Random events and photos...

First - pregnancy update :)
We have an appointment on May 10 to have the big ultrasound (YAY! I LOVE seeing the baby!), measure the baby's growth, and find out the gender. Yes, we are finding out. I don't feel strongly one way or the other, but I'm happy to find out. No, I don't think this is a tragic decision that will take away the wonder and mystery of the birth process. I have been shocked by the responses I've had from friends, family, and coworkers, ranging from, and including many responses in between, "of course you'll find out!" to "oh.... you can't wait, huh?" to "WHAT?!?!?! I CAN'T believe you would DO that!" followed by a 10 minute spiel on the tragedy of not having a surprise at birth. Seriously, people, chill out. If you're freaking out about this, how are you going to handle other parenting decisions James and I make? I'm just excited to see the baby again! I think ultrasounds are one of the COOLEST things about pregnancy :)

Yes, we've talked about names. We've talked about names for the past 5 years :) The current plan is to have one or two names picked out and then not actually decide until the baby is born. I know this is sad for those of you who like to monogram everything, but that's the plan. We're avoiding the unnecessary input from everyone else on the baby's name, while at the same time leaving our options open until we actually meet him/her.

So, after the May 10 appointment I'll post the ultrasound photos (now that I think I've figured out how to scan them in so they actually look like something) and a "belly shot" (fully clothed) for your viewing pleasure :)

In other news, I turned 28 yesterday. My Mom was 28 when I was born. I always thought that was late to start having kids and I wanted to be a younger mom than my Mom was. Hmmm. Disclaimer - I never thought my Mom was OLD... certainly not. I just wanted to be youngER. God certainly has a sense of humor :)

Mom and Grace and Poppy all bought me some maternity clothes in March in honor of my birthday, and Mom and Grace both sent me another package this week! You guys take such good care of me! Grace decorated an Old Navy tank top - photo below.



Mom Barnes sent me mugs and dessert plates that match my kitchen! They're so pretty! I've been using them for breakfast every day this week! See photo below :)



More pregnancy news - the last appointment was a little tense because I switched from my OB (who has a 40% C-section rate!) to a group of midwives. These midwives deliver at St.Luke's hospital down town (whose maternity ward is actually owned by Texas Childrens). It's a fantastic set up and I'm really excited! But they're concerned that my blood pressure is too high for this early in pregnancy and that since I'm overweight I may have diabetes. If my BP is too high and I get diabetes they might have to switch me back to an OB :( Well, the conclusion after this appointment is that my BP is normal (we switched to a longer cuff and that seems to have fixed the measurements!) and I don't have sugar problems at this point (they did an early test). However, my stress load is too high so I have to take some time off from school and start prenatal yoga classes. All in all, a conclusion that I can live with!

My friend Kathy, who has delivered twice with the Womens Specialists of Houston, is due two weeks after I am :) So we've started taking prenatal yoga classes together, which is great, and on my days off I sometimes go hang out with her. Last week we made strawberry jam! SOOOOOO delicious! I went and bought buttermilk so I could make buttermilk biscuits to go with it. (yesterday's "birthday biscuits" are pictured on the green plate Mom Barnes gave me in the above picture) YUM!

In other news, my concert was this Thursday - it was great! The kids did a fantastic job! We even called Al (percussion guy - see Katy's blog link on the right) at the end so the kids could all say HI to him.

Today, I'm playing in a wedding of a couple who was divorced and has reconciled and is getting re-married. They are new to our church so I don't know them very well yet, but I hope I get the chance to sit with Gabriela and tell her how encouraging and exciting her re-wedding is for me! God is SO GOOD. BTW, please continue to pray for my parents' marriage.

After the wedding James is taking me to the Symphony to hear Berlioz's Symphanie Fantastique. One of my favorite pieces :) James is so sweet to me to take me to the Symphony for my birthday!













My mini-garden is doing well. We ate broccoli and another tomato last week, and the mint and parsley are exploding! The basil smells WONDERFUL and the tomato plants have flowers all over them. The bell pepper plant has one flower :) I think the orange tree and broccoli pots aren't draining enough so I need to ask James to drill more holes at the bottom.


Praise God for ALL of the blessings he gives us - especially those that surprise us and those of which we are unaware!

Yum!

Tonight's dinner was:
40 Cloves of Garlic and a Chicken
Green Bean Casserole
Roast Broccoli
Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella Salad

Did anybody notice there's no starch? Other than the 3 crackers crumbled on top of the green bean casserole, there's no starch. Seriously? I'm the starch queen and I didn't even plan this! Now... if I can only keep it up...

(actually, we had a piece of bread with dinner... so there was starch :( But it was only to spread the roasted garlic... James loves it!)


First harvest from my garden! Fresh thyme and basil :)






Chicken with 40 cloves... recipe suggested by Kathy Littlefield, found on Food Network online by Alton Brown. I modified it by using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which worked pretty well but didn't brown in the pan as nicely as they should have (took a lot less time in the oven, though! Only 40 min!). I also only used 20 cloves since it wasn't as much chicken :) and drizzled the olive oil instead of using 1/4 cup like the recipe says. Fresh thyme from my garden, though!






Roast Broccoli from Kim's Concoctions (I just used Parmesan cheese). I've done roast broccoli before and I love it every time... the 10 min at 400 degrees works better than what I've tried before, so that's a happy revelation! and Green Bean Casserole suggested by Laura Corombos. For this recipe I cut everything in 1/3 to only use one can of beans (well, I eyeballed the measurements, actually), and I used whole wheat flour instead of white, a little less butter, rinsed the beans several times, and omitted the salt (I'm trying to lower our sodium intake). I only used 3 unsalted "saltine" crackers for the top with about 1/2 Tbsp butter... It was great! As Laura said, definitely better than the canned soup variety! She put french fried onions on top of hers... which sounds great but I didn't have any tonight. It still turned out fantastic! Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!







Dinner all put together... yum!


This would have been a fantastic dinner if Baby Barnes weren't making me dislike garlic right now... what a surprise after putting that much garlic in with the chicken! I couldn't get enough garlic 2 weeks ago at Amy Weatherly's baby "sprinkling" at the Italian restaurant... what happened?!? Fortunately I LOVED the green beans, broccoli, and salad... I'll definitely be making more of those recipes!

What's with this weather?

Most of you already know that I picked the "coldest" winter/spring in Houston (in my short experience here) to purchase a tropical fruit tree. The winning foliage is a Mars Naval Orange tree - known for sweet, juicy fruit with low acidity. I had specific instructions to keep it inside when there is a threat of freezing temperatures (which is funny since I bought it at 11am on the coldest Saturday all year - it was only 40 degrees in the sun that day!) but by early March it should be warm enough to plant in my yard. So for two months it's been doing a do-see-do from the front yard to the garage to our living room.

I returned from Chicago on Tuesday to find low 70's, sun, and a very pleasant breeze in Humble, TX... perfect weather for planting a tropical tree :) Thanks to our friends Kevin and Kirk and my sweet husband, I went to Lowes and bought pots, dirt (who pays for dirt?!?), vegetable plants, and "moisture control beads" (for when it's super hot in July/August and ground moisture evaporates before your very eyes). A few hours outside in the beautiful weather resulted in my first garden - Roma, Beefsteak, and Grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, broccoli, thyme, mint, rosemary, and sweet basil (and the orange tree) - complete with birds chirping and sunlight filtering through the pine trees making a quaint speckled pattern on my grass. Oh the joys of spring!

Last night it got down to 36 degrees.

Right now it's raining and tonight it's supposed to be 35 degrees.

SO..... out come the beach towels and light blankets to wrap up the plants. Grace woke up to an inch of snow on the ground... apparently this weather pattern goes all the way from the Gulf up to the Great Lakes. (does anyone else feel the need to hear Al Gore's voice talking about global warming at this point?)