I guess it's that time...

I know, I know... I'm THAT pregnant lady. But my mama, grandmamas and friends around the world want to see...

My 29 week Ellerbe Anne belly. There's something wonderful about calling a pregnant stomach a belly. Mostly because if I were not pregnant, I don't think that calling it a "belly" would make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

You can see why the new clothes that I raved about in my last post are needed. :) Ellerbe's got at LEAST 77 more days of growing left. I just can't even imagine where she's going to go.

Sunday Night Dinner...

First, I'm really thankful for community. Why? Because my ever-growing belly and I were running out of options in my pre-preggo clothes. Shirts are two short or have that funny gap that irritates the heck out of me, pants are quickly becoming very uncomfortable with a slight chance of wardrobe malfunction. (i.e. Belly Band has wriggled it's way up my belly, or my pants have slid down, with my zipper/button flapping open in the wind. Not pretty.) Which may or may not have happened in a very public place the other day. But, I don't think anyone saw. I hope. Getting dressed has been a frustrating thing lately. Now, thanks to my sweet, very un-pregnant (and super tiny! there's hope for my post-preggo body!) friend Morgan, I have a storage bin FULL of cute things to put on. Honestly... I don't care all THAT much how cute things are at this point. I just need things that fit and are comfortable. I also borrowed some pregnancy leggings from a friend... and oh my goodness these things are so comfortable! There's no irritating elastic rolling down my belly and/or cutting off the circulation in my hips. I'm so excited. :) So, thank you friends for being willing to pass around maternity clothes!

Second, now that we're talking about how large my waistline is these days, I thought I'd share a David family recipe. Ok, it didn't come from me. But it has made the regular rotation when I start to meal plan. I found it at wholefoods.com, so you know it's healthy :) I love fish, but I usually just love the fish that can put a big dent in my grocery bill for the week. This recipe calls for Tilapia, which is usually fairly cheap, especially when you're just feeding two. Anywho, it's crumbly, and savory and all things good. And oh! The green beans are my favorite part! I LOVE fresh green beans, but usually I just steam them and add some salt and pepper. I love the nutty flavor the almonds and sauteed onions give the green beans. It's on the menu for tonight. Happy cooking!

Ingredients

2 thick slices crusty whole wheat hearth bread, torn into pieces
4 cloves garlic, divided
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 pound fresh or frozen green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup toasted sliced almonds
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1½ teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
3 (4-ounce) tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

Preheat oven to 450°F. Put bread in a food processor and pulse until it forms coarse crumbs. You should have about 1 cup crumbs. Spread crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and toast them while the oven preheats, until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup water to a simmer in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Thinly slice 2 garlic cloves and add to the skillet with the onion. Cook 7 to 8 minutes or until beginning to brown, stirring occasionally. Stir in green beans and 1/4 cup water. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook 5 to 7 minutes or until green beans are just tender, stirring once halfway through cooking. Stir in almonds and black pepper. Cover and keep warm.

While the beans cook, crush remaining 2 garlic cloves with a garlic press or grate with a fine grater into a small bowl. Add toasted bread crumbs, parsley and lemon zest and stir until blended. Cut tilapia fillets into 8 serving pieces. Place tilapia on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and drizzle with lemon juice. Press bread crumb mixture on top of fillets and bake 8 to 9 minutes or until flesh is opaque. Serve with green beans.

Happy Sunday!

Pregnancy Brain...

It definitely exists... please don't get me wrong. I'll be the FIRST to admit that I'm scattered brained as heck, and if I ever am organized and seem like I have it together, it's because I've freakin' busted my butt and probably have a dirty kitchen and piles of laundry spilling out of my laundry room at home. Organizational administration just doesn't come naturally. BUT... I have NEVER forgotten SO MANY important things in one day. Here's how Thursday went down:

- One of the sweetest boys in my class' birthday was on Thursday. I didn't think about it ONCE during the day until after school when I looked at my calendar for the next week to see who's birthday was coming up. I don't know if you remember being in 3rd grade or turning 9, but it's no small thing. We make a big deal of it. There's a birthday book, birthday song (which can be rapped, sung in opera, rocked out or sung underwater), special pencil and bookmark, and a large sombrero that gets to be worn around for a few glorious minutes. It's a day filled with fun and lots of attention. What third grader wouldn't want that?! Well... I blew it. I completely forgot about Benjamin's birthday and he just never said anything. Luckily I caught him before his mom picked him up and apologized and we'll be celebrating on Monday. (I was out Friday afternoon...)

-I walked out of school with everything BUT my purse. Drove halfway home then realized I didn't have ANYTHING that I needed. No cellphone, no wallet, no snack for the drive home. (Essential these days...) Sheesh.

-I got home around 6:30 or so, sat on the couch for a few minutes then had to get up to head to my missional community meeting. On the way there, I realized that I completely stood someone up at 4:30. Just plain did not show up. How horrible! I felt like a pretty terrible, horrible, no good, very bad human being. Even worse? I didn't have her phone number. We'd been communicating via email and my computer wasn't working and my husband took his computer with him to Dallas for a conference. Eesh. Luckily, the girl I was meeting with was super gracious and doesn't hate me.

Please tell me that this doesn't get worse...

Memorable Moments in Pregnancy

I started realizing that I haven't really documented much from my pregnancy. A few pictures here and there... but nothing written down. So here are a few things that I don't want to forget.

- Taking that first pregnancy test. Seeing the very light second line and having a minor breakdown. I called Tyler in and he tried to reassure me that there was no line. What a great husband, trying to calm down a crazy wife. Upon the second, third and even fourth tests, we were convinced. Tyler then asked a good friend the next morning, "Dude. How accurate are pregnancy tests?" Todd's response, "Pretty damn accurate." :)

-Hearing her heartbeat for the first time at our 12 week sonogram. At that point, all I felt was sick 24/7. There was little joy and excitement on my end. I even found it hard to believe that there was a real live baby in there, even though I definitely felt the effects of all my resources being sucked right out of me. I slept an average of 10 hours a night and basically hated life. I felt drugged every afternoon and I'm sure patience and love for my sweet 3rd graders was the farthest from my mind. But, when I got to see a real live baby on that screen, kicking and moving and hear a REAL heartbeat? Oh my goodness. Pretty incredible.

-How sweet Tyler was to me in those not very fun months of the first trimester. That makes it sound like he's not sweet. He is. But, he did almost anything for me that I asked. He let me sleep through meetings that I'm sure he would have loved for me to be at to support him. He made sandwiches, went on late night grocery store runs, reminded me to eat when I was feeling sick, never made me feel guilty for taking naps after work, waking up to cook/eat dinner, then going straight back to bed. He was a picture of grace and mercy in a time when I was struggling. What a man. He's going to be such a good daddy.

-Finding out that we had a baby girl growing inside of me. Tyler and I had to drive separately to the doc. because I had to go straight from work. My time in the car by myself afterwards with Jesus and Ellerbe was wonderful. It was such a worshipful, fun time. :) It was the first time I think I could honestly say, "I love this baby!" I know that I would have felt this way about having a boy too. There was something about attaching an identity to her that made me realize that she was going to be a person, with a soul, with struggles, needs, victories and defeats. It's easy to forget that I guess when you're just feeling bitter that you can't ever keep your breakfast down.

-Feeling those first movements. It was Thankgiving at the David's house in Dallas. I think it was the Wednesday before and everyone was at work. Tyler and I were happy to have the morning to ourselves. We sat on their deck and read and talked and had coffee together. I had felt her before (I think) but this was the first time that I was able to say with confidence that I felt a little kick or high-five or something. I was even able to feel it with my hand on my stomach. When I told the nurses in my doctor's office this, they didn't believe me. But why would I lie about this?

-Running into the parent of one of my students in the grocery store. She didn't know that I was pregnant and said, "YOU HAVE A BUMP!" :) Pregnancy hormones raging, I totally teared up in the near the apples and said, "Yes! That IS a bump! Thanks for noticing!" It's really fun to go from "chubby" to pregnant. It still doesn't get old when people ask when I'm due or what I'm having. I love it.

-Actually having a baby belly to show for all my hard work :) I still struggle with what to wear (feeling like a beach ball and all...) and feeling not very cute lots of times, but I have a very wonderful husband who makes sure to tell me lots that he thinks I'm the cutest pregnant woman ever and makes cute comments about my belly. (I know... this is ridiculously vain. But let's be honest here... this is what I deal with.)

-The day my innie belly button became an outtie. :) I emailed my closest girlfriends all across the world (literally. Ethiopia, Cambodia, Illinois and Texas.) with a picture. Which, I'm not posting on here. Sorry, I know you're disappointed.

-Starting a countdown marking the days when we get to meet sweet Ellerbe Anne. At the time it was 100 days. Which is crazy, because only 2 ish years ago, I started a countdown to when I would get to know Tyler David as my husband at 100 days. (Who am I kidding, I started far before that, but 100 days is when it got serious. There was a paper chain involved.) And look where we are now? Married for over 2 years! So, apparently time doesn't stop, like I feel that it might. We will REALLY have a little girl filling up our lives in about 85 days now. Unreal.

I think those are all the things I don't want to forget. Of course, there are things I DO want to forget, otherwise, I won't ever have a biological child again. And we want a few more of those guys. (Or so we say pre-Ellerbe.)

What unforgettable things from your pregnancy did you document?

"Can I Rub Your Belly?"

I had my first prenatal massage this week. It was wonderful, really. But here are a few critiques I have:

-Laying on my side wasn't my favorite. I have to lay on my side all. the. time. I was really hoping for a big hole in the table so that I could stick my big ole' belly in there and lay on my stomach. If I get the chance to get another prenatal massage in the next 3 months, I'm totally looking for a place with this table.

-Prenatal massages should have a built in bathroom break. With my sweet little Baby B tap dancing on my bladder, I knew that this was bound to happen. So I didn't drink ANY liquid the morning before and went to the bathroom at least 3 times. Including RIGHT before I went into the massage room. However, about 50 minutes into my wonderful hour-long massage, there it was. It kind of ruined the last 10 minutes for me. I guess I could have asked for a break. But that would have involved getting dressed, walking all the way down the hall, coming back, getting undressed and settled and that would have left about 3 minutes in my massage! It just didn't seem worth it. My suggestion: a built in break that doesn't interfere with your massage time. A bathroom connected to the room that you're in. Is that too much to ask? :)

-Weirdly enough, (or maybe not so weirdly enough, I've never had a prenatal massage before) Monica (my sweet masseuse) asked if she could rub my belly. She said it was a great way to sooth the baby after she's born, because she'll remember that touch. Ok. This, I still don't really understand. How am I supposed to rub my baby? Whatever... I thought, "Why not?" Well, next time I'll probably say, "No." I mean, it felt OK. It was just WEIRD. I was laying on my side and she would reach over me, pull my belly from underneath like she was trying to roll over a beached whale. Dislike. One fun thing that came with this though, Elle got all kinds of crazy afterwords. I hadn't really felt her all morning, so I was a little concerned because normally she's moving all the time. [Did you know that Elle's sleeping and dreaming in there? This probably accounts for her lack of activity that morning. ] So, it was reassuring and fun to have her with me. She either loved the belly rubbing or hated it. :)

Those are my critiques for prenatal massages. Overall... wonderful. Will I do it again? Who in their right mind passes up any kind of massage? Yes.

Happy Saturday!

The Count Down Blog...

I love to countdown. Maybe it's my twisted view of how life will somehow get better when this, that or the other gets here. But mostly, I just really love looking forward to things. Anything, really. So here's my current list of countdowns...

5 days until I get my first pre-natal massage. (Thanks, Tyler!)

8 days until the Science Fair is over and I can breathe easy again. (If you know me and details and how we don't really get along, you'll understand how this makes me feel.)

16 days until we get to see Baby B again! I can't wait to see what she's been doing in there! (Oh, I also have to do all kinds of tests, but I'm not counting down for that.)

24 days until Tyler and I head off to our last getaway without a baby in tow.

31 days until my first baby shower :). (Cloth Diaper shower to be exact.)

66 days until my last week of waking up slow, sipping coffee and enjoying silence. Which is what I will be doing every day this Spring Break.

95 days until (Lord willing) we meet this sweet ladybug hanging out in my belly all day.

What are you counting down to?

Snapshots...

... from my week. (No actual pictures... sorry.)

-Welcoming seventeen 8 and 9 yr. olds back into my life with lots of hugs and smiles.

- Enjoying these sweet 8 and 9 yr. olds so much I'm starting to get sad about leaving them early.

- Being so irritated with these same 8 and 9 yr. olds that I can hardly wait to get out of there. :) (Just being honest...)

-25 minute turkey sandwich lunches.

-"I lose my hat... I lose my dignity." Says the 8 yr. old when the sombrero was confiscated.

- Lots of belly touches. :)

-20 minute power naps on the couch upon getting home from school.

- "Stop it! You'll hurt her!" Says my sweet, protective baby-daddy as I'm prodding at her to try

to get her to move around.

- A ruined batch of cookie dough because I added way to much butter. (Don't worry, I sort of fixed it by adding lots of flour, but now they're just really crumbly and not as delicious as I was hoping for.)

That's it. Happy first week back from Christmas Break, teachers! Hope you are back in the swing of things!

Newness...

Happy 2011! I love January 1. While, yesterday it consisted of lazing in my pajamas [literally] all day trying to recover from our wild and crazy celebration the night before... (and struggling with guilt for such laziness) I still really cherish the chance to reevaluate, take stock, and set goals.

So, let's be honest. Here is one thing (among thousands) I just plain fail in: Spending consistent time studying Scripture.

There are probably 10 million reasons why. (Laziness, lack of discipline, love of comfort, the list could go on and on.) But it is difficult for me to put down the novel, computer, to-do list, or get up out of my very comfortable bed to pursue Christ with my mind and think on His great truths. I'm almost positive this isn't easy for anyone, but I seem to always think that if I wasn't in "X" situation, I'd be able to spend more time in Scripture. But, this is my own deceitful heart (see Jeremiah 17:9) convincing my easily swayed mind that "It's FINE that I lack discipline in studying God's Word. It's FINE that I spend more time on facebook and blog reading than filling my mind and heart with Him."

False. It's not fine. Not because I'm caught in a tangle of unspeakable sins and craziness. But because when I'm not thinking upon truth, I'm thinking upon lies and deception and slowly they are creeping into my heart and choking me. Because it is what gives me life, God's Spoken Word is what transforms me. And Lord knows I need to be transformed in big ways. I'm a mess.

So, a goal that I have set for myself in 2011 is to pursue reading the Bible in one year. I've run enough 1/2 Marathons (ok, 2) to know that it is a slow, painful build up to running 13.1 miles. However, I also know that reaping righteousness comes from sowing in the Spirit.

"For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

Galatians 6:8

So, that may mean catching up on Saturdays some weeks, but it also means that the power to say no to my self-indulgent nature comes from Jesus, who spent every waking minute living by His Father's power, will, design and never giving into the desires of His flesh. He's completely trustworthy, completely powerful, completely wise. I will struggle, I will surely fail, I will beg for strength to turn away from myself and look upon Him.

I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news, I have a few things for you!

#1: Delicious Fish Tacos

I've made these for dinner parties before and everyone (including myself) always gushes about delicious they are. They're kind of summer-y, but I don't even care. I found them at allrecipes.com and they've become a regular in our dinner party repertoire. Super easy, feeds lots of people, and my fish-eating vegan friends are allowed to enjoy it as well, as long as you substitute the sour cream sauce for Tofutti sour cream. (Which sounds questionable, but my sour-cream-loving husband loved it.) Enjoy!

Feeds 6

1 T. Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

6 (3 oz.) Mahi Mahi (or another white fish) fillets

1/3 c. sour cream (or Tofutti Sour Supreme if that matters to you)

1 T. lime juice

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger root

1 dash cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1 large mango- peeled, seeded and diced

1 c. diced fresh pineapple

1 avocado- peeled, pitted and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

corn tortillas, warmed (the recipe calls for flour, but I think I like corn better with these tacos)

1 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Cook the fillets in the hot oil until the fish is golden brown on each side and no longer translucent in the center, about 3 minutes on each side.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together the sour cream, lime juice, ginger, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Gently combine the mango, jalapeno, avocado, and pineapple in a bowl.

3. To assemble, place c ooked mahi-mahi fillet onto the center of a warmed tortilla, place a scoop of mago salsa onto the fish, drizzle with sour cream sauce, top with cilantro (if you want, I think it tastes like soap, so I always omit this step) and enjoy!

#2: My first posted belly picture. It's getting to the point where it's actually something to see now, so I figured I'd show you what I'm working with. I'm 25 weeks today and I actually had a dream last night that I could see her little hand print on my belly where she's been trying to give me high-fives from the inside. It was weird. Here she is:

Happy 2011 from my ever-growing belly and me. Hope yours is full of reflection, goal setting, and lots of breaths of fresh air.