Sunrise

This super awesome pinkness happened a while ago as the sun was rising.

I snapped a couple pictures, then went to check the camera and adjust some settings, and by the time I looked up, the pinkness was gone. It had turned back into a normal grey morning.

But at least a captured a bit of the pink-ness.

16 weeks

This was taken at the beginning of week 16. Which we are now pretty much finishing up.
At my appointment this week we learned that Munchkin is bouncing all over the place in there, but I still can't feel him/her. His/her heart rate is going at a wonderful 140 bpm.

I am feeling even better (if that is possible, since I never really felt bad); I am less tired than I was a couple weeks ago, and less ravenously hungry (though still perpetually ready to eat). I am starting to feel like I have an actually baby bump, and am in need of more maternity clothes.

Thus far, very much enjoying this here 2nd trimester

Me and My Nannie

A photo in which I look muchly more pregnant than I actually am.

As of this picture I was almost 15 weeks. But everyone told me I was looking "extra pregnant" that day. But I am not complaining (shocked at how quickly I am gaining wait, yes; complaining, no)

But anyway, I just think it was a lovely picture of my favorite Nannie and myself.

Talented Family

My family is pretty talented in general. As evidenced by some of the items I found around Nannie's house while I was there.

I am pretty sure that this was painted by my grandfather. (someone in the know, correct me if I am wrong on that...if its wasn't him, it was some other very close relative)

I know Grandpop made this. Stained Glass was his specialty. Pretty cool, huh?

Dad made this. He is pretty handy with the woodwork.

However, my favorite thing that they (both Dad and Grandpop) make is this:

Its a duck. With rubber feet.

It is supposed to be on the end of a pole, with a little handle - as demonstrated by this penguin (the lesser known, but equally as adorable model)

You push it along the floor and the rubber feet makes the best little waddling sound you would ever like to hear. I LOVE these. My grandfather had a whole little business making them - it was called Duck Works. Dad mass produced them for a time, making them for craft fairs and such. Hands down the best kids push toy ever. (the sound is much less annoying then those plastic popper things that a lot of kids have, and still just as fun)

If any one (*cough*Dad*coughcough*) happens to be reading this that might want to make one for Munchkin, it would be a very welcome present!

Jewelry Finds

On my jewelry treasure hunt with Nannie, there were quite a few fun little finds.

This "Precious Feet" Pin was just too sweet to be passed up. They are the actual size of a baby's feet at just week 10 of pregnancy. Mind boggling.

This was just a super cool bracelet (I thought)

This was possibly my favorite find though (which I obviously did not get to take with me....I could have my pick of most things, with a very few exceptions)

It is Nannie's engagement ring box. It's heart shaped, with a lace shape around the bottom! I was simply impressed that she still had the box. I think I have my ring box somewhere, but its just a simple black ring box. Its neat to think how if ring box styles can change over the years. I guess I will have to make a point of saving mine, perhaps when I have grandkids, ring boxes will not all be the "standard" ring box that I have; and perhaps they will marvel at the uniqueness of what I currently consider to be a pretty plain box.

Jewelry from Nannie

The other weekend, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with my grandmother, Nannie. She has a pretty fabulous collection of jewelry that she doesn't have as much opportunity to wear anymore - so she is letting us girls in the family go through and pick out some pieces for ourselves. So this particular Saturday afternoon was my turn.

It turned into a wonderful treasure hunt full of fun stories and memories.

There was tons to choose from....we started here...

Then moved on to the jewelry box here(its under the flower pot):

And if that weren't enough options, we the moved here:

And just when I thought we had gotten through all of it, we opened the cabinet on the wall!

In summary, there were so many boxes to open, drawers to sort through, stories to be told, it was quite a fun time. And in the end I think I picked out quite a nice little pile of stuff.

Note: the white teddy bear was a gift for the baby...not actually one of the things to be found amongst the jewelry. But it go to be pictured any way.

There will likely be more posts on this visit to come, there were too many good finds to post all in on post.

Baby Belly, or Just Belly?

Maybe a little of both.

14 weeks. (which was almost 2 weeks ago)


Random Pregnancy Updates:

Pre-natal yoga instruction can be found on youtube.

Munchkin has made me like mexican food (or any spicy food) more than usual. I wouldn't call it a craving (maybe it is, maybe it isn't, what do I know) but definitely a strong preference.

Friendliest Dog in the World

While on our Farm Stay the other week, we were responsible for caring for this sweet creature, named Babe.

She is possibly the nicest, most obedient dog I have ever met.

Her biggest fault is that she is toooo friendly. But not in the normal jumps-up-on-guests sense. But simply because she is a little bit older, and sometimes when she is excited, it seems distinctly possible that she will give herself a heart attack or something.

You can almost talk to her like a person. She will follow you. Or stay behind if you insist. She never tires of playing fetch.

And all you have to do to get her to wag her tail is look at her.
Marge is cutest when she looks sad (which is a lot of the time), so it is nice to hang out with a perky dog from time to time.

Prettier in Person

The picture turned out alright.

But would you believe when I say that it was prettier in person?

The Best Part of the Farm Stay

Welcome to the absolute best part of our Farm Stay experience.

Our main motivation for agreeing to the landlords kind offer was twofold: 1) the fully functioning heat and 2) the sweeeeeet bathtub. (you will recall that we do not have one in our house, and I miss it dearly. Barely a day goes by I do not mourn its absence. )

This particular bathroom is positively gorgeous. The bath tub - possibly the best ever. I think maybe even slightly better than my previous favorite tub.

The black and white checked floor is lovely. And oddly enough, I like the choice of light purple paint. The corner shower is also a nice touch.

This relaxing experience was even complete with a small flock of rubber duckies. Rubber duckies make any water related experience that much more delightful.

Between the rubber duckies, the bubbles and the surplus of magazine options, this was definitely the best part of the mini vacation. (though the Direct TV was also nice)

The Farm Stay

The other weekend, Mon Amour and I had the opportunity to stay at the main farm house (which is in the process of being transformed into a B&B...or more accurately a "Farm Stay", it's a technical term). We were dog, cat, and cow sitting, so the landlords figured we may as well house sit too. We agreed, mostly since we were pretty sure their house had heat that worked, and I was pretty tired of being perpetually cold.

So we packed our bags (yes, it was only overnight, it was a brief walk from our house, but we packed multiple bags. We even considered driving up. Ultimately, we did managed to walk there)

I didn't ever get to see the house pre-the massive transformation. But I understand the house is pretty much unrecognizable at this point. I cannot confirm that. But I can tell you the house i GORGEOUS. Here are just a few highlights:

Sweet kitchen - looking out into the family room. The combination of dark wood and white cabinets, as well as 2 different marble counter tops confuses me....but somehow it works I suppose.

This is a pretty sweet feature - it is a huge gas stove, with lots of burners, and lots of different settings for everything. I don't usually like gas stoves, but if I could have one like this, I would not complain.

Here is the breakfast bar, looking from the family room into the kitchen.

The room where we stayed - aka - the Pasture View Room. There are two other rooms in the B&B, ours was biggest of the 3. It was complete with chocolates on the pillows!

Proof that we were there!

And a random picture of the "servants stairs". They are ridiculously steep. Yikes.

We had a positively fabulous time. It was proof that you don't have to go very far (we went less than a 1/4 mile) to disconnect and relax. It was beautiful.

But....I have yet to show you the best part of the house....more on that soon.

Baby Blanket

Before anyone but Mon Amour and I knew that we were going to have a baby - we went to a craft store to pick out some yarn so that I could crochet the baby a blanket.

Clearly we did not at the time (nor do we yet) know if the baby is a girl or a boy - so we opted for some gender neutral colors. To which we will add some splashes of pink or blue once we find out what he/she is.

Here is what I have so far:

I looked at patterns, but ultimately decided to just make it up as I went along. This makes it quite fun - but circles are not the easiest thing in the world to make up. So the blanket doesn't quite lay flat (due to adding too many stitches one row, and then too few the next, etc). But when is it really going to be laying flat?

Home made Crepes

Remember back when I told you about the joys of French Crepes?

Well, we have now officially made them at home. And they are much easier than you would think! They take a little more skill than pancakes, but not much more.

First you whip up the ingredients. We used this recipe. Though I am sure that any number of recipes would work just fine. We did add a few drops of vanilla to this one - I love vanilla.

Then, for ease of pouring the (very thin) batter onto the pan, we poured the batter into our liquid measuring cup.

Then pour about 1/4 cup onto your pre-heated skilled (use your "Crepe Pan" if, like us, you happen to have one). You can use a crepe spreader to spread the batter all over the pan - or you can just tilt the pan. It should be spread pretty thin.

Cook on one side until it is just about done (it is so thin, it kind of cooks all the way through all at once). Then flip it over, just for the sake of giving the other side a bit of color.

The key is to then prep and eat immediately.
Put it on a plate, spread your choice of toppings on one half and fold in half. For ease of handling, fold in half again. Dust with powdered sugar (optional, but recommended!)

Enjoy.
The spoon is optional - can be eaten with one's fingers.

My favorite toppings: Strawberry Jelly. Or Cinnamon Sugar.
Mon Amour's Favorite Toppings: Nutella. And whatever else falls within his reach.

I am told you can make dinner crepes with meat and such in them. We have yet to be so bold. But perhaps some day.

Musical Marge

Some of our very good friends visited the other day, and brought over a couple presents for Munchkin!

One of which was this adorable Musical Marge, as we like to call it.

It is a wonderfully soft and adorable stuffed animal that plays a little lullaby when you pull its tail!
Hopefully Munchkin won't think that that is what happens when you pull real Marge's tail.

Mon Amour's Bday

It was recently Mon Amour's Birthday.
We celebrated pretty quietly.
I did get him a gift (a new pullover jacket thing from his graduate school) but I didn't order it in time for it to actually be here on his Birthday. Oops. He forgave me. He is very kind like that.

I did make him a cake.

His favorite cake - pineapple upside down cake. (it was from a box. I usually make cake from scratch. But I am pretty sure that I bought this mix when it was free. So I don't feel too bad. and the cake was delicious!)

We put a candle in it, but I did not sing for him.

And of course, he did not tell me what he wished for. But I suspect I know.

Happy Birthday, Mon Amour.

13 Week Belly Shot

We have been taking week by week belly shots since week 6. But we always manage to take them in the evening when I look super tired and out of it. And we have been taking them with me in a white shirt, against a white background. We may need to re-think that picture taking strategy.

But at 13 weeks we opted for a light pink shirt (only mildly less camouflage than white) and thought it was about time to mark the belly's progress officially.
Ta da.

That is just about 9lbs of baby related growth (though clearly the baby itself is only a minuscule amount of that 9lbs.). My very kind husband assures me that it doesn't look like 9 lbs. For which I am grateful since I was supposed to gain a max of 5 the first trimester. But what can I say? I work really hard to stay at my pre-baby weight, so once baby came, I abandoned my dieting mindset, and poof, the first 5lbs appeared. Fortunately (sort of) those first 5lbs happened before my first official weigh in at the Dr, so he thinks I have gained 4lbs. Which is exactly what I should have.

Baby's First French Education

For those of you who don't know, Mon Amour majored in French (and Psychology, but for the purposes of this post, that is not important). So he is proficient (not technically fluent, but good enough) in French. As such, we would love to give our child a jump start in the bilingual department. I am not even going to pretend that we will actually succeed in raising a bilingual child, but we can at least teach them a few phrases and pronunciation things or something. Every little bit helps, right?

Anyway, to that end, we have secured the baby it's first French things:

One French "Baby on Board" thing for the car.

This is actually how I told Mon Amour about Munchkin. I pretty much always get out of bed before Mon Amour. So it was a Sunday morning when I tested. I was pretty sure that it was positive (darn those confusing faint lines) so I decided to just go with it. I stashed the test in the car's glove box when I took Marge out. Then while Mon Amour was distracted, I found this little sign, took it out to the car, and put it on the driver's window.

Then I was really anxious to go to church. Mon Amour didn't understand the rush, so we didn't leave any earlier than we needed to. By the time he got Marge in her crate, I was anxiously sitting in the car. He went over to the driver's side, saw the sign, chuckled and opened the door. Then it hit him. "Really?!?" he asked. "Yes," I said confidently, follow quickly by a less confident "I think so" as I reached for the evidence in the glove box.
Needless to say, I was a little distracted at church that day.

Anyway, on to the next item.



I think this was the first thing we bought for Munchkin after we found out about him/her.

It has really fabulous pictures.




These (and the little sign) we got long before Munchkin existed. We got them from a legitimately French department store, while we were in Europe last year.

There are 7 bibs, with the days of the week on them in French.

Baby's First Onesie

I love baby clothes. Its hard to go wrong with things in miniature, so it's hard to go wrong with baby clothes. (I am also a sucker for baby shoes. I know when they are tiny they don't need them. But I love them. )

Baby received his/her first gender neutral onesie from my bosses.

They like to sail. Obviously they will instill in this child a love of sailing.


Isn't it cute?

Homemade Pasta - with fancy new tools

Do you remember the last time we made pasta?

Well, we decided to try it again. And this time we were armed with the proper tools (thanks to Mon Amour's parents for all the fun kitchen widgets!)

The first step, of course was to make the dough. Flour and eggs. That's all it takes.

Then you roll pieces of the dough through the pasta making machine. You re-feed it through about 10 times.

Over and over again it goes through.

Until you have a bunch of "pasta sheets" that are "smooth and silky like" (those were the directions' words exactly)

Then you add the slicing mechanism to the pasta machine, and feed the pasta sheets through one last time.

Out comes the pasta.

Which you then hang on this nifty pasta rack to dry for a little bit.

From the rack it goes into boiling water for just a few minutes. Drain and serve immediately.

For a touch of irony, serve your home made pasta with sauce from a jar, and garlic bread from the freezer. One day the whole meal will be homemade. Until then, homemade pasta (if you have the time to make it) is the way to go!