What a difference a day makes! 28 Oct 2012 11:16 AM (12 years ago)

39 weeks:

39 weeks and 1 day:

Connor Winton Smith was born at 6:44am on Tuesday, October 23rd. He weighed 7 pounds 6 oz and was 20 inches long. We are more than a little bit in love with this little guy. :)

proud papa after delivery

resting up in our postpartum room

For those of you who love birth stories ... here is mine. :) I woke up on Monday morning with a weird feeling that I thought must be contractions. I had made it through my entire pregnancy without ever having a contraction (Braxton-Hicks or otherwise) so it took me a little while to figure out what I was feeling. I got out of bed at around 9am on Monday the 22nd and started timing them. I timed the contractions for a few hours and realized that they were consistently 40 seconds-1 minute long, 4-5 minutes apart. I figured it *had* to be a good sign, especially since I was heading to my midwife appointment that afternoon at 3:30 for a membrane sweep.

At my appointment the previous Thursday (the 18th), I had been dilated to 2cm and around 80% effaced. I was really hoping for some progress when I went in to my appointment on Monday - especially after the contractions started. They built and built all day and by the time we got to the office, I was definitely in quite a bit of discomfort. I told Matt that if I hadn't made any progress, and if these weren't really "for real" contractions, I was going to be pretty discouraged.

I had a non stress test (I've been having one every Monday since I went on bed rest) and the baby looked great. When Liz (my midwife) came in to check me, I told her I was having regular contractions. Lo and behold, I was at 4cm and 90% and she went ahead and did the membrane sweep. Not fun, but it really didn't bother me much at that point.

Liz said that she thought I was definitely in active labor, and said if I wanted I could head straight to the hospital and she would come over and break my water. Matt and I had been hopeful that this was the real deal, and had packed our hospital bags in the car ahead of time so we decided to go for it and have this baby!

We got to L&D (after a quick trip through the Wendy's drive-thru so I could grab a chicken sandwich for labor fuel), got settled in our room, and Liz arrived about an hour later. After another check, I had already progressed to 5cm and I was feeling really great. I had done the Hypnobabies home study course and had planned to try to deliver without any pain meds, and at that point I felt really in control of the contractions. Liz broke my water (weird!) and I labored for awhile. I remember telling Matt that if the contractions stayed at that level, I could totally do this. Aaaand that's when things started to kick up a notch.

All of a sudden, they started coming fast and furious and it was really, really tough for me. I got in the tub and turned on the jets and just enjoyed soaking for awhile. Matt was world's best labor coach and did a great job coaching me through every contraction, but I was quickly starting to lose my focus. I learned quickly that each contraction was a huge mind fuck (pardon my french) ... a big one would hit and I would think I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS and then it would be over, and the relief felt so good that I would think ... well, let's just try one more. Repeat times a million.

At around 9:30pm the contractions were so incredibly powerful, painful and furious that I started feeling very fearful and teary with each one. Liz checked me and I was at 7cm. At that point, I made it through a few more contractions but decided at 10pm that I wanted an epidural. I was having extremely painful back labor and I absolutely could not relax my body during a contraction. I felt like there was no end in sight and I didn't know how I would make it through one more hour, let alone the possibility of several more hours. I remember thinking I was quite possibly going to die. :) Nothing overdramatic or anything like that, of course.

By 10:30 I had my epidural - something I was absolutely petrified of ahead of time. I wanted nothing to do with it. But at that point, I absolutely did not care what it was or what it looked like (I knew better than to look at the anesthesiologist preparing the massive needle anyway). I just needed the pain relief, and I needed it badly. Within minutes, the pain relief started and it was like night and day. I relaxed, smiled, and chit chatted with my midwife for about an hour while Matt went out to the waiting room to fill his family in on what was going on. His mom and his sister camped out in the waiting room all night, and my parents arrived at around 3am, so we had a small cheering section out there.

I also remember texting several friends and writing several facebook messages. I was clearly drugged up. Ha.

At around 2:30am, Liz checked me again and said I was at about 9.75 cm with just the tiniest lip of my cervix in the way, so she told me to nap for about another hour and then we'd see how I was doing. FYI - we never napped, and that was a HUGE MISTAKE. Oh well. At 4am on the 23rd, it was time to start pushing. I really didn't want to push for 2 hours and decided I would push this little guy out in 20 minutes. Cue hilarious laughter.

Let me just say ... pushing is hard freaking work. I thought my head was going to explode. I will spare many of the gory details, but let's just say that Connor got stuck for kind of a long time and instead of pushing for 2 hours, I pushed for 2 hours and 44 minutes. And ended up with an episiotomy because I think if he had his way, he would have stayed stuck for forever. After the episiotomy, he basically flew out (thank goodness) and then he was here!

My recovery has been pretty good ... pushing for that long does not so great things to your lady bits, but I am thankful to have no tearing (and only stitches from the episiotomy). I am still moving pretty slowly, but managed to stick Connor in the Baby K'tan and take a family walk with Matt and Oscar yesterday. And by "walk" I mean "slowest stroll ever." My midwife told me that if I feel like all of my parts are "falling out," then I'm overdoing it, and since that is not a feeling I want to have, I'm trying to take it easy.

Breastfeeding is going great so far - but I think that will be another post because this one is already far too long. :) So let's get to the good stuff ... photos of baby Connor!

he hated his first bath, but loved having his hair washed!

he's too small to fit into his Michigan gear yet, but we brought this IU onesie to wear at the hospital since he was born at IU Hospital

pure love

this kid has reeeeeally long fingers!

and reeeeeally big feet! look at them!

he is a great baby and mostly does a lot of sleeping and eating. he only cries during diaper changes and naked time.

oh, and he didn't like our football photo shoot much, either. but how cute is that?!

he is already changing and growing so much - his cone head is gone and i just love watching him sleep like this. he is such a snuggler - Matt and i have been snuggling him nonstop since he was born!

another adorable sleepy face

So! That's what's been going on around here. We feel so thrilled and happy and blessed and every word you can think of that Connor is here and in our lives. We love him so much it's unbelievable!

Playing Catch-Up 20 Oct 2012 5:24 AM (12 years ago)

Well, we have already established that I suck at blogging these days (years). And I can never really figure out if I want to keep this blog going ... or get rid of it. But as I go on my 3rd week of pregnancy bed rest, I am B-O-R-E-D and felt like doing a little blogging! Plus, who knows, maybe I'll feel like blogging once this little guy is here (which will, you know, hopefully be sometime soon). So in the meantime, let me bring you up to speed ... I'm skipping several belly photos because nobody needs to see that many in a row. :)

hey look, I cut my hair off!

So that brings you up to today! I am 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant (ahhhh) and I've been on bed rest for two weeks for high blood pressure. Which is starting to get reeeeeally boring. The good news is that I think we will have a baby this week! On Monday (at 39 weeks) I'm getting a membrane sweep (TMI?) and hopefully that will help speed things along. We are also talking about induction with my midwife on Monday because my BP doesn't seem to be going down, despite doing nothing but sitting on my ass for the last couple of weeks.

If I didn't have a job, bed rest would be all fine and dandy I think ... but because I work, I have already lost 2 of my 12 weeks of maternity leave before his little man makes his debut, and thinking about that lost time is really upsetting me. Sniffles.

BUT. Besides taking a million more belly shots, let's throw in some more photos of stuff you've missed ...

Lisa got married!!!

I got a new car!!!

Matt was home for a few days and we had some amazing maternity photos taken. Love! :)

I had a baby shower!

And I had another baby shower!

And all of it has been super duper fun! :) Then my blood pressure went up and bed rest started, so I've spent the last couple of weeks in a sad bed rest depression, full of too much tv and internet time and not enough reading/crafting/thank-you-note-writing. But I decided yesterday to snap out of my depression. Last night I read a great book, and today I will finish all of my thank-you notes. Our hospital bags are packed, the car seat is installed, and we are ready for this baby to come!

Are you listening, baby boy? Let's get this show on the road! My hips and my back and my pelvis are REALLY starting to hurt!

Sooooo what's new with all of you? :)

21 Weeks and a Heat Wave! 21 Jun 2012 5:16 PM (12 years ago)

Y'all, it's hot out. I guess hot weather + pregnancy = DEATHLY HOT. I'm moving slowly and feeling crummy out in the heat, which has really taken me by surprise. I don't love the heat normally, but being out and about in 95 degree weather has really taken it out of me!

Anyway .... here's a photo of me on Monday, at 21 weeks!

Yep, that belly just keeps getting bigger! Oh, and I guess the baby does, too. :)

How far along? 21 weeks when the photo was taken above - 21w3d today!

How big is baby? Around 8 inches from head to rump, and we're up to around 1 pound in weight! This week, he is approximately the size of a spaghetti squash.

Huh, okay. Yeah. Sure. Spaghetti squash.

Total weight gain: I haven't weighed myself since last week ... so I'll stick with around 10 pounds. :)

Maternity clothes? Hells to the yes.

Sleep: I had a few nights in a row of horrible sleep this night. Three nights in a row of middle-of-the-night insomnia paired with random puking. Thankfully, last night I slept like a rockstar again (from 9:30-6:30 ... woohoo!) and I woke up today NOT feeling like death, which was awesome!

Cravings: Fruity frozen yogurt covered in fresh fruit. Yes, yes, yes. If you have a Red Mango in your area, do yourself a treat and go get some. My favorite is peach froyo with strawberries, raspberries and kiwi. YES.

Best moment this week: Showing up at my in-laws house to find a whole bag full of baby boy clothes my mother-in-law had (immediately) purchased for our sweet boy! She called me today to let me know that a few more things she had ordered just came in. :) He is so very loved (and outfitted) already! Here's my favorite outfit:

Swoon. Is that not the absolute cutest?!

Movement: All the time! It seems like he's been SUPER active the last couple of days and I feel him almost all the time. It's amazing!

Gender: It's a boy!!!

Belly Button in or out? Innie ... but getting surprisingly shallow.

What I miss: Nothing this week! Very happy and content. :)

Milestones: No big milestones this week - unless filling up baby boy's closet counts!

I've been trying to spend some quality time with my first baby lately - since Matt is out of town, it's just the two of us, so we're doing some bonding. Here are a few photos of our latest adventures ...

Sooo what's been going on with everyone else lately?

20 Weeks and Anatomy Scan! 15 Jun 2012 6:59 PM (12 years ago)

Well, Matt's out of town for work (for the next FIVE WEEKS) so I'm back to taking self-portraits. Boo! It takes me approximately 87 years to get the angle right on these. Taking self-belly shots is SO difficult. #firstworldproblems

Anyway! I cannot believe I am TWENTY WEEKS PREGNANT!!! Halfway! Over halfway now, actually, since this post is so late. INSANE. How is time going so quickly??? This pregnancy is flying by and I feel like we will be meeting this wee baby before we know it!

This was a HUGE week for us! On Wednesday, I had my 20 week ultrasound and we found out that we are having a BOY! I was going to post the ultrasound photo of his boy parts, but then I thought that was really awkward, so I won't do that. :) A lot of people, including Matt's family members, swore up and down that I was having a girl. The second the ultrasound tech put that wand on my stomach, she said "oh! there it is! you're having a little boy!" He wanted us to get down to business right away, I guess! I think I was definitely in shock for a little while, and afterwards my SIL and I went straight to the mall and bought some adorable baby boy clothes! They are hanging in his closet and I go in to look at them all the time. Eeeee. :)

BUT even more important than finding out Baby Smith is a HE was finding out that he is perfect and healthy. During the ultrasound, he was grabbing his foot with his hand and playing with it. It was so cute! Here are a couple of adorable photos!

Oh, that perfect little profile and foot just kill me. Perfection! We do have a baby name picked out, and I'll probably reveal that a big later. :)

How far along? 20 weeks when the photo was taken above - 20w4d today!

How big is baby? Around 7 inches from head to rump, and the ultrasound tech informed me that he weighs 13 ounces!

Total weight gain: I'm currently up around 10 pounds (still fluctuating pretty regularly). I also think I may stop weighing myself regularly. :)

Maternity clothes? Hells to the yes.

Sleep: For the most part, I'm sleeping great! Just never seem to get enough sleep. And heartburn remains the death of me.

Cravings: I'm back to craving fruit fruit fruit! Grapefruit, berries, watermelon ... you name it, I want it! Today I treated myself to some frozen yogurt with fresh fruit and it was pretty much the most incredible thing ever.

Best moment this week: Finding out that we're having a baby boy! I'm not used to thinking about him as a HIM yet and I think I'm still getting used to it! I've spent the last 20 weeks calling the baby "it" or "the baby." Saying "he" and "him" has made this pregnancy so much more real to me. I know, I know, it's not like it HASN'T been real the last 20 weeks, but now I really feel like the baby is a little person in there - a little man! It's really hard for me to put these feelings into words, but I just feel so much more bonded with him all of a sudden. I feel so in love, so lucky, so ... ah. Words are just failing me right now. :)

Movement: Every single day! The kicks are getting a lot stronger and more regular, but I can't feel them from the outside yet. I feel him kicking extremely low, and the ultrasound tech said I'm carrying him really low, so I guess that makes sense!

Gender: All boy!!!

Belly Button in or out? Innie ... but getting surprisingly shallow.

What I miss: Nothing this week! Very happy and content. :)

Milestones: Finding out we're having a boy! Having our crib delivered! Buying little boy clothes! Registering for our childbirth class! Lots, I guess. :)

19 Weeks! 4 Jun 2012 5:43 PM (12 years ago)

I can't believe I'm only a week away from being approximately 50% through this pregnancy! The last 19 weeks have flown by ... I am more and more in awe of being pregnant every day, as cheesy as that sounds. I have absolutely loved being pregnant so far and I can only hope this euphoria lasts for the next 21ish weeks!

Matt and I went up to Indy over the weekend to pick up my computer (which was being fixed at the Apple store) and afterwards, we registered at Buy Buy Baby! Which was fun, and exhausting, all at the same time. We are registering over on Amazon too, and the registries should be more complete when we know if we're having a boy or a girl!

Over Memorial Day weekend when we started cleaning out the nursery/guest room, we found an old $25 merchandise credit to Williams Sonoma. Yes. From our wedding. 3.5 years ago. There's a W-S right across from the Apple store at the mall, so we wandered around to find a treat. Since there's not a ton of merchandise you can pick up at W-S for a mere $25, we decided to treat ourselves to some fancy foodstuffs. Also know as ...

Mmmmmm. Vosges Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix. Plus some vanilla bean maple syrup (not pictured). We made those pancakes on Sunday and they were ex-cep-tion-al.

Anyway. We did some more work on the nursery yesterday because Matt will be going out of town for awhile for work. The crib will be delivered this week or next week, and I wanted to make sure we had some room to set it up! So we moved things all around, shoved the bed against the wall (we're keeping the bed temporarily until a month or so after Baby Smith arrives, at which point we will FINALLY be able to set up the nursery how I want it!), cleaned out more of the closet, etc. This is a really horrible photo of our current progress:

Yeah, I know. You can't really see anything. But trust me, things are happening. :)

How far along? 19 weeks!

How big is baby? 6.5 inches from head to tail and 10.6oz. Depending on the app/site, we're at the size of a small cantaloupe or a mango. Mmm fruit.

Total weight gain: I weighed myself this morning and I'm suddenly up between 6-7 pounds. I've been really hungry the last week or so, which I guess means that baby is having a growth spurt!

Maternity clothes? Oh yes. And loving them.

Sleep: Sleeping well - no complaints yet (besides the constant heartburn the second I lay down every night, blech).

Cravings: Remember how last week I was craving tacos? Well, that craving just didn't quit.

Yep. Those tacos were kind of amazing.

Best moment this week: Feeling the wee baby move every day! It's really incredible!

Movement: YES!!! Yay!!!

Gender: One week from Wednesday!!!

Belly Button in or out? Innie.

What I miss: Nothing this week! Very happy and content. :)

Milestones: A stranger at the mall asked me if I was having a girl or a boy - the first stranger to say something about me being pregnant. I guess I officially look pregnant and not fat now ... ? I threw a comparison photo below to show you how much of a difference 3 weeks has made! Wowsers!

18 Weeks and Feeling Movement!!! 31 May 2012 7:42 AM (12 years ago)

How far along? 18+3 today (18 weeks exactly when I took the photo above)

How big is baby? Around 6 inches from crown to rump, and right now baby weighs around 8.5oz. Depending on the website/app, we're either at the size of an heirloom tomato, a mango, or a sweet potato. :) Mmmm. Is anyone else getting hungry?!

Total weight gain: Between 3-4 pounds depending on the day.

Maternity clothes? I'm loving my new maternity "wardrobe!" Wardrobe in quotations, of course, because I don't have that many items ... but I've been doing a good job of rotating and making the most of my non-maternity items that still fit! On the shopping list this week is a maternity swimsuit ... or at least just a tankini top. My bottoms fit just fine, but my current (non-maternity) tankini top is extremely tight and uncomfortable. I went to a deep water exercise class the other day and I felt like it was trying to cut off my circulation!!!

Sleep: No complaints about sleep right now! I've really been sleeping well lately. The main issue is that I want to sleep allllll the time. I'm having such a tough time getting up in the morning for work - I wake up wishing every day was Saturday!

Cravings: I know it's a weird one, but the last couple of days I've REALLY been craving tacos. Old school tacos, nothing fancy ... just a hard shell with some taco beef, lettuce, and cheese. Simple. Methinks I'll be picking up taco fixings on the way home from work today!

Best moment this week: Two great moments in the last week and a half! First of all, we found out that my sister-in-law is pregnant AND due just a week after me! I am due 10/29 and she is due 11/7 (coincidentally, also my mother-in-law's birthday!). I just feel so overwhelmingly happy about this - she and her husband have been trying for baby #2 for several years and I'm so happy things worked out. I'm also THRILLED that our baby will have a cousin so close in age! The other fantastic moment happened on Monday ... and Tuesday, and Wednesday, and this morning. Baby Smith is moving! And I can feel it! We went swimming down at my SIL's on Monday, and when we got home I felt two distinct little kicks. They felt unlike anything I had experienced so far and I couldn't believe it! Since then, I've felt movement every single day and it's just amazing. Sometimes I sit and concentrate and say "move baby, move!" so that I can pay attention to the movement when it happens, but surprisingly, the baby isn't quite following my orders yet. Aaaaand probably won't for a long time. :) I am really looking forward to when these movements can be felt from the outside so Matt can feel his baby kick!

Movement: YES!!! Yay!!!

Gender: We'll know in just under two weeks ... The concensus by far is girl girl girl. Anyone care to place a wager?

Belly Button in or out? Innie.

What I miss: Nothing this week! Very happy and content. :)

Milestones: Feeling the baby kick was a HUGE milestone for me. It's so easy to think that everything is just too good to be true ... sometimes I still can't believe I'm pregnant and this is even happening. I know it sounds weird, but it just doesn't seem real sometimes! Feeling those little movements ... well, everything just seems a lot more real to me now. PLUS we have officially ordered furniture! The crib and glider have been ordered and should be here within a couple of weeks - VERY exciting. We also started going through the guest room (soon to be the nursery) and got rid of a bunch of stuff, reorganized, moved things around, and are starting to get this place ready for a baby!

17 Weeks = Exhaustion! 23 May 2012 4:47 PM (12 years ago)

17 weeks as of Monday, May 21st! Which was also, coincidentally, Matt's 30th birthday! Big things happening in the Smith family. :) It's been a great week! I went up to Michigan over the weekend to attend Lisa's bridal shower, which was lots of fun. Here is the one and only photo I took:

Anyway, the shower was fun and I am SO glad I live within driving distance and was able to make the trek up to celebrate! Unfortunately, the weekend totally wiped me out. The 6 hour drive home was really rough and I was thisclose to sleeping in the backseat of my car in a McDonald's parking lot to avoid driving the rest of the way home. Overly dramatic? Yes, totally. But I was totally wiped out and it seemed like a fairly good idea at the time! Thankfully, I powered through and made it home (safely in one piece) and I have NEVER been so happy to get home and get into my bed! I still feel like I'm recovering and catching up on sleep, as ridiculous as that sounds. I guess I just need to remember that my body is really working hard right now, and sometimes I just have to take it easy!

That being said, here are this week's important things:

How far along? 17 week and 2 days today (17 weeks when I took the photo above)

How big is baby? Baby Smith is now the size of a sweet potato - around 5.6 inches from head to tush and around 6.7 ounces. Growing by leaps and bounds! And I'm to the point where I literally feel like my belly is growing every. single. day. Case in point? I took the photo below yesterday, one day after my 17 week photo above. Every day I wake up and look in the mirror and think, yep! It's bigger!

Total weight gain: Not sure ... haven't weighed myself recently, but I think I'm finally up a couple of pounds.

Maternity clothes? Yes! My parents met me in Grand Rapids on Sunday and treated me to a little maternity shopping spree. I'm now the proud owner of several items ... including the adorable dress I'm modeling above in my (very sleep-looking) 17 week photo above!

Sleep: Sleeping great lately. I started taking zantac every evening, and while I'm still dealing with heartburn, it's starting to feel a little more manageable.

Cravings: Nothing really this week - probably for the best!

Best moment this week: It's definitely a tie between hanging out with Lisa and stepping in dog diarrhea with my bare foot on the carpet in the middle of the night last night. I'll let you decide which I'm serious about.

Movement: About the same as last week ... a couple of little flutters that I can't really distinguish as being the baby or not. I'll keep you posted on this one. :)

Gender: Dunno! Lots more girl votes, and one more boy vote. We'll find out three weeks from today!

Belly Button in or out? Innie.

What I miss: Eating raw sushi and staying awake past 9:30. Oh, and being able to take roadtrips without feeling like I've been run over by a truck!

Milestones: Nothing new this week - besides being one week closer to meeting this little baby! :)

16 Weeks = Pickles 17 May 2012 3:38 PM (12 years ago)

Well, my 16 week post is a few days late (I was 16 weeks on Monday), but I'm blaming my computer for having some photo uploading issues. This past week and a half has been The Week Of The Pickle. No, that's not a euphemism. I am just so in love with these Claussen kosher dill pickles that I have one almost every day. They are so perfect and crunchy and ... mmmm. Yep. I'm going to need to have one when I finish writing this. Sigh.

Anyway. Without further ado ...

How far along? 16 weeks and 3 days today (16 weeks exactly when I took the photo above)

How big is baby? According to the What to Expect app, Baby Smith is the size of a turnip - 5 inches long and 5 oz. The BabyBump app says onion, 5.1 inches, and 5.9 oz. :)

Total weight gain: Still fluctuating up a pound and down a pound.

Maternity clothes? Yes. I don't have anything new since last week, just rotating through the 3-4 things I own with some closet staples like cardigans. I think I have discovered the secret to buying minimal maternity clothes - buy plain, solid color stuff that can be rotated easily with pretty much anything else in my closet. So my wardrobe is fairly boring these days, but I don't even care anymore.

Sleep: Sleeping pretty well, besides the almost-constant heartburn that has been plaguing me. My midwife told me to pick up some zantac, so I'll be trying that out and hoping for the best!

Cravings: Pickles! Yum!

Best moment this week: Hearing Baby Smith's loud, strong heartbeat this morning at my midwife appointment. At 8 week sand 12 weeks, the heartrate was in the 160s and this morning it was in the 150s. Do we have any gender guesses?

Movement: Over the past few days, I've had a couple of little flutters but to be honest, they are so very subtle I can't really tell if it's the baby or just things moving around in there. I'm really trying to pay attention to anything I'm feeling these days and I can't wait to feel the baby for real!

Gender: We scheduled the anatomy scan this morning for June 13th at 1:00. Pretty much everyone thinks we're having a girl, and I'm starting to believe them! Still not sure yet, though.

Belly Button in or out? Innie. I've had two laparoscopic surgeries with incisions in my belly button, so I'm kind of interested to see what it will do! :)

What I miss: Staying awake past 9:30 to watch good TV. Ha.

Weekly Wisdom: I still don't know how I'm supposed to have any wisdom. :)

Milestones: Hearing baby's heartbeat this morning, and scheduling my 20 week ultrasound! Cannot believe we're just a month away from half baked! Also, on Saturday I went to my first prenatal yoga class. Not sure if I'm going to keep going to the classes because they are fairly expensive, but I will definitely be doing some prenatal yoga at home. I walked into the yoga place and found a wall full of these fun cloth diapers! We are going to be cloth diapering and I love seeing all the fun colors! :)

Blogging Motivation? 7 May 2012 6:32 PM (12 years ago)

Big Ten Baby!

So! About a week after my last post (and yes, I know it was three months ago!), and about a week after my 30th birthday, Matt and I found out that we were expecting! As I hinted at in my birthday post, our journey to become parents has not been an easy road - nor has it been as challenging a journey as so many other couples struggle with. It took us sixteen months (and three cycles of fertility meds) to get to this point, and frankly ... it still doesn't seem real. I have been wanting to blog about Baby Smith for awhile (we officially "came out" on Facebook and Twitter a few weeks ago), but I think it's just been so hard for me to believe that this is really happening. After wanting something so much, for so long, and then it finally happens ... it's very overwhelming. So basically, this pregnancy is flying by and I feel like I'm not doing a very good job of focusing on what's happening! Which means that maybe, JUST maybe, it's time to start up the old blog again. I'd like to keep track of my weekly photos and stuff (because I have been HORRIBLE at taking photos so far). So, I'm not making any promises, but let's just see where this goes. :)

{Insert crazy caption here about pee stick obsession}

I found out I was pregnant on February 17th, 2012. My due date is October 29th - SO thrilled to be having a fall baby! Fall is my favorite season, and our wedding anniversary is 11/8. My gut feeling is that we will have a November baby, and not an October baby, but who knows! Here's our 8 week ultrasound photo:

Gummy bear baby!

Anyway, my photos from 4 weeks through 14 weeks are kind of spotty and inconsistent, so I'm going to start with today's photo (15 weeks! Yay!) and just consider myself caught up! :)

How far along? 15 weeks exactly!

How big is baby? Around 3 ounces, measuring between 4-5 ounces in length. Little peanut!

Total weight gain: I'm fluctuating between one pound below prepregnancy weight and one pound over. So I guess I'll take the average and say ... no weight gain yet.

Maternity clothes? I have one pair of maternity capris (worn in the photo above and almost every day of every week) and a maternity jean skirt that is a bit too big for me still. I have a couple of maternity t-shirts and tanks but mostly just repurposing my wardrobe (don't the fashion bloggers call that a "remix"??) and trying to make non-maternity stuff last as long as possible. Maternity clothes are expensive! Oh, but I did just score this super cute maternity dress from Gilt Groupe to wear to Lisa's bridal shower in a couple of weeks (and maybe rehearsal dinner in July, too!):

Yes, my self-portraits are usually taken at my work bathroom. What of it?

Sleep: I slept absolutely horribly all through the first trimester, with crazy dreams and getting up to pee 800 times a night. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I started sleeping GREAT and it's been so wonderful ever since! The only thing bothering me is that I will sleep in one position for most of the night, and when I wake up, my arm is always asleep. #firstworldproblems.

Cravings: I was really into fruit a few weeks ago and couldn't get enough strawberries, watermelon and raspberries. But right now, no real cravings or food aversions, which is great!

Best moment this week: Having Matt take the photo above ... and realizing that Baby Smith has definitely popped over the last few days! My ambiguously fat beer gut/baby gut is slowly turning into a for-real baby belly!

Movement: None yet - I cannot WAIT for this!

Gender: Team Green for now ... we will find out in about 5 weeks if we're having a boy or a girl! Almost everyone has told me they think I'm having a girl. Matt and I have absolutely no idea or intuition at all, so who knows!

Belly Button in or out? Innie.

What I miss: Really, nothing. I am so very happy and thankful to be here ... I couldn't care less about missing out on wine, or delicious soft cheeses, or even sushi! Oh, okay, I do miss something. I miss being able to eat something - anything - without it giving me crazy heartburn. I eat a strawberry = heartburn. I have a sip of water = heartburn. ARGH.

Weekly Wisdom: Well, I have no wisdom. I don't know what I'm talking about yet. :)

Milestones: Happily cruising through the 2nd trimester and feeling great!

So, there ya have it. Baby Smith, coming 10/29/12! Oscar cannot WAIT to have a baby brother or sister. Can't you tell?

A New Decade 9 Feb 2012 3:00 AM (13 years ago)

Hello, long lost blog friends. It's me. Do you remember me? Here's a recent photo just in case you have forgotten about me. I wouldn't blame you, after all. It's been almost six months.

Lots of things have happened in the last six months. Most importantly, I started playing around with hot rollers (see above). Okay, that's probably not the most important thing. I don't really know what the most important thing is, but all I can say is ... you know you go too long without logging onto Blogger when every time you log in, the format has changed. I must say that I am LOVING this new Blogger. Nicely done, Google!

Anyway. Today, I turn 30. Another decade down. It feels weird ... yet exciting. I love birthdays, and I have never shied away from aging. Seeing a new decade (you know, the one that starts with a 3) is definitely going to be an adjustment, but it's not one I'm unhappy about. Every year of my life thus far has brought joy, new adventures, new experiences, and new friends.

These last ten years have been good to me. I graduated from college, earned my graduate degree, moved to Virginia, got a job, quit that job, met the love of my life, got another job, became a puppy parent to Oscar, got another job, moved from Virginia to Indiana, got married, got a new job, said goodbye to my husband for a year and dealt with deployment, welcomed him home again (which remains one of the best days of my life), got ANOTHER new job (definitely the best yet), and ... bam. All of a sudden, ten years have passed.

I'm not exactly where I thought I would be at 30. If you would have asked me ten years ago what my life would be like now, I would have guessed that I would be happily married (check), have a house (nope) and a couple of kids (nope, unless you count the furry one with a tail), and feel settled (nope).

The happily married thing, I've had down for over three years now. But the rest has proven to be a bit of a challenge. We don't have a house, because we're not really settled. Our future is very up in the air right now, and we're not quite sure where we'll be a year from now. Our journey to become parents has been filled with challenges, heartache, and loss instead of joy and excitement, and this is something I'm struggling with every day. I'm really hoping that the stars align for us soon, that 2012 is our year for so many things.

That being said, I'm happy. I have Matt.

I have my sweet friends and family. I have the best dog a gal could ask for.

Overall? Life is good. Life is great. I may not be where I thought I'd be, but I remain content and optimistic that the future holds good things for our little family.

Now. My goal for this year? Smile more with my mouth open. :)

My 30th birthday plans are to go to work, have a fantastic dinner with Matt (I'm thinking sushi ... our go-to special occasion pick), and snuggle. I'm throwing myself a 30th birthday party next week, and I'm having tons of fun with some planning and decorating and crafting. I'm hereby considering February my Birthday Month - why celebrate a day when you can have a whole month?! - and will ring in 30 with style!

So, hey everyone. Not sure if I'll be back for real or not ... but know that I'm here, I'm alive, I'm on Twitter, and I'm keeping up with your lives ... I'm just not so great at commenting these days. xxoo

Friday Mishmash 1 Sep 2011 10:00 PM (13 years ago)

So, first of all ... wow. Just checked out the new Blogger and it's kinda rocking my world a little bit! As in, I am really confused and stuff. But I like it, I think! I think. Hmm.

Anyway, I am finishing up my second week at work and I still love it. It's seriously fabulous. I love being on campus, and have figured out the bus situation a little bit better - now I take the bus from our apartment, and I don't have to drive at all! Very exciting stuff. Really. :) My office still looks as sad as it did last week, but I think Matt and I will be heading on campus this weekend to change all of that. Stay tuned for photos of my new decorated office sometime next week!

In other news, I haven't been sewing as much as I would like (and must remedy that) but I did work on a little craft fun for Oscar recently. I don't remember why exactly, but I was talking with Lisa online about something related to dogs, and I was on Etsy so I searched for "husky" to see what kind of fun handmade husky gear I could find. Well, amazingly enough, one crazy thing popped up. It turned out to be a digital image I could buy for $1 and then use for ... well, whatever. It was so incredibly that I snatched it right up, swung by Hobby Lobby, and grabbed a canvas tote bag and some iron on transfer paper. And the result? Is kind of amazing.

Hmmm. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Seriously. I don't know who thinks something like this up (oh wait, yes I do - I picked this bad boy up from Graphique), but it is spec-tac-u-lar. It's a husky. With a crown. And wings.

No, I don't understand. Yes, it looks almost exactly like Oscar. No, Oscar doesn't really need his own tote bag. Although yes, he does pack a bag when he goes to stay with Mamaw and Papaw.

So yes. Clearly it was necessary. I find it absolutely hilarious and often look at it hanging in the closet and giggle.

Anyway - I can't believe we're already at Labor Day weekend! And I can't believe it's September. We don't have any plans this weekend, besides watching college football and babysitting sweet baby Madeline. What about you?

New Job and New Office! 25 Aug 2011 4:49 PM (13 years ago)

This is the face of someone who is happy going to work in the morning. It's a new feeling, so I'm still getting used to it. This morning I took this photo with my computer on my way out the door, wearing my fancy new IU polo shirt for Welcome Week festivities. This job? Is so much fun. There's a lot to learn, but nothing that I can't handle. The people? Are fantastic. Everyone in my school is incredibly friendly, open and welcoming - something I really craved at my last job but never encountered. After three years in an extremely hostile work environment where nobody really seemed to like each other, this is such a breath of fresh air.

My first day was Tuesday, and I jumped right in and tried to start learning stuff. My boss took me out to lunch (thai food ... delish!), which was fun, and this morning they had a welcome breakfast for me. So nice! I actually got to meet some students this afternoon at the open house we hosted for freshmen. We had a great turnout, and it was lots of fun.

Working on a college campus is the best part of this job - I absolutely love taking the bus to work. Strange, I know, but there's something so enjoyable about sitting down, opening a book, and zoning out for the ten whole minutes it takes me to get there. I love spending some time walking outside, and yesterday - despite the crazy heat and the fact that it was dorm move-in day - I walked across campus to downtown to go to the library. Just the fact that I could walk there, and then walk to a different bus stop and take the bus home, totally made my day. Sometimes, it's just the little things, you know?

Anyway ... so yeah. All in all, the new job is fab. Still have a ton of stuff to learn, but that's okay. School starts next week, so I better learn quickly!

Another awesome part about my new job? My new office. For those of you who may not remember, here is a photo of the entirety of my office at the high school:

Yes, that really is all of it. Not pictured: the electrical box for the school, another smaller electrical box, and a small fried-looking box plugged into the wall I was told never to remove because it was linked to the school's alarm system.

Behold: my new, grown-up office, full of all sorts of excitement:

It definitely needs a little bit of decoration ... hopefully will have some stuff hung on the walls by next week.

I have my own thermostat! How awesome is that?!

Trust me ... after spending my summer sweltering at the high school (you know, not too many people there, so they weren't worried about keeping it cool), having an office with my own personal thermostat is muy exciting.

To be honest ... once I got used to my tiny office at North, I really grew to love it. It stopped seeming tiny to me (until I had more than one other person in it, of course). But, um, now? Just looking at that photo makes me feel claustrophobic. It doesn't take long to feel spoiled, eh?

Anyway, just wanted to give you an update on the new gig. In a word: lovely. :)

All Done 20 Aug 2011 8:50 AM (13 years ago)

Well, it's all over. All done. Yesterday was so much harder than I thought it was - it was very busy, and I kept thinking at the last minute of more kids I didn't get the chance to see and say goodbye to. There are a couple of kids - two girls, two boys - I feel extremely close with, and saying goodbye to them was torture. After giving one of them a hug, I teared up and then was in tears on and off the rest of the afternoon, culminating in some awkward sobs while saying goodbye to coworkers. Awkward. It was about infinity times harder than I thought to leave a job I have been so desperately trying to get away from for so many months.

BUT! But. Enough about that. It's over and done and now I am enjoying a three day weekend before starting my new job on Tuesday. Special long weekend activities involve: reading, laundry, cleaning, blogging, having breakfast on Monday with my friend Kyle, and possibly taking myself to see the last Harry Potter movie in the theater. I am currently rereading all of the Harry Potter books - gosh, they are just so good! I just read the first one last week and I got the second one from the library yesterday. I'm sure I will have that one done by the end of the weekend. What are you reading right now?

In other news ... I'm on Pinterest and it's so fabulous. Click here to follow my Pinboards. I also run the Pinterest page for Fantabulously Frugal Weddings, so if you want to see a bunch of beautiful wedding inspiration, click here and follow us too!

That's all for now ... must get back to my Saturday tasks of making roasted tomato soup (recipe to follow if it's tasty) and watching Party Down on Netflix. :)

Last Day! 19 Aug 2011 3:00 AM (13 years ago)

Well, this is it - today is my last day of work at the high school. Lots of feelings and emotions, most of them very very joyful. Although I still have a couple of nagging icky feelings, mostly about making sure someone is taking care of my kids when I leave. And that's hard. But I need to let go. I need to concentrate on my own life and what's ahead of me, which is all good stuff!

I am beyond excited about my new job. The staff there is already more welcoming and more interested in what I have to bring to the table than my coworkers at my current (soon to be old) job ever were. I will have a real office, not a closet without ventilation. I will have real coworkers who are ... nice to me. I will be part of a team. It's definitely time.

What will I miss? A couple of coworkers, but only a couple. A lot of students. Saying goodbye to them has proven to be extremely difficult. The thought of never seeing them again is really hard - I mean, okay, I'll probably run into them at the mall or Walmart or something, but it won't be the same. And that's okay, it's just an adjustment.

But you know what I will miss the most? The students who drop by just to say hi, the ones who came in before school started this week to see how my summer was, the kids who smile from ear to ear when they get a passing grade. Those couple of coworkers - now friends - who helped keep me sane over giggling lunches and eye rolling sessions.

Sigh.

But enough of that. It seems only fitting that today, on my last day of work, I leave you with one final "Overheard from my Office - High School Edition."

Girl walking into counseling department: "Hi, I need to change my lunch from A lunch to B lunch."

Me: "Why?"

Girl: "Ummm because, um, there's this girl, I think she's a lesbian, and she won't stop staring at my boobs."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand scene.

Saying Goodbye Sucks. 11 Aug 2011 5:22 PM (13 years ago)

Even when you're excited about saying it.

I was planning on telling y'all that I was taking a blogging break ... well, an OFFICIAL blogging break, at any rate. I have clearly been taking quite the break over the past several months. Like I say every time I come back ... I just haven't felt like it. But, suddenly I have a bit of inspiration. So, here I am again, trying again. If it doesn't work, I'll take an official break until life seems blogworthy again.

So, who am I saying goodbye to? My kiddos at school. I just got an absolutely amazing new job at Indiana University as an academic advisor. I am THRILLED. So thrilled I am counting down the seconds until my first day of work. More excited than I have ever been for a new job before! The hard part, of course, is saying goodbye to everyone at the high school. School starts on Tuesday the 16th, and my last day will be Friday the 19th. I will have four days to say my goodbyes.

I have started telling some people - I called a parent I am incredibly close with and told her my news today. She cried and I felt awful. :( Then one of my fave students came in to handle some schedule changes and to fill me in on her summer, and I had to tell her, too. And she was way more bummed out than I thought a teenager would be. I am really struggling with feeling like I'm letting these kids down by leaving them ... but at the same time knowing that I'm doing what's right for me, for my career.

But still. So hard.

Ever leave a job you cannot wait to say goodbye to, but have a hard time with it anyway?

I don't know ... 9 Jul 2011 3:34 PM (13 years ago)

... why I can't stick with consistent blogging anymore. The urge just hasn't been there. It's not enough for me to want to quit the ole blog, but it's enough for me to only come by here once every few weeks. And man, that last post was depressing! My bad. I will put pictures in this post so you have something to look at. :)

So to catch up from the last few eons or so ... Matt and I went up to Michigan back in June to celebrate the wedding of a college friend of mine. It was basically like a college reunion, and we had such a great time! Here are a few fun pictures. And no, I don't have any photos of the bride and groom. :)

There was surprisingly little drinking involved in (most) of these photos ... but we still had a great time! We are scattered all over the place, from NYC to Chicago to LA, so it's rare that we all get to be in one place!

I have some other stuff to blog about, but every time I say that, I disappear never to be seen again. So we'll just leave it with ... I miss you guys. I have about 5729385729385 blog posts starred to comment on in my Reader. None of that will probably happen, but the intentions are there. So, if you are reading, please pick one of the following comments - whatever applies to you.

1. Congratulations on your pregnancy! This is so exciting! ---> applies to about 70% of the bloggers I follow right now

2. Congratulations on your beautiful new baby! This is so exciting! ---> applies to about 10% of you

3. Mmm, this recipe looks amazing. I can't wait to try it! ---> applies to the remaining 20%

There. That's settled.

Happy weekend! I will {hopefully} be back soon for some real blogging. But in the meantime, don't forget to check out Fantabulously Frugal and Fantabulously Frugal Weddings!

We want to make you famous! 26 Jun 2011 11:33 AM (13 years ago)

I've talked a little bit on here about our brand-new wedding site, Fantabulously Frugal Weddings and how blogging over there and at Fantabulously Frugal is keeping me muy busy. But now I'm back over here on my poor, neglected blog to ask you for some help! Every Wednesday, we feature a real wedding on FF Weddings, and we'd like to feature YOUR wedding. We are still growing our site and want to be able to post some beautiful weddings - they need not be frugal. :) If you are married and want to gain internet fame and notoriety, click here and fill out our real weddings submission form!

I KNOW there has to be someone out there still reading my little blog, and I know a lot of y'all are happily married ladies. Do me - and our readers - a favor, and submit your beautiful wedding to be featured as part of our Real Wedding Wednesday series!

Is Bloomington Dangerous? 9 Jun 2011 5:59 PM (13 years ago)

So, lots of bad things have been happening around here lately. Stuff that's got me down, and stuff that has Lisa telling me I need to move to Chicago to make sure I'm in a safe city. Ha!

First, I'm sure most of you by now have heard about IU student Lauren Spierer's disappearance. It's very scary and unfortunately I fear the worst, but I hope that no matter what the outcome, they find her quickly. Back in 2000, an IU student disappeared when she was on a bike ride and her body wasn't discovered for four years. Thinking about what her parents went through, just not knowing, for years - I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Lauren has been gone almost a week now and I know that the chances she's okay are slim - especially when you add in her heart condition. Bloomington has been swarming with news crews, volunteer search parties, and posters with her information. It's all very heartbreaking.

And then ... I found out yesterday that the mother of one of my students was stabbed to death. Ahhh. Her ex-boyfriend got out of jail on Monday and stabbed her to death on Tuesday. Neighbors witnessed him trying to break in through a window with a butter knife. While he was still working on the window, she came home and they had an argument. He forced his way into her home and neighbors heard several thumps and a "loud commotion." He then came outside and drove away in her car. Nobody - nobody - called the police. Instead, her 16 year old daughter came home from school with her grandma and found the door locked and her mom's car gone. They had maintenance unlock the door for them, and ... yeah. She found her mom's body. According to the newspaper, mom was stabbed nine times in the neck and upper chest with ... the butter knife.

This man is still at large, and that freaks me the hell out. Can I just add that there were two other stabbings in Bloomington that day? Can we all just ... put the knives down? Please?

The whole situation is just awful, but I think what bothers me the most is that nobody called the police. According to the newspaper, several neighbors witnessed all of this (minus the stabbing of course, which occurred inside the apartment) and nobody reacted. Nobody did anything. I wonder if someone would have called 911 the second they saw him trying to break in through the window, would she still be alive?

And then ... our neighbor's apartment got broken into! As in ... our immediate neighbor. He lives upstairs from us, and just happens to be a cop. A bunch of kids were hanging around the other day and got into his apartment and stole his duty gun. Thankfully the gun was recovered only a few hours later. The girl who stole it? One of my former students. Well, that is kind of a stretch - she was referred to me but I don't think I was ever able to see her because she skipped so frequently. She dropped out last year, and that was the end of that.

I reeeeally don't like something like ... a robbery involving a stolen gun happening at my home. Despite it not being my apartment, it sure hits close to home. Literally. No more leaving the apartment (ever) without locking the door. A few cars at our complex were broken into recently, as well ... leading me to wonder what on earth is going on around here.

ANOTHER student of mine (a current student) is in juvenile detention because he was involved in an armed robbery. And ANOTHER current student of mine is also in juvenile detention for threatening her mom and sisters and running away to stay with a drug dealer when she has two pending criminal charges (unrelated) and a failure to appear in court.

The last day of school was yesterday, but I'm having a hard time de-stressing. It doesn't help that, unlike 99.9% of everyone else that works in the school, I don't have my summer off. Nope! I'll be right back on Monday morning to check in on my kids who are doing summer school.

Someone ... anyone ... pass the wine.

Overheard in my Office: NSFW Edition 1 Jun 2011 6:00 PM (13 years ago)

This story is rated R. Consider yourself warned.

A dear student of mine whom I am very fond of had to have ... a procedure done last week at Planned Parenthood. That's all I'll say about that. I checked in on her today to see how she was feeling, both physically and mentally, and she talked about how painful the whole experience had been. We talked about it for awhile, and then she said:

You know how sometimes, when you're having sex with someone, they go too deep and hit your cervix, and it really hurts? You know, has that ever happened to you?

I was caught a little off guard, and replied something along the lines of "Ummm. I don't know." Then she continued on to tell me that it was "like a million" times more painful than that.

Sigh. I am so, so very thankful that so many of my students feel comfortable enough around me to say pretty much anything, but at the same time, I think ... wow! I would have never ever ever ever asked an adult anything like that when I was in high school. Are students different these days? Or has it always been like this? I know I have some teachers and some people who work with teens out there reading ... what are your thoughts?

CSA Week 5. I think? 27 May 2011 5:33 PM (13 years ago)

Happy Friday! What is everyone doing for Memorial Day weekend? Matt and I are hopping in the car tomorrow morning and driving to South Haven, MI, where we will spend a long weekend with my parents to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. We are really looking forward to getting away for a few days (even though it sucks making yet another long drive with gas prices as high as they are) (can you believe how expensive it is to fill your tank? holy moly!).

Anyway! My dad had to work tonight, and I had to work today, so our long weekend is running from Saturday-Tuesday. I took Tuesday off of work and I am realllllly looking forward to the three day work week. School is almost out (THANK GOD) and I'm trying to stay calm and not focused on the 6 (S-I-X) students I had in court yesterday morning. OY.

Since we aren't leaving until tomorrow, we had time to go pick up our veggies this afternoon! Here's what we ended up with:

Salad greens (no close-up because by now, you know what lettuce looks like) ...

... some adorable little radishes ...

... garlic scapes (ever heard of them?) ...

... and glorious, glorious shiitake mushrooms. MY FAVORITE. Yessssss!!!

I was in the mood for a light little evening snack, so I chopped up the radishes and made a little radish salad. For those of you who are wondering, radish salad = radishes + olive oil + sea salt. The end.

It was good, I guess, if you're into radishes. To be honest, I'm really not. But the mushrooms? Oh yeah, baby. I love them so much.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, friends! xxoo

History of a Blog Friend 25 May 2011 5:31 PM (13 years ago)

I started blogging back in 2008, before I realized that blogging - and the friends I would make through blogging - would be such a huge part of my life. The next year, on a roadtrip down south with Lisa, I managed to be in Nashville at the same time as Jenny from Lucky in Love.

July 2009

We had a great time eating pancakes and hanging out, and I thought ... wow, it's pretty fun to meet a blog friend!

So I did it a few more times. In February 2010, to help celebrate my 28th birthday while Matt was deployed, we had a little blog weekend in Chicago.

... then, in July 2010, I went up to Canada to visit Lucy, and Jenny came too. Here we are, very shiny, at a Brazilian barbeque place. Delish. Jenny was relatively newly pregnant at that time while Lindsay was nearing the end of her pregnancy, and we had a lot of fun thinking about the blog babies that would be born soon.

Fast forward to two weekends ago. The place? My apartment in Bloomington. Jenny, her husband, and their beautiful baby girl Natalie came to visit for an afternoon and we had SUCH a fabulous time. It seems like blog friends get to a point where they're not blog friends anymore.

They're just friends.

Sigh 18 May 2011 8:00 AM (13 years ago)

Well, I disappeared again, although this time there was a reason. Right after my last post, my grandma passed away at the beautiful old age of 90. It was both sudden and expected - as once you get to 90, things happen. She had a heart attack over the weekend and was stable for awhile - I was able to talk to her, and she told me that it was all "very exciting" and that she got to ride in a helicopter for the first time (she had been airlifted to another hospital). A few hours later, she was gone. It has been hard, but I know that Grandma lived a long, wonderful life so it makes me feel a lot better about her not being around. Lots of mixed feelings and emotions.

So. That's that. We missed a week of veggies, and got a double share this past Friday, which of course I forgot to photograph - but we got two big bags of beautiful lettuce, giant bunches of beets, green onions, and some mint. I never know what to do with mint - thoughts? Ideas?

Matt is done with school now for the summer, and just got a job working at a research center on campus so he is staying busy. I am, of course, counting down the seconds until school lets out for the summer. I believe we only have 14-15 days left! Then I get to work part time over the summer. RELIEF!

In other news, Jenny came to visit this weekend and I got to meet beautiful Natalie! I have some photos but that will be a separate post, hopefully tomorrow. :)

Also, here's a shameless plug: we just launched Fantabulously Frugal Weddings on Monday, and we're dying for you to check it out! And if you hop on over there today, you'll catch a glimpse of my wedding as this week's featured Real Wedding. Check it out!

CSA Week 2 1 May 2011 7:25 AM (13 years ago)

Okay, I tried to do a little better with this week's CSA photography. A LITTLE bit.

This week: more beautiful (and slightly blurry) salad greens,

shiitake mushrooms (yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!),

green onions,

and arugula! Yes! I LOVE arugula!!!

On the menu this week: not totally sure yet, but I will probably make some arugula pesto and lots of salads with sauteed shiitakes. Deliciousness!

How has everyone's weekend been? My mom came for a very quick visit to see my orchestra concert last night, which went very well. Her car battery died on the way here, north of Indy, and she had to wait for AAA to come with a new battery, which delayed her trip a bit. So all in all, she was here less than 24 hours. But we had a fun time, and a good concert, and a tasty brunch this morning, and that's about it!

Now, it's raining again (surprise, surprise) and Matt and I are relaxing. I have to work out at some point today, but I'm going to put it off a bit longer until brunch has more time to settle in my tummy. :)

How are YOU?

More CSA Cooking! 25 Apr 2011 5:16 PM (13 years ago)

Things I need to work on:

1. Cleaning

2. Laundry

3. Working out

4. My food photography skillz ... or lack thereof.

I am seriously almost embarrassed to post these photos. Food bloggers seem to have the most amazing food photographs ... so perhaps my new goal will be to work on that! I think the first stop towards achieving beautiful food photographs is to use natural light.

Whoops.

Well, here is tonight's dinner, somewhat courtesy of my CSA:

It consisted of eggs, Laughing Cow light swiss cheese wedges, caramelized onions and mushrooms, and wilted beet greens. On the side: a piece of that soggy sesame bread we got (don't worry, it's not soggy anymore) toasted with some Maranatha almond butter.

It looks incredibly ... brown and boring and stuff. But in reality, it was delicious!!!! Pinky swear.

I also roasted the beets and now they are marinating overnight with some onions in olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and a drizzle of honey.

Here is the worst photo ever of my bowl of beets. It's so dark!

I picked up some organic strawberries today and they looked so perfect that we had to eat some right away. So, for dessert: vanilla bean ice cream with strawberries, drizzled with this chocolate balsamic vinegar. Which was absolutely incredibly amazing.

Mmmmm.

Tomorrow for lunch: greens with the marinated beets and some feta. CSAs RULE!

CSA Week 1: Kale. And Kale. And some other stuff. 24 Apr 2011 6:02 PM (13 years ago)

I seem to have lost some of my food photography skillz since last summer ... I will try to work on making my veggies prettier. :)

Matt and I drove to pick up our very first CSA share of the season on Friday, and I was so very excited! Except that it was pouring rain. And our (cardboard) box of food sits outside in someone's driveway for pickup. And when I got there, I saw that there was a loaf of bread inside. In a paper bag. A very, very wet loaf of bread. But hey, there it is! You can almost see it. This week, we received:

-Kale! Some really curly small-leaf kale. I forgot to take a photo of it before I made it into kale chips (recipe below) - which are in that plastic bag in the last photo.

-More kale! A different kind of kale. I forgot to get it out of the fridge for the photo, so just imagine MORE KALE.

-A half loaf of soggy sesame seed bread. Okay, it didn't end up being very soggy, and tasted very good heated up with some almond butter. Yums.

-BEETS!!!! Yes, I really am that excited about the darn beets. I used to think I hated beets ... then I got some in last year's CSA, learned how to roast them, and realized that they are one of my new favorite things. These beets are pretty weeny, but I am looking forward to roasting them tomorrow and having them with some salad. Yums.

-Greens - beautiful, beautiful salad greens. Seriously - don't they look fresh and delicious? I cannot wait to make myself a good salad Monday for dinner while Matt is at a decades-long group meeting for grad school.

Last year, the CSA share started kind of weak, with only salad stuff and other greens, and gained momentum as the growing season progressed. I am really looking forward to all of this deliciousness!

I got lots of kale last year, and never really knew what to do with it. Unfortunately, a lot of it went bad before I figured out what to do. But not this year! I am determined to not let ANY of this produce go bad. I had heard about kale chips last summer, but just never got around to making them. But since I had not one, but TWO giant bunches of kale, I decided to give it a shot yesterday. I went with a recipe from Smitten Kitchen:

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

kale (duh)

extra virgin olive oil (I used spray evoo because that's all I had on hand - worked great)

sea salt

aaaand of course I added a little garlic as well

Preheat oven to 300.

Wash and dry kale in a salad spinner to get out all the moisture (I had done this the night before, so the kale was nice and dry already). Cut or rip into bite-size pieces, removing the thick stems. Toss in olive oil, sea salt and whatever other herbs/spices you would like, and lay on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Or not. I am out of parchment paper so I didn't use any, but I guess that would have been easier for clean-up.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. Mine were perfect at 15 minutes - and wow, I was really surprised about how fantastic they are. They really satisfy the salty chip craving - only it's kale! Which is amazingly good for you, and has a ton of health benefits. I am hooked, and I'll definitely be using the pounds and pounds of kale we get this spring to make kale chips!

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20 Weeks and Anatomy Scan! 15 Jun 2012 6:59 PM (12 years ago)

19 Weeks! 4 Jun 2012 5:43 PM (12 years ago)

18 Weeks and Feeling Movement!!! 31 May 2012 7:42 AM (12 years ago)

17 Weeks = Exhaustion! 23 May 2012 4:47 PM (12 years ago)

16 Weeks = Pickles 17 May 2012 3:38 PM (12 years ago)

Blogging Motivation? 7 May 2012 6:32 PM (12 years ago)

A New Decade 9 Feb 2012 3:00 AM (13 years ago)

Friday Mishmash 1 Sep 2011 10:00 PM (13 years ago)

New Job and New Office! 25 Aug 2011 4:49 PM (13 years ago)

All Done 20 Aug 2011 8:50 AM (13 years ago)

Last Day! 19 Aug 2011 3:00 AM (13 years ago)

Saying Goodbye Sucks. 11 Aug 2011 5:22 PM (13 years ago)

I don't know ... 9 Jul 2011 3:34 PM (13 years ago)

We want to make you famous! 26 Jun 2011 11:33 AM (13 years ago)

Is Bloomington Dangerous? 9 Jun 2011 5:59 PM (13 years ago)

Overheard in my Office: NSFW Edition 1 Jun 2011 6:00 PM (13 years ago)

CSA Week 5. I think? 27 May 2011 5:33 PM (13 years ago)

History of a Blog Friend 25 May 2011 5:31 PM (13 years ago)

Sigh 18 May 2011 8:00 AM (13 years ago)

CSA Week 2 1 May 2011 7:25 AM (13 years ago)

More CSA Cooking! 25 Apr 2011 5:16 PM (13 years ago)

CSA Week 1: Kale. And Kale. And some other stuff. 24 Apr 2011 6:02 PM (13 years ago)