35 Weeks

The strangers who have touched my belly count is up to three now. It could have been four but I totally dodged the cashier's reaching hand at Target.

The nursery is almost finished. Just need to paint a lamp table and hang stuff on the walls. Everything has been washed.

Prenatal yoga is keeping me feeling pretty good. I just left a doctor's appointment and there's no progress yet.

Baby Blanket

Here's the only thing I've knitted for baby. I do have a couple other crafty things in the works for wall decor.

Easter Treats

I was a baking crazy lady last week. My dad's side of the family has a crawfish boil on Good Friday, and I made "slutty brownies." Sorry there is no picture. They were a big hit. I thought they were OK, but that's because I'm not really a brownie person. Except for cookie brownie. Long live cookie brownie!

I knew I was making Hummingbird Cake for dessert for Easter. But then I saw this post on the same blog as the cake recipe and I knew what had to be done.

Homemade marshmallows are surprising easy to make. Mine got a little sweaty. Not sure why, but they still tasted great- especially when they were sandwiched between homemade graham crackers dipped in Ghiradelli chocolate. If you are also making cream cheese icing and you choose to spread it on the plain graham cracker, you would be making a very wise and tasty decision.

The cake was absolutely delicious and easy to make. If you are wondering and not interested in clicking the link, hummingbird cake has cinnamon, pecans, bananas, and pineapple in it. If you aren't into that sort of thing but you like cream cheese icing- then take note of this recipe because the icing will definitely make you go to your grave... and come back again.

32 Weeks

Oh, hi. Yep I'm still pregnant. I know I missed a couple weeks. I don't know why it's so difficult to remember to take a picture of my growing belly. I even try to remember to look cute and wear different outfits on Wednesdays.

Here I am with my sister, my niece, and my mom after we saw The Lion King last weekend. Yeah, I wore a shirt with safari animals on it. I couldn't help it. In "strangers who think your baby is their business" news, an old lady touched my belly in the line for the restroom during intermission. And I thought I was going to get though this with no strangers touching me.

Here are the happy expectant parents on Easter Sunday.

In better "strangers who think your baby is their business" news, the lady who did my pedicure yesterday (I am giving up on trying to do it myself as it's a bit of a challenge) asked if I was having a boy. I told her yes and she said that the Chinese and Vietnamese believe that it's good luck to have a boy on a leap year. So that was the nicest thing a stranger has said about my baby.

Max

Last week on Monday we said goodbye to Max, our family pet of almost 15 years. I told him I loved him as I left my parents' house the Friday before. Maybe somehow I knew.

He had started losing weight from not eating. You hope it's something that can be fixed, but it was old age and just his time to move on.

I remember the day we got him in the summer of '97. There were two puppies at the top of my grandparents' stairs, and I remember hoping the one with the large head was the one my dad had picked out.

                            

He trained us quickly, and he put up with our shenanigans- me dressing him in doll clothes and my mom putting a spot of green food coloring between his eyes one St. Patrick's day. He was a good dog and a good friend. He threatened all of my boyfriends, and he seemed to know something was different after Michael proposed because he was considerably nicer to him from then on.

Max's Birthday - May 21, 2009

I always missed him when I was away from home, and I'm sure he thought someone had died when I told him goodbye as I left for Virginia. He started looking older, earning the title Mr. Max, every time we'd come home to visit. Towards the end he grew a mole on his nose, earning the name Max de Niro. 

He wasn't so sure about Theo, but they ended up being able to coexist. Theo of course just wanted to be best friends. He didn't even get mad at Max when Max stole his lunch on several occasions. They loved to walk outside with my dad and lie in the sunshine.

                             

                         

                             

I'm sure that's where he is now. Lying in the sun in the grass with his brother Buttons where there are no thunderstorms and he can roam free. 

Yoga

He likes to do prenatal yoga with me.

Butterflies

These pictures are several weeks old. We think we saw a butterfly laying eggs on the milkweed a week or so ago. There are tons of leaves and blooms on the milkweed so we are ready for round two!