As promised...

Our 2012 F-S family Christmas tree pic!

I'm 35 and a 1/2 weeks pregnant and feeling every day of it, but immensely grateful :).  Happy holidays from us and ours to you and yours!

Christmas tree shopping

Andy and I went Christmas tree shopping last weekend.  Usually we head out to Honeypot Hill Orchard in Stow where you get to choose a tree as Christmas music is piped in while sipping free hot apple cider, followed by roasting marshmallows over an open fire and a visit to goats, pigs, chickens and bunnies.  This year we had so much Sprout-preparing to do that we decided to just go to Allandale Farm down the road instead of making the hour drive each way to Stow.  Allandale is a very nice farm, coined "the oldest working farm in Boston" (although technically I think it's now in Brookline) and to be fair, they did have an open fire and a pair of oxen, but no marshmallows, free cider or music.  Alas... 

We went to Allandale one other year for our tree and for some reason decided to buy a white pine that reminded us of "Cousin It."  That will go down as the worst tree we have or will ever bring into our home.  It didn't smell like a Christmas tree, the wispy needles didn't hold ornaments... It just sucked.  The only redeeming value was that it very light- Andy was a fan of that feature :).  This year we steered away from the pines (and felt badly for the families that looked at them and thought "this could be a fun new type of tree!") and after much perusing, got a good old-fashioned balsam fir.  We haven't yet taken our annual F-S family Christmas tree photo (I'll post it when we do) but here are a few of us shopping:

The last shot shows Andy holding our tree.  We knew it was a good one because when he picked it up, a woman walked by and said "what a beautiful tree!" and I subsequently saw multiple families eying our tree to see if we would leave it behind so they could scoop it up.  No such luck suckers! :)  It's funny how Christmas tree shopping can make me feel so competitive...  The tree is now up and decorated in our living room and looks beautiful, unlike our dearly departed Cousin It tree. May you all learn a lesson today- white pines are interesting to look at, but you're in for a world of disappointment if you try to make one your Christmas tree.

In other news, I'm 35 weeks pregnant today and still doing well!  Sleep (or lack thereof) is probably my biggest problem currently, but what can you do.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

Works in progress

Last weekend Andy and I were busy at work once again making preparations.  I have been stressing about getting an old dresser to use as a changing table and finally found one on Craigslist this weekend.  The gentleman who was selling it agreed to deliver it within an hour and finally, one big piece of furniture was crossed off the list!  But, not so fast...  I really wanted a white dresser and this one was polished wood.  Andy seemed excited about the possibility of painting furniture and went to work researching the best way to do it.  When the dresser arrived, it looked like this:

Please excuse the mess in the background- part of the purpose of getting this darn dresser is having somewhere to put all Sprout's stuff!

Andy assembled the needed supplies and went to work.  We decided to use the leftover semi-gloss white paint that my mom had used to paint the birch trees with a few weeks ago.  Very frugal! :)

First, Andy removed the drawers and lightly sanded the dresser down so the paint would stick.  You get a nice sneak peak at the nursery mural in the background in this one!

He then applied a first coat of paint, all the while with a smile on this face. :)  Unfortunately, this is where the progress ended as we got to the end of the weekend and there is somehow some brown streaking coming through the paint on the top of the dresser... We still have to figure out how to address that one...  In any case, I'm sure it's going to turn out great!

Meanwhile, I've been working on my quilt since October.  It is also still a work in progress, but below I've included a few pics along the way.  First, I ironed out all 12 "fat quarters" I picked out for the project:

Then I cut the each quarter into ten 4.5" squares per using a template (this was more than I needed but it took me a while to decide how big I wanted this quilt to be).

I assembled all my materials and my much-neglected Pfaff sewing machine (that I got for my birthday from Andy years ago and has been intimidating me from the back room ever since) on the dining room table, which became "project central."  Nice to finally put some mileage on that baby!

I sewed the squares into 10 rows of 8, and then sewed those rows together to make the finished quilt top.

I knew I would be stuck here if I didn't get this done in time for my Aunt Anne's visit for Thanksgiving as I had no idea how to finish the quilt and she is a quilter extraordinaire!  I've made only one other quilt in my life and Anne helped me back that one as well.  So, I busted my hump to get the top finished by Thanksgiving.  With a lot of help from Anne, my mom and lovely future sister-in-law Kelly, we got the quilt all pinned up and ready for finishing!

Andy and Zuzu were hard at work here... ;)

 I spent the weekend working hard to finish sewing the backing onto the quilt but I still have a good bit left to do.  It is slow-going, fairly tedious work but I'm actually enjoying it.  I had Andy take some pics of me working on it this weekend but I can't in good conscience post any of them as I look, well, not-so-fabulous (understatement of the year here).  Instead, I'll include a pic of me from Thanksgiving that hopefully won't make small children run away in horror:

So, nothing is finished, but we continue to work hard to get all our DIY projects done.  This gets harder as I get more and more tired- week 32 (that started at Thanksgiving) was the onset of my 3rd trimester fatigue and boy, am I fatigable!  Other than the fatigue, various aches and pains and insomnia (a lot of qualifiers here...), we are doing well.  Sprout was HEAD DOWN (yay!) at our last ultrasound a week or so ago and growing like gangbusters, thankfully.  Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday season!

Busy times preparing for Sprout!

There has been quite a bit going on around the F-S homestead these days.  A week or two ago, my dad came over and painted the nursery walls with a gray color we had picked out.  I know gray sounds a little sombre for a nursery, but we are using it as a neutral backdrop for a mural and lots of colorful furnishings so it won't be sad at all.  Plus, the gray was called "porpoise" and really, what could be sad about a dolphin?  (Well, except for that whole tuna fishing issue, but that's neither here nor there...).  Speaking of the mural, my mom came over yesterday and spent the whole day (and night!) painting it!  It came out beautifully but I think I'll wait to post pics until the nursery is cleared out of crap and all the baby stuff is moved in (I'm a tease, I know... ;)).

Meanwhile, we had an amazing baby shower on November 10th.  Many family and friends came and gathered at my parent's house for great food, drink and company.  On the car ride over, Andy and I were remarking to each other how truly incredible it was to be going to OUR baby shower after spending so much time thinking we would never get here.  It was a day we will never forget!  Many thanks to my parents and sisters-in-law for planning such a wonderful day for us!  Unfortunately, I currently don't have any pictures of the shower so I can't post any...  If any one has any, please pass them on!  We have been floored by the generosity of all of our friends and family!  Particularly incredible were these handmade gifts that I can't stop pulling out to admire and pet:

AMAZING sweaters by Jen (left) and her mom (right)!  I can't get over these!!!  Are these not the best looking sweaters ever?!  LOVE!

The most beautiful nursing shawl I've ever seen, also by Jen's mom!  I have to admit to having worn this a couple times already (not to nurse, obviously :)).  So in love with this!

Not one, but TWO amazingly detailed hats by Andrea!  That girl can KNIT and I can't wait to put these beauties on Sprouty!  Totally in love with these as well!  Below a beautiful heart drawn by Oliver that will be prominently displayed in the nursery!  Thanks to Oli for more gorgeous artwork!

We have so loved all of the gifts, handmade and bought and just can't get over everyone's generosity, so thanks so much to all! (Proper "thank you" cards are on the top of my "to do" list, so hopefully those will be forthcoming in the near future...).

I've also finally been working on my baby quilt and I'm getting to the point where it's actually looking like it might actually be done by the time Sprout comes!  I think this will be another post in the not-so-distant future... (that "to do" list keeps getting longer and longer!).

We haven't been getting many photos of me lately, but I made Andy take some yesterday!  Here are a couple to show what 31 weeks pregnant is looking like these days :).  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I'm a big dork... err... baby :). Halloween!

We didn't have any big plans for Halloween this year.  No parties, no gatherings, no nothing.  But, I've dreamed of being pregnant on Halloween and wearing some creative costume so I decided to go ahead and get dressed up anyways.  Unfortunately, I was on a budget of maybe $10 and seriously lacked in forethought so I had to go with what I had on hand.  Then it came to me: I would be Sprout for Halloween!  Babies sometimes have that little belly, so I thought that could work.  We had the black curly wig from a past last-minute Halloween costume, and since I was born with a very full head of hair I figured that fit.  Then I have these beautiful footsie pajamas that Andy LOVES (um... not so much) but they fit the bill as well.  I have baby toys lying around so I added one of those.  I purchased a pacifier (figured we may use it anyways) and tied it to my zipper with some string and there I was- a big baby!  

 

Gotta show off the side view... :)

Hot, right? :)  Then I thought I would make a nice Halloween dinner.  In another "make it work" moment, I looked around and saw that I had a chicken, onions and celery in the fridge, some rolls sitting on the counter and some fresh sage and thyme on-hand so I got ambitious and made homemade stuffing and roast chicken (yes, we have a decent amount of roast chicken around here :)).  I cut up the rolls and toasted them in the oven.  I sauteed some finely chopped onion and celery and mixed it all together with fresh chopped sage, thyme, chicken broth and melted butter. 

 Then I stuffed the bird's orifices, seasoned her up with some paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper and olive oil, sat her on a bed of sliced onion and lemon, and let that puppy roast away!

I made an onion gravy from the drippings (not pictured) and I have to admit that the results were rather tasty.  Not a bad Halloween meal!

So, that was our Halloween.  We got disappointingly few trick-or-treaters while the house across the street got TONS- what's that about?  When I was that age, crossing the street wasn't that big a hassle... ;)  Just when we figured that the upside was that we'd have plenty of candy left for ourselves, a group of kids, teenagers and their parents came to the door at 9:30pm and all of them (adults included) took the rest of our candy from a dumbfounded Andy.  He returned to me on the couch clutching a completely empty candy bowl.  Sad. 

Hope you all had a great Halloween!  Since there haven't been enough pics of our beloved Zuzu Puppykins lately, we will end with a look at our sweet first born:

Ultrasound results, 3rd trimester!!!

So, last Friday we reached the 3rd trimester!  I am now 28 weeks and a few days pregnant.  I'm generally doing well, but last Monday I started to have quite a bit of pain in my belly which added to the lovely pain I already had in my back.  I went to see my OB and all was okay; diagnosis was "growing pains" worsened by all the adhesions (inner scar tissue) from my previous abdominal surgeries.  I had already scheduled an ultrasound for last Wednesday because my OB wants to be extra cautious that Sprout is growing okay given my history of Crohn's and bowel surgeries.  Well, we found out a couple things that day.  The concern that Sprout might not be getting enough nutrition seems to be completely unfounded- she was measuring in the 80th percentile for growth and estimated at a hefty 2lbs 11oz already!  If my Uncle Mark and Aunt Anne are reading this, you'll know what I mean when I say this appears to be a "big baby!" ;)  I was 6lbs 6oz at birth and Andy was 10lbs...  I've been hoping for a baby closer for my size than Andy's for obvious reasons.  These things are notoriously inaccurate so we'll see, but at very least she seems to be getting enough of what she needs!  Kinda makes me appreciate the GI system I have left! :) 

We also learned that Sprouty was hanging out in a "transverse" position, meaning her head was in my right side as she was lying horizontally across my body.  Together with her large size, this likely explained the pain I was having.  The pain persisted until Thursday when I saw my acupuncturist and then had dinner with our friend Carrie who conveniently is a midwife.  She showed us some exercises to help loosen me up so that our dear Sprout might move into a position more conducive both to (eventually) giving birth and to less pain for me.  It's a win-win!  Well, I'll be darned if I didn't start feeling better the next day!  Thank you Dr. Tsay and Carrie for making me mobile again!

I didn't get any good pictures from this ultrasound because Sprout wouldn't get her hands and feet out of her face, but I've included some great pics we got from the ultrasound last month.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did (well, probably not THAT much, but nonetheless... :)).

Sucking her thumb!

A nice view of her hand...

...And her foot!

Belated birthday post

Last Saturday we met the peeps for our annual apple picking trip.  Usually it's not hard to come by apples this time of year, but this year because of our unseasonably warm spring it was somewhat difficult to find an orchard with ample apples left on the trees.  Fortunately, our tried and true choice- Honeypot Hill Orchards- came through and had plenty of apples ripe for the pickin'.  While there we partook in all the various culinary delights.  The white paper bags of hot, freshly fried and sugared cider donuts were incredible- Sprout and I each had a donut and a half ;).  Andy and I picked up a pumpkin pie that was so fresh that the center hadn't fully set yet!  We're still enjoying that pie almost a week later!  Several folks enjoyed some hot mulled apple cider.

 It was a perfect day for picking- cool, but not too cold, bright blue skies and a few puffy clouds...

Rowan peacefully enjoyed the picking from the safety of his carrier, all the while amusing his parents.  Such a good wee one!

Andy, Rodney and Will (not pictured) served as (strong and handsome) pack mules for the day.  Thank you, dear...

YSN girls in action!  We actually bumped into another YSN chick- our old peep Allison- through the wonders of technology when she "checked in" at Honeypot Hill on Facebook as Jen and Rodney arrived.  Small world!

Afterwards, we had worked up a nice appetite and met Andrea and Espen at Chilli Garden in Medford for a birthday dinner.  Delicious Chinese tastiness was enjoyed by all.

It was a terrific birthday weekend, and one where I just felt really grateful to be where I am in life with a bunch of great family and peeps near and far!  As Andy wrote in my birthday card, what a drastic difference from 365 days earlier...  Amazing how life can change!  I am 27 weeks pregnant today and continuing to do well and as I say, just grateful to be here.

Bringing domesticity back to this blog: Roasted chicken and popping out

Ever since Fall began I've been craving comfort foods.  Fortunately, since my iron infusions kicked in I've had a little more energy to cook these meals since it's tough to find good, homey take out meals (hmmm... Jen and Carrie- maybe there's another business idea? ;)).  Over the past couple weeks I've enjoyed pot roast made by Carrie and made meatballs and sauce a la Mere, savory beef stew and a couple of roasted chickens.  Since chicken is on sale this month at Whole Foods, I went for chicken again with a nice, hefty five-pounder to roast up with some root veggies obtained at the Brookline Farmer's Market.  When all was nicely browned, tender and safely cooked through, I removed the chicken and veggies from the pan, added a little flour as a thickening agent followed by some chicken broth, apple cider and mead along with fresh thyme and bay leaves (don't worry- I boiled as much of the alcohol out of the mead as possible!).  What resulted was a tasty, rich brown au jus that Andy and I smothered over the chicken, squash, potatoes, carrots and onions.  She was one hell of a bird and we enjoyed every bite!  We didn't get a pic of the finished plate, but here's one Andy took of me taking the bird out of the oven:

Again, if you could ignore the double chin as well as the messy kitchen and apron that would be greatly appreciated ;).

Since I feel like I've popped out a good deal more this week, here's a pic that shows the belly at 25 weeks and 5 days (I'm feeling a little uncomfortable posting all these photos of myself, but I guess what you're really looking at is Sprout?):

In this one, if you could try to ignore the fact that I'm wearing the same socks that I was in last week's photo, that would be great too...  Thanks so much in advance.

Turning over a new leaf...

So, I abandoned this blog two years ago.  It wasn't really a conscious decision, but there were some difficult times in there that I guess didn't put me in the bloggiest mood.  However, much has changed since then and I'd like to use this blog to update anyone who cares to be updated on the forthcoming changes in our family!   I'm 24 weeks and 5 days (yes, still counting the days! :)) pregnant!  Our little girl has started kicking (at times quite hard!) more consistently over the past few days.  Today I had a little fun watching my stomach as it bounced up and down around her kicks/punches/dolphin flips (who knows what she's doing in there?!).  Andy has only been able to feel her once as she seems to stop flipping around pretty much as soon as he puts his hand on my belly, but I have a feeling he'll be feeling her quite a bit more in the near future.   I've been not-so-patiently waiting for my belly to grow and it's recently started to.  A few strangers have recognized me as pregnant; the key one was the TSA agent who mercifully allowed me to step out of the huge security line at Logan airport a few week ago- so appreciated!  Needless to say, Andy, Zu and I couldn't be more thrilled to be where we are today!  Here's a recent picture taken at 24 weeks even (please excuse the double chin... ;)):