7:30 with just a few minutes to get my son and myself up and ready for church, and we made it in time.

When we got there, a gorgeous cardinal was sitting in the bush near our car, and when we came back, he was on the roof. I love cardinals so much, and I always think it is a sign of someone sending you a message from heaven.

Sunday, we headed out for our weekly Costco run. We always grab things for my son’s lunchbox, cleaning supplies, my husband’s meal prep, and a few snacks I want to try.

It was the Eagles playoff game, so we stopped at the regular grocery store so I could grab ingredients to make dinner before I had to dive into a Lego set during the game. Honestly, I am becoming a Lego pro. Lol. We have done so many sets, it is embarrassing.

Some of them are super hard, especially the construction ones.

It is so fun having a little kitchen helper. It makes things much easier when it comes to getting things done because my son wants to help me with everything. Since he cannot play in his playroom by himself right now, this phase is definitely happening.

We made one of my favorite recipes, the jalapeño cheddar and pepper jack turkey burgers. Yum. I made them a little different this time by browning them on the stovetop and then finishing them in the oven since they were thick.

Another thing I did a little different was adding two tablespoons of soy sauce, and I think I am going to edit the original recipe and add that in because it really flavored these burgers up.

I wrapped the turkey burgers in crunchy, chilled iceberg lettuce cups, and we had crispy roasted fingerling potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper on the side.

And of course, we had some fudge brownies calling our names for dessert that were chilled in the fridge.

And sadly, the Eagles lost, but that is okay. I am excited to see who makes it to the Super Bowl.

Another week, another trip to the library to restock our books. We usually like going on a Monday or Tuesday, depending on how many books we get. The weather is almost perfect for reading in the park soon.

Lately, we have been doing a lot of crafts inside. I struggle with too much physical activity outside right now. He has been begging to do more of our chalk drawings, but getting down on the driveway is tough at nine months pregnant, so thank goodness for our chalkboard easel. It has really come in handy.

We tried out a new activity by Buildeez, and it was amazing. He loves pirates, so we were able to put together an entire pirate ship by gluing the wood, painting the pieces, adding the stickers, and building it from start to finish. They have more building sets that we are going to try now and then. I had so much fun doing it with him.

Is there any better way to start the day?

After a little over a year, we are still loving our coffee machine. It was an investment, but I hardly ever go to Starbucks anymore because I love being able to make my own coffee at home. I make myself a milky, foamy cappuccino every morning. I only have one cup a day now since it spikes my heart rate, and then I switch to peppermint tea for the rest of the day. But oh goodness, I look forward to my coffee hours.

Mornings are getting slower now that I am getting bigger and more uncomfortable, but I am still fighting that nesting urge. Even when I am so tired and in pain, I cannot stop vacuuming, doing laundry, or cooking. I just do not know how to chill out without my mind needing to do something. Pregnancy is wild.

Smoothie had milk, vanilla protein powder, dates, peaches, and spinach!

Yesterday, I had my favorite sourdough bread with avocado and Arctic seasoning on top, which I need to make more of. I am going to head downstairs and make starter as soon as I close my laptop. Then I went out for dinner with one of my good friends. Nothing cures you like a plate of truffle fries, a steak Caesar salad, and being in bed before 8 pm.

This morning was our favorite day in the house, garbage day. He insisted on wearing his garbage hat and vest to school today. Lol. I let him.

My son and I are going to head to church on Saturday to make Valentine’s Day cards for nursing homes, and we are going to bring our favorite heart shaped cherry Pop Tarts and pink frosted sugar cookies. We are going to spend the day tomorrow making those, so you can look out for those recipes next week. I had so many requests when I shared this photo on my Instagram story yesterday. They are so easy and perfect for Valentine’s Day.

I hope you all have an amazing weekend! Hoping I get the chance to post ONE MORE recap before baby boy comes! We will see!