The Proven Pelvis is STILL Pregnant

So, here's the update.....

• If I don't go into labor, I have an appt. to be induced on 2/4 at 4am (yyyyaaaaaawwwnnnn). The plan for that is to go in at 4am and get all the beginning stuff done. My OB will come about 6am and break the ol' H2O so that Rowan would hopefully be born by noon!
• They think Rowan is 8+ pounds already - holy cow! Oh wait, my pelvis is proven.
• I am dilated almost 3cm and you need to get to 10cm. With Russ and Rach it really didn't start getting too painful until about 5 or 6cm. So, I am lucky in that regard.
• I am having sporadic contractions. Usually a bunch all at once and then they sssslllllooooooowwww down.
• Everything seems to be in order here at home. Rowan's stuff is ready, washed, sterilized, etc. The Russ n Rach schedule is posted on the fridge incase the neighbors have to come over in the middle of the night.
• Adam's mom is coming Friday.

Man, I really hope I am not in the hospital for the Superbowl. That would kinda suck.

• And we can't forget that Russ's bday is on 2/12! Busy busy busy!!!!!

Hopefully the next blog entry will be written by a non pregnant, non sleep deprived (yea right!)Aim!

Pillsbury, Hmph!

I have been meaning to report that I did not make the final 100 recipes for the Pillsbury Bake - Off. Which I am fine with, but would love to know how close I was to the final 100 recipes. Mine was Thai Chicken Chimichangas. Now that the final 100 recipes are published, let me tell you recipes similar to mine in my category that made it:

Thai Style Wraps - not very similar to mine, it used curry.

Thai Chicken Burritos - hmmm.... this one is the closest to mine. A peanut sauce with chicken. The difference there is that recipe mixes PB and salsa (that doesn't even sound good to me) and they fill with rice and I fill with black beans, fresh grated carrots and cilantro. My PB sauce is more like common Thai PB sauce, but mine had cumin in it which we thought really added some depth to the flavors.

Picadillo Chimichangas - I think this was the only chimichanga that made it, but it bakes exactly like mine does. So, that was interesting to see - it wasn't the baking of my chimi that they didn't like.

So, time to reflect. Pillsbury really stressed the importance of an original recipe. I know my sauce was original, but maybe not original enough? I never found one with cumin in it that was published, but that isn't to say it isn't out there. When making my recipe and researching sauce recipes (mainly to see if mine was like anything else) I did find a PB & Salsa recipe on the Betty Crocker website, so they can't be too picky about originality. I don't think that a Thai Burrito is an original concept either. There used to be a great burrito place in Napa and my favorite was the 'Thai Me Down Burrito" - delicious!

Also an interesting observation for me - I played with a recipe using biscuits and eggs, etc. And you basically build a breakfast biscuit with those basic ingredients and some extras and use like a muffin pan to cook it in. I never got one quite right and I can't say that I worked too hard on it either. However, I should have because there are probably like 7 recipes of the final 100 that do exactly that and use those ingredients.

It was fun to get the recipe together and submit it. I still think it is an excellent recipe. But it just isn't my year, I guess ; ) Maybe higher powers think I have enough going on with the baby and moving in the summer, so it is a good thing I didn't get selected.... Yea, that sounds good!!!!

I may have to try the PB & Salsa recipe to compare it. Tomatoes and PB don't sound good to me, but maybe it is very tasty??? Or maybe Pillsbury and I have very different taste buds!!! And apparently, we have differences on what is original and what isn't. I would definitely submit again and am thinking I may have to put making the Final 100 on my 'Life List'. I really think this is a challenge I can take on.

Another Friend Leaves Us

Our neighbor, Don Everett, passed away last week. He had been battling cancer for the last 23 years, if you can believe that! He had survived two separate fights with cancer and his last fight started when we moved into our house in July 2005. They didn't give him much time at that point, but lucky for us, he made it until last week. He was 72.

We will miss Don. He was a terrific neighbor and friend. He never let an opportunity pass to tell us how glad he was to have us as neighbors and how much he enjoyed our young family. He seemed to get such a kick out of watching the kids and listening to them, especially since his grandchildren lived so far away.

Don was full of personality and had a great sense of humor. At his service, the hospice team that cared for him remarked many times about how they felt like Don gave them more than they gave him. He leaves behind his wife Betty, who is equally wonderful, and a son & daughter and several grandchildren.

Some Wookie Cookies

Andy gave Russ a Star Wars Cookbook for Christmas. Russ loves it and we do too! It is so funny and really does has some tasty recipes. Last night we made Wookie Cookies, which is essentially a chocolate chip cookie with 2 types of chocolate and cinnamon in the dough. Russell insisted that we have a Wookie in the kitchen while we made our cookies. And, who can eat Wookie Cookies without Star Wars? Tonight we made Han-Burgers. Again, your basic recipe with a few flavor additions. The best part of Han-Burgers is the illustration to go with the recipe - a Millennium Falcon shooting ketchup onto a burger. No telling what recipe we'll try next, but I suspect it may be Yoda Soda.

I have to report on our Fantasy Football year. And now is as good as time as ever, so.....
I am proud to report that all three of my teams made the playoffs in all three leagues. We run one league and have had a core group of people for 3 years. This year our group was pretty global - Germany, Canada, Alaska & Florida. My team, Vintage Crushers, barely made the playoffs, and ended up in 5th place. Quarterbacks killed me in that league. I had an injury to my first string quarterback and just struggled after that. Adam did well in that league, his Russell's Revenge, ended the year in 3rd place.
We also play in Adam's former boss, Chris's league. In that league our team names are Better Half and Worse Half. Chris had given us those names as a joke, but we thought they were fun and kept them. If you EVEN have to ask which team is mine, you are banned from the blog!!! Ha! Of all my teams, I thought this was my worst draft, but sheer luck won me 2nd place. Adam may have placed 5th or so, I can't remember.
And the third league was a Tyndall AFB league with a lot of Adam's coworkers. Nipple Maulers was my team, really my best team overall, and in that league and I placed 3rd. Which is nothing to sniff at, but I really wanted 1st. I just kept smokin those guys week after week. I lost once by .2 points (the WORST kind of loss) and then I lost on the Pats bye week. I had both Tom Brady and Randy Moss on that team; those were some sick points. But on a crucial playoff game for fantasy football, both Tom and Randy didn't get it done. That's the way the game goes sometimes and what can I say, the guys we played with know I should have been the champ ; )

So now that the NFL has hit playoff season - we are excited, but a little sad. The end of a season. Tom was good to me this year, so I am rooting for the Pats. But then again, I love Peyton, I'd like to see him win it all again. I haven't given up on my Niners, they are still my team, but ouch. Hey, at least they aren't as bad as the Dolphins. For now anyway!!!

Ready for Rowan!!!

Leading up to Christmas Adam and I kept saying after Xmas we'll focus on getting ready for Rowan. On the 26th, drinking our coffee, watching the kids play with toys, we made our game plan and then Adam caught Rachel's cold! But, no cold can stop the plan.....

I had an OB appt on Dec. 21st and made my Dr. promise that he wouldn't let me have a 10lb child. He promised that he'd try! But then reminded me that I have already given birth to 2 healthy 8+ babies and managed to push them out in record time. And for the record, I am a good pusher. LaDean (not sure if you remember this, LaDean) gave me a great tip about labor and pushing after she had Kari and I never forgot it. I did not want to be in there pushing for hours!!
So, back to my OB - he says to me you've had two big babies already, it's not like we were expecting you to have a 6 lb child this time, right? And then he says, (and I find this HILARIOUS, even in my 'bothered' state), he says "I expect you to have about a 9lb baby and I am not too worried about it because you have PROVEN PELVIS". (Yes, he said proven pelvis)Of course, that being said we still don't want a 10 lb child and he'll induce early if Rowan is getting too big, but I'm sitting there laughing to myself - he just said proven pelvis, a PP if you will. I have a proven pelvis. I have been having a lot of fun with it too - I'm just going to take my proven pelvis and sit in this chair to relax. Me and my PP want to go shopping. The list goes on.....
My PP and I went back to the OB last week and I am going to have another ultrasound on Jan. 21st to see how big Rowan is and then we'll talk about if we will induce early and the timing and all that. So no news on the when, I'll report back on that later.

OK, getting ready for Gigantor, Moose, Rowan. Our house is a 3 bedroom and for now Rowan will room in with us, which means some rearranging of things in our room and closets. Done! New dresser/changing table that can also double as a nightstand for Adam - bought and built! Got out all the clothes and things we have been accruing - washed and put away. New PacknPlay for Rowan to start life with - ordered and on the way (Thanks Mom!).
Rachel is sharing closet space with Rowan - generous of her, isn't it? So, her closet is organized and ready.
We needed a rocking chair for the living room. We had one of those baby glider chairs with Rachel, but the back was so straight, it was almost uncomfortable, I always wished it would recline a bit. So, I was determined that this time I'd get a chair that reclines and rocks/glides. Well, the kind they make for nurseries and babies that do that are like $500 and not that great looking. So, Russell and I ventured out for a day of local chair shopping, not sure what we'd find. (We left the sickies at home.) Russ is great fun to shop with and no surprise he liked all the red chairs no matter what they felt like! We did end up finding a good ol' LazyBoy, but it is a more petite size, not terribly ugly, but completely comfortable and affordable. So, I did have to abandon my distaste for recliners, but it was the right choice - even came in a color that works with our furniture, so we didn't have to order it. And I'll admit - I love that damn chair already. It is everything I wanted. So, rocking chair - check!!!

Next on the list is getting those last minute baby supplies - diapers, baby wash, that kind of stuff. We still need to tour the hospital, sterilize a few bottles and that kind of thing. But other than that type of stuff we are feeling ready. I am really ready to not be preggers!!!

Oh What Fun It Is To......

December was a busy month!

In order to feel caught up on all our fun this will be an entry that is all over the place!!!


We started the month with....


Wing Christmas Party for the kids - Russ loves this party on base. They open up a hanger and the various spouses clubs on base fill it with blow up slides, bouncy houses and have snacks and activities for the kids. The big event is Santa arrives on an F-15 and then comes to his throne at the party and stays put until every child has had a chance to visit with him as many times as they want. Rachel has fun too - but this is one activity that Russ always asks to go to and he loves that Santa comes in on the jet. He doesn't want to see Santa at the mall or anywhere else.



Gulf Breeze Zoo & Zoo Lights - This little zoo is about 2 hours away. It is bigger than our local zoo, so we thought it would be fun to go in the late afternoon and hang around long enough to see their lights display and then go out for dinner afterwards. It was kind of a sad little zoo. You could tell it has seen better days, but recent hurricanes and tropical storms in the last 5 years have taken its toll on the zoo financially. We did go to a great restaurant - McGuire's Irish Pub on the way home. We haven't been in years and it didn't disappoint! It is fun place with great character, food and beer (they brew their own, but sadly don't sell it outside of the pub).



Volunteer at school - that last week before Christmas was a blur of activities at school for both kids. I did get to help do some fun things in Russell's class. I took cookies and we decorated them for a fun Friday snack. His teacher asked me to help with their ornament making activity. And then I was able to help at the pancake breakfast party too! On the ornament day, his class did the whole "Thank you Mrs. Bright for helping" in unison kind of thing and Russell says afterwards to the class "Yea, my mom is nice like that. She likes to help". What a sweetie.


Rachel's class had a party with a mini recital of carols sung by her class. Only like 3 kids would stand up in front of all the parents and sing for us. Rachel not being one of them. She was just starting to get a cold and not feeling too great. But it was cute to see the others sing. She had been singing the songs at home beforehand and hasn't stopped singing the songs since.



Christmas - It was just the 4 of us and it was quiet but very enjoyable. Christmas Eve we went out and looked at lights and oohed and aaahed. Russ was very specific about what type of snack to leave out for Santa. He was very cute and excited!


The kids got up about 7:30am on Christmas and we weren't too sure how they would go about the whole present thing - would they tear into all of them and then play? Russ was so cute all month reading tags on presents. The funniest comment was on a gift that said "To: Aimee From: Mom" Russ asked why I had given myself a present???


Santa brought Rachel a Dora bike and Russ an electric crash car set. Boy, that Santa is really good. It took about 3 hours to open all the presents. The kids would open something and then have to play with it, read it, etc. So as family would call to see how the kids liked their gifts, we'd have to call back later - we hadn't got to their gifts yet! It was fun to watch them open things and get so excited about each gift and want to play with it right then. Needless to say, the kids got tons of new toys and have been playing nonstop with all of them.

Later Christmas Day, Adam looked at me and said "And tomorrow we start really getting ready for Rowan". Which leads us to the next entry...... but first a couple of Christmas morning pics: