Olympic Reflections

Is anyone else watching the Opening Ceremonies tonight? As I type, it's just starting, and I already have some thoughts.

First of all, why is it that I love watching the Olympics, but I am otherwise just about totally uninterested in sports? I'll tell you. It's all about the drama. I love all the back stories, all the dramatic music, all the production that those genius TV people put into it. It's just inspiring and riveting.

Also, I have decided that the sport I would least like to play is hockey, not only because I wouldn't last two minutes upright on my feet, but also because you just can't look cute in all that getup.

Nathan has a thought to share, too: he thinks the biathlon (cross country skiing + riflery) would be a lot more interesting if the competitors were allowed to shoot at each other. I have to agree. Couldn't they give them paintball guns or something?

Nathan's Observation

Last week, while I was watching Project Runway on demand one evening, Nathan looked up from the computer and made a stunning observation about Heidi Klum being pregnant again:

"Wow. She is always pregnant. . . . "

. . . wait for it . . .

"She's like Michelle Duggar."

Ha! Cracked me up.

Crochet!

I finished those baby sweaters I told you about! I love the way they turned out.

Here is the little dress. The picture does not do it justice. The yarn is so incredibly soft and actually has a bit of a sheen to it. I was going to put a ribbon around the waist, but the ribbon I got is too wide, and the dress is still sweet without it. Plus, I love the color, which also doesn't show up properly in the picture. I hope Baby Girl is big enough to wear it for her daddy's Commencement.

And here is the little sweater. It's sweet, too, isn't it?

This afghan might be my next project. I love that it's made of granny squares, because then I won't get too bored with the whole thing and abandon it when it's only a third finished. If I get to choose new colors and tap into my creativity a bit after every square, I'm sure I'd stick with it a little better. It's like completing a bunch of little projects rather than one interminable one. Also, these grannies are not too granny-ish, which is the other reason I really like this pattern. If I ever get around to making this, I'll definitely put up a picture of the finished project.

My Tea Shower

My good friends, Bonnie and Sara, took me to high tea at the Colonial Inn yesterday for a little baby shower. Although I like tea, scones, and everything that high tea embodies, I've never actually been to high tea anywhere before. It was a treat! They served us our choice of tea, scones, tea sandwiches (including the usual cucumber sandwich and the not so often seen sandwich with pears poached in wine), a selection of pastries, and berries with whipped cream.

The whole thing was quite delightful, though I must say that you're not used to having a full meal at three in the afternoon, so we left pretty darn full. Not that that's a bad thing. :) The Colonial Inn is really nice, too. I'd never been there before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how--what's the word? genteel?--it was. It's in Concord's town center, which is cute and quaint, too, so the whole setting was very nice.

Plus, I got presents! Can't forget about that! Bonnie and Sara got some cute little clothes for Baby Girl, including a dress that is super sweet and even has a layer of pink tulle underneath, which might be my favorite part of it.

Here we are in the dining room where we ate.

And I asked Nathan to take a picture of me before I left. I wore this same shirt on Thanksgiving, but I wasn't nearly as big! I'm about 37 weeks in this picture.

Frankly, I don't really like the way I look in this picture, but I figured that there are some of you out there (Mom) who would like to see it. :)

Done.

*Update, Saturday morning* Noah must be feeling better today, because I woke up to the sound of him singing in his bed. :) I actually think he might be getting molars and isn't actually sick.

Nathan has a cold. Yesterday morning, he was telling me about how bad he felt, and my unsympathetic reaction was: "I'm having contractions." As if to say, "I trump you." Which is true. Contractions trump just about everything else, in my book.

But his cold has gotten worse, and at this point he is pretty miserable. He had me pick him up from work a little early yesterday, and today he called at noon looking for a ride. Right now, he's two and a half hours into a nap, so I know he's feeling bad.

What is even worse is that it looks like Noah has caught his daddy's cold. He was being super ornery this morning, crying as if he were hurt when nothing was wrong. I had no idea what was going on, except that he has just been a cranky pants for the last day and a half, and I thought this was a continuation of that. But when he started rubbing his eyes at about 11:15, I knew something was up. Then his nose started running and his head felt hot, and I realized he was sick.

I tried to take his temperature, but the dang ear thermometer wouldn't work, and Noah was throwing a fit over my trying to use it, crying wildly and saying, "Done! Done!" So I gave it up. But even after the thermometer fiasco was over, he just sat there in my lap, saying pitifully:

"Done. Done."

I knew he wasn't talking about the thermometer. He was talking about how sick he felt. And I said, "Oh kiddo, I know just what you mean."

So both Noah and Daddy were "done" by the time naptime arrived. Poor guys.

On a separate note, please pray that I don't get this cold. I really think it would be awful to have developed a cough just in time to have a C-section. Ugh.

Contractions, Contractions.

So I've been having contractions today. I almost skipped Mom to Mom this morning because I just felt yucky and exhausted from them. But each time I've thought of skipping, I remember how much fun Noah has and how good it is for him to play with other kids and learn to obey other adults. I also remember that it's not like I could take a nap if I stayed home, anyway. So we go, and I'm usually glad we did. Today, as I was sitting there listening to the talk, all I wanted to do was lay my head down and go to sleep. My contractions had subsided, but they had worn me out completely. Though I must say that by the time we went home, I was feeling normal again.

I had figured that these weren't "real" contractions, but more likely Braxton Hicks contractions (practice ones that don't lead to labor). I didn't have any BH contractions with Noah, or any contractions at all, really, except for some that were so mild that I didn't even know I was having them. Anyhow, I have been having some contractions over the past month or two, mostly at night. Sometimes they're really kind of painful, too, which I had not expected, though after looking it up, I've learned that it's normal. The difference was that this morning the contractions just kept on going for a couple of hours, which hasn't really been the case in the past. I usually just get one at a time, and it usually goes away if I move around or change position.

Since these lasted so much longer than usual, and since this is totally unlike my last pregnancy, I started to think that maybe this kid will come early. I am 36 and a half weeks along right now, so chances are that the baby would be just fine if she were born any time now. Plus, my belly is starting to really get in my way, I am starting to get uncomfortable, and I'm so big now that most of my maternity shirts don't cover my entire belly, so I wouldn't mind that part being over. But mostly, I just feel ready to have this kiddo around. "Ready" in the emotional sense, that is. Not ready at all in the practical sense, since the house isn't really set up for the baby, we have no place for her to sleep, and my hospital bag is not even packed. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to her arrival and had started to be kind of optimistic that she'll be early rather than late.

That was until I had a little chat with my Mom to Mom leader--who is not only a physician but has also given birth seven times--who said that false labor is pretty common if you are not in your first pregnancy. Not that this went as far as my thinking it was labor, but still. Basically, she was saying that my contractions might just mean nothing. Dangit! Then again, subsequent babies tend to come a little earlier, right?

Right?!

Anyway, that's the pregnancy news. :)

This Week's Menu

For lack of anything else to write about right now, you get to hear about my dinner menu this week. I apologize in advance. :)

Last week was a light cooking week for me. Not only did I not make anything complicated, but I also got to take a few nights off because we didn't eat at home--one night we went out for Nathan's birthday (Tango in Arlington Center is great, by the way, if you live in the area), one night we went to Chick-fil-A, and one night some friends had us over.

Lately, I've been brainstorming ways to use up the items we have in our pantry. Then it occurred to me that--HELLO--I'm about to have a baby, and maybe it'd be a better idea to stock up, not pare everything down to nothing. This observation really has nothing to do with this week's menu, although I do think I can freeze some portions of what I'll make this week; it's just an observation that I made today, having to do with what a dork I am and how I haven't been thinking ahead. I guess next week I'll think about strategies for post-partum meals.

But back to this week: I think I might be going overboard with a couple of things. I recently read in one of my pregnancy books that I need to remember to continue eating well, and that I should aim to have an orange veggie and a leafy green veggie every day. I read that on the same day that Noah and I had Ramen noodles and Vienna sausages for lunch, which was a little convicting. :) So I went through one of my cookbooks and marked a few recipes that involved butternut squash, and I ended up with three meals with this vegetable planned for this week. Now, I like butternut squash, but we'll see how we fare with a potential overload of the stuff. I also have a couple of things planned that involve kale, and we'll see how Nathan fares with that. It's not his favorite, though he'll eat it. Oddly enough, he bought spinach while he was out one day this weekend, and since I didn't know this and bought some more, well, let's just say we have plenty of greens to get through.

Another thought I'm having is that I also might have been a little too ambitious with my menu, considering how absolutely exhausted I've been the last few days. It's like I got to my last month of pregnancy and turned a corner. Before, I'd had what I considered a reasonable amount of energy, but now I am pretty darn tired for most of the day, except from about 8:30-11pm, which is unfortunate.

I also went through my nifty new bread machine cookbook today to find a few new recipes to try. I have some buttermilk and yogurt I want to use up, and I found recipes for those, but I also found one for a scrumptious-looking walnut bread that I'm excited to try.

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Anyway, here is what we're having this week:

-Lasagne with spinach, mushrooms, and meat sauce; Buttermilk whole wheat bread.
-Butternut and white bean soup with bacon; Toasted walnut bread.
-Potato-kale soup with Gruyere; whatever yummy bread we have left over.
-Butternut bread pudding; sauteed kale.
-Pan-fried chicken; rice with carrots & spinach; roasted veggies.
-Chicken-butternut-leek gratins.
-Split pea soup; Yogurt bread.

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So there is my attempt at better-than-Ramen nutrition this week. We'll see how it goes.

Just for fun, why don't you leave a comment with one thing you're planning to make or eat this week?