Late: Thanksgiving/6 Months

I am a little behind, I know. Life has just been crazy and I keep forgetting to blog. No, I didn't all of a sudden get a life or anything, I have just caught every cold known to man this month and then have been fitting in Christmas parties and such in the gaps between. All is well though. 

Let's start with Thanksgiving: 

We hosted Thanksgiving this year and had our friends the Walsh's over. It was way fun and chill and we just hung out and cooked together and it turned out lovely. 

My festive table setting

Yummy gravy on the lazy suzan that Brad got me when we moved here (I love it haha)

Gluten-Free Stuffing (way better than it sounds) and Orange Jello Salad

Deviled Eggs, Green Beans, Turkey

A full and delicious plate.

The only disappointment about Thanksgiving was my diminished ability to eat! I can usually down a good 3 plates of food before starting to get painfully full but I couldn't even get through 1.5 small servings this year. Darn baby got in the way haha.  

After dinner, we played games and waited until about 9 p.m. to start the long night of Black Friday shopping. Walmart was a psychotic zoo and Target was much better but the lines went on FOREVER. By the time we got home (about 2:30 a.m.) I was exhausted and my feet were so swollen they looked like they could twist off. Oh joy. We did come away with about 20 movies for about $20 and an awesome little Dirt Devil vacuum that makes my life so much easier. 

Thanksgiving also marked 6 months of incubating for Hezekiah. As usual, Laura spoiled me and took some lovely pictures. Here are a few:

I can't believe how big he is getting! His little kicks and jabs are so strong now and he gets the hiccups all the time. It is pretty fun. He also LOVES hot chocolate. If I drink hot chocolate (which I do a lot), he starts kicking like crazy and flipping around. Christmas will be 7 months. I am almost 27 weeks now and he is approximately 2.5 lbs. and 15 in. long! There is definitely a little person in there. His eyes should be open now and his little lungs are inflated so he can practice "breathing" the amniotic fluid. So cool. 

Fun fact: He got startled the other day. I was watching Lord of the Rings and it went from a really quiet scene to a loud war scene and it felt like he jumped in my belly. Pretty funny. 

In other news, for those of you waiting to hear whether we were going to be leaving Cali or not, we are staying. So, plan your trips out because we aren't going anywhere. Brad's job is awesome and worked something out so we can stay here and he can continue to work in office. As awesome as moving to Austin would have been, this is a great opportunity for him and we couldn't be happier. :) 

Pumpkin Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

Saturday was pretty cold here. I even put on socks and got out the spaceheater! With the rain, wind, and overall cold and gloomy outside, I got into the fall spirit. I decided to make cinnamon rolls (partly because it reminds me of fall and partly because I am preggo and wanted cinnamon rolls). Brad and I have also been all about pumpkin lately since we bought a ton of puree that was on sale, so he suggested I try to incorporate the pumpkin into my rolls. Success.

They were soooooo yummy and the whole house smelled delicious. I did half gluten-free for me and half gluten-filled (aka normal) for Brad. Here's the recipe, Enjoy!

Pumpkin Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

• ROLLS:
• 1 cup warm milk 
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour OR 4 1/2 cups rice flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
•  
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• *Like I said earlier, I halved this recipe and did  half with the regular flour for Brad, and half with the rice flour for me. 
• 
  
• GLAZE:
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin (We LOVE pumpkin so I added a little more)
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• *This glaze was delicious but Brad and I thin k next time we might add some cream cheese to make it even more gooey/rich delicious. 

DIRECTIONS

• Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. 
• Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. 
• Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour (if gluten-free, use rice flour).
•  Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
• After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface (again, rice flour works here for gluten-free), cover and let rest for 10 minutes. 
• In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
• Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. 
• Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls.( Tip for cutting rolls that Brad taught me: slide some dental floss under the roll and then pull either side the opposite way. It makes a perfect cut and doesn't squish the roll) 
• Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. 
• Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. 
• While rolls are baking, beat together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over rolls when they are out of the oven.

Just a note: The gluten free version of these rolls is a little less gooey than the gluten-filled version. I am sure that is just because of the nature of the rice flour. They still taste delicious though I just wanted you to know that they won't be identical to the other version. 

5 Months/ Christmas Pictures/ Halloween

Last weekend, we reached the halfway point in this pregnancy! Wahooo! So for the 20 week milestone, Laura took pictures of me, and also some of our our little family for our Christmas cards. She is amazing. Somehow she makes me feel like I look like a hot mama even though about 80% of the time I feel like the cantaloupe inside of me is about to burst out because I am so big (can you believe he is now the size of a cantaloupe? That is huge, but he is about a pound now and just about 10inches long.).  Here are some of the pictures she took. I had a really hard time choosing my favorites so I'm sorry for the overload! Happy 5 months baking, Hezekiah! 

As for Halloween, it ended up being a really chill day around here. I LOVE Halloween, but couldn't find a good excuse/place to go that would merit getting in a costume...so we hung at home with the Walsh's, watched scary movies/ghost shows, learned about the Chupacabra, ate a spooky dinner (you don't want to know), and passed out candy to the whopping FIVE little kids that trick-or-treated here. It was a fun chill night to get scared and remember why I love this holiday in the glow of my light-up colorful spiders. 

Definitely a boy

Today we had our 5 month "anatomy scan" ultrasound to verify the sex of the baby and make sure all of his limbs and organs are okay and developing right. We are happy to say everything is great! He was not shy at all in this ultrasound and seemed pretty proud to show off that he was a boy.

All of his little limbs are  moving around great. His heart sounded great, had 4 chambers, and was pumping blood the way it should. He has 10 fingers and 10 toes and he even stretches his toes out in a creepy way like his mommy does (my mom said that is actually a hereditary thing, so I guess he got my creepy toes haha). We saw his eye sockets and his brain...and at this point is bony little face looked kind of like a Halloween mask from straight on, but boy does he have a cute profile. He even sleeps like his mommy: rolled up in a ball in the smallest corner possible.

We were happy to even get to see a little bit of is stubborn personality. We had to go back and do the ultrasound a second time because even after getting up and poking him, he wouldn't flip over and let us see a good view of his heart or foot. He even kicked the ultrasound tech when she nudged him with the ultrasound tool to get him to flip over. It was kind of funny but felt super weird to watch him kick up at her on the screen and then feel it in my belly at the same time. He is getting so big and is laying flat out horizontally in my belly with his legs completely stretched out on the left side and his head on the right. Silly boy likes his space.

Here is an overload of pictures of our little boy. I am not sure if he will be super embarrassed to have these on the internet when he grows up, but I don't really care. haha.

His cute little profile and big baby head

His leg and feet, and in the last one you can see his stretched out toes

Him proving that he is indeed a boy, and the tech's comments haha

My life just got better

Today, I experience pure bliss. I, for the first time in over 2 years, ate mac n' cheese! It was delicious. Ever since I found out I had Celiac Disease, I haven't been able to devour the happiness that is mac n' cheese. Trader Joe's has cured the sadness though with their Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar (fancy way of saying mac n' cheese). It is yummmmm...

To say that it was amazing would be an understatement. I sat there with the entire pot and ate every last bite. Cheesy, carb filled goodness. Am I fat kid? Oh yes. Love it. 

An evening at the beach

The other night, we went to the beach to have a picnic dinner with our friends, the Walshs. It was a beautiful night, not too hot, the water was warm, the sun was setting under the pier, and we even got to watch a pod of dolphins playing in the shallow water. It was one of those perfect nights that remind me why I was so excited to move here. 

I'm getting really spoiled having Laura around taking pictures all of time! Brad and I never get pictures of ourselves so it is kind of fun, and she takes gorgeous pictures. The last photo of Keeva makes me laugh, because if you know our crazy dog, that image explains her to a T:

Correction: I swear I'm not 6 months pregnant

After my last post, I got so many great compliments about how good I looked. Thank you! But, I also got many comments on HUGE I was for being 16.4 weeks pregnant. I agree, I do look pretty large and in charge, but let me clear it up a little bit.

I am ROUND. Very round. I know some women get pregnant everywhere, but I basically (so far) am just getting a round blob on my belly. From the front, it makes me look pretty big (especially when you add a tight shirt and high-waist belt to the mix, and not to mention that perfect belly-popping pose). From the side, I am still fairly small. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am still pregnant, but not 6 months pregnant...more like 17 weeks :). 

So for all of you who were stressed about how big I am so early, don't fret, Laura seems to be a pro at pregnancy shots, because she knows exactly how to make that belly pop :) ! I love the picture she took waaaaay more than this ugly mug that I just took in the bathroom, but here is a side shot of me at 17 weeks and 3 days:

And as for how I am feeling...let's just say I am  not sure how any women gets through pregnancy without an amazing massage therapist. I am lucky I get to go to the chiropractor and have a massage 1-2 times a week...otherwise I might die. I came across this blog this morning, and I think this woman pretty accurately describes what it is like to be just about 18 weeks pregnant: 18 Weeks. WARNING: If you are easily offended, do not read it, she is a little PG-13 but hilariously accurate. 

On to non-pregnancy news. Life is well in the Woodard home. We have been enjoying cooler temps here in california and the excitement of 1970's scary movies on Netflix for October. I am jealous because Brad gets to go to Rhode Island and New York next week on business...which means he will get to see a REAL fall instead of this slightly cool, but no colorful leaves fall that we have in So-Cal. Keeva and I will go to the beach in spite of him. :) 

16 weeks and 4 days

This week, this little guy decided to make his presence known. Before now, I haven't really been showing at all. I mean I was looking a little chunkier but that average person would never have guessed I was pregnant. Now, I feel like you can't really deny it.

Yesterday, in effort to conceal my growing belly, I wore a large shirt and felt pretty comfortable with it. Brad came home an informed me that I looked like a "frumpy nurse" and needed to "embrace the bump" he swears that the baby bump is a cute look. So that is what I am going to do, I will take my husbands advice and embrace the bump!

As I mentioned in the last post, Keeva, destroyer extraordinaire, ruined our camera, so my friend Laura kindly took some 4 month shots for me today to share with family. You should check out her stuff, she is really great: http://laurawattswalsh.blogspot.com/.

Enjoy my 16 weeks and 4 days bump (p.s. that belt really accentuates the roundness haha):

Hopefully these pictures will be a monthly occurrence so everyone out there can keep up with this bump.

As far as the pregnancy goes, I am doing super well. Women, please don't hate me for saying this, but pregnancy has made me healthier! No throwing up, no nausea or food aversion, and my auto-immune issues have been completely suppressed so far.  Brad is a little worried that I am going to want to be pregnant all of the time because of how well I feel! I am starting to get to the point where finding a comfy sleep position is hard...but considering I am the queen of sleeping in, I can't complain. The doctor is really happy with my progression and she says that even for being a high-risk pregnancy, everything is just perfect and he is measuring at the perfect size! I even get to sneak in extra candy bars now and then because I am not putting on enough weight. I swear I am NOT bragging this is just the first time in my life that something with my health has gone RIGHT and I am NOT a negative medical anomaly. I am just praying the next 5 months go as well.

We have another ultrasound in 3 weeks to make sure his limbs are growing right and all is well :) I am hoping we feel him a little better by then. Right now I just get the occasional hard lumps in my stomach but no solid kicks yet. We are just excited for that next milestone. 

Now for a Brad and Keeva update. Keeva is all healed from her spaying and as hyper as ever. Now Brad and I are just working to make her trained a little more and she is fighting it. Brad is working hard on his freelance, work, and everything else he decides he wants to do. He is also still growing out his hair (which I love) but the comments about looking homeless are starting to get to him so he trimmed up the beard (bummer). He still looks good though.

Well that's our update. I hope you enjoy it...sorry it is sooo long! 

Epic Blog Fail and Update on Life

Dear family and friends,

I suck at blogging. I love to read all of your blogs, but I never blog my own stuff. I am sorry. Truly, I am. I am not going to make any promises or get your hopes up that I am going to get better, because I probably won't...but accept this update post as a peace offering? Pretty please? Thanks

We have been keeping really busy since my last post in (dare I say it) July. We have spent the summer getting better aquatinted with Southern California by going to the beach, checking out some art museums, driving around Hollywood (it is too ghetto to get out of the car), and checking out the disgusting wealth in Bel Air and the other surrounding areas. 

Due to Keeva being a psychopath anxiety ridden dog, we no longer have a camera to show you lovely pictures of what we have been up to, so the phone camera is going to have to be good enough. 

In August, the Albrecht's came for a visit! We had fun being touristy and hanging out in the beautiful sunshine working on our tans. 

Even little Uriah was loving the beach from his carseat. Isn't he the cutest? 

Keeva got to come play at the beach too. I am not sure she liked being buried, but she didn't get an option. She puts up with a lot: crazy outfits, bows, being hog-tied, buried, etc. 

For Brad's birthday, I decided I wanted to take him to San Diego since he has been talking about going there since we moved here. We didn't realize that is was only an hour drive to get there, otherwise we would have gone sooner. We got to go to the zoo, to the Natural History Museum, all over Balboa park ( an old Spanish settlement that was super cool), the downtown historical GasLamp District, and an artist's village called Spanish Village. We had a ton of fun!

{pictures are on Brad's phone so the have to be MIA until he gets home}

When we got home, Keeva had to go to the vet to get spayed. She was not a happy camper about it, but now we don't have to worry about any little Keevas running around. I think that is definitely more than we could handle. One Keeva is more than enough.  

 Another great thing we found out this summer, is that we are having a baby! Our little one will be here by March 17, yes, St.Patrick's Day, one of the best days of the year! I am 4 months along this week and we just recently found out that our avocado is a BOY! We are so excited and Brad is more than pumped to have a mini-me of him running around the house. He already is making plans for little league, hiking trips, and plenty of other boyish things. I think all of the grandparents are even more excited. This is the first for both sides of my family and the first boy for Brad's family. Needless to say, this little one is going to be one spoiled rotten boy when he gets here in March. :) Look at that adorable profile.

4th of July

As most holidays are to me, 4th of July was all about eating...and some fireworks at Disney to end wrap it up.  We were invited over to our friends house for a barbecue and games. It was a lot of fun and we were so grateful to have someone to spend the holiday with seeing as how we are still pretty new to the area. 

We are loving California and everything to do around here. It seems like every day is beautiful, the sun is shining, and there is always a few butterflies to be seen flying around the palm trees and tropical flowers. Not bad. Never in a million years did we think we would end up here, and never in a million years did we think we would like it. We are grateful to live in this country and have the freedoms to do as we please, live as we please, and live where we please :) God Bless America, home of the free. 

Getting Keeva to leave the bow alone long enough to take this picture was a challenge. 

Mini Cheesecake with gluten free crust :)

Chocolate and patriotic sprinkle dipped strawberries 

Brad trying to keep cool on the porch (check out that long hair and beard!)

Festive food/table

Chicken and veggie skewers, compliments of Jenny

Brad and Brooklind ready for fireworks

Time for an update

Brad and I have been super busy the last few months moving into our new home, painting, starting new projects, going to the beach, etc. Here is what we have been up to: 

A little of this...Yes, that is orange paint you see 

And this...Hide and Seek is fun

And a lot of this...long walks in the sunshine 

And more of that

Which leads to this...Keeva getting tired

And then this...The Getty Museum  

And some of this...relaxing 

And a little of this...hanging in LA 

And unfortunately this...getting Brad new glasses 

Because of this...Keeva destruction 

Due to this...Teething

But you can't be mad because she looks like this

So her and Brad do this...cuddle time

And Brad drinks a lot of this

But we also did this...tiring days at the beach with Sam and Rachel 

And for your viewing pleasure: Some Keeva and Brad dancing, and some vacuum scaring.

That's what we've been up to :)