30 weeks (and 4 days)

30 weeks! So, I am now officially "really pregnant" :) It seemed only appropriate to take this week's belly pic by the turkeys :) This week I have gotten a few comments that I'm still really small for 7 months, but I know I'm measuring right on, and it probably just looks smaller maybe because I have such a long torso, and therefore lots of room for the belly/baby to spread out! Who knows. From looking at other 30 weekers bellies, it seems I am about average.

We had our 4th baby class this past Monday, and had a pediatrician come in to talk to us. While I am really not nervous at all for the labor/delivery (I figure whatever happens happens, not much I can really do about it) I am starting to get nervous about the whole caring for a newborn thing! It was really helpful to have a pediatrician talk about some things that might come up in the first few weeks, and to know that there are always people you can call to ask questions.

I'm continuing to feel uncomfortable a lot of the time, but nothing that bad at all. I get really sore from sleeping actually, my shoulders, hips, and knees especially. I'm just not meant to be a side sleeper :) My fingers have started slightly swelling - my rings are getting a little tight. I can get them on, but I might just stop wearing them because it definitely gets uncomfortable by the end of the day. They were actually pretty tight to begin with, so I'm not really surprised by this at all.

I started going through Adelaide's clothes yesterday - wowza, we are DEFINITELY more than set in the clothing department! We still have some more hand-me-downs to get too, so yeah... no more clothing is needed. It's still fun to get a few new things, but to me most baby clothes are kind of a waste of money anyway because they only wear the outfits a few times. I like the fact that we'll be re-using most things - definitely less wasteful! Maybe this will change when I actually have the baby, but now when I see baby clothes, usually I think "waste of money", not "that is so cute, I HAVE to buy it immediately!!!!" Especially if it is over $10. I guess I am just a scrooge :)

Lots of really cute summer clothes!


Note the baby Uggs (fake of course) - DEFINITELY a necessity!


This bin is very daunting to me. It is STUFFED to the brim (as you can see) with teeny 0-6month baby outfits.


To be tackled at a later date...

Thanksgiving!

We had an excellent Thanksgiving the past 2 days - Thursday was with just my immediate family and Grandma. I definitely enjoy the smaller gatherings once and awhile, although it is nice to see the whole extended family as well!

I didn't do much baking/cooking this year - just made the garlic knots again, which were delicious of course! You can see them in the bottom right of the below photo. I was going to make potato rolls, but realized too late that we didn't have an egg. Molly brought some over, but they expired 2 months ago, so I just found another recipe instead of risking it ;)

Ha - this is pretty much exactly the same meal we had last year too :) Yum!

Ben went out and braved Black Friday to get us 50% off on the glider we wanted - unfortunately we found out later that we could have just bought it online (but then would have had to pay shipping) or gone in a little later and ordered it from the store - oh well! They wouldn't give out that information on the phone when I called earlier, so I guess it's better to be safe and save $150 than sorry :) It is now out of stock so that gives me some gratification at least!

Later in the day, we headed down to Ben's parents house for a much larger gathering - most of his aunts and uncles were in town, so there were about 35 people there - it was great to see everyone again! We don't see his extended family much since they are spread all over the country (literally - California, Wisconsin, Missouri, Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia).

Three turkeys to feed the crowd - deep fried, smoked, and grilled. I preferred the deep fried :)


One of the 4 tables


Ben's cousin Meghan had a baby in September, so Ben got some practice holding him for a bit :) What a cutie!

Definitely a wonderful Thanksgiving and reminded me of all that I have to be thankful for!

29 weeks (and 4 days)

As my lovely sister commented on flickr, "she's taking over your body!!" and, it's true, she is :) Most of the time I feel like a host body, which is just fine with me! I never know when she's going to make me jump with her movements, and it's a tiny bit disconcerting at times. Up until a week or two ago, I could forget I was pregnant every once and awhile. Not anymore! She definitely makes her presence VERY known most of the time, whether she's moving around, or just in the way of general aches and pains. My main "complaint" (if I could even call it that... which really, is kind of a stretch) is that my tailbone constantly aches. I never broke it or anything, so I don't know why - but especially after sitting at work all day - wowza, it hurts! I try to sit up real straight to not apply too much pressure to it, but good posture is not my strong suit. I also am to the point where I can't really hunch over any more - the belly gets in the way! :) Sometimes I feel like there is a gas bubble on the top left of my uterus too, also making it a little painful to hunch over. It's been there for a few days, so I fear it might be here to stay! Baby girl has definitely been chilling out on the right side of my belly - I can often feel a body part poking against my belly - once I was pretty sure it was an arm/leg, and once I think I felt her butt. Or her head. Really, I have no clue :)

Anyway - I really do like this stage of pregnancy - I got my very first REAL stranger comment, at Key's when I was there for happy hour with Scott and Ben. The waitress gave me my cherry coke for free, and I think it was because she saw I was pregnant but then when Ben asked why, I was leaning toward the table and kind of hiding the belly. Later when she came back I was leaning back with my hands resting ON the belly (classic pregnant woman pose) and then the waitress said - well, THAT'S why! and pointed at my belly :) I was glad to finally have someone say something! (and to get a free coke) and not something like "holy crap, you're HUGE!! are there twins in there??" not looking forward to those comments one bit :) I AM soooo looking forward to my baby showers starting in 2 weeks!! I have 3 in a 1.5 week span - yay!!! I can't wait to get together with friends/family/friend-coworkers to celebrate this little girl's arrival :)

Can you see the joy in Ben's face?? ;)

So as you can see from the photo above, the crib (Graco Sarah Classic) is assembled! Ben put it together yesterday (with a little help from me!) and it actually went really smoothly! He also got the bookshelf assembled in seriously 30 minutes or so, and just has the most difficult piece, the dresser, to go today. I'm so excited! I'm going over to Becky's later today to pick up 2 huge tubs of Adelaide's clothes. Those in combination with some other hand-me-downs we'll be getting, and I think this little lady will be the best dressed babe in town!

Almond Crusted Salmon with a Lemon Leek Cream Sauce

I have been slacking on the blog lately. I am just so tired, all the time, and really haven't cooked or done anything blog worthy other than ..... being pregnant. Ben and I did make this meal a few weeks ago with leeks from our last CSA box. We had made it before and I remembered liking it but wasn't sure why I hadn't blogged it before...

I found the recipe on Good Things Catered and it was pretty simple. Once we got started, I remembered why it didn't make the blog - because the "crust" totally burned in the oven, and it happened again this time, even though it was on the bottom of the oven. I was able to scrape off most of the burned part and still save the meal, but it was annoying! Not sure how to avoid it since it happened twice, but this really is quite good... even with the hassle of scraping off the burned parts, it is one of my favorite preparations of salmon!

28 weeks (and 4 days)

This week's belly pic was taken at my company party on Friday at the Walker Art Center. I had a good time, but we also stopped by the clockwork company party for a few hours before that to see Rett and Becky, and all that standing around did me in by the end of the night! (I'm not joking, it really did) It was SO crowded at the Walker, I think there were probably 1,000+ people at my company party, and that space just wasn't conducive to that many people milling about! The highlight of the party was when my friend Casey introduced me to his boss as his girlfriend just to see what his reaction would be - pretty funny - he definitely got a little wide eyed and stared at my belly :) Casey did eventually tell him the truth so that's good ;) Also, I got my first comment, not from a stranger, but from someone who didn't already know I was pregnant! One of my coworkers who I work with but don't actually see just said "Oh I didn't know you were having a baby!" Another coworker WANTED me to say "I'm not!" but unfortunately I'm not that quick :)

So, welcome to the third trimester for me this week! With that, I am also welcomed back to the land of extreme fatigue. I seriously can barely make it through the day sometimes, mostly now because I'm not sleeping very well at night. I also have started making "oof!" noises when getting up sometimes, but I try to keep that to a minimum. Baby has been moving around a TON, and seems to have found a comfortable resting place for her head in my right hip bone :) I have really begun to feel strong movements that startle me this week, and she also kicked my ribs a few times - not painful yet, but definitely causes me to jump! My mom and sister were able to feel some movements yesterday, which was pretty cool.

I had an appointment with the midwife on Friday, and I was pretty nervous about my weight since I've really gone hog wild since I got word that I don't have gestational diabetes :) Ben for some stupid reason decided to get a scale on Wednesday, and when I weighed myself (at the end of the day, immediately following a big dinner) I definitely had a breakdown. Luckily I was back to a reasonable range the next morning, and it turns out I gained 4 more pounds (putting me at 20 total) at the doc's office - phew! I can live with that :) I talked a lot to the midwife about questions that came up in our childbirth class on Friday - she was very informative and didn't rush through responding which was comforting. I feel really good about all of their policies surrounding induction, episiotomies, c-sections, etc. I had her feel around to see if she could feel body parts, and she did think the baby's head was down and over toward my hip, so I was right :)

Our childbirth class this week was good too, I asked a lot of questions because no one else was, so it was kind of customized just for me ;) I figure we're going to be there for 2.5 hours anyway, might as well have some interaction!

Banana Nut Muffins

These are some of my very favorite muffins! The first time I was making these, I happened to get a call from Rett while they were baking saying that little Miss Adelaide was born a few hours earlier! I had one muffin "to test them" but ended up bringing the rest for Becky and Rett to enjoy in their first days as parents. I have been wanting to make them again ever since!

I made these for the painters as a breakfast treat, and everyone enjoyed them - they are pretty much banana bread in muffin form, which I think is slightly more portable and thus better :) They really are SO easy - you don't need a mixer and it only dirties one bowl - a huge plus for those of us without dishwashers!

Banana Nut Muffins from Simply Recipes

27 weeks (and 4 days)

It was a beautiful weekend in Minneapolis! The temps were in the 60s, so my newly engaged sister and I took a lovely walk to the Stone Arch Bridge. I am wearing the same outfit I wore 4 weeks ago, and it's laughable to look back at that pic because I thought I was "really showing" then, but actually.... yeah, not so much. I mean, I WAS showing, but the bump has certainly expanded rapidly since then!

We started our childbirth and parenting classes last Monday - the first class was pretty informative in terms of learning more about the changes in anatomy during pregnancy. We watched one video of 3-4 births which was interesting - it really wasn't as graphic as I thought it would be, but maybe we'll get some more videos later :) The relaxation practice felt kind of silly but maybe it'll be helpful... we'll see! We found out we don't get a tour of the unit anymore due to H1N1 but they are going to try to integrate a photo tour or something into the class instead - kind of disappointing but oh well! I'm most interested in learning more about the various medical interventions to help make an informed decision about things during the labor process.

I have definitely noticed that I'm getting short of breath VERY quickly now - after eating a large meal especially. Everything is just all shoved up in there, so space is getting scarce! Baby is still moving around a lot and I'm loving it - it is definitely one of my favorite parts about being pregnant! She hasn't caused me any pain or even mild discomfort, but when she stuck some appendage into my hip bone for awhile that was quite an odd sensation :)

Less than 3 months to go now and starting to kind of freak out about getting everything done, although I know we still have time. We still have to do.... oh, everything - all that has been done so far is painting the walls (still need to do the trim). We have the dresser and bookshelf but haven't put them together. As everyone always tells me, babies don't need much right away, but I think it still would be nice to at least have the room set up prior to the birth so we don't have to worry about that with a newborn :) I guess it's time to get our butts in gear!

CSA Box #10 and Sausage, Sweet Potato, Apple Bake

Our last CSA box for the year! We got this box 2 weeks ago, but the newsletter still isn't online, so here is what I THINK was in this box:

Sweet potatoes
Butternut squash
Carnival Squash
Chioggia Beets
Fennel
Garlic
Jalapeno Peppers
Lacinato Kale
Lettuce
Onions
Parsnips
Red Cabbage
Red Potatoes

We had a great season with the CSA and definitely plan on signing up for a half share with Driftless Organics again next summer. I think it'll be awesome to be able to make some of the baby's first solids from the box!

One of the first meals we made with these veggies was the sweet potato, sausage and apple bake that was on the newsletter (which again, isn't online yet so I can't link to it).

Seriously, that sweet potato is out of control

Recipe from Driftless Organics

1/2 lb sausage, rolled into balls
3-4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 apples, peeled, cored, and cubed (we used the "storage apples" from the last box)
1 onion, roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper

Put everything into a baking dish in a single layer, bake for 45 minutes at 350 (Ok, I'm making that last part up, I can't remember the times or temp but I'm sure it was something around there :)

This sounds pretty odd, but it tasted okay. Nothing great and I don't think we'll be making this again, but it was fine and was a good way to use up the ENORMOUS sweet potato that we got in the box :) It was just kind of strange because there was no real binding agent to bring the dish together, it was just pieces of things all separate. Oh well!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

For both our ravioli dinner and our painting party this weekend, I needed some treats. I knew that Scott doesn't like most desserts, so I asked him for preferences - he said something fruit based. My sister and I both love lemon desserts, AND we had some ricotta cheese leftover from something, so thus, lemon ricotta cookies it was!

Yes, ricotta cheese in cookies sounds a little odd to most people, but if you've ever been to Hell's Kitchen and had the lemon ricotta pancakes, you know it can be a match made in heaven. These were probably the best cookies I've ever had IN MY LIFE. Soft and fluffy, almost cake like, with a very distinct lemon flavor. I could have eaten every single one of them myself, but I decided to share the love with the aforementioned individuals as well as my very lucky coworkers :) Even the lemon haters ate and enjoyed these.

I found the recipe on my go-to blog for desserts (and, really, all food) Annie's Eats - her cookies were much smaller than mine, and I even made sure to actually measure out 2 tablespoons of dough to make sure I wasn't going hog wild making the cookies too huge. Whatever! The bigger the better, in my book :)

If you like lemon even a little bit, make these cookies as soon as possible. Then, give several to me.

26 weeks (and 4 days)

I figured it was time to take a belly pic that shows my belly in all it's glory (well, at least as much of it's glory as I'm willing to show on this blog) because it definitely gets hidden with most of the winter clothing I wear! (as shown in the ravioli post too, if you look at the pics of me) Also because YOWZA did the belly ever grow this week! There were a few times late this week that I caught sight of myself in the mirror and did a double take - no way can that be ME! and then I look at this interesting tool that shows the changes in a woman's body during pregnancy and see how much bigger I'll get... yikes.

So this week's pic was taken in the baby's room as it was being painted! My sister, her roommate, and her boyfriend volunteered to paint the room because they actually enjoy painting (well, I think Liz's bf MIGHT have gotten roped into this one, but oh well :) unlike Ben and I who truly detest it. Ben did end up helping for awhile, but 4 people in a 10x10 room really just isn't necessary :) I LOVE the way it turned out! I was initially worried that the color would be too light, but I think it is perfect for the small space - it really brightens it up and I can't wait to see how it looks with furniture! Ben still needs to paint the trim and doors but that's it. It definitely makes it feel more real just to even see the room painted. The color is Behr Cool Jazz.

This week has again been good in terms of the pregnancy... so far, I am still sleeping ok (which is not that great for normal people, but I've never been an awesome sleeper), not getting up to use the bathroom regularly, and I haven't had any heartburn. My biggest problems are created in my own mind - I'd start to get worried that the baby wasn't moving around "enough" (whatever THAT is) and then freak myself out for awhile. I'd be happy as a clam if she just moved around at all times :) Which she pretty much did all day yesterday so that was awesome! I've also started to experience feeling one of her extremities (I can't tell which one yet) just kind of resting against the inside front/side of my belly. VERY odd. Kind of like someone is leaning against you for awhile, but from the inside.

The other update is that we start "Birth & Parenting Preparation" at the hospital tomorrow - as per the recommendation of my sis-in-law Becca (a Labor & Delivery nurse), we are taking the 6 week class at the hospital on Monday nights. I hope it is helpful and not lame, and that we have some interesting fellow classmates. I'm also planning on signing up for a short breastfeeding class, but won't do that one til January.