Sacrifices

It's week 17 and Baby 'Pat' is about the size of a turnip this week and weighs about 5 ounces and 5 inches long. Sense of hearing is starting to develop, so I better start watching what I say around the lil' one. I am looking forward to feeling the baby kick. Curious how long it will take me before I realize what that feeling was.

Well the maternity clothes shopping has begun. I am in that awkward stage where I am too big for my regular clothes but too small for maternity pants. Why must a pair of maternity pants cost over $50?! And why do I only get 3 pairs to choose from!? The second-hand stores are not any better and their selection is even more slim. It's frustrating because I have no choice... this belly is growing whether I like it or not. I finally broke down and bought two pairs of dress pants and a skirt. Target had the best clearance and I found a pair of jeans for $1.26! I don't think I have ever bought any piece of clothing that cheap. Jackpot!

James and I attended another cooking class at Baru 66 this weekend. The evenings focus was on French Cocktails (since I was not drinking, James told the Chef he was drinking for two) and appetizers. We enjoyed puff-pastries stuffed with olive tapendades, savory crepes with salmon and chive spread, sweet pepper compote topped with salmon, baked cheese sticks, lots of cured meats and cheeses, and a trifle for dessert. It was an enjoyable evening spent with other foodies.

I don't miss the wine as much as I thought I would... but the one thing that I wish I could eat more of is soft cheeses. I miss my Brie cheese on a baguette for breakfast. I miss blue cheese crumbles on my steak. Chips without queso dip is sad. But, I just look down at the lil' baby growing inside me and realize its worth giving up every piece of soft cheese!

Busy as a Bumblebee

Well I am a little behind on my blogging... I guess you can say this whole baby thing has taken over my life and that's all I can think about these days.

Today I am at 16 weeks. Baby Pat is getting ready for a growth spurt and will double in weight and inches in length in the next few weeks. Right now Baby Pat is about the size of an avocado (4 1/2 inches long and 3 1/2 ounces).

We are preparing for the new windows that will be installed in our house in the next few weeks. I have started looking at paint colors for the nursery and purchased a rug for the room. Our baby registry is starting to get full too. That's what happens when you have Project Managers for parents... we are ahead of schedule.

Last weekend, we attended a cooking class at our favorite French restaurant in town. We learned how to make scrambled eggs (the French way), hollandaise sauce (made with 4 eggs and 3 sticks of clarified butter), and Crepe Suzette. Of course, no French meal is completed without a plethora of cream and butter added to every dish. As we noshed on fresh pastries baked that morning, we watched Chef David prepare our brunch. Every bite was pure bliss and we walked out of there truly happy and satisfied.

Celebrating a Milestone!

Yay! We made it to the second trimester!!

Baby 'Pat' will be the size of a lemon this week. I think its adorable that the baby is already wiggling and sucking its thumb. (We are calling the baby Pat because we don't know if its a boy or girl... and Pat usually works for both genders.)

I read an interesting article this week about babies being able to learn vowel sounds in utero. What is fascinating is that the study showed that newborns have the capacity to learn and remember sounds of their spoken language during the last 10 weeks of pregnancy.

"Christine Moon, Professor of psychology at Pacific Lutheran University, who led the research said “This is the first study that shows we learn about the particular speech sounds of our mother’s language before we are born."

Read more here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130102083615.htm

They are not kidding when they say that pregnant women have crazy dreams. I don't know who "they" are, but "they" are not joking! I had a pretty odd dream the other night. I dreamt that our cat Dorothy was making a lot of noise in the night and woke us up. We noticed there was a dark shadow in the corner and Dorothy was sitting in front of it. I couldn't tell what it was and asked James to turn on his light. Standing in the corner of our room, staring right back at us was Thing 1 from Dr. Seuss!!! We screamed and wondered where in the world that crazy "thing" came from.

A Happy New Year Indeed!

2013 is going to be a special year for the Sasek household! I can't wait to meet our child and am very excited to start this new journey with James.

I am at thirteen weeks along. I subscribe to a couple different pregnancy newsletters and one newsletter says the baby is a size of a shrimp. The other newsletter says the baby is a size of a peach. To me that's a pretty big difference. Now if we are comparing prawns to peaches... than that's a good comparison. However, both newsletters agree the baby is about 3 inches.

The babies intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to the baby's tummy.... much more convenient if you ask me. If the baby is a girl, she has over 2 million eggs ovaries. WOW!

My mom had a premonition the other day and saw me standing at the back door with a little girl... James also has a feeling we are having a girl. What do I think? I honestly don't know. Some days I feel like its a boy and other days it feels like a girl. We are not going to find out what we are having and want to be surprised. I am pretty content not knowing what we are having... my mom on the other hand is getting a little antsy. :)

Next week marks the milestone of a second trimester milestone... yippee!

Merry Christmas!

I got the white Christmas that I wished for... but maybe wished a little too hard because we also got a lot of Christmas ice. A road trip that usually takes us two hours took us three. The Christmas holiday was spent visiting family, filled with lots of laughter and many memories.

This time next year we will have a little baby to cuddle with. It's amazing what a year can bring. This week Baby Sasek is 12 weeks old. Almost all the systems are fully formed and the baby is shifting into the growth and maturation stage. What I find interesting is if I were to apply pressure to my abdomen, the baby would squirm in response. Too cool!

Next month is going to be spent preparing for the baby. We will start construction on some areas of the house and get ready for Baby Sasek's arrival. Lot's to do in the coming months!

Awaiting Baby Sasek's Arrival

In August 2010, James and I decided we wanted to start a family. After many months of tests, prayers, and waiting... we finally got a positive test back on November 2, 2012! Our life as we know it was about to change forever but we were ready for the journey to begin on July 10, 2013!

It's fascinating how fast a baby grows each week and its fun to have a comparison to a fruit or veggie. I am at 11 weeks and the baby is the size of a lime (1.6 inches, .25 ounces). We visited the doctor last week and we heard the heartbeat...188! The baby is active!

My belly is starting to get a little full. I think I need to get some new pants soon. My dear sister bought me some awesome leggings the other day. I am either going to wear them all the time or get some other colors soon. I am getting more energy these days and not falling asleep on the couch at 6 PM each night. I am blessed I did not have many days of morning sickness. If I haven't eaten anything in a few hours, my stomach will get a little upset. But as long as I eat snacks through the day, I feel great!

I need to start a project plan soon to keep track of all the things that need to be taken care of before July. We had a project plan for our wedding and I still get made fun of... the project manager in me can't turn it off I swear!

Pounds of Bacon

Ahhh bacon… such a glorious piece of meat!

How do bacon lovers celebrate this delicious salty goodness? By having a Bacon Fest of course! The 5^th annual Bacon Festival was held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and 4000 bacon lovers stood in line to try these creative bacon concoctions…

• Bacon Gelato. This was good. Subtle bacon and salt flavor.
• Bacon Etouffee. Great way to kick of Mardi Gras. It had a great favor of onions, green peppers, bacon, and salty goodness.
• Elvis Pizza (peanut butter, bananas, and crispy bacon). This was my favorite of the day. I loved the combination of the sweet bananas and salty bacon.
• Dark Chocolate covered bacon strip. The dark chocolate actually over-powered the bacon. I don't think using such good chocolate with bacon was necessary. Chocolate and bacon is actually a great combination.  
• Blue cheese, bacon crumbles, drizzled with honey. I love honey drizzled over a strong blue cheese. Then you go and sprinkle on smoked bacon... pure joy!
• Bacon, caramelized purple onion, and cheese quesadilla. For as simple as this dish was, it was very good. This was another favorite of the day.
• Pork loin and smoked bacon crumbs. Hallelujah! The pork loin was pounded flat, than topped with a handful of smoked bacon crumbs, rolled up like a swiss roll and then cut into a patty and placed on a bun. This was worth standing in line for 15 minutes.... twice.
• Bacon, peanut butter mousse bar. This tiny bite sized treat was very rich. It had more of a peanut butter flavor than bacon.
• Bacon Mexican style meatballs. These had a nice bacon gravy. Good home-style meatball.
• Bacon and onion cream cheese on onion ciabatta bread. This would be a great appetizer. I actually enjoyed the bread more.

Of course there were companies just frying up strips of bacon and I tried over a half dozen different types of bacon. 

All in all, it was a good day being with close friends and eating pounds of bacon. Ohhhh BACON!