Celebrating Poppy Seed: Instant Library

Yesterday while BD was outside doing yard work, the FedEx truck pulled up and delivered a large, heavy box for us. BD's first question to me when he toted the box in was "What have you ordered this time??"

While generally a fair question for me, given my internet shopping hobby habit, this time I was not the culprit.

We opened the box to discover that Poppy Seed's Great Aunt Pam had coordinated the effort of having her extended family create an "Instant Library" for her.

The ginormous box was filled to the brim with children's books, all of which had been inscribed for Poppy Seed by the giver. 

We are beyond thrilled with such a unique and special gift for her!  

Sunday Stitches: ABCs

I recently finished another cross stitch project - The ABCs of Parenting. I have been working on this one since shortly after we found out I was pregnant, so this one has taken me a looooong time.

I don't have any in-progress pictures of this one; it was really boring while I just stitched in all the words. But I think once I got the color and the graphics added, it turned out pretty cute.

This is a Lizzie Kate design, stitched over two on 32ct lambswool linen with over dyed threads.

Week 39 Poppy Seed Update

How far along? Pictures taken at 39 weeks, 5 days.

Size of baby? My doctor is estimating 6.5 - 7lbs at delivery, unless I go to 41 or 42 weeks, then "all bets are off".

Weight gain/loss? +22 - I've been hovering here for the last couple of weeks. I'll be up a pound one week and then down a pound the next.

Maternity clothes? Yes. I had a hissy fit on Thursday about not having anything to wear - it's hot here and everything sticks to me. So I went to Target and bought 3 $10 maternity t's; I thought for sure buying maternity clothes 3 days before my due date would guarantee me to go into labor...but here I am, wearing one of those t's.

Stretch marks? Still none so far.

Sleep? Don't mind me and my glassy-eyed stare. My doctor says that most women say they actually sleep better after the baby comes. I'm pretty sure she just says that because she can see the hint of desperation in my eyes, but I'll take any little sliver of hope I can get.

Best moment this week? Yesterday was my last day of working in the office. Starting next week I'll work from home full-time until she arrives. I already wfh once or twice a week on a regular basis so it's not that new, but it will be nice to not have to be up and dressed in the mornings. And at least I won't have to deal with everyone asking the same questions over and over again. I know they mean well, but the "oh my goodness! you're still here!" comment gets old...FAST.  

Food cravings/aversions? No.

Gender? Girl.

Belly button in or out? A tiny bit out.

Movement? Yes.

What I miss? Same answer from last week - if it has to do with not being pregnant, I miss it.

What I'm looking forward to? I can't wait to see what she looks like.

How's Mommy feeling? Have I mentioned that I'm tired?

How's Daddy feeling? He's tired, too - tired of listening to me whine about not getting any sleep! LOL!

Milestones? Reaching official due date tomorrow! I have a feeling we won't see her sweet face until one day next week, but we do have something fun planned for tomorrow to celebrate the day anyway.

Checking Off the To-Do List: Stocking the Freezer

I had every intention of making and freezing some meals ahead of Poppy Seed's arrival, so that we wouldn't have to worry about dinner in the early days of having her home with us.

You know what they say about good intentions.

Luckily, I have a friend that owns a catering business, so I ordered some freezable meals from her (entree & side dish). Each of these are large enough to feed the two of us for several meals, so hopefully we are set for a while.

And our freezer is now full to the brim, so OH DARN there's no room for me to make anything myself...what a shame.

BD, Bird Wrangler

(This actually happened back in March, but I just found this entry in my drafts folder. It's still funny even 3 months later.)

We were leaving the house to take Kip for a walk around 9pm on Wednesday night. Opening the door startled a pair of house wrens roosting in the wreath on the front door (and they startled us), and one flew INSIDE the house. It immediately flew to the big window over the door and pooped (I hate birds) then it flew up to the ceiling and circled the chandelier for a second before it disappeared upstairs. BD ran upstairs and discovered that the bird was in the study, so he promptly shut the door so at least it would stay in one room. After we stared wide-eyed at each other for a minute, he got a pair of work gloves and a garbage bag (??) and went upstairs to gauge the situation. I sat outside the door and listened; I was not about to go in there. He opened the windows and removed the screens and the bird wrangling began. He kept a running commentary going the entire time he was trying to catch the bird - "It ran under the couch"..."It flew into the top of the window"...etc while I offered helpful suggestions like "I can't believe there's a bird in the house" and "Is it pooping on everything?". Many hilarious minutes later, it finally perched on the top of the door frame. He distracted it with the garbage bag in one hand and reached up and grabbed it with the other hand. The whole episode took about 20 minutes, while Kip waited patiently downstairs with his leash still clipped to him.

Memorial Day Weekend 2012: Ribs

When BD and I moved last fall, we got rid of our old grill. We got the grill as a wedding gift, so it was old and seen better days - especially since it got damaged when the neighbor's tree fell in Feb 2010.

Anyway, we haven't replaced the grill yet, which kind of put a damper on my plan to have BBQ grilled chicken for Memorial Day. So I went scouring around for another idea and decided to try ribs in the slow cooker.

I don't do well with large chunks of meat, so BD was in charge of this endeavor. First he made a dry rub for the ribs out of salt, pepper, chili powder, and brown sugar.

He rubbed that into the ribs; there was also yellow onion rings under the meat in the bottom of the slow cooker.

The liquid sauce was chili sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, garlic, and Tobasco (and perhaps some other things that I am forgetting).

The meat cooked on low for 8 hours and fell right off the bone it was so tender. We also had baked beans, mac & cheese, and rolls. All-in-all a non-grilled Memorial Day success!

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bites

This recipe has been on my to-make list for a long time, but I have never gotten around to it. I think it was totally worth the wait once I finally did it!

These are cheesecake cupcakes with a mini Reece's PB cup hidden inside. The recipe came from a co-worker's wife, so I don't know the original source - recipe posted below.

The crust is a simple graham cracker crust - graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar.

A mini pb cup goes on top of the crust.

The each cupcake tin is filled with the cheesecake batter.

After baking in the oven, you have a little cheesecake cupcake with a surprise inside!

Recipe: 

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 pkg of bite-sized Reese's peanut butter cups

Filling:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a standard muffin pan. (The recipe originally says that it will only yield 12 cakes, however, I made 18, so if you've got two muffin pans, fill both.)

Crust prep:
In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter until crumbs are moistened. Press crust into bottom of each muffin cup. Put 1 peanut butter cup into the center of each crust.

Filling prep:
Beat cream cheese with a hand held electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar, flour and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Spoon cream cheese mixture over peanut butter cups and graham cracker crusts. Bake until just set, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before serving. Even better after being refrigerated!