Baby Blanket: Done!

 

30 weeks down, 10 to go!

Tomorrow I will complete my 30th week of pregnancy - so we're 75% of the way to the due date. This week the fetal movements continue to be strong, I felt one last afternoon that had to be a foot kicking hard.

 

Last night, Josh was out at a bachelor party. We are homebodies, but I'm not used to being home by myself.

After I got off the phone with my sister, I went to the grocery store and picked out a dinner to make - for one (much easier than shopping for two).

I ended up having Italian soda, tortellini with chicken broth and parmesan cheese and finishing up with some ice cream and granola. Simple and easy - but perfect.

With both dogs next to me, I sat down to relax - eat dinner, watch a movie and browse through a food magazine. I then realized that in about two months, a night alone will be even more rare... especially one spent at home.

So I don't forget... Ben in the Womb Stories

There are two stories I just don't want to forget that I find pretty amusing about our baby while in the womb:

Before every ultrasound, I have to time the drinking of water to ensure that I have a full bladder during the ultrasound. A full bladder is never a fun thing, especially for a pregnant woman - even more so for one with a baby that sits very low (like Ben).

During week 27, I had an ultrasound. By the time I finally got called in, I was very uncomfortable. We ended up doing a few shots and then I could take care of my bladder. Josh and I start looking at the ultrasound screen, waiting to see our son. He grew so much since the last ultrasound at 20 weeks! The first images of his head
show it rocking back and forth - against my bladder! No wonder I felt uncomfortable!

At least it made us laugh!

Fast forward to this weekend (week 30)....

I walked over to Josh and asked him if he wanted to talk to the baby. He's not too keen on it, since he insists Ben hears his voice and can't understand it anyway. To placate me, he placed his cheek to my stomach and told Ben, "stop being a burden to your mother" (sweet, wasn't it?). Instantly, Ben kicks his cheek!

Josh feels him move daily now, but this timely reaction was just too funny!

You probably had to be there for these stories to be amusing. However, being very pregnant in the middle of Texas summer is anything but comfortable, and little things like this can brighten your day!

Cookbook Collecting

Different people collect different things... packrats collect everything, others may collect items like sports memorabilia, stamps or movies. I collect cookbooks. I usually try to find one (if there is one in English) whenever I travel for work... I've had better luck in some places than others. Oddly enough, I still
probably haven't made a recipe out of half of the cookbooks that I do own. I do enjoy spending time in the kitchen (more on the weekends or vacation), but enjoy reading through cookbooks even more.

For the past seven months, I have kept up the consolidation of other recipes (from magazines, blogs, Food Network, intranet sites, etc) into binders, rather than accumulating recipes from random sources and keeping them disorganized.

Some of the ones I've found this weekend that I will add to the "kid recipe" section are:

- Chocolate Chip and Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches
- No-Bake Chocolate and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

I've also found two cookbooks to pre-order. Lucky for me, they are not available until after my due date - but at least I can arrange purchase for them ahead of time.

-Giada's Kitchen
-Martha Stewart's Cooking School

Now if only I could be sure I'd have time to look at the cookbooks after the baby comes. Something tells me that it won't seem so important after he's around!

Back to Baking

While it would seem like nothing seven months ago, this weekend I was able to do more house cleaning than I have in months (partially because the maid service now monthly does the difficult stuff), complete our laundry, prepare multiple meals, take our dogs for a walk (not a big deal except for it being hot outside) and bake cookies!

I used to bake (usually drop cookies) fairly frequently, but have not done so since last Christmas, when I made many types of cookies and candy... probably too much! Today I decided to use the toffee bits in our pantry and make some Toffee Bits Cookies. Josh and I both really like them, so now we're back to old problem - lots of cookies sitting there, ready to be eaten!

I'm hoping that during the next few weekends, I'll be able to continue to use the items in my pantry, but we'll see how far it progresses. Either way, it's good to be using my KitchenAid mixer again!

A Homecooked Meal

For the first time since we found out that we were expecting, I've made a meal without Josh's assistance! He laughed when I came home and said we wouldn't be eating out, but I actually did it (amazing since the thought of cooking has been anything but positive for the past several months)!

I also am doing more around the house for a weeknight, and I'm not sure why now that I'm in week 29 the energy is returning. My mom thinks I overworked myself before. Regardless, I'm glad to be more normal today than I've felt in a while.

Tonight I made Cheesy Baked Tortellini, a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis. It is in her Everyday Pasta cookbook. She has a new cookbook coming out the day after Ben is due, so I'll be sure to pre-order, as I've never been disappointed by her recipes - and just as important - neither has Josh.

Hopefully my time in the kitchen will continue, as I used to really enjoying cooking and baking. For now, here are photos of Sadie and Perry:

 

 

To run or not to run?

For almost a year, Josh debated whether or not he should do the Houston Marathon this next January. The training program started this past Saturday, and he got up early to do his time trial. He'll get up early every Saturday from now on for the runs, and will run on his own a few times a week.

He wants me to run it with him next year, but running has never been fun for me. Considering how hard it is for me to run though (= the huge workout I get from attempting to run), I'm likely going to start doing so as my post-pregnancy workout towards the end of the year.

Either way, Josh signed up for the Chevron Houston Marathon on January 18 of next year. I hope to be there supporting him on his way to the finish line!

The Minimalist - 101 Bittman Short Recipes

Josh and I brought the dogs over to my parents' house for the fourth of July this past weekend. I didn't have to do any cooking (although we did bring McAlister's sweet tea - yum!), but found this article by Mark Bittman called 101 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics. One of my brothers cooks a lot of his recipes, which I've always been curious to try.

O brain, where art thou?

Lately I feel like my brain has temporarily left the building. I'm still going to work (only one vacation day in total taken so far this year!), still am pretty productive - but think I am losing my mind!

While I've heard that happens with pregnancy, I sometimes wonder how much of myself I'm losing. The hardest thing about being pregnant is not the morning sickness (which lucky me, has made a small comeback for the third trimester), but not being as self-sufficient as before.

I've had to start counting on others to do things I would never think twice about. Josh now has to load the laundry, while I can fold it - and he is in the middle of studying for the BAR! Since I tend to overexert myself with housework, we finally gave in and called a maid service this past week. While I am no longer disgusted looking around the house, I feel lazy for not keeping it clean myself!

The big consolation is that I am able to do a couple of things despite the expanding baby boy -
1. Work - While I am not now, nor have I ever been, a morning person - going to work everyday is something I tend to look forward to, as I get to be productive.
2. Cooking - I used to cook much more often. Two weekends ago, Josh endured some not-so-good meals - did I lose my touch? I have probably cooked less than 10 times in the past 5 or so months. However, I'm actually starting to do it at least twice a week - baby steps... but closer to where I used to be.
3. Knitting - I spend most of my energy Monday - Friday at work, so there's not much activity once I get home. My big "to do" now - before the baby is born - is to finish his baby blanket. It's going to take some time (I started on it in the end of April), but I'm over 2/3 done with it by working at least a few rows a night. Anything where I can see progress helps motivate me, and seeing how much of this blanket has come along in the past two weeks definitely helps.

So now I am sitting in bed with two funny little dogs, a kicking baby boy in my belly, unable to sleep. Since I'm already up, why not think about some of the things that I could not be without during this pregnancy:
1. Josh. One of my former colleagues says she doesn't know how women can go through this without a supportive husband. While Josh can't help out quite as much until he takes the BAR exam at the end of this month, he has been more supportive than he knows. Our families have also been very supportive, which is encouraging.
2. Ice cream. Need I say more? First a Culver's opens up nearby, and now the Dairy Queen Blizzard of the Month is the Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint type. It's a guilty pleasure, but (seriously) if I don't get enough calcium, my legs ache and I limp (not so attractive) - so I'll take my calcium anywhere I can get it.
3. Breakfast. No longer an option. During the first trimester, it was generally something like apple sauce or smoothies. During the second trimester, it was frosted mini-wheats with my soymilk. Now it is berry, yogurt and granola parfaits. Anything to beat the small bit of morning sickness that has come back to haunt me!
4. Ninja Warrior. I had never seen the show before this past month, but given the lack of new TV, things like this help keep me entertained (and the not-so-intense intellectual stimulation allows me to knit at the same time).
5. Boppy Pregnancy Pillow. While I've typed about it before, words cannot do this pillow justice. It makes sitting up knitting, reading, typing and even sleeping more comfortable. I'd be amazed if I don't continue using this pillow post-pregnancy. My favorite feature, however, is that baby Ben seems to like it. He gets active whenever I sit on the couch leaning on it!
6. Sadie & Perry. Even though their competitive dog barking can be annoying, our dogs do entertain me. Given my now emotional state (and the fact that the long ASPCA commercial that would make me cry regardless of my current state seems to play over and over on TV...), they sit nearby and provide their typical companionship. Given the fact that Josh is studying (understandably) like crazy right now, I'm also amazed at their activity level - not as hyper as I'd expect for dogs that aren't getting nearly as many walks as they should.
7. Soymilk. I'm lactose intolerant, and find myself having to take about 3 lactose pills a day due to dairy intake. It's not the hardest thing to deal with - but if drinking soymilk means I take less of them, it's worth it. Add in that that soymilk I drink has Omega-3's (good for the baby, especially since I don't eat tons of seafood), and it's even a feel-good drink!
8. Dresses. I'm carrying Ben very low (and admittedly I can get jealous of those carrying high sometimes!) Recently putting on maternity capris really hurt, which makes sense since the baby is right there! I now rely on dresses for the rest of the pregnancy as comfort is key.
9. The Internet. Being a first-time mother, there are a lot of unknowns - many "is this normal?" moments. Different parenting websites and books have helped me realize that while I'm not my normal self, I'm not expected to be - given what's going on inside of me. Basically - it's normal for me to not be normal for now.
10. The Baby. Still 12 weeks to go, but I am very excited to meet Benjamin Michael. His activity level increased quite a bit lately (or maybe his larger size just means I feel it more - he was active during all three ultrasounds), and Josh is able to feel him move daily now. I've heard becoming a parent is the biggest change you'll ever experience - and no matter what books I do read (right now I'm actually reading a parenting one - What to Expect the First Year), I don't think I'll really get it until he makes his appearance!