PERFECT FALL DESSERT: CARROT CAKE

Monday, September 26, 2016

This past weekend Saturday was one of those perfect chilly, gloomy, rainy transition days into Fall. The air was crisp and smelled like wet leaves. The sky was dark and cloudy. And the pitter-patter of rain falling to the earth filled my house through our open windows. It was one of those first Fall days requiring a sweater and slippers on my feet. One of those days that makes you want to light all the candles in your house, do some major cuddling, and bake something delicious.

I decided to make one of my favorite Fall treats - Carrot Cake. As a kid, I was appalled by the idea of carrot cake. Vegetables in cake? Yuck. But, thank goodness, I have since come around and opened my eyes to the carrot cake in all its tasty, moist wonder. Seriously, its one of the best treats. And feels so Fall-y. Plus, add cream cheese frosting to anything and you're in good shape.

There was kind of a funny story behind this particular baking extravaganza. Another case of pregnancy brain. This carrot cake recipe is from our family cookbook. However, there is a second carrot cake recipe in the family cookbook on the next page. When I started baking on Saturday, I didn't realize I was looking at the wrong recipe (some generic, average carrot cake recipe.... not our amazing family recipe). It felt "off" the entire time I was baking. Just didn't look quite right. But I didn't even consider that I was looking at the wrong recipe. Until it was done baking. And I turned the page in the cookbook. And alas, there was the correct recipe. I tasted the cake I had baked from the wrong recipe, and it just was. not. good. Not at all. So sub par and not at all what I had been anticipating all morning. (I found myself wondering why this crappy recipe was ever included in our family recipe book?)

Pregnancy hormones raging full force, I cried. And Dal tried to be sweet and comforting in between giggles at the situation. Long story short, I insisted upon starting over and making a new cake, with the correct recipe. And boy am I glad I did. All worth it when I took the first bite of the right cake. So much better. Mmmm.

Carrot Cake

• 2 Cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 Cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups oil
• 2 Cups finely grated carrots
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Cup well-drained crushed pineapple
• 1 Cup coconut

In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda). Add eggs, oil, carrots, and vanilla; beat until combined. Stir in pineapple and coconut. Pour into a greased pan (cake pan or bundt cake pan). Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick poked into cake comes out clean. Let cake cool. Top with cream cheese frosting. Store in refrigerator. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
• 6 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened
• 3 Cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl with mixer until combined and smooth. 

And, enjoy! :)

18 WEEK BUMPDATE

Thursday, September 22, 2016

From this point forward, I am going to keep my posts a bit more simple. I'll add in fun stories and feelings along the way too. Plus a bump picture. :)

How far along? 18 weeks 6 days. I'm never quite sure what to say because I was given 2 different due dates by my OB, like 3 days apart. So I go back and forth :)

Maternity clothes? Sometimes. I really haven't bought any maternity tops yet, just some pairs of pants. I generally switch between regular jeans and maternity pants (I'm not ready to say goodbye to all my fav jeans yet!). When I wear the regular jeans though, I notice a difference. They just don't quite fit. But the huge band that's supposed to go over your belly with maternity pants drives me crazy! As far as tops go, I generally just wear loose, flowy tops or big sweaters so far.

Stretch marks? None yet.

Sleep: Definitely has gotten worse over the past 2 weeks. I'm uncomfortable at night now and sleeping on my tummy is no longer relaxing, just verrry uncomfortable. I'm confined to sleeping on my side but I find my hips and back to be very sore in the morning. I've also started having very strange dreams nearly every night now. My dad telling my I'm pathetic for no reason, my mom leaving me to fight off a small, but incredibly strong orange snake, me feeling the need to pee in every bucket/container type thing in my bedroom instead of in the toilet, and a whole bunch of others. They are very vivid and I seem to remember them more than I used to.

Best moment this week: Pregnancy plays with your mind... especially before you start feeling your baby move all the time. I was paranoid the other day because I hadn't seem my tummy move in a while. I stood there, staring down at it and said, "Okay baby, mom needs to see you move." And right then, 3 twitches in a row. Made me feel much better. :)

Prego Brain Moments? Yes. Lol. My new hobby seems to be throwing away things that should not be thrown away. I threw away a Tupperware container full of the leftovers I had just packed. And our can opener. Dal found both later. And the other day at work, I went to grab a piece of gum. Unwrapped it. Threw away the gum. Put the wrapper in my mouth. #winning

Miss anything? Normal sleep and no back pain.

Movement: Haven't felt any yet. Hopefully soon. Fingers crossed!

Food cravings: Soup, still. Any soup. All soup. Just soup. I also really wanted a corndog the other day. Aaaaaand. Apple cider. Gimme gimme.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I saw some gross picture of a rat the other day on Facebook that made me gag. But then again, I guess that could make anyone gag, pregnant or not.

Gender: Boy! <3 :)

Labor signs: Nope.

Symptoms: Tired. Alllll the time. And heartburn, but not quite as bad as it was like 2 weeks ago. And soreness/pain in my stomach and pelvis. + back aches quite a lot. Acne has gone down a bit, thankfully.

Belly button in or out? In!

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! But always one dog video away from sobbing. Seriously, I cried like 5 times at my desk the other day because my dad texted me something nice and then later I saw an old picture of a group of friends. Everything makes me cry. I cry because I'm hungry, I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm tired, something is funny, something is rude, I had to wait for something, Dal was super sweet, I dropped my meatball, the sky looked pretty. Everything.

Looking forward to: 20-week ultrasound. We get to see
baby again & I feel like it's a big milestone!

A QUICK RECAP - AT 18 WEEKS

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

I've been MIA for quite a while, haven't I? Woops. I mean to write every week and somehow life just seems to get in the way and I put it off. Well, it's been 8 weeks from the last time I gave an update. I'll run through everything quickly.

At about 10 1/2 weeks, my pregnancy symptoms seemed to vanish overnight. My nausea completely disappeared and I got really, really worried. I started trying to mentally prepare myself for bad news at my 12-week checkup. But, thankfully, the 12-week checkup went well. Dal got to hear the little heartbeat. And once again, the fact that we're growing a little baby became even more real.

I told a few more close family members and friends the news. I seem to get the courage to share the news with a select few more people after every checkup-- knowing that at least for a little while longer, my baby is growing and healthy. Is that totally weird of me? I'm so anxious and feel like it could be taken away from me at any given second.

At 15 weeks Dal and I went to a place called Fetal Fotos to find out the gender. We were sooooo excited and sooooo nervous. It was AMAZING to see our baby in the ultrasound. A REAL baby. I'll never forget seeing its little hand, seeming to wave to us, for the first time. Or seeing its tongue and mouth move as it sucked on its finger. Yep, 15 weeks, guys. This isn't some clump of cells. This is a real, living baby. Doing baby things. We watched the baby stretch and wiggle around... But to our dismay, it sat with its legs crossed, modestly hiding the part we were dying to see. The nurse had me stand up, dance, do jumping jacks, drink cold water. All to try and get that little squish to move. All to no avail. I'm sitting there thinking, "Come on baby! This is the one time we want you to show off your parts!" Dal and I went home pretty disappointed and desperately hoping this wouldn't be the pattern for all our ultrasounds going forward.

See the little hand waving??? Oh my goodness.

We returned 5 days later to find a much more lively, awake baby who seemed to be doing somersaults and all the latest dance moves. I thought I caught a glimpse of something, but couldn't be sure. Then the nurse said, "Are you guys ready?" and shared the news. A boy. A precious, perfect boy. The instant she said it, it was like DUH. What else could he be? Of course he's a boy. He's our little boy. And in an instant, I started picturing him... smiling at us, playing with cars, giggling, running around. We were so happy and so thrilled.

such a cute little profile!

and that little footprint? I die!

A week or so later, I finally went baby shopping for the first time. I splurged. I walked into every baby store I could think of and picked out the cutest clothes. The little shoes, jackets, and hats just kill me. Seriously, could anything be cuter?

I started to see my belly twitch at about 13 weeks. Dal swore I was imagining it, but once he saw the ultrasound and how much our little guy was dancing around, he finally believed me. He has since seen it move many times. Our baby seems to always sit on the right side, so my belly is very oddly lopsided. It's quite funny.

Anyway, pregnancy for me I feel has been pretty great. I've gotten off pretty easy on the sickness, and overall have enjoyed it. I am getting more and more anxious for February to be here.

10 WEEKS UPDATE!

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Week 10:

Symptoms:

- More nausea (no vomiting, though!)
- Neverending tossing and turning at night & weird dreams
- More fatigue (and thus, more naps)
- More frequent trips to the bathroom (my new schedule has been 10PM before I go to bed, then 2:30AM and again at 6:00AM and then again when I get up)

Cravings: sloppy fries, street tacos, roast & potatoes

Today marks the start of week 10! YAY! We are making progress! I felt like I was stuck in 7-9 weeks forEVER. But 10 weeks feels like actual progress. Only 2 weeks away from 12 weeks, my checkup, and the end of the 1st trimester.

Well, I haven't written in 2 weeks and I feel like things have stayed pretty much the same, for the most part. I've become an excellent Netflix binger, I can't make it through an entire day without an afternoon nap (maybe even 2), and I still get up atleast 2 times throughout the night to pee. Add to list the fact that most of my pants will not button now and I'm definitely running out of flowy shirts. Dal has lovingly begun referring to me as his "poochy mama." He thinks he's so clever, and it makes me laugh. It's the only time in my life he can get away with that. :)

I still at times get scared and wonder if I'm imagining some of these symptoms. I wonder if I'm really getting a baby pooch or just eating too much. But then I realize that whenever I used to overeat a bit, I could still suck in my stomach to hide it. That is not the case anymore. I try to suck in and the pooch doesn't go anywhere. So until the news is public, I'm sticking to my elastic around the button of my pants, flowy shirts everyday. I'm excited for my bump. Like, overly excited for it. Other women would probably tell me I'm crazy and I'll think differently in a few months... but I'm excited for a big belly. I've always loved seeing other pregnant women and always loved the idea of maternity clothes. I'll let you know if I feel the same way in 4 months. I also just want to get to the point where it's obviously a prego belly, not a buffet belly. Ya know?

This past week, I flew to California to visit my family and help host a bridal shower for my best friend, Briana. It was a lovely trip and I always enjoy the time I have back at home... being in a "full" house with people, playing games, eating tacos, etc. My mom was so cute this trip. She kept making comments about the baby and me being pregnant. She worried that she'd bug me but it was the opposite really. It felt good to have a little attention and fussing over.... and to have someone who was just as excited and anxious to talk about baby stuff.

On Saturday after the bridal shower, I broke the news to Briana and Sarah. I was so nervous but also just anxious for them to know. I told them and they both took a few seconds to process it. They both wrapped me in a giant hug and all three of us cried together. It was a special moment, and one that made my love for them grow even more. They really are the sisters I never had. Made me love them more to see their excitement and shared happiness for me and this babe.

I am just blown away over and over at how much I already love this little human. I find myself mindlessly wandering into the baby section of every store I go to. I picture its toes and fingers, a round belly, and toothless grin. I can't wait for February!