The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good: No more getting up before the crack of dawn and going to work... Woo-Hoo!!! Of course if I didn't have this womb-hijacker inside of me I'd be able to sleep in nice and late and feel fantastically rested. But unfortunately, that is certainly not the case and I've been struggling to sleep past eight all week... but I'll certainly take struggling to sleep in past eight than struggling to wake up at five to go to work!

The Bad: For the past two months now I've been having the most strange craving for... wait for it... "Captain Crunch" of all things! Don't ask why cause I have no idea... but if I wasn't thinking about my back pain or being uncomfortable, I was thinking about how I would love a big bowl of Captain Crunch!  Funny thing is I never did act on it until about two weeks ago. I came home from the grocery store and Alec saw his usual Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats on the counter... and then the look on his face when he noticed the big box of Captain Crunch was priceless! So believe it or not, in about a week and a half's time, I managed to down TWO whole boxes of Captain Crunch all by myself! After that, I really kind of felt disgusted with myself for eating so poorly... so the other morning I made a conscience effort to eat a little healthier. It wasn't the same as feeding a craving... but it was delicious nonetheless and definitely much better for me!

The Ugly: Going into this whole pregnancy thing, I knew I was going to gain weight and get nasty stretch marks... so I was somewhat mentally prepared. But the one thing I didn't expect is to get "Club Feet", as Alec likes to call them! For over two weeks now my feet have totally swollen up like balloons! They are huge... so much so that my flops and even my shoes don't even fit anymore, and when I do cram them in they hurt to walk on! They really are a hideous sight and they totally freak me out, but they say it's normal so I try to keep calm about it. Much to my delight however, since quitting work they've actually gotten a lot better. Not really sure the pictures do my fat chubby feet justice, but just ask Alec about them and I'm sure he'd love to elaborate!  

Priceless

One gallon of 'Morning Breeze' blue paint: $23.00

 Paint supplies, including rollers, brush, and tape: $36.00

Spending five straight days (never mind the same outfit!) painting your soon-to-be newborn son's room, and making sure it was 100% absolutely perfect: a pain in the @#$... er, huh, I mean... Priceless!!!  =) 

Okay... We're Ready!

Today Alec & I went to our week 37 doctor's appointment eager to see & hear how everything is going. Last week we were surprised with the news that I was already 1.5 centimeters dilated... and then add the fact that the girls told me that my belly had "dropped" over the weekend, and we were both really anxious and excited to see Dr. Neal!  Unfortunately, the visit was somewhat anti-climatic. He didn't do a physical exam this time so we didn't find out if I was dilated more or the same as last week. He did use the Doppler though and we got to hear his little heartbeat beating at a very normal 133 bpm.

  

He also seemed pretty sure that Allen Jess was turned down already and ready to go... but according to his kicks, nudges and movements lately, it sure doesn't feel like it! To be honest, I was really hoping to hear him say something like, "Okay, should be any day now!" But without me having/feeling any contractions whatsoever, plus the fact that Dr. Neal said that most women having their first usually go over their due date, I couldn't help but think that I just might be pregers for a little while longer than I had expected as we left the Dr.'s office.

But enough about me... our little Allen Jess is weighing in at around 6.3 lbs and 19 inches, about the size of a watermelon!

As far as his internal organs go, our adorable poop and blood factory has reached "term" - a medical term that means our sweet little bun is birth-ready and labor is welcome and normal at this point.

Hurry up Allen Jess...

we can't wait to meet you!!!

Birthday Stay-cation!

With a long Holiday weekend ahead with nothing to do and nowhere to go... what better way to do nothing than to do it with family at home! So with Alec being preoccupied ALL weekend upstairs in Allen Jess's room, my Mom & I called up the gang in L.A. and invited the girls down to hangout and celebrate a birthday!

It was "Auntie Claus's" birthday earlier in the week, but we made sure the celebration continued over the weekend!

It was their first visit to the new house... but I think a few of the girls were more interested in seeing and playing with the Key-Dens! 

We enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner that night...

and then all sat down patiently awaiting cake & gift-opening. 

The Birthday Girl had the honors!

...while the Peanut Gallery waited with salivating mouths!
(Note: salivating mouths not pictured!)

The cake was delicious and filled everyone up. 
(No cake for Bing though!)

And then it was on to the Birthday Girl opening her presents!

With the help of a furry little friend of course!

It was a lovely low-key weekend with the girls filled with lots of good food, drinks, and chit-chat! Happy Birthday to Joanne and thanks girls for making the trip down and spending the long weekend with us. It was fun!

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

Coolin' Off Baby

Maybe it's because we're getting close to the end... but these last few weeks have really flown by! Week 35 came quick and just in time for a heat wave here in SoCal!

Thank the Heavens for our pool! The water was absolutely perfect (you know it's nice when my Mom actually gets in for once!) and both Allen Jess & I totally needed to cool off.

Once Alec came home and saw both my Mom & I hanging out in the pool... he just couldn't resist and decided to join us!  

Looking forward to next week when we go see the Doc again... and to know that if Allen Jess decided to suddenly pop out, he'd be okay! But if not, it'll be nice to know we'll have one more month to go!

Hip to be a Square

When I happily agreed to make my friend/coworker's wedding cake about a year ago... I admit I was a little nervous. I had never attempted to make a square wedding cake before so I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the pressure. But now, a year later... I've got a pumpkin-sized belly to carry around, a gas single oven I've never baked in before, a three-layer square design that I'm totally inexperienced at, and I'm still juggling work, back pain, and being tired all the time!!! Not to mention I had to get two smaller cakes done that week as well... so to say that I was a little stressed out, nervous and anxious leading up to this big baking week would've been a huge understatement!   

But lucky for me I had my Mom there with me to help out

and without her, I don't think I could've done it!  

The baking is always the easy part! I bought some really nice square pans to use and they worked great! My Mom & I actually went to the old Elsinore house just to use the electric double oven and got all the baking done there. I just didn't trust or have the time to deal with the oven in the new house!

Of course after the baking comes all the filling and the stacking! The cake was designed for about 100 people... so there was a lot of cake, a lot of filling, and a ton of frosting! 

Alec would drop in now and then and keep an eye on us...

making sure we didn't need any help.

This is my mom and I thinking, "How in the world are we going to pull this off?" It was time to put on the fondant and I was a bit nervous. For one, the bottom layer was huge and I had never covered a cake that big before... and two, it was square and I've had very little experience covering a square cake! Needless to say, I was stressing out big time... for the last thing I needed or wanted was to fight with that fondant all night long!

Not sure if we just got lucky... or just got lucky; but as it turned out, all went well with the fondant covering. It wasn't perfect, but pretty darn good considering my inexperience and the size. It went so well actually that we covered all three tiers on the first try and managed to go to bed nice and early that night! My back was in pain and I felt broken after standing for so many hours, but jumping into bed was the best reward after a long & hard days work!

The next morning my Mom & I got up early, ate breakfast and continued working on the cake with all of its details... cutting it super close to the delivery time!

It was a long day, but I was super pleased with how it turned out! It might not look like much... but it was a lot of cake! Alec swore it weighed close to 50 pounds! 

The cake was heavy indeed but traveled well. We made it to the wedding just in time and I must admit... I was very proud of the outcome and loved seeing my cake up on that table!

The bride & groom both loved it... along with most of all their guests! (Many of whom had a hard time believing I was the one who actually made it!)

Of course you don't get a better sense of satisfaction, relief and accomplishment than the picture Alec snapped below:

I was for sure stressed out and nervous from the beginning... but whether it was luck or skill, or a little of both, I managed to very successfully pull off my very first square wedding cake!  Woo-Hoo!!! 

Just to Say Thank You

Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach... and sometimes I bite off more than I can chew! No, I'm not talking about a big bowl of yummy ice cream, but rather this week's enormous baking challenge. Under normal circumstances, I can usually handle the stress and tough out the long hours on my feet... but now that I'm 34 weeks pregnant, it's a different story. Let's just say I'm very grateful my Mom and Alec were there to help me along!  

Speaking of grateful... I wanted make a small cake for both our realtors and our lender that helped us over the past several months in finding the perfect house for Alec and I!  

They were all super nice, patient, and really good people... so it was kind of a no-brainer to make them a cake to say thank you for all their help!  

Surprisingly, Alec wanted to help... so he didn't exactly have to twist my arm, for I was super busy, running out of time, and needed all the help I could get!  

A cake for a realtor... Hmmm???  Well, it certainly didn't take long to come up with an idea for that one!  

It was definitely time consuming... 

but it was fun to do and the idea was perfect!

Our lender's cake was just for one person so it was itsy-bitsy...

but I tried to 'glam' it up as best I could.

In the end, I got both cakes finished and out the door in plenty of time.  And for the short amount of time I had and always feeling like I was rushed... I think they both turned out better than I imagined.  Thanks of course to both my Mom and Alec for helping out!

Sure does beat a thank you card, right?!