Hungry? Yup!

Being pregnant is great.  I know in a previous post, I talked about pregnancy side effects and how annoying they are.  And they still are–right now I’m dealing with the “I have to pee or I’m going to burst” but then get to the bathroom and hardly anything comes out side effect. But besides that stuff, I love it.  I love feeling little Jebediah move around, rubbing my round belly, and eating (cuz I’m usually always hungry).  Those of you who know me, know I love to eat regardless of being pregnant or not.  This morning, I ate a bagel for breakfast, then had a banana and then a yogurt as snacks ini the hours before lunch. I brought soup, crackers and an apple for lunch, but I am saving those for tomorrow because I got asked to lunch with two co-workers.  One of them, Dennis, has the wonderful position of campus dining services report to him and one of the perks of his job is getting a dining card.  He can go to any place on campus, and some places in the Burlington community to eat on the University’s dime.  So today, I joined him and Sue at one of the dining halls on campus–the buffet dining hall.  It’s always hard for me to go to buffets in the first place because my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so not only do I stuff myself, but I end up with food on my plate that gets wasted because I can’t finish it.  Our dining services is smart, though–No trays.  You can only take what you can carry.  Granted, you can go back as many times as you want, but it helps cut down on the waste that I would  students would create.  About an hour before we left to meet Dennis, Sue looked online to see what was being offered today.  As she was reading the selections out loud, I kept saying, “ooh that sounds good!” And “Yum!” “I think I’ll get that!” Then suddenly Jebediah kicked me!  I guess he/she was hungry too!

We went a little before noon to beat the lunch-time rush and in several trips I ate: a salad to start (loaded with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, black olives, a little cheese and ranch dressing–mmm…oops, sorry…slobbered on the keyboard…), a cup of corn and cheese soup, half a grilled cheese sandwich (THE BEST grilled cheese I’ve had in I don’t know how long), 2 pickle slices, a small (yes, small) scoop of pasta with marinara sauce, a rice krispy square and a couple of fruit loops on the way out.  I wanted a whole bowl of fruit loops but Jebediah was telling me “no more, mom. you’re done.”  We had such a good time eating, and talking, we’ve decided to make it a once a month date.  Who could say no to a buffet? Not me!  Especially since I’m hungry all the time.  I already can’t wait for next month!

 

Halloween Weekend

This Halloween (by the way, when I spell Halloween, I still to this day, have to sing the song I learned in elementary school so I get it right: H-A-double L-O-W double E-N spells Halloween!  Ok, what was I saying?  Oh ya…) this year was the first year in I can’t remember how long that I haven’t wanted to dress up, decorate the house and be sure to be home to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  What’s up with that?  But I DID want to be doing something, and we were fortunate enough to get invited to Allison’s house, where a bunch of the neighbors were coming over to hang out: eat, drink, take the kids trick-or-treating, etc.  So we went over.  The moms took the kids out this year (I guess they alternate every year which parent goes) and I stayed back with the guys, since it was a little chilly out and I wasn’t sure if the rain would start up again.  They were only out for about 45 minutes and they came back with a pretty good stash!

It was funny to see each kid empty out their bucket or pillow case–they each had their own ritual.  One kid dove right in and just started eating, another took up almost the whole floor to group his together by flavor: putting all the snickers together and all the m&ms together, etc. Then there was Ben, Allison’s son.  He emptied his bag and divided his up by company: Hershey’s, Tootsie, Nestle, etc, then when he was done, he was ready to make a spread sheet to organize how many of each he got.  And he’s…11 yrs old?  My method was always kid #1: Dig right in–snickers and Dots.  Yum!  Then at 8:00, the Oregon game came on.  Most of the parents started taking their kids home and calling it a night, but we stayed to watch Oregon pound USC.  It was great! 

Then on Sunday, I got up and went to church while Grant went to work.  As I was sitting there with my head bowed during the opening prayer, I felt little Jebediah move.  Not just a twitch of a movement, which is all I’ve felt up to this point, but a real kick!  I opened my eyes and stared at my belly thinking “do it again!!!  do it again!!!”  But nothing.  I was sooo happy!  I was on cloud 9 until I got to the basketball game Grant was working–I had to sing the national anthem and I was brought back to “reality.”  Yes, I was nervous, but at the same time I didn’t really care because I felt my baby move that day!  The anthem went fine, then I got to concentrate on watching Grant work (oh ya, and watch some basketball).

Besides seeing Grant in action (in his cute sweater vest), I forgot how much I love going to basketball games.  I’ve been to a few since we’ve been here, but since Grant wasn’t working it, it wasn’t one we went to all the time.  Plus, he was working women’s hockey, which is in season at the same time.  But now, I’ll be going to all the home games to see Grant at work in his sweater vest… I mean, I’ll be going to all the games to watch the team play   By the way, we won by 50+ points.  Woo hoo!

 

Pregnancy Side Effects…

I am officially 17 weeks!  I can’t believe how quickly the time is flying by.  I mean, we are just about halfway done and soon we are going to have a kid.  A KID!!!  Some other little human being will be a part of our lives.  I can’t wait to meet this person, but how crazy is that?! 

So far, I have had a fairly easy pregnancy (thank you, Jebediah. Mommy appreciates that!)  My first trimester was just being nausous and tired–no throwing up–and bouts of “eating us out of house and home” (according to Grant) and not being able to eat at all.  Now that I’m in the second trimester, which all the books say is usually the best because your energy is back up, you don’t have any morning sickness, your sex drive goes into overdrive, your appetite goes back to normal, and it’s the time you really get to enjoy your pregnancy before you start feeling and looking huge.  My second trimester so far includes some of the above.  I feel like I shouldn’t complain about my pregnancy, since I’ve been wanting to experience this my whole life, and really, it’s gone so well–I feel very blessed.  BUT there are things about pregnancy you don’t read about or hear about until you’ve experienced them yourself.  This revelation begins my new segment about pregnancy “side effects.”  Being pregnant is your diagnosis and the side effects are all the little things that you experience along the way.  Morning sickness, for example, is a side effect of being pregnant.  Let’s begin, shall we?

A new side effect that started about 3 weeks ago for me and hasn’t stopped: The stuffy/runny nose.  Apparently, this starts around the 4th month because your mucous membranes are on hyper-production for the baby (I think to keep your juices flowing and keep your risk of infections and sickness down).  As beneficial as this sounds, it’s so annoying.  I’m constantly blowing my nose and have been having trouble sleeping because either one nostril is completely plugged, or they are both slightly plugged and when I try to breathe out of my nose, it’s noisy and makes a whistling sound.  Ugh!  Tell me: If you can sleep while breathing through your mouth, please give me tips on how I can accomplish this because I never can.  And yesterday, I noticed my left nostril is now bigger than my right.  What the ?!?!  I already have acne like a teenager (yet another side effect I never heard of) and now I have to have one big nostril?  Jebediah, let’s irradicate these problems, shall we?  Help me out here…we were off to such a nice start….

 

Amber & Tuesday Come to Vermont

Amber and Tuesday made it safely (and on time!) to Vermont last week!  We had such a great time together, but of course, the time flew by way too fast.  I have to admit, I was worried our house was too cold for little Tuesday (and by little, I mean LITTLE…that baby is TINY!!!). Yes, we had the heat on, but still… and it was only in the 40s when they were here. Brrr. Amber found these cute little hats for Tuesday to sleep in to help keep her warm. With it tied under her chin, we both did the “I think it’s ok” test: ie–pulling and yanking on the back to see if it would come off in the middle of the night and possibly strangle the little one.  Passed with flying colors! And she kept it on part of the next morning!

Later that day, we went to lunch and Amber helped me pick out some cute maternity clothes at Old Navy.  I have been hesitant to buy maternity clothes, even though I need a few key items very badly (pants, pants, bra, pants, shirts, pants). I was afraid of not finding anything cute, but Old Navy had a good selection!  And what did I buy? Shirts! And only one pair of pants. Let me tell you, yoga pants = comfy!!! We also went to the Hallmark store to try to find a baby book for Tuesday. Luckily we found one and had just enough time to stop at the food court to scarf down food before the mall closed.  What?! It’s 9:00 already?!  Where did the day go?

The next day we made a trip to Montpelier to check out some of the famous Vermont foliage.  Except, we came across 2 problems: 1) we missed the Montpelier exit by about 10 miles because we were too busy talking.  Oops! “Wait, next exit 13 miles?! I think we’ve gone too far!” 2) We were about a week too late for the foliage; most of the leaves had already fallen off the trees! But we did arrive just in time for their cute little Saturday Market.  We took a quick look around and then got down to business: LUNCH! Side note: since being pregnant, where my next meal is coming from is pretty much always on my mind…

Amber and Tuesday at the yarn stand (of course!)

Later that day, the Lloyd’s came over to watch the Notre Dame/USC football game and Jada and Tuesday had a chance to finally meet!  Actually, I should say, Amber and Julie had a chance to finally meet!  It was fun.

Then on Sunday, we went for a walk on the bike path, which runs along Lake Champlain.  It was chilly out, but the sun was shining so it wasn’t too bad. Amber took a lot of pictures of both Tuesday, me, and the foliage (that was still on the trees!). We made it about 2 miles to the park at North Beach before turning around to go back. 4 miles total? Not bad!

Poor Tuesday was also teething, with her two bottom ones popping through while they were here!  She loved chewing on this part of her stroller. When she wasn’t people watching or sleeping, we could find her easing the pain of her teeth and gums on this (even though she has countless teething toys, I think this is her favorite). 

In between our trips out shopping, going to lunch, walks and everything else, we spent some quality time on the couch watching tv and chatting away, like we used to high school. I love, love, love that when we get together, it’s as if no time has passed since we last hung out, even though we average seeing each other twice a year, I think. Yes, our lives have changed, there are other people a part of us (Grant, Bj, Tuesday, soon Jebediah), but when we’re together, it’s as if time has stopped and we pick up right where we last left off. I think that is my favorite thing about our friendship (Oh, and the fact that if given the chance, we would sit on the couch and watch tv and eat snacks all day!)  Selfishly, I loved that when Amber mentioned my name, Tuesday would look at me, knowing who her mom was talking about.  I loved seeing them both, seeing how fast Tuesday has grown and how beautiful she is, and seeing Amber take on the tough (but rewarding) job of being a mom, and seeing how natural it is for her and I admire how good at it she is.  And of course it was tough saying goodbye on Monday     Let’s just say, everyone else going through security must have known we don’t get to see each other that often. Once Amber started to cry, it was all over for me!  I have a great mental picture of it: me and Amber sobbing like kids, and Tuesday, with the biggest, toothless grin on her face (that little turd!).  Maybe she was trying to give us a reason to smile.  I admit, it worked–it didn’t make us stop crying, but it did make us laugh.  Man, time flies when you’re having fun, especially with a great friend!  See you again soon Amber and Tuesday!!

p.s. I need one of those hats for my baby!!

 

FINALLY!!

Today is the day!  Amber arrives this evening, and I cannot wait to see what the long weekend has in store for us!  I might have to wait until the end of her trip to post anything (stories, pictures, etc) because I’m sure we’ll be too busy catching up, carrying on endless chatter (sorry in advance, Grant), eating, taking walks, sight-seeing, and lounging around in front of the tv.  You know, good, quality Amber-Ceara time.

Woo-hoo!

 

A Wedding & A Friend

Go ahead and call me a tool, but I am very excited for tonight’s episode of The Office–Jim and Pam get married!!  We’ve all been pulling for them since the beginning of the show and it’s finally happening.  Definitely going to hit the “save” button for this episode.

And it’s only 7 days until Amber and Tuesday make their appearance!!!  We both can’t wait to see each other and hang out.  I can tell you right now, it’s going to be a great visit!

Amber and Tuesday can’t wait!!

 

“Being Motherly” (according to Grant)

Saturday was a great day!  I spent the day doing a little bit of laundry, scrubbing the bathtub (to the point of taking off some of the cocking—oops! Sorry, again, Grant), cooking and baking.  My first attempt at Corn Chowder (Thank you, Paula Dean!) With adding a few extra ingredients the recipe didn’t call for–skim milk, bacon and potatoes (how can you make corn chowder without these?!), and omitting one other (who needs 2–yes TWO!–sticks of butter AND cream?) out came this oh-so delicious soup that I had for lunch that day, and have enough to bring to work for lunch a few days this week!

Yum!  Then, I also made an apple pie for the first time in my life.  And, oooooh did it turn out good!  It was a lot easier than I had imagined it would be in my head.  The tedious part is cutting the apples up, but when you’re sitting at the dining room table with “9 to 5″  on (you know, the movie with Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lilly Tomlin), it makes it a bit more fun. The only thing I was missing in the end was vanilla ice cream to go with it!  Next time.  And yes, there will be a next time!

For dinner, I made loaded baked potato soup (I think that’s what it’s called).  I randomly found this recipe on foodnetwork.com and it sounded so good I had to try it.  All you have to do is cook some bacon (mmmm, bacon) and drain all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings.  Set the bacon aside.  In the drippings you cook onion and garlic, add 1 russet potato and 2 red potatoes, red wine vinegar and 8 cups of chicken broth.  Let that cook until the potatoes are tender and it’s basically done.  To “load it up” you can scoop some soup into a oven safe bowl, top with a slice of bread, cheddar cheese and crumble up some of your cooked bacon on top of that, slide it in the oven for 5 min or so, then top with sour cream right before serving.  I made Grant’s bowl without the bread because it does get soggy sitting in the soup while in the oven.  So next time, I will just top the soup with the cheese and bacon and put it in the oven, then serve the bread separately on the side, strictly for dunking.  In the end, it really doesn’t look like much, but it is so good.  Grant loved it and said he could eat it over and over again.  Note to self: I think we’ve found another good soup to make this winter!  It was so easy to make, if you want the exact recipe let me know and I will email it to you.  At the end of the day, I was tired, but felt very accomplished.  Grant was very thankful for all of my cooking and said I was doing a good job at “being motherly.”  Lol, so cute.  Thanks, Grant.

Being motherly? Maybe.  Nesting? Possibly.  Me, pregnant?  Definitely!!

Yup!  Our little one is due April 6th and I’m starting my second trimester, so we’re finally telling people.  We even kept the news from our families (moms and dads included) for 12 weeks!!!  The hardest, but most wonderful secret I’ve ever had to keep.

This ultrasound was done at 12 weeks (sorry it’s blurry, but I had to take a picture of the picture because our scanner is not working).  Yes, I’m feeling good now.  Had you asked me about a month ago, I would’ve said I was tired and nauseous all the time.  No, we are not finding out the sex of the baby–there are so few surprises in life anymore!  Plus, I’ve heard stories of people getting told by their doctors they were having one thing then the baby was born the other.  We are so excited for this next chapter of our lives and couldn’t be happier. This was a reason I wasn’t posting as much in the last few months because really, this was the only thing on my mind… so prepare for more pregnancy blogs!

 

14 Days…

Exactly 2 weeks from today, Amber comes to visit!!  Yeah!!  I’m so excited to see her again.  10 months in between visits is just too long!  This weekend, I’ll start getting the guest room prepped and the baby stuff I’m borrowing from a co-worker washed so everything is set to go.  I say this now, but wait until it’s 24 hrs before they land and I’m scrambling to get things finished…. that always happens to me, but I’m going to do my best to avoid that situation this time!  Can’t wait to see you, Amber!

 

Adventures in Babysitting

On Sunday, Grant and I had the pleasure of babysitting Kijana for the day.  Julie went on a business trip and took Jada with her, and Kwame had an away soccer game.  We ate lunch…

Then we played a couple games.  Since the weather was nice, Kijana and I went to the park that is around the corner from our house.  There was hardly anyone there when we got there, but slowly, people started coming with their kids.  Kijana and I were playing hide and seek and one other kid decided he wanted to play too.  As I was counting for them to hide, I was peeking (of course) so that I could keep my eye on Kijana.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the direction the other kid went, but didn’t see where he hid.  I found Kijana, then we went looking for the other kid.  Ummm…. where did he go?  He wasn’t where I thought he would be.  Soon his mom, who wasn’t paying attention to him either, started asking where he was.  I said “we were playing hide and seek, but now I can’t find him.”  She started yelling out his name, but not actually walking around looking for him.  Kijana and I were actually searching everywhere, when suddenly, the kid pops out of the porta-potty.  Nice hiding place, kid.

When we got back to the house, we decided to watch a movie and make popcorn

But then Grant showed Kijana the wonderfulness that is “Duck Tales,” Gummy Bears,” and “Rescue Rangers.”  Did you know these are all on YouTube?  I ended up falling asleep while watching our cartoons, only to wake up to see Kijana asleep with the computer on his lap and his head on Grant’s shoulder, and Grant asleep with his head against Kijana’s.  MAN, I WISH I HAD MY CAMERA!!!  It was so cute because they were knocked out!  Soon, they both woke up and we played until dinner.  Playing consisted of Kijana seeing how fast he can walk on our treadmill and making music with my keyboard.  I wish I had some stuff he could have colored with or stuff for us to do crafts or something, but since we don’t have any kids, we don’t have any of that stuff at our house.  Oh well.  Dinner was tacos and rice.

“Kijana, does your mom put anything on your rice for you?”

“Yes, she puts brown sauce on it.”

Hmmm…brown sauce…???  ”Brown sauce?”

“Ya.”

What kind of brown sauce do we have that this kid would eat?  Oooh, we have teriyaki sauce…I’ll put that on there.  ”Here, taste this and let me know what you think.”

“Mmmm, it’s good, but it needs a lot more on it.”

Alrighty!  Problem solved!  (Side note: Julie, I’m not sure if teriyaki is the brown sauce to which he was referring, but he ate it!)

Kwame came to pick him up shortly after we finished eating, and Kijana was very excited to see him!  I’d say the day was a success!

 

The Countdown Begins…

Yeah!!! Exactly one month until Amber & Co. arrives in Burlington!!!  Amber and I haven’t seen each other since January, when I went to Oregon to see two newborns: Tuesday and my niece, Avalee.  Amber and I talk on the phone, via email and ichat as much as possible, but all of these have posed problems at one time or another due to the time difference, and you know, her having a baby and all.  That tends to keep a person busy!

But I’m so excited to have her come, and I’m hoping the weather is decent (not raining or too cold).  And the leaves should be in primo-viewing form!!  It’s still up in the air whether Bj can come or not (because of work), but regardless, we are going to have a great time.  Even if it’s just us girls hanging out in front of the tv, which,incidentally,is where most of our bonding happened during high school.  All of my friends are different in their own fabulous way, and that’s why I love them. But Amber is the one who I can do absolutely nothing with and still have the best time.  How does that happen?  I have no idea, but it does, and I love it!

Can’t wait to see you, Amber!!