Family Visit

 Michelle, ever the creator of crazy schemes, suggested coming up to visit us while I was still pregnant. Once she and Mom decided to make the trip with her three kids, Dad decided he wanted to come too. Then, since they had to take the van anyway, they invited Heather and her kids to come and of course they wanted to too. So we ended up having 10 visitors this week for a full house and lots of fun.

They arrived Monday evening, just after dinner. Everyone was shocked by my belly and said I should have sent more pictures to prepare them.

Tuesday morning, and throughout the visit, we had fun feeling the baby moving. Some of the movements were pretty impressive.

We went over to Alton Baker park for a late morning walk by the river. It was a beautiful day, although still a bit chilly when the wind blew.

Back at the house, we had lunch and made blackberry pie.

Dad, Joshua, and the boys went to the woodworking store and Goodwill, then Mom, Michelle, Micah, and I went to Fred Meyers. Joshua put the two tables next to each other and we managed to all squeeze around so we could eat dinner together.

 

The next morning, Joshua and the kids had fun trying out the new game Micah found during their outing Tuesday afternoon. This was one of many games during the visit; Kingdomino was another favorite.

We took a short hike up Skinner's Butte after lunch. The walk was pretty.

The group at the top.

Unfortunately, the top of the butte was a bit disappointing because the view wasn't great and there were a bunch of people smoking in their cars, but the hike overall was a good one.

Sisters and babies at the top of the butte.

Wednesday night we had birthday dinner for Mom, me, and Evan. Then we had delicious chocolate cake with ice cream and strawberries. We each had a section of candles to blow out.

Thursday morning everyone headed back to California, but not before one last squeeze; this time into the bathroom for a tooth brushing party. It was a lot of people for our duplex, but we had a great time together.

Grapefruit Cake

I was reading my Taste of Home magazine and found a recipe for grapefruit cake. Since we still have a few delicious ruby red grapefruits from my parents' tree, I couldn't resist giving the recipe a try. It turned out great and we both liked it. The cake was on the dense side, similar in consistency to a pound cake, and was quite moist. The grapefruit flavor came through well and made the whole thing not too sweet. Plus, it looked pretty with the grapefruit sections on top.

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 cup fat-free plain yogurt

1/3 cup sugar

5 T grated grapefruit zest

1/4 cup agave nectar or honey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup oil

Optional Glaze and Topping

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 to 3 tsp grapefruit juice

Grapefruit sections

Fresh mint leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine next seven ingredients. Gradually stir flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, then pour into a 9-in. round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool.

For glaze, mix confectioners' sugar with enough grapefruit juice to reach desired consistency; drizzle glaze over top, allowing some to flow over sides. Top the cake with grapefruit sections and fresh mint leaves.

Snow

After a mild past few weeks with a number of spring-like days, winter is back in full force. Sunday morning we had snow flurries. They didn't stick much, but there was a little bit that collected on the ground. It stayed cold all week with temperatures below freezing every night.

Then this morning we woke up to snow! It still wasn't a lot, but enough to cover the ground and look pretty. It was still gently falling when we got up and was so peaceful and beautiful.

It didn't last long though. It was warm enough that by late afternoon most of the snow had melted and there were just a few spots remaining.

Valentine's Day

 

I was excited that Joshua didn't have to be at school until later on Wednesday, so we were able to start the day with pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. I made a few little pancakes for the baby too.

We were expecting to go to our childbirth class in the evening, but last week the class voted to take a week off for Valentine's Day, so we were able to go out to dinner instead. We went to Izakaya Meiji, which is a fun and unique restaurant that serves Japanese small plates. The food is great, and it's fun to try a number of different dishes during the meal, including things like beef tongue, octopus, nori-wrapped rice balls, and shittake mushrooms.

We finished the day with chocolate creme pie topped with raspberries and lemon whipped cream while playing a game together.

Entering the Third Trimester

We entered the third trimester today, so I thought it would be a good time to look back at the pregnancy so far.

The first trimester was a bit of a roller coaster. The usual symptoms hit with a flood of hormones, tiredness, and morning sickness. Being tired all the time was probably the first symptom I noticed. The morning sickness soon followed, but thankfully seemed relatively mild. I felt unsettled all the time, but only felt sick sometimes and only threw up twice. I actually gained weight during the weeks I was most nauseated because I felt badly if I allowed myself to get hungry, so I tried to keep a little food in my stomach all the time. I didn’t have any unusual food cravings, but have developed a surprising aversion to shrimp. I was certainly glad not to be working at the bakery anymore where I’d be on feet all day and smelling all kinds of smells! Working at home with a flexible schedule that allowed me to take breaks as needed was wonderful.

It was really strange at first and hard to wrap my head around the fact that we were pregnant. It felt more like a foreign invasion releasing a bunch of hormones in my body and triggering symptoms that I couldn’t control. It was hard to think of it as a baby, let alone our baby. Gradually that shifted, but it took awhile. I’m still getting used to the idea, although feeling the baby moving around has made a big difference.

I was also frustrated by all the negative comments we received. In pregnancy books, apps, and conversations with others, we got a lot of negative remarks. Things like “you probably feel exhausted, but this just gets worse once the baby comes” and “better learn to deal with stress because once the baby’s born it’s going to get worse.” I’m sure all these sorts of things are true, but it’s just been an overwhelming amount of negative with very little positive. 

 The second trimester brought welcome relief where I started to feel more like myself again and some days even felt normal. As the weeks passed and my belly grew, I started having to make adjustments like sleeping with an extra pillow, modifying my workouts, and having to stand up and stretch more often because my ribs having already started feeling uncomfortably pressured. It’s strange to eat relatively well and exercise regularly, but still gain weight.

At 19 weeks, we had our ultrasound and got to see the baby for the first time. It was incredible. The detail of ultrasounds now is unbelievable; we were able to see things like the valves of the heart and everything. It was amazing. That was a big highlight for us. After the ultrasound, we celebrated by having pizza for lunch. Another highlight was finally feeling the baby move. It took a long time before I was confident I was feeling the baby since there were so many other sensations occurring. But by 24 weeks I was feeling the baby move a lot and Joshua had felt it moving too. Now, we feel the baby moving regularly.

Overall, the pregnancy has been pretty uneventful so far with expected symptoms and everything looking normal at all our checkups. As we move into the third trimester, we’ve just started our childbirth class and are beginning to think about labor and delivery. It’s exciting to move into this final trimester and prepare to meet our baby. It’s been a whole new experience so far and I’m sure that will continue, but we are excited about this new phase of our lives.

Multigrain Loaf

Joshua and I got a cook book from my current favorite show for Christmas this year, so I was excited to try out one of the recipes this weekend. I decided to make a multigrain loaf. I had some difficulty with the kneading because it was a really stiff dough and was worried that it might not be edible. Thankfully, it tasted great. The texture was a bit dense, but it ended up rising and wasn't bad at all. Certainly a loaf I'd like to try again. Fresh bread, yum.

Matt and Grace

We had a longer than normal visit in California this time because we were sticking around for an important event: Matt and Grace's wedding on Saturday January 6. Joshua was one of the groomsmen and Dave was the officiant, so the three of us went up to Sacramento on Friday for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Things went smoothly at the rehearsal and then we headed to Grace's aunt's house for the rehearsal dinner. They had done a great job decorating and preparing delicious Mexican food.

Saturday was the big day, so Joshua had to head to Sacramento in the morning to get ready. Dave and I drove up together later. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was good too. It was fun to celebrate with Matt and Grace and visit with the other people we knew at the wedding. And, of course, Joshua looked dashing in his tuxedo.

They even had a late night snack of grilled cheese sandwiches, which I appreciated because I was hungry again. As things started winding down, Joshua and I headed back to Modesto. The next morning we got up and had breakfast, then said goodbye to Dave and Gayle and returned home. It was a great trip with a lot of good times packed in, but we were glad to be back home.

Modesto

Back in Modesto, we enjoyed a little bit quieter week with the Kerrs after all the holiday excitement. Dave and Joshua made fruitcake, which we just recently started eating and it is great. We also enjoyed a number of family dinners, picking fruit and going to Mexican food with Grandad, playing cards and the new Codenames Duet game we got for Christmas, working on projects, and being together.

Gayle had gotten a new sewing machine so we had fun experimenting with that. It does all kinds of crazy stitches and things. The fabric store nearby is going out of business so they had everything on sale and we couldn't resist getting this cute flannel to make a little receiving blanket on the new machine; we even used one of the fancy stitches around the edge.

New Year's Eve Party

Sunday was New Year's Eve, which meant it was time to party. Natalie, Emery, and Ezra helped me make cinnamon rolls to have for breakfast Monday.

And Natalie and I made our traditional contribution to the party food: muddy buddies, yum. There was lots of other good food too, so we all enjoyed spending the evening snacking, working on a puzzle, playing video games, and visiting.

We thought it was pretty funny that the guys were surrounded by yarn while they played video games in the living room.

 The youngest boys went to bed, but the rest of us made it to midnight and toasted the New Year with sparkling beverages.

The next morning we had cinnamon rolls, orange danish rolls, eggs, sausage, bacon, and oranges for breakfast; what a way to start the year.

Everyone was pretty tired, so we had a relaxing morning around the house playing video games, chatting, and going for a walk.

Michelle made this beautiful, and big, afghan for the baby and it's so cozy. She and Joy also gave me a bunch of maternity clothes they are done with; just in time too since my clothes were starting to not fit anymore.

We had lunch and cleaned up most of the mess we made during the party and with everyone staying at Mom and Dad's house, then Joshua and I headed back to Modesto.

The Week Between

We spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Visalia and enjoyed the time with family working on projects, going on walks, playing games, and visiting. One of the projects we worked on was making a granny square afghan with the yarn and squares that Jonah's grandmother had started. It was fun to have sewing circle with Heather and Michelle and work on something that we've done a lot together in the past. Mom and I also had a good amount of time to sew together on quilting projects.

I enjoyed a cup of tea every morning in the new mug I got for Christmas on the coaster Natalie made for me.

Game time with Uncle Joshua.

Joshua and I also enjoyed taking the kids out for our traditional hot chocolate treat on Friday. This year was Ezra's first time joining the party.

After enjoying our drinks, Joshua headed up to Sacramento to attend a bachelor's party while I stayed with my family for the weekend.

Christmas 2017

Joshua and I had a rush trying to get ready for Christmas this year. It was a particularly busy term for him since he was taking extra units. But he did a great job and after the term was over we received the exciting news that he is now ABD (all but dissertation). That's a big step in the program and means that from now on the focus is on writing the dissertation. Anyway, since the term was busier than usual, we were a bit behind on Christmas preparations when it ended. We spent a few frantic, but mostly enjoyable, evenings working on getting things ready and drinking eggnog. Thankfully, we were able to finish everything up on time and hit the road on the Friday before Christmas. Once in California, we enjoy a particularly pleasant and relaxed time celebrating Christmas with both our families.

We kicked things off by making shortbread on Friday after dinner. It's so good, especially with Tea of Good Tidings.

We celebrated Christmas with the Kerrs on Saturday with Christmas dinner, presents, and desserts. Then we had doughnuts Sunday morning and got to light the advent candles at the Christmas Eve service.

I couldn't resist making bears for Amari and Elias for Christmas this year.

We celebrated Christmas with the Chandlers on Monday, gathering at Mom and Dad's house around lunch time. Dad had gotten a package of mystery Oreos, so we tasted those after lunch and tried to figure out what the flavor was. Still not sure, but something fruity.

Then we opened presents and took the traditional picture of the kids in front of the Christmas tree, all wearing the matching pajamas that Mom made for them this year.

We finished off the day with a delicious Christmas dinner and chocolate birthday cake for dessert.