Hospital Visit

**Update - I had a doctor's appt. this morning, and everything looks good! I have a prescription for terbutaline (on an as-needed basis) now for the contractions, and the dr. wants to see me every 2 weeks now, but baby boy looks great! No bed rest for me!


I had an unexpected hospital visit today. I walked into the kitchen at work, slipped on something (water?) on the concrete floor, and landed hard on my belly. I didn't even have time to brace myself. My tummy immediately hurt and started cramping, and I was stunned. I was lucky - a coworker was in the kitchen and got help. Someone called 911, and I had my first ambulance ride. And I don't remember any of it! I was at the hospital for about 5 hours, getting monitored, having a fetal fibronectin (preterm labor test), and an ultrasound.

They confirmed that I was having regular contractions (every 4 minutes or so), so I got an IV (HATE.) The cramping stopped after a couple of hours, and the contractions slowed a bunch with the IV. Good news - the baby looks great! He was moving too much for them to get a good strip on his heartrate, but movement is good. He looked very cute in his ultrasound - wasn't shy at all about confirming that he's a boy, and crossed his legs at the ankles just like his big sister.

I'm on bed rest until I see my doctor tomorrow morning, but I'm hoping he'll lift that restriction after my appointment since the test came back negative and the ultrasound was good.

All in all, everything turned out okay. I'm achy, but baby boy is doing great!!!

Goat Cheese & Tomatoes

This is quick, easy, and oh-so-delicious! It's one of my favorite light lunches to make, and would really be perfect as a side dish. It's easily dressed up (with jerk seasoning, broiled on crostini; served over mixed greens, with a dijon vinaigrette; etc.), but this is the easiest variation.

Goat Cheese & Tomatoes
(for one person - light lunch)

1 vine-ripe tomato
1/2 a small log of goat cheese
good olive oil
kosher salt

-Slice the tomato into fourths.
-Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and top each slice with a good chunk of goat cheese.
-Broil 5-ish minutes, until the cheese is lightly browned on top.
-Serve with olive oil and a generous sprinkling of kosher salt.

New Phrases

Gisèle has really started to pick up on EVERYTHING we say. She repeats everything, using the same words and inflection we use. It can be kind of fun, since we've taught her to say things like "ooo-weee! It's hot!" At the same time, we've really got to be careful about what we say now! I'm trying to curb my habit of saying that things "suck," and it can be easy to forget that when I've had a bad day!

She's also putting together more and more sentences of her own, including commands like "Mama, play!" and "Mama, sit!" Her favorite things to do are to look at "Baby Manny {Maddie}" on the computer, read books with Mama & Daddy, talk to anyone and everyone on Skype, and play in the water outside. She loves to put her baby doll(s) down for "night-night," covering her up with a blanket or towel and patting her. She also loves to hand out hats for everyone to wear before playing with her books or kitchen. Her favorite foods lately are pasta, pizza, burritos, and banana bread, though she loves to eat anything and everything that Jamie and I have on our plates.

We've been blessed with a fun, outgoing, talkative, playful little girl, and I can't wait to see her interacting with her baby brother!

CrockPot Broccoli Beef

No photo for this one, but trust me and make it anyway. (from a great recipe website - A Year of Slowcooking.) Jamie and I did this for an easy dinner the other night, and we both really liked it. The meat will become very tender, and ends up kind of shredded in the sauce. You might want to make extra sauce - it's yummy, and the broccoli soaks it all up.

CrockPot Broccoli Beef

1 lb thin beef, sliced (we used already-sliced "for stir-fry")
1/4 c soy sauce
2 Tbsp white wine
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves chopped/minced garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 bag thawed broccoli florets

-Put everything but the broccoli in the crockpot and stir it together.
-Cook on low 6-7 hours.
-An hour before serving, add the broccoli and stir to coat it in the sauce.
-Serve over rice.

That's it! This made 3-4 servings, but would be easily doubled.

The Name Game

We're having a hard time coming up with possible names for our baby boy. Here's a story that best illustrates how the search has gone so far:

Last week, I emailed Jamie a short list of names that I like. I added one to the end of the list that I hadn't previously mentioned. He emailed back, in reference to that particular name, "Could we call him {shorter version} as a nickname?"

I was excited - finally, a name that neither of us hated! It wasn't necessarily the name we would definitely want to use, but it was the first one we had semi-agreed on!! Progress!!

I emailed back that I wouldn't mind calling him the shorter version, and went on my day relieved, and content in the knowledge that this whole name thing wasn't hopeless, after all.

That night, I brought up the name again, and Jamie - incredulous - admitted that he thought I was kidding when I brought it up, and that his reply was never meant to be taken seriously.

(sigh)

Sweeter Cornbread

Sorry, no picture for this one. This recipe comes from Jamie's mom, Mavis, and is fabulous!

Sweeter Cornbread

1/2 c cornmeal
1 1/2 c flour
2/3 c sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c oil
3 Tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
1 1/4 c milk

-Preheat the oven to 350, and a grease/spray an 8-inch square metal pan.
-Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
-Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
-Pour wet ingredients over dry, and mix just until moistened.
-Pour into the pan, and bake about 35 minutes.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf - or, more accurately...

The Girl Who Cried "Pee-pee Potty??"

**Second Update** She went pee-pee in the potty today. :)

**Update** We only have 1 book in the bathroom for her, and we've never even had the chance to read it all the way through. Sometimes, she wants to sit on the potty for a while, but moves on from the book to singing to attempting to shut the potty lid, reach the toilet paper, flush, etc.

Lately, she's finishing each meal by saying "pee-pee potty?" and then laughing and running away when we ask "Do you need to go to the potty?"

Eventually, we'll figure this all out!


**Original Post**

We're not actively potty-training Gisèle. We're going to buy her a big-girl bed (twin mattress on the floor) soon, and we'd like her to get used to that transition first. That being said, she has started to ask to use the potty. She does this by pointing at/yanking on her diaper, and saying "Pee-pee potty?" or "Poo-poo potty?" We thank her for telling us, walk her straight to the bathroom, and sit her on her potty chair. She will then either ask for her book to be read to her, or immediately say "All done!" and want to wash her hands. We were hopeful when she first started telling us she needed to go, because she actually went - twice! - poo-poo in the potty. Nothing at all since then, though.

We feel completely stuck. We don't want to tell her she's not allowed to go, even though she's obviously not "going," because we don't want to discourage her. On the other hand, we don't want to encourage her to continue to play this fun game of making Mama and Daddy rush her to the bathroom to read a book and play with the soap bubbles in the sink.

Looks like it's time to read up a bit on potty-training!

Addictive No-Bake Cookies

These cookies are extremely addictive, very easy to make, and a nice change from typical no-bake cookies.

Addictive No-Bake Cookies

1 c sugar
1 c corn syrup
1 jar (18 oz) creamy peanut butter
6 cups corn flakes
4 oz good quality chocolate (semi-sweet or bittersweet), melted

-Combine the sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan and bring to a full boil, stirring, over medium-high heat.
-Remove from heat and stir in the whole jar of peanut butter. Mix well.
-Pour the corn flakes into a large bowl, and pour the peanut butter mixture over the top. Mix well.
-For, cookies into 1-2 inch balls and place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheets.
-Drizzle chocolate over cookies and cool completely before eating.

Summer Popsicle

Yogurt Marmalade Cake

This recipe is from one of my favorite websites - The Pioneer Woman. It's very moist, and the yogurt gives it a wonderful texture. This would also be great without the glaze, (which takes away the "marmalade" part of it), served with fresh berries.

Yogurt Marmalade Cake

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 heaping c plain, lowfat yogurt (I use Fage brand) + 1/4 cup
1 c sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c orange marmalade

-Preheat the oven to 350, and spray 1 loaf pan.
-In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
-In a medium bowl, mix together 1 heaping c yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and oil until just combined.
-Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and mix until just combined.
-Pour into the loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes.
-Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
-While the cake is cooling, melt the marmalade in a saucepan. Turn off the heat and stir in 1/4 c yogurt.
-Poke holes into the still-slightly-warm cake with a chopstick or skewer, then pour the marmalade mixture over the cake, letting it run down the sides.

Preparations

There is so much to do before Baby Boy makes his debut! I know I'm not even 21 weeks along right now, but it feels like time is running out. We need to:

-Finish cleaning and organizing the study (which Jamie is making HUGE progress on) so that we can move the guest bed in there, since the current guest room will be the nursery.

-Shop for new furniture for Gisèle, since all of her furniture will be moved to the nursery.

-Decide how to decorate the nursery, pick out paint (?), and see if Mom is willing to make some crib sheets & curtains for us.

-Buy a new infant seat, since I'm picky enough to not want Baby Boy to be in a pink carrier.

-Buy some boyish items, and look through Gisèle's old clothes to see what we might already have that is gender-neutral.

-CHOOSE A NAME.

-Pre-register at the hospital and take a tour (they've added on and changed the maternity ward since Gisèle was born.)

-Organize Gisèle's clothes so that the too-small items are packed away and everything else can fit in her new dresser.

-Inventory and clean up baby items we already have like the swing, exersaucer, etc.

-Buy a twin mattress for Gisèle to start using so she gets used to it before the baby has "her" bed

-Put a plan into place for someone to come watch Gisèle while I'm in the hospital.

I get overwhelmed thinking about it all. I know it will all get done, but it seems like a lot to do when we're already feeling a bit stretched. We could use prayer as we prepare for this baby!

Whoops!

This is what happens when you don't form your burger patties carefully: