36 weeks

This is the homestretch! Only one month to go and I can hardly believe it. Jeff is hovering around my tummy all the time begging our little bundle to come out already so we can hold him. I tell baby he can take all the time he needs, just as long as he comes out big enough to fit into all the clothes we have for him (so practical of me, really). We loved getting Christmas presents for the wee one, and my most favorite present, hands down, was the adorable soft lamb "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament Jeffrey got to put on the tree. Since it's not quite his first Christmas yet, we decided to get technical and have changed the ornament to read "Baby's 1st Christmas in utero..."

Can you tell we're getting ridiculously excited?

33 weeks

Two things: cinnamon bears and swiss cheese. Not together, but something like swiss cheese for a snack, lunch, then dinner, and cinnamon bears for snacks and dessert and any random snatch in between.

I also had my first Non-Stress test this week, and everything was peachy. Our little baby's heart pumps perfectly and he has plenty of amniotic fluid to swim in so it looks like he's going to stay and grow! I almost wished they would tell me he was ready to come out so I could get out of my finals next week and so we could finally cuddle up to our little love bundle, but no such luck. The wait continues.

Coming up this week: a midwife visit, another Non-Stress test (I'll be getting them every week now until his birthday) and an ultrasound. And more cinnamon bears! I'm over swiss cheese, I think....

Homemade Apple Sauce

We returned from our Thanksgiving holiday with a peck of Melrose apples in tow (fun fact: Melrose are the official Ohio state apple). Though we easily could have eaten them all in a few days, I wanted to make something special with them. Their fruity aroma and excellent baking properties led me to decide on homemade chunky applesauce.


It's really simple, all you do is peel and core the apples, chop into chunks, place the apples in a crockpot set to Low, add 2 cups of water, then cover and cook for 6-8 hours. Every once in a while I would get up and crush some of the apples with a potato masher, or stir the sauce around. And that's it. With these apples no sugar was needed, they were perfectly sweet.

If this wasn't so delicious, I might have remembered to take a finished product photo, but it was really just too good for that.

Lately...

Between combating the end of the semester, trying to stay on top of management duties, and prepping our nest for an imminent arrival, the other day I stopped and realized that Christmas is coming. So perhaps I should have been doing other things, but since we needed a bit of holiday cheer I set to work creating some.

{self-made mercury glass for this year's Christmas decor}

{the first Christmas cookies of the season: pistachio sugar cookie swirls}

{oh, Christmas tree. we got the cutest little spruce tree this year, I'm very much in love with it}

I hope you're finding time to begin your celebration of Christmas, too.

32 weeks

Time is going by so quickly! I can't believe that in a mere 2 more months we'll have a mini us joining our family! We are both much too much excited to find out what he'll be like. Jeff likes to think that he's created a little monster, while I think that while it may be true that we'll have a rambunctious boy (you should feel how this guy kicks and squirms!), there will be some sweetness and sensitivity to him as well. I do know, however, that he doesn't like people messing with his space-any time I shift to one side or the other he'll wiggle wiggle wiggle, or if I put anything on my tummy he'll kick it, and don't even try to get him to hold still for an utlrasound! He loves orange juice and hot chocolate and cheese, or at least I assume so because these get big activity responses from him. He's so adorable already, and we're so in love.