Two Days of Gourmet Food... and even more perks!

Last Tuesday, I had an OB appt. and was put on "chair rest" (or at least, that's what I call it). He said I wasn't on bed rest, but I can't really leave the house, can't cook or clean (that's the same), I have to keep my feet up for the majority of the day and I'm not supposed to go anywhere (did I mention that?). So the difference? I guess I just don't have to lie in bed all day. I can sit in a chair all day. He showed me how far off the scale I was compared to a singleton pregnancy (I'm 30 weeks and measuring 37... that's how far along I was when I had Abby! And I am now, officially, the heaviest I have ever been- 157 lbs. I was 156 when I gave birth to Abby). Oh and I have braxton hicks (practice contractions) about every 1/2 hour now so they are a little "concerned".


Here's the food part: People in my ward, Paul and my wonderful friends have been keeping us in delicious food for a couple of weeks, but the last couple of days, I have eaten some of the most amazing food of my life! Maybe part of that is that eating is one of the few things I can still do... VERY well I might add. So, Paul made a delicious stir-fry on Wednesday night with brown rice- mmmmmm. The next day, my amazing cook friend Jenny brought her kids over to play with Abby and made the best, no THE BEST sandwich I have ever eaten: BLT's (with a real garden tomato) on home-baked sourdough bread and the spread? Well, it was this cream cheese pesto thing she (and I- just because I hate mayo so she substituted the cream cheese) made. I cannot explain how wonderful this sandwich was! Then, that very night (last night) was my monthly Cooking Club meeting. Now I know I'm not supposed to go anywhere, but seriously, a girl has to eat, and I just went from my car seat to a chair in a house and my wonderful friends brought the food to me. I have never been happier to just sit and eat. From the tomato tart and bruschetta appetizers to the roast turkey (as in the turkey was roasted and carved) apple and brie panini main course to the fresh from the back yard apple pie for dessert (plus the side dishes and peach lemonade)- all of it local produce- even the turkey! It made all of the heartburn I had all last night (even though I loaded up on Zantac and Maalox) totally worth it! Oh! Don't think Abby and Paul were left out... the lovely neighbour brought over tons of food for their dinner which, I'm sure we'll be finishing up tonight. So, this morning, I am reveling in the left-overs, when Jenny calls and says she is coming over to bring pumpkin pancakes with homemade spicy syrup (it was even warm!). If you would like the recipes, check out our Cooking Club blog by clicking HERE.

Ewww.

Does anyone else find this picture creepy? I mean, I know it's fake, but I see it on pregnant people websites all over the place and it is NOT cute or adorable... it's gross. I actually think something like this happened to me last night and I couldn't take a photo because I was bending over in pain trying to push that little limb back where it should be. Also, there are a lot more blue veins and fuzzy hair on my belly... and my belly button sticks out more... oh, and I'm 10 times fatter.

I'm Making Cookies Tonight!!

...or eating some, at least! Monday, I failed my 1-hour Glucose test for Gestational Diabetes which meant Wednesday, I had to take the three-hour one.

This is why I hated the 1-hour test: It involved drinking this gross sugary drink they CLAIMED tasted like oranges in five minutes and after one hour, they took a phial of blood. That, of course gave me a bruise on my arm because of my ridiculously hard-to-find veins. This is all fine and dandy except I had already done this entire test the week before BUT the idiotic nurse did not know which form to fill out and then tried to get blood (a half-hour late I might add... on a timed test) in four places (she only stuck me twice but had to dig around) and in the end, did not file ANY paperwork, so the test was never even done.

This is why I hated the 3-hour test:
It involved drinking this gross sugary drink- twice as potent as the one before but the same size- they CLAIMED tasted like Sprite in five minutes. I had to go in fasting. It required me to give FOUR phials of blood at one hour intervals. The nurses were good and used the littlest needle, but I only have a couple of places to draw from; one of which was already bruised from Monday so I ended up leaving the place looking like a pregnant junkie! It's a nice look.

The good news is:
I PASSED so I don't have to change my diet to keep the babies healthy! My cookie cravings can continue guilt-free! Thank goodness.

Dinner with Paul's Family

We were so excited to find out that Paul's Auntie Pam was coming over to visit from Manchester. Last night, we met her, Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Steve (Paul's Mum's sister and husband who live in Bountiful) at the Brick Oven for dinner. The food was good, Steve/Sylvia reminisced about their time in Provo when Steve was attending BYU which was fun and Abby even behaved rather well, so we were all able to have a really nice time. Two things of note: 1.) Of course, there was the obligatory "where are you guys from?" comments which are always followed by "I know someone from England". 2.) They were already seated when we got there and had obviously underestimated my "new" size as they had never seen me pregnant before... well, that and the fact that I am just a huge hippo. Everyone was worried because they had been seated at a booth and after one look at me, were really nice and said we could move to a table. LUCKILY, I fit in the booth with about 1 1/2 inches to spare... glad they came this month... it would have had to be uncomfortable chairs at a table for sure. All in all, a great family night in which the only real problem was that it didn't last long enough.

Start Smart Soccer

Today, Abby and Paul started Start Smart Soccer; Provo's program for 3 and 4 year-olds to begin learning football skills with a parent (Paul is doing it with her for obvious reasons). She has been counting down the sleeps left until her class and today, she insisted on wearing her football clothes all day; even though her class didn't start until 6:00 pm. She was stoked about the shirt she got and she looked so darling. She did really well on some skills and could definitely improve on most, but she kept on going until the very end when 1/2 the kids had already had enough and quit. I was the photographer and warning: I obviously missed something in the instruction manual because it seems like they were all taken in soft lighting... any tips? Ed? Jeri? Anyway, here are some highlights: