24 Weeks

I am now 24 weeks into this pregnancy, which puts me halfway through my 6th month.

About two weeks ago, I completely gave up trying to squeeze into my regular clothes and am now exclusively in maternity wear. Have I mentioned how much I hate maternity clothes?

Loathe.

Actually, they wouldn't be all that bad if I could just find things that fit properly. Being that I'm pretty short, I find that every pair of pants has too big of a rise, so I either have to fold them over or scrunch them down at the waist, which is annoying to say the least. And as for the tops....eh. I just can't find much that flatters my figure. I wouldn't mind finding some shirts that hug my belly without looking tight. But the pickings are slim around here, so I guess I get what I get. (P.S. Can the warm weather please come so that I can start hiding under dresses. Thank you.)

So far I've gained 13 lbs, which thankfully rests within my target weight gain zone. My waist is still measuring 36 inches around the widest part, which is the same measurement I got 4 weeks ago. Huh? I could have sworn my stomach had gotten rounder.

I'm still working out 5 day a week, but generally for about 30-45 minutes, rather than the 60 minutes I did previously. I'm still lifting weights, but much lighter ones at that. And I'm still hanging on to my weekly run on the treadmill, but just barely. I had wanted to make it all the way through the second trimester before I had to give it up, so we'll see how it goes. My normal 3 mile run has dwindled down to 1 agonizing mile. The impact is becoming too much.

As for sleep....forget about it. I obviously can't sleep on my stomach and I'm not supposed to sleep on my back, so that leaves my sides as the only option. The problem with that is that I can only get 1-2 hours of sleep before that side of my body goes numb and I have to flip to the other, and so the cycle repeats endlessly throughout the night. Doesn't make for the most restful night.

*Sigh* How much longer do I have? Wait, I don't want to know.

Recipe Review

While I was making my meal plan for last week, I decided to make use of my subscription to The Food Network Magazine and pulled out two different recipes to try out.

First we had Thai Pork and Noodles.

I wasn't sure how this one was going to go over, with strange ingredients like rice noodles and fish sauce, but surprisingly, the boys ate it right up. As for me, I didn't like it at all. In fact, I threw away the leftovers. Gah! I had such high hopes too! The lime/cilantro flavor was so great on the grilled chicken I made the other week, that I was sure it'd be a winning combination in this dish as well. Um, not so much.

Next we had French Fry Deluxe Salad.

This was a basic salad with bacon, tomato, and cheese. The dressing was made up of a combination of your typical hamburger condiments....dill pickle, mustard, ketchup, mayo, and a little vinegar. And then it's all topped off with a healthy dose of curly fries. (Can I just say Ore Ida Curly Fries, or any brand for that matter, and nearly impossible to find....who'da thunk?) Anyway, I thought the salad was pretty darn tasty and so did Tyler, but I found that it wasn't terribly filling. I was still hungry afterwards, but then again, I'm always hungry these days! In the future I'd probably serve it with soup on the side.

On the baking front, I made a small batch of coconut muffins.

From the picture, these look kind of like cupcakes, but actually they have more of a strange dense texture. Probably from the coconut flour and the high egg content. Nothing much to rave about, but they do have a decent amount of fiber and protein, so I guess I won't complain all that much.

For dessert I made Marionberry Bars.

The recipe for these came off the giant bag of frozen maironberries that Rick mindlessly brought home from Costco. Seriously, what was he thinking? We already have giant bags of frozen strawberries, blueberries, and a bag of mixed berries stuffed into the freezer. What the heck could I possibly need with more berries? I think he wants me to have smoothies. Lots of smoothies. But back to the bars.....I was expecting these to come out like a firm bar cookie, but instead they reminded me of a fruit crisp, so we ate them with ice cream and they were delicious!

The Going Price

Tyler lost another tooth last week.

Actually, Rick yanked it out with a pair of tweezers.

Last month during Tyler's 6 month check-up, the dentist mentioned that he had another adult tooth coming in. I didn't think much of it until a few days later when I actually saw it growing up behind the baby tooth...stacked right behind it liked a domino. Whoa, I didn't realize that sort of thing happened! I thought the baby tooth had to fall out and then the adult tooth would grow in its place. I wasn't pleased to see his new tooth growing so far out of alignment, so I told Tyler to start wiggling and get that baby tooth out of the way already. So the other night, it finally became so loose that Rick was able to pull it out.

Tyler put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy and in the morning he found $7. Now that sounds like a lot to me, but he was disappointed. Mainly because he got $10 for his first tooth and couldn't understand why the amount was less this time. He assured me that the tooth was good and had no cavities. Then he wondered if the amount would go down even further with the next tooth.

I explained that the first tooth was very special, so it was probably just worth more. Now between you and me, I'm not sure how the tooth fairy decides how much to pay per tooth, but I suspect that it has something to do with the amount of available cash on hand. Tyler's teeth keep coming out so suddenly that the tooth fairy probably doesn't have time to run to the bank!

Arbor Festival

Today, for the second year in a row, we attended the annual Arbor Festival at the Arboretum. Tyler and I had such a great time last year that we made sure to mark the event down on the calendar. And this year, since Rick wasn't busy working in the yard, we brought him along with us.

The event worked pretty much the same way as it did last year, where each child is given a passport and they have to go around to all 30 of the educational stations and get a stamp. Then at the end they turn in the completed passport to be entered into a raffle for a nature themed prize.

Most of the stations were outdoors and I couldn't have been more pleased with the weather today. It was probably the nicest day we've had all week. The sun was actually out and shining and the temperature was near 60 degrees. How glad am I that I didn't need to wear a coat....I can't even zip mine around my tummy anymore.

It was fairly crowded, but Tyler still managed to find a spot at each station. At this one he painted a wooden necklace.

Here they talked about germination and had the kids plant bean seeds in a little plastic cup.

Then we went to visit the big tortoise that was just munching away at the grass.
 

And then Tyler planted a blueberry bush to bring home.

At one of the last stations we got a little container of ladybugs.

And before long Tyler's passport was complete!

New This Week

I've been sick all week. I was sick all last week. Apparently pregnancy completely deprives me of the ability to fight off a simple cold bug. And I was doing so well too! I made it all the way through winter without a hitch, but as soon as spring rolled around....forget it, I was a goner. So looking back on the week, it's kind of surprising that I tried so many new recipes. I don't even remember getting out of bed.

Earlier in the week we had Southwestern Pasta & Cheese.

I really like this one as a different spin on macaroni and cheese. It had bacon, red bell pepper, chipotle pepper, and chili powder. The boys both complained that it was too spicy and in fact, Tyler wouldn't even eat it. I don't know what Rick's excuse was....he frequently orders spicy foods at restaurants. Okay, so maybe I put in too much chipotle, but I'm going to blame that on my foggy head.

Then we had Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa.

This was my favorite meal of the week! I couldn't get over how much flavor the chicken had with such a simple marinade of olive oil, lime juice, and cilantro. Wow! And the salsa on top was the perfect compliment. I served yellow saffron rice on the side, as the recipe suggested, and that was great as well.

For last night's dinner I made Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach and Pine Nuts.

After taking Tyler to the park yesterday after school and then to the store to buy a birthday present for his friend, whose party is tomorrow, I was glad to come home and make a quick pantry meal. I used frozen chopped spinach instead of fresh and walnuts instead of pine nuts, but otherwise followed the recipe. I thought it was great, but Tyler didn't agree, and Rick ended up with a roaring case of heartburn. Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to make this one again.

In the baking department, I made some Oatmeal Raisin Muffins.

These originally called for chocolate chips, but I was in the mood for raisins, so that's what I used. Mmmm, I've been enjoying them with breakfast all week long.

Then I put my new bag of blue cornmeal to use with my first ever batch of blue cornbread.

Yum! Just as I had hoped, these were as good as the yellow variety.

For dessert I made Nutella, Banana, and Coconut Puff Pastry Cups.

The whole point of making this recipe was to use up that last sheet of puff pastry I've had sitting in the freezer for who knows how long.....and boy, was it a good choice! The puff pastry stuck to the muffin tin a little more than I was expecting, but besides that, it was an awesome and quick dessert.

Finally, for breakfast this morning, I made a batch of Banana Cinnamon Waffles.

Tyler had requested some Eggo waffles, but I just couldn't do it, especially with the banana I had decomposing on the counter. So I made these waffles that I've had on my to-do list and they came out great. They have a mix of regular, whole wheat, and buckwheat flour, with a little ground flaxseed for good measure. Yum, I love a good multigrain waffle with a decent protein and fiber count.

Firehouse Red

After school I took Tyler over to Baskin Robbins so that he could finally cash in his coupon for his free birthday scoop. I got the coupon in my email about a week before his birthday, but I thought we'd end up using it some time during spring break, probably after his birthday, since we had to work it in around our trip to Seattle. Anyway, I ended up getting sick and remained so for the entire break, so I was never able to take him. Now the coupon has expired, but I thought we'd go give it a try anyway. Thankfully the lady behind the counter gave us a break.

Now on to picking the flavor.

I didn't mean to sway the poor child's opinion, but once I pointed out the flavor of the month, he was sold. Vanilla mixed with cinnamon swirl and red hots is not something he would normally go for, so I guess it was the pure intrigue of being a limited edition flavor.

About halfway through his cone, he started wishing he'd picked cookies and cream instead. Me too. I mean, look at his face. It looks like someone punched him smack in the mouth. I wasn't a fan of the red coloring everywhere. Believe me, we had enough of that with his Lego cake.

As for me, I went with Tax Crunch. It's a coffee flavored ice cream with chocolate chunks and crispy rice pieces. Yum!

Food Finds

If you know me, you know that I love food and when I travel, it's practically the only souvenir I ever bring home. From Hawaii I brought home coconut syrup and shortbread cookies. From Vancouver, Canada I brought home yummy maple cookies. And from Leavenworth I brought home coconut cashew brittle, fig jam, and caramel corn. So you know I didn't go to Seattle without finding some sort of food items to bring back with me.

This time I found some amazing things at Pike Place Market.

At MarketSpice, I picked up a box of their famous cinnamon orange tea and a huckleberry scented candle. I can't rave enough about their candles...they smell soooo good! They had about 5 or 6 different scents sitting near the register and they were all fantastic. I kind of wish I had grabbed the cinnamon orange one as well. The tea is really good too. It reminds me of the Good Earth brand, which is uniquely sweet without having any sugar added. The olive oil came from Sotto Voce and it's basil flavored. It tastes like pesto. I could seriously drink it straight from the bottle. I added some to our pizza crust last night, but my senses are so impaired with this cold I'm fighting, that I couldn't really taste it.

The hotel we stayed at was in Bellevue and I just about died when we pulled into the parking lot and I spotted a Whole Foods Market right across the street!

To people who live in big cities, Whole Foods is probably no big deal, but for me it means access to all those things I can never find in the stores here in Yakima.

I think I really wanted to just stuff the whole store in my purse and bring it home with me, but I left with just a few items.....blue corn meal and coconut manna. I can't wait to make cornbread with the blue corn meal. Hopefully it's just as tasty as the yellow stuff, but with a much higher fiber content. And the coconut manna is basically like a coconut butter. It's nothing but crushed, creamed coconut flesh. I can't wait to spread it over some muffins or add it into recipes here and there. Yum!