Week 29

TGITuesday! Because it is actually Thursday! We were a little late with our photo this week mainly because it gets dark so darn early. Usually we would snap the photo on the way to church on Sunday evenings at about 5:30pm but wouldn't you know, now it is dark by then and I forget to do it earlier (plus I am usually not so cute earlier in the day when lounging around on a Sunday). This week it worked out though because I stopped in at Macy's yesterday to buy a Christmas gift and found this outfit on sale at Pea in the Pod. I even had an old gift certificate in my wallet so it was FREE! Gotta love that. Feeling really cute in my new pants and top which is a nice change from yesterday where my pants were way too tight and I felt like a house. Greg was teasing me this morning because I kept saying "I love my new pants!" at weird moments.

Thanks for your prayers last week about my blood test. As expected everything is fine and I got my shot with no adverse effects. Koobie is getting to that size where I feel her every move and she loves to shift around all through the day to remind me that she is there and has an opinion about what I should be doing, sitting, wearing, etc. I thought when I got married that my life was not really my own anymore since I was now "one flesh" with my husband but truly now that concept it even more true. There is a little person growing in there and even when she comes out every decision I make will take on new meaning. I am already scolding Greg for things and saying, "you shouldn't do that, you are a father now. Think of your daughter!". Scary!!

I have some startling news. Last weekend we did not make waffles! I know what you are thinking "have you abandoned waffle winter already?". No way. I got a new recipe for quick and easy biscuits so we decided to make biscuits and gravy on Sunday instead of waffles. Greg threw together the vegetarian sausage gravy while I made the biscuits. His gravy turned out very good but unfortunately the biscuits were a disappointment. The recipe called for instant yeast but I only had rapid rise and now I think maybe those are not the same thing because my biscuits did not rise big and fluffy like they were supposed to. They tasted OK but were much too dense. We will be back to waffles this weekend for sure!

My goal this week is to complete all my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. I know you are wondering why I don't want to wait and take advantage of all the post Thanksgiving sales. Well 1.) I hate crowds 2.) the things on my list are not included in all those door buster deals 3.) I don't want to spend my precious days off dealing with #1 4.) I want to wrap all my gifts and prep them to ship over the weekend so I can cross that off my list. I did about 50% of my shopping in late October early November via the internet and now am just picking up a few odds and ends around town which so far I have been able to do after work on my way home each night. Yesterday it was Macy's and today Grand Central. Yesterday I even found myself humming Silver Bells so I think I am getting into the holiday spirit already.

But before jumping ahead to Christmas it is Thanksgiving week and there is so much to be thankful for (besides new pants!). I am so thankful for Greg who is such an amazing support to me and a gem of a husband. I am so thankful for a healthy happy growing baby, an immediate family in good health, and a plethora of caring and wonderful friends. My challenging job and home are also huge blessings at this point in the economy. I am blessed in so many ways and am trying to take extra time this week to reflect and give thanks to God for them all. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Week 28

These photos are getting tough as the temp drops! We tend to shoot and run back inside where it is warm and then hope we got a good shot. I really wish we had better lighting in the house (and a better backdrop outside the house!). Here we are finishing our 28th week. 7 months! Can't believe that. I have almost 3 to go and can't imagine getting bigger and more cumbersome but I know I will. I am actually starting to grow out of some of my clothes already and will have to do a little more shopping soon. The thought of shopping used to excite me but when you know that you will only wear something for a couple months and that you will have to pay full price because there are never sales on maternity clothes it steals some of the shopping joy. Oh well.

Baby Koobie is doing well. She is moving around all the time and kicking me regularly. I talked with our birth instructor about when she should turn around since I have been paranoid about this and learned that it is a little early to begin worrying or doing exercises to encourage her so I have stopped my obsessing. I am having some blood work done this week in relation to my having an rh- blood type so please be praying that there has been no sensitivity to my baby (if she is rh +). There is not a lot of danger to her but if I develop a sensitivity then it would make a subsequent pregnancy more dangerous and it would prevent me from using the birth center at Roosevelt which is where we would like to go this time around. I am not really worried about it since the possibility is really rare but a little prayer is never a bad thing.

We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday next week. Both Greg and I get a 4 day weekend and have lots of fun planned. We are doing a movie and dinner for the holiday, sort of a tradition over the past few years and our last chance probably once Koobie comes. The restaurant we like doesn't usually have kids in it for dinner! Then we will be decorating the house for Christmas which I always love as well as some researching of baby stuff that we have been putting off. I would also like to do some baking. So much fun stuff on the horizon. I hope you all have a great week!

Oops! Almost forgot my waffle update. As I have mentioned before we have settled on a favorite plain waffle recipe. One of the ingredients called for in the recipe is Barley Malt Syrup for the sugar. I didn't have any before so we substituted agave nectar (you can use maple syrup too but I think that has too distinct of a flavor). Anyway, I picked up some barley malt syrup during my last trip to the grocery store and we decided to give it a try. WOW! What a difference. They are EVEN BETTER than before. I was a little skeptical becuase I didn't like the way the batter smelled so much like the syrup but once cooked up the waffles have a subtle malted flavor. They were so good. Soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. I was going to take a photo of them coming hot off the grill Saturday morning but my battery died so this photo is from Sunday morning when we reheated the 2.5 frozen waffles in the toaster oven and enjoyed them as a quick breakfast. I love how well waffles reheat in the toaster oven. I wish we had made more of these but the recipe only made 7. Greg likes his with a little melted Earth Balance and Maple Syrup (bottom plate) and I of course prefer the melted "butter" with powdered sugar and a little fat-free whip (top plate). We are still loving Waffle Winter!

Week 27

Today we start our third trimester which is pretty exciting. Baby Koobie (that has been our nickname for her since we found out she was on the way) is moving and kicking me a lot. I can tell she is still breech at this point since almost all movement is way down in my low pelvis. Lately I have been doing some pelvic tilts to encourage her to flip around but so far she is happy as she is. She is a very good baby letting me work all day with no problems so I can't complain. Greg is finally able to feel her easily from the outside which he likes. Soon he should be able hear her heartbeat if he puts his ear up to my belly but not yet. We finished furnishing her nursery last weekend and have started organizing all the stuff people have been passing on to us. My sister recently sent a box of stuff from my nephew. So many cute things full of sentimental memories. Koobie is a lucky girl to have a cousin already. I hope they end up being good friends.

I have been busy at work with a large faculty recruitment project which has taken up a lot of my free time. Greg too has been busy at work with PR for his research center. Consequently we haven't done much else that is worth blogging. We do however make time for WAFFLE WINTER. We have found an awesome recipe. It is our favorite so far. Here is a photo from Halloween when we made Pumpkin Waffles for the first time.They are killer good and reheat so beautifully that I made a full batch last Saturday, about 12 waffles and we have been eating them as leftovers ever since. Yummmmmmmmmmmm. They are especially good with melted butter a little powdered sugar and whipped cream. They taste just like pumpkin pie but with a waffle texture. I noticed there is a recipe on the PPK website for pumpkin waffles so check it out. My recipe is fr Check it out!