Updates

Howdy readers (are you still out there?!),

Things are good here in my world, the baby girl is growing rapidly (only 6 weeks left!) and I have reached the insatiable hunger/uncomfortable part of the pregnancy! Sleeping is minimal (practice for when she arrives?!), muscles ache... typical pregnancy symptoms. But I am still upbeat and I have a lot of energy which has been directed at nesting- either through bedroom renovations or baking! (*photo from the beginning of September, I am bigger now!)

It is pumpkin season (my favorite baking ingredient!!) so I have already made 2 batches of pumpkin muffins! I have not made any pumpkin pies (whoopie or other) or pumpkin cookies yet, but those are on the to-do-list.

I also made my first ever carrot cake! I followed the Cook's Illustrated recipe (to the letter!) and it turned out very well. Although the next time I will surely be including raisins (the recipient whose birthday it was, did not like raisins in their carrot cake!).

Other than that, not much else is new here. I have recently been given the opportunity to think about foods pregnant women like to (or hate to eat), so I thought I would sum up my vague conclusions here (readers- feel free to add in your comments too):

Primarily, I hated the smell of food being cooked. Any food. If food appeared in front of me I could (usually) eat it. So in the beginning, it was mostly microwaveable items, no cook foods (cereal), toasted bread products and generally very bland items. Anything that left any taste in my mouth was eliminated (no coffee, garlic or onions- 3 of my favorite things!).

Carbs. Carbs are a safe bet for early pregnancy- plus they do not smell strongly when you cook them. Veggies were out- I handled frozen string beans well enough, but other than that I could not stomach any other veggie.

Processed foods are a safe bet as well. Don't ask me why, but I have never loved "childhood" foods so much: animal crackers, cheese sticks, sweet yogurts, ice cream, mac and cheese (from a box!), peanut butter and jelly, hot dogs, and pizza.

I also loved fruit throughout the whole pregnancy, but I have friends who could not even look at fruit in the beginning.

After week 16-- things started improving gradually and now I eat salad with gusto (when I can find the will to make myself one), decaf coffee is back in, I can eat complex flavored meals, and I cant eat A LOT!

I would find in the beginning I would have to eat many small meals throughout the day, and if I ate too much I would get terribly uncomfortable. That stopped after week 14ish but is now back again (much less room for the stomach to expand now!).

Those were my basic thoughts. Feel free to add in yours! Above is the King Pup ready to help open presents at my baby shower- he has no idea what is in store!!