Ceara’s World

The other week, a coworker of mine brought in some cinnamon rolls that his wife had made.  They were the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had in my life, so I had to get the recipe.  He said his wife got them online at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls/

I attempted, with success, to make them.  Except, I used regular frosting, not the maple kind that is on the website. 

Warning: Be sure you have PLENTY of time to make these.  It will take about 2-3 hours from start to finish. But you’ll be happily satisfied when you’re finished because they just melt in your mouth.  And keep in mind, they are a treat, so try not to cringe when you are adding all the butter….

Grant had 4 days off from work last week, so we packed our bags and took a short road trip to a wonderfully secluded bed and breakfast in Lake Joseph, New York at the Inn at Lake Joseph.  Lake Joseph is about 2 hours outside New York City and not far from Woodstock.  Besides the two of us, there was only one other couple there.  Our room was legit! Fireplace, jacuzzi tub, king size bed, full kitchen (though we didn’t need the kitchen, really).  It was so nice and relaxing!

The building our room was in used to be an old stable.  The bottom floor (our room) is where they used to keep the horses, the top floor is where they used to keep the hay.  Our headboard is the actual thing that they used to tie the horses to.  How cool is that? 

 After getting settled, we had to test out the jacuzzi tub.  In the closet were these two bathrobes. Ha ha!

While we were there, the first day we had to do some things we’ve never done before.  Neither one of us has ever been to a bed and breakfast, so that’s something we could cross off right away.  The breakfast?  Amazing.  All homemade, made to order.  It was so good!  And besides breakfast being included in the price of the room, they keep the ‘fridge stocked with snacks and food for lunch you can help yourself to, all equipment use, they have a pool table, table tennis, foos ball, an outdoor swimming pool (closed during the winter, of course) and other outdoor activities. One of the things we had to cross off of Grant’s list is sitting in a hammock.  He has never done this before, can you believe it?

Look how cute he is!  Me, on the other hand, have been in a hammock before, but have never tried getting in and out of one while pregnant, hence the “sprawled out and hanging on for dear life” pose I have going on—

After beating Grant at a game of pool–a first for me!–we went to cross something off both of our lists of things we’ve never done before–Snowshoeing (is that how you spell it?).

Neither of us could see how this is any fun.  You’re just walking on the snow.  Someone please tell me how this is supposed to be fun.  I understand it’s supposed to keep you from sinking into deep snow and you can take hikes in the woods with them on, but after about 5 minutes, and tears running down my face because I was laughing at us so hard, we had to call it quits.  I kept tripping over mine and Grant kept saying, “how is this fun?”  We decided to go for a walk to the lake instead.

We were both a little nervous because at breakfast that morning, one of the owners of the Inn asked us if we heard the bear the night before.  Bear?!  Apparently one got into the dumpster and turned it upside down.  So we were thankful that while on our walk we only saw a couple of deer.  When I took this picture, Grant whispered to me, “be vewy, vewy quiet.” Lol.

Can you see it there? 

We got to the lake safe and sound.  This place must be so packed during the summer because there seems to be more to do outside, but we weren’t complaining.  It was so quiet and wonderful!

That night we found a little steak house for dinner.  The steak house was little, but the steaks were NOT!  Grant got a 22 oz steak.  When the waiter brought it over, he said, “here’s your meatloaf.”  Lol

I got the coconut shrimp.  Yum!

We left for home the next day (Christmas Eve) after what was such a relaxing time away.  Oh ya, our room had a bbq on the deck, which we had to get a picture of before we left. 

We took our time driving back home, even stopping in Albany at this huge mall they have.  We bought two shirts for Jebediah that we couldn’t resist

Aren’t they adorable??!!  I can’t wait to see little Jebediah running around in these!!  After we opened presents on Christmas day, we went over to Allison’s house for an early dinner–Grant had to be at work at 4:00 pm.  Rediculous, huh?  Ya.  But we enjoyed as much of the day together and with friends as we could.  Allison’s kids got a basketball game they put in their basement. FUN!

I’m off work until January 4th, but Grant will still be working everyday, since he’s in season.  But the next big event?  The Ducks in the Rose Bowl.  I’ll have to wear my new gear–

GO DUCKS!!!

This weekend was the weekend for getting into the Christmas spirit.  On Saturday, Grant and I went to get our Christmas tree, and I’d have to say, we picked out the perfect one!

But we couldn’t decorate it right away when we got home because we met up with Kwame and Julie, Allison and Dan and their kids at the Lloyd’s church, which was putting on a show, “Christmas Spectacular.”  It was a concert of Christmas carols, a dance team, a short skit at the beginning… it was fun.  My favorite part was their rendition of Little Drummer Boy, and I think Jebediah liked it too because he/she started kicking all around during that number!  Lol.  Afterwards, we went to the Lloyds for some food and to hang out.  Grant and I decided we had to get a picture together because I don’t think we have since we found out we’re having a baby.  How is that possible?!?  Let’s remedy that, shall we?

Can I just say how much I love being pregnant?  Ok.

Last night, we finally took the time to decorate the tree–which didn’t take very long, since we don’t have a ton of ornaments… let’s remedy that too, at some point.  Anyway, here is our tree all done:

And yes, that is the tablecloth we used to have on our dining room table every Christmas when I was growing up being used as the tree skirt.  One of these days I might get a real tree skirt, but this is very handy for now, plus it reminds me of my childhood.  Next, we tried taking a picture of the tree with the lights off so you could see the tree lights, but the best shot we could get was this:

A crazy blurry tree!  Maybe it’s time for a new camera.  Let’s remedy that as well.  Besides, we’ll need to take some good pictures of Jebediah when she/he gets here!  So now, our house is all decorated for Christmas and with the tree, it just pulls everything together. 

For about a year, I’ve been searching for a new set of dishes.  When Grant and I got married, I saw purple dishes at Target when we were registering that I “just had to have!”  But I’m so sick of them now.  They weigh a ton, they get really hot when you microwave something in them (they get hot before your food does, how annoying is that?!) and we’ve even had a couple explode on us.  I haven’t found a set that Grant and I both like, so the search continued.  When my mom was here I mentioned my search for dishes and when she got back home to Oregon, she saw JC Penny’s had a 72 piece set that was, like, half off or something ridiculous and she ended up buying us a set as a Christmas present!  Thanks again, mom!  As soon as they arrived, I had to bust them open and get to using them right away

They are somewhat plain, which I like, with the little “pearls” along the edge.  Wait, did I get more of my food in that shot than the actual dish?!? Lol, typical, right?  That is a new pasta dish I found a recipe for and it is legit!  A mixture of alfredo and marinara sauce, with some other ingredients.  Let me know if you want the recipe and I’ll email it to you.  Mmmm, it is good, even though it might look nasty in this picture, it really is delicious!

Christmas decorations–check.  Christmas tree–check.  Christmas gifts–almost checked off.  Next up, Christmas break!

I think it is official… I have popped!

Again, I think I look bigger than I actually am… maybe it’s because that tank top is one I was just wearing this summer and it more than covered my (then) flat stomach.  Now it might be stretched beyond repair!  Ha ha!  While Grant was away for Thanksgiving, I told him “I think I’ve grown more already.”  He wasn’t quite sure about it until he saw me–yup! Definitely bigger.  We finally took pictures and measured my waist for the first time (!!!)  Here are my stats so far:

Dec 8th: The beginning of week 23 (6 months already?!?!)

Waist size: 38″  I think I was somewhere around 28″ pre-Jebediah.  Total weight gain: 14lbs.  Not bad, I’d say!  But I know the baby will begin to grow quickly now and I’m sure I will too. 

My O.B. says with my size, I should gain about 25-30 lbs total. I think I’m on a good track so far.  I need to get back into exercising.  Pre-baby I was running about 3-3 1/2 miles 4-5 days a week.  My first trimester, this diminished very quickly because I was sooooo tired and naseus all the time.  Now that I’m in my second trimester, I have a lot more energy, but I could still sleep at any time during the day. Ha ha!  Last week I bought a Pilates During Pregnancy dvd to try to switch up my routine of walking on the treadmill a little bit.  Your question might be the same Grant’s was when I told him about it “You never did pilates before, why are you starting it now?!”  And to that I say, ya, I’m not doing it.  IT IS HARD!!!!  I just did the beginning section that focused on breathing, but it’s hard to breathe while you are also laying on your back with your legs in the air trying to touch your toes.  Are you kidding me?  Screw this!!!  I couldn’t do half the stuff the dvd was telling me to do, and I think I’m in pretty good shape.  I’ve heard a lot about prenatal yoga and maybe that is the way to go.  Anyway, I’m also eating pretty healthy.  One of the best things about this time of year is Clementines.  They are such a healthy, convenient snack and I could eat 10 of them in a day!  I’ve come to find Jebediah loves apples.  Everytime I eat one, by the time I’m halfway through, baby starts movin’ and a shakin’!!  It’s my go-to when I want to get Jebediah moving.  But most of the time, this baby is moving all on its own.  Usually right after I eat, but also first thing in the morning after I’ve hit the snooze button once and I’m halfway awake.  I roll over and adjust my position and so does this baby.  It’s a wonderfully strange feeling. 

There is a list of things I could complain about regarding being pregnant.  But all of that stuff goes out the window when I feel the little kicks and rolls of this wonderful baby!

My mom was visiting from Oregon for Thanksgiving, and I fully intended to update my blog as things happened, but of course, we ended up spending all of our free time (which we thankfully had a lot of) shopping!  Here are some of grandma’s wonderful finds for her new grandson/granddaughter

Ugh!! SO CUTE!!! The outfit on the left has that top you see, plus another one with a little duck on it.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it on here yet or not, but I’m thinking monkeys are the cutest thing for Jebediah right now–I don’t know why or where that even first came from, but I’m loving monkeys for our little monkey (at least for the moment–this could change at any moment to something entirely different). But we found the bib (“I’m bananas over Mommy”) and the monkey pjs and had to get them!  And the frogs are just so cute too!  Added bonus? The lighter colored frogs match the nursery wall color exactly! Who knew?!  I think we were in Kohl’s for about 2 hours JUST in the baby section oooh-ing and awwww-ing over all the cute baby and kid clothes.  How can you not?  We also went to a baby shower of a woman who goes to my church.  We had a little to eat, including some amazing cupcakes, and watched Rachel open all of her cute gifts for her soon-to-be-arriving baby girl.  More ooooh-ing and awwww-ing commenced!

Thanksgiving was a great day.  My mom and I got up early to stuff the bird and put it in the oven–well, she stuffed and I mostly watched and assisted!

After finishing up the rest of our cooking, it was time to dig in!  This year it was just the two of us because Grant was on the road with the men’s basketball team–which was weird not having him around.  We are such foodies and love to eat, that it was a shame he had to settle for our leftovers almost a week later. But it turns out, he had a total of 3 separate Thanksgiving meals the week he was gone: 2 at player’s houses (1 on Sunday, the other on Wednesday) and on Thanksgiving he was invited to dinner with one of the assistant coaches, whose wife’s family lived in the Philidelphia area where they were.  So trust me, he didn’t starve my any means!  Lol.  Our meal back at home turned out delicious!

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, acorn squash (mom’s specialty–YUM!), cabbage, macaroni and cheese, rolls.  Oh my goodness.  Yum.  We had no time for the usual nap before cleaning up because we had been invited over to my boss’ house for dessert!  So we sat for a little, let our food digest, cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and headed out! He (Jon) and his girlfriend (Joan) recently bought a house together and all their kids were visiting too.  I’d met Jon’s kids before because they would come to the office to see him, but I’ve never met Joan’s kids (I say “kids” but everyone is grown, in college or married). Everyone was so nice and we had some delicious desserts, talked, and played cards. 

The rest of my mom’s visit was filled with shopping, shopping, and more shopping.  We were on the hunt for a winter coat for me and my ever-expanding belly.  After coming to the conclusion that NO ONE (except Motherhood Maternity, which even still has a very limited selection; and for Vermont, that was shocking to me…) sells maternity coats.  What do pregnant women do here in the middle of winter when it’s -20* outside?!?  Thankfully, Old Navy pulled through–not with a maternity winter coat, but with a regular winter coat in a larger size.  And it’s cute!  White, down to just above my knees, tie around the waist (which I actually have to tie like it’s an empire waist cuz my belly is so round!) and faux fur around the hood.  I love it!!!  And I also love Church Street in December.  They put lights up on every tree lining the street and it just makes it feel like Christmas.  After many attempts at taking a picture of ourselves and the trees in the background….

Ya, notice no trees in the background and why do my eyes always bug out like that lately when I take pictures?!?!?!  Anyway, a nice woman came by and noticed us struggling (I wonder how long she had actually been watching us fail at getting a good picture of ourselves?) she offered to take our picture

Ahh!  Success!!  And yes, that’s my new coat!  Lol.  I had a great time with my mom and I am thankful she was able to come visit.  I’m thankful that Grant got home safely from his long road trip and only has one more (shorter) trip and then gets to be home for a long time.  I’m thankful for this healthy baby that will be here before we know it.  And I’m thankful for great friends and family.  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to take a moment to remind yourself of the things you’re thankful for.  It’s easy to go about our daily routines without giving much thought to what we’ve been blessed with.  Haven’t done this?  Take a moment now–I’m sure your list will come to you easier and faster than you’d expect!