Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

25 Weeks!

How far along: 25 Weeks
Weight: 161.2
Baby size: 13 1/2 -ish inches. About the size of an eggplant or a rutabega.
Movement: All the time!
Feeling: Great. Some back soreness, but that is more due to the fact that I've been hunched over my computer tonight!
What I miss: Wine. Brian accidentally opened a bottle of wine that I had been saving. I got a little sip. So sad :) He's going to buy me another bottle, though!
What I am looking forward to: A free weekend! The only thing on the agenda is my midwife appointment and maybe a movie!
Milestone: As of this day (Tuesday, October 25) we have less than 100 days until I am due!
To Do: Part 2 of my blood sugar testing. Doing that one tomorrow.
Food Cravings:Pie. All I want is pie. Mmmm...pie.
Bonus: Bonnie took some pictures of us this weekend for our holiday cards--since I am not taking preggy pics with Kurt until December 11, and my Groupon for holiday cards expires mid-November. And a few of them turned out pretty cute. If you are on my holiday card list, you'll be getting these in the mail, but...here are my two favorites:

And here I am at 25 Weeks, 5 Days!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

24 Weeks!

How far along: 24 Weeks
Weight: 162.8
Baby size: 12-ish inches. About the size of an ear of corn.
Movement: Frequent. And getting stronger!
Feeling: Good. Not so much hip soreness this week.
What I miss: Cooler weather. Not pregnancy related, really, but I am so over these 80 degree days. It's October, darn it! I want some Autumn weather! How can I get excited about pumpkin pie when it's too hot to actually bake it?
What I am looking forward to: Baby related: not much on that front going on. In a few weeks, Brian's sister Mel and I will be doing some freezer cooking. Other than that, I have a Halloween party on Saturday (my last Halloween party pre-baby!)
Milestone: Nursery is almost done! It's kinda my favorite room in the house right now!
To Do: Blood sugar test. I'm picking up the glucometer tomorrow. I do like that with my midwife, I don't have to do the nasty orange-drink glucose test.
Food Cravings: Everything! It started last night with cheddar cheese, french fries, onion rings, jalapeno poppers, potato skins, rotisserie chicken, ollaliberry pie, then ollaliberry crisp. All within a one hour time span. In fact, most of those were within a two minute time span (I was walking down the frozen food aisle at Safeway). The worst part was, I wasn't even hungry at the time!

24 Weeks, 5 Days. My tummy is getting so big that it dwarfs my boobs. But it looks like I'm going to have to go up a bra size again! I'm on the last hooks in my bra extender!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Busy! Busy! Busy!

This has been a crazy weekend, full of nursery projects! This is kinda how we all feel right now:


On Saturday, I went down to Gilroy, where Barbara and I worked on several projects:
#1 Footstool Pouf
#2 Flower Pillow
#3 Curtains

On Sunday, my dad and step-mom Janet came over, and we worked on MORE projects:
#1 Clean up the yard (ok, I did none of this. It was all Janet. And it looks AMAZING!)
#2 Install new closet organizers
#3 Install new curtain rod/hang curtains
#4 Hang birdcage light, mirror, and a few pictures
#5 Bring in rocking chair

OK, so you might have guessed I didn't actually DO any of the activities on Sunday. Instead, I worked on the, still unfinished, decorative stitching on the footstool pouf.

Now, on to the pictures!
New closet organizers, courtesy of Dad.

Rocking chair corner. Note: the rocker (refinished by Brian's dad Jeff about 31 years ago), the hanging lamp, the flower pillow and the (unfinished) footstol pouf!

The view when you first walk in the room.


The new placement of my Amelia Earhart embroidery, plus a board to attach, schedules, lists and photos!

Baby crib. You can see the new curtains a little on the left. Also note the dusty pink quilt on the crib. It was Brian's baby blanket (originally dark blue and dark pink.)


Changing table flanked by the new curtains. Ignore the pine-colored rod. That will either be painted white or stained a medium oak.

Last, but not least, we have the new cloche hat I made for Lorelei, that I haven't had time to post yet. Super cute!
And there you have it, all the stuff we got done for the new nursery. Two items not shown: the button letter L that Barbara made and a Noah's Arc needlepoint picture that my grandmother made. It really needs to be reframed!















Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Just for Giggles

After posting pictures of the outfits I found in my cedar trunk last night, my mother in law said it would be cute if we had pictures of me wearing the outfits! Well, it just so happens I do!



Pretty sure this was my homecoming onesie!



With mom and dad (and that excellent old school Sesame Street Blanket)



With my Aunt Pat (and yes. I do still have the matching bonnet!)











And the first appearance of Hannah, my first Cabbage Patch Kid (and apparently, Stacy's--sorry, inside joke--twin!)









Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Get Ready for Some Adorable-ness!

I was reading a blog this evening about this nursery done up all vintage. Then I read this: "There is something really sweet about dressing your baby in the same clothes dress you wore, or reading them the same books you enjoyed as a child. I used to dress Harper in the same pink sweater and hat that I wore as a baby."

It got me thinking "I've got a lot of clothes from when I was a baby." For some reason, it never really occurred to me that our baby could actually wear some of my old baby clothes. Or, if it's not really practical to wear, it would look cute in the room. So I pulled out the baby clothes (and other items), still smelling of my cedar chest, and found some really adorable gems!

Check 'em out:

My three favorite pairs of shoes.

My first pair of ballet slippers. These are destined for some wall art. 
 



I might have had a lot of bonnets. They were my game.


Adorable onesies. How did I ever fit in these?


Super Frilly dresses. LOVE!
Winter sweater. I wore this for my first Christmas pictures!

Add caption

Hand Crocheted Afghan. Family--anyone know who made this for me?

Check out this vintage awesomeness!


Excellent. Old School diaper pins.


Mind you, this does not include the really old pair of shoes, the diaper cake, my first two Cabbage Patch Kids, my Glow Worm and my set of dolls collected from various trips my parents took--those are already in the room or are currently being washed (I think the dogs found the Cabbage Patch Kids at one point. They were pretty filthy!)

23 Weeks!

How far along: 23 Weeks
Weight: 158.8
Baby size: 11-ish inches. About the size of a large mango.
Movement: Still a lot in the evening. Now a lot in the morning. Also, whenever I start lying down. Feeling: Great. Still some hip soreness. Some bloating. But overall, I feel good.
What I miss: Nothing this week, really.
What I am looking forward to: This weekend, I am doing some projects with Barbara on Saturday, then my dad and step-mom Janet are coming up on Sunday to put in the closet organizers!
Milestone: Moved the crib into the nursery this weekend!
To Do: Make the pouf with Barbara, put in the closet organizers, keep on cooking!
Food Cravings: Nothing really.
Bonus: New nursery pictures--


The crib that we brought in, couldn't find the hardware, then finally found the hardware in the dresser!
On top is a little balsa wood biplane that I got in a kit at Michael's for $2!
Picture frames painted, with chicken wire glued into the backs of the ones without glass or backings. Attach some little clothes pins and you can swap out photos easily! (Not sold on the alphabet print frame. Think I'll pick up something else at Ikea this week)
Two diy pics I worked on this weekend. The one on the left says "Lorelei," the one on the right has 3-D hot air balloons. Will try to take a better picture for you later.
Baby's first knitted sweater! So cute!

The photos aren't the greatest this week, since the lighting was not awesome this morning while I was taking them :( And it is nearly impossible to get a decent overall picture of the nursery--that room is REALLY tiny!
 Here I am, 23 weeks 5 days!


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Freezer Friendly Recipe Rave!

Last night, I made a double batch of this Potato Leek Soup recipe. It was DELICIOUS! Now, most websites don't recommend using potatoes in freezer recipes, since they end up with a rather mealy texture. Not an issue in this recipe, since, once you cook the whole thing up, you stick in the immersion blender and blend the crap out of it, until it is nice and velvety and smooth!

Recipe Pros:
-Very easy. You prep the veggies. Stick it in a pot and boil. Then blend.
-It LOOKS super creamy and rich, but only uses 1 TB butter and 1/2 cup of 2% milk.
-A double batch makes a lot of soup! Made enough for dinner for two people, 2 freezer bags (with about 8 ladle-fulls--which comes up to around 4 servings), plus a small container for me to take for lunch the next day.
-Brian liked it!


Recipe Cons:
-You really do need to toss in some additions to make it super yummy (see below)
-It does make a lot of soup, so if you are cooking for just one, or don't want to freeze it, I suggest a half recipe.
-The instructions say to cut the leeks into rounds, rinse (very important, especially if your leeks come from the farmer's market!) then chop. Whatever. You're blending the whole thing anyway, right? An extra, unnecessary step, in my opinion.

Overall Review:
5 thumbs up (with the additions)!

My additions to the recipe:
#1 bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon! I just chopped up a few strips and cooked them up until they were nice and crispy. Then put it on top when I was serving.
#2 cheese. Along with the bacon, I added a good handful of a grated cheddar/jack blend. It added an extra boost of protein for me (plus cheese. Kind of a no brainer for me, right?)
#3 parsley. I topped the soups with some parsley. I do NOT recommend doing this. The flavors clash. Next time, I would recommend either topping with chives or the green parts of the green onion, sliced very thinly.


Gina's Potato Leek Soup
(from Gina's Skinny Recipes at  www.skinnytaste.com)

Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 3 pt • Points+: 3 pt
Calories: 110.3 • Fat: 0.7 g • Protein: 3.5 g • Carb: 23.2g • Fiber: 2.3 g • Sugar: 3.4 g
Sodium 660.6 mg (without adding salt)

 
  • 1 bunch leeks (about 4) dark green stems removed
  • 1/2 large white onion, chopped
  • 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 4 cups fat free chicken stock (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
  • 1/2 cup 2% milk
  • salt and fresh pepper

Wash leeks very carefully to remove all grit. I usually cut them horizontally and separate the rings to make sure no dirt remains. Coarsely chop them when washed.

In a medium soup pot, melt butter and add flour on low flame. Using a wooden spoon, mix well. This will thicken your soup and give it a wonderful flavor.

Add chicken stock, leeks, onion, potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth adding the milk and adjusting salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.