Well, obviously we decided to induce...I was tired of the waiting game and not much progress had been made anyways. It was quite a relief to actually know when the baby was going to come. It took a lot of stress off and we were able to enjoy our evening at home and get ready for Elliott's arrival.
We knew that bad weather was scheduled for Wednesday, February 9th and it came in full force! We got up extra early to keep and eye on it in case we needed to leave early and sure enough it started sleeting very early that morning around 5-6 am so we set out for the hospital early. I think it ended up snowing most of the day that day but I don't really know since I was otherwise occupied! :)
We arrived the hospital and was all ready for us. We got lucky and my favorite nurse was there, Nurse Kim! She is the one who taught the labor and delivery childbirth class that I attended with Erica and I was SO relieved to see her. It's nice to have a friendly face that you know (besides your husband/family) be there during a stressful time like that.
Dr. Downey got me started on picotin (spelling?) and broke my water around 7:30 am. I was handling contractions pretty well by breathing through them, however when Mom decided to help I think she almost hyperventilated! It was when they began to come one right after another that I went ahead and decided to do an epidural. It wasn't so bad but it was kinda scary, uncomfortable at first to get the IV in, and her hands were COLD! Also, it was annoying to have people push on my back when I was hurting from a contraction. I know some women might have liked it, sort of massage, but now when her hands were so cold and her fingernails were really annoying as she was probing for the correct space between my vertebrate.
When I went into labor and was thinking about the labor process, I really wanted to try for natural. But not if that meant "cooking" baby much longer past his due date. Mainly because I could already tell he was big enough in there and things needed to get moving! The weather didn't cooperated with me the week before while I was home either. I was basically iced in and couldn't get out and walk to get him down into position. Plus, the day he was born was Warren's late fathers birthday, which is special to him. Truthfully, if that day hadn't been available, I might would have waited till the end of the week just to see if Elliott was going to decide to come on his own, but since the 9th was open for inducing then I/we decided to go for it. Of course, that meant drugs and since the drugs were what was stimulating my contractions I couldn't rest in between them like I might could have with natural contractions. I'm still for trying it natural one of these days...
Hence, epidural time...once the epidural IV (I prefer to call it that than a needle, because it's more like a flexible little tube in there than it is a stiff needle) is in you get pretty numb and it's very quick! What people don't tell you that you will get very very sleepy. This could be bad if you wait to long into labor to get an epidural! I was at a 4-5 I think, so it was perfect timing. Another problem with waiting too long is you won't be able to hold still long enough for them to get it in there. Have them do it while you still are having contractions several minutes apart. This could be why people have so many stories about having pain where their epidural needle was (duh if you are moving around too much!) and not being able to push because they can't feel anything. The other thing that no one says about getting an epidural is that one of your legs will be more numb/have less feeling than the other leg. This is perfectly normal apparently. But it can make you feel lopsided when you push if you don't have someone really holding you in place.
Once pushing began, it wasn't so hard but you do need people to hold your feet so they don't fly around and for you to have something to push against. Something else people don't tell you...you don't really use the stirrups at all for that whole pushing thing. They are more for after a contraction and you rest your legs in them. (movies are so wrong!). I know this will sound gross and it's not very talked about either but you will poop. However, I found the pooping helpful that there it was coming out down there! I was able to feel that sensation and it was how I knew I was pushing "correctly." I know, ew, but you have a good focal point! lol
Things got frustrating once Elliott was down far enough but not really coming out. His head was transverse (turned sideways) and wouldn't come down the birth canal that way. Dr. Downey and Nurse Kim tried to get him to rotate as well as us trying several different pushing positions trying to get him to turn the right way. But no luck...after 3 hours of pushing he was not turning so Dr. Downey suggested a c-section. He told me we could keep trying to push but that in 3 hours he had turned very little. I gave the go ahead and we prepped for surgery.
I didn't get taken right away, the anesthesiologist had to get me drugs going in my epidural IV and someone else had a baby so I was on hold for maybe 30 minutes. I'm sure they also had to get an OR ready. Once again the anesthesia made me very sleepy, I don't really remember much from the surgery. I know I could have been more awake and aware if I wanted to be but I decided to just close my eyes and not look (not that I would have seen anything). I don't remember Warren being back there but he says he was patting me on the shoulder. All I do remember is that occasionally I said, "ouch" or "ow" which I don't think I should have been saying! I could feel a burning (I'm assuming slicing) sensation once and then again just kind of painful pressure when I think they were pushing Elliott out of the opening. I made sure to say something though so he would push the meds! Because I really didn't want to feel any of what was going on down there. I remember Elliott crying, or at least I think I do, and after that I relaxed and I think I slept for a little bit while they closed.
Afterwards, I woke back up in my room with everyone there! I have no idea if I was out very long or if I woke up as they wheeled me back in. I just remember being awake with people there and then they brought Elliott over. Warren was excited he'd been back to the nursery with him while they took his vitals. 8lbs 11oz, 20.5" long!! (Told you he was done cooking!). We nursed practically right away. I stuck my finger in his mouth when I was holding him and felt how strong of a suck he had, I knew he was hungry then and that we should try to nurse as soon as possible. They do tell you to try to do that especially if you have a c-section and are planning on breast feeding. So we got the lactation consultant in the room, again good karma as it was Nurse Vanessa our teacher from the breastfeeding class. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect delivery as far as staffing was concerned! Elliott latched on very well right away. Vanessa said she hadn't seen such a strong suckle in a newborn in 15 years! That should have clued me in...
Not too much longer we got moved to our regular room and stayed for 4 days. Elliott had his circumcision, which created a sucking monster out of him. His nickname became "Barracuda Baby" because he started off on me for like 2 hours of feeding...my nipples almost fell off! Then we realized that he had no nipple confusion between me and a pacifier so we plugged him in and he sucked on it all day and avoided having a diaper because his man parts hurt...when it got to be well over 24 hours and the possibility that we wouldn't go home because he hadn't gone, Vanessa came down to try some tricks on him. She tried air/blowing on exposed man parts, no luck. Next she tried a cold wash cloth..it worked..not immediately but like a few minutes later when she had gone down to the nursery to get something else to try, I stepped into the hallway to wave at her and give her the thumbs up! We did a little dance in the hallway :0) She weighed the wet diaper...it was at least an oz of fluid he peed!
Elliott lost just over a lb in the hospital, enough that we supplemented with formula for a few days until my milk came in. He also had a benign level 1 heart murmur. He was still evaluated by a cardiologist and had an echo (EKG?) done just to check everything out. I wasn't that worried about it since I had a murmur too as a baby. But with our heart problems it was good to get the echo done and know there weren't any surprises. Because of his weight loss we had to schedule an appointment with his pediatrician two days after being home to make sure he was gaining weight and for her to look him over. He'd gained 3 oz in those two days so we scheduled our normal two week follow up appointment.
Since we've been home, we've just been trying to get into a good feeding routine but we are all eating, sleeping, and pooping so all is well. :0)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Waiting on baby...
40 weeks. Due TODAY. I think he doesn't know that in there.
I am so tired of just the waiting. Am going to call my Dr.'s office pretty soon and see when they can get me in for a check up and to see what Dr. Downey thinks about delivery. I've not seen him in 2 weeks because of weather last week (appt. cancelled) and the week before I saw his NP because he had to go to a delivery. So I'm not sure on how long he'll wait, if he'll do a sono to check things out in there, how/when he decideds too big is too big to come out down there...etc. :0)
Meanwhile, I've finished thank you cards to all (69 cards! that's counting the ones I had to do for school before I left!) and those will go in the mail today.
I've packed for the hospital...again.
I cleaned house last week because I didn't have anything better to do. It being a frozen mess outside.
I made cookies!
I read Chalice by Robin McKinley.
I'm almost done knitting a baby/toddler hat that I think I started like more than a year ago.
I decided daytime TV is boring.
On the bright side, my body has remembered how to sleep and I'm sleeping now like I was in the first trimester. I don't know if that's just because I'm so immobile or if I'm trying to get a jump start on the sleep deficit that is to come. lol
I told W last night that I felt like one of those sandbag punch things, only all my "sand" is in the middle so I just roll around instead of pop back up! ha
I am so tired of just the waiting. Am going to call my Dr.'s office pretty soon and see when they can get me in for a check up and to see what Dr. Downey thinks about delivery. I've not seen him in 2 weeks because of weather last week (appt. cancelled) and the week before I saw his NP because he had to go to a delivery. So I'm not sure on how long he'll wait, if he'll do a sono to check things out in there, how/when he decideds too big is too big to come out down there...etc. :0)
Meanwhile, I've finished thank you cards to all (69 cards! that's counting the ones I had to do for school before I left!) and those will go in the mail today.
I've packed for the hospital...again.
I cleaned house last week because I didn't have anything better to do. It being a frozen mess outside.
I made cookies!
I read Chalice by Robin McKinley.
I'm almost done knitting a baby/toddler hat that I think I started like more than a year ago.
I decided daytime TV is boring.
On the bright side, my body has remembered how to sleep and I'm sleeping now like I was in the first trimester. I don't know if that's just because I'm so immobile or if I'm trying to get a jump start on the sleep deficit that is to come. lol
I told W last night that I felt like one of those sandbag punch things, only all my "sand" is in the middle so I just roll around instead of pop back up! ha
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Aunt Yvonne's Baked Potato Soup
4 large baking potatoes (or 8ish small/medium russett potatoes)
1 smallish yellow onion, chopped
2/3 c. butter
2/3 c. flour
6 c. milk (go for the whole, it will taste better or use 1 quart + 2 more c. of what u usually drink - like 2%)
3/4 t. salt or to taste, I ground the sea salt about 7-10 times :0)
1 t. pepper
1/2 t. ground thyme (if no thyme, then do 1.5 t. of pepper)
4 green onions, chopped
1 lb. bacon, fried crisp or 1.5 containers of Hormel Real Bacon Pieces
8 oz. (one package) Sharp American Cheese slices
OR
1 1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz. sour cream
(the last two were in her recipe, but I used all of the top listed ingredients)
Peel and slice potatoes, put them in separate pot to boil for about 20-30 min. Don't worry about chunk size.
Chop onion, put in soup pot with heat on medium-low, add butter, cook until onion is tender. Stirring constantly add the flour, yes it will goup up and look funky...just keep stirring. Slowly stir in the milk and continue stirring until thickened and flour/onion mixture has kinda separated. Add seasonings and cheese slices, turn heat on low and stir occasionally to melt cheese until potatoes are done. Add bacon. Drain potatoes and put back in pot to mash with a potato masher or fork until lumpy, you aren't going for a creamed potato smoothness just a chunky mash. Transfer to soup pot and stir altogether.
Garnish with leftover bacon, green onions, and shredded cheese.
Mmmmm! Enjoy!
1 smallish yellow onion, chopped
2/3 c. butter
2/3 c. flour
6 c. milk (go for the whole, it will taste better or use 1 quart + 2 more c. of what u usually drink - like 2%)
3/4 t. salt or to taste, I ground the sea salt about 7-10 times :0)
1 t. pepper
1/2 t. ground thyme (if no thyme, then do 1.5 t. of pepper)
4 green onions, chopped
1 lb. bacon, fried crisp or 1.5 containers of Hormel Real Bacon Pieces
8 oz. (one package) Sharp American Cheese slices
OR
1 1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz. sour cream
(the last two were in her recipe, but I used all of the top listed ingredients)
Peel and slice potatoes, put them in separate pot to boil for about 20-30 min. Don't worry about chunk size.
Chop onion, put in soup pot with heat on medium-low, add butter, cook until onion is tender. Stirring constantly add the flour, yes it will goup up and look funky...just keep stirring. Slowly stir in the milk and continue stirring until thickened and flour/onion mixture has kinda separated. Add seasonings and cheese slices, turn heat on low and stir occasionally to melt cheese until potatoes are done. Add bacon. Drain potatoes and put back in pot to mash with a potato masher or fork until lumpy, you aren't going for a creamed potato smoothness just a chunky mash. Transfer to soup pot and stir altogether.
Garnish with leftover bacon, green onions, and shredded cheese.
Mmmmm! Enjoy!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Zombie Brain
I had a good topic/thoughts I was going to write about like a day ago, but now I can't remember what it was...
This whole "baby brain" /no memory thing is really irritating.
It's also interfered with my attention span. It's almost like ADD?! It's hard to focus on stuff for a length of time (like knitting) and I feel distracted. Maybe it's just multi-tasking on overdrive.
Anyway, back to the laundry for this afternoon. W has gone to Bass Pro (he's taken up fishing) so I'm having a relatively quiet morning with the dog and the laundry and the basketball under my shirt.
Hm, maybe I'll go try to focus on some pretty yarn for a while and put my feet up.
This whole "baby brain" /no memory thing is really irritating.
It's also interfered with my attention span. It's almost like ADD?! It's hard to focus on stuff for a length of time (like knitting) and I feel distracted. Maybe it's just multi-tasking on overdrive.
Anyway, back to the laundry for this afternoon. W has gone to Bass Pro (he's taken up fishing) so I'm having a relatively quiet morning with the dog and the laundry and the basketball under my shirt.
Hm, maybe I'll go try to focus on some pretty yarn for a while and put my feet up.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Late Night Blogging
Ok, so here we go...new address txlibrarymom.blogspot.com and new title :0)
Can you tell I'm not sleeping?
Between the slight snoring from the other side of the bed (he must be tired tonight, tho the humidifier fixed most of the snoring problems) and the 20 lb "medicine ball" attached at the waist, sleep is a little hard to come by lately.
38 weeks. 10 days until due date.
At least tomorrow is my last day of school before maternity leave starts.
I probably should have started LAST week, but I made it through this week and it gave me time to finish up piddly stuff like weeding up to a certain point (the 800s), telling my PK/K classes I'm going out on leave, getting the required stuff like my mentor evaluation turned in, putting in for TLA leave, etc. Now if I can get some spine labels printed tomorrow and on the books then I'll feel really caught up before I leave. :0)
ps~does anyone know if there is a facebook widget similar to the twitter one that I have on the side?
Can you tell I'm not sleeping?
Between the slight snoring from the other side of the bed (he must be tired tonight, tho the humidifier fixed most of the snoring problems) and the 20 lb "medicine ball" attached at the waist, sleep is a little hard to come by lately.
38 weeks. 10 days until due date.
At least tomorrow is my last day of school before maternity leave starts.
I probably should have started LAST week, but I made it through this week and it gave me time to finish up piddly stuff like weeding up to a certain point (the 800s), telling my PK/K classes I'm going out on leave, getting the required stuff like my mentor evaluation turned in, putting in for TLA leave, etc. Now if I can get some spine labels printed tomorrow and on the books then I'll feel really caught up before I leave. :0)
ps~does anyone know if there is a facebook widget similar to the twitter one that I have on the side?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
It's time for a new blog title...
Time to change the title and probably also the beginning part of the blog's link...suggestions??
Ok, I'm going home now where I can play with this more :0)
Ok, I'm going home now where I can play with this more :0)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Ok...so we made it through two full weeks of following the food plan and then Birthday, leftovers, and eating out happened. We still ate relatively healthy the past couple of weeks, I stuck to the 1 meat + 1-2 vegetables rule that they seem to be following in the recipes & even repeated a couple of the yummie ones. But today we will go to the Farmer's Market and get some snacky stuff, then tomorrow it's time to try out week 3!
In other news, it is almost spring break and I CANNOT wait!!!!!!!!!!! Although truthfully it's going to just be a cruel teaser because I'm really ready for summer. I want to move. I want a new job. I want to buy a house. I want to settle.
SB plans include helping Mom move (she just recently bought a house in Bonham) and attending Match Day with Warren...I think there is an event or two connected with that. I'm excited to know where we will Match! Eek!
In other news, it is almost spring break and I CANNOT wait!!!!!!!!!!! Although truthfully it's going to just be a cruel teaser because I'm really ready for summer. I want to move. I want a new job. I want to buy a house. I want to settle.
SB plans include helping Mom move (she just recently bought a house in Bonham) and attending Match Day with Warren...I think there is an event or two connected with that. I'm excited to know where we will Match! Eek!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
My top 3 favorite dishes that I've cooked this week following Real Simple's one month of 400 calorie cooking are:
1. Roasted Shrimp with Peppers and Lemon
2. Gnocchi with Roasted Cauliflower
3. Ham, Guyere, & Shallot Pizza
We made the pizza tonight for Superbowl Sunday...mmmm! I think we should totally make our own pizza from now on!
I'm also trying to get W in the kitchen more...he helped yesterday and today. I think he'll help more when we have more kitchen to move around in :-)
It's been a relaxing weekend, grocery shopping done for this next week, general house cleaning accomplished, dishes done! If only the laundry had washed itself!
1. Roasted Shrimp with Peppers and Lemon
2. Gnocchi with Roasted Cauliflower
3. Ham, Guyere, & Shallot Pizza
We made the pizza tonight for Superbowl Sunday...mmmm! I think we should totally make our own pizza from now on!
I'm also trying to get W in the kitchen more...he helped yesterday and today. I think he'll help more when we have more kitchen to move around in :-)
It's been a relaxing weekend, grocery shopping done for this next week, general house cleaning accomplished, dishes done! If only the laundry had washed itself!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Today I took a "mental health" day. I left for school and by the time I got to Galveston, I had decided I was going back home. It's not that I feel sick or anything, mainly just tired and wanted a day at home to piddle around, read, watch TV, cook, and do some chores.
I went ahead and went in for a bit this morning just to quickly do some email, cancel my classes, and deal with a student. I caught her "stealing" library books yesterday! I think she may have done it last week too but I didn't catch her until this week. She got caught because she took the book that I meant to read to the next class and when it wasn't there, I knew someone in the class before them had taken it. Sure enough, when I went into their room after reading the other class something else and checking them out, there was the book on her desk with ANOTHER library book! Her punishment this morning was a morning of ISS and I have suspended her from the library for the month of February.
Anyway, in other news my experiment of doing the 400 calorie cooking every night is going well, last night tho I skipped the meal for a sandwich and chips and beer and reading. :-) But I made last night's dinner for lunch today, since I decided to stay home and relax.
I must say tho the other night I was rather impressed by the Gnocchi with Roasted Cauliflower...I was a little bit hesitant at first mainly because everything was white. I thought all the same color was a no-no in cooking but it turned out really good. Gnocchi takes like 3 minutes to cook, you can put the cauliflower and sage in to roast for 30 min and forget about them for a bit...top all with parmesan...Perfecto! My only change was to stir the gnocchi with a spoonfool of pesto & garlic that I had in the fridge so it was a bit green and had a touch of flavor from that. I've never had cauliflower roasted before and it was really yummie. The sage was a first for me too and it wasn't as strong a flavor as I expected.
I'm excited that W is coming home tomorrow! It's been 2 weeks since I've seen him!!! Today is his last day of the rotation in North TX. I think he really enjoyed the small town doctoring. I know he visited alot of nursing homes and did house calls. I think it was a nice experience for him. He has one more school I think to do a 2nd look with and then I think he will turn in his list. I'm anxiously awaiting March.
I went ahead and went in for a bit this morning just to quickly do some email, cancel my classes, and deal with a student. I caught her "stealing" library books yesterday! I think she may have done it last week too but I didn't catch her until this week. She got caught because she took the book that I meant to read to the next class and when it wasn't there, I knew someone in the class before them had taken it. Sure enough, when I went into their room after reading the other class something else and checking them out, there was the book on her desk with ANOTHER library book! Her punishment this morning was a morning of ISS and I have suspended her from the library for the month of February.
Anyway, in other news my experiment of doing the 400 calorie cooking every night is going well, last night tho I skipped the meal for a sandwich and chips and beer and reading. :-) But I made last night's dinner for lunch today, since I decided to stay home and relax.
I must say tho the other night I was rather impressed by the Gnocchi with Roasted Cauliflower...I was a little bit hesitant at first mainly because everything was white. I thought all the same color was a no-no in cooking but it turned out really good. Gnocchi takes like 3 minutes to cook, you can put the cauliflower and sage in to roast for 30 min and forget about them for a bit...top all with parmesan...Perfecto! My only change was to stir the gnocchi with a spoonfool of pesto & garlic that I had in the fridge so it was a bit green and had a touch of flavor from that. I've never had cauliflower roasted before and it was really yummie. The sage was a first for me too and it wasn't as strong a flavor as I expected.
I'm excited that W is coming home tomorrow! It's been 2 weeks since I've seen him!!! Today is his last day of the rotation in North TX. I think he really enjoyed the small town doctoring. I know he visited alot of nursing homes and did house calls. I think it was a nice experience for him. He has one more school I think to do a 2nd look with and then I think he will turn in his list. I'm anxiously awaiting March.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Roasted Shrimp with Red Peppers and Lemon........AMAZING! http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/roasted-shrimp-peppers-lemon-00000000008880/index.html
Use orzo pasta as a bed instead of rice, it's not as gritty.
Make this as the side dish:
Cumin Polenta
14 oz chicken broth (or use 1 chicken bullion cube + water)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 c yellow cornmeal
1/2 c milk (whole is best, if you have a lower percentage just stick a bit of sour cream in with the milk and stir it around that way it is "thicker")
1/2 tsp butter
combine broth and cumin in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil. reduce heat; gradually whisk in cornmeal. cook and stir *constantly* until thick, whisk in milk and butter. season with salt and pepper.
serves 4ish
This is half portions of the original recipe and it makes a huge amount for just W and I. I can't imagine doubling the above!
Perfect side with the Shrimp!
bon appetit!
Credit:
Cumin Polenta recipe ran in the October 2009 BH&G magazine, but according to them originally comes from the book Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom.
Use orzo pasta as a bed instead of rice, it's not as gritty.
Make this as the side dish:
Cumin Polenta
14 oz chicken broth (or use 1 chicken bullion cube + water)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 c yellow cornmeal
1/2 c milk (whole is best, if you have a lower percentage just stick a bit of sour cream in with the milk and stir it around that way it is "thicker")
1/2 tsp butter
combine broth and cumin in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil. reduce heat; gradually whisk in cornmeal. cook and stir *constantly* until thick, whisk in milk and butter. season with salt and pepper.
serves 4ish
This is half portions of the original recipe and it makes a huge amount for just W and I. I can't imagine doubling the above!
Perfect side with the Shrimp!
bon appetit!
Credit:
Cumin Polenta recipe ran in the October 2009 BH&G magazine, but according to them originally comes from the book Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The meatloaf was excellent...& I'm not a meatloaf lover by any stretch of the imagination! Maybe it's so good because it's turkey? I fudged a bit on adding ketchup. While it is wonderful because it's practically calorie-free, ketchup is so ho-hum. So I mixed in a little bit of catalina salad dressing to give it a bit more zest and since that upped the calories then I just brushed it over the meat just enough to give it a coating and not like 1/2 inch thick. I also skipped adding any marinara as a garnish, just used a bit more of my secret ketchup/catalina mix instead.
The potatoes turned out good too. I mashed them with sour cream and added a little dill & garlic.
So, overall...not bad. I really like the flavors of the meatloaf dish and it gets in extra vitamins with the spinach mixed in. Yummie!
The recipe is here.
The potatoes turned out good too. I mashed them with sour cream and added a little dill & garlic.
So, overall...not bad. I really like the flavors of the meatloaf dish and it gets in extra vitamins with the spinach mixed in. Yummie!
The recipe is here.
Wow, really?...I've just spent the past two posts talking about nothing but food with a splash of exercise.
Maybe I should be a little more reflective...
...I'm excited that 2010 is a new decade and that Warren and I will get to spend it together...
...I'm still a little sad that we won't be having a baby next month, but I'm confident God has a plan and I'm trying to not be such a planner! This whole deciding to start trying has actually been a bit harder than either of us expected. I came to the conclusion that you spend most of your early 20s avoiding ovulation like the plague (besides taking other precautions) so that when you get married and then get to the point you are ready to "make a baby" it's actually quite a narrow window and takes several months of "practice" *heehee* before the timing even begins to get close...of course by then you are micromanaging all of the days in the month and counting way too much & debating getting one of those thermometer things, but am not quite sure I want to go to those extreme measures and so I have to stop. I have to stop counting or this is never going to happen. I kinda let go of the counting this month so maybe better luck in this department soon. (I think being a slightly type A personality and an occasionally overachiever does not help either!) Also, the fact that my husband has not really been living here much the past two months hasn't helped a whole lot either...hmm...well we'll see...
...I'm glad I'm taking steps to being healthier...
...work this past year has a bittersweetness to it, I've made some great friends down here in GISD and will be sad to leave them, and yet I am SO ready to move home...
...I'm happy that my family is doing well, and everyone is doing pretty good in the health department, nothing super serious going on...
...Warren and I are beginning looking at houses in the Metroplex area, I am very excited about becoming home owners in the next few months!!!!...
...I'm proud of Mom for looking to buy a house as well, she got approved for a home loan so I hope that works out for her! Yay!...
...I am trying to think positive thoughts and not get angry at the construction (?!?!!!???) work that is going on in our building somewhere...I can't tell exactly where it is (sort of above and to the side)but at least the noise isn't constant...yet...ugh! Isn't it Sunday?! God said to REST! NO CONSTRUCTION!...
Ok, enough reflecting, too much banging going on! I need to turn on the Roomba and make some cookies!
Maybe I should be a little more reflective...
...I'm excited that 2010 is a new decade and that Warren and I will get to spend it together...
...I'm still a little sad that we won't be having a baby next month, but I'm confident God has a plan and I'm trying to not be such a planner! This whole deciding to start trying has actually been a bit harder than either of us expected. I came to the conclusion that you spend most of your early 20s avoiding ovulation like the plague (besides taking other precautions) so that when you get married and then get to the point you are ready to "make a baby" it's actually quite a narrow window and takes several months of "practice" *heehee* before the timing even begins to get close...of course by then you are micromanaging all of the days in the month and counting way too much & debating getting one of those thermometer things, but am not quite sure I want to go to those extreme measures and so I have to stop. I have to stop counting or this is never going to happen. I kinda let go of the counting this month so maybe better luck in this department soon. (I think being a slightly type A personality and an occasionally overachiever does not help either!) Also, the fact that my husband has not really been living here much the past two months hasn't helped a whole lot either...hmm...well we'll see...
...I'm glad I'm taking steps to being healthier...
...work this past year has a bittersweetness to it, I've made some great friends down here in GISD and will be sad to leave them, and yet I am SO ready to move home...
...I'm happy that my family is doing well, and everyone is doing pretty good in the health department, nothing super serious going on...
...Warren and I are beginning looking at houses in the Metroplex area, I am very excited about becoming home owners in the next few months!!!!...
...I'm proud of Mom for looking to buy a house as well, she got approved for a home loan so I hope that works out for her! Yay!...
...I am trying to think positive thoughts and not get angry at the construction (?!?!!!???) work that is going on in our building somewhere...I can't tell exactly where it is (sort of above and to the side)but at least the noise isn't constant...yet...ugh! Isn't it Sunday?! God said to REST! NO CONSTRUCTION!...
Ok, enough reflecting, too much banging going on! I need to turn on the Roomba and make some cookies!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
My new favorite vegetable...
This past week my library aide, Carina, introduced me to cucumbers, the Hispanic way.
Now I've had them before but not like this...usually cucumbers in the South are pickled into pickles (homemade pickles are divine) or are a garnish on a salad (where Wanda always puts them) or drenched in vinegar (how Aunt Lori likes them)and while all of those are good they've never been my favorite vegetable to eat. They always seem so bland.
Carina brought some this past week with her lunch and made me try them and I immediately bought some on the way home and I've eaten 2 whole cucumbers this week! Here is what she did, which I am calling "Mexican Cucumbers" because she is of Mexican heritage, also, she said it's how they make them in Mexico:
Mexican Cucumbers:
1 cucumber
1 lime
salt, to taste
peel cucumber and cut off ends
slice
slightly salt the slices
squeeze juice of one lime over all cucumber slices
OMG! AMAZING! Best cucumbers I've ever had! And so refreshing! MMMM!
Go try it today, they will be your new favorite vegetable!
Now I've had them before but not like this...usually cucumbers in the South are pickled into pickles (homemade pickles are divine) or are a garnish on a salad (where Wanda always puts them) or drenched in vinegar (how Aunt Lori likes them)and while all of those are good they've never been my favorite vegetable to eat. They always seem so bland.
Carina brought some this past week with her lunch and made me try them and I immediately bought some on the way home and I've eaten 2 whole cucumbers this week! Here is what she did, which I am calling "Mexican Cucumbers" because she is of Mexican heritage, also, she said it's how they make them in Mexico:
Mexican Cucumbers:
1 cucumber
1 lime
salt, to taste
peel cucumber and cut off ends
slice
slightly salt the slices
squeeze juice of one lime over all cucumber slices
OMG! AMAZING! Best cucumbers I've ever had! And so refreshing! MMMM!
Go try it today, they will be your new favorite vegetable!
Happy New Decade...
Ok, ok...I know. So it's been a long time. Does my blog even know who I am anymore? Lol!
Truthfully, I just haven't felt much like writing. It's not that stuff hasn't been going on, I've just been doing more "micro blogging" so to speak, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc. I have no other excuse. I've just not been making time to write.
Will I change? That remains to be seen, but January is always such a "Reflective Month" so here I go.
I decided to not make the typical "weight-loss" type resolution that people generally give up on by February. Instead, I opted for the "I will increase the frequency of my exercise" type resolution, which seems to be working better for me. Added to that the fact that Nintendo finally updated the Wii Fit routines to where you can customize your workout and follow a whole flow of movements & games, which is what I wanted it to do in the first place. Now I'm to the point where I do my Wii Fit Plus *almost* everyday. Therefore, I am sticking to my resolution thus far. It wasn't very hard to do because lets face it.......I am a big slacker and wasn't doing jack crap! Have I lost much weight, well, maybe not as much as I would like, but it's at least not getting higher and is decreasing very slooowly.
Today I was reading the February issue of Real Simple magazine (hello! I love this magazine! I need a subscription!) and they had a little meal list on the back of the monthly tear out calendar. Everything on it sounded good and was possibly something I would eat...so I'm going to try it for this next month. Oh, P.S. each meal = 400 calories or less!! www.realsimple.com/400calories I don't know if the meal plan is repeating for February? Because if you scroll over each day in January it is also the same recipes? It would be nice if when the Feb. calendar comes up it's new stuff to try. We'll see...meanwhile I am beginning with the January recipe list which is the following monthly menu:
Week 1:
turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes 376 cal.
roasted shrimp with peppers and lemon 392 cal.
pork tenderloin with cabbage and apple slaw 321 cal.
gnocchi with roasted cauliflower 331 cal
chicken with spinach and mushrooms 295 cal.
steak with golden zucchini 321 cal.
ham, Gruyere, and shallot pizza 305 cal.
Week 2:
crispy chicken and garlicky collards 395 cal.
curried eggplant with tomatoes and basil 339 cal.
shrimp tacos with citrus cabbage slaw 392 cal.
asparagus and soft eggs on toast 348 cal. (this is the only one that concerns me, I may have to turn it into Eggs Benedict)
roast beef salad with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette 350 cal.
blackened salmon with broccoli rabe and raisins 339 cal.
roasted pork with Brussels sprouts and apricots 313 cal.
Week 3:
halibut with sugar snap pea salad 313 cal.
polenta-stuffed poblano peppers 281 cal.
quick spring lamb and vegetable stew 372 cal.
tilapia with pepper and olives 276 cal.
chicken with roasted sweet potato salad 388 cal.
spiced pork chops with red cabbage and raisins 311 cal.
white bean chili with jalapeno bulgur 269 cal.
Week 4:
steak with sauteed fennel and olives 360 cal.
pork chops with mustard sauce 364 cal.
chicken and vegetable pot pie 398 cal.
crispy fish with tomato and leek sauce 297 cal.
pierogi with sauteed red cabbage 297 cal.
chicken kebabs with chickpea salad 220 cal.
halibut with sauteed radicchio 274 cal.
Now...will I eat exactly everything on the list? Probably not, but I'm going to begin tomorrow and have made my shopping list for the week. I made a few substitutions based upon what I already have in the house. For instance, instead of buying buttermilk to mash the potatoes on tomorrow's recipe I can use regular 2% milk or even sour cream (which also equals less calories), instead of buying cabbage to go with the pork I'll use the romaine I already have in the fridge, instead of buying Gruyere cheese to go on the pizza I'll use the shredded Swiss...you get the idea. Surprisingly, once I was done, I only have 16 items on my list! Not bad! Also, I think it will help me take leftovers for lunches at school because I've not been the greatest about that. I'm only doing like 2 out of 5 days, otherwise I eat school lunch (not always that great) or go get something off campus (bad!! on the waist and the wallet!)
So, anyone want to cook (& eat) this next month with me?
Truthfully, I just haven't felt much like writing. It's not that stuff hasn't been going on, I've just been doing more "micro blogging" so to speak, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc. I have no other excuse. I've just not been making time to write.
Will I change? That remains to be seen, but January is always such a "Reflective Month" so here I go.
I decided to not make the typical "weight-loss" type resolution that people generally give up on by February. Instead, I opted for the "I will increase the frequency of my exercise" type resolution, which seems to be working better for me. Added to that the fact that Nintendo finally updated the Wii Fit routines to where you can customize your workout and follow a whole flow of movements & games, which is what I wanted it to do in the first place. Now I'm to the point where I do my Wii Fit Plus *almost* everyday. Therefore, I am sticking to my resolution thus far. It wasn't very hard to do because lets face it.......I am a big slacker and wasn't doing jack crap! Have I lost much weight, well, maybe not as much as I would like, but it's at least not getting higher and is decreasing very slooowly.
Today I was reading the February issue of Real Simple magazine (hello! I love this magazine! I need a subscription!) and they had a little meal list on the back of the monthly tear out calendar. Everything on it sounded good and was possibly something I would eat...so I'm going to try it for this next month. Oh, P.S. each meal = 400 calories or less!! www.realsimple.com/400calories I don't know if the meal plan is repeating for February? Because if you scroll over each day in January it is also the same recipes? It would be nice if when the Feb. calendar comes up it's new stuff to try. We'll see...meanwhile I am beginning with the January recipe list which is the following monthly menu:
Week 1:
turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes 376 cal.
roasted shrimp with peppers and lemon 392 cal.
pork tenderloin with cabbage and apple slaw 321 cal.
gnocchi with roasted cauliflower 331 cal
chicken with spinach and mushrooms 295 cal.
steak with golden zucchini 321 cal.
ham, Gruyere, and shallot pizza 305 cal.
Week 2:
crispy chicken and garlicky collards 395 cal.
curried eggplant with tomatoes and basil 339 cal.
shrimp tacos with citrus cabbage slaw 392 cal.
asparagus and soft eggs on toast 348 cal. (this is the only one that concerns me, I may have to turn it into Eggs Benedict)
roast beef salad with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette 350 cal.
blackened salmon with broccoli rabe and raisins 339 cal.
roasted pork with Brussels sprouts and apricots 313 cal.
Week 3:
halibut with sugar snap pea salad 313 cal.
polenta-stuffed poblano peppers 281 cal.
quick spring lamb and vegetable stew 372 cal.
tilapia with pepper and olives 276 cal.
chicken with roasted sweet potato salad 388 cal.
spiced pork chops with red cabbage and raisins 311 cal.
white bean chili with jalapeno bulgur 269 cal.
Week 4:
steak with sauteed fennel and olives 360 cal.
pork chops with mustard sauce 364 cal.
chicken and vegetable pot pie 398 cal.
crispy fish with tomato and leek sauce 297 cal.
pierogi with sauteed red cabbage 297 cal.
chicken kebabs with chickpea salad 220 cal.
halibut with sauteed radicchio 274 cal.
Now...will I eat exactly everything on the list? Probably not, but I'm going to begin tomorrow and have made my shopping list for the week. I made a few substitutions based upon what I already have in the house. For instance, instead of buying buttermilk to mash the potatoes on tomorrow's recipe I can use regular 2% milk or even sour cream (which also equals less calories), instead of buying cabbage to go with the pork I'll use the romaine I already have in the fridge, instead of buying Gruyere cheese to go on the pizza I'll use the shredded Swiss...you get the idea. Surprisingly, once I was done, I only have 16 items on my list! Not bad! Also, I think it will help me take leftovers for lunches at school because I've not been the greatest about that. I'm only doing like 2 out of 5 days, otherwise I eat school lunch (not always that great) or go get something off campus (bad!! on the waist and the wallet!)
So, anyone want to cook (& eat) this next month with me?
Monday, September 14, 2009
Librarians are so glamorous...
Today I was contacted by a man from The Community Foundation for the National Capitol Region....www.cfncr.org...or in short someone from the Laura Bush Foundation.
Apparently they are going to do a little piece, sort of "like mother, like daughter" on how both mom and I have received the Laura Bush Grant. I got it this past May and mom won it a couple of years ago. I would give you the text, but I think I'll let him go ahead and publish it first! ha
What can I say...it's a family thing...librarians are so cool. :D
AND maybe we can finally lay hands on our photo of us with Mrs. Bush!!!!
Apparently they are going to do a little piece, sort of "like mother, like daughter" on how both mom and I have received the Laura Bush Grant. I got it this past May and mom won it a couple of years ago. I would give you the text, but I think I'll let him go ahead and publish it first! ha
What can I say...it's a family thing...librarians are so cool. :D
AND maybe we can finally lay hands on our photo of us with Mrs. Bush!!!!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Mom and I made the Galveston Daily News!
http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=6e8c7ec3ac78cd31
Students use Skype to talk about Ike
By Hayley Kappes
Correspondent
Published September 13, 2009
GALVESTON — On a weekend when counting stories of Hurricane Ike is on every islander’s mind, a group of fourth-grade students at Rosenberg Elementary got a chance to broadcast theirs to North Texas.
Friday, the students used Skype, software that enables phone calls and video chat through the Internet, to interact with students at Sam Rayburn Elementary in Ivanhoe, near the Texas/Oklahoma border.
Kari Worsham, librarian at Rosenberg, uses Skype to keep in touch with her mother, Kimberly Hopkins, who is a librarian in the Sam Rayburn Independent School District.
Second-grade students at Sam Rayburn were studying hurricanes in science class.
“We thought, ‘Why couldn’t we try this at school?’” Worsham asked.
Hopkins’ students e-mailed questions to the Rosenberg fourth-graders regarding their Ike experience.
Some of the questions included how high the storm surge was, details about the weather patterns and how each student was affected after the storm.
They studied photos of destruction on the island.
“It helps put hurricanes in a real world context for the children,” Worsham said.
Worsham said some of the students had used Skype before to communicate with out-of-town relatives.
The video conference between the two schools was projected onto a widescreen in Rosenberg’s library.
Several fourth-grade classes and teachers came in to watch the exchange, which took place during last period Friday afternoon.
“I was excited when I heard the students were doing this,” Principal Sharon Delesandri said. “I had never seen Skype before.”
The Sam Rayburn students focused their questions on the Rosenberg students’ perspective of the hurricane, rather than scientific nature of hurricanes in general.
“(The sky) was greenish-brown when the hurricane came through, lots of lightning and the wind was loud,” Jonae Whitaker said in response to a question about how the sky looked during Ike.
Whitaker was the only student of the six who remained on the island with her family during the storm.
One student asked how long it took for grass and other plants to turn green again.
Another questioned if any of the students’ pets had died because of the storm, and where the students evacuated.
Worsham said this is the first time she has experimented with Skype as a classroom tool, and she wants to continue its use for students.
Toward the end of class, the Rosenberg students turned the table on the Sam Rayburn students, by asking if they have hurricanes in North Texas.
“No hurricanes,” the students said. “Just tornadoes.”
Students use Skype to talk about Ike
By Hayley Kappes
Correspondent
Published September 13, 2009
GALVESTON — On a weekend when counting stories of Hurricane Ike is on every islander’s mind, a group of fourth-grade students at Rosenberg Elementary got a chance to broadcast theirs to North Texas.
Friday, the students used Skype, software that enables phone calls and video chat through the Internet, to interact with students at Sam Rayburn Elementary in Ivanhoe, near the Texas/Oklahoma border.
Kari Worsham, librarian at Rosenberg, uses Skype to keep in touch with her mother, Kimberly Hopkins, who is a librarian in the Sam Rayburn Independent School District.
Second-grade students at Sam Rayburn were studying hurricanes in science class.
“We thought, ‘Why couldn’t we try this at school?’” Worsham asked.
Hopkins’ students e-mailed questions to the Rosenberg fourth-graders regarding their Ike experience.
Some of the questions included how high the storm surge was, details about the weather patterns and how each student was affected after the storm.
They studied photos of destruction on the island.
“It helps put hurricanes in a real world context for the children,” Worsham said.
Worsham said some of the students had used Skype before to communicate with out-of-town relatives.
The video conference between the two schools was projected onto a widescreen in Rosenberg’s library.
Several fourth-grade classes and teachers came in to watch the exchange, which took place during last period Friday afternoon.
“I was excited when I heard the students were doing this,” Principal Sharon Delesandri said. “I had never seen Skype before.”
The Sam Rayburn students focused their questions on the Rosenberg students’ perspective of the hurricane, rather than scientific nature of hurricanes in general.
“(The sky) was greenish-brown when the hurricane came through, lots of lightning and the wind was loud,” Jonae Whitaker said in response to a question about how the sky looked during Ike.
Whitaker was the only student of the six who remained on the island with her family during the storm.
One student asked how long it took for grass and other plants to turn green again.
Another questioned if any of the students’ pets had died because of the storm, and where the students evacuated.
Worsham said this is the first time she has experimented with Skype as a classroom tool, and she wants to continue its use for students.
Toward the end of class, the Rosenberg students turned the table on the Sam Rayburn students, by asking if they have hurricanes in North Texas.
“No hurricanes,” the students said. “Just tornadoes.”
Friday, August 7, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tax free weekend date...
In Texas is August 21-23 —Applies to clothing and footwear under $100 (per item), backpacks under $100 (per item), and select school supplies priced at less than $100 (per item).
Just a general FYI :-)
Just a general FYI :-)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
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