Tuesday, June 18, 2013

32 Weeks - We're on Vacation!

BABY BOO IS 32 WEEKS ALONG, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SQUASH
SKIN IS SMOOTHER AND PLUMPER, AND HE HAS BABY FUZZ

This week we are on vacation in upstate New York with my family and so far it has been a great time!  My cousin Katy got married on the 15th in a beautiful ceremony in Saratoga, with a gorgeous reception to follow.  The wedding festivities have been great!  My Aunt threw a family BBQ the day before, then they lucked out with PERFECT weather on the day of the wedding, and there was a nice brunch the day after.  All in all, a perfect wedding weekend.  It has also been fun for me because it was the first time my extended family has seen me pregnant, and everyone was so excited.  Although being so big made it hard to dance at the reception.... I just wanted to DANCE!!  lol!

Cousins :)

3 (almost 4!) generations

The happy couple

At the ceremony

The gorgeous venue

Real baby and Food baby ;)
(with my sister)


Sunday, June 9, 2013

Prenatal Nutrition - Pumpkin Muffins


I found this delicious recipe on my Baby Center app this morning and I realized I had all the ingredients, including the pumpkin!  So I got up and made them for breakfast.  They are delicious and packed with vitamins and nutrients that are important for pregnant women.  The only thing I didn't have ingredients for was the optional creamy orange spread they suggest at the bottom of the recipe.  So instead I made some orange butter, which was perfect with the muffins.  These are only slightly sweet, and I like them that way, but if you like your muffins sweeter then you could up the sugar to a whole cup.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
2 egg whites or 1 egg
1 tablespoon margarine
3⁄4 cup + 2 tablespoons canned unsweetened pumpkin
2⁄3 cup brown sugar
3⁄4 cup skim milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and nutmeg
1⁄2 cup raisins, optional (I added 1/4 cup raisins and 1/4 cup chopped pecans)
Cooking spray

Preparations:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, light margarine, pumpkin, sugar, and milk. In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients.
2. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until blended. Fold in raisins, if desired.
3. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Serving suggestion:
Serve with creamy orange spread: Mix fat-free cream cheese, orange marmalade, and powdered sugar to taste.
I didn't have these ingredients, so I made some orange butter instead by mixing together the following ingredients:
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 tsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Nutrient analysis per serving:
169 calories
36 grams carbohydrate
4 grams protein
1 gram fat

Key nutrients:
50% vitamin A
17% thiamin
12% iron

Diabetic exchanges:
2 1⁄2 starches

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

30 Weeks - We're in the Home Stretch!

"Peace" ;)

BABY BOO IS 30 WEEKS ALONG, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A PUMPKIN
HE IS RESPONDING TO LIGHT. ALMOST ALL MAJOR ORGANS ARE FUNCTIONING.

It's so exciting to be at 30 weeks!  Only 10 more weeks to go... wow!  We have a lot planned for the summer, so hopefully the time will fly by til we get to meet our little Boo!  It is so cool how much more he has been interacting with me.  I can find his feet now (or it might be his hands... not sure).  They feel like little knobs that fit under only two of my finger tips.  When I find them he'll move them away or kick back at me.  I love it!

Coming up this month we have a lot going on.  My cousin is getting married on June 15th, so we'll be heading to Albany NY for that and then will spend a week at Lake George with my family for our annual vacation.  I am really looking forward to that!  I just wanna lay out by the water and do a whole lotta nothing!  After a week at the lake we'll head back to Albany for a family baby shower my Mom will be hosting.  So we've got a busy month ahead with one long, awesome vacation ahead of us.  ComFest is also coming up at the end of the month which is always a good time.  It will be interesting to go while pregnant!  Maybe I'll get my belly painted lol...

Friday, May 24, 2013

28 Weeks - 3rd Trimester and Our First Shower!

BABY BOO IS 28 WEEKS ALONG, ABOUT THE SIZE OF AN EGGPLANT
HE IS DOING LESS GYMNASTICS AND MORE KICKS AND ELBOW JABS

Well, it looks like I skipped Week 27, oops!  Oh well :)  The last two weeks have been busy!  My best friends came to town to throw us our first shower and it was so much fun!!  Amanda came all the way from L.A., Ashley came up from Naples, FL, and Lindsay drove in from Cincinnati.  My mom and sister also came to stay, even though Mom is throwing us a family shower in June.  Tim's Mom and sister also came for the shower, even though they are throwing one for his family in July.  We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many generous people!  This shower was for my friends here in Columbus and everyone was so generous.  We got Boo's play gym, jumper, and mobile, plus lots of toys, books, and clothes.  So adorable!!  My friend Kim from book club made him an AMAZING colorful crochet blanket!  I know he is going to love staring and exploring that thing during tummy time :)  

My beautiful hostesses :)  Amanda, me, Lindsay, Ashley

The amazing spread - delicious!


My friend Kristin's son, Adler - so cute!

Tim's mom gave us this onesie and a pic of Tim wearing it when he was a baby!
We will have to get a similar pic of Boo wearing it, too.


Love this blanket!

Almost all of my bridesmaids were there!  Just missing my cousin.

My book club girls!  Love these ladies!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

26 Weeks - Movin' and Shakin'

BABY BOO IS 26 WEEKS OLD, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A CABBAGE
HE MAY BE ABLE TO HEAR AND RECOGNIZE OUR VOICES

Well I'm a day late with this post but that's OK.  We had a busy weekend!  The Kentucky Derby was on Saturday so we went down to Louisville for our friend's annual Derby Party.  We've been doing this for several years now and while the hosts have changed over the years, the tradition remains the same.  Tim and I used to go to Louisville all the time for shows, parties, etc (oh, to be back in our 20's!) but now we're lucky to see our southern friends once a year for the Derby.  It's a sad change but that's what happens when everyone starts getting married and having babies.  Which is, in fact, not sad at all  :)


It has been the COOLEST thing seeing Boo move from the outside of my belly!  I can't get enough!  When I feel him move, I love to just watch my belly for those little pulses and quivers.  But whenever I tell Tim to come over and take a look, Boo stops his little dance routine!  He always gets stage fright for Daddy, which is so weird.  I hope Tim get's a chance to see some of the big movements I have.  He has only seen little twitches so far.  But when my whole belly moves and shakes it is AWESOME.  A couple of the girls at work have had a chance to see and feel him kick which was so much fun to show them.  I, and my boss Amanda who is pregnant now as well, are the first on the team to have kids so the whole thing is mostly new to everyone else.  I hope to capture the movement on video one of these days.


Tuesday, April 30, 2013

25 Weeks - Making Progress on the Nursery

BABY BOO IS 25 WEEKS ALONG, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A CAULIFLOWER
BRAIN TISSUE AND NEURONS ARE GROWING FAST!


We are making some progress on Boo's nursery and I'm loving how it's coming along!  I hope he loves his eclectic, colorful nursery as much a I do.  First up, we ordered that huge 8ftx10ft colorful rug off of Amazon for an amazing deal!  First I found it at Target for about $350, which was a great deal to begin with, but then I decided to check Amazon before ordering... I'm so glad I did!  They had the same one listed for $189!!!  Rugs are so expensive, especially large ones, so I had resigned myself to the fact that we'd probably have to shell out upwards of $800 or more for a cute one.  Nope!  And with our Amazon Prime subscription it was at our house in 2 days with free shipping whoop whoop!!  


Then the other day I found those pretty curtains at Target.  I love the ombre effect and fun orangey-coral color.  I was stuck on what to do for curtains, but when I saw those I knew they were perfect.  I've also ordered a super comfy upholstered glider and ottoman from Buy Buy Baby, but they probably won't be here til around the time Boo is born!  Hopefully they arrive before he does but if not, oh well.  I didn't realize there would be such a long manufacturing and shipping time frame.  It's similar to this one but solid green, not patterned, and comes with a matching gliding ottoman.


And last but not least, I found the most adorable print shop on Etsy, Kindertype.  The artist, Rachel, creates charming and whimsical graphic prints for kids rooms.  


I LOVED her style and her adorable Hot Air Balloon print, so I contacted her about creating an airplane print that could coordinate with the balloon.  We want to include as many aviation details in the room as we can, but almost every airplane print I found wasn't what I wanted.  But I knew if she created one I would love it.  Well she was totally receptive to the idea and created a darling set, which we will order in the Orange and Blue colorway above.  She has been so lovely to work with, and her work is amazing, so if anyone out there is looking for fantastic wall art for your little one's room be sure to check out Kindertype :)



Tuesday, April 23, 2013

24 Weeks - Boo is Super Active!

BABY BOO IS 24 WEEKS OLD, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A CAULIFLOWER
HE IS USING HIS HANDS TO EXPLORE A NEW WORLD OF TACTILE SENSATIONS

It's really amazing how Boo is responding to my movements now.  If I'm sitting back in my chair and then lean forward, he punches and kicks up a storm haha!  Same thing happens if I roll over in bed.  I am loving this stage so much.  It's amazing to feel him move and respond.  Proves there's a little person in there with his own mind and his own feelings.   And to SEE him move is even more amazing!!  I could play games with him for hours :)  He'll kick, I'll push back, and he'll kick my hand again.  I even think I felt his head at one point, and every time I put my hand over it he'd start kicking and punching a TON.  I think it wasn't comfortable for him haha!  So I only did that a couple times.  After a while I couldn't feel his head in that spot anymore.  I think it was his head - it was a domed round spot, slightly firmer than any other spot on my belly.  And then it wasn't there anymore, like he moved.  Tim is in Cincinnati for a few days this week to do some training for work, so I'm sorry he wasn't here to play along with us.  

This past weekend I got a big help from my friend Kristin - she lent me a bunch of her maternity clothes!  Her little guy, Adler, was born last summer so she had tons of stuff I could borrow.  I am so grateful for it!  These things add up and it's saving me a lot of money.  She had the most adorable maxi dress which I intend to get a lot of use out of, as well as many nicer tops that she used for work but that I could use for going out to dinner and such.  The outfit I'm wearing in the photo above is more normal for me at work, we don't dress up at all.  She also had a pretty bridesmaids dress she wore when she was 36 weeks in her friend's wedding and she's letting me borrow it for my cousin's wedding this summer!  I'm not in the wedding, but I needed something dressy and her dress is perfect.