Eat It Up with a Spoon

At Lucy's 4-month check up, the pediatrician said we could start spoon feeding Lucy  some rice cereal mixed with breast milk. He said it was about getting her used to texture rather than supplementing her diet for nutritional reasons. So we tried it. Lucy loved the spoon--she was willing to sip breast milk or herbal tea from a spoon--but she kept spitting out the rice cereal. We tried it again a few days later and a time or two after that, but she didn't like it.

I did let her start tasting liquids: beef broth, fresh lemon juice, Candycane Lane herbal tea. She liked them all. So when she showed interest in my pureed squash soup, I gave her a little. She loved it! She even sucked the dried bits off the spoon. I was impressed, especially since I had added sweet curry powder to the soup to make it more interesting. (There's a certain line of cooks in my family who like to experiment to make things "interesting.") The next day I added more curry powder to my soup, and when she tried it, she still really liked it. The next day I had ginger carrot soup, which she also liked. That's how I figured out that she just didn't like plain rice cereal. After that she tried and liked cran-apple and cran-grape juices. I would have thought the cranberry would be too bitter, but she thought it was great. So we decided it was OK to try solids other than rice cereal.

Avocado
When we went out for Mexican food, Lucy wanted to eat, too, so I mashed up some of the avocado that Matt didn't want on his fish tacos. Success! We took the leftover avocado home and fed it to her for a few days. I even tried mixing some rice cereal into the avocado, and she ate it.

Oatmeal Cereal
On my sister Kristin's advice, I bought Lucy some baby oatmeal cereal. Unlike the rice cereal, she would eat that plain.

Sweet Potatoes
Next I mashed some sweet potatoes for her. She wasn't impressed even after I added curry powder. We'll try it again sometime.

Peaches
I looked at what baby food flavors Kroger had that looked good. I bought two jars each of peach and mango. They sounded good to me. We tried the peach, and Lucy liked it. I then tried mixing in some oatmeal cereal, and that was a huge hit. It makes sense. I really like Quaker's peach almond oatmeal and granola bars. A week or two later I served her a pouch version of peach baby food, and she ate the whole pouch in two days. She never eats that much. She really likes peaches.

Squash
Kristin had given me several jars of unopened baby food that my nephew Alton didn't need, so I got those out of the closet. Lucy liked squash baby food, especially with curry powder and rice cereal mixed in. It made her smell like an Indian restaurant, partially because she got it on her ear and under her chin and we didn't find it until bathtime.

Kiwi
At church on Sundays, we have food and fellowship after service. This week there was kiwi fruit, so I mashed up some of the part without seeds and fed it to her. She liked it. I watched her pretty closely after that one. I know of people with kiwi allergies. But Lucy had no reaction.

Apple
When we were at Target in Louisville, I bought some apple baby food in a pouch and got an attachable spoon. It's pretty handy for on-the-go feeding. I fed Lucy apples between shopping stops, and she loved it. However, she seems to have eaten too much and to have inherited my family's reaction to apples. She had the biggest diaper blow out ever. I had to clean poop off of her legs, down to her calves, before actually opening the diaper. So we're cautious with the apples now.

Mango
Lucy LOVES mango! Her first taste was a pineapple mango smoothie from McDonald's. The post-apple diaper blowout was cleaned up in a McDonald's bathroom, and it was so traumatic for both of us that I bought and shared a smoothie. She loved it. Several days later she was getting fussy at Walmart and we still had errands to run, so I bought and shared a mango juice drink. She loved it. And I bought a different mango juice brand on sale yesterday and put it in a cup with a straw. She learned to drink from a straw just so she could get to the mango juice. This morning I gave her some mango baby food. She's not a big fan of that. I can't blame her. It tastes really processed and not fresh, especially compared to the good mango drinks she's had.

Banana
Matt and I don't like bananas, so I tried really hard to sell them as yummy. I want her to like everything if possible. I don't want our preferences to limit her. But she doesn't like bananas much either. The first time she tried them, she spit them out. The second time she swallowed a little. And every time since she's mostly spit them out. I'll try mixing them with oatmeal and/or adding spices to see if we get a different result.

Carrots
She liked them just fine. The last time I served them with ginger powder mixed in, and she liked them even more.

Pears
She likes them. She makes faces when she eats them, but she keeps opening her mouth for more. That means she really likes them. The last time I served them with pumpkin pie spice mixed in. She liked her "fancy pears." I liked them, too.

Green Beans
Baby food green beans have the same problem as mango. All the happy vegetable freshness is missing. She ate green beans but wasn't excited about them. I tried mixing in garlic powder, but she didn't care. She hasn't eaten much baby food for a couple of days. I'm not sure if the problem is the food or her appetite. I'll certainly try green beans again. I thought the garlic helped them quite a bit.

Apple Blueberry
I expected a better response. She was willing to eat a little but wasn't eager. I tried mixing it with oatmeal and didn't get a better response. I'm not sure if it's appetite or taste preference that caused her lack of enthusiasm. I didn't push her to eat much. I remember the last apple incident.

What's Next?
Now that she's tried quite a few things, I can give her some mixtures that will allow her to try new foods with old ones we know she can tolerate. I've got jars or pouches of pear-spinach, carrot-corn, apple-guava, pear-peach-strawberry, and apple-broccoli. I also found some green pea and mint baby food at Big Lots. That's a classic combination I'd like to sample. I'll try other herbs and spices. I've got quite a few. Sage would be good with the squash. Perhaps cilantro in some avocado. I've considered making a tea of herbs and using it to thin the food instead of adding fibrous herbs directly to the baby food. I'll try cooking and mashing some fresh veggies to see if she likes that better than the jarred baby food. And who knows what we may come across at a restaurant. Ethiopian greens or cabbage? A taste of hummus or falafel? We're excited that she seems to be an adventurous eater because we like all kinds of food. Eventually, she should be able to eat produce from my garden: turnips, peas, green beans. That's one of the things I'm looking forward to most.

Taking Care of Myself is a Part-Time Job

I have a part-time secretarial job at a local Baptist church, and some semesters I add a second job when I teach a class at the university. The more I learn about human anatomy and physiology the more I believe that taking care of myself is an additional part-time job. Other people might be lower maintenance than I am. I have enough chronic conditions (depression, obesity, face herpes, plantar fasciitis, back injuries, etc.) that I have to keep an eye on that it takes quite a bit of energy to keep them all in check. For most of 2012, I didn't teach, so I only had one part-time job. I was able to do a pretty good job of taking care of myself. I stayed healthy (after the intestinal infection), learned to swim, lost 15 pounds, and felt really good. Then in November I took over a composition class when the chair of the English department died. During the 2 months from the time I started teaching until I got back from Christmas travels, I had gained back 10 of the pounds I'd lost, caught a respiratory ailment, and felt like a mess. Yes, Christmas isn't great for weight loss, but I was already in a downward spiral by the time the semester ended. I have developed the opinion that I cannot work two part-time jobs and take care of myself properly, especially when I'm trying to develop healthier habits. It's like three part-time jobs. So I'm glad I'm not teaching this semester. I've already had time to cook healthy meals and go swimming every couple days. I feel much better. And I'm looking forward to a spring semester and summer of good health and good habits. And gardening season is coming soon!

Sunny Days are Here Again

In my last post I said I planned to post more often. And then I got sick. I have kept a cold that turned into a sinus infection for a month. When it was obvious that it had turned into a sinus infection, I went to the doctor and got antibiotics and am feeling much better.  So now I am posting as promised.

My return to health is coinciding nicely with the return of warmer weather. And warm weather means gardening. I already have pictures.

Just before I got sick last month I started some herbs and lettuce under a grow light. I enjoyed gardening in my dining room so much that I bought another grow light. Here's my set up: Walmart grow lights with aluminum foil reflectors sitting on long free-standing wire shelves on the floor next to the dining room table. I put my aloe vera near the light to perk it up, too.

The plants have done well. I put them outside in a shady area for a little while this afternoon. They seem to like it.

I also checked on my previous soil bags and found herbs already growing. Parsley, dill, mint, and thyme are going strong.

I've also put out some new soil bags in hopes of foiling my arch-nemesis, bindweed. I dug a trench in the little front garden, lined it with weed retardant fabric and newspaper, and put soil bags on top. I'm not sure if it will work, but it's worth a try. I've already planted snap peas near the little fence in front of the garden. I plan to put in herbs and lettuce soon. I'll also prep the containers from last year to plant beets, radishes, carrots, and tomatoes. I will probably start seeds indoors again and hope for better results now that I have grow lights.

Now that I'm feeling better, I've also gone to the pool once and experimented with eggplant recipes (not at the same time, obviously). The ratatouille and moussaka I made were really good. We discovered that Matt has a slight sensitivity to eggplant. It made his mouth tingle. I researched and learned that eggplant is high in histamines. Since he's never had problems with eggplant in the past, I'm assuming that his allergy to Kentucky is making him more susceptible to allergic-like reactions to histamines. By that logic, I shouldn't eat eggplant in southern Arkansas or east Texas.

I've got to wrap this up now. I'm making waffles for lunch. The waffle maker is on the counter and is calling to me. I tried some Krusteaz waffle mix and thought it was great. Krusteaz does everything well. I've also got some past-their-prime strawberries to puree to put on top. Waffles with strawberries and puttering around barefoot in the garden sounds like a good afternoon.

Columbus Discovered Sales and Coupons

It had been more than a month since we last went to Elizabethtown, so we went this afternoon.  I had some really good coupons for Big Lots, Michael's, and Bed Bath & Beyond.  Matt bought comic books while I bought a few gifts.  Christmas is coming, and nieces and nephews are visiting soon.  I've been buying a few things to prepare for having company at Thanksgiving.  I bought glasses and looked at silverware because we don't have enough of either for lots of company.  This week I need to buy a sheet for our crib mattress.  The crib mattress on the floor seems like a good sleeping place for the "2-3 year old set," as I've been calling Audrey and Drew when discussing preparations for their visits.  It would also apply to our friends' son Eliot, so it's a useful phrase.  We've got some cleaning and some preschooler proofing to do around here, but we're pretty excited.

We also went to Aldi as we always do when we go to Elizabethtown.  We bought some chicken strips because they seem kid-friendly.  We also bought potstickers (steamed Chinese meat and veggie ravioli) and would be thrilled if they were a hit with the 2-3 year old set, but we love them and will eat them anyway.  I also bought (with a coupon) a pumpkin cookie cutter that came with some smaller cutters that can cut out eyes, nose and mouth to make it a jack-o-lantern cookie.  I also bought (with a coupon) a couple sterno cans to use with the fondue pot we got from Aunt Sandra.  Dipping things in cheese sauce seems kid-friendly.  We haven't had Beth, Mitch and Eliot over yet, so I'd like to have them over for fondue sometime.  I also got a squirt bottle so that I can try making pancakes in fun shapes.  I loved it when Grandma Natta did for me growing up.  We've got toys and books, and I'm looking into activities.  I don't know what the adults will do, but the kids will have fun.

The DIY Life for Me!

Gardening has led to a renewed interest in all my crafty hobbies.  I've been cooking things with my produce and am looking for more recipes to use the bounty of green beans and squash that has already begun.  I made green bean fries in the oven.  Other than being a little salty because of the extra garlic salt I added, they were really good.  And yesterday I made a potato squash gratin that I wouldn't mind eating every day.  I made watermelon granita with the half a melon Aunt Donna and Uncle Johnny sent home with us from vacation.  And I made peach sorbet (in a couple of Ziploc bags) with the peaches that were more soft than I care for.  I like my peaches firm enough to pull cleanly away from the pit.  Anything softer used to sit in the fridge until it was shriveled and moldy, but now it can become peach sorbet.

I've bought a storage tub to use for my own compost heap.  It's first use will be as a trash can until we can buy the style we like from Walmart.  Someone stole out old garbage can while we were on vacation.  And I've begun to suspect Walmart since the garbage cans were in stock on Monday but not on Wednesday.  I think they've been going around stealing cans to increase demand for garbage cans.  Ingenious!  :)  The $4 storage bin has a lid to keep critters out, so it will give us an OK place to put the trash.  And it doesn't matter if it gets stinky because I'm just going to fill it with newspaper, grass clippings, and vegetable rubbish for my compost heap.

I've started my ABC quilt made from the fabric from Matt's holey plaid boxers.  I think I'm going to try altering a cheap Walmart t-shirt into a shirt with more shape and style.  I've found a pattern for an easy blanket to crochet.  My friend Beth knits and is teaching our friend Susie.  We could start a knitting club.  They are both thrifty, crafty people, so we have a lot in common.  And their garden plots border mine.  Susie asked me the other day if I'd like to go to a one-day class on canning.  Sure!

I've been cleaning and organizing the house.  I've still got a long way to go, but I'm making progress.  I've also been reading a lot of blogs about thriftiness, crafting and green living.  I'm not passionate about saving the planet (I care, but I'm not passionate), but green sites have great ideas for reusing things you already own, which is thrifty.  I'm working up to a big de-cluttering.  I like the idea of streamlining my life by owning less stuff, but I'm a hoarder.  We'll see how it goes.

The other day I told Matt that I keep getting distracted from organizing because of all of the blogs about organization that I've found.  :)  He said that would be in his top 10 quotes that describe me.  Oh how well he knows me!  

A Busy Week for Me and My Garden

Last week we were on vacation in Sevierville, Tennessee.  We have no pictures of our trip to Dollywood because the camera would have been a pain to keep up with, but we do have photos of a few other activities.

On Tuesday, we went to an educational activity center called Wonder Works.  Some of the most fun activities--dancing for two different camera systems that alter the images--weren't photographed, but the bubble lab gave us some great photos.  And we like the picture of me in the space suit.  More photos are on my Picasa site.

On Friday night Matt and I went to dinner with Ashley.  Sevierville is the hometown of Dolly Parton; a statue of her is in front of the courthouse.  Ashley is a big fan of Dolly Parton, so we went to the courthouse to have our pictures taken with Dolly.  Then we ate at an Asian buffet with sushi and hibachi.  Then we went to the world's largest "as seen on TV" store.  I think they figure "largest" by store size and not number of "as seen on TV" items.  We didn't buy any TV items (I counted at least 11 that I already own), but we got an octopus and a hedgehog for our unusual stuffed animal collection.  After we got back to the condo, Ashley, Grandma and I put on face masks.  It was hard to keep from smiling and making the mask slide down our faces.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to Knoxville to shop at used bookstores.  The best was McKay, which is a used book, movie and music superstore.  We thought we were in the wrong parking lot when we arrived because it was so busy.  We've never seen a bookstore so big or popular.  We also went to a used music and movie store that had fun refrigerator magnets and toys.  Matt got a set of four literary finger puppets, including Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens.  He uses such things to decorate his office at school and as show and tell for his classes.

We stopped at Carpe Librum (love the name!) and didn't buy anything, but they had a big piece of paper in the bathroom on which people had written favorite restaurants.  We asked the people working at the store about the restaurants and chose King Tut's.  They had told us the food is delicious and it's an experience.  They weren't joking.  We arrived at the tiny Egyptian restaurant after parking in an empty lot and discovered it was almost full because of an engagement party being held there.  We were seated by Moe, the owner.  He took our drink orders and filled two vases with Matt's Dr Pepper and my water.  He handed us menus, saying "I highly recommend the Greek salad and an Egyptian sampler to share."  We browsed the menu anyway and saw that by the Greek salad it says something like "Moe highly recommends it." :)  So we followed his recommendations and had a super meal.  I think we'd eat there every day if we could.  The Greek salad was covered with feta cheese and herbs.  The hummus and grape leaves and falafel and all the things I didn't recognize were yummy.  Moe took a music request from the groom-to-be and blared reggae-style Christmas music, which everyone sang along to even if they, like Moe, only knew the fa-la-las of Deck the Halls.  The groom was also allowed to wear the pharaoh headdress while slow dancing to the Christmas music with his fiancee.  Matt wore the headdress later, and I took his picture.  The walls are covered with bumper stickers, colorful lights and a stoplight.  Moe offered to do a magic trick if all three of the guys next to us ordered dessert, but one guy was too full.  I almost bought him dessert just so I could see the magic trick.  We got baklava for dessert, and left happy.

On Saturday, we checked out of the condo and stopped in Knoxville again on the way home.  We ate Indian food and went to two Big Lots (a.k.a. The Happiest Place on Earth).  After we had gotten home and unpacked a little, Matt took me to the garden.  It had grown wildly.  I no longer have rows to walk down because of how big the plants were.  My green peas were twice as tall and blossoming.  My green bean plants were growing at least one tiny bean (below and slightly to the right of the flower).  The green onions are almost big enough to use.  I picked enough basil to make pesto sauce for supper.  I've got to go to the garden again tomorrow to pick more for my pasta salad.  We're having friends over tomorrow for a supper of pasta salad with chicken, tomato, basil and feta and some watermelon granita for dessert.

Pre-April 1 Assurance of Truth

Neil's next measurement ultrasound is tomorrow, which is April Fool's Day.  Whatever I report will be true.  Week 38 is no time for joking in my opinion.  I'm still expecting Neil to be an active 6-pound baby.

I've had some ideas about arranging the nursery, so I'm hoping Matt and I can do that this evening.  I've got all my state tax forms for Wisconsin and Kentucky filled out, and I plan to make copies and take them to the post office tomorrow morning.  It will be good to cross that off my list.  The freezer is stocked with easy to prepare meals for at least two weeks after Neil is born.  I've made a menu for those two weeks so that we don't even have to think about what we're going to eat.  Matt has been shown the menu, which will be posted in the kitchen, and knows where the food is, so he can help prepare meals.  I've got some pediatrician forms to fill out but am otherwise prepared for going to the hospital.  I still have tons of cleaning that should be done.  I especially need to wash the dishes from the potentially broken dishwasher and clean out the leaking refrigerator.  I want to make sure that they really are broken (and not just over-burdened by my lack of care) before contacting the university to replace or repair them both.  And I'd like all repairs and replacement to be done before Neil arrives.  Matt is off this Friday and next Monday, so if Neil can stay put for another week, Matt and I will have a long Easter weekend to get some of these projects done.

I went swimming again last night.  At my request, Matt took a photo of me in my swimming suit, but the humidity at the pool fogged up the camera lens.  It looked like I was in a sauna, which is probably as flattering as a pregnancy swimsuit photo can be.  :)  It was nice to move around in the pool without gravity making me grunt and strain.  I've become rather ponderous recently: getting off the couch and rolling over in bed are ordeals, and I'm not good at judging how big of a space my belly needs to keep from running into things.  I've been knocking things off of desks and tables with my belly and ramming my belly into open doors.  It's gotten beyond funny enough that Matt takes pity on me and assists me when I try to stand, and he helped me tie my shoes the other day at the doctor's office.  He's so sweet, especially considering that my snoring, which he says shakes the bedsprings, has given him nightmares at least once in the last week.

Neil has been active this afternoon.  I had a cinnamon roll before working on taxes a couple hours ago, and he's been jazzed since then.  He's had the hiccups a time or two, and he now seems to be learning to hula.  I keep feeling and seeing rolling movements from about where his hips are.  If only the ultrasound lady could see him now!

I think it's time to start supper.  As I said, the cinnamon roll was a couple hours ago, and I'm eating about every two hours anymore.  We're having Eggs Benedict and roasted asparagus as long as the asparagus is still good.  I bought it a couple days ago because it was reduced price to sell quick.  And I've got reduced-price strawberries ($1.50/pint) and angel food cake for dessert... unless I have a serious chocolate craving and make a homemade chocolate lava cake instead... or in addition.  I MUST stop thinking about food and start cooking or I'm going to get so hungry that I eat everything in sight and give up on actually preparing a meal.

Full-Term and Acting Like an Advanced Air Breather

At 37 weeks, Neil is no longer considered premature even though he would probably need to wear preemie clothes.  He passed his BPP today without M&Ms and with attitude.  He breathed deeply and constantly during the ultrasound while also sucking on his fist.  The ultrasound tech poked my belly to make him move more, and he swatted at her.  She got what she wanted, but it was clear he didn't appreciate her method of asking.  If I had known that swatting at the ultrasound tech might make her stop poking me, I might have tried it sooner.  It wouldn't have been nearly as cute as Neil's swat though.  We really like the ultrasound tech.  When I talk to Neil, I refer to her as the "nice lady who takes his picture."  The nurse practitioner is also nice, but she doesn't take Neil's picture.  We watched Neil a little longer and he kind of waved at us by flexing his fingers.  The ultrasound tech says she likes to see movement like that.  Apparently, those times when I've felt like he's trying to tickle me by opening and closing his hand against me (the way small children do when they're learning to tickle) he really has been opening and closing his hand against me.  As for intent to tickle, I may be supplying that since he doesn't know what tickling is yet let alone its social meaning as a gesture.  We watched a while more and saw him grab his toes.  The ultrasound tech was able to give us pictures of him sucking and grabbing his toes.  They're fuzzy and you can't tell what's going on unless someone tells you, but they are evidence of cuteness.

My blood pressure was 127/82 the second time they took it.  My fluid was half of what it's been, but apparently that's OK.  And I lost the pounds I gained between my last two appointments, certainly not by dieting.  I'm eating at least every two hours sometimes.  We were in the doctor's office so long that I ate two high fiber granola bars in the waiting room at least an hour and a half apart.  After the second bar, I realized that I'd just consumed 70% of my daily recommended fiber just in the doctor's office.  I also found the warning on the granola packaging to take it slow if you're not used to eating a lot of fiber.  I usually get a good amount of fiber, but with my raisin bran this morning, half an apple for one snack, and sweet potatoes and peanut butter in my chicken peanut stew for dinner, I probably exceeded my allowance for the day.  I'll have to make sure dessert has no redeeming qualities like fiber. :)

We saw Dr. Ackermann today, and even he isn't worried about Neil anymore.  Hurray!  He asked if I'd had any contractions, and I told him I didn't think so.  I've had some occasional discomfort, and I don't know what contractions are supposed to feel like.  He told me I'd know them when I felt them.  He said he's only had one mother deliver at home because she didn't know she was having contractions, and that was because she grabbed some marijuana and cocaine to feel better when she started hurting.  I have neither drug and no plans to acquire either, so we're OK.  He did ask me when I was going to let my baby out since he's now full term.  I told him that I was OK with Neil growing a little more and coming when he wanted to.  I've had a talk with Neil about this and have asked him to wait until after his measurement next Thursday so that we know he's at least 6 pounds.  I figure that there's less of a chance of his being whisked off to a NICU in Louisville based primarily on his size if he's at least 6 pounds.  Neil did not actually agree to my plan, but he's been remarkably cooperative so far.

Sorry this post is late again.  I took a really long nap when we got home.  If I don't get posts online by 10 p.m. Eastern time, my email subscribers have to wait an extra day.  I think I'm just under the deadline this time.

Another Encouraging (and Entertaining) Doctor's Appointment

Neil passed his BPP without M&Ms.  He was breathing very deeply so that even I could tell what was going on on the ultrasound.  He didn't really like it when the ultrasound tech firmly held the wand in the same place for a while.  He didn't kick it like he does my lap desk, but he certainly squirmed against it.  My blood pressure was 129/80!  Apparently Neil didn't eat my cheeseburger last Thursday.  I gained back the two pounds I'd lost plus a couple more.

Dr. Reynolds is happy with our progress and doesn't think they'll need to interfere with the baby.  Dr. Reynolds is a trip.  Today when we left, Matt said we should record our appointments with him because they're so funny.  If something hits his brain--stories, songs, opinions, questions--it comes out his mouth, and he has an unidentifiable foreign accent.  While telling us about seeing Avatar at midnight in a nearly empty theater, he started singing "All By Myself."  But the funniest part of today's appointment was when he wanted to help us be certain that we're having a boy.  We didn't have any doubt, but we played along.  I told him that at 20 weeks, it looked like we were having either a boy or a little girl with a tail.  I had some fairly recent ultrasound pictures in my purse with a good "It's a Boy" photo, so I showed him.  Dr. Reynolds' eyes got big and he said, "Whoa!  There's no doubt about that one!"  He started making jokes about my taking Extenze, a "male enhancement" supplement, while pregnant.  He carried on for some time in a delightfully junior high way.  My MP3 player can make audio recordings, so I'll try to make sure I have it with me when we see him again a week from Thursday (our next measurement appointment).

I made good progress reorganizing and cleaning the kitchen this morning.  After we got back from our appointment, I took a nap for a couple hours.  My little internal alarm clock got hungry and kicked me a few times so I'd get up and make supper.  I made Moroccan Chicken & Vegetables with Couscous, and he thoroughly enjoyed it.  This morning I also made a pan of Ghirardelli double chocolate brownies.  They're made from a mix I buy at Walmart, but they're the best brownies I've ever had.  Neil liked those, too.  I ran out of the peanut butter I've been eating and bought something else at Aldi last week.  I ate the new peanut butter for the first time today, and he wasn't impressed.  My son is apparently a bit particular when it comes to peanut butter.  I've spoiled him with Trader Joe's all-natural Valencia peanut butter with toasted flax seeds.  I bought it for the extra Omega-3 from the flax seed, which is supposed to boost mood, but it's exceptionally good peanut butter.  I'm not sure if it's the yumminess or the extra Omega-3 that perks him up so much.  I'll try again tomorrow and see if he warms up to the new peanut butter.  Otherwise, he'll just have to be deprived.  Trader Joe's is only in large cities, and the closest one is in Nashville or Indianapolis.  Trader Joe's is one of the things I miss about Madison.  I used to go there every Wednesday while Matt picked up his comic books just a block away.  Thinking of Madison also makes me miss Buraka, the Ethiopian restaurant.  I think I may try making some African chicken peanut stew in the crockpot this week.  I found a new recipe on the Betty Crocker website.  Perhaps a mixture of exotic spices and peanut butter will make Neil dance, one of the great joys in my life right now.

Travels

Last weekend we went to Louisville because Matt had a paper accepted at a conference there.  While we were there, we decided to try out some restaurants and hit some bookstores and used children stores (where you go when you decide that a new child is too expensive).  We had a good time.  I had done quite a bit of research so that we knew what restaurants we wanted to try and where the stores were, and it paid off.  Over two days, we tried Queen of Sheba (Ethiopian), Havana Rumba (Cuban), and J Gumbo.  All were yummy.  We were going to try a Filipino buffet at Sari Sari, but it was closed on Saturday.  I have really missed African food since we moved.  I got a combo platter with a collard green dish, a carrot and cabbage dish, a chili chicken drumstick, a chili lentil dish and a beef and potato stew all served on a huge piece of injira bread.  I didn't care for the chili dishes, but the other stuff was super.  Neil didn't like it so much.  He didn't do his happy meal dance.  He liked the Cuban and gumbo much better.  We'll work on his appreciation of ethnic cuisine after he arrives.  My friend Stacy watches a little boy whose mom put spices like curry in his homemade baby food, and he loved it.  As long as it doesn't add fat, salt or sugar and the baby will eat it, I think "why not?"  It would be great to have a kid who likes to try new flavors.

Shopping for Neil was pretty productive.  He got a baby monitor and a used Bumbo chair.  He also got a Sandra Boynton board book (because I love them) and most of an outfit for possible Christmas pictures.  There are sweater vest outfits on clearance at Walmart right now for $11.  I found the outfit I wanted minus the shirt used for $4.50.  I'd like to get a set from Walmart in the 9-12 month size, then I could use the shirt from that set in Christmas pictures even if it's a little big.  We looked for the monster onesies at Target, but they are no longer in stock, which is disappointing.  I did get him some clothes, including a sweater vest for next Easter, at Goodwill after we got home.  And while we're on the subject of shopping for Neil, thank you to Mom and Dad Oliver and Aunt Arlene for their contribution to the rocker-recliner fund.  Since feeding will occur in the chair, I'm sure it will cause a happy meal dance after he arrives.

This weekend we're taking one last visit to see family before the baby is born.  We'll spend time in southeast Missouri, staying with Grandma and meeting Audrey's baby brother Aiden Michael, on Thursday night and Friday.  Then we'll head to Springfield for a few days to see Matt's family and my sister Ashley, who has discovered single serving Icees that you keep in your freezer.  Woohoo!  She knows me so well. :)  I'll also check out Other Mother's used children's stores while we're in Springfield.  I got some great stuff while we were there at Christmas.  Maybe we can mark a few more things off of Neil's wishlist.

After we get back home, I'll go for my next ultrasound, get some more housework done, install the car seat that's just sitting in our car, finish packing for the hospital, and wait for my baby to arrive.  The next sunny Saturday we get, I want to visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, only half an hour away.  And we may make one more trip to Elizabethtown during Spring Break so that we can stock up at Aldi again.  That should keep us occupied but not exhausted as we enjoy our last weeks without children.

And His Name Shall Be Called...

I started this blog so that I could share information and avoid answering the same questions over and over.  So far it's worked really well, but I am getting questions about the baby's name.  Here's the best answer we have: we're 80% sure his name will be Neil Cameron Oliver.  We like the name a lot; it's the favorite of our three options, but we think there might be something better out there that we haven't considered.  And there's always the chance we'll take one look at him and be certain is name is Godric.

80% sure is enough to start calling him Neil but isn't enough to invest in items with the name Neil on them.  I/We have started calling him Neil just to make sure we like it enough to say it all of the time for the rest of our lives.  Every once in a while I still think his name is Miles, but most of the time I'm pretty sure he's Neil.  Most people should be happy with naming him "Neil."  From our Christmas polling, I know that Ashley, Grandma Tanner and Aunt Sandra preferred "Neil."  And really, if those three like it, it's got to be good.

On an unrelated note, the Krusteaz pecan bars are pretty good, but not as magical as the coffee cake.  And they're more work.  You have to cut butter into the crust mix and pre-bake the crust before adding and baking the pecan topping.  I don't like cutting fat into flour.  It's tedious.  It's why I use baking mix instead of making biscuits from scratch.  Though Pioneer baking mix makes better biscuits than I ever made from scratch and waaaaaay better than Bisquick.  I do still have some Bisquick in my pantry for making raspberry oat bars, a bar good all day--breakfast (biscuit mix, oatmeal and raspberry jelly sounds like breakfast to me) to midnight snack.  I'll try to remember to post the recipe.  The recipe does call for cutting butter into Bisquick, but the result is soooo worth it.  Actually, I think Krusteaz makes a raspberry oat bar mix.  Hmm...

We're Still A-OK

We had another check-up today, and the baby and I are fine.  My blood pressure was a little higher this month (139/81), but it's supposed to go up a little in the 7th month.  I gained about 5 pounds in three weeks.  The half of a 9x9" cinnamon coffee cake I ate yesterday probably didn't help. :)  By the way the Krusteaz brand cinnamon coffee cake mix is AWESOME!  It only takes 1 egg and 2/3 cups water and no electric mixer.  Even before I got pregnant I had cinnamon cravings that were difficult to satisfy.  This will satisfy.  I got the mix at Big Lots, but I've seen the brand at Walmart.  I'm going to get more coffee cake mix at Big Lots and try another Krusteaz mix from Walmart, probably the pecan pie bars.  Yum!  The coffee cake was not made because of a cinnamon craving.  So far, I have had fewer cravings than I did before I was pregnant.  It makes it easier to follow my weekly meal plans and to eat leftovers when I'm not battling powerful cravings.  Pregnancy has it's benefits.

The nurse had a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat, and she had to leave to assist the doctor in another room in the middle of searching for the heartbeat.  I was pretty sure the baby was OK.  He had kicked me a time or two in the waiting room.  When she did eventually find him, his heartbeat was a strong 160 beats per minute and my belly was sore from having the little "doppler" wand jabbed into it so hard for so long.  The doctor also mashed on my belly to find the baby and judge his size.  Dr. Reynolds says the baby is head down with his back facing my right side.  Dr. Reynolds asked how much I weighed when I was born.  When I told him 6 lbs., 12 oz., he told me my boy would be heavier than I was.  I asked for an estimate.  He said 7-7.5 pounds, not too big, no reason to worry.  We'll see.

I asked about how long I'll be allowed to travel.  Grandpa Tanner is not well, and I want to know when I can visit.  The doctor said I can take long car trips until week 36 (mid-March).  We've planned a trip to Missouri for late February, one last chance to see family (including new nephew Aiden) before I'm confined.  Matt is reading at a conference in Louisville February 20, so we're going to spend that weekend exploring Louisville.  I'm hoping to hit a few second-hand children's goods stores, and Matt's interested in used book stores.  It will be good to get away together.

My next appointment is in about 2 1/2 weeks, and I'm schedule to have another ultrasound.  Maybe baby Oliver will look less like an alien this time.

Smoke Pit Barbecue... it's better than Madison

There were some things I was hoping would be available now that I've moved south: Williams sausage, Pioneer baking mix, Coke Icee, pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, mayonnaise-based coleslaw.  We've had biscuits and gravy with our Williams sausage and Pioneer baking mix. Yum!  I have yet to find a Coke Icee.  The gas station we went to had fake Icees.  Kmart had Pepsi Icees.  Burger King's Icee machine broke only on the Coke side, not the cherry side.  The Coke Icee machine at the Madison Burger King was always broken.  I still hope to get a good Coke Icee, the kind that dances on your tongue.


We did accidentally find a couple of barbecue restaurants and tried one out Friday night.  The Smoke Pit is one of those great local restaurants that can't stay specialized.  They have all of the barbecue options and sides you'd expect, including a choice of vinegar or mayo-based dressing for your coleslaw, but they also have broccoli casserole and hashbrown casserole.  They also have an ice cream parlor and make pizza.  But what's important is the meat and the sauce.  To me good barbecue is a pulled pork sandwich with a sweet sauce.  The pulled pork at Smoke Pit had a good flavor, but it was wet like it had been at least partially cooked in a Crockpot. The sweet sauce was OK but a little thin.  It wasn't the barbecue fantasy I'd been hoping for, but it was better than anything I ate in Madison.  There's still at least one more barbecue restaurant to try.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Fajita Seasoning

Since I'm playing around with posts tonight, I thought I'd extol the excellence of fajita seasoning packets. They're like taco seasoning packets, but I think they taste better on chicken.  Fajita seasoning is more complex and citrusy than the typical chili powder and cumin taco packets. I use them to make chicken tacos and hoard a little of the meat for quesadillas a few nights later.  Yummmm... quesadillas with sour cream, salsa and guacamole.  I bought my latest packet at Kroger because our Walmart didn't have it, but I've seen them at other Walmarts (even the Great Value brand) as well as at Dollar Tree.  I highly recommend them.