Underrated

Concert DVDs.

Years ago I went to a party where the hosts were playing a U2 concert on their very large TV and it seemed incredibly strange to me to own a concert DVD. Does anyone seriously sit down, put the DVD in, and watch a concert for 2 hours? As it turns out, no. But they DO provide a really great way to have some awesome background noise and some pass-through entertainment while you're cleaning the house, hosting a get-together, etc. You should find some good ones and put them on your Christmas list.

We currently own only two (Allison Krauss & Union Station and John Legend), but we definitely need more.

Autism Article

Ran across this article today on The Huffington Post:

Cracking the Autism Riddle: Toxic Chemicals, A Serious Suspect in the Autism Outbreak

Through the Eyes of Little Ones

This morning my cousin and his wife had a little boy named Sebastian and the name has caused all kinds of confusion and inspiration thanks to The Little Mermaid. Sebastian has two cousins, both girls, ages 3 and 5, and their mom is also pregnant.

Confusion:
The girls' mom comes home this morning from the gym and the girls go running up to her to announce that Uncle R and Aunt J had their baby.
"Yea? That's wonderful! What did they name him?"
"FLOUNDER!"

Inspiration:
The girls were so impressed with the Disney-inspired name that they have decided that if their mom has a girl this November that she should definitely be named Ariel.

A Recent Conversation

Friend - I haven't seen you in a while, how has your back been holding up with the pregnancy?

Me - Oh, pretty good, considering. I have a few hours a day of good work-time in me, but the rest of the time I'm mostly on the couch. I watch a lot of TV lately.

Friend - Oh yeah? Like A Baby Story and Maternity Ward!!

Me - Ummmm.... noooooo.... more like several hour marathons of Law & Order and Bones. I hate the baby shows, but I'm all about the crime dramas.

Ramblin

Hi all. Sorry for the big fat posting delay. We moved the computer down into the office - as opposed to being in the living room - and now I'm hardly ever on it. Ya know, as I'd have to walk ALL THE WAY into another room to blog, and that's just far too much to remember. It was much easier when I could listen to Law & Order: Criminal Intent in the background while posting. I managed to catch up on a lot of emails and bills today though, so I will attempt to be a better blogger. But really, it's just preparation for when Baby Girl comes and I disappear for long stretches while trying to figure out how to be a first time mama.

There's not much to report from Casa Scarlet Lily. Between my limited mobility and the house combination of Lots 'o Stuff meets Not Much Storage, the settling in process has been slow going. We've decided to forgo all weekend plans to try to make a dent in the Big List though.

If anyone is on Twitter, I've been a much better Tweeter than I have been a blogger lately (see the Little Chirps section in the sidebar if you're not on Twitter). It's not much consolation, but I can do it from the couch with my phone, so it's easier. Enjoy your 4th!

Baby Face

Meet our little miss Pouty Pants! I had a 34 week ultrasound yesterday so they could check her weight, organs, and all kinds of other stuff and we walked away with some pretty amazing pictures. Unlike most other doctor's offices, my new office here does the 3D ultrasounds as their standard practice, so we got an unbelievable look at our little peanut.

The doc said that she has lots of hair, weighs 5 lbs 13 oz, is extremely active (Ugh. Many thanks to my restless hubby for that trait), and is a "world class pouter." She MAY have gotten the pouting thing from me, but really... why point fingers?

It was hard to get a clear picture of her face because she wouldn't move her hands, but we eventually got some good shots. Now we're even more anxious for her arrival!! I have a lot of her clothes washed and the lightweight stroller put together, but we're still waiting on the arrival of the nursery furniture to really whip things into shape.




Here's another picture of her - very squished - face. This one cracks us up because she looks like a little African baby. Clearly she has her Aunt M's beautiful lips and her dad's dark hair. I think I got shut out of the gene pool this time around, but we'll see. It's not surprising, I'm one big recessive gene, so I wasn't expecting a pale little redhead.



As for me, here's how she looks from the outside. I'm still feeling remarkably good for being 35 weeks along. I live a very low key lifestyle that includes a lot of couch time, so I'm sure that's why I'm lucky enough to feel so good, but considering the fact that I thought I'd be on full bed rest due to my back at this point, I'm loving life. And can I mention for the one millionth time how grateful I feel to not be working?? What an unbelievable blessing it is to just focus on our new house and our little one without having to work. Most people are not this lucky and I recognize that fact every single day. Right now I will happily give up new clothes and dinners out and every other luxury to enjoy a peaceful existence with Baby Girl and B.

Berry Yummy Treats

I have two very summery and very deliciously berry recipes to share with you. On Father's Day B's sister made an incredible Blackberry Limeade that inspired me to use up the berries I had in my own refrigerator to concoct something similar. And it was so easy and fast a tasty that you should do the same thing.

For some reason I keep buying lots of fruit at the grocery store and it keeps going bad in much less time than I'm used to (THIS is what happens when you no longer get to shop at Wegmans!) so I've been making all kinds of things that require mushy fruit.

So I took the leftover raspberries and blackberries that I had, blended them with water, strained the seeds, added the juice from the five lemons that were in the fruit bowl and kept adding sugar and water until everything tasted right. Voila! It's heavenly. Not to mention that it's never even occurred to me to turn the fruit on my counter into a summer drink before, so that was kind of exciting as well.

As for the muffins, I've been trying to modify the basic blueberry muffin recipe from How to Cook Everything to make it a little healthier but also taste good and I've finally got it. This was my third batch in about a week, but the second batch went to the neighbors so we could introduce ourselves, so we haven't been eating only muffins.

The new recipe tastes amazing and because they utilize half whole wheat flour and an alternative sugar source, they don't spike your blood sugar the way regular muffins do. You can have one... or three... for a snack and not feel like you just snacked on a disguised cupcake.


Modified Blueberry Muffins

3T melted butter
1C white flour
1C whole wheat flour
1/2C Agave Syrup (comes in a squeeze jar and can be found in the natural foods section of your grocery store)
1/2t salt
3t baking powder
1t cinnamon
1 egg
1C milk


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.

Beat together the egg, milk, butter, & Agave syrup in a separate bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir swiftly stopping as SOON as the dry ingredients are moistened. (This step is important in avoiding dense muffins)

Add the blueberries and stir only enough to incorporate.

Put into muffin tins

Optional: I add a little sprinkle of brown sugar on the top of every muffin to give a small, crunchy topper to the muffins. Plus, the muffins themselves are not that sweet and this little bit of sugar is a nice balance in your mouth.

Bake for only 15 minutes, let rest for 5 minutes, remove from pan.