{Life}

Where have the last 16 weeks gone?!?  I can't believe it's been that long since I've last posted.  If life is speeding along this quickly before baby I can only imagine how quickly it's going to go once he's here!  I know I've said this before, but I'm going to try to be a better blogger.  Once Lincoln (he's a boy and he has a name!) is here I'm hoping to keep the blog updated with pictures of his ridiculously adorable face and all of the exciting things he's doing (you know like sleeping, eating, pooping, etc.).  Yep, this will probably turn into a mommy blog with the daily happenings of life with a baby.  Fair warning: this probably won't be the last time you'll read the word poop on my blog.  Hey, it may not be the most glamorous life, but it's my life and I love it!

So what have we been up to over the last four months?  Quite a lot actually...

We spent our first Christmas in our new house.

We had a party to find out the gender of our baby.  Kassi made this adorable baby carriage cake.  We had the ultrasound tech write down the gender and she colored the inside of the cake to match.  With friends and family gathered around us we cut into the delicious cake and found out...

...it's a boy!  We are having a son!  My mother's intuition was right all along.  (I'd thought he was a boy since just a few weeks into our pregnancy.)  After much brainstorming and discussing, he has a name.  Lincoln will be joining our family this May :-)

Here we are at 24w1d in Lincoln's nursery.

We headed up to McCall for Winter Carnival with my family.

Just look at that scene.

I *heart* being back in Idaho.

While in McCall we celebrated Kate's 15th birthday.

I can't believe she's 15 already!

So refined at such a young age ;-)

I really have no explanation for this picture.  Apparently someone was helping Casey get into party mode (my guess is Kate).  He's smiling so it must have worked!

Baby Lincoln has been growing...

(25w1d)

...and growing...

(27w2d)

...and growing...

(28w1d)

...and growing!

(30w0d)

This was taken the day of my AWESOME shower thrown by Nicki!

I found a little time to work on some projects for the baby.

This is his business casual attire :-)

A few weeks ago we went up to Tamarak with the Crafts for a quick getaway.  The boys went snowboarding and the girls hung out in the cabin to read, nap, watch movies, and relax.  It was awesome.

We love mountains and snow!

There were other happenings over the last 4 months as well.  My dad has been sick so I went up to Seattle a few times to visit him and help take care of him.  He is doing AWESOME now, feeling so much better, which makes me a very happy daughter.  Casey and I have both been busy with work, continuing to get settled in our new house, preparing for baby, and hanging out with family and friends.

Our pregnancy has been cruising along without complication which is just how we like it.  My blood pressure is still normal and if all goes to plan he'll be here no sooner than April 23rd (37 weeks).  I'm hoping he cooks just a bit longer than that, though.  The only real hiccup we've had pregnancy-wise is that last Saturday I got into a car accident.  It was fairly minor and not my fault, but it was terrifying nonetheless.  I was just so worried about Lincoln.  I feel him move quite frequently these days but of course I didn't feel him moving at all after the accident.  There was a forty-five minute span between the accident and getting hooked up to the monitor at the hospital and those were the most nerve-wracking minutes of my life.  Hearing his little heart beating away as soon as they hooked me up was the best sound ever!  Even though everything looked good they still kept us there for 4 hours for observation.  We were discharged later that night with a clean bill of health.  We're still dealing with all of the insurance stuff but that's easy cheesy compared to dealing with pregnancy complications.

So all is well with the Babendures.  You can look forward to another post soon (definitely within the next 4 months)!



{Baby on Board}

I've had multiple requests to get a peek at my growing belly.  For the record it's really hard to get a good picture while you stand there sideways and smile awkwardly.  I've been avoiding sideways pictures for years.  Maybe we'll finally get this whole belly pic thing figured out some time in the next 22 weeks :-)

7 weeks

 

11 weeks, 1 day



Here we are still working on perfecting our technique.



12 weeks, 4 days

 

13 weeks



14 weeks, 2 days



16 weeks, 2 days

As of today I am 17 weeks and 4 days.

Only 22 weeks and 3 days to go (ish) :-)

{Home Sweet Home}

Now that we have lived here for two weeks (as of today) I thought it was about time to post some pictures to give you a tour of our new home!  We absolutely love our house and are so happy we get to live here.  So without further ado:



Ta-da!

 

A very sleepy yet excited Casey and Molly waking up
after staying our first night in our new home on an air mattress :-)

 

Master bath with walk-in shower.



I love our tile!



Master vanity (don't worry there's now a mirror in the frame).



Our closet (swoon!).



Baby's room.  Can't wait to bring him/her home to be with us :-)

 

Guest room / Baby #2's room.



Built-in shelves in upstairs hallway.



The laundry chute!!!
It dumps straight into a cupboard in our laundry room.



Guest/kids' bath (the mirror is now in here, too).



Bonus room aka Casey's man cave.



Stairwell.  (I love having that window there!)



Master bedroom.

Dining room.  (Hard to see I know but basically it's three walls
with the fourth open to the kitchen and a light fixture in the middle.)

  

Our backyard.  Plenty of room for a BBQ's, a swing set and a garden.



Oh kitchen how I love thee.



Living room as seen from kitchen.
(The buckets of paint have now been relocated to the garage where they belong.)

 

Eek!  One of my favorite purchases ever.
I have wanted these for soooo long.



Powder room (downstairs).



Mudroom (right when you walk in from the garage).



Front room / sewing room.



Front door / entry way.

 

We woke up to snow our first morning in our new house.
It was fun and magical and glorious!

These pictures were taken when our house was all shiny and pretty looking.  It's still gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but the overall vibe is a bit cluttered with all the boxes strewn about.  Hopefully soon we'll have most things put away and feel semi-organized.  I'm hoping to at least have the kitchen/living/dining rooms all put together this week so I can decorate for Christmas.  We are loving our home so much and feel so blessed and lucky to get to live here and raise our family here.  And we'd love to have you over so if you want to visit and poke your head around just let us know :-)

{New Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes}

I won't be making anything for Thanksgiving this year as we will be moving into our new house the day before the big day.  My mom offered to make any dishes I would have made since my (new & fabulous) kitchen would be far from functional yet.  (Thanks Mom!)

I, of course, love all of the old standbys and my family's delicious recipes, but I tried some new recipes these last few years and I am SO GLAD I did.  Sometimes it's nice to branch out and try new things - you stumble upon some pretty awesome stuff.  Of my new favorites below, my mom will be making the Apple & Bacon Stuffing as well as the Roasted Brussels Sprouts.  You're probably turning up your nose at the mere mention of Brussels sprouts but I challenge you to try them - they're delicious!

So without further ado here are some of my new favorites:

Apple & Bacon Stuffing

This stuffing can be assembled ahead, covered with plastic wrap, and kept chilled until ready to bake.

Makes 8 servings; Total time: 1 ½ hours

½       lb. thick-cut bacon (6 strips), chopped

3        cups low-sodium chicken broth

1        cup milk

3        eggs, beaten

1        tsp. kosher salt

½       tsp. ground black pepper

8        cups cubed French bread, air-dried

1        cup diced celery

1        cup diced onion

3        Tbsp. unsalted butter

2        cloves garlic, minced

2        tart baking apples such as Braeburn or Granny Smith, cored and diced

¼       cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

1        tbsp. chopped fresh sage leaves

Preheat oven to 350*; coat inside of a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray.

Fry bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes.  Transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate; pour off drippings.

Whisk together broth, milk, eggs, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.  Add bread; let stand 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.  (The bread will soak up nearly all the liquid.  If bread cubes remain dry in the center, soak another 5 mintues.)

In the same pan used to fry the bacon, sauté celery and onion with butter over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic; sauté 1 minute.  Add apples, parsley, and sage; sauté 1 minute more.

Add bacon and sautéed mixture to bread; toss to combine.  Transfer stuffing to the prepared dish; bake until set and browned on top, about 1 hour.

Brown-Butter Mashed Potatoes

Making brown butter is a simple technique that gives these potatoes a rich, nutty flavor.

Makes 6-8 servings; Total time: 35 minutes

For the brown butter:

1        stick unsalted butter, sliced

For the potatoes:

       2    ½ lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

       ½   cup half-and-half, warmed

       1    tsp kosher salt

             Minced fresh chives

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.  It will foam and turn faintly golden after a few minutes.

Cook until solids begin to turn brown and butter smells nutty, about 10 minutes.  Butter should be heated long enough to turn amber.  Swirl the pan often to prevent overbrowning.  Remove skilled from heat; keep warm.

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they’re fork-tender, 15-20 minutes.  Drain potatoes; return them to the pot.

Dry potatoes, stirring, over the hot burner for 30 seconds.  Fill a ricer with potatoes and compress the lever, pushing potatoes through; repeat with remaining potatoes.  (I usually just mash by hand and they turn out great.)  Stir in half-and-half, salt, and brown butter until thoroughly combined.  Garnish potatoes with chives.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans

Serves 8; Total time: 40 minutes

2        pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

1        cup pecans, roughly chopped

2        tbsp olive oil

2        cloves garlic, finely chopped

          Kosher salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 400*

Toss the Brussels sprouts, pecans, oil garlic, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Turn the Brussels sprouts cut-side down.

Roast until golden and tender, 20-25 minutes.

Brandied Carrots & Parsnips

You can substitute apple juice or cider for the brandy if you prefer
Makes 6-8 servings: Total time: 30 minutes

¾       lb. carrots

¾       lb. parsnips

2        tbsp unsalted butter

2        tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2        tsp. minced garlic

2        tbsp brandy

½       cup low-sodium chicken broth

1        tbsp sugar

          Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

          Chopped fresh parsley leaves

Peel carrots and parsnips; cut into 3-inch lengths.  Slice each piece in half lengthwise into sticks.

Melt butter with oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute.  Add carrots and parsnips and cook 2-3 minutes; tossing to coat vegetables.

Add brandy, then stir in broth and sugar.  Bring mixture to a simmer and cover.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook until vegetables are tender, 10-20 minutes.  Remove lid, increase heat to medium-

high, and boil until liquid is a syrupy glaze, 2-3 minutes.  Season vegetables with salt and pepper; garnish with parsley.

*    *    *    *    *

Even if you don't make any of these for Thanksgiving, go ahead and try a new recipe, any new recipe.  You might just find something you never knew you loved!

Happy Thanksgiving!

{Home Building: Week Eight}

I don't have any recent pictures but holy cow our house is almost done!  We close next Friday and move in Thanksgiving week.  We can't wait!

And in other news we are already in the 2nd trimester!

So much excitement for the Babendures this fall :-)