Christmas 2015

J and I have been busy preparing for baby.  I made some Christmas cards this year.  Here are our Christmas Card photos, courtesy of my friend Scarlett.  We took them at the Gateway Mall water fountain Christmas Tree display on December 11th.  I really wanted some cute Christmas time pregnancy photos.

My next big project was to go to the Old Glory Vintage Dancers Charles Dicken's Christmas Ball on December 17th.  My friend Rachel even let me wear her pregnancy corset for the occasion.  It was surprisingly comfortable.

I made this Regency dress for my 8 month pregnancy belly.  The Civil War era is all about the tiny waist and I could not find a pregnancy pattern in time.  At this point in my pregnancy none of my other period clothes fit so I had to make a new dress.  I had months to plan and work on it, but being the terrible procrastinator that I am, I ended up sewing the entire thing in 3 days.  The ball started at 7pm, and I finished the last button hole at 7:30pm.  I keep telling myself that one of these days I am going to be more organized and not rushed and not procrastinate and be on time and have enough time to do my hair pretty.  One of these days...  

 Old Glory Vintage Dancers Charles Dickens Christmas Ball.

 Jake, Katrina, Lindsey, and her date.  I do not remember his name.

 We could come dressed in any period clothing from Charles Dicken's life, 1812 - 1870.  Since J does not have Regency clothes, he went with his nicest Civil War uniform, minus the sword.  I know we do not match historically, but we had a fun time.

 Holly and Dave.

 Kimberli and myself.

 Kimberli and her husband Tom.  They run Old Glory Vintage Dancers.

 J and Jake.  I love it when these two get together.  They become their own comedy duo.

 We had a marvelous time at the Ball.  I was so glad I felt well enough that I could go.

 December 20th we had out family Christmas dinner, devotional, and live nativity.

Camilla was pretty crafty this year and made Mom and Dad Birthday Boards to remember everyone's name and birthdays.  We already have two sharing the same day:  Ava and Oliver are exactly one year apart on March 27th,

 Mark and Chelsea

 Richard and Kennerly

 Camilla and Steven

 Christmas Siblings:  Richard, Sabrina, myself, Chelsea, and Camilla.  I am the designated pregnant one this year.  Mom and Dad are up to 6 grandkids now; 3 girls and 3 boys.  My baby will be lucky #7.

 Christmas morning December 25th.  We met at Mom ad Dad's house again for breakfast and to open the rest of the presents.  The little kids were really good helpers at opening presents.

Chelsea, Mark, and Ava.

 Mom finally got her Rock Tumbler that she had been wanting since she was a little girl.  It was the best present ever.  Mom was so happy.

 Emerson in a box.

 Ava loved her new doll.

 Even J and I got into the Christmas spirit.

 Santa gave our baby her first katana so she can practice kata with us.

 Matching Grand-daughter dresses.  Gracie and Ava.

 J finally got some new socks.  Now I can begin the holy sock purging on the next laundry day.

Charlie did not enjoy Christmas as much as we did.

 J and K

 32 weeks pregnant.  I finally made it to the hospital safe zone.  (Our hospital can take care of newborns 32 weeks and older.  Under 32 weeks and baby needs to transfer to another hospital)  I just need baby to stay in there another 8 weeks and we should be good.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from J and K.

Gender Reveal Cake Pops

It is a Boy, A Girl, or are we going to be progressive parents and let our baby decide what gender they want to be.  Or Baby was not cooperating and the Ultrasound technician could not determine the gender at this appointment and we will have to re-schedule.  I am not a spontaneous person and I do not like surprises, so I decided that I really wanted to know our baby's gender before they were born.  I do not have a gender preference.  I just want a healthy baby.  But I do want to know what color I should decorate the room, what list of names I should choose from, and what gender themed outfits and accessories I should get before baby is born.  In anticipation of our big Gender Reveal Day, at 10am on Tuesday October 6th, 2015,  I decided to make Cake Pops. 

I had the left over vanilla frosting from a previous cake and have a ready supply of every color of candy melt available.  All I need is the cake.  I decided to go with a simple vanilla tea cake.

Tea Cake

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 egg
1 cup self rising flour
1/3 cup milk

Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, and the egg.

Add flour and milk.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min.  Allow the cake to cool for 5 - 20 min before turning it out of the pan.

Crumble the cake with about 1 cup of vanilla frosting and mush it all together until it has the consistency of playdough.

Take about a Tbs full of dough and roll it into balls.

Dip the end of a lollipop stick into melted Candy melt chocolate and stick it into the center of the ball.  Freeze or refrigerate the balls until the chocolate sets and the stick is stable.  Cover the cake pop in more candy melt chocolate and refrigerate again to set.

Our big day had finally arrived.  My husband and I went to the Women's Health Center and after an hour of searching, because baby was being in breech position facing my back and did not feel like moving, our Ultrasound Tech informed us that we are having a girl.

That means I need to go with pink cake pops.

Our baby's Ultrasound profile picture.

Pink Cake Pops for a Girl.

We are so excited to be having a little girl.
Now we need to pick a name for her.

Week 20: Banana

Week 20.  Baby is the size of a banana.  I decided to make Banana cream pie.  The recipe I found surprised me.  Instead of making banana pudding, which I anticipated, my recipe called for vanilla pudding and just added sliced bananas to the bottom and top of the pie.  It was pretty tasty though.  My husband said he liked the vanilla pudding better than banana pudding anyways so I might be making this one again sometime soon.

 Banana Cream Pie

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs vanilla
Pie Crust
Whipped Cream

Bake pie shell at 475 degrees for 8-10 min.  Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.  Stir in milk gradually and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil.  Boil for 1 min.  Gradually stir in some of the hot mixture in with 4 egg yolks in another saucepan.  Slowly add to the egg yolks so the yolks do not bake, but are incorporated.  Blend in the rest of the hot mixture and bring to boil over medium heat.  Boil for 1 min and remove from heat.  Add butter and vanilla last.  Add sliced bananas to the bottom of the pie crust.  Pour hot vanilla pudding over the banana slices.   Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but no longer than 48 hours.  Add another layer of bananas on top.  Top with whipped cream.

 Baked the pie crust.  Add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a pan.

 Add 3 cups of milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  I always use whole milk when baking.  It just tastes better.  Remember:  Fat is Flavor.

 4 egg yolks in a separate pan.

 Slowly add hot pudding to the egg yolks and whisk together.

 Add the rest of the hot pudding to the egg yolks and bring to a boil.  Boil for 1 min.

 Remove pudding from heat and add butter and vanilla last.

 Slice bananas at the bottom of the pie crust.

 Pour hot pudding over the bananas and refrigerate for 2 hours.

 Add another layer of bananas on top of the pudding and top with whipped cream.

Whipped Cream

1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 heaping Tbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Whip it, whip it good for about 6 min until it thickens.

 My beautiful banana cream pie.

 It was so delicious.

Enjoy

Here I am at 20 weeks pregnant.  I made it to the half-way point.  I am feeling very scared and very big.  I find myself eating all the time.  My pregnancy craving is chips.  I normally do not like chips that much and hardly ever eat them, but I find myself craving salty chips with sour cream.  I still have bouts of morning sickness and have started a "Days without Incident" board for my own amusement to keep track of how long I can go without an... incident.  Since I found out I was pregnant my record has been 11 days.  This week I had to re-set to 0 days again because I twisted my ankle.  The added weight is throwing me off balance and the ligaments in my joints are loosening which makes me more clumsy that usual.  Oh the joys of making a person.