I'm working on reading a variety of baby books now, and it's tough because they each tout a little different theory: I read Bringing Up Bebe before we were pregnant, from an American living in Paris on French parenting that she observes and her theories/observations on their techniques, which I liked. On Becoming Babywise suggests getting into a feeding/sleeping schedule, which sounds great in theory (to have a 4mo old sleeping through the night) but I feel a little overwhelmed trying to imagine how I'll feed and pump (so that I don't always have to be nursing him); then some say this is too schedule oriented. Happiest Baby on the Block discusses soothing techniques, though these seem to be more for younger infants, so maybe I could follow both books, one for the first few months then the other. I also was just gifted a book on breastfeeding, which will be good to read because I so far find it a little overwhelming to understand just how to gracefully pull it off. Plus there's What to Expect When You're Expecting and a smaller, very similar book my OB's office gave us, though I've read ahead enough in those that I haven't picked them up in awhile; yeh yeh, now I just get bigger and bigger and eventually deliver him, but THEN what? (I also started reading Les Miserables, since I had it and remembered very little of the story I read over 10yrs ago, without knowing that a movie of the musical was coming out... so now I better hurry and finish so I can see the movie too).
I asked Matt to read at least about what happens during labor/delivery. He keeps trying to get me to promise that I "won't be mean" to him; ummm I'm not sure I can make that promise without having experienced this ;) But I did tell him "well if I'm in labor and you start asking me questions that you should know the answers to, because I asked you to read about it, like 'what does 8cm dilated mean,' then I'll be really annoyed." He wants it to be just us (and the hospital staff) in the delivery room so I told him, "okay, then I'll need you to really know what's going on so you can support me." We're taking a childbirth/parenting class through the hospital in a few weeks, just a 6hr class... guess that's all we need?!
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| Looks like a real baby now! |
And it's time to start planning some showers :) My dear friend Jenn is flying here all the way from Colorado to throw me a shower next month. I'm hoping to also pick some ladies' brains about things like swaddling and routines and if they followed a schedule.
One of the things I asked from Matt for Christmas was help with a little home improvement project I've been plotting for months, particularly since it's so cold and snowy outside and we had a whole free weekend. In fact, I'd already cut an inspection hole in the drywall... then just left it. We have very limited storage in our house in general, particularly in our guest/baby's bathroom, so I'd done some web searches to find photos and instructions and a video for building recessed shelving. We started off small this first time but since this turned out well enough, I want to see if we can build one more to hold towels, sticking out even a little more since it would be over a towel rack (vs right behind the door and sink).
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| tough toolman |
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| trimming drywall |
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| There's only 4" depth in the wall but we built this to stick out 2" for a little more room. |
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| with stain; need to add trim still |
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| obviously then it was nap time; note their cute sweaters |
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| white Christmas |
We ended up having a delightfully white Christmas, not just with leftover snow (like usual here if we have a "white" Christmas) but with actual fresh snow. It was beautiful.
Matt claims that his family used to open all their gifts on Christmas Eve except for largest items and what Santa brought, which were saved for Christmas morning. I may have to verify this with his mom, but either way, I'm not psyched about taking that on as our tradition. My family's tradition (based on my mom's family tradition) was to open one gift on Christmas Eve (chosen by the parents), which was usually something we could enjoy that night: movie, game, PJs, stuffed animal, etc. But, indulging Matt, he and I opened our gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. Matt had already bought himself a gun safe for his handguns, and he's very tough to buy for, but I think I found some things he can use. We tried to go a bit light this year, ya know, due to a little one on the way. We also watched several Christmas movies on the nights leading up.
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| As a HILARIOUS gag gift, my very sweet husband bought me a Big Show action figure. |
Christmas morning, Matt made us all his famous biscuits and gravy; my parents came over to have breakfast with us and open their gifts. I finally had another special occasion to bust out the china. Aren't they cute?! Think they are still trying to finalize what they want their grandparent nicknames to be... |
| Mom's hideously ugly Christmas vest |
My mom made an amazing turkey dinner that rivaled Thanksgiving. Honestly I may never attempt to learn to cook a feast because hers is so delicious! My contribution was cookies (though I think we have an oven issue because half of my batch were burned/ruined) and, not to toot my own horn, THE best apple pie I've ever made. I was inspired by a story I heard on NPR, though I found a recipe elsewhere. Check out the recipes below:
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Brown sugar penuche frosting:
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; mix into the creamed mixture. Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool on wire racks.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the 3 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute, or until slightly thickened. Cool slightly, then stir in the milk, and beat until smooth. Gradually stir in 2 cups confectioners' sugar until frosting has reached desired consistency. Spread warm frosting (it hardens) on cooled cookies.
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon table salt
* 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, small dice
** or... 1/2 teaspoon salt & 6 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup shortening
7 to 8 tablespoons ice water
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, and sugar until well combined. Using clean hands, add butter and toss until just coated. Rub butter between thumb and forefingers to incorporate into flour mixture until butter is in lima bean-sized pieces and comes together in quarter-sized clumps when squeezed in palm, about 2 minutes. Add shortening, toss until just coated in flour, then rub into flour mixture until mixture forms pea-size pieces (some big chunks should remain) and comes together in fist-sized clumps when squeezed, about 1 minute. Drizzle in half ice water and rake through mixture with fingers until just moistened. Drizzle in remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and comb through mixture with fingers to moisten. It will go from being a shaggy mess to coming together. Dough is moist enough when it is moistened through but is not wet when pressed. (Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough.) While rotating the bowl with 1 hand, push dough between other palm and side of bowl to gather into a ball. Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk, then close in wrap. Place in coldest part of refrigerator (usually back bottom shelf) at least 30 minutes before rolling out and forming into a crust. (I doubled this so I made two balls and wrapped separately)
Apple part of Apple Pie
(from Better Homes & Garden's cookbook)
6 cups thinly sliced, cored and peeled apples (I used seven apples: a few Granny Smiths because they are so tart, and a few other varieties to sweeten it more, I think maybe Braeburn and Gala, though one of them ended up being really too soft and juicy (also because I bought too early and didn't refrigerate). I wanted Pink Lady because they are a nicely firm and sweet but tart apple that seems to bake well but couldn't find. I cut each apple in 8s, then chunked them with just a few thin slices for variety/texture.)
1 Tbspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbspoon flour (needed more because my apples were so juicy)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (could've done more)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
In a huge bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. In another bowl, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, then toss to coat apples.
(I let the apples sit for a few mins here while I rolled my pie crust and the softer, juicy apples started... juicing... so that when I returned to the bowl, the apples were sitting in a puddle, which I drained. I should've tossed them with more flour/sugar/cinnamon mix because even when pie was baked, it was still way too juicy; when we took out the first piece, a whole puddle of juice gathered in its absence and I drained it again so that the bottom crust wouldn't get too soggy. It's really the type of apple I used because I haven't had that issue with other varieties).
Take chilled pie crust from fridge and press lightly onto floured surface. Roll out with floured rolling pin in an evenly-thick circle a little larger than 9-in (like 12in so you'll have room to roll over a nice crust edge). I found it easier to roll one direction, then lift and rotate or even flip over the dough before rolling again. That helped it from sticking so much to the counter because even though the counter was floured, the dough still picks up the flour as I rolled. I tried not to over-work it here too and just give nice, firm, even long strokes with the pin. Gently lift pastry and line 9-in pie plate. I left the extra dough hanging off.
Pour apples into pie plate. It's okay if they are bulging up because they will cook down to even with the top of the pie plate. Roll top pastry (I kept this dough ball in the fridge cold til I was ready for it) and top the pie. Take extra dough and roll inward (I tried to tuck the edges in so it had a nice clean look), pressing into the edge of the pie plate. Cut slits in the top. For a really lovely looking pie, do an egg-wash: crack 1 egg into a small bowl and whisk til smooth, then with a pastry brush, brush the egg onto the pie top. You can also brush with milk. Sprinkle with white sugar.
Gently cover top of pie with foil to keep the top from browning too much (not too tight or the crust will start baking to the foil). Bake at 375' F for 40 mins, then remove foil and bake another 20 mins or until golden brown and fruit filling is bubbling a little out of the slits.
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| Note the collection of toys and a rawhide bone surrounding her |
Now (hopefully) a chill partial week of work before another four-day weekend for me! Then New Years... should I set resolutions? Maybe just make some hopes/wishes/intentions for the new year to come. Usually on Thanksgiving (or my birthday since they are so close), I like to take time to write about what I'm grateful for and really reflect on that; sadly this year, between coaching the Turkey Trot and baking, etc, I let Thanksgiving get away from me without adequately taking some real quiet, thoughtful time to reflect. I like to do something similar for New Years, not so much to set dieting goals, etc, that, let's face it, I probably won't keep all year because the time frame is a bit too long (I am, and I think studies show most people are, better with shorter term goals of a few months that lead up to a larger goal). But I like to think about what my intentions are for myself in the coming year and with such HUGE changes on the horizon (I'm assuming the biggest ever! ... marriage truly IS different than "being in a serious relationship" and it's even different than living together, but I'm guessing that becoming a parent is a bigger change ;) ), it would be good to take a little quiet reflection time. We'll see what comes of it.
