Sorry I havn't been very good about replying to messages lately. Big focus is baby coming in March (my first), finally got our room rented out which is great financially... but of course, we have the room rented for maybe two days and something else has to happen to us. Someone stole our car between thursday night and friday morning. If you're still waiting for a package from me, I was able to ship them out today at USPS. We have been having to bum rides to make it to my baby appointments, baby classes, errands, grocery shopping etc. On a better note, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but with me watching my foods the past two weeks I will not have to take insulin

Anyways, that's my quick update.

Damn, that really sucks, I hope you get your car back really soon!

When I was preggo I swore I was going to get diabetes because I seriously could not control my eating but it didn't happen. I won't be so lucky next time.

We actually had the car recovered about two days ago, but they charged us $256 to get it out of towing/impound.... They had it towed to the next city over!!!! I couldn't believe it. The criminals had spray painted the car (part of it), removed all of the hubcaps, took off all identifying things... The car still works but that was money we did not have to spend. We had to spend our bill money. Luckily, we should be okay since my husbands dad sent us a little bit of money for our baby that's due next month - so we paid electric with that. Just such a pain in the butt to have this happen right now.

It has been so hard to restrict myself from eating things I want. I am at least thankful that I was diagnosed with G.D. in the last few months of pregnancy. If I had to deal with it the entire time, I may have "died". I can't wait to drink juice and eat without having to worry (at least not like this!)

Icing on the cake .... I mailed out my baby shower invitations, spent a small fortune on postage, and pretty much every single invitation was ruined... shredded! The post office blamed the envelopes. But by the looks of the ones I saw.... their machine must have jammed.

I can't wait for things to look up again!!!!! thanks for letting me vent!!!

I know it can be a challenge to eat properly during pregnancy. I'm currently 21 weeks 1 day along (we're having a girl.) I've only gained 6 pounds because I need to track my caloric intake daily. Don't get me wrong, I love my junk food, but I limit it. If I had a heavier lunch (400 calories) I can only have one Girl Scout cookie after dinner, not 4. Sugar-free snacks & treats are going to be your best friend. I cook nearly all of my meals from scratch & only eat out twice a week. Produce, produce, produce! It all helps. What sucks is I have a whole cheesecake in the fridge laughing at me so I'm going to slice it up & freeze it. I gotta get it out of my face before I dive in nose first.

Are you having a boy or a girl?

Just please for the love of everything, read the ingredients on anything sugar free! They're usually chock full of cancer/disease/obesity forming chemicals (yes, they're now directly related to obesity and increased appetite). Aspartame, Sorbitol, Splenda, Sucralose, etc etc etc. are NOT your friend nor are they good for your baby. Stick with natural (not CHEMICAL) sweetners that have a low gylcemic index and won't cause sugar spikes: coconut sugar, agave nectar, sucanat, stevia, honey, etc.

I'm not going to be so arrogant as to lecture you on how to eat (you're an adult and I'm certain, in the grand scheme of things you really could NOT care less about my opinion) but...

Please DO continue to prepare all your own meals. Good for you!

Aspartame has been proven to cause Grand Mal brain seizures, and in worst case scenarios, cancer.

Yes, you must consume an extravagant amount to get cancer, but when you consider how dangerous almost everything we eat and drink is, today (additives, preservatives, colorants, dangerous fertilizers, etc) it won't take long.

Phenylalanine is extremely dangerous which is why you'll see warnings about it on packages and Acesulfame - though lauded and approved by so many health-care providers, can cause extreme tummy upset and can contain carcinogens.

Your best bet is to buy a Stevia plant. They don't cost a lot and they are yummy, by popping a leaf into your tea, or drying and using in food.

Just make sure to research how to properly use it before you do! A friend of mine who lives primitive and organic as I do, handed me a leaf straight from her plant. Tasty!

I was actually heartened to read that you eat a lot of produce.

Just be sure to rinse it well (if you buy it from the store) or better yet, buy organic from approved and mandated organic farmers, if you can't grow it yourself.

People consider me a bit of an expert on organic living and have been living organic/healthy/primitive for years now and do know and have found out that you really can't trust any of the companies on the market today who make food, without extensive research.

Best of luck!