zoo day

Sam's preschool was able to have a free zoo day for all the preschoolers and their families. It was a bit stormy but other then that we had a fantastic time.

Heart Beat

I had another check up last week. Everything seems to be doing well so far and that is a big sigh of relief. The only scare came when the doctor had a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat using his monitor thing. He said I was on the borderline for it being picked up but seemed a little nervous so we went in for a quick ultrasound to double check. I'm quite sure that was the worst 5 minute wait ever as I sat praying that things weren't over before they had begun. Luckily, when he brought up the ultrasound the baby popped right up big and healthy and with a strong heart beat. Phew! It took a good three hours to calm down from that and feel okay again. I can do without having that experience ever again.

Twinkie Abuse

The other day I was out shopping at our new fabulous Winco (love the bulk!) when an old guy came up to me to get a couple boxes of twinkies from a display I was standing by. He says pointing to Katie "I bet she loves these". That totally threw me off and as I thought about it I blurted out "You know, I don't think she's ever had any". He kind of gave me a weird look and moved on. As I went along I noticed that almost everyone in the store had at least 2 boxes of twinkies in their shopping cart. Must have been a good sale, but this doesn't induce me to join the crowd and buy some. I don't think I've had twinkies since I was a child. Not because I am against this all american dessert per se but more because for a very long time my stance has been homemade desserts over processed desserts. If I'm going to indulge my sweet tooth it's going to be the good stuff. There are exceptions every now and again, but all in all I am not a processed dessert person. I haven't even craved twinkies in pregnancy, though I will admit to powdered doughnuts and mint oreos on rare occasion.

The story continues though. I am walking to my car after buying my goods for the week and parked a couple spaces down from me is the guy who was buying twinkies. He sees and recognizes me, immediately grabs a box of twinkies from his trunk, opens it, and comes over and offers one to Katie. I'm quite sure my face turned four shades of red in embarrassment. I told him it would be fine and he gives her one and heads back to his car. Just for the record, I feed my kids plenty of sugary snacks I am not one of those moms who bans sugar from the house- though I don't allow fruit loops and the reason behind that is a long story for another day. My kids have never had Twinkies, ho hos, nutter butter bars, brownies from a box, cheesecake from a box, or most things from the hostess store unless someone else gave it to them and I don't feel sorry for them at all. Instead they have had homemade brownies, cookies, cupcakes, cheesecake, etc. I've never heard them complain. I know what most of those things taste like, and I don't miss it.

Heaven in small, chocolate bites

Triple chocolate cupcakes... Need I say more? Rachel and I spent the afternoon making them. It is nice to have some time together and the fruits of that time were incredible (just look at Rachel's face, doesn't that say it all?). Head on over to Annies Eats to find the recipe.

We have all been enjoying Rachel's forays into all-home-made cooking. It looks like it isn't that much more work, and well worth the effort when it's time to sit down to eat. We have been feasting on enchiladas, gyros (with home-made pita bread, mmm...), creamy gnocchi and chicken, a tomato and orzo dish, and on and on... I hope she keeps this up, and I better start exercising more. I may forget all about portion control at every meal from now on.

Katie and the pink tree

The other day we had the PERFECT weather conditions for photography- meaning a nice darker but not too dark cloud cover and no rain- and I got the itch and knew I needed to play with my 50mm lens some. So while the boys were at school I dressed Katie up and took her to the park with the pink trees that make her happy and took some pics. There are fun things to do on cloudy days.

Mother's Day Gift

I know it is past Mother's Day now, but I just got part of my gift yesterday and should get the other part soon depending on amazon's shipping schedule. So for Mother's Day this year I wanted an icecream maker and the book "The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz which has the most delicious and creative recipes for icecream, granitas, and sorbets that you just won't find at the store. Summer of icecream here I come! The icecream maker doesn't require any ice to use which is a huge bonus. To break it in I plan on making blackberry sorbet (blackberries were .88 cents for 6 oz this last week). I am so excited!

I get it!

I now understand why it is that people choose to become physics majors! It's not because they are smart - though don't get me wrong there are a lot of brilliant minds that study physics- it's because they are big children that never grew up. This was first observed at Jon's graduation where they, meaning the professors along with the graduates, made blow darts with pages from a catalog and some tape in order to shoot balloons down from the ceiling. This was set in stone when Jon came back from his physics teaching conference with this toy. Now if Jon wants to add the physics behind it and it's name he is welcome to. For me, who got my degree in English, all I know is that he touches the silver mylar thing to the wand and it magically spreads out and starts floating in the air above the wand. Apparently he has ones that make butterfly shapes as well. All this wand is is a toy for grown ups! The kids thought the show was great though and life will never be boring. Especially when we can get a house with a big garage so he can build more toys :)

"High Risk"

For the most part, being a high risk pregnancy is just another label added to the list. Life goes on and things aren't too much different yet. Sure, the doctor doesn't want me lifting more then 10 lbs but that isn't the first time I've had that restriction put on me before. Then it all became real this last week when the doctor, not even his nurse, but the doctor called me. The first round of tests came back with a higher than normal bacterial count so I needed to immediately begin the first round of antibiotics and, if we're lucky, the last. I'm grateful they are monitoring things and doing what they can to keep things on the safe side. However, sometimes I feel like that kid in the neverending story (A-TRAY-YOU?) when he is walking by the statues that will zap him if they look in his heart and see fear. I just got to keep breathing, keep walking forward, and sometime soon I'll get past those statues unscathed and be in the safe zone of being past 24 weeks and thus to viability.

Confessions of a food addict

Since I haven't been sick at all with this pregnancy (knock on wood) I've had a huge appetite instead. I feel like I could eat a mountain and keep going some days, but I just can't gain that much weight. I've lost 25 lbs of the weight I gained with my first baby and I'm not going to gain it all back and then some. Will power! But I have to eat. So instead of eating all the lovely processed foods that shout my name as I walk down the grocery store isles, I've been trying to get my cravings out on homebaked meals. Afterall, what is kraft macaroni and cheese to Martha Stewart's homemade Perfect Macaroni and Cheese recipe? Some things in life are a no brainer. I'm not going to turn this blog into a food blog where I document all my cooking adventures. This blog is for our family. But I will share the menu for mother's day, which is all homemade:

Lemon Sherry Chicken
Rice Pilaf
Steamed Vegetables
Parkerhouse Rolls
New York Style Cheesecake

I'm hungry just thinking about it. I hope everyones mother's day meal can be just as lovely. One thing I've noticed about homemade meals is that they are just more satisfying so I don't feel like i have to eat as much. Success!

Baking with a friend

Yesterday my best friend and old college roommate came over and we baked Smores Cupcakes together- complete with graham cracker layer, chocolate layer, and marshmallow frosting. We had so much fun together laughing, letting our kids play, and playing with chocolate. We even surfed the internet while the cupcakes were baking to get more recipes. This might have to become a tradition. Perhaps the saying is right- good food really does bring people together.