26 weeks and a tale

I decided on this, my 26th week of pregnancy to get real with you...I have not really shared with you my swelling pregnancy leg, notice not legs, just leg...my right one to be exact. A few weeks ago at work, I noticed my right shoe felt really tight. I took it off, and upon further inspection noticed my ankle bone was not to be found along with a nice sized cankle forming. Not to panic, I knew this was a side-effect of pregnancy combined with my occupation, and I just kind of laughed it off. Showed the husband= nickname of sausage leg. REAL funny....I have been trying to stay off my feet more at work, but easier said than done. Last week, I looked down at the end of a busy day, and noticed it again. Oh well, I thought, and just kept going to finish out the day. James and I went on our daily walk, and after a few blocks, he came to a halt. " what is the deal with your leg?" Sausage leg was back in full force. My doctor had said not to worry unless it became red and hot. Well, it has a nice red sheen, and was hot in a few spots. I called the my OBGYN nurses line, and the nice nurse on call told me it would be best to go in to the hospital 3rd floor (OB floor) and let them take a look. I really didnt think that was necessary, but my husband thought differently. Long story short, 3 hours, a urinalysis, waiting, more waiting, and a doppler ultrasound later...I was deemed ok to leave. I was told to  followup with my doc the next morning...well when you have your own patients to see, no can do. I did ask for a telephone followup to confirm it was not a blood clot, which for all of you that hadnt guessed already, it was not. What they told me was that all parts are not created equal, and that my right leg just did not have as good circulation= right sausage leg. The recommendation was to get fitted for medical grade support hose and wear them everyday. Either that, or varicose veins for life...awesome. I did go get fitted and just received my new compression hose. I have worn them all day....Here is a glimpse.

Talk about sexy and hot..literally, they add about 10 degrees to my body heat. At first I thought they would feel like regular hose, umm NO. They "compress" like spanx all the way down. They seem to be helping though.  I just wanted to share so everyone could get a good laugh and to document this for this precious baby boy one day when he says I don't love him.

Other than my right leg being uncooperative, all is progressing well. According to the baby center, he weighs around 2 pounds and is around 14 inces long. He is still moving a good deal, more randomly it seems now.  I have the glucose tolerance test next week. On the nursery front, I am antiquing the crib Saturday, and hopefully painting the room, if I can decide on a color. I will post pictures! Have a great weekend!

Molly&Rich's Shower

As most of you know one of my most favorite people, Miss Molly, is getting married in LESS than 7 weeks...We had a bash in her and Rich's honor Friday night.

Venue: the top of the Kress building (law offices of Wiggins, Childs, Quinn & Pantazis) which is a beautiful spot to have a party if you are ever looking in Bham

Theme: Miscellaneous shower and Urban Chic dress (ok really dressy casual, but doesn't urban chic sound fun?!)

Food: Tazikis, pork sliders with tomato chutney aioli (which I could eat by the gallon), chicken wraps, salad, and roasted potatoes

Dessert: chocolate chip cookies a la Shelia, and a candy table with the bride and groom-to-be's favorites (skittles, peanut butter M&Ms, kitkats, and dark chocolate)

Company:delightful mix of family and friends

Al, Les, and myself (you can kinda see sunset city in background)

Rich, Dad, preggo, Molly, and Mom

The Osborns and The Russells (I promise my father was having fun, he just doesnt show it with his smiles in pictures)

Molly's supper club girlfriends: Ali, Kristy, Jacquie, and Lauren

Food table

Bar

Liney

Lauren, Adrienne, Luke

mingling

Rich's toast to Molly, sooo sweet, love her face here

The Bobo's, yes Steven is special

James and Jana

I wish I had taken more pictures, but hosting/visiting/picture taking is hard to accomplish. It was alot of fun, and I am so excited for the future Rossells!




 

Pumpkin Bread

as adapted from allrecipes.com. (Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread)
my changes are in italics
Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (add another half can of pumpkin for added flavor)
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar (half dark brown sugar, half white sugar gives a little richer flavor)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (double)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/2 c of walnuts
 
Directions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (this baking time was right on for my oven)

 I had some this morning toasted with a little cream cheese, delicious!

I Heart...

1. Leggings...Black to be exact...They are really the only thing that are comfortable, and I don't mind wearing right now. I just bought some from Target for around 12 dollars that I am loving.

No, I really don't look like Miss Duff here, but you get the idea....

2. Her Daughter's Dream, Francine Rivers

This is the conclusion to Her Mother's Hope, another great Rivers read. I actually like this one better than the first.

3.   Minute Maid Light...Equally delicious as regular lemonade without all the calories

4. Pumpkin Flavored Anything, I made pumpkin bread yesterday that was pretty good, about a 7/10, I would say. I will post the recipe soon, with added tweaks to make it more of a 10/10.

5. Discerning the Voice of God, by Priscilla Shirer, This is the book my women's small group is doing this fall, and it is really good.

This was a sentence that really hit me today:

As I seek to hear God's voice, do I really desire to hear what His purposes are, or do I just desire to pursue my own and hope for His blessing?

Hmmm...ever been there?

6. Mamaroo Baby Seat....so James and I went and registered yesterday at Buy Buy Baby...WOW...definitely a somewhat overwhelming experience. We did have fun though! James thought it was hysterical that everything had names like Bumbo, Bumbleride, Burpy, Boppy, etc. It is a little weird if you think about it. But when it came to the swings/vibrating seats, we were both in awe. Does this not look like the most wonderful thing ever?! We both agreed that they need adult sizes. It swings in five directions, vibrates on 3 different speeds, makes nature sounds, has an Ipod hook up, etc. Too bad the weight limit is only 25 pounds....

That's all for now...be back with a revised pumpkin bread recipe!!





10-10-10

Was a very special day indeed...28 years ago my wonderful husband, James was born. We celebrated his birthday this weekend with family, friends, and ALOTof great food.

 Dinner Friday night at Bottega with the Osborns and Russells

Sunday we headed down to Pepper Place for the annual Break N Bread event. It was great, about 30 of Birmingham's best restaurants had "tastings",  lots drink vendors, and live music.

 Chef Russell of Stone's Throw, Lacey, and James

Sweet friends that helped celebrate!

Baby O also gave James a present...he felt him for the first time Saturday, so neat! I am so blessed with a wonderful husband, who will also be an amazing dad. Happy Birthday James! Here is to many more....

23 weeks...

Well this pregnancy is moving right along, it is hard to believe I am only about a month away from the last trimester! Baby O is supposedly around a foot long and weighs a little over a pound (wondering where all that other extra weight keeps going!) I am still feeling really good. I can finally feel him move all the time. He seems especially active at night, which I hope he gets the memo that his mom is a morning person, NOT a night owl. He I have a sweet tooth right now. I am trying to cut back, but it seems sugar has never tasted this good. I also still am loving eggs. We are starting to work on the nursery. My friend Kate is very talented, and she is helping me with the mainly neutral color scheme. We have ordered the bedding, by Pom Pom at Home. I also have purchased a precious antiqued cream chest from a consigment store here in Bham. I am using my sister's crib. We are having a yard sale this saturday to make room in the basement, and hopefully raise money for the glider...So if you are in the neighborhood  come on by Saturday morning!

Pom Pom crib bedding

Blue accent pillows