One project completed

While shopping with my mom at a bunch of craft stores we picked up some materials to make some baby headbands. Since our visit was so busy and full we didn't get time to make them so she sent the stuff back with me. A couple days ago I bought a hot glue gun and finally got around to making them. They were surprisingly REALLY easy and fast to make. I think they turned out pretty cute and can't wait to put them on the real thing. I guessed on the measurements so hopefully they won't be too small :) I just looked up the average measurement for a baby's head and went off of that. I think it was around 14-16 inches at birth. Does anyone have a different story for baby's head measurements?

Busy Weeks

These past few weeks have been pretty busy, but also very fun. I finally got some pictures to put up showing some recent events and of course my much larger belly. Less than 7 weeks left! I'll save the typing for the pictures...

This picture was taken at about 30 weeks, around April 22nd (I really can't remember exactly, it's been too long :) That is also part of our new house which I love! People at church call it the "cottage house" so I guess that's it's name. I love the ivy but Andrew pointed out that it attracts more bugs :( I hate bugs. I've been noticing more and more wasps around our house and that worries me. I don't want my baby to get stung!...or me! Good thing I have a brave super hero to shoo them away :)

This is one of the most recent pictures of my belly. It was taken at just under 33 weeks or 4 days ago. I think I'm really starting to look pregnant now. The difference between the first picture and this picture is amazing. I really grew fast these past couple weeks. Those flowers are CA poppies; my family has a tradition of taking pictures in them every year (if there are enough of them). Below is a picture of Andrew and me.

SEA WORLD

We went to Sea World last Friday and had lots of fun. I hadn't been there for a really long time and Andrew was a good sport in taking me. With just a normal park ticket we are now able to go the rest of the year for free (some special they had going on). So now I want to go back with our little girl sometime; our first family vacation :)

This is Andrew petting a bat ray. They were really cool and really fun to pet.

This is me after the shipwrek ride. Eventhough we had a huge poncho covering our whole bodies and heads, we still somehow got soaked. Oh well, it was fun.

As we were walking through the park, we saw a couple of bunnies just sitting in a small grassy area. Andrew loves animals and tried to see how close he could get. He got closer than this but this was a better picture :)

This was one of the neatest parts of the day. We were heading out of the park and the only thing I really hadn't done was to see the orcas in their underwater viewing area. We had seen the show but I wanted to see them up close. It was a few minutes past closing and I was scared that they would close off the exhibit, but we got lucky...really lucky. There were hardly any people there and we were able to watch two amazing whales that really enjoyed the people staring at them. It was really fascinating to see how much they liked to interact with people. Out of all the animals in the park that we stared at, none of them willingly came over and itneracted with us. These whales would see you and come right over to you. WOW!

This was really neat. This whale would come down to me and follow my hands, etc. then go up for air and come right back down to where I was. It was such a neat experience. I don't remember this from prefious visits. It was a great close to our day.

BABY SHOWER GIFTS

My mom threw me a baby shower while I was visiting my home in CA. After going through all of my presents afterwards she said that since I got so many cute clothes (most of which she bought if you read my previous blog) I should lay them all out and take a picture. When we got back home I started to organize them into her drawers and realized I hadn't taken a picture so, I got the camera out and tried to lay them all out...only they didn't all fit into one shot. Below are the multiple shots that I had to take to get "most" of the clothes in. After the clothing shoot, I realized there were still a bunch of outfits we had stuffed into Andrews suitcase that missed their opportunity. You can just imagine how spoiled she is going to be. Good thing she won't have memories of it :)

Food, Costco, and a spoiled baby.

This post is exactly what the title says...food, costco, and a spoiled baby. A little random but that's life. Starting with food...tonight we are visiting my family in California. My mom and sisters are throwing me a baby shower plus I'm done with school so I can do whatever I want. We had all eaten a late lunch so around 10 I was getting pretty hungry and my mom (after a full day) says, "sorry guys but we're being scroungy tonight" referring to dinner. Scroungy is an interesting word, sounds really funny and I don't think it's a real word. Anyways, after looking in the fridge and exploring my options I came up with a wise and delicious plan. It included, fresh multi-grain bread, colby jack cheese slices, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, fresh turkey, and a touch of mayo. I was thoroughly impressed with my quick thinking ability; I usually have to rely on someone else to come up with my dinner or resort to a poor cereal or toast choice. Tonight was very different. Maybe it's motherly intuition? If so, I am really liking being a mom already. I have always been the worst with making up my mind so this is a great feat for me.

On to the next subject: Costco...what a great store! My mom told me this morning she had to take a trip to costco because we were running low on food. From the time she told me this untill the time we went I became very excited about going. I realized that I LOVE going to costco. There's so much good about that store. One: Everything is really good quality; If you get it at costco, you know it's a good product. Two: They have great stye. I mean their baby clothes are always SO cute not to mention all their home decor, furniture, clothing, etc. Three: Their prices are great! Four: Their food is really good too. One of Andrew and my recent favorites is their Talapia which is a type of mild white fish. Andrew's mom introduced it to us while we were eating over one night. I fell in love because I was looking for a way to bring fish into my diet (as the doctor counsels) and really didn't like any fish well enough to eat any significant amount of. This fish, however, was so yummy and did not taste like fish at all! It took on the flavor of the spices that were cooked onto it. I guess that is what makes Talapia so popular; because it's so mild it can take on basically any flavor and really brings out that flavor. So, here is how we make our Talapia...frozen or thawed (dethawed as Andrew calls it)...either spread some butter or oil onto the fish. Then add some salt, pepper, and creole seasoning (really cheap at the store). Place it on a george foreman (or a pan or BBQ, anything really) and cook it for about five minutes. That's it! It's such a good meal, quick and so good for you. Enough about fish....costco....it's a great store and I really love it. I also love thier food court thing, yum. I guess I'm a little obsessed with food right now.

Last subject: A Spoiled Baby...is exactly what our little girl is even without being born yet. I had heard rumors from my sisters that my mom was going overboard with baby stuff. I figured she would do this but didn't realize how much she had actually gotten untill today. This morning I was looking in my brothers room for a book and turned around to face his closet. It was all the way open and I noticed the whole top rack was FILLED with baby outfits (this is like a long closet that takes up a whole wall too). I was shocked! There's was so much stuff there. I didn't spend much time looking because I knew that my mom wanted them to kind of be a surprise at the baby shower. Although I'm not too sure how having me open 50 different presents will go over :) She may have to have each present hold ten outfits. So, after the initial shock I realized that this little girl is going to be completely spoiled. She will not be lacking in clothes. I decided after seeing that, that I will not purchase any outfits. There would be no reason; I'm afraid I won't be enough days in this little one's first years to wear everyone of those outfits more than once! Man, gotta love moms. I am not complaining though; I love clothes and it's even better that I don't have to buy them. It also added one more level to my anxiety/excitement/ "I can't wait for my baby to come out". (does that make sense) In other words, I am even more anxious to see our little girl and hopefully time will pass fast.

Well, this blog turned out to be pretty long. I hope I didn't bore anyone to death although usually when we look at blogs, it means we're already pretty bored right? So, I hope everyone has a great week, finds something yummy to eat, and maybe gets a little spoiled (it can't hurt).

Another Post

I have been meaning to find time to blog...hasn't happened. In the midst of school, family, and moving life has been a bit crazy oh did I mention I'm pregnant? So, this will be something short just to keep anyone hwo reads this coming back. I really do plan on being a more dependent blogger. Some recent events/thoughts...

I have graduated!
My little girl is coming in less than ten weeks (nine to be exact)
I am slowly working on getting her room done
I just bought three books from barnes and noble for 2 bucks each (originally about 20 each), I never knew they had a used/out-of-print section for books. I would suggest this to anyone.
I went to Tucanos for my graduation dinner and LOVED it (first time). It's a Brazilian restaraunt with tons of yummy meat! I surprised myself with how much I ate and how satisfied (not stuffed) I felt afterwards. Andrew went to Brazil on his mission so he too, loved the food.
After cleaning our old house to move out, I realized that I dislike cleaning dust more than I do scum/mold. Dust is just not fun.
I want to start making things and selling them on etsy.com I love doing crafts and have been brainstorming some ideas. Of course they all have to do with babies (what else is on my mind:) I have been thinking about wooden wall letters, pacifier chains, and decorated binkies (the bling bling kind) just some thoughts.

Well that's about all I have time for. Keep checking back, I will post some pictures...eventually and write some more.

Valuable lessons learned

As I was attending the last day in one of my classes, some thoughts and realizations came to me that i wanted to share. My wonderful Social Work teacher led a great and spiritual discussion about her feelings and passion for our major. She has done some wonderful work in Africa and all around the world with AIDS prevention as well as church enrichment programs. Many of my classmates also shared their feelings and appreciation for our social work program. I'm not sure what particular comment it was, but throughout the discussion I came to realize the main reason that I was meant to be a social work major. The interventions and skills that I have learned throughout this program have given me the best preparation I could get to become a mother. As our little one is on her way, I am so grateful for the training and experiences I had recieved.

Just passing the time

Today is Friday and while I should be doing a really long paper for my community organization class, I have decided that I would rather fiddle around and make another post. Last week sometime, I was really getting into the spring mood with the bit of sunshine we've had around here. So, Andrew and I went to a close by park and brought a BBQ (so we wouldn't have to buy coals and wait for them to heat). Plus, I was really hungry and fresh hamburgers have just really sounded good to me lately :) Unfortunately the weather turned cold and it didn't feel as "picnicy" as I wanted it to feel. Oh well, better luck next time. I still had fun and thoroughly enjoyed my hamburger...I am getting really hungry again.

My Andrew sure is a cutie

Making Curry!

So, I've been doing a lot of blog searching lately trying to find where my style is. I've seen some really amazing blogs that I just have to ignore because mine is hopeless in comparison. I tend to like pictures because they make it a little more interesting, but have found some of the most interesting blogs composed solely of someones thoughts. I've also come to like blogs that tell random little tidbits about the persons life instead of the normal updates (which is what I have been doing). So, in an effort to spice things up a bit.....Curry!
The other night, I didn't know what to eat and had been meaning to try a Curry dish for a long time. I got all the ingredients ready and realized that I didn't even have my curry powder (I think my sister has it :). Being the dearest sweetest husband that he is, Andrew willingly ran to the store (with a stop at home depot) to get some curry powder so I could make my dish.

Side thought:I have realized something lately about my personality...not sure if it's because of pregnancy or something I just haven't noticed until now...when I get excited or make my mind up about something it's hard for me to move on. If that thing doesn't end up happening I get really disappointed even when it's something silly like curry. hmmm, maybe it's a little bit of pregnancy cravings that I'm feeling. Can cravings be expressed through desires for things other than food?...shopping? :)

Anyways, back to the story...Andrew came back right as the veggies/chicken mixture was ready for the curry. I mixed it in along with the other last ingredients and soon had a finished curry chicken with rice dinner. Here are some pictures of the process....

Just a picture of some of the key ingredients

A pot of a bunch of stuff.

The finished product. Sorry it's not all arranged on a pretty plate;
We were way too hungry to wait for that and Andrew would think I'm weird :)

So a couple things I've learned about curry...you can basically make it a million different ways. You can put a number of different things in it...potatoes, veggies (any kind), chicken, even apples! It's hard to mess up. Next time I make it however, I will be adding more spice to it. I like the really spicy kind, but for my first time it was enough to satisfy my craving. If anyone has a great recipe they would like to share, I would be happy to learn it!