Updates

I should really be packing right now. We are going to be leaving in 2 hours to go camping, and my clothes and things are not packed.

But instead I find myself here. :D

Hope you're okay with that.

Just a couple things I want to share:

1. On Tuesday, July 20th I felt the baby move very clearly. It was after work at about 3:50 or so. I was sitting waiting for my bus. I leaned back and relaxed, and felt the little one doing acrobatics. It truly felt like he had hold of a bar and was twirling around and around it. The sad thing is, that since Tuesday, I haven't sat down long enough to even begin to feel baby move again. I have a long car ride today, so hopefully baby isn't asleep. (now, though as I write this, I'm feeling little tickles. :D )

2. I'm truly starting to show. I really need to show pictures, but that will have to wait until after the weekend. I can no longer fit in my own pre-pregnancy shorts/jeans/capris unless I leave them partially zipped and unbuttoned. I bought a Belly Band from Target, to help hold up my clothes, and it works well. (it is not the one pictured here, and was about $10 cheaper.)

I went to the Supermall to buy some maternity clothes and found the cheapest, best selection at Burlington Coat Factory. My cousin informs me that Ross, also has some maternity clothes, (I thought she had said Marshall's, but the one in Supermall did not have one). I have not made it to Ross yet. I'll wait a bit longer before going again. I do still have some pre-pregnancy shirts that fit just fine. Mostly because of the style that they are. I like wearing really loose fitting clothes that are about a size too big, so they still fit.

And also, people are beginning to notice the belly. At work I still fit into most of my scrub tops. (Some have been retired, because they fit, but I cannot get into the pockets in the front, so, I figure, what's the point?) However, I "fit" in my scrubs, you can still see what could be a firm fat roll, or a baby bump. Most people don't say anything, but when I mention it, they let out a sigh of relief and say "I thought you looked pregnant." Scrubs are very unflattering things, you see. :D

3. Last night, I was up until 1:00am. I hope that it was worth it. :D I made two of the very first pies I've ever made independently! I have made many pies in my day, don't get me wrong. But there has always been a key person there to help: my mom. She has always been the pie Queen. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas season (back as far as I can remember) she has made the pies for my family gatherings. When most of my father's family moved over to the Spokane area, she still made pies, but usually fewer than before.

Jess and I, in high school, got together several summers to pick blackberries and bake pies. We made miniature pies for everyone in our families, and they all got to pick what filling they wanted. My mom helped us on the crust. She prepared it, and helped us to roll it out etc. I'm sure we eventually did it ourselves once she reminded us how to do it. (I've been watching her make these pies all my life, so it was always easier to let her do it for me.)

This summer, I made a peach pie using store bought crust. It was scrumptious. But even then, my mom helped with key steps: she peeled the peaches, she helped me with assembling the crust when I asked, she taught me the proper heating method that she uses (15 minutes at 425, then 45-60 minutes at 325), she basically walked me through the process.

Last night, I called her once to remind myself of the proper heating method, and to ask for the ingredients in the pies (because the cookbooks I have are terrible and don't have the ingredients for fresh peach pie.) That was all I needed. She had already taught me the basics, and without her there to lean on, I stood pretty well on my own. I used the recipe found here. I found it to be relatively easy to work with, in that it did not stick, crack, crumble or rip. It got the job done pretty easily. It just took a while for it to get soft enough that I could roll it. The recipe calls for the dough to be refrigerated, which is something that is new to me. But because it is made with butter, which softens pretty quickly at room temperature (compared to shortening) I understand why it should be kept cold. The beautiful thing about this dough is, you can make it, portion it out, store it in the fridge, and then prepare your fruit. If you are like me, it will take you an hour to peel every last apple and peach. Then, you have to cut them up. :D I used a carrot peeler to peel my apples, because I am awful with a paring knife, and it worked extremely well. If you pull, as you would with a paring knife, instead of push away as you do with a carrot, it goes pretty quickly. It took me about 3 apples to realize this. :D

I hope my pies taste as scrumptious as they look. Pictures will come...I hope.

4. Today we will leave to go camping. I am still pretty nervous. Though I have made a sort of peace (I mistyped "peach" instead of peace...haha.) with it. I have decided that I will have fun if it pains me. I'm sure at times I will be not nice but I am going to try to be a good girl. It helped me to have Bret tell his friends that if they wanted a monte cristo in the morning they would need to bring turkey, ham and bread. I would provide the eggs and cheese. This way, if they don't bring it, I won't feel as bad for them as we are all scarfing down our beautiful, warm, sweet breakfast sandwiches. They can look on with all the longing in their eyes, and I won't feel a pang of guilt, because I warned them. I buy the expensive lunch meat, dang it! I cannot pay to feed an army! :D