24 & 25 Weeks!

24 Weeks...

and 25 Weeks...

Still cookin'!

Matt's Pal, Linc

Matt had a really big success at work in the last week!  After HOURS and hours of work, he's nearly-single-handedly compiled the largest comprehensive report on women and homelessness for the state of RI!   It looked fantastic and everyone at his job was thrilled with the results.

Today was the celebratory tea for women in the state and the governor, Lincoln Chafee, introduced the report and the event.  Matt snapped this photo of the governor himself reading Matt's very report!

SO proud!!

Farewell Auburn!

I decided to make a cake this weekend for my last rotation EVER!! I made this two layer golden butter cake with vanilla buttercream icing, topped with a fondant cow and vet cadusus.

War Eagle

On Friday, Gene Chizik stopped by the vet school during CPC. A student in my class put together a presentation for him, showing how we named all of our dairy calves after the Auburn starting line up. Since we only keep the females, we came up with some creative names. Miss Darvine for Darvin Adams and Gina for Gene Chizik himself. He found all of this very humorous and seemed impressed with the vet school and our support for his tigers. At the end of the presentation, we went outside where he fed Gina her afternoon milk!

Lion Mania!

I am on ophthalmology right now and we went to the Montgomery Zoo to look at a lion. The lion's name was Daniel and he was 19 yrs old ( thats pretty old for a lion). The zoo vet and lion keeper darted him with sedatives and then used a mask with gas anesthesia to keep him asleep. After we looked at his eyes, one of the zoo workers was cleaning his teeth (she had to take the mask off to do this, pretty stupid). Daniel started twitching and when she went to put the mask back on him, his eyes were open and he growled! Very scary! Needless to say, we all went running. No one was hurt so it was a great day. We also toured the zoo on a golf cart. Overall an awesome day!

In the Kitchen

I spent a chunk of today in the kitchen—I just felt like making yummy things, for no apparent reason!  I made coconut chicken fingers…

and red velvet cupcakes!

The chicken fingers were a super easy Cooking Light recipe : dredge some tenderloins or sliced chicken breasts in flour, egg & buttermilk, and coconut and pan fry until golden.  Easy!  I dipped them in a sweet Thai chile sauce from the grocery store.

The cupcakes were the standard red velvet recipe I usually use.  It’s on FoodNetwork.com and I think it might be Paula Deen, if the cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar frosting is any indication.  Matt and I each had to sample one of course and they got a thumbs up from both of us!

20 Weeks!

Here we are at 20 weeks (these are from last week—sorry I’m behind!)!  Halfway, halfway, halfway! 

I feel great lately and am definitely in the “honeymoon” period of pregnancy.  I finally look pregnant instead of like I’ve hit the beer & pizza too often, but I’m not enormous yet (still holding at about 10-12 lbs gained).

Dear Baby,

A few super exciting things have happened in the last couple of weeks.    I finally felt you move for the first time (I think…) and it’s so exciting to know that you’re healthy and growing and sometimes kicking me in the side or sitting on my bladder—at least that’s what it feels like. :) 

I also feel like you’ve made your first debut to the world since I actually look pregnant now and people notice and ask about you!  Already, you’re hogging the spotlight, but I think we’ll be happy to get used to that. 

We’ve been looking for a new place to live as well—one that we can call our own and decorate and set up just perfect for our new little family.  We can’t wait to find the right place and get everything ready for you.  Of course, it might be that it takes until after you arrive, but either way, it’s going to be great.

Keep cooking little June Bug!

Love, Your Mama

19 Week Ultrasound

Here is our latest (and possibly last) ultrasound, taken this morning at 19 weeks!

I was pretty nervous going in as I haven’t really gained any weight in about seven weeks and have yet to feel certain movement from the baby, but everything was perfect.  Brain, heart, bones, everything looks great!

Baby was all curled up Indian-style, so the tech had a really hard time getting any pictures, and also probably wouldn’t have been able to tell us the sex even if we had wanted to know (which we don’t!).  The pic on the left shows his/her little hand up in front of the face and the pic on the right is more of a profile shot.

19 Weeks!

Some stats…

Weight Gain: holding strong at 10 lbs overall….I haven’t gained a thing since Week 12.
Stretch Marks: none!
Sleep: tough going for the last few weeks, but seems to have improved.  I can still sleep on my back and belly, so that helps
Movement: potentially, but I haven’t felt anything that I knew was the baby, so I’m going to say not yet.

Dear Baby,
It’s hard to believe how much you’ve already grown and changed in just a few weeks!  Seeing you on the ultrasound today made me cry immediately because I was so  relieved you were doing okay.  It’s crazy how much you’re moving around in there and that I can’t feel any of it yet!  We got to see your tiny fingers and feet and even though your little face still looks like an alien, we know you’ll be adorable before long. :) 
The ultrasound technician commented on your “chunky little thighs” so it looks like you might take after your Mama in that area.  Your brain and heart all look perfect and we were so relieved.  You weigh about 9 ounces and have a strong little heartbeat so keep up the good work!  Your daddy was so cute, holding my hand during the scan so I know he was relieved as well. 

Keep cooking, little bug!

Love, Your Mommy

NOLA Service Trip 2011

I thought you all might enjoy just a few pictures from our service trip to New Orleans this year!  I didn’t take very many, except of individual students working, but here are a few…

Aren’t they a good-looking group?  We had a fantastic time and they’re really some of the best students I could dream of working with, on and off-campus.  As you can tell, we had a good mix of work and play and painted three different houses, visited with several religious, environmental, development, and educational organizations, ate beignets, po’boys, and plenty of gumbo, spent time in reflection, conversation and prayer, and even got to hike in the bayou, see a jazz show, and wander the French Quarter!

National Champs Baby!

War Eagle! After all the hype, Auburn pulled a win at the national championship game. We watched the game with our friends and then went down to Toomer's corner, which was INSANE! As you can see from my pictures it was really hard to even back up to take a picture let alone stand in one place and not be pushed around by the thousands of people. Despite the crowd it was really exciting to be part of this event. The last time Auburn won a championship was over 60 years ago!

Christmas 2010

A good time was had by all. Lots of food, stuff to drink and tons of family bonding. We had a full house and laughed a little so all in all I deem it to be a successful Christmas for 2010.

Angie gets a gift for future use. I remember when we had to put socks on her little hands to keep her from scratching her face.

Daniel shows his engineering side by organizing his stocking stuffers into a proportional grid. Very neat!

A pensive group photo before we got started. Everyone's wondering just what weirdness they might find in their stockings this year. I really like this shot. You can just see the anticipation in everyone's face. And we haven't even done our yearly shot yet!

Grandma gets her lifelong wish - to root for a national championship team! Sorry UK and Brown. You gotta admit she looks like a War Eagle!