NOWFE Weekend

When Mom and Dad picked up the cats from our house on Wednesday, I actually decided to ride to NOLA with them. I spent some time with the two of them and got to see various friends and family.

But all I really did was eat! One of the meals I was most excited about was lunch with Dad, Jeff, and Scott on Thursday at Cochon Butcher (www.cochonbutcher.com). Jeff had been talking about it for months, so I’m glad it worked out for us to go. It’s a tiny little place around the corner from the much larger parent restaurant, Cochon, in the Warehouse District. Between the four of us we tried the cuban sandwich, the duck pastrami and gruyere sliders, the boudin, and the pancetta macaroni and cheese. All was delicious!

While in town I was also able to see my grandparents, have a great dinner with Karen at Sun Ray Grill, eat sushi (the non-raw kind!) with my dad, have a family dinner with my parents and Jeff and Erin, and see Sex and the City 2 with my mom and our friend Perry. (The movie was entertaining but not as good as the first one.) Whew!

Then on Saturday we went to the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (a.k.a. NOWFE; www.nowfe.com). Kenny and I had decided months ago that we were going to skip it this year on account of my pregnancy, but then my uncle came through with two free tickets. We had to take advantage of that because, after all, even though I couldn’t drink I could still eat!

As usual it was a great event. Most of the guys agreed on their favorite red in the room, an $85-a-bottle cabernet sauvignon from L’Aventure Winery in Paso Robles, CA. (Yes, I did try it...I had to! It was wonderful.) And there was lots more food this year than last, which was great for me. But of course we had to go out to eat afterwards anyway since most of the group focused on the wine, not the food. We finished up the night at Cafe Degas, and I promptly fell right asleep once my head hit my pillow. What a great weekend!

Farewell!

Our three weeks with the kitties went by way too fast for me. I loved having them with me every day…..I’m really going to miss them! My parents picked them up on Wednesday, so the house is officially Kenny’s and mine again. Here are some pics from their time with us:

Nursery Progress and Other Things

Kenny and I have made some decent progress on the nursery in the past week. We switched the guest room furniture to the middle bedroom so that the nursery is now mostly bare. Lots of free space for Kenny to work on putting the crib and dresser together! He made a start on the crib last night but didn’t quite get it finished. And in running a number of errands yesterday we were able to pick up a mattress to have that on hand and ready. However, after reading lots of reviews earlier today, the one we purchased may not be the best option, both in general and for the specific crib we have. I’m sure we’ll figure it out!

One of the places we went yesterday was Barnes and Noble. I was getting a little low on books and had a gift card to spend. Kenny actually dropped me off and went to get a few things from Sam’s while I browsed. Unfortunately, books aren’t his thing. I am hoping and praying this kid of ours likes to read.

I really shouldn’t be let loose in a bookstore by myself. I’m not sure how long I was there, but it wasn’t as long as I could have stayed had I been on my own. Still, even making a quick pass left me lugging a dozen books to the checkout. Our credit card took a hit, but at least I’m all set for a long time!

After finishing Still Life with Crows, I moved on to Stone Cold and am now into The World from Rough Stones. I’m struggling a bit with that one. It’s fairly long and a bit slow, set in England in the 1800s, and filled with hard-to-read dialogue between characters. I’m about halfway through and already looking forward to picking out my next conquest!

Honeymoon Scrapbook

This weekend I finally made myself sit down at my dining room table and start putting together our last scrapbook from our honeymoon. Kenny was gone all day Saturday and the weather here wasn’t the greatest, so it was a good excuse to get started. I finished the other two books a couple of years ago, and since our honeymoon was actually almost three years ago, the last one really needs to be completed! Plus I figure I won’t have ANY time once the baby arrives, so all the more reason to do it now.

I used to scrapbook a lot during high school and college but then it got to be too much for me to keep up with. However, I never got into the intense scrapbook mentality with all of the fancy paper, paints, and stickers. Just give me some colored paint pens or Sharpies, pictures, and maybe a few mementos from a trip, and I’m all set.

I figured Kenny’s and my honeymoon was special enough to document it in a special way, so I went back to my scrapbook roots. We honeymooned in Hawaii and went to three different islands, thus the three separate books. It was actually really fun to get back into it….looking at all of the pictures again reminded me just how much fun we had! And Scout, as you can see below, was a big help to me.

I’m not done yet, but I made great progress. Of course the last scrapbook is from the last island we visited (Kauai) and also where we did the most stuff. It’s going to be a big book!

Baby Updates

So Monday night of this week was a bit scary for Kenny and me: we ended up in the hospital. Let me first say that everything is fine with me and with the baby. I had been experiencing some bad stomach pains starting Sunday night that I thought may just be gas, but they got bad enough on Monday for me to call the emergency line. The doctor on call told me to come in so labor could be ruled out, so Kenny and I headed over to the hospital. I wasn’t extremely worried since I was still feeling the baby move, but it was still a scary situation not knowing what was really going on.

Three hours, a few tests, and a lot of waiting later, it was determined I have an oh-so-common-during-pregnancy bladder infection, and that is what’s causing some of my pain. Fun! I’m on a 5-day course of antibiotics, which should clear it up and give me some relief. The only good thing about the night was that we got to see what the labor and delivery suites are like a little early: very spacious and nice!

I was also glad my next appointment with my doctor was this week so I could fill her in on everything that had happened. I saw her yesterday and she reassured me that we did the right thing by going in and that the medication I’m on is perfectly safe and the right one for the job. And she told me that my pain also stems from my stomach muscles and ligaments continuing to stretch and tear to accommodate my growing uterus. So while the pain probably won’t go away completely when the infection clears up, at least I know the baby isn’t affected at all by it.

Everything else went well at the appointment. My blood pressure is still within normal limits (128/88), I’m still gaining weight at a nice pace, and the baby’s heartrate is still going strong. I don’t have the results of the glucose test yet, but it wasn’t that bad at all. The stuff tasted like red Koolaid on steroids, but I managed to get it down in the time allotted pretty easily. Fingers crossed that I pass!

Mother’s Day Weekend

Kenny’s parents, brother, and nephew came over to our house this past weekend so we could spend some quality Mom Day time together. There was a little art festival here in town called The Big Easel, and we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather outside walking around looking at all of the local art. We had a great time viewing the artists’ work, and then we took a break for a late lunch outside at Cafe Roma. What a great way to spend an afternoon!

We found two artists that we really liked, but this girl’s work was especially impressive. She takes pages from newspapers, transfers them to canvas, and then paints a huge fleur-de-lis over everything. Such a cool way to remember the most awesome season in Saints football history!

After the art festival everyone came back to the house to hang out the rest of the afternoon. Kenny had put a pork shoulder on the smoker at 6am that morning, and we had that along with potato salad, homemade baked beans, and grilled corn for dinner. Delish!

The next day Kenny and I decided to continue our weekend of relaxation and go see a movie, Iron Man 2. It was very good, but not quite as good as the first. There are lots of great movies coming out this month, so I was glad to get one crossed off my list!

Happy Mom Day!

To all of my friends and family out there who are moms, but especially to my own mom, a very Happy Mother’s Day! And even though I’m not officially a mom myself yet, Kenny still came home on Friday from work with a gorgeous bunch of flowers for me. Thank you, Sweetheart! Many thanks also to all of the people who sent cards my way in honor of this occasion; I was touched to be remembered. Happy Mother’s Day! 

24 Week Belly Pic

Here’s my second belly picture, taken at 24 weeks. I can’t believe the difference four weeks makes! My belly doesn’t seem like it’s gotten that much bigger, but the pictures sure don’t lie!

I’m still feeling good and managing to keep up with my walking 3-5 times a week. However, it’s definitely starting to get hot out there. But this past week I was surprisingly up and out really early, and it’s so much nicer walking at 6:30 as opposed to 9! Kenny even came with me twice; he’s such a good husband.

Look for more updates late next week. My next doctor’s appointment is on Wednesday, when I’ll have to take the glucose test. Fun, fun! Hope I don’t forget my book…..

Book Update

Wow. I haven’t posted anything on my reading hobby since October! The last thing I wrote about was the Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon. I finished the latest installment, An Echo in the Bone, fairly quickly considering it’s a lengthy 832 pages. And Ms. Gabaldon did not disappoint…she picked up the story right where the last book ended and completely left me wanting more. What started out as a supposed trilogy has turned into (at least) eight spectacular novels. Too bad I’ll most likely have to wait a year or more for the next one!

Since finishing Echo I have read a dozen additional books (that I can remember). What can I say? Since my only job these days is to grow the baby, that leaves me with lots of free time! Here’s a list of what I’ve read since October:

1. The Grave Tattoo (V. McDermid)
2. Scarpetta (P. Cornwell): the 16th book in one of my favorite crime series.
3. Terminal Freeze (L. Child)
4. Red River (L. Tademy): same author as Cane River, which was much better, IMHO.
5. Grave Goods (A. Franklin)
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (S. Larsson): excellent; can’t wait to read the next in the series and see the movie!
7. Fluke (C. Moore): incredibly strange and kooky yet somewhat enjoyable.
8. Eat, Pray, Love (E. Gilbert): surprisingly (to me) very good.
9. The Forgotten Garden (K. Morton)
10. First Family (D. Baldacci)
11. The Senator’s Wife (S. Miller)
12. The Bodies Left Behind (J. Deaver)

I’m now into Still Life with Crows, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The main character, Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI, is a favorite of mine, so I was glad to find this book in my stash of un-reads. There are also two more books featuring Pendergast that I have on my list to acquire, as well as the newest in Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta series. One thing’s for certain: I am never lacking for things to read!

Beer Review

I just realized I left out a very important piece of information from my crawfish boil post......Kenny's beer was a hit that day! No one wanted to drink the keg of Bud Light we also had; instead everyone migrated inside for homebrew refills from the kegerator. And yes, I did sample both brews (a Belgian blonde and a Fat Tire clone) and they were very tasty. I think these two batches were his best, made all the more evident by them being completely gone by Sunday! I wonder what he'll decide to take on next.....Lord knows he's getting tired of drinking Bud Light!

Small Steps and Feline Friends

This past weekend was the laziest we have been in weeks. It was so nice! The weather was pretty overcast and a little dreary on Saturday, so Kenny and I thoroughly enjoyed lounging on the couch and watching a mini “Deadliest Catch” marathon on tv. LOVE that show.

Sunday was a bit more productive, at least for Kenny. He had been promising me for weeks that he would get into our back bedroom that we use as an office and clean up the disaster area it had become. This was important for a number of reasons, but most of all because it’s the first step in us being able to put together the nursery. The current guest room furniture will be moved to the middle bedroom, and the stuff in the middle bedroom needed to be moved to the office, so the current guest room can be turned into the nursery. Follow all of that?

Anyway, Kenny started the process on Sunday. He cleaned up the office (who knew we actually had carpet in there?) and got the bed and bookcase from the middle bedroom moved back there. Yay, small steps of progress! And…….he got the changing table put together! Don’t worry; I’ll make sure he keeps it firmly on the ground when the baby is occupying it. :)

Sunday’s highlight for me was the arrival of two furry feline houseguests. Kenny and I are watching my parents’ two kitties while they are out of town for a while. Jeff was in Houston this past weekend and brought Jem and Scout to us on his way back to NOLA. They’ve been here less than 48 hours, but I’m already loving it. It’s so nice to have some company during the day! I’ve gotten some lap time with both of them, but they’re still getting their bearings and checking out their new digs.

Jem is the orange one and Scout is the tabby. And they’re actually both in the picture below….can you spot Scout?

I already don’t want them to leave……Mom, can I keep them? Pretty please?