The Bucket List

With the hospital bags packed and the nursery taken care of, I have found myself at loose ends.

A sane person would let themself rest before all the 2 am feedings and millions of diaper changes, but I don't really rest. Resting is stressful and for some reason stirs up alot of guilt within me. And as much as my husband likes to pretend that he likes to, he doesn't really rest either.

So last Thursday we went to the DMA to see the exhibit Through the Lens of Impressionism. It was really interesting to look at some early photography and compare it to the art going on at the time. We also stopped in on an an exhibit by Jacob Lawrence which documented the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who was basically the Haitian George Washington.

Note: An awesome wedding guest gave us a year-long membership to the DMA, and this is the third time we've used it so far. If you know a couple that would use the membership, this is definitely an awesome outside-the-box wedding gift idea!

Then on Saturday we fulfilled one of Greg's bucket list items and went to an FC Dallas game. Though it was windy, the sky was clear and the game was exciting. Dallas played Houston, which is a big rival and they tied which Greg was happy about (I think they were picked to lose).

And Sunday was spent outdoors as well. We planted a garden! Our backyard came equipped with a garden patch already, all it needed was a little TLC. We raked it out, re-lined the outside with new stones, tilled the soil, added new soil, and planted some tomato plants, cucumbers, bell peppers, and zucchini as well as every herb you can think of. I love working with my husband, making decisions and looking at our finished product. I can't wait to start cooking with some fresh veggies from my very own garden.


Also, when I went to the Dr. last, I had lost close to 3 lbs. Apparently this is common for the last few weeks of pregnancy b/c the baby is using up so much fuel. That puts me at an overall gain for the pregnancy of 26 pounds so far (how much of that was muscle turned to fat, I really don't like to think about). I decided to let myself truly enjoy these last few weeks without abandon because I know that after the little one arrives I will be back to my more typical fare in hopes of having some semblance of abs. So amongst all the adventures, we also threw in Twisted Root burgers and shakes, lemon-raspberry cheesecake, french toast from a greasy spoon diner we stumbled upon, and to top off the weekend a rootbeer float!!

This weekend will be filled with family activities and more eating. Maybe, I'll actually take some pictures.

This Song Makes Me Happy

This fun song, by one of my favorite singer/songwriters, has always made me smile, but it has appealled to me even more as I've been preparing for teaching my little ones about religion.

http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627052148886810

Can't wait to teach it to my son. Though he will be brought up Catholic, I hope I can instill in him the beauty and central theme of peace and self-sacrifice in all the world's religions.

Hope you're having a hippie-dippie Hump Day, too!

Recipe Review: Bulgur and Beef Stuffed Peppers

Eventually, I am going to get better at taking pictures of the food I make. But for now, I am just working on getting it "blogged."

In an effort to put away food for when the boy arrives, I am trying to make big recipes for dinner and freeze half to thaw and heat. Yesterday I stumbled across a list from Good Housekeeping of some interesting freezable foods that seem to have tiny bit more panache and fresh ingredients than the usual suggestions for freezing (King Ranch Chicken??). I decided on Bulgur and Beef Stuffed Peppers, because 1. I already had some beef and 2. it includes feta and dill, which I love and 3. I had been wanting to buy some bulgur anyways to make tabouli.

So last night I made 8 large stuffed peppers, and stowed away four of them. Overall, I was pleased with the results.

TWEAKS:

• Anyone who knows Coach A would know that one pound of ground beef divided between two separate dinners is not nearly enough. I had about 3/4 of a pound of ground pork and veal leftover from the best meatball sliders ever. I threw this into the mix to make the meat to bulgur ratio a little larger. This of course resulted in a surplus of filling, which I saved this to thaw out and throw into some pitas paired with a greek salad.
• Because I had my first cankle-sighting yesterday, I opted not to add any salt to the recipe. I figured the sodium in the low-sodium chicken broth and the feta cheese would be enough. It was enough... for me. Not a dish I would serve to company without adding the 1/4 teaspoon of salt the recipe calls for.

I would give this recipe a 7 out of 10, likely due to my lack of seasoning. The flavor of the filling was really good and the bulgur added a great texture. Though these peppers didn't blow my mind, it will be lovely to pull them out of the frrezer in a few weeks and have a hot filling meal ready with hardly any work.

Next week, I am going to try the Curried Sweet Potato Shephards Pie and freeze it as well.

Soooo ready.

In addition to seeing my baby, I am so ready to:

• Run 3 miles.


• See my toes.


• Do chaturanga.


• Sit in the sauna.


• Have a shot of tequila.


• Go more than 15 min without using the restroom.


• Eat a spicy salmon roll.

Pregnancy Memories: Part 1

35 weeks prego today. So soon he will be here. Once he gets here, he will be an integral part of our family. Soon life without him will seem like another time and place. This is OK with me. I had very fulfilling, adventurous life up until Mommy-hood. I know my crazy memories will remain vivid. I am ready for this new chapter. And I know my adventures aren’t over. There isn’t anywhere I can’t go with a Baby Bjorn or a stroller in tow. I tell him all the time that I am going to take him EVERYWHERE.

One thing that may fade with time is this relatively short interlude I’ve had with my son inside me. So I feel the need to put down for posterity my memory of this special time with him.... this time that he is living and growing inside me alone. I can’t wait to see his face and kiss his cheek. And pretty soon, I will get to share him with the rest of the world.

So here is my first installment of memories I have of this most amazing adventure I’ve had with my boy

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The beginning:

Greg told me when we got engaged that he was ready to start a family as soon as possible, but that he wanted to wait until I was completely ready. A month or so before the wedding, I told him that with all the stress of planning the wedding I wanted to wait a few months before trying for a baby. I couldn’t imagine jumping into planning something all over again. He was completely supportive of this.

All of this flew out the window once we got done with the wedding and spent some blissful time alone together on our honeymoon in Spain. I knew I wanted this wonderful man to be the father of my children as soon as possible. I told him I didn’t want to twiddle my thumbs like I thought and that I was ready for another whirlwind. He was elated, and we, well.... you know, honeymooned it up!

Our last day in Barcelona we stumbled across an outdoor market while cruising the Barri Gotic. In one of the stalls some women were selling some beautiful hand-woven organic cotton baby clothes. As we had a new niece, Ava, in the family, I stopped to admire and coo at the clothes (isn’t it weird how tiny dresses and ties can make women do that). Greg picked up a tiny pair of booties and said, “We should get these.” I said “Those are too small for Ava, I think.”And he smiled and said, “No, for our baby.” It was then that I realized we were really committing to starting a family.

The booties are sitting on a shelf in the nursery right now, ready to be worn home from the hospital. I plan to have all of my babies wear them (God willing).

The news:

Due to some cramping and other PMS-like issues, I thought Aunt Flow was well on her way, but I decided to take a test anyways since I was ½ a day late. I felt sure that it couldn’t have happened so quickly since we had only just started trying. However, I had plans to drink a big fat glass of red wine to drown my grumpies that evening, so I decided to take a test just so I could have the wine without a side of uneasiness and doubt. I bought the test on my lunch break, and since I am reeeeeeealllly impatient, I took it in the bathroom at work. BAD idea. It came back positive and I didn’t even know what to do with myself, I was so happy. I think I paced back and forth in the handicapped stall for 15 minutes before exiting the restroom. I put my hand on my stomach and I promised the life inside me, the little piece of heaven, that I would do everything in my power to take care of it. Part of taking care of my baby, means taking care of me... so I headed off to my bootcamp. Outdoors. In August.

After bootcamp, I went to Barnes and Noble and picked myself up a copy of “What to Expect When you are Expecting” and a book for Greg called “The Expectant Father.” When I got home, I told Greg I had gone to the bookstore to pick up a book for school and had grabbed a book for him too. I pulled it out of the bag, and had stashed the test (in a plastic bag) inside the front cover. He looked at the title of the book... then opened the cover and looked at the test... then looked at me... and said “Are you pregnant?” I never want to forget the look on his face when I said yes. The strongest man I know almost fell down because he got week in the knees. I could see so much pride in his eyes.

We went to our favorite place, Grimaldi’s for pizza and root beer to celebrate and then plotted how to tell family and friends. This was also the last time we ate Grimaldi’s... as the thought of it, even now, makes me nauseous.

We told Greg’s parents the following week on the day they helped up make an offer on our first house. Greg’s mom was ecstatic and Greg’s Dad seemed happy but a little confused.

We told my parents on my Mom’s 50th birthday. I gave her a book called “Read to Me, Grandma” with a card from the baby. My mom, of course, was elated. And I looked over at my Dad and he, of course, had his famous “twinkle” glistening in his eyes. I get the waterworks from Dad. Mom is a bit more stoic.

The universal response to the news of our pregnancy was "That was quick!" I know we will forever have people doing the math when we tell them the date of our wedding and the date of our eldest's birth.

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I’ll be back soon with everything I can remember about the first trimester...