"The One"

Sweet lord, I think we found "The One."

THE daycare provider, that is. THE perfect person for us and our baby.

She's everything we ever dreamed she would be.

From the beginning of our search, I had this ideal picture in my head of what we wanted in a daycare provider. We have family and friends who have had really good luck with in-home providers, and we liked the idea of one person getting to know our baby throughout his/her early childhood. We hoped we'd find someone who would not only care for our baby while we're at work, but someone who would LOVE our baby.

We had high hopes for the first in-home provider we met with, but that was a disaster. We were not comfortable with her or her house at all. So then we thought, maybe we don't want an in-home provider. Maybe a center would be a better fit for us. So we visited one of those, and actually did love it--but couldn't stomach the cost of it.

My coworker, with whom I share a cubicle wall, recommended that we look into the woman who watches her kids. Her daughters are 3 and 1, and her oldest has been with this woman since she was just a few months old. Because my coworker works part-time and has family that pitches in to care for her kids, she only uses this woman one day per week, and she mentioned how she was looking for some more permanent, full-time kids. I gave her a call, and we just now had the time to meet tonight.

And she. is. AWESOME.

She LOVES these kids. Like, truly loves them. She has relationships with the parents outside of her business, and she attends events in the children's lives. She has a couple of school-age children who come for a couple of hours after school, and they've been with her since they were infants. She has a background in child development, so she plans a mini curriculum with related activities and "lessons" for the kids. She bakes cakes and cookies with them; she does arts and crafts projects. She proudly showed us handfuls of photos she's taken of the kids she cares for. Her house was cluttered (lots and lots of toys!) but clean. She has a big, fenced-in backyard. She values nutrition and feeds the kids as healthy as they'll let her (some kids are really picky). She is a freelance children's book illustrator, and works at a children's museum on the weekends.

I mean, seriously now. LOVE her.

She is a talker, for sure. We sat with her for an hour and 15 minutes, just chatting and getting to know each other. We bonded over our dogs, and she told us all about her grown children.

She is PERFECT, people. Just perfect.

It's true what people say--you'll know when you know. It's right when it's right.

I am so excited I could scream. We plan to call her back tomorrow, fill out her paperwork, and put down a deposit. And I cannot even tell you how good it feels to know that this weight, this thing that has been causing a ball of stress in the pit of my stomach for the last few weeks? It will be gone.

Because we found her! We really found her!

Read more...

Baby Shower #1

On Sunday, I was given a baby shower by my sisters-in-law on my side of the family--Kara and Marie. It was a nice, but REALLY HUMID day, so I was definitely grateful for the central air conditioning at my mom's house, where the shower was held. It was a bummer we weren't able to be outside on the deck, though!

Everyone arrived around noon. The guests were all women, but we managed to recruit my brothers and Michael to attend so that they could grill for all of us. There was a lot of good food, and good times were had by all.

I'm so glad that I was able to split things into two showers this time. For my bridal shower, I just had one big shower, so there were about 40-45 people there. It was nice, of course, but it was overwhelming. I felt like I didn't really get to see or talk to anybody, and I felt badly that people had come to celebrate with me and had seen so little of me. This time, each side of the family offered to throw a shower, so I was able to split the guest list among two dates. Today, we only had 17 guests and it was fabulous! I actually got to visit with everyone.

Some photos:

Kara and Marie decided to do a bee theme, because they came across an idea online for a unisex shower that was, "What will our baby bee?" It was cute. Kara made the cake.

Obligatory diaper cake!

Little man Hunter brought up to the male to female ratio a little bit, too. Here he is, hanging out with Uncle Michael.

The guys left him inside when they were out on the deck grilling, and Hunter wanted to go out there with them SO BADLY. He just stood at the window, staring at them. They eventually gave into his cute little face and brought him out to join the guys.

He was sleepy, so he was toting his blankie everywhere. He reminds me of Linus from Charlie Brown. :)

After we ate lunch, we played a couple of games that Kara and Marie set up--they were fun, "brain-teaser" type games that I really quite enjoyed (I'm not usually a huge fan of shower games!). For one, we were given names of TV shows and had to name the kids that were on each show. For example, The Simpsons--we had to come up with Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Or The Cosby Show--we had to come up with Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa, and Rudy. It was actually quite challenging! Whoever got the most correct answers won that game.

For the second one, it was a word scramble, and all of the words were baby items. Whoever got all of them solved correctly first won. I had most of them done pretty quickly, but was stuck on one last one, and my cousin ended up beating me out! Damn! (The word I was stuck on? "Sunshade.")

Games were followed by presents:

We received quite a bit of stuff. Everyone was so generous. Hooded towels and wash cloths, diapers (we actually plan to use cloth, but we're still going to need disposables for the first few weeks at least!), onesies, pajamas...

...the baby bath tub, a bunch of Johnson & Johnson bath products, little toys, pajamas, blankets, and more. So much more! Notice my little helper in the pictures. That's my little cousin, Mia, who is almost 3 years old. She's going to become a big sister in just a few short weeks, and she's going to be the BIGGEST mommy's helper! She's hilarious! She retrieved all of my gifts for me, and helped me open them, too.

My mother-in-law crocheted this beautiful blanket. I love it!

After presents, we did cake, and soon after that, people started to take off. I was proud of myself and my hostesses for keeping things moving--I hate when showers drag and you're forced to sit around for hours. We were all business and got things wrapped up so that people could get on with their Sundays!

My good friend, Carrie, and me. We've been friends since high school and even though we very rarely get to see each other, I love her dearly!

And of course, my lovely hostesses and me. They did a great job and I'm so grateful to them for all of the work they put into everything. It's so nice to be "pampered" with a baby shower and I feel very lucky that I had these two to do it for me!

Read more...

28 Weeks: I Want to Meet My Baby!

Alright... 28 weeks into this, the suspense is getting to me.

The baby has a room now. We have a baby's room in our house. With a crib. And a dresser. And a glider.

The baby bedding is officially done and in the crib. Today, the crib mattress arrived.

To top it all off, I had my first baby shower yesterday. So we have baby gear--a pack n play, a bath tub, a bouncer. And tiny pajamas. And itsy bitsy socks. Receiving blankets and hooded towels.

I've been going into the nursery just to look at it all. Now that we have all this stuff, I am so extremely anxious to have the little person to use it all.

I want to know if it's a boy or a girl. I want to know if we have a son or a daughter. I want to know whether we'll have a closet full of blue or pink. I want to know which name we're going to put up on the wall.

I want to meet my baby!

28 Weeks Pregnant

But there are 12 weeks to go. I know they'll "fly," but it just seems like such a long time to wait. After all, 12 weeks ago, I was only 16 weeks pregnant. And that seems like it was an eternity ago!

I need to exercise patience. Thankfully, we're keeping very busy, which helps.

The search for daycare is still on. I forgot to mention in my update last week that we went and looked at a daycare center last week. It was perfect. It's two minutes from where I work, the director of the infant program was amazing, all of the kids seemed happy and engaged, and we were comfortable there. Then, they handed us the price sheet and we realized that this place was just NOT GONNA HAPPEN. It costs more per week than I've ever even heard of. I'm pretty damn sure it's THE most expensive in the area.

And so we continue. We're interviewing another in-home option tomorrow. I so badly want it to be everything we're looking for and more. I want it to work out perfectly so we can stop worrying about this and move on with our lives. Please, pretty please oh please, let this work out. Please.

As I mentioned above--after the new carpet was put in on Thursday and Friday and we put the house back together, we moved the nursery furniture into the house on Saturday. We put together the crib, the dresser, and the glider, and I *LOVE* them all. We have everything in its place and it's so exciting.

Pregnancy-wise, I still have a miserable cold. Baby is active throughout the day, and it's still amazing to feel and see. Michael felt a couple of really strong kicks last week, which was funny. Baby is over two pounds now and can apparently open/close his/her eyelids.

We signed up for birth preparation classes, which start on July 12, and we also registered for our hospital orientation/tour. Things are getting done!

This week, I go for my last 4-week appointment, then I start going every two weeks. Crazy to think that I'll be there on Friday and then back again in just TWO WEEKS!

All of this demonstrates to me that we really ARE getting close. So WHY does baby's birthday still seem SO.FAR.AWAY?! :)

Keep growing in there, Baby, but just know that I can't wait to see your sweet little face!

Read more...

Blueberry Pancakes

For about 50 weeks out of the year, fresh blueberries are too expensive for me to consider buying in a grocery store. But there comes a time, every summer, when blueberries suddenly drop in price and you can snatch them up. And then... well, then you have to figure out how you're going to use up all of those berries.

Yesterday, we spent the entire day tackling a really long "to-do" list I had crafted for us. We spent the biggest chunk of time putting together nursery furniture, and after all that work, we wanted a dinner that required very little effort.

Enter breakfast for dinner.

And given that we had multiple pints of blueberries sitting in the fridge, it just made sense to do blueberry pancakes.

These are light and fluffy and generally wonderful. Everything you'd expect out of a pancake. Of course, the blueberries give them the bulk of their flavor, so if you have good berries, it makes sense you'd have good pancakes!

The recipe is from Allrecipes.com, but as always, I adapted it to make more pancakes. Extra pancakes are just too good not to have around! (And I'll mention again--the best way to reheat leftover pancakes is in the toaster.)

Blueberry Pancakes
(Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. baking powder
- 2 1/2 tsp. white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tbsp. butter, melted
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups blueberries (add more or less, depending on preference)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.

2. In a small bowl, beat together egg and milk. Stir milk and egg into flour mixture.

3. Mix in the butter and fold in the blueberries. Set aside for one hour (not necessary, but whatever floats your boat!).

4. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Read more...

Just Say No

One of the things that women never tell you about pregnancy: It really, really sucks when you can't take good drugs. (The legal ones, of course.)

I had a pretty bad cold after we got back from Florida, but I was really only miserable for a day or so before my body kicked it and it was gone. There was a 24-hour period where I really wished I could take drugs, but it wasn't THAT bad.

My current cold (summer colds are the worst anyway, aren't they?) has been a whole different story.

My mom called me on Monday or Tuesday to tell me that she had suddenly come down with a really bad cold, and that she hoped I wouldn't get it (since I spent a good chunk of Sunday at her house with her, finishing the baby's bedding). I wasn't too worried, but sure enough, I woke up on Wednesday with the beginnings of a scratchy throat. Still, it wasn't bad.

By the time we did all of our HOURS of prep work for the carpet on Thursday night and got into bed, my throat was feeling pretty horrific. Not sore, but scratchy, and it was awful. I really could've benefited from some Nyquil, but since I had to go without, I was up ALL.NIGHT.LONG.

I hoped that the scratchy throat would just hurry up and turn into congestion already, but unfortunately, I spent yesterday trying to nurse the scratchy throat, too. I can only consume so many cough drops, people! As we were eating dinner and starting to get the house back together last night, I felt the scratchy throat begin to subside little by little... the price for the relief, however, was that my nose got stuffier and stuffier. By the time we were climbing into bed, I had developed a lovely cough and was blowing my nose pretty constantly.

And this morning, I woke up with a full-fledged cold. Niiiice.

The thing about the drugs is--when you're pregnant, you can take PLAIN Robitussin (no DM, or any of the good stuff) and PLAIN Sudafed (again, JUST pseudophedrine). And come on, we all know those don't do shit!

I have been trying to avoid taking medicine during pregnancy, but today, I was miserable enough where I just HAD to take something. Anything.

So I started treating my cough with the plain Robitussin. But I didn't have any plain Sudafed for my nasal congestion. Off to the pharmacy we went. Unable to find it on the shelves, I asked the pharmacist about it and he informed me that I'd have to buy it from behind the pharmacy counter. Since I used to work in a pharmacy years ago, I suspected this might be the case, but wasn't sure. So I go up to the cashier at the pharmacy and say I need to buy some plain ol' Sudafed. The kid says he needs my driver's license.

Like, an ID. To buy Sudafed.

The kid says to me, "People use this to make meth."

Suuuure. The meth-heads have to go and ruin it for all the miserable pregnant ladies out there. Figures.

And, pardon me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it seem a little backwards that the ONLY drug I can take while pregnant is the same drug that people use to make METH??

Read more...

New Carpet!

I told you earlier this week (in my 27-week pregnancy post) how we were getting new carpet. Well, here we are at the end of the week, and we do, in fact, have new carpet.

And we are EXHAUSTED.

It was SO.MUCH.WORK. I've come to the conclusion that the carpet guys have the EASY job. It's the preparation that is a complete and total bitch. From the minute we've gotten home from work to the minute we've gone to bed, every night this week, we've been subjected to hours of manual labor.

Moving every item we own off of the carpet was no small feat. Then there was ripping up all the old carpet, the padding, and staples in every room. And then there was massive cleaning. Then there was putting things back together. It was insane.

I worked from home yesterday and today so that we could get the carpet installed. Yesterday, they came and did the majority of the house, but they couldn't do our master bedroom because we just didn't have enough room to move the furniture out of there, too. So last night, we put the living room back together, then tore apart our bedroom. And then tonight, we got to move everything back into the bedroom.

The good news is that it is done, and it looks (and feels, AND smells) fabulous in here. The house is the cleanest it has been since we moved in, since we made sure to give everything a good scrubbing and/or vacuuming, including baseboards, all of the blinds, and all of the little things--books, DVDs, knick knacks, picture frames, etc.--have been dusted. For a nesting pregnant lady, it feels WONDERFUL.

So, before we officially crash... here are some photos! The living room is the only place I was consistent with taking photos, so they are the ones I'll share. Photos don't really do the project justice, but trust me when I say that new carpet is TOTALLY WORTH IT. If you've been thinking about it, DO IT.

Before:

The old carpet. It was really light in color, which made it difficult to keep clean. Throughout the past five years, it has started to show more dirt. It also felt really "worn" under your feet. Most frustrating were the really bad ripples that started popping up all over. You can see a few of them in these pictures, but here's one pic from the bedroom where you can see a bad one, too:

(Don't mind the random stuff in our room--this was after we had started to move things in there to get them out of the other areas of the house.)

During:

This is in the morning, before the guys came to install the first round of carpet. We ripped everything up down to the subfloors. (Don't you love the spray painting marks from where the owners before us painted the kitchen cabinet doors yellow?)

It wasn't long before the guys had the new padding down:

Then, they brought in the new carpet, which is more beige than white, so it's several shades darker than the old stuff (might be hard to tell in pics):

After:

It is so nice to have our house back. Actually, it's like it's a whole new house... so it's nice to have an even BETTER house back! Life can be normal again; YAY!

Read more...

Fettucine with Caramelized Cauliflower

At one of our local farmer's markets, there is a vendor that sells homemade pasta. They have a bunch of different "flavors" of pasta, including a cracked pepper variety. They also hand out recipes to go with the pastas, and this recipe is intended for the cracked pepper flavor. However, we've made it with both the specialty pasta and regular fettucine, and it's delicious both ways, so I figured I'd share!

The lemon, parsley, and crushed red pepper mixture doesn't seem like a lot, but it coats quite a bit of pasta, and the caramelized cauliflower helps give everything plenty of flavor. This is light and delicious, perfect for a summer evening.

Fettucine with Caramelized Cauliflower
(Source: Farmer's Market Vendor!)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. fettucine
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 small cauliflower, sliced into small pieces
- 1 cup fresh italian parsley
- 1 tbsp. grated lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
- parmesan cheese, for topping

Directions:
1. Start pasta water and preheat oven to 475 degrees.

2. Toss cauliflower in 2 tbsp. olive oil and spread out on an olive oil greased baking sheet. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Roast cauliflower in oven on top rack for 16-20 minutes or until browned.

4. In food processor, combine parsley, lemon zest, and 2 tbsp. olive oil to make a chunky "sauce."

5. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Toss the cooked pasta with the cauliflower, parsley mixture, and red pepper flakes in a serving bowl.

6. Top with grated parmesan cheese and serve.

Read more...

Cousins-to-Be

Last weekend, Michael's sister and the boys came up to visit us. We spent the afternoon running around the backyard with them, and laughing at their latest tricks.

A few pics of the growing boys:

For the record, Brendan now says that we're having a boy, and that his name is going to be Larry. (Last time we saw him, he told us we're having a girl and her name is Lily.) So much for children's intuition. :) He is getting so big and smart these days. We went out for ice cream, and as we were sitting there eating, he turns to us and says, "So, where is your house, Uncle Mike and Aunt Heather?" It was so hilarious coming out of a little guy, and that was actually the first time I'd ever heard him use our names together like that.

Logan is getting big, too, but he is so much more quiet and easy-going than Brendan. He was, therefore, way easier to capture on camera this time around, which is why there are so many more photos of him than Brendan. Brendan is GO-GO-GO the entire time he's here. Little guy was exhausted by the time they were loading into the car to go home.

It'll be interesting when there are THREE cousins running around at every visit! :)

Read more...

27 Weeks: Helloooo, Third Trimester!

Holy moly. I'm officially in my third trimester of pregnancy! And while I'm shocked to be here already, I'm also feeling like I have an eternity until I get to meet my baby. Realistically, though, I know that's not true. After all, I'll be "full term" in just 10 more weeks! YIKES!

There is no mistaking my being pregnant now. (It's about time, right?) I get these little smiles from people walking past me at the grocery store, and random coworkers comment all of the time now. It's no wonder, as I'm certainly rounding out. See?

27 Weeks Pregnant

I'm blending into my background a bit this week, thanks to my clothing choice for the day, but you get the picture. Wheee, belly! I look back on my early "belly" photos from first trimester (when I really was not even showing) and it's insane to me. It's hard to remember ever looking like that. I wish I would have appreciated it more, because I know it's likely I'll never look like that again! (Or at least not exactly like that.)

We've had quite the busy week, with no end in sight yet. This past weekend, we spent Friday night getting things prepared for painting the nursery. Michael moved some more stuff out of the room, and I taped off all of the edges. Then, on Saturday, Michael's sister and the boys came up to visit so we spent the afternoon with them. Once home, it was time to paint the first coat on the walls, and then Michael ripped up the old carpet, padding, and staples on our stairs.

Sunday, I went to my mom's house to "help" finish the baby's bedding--I use the term "help" loosely, as the process turned out to be too much for someone who hasn't sewn anything since 8th grade home ec class. Thankfully, my mom is pretty freaking talented with a sewing machine. As for me, I was a wonderful measurer, ironer, and ribbon clipper. (THAT'S RIGHT!) I got home around 3:00 p.m. and it was time to tackle the rest of the painting in the nursery. A quick second coat and it was officially finished. Yay! We removed all of the painter's tape a couple of hours later to find that some touch-ups were going to be necessary, but no big deal.

After work on Monday, we went out to dinner to celebrate our second anniversary. But we were all work, very little play, as we ended up moving a bunch more stuff out of the nursery when we got home, hauling it over to my mom's for storage in her huge-ass basement (thanks, Mom!).

Today, I went grocery shopping on my lunch break to save myself some time after work. That should tell you how busy things have been, huh? When home from work, Michael headed off to karate class while I got busy with a small paintbrush and some white paint to touch-up the molding in the nursery, then the parts of the ceiling where I accidentally knicked it with the roller (oops). And call me crazy, but nesting instincts kicked in once again when I had that little paintbrush in my hand. I ended up scrubbing the baseboards in our hallways and performing "touch-ups" on them as well, since they've certainly seen some wear and tear throughout the past five years. Once Michael got home, he ripped the carpet, padding, and staples (the staples are the best part--just ask him!) out of the nursery.

Tomorrow, we get to disassemble our entire house as we clear the living room of all furniture. The carpet installation is happening on Thursday, so we need to get everything off of the floors, then rip out more carpet and staples. Our carpet guy is going to do the entire house Thursday, except our bedroom, where we'll be storing a lot of the stuff we have to remove from the living room. Once he's done, we'll put the living room back together, then move the contents of our bedroom into the nursery for the night. On Friday, the carpet guy will be back to install the carpet in our bedroom, then we'll spend Friday evening putting that back together.

Fun process, right?

It'll feel so nice to have new carpet, though, especially with the baby coming. I'm excited for it to be so CLEAN. Now we just have to hope that Tessa doesn't do anything stupid. She's fully potty trained, so... fingers crossed it stays that way. Anyway, I'll post photos of the carpet project later this week.

So, the whole point of this--Guess what new carpet means? It means we can FINALLY move the baby furniture into the nursery! I can't wait to get everything put together and situated, as I've been dying to do so for weeks now. We'll be spending the weekend putting things in place in there. I know some of you are probably anxious to see photos, but I'm pretty sure we'll be keeping things under wraps until they are truly "finished." We'll see how it goes. :)

Also exciting is that my first baby shower is on Sunday! My lovely sisters-in-law, Kara and Marie, are hosting it for me at my mom's house. I cannot wait to see everyone and, of course, pick up some cute loot for the baby. We really don't have much of anything so far, and I feel like once we start collecting things, it'll make it so much more real.

In pregnancy news... not much new to report. I am still feeling really good, although I do have the occasional night of horrible sleep. (Most recently, it was Friday.) My hips hurt so bad and it was extremely hard to get comfortable. I had to drag the body pillow into bed, which doesn't leave much room for Michael and Tess! They were understanding. :) Thankfully, these bouts of discomfort are few and far between at this point.

I haven't heard anything regarding my glucose test from Friday. I'm thinking that's good news, as I'd hope I would've heard by now if I'd failed, but who knows? I want to wait out the remainder of the week with no word before I truly believe I'm in the clear.

On a final note, I'm pretty sure I felt baby hiccups for the first time the other night. They were so soft that I wouldn't have felt them without my hand on my stomach. But there was this rhythmic feeling of short movements, and it was continually in the same spot. Had to be it, right? Unless my baby was practicing its tap-dancing moves...

Read more...

Two Years

On June 21, 2008, I married my best friend.

Now, we are just 13 (or so) weeks away from embarking on the greatest adventure of our lives--parenthood. I am so happy to have Michael as my partner in this journey.

(If you haven't been a blog reader since the beginning, and want to see more wedding photos,
check out the slideshow I made for our anniversary last year,
or take a look at my wedding recap posts on Road to the Aisle.)

Read more...

Asian Lettuce Wraps

If you've ever been to P.F. Chang's, I'm guessing you've had lettuce wraps. It seems as if it's a crime to go there without ordering them!

When I saw this homemade version on Annie's blog, I was excited to try them! But, there was just one thing holding me back.

Confession: I have a weird aversion to ground chicken and ground turkey. I have no idea why, since I don't have any problems with lean ground beef. It's just one of those things, but because I don't have a good reason, I knew it was time to get over it.

This was just the recipe to help me over the hurdle.

I'll admit that I was still a little put off by the ground chicken as it was cooking, but I quickly got past it once I took my first bite into one of these babies. Delicious!

I adapted the recipe slightly to make a bit more sauce. When we drizzled the original amount over our filling, it didn't seem like enough so I made a bit more. And as Annie says--don't leave out the diced apple! It's fantastic!

Asian Lettuce Wraps
(Source: Slightly adapted from Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:

For the sauce:
- 2 1/4 tsp. hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
- 3/4 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce

For the filling:
- 2 tsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
- 2 cups mixed vegetables (I used frozen peas, diced red pepper and onion)
- 1/2 green apple, finely chopped

To assemble:
Butter lettuce leaves (if you can find them--otherwise, use iceberg), washed and separated
Shredded carrots for topping (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and mix to blend.

2. To make the filling, heat a skillet on high heat with cooking oil. Once the pan is hot, add the garlic, ginger and green onions to the pan, and stir fry for a few seconds, just until fragrant.

3. Add the ground turkey or chicken, breaking into small pieces, and cook until almost cooked through. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the sauce and cook for about 1 minute until thickened slightly.

4. Add the apples to the pan and toss to coat. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.

5. Serve the filling in lettuce “cups” and top with shredded carrots, if desired.

Read more...

Chicken Salsa Verde Bake

At the reception after the funeral last week, we were thankful that many people brought or sent food for the family. One of the dishes that came to us was this chicken salsa verde by Rachael Ray. I actually didn't try any, as I was too full from other food, but when I was at my mom's a few days later, we ate the leftovers. I knew immediately that we'd have to make this for ourselves soon!

This casserole has great Mexican flavors and the salsa verde gives the dish a perfect amount of heat. It's also pretty darn easy to throw together (especially if you cook and shred the chicken in advance), which is always a plus.

I made some adaptations to the original recipe, following partially what was done by whoever made us this dish, and also taking the advice of some of the reviews on Rachael Ray's site. My adapted version is below. Oh, and another great thing about this meal--it can feed quite the crowd! And if you don't have a crowd, you'll have plenty of leftovers (which we love in this house!).

This recipe is easily adaptable to suit your tastes--you can subsitute the chicken or some of the beans for more veggies, such as zucchini, mushrooms, or bell peppers. As long as you keep the ratio of chicken/beans/veggies to salsa/sour cream relatively the same, I don't think you can really go wrong!

Chicken Salsa Verde Bake
(Source: Adapted from Rachael Ray)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 2 (16 oz.) jars salsa verde
- 1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, rinses and drained
- 1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 cups crushed tortilla chips (we used baked tortilla chips)
- 1 (8 oz.) bag shredded Mexican-style cheese

Directions:
1. Boil chicken breasts for 20 minutes. Drain. Shred chicken pieces. (You can do this in advance--we did it the night before to save time.)

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, salsa, beans, corn, onion and sour cream.

3. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Scatter 1 cup tortilla chips on the bottom and top with half of the chicken mixture and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers and cover with the remaining 1 cup tortilla chips. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Read more...

Sugar Mama

I've had a lot of pregnant women around me throughout my life. My cousins have several children among them. For seven years during high school/college, I worked in a pharmacy with mostly women, so I went through a lot of pregnancies with them, too. After college, friends started getting married and having babies. So, more pregnancies.

It probably goes without saying, then, that I've heard plenty of things about the glucose tolerance test. I thought I was pretty well educated about the process of the test, as well as the purpose of it.

I've heard that the glucose drink is gross. So when we had my last appointment with my doctor and she mentioned how I'd have to take the test before my next appointment, I asked her if she had any recommendations for which flavor to choose (I was offered fruit punch, orange, lemon, or lime). Her response was, "Blecchh, I don't know. They're all disgusting. I had fruit punch with one of my pregnancies and orange with the other, and I thought they were both nearly impossible to choke down."

I thought to myself, Greeeeat. But at the same time, I couldn't understand what the big deal was. Even if it's disgusting, it would undoubtedly go down pretty quickly. I mean, it's just a shot of sugar liquid, right?

And then I went to the front desk, where the woman handed me the actual drink. My mouth fell open.

TEN OUNCES, folks. It's a BOTTLE of sugar liquid. All this time, I had been preparing myself for a nasty SHOT (like an ounce or two), and they hand me a BOTTLE.

Ick. Ick. Ick.

Since I had to wait until between 26-28 weeks of pregnancy to complete the test, I gladly went home and shoved the bottle into my refrigerator. Procrastination is awesome. But every time I opened the fridge, there it was, staring me in the face. Mocking me.

I'll be 28 weeks next weekend, and we have a really busy week next week. I knew that I'd have to suck it up and get it over with this week, and quickly decided that today (a Friday) would be the day. Even though my doctor's office doesn't require fasting before the test (you just can't have anything to eat/drink after you take the glucose drink), I figured I wouldn't take any chances, choosing to drink the stuff on an empty stomach first thing in the morning.

And I'll tell you, I've been dreading it. Dreading it. So much so that my husband said he'd stick around a few extra minutes before he left for work so he could "hold my hand" (figuratively, not literally) while I drank it. He got it all ready for me while I got dressed, pouring it into a glass for me. Hesitantly, I came out from the bedroom to get started. Once you take the first sip, you have to finish the entire drink within five minutes.

This is me, pretending to be happy about this whole situation. That's a nervous smile, folks.

And then, I took my first sip.

OH MY GOD, people. It's not even BAD.

Call me crazy. Maybe it's because I've had a sweet tooth all my life. Or perhaps all those beer pong and flip cup games in college prepared me for chugging down stuff I didn't necessarily want to drink. (I know my mom is extremely proud right now, HA.) But seriously... the sugary orange concoction? NOT A BIG DEAL. As is true with many things in life, I got myself all worked up because of the hype, and the hype turned out to be just that--hype.

While it's certainly not something I would choose to drink, it went down pretty easily. It actually reminded me of those gallons of fruit drinks that we used to have during the summer as kids. Not KoolAid, but the pre-made, store-bought gallons that came in fruit punch, orange, and grape. I think they even served that stuff to us at Vacation Bible School.

About two minutes after I started drinking, I felt the baby start to practice somersaults in there. Pretty sure he/she enjoyed the sudden sugar rush.

After finishing the drink, I finished getting ready for work, packed up some cereal for myself to have at work after the blood draw, then headed to the lab. I waited around with the lab tech until it had been EXACTLY one hour since I had started the drink (Started: 7:57 a.m. Blood draw: 8:57 a.m.). A few vials of blood (which, if you're pregnant, you're completely used to by 27 weeks), and BOOM... done.

Now, let's just hope my results come back OK. If I have to give up carbs, I'm going to be pissed.

Read more...

Does the Sun Shine in Montreal?

After the Friday night we had in Montreal, we all slept in a bit on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, we woke up to pretty overcast weather. Our hotel had a nice breakfast (included in the cost of the room, nice!) so we stumbled downstairs to get something to eat before showering and getting ready for the day.

We hit the streets of Old Montreal, with umbrellas in hand.

(Don't mind me; jackets don't really fit properly anymore. They're too short in front!)

Old Montreal is pretty cool. Love the "old" feel on the streets.

Since we're all into visiting old churches, we went in search of Montreal's famous Notre Dame. Because we can't read French, we saw a sign outside of this church that said something about Notre Dame, so we mistakenly thought we were there.

It was really pretty inside...

...but it was also really... small. We lit candles and said novenas, but I think we were all kind of wondering what the big deal was. It wasn't that fantastic a church.

We continued our exploring. The rain let up a little bit so we walked down to the waterfront.

The old Molson plant... yessss. :) I have to say, it was very disappointing not to be able to enjoy any Canadian beer during our trip. I mean, isn't Canadian beer half of the reason anyone wants to go to Canada? ;)

As it began raining again, we went back up and explored a bunch of the shops. My mom shopped around the different artists/street vendors to find a photograph or painting, since she likes to get stuff like that from the cities she visits. She was pretty sure she found the one she wanted, but we decided to walk around a bit more before going back to get it.

It was during our quest to find the liquor store (not for me, obviously!) that we stumbled upon Notre Dame. The REAL Notre Dame.

Alright, yeah. This was much more impressive. We wanted to go inside to check it out, but we found that they charge an admission fee. While it's only $5, I feel pretty strongly that churches should not be charging people to walk through their doors. I understand the donations requested for lighting candles, but in my opinion, if a homeless person needs a place to stay warm or dry, they should be able to go into churches. Like St. Patrick's in New York... it's huge and beautiful and a tourist destination, but they don't charge you to get inside. Out of principle, we decided to forego Notre Dame. Sorry, Montreal.

By this time, it was late afternoon and we were ready to go back to the hotel for a little bit before getting some dinner. Before that, though, we stopped in a convenience store so Michael could get a 6-pack of Canadian beer to enjoy. We also picked up some Canadian delicacies. :)

Ketchup flavored chips! I love Canadians. :) None of us had ever tried them before so we decided to give them a go. We also saw a Dill Pickle flavor and wanted to try that, too. It's my understanding the Dill Pickle ones are actually available in the States, too, but we've looked for them since we've been home and haven't seen them anywhere. So apparently they aren't available in our area!

The ketchup chips were... interesting. I didn't think they were half bad, but my mom and Michael weren't really fans of them. The Dill Pickle ones, though... YUM. They didn't really taste like "pickle," per se, but they had a nice dill flavor, like dill dip. We liked these so much that we went back and got a full-size bag the next day. :)

Anyway, before we went back to the hotel to enjoy our chips and drinks (I got an Orange Julius! Do people still have Orange Juliuses in the States? The ones around here closed YEARS ago...), we walked back down to the little alley where my mom had seen the photograph she wanted. She purchased it, and the artist spent some time telling us all about the photo and Montreal.

On our way back down the alley, another artist my mom had been talking with earlier (when she was shopping around) completely harassed her. As we walked by, he said, "It's really frustrating to me that you would listen to that guy's bullshit." (Referring to the artist she purchased from.) My mom started apologizing to him--even though she totally did not owe him an apology--and he continued to lay into her, telling her that his photos are way better than the other guys, and "I deserve to have a good day!" (Referring to his sales.) What a freaking asshole. I finally told my mom to keep walking and we continued on our way as he continued to yell after her, in front of a whole bunch of people. Nice way to win customers, you douche.

After unwinding in the hotel room for a little bit, we walked back down and had dinner at a place called Trois Brasseurs. It was casual and nice, and exactly what we were looking for. We ended up ordering a couple of their "flamms," which are essentially really thin-crust pizzas. We got The Provencale, which had pesto, tomatoes, romano and parmesan, and The Louisiana, which had BBQ chicken, peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese. YUM! My mom and Michael also shared one of their beer samplers.

After dinner, we walked around Old Montreal a bit more, then retired to the room fairly early since my mom and Michael had to be up early on Sunday for the bike ride.

Fast forward to Sunday morning, and I barely remember hearing them leave. I slept in, waking up around 9:00 a.m. to find that it was basically pouring rain outside. Yuck. I figured that while they were doing the bike ride, I would maybe go out and explore more on my own, but with weather like that, I was not motivated to go anywhere. I went downstairs and got some breakfast on my own, then putzed around the hotel room, surfing the internet, watching TV, reading, taking a long, hot shower, etc.

Meanwhile, Michael and my mom were braving the elements. The temperature was only in the 50s, and it rained for the ENTIRE RIDE.

At the starting line. They still look relatively dry.

Looks fun, doesn't it? (With this weather, I was sooo glad to have a good excuse to not be riding. I would've been miserable.)

Still, my mom and Michael toughed it out.

At the 51km marker. They did it!

At around 1:00 p.m., there was a knock at the hotel door and I answered it to find my mom and my husband standing there, looking like drowned rats. They were completely soaked, shaking (so cold!), and dirty.

Of course, I snapped a photo of them.

And one of my mom's back, since she was filthy.

I was so happy to be dry, warm, and cozy. As far as I'm concerned, these two were nuts. I'm pretty sure I would have insisted on bailing on the ride. I give them a lot of credit.

After they were all showered and dry again, we headed out to have a late lunch/early dinner since we were all hungry. It was just MISERABLE outside. Rainy, cold, and disgusting. There were hardly any people on the streets of Old Montreal, as I think everyone just wanted to stay inside.

We perused menus at some nearby restaurants, and ultimately decided on a little Italian place called L'Usine de Spaghetti Parisienne. They served fresh bread with an awesome garlic butter, had a lovely salad bar (which was included with the meal), and our food was delicious. My mom and I both had the pasta primavera, and Michael had one of the specials--a pasta dish with mushrooms and olive oil. The waitress was really friendly and delightful. We were very happy with our choice.

I wish I could say we did a lot more with our day, but it was just so disgusting outside. It was not meant to be a day for being out and enjoying the city. Plus, Michael and my mom were tired. We ended up back at the hotel for a bit, then Michael and I made a run for DQ Blizzards (something else we don't have at home--DQ!) later in the evening. Once again, we retired early.

Of course, we woke up on Monday morning to gorgeous, sunny weather. Figures, right? We took our time eating breakfast and getting ready, but we were soon on the road to go home.

I will be completely honest and say that Montreal did not live up to expectations for me. To be fair, I had a horrible experience that Friday night, which tainted the whole weekend, then the weather was absolute shit. I'll be one of the first to admit that weather can really make or break your experience with a city, and unfortunately for Montreal, the weather gods were just not with us that weekend.

Those of you who've been readers for a while know how much we usually enjoy our vacations, and how much we usually pack into our time in each new city--so you can probably tell by the lack of activity and photos that we really just did not have that great of a time! But at least my mom and Michael made the most of their bike ride.

We'll have to go back some day to give it another chance!

Read more...