Finished Blanket

I promised some people a couple of weeks ago that I would put up pictures of this blanket finally finished...and I am just now getting around to it. You may wonder what I do all day that keeps me so busy that I can't post, and I have nothing to say for myself except for the fact that I am lazy. Oh well, here it is in all of its glory.

In all seriousness, I am super proud of myself for finishing this project. I love the way it turned out and it is so soft and cozy. I also made it super big so that he can use it when he gets older and cuddle on the couch with it for movie time. The pictures aren't stellar because it was kind of dark in the house when I took them, but you get the idea. Again, a shout of thankyoutimesamillionIwouldhaveneverfinisheditwithoutyou to Laura for helping me out! Now just 2 more weeks until we move into our new place and I can set up the nursery with all the cowboy and indian cuteness. Excitement does not even describe how I feel!

 YAY for the finished project (yes, I hand-sewed that binding like a boss)

Up close and personal so you can see the cute little scenes in the fabric. Love it. 

Nesting Syndrome

I thought this whole "nesting syndrome" thing was kind of a joke, and that people exaggerated it a little...but it's not. I have taken my nesting syndrome to an extreme, and now instead of just cleaning my house and getting things ready for baby Kai, we are MOVING. Technically, our lease doesn't end until late-April, but I couldn't wait that long and I really didn't want to move with a new born. So I whined, begged, and pleaded (a huge belly does wonders for sympathy) and we are getting out of our lease and into a 2 bedroom apartment (Yay for having a nursery) next month. I'm excited. The best part? We will have a washer and dryer! Wahooo! The second best part? It is only 1 mile form Brad's work so he can ride a longboard to work and I don't have to be 9months preggo and stuck without a car! DOUBLE Wahoo! 

As part of this nesting syndrome, I have been making stuff for Kai's nursery. With the help of my awesome friend who I now owe my life to, Laura, I AMOST have his quilt finished (this binding is a beast). I also finished the pillow for the glider and I am working on  finding stuff for a  mobile and possibly a modge-podge deer head inspired by this:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89435098/bookworm-deer-head-wall-mount

Pinterest has been my best friend in finding ideas. I am so addicted it's ridiculous. Kai's room is going to be 1950's style cowboys and indians with a modern twist. Here is a terrible picture of the pillow I made so you can get an idea of how it will looks (I will take better pictures when the quilt is done). The pillow is from the same fabric as the quilt. 

I also think I have been driving poor Brad crazy with my nesting syndrome because as part of it I want everything ready NOW. He keeps reminding me I have time, but I'm not convinced. I was especially stressing about the lack of a carseat because in my psychotic mind I keep saying that what if I go into labor early and then have no way to get Kai home and the hospital won't let me leave. He reminds me that regardless of when I go into labor, we could send someone to get a carseat if it was an emergency. Like I said, I am crazy, so I was not convinced. Luckily, my mom knows how crazy I am and became a lifesaver sending me a carseat/stroller combo that came in the mail yesterday. Can anyone say excited? Yes, me! I may or may not have pushed the stroller around the apartment all evening sans baby...I am sane, I promise. Maybe not.  Yay for moms and spoiled grandbabies :) 

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.