Eat more!

I was at the midwife yesterday for a quick check as I was spotting the night before. And because I'm concerned that I am hardly growing. I'm almost 16 weeks and all of my regular clothes still fit! The baby is fine, but the midwife informed me that I've only gained 3 lbs and while it's not too concerning yet, they'd like me to have gained 10 lbs total by 20 weeks. So, I'm supposed to eat more (apparently she didn't get the memo that I was voted "biggest eater" in my senior class in high school). I feel like I am eating all of the time, I am obsessed with anything dairy, I eat meat, I eat a very balanced diet. However, I think it's time to keep more high protein snacks around. I get so hungry so suddenly that it's hard to think about preparing something- I just need good food to be at hand and ready to go.
I think I will be off to the library today to find some good books on nutrition and pregnancy.
On a different food note, I was talking with Papa Behr yesterday and he informed me that he's ordering seeds for the spring already and that he found some heirloom tomatoes that he'd like to try this year! Yipppeee!! They are one of my favorite things to pick up from the farmer's market in the summer. If they were more readily available this year, I'd be eating them every day. The idea that he's thinking about seed orders already gives me hope that winter will be over one of these months and we can start dreaming about fresh foods again. This also means that I am going to start planning my summer months that I'll have off work and what things I want to learn from my mom this year- canning, making jam, etc. I think I can only pick a few things, as I'll have a wee one to tote with me. But what a perfect opportunity to spend more time with Mama Behr and finally have a summer off in which to learn these things!

Bun

The Luckiest

I got home from my 12 hr shift at midnight last night. Typically after working an evening shift, I sneak upstairs to see if Snugs is still awake, but he's usually sacked out, since he gets up at 6:30 or so for work. But last night he was awake, watching a movie on his laptop to keep him awake long enough to see me. I wasn't ready to fall asleep yet, but wanted to be warm, so I crawled in next to him to claim a few minutes of catching up on our days before he fell asleep. In lying there talking to him, I was reminded of how lucky I am to be with him. I wonder how I got the best that there is. He is the sweetest, most thoughtful, funniest man that I know and I don't think that I marvel at that fact often enough. Here are the two things he said that made me realize that I am the luckiest: 1) When I asked him to throw stuff in the laundry, as I was going to start wash today, he told me he'd already started it. 2) When I left for work yesterday, I had just started to put plastic over our ancient and drafty windows upstairs. He had finished putting up the plastic last night and when I asked if he was all done up there, he said, "no, I saved the blow-drying for you, as I know that's your favorite part". (sniff) He truly is the greatest! He remembers those little details, he sometimes reads my mind and starts things before I do (even when we haven't talked all day due to work!).

Did I mention my birthday? He surprised me with a plane ticket to Florida for Jan, so Little Sis and I can fly down to meet up with our parents for a few days- he said he remembered how much fun she and I had down there 4 years ago with my parents and their friends and he wanted to make sure I had that opportunity again.

I am grateful...today, tomorrow and hopefully every day.

One Tough Bird

Note to self: if you buy a "stewing chicken" it is literally just for that...stewing. It means it's going to be a tough old chicken that makes great stock and that's it. I had bought a stewing chicken and some chicken thighs to cook up for stock and then use the meat in soups. However, I discovered that the meat from the stewing chicken couldn't even be pulled from the bone, whereas with the separate thighs that I bought, the meat just fell right off the bone. So, lesson learned: stew with it, don't try to eat it.

How to...

How to see your normally very mellow husband hit the roof....send your less-than-three-year-old TV to the repair shop (trying to support local businesses and fix the TV rather than just buy a new one like they told us at Best Buy), wait almost 3 (yes, 3!!) months to get it back, then turn it on only to see that the "bowing out" of the screen is now "bowing in" and after 1.5 hrs of watching it, it shut itself off again. So, in essence, NOTHING got fixed!!! $144 and 3 months and that's what we got?!??!! I though Snugs was going to blow a gasket.

A Visit

I was at work today and my all-time favorite little patient came to visit me. Well, not so little anymore, as he'll be 5 next month. He and his twin sister are up to my waist now and are chatty as can be. Cole first showed me all of his scars from the surgeries that were performed on him while he was just a wee tyke and informed me that "sometime it would be fun to live in here", pointing to the unit where I work. He obviously has no concept that he did live there for the first 4 months of his life. Thankfully, babies don't remember the weeks and months that they spend living in ICC, usually separated from their parents. Cole's mom is in awe of how perfect and healthy he is- the only remainders of his time in the hospital are those scars. Well, those and my fond memories of taking care of him from the time he was a jaundiced little 3 day old until he was 4 months old, rocking him to sleep, teaching his mom and grandma how to take care of him with all of his medical "accessories", admiring his crazy blond hair that stuck up straight and those huge blue eyes. Sigh.

Why I Love Fall

The photos say it all...

The lone tree in our little backyard

Apple picking yesterday in Waconia at Deardorff Orchards, a great little family-owned orchard on a quiet dirt road

How 'bout them apples for cooking? Made applesauce today with the Haralson "seconds"- a large bag of barely bruised or barely pecked apples for only $5. Yum.

My parents and I picked raspberries at their friends' place last week. And people wonder why I would love a place that has land and space to grow things like this!