CRAVINGS

Today marks 29 weeks --- only 11 more until Our Little One's arrival! 

Week 29 ... Baby's Heart Rate was 144 BPM

The third trimester is shot-putting me back into a drowsy haze - sorta like the first trimester except it has become harder to find a comfy position for sleeping. Jonny bought me a body pillow a few weeks ago, which has been the most awkward sleep-saver of all time!  A girlfriend of mine compared being pregnant and sleeping with a body pillow to the likes of wrestling an alligator – and she was SO right.

Another thing that helps me sleep well is exercise, so I hit the gym this morning.  My doctor advised that my heartrate should stay below 140 BPM while exercising, which is a comfortably slow pace that often gets boring. But the good news is that it allows for lots of people watching. Today, for example, I watched two guys that I’ll affectionately call “the meatheads.” I’ll never knock anyone who invests time in their health and physical fitness, but these guys were EXTRA muscle-ish and EXTRA invested in showing off their gym-skills  - handstands, running in circles with a 35 lb. plates above their heads, high-fiving each other in between push-ups. As I chugged along on the elliptical, I imagined the things they’d say to each other after their workout:

                Meathead #1: Hey, man. Wanna grab some food?

                Meathead #2: Nah, I’ve got some eggs and chicken in my fridge at home.

                Meathead #1: I got you. I’ll just grab a protein shake before I head out.

               

This mentally fabricated dialogue got me thinking about how hungry I was!  And in the spirit of that pregnant-brained moment, I have decided to dedicate this blog to stories about food cravings. I’ll preface this by saying 1) I don’t give-in to cravings all the time and 2) I’m not going to write about healthy cravings. I crave healthy things quite a bit actually, but they are kinda less fun to tell stories about. For example, I’ve been munching on a big bowl of watermelon while I’ve been writing this blog, but I can’t think of anything interesting to write about watermelon … so I won’t. J 

1.       Back in January, I wrote a short blog called “pickles” and showed a picture of the lunch I ate that day:  lentil soup, goldfish crackers, and dill pickles.  Let’s all join-in and recite a collective “eeewww!”  Seriously. How gross is that?

2.       I once told Jonny that I was craving an Oreo.  He jumped in his car and came home with a grocery bag FILLED with Oreo-flavored things. He then apologized that he didn’t find an Oreo Cheesecake – ha! All I wanted was like, AN Oreo - singular! 

3.       About a month ago, I told Jonny there was chicken marinating in the fridge and asked if he’d grill it for dinner.  After he grilled the chicken to absolute perfection, I had a complete change of appetite and embarrassingly told him that I couldn’t eat it – all I wanted was noodles.  So, he made us a substitute meal of spaghetti with jarred red sauce – no muss/no fuss – and it tasted SOOO good.   Best.Husband.Ever!!

4.       Last week I went to dinner at a Mexican place with my friends Lindsay & Meghan.  We ordered what Lindsay call’s the “Mexican Flag” --- salsa, queso, and guacamole --- because the dips are the colors of the Mexican Flat (red, white, and green). Though I DID share the queso, I’ll admit that I didn’t want to. I could have drank it right from the bowl.

5.       And that brings me to this morning.  It was a beautiful, sunny morning that screamed “Today is not like every other day --- treat yourself to something other than a hardboiled egg for breakfast.”  So I drove to our local coffee shop, Hubbard & Cravens, which has the BEST decaf coffee and really great bran muffins.  I ordered both of those things to-go and then started driving home.  Just after I turned onto our street, I was overwhelmed with the feeling that I wanted a Poppyseed Bagel. I literally pulled over, put the car in park, and internally debated whether I should to turn the car around and go get one. WHAT?   Ultimately, I made the decision to head home and enjoy my Bran muffin, but I’ve been wondering all day if I made the right choice. Maybe we’ll have bagels for dinner …

What the baby-belly looks like on an elliptical machine (where have my feet gone??)!

CHIHUAHUA

It’s hard to believe I am about to type the words “third trimester.” But I just did. And so I guess that makes it official … we are 28 weeks!

On the food-spectrum, our baby is the size of a Chinese Cabbage. I don’t have the first clue what a Chinese Cabbage looks like. And if I am being 100% honest, I don’t really care to find out.  Fortunately, one of my favorite pregnancy blogs, “"The Pregnant Chicken," said that at 28 weeks our baby is the size of a Chihuahua.  I saw a Chihuahua this past weekend and its legs were scampering across the sidewalk as it pulled against the owner's leash. I marinated in the idea of that rowdy Chihuahua romping around in my tummy for about 5 seconds … and then I got a little freaked out.  But I have to admit that the movement of the pup’s little feet kinda reminded me of our Baby’s kicks.    They are getting so much stronger and more frequent!  

27 Weeks with Kiki, GP, and Conners (Forest was being a little camera shy)

28 Weeks with My Fabulous Mom --- THANK YOU for all your help with the nursery!!! 

This past week my parents came to Indianapolis for a visit and spent lots of time graciously helping us to prepare for our Little One! Thanks to my mom, the nursery is now painted a really fresh gray that looks so beautiful with our furniture and bedding. We also went shopping for some Baby necessities, which was hilarious for everyone because it took my parents back to what things were like when I was a baby.  My Dad told me about how excited he was when Korey and I were finally potty trained because he did not have to buy diapers anymore. In the vein of that memory, he bought us a huge box of Pampers - ha!

My mom painting the nursery --- bye/bye to the brown! 

Baby P's crib bedding and lots of "furry friends!" 

My friend Lindsay and her mom (Pam) threw me a gorgeous baby shower at their home.  The weather outside was so warm – like the first day of Spring – and we were showered with so much love from our Indianapolis friends. It was a beautiful afternoon!   

The tablescape at my baby shower - I want these flowers in my house everyday! 

My incredible Indianapolis family - looooove these girls so much! 

Isn't this such a cute baby blanket?  Pam quilted it herself and it is GORGEOUS! 

My mom and I were also part of a team that planned a wedding shower for my friend, Jess, who has been a friend of mine since 4^th grade.   When planning my wedding, I always felt like the best part was being surrounded by the most formative people in our lives – our families and our friends. I could tell that Jess felt that very emotion at her shower. She was over-the-moon with happiness and appreciation for everyone who came to celebrate her upcoming marriage. Isn't she going to be a stunning bride? 

Happy Wedding Shower, Jess --- I love that smile from ear-to-ear! 

Best friends of 14 years --- Anne, Jess, and myself celebrating the bride to be! 

Finally, two things have happened in the past week that caused me to pause and absorb my reaction.  I am coming to find that I respond to certain situations differently as a mom-to-be than I likely would have pre-baby ... 

1.       My mom and I were in a car accident and my car’s bumper now has a bump, just like my growing belly! The accident was very minor, but my immediate reaction was to think about how terrible things could have been. For example, what if the airbag had gone off against my stomach? What if I already had the baby and he/she was in a car seat?  As I was asking all these questions I suddenly realized that every concern I had was about the baby. Not about my safety. Not about my car.  There was a natural “intuition” that kicked in – one that defaulted to the baby’s health, safety, and happiness.

2.       The terrible news of two bombings at yesterday’s Boston Marathon.  Such senseless acts have always caused my heart to ache for the victims and their families, but as we are bringing a baby into this world I find myself praying for hope more than ever before.  I want our child to be raised with the understanding that while there may always be acts of evil, the vast majority of people are inherently good.  I hope we can teach our child the importance of being kind. Of doing the right thing. That even in the face of darkness, we must be resilient and compassionate. We must be courageous. And we must be good.  

TRADITION

Happy Easter to all! I have been feeling extra “nesty” lately, so dressing up for Church, coloring Easter eggs, exchanging baskets, and making a big Sunday dinner were all on the top of my Easter wish-list. All the excitement got me thinking: why this year more than ever?

Week 26: we picked a new paint color for our nursery walls

Tradition. This is the first and last year that Jonny and I will spend Easter “just the two of us.” Historically, we have been blessed to surround ourselves with family. Next year, we will be blessed with the laughter of our 9 month old after his/her first witness of the Easter Bunny!  The time to bring new & old traditions into our lives has never felt more prime. And so, we did.

For starters, I made my Grandma Kate’s Irish Raisin Bread.  I wanted our house to smell like “home” and for us to have something delicious to eat when we woke up on Easter morning. This recipe dates back to 1955 – it tastes just like family and it started our day on the perfect note:

I'm told that baking in a cast iron skillet is the "secret" to this recipe

Doesn't OJ always taste better in a champagne flute?

When we began our hunt for a church in Indy a few months ago, we wanted to find one with uplifting messages and music.  Over the past few months, we've found that St. Luke’s delivers on both of these things (and more) and today was no exception.  Our choir sang "Hallelujah Chorus," which I'm not sure I have ever heard in a live-format before. And on a random note, I'm now in love with Timpani Drums. 

St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis

We had so much fun shopping for each other’s Easter baskets. When I was little, the Easter Bunny always put loose change in the plastic Easter eggs (isn't it funny the things you remember?). I decided to carry on the tradition for Jonny this year, but was taken by complete surprise when I shook one of the plastic eggs in MY basket and heard the familiar sound of spare coins. Apparently we both shared that tradition as kids!   We also randomly gave each other children's books, which we took turns reading out loud to the dogs. They both made excellent students and will be a good practice-audience for us before the baby arrives!   If shopping for three is anything like shopping for two, then we are in for a treat next year (and I’m not talking about the chocolate kind)!

THE EASTER BUNNY CAME!!! 

"Are You My Mother" by Dr. Seuss (one of my favorites as a child). YOU ARE A SNORT! 

Conley LOVES holidays - he thinks everything is a gift for him. 

We also colored eggs on  Easter Sunday - an old tradition for Jonny, but a new one for me. My family always colored eggs before Easter and then we got a crazily-painted egg (or two) in our baskets on Sunday morning. Jonny’s family always painted eggs on Easter, a fun craft that kept little hands busy!  I’ve mentioned on this blog before that I eat a hardboiled egg every morning --- and it looks like I will be having some very colorful + sparkly breakfasts this week:

Jonny's brother, Sean, is currently working in Malaysia. He  asked us to color an Easter egg for him. Can you guess which one is his? 

I also made a too-much-for-two Easter dinner complete with all of our favorites, so we shared the table with our neighbor Chris and two of his three children (Colt and Ila). Some things we learned are that kids love ham, pineapple, and bread. Some kids even like salad --- especially when there's bacon tossed in! And eventually we will need to buy some kid-friendly placemats and cups with sippy lids :)

Beer-Boiled Shrimpies! 

Jonny used the mandolin to slice potatoes for our gratin - and he didn't lose a thumb this time (hooray)! 

We cooked the ham in our smoker all afternoon and added a maple/dijon glaze before serving - DELICIOUS!!! 

Scallopped Potatoes - hot & bubbly out of the oven 

Caramelized Pineapple

We could not feel more fortunate than we did this Easter holiday on our 26 week milestone!  Sending oodles-and-oodles of love to each of you!

 --- Kristie, Jonny, + Baby