Friday, May 29, 2009

Drunk on sunshine

I can't believe this weather. It has been perfect -- sunny in the 70's since before Memorial Day weekend. I think people who live in Seattle appreciate good weather more than people in other parts of the country. Everyone is in the best mood, everyone is outside. I worked from home today b/c John's in OR and we can't leave Skeena alone. Took the dogs on two walks to the beach. Warm sun, cool breeze off the water. Ahhhhhhhhh. All the windows are open in the house and I'm sipping lemonade and seltzer. And to top it off, I think I'm going to make multigrain banana walnut pancakes for dinner tonight (John laughs at me b/c they're so healthy, but they are delicious).

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Feeling good

At our midwife appt yesterday afternoon, they REALLY put our minds at ease about the whole pyelectasis thing. Our midwife even said, "boring, boring, boring". Music to my ears. Not a big deal. I'll still go in for another ultrasound in a month to check on things, but I'm a lot less worried about it.

I woke up at 5am this morning to the little guy kicking around on my right side. The most activity I've noticed so far!

John took off for OR this morning and he'll be back on Saturday. So I have Skeena at work with me today (she's sleeping with her butt on her bed and her head and the rest of her body on the floor).

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

We're having a boy!

Wow. We had our 20 wk ultrasound on Thursday and we decided to find out - just couldn't wait anymore. And it's a boy! So now we can't wait to meet little August (Auggie? Gus?) August was John's dad's middle name, and it's my birthday month, so there you have it.

Now we're thinking about middle names. Since August comes from John's dad's side, it might be cool for the middle name to come from my mom's side. Van Reed? Miller? Lots of cool family names to choose from.

We were a little freaked when we found out at the ultrasound that the baby has pyelectasis. The doctor was reassuring though, saying it's really common in boys and often clears up just fine. Still, it stinks to have our excitement clouded by this worry. I have an ultrasound in another month, to check on it. Let's hope and pray it's all fine and that our little guy is perfectly healthy and happy.

There is something to be said for "ignorance is bliss"...

I continue to feel great, and we had such a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. The weather here couldn't have been better. I did some gardening, but spent most of the time sitting on the back patio in the sun, sipping lemonade, reading my book. So relaxing and summery. I think I even have the beginnings of a tan.

And Joy called this morning, asking if I need a maternity bathing suit - yes! Our pool just opened, and while I have a bunch of bikinis, I think I'll spare the public my belly. Plus, it will be great to have the suit when I'm in NC in June - looking forward to a mini-trip to Wrightsville Beach.

Our summer is shaping up nicely. We'll be in Oregon a couple times - I'll tag along on some of John's work trips. And we're planning a trip to Montana in July. I also want to do a long weekend on the Olympic coast - it will be nostalgic because that was where John and I had our first weekend away together. So, kind of fitting to go back there before the baby comes :-)

Oh, and in addition to all of that, we're going to put our house on the market! As if we don't have enough going on...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Ready for the weekend

I'm already making my weekend to-do list:

* get new running shoes
* cut down the enormous pampas grasses growing in our front yard. Totally unruly and messy and I've had it!
* make muffins and Steph's tofu (recipe below - it's the best)
* get new book (I'm reading Fall On Your Knees, which is good, but a little too dark/disturbing for my taste right now. In one scene, the mom actually cuts twins out of her dying pregnant daughter's belly, and one of the twins drowns in a creek. Um, no thanks.)
* start thinking about Father's Day presents

Very excited about the new running shoes. I've been having increasing discomfort in my feet/lower calves. Not sure if it's a pregnancy thing or not, but hopefully new shoes will do the trick.

Tonight John and I are going to "Taste of West Seattle" with some friends. I'm looking forward to sampling goodies from all of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, including Cupcake Royale. Love their frosting.

Tomorrow night John will be in Portland for a PRC wine/auction event, and Bobby and Sara will be there too!

In other news, Queets and Skeena are getting along fabulously. They are loving playing together (S always liked playing with Q, and now Q has finally come around). Last night I caught Skeena licking Q's ear, and he was loving it, purring like a cat. So cute.



STEPH'S TOFU

SERVES 6

½ cup organic orange juice concentrate

½ cup mirin cooking wine

¼ cup organic low-sodium tamari

¼ cup organic toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons organic sunflower oil

2 tablespoons organic brown rice vinegar

2 tablespoons finely minced organic garlic

2 tablespoons finely minced organic fresh ginger (peel before mincing)

2 pounds organic extra-firm tofu

# Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

# Grease a medium-size casserole dish with 1 tablespoon of the sunflower oil.

# Mix together orange juice concentrate, mirin, tamari, sesame oil, remaining sunflower oil, brown rice vinegar, garlic and ginger. Whisk well.

# Cut tofu into ½-inch cubes and marinate in the above liquid in the greased casserole dish for about a half-hour, stirring occasionally. It's best to use a wooden spoon to avoid damaging the tofu.

# Bake the tofu in the casserole dish at 350 degrees for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Some sauce will be absorbed into the tofu while cooking.

Note: This versatile tofu can be served hot or cold with your favorite accompaniment. We like it served warm over rice.

-- From PCC Natural Markets

Monday, May 11, 2009

Mother's Day pics

John took these yesterday evening. I'm at 19 weeks. It was a quick photo shoot b/c it was starting to rain...


Happy Mother's Day!

We had a relaxing Mother's Day weekend. John surprised me Sunday morning with my first-ever M's Day present. Some lovely body lotion (my skin is SO dry these days, is that a pregnancy thing?) and an adorable baby blanket. I really wasn't expecting anything, so it was extra sweet. What a thoughtful hubby I have.

I tried to tackle the massive amount of yard work we need to do on Saturday, but fizzled out after 45 mins. Pulling all the dead lavender (it died b/c of all the winter snow we got) was just too tiring and I ended up needing a nap. I thought I had endless energy these days, but I guess there are limits.

Next week is our 20 wk ultrasound. We had decided we don't want to find out the gender. But then we've been talking to a bunch of friends who did find out early, so that kind of swayed me in the other direction. But I think we'll hold firm and wait until the birth to find out boy/girl. Of course, I'll probably change my mind again tomorrow...

We took some pics last night by our huge lilac tree. I'll try to post them when I get home from work.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Snugglebug

Queets, all snuggled up with Elizabeth

Yakima River fishing

Had a wonderful visit with Elizabeth! Lots of walks to the park and beach, ice cream and pizza, pedicures, fly fishing, and some great dinners. And the weather was sunny and beautiful - I actually got a little color yesterday. It's pretty cool that we've been friends since third grade, all the way up until now. Queets especially loved Eliz's visit - he snuck in to her room to sleep with her on multiple nights.

Here are pics from the river...











Belly shot, and more dog pics

This is the first belly pic we took, but just hadn't uploaded it yet. I think this was around 15 weeks? Plus, more pup pics - playing in the backyard.