The waiting game...

So now that my nerves have calmed down and some things have begun in regards to the pregnancy, it's still slow going.  Although Mom already got her plane ticket and will be out here tonight, just in case baby pookie does arrive early, we are still hoping she will hold out a little longer until Steph can get out here, but not sure she will make it.  As long as she is back from deployment and makes it out here safely, I am happy.  Kevin is just ready for this pregnancy to be over with (as if he really had to do anything  ;)  Actually, putting up with me is a lot and if you are reading this you probably know me and know that is an understatement.  He really has been great!  Anyhow, I think he is just ready to meet his daughter and who can blame him.  I am ready to meet her too!  Hopefully the next post will have some pictures to go along with it!  =D

REALLY?!?!

Well, this weekend was uneventful.  Saturday we walked around Seaport Village in downtown San Diego, did a little shopping and grabbed a bite to eat near the water.  It was a beautiful day.  Sunday we had planned to take the dog to the beach, but I was not really up for leaving the house and thought I was exhausted... boy was I wrong.  I began doing laundry, cleaning out and rearranging the baby's closet (it had all of our military gear in it), I unpacked the baby's hospital bag and washed the clothers and blankets and then washed all the other blankets, repacked the bags and then began doing our laundry.  But my insanity didn't stop there.  I started juicing (which came out very well), made a batch of brownies (for warm brownie and ice cream later) and then cooked myself some Spanish Rice R' Roni.  Nesting anyone?!?!

Yesterday, I was having small contractions inconsistently about 4-10 minutes apart and then they stopped.  Thinking nothing of it and just hoping to get my daily ten counts, went home, ate some dinner and drank some cranberry juice (a surefire way to get her to start moving about) got my 10 counts and went to bed.

Today, had a Dr's appointment and found out I am 2 cm dialated and 80% effaced and she could feel the baby's head.  WHAT?!?! She also told me she didn't think I would make it to this weekend and expected the baby would be here this week.  OH NO!  Begin panic mode, call Kevin, call mom, call Marlene... call Kris... SOMEONE ANSWER THE PHONE!  Mom finally does and tells me that when she went to her Dr's appt with me she was 1 cm dialated and ended up delivering that night!?!?!  KEVIN!!!  Seriously, where is my sister?  I'm home, picking up laundry, doing laundry, cleaning house... rest, that is what I need.  Rest.  But I am very ansy and feel like I should be doing something.  Work?!  Called the XO and updated him (he's very understanding but loves to give me a hard time and why not now)  says I can still come to work and if need be they could call Doc in the event I go into labor and we could use the CO's conference table for delievery.  Really???  I mean, REALLY?  Would make for some interesting conversations at the next Dept Head Meeting, but I would rather drive myself to Balboa then have any of them in the room during that time.   ha-ha  sigh, maybe a bath...  Yes, a bath sounds nice.

9 apples
9 celery stalks
1 inch ginger

Makes 2 large glasses

A typical Sunday...

Before I had even got out of bed, Kevin said he was headed to the gym.  I suggested we both go to my gym and I could swim while he worked out.  Without a second thought we both got ready and headed up to Carlsbad.  Kevin did cardio and lifted weights, while I took to the swimming pool for about 45 minutes to an hour of laps (with my kick board of course).  Got home, ate lunch, Kevin took the car to get cleaned and I began what I think people call nesting;   I blindly began doing laundry, picking up around the house, rearranging things in the baby's room, in our closest, threw out a bunch of uneeded things all this without any real intiative or desire to do any of it and then decided I was going to juice.  Let me just say that before you juice, if you are using a recipe, it would be a good idea to read the recipe in its entirity first.  Had I done so I would not have thrown the bananas in the juicer, but the blender instead.  On that rocky beginning, I decided to make my own recipe with the same ingredients.  It turned out to be a delicious little concoction:

Read the Recipe Delight (What I am calling it for now)
1/2 - 1 pineapple - peeled
2 large bananas - peeled
1 large papaya - peeled and seeded
5 oranges - peeled

Juice all ingredients, makes about 2 quarts of juice (great for a post-workout drink with 1 scoop of protein or for breakfast!)

Labor and Delivery Tour

Soooo, Kevin and I took the Labor and Delivery Tour of the hospital yesterday.  We learned where the curbside drop off point is located, what paperwork we needed filled out ahead of time (unless we wanted to fill it out while I was in labor), where family members can hang out, which building we needed to go into (there are three separate buldings, this hospital is like a mall), what the Labor and Delivery rooms look like and what the recovery rooms look like.  The beds in Labor and Delivery look like something out of the Transformer movies.  We also discovered that Balboa does not have a nursey except for the NICU, so if everything goes well, little pookie will be rooming in with me after delivery.  YEAAAH!  Let the sleepless nights begin.  =)  The tour was really basic but it was helpful to know where everything is located. 

Juicing

I bought a juicer about a year and a half ago... I used it a lot in the beginning.  Mostly I juiced oranges, apples, celery and carrots.  After using it for awhile, I got bored juicing the same thing over and over.  There are only so many combinations I could come up with for those four ingredients.  I admit I wasn't very adventerous with my ingredients.  Well, since being pregnant and the upcoming battle to lose the baby weight, along with wanting to get back to a healthy diet, I pulled the thing out again, and immediately threw the parts in the dishwasher; unfortunately it hadn't been used in quite awhile.  I am getting excited!  Not only could we make juices, instead of buying them, but we could also make homemade popsicles (we've gotten on this kick about eating the sugar-free pops for dessert... they come in this great variety pack of Fudgeciles, Popsicles and Creamsicles and low in calories as well, 70 for 2 pops and that's the fudgeciles!).  Anyway, we recently bought a juicing book, Squeezed.  I am looking forward to trying out all of the recipes, but so far I have only made it through two and they are awesome!  Below is what the cover of the book looks like if you on the hunt to buy it or you can come back and check out future posts!  Following are the two I have tried out thus far:

Mango, Apple and Lime

3 Mangoes, peeled and pits removed

6 apples, stalks removed

2 limes, peeld

3/4-inch piece of ginger

and Honey to taste

Makes 2 medium glasses

Pineapple Ginger Kick

1/2 pineapple
3 oranges, peeled
1 1/2-inch piece ginger
ice cubes, to serve

Makes 2 small glasses

Busy Week

This week has been fairly busy... at work anyway.  I am used to running around and getting things accomplished and if I need to stay at work until 1800 then I stay and the next day is a normal work day.  This week however, I stayed at work one night until about 1815 or so (I got in around 0700 that morning) and that night I was out like a light and the next day at work I was completely useless... actually the past two days I have been, well, not completely useless, but exhausted to the point I have had to leave work in order to drive home with enough situational awareness not to get into an accident.  It is now friday and the weekend has begun and I am looking forward to all the nothingness... well except for going to a friend's daughter's birthday party (she is turing one) and shopping tonight for her gift, visiting a friend during happy hour (this should be interesting, an 8 1/2+ month old pregnant lady in a bar), one last shopping outing for anything we might need for baby (right now I think it's just cotton balls), packing our hospital bags in case she decides to come early and cleaning the house... should be a pretty relaxing weekend.  :-/

Also this week, I have been looking into the whole cord blood banking decision, birth plan options, what to expect at the hospital, reevaluating the budget etc, etc, etc.  What I need to look into is relaxation techniques.  =)

I am counting down the days... for a number of reasons... The closer the due date gets the closer it gets to Stephanie coming home from Iraq, her and mom being out here to visit and holding the little one in my arms, instead of her beating the bahjesus out of my insides (I think this is what wakes me up most nights now, but I am still not complaining)  Whatever lets me know she is thriving in there keeps my nerves off edge.  It's funny how I can be just sitting at work doing absolutely nothing and then *WHAM* it's like I have one of those electornic wobble balls jumping around in my stomach and I am out of my chair like someone lit a fire underneath me... Needless to say I get some funny looks from my peers.  Come to think of it I always get funny looks from my peers so that is nothing new.  =o)

Christmas Cookies!

Kevin and I have been out and about this morning running errands, nothing very exciting.  But as I was sitting here on the couch relaxing I remembered I forgot to share my family's Christmas Cookie recipes, soooo here they are, ENJOY!!!!   Would love to hear which ones are your favorites!  Marlene, I need your reese cup cookie recipe, I think I ate all of those myself.  =)

Tea Time Tassies - YUMMMM!

TART SHELLS

1/2 cup butter or margerine, softened
1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup all purpose flour

FILLING
2 tablespoons butter or margerine, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 1 1/2)
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

For the tarts, beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth.  Add flour and mix until a smooth dough forms. 

Preheat oven to 350.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls andplace in mini muffin pan.  Dip shaper into flour and press the previsouly shaped balls. this will form a pocket.  Fill the tart shells with the filling mixture, but don't over fill.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light gold brown.  Remove from muffin pan to cool.    Should make about 24 tarts.  (We doubled the recipe this Christmas!)


Pecan Sandies - These will melt in your mouth!

1 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon water
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugar together until smooth, then add reminaing ingredients except the pecans.  After mixing all the ingredients together, add the pecans.  Chill dough for at least 1 hour, roll into 1-inch balls and place on cokie sheet.  Bake at 300 for 40 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.  Roll in powedered sugar while still warm. 

BUCKEYES!!!  Really that is all that needs to be said  ;)

1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup butter, softened
6 cups confectioner's sugar
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and sugar.  The dough will look dry.  Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a wax-lined cookie sheet.  Press a tooth pick into the top of each ball (to be used for dipping later) and chill in the freezer ntil firm, about thirty minutes (chilling will help the chocolate hold to peanut butter ball).  Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or a pot resting onto top of another with smiing water underneath), stirring frequently until smooth.  Dip frozen peanut butter balls in the chocolate holding onto the toothpick.  Leave a small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make they look like Buckeyes.  Put back on the cook sheet and refrigerate until serving.  Should make about 30 but if you are making them for our family best to make at least 2 batches!

Spice Cookies - This one is not a family recipe but Cari brought it over and it would be a crime not to share!

Non-stick cooking spray
1 (18.25oz) pacjage Pillsbury Reduced Sugar Yellow Cake
1/3 stick Crisco butter shortening sticks
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup cold water
1 large egg

Heat oven to 375.  Spray cookie sheets lightly with non-stick cooking spray
Combine cake mix and shortening in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until a coarse meal forms.  Add cinnamon, ginger, coves, water and the egg, mixing on low until a smooth dough forms.  Shape dough into 1-inch ball and place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes  or until edges are light brown (don't over cook!).  Allow cookies to set on a cookie sheet for 2 minutes before moving to the cooling rack.   

If you would like you can add a drizzle of vanilla frosting to these cookies for some added sweetening, but trust me, you won't need it!

New Year's Day

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!  Last night Kevin and I went over to our friend's house, Kris and Rudy, to celebrate East Coast New Years, unfortunately I only made it to 8:40pm before we had to leave as I was getting to a point where I wouldn't have been able to drive due to being overly tired and no waaay was I letting Kevin drive, he had a couple of drinks.  It was fun to hang out and get out of the house!  Thanks guys!

New Year's Resolutions:
-Become more tolerant of stupid people =)
-Become a better, defensive driver
-Maintain a healthy diet
-Return to a routine workout schedule once I can after baby arrives
-Get outdoors more often when I can (Hiking, biking, walking, doggie beach, running (gotta start slow here)
These are just a few but the overall goal is just to be a better all around better person for not only myself but for my family as well.  And so New Year's Day it began:

This morning Kevin took me out to breakfast at one of my favorite little cafes in Encintas; St. Germain's.  He had the breakfast special, which looked really good; two french toasts, two eggs, and 2 strips of bacon.  I had an egg whilte omelet with ham, cheese and tomatoes, a glass of OJ and a treat; A Cafe Mocha.  mmmmmmm  After that we went home, grabbed the puppy and headed off to Sorrento Valley for some trail walking!  We have to put Shaye on a lease intially, at least until we get to the trail.  He gets so excited around other people in the parking lot that it would have been a 20 minute endeavor of us chasing Shaye while he says hello to everyone.  Needless to say, we got on the trail without incident, Shaye was let off his lease and off he went; No boundaries!  He ran on the trail, ran back and forth across the trail and even ventured off the trail a little further than we anticipated and found a little hill to climb down to play in the nearby creek.  This dog loves playing in the water.  As we walked, Shaye would run ahead of us and then run back to us and then run zigzag patterns across the trails into the tall grass that would crackle under his paws. 

We walked for almost 30 minutes out before needing to head back (I am 8 1/2 months prego and no bathrooms out here) so we took a few photos with the puppy and turned around:

At one point, we spotted a Golden Retriever (we later learned her name was Butter) and her owner, coming from another trail.  Shaye, despite having used up a lot of his energy, did not want to pass up some play time.  We let him play for a few minutes and then we continued on our way back to the car. 

Along the trail there was one point where it was really muddy and not wanting to have a muddy puppy in the car, Kevin decided to pick him up and carry him across.  (Shaye must have been thinking "I have got these two wrapped around my paws"). 

Also on our way back to the car, Kevin continually picked ticks off Shaye.  I am sure he picked at least 10 off of him on the trail.  Once we got home, we pulled 10 more off him.  Ewwwwww.

Once all the little buggers were pulled off Shaye, Kevin and I started the breakdown of Christmas decorations.  I must say that I am so glad we kept the box for the Christmas tree, but we also bought a couple of other storage containers.  We got one for storing our ornaments and another one for our lights.  The one for the lights is nice because it has inserts you can take out, wrap your lights around and then reinsert in the box like a filing cabient.  It's pretty cool.  Now we are being lazy and watching the Rose Bowl game; Oregon Vs. Ohio Sate.  I'm torn as I want to cheer for Oregon, but disappointed the team is allowing Blount, the guy who punched another player in the first game of this season, to play despite saying that they were going to suspend him for the season.  I understand he has done community service among other things to come back and play and was just reinstated about two games ago... just the principle of the thing irritates me, but GOOOO Oregon =). 

Well, moving on, time to do laundry, tomorrow is cleaning day.  Hope everyone is having a great New Year's Day!