Baked Pizza Rolls

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

After we made the Southwestern Egg Rolls a few weeks back, I immediately started thinking of other ways we could use the egg roll wrappers. And well, pizza rolls came to mind quickly. Who doesn't love good ol' fashioned "pizza logs" bar food? And wouldn't we all like to have a healthier version?


These are highly customizable to your tastes. Simply fill them with your favorite pizza toppings. We used mozzarella, turkey pepperoni, onions, and chopped spinach.

When baked up, these become very crispy and are perfect when dipped into your favorite pizza sauce. Delicious and easy... and not too bad for you, either!

Baked Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:
- 2-3 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1-2 handfuls turkey pepperoni slices, halved
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1 package egg roll wrappers

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers.

2. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place 1/4 cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with pizza sauce.

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37 Weeks: FULL TERM

Monday, August 30, 2010

Maybe it was the photo shoot I did on Saturday morning, chasing a 2-year-old boy around, squatting, standing, kneeling, running. Maybe it was the Bills game on Saturday night, plus the drive to and from the stadium. Maybe it was the apple picking in 90-degree heat on Sunday, or the six hours I spent in the kitchen preparing meals to freeze.

Regardless of what it was (and hey, maybe it was a combination of everything!), I think I have turned a corner in this pregnancy. And it's not a corner you want to turn, really.

I am tired.
I am sore.
I am uncomfortable.
I have puffy, fat, Fred Flintstone feet.
I am WADDLING, people. Waddling like a freaking penguin.

But praise Heaven, I am FULL TERM! So I've been talking to this baby and telling him/her that he/she is more than welcome to come on out at any time now.


37 Weeks Pregnant

(For a progression week to week, check out the compilation of my belly photos I put together this morning. It's hilarious, actually, to see how bright-eyed and energized I look in the second trimester, and how that has gradually disappeared until I now look exhausted in every photo.)

Have I mentioned that the forecast features 90 degree temperatures every day this week? Because apparently I need to be elevated to a whole 'nother level of miserable.

I cycle back and forth between practically begging this baby to come out, like, NOW, and being scared shitless that ohmygod, the baby might come, like, NOW. I am simultaneously so grateful to be at the end of this part of the journey, while I am also trying to hold onto every last minute of it. It is quite confusing.

But mostly, I am just READY. Really ready. Ready to evict this little person from my body and welcome him/her to the world with open arms.

I have debated whether or not I want to share the state of my cervix with the internet, and if you don't want to hear this... TURN AWAY NOW. But this blog is a journal and who knows, maybe I'll want to remember this part some day. At my 36-week appointment last Wednesday, I had my first "check" and I was 1 cm and 50% effaced. And even though I know it means jack, I was still kind of surprised and definitely happy to hear about any kind of progress. Now I'm looking forward to my next appointment on Thursday to see if things have moved along any further.

I have some kind of weird "feeling" about next week. I don't know, week 38 just seems like "the week" to me. But it's very possible that is just wishful thinking. I guess we will know soon enough.

In the end, we are nervous, but we are SO excited. We want to meet this baby so badly. I "know" my baby right now. I know his/her hiccups, and the way he/she wiggles back and forth after I eat. I know he/she prefers to hang out on the right side of my belly. I know his/her heartbeat, and that it usually measures in between 135-150 beats per minute. I know baby likes to stick its butt out at the top of my belly, loves to cause mommy heartburn, and is taking up so much room in there that I almost always feel out of breath. We have watched him/her grow as we have watched my belly grow.

I know all these things, but I am ready to really know my baby. I am ready to know my son or daughter.

Come on out, Baby. Meet your parents. Let us give you your name. And say hello to the world.

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The Belly: A Progression

16 Weeks

17 Weeks

18 Weeks

19 Weeks

20 Weeks

21 Weeks

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

29 Weeks

30 Weeks

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

34 Weeks

35 Weeks

36 Weeks


37 Weeks

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Nine Things About Yourself

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Blog Activity, Day Two
Nine Things About Yourself

1. I share a birthday with my grandfather. I was born (10 days early) on my granddaddy's 53rd birthday. Some people make a big deal about wanting their kids to have their "own" birthdays, but I always thought it was pretty special to share the day with my granddad. He is my dad's father, and since we spent summers with my dad growing up, I almost always got to spend birthdays with my granddaddy. We'd have barbecues in my grandparents' backyard at their pool, with all of my cousins and family. These days, Granddaddy still lives in Virginia, so I don't get to see him on our birthday. But I call him every year, and we both always laugh after one of us says, "Happy Birthday!" and the other ones says, "Happy Birthday to you, too!"

2. I love cereal. Like seriously love. Cereal is my breakfast of choice approximately 362 days a year. I like other breakfast foods (like pancakes, muffins, bagels, cinnamon rolls--yum!), but unless it's a special occasion and we're going out for some reason, I will *always* have cereal. Most weekends, I eat cereal for breakfast AND lunch. And it's definitely not uncommon for me to have cereal for dinner once a week or so, too. I'm not picky about cereal, either. Sure, I have favorites, but really, I've never met a cereal I didn't like.

3. When I was young, I was obsessed with Baby-Sitters Club books. I never read them in any kind of order, but if I was given the opportunity to pick out any book I wanted to read, it was almost always a Baby-Sitters Club book. My least favorite installments were the ones that were about Mallory and Jessie. And thanks to the books, I always had dreams of starting my very own babysitters club. Of course, that never happened. Oh well.

4. The first time I ever signed onto the internet, it was Christmas Day. I don't actually remember what year it was, but I remember signing up for an America Online screen name on Christmas morning. I was still in middle school. At the time, everyone was still in awe of the internet--there weren't yet scary creepers to be worried about. I remember going into a general chatroom and everyone was all, "Wait, you're in New York??" "You're in Oregon? Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm chatting with you!" It's hilarious to look back on that now. I mean, really... with our account, we had a limited amount of minutes per month, and we kept track of them on a piece of paper on the desk. Can you even imagine?

5. I really liked school, and I was always a good student. I was the type who generally did not have to study much to do well on tests. (I know, I know.) I was a good "crammer" and was able to do a minimal amount of studying and still end up with good grades. English was my favorite subject, but I found history interesting and found math to be strangely satisfying. If someone would pay me to go back and be a student, I would totally do that.

6. I used to live for softball. My town offered a softball league for girls starting at age 9. I wanted to start playing at age 8, so I had to play a year of Little League with all of the boys first (and yeah, I totally did that). But at 9, I was placed on my first girls' softball team and I loved every second of it. I played through senior year of high school, and I still count the minutes on the field as some of the greatest times of my life. Each year, my teammates made up a sisterhood and we were crazy and fun and ridiculously competitive. Sadly, I haven't played any kind of softball in a good eight years. I probably suck now.

7. I haven't started watching a new TV show since Grey's Anatomy. At least I don't think I have. I feel like I'm probably missing out on some good stuff, but I can't bring myself to make any new "commitments." I've actually given up on a few in recent years (Amazing Race, CSI) but still haven't picked up any new ones.

8. My first car was a 1991 Honda Civic. My mom bought it from a little old lady just prior to my 16th birthday in 1998. It only had 32,000 miles on it, because the lady only drove it to church and the grocery store. I loved that thing and it was pretty good to me through the years. I sold it after I graduated college and landed my first "real" job in 2004. AND I SOLD IT TO A CLOWN. I am not even kidding; the guy was a clown. My mom and I nearly *died* laughing over that one. And I still get a kick out of being able to say, "Oh, my first car? I sold it to some clown." :)

9. I never had braces. My mom had them, and my dad probably should've had them. My brothers both had them. But somehow, I escaped the teen years without every needing them. I don't have perfect teeth, but they are all aligned like they should be and the dentist said I did not need them. It's funny, because I remember crying when the dentist told me I did not need them--I was in 8th grade or so. But the reason I cried was because I was terrified that I was going to end up needing them later on, and I would be getting them on just as all of my friends were getting them off! Thankfully, that never happened.

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Belly at the Bills Game

Saturday, August 28, 2010

If you had told me a few months ago that I would end up at a Buffalo Bills preseason game at 37 weeks pregnant, I would've laughed at you. First, because there is no way I would've ever paid for tickets. Secondly, because I never would've expected that such an outing would be worth my time, especially when I'm about to pop out a baby.

What's that people always say, though? Expect the unexpected?

A week or so ago, I was suddenly offered the opportunity to sit in the company suite. And well, for as many Bills games as I've been to--in the sweltering heat, the freezing cold, the blinding sun and the blinding rain--I've never been in a suite.

We jumped at the chance for a new experience, and spent a lovely evening with good (free!) food, (free!) drinks (beer for Michael, soda/water for me), and a handful of my coworkers. The funny thing is that the weather was gorgeous, absolutely perfect for a football game, so we sat in the suite with the window wide open. Still, it felt good to be treated as "VIPs." :)


For shits and giggles, I stuffed myself into my jersey (it barely covered my belly, it was hilarious) for the occasion. We think it'll be funny to show the baby some day. This was one of the only times I've ever gone to a game and NOT tailgated. It was a completely different experience! Walking up to the gates without chugging one.last.beer? Interesting, as I had no idea what that felt like.

I was up early this morning for a photo shoot with an almost-2-year-old and his parents, so I couldn't make it through the entire game. We ended up leaving shortly into the 4th quarter, but the Bills looked halfway decent and ended up winning the game.

Two more weeks until the season opener!
(Crossing my fingers that we have a baby by then, ha!)

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Ten Things You Want to Say

Friday, August 27, 2010

Blog Activity, Day One
10 Things You Want to Say to 10 Different People Right Now

1. To my unborn baby: I already love you more than you will ever know. Come on out to meet us anytime now, OK? We are dying to know whether you're our son or our daughter.

2. To my mom: You deserve so much better, and you'll find it in time.

3. To my husband: I know it'll be difficult, but I can't wait to start this adventure with you.

4. To my uncle: I wish things would've turned out differently. I pray you are at peace.

5. To my dermatologist's office: You guys are ridiculous. When you charge $50 copays for two minutes of time, you contribute to the reason why so many people hate doctors.

6. To my cousin, Sabrina: "Remember the prom? You got so thin by then." "Oh, I know. I was so lucky getting mono. That was like the best diet ever."

7. To Verizon Wireless: C'mon, already... iPhone! NOW!

8. To Ann Coulter: You are quite possibly the most annoying, infuriatingly ignorant person on the planet. How you managed to get yourself onto a public platform (where people actually LISTEN to you!) is beyond me.

9. To my childhood best friend: I would love to go back and relive just one of the "good ol' days." The amount of laughter was insane. :)

10. To Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and the rest who oppose the "Ground Zero" mosque: Your argument is invalid.

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Keeping Busy

Thursday, August 26, 2010

These days, it's hard to think of anything except for the impending arrival of the baby. Plus, we're not doing a whole lot except for sitting around and waiting. Waiting. And waiting.

Soooo... when I saw Michelle post this little blog game today, I figured it's a great way to keep myself busy for 10 posts. I don't plan to post all 10 in a row, as I'll keep posting "regular" things as appropriate, but I thought these 10 blog topics would make for some extra posts when I'm feeling like I don't have much to write about.

Here's the blog activity/game description:

Are you in a blogging slump? Here is a fun blogging activity to help you hit "publish post" again!

Over the next 10 days, blog about the items on this list:

Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession

Feel free to copy and paste the list above onto your own blog!!

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36 Weeks: I Miss My Waist

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

I'm a day late posting my update this week, but oh well... I'm technically always a day or two late, since my weeks really turn over on Saturday/Sunday. But since I've been consistently taking my pics on Mondays, it doesn't matter, right? Right.

And this week is no different; I did take my photo last night. I just didn't have a chance to post about it.


36 Weeks Pregnant

At 36 weeks into this adventure, I've started to long for my pre-pregnancy body. Or, really, anything resembling my pre-pregnancy body. Hell, at this point, I'll settle for a belly that doesn't contain another human being. ;)

I also find myself trying to remember exactly what it feels like to button and zip up a pair of pants. To easily reach my toes when I need to trim and paint my toe nails. To be able to sit with my knees pulled up to my chest (normally a really comfortable position for me). To hold a baby on my hip.

How weird it'll be when I suddenly have these things back.

My belly is feeling stretched this week. Baby's movements are actually really uncomfortable for me now. When he/she sticks its butt out, I usually have to "rub it back in" because it hurts! Little bugger. The movements are moving my entire belly now. Last night, I was rehearsing a presentation I had to do for work today, and I had my laptop resting on my belly in bed. The baby was literally moving the entire laptop up and down with his/her stretching. I'm starting to really realize that I have a full-size baby in there now. Even though he/she is still on the small side, it's the size of a newborn now. Um, whoa.

This weekend, we installed the car seat bases in our cars. We really just needed to get them out of the house since we don't have a lot of extra room in here these days. So now I'm riding around with a car seat in the back (Michael just has the extra base in his). It's very strange to get into the car and see that in the back, knowing that in just a few short weeks, there will be a baby in there.

Our baby book came in the mail on Friday, so I also started filling that out this weekend. There are several pages designated to information on the parents and the pregnancy, so we completed all of those pages now.

Perhaps the most exciting baby event of the week is that our stroller arrived! We ended up getting the Bumbleride Indie in the ruby color and it is gorgeous. We love it, and can't wait to take it out for a spin! We're actually planning to try to train Tessa to walk with it before the baby gets here, so we'll be the weird couple walking around our neighborhood with an empty stroller. :)

Aside from feeling really ready to meet the baby, and some general discomfort, I'm still doing pretty well overall. Still suffering from some occasional heartburn and swelling, but hanging in there.

I have my first weekly appointment tomorrow, and I'll be getting "checked" for progress at each appointment now. I've been experiencing some random menstrual-like cramps, which I can only assume are mild contractions? I don't really know. But baby still seems to be sitting up nice and high, so I'm not expecting too much at this point.

25 (I think?) days to go! :)

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Mama's Girl

Sunday, August 22, 2010

I'm not going to lie.

It makes me a little sad when I think about how Tessa's life is going to change when we bring a baby home. Maybe that's pathetic, because I know, she's a dog. But she has been "the baby" for more than four years now, and we know she loves her life. So to upset that just makes me a little sad for her.


Sure, she won't be ignored. But still, her place in the hierarchy of our little family is going to be bumped down a notch, and although that is obvious and to be expected, well... again, it's just... sad.

Changes. They are a'coming.

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Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

Saturday, August 21, 2010

We had our nephew Brendan's third birthday party this weekend. Unfortunately, I just wasn't feeling up to making his cake this year. Being nine months pregnant really limits my ability to be on my feet for long periods of time, and being hunched over a cake to decorate it just didn't seem to be a good idea. So, reluctantly, I had Melissa order a cake this year. I sure felt guilty, though! :(

Even if I couldn't come bearing a fun character cake for Brendan (I made Pooh and Tigger for his 1st birthday, and Lightning McQueen for his second), we couldn't show up empty-handed. And so we once again turned to my recipe stash to see what we could come up with for an appetizer.


These Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls seemed to be easy enough, and they're different--I knew I didn't have to worry about anyone else showing up with homemade egg rolls! :)

We whipped up a batch of homemade salsa to go with them, but truthfully, I think it's completely unnecessary. These egg rolls are kick-ass on their own! They have enough spice and flavor to them without needing to dip them in anything at all. Also, rolling them up wasn't difficult at all--there were directions with pictures on the back of the egg roll wrapper package, plus it turned out to be the same method I use to roll up sandwich wraps. Easy-peasy.

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls
(Source: Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups frozen corn, thawed (or canned corn)
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total) - I only got 19

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend.

2. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place 1/4 cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa.

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Baby Pool: Last Chance!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Now that I am (ohmygod) 36 weeks pregnant, it's time to shut down the Heather Drive Baby Pool. In other words, if you've been slacking, you need to get your guesses in now in order to have a chance to win an awesome vintage apron from Etsy seller Terrace Hill. In case you missed the first post with all of the details, it's here, but check out this cute apron as an example:

I'm also throwing in a Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book for our winner, so hurry up and enter!

All you need to do is go to our Heather Drive Baby Pool page on Expectnet.com and enter your guesses for our baby's sex, birth date and time, weight, and length. Also, PLEASE remember to enter your e-mail address in the "How do you know the parents?" field so that we can easily get in touch with you should you become our winner.

See all terms and conditions for the contest and giveaway at the original Baby Pool post.

You all have until Sunday, August 22 at 9:00 p.m. EDT to get in your entries. At that time, the pool will be closed, and we'll just be waiting for baby to arrive! :)

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Pasta with Chicken & Broccoli in a White Cheddar Wine Sauce

Thursday, August 19, 2010

By the time we sat down to eat this meal, I was so hungry and pissed off that I barely got the chance to really enjoy it. Now that's an endorsement for a recipe, isn't it? I'm sure you're all dying to make it now.

The thing is, I didn't plan ahead. I didn't roast the garlic ahead of time, and that turned out to be a mistake. If you make it beforehand--well, this recipe is a piece of cake. And when we make this again, we'll most certainly be making the roasted garlic paste a day or two in advance.


I'm not a big fan of cheese (or most dairy, really), but I have a love affair with cheddar. I seriously *heart* cheddar. So I thought this dish was going to be heaven on a plate. To my surprise, I couldn't really pick out the cheddar taste; if I didn't know what was in the sauce, I would never have been able to guess cheddar. But the cheese gives this a wonderfully creamy texture and, paired with the roasted garlic and wine, this is a real winner.

For obvious reasons, this recipe reminds me a bit of Spicy Garlic & Lime Chicken Pasta, but it's different enough where they could both be in the regular dinner rotation.

Pasta with Chicken & Broccoli in a White Cheddar Wine Sauce
(Source: Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. uncooked pasta
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 1/2 cup roasted garlic paste (see instructions below*)
- 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 large head of brocolli, cut into florettes (about 2 cups)
- 10-16 oz. cooked chicken, cubed or shredded (about 2-3 cups)
- 3 oz. aged reserve cheddar (preferably white), grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
- parmesan cheese (optional)
- salt and ground pepper

*To make garlic paste (HIGHLY recommended to do this in advance): Peel the outer papery skins off two heads of garlic, leaving the heads still intact. Slice about a quarter off the top of each head so that all of the cloves are partly exposed. Wrap the heads in foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool enough to touch, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the peels and smash with a fork to make roasted garlic paste. (Alternatively, you can toss the cloves into a food processor--I found this to be much easier.)
Roasted garlic instructions from Annie's Eats

1. Bring water to a boil in large pot. When boiling, add pasta and cook according to package instructions. Throw uncooked broccoli florettes into the boiling water 3-4 minutes before pasta is done. Drain pasta and broccoli mixture.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When just coming to foaming, add garlic paste and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).

3. Add flour and cook until beginning to turn golden (about 2 minutes). Add vermouth and cook until evaporated (about 1 minute). Stir broth into pan and simmer sauce until slightly thickened (about 2 minutes).

4. Add cheddar and stir constantly while returning to a boil.

5. Add in cooked chicken pieces. Fold in pasta and broccoli, cook for one more minute, and remove from heat.

6. Plate and top with parmesan; serve.

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Why won't he GO.AWAY.?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I don't think I've ever expressed my disdain for Brett Favre.
Oh, WAIT. Sure I have.

Because I hated him in 2008.
And again in 2009.

And hey, what do you know?... Here we are in 2010, and I still hate his guts.

At this rate, I'm sure I'll be ready to hire a hitman in 2011. You know, to take him out at the knees or something. To end these shenanigans once and for all.

The annoyance grows with each passing year. With every mention of his name during a NON-VIKINGS football game, I seethe. With every "will he or won't he" discussion, I resist the urge to throw something at the television (or radio, or computer). Every summer, when he doesn't show up at training camp in July, pretends to be considering retirement, and then comes back to the team last minute in August... I lose more and more respect for him. And hey, Brett--after three years of this crap, I'm pretty sure the "respect" well is dry. BONE DRY.

Unfortunately, he's back. Again.

Go awaaaaaaaay. Please. Just go away.

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35 Weeks: 35/35

Monday, August 16, 2010

When you're pregnant, reaching 35 weeks is a big deal. I'm not exactly sure why, aside from the fact that "35" is a magic number. You see, when you hit 35 weeks pregnant, you also have exactly 35 days to go. Well, until your due date, anyway. So this is commonly called 35/35!

I actually celebrated 35/35 on Saturday or Sunday (depending on which due date you're going with), so today I actually have less than 35 days to go. Eeeek!


35 Weeks Pregnant

Oh, and today also happens to be my 28th birthday. So I guess you can say there is much to celebrated around here.

Last Thursday, I had my 34-week doctor's appointment. I gained a pound since my 32-week appointment, so I'm up about 22-23 lbs. total. Given my birthday and all, I indulged today, so I'm pretty sure I'm up like five additional pounds now, but at least I have another week or so until I have to be weighed again. Hopefully it'll even out. HA! :) My next appointment is Wednesday, the 25th... starting then, I'll be going every week! It's so crazy to think about.

On Saturday, we took a breastfeeding class. It was nice to get an overview of everything, and get to write down a few tips and tricks before the baby even gets here. It was all helpful information. Of course, the *real* education will come when I actually try to nurse the baby, but still, a little preparation for what to expect is good to have.

Baby is now about 5.5 lbs. and has pretty much grown to his/her full length. All he/she has to concentrate on these next few weeks is fattening up a little bit. And sitting on my bladder. And kicking me in the ribs.

Alright, now I'm going to leave the world where pregnancy is all rainbows and sunshine and transition into what has been my reality. I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that the last few days have been really rough on me. I think it's been a culmination of a lot of things, but the stress and anxiety associated with everything finally built up enough where I reached a breaking point on Saturday and became somewhat of a hormonal lunatic.

I won't bore you with all of the details, but I'll say this: I've reached a point where I am tired all.the.time. I've discovered that despite still being able to sleep pretty well most nights, getting up an average of four times a night to pee just does not bode well for feeling "rested." I know this is supposedly helping prepare me for when baby arrives but man, it would be nice to sleep through just one.more.night before the baby actually gets here.

So, I think the general exhaustion, plus the crazy hormones, plus the anxiety associated with knowing my whole life is going to change in just a few short weeks, plus a few totally ridiculous little stressors (that normally would've been no big deal) pushed me over an edge. Starting Saturday night, I fell into this feeling of depression and feeling like crap about myself. I cried a few times and couldn't really function, then spent the majority of Sunday crying and not functioning as well. The funny thing is that I couldn't really tell you why I was feeling what I was feeling--just that I was generally unhappy and downright sad about things. Then that escalated into feeling guilty for my feelings, which just made everything worse.

I still felt like a waste of space when I woke up this morning, too. But thankfully, the fog seems to have lifted throughout the day, and I was able to fully enjoy my birthday evening with Michael.

I'm told that this kind of funk/depression is completely normal at this stage of the game, but it took me by surprise and I will say that when you're going through it, your feelings feel anything but normal. I so badly just wanted to rewind and feel good again, but didn't know how to make myself feel better. I really hope I don't go through any more episodes of this between now and the end of the pregnancy, but I guess I should prepare myself to do so.

Anyway... I wanted to "confess" because I didn't realize how common it was to have feelings like that until after I started mentioning it to other mothers/pregnant women. *sigh* End rant.

We can't believe we're already halfway through August. And we're only a couple of days away from the 1-month mark!

I may be hormonal and crazy, Baby, but I still can't wait to meet you...

Happy Birthday to me. On my next birthday, I will be a mommy.

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Cousins

Saturday, August 14, 2010

My cousin, Kelly, and her boyfriend, Murray, are world travelers. They've lived in Asia (mostly South Korea) for a handful of years now. Most recently, they lived for a year in Taiwan. We're lucky that each summer, Kelly usually makes it home to the States to visit everyone. And although her "home" is really California, we get a week or so when she comes out to New York to see us.

Last year, my mom hosted a BBQ for my family so all of the cousins could get together to see each other. This year, she did the same.

Unfortunately, we were missing Trevor, Kara, and Hunter this year, but this is everyone else! (Minus a few stray significant others.)


It's always so nice to see everyone. I can't wait until we have a new little one to add into the photo for next year! :)

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Cloth Diapering: Starter Stash

Friday, August 13, 2010

I think I've mentioned in passing how we're planning to cloth diaper our baby. But I know I haven't gone into much detail, and since there are at least a few of you who are curious about it, I figured I'd post about our choice and, eventually, our experience. So, this is just the first in what is sure to be a series of posts about cloth diapering.

The Decision
In the past, I never, ever would have thought that I would cloth diaper. But enter the internet, and well... you end up finding out and researching things that you never would have considered on your own. Even before we got pregnant, I saw cloth diapers discussed on numerous blogs and message boards. Once I learned about all of the different types of cloth diapers available these days, I was intrigued. However, I brushed it off as something that I would love to do if I were a stay-at-home mom, but not something I would be able to handle as a working mother.

Then, I kept reading about all these working mothers who were successfully cloth diapering--all of these "CDing" parents who swore that it's really not that much work. So when we found out we were pregnant, I started slowly doing some more research to see if it was something we should consider. The biggest thing, however, was approaching the subject with Michael. I was sure that he would immediately tell me how ridiculous I was being and I'd be knocked back into my sensible world where disposables were the only option.

But then I mentioned it. I told him about the pros and the cons, and my reasons for wanting to do it (money savings, less waste in the landfill, and more natural materials on baby's bum). And to my surprise, he was 100% behind the idea. That meant getting serious about my research and figuring out a plan that was going to work best for us.

The Plan and Our Starter Stash
Although I did a lot of research, I was still largely non-committal to any one method or style of cloth diapering. I figured that before we made any decisions and started buying anything, we needed to make sure that one more very important person would be on board with us--our daycare provider.

When we started meeting and interviewing potential daycares, we made sure to add the cloth diapering discussion to the list of questions. I knew that if these daycare providers knew how many of today's cloth diapers work, they'd probably say yes, but I feared that they would say no based on assumptions of complicated folding and pinning and rubber pants. Surprisingly, no one seemed to really bat an eye--even the daycare center that we interviewed. And thankfully, our perfect daycare provider was cool with it, too. It was a relief!

With baby in daycare, one thing was for sure: By the time the baby is in daycare, we need to be using an all-in-one or pocket diaper to make it as easy as possible on this woman. We don't want to burden her when she has other children to care for; we figured the easier we can make it, the more successful we'll be with cloth diapering. Although we know we're most likely going with a pocket diaper, and we definitely want to go with the "one-size" versions, we're not making any final decisions on brands until our baby is here and we can try out a few different ones. It seems like everyone has differing opinions on BumGenius, Happy Heinys, FuzziBunz and Blueberry, so we don't want to make an investment in anything until we know what works best on our particular baby.

The problem with the "one-size" versions of these diapers is that, although they claim to fit babies between 7-35 lbs. (so, yes... you can use the same diapers until they are potty-trained!), they don't actually fit well on teeny little skinny newborns. It seems that most parents aren't successful with getting them to fit properly until babies are about 2-3 months old.

Soooo... although the one-size, pocket diapers are our long-term solution, we needed to decide what to do for the newborn stage. At first, I thought maybe we'd use disposable diapers for the first 2-3 months. But then, I actually got some disposables at my first baby shower, and quite frankly, I was kind of grossed out by them. Don't get me wrong--I am in no way "against" disposable diapers. Literally everyone I know uses them, and I've changed many a disposable diaper in my day (have I ever told you guys how I was an all-star babysitter?). But after doing so much research on cloth diapers and making the decision to use them for our baby, it was like I just really didn't want to use disposables. Sure, we'll use them in the hospital while the baby is still passing his/her meconium, but after that, we plan to switch to cloth as soon as we can.

What's our system of choice for the newborn stage? Well, let me show you our "starter stash." These are the things that we have purchased to get us started:


Two dozen newborn-sized, unbleached pre-fold diapers from Green Mountain Diapers, along with a 3-pack of Snappis

4 Thirsties Duo Size 1 diaper covers, 1 Planet Wise medium wet bag, 1 Planet Wise pail liner

As you can see, we plan to use pre-folds and covers. This seemed like the best solution for the newborn days, and it appears that many parents are successful with this system. In fact, many parents end up preferring the pre-folds/covers over the all-in-one/pocket systems, even though the pre-folds seem like more work.

All of the newborn CDing supply lists I've seen for the pre-fold system include 24-36 pre-folds, 4-6 covers, Snappis, two wet bags, and two pail liners. So keep in mind that the above is our starter stash. We plan to add at least another pail liner and wet bag. Once the baby is here and we get a better idea of how long four covers and 24 pre-folds last us before we need to wash, we may decide to order another dozen pre-folds and 1-2 more covers.

But that's the plan! We'll use the pre-folds/covers for the first 2-3 months, until the baby can fit into the one-size pocket diaper options, and go from there. Also, we figure that this newborn system will allow us to really try out cloth diapering and get a feel for it. If we can do it with the pre-folds/covers, we figure it'll be even easier to do the pockets when it's time. And if, for some reason, we change our minds on cloth diapering as a whole, we only invested a little bit of money upfront for the newborn stash.

Other People
Let's get one thing on the record: Our friends and family think we're crazy. I actually try to avoid talking about cloth diapering with anyone at this point, because I feel like everyone is thinking, "They're so naive. Just wait until the baby is here; they'll realize cloth diapering is not realistic." Once the baby is here and we are (hopefully) successful with cloth diapering, I feel like I'll have some clout and be able to tell everyone about what we're doing and how we're doing it, so I'm sure I'll talk about it a lot more. But for now, I'm keeping quiet. When people ask, I'm generally very vague about my answers and I casually say, "We're just trying it. We'll see how it goes."

Oh, how I would love to prove them all wrong. I really hope cloth diapering works for us!

Anyway, I feel like my thoughts on the subject are a little bit disorganized and there's a lot to say, but I'll wrap this first post up and plan to post about different aspects of CDing when it occurs to me.

Questions? Interested in researching for yourself? Feel free to ask away in the comments, although I am most definitely not an expert, especially given that my baby is not here yet.

Some suggested websites to check out for cloth diaper information:
The Eco-Friendly Family Blog
Jillian's Drawers
Green Mountain Diapers

Abby's Lane
Cotton Babies

And a couple of cloth diapering moms who have posted about their experiences:
My Life in Transition
The Lewallens

(I'm sure I'm forgetting some helpful sites and blogs, so I'll add more if I think of them.)

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DIY Maternity Photos

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Given that I follow a lot of photographers' blogs and am somewhat immersed into the world of professional photography, I've been seeing maternity photos on a regular basis for years now. I've always loved how they capture a moment in time--a snippet of that nine months when mommy and baby are still "one." As I've said before, I think there is much to cherish about pregnancy, and photos are an excellent way to remember what the time was like, even long after the pregnancy is over.

My problem is that I've never wanted to pay for maternity photos. It's not that I'm decidedly against doing so, it's just that I can't see myself forking over a few hundred dollars for photos of every pregnancy, and I'd feel badly having maternity photos for the first child and not for any subsequent children. I think half of the reason to do maternity photos is for the child to be able to look back at someday, knowing how his/her parents were anxiously and happily awaiting his/her arrival.

So, if not pay for them... what's a girl to do? Well, I started to think... I have a really nice camera, and perhaps a teensy bit of skill--and why pay for what you can get for free? The only issue was figuring out how I was going to be both in front of and behind the camera. At the same time.

Enter my husband into the picture. I told him that I was going to try to DIY some maternity photos with a tripod and the timer. He suggested that it would be even better if we went out together, and I could coach him to take the photos. Good call, Honey.

Last week, we went out on a couple of really nice evenings and snapped some pics. Here are our results:




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34 Weeks: Nesting

Monday, August 9, 2010

I know six weeks is not a long time. And, realistically, I keep telling myself--I should prepare myself to have a baby anywhere between three weeks and seven weeks from now.

When I tell people the due date, they keep saying "Wow, getting close!"

At work, we're starting to seriously discuss the preparation and transition to my maternity leave--well, as much as we can plan for it, since I plan to work right up until D-Day. Meetings are being scheduled for September, and I accept them on my calendar, not really knowing whether or not I'll actually be there.

So I know... six weeks is not a long time.

It sure feels like it is, though.


34 Weeks Pregnant

I've been "nesting" on and off throughout my entire pregnancy. I'll get something in my head and have to do it pretty much immediately; I won't be satisfied until it's done. Whether it's repainting/remodeling, cleaning, organizing, purchasing, washing, assembling--it doesn't matter. I want it done.

In terms of a lot of the baby's belongings, I've been able to hold out because I knew we had another baby shower to get through. I was hesitant to open a lot of things simply because I wasn't ready to commit to them until after the second shower. I didn't know--maybe I'd research and find a better option, or maybe we'd receive duplicates. I played it safe and kept everything in its packaging or with tags still attached.

But as soon as we got home from our shower on Saturday, I immediately started sorting. I took inventory, figuring out what we had, what we didn't have, what we had too much of, what needed to be returned/exchanged. I made piles for keeping, piles for returning, piles for simple exchanges.

Yesterday, we went on a baby shopping spree. We returned all of the things we didn't need (for instance, I had received 20 receiving blankets... we cut that down to 8) for store credit, then bought pretty much everything we hadn't yet received as gifts. We used gift cards. I placed online orders for cloth diapering supplies and things that weren't available in-store at Babies R Us, Target, and Walmart.

It didn't end there. As soon as we got home from our shopping, I did more organizing. Except this time, I opened a lot of things. I got rid of cardboard boxes. I clipped tags off of blankets and the newborn clothing. I took baby toys out of their packages. I did two big loads of baby laundry--blankets, towels, sleepers, onesies, socks, burp cloths, wash cloths.

And it felt good.

I'm pretty sure I had Braxton Hicks contractions on Saturday when we got back from the shower. They were pretty uncomfortable, but nothing too serious. I also keep getting these random, sharp pains in different areas of my belly. Not really sure what's going on, but I figure it's all par for the course at this point in pregnancy.

The baby's level of movement, and the way it can be seen from the outside, has reached alien-like proportions. I frequently find myself staring at its activity, and saying, "Oh my gosh!" because I can't believe the shapes into which my stomach is contorting at any given moment. It's crazy, y'all.

Last week, we went out and made an attempt to take some DIY maternity photos. I haven't had a chance to do much editing yet, so we'll see how they turned out--I'll likely share the results here soon. We figured, why spend the money on them when we can take some snaps of our own? It's been fun.

I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday, so we'll see how it goes. I'm sure it'll be routine, as usual (which is obviously a GOOD thing!). We're taking a breastfeeding class on Saturday. My birthday is next Monday.

Things are good. Life is good.

I just can't wait to have a baby in it. :)

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Frickin' Fraud

Sunday, August 8, 2010

This afternoon, Michael logged onto our bank account website. He didn't do it for any particular reason; just a routine check of things. Next thing I know, he's standing beside me asking for clarification on a $9 charge that was appearing on the account.

I went to the computer to check it out, but I did not recognize the charge, or the name of the merchant it was from. After combing our memories for a minute or two, Michael plugged the name into Google, and it came up as some obscure charity in Southern California.

RED FLAG.

I've read numerous times about how, when your credit card number is stolen, the criminal will charge a small amount (between $1 and $10) to your card to "test" it--and often times, they make a donation to a charity in order to do so. How nice of them, right? After they are successful in putting a small charge on the card, they then hit you with the "real" fraud, and charge whatever the heck they want to your card. In other words, the mystery charity transaction is a sign of bad things to come.

After checking and double checking to make sure it could not possibly be a transaction we were forgetting about, I immediately called our bank. They were able to tell me that 1) the transaction was made using my card number (as opposed to Michael's), and 2) the charge had been made today. That right there confirmed that something was not right, as I knew for a fact I had not made any $9 charges today. She asked if I would like to cancel the card, and I said yes.

The card number is void, so we don't have to worry about any further fraudulent charges. Now we just have to wait for the $9 charity charge to officially post to the account, and then I'll have to call to dispute it. It's next to impossible to track down who used my card number, so this bastard will likely never be caught.

All in all, we're feeling really lucky that Michael happened to go on the account and spot it right away. In terms of fraud, this is pretty much the best case scenario. However, it's still a pain in the butt.

Worst of all, I am feeling slightly uneasy about everything. I have been watching my other accounts to make sure nothing suspicious happens on any of those. I have been trying to figure out who could have gotten a hold of my card number and used it in this way, but it's just impossible to know. I have suspicions, but they're recent (within the last week)--and for all I know, someone could've copied my card number down weeks or months ago.

I guess I should feel grateful that I've been using credit cards for 10 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me, since apparently it's really common. But MAN would I love to know who did this...

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Baby Shower #2

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Today, we had our second baby shower. Michael's mom, sisters, and aunt threw it for me (us). The guests were from Michael's side of the family, and because of the location, my college friends were invited to this one, too.

It was an awesome afternoon with good family, good friends, and good food. Like my other shower, it was relatively small so I felt like I got to spend some time talking with everyone, which was great. We played a few cute games, enjoyed some cake, and I opened all over the (VERY generous) gifts.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of photos yet, but there are a few to share. Also, I missed out on getting a photo with all of my hostesses, which I'm really sad about! But everyone was running around doing so much that it escaped us until we were all home afterwards. Oops. :(


The cake. It was almond cake/icing and had like a strawberry cream/mousse filling or something; it was delish!

The gift table

So much stuff for the little one...

Laughing with Cristina as I open Bumbo chair #2... oops! Thankfully, we had very few registry screw-ups, but somehow, TWO people bought us Bumbos and it was never marked off of our registry. Things that make you go hmmm....

I had BOYS at my shower again. (The horror!) Our brother-in-law, Andy, and nephew, Logan. Also in attendance were our other nephew Brendan, Michael's uncle Mike, and Michael's grandfather. :)

Who knew plastic cups could be so much fun?? Logan was such a serious baby, but the last few times we've seen him, we've been amazed at how he has all of a sudden developed this huge personality. Love him!


With two of my friends from college.

We received many wonderful gifts, including our high chair, extra car seat base, the Bumbo and accessory tray, burp cloths, onesies, the changing table supplies, and more. We also received several gift cards and cash gifts--which will all be put to very good use, I assure you!

I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of others and am so grateful to my "other" wonderful family... it's so nice to have married into such a nice group of people. I can't wait to add another little person to the family! :)

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