Grilled Pizza

If you have not yet made this awesome and fast summer meal, I recommend marching out and grabbing some dough tonight (or make it yourself).

Ingredients:
Ball of pizza dough
Cheese
Toppings (if you want)
salt

Instructions:
1. Heat grill on high.
2. Grab a handful of dough for personal pizza. No need for flour, oil or a rolling pin. Just stretch it out with your hands.
3. Throw on hot grill. No oil needed. Reduce heat to medium. Let it sit 3 minutes or so
4. Flip and add cheese/toppings/salt. Cover. Let sit another three minutes until cheese is melty and dough is cooked through.
5. Pull from grill and eat, sinking back in your chair in heavenly delight that you made dinner in six minutes without heating up the kitchen on a hot summer night.

I'm sure you can imagine the endless possibilities for toppings, but just keeping it simple has been amazing. I haven't even bothered with tomato sauce. So far, my combinations included:

• mozzarella cheese, truffle salt & balsamic vinegar
• mozzarella cheese, fresh garlic-infused oil & salt.

I can only imagine the deliciousness when fresh tomato and basil season hits. This would also be a great meal for a small crowd since adults (and kids) LOVE stretching their own dough and making their own pizzas.

For the Love of Craigslist and Google Reader

I know that we'll need some baby items in the next few months. I've been previously putting it off because massive amounts of stuff seems counter-intuitive to what a baby needs in its most basic sense. That, combined with the fact that registering at a baby big-box to pay full price for a new what-sa-whooz-it that I'll only use for a few months makes me insane.

No, thank you. So instead, I've just put things off. Not a good strategy either.

I have some hand-me-downs coming my way (thanks Rob & Jana and Natascha!) and discovered the joys of second-hand maternity shops, where you can get anything for mom or baby at a fraction of the cost. I got some advice from parents on items that are actually helpful to have and started looking on craigslist for them. But it's pretty time-consuming to do the same searches day after day.

Then I discovered the RSS feed option on craigslist that links directly to your Google Reader account. I put in all of my search terms for the 5 or so items I'm looking for. Then, whenever those terms come up, I get an updated list on my Google Reader acct on which items are available without having to search Craigslist postings.

This was the method by which we were able to get our first piece of baby furniture last night at a fraction of the retail cost. I was very excited. What is it? A pack and play. Yes, this what-sa-whooz-it is a baby dumping ground play area, bassinet and changing table. Basically, it allows me to put the baby down without it rolling down the basement stairs or getting licked by the dog, it gives me a place to change the baby without hauling us all up a flight of stairs and it serves as a place where the baby can sleep right next to us until we figure things out (or are travelling -- since it packs up to the size of a tent).

Best of all, I just picked one and went with it. Mostly based on location of the seller than on style of the piece. Even better since there are less decorating or "color scheme" decisions for me to make, which I find overwhelming.



More pieces to come, but I love this easy way of letting deals come to me. Next on the list: crib, car seat and changing table for upstairs.

22 week update

Had my 22 week appointment today. All my tests are looking good. They heard the heartbeat (145 bpm) and even heard her kicking (sounds like belching on a doppler). I couldn't feel anything when we heard the "kicking" though. Should be anytime now.

I'm in the normal weight gain range (16 lbs so far) but gained 7 of the lbs in the last four weeks alone, which is a steeper curve than I've had in the past. Still normal, but it's something to keep an eye on, especially if this rate continues (which it won't or I'll be a whale come October). It's likely due to me not being able to get enough fruit. It is my favorite thing and all I want to eat right now (along with glasses of milk). Mangos, cantaloupes, bananas, watermelons, strawberries, even prunes. Yum. I ate an entire cantaloupe in one sitting this week.

I have another ultrasound scheduled for mid-June for them to check out a couple things that are normal but may cause complicatons down the road. One is placenta previa -- the baby's placenta is covering the opening to the cervix, which means C-section if it doesn't resolve itself. Mine's mild, so they think it will be fine. Another is a golf-ball sized fibroid in my uterine wall. It's not cancerous and is surprisingly common in 50-80% of all women. I had no idea it was even there. Some grow with pregnancy hormones, some shrink with hormones and some stay the same. So they're going to check which type mine is. I wonder if mine grows with cantaloupe. If so, we may be in trouble. Again, it probably won't cause any problems but since it can cause some serious complications, they're keeping an eye on it.

In all, thing are going well. My belly is noticeably bigger. I'm still feeling good although have had trouble sleeping the past two nights due to the warmer weather combined with the snoring of a certain loved one. I get tired a lot faster than I used to. And I'm getting winded by things that never used to bother me before. Like standing. It's difficult, apparently.

So for now, everything is going as scheduled. I'm trying to get as much done now as possible since my third trimester will be in the hot summer and I won't likely won't be able want to move. Plus, you never know what will happen -- our active neighbor was confined to bed rest for the last month since the baby kicked a tear in the placenta. And one of Rachel's coworkers gave birth 6 weeks early. So you never know. I just want to have my ducks in a row so I don't have to worry about it and can just focus on eating cantaloupe (with my feet up) instead.

Weekend in Review

I love long weekends. Especially ones that are sunny and not too warm. I go manic, which usually results in lots of projects. This one was no exception. Here's a recap of what we did this weekend:

Friday

• I worked from home today since it takes me 1.5 hours round trip to commute by bike. All of my work for Friday was on the computer so it worked out well. I finished around 3 and then cleaned our bedroom -- about 2 cats worth of hair that had accumulated under our bed from over the winter. Gross.
• Urethaning the porch screen doors -- Ken has always wanted wooden screen doors for our porches. When our front aluminum porch door busted (albeit two years ago), we pulled the trigger and ordered two unfinished douglas fir screen doors with storm panel inserts. I stained them last week and did the first coat of spar urethane this morning. I did the first coat on the other side around 5:30. Yes, I wore an organic vapor respirator.
  
• Laundry (the homemade laundry detergent works! I also started making my own dishwashing detergent, which also works! The latter was out of necessity since we ran out one day and we had a ton of dishes to do. A mix of two ingredients -- washing soda and borax in equal parts - and behold clean dishes and no trips to the store. We haven't purchased more store-bought since)
• Went to dinner with some friends at a new butcher shop/restaurant that opened tonight down the street. I bought 9 lbs of pork belly for making bacon/pancetta while we waited for a table. I like having a butcher shop nearby, although this one is a little expensive for everyday use.
  

Saturday

• Dirt piles moved. We planted potatoes and asparagus this spring - both of which require trenches. I dug both graves beds about a month ago, planted the veggies using fresh compost and had a lot of clay piled up on the side from where I dug. Earlier this week, I consolidated the two compost piles and incorporated the clay between layers in an effort to improve the soil for future use. It was a lot of moving but I finished the last of it this morning. Finishing moving the piles allowed room for me to lay down mulch....
  
• Yard of mulch installed. Ken picked up a yard of mulch at Mt Scott Fuel and I laid most of it while he worked on the doors. Before I laid the mulch in some areas...
• Moved plants into the new back bed. I scavenged our front shade bed for some "friends" to divide and move to the new (mostly empty) back bed. It now has a peony, two types of blueberries, swiss chard, beets, golden sage, a variegated lungwort, toad lilies, lady's mantle, two fuschias, daylilies, some grasses and a heuchera. I'm pretty proud of it. Once it was all down, I mulched the bed and watered well.
  
• Second coat of urethane on the porch doors. (Ken did this)
  
• Friend's barbecue at 4:30.

Sunday

• Ken began the long process of installing the porch doors. He started with the front door and installed new trim, hung the door, drilled and installed the latches, etc. It took most of the day but looks awesome.
• Meanwhile, I installed moulding in the basement to cover the areas where the drywall meets the floor. Ken and I shared the compound miter saw in the front yard. I was very proud of myself for mitering the corners, getting the cuts right and even using the angle scribe and jigsaw appropriately to cut around tough corners and notches. The floor moulding is now complete, meaning the office can now go down to the basement and we can start on the nursery.
• Window framing - While I had the saw out, I decided to fix the window that fell out in the snow this winter. I removed the 2x4 and packing tape holding everything in place, removed the glass and stripped it of paint/packing tape residue, cut some moulding for the inside frame and painted the window sill and frame to match the rest of the basement windows.
  
• At this point it was 7:30 and we were completely exhausted. We went for sushi and then went for bed. I miss eating fish and drinking beer.... especially after a long workday.

Monday

• So tired. My one cup of coffee a day just isn't cutting it. I am much slower today than yesterday. It took me a while to get started. I began by planting some more watermelons, cantaloupes, honeydew, pumpkins and delicata squash in our two back beds. I figure since I'm gettting bigger everyday, I won't be able to weed easily for too much longer and planting some large-leaf vining veggies that take over the garden will help out with that. Ken won't have much trouble harvesting the giant fruits and I'm hoping they'll keep the weeds down as they cover most of our garden. Plus, the pumpkins and winter squash can be harvested and kept for a while (meaning I won't have to do much processing when I'm 8 months pregnant).
  
• Installed the window moulding. The basement window moulding that I painted yesterday is now up. I am excited.
• Painting the garden windows - I love windows with the old wavy glass. Last year, I found some wooden windows on the side of the road with the old glass. I loaded them into the car and put them in the garage until I figured out a use for them. I decided to hang them on the fence around the garden as a way to bounce some light around. I painted them a dark bluish purple that we had leftover from our house's previous owners (to the groans of Ken -- "purple???"). Did 2 coats on each side. I have touch ups left to do and then they're ready to hang. Ken says he'll wait to make judgment on the color until he sees them in place.
  
• Glazing the basement windows -- now that the windows are clean, I stripped the frames of putty (not much) and re-inserted the glass using glazing points, putty and mineral spirits (yes, I wore gloves). Now both basement windows have properly glazed windows that can't be removed with a piece of tape. It will take 7-14 days for the putty to cure.
• Fixed the umbrella -- one of the support pieces snapped in the wind about 2 years ago. I promised myself I'd fix it but never got to it last year. So I got some mending plates and wood glue and went to work. After Ken heard cursing, he came to help me with the second half of it. Sadly, the drill was getting too heavy for me to hold by the end of the day. He finished installing the last of the screws and attached the clamps while it dries overnight.
  
• Grilled out and I was in bed before dark. I tried my hardest to make it until dark, but it was pointless. I went to bed at 9:08. Staying up those last 8 minutes was hard.
  

Tuesday

• I am happily back at work. I don't think I have the energy for another long weekend like that. But I'm very happy for what we accomplished.
• Tonight Ken is removing the porch screen doors so I can paint the new trim to match the rest of the house. (I found a quart of matching paint in the seconds department of Rodda Paint for $1! I was excited).
• Ken is subbing for a friend's softball team
  
• In addition to the porch trim, I also plan to finish touch ups on the garden windows, put up the umbrella and paint the mending plates black to match the rest of the umbrella wood.

Teaching teens genetics and phenotypes at the expense of our unborn child

Our teacher friend, Alyson, collaborated with the science teacher next door on what kids look like based on traits of the parents. Alyson asked for pictures of Ken and I and put the teens to work. They use software that was lent to them by the FBI. Here are the pictures we submitted and the result of what they think Katie will look like.

The pictures we submitted:


Larger view of the result:


Kind of fun, kind of terrifying to see it on paper. I think she looks like Kristen Herman mixed with a Slater (family friends of ours). For all the happy pictures that went in, she kind of looks sad. Maybe that's because she fears for the humiliation that will come with years of posting all sorts of photos of her on the blog. Smart girl, after all.

Thankful for Food Poisoning

I got food poisoning last night from some leftover Indian food I had for lunch. It tasted fine but apparently my body didn't agree. I was at Ken's softball game at 7 when my stomach pains started (4 hours after eating). I thought it was the baby kicking for the first time. As the pains got stronger, I started fearing for the rest of my pregnancy because I don't know if I could take the daily pain of such "kicks". For better or worse, I learned two ways that it was my body revolting from what I ate. I have never been so happy for food poisoning.

Parents Visit Recap

My parents left yesterday - bound for California, Zion National Park, Vegas, Denver, etc. They plan to get back to Pennsylvania on Friday. We had a great trip. Lots of chatting and catching up, mainly over plants or while sitting outside. Some of my highlights include:

Their arrival & hats
Friday. It was great to see them pull up. My mom soon pulled out three very sweet hats that she knitted herself. One yellow, one yellow/white stripes, one white. They are in increasing sizes -- the largest fit me, the smallest fits a newborn. Very sweet.

Maternity shopping
Saturday. My mom took me to do one of the things I hate the most. But we had fun. We went to a very sweet little resale shop on 26th & Clinton called Piccolina. They have maternity & baby clothes. It made shopping so much less scary.

Indian Night
The joys of many containers of Indian food and the family all around the table enjoying it.

The Big Reveal
On Monday morning, we found out we're having a girl. My folks were on their way to Seattle, Vancouver Island and Vancouver BC. When they found out it was a girl, they stopped at the Space Needle in Seattle and toasted with champagne. They sent me the following picture. The joys of being new grandparents-to-be:


Mask Night
Thursday. My folks came to our dodgeball game after spending the day in wine country. Our team had made luchador masks for the evening from our team t-shirts. (If anyone wants the pattern, I can get it for you from my friend. It took our entire team 5 hours to make them one night using two sewing machines and lots of beer). Anyway, it was great having my folks there to see us all. (Note: Ken's in black, I'm #3 under the flag)


Work Visit, New Clothes & Plant Night
My folks took a ride on the new Portland Aerial Tram and visited me at work. They said I was blushing as I showed them my office, etc. After they left, they stopped by Piccolina on the way home (my mom was dying to go back since she found out it was going to be a girl). When I got home, she had purchased several very sweet outfits in varying sizes (onesie, a blanket/sleeping bag-zipper thing that I would like to wear for cold nights, a couple of sweet outfits and an adorable pair of shoes that are probably my favorite of the bunch). Everything is so little. After the "fashion show", my mom and I went around the yard and dug up lots of "friends" for her to take home to her yard. I think she has 20 gallons of perennials in the back of the car. Now we'll be able to look at the same plants when we look out of our windows.

Golf Day
My mom, dad, brother, Ken and I went to Edgefield to play 20 holes of golf on Saturday (par 3 course with lots of beer). It was a beautiful day. We got to relax while mom and Ken competed against each other to be the first to get par. Mom was the first, though Ken is quick to point out he was the first to get birdie (albeit after Mom's par). I almost got a hole-in-one which would have allowed me to have chickens (per Ken's and my standard bet). As a result, Ken almost had a heart attack on the course.

Mother's Day
Brunch of dutch babies and bacon. More plant "friends" for my mom. Watched Ken's kickball game. My folks packed for their next day departure. Then we grilled out and had homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert. A simple, but delicious mother's day.

Departure Day
Not really a highlight, but they're happy to be heading back to their house with lots of wine and "friends". They'll be back for 2 weeks in October, just after the baby is born. Due date is Oct 4th, they're arriving on the 8th. I can't believe that we'll have a kid in less than five months.

Ultrasound - 18 weeks

Here are the pictures from our 18 week ultrasound on Monday. Enjoy.

Overall view


Head


Heartbeat (was 153 bpm that day). I love the waveform.


Showing us her "girl parts". Apparently, she has 6 million eggs already formed at this point. They're called "oogonia" at this point; they'll develop further as she gets older. But it's crazy to me that they're already there.


Little feet. This picture reminds me of Kristen and how she always takes pictures of her feet up with a beer when she's on vacation.

There are more pictures but these are the ones that look unique to me. My blood tests still look good -- I'm very nervous for gestational diabetes which would limit my berry intake this summer and make me very sad. But, so far, so good. I've gained 9 lbs so far (average range is 10-13 lbs). My pants no longer button. I've found Emily's belly band has saved me. (Belly band is basically a wide elastic band that goes around your abdomen and allows you to wear your normal pants unbuttoned/unzipped in public without getting arrested). It's surprisingly comfortable and I think I will wear it to future Thanksgivings (for my mashed potato and stuffing baby).

Baby Ken

Ken's mom just sent me his baby pictures. So between mine and his, you'll get an idea of what sort of wrinkly, sweet, mischievous baby we'll have:

It's a GIRL!

We just found out. Everything looks great so far. Heartbeat is 153. She's a squirmer.

Weekend in Preview

My parents arrive today!

Looking forward to seeing them. They're driving cross country and will get in sometime between 3-5 pm. Andrew's meeting us for dinner and drinks at our place. Grilling and hanging out on the porch. I'm happy it's supposed to be sunny.

Haven't fully determined plans yet, but possibilities for the weekend include:

• Going to the Belgian Beer fest at Lucky Lab
  
• Going to Edgefield to play golf (and drink beer)
• I would love to take my dad to the Rebuilding Center
• I would love to take my mom to Portland Nursery
• I think my mom wants to go maternity clothes shopping at some point
• I know they want to see where my brother lives, works, etc.
  

They're in town for the next 10 days or so -- minus their weekday excursions to Vancouver BC, Seattle and Oregon wine country.

I can hardly wait to get off of work.