The Beginnings of a Nursery

We'll be turning our second bedroom into Matilda's nursery.  Since we moved into this house, I figured that if we had kids, that would be the nursery, so I've always kept that in mind when buying stuff for that room.  I also didn't know if Jason would want to find out the sex of the baby, so I've tried to keep it a bit gender neutral.  It errs on the girlier side, but I think we could have added more blues to make it a little boys room.  This is basically the room as is:

I've always admired this artist's work, so as soon as we found out we were pregnant, I ordered a few prints.  They now hang on the wall opposite the bed.

I also went to Hobby Lobby and picked out some scrapbook paper to make a mobile and alphabet poster.  I cut out clouds, hot air balloons, and sail boats and strung them together using fishing line.  I covered an embroidery loop with yarn and tied the fishing line to the hoop to make it a mobile.

 

For the alphabet poster, I simply outlined some letter stencils, cut them out, and glued them to a poster board.

 

 

The only other project we've really worked on is cleaning out the closet and organizing the items my brother, sister-in-law, and mom have passed along.  I bought some baskets from The Container Store to help organize toys, pajamas, diapers, etc. since we don't plan on buying a dresser.

The only furniture we plan on adding is a crib and maybe some open shelving for toys down the line.  We'll likely use the desk as a changing table.  I still want to add some Ikea spice racks under the alphabet poster to use as book shelves.  I also might sew a flag pendant to decorate the back wall.  Anybody want to come re-paint my trim for me?  :)

20 Weeks

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.  It's not that I haven't done anything exciting.  In fact, I've been doing something very exciting... growing a baby.  :)

 

 

How far along: I'm officially half way through the pregnancy, at 20 weeks now.  My due date is April 15th, Tax Day.

 

Symptoms: Hardly any at all.  Don't hate me.  I've had some minor cramping and back aches as my body has adjusted to my growing uterus, but I haven't had any nausea at all.  I was a bit more tired than usual, especially during the first trimester, but nothing too extreme.  No weird cravings.  I do seem to get hungry faster and more often than usual.  I try to keep fruit on hand for when the hunger sneaks up on me.  Also, I think I've probably indulged in more sweets than normal.  Baby seems to like cake.  Oh, I do have super weird pregnancy dreams!  I think that was probably my first indication that I was pregnant. 

 

Weight gain: 6 pounds so far.  2 of those were gained during the first trimester, only half a pound between weeks 13 and 17, then 3.5 pounds between weeks 17 and 20.  I'm basically shooting for a pound a week until I deliver. You can tell from the pictures above that I didn't really look pregnant until after week 18.  Jason just said I looked "fluffy" during most of my early pregnancy.  What a lovely description.

 

When I had Veteran's day off from work, I went and picked out some maternity clothes.  I'm still wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans, but maternity work pants seem to be much more comfortable during the week. I like the maternity tops too.  They seem to flatter the baby bump much more than normal clothes.

 

Prenatal care: I'm seeing a group of midwives and will be delivering in a hospital.  As long as I stay low risk and don't have any complications, the midwives will assist with the delivery.  If any complications were to occur during pregnancy or delivery, I would be referred to a doctor in their practice. 

 

I've really liked the quality of care I've received so far.  The midwives do everything a doctor would do as far as monitoring development, prenatal testing, etc., but the visits are longer and we talk more about how I'm feeling, if I have any concerns, what kind of care I would like to receive before, during, and after delivery, etc. 

 

The hardest decision Jason and I have had to make so far is whether or not we'd do the genetic testing (NT scan or quad screen).  I stressed over it for days, but after a lot of research and talking with friends and family, we opted out of both.  The midwifes were good about informing me of the pros and cons of the tests, and in the end when I explained why I was opting out, they supported my decision. 

 

Nesting: I'll probably do a separate post about the projects I've completed so far.  We've bought some decorations, I made a mobile and poster, and we've cleaned out the baby's closet.  My brother and sister-in-law have already passed along some hand-me-downs (which we are so grateful for) and my mom just pulled out a ton of clothes she had saved from when my brother and I were little to give to me. 

 

Worries: A lot of my worries were relieved after the anatomy scan on Monday.  Baby looks healthy and is growing on schedule.  Now I just need to keep progressing through the second half of the pregnancy.  I'll have to take a glucose test at 28 weeks, but it doesn't concern me too much.  I'm also closely monitoring an existing health condition of mine (thyroid), but it seems to be under control for now. 

 

Looking forward to: Stocking the baby room.  Other than the few decorations we've bought or made and the hand-me-down items, we haven't made any major purchases (crib, stroller, etc.) so I'm looking forward to that.

 

~ Enough about me!  Let's talk about the baby! ~

 

Gender: Girl!!!  Just found out this week at the anatomy scan and we are very excited!  I kept having dreams that it was a boy, so I was pleasantly surprised. 

 

Movement: She is a mover and a groover.  I felt the first kicks/ nudges at about 16.5 weeks, and they have picked up since then.  She is most active mid-morning and mid-afternoon when I'm quietly working at my desk, but lately she's been moving during the early morning hours as well.  It's like she's telling me to get up and start my day.  Watching her squirm around during the ultrasound was fun.  She was even playing with her feet which was super cute.

 

Name: Matilda Jean. 

 

We didn't want a name that was popular during recent years, and heck Matilda hasn't been popular in the US since the 1800s.  It's popular in England and Australia though, so I wouldn't be surprised if it rises in popularity in a few years.



Our little Matilda Jean at 20 weeks.

Running (and Spectating)

Jason's been busy running races the past two weekends and I've been busy watching Jason run races.  Last weekend he ran the Houston Half Marathon. The race was supposed to start at 7 am, but got postponed an hour due to heavy rain and lightening.  We hung out in the parking garage with some of his running buddies while we waited for the storm to pass.

 

 

At 8 am, the rain was still coming down, but the lightening had stopped so the race began.  I watched the race with a friend and we were both soaked at this point.  We had even changed into the boys' extra shorts and T-shirts since our first outfits were wet and cold.

 

Jason did awesome in the race.  You can see him heading towards the finish line in the picture below - he's wearing the red shirt.  He ran the half marathon (13.1 miles) in 1 hour 22 minutes, which is about a 6 minute 16 second/ mile running pace.

 

This weekend, we headed to Huntsville State Park for Jason to run the Rocky Raccoon 25k (which is about 15.5 miles).  We camped last night.  The weather was nice, but unfortunately the people in the campsite beside us stayed up past 2 am and were quite loud.  It was frustrating to say the least. 

 

 

Jason's race started at 8 am.  You can see him starting the race in the picture below - he is in the aqua shirt.  While he was running, I went back to the campsite and packed up.  He finished the race in just under 2 hours.

 

The boy is a running fool.  It's a bit crazy, but whatever makes him happy.  :)

Zucchini Bread

Now that fall weather has arrived, I've been in the mood to bake.  A few weeks ago I made a caramel apple blondie pie featured in my Southern Living.  Yesterday, I made a couple loaves of zucchini bread.  The zucchini bread came out really well, so I wanted to make sure I memorialized the recipe.  It's a modified version of this recipe.

I also realized the trick for getting Jason to eat my baked goods - cut the sugar at least by half if not more.  :)

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

3-4 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Sift the first 5 ingredients together.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the next 7 ingredients together.

3. Add the dry ingredients from the first bowl to the wet ingredients in the second bowl.  Mix well.

4. Stir in the zucchini and walnuts.

5. Bake 65 minutes on 325 degrees.

6. Voila!  Let cool and then enjoy! 

Texas Renaissance Festival

Last weekend we headed to the opening weekend of the Texas Renaissance Festival. We went all out and made it a two day affair. We even dressed up for the occasion. 

Here we are - the rogue hunter and peasant wife. Don't we make a lovely pair?

Similar to last year, there were people in awesome costumes...

 

Fun shows to watch...

 

Cool shops to peruse (I mean, who doesn't need medieval weapons?)...

 

And yummy food to eat. 

Jordan and his girlfriend joined us camping for the night and made their RenFest debut in German Lederhosen and bar maid costumes. 

Despite all the rain, we had a really good time.

Sunroom

We've been slowly working on improving our sunroom.  The far wall had what looked like a coffee stain dripping down the sheetrock, there were sap stains coming through the paint on all of the trim work, and the bead board ceiling was cracking pretty badly. 

The prep work on this room took days.  In fact, I took off a whole week of work for the painting part of this project.  First, we washed everything really well.  Then we re-caulked between every other board on the ceiling and around most of the trim work.  We also primed everything to lock in any remaining stains. 

Our original plan was to paint the bead board ceiling the same blue that was used on the cabinet in our kitchen, but we decided to just go with white incase the caulk ever cracked again.  We used the same white on the ceiling and trim that was used for our kitchen cabinets.  By the way, I had never used oil-based paint until this project, and other than the nearly impossible cleanup, we loved it!  I would highly recommend Sherwin William's oil-based ProClassic.  It went on beautifully and self leveled, removing most brush and roller strokes. 

We also used left over light yellow/ cream paint from our kitchen walls for the walls.

As far as putting the room back together after the painting was finished, we took a little different route than what we previously had.  Since our house only has two bedrooms, we have been contemplating getting a pull-out sofa for extra room when guests come.  But, we came up with the idea to add a daybed to the sunroom.  Plus, the way it was previously set up, only one person usually wanted to be in there at a time due to the sitting situation.  A daybed would allow for extra seating as well.

I watched Craigslist for awhile, and was able to pick up an antique iron daybed frame for only $60 since it was missing a few parts.  Luckily, we were able to find parts elsewhere to make it work. 

We also replaced the old white ceiling fan for something a bit more cute.  I'm a huge fan of the new light. 

Now the view from the kitchen into the sunroom is so peaceful.

New England

This past week I visited one of my college roommates whom now lives on the border of New Hampshire and Vermont. I flew into Boston on Saturday, rented a car, and drove about 2.5 hours to meet her.

On the way out of Boston, I stopped by a local seafood joint, Moulton's, for a lobster roll. Since it was mid-afternoon, I was the only person in the place other than the guy who served me.  I think he thought I was so odd for dining by myself mid-afternoon.

Once I met up with my friend, we headed to a BBQ competition at the Harpoon brewery in Windsor, Vermont.

Once we had our fair share of BBQ ribs, we headed back to my friend's cottage.  Can I just say how adorable all the farmhouses are in the area?  My friend is renting the below guest cottage and it is full of charm.  The view from the back porch was breathtaking!
 

The next day was packed with activities. We woke up and grabbed coffee and scones at a beautiful farm, Cedar Circle Farm.

 

Maybe someday I'll have a garden as beautiful as theirs.  

 

 

It even backed up to the Connecticut River.  Just beautiful.

After breakfast, we hiked for about an hour and a half on the trails through the woods behind her place. In typical New England summer fashion, there were tons of insects to deal with, but it was still a nice hike. 

 

 

It was interesting to see all of the stone walls in the area, sometimes in the most random spots.  My friends says that the land is rather rocky, so when settlers would till the land, the rocks were just stacked in a convenient spot. 

 

 

After the hike, we quickly stopped to say hello to one of her friends at a horse barn.  Then we headed to another farm, Sugarbush Farm, in Vermont for cheese and maple syrup tasting. I came home with plenty of goodies.  :)

 

 

We also stopped by Long Trail brewery so I could grab Jason some local craft beers (which he attested were quite delicious).

After that, we toured a couple cute small towns, including Woodstock (in the first picture below) and Hanover (where Dartmouth is) and then grabbed a quick dinner at a ice cream/ snack stand, Whippi-Dip, in Fairlee. 

 

 

The next day, I took it pretty easy, mostly relaxing/ reading on her friend's porch. 

 

On Tuesday, I headed back to the Boston area to meet Jason who was in the area for work stuff.

 

On my way south, I stopped at Monadnock State Park to take a nice hike.  I figured it was a 3-4 mile roundtrip hike up and down the mountain, so maybe I'd be able to complete it in 2 hours.  Boy was I wrong.  It quickly got steeper and steeper the further I went.  About half way up, a man who hikes the mountain daily (yes, he even moved within biking distance of the mountain so his schedule could accommodate daily trips) said I still had about an hour to go to the top.  That's when I figured for timing (and my knees) sake, I'd head on back down.  Fortunately, I still got some great views in.  They say that on clear days you can see all the way to Boston.

This was the trail up:

 

No joke.

 

Once to Boston (mid-afternoonish), we took a speed trip through the MFA.  Luckily, the docent pointed us straight toward our favorite style, Impressionism.  (Not pictured below.)



 

We also ran by to get a peek of Fenway Park.

 

 

Then we hopped on the train to Harvard, where I enrolled in grad school.

 

Just kidding. 

I did that at Dartmouth.

Okay, okay.  Maybe not.

Overall, it was a nice trip.  I'd like to go back one day to do more exploring, especially in the countryside.  Maybe next time I could go during autumn to see the leaves changing.