Almost 33 weeks. 7 weeks to go.

We're in full-on baby preparation mode here at the Whittamore household. Over Christmas we built the baby's dresser and crib.

Then Scott painted the dining room to match the living room. I was very appreciative not to have to help with that chore. But it looks great. Now I just have to rehang all the art. When we get paid again, we'll get some new curtains and a new light fixture to jazz things up a bit. I'll post photos of both rooms when they're closer to being done.

There have been some big changes with my pregnancy going on too. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 29 weeks, and that has turned things upside down. I can no longer give birth in the water at Baby Love Birth Center like I'd planned because of the diagnosis. (Stupid Florida regulations). I now have to go to Cape Coral Hospital.

As if that wasn't traumatic enough (I'm getting over it now because I know it won't matter after he's born), my wonderful midwife Samantha can't be there for my delivery because she doesn't have a contract with my insurance company. Luckily her husband is a great OB who shares her same birth philosophy, so I have to switch to him in the next few weeks.

I've also had to change my diet to keep my blood sugar in check, since I have to test it four times a day. I've pretty much been on the Paleo diet. Low carbs, no grains, no sugar - just a little honey. It may have been a blessing in disguise because my rapid weight gain has slowed dramatically, and I'm still feeling pretty good.

Here's a new belly growth chart. Somehow I lost the pics from Christmas week when I was 31 weeks pregnant. :(

And here we are all dressed up for a New Year's party with our pretty Christmas tree.

 And at the party....

And here's a funny photo I took of myself reflected in an ornament at a Christmas event at the Ritz Carlton in Naples.....

 

 And one last photo. We've started harvesting the garden! Here's today's carrots.....yum! And we got a big handful of green beans that we ate for yesterday's dinner. The corn will be done soon too.

Merry Christmas

On Sunday, we ate lunch with Scott's family before his parents left for Kentucky, so today we just had breakfast with my mom and Billy after opening our presents at home. It was nice to have a fairly relaxing day.

For dinner, I cooked a London broil in the slow cooker with a few of the year's first carrots from the garden. I also made some acorn squash. And mom brought broccoli salad and green beans. I must say, it was pretty good.

 One of today's best gifts was one Scott picked out for the baby. A pair of tiny chucks. so cute. Yes I know my stomach is huge in this photo. It definitely grows every day! I'll have an update on that later this week.

My step-brother Scott, his wife Heather and his two beautiful and funny daughters came to visit last week, so Friday night we went over to eat with them at my mom and Billy's house. We had a good time seeing them. I think the gift-opening photos of the girls speak for themselves......

On another note, our garden is on the verge of giving us a feast. Here's the pics from December 5.....

And here's today....

First major green bean harvest!

Today we had our first major green bean harvest. We got about two quart-sized bags full of them. I was worried that the freeze last week would affect them, but so far, everything looks good. We have lost a few leaves that got a little bit of damage. But the beans continue to grow. On new year's day we ate the first of the beans, but we only got about 10 beans or so.  This is the most vegetables we've ever grown if you don't count our crazy lettuce harvest last year. I had no idea the plants would be so big.

pea blossoms

corn

We're growing yellow, purple, red and regular orange carrots, too.


As for our New Year's holiday, we didn't do much. I had a cold so we stayed home, watched TV and drank the champagne we bought on our honeymoon in California.

Updates: A new car, the garden and a new door

We've been busy around here since vacation. After we got home we learned that my car was sick and would soon need a new transmission, computer and catalytic converter. So we decided to get me a new ride. We settled on a Honda Civic Hybrid after being tempted by a sweet Mercedes for cheaper. In the end, I went for the more practical car. Surprise, surprise. But I love it. It has power windows and locks and cruise control - all firsts for me. And it should save me some money on gas.

We also harvested our pineapple. These things take two years to grow, so it really makes you appreciate them when they're finally ripe. Here's what it looked like when it first appeared in March....

And here's what it looked like yesterday before we devoured it. There is nothing like pineapple ripened on the plant and eaten fresh......

We've also been growing purple okra. This is a first for us. Hopefully we'll like eating it, because it's not one of the veggies we eat regularly.

Our bathroom renovation is finally complete. It was mostly done back in February, but needed a few finishing touches. Right after vacation, the contractor from Lowe's showed up to replace our rotting door and window that wouldn't stay closed. We got a cool door with blinds between the glass. It feels weird to get excited about doors, but I guess that's what happens when you're a grown-up.

Here's the before photo......Notice the sweet orange towel used to stop the rain from coming under the door. It was also a nice shade of dingy white.

Spring flowers

Last year and this year, we've had a special treat that we haven't seen in the yard before. I guess the cold winters have made the amaryllis bulbs "reactivate" and flower. They only last for a few days, but they are really pretty.

We also had a surprise pineapple appear. I've been planting the tops of all the pineapples we eat in hopes of getting a few to sprout. Well, we finally have one and it's fascinating to watch it develop. It even has little flowers on it. Who knew?

Corn from the garden

Just after Kylie and Amanda's visit, Scott and I checked the corn plants to see if they were ready. To our surprise, they were! So that night we cooked up the two largest ears and I photographed them. But the next day at work, I accidentally formatted the card they were on and deleted them. Fortunately we harvested two more ears and ate them a few days later. Sadly the ants got the other two ears before they matured. So here's a photo of part of our first ever corn crop.

Pardon the bad light. i was using the point-and-shoot under our stove light.

I'd say it was a partial success. The corn tasted really great straight from the garden. We just need to figure out how to plant more next year. We learned that lesson with the carrots last year, and we are about to start harvesting our second round of carrots. We just planted a third round, so we'll see if they make it in the hot days of spring.

Mema and a home update

As most of you know, while I was in Washington DC, I received a late-night call from my dad that my Mema had passed away after surviving triple-bypass surgery, cancer and a couple of strokes over the last 15 years. She was tired and she is now at peace. She wanted her funeral to be a celebration, and we sure tried to honor her wish. Scott and I had a great visit with the family. Mema finally got all her "biddies" (grandchildren and great-grandchildren) home at the same time. She said she was like a mother hen and liked to have her biddies all around her. Unfortunately, life and careers have scattered all the grandchildren from California to Ohio to Florida, so it is difficult to get us all home at the same time.
On Friday night we had the viewing and receiving line. I've never shaken so many hands, and I was touched by the outpouring of support from the hundreds of people who came through that line. Many people noticed that my cousins and I looked a lot like Mema in her younger years. The funeral home had put together a slide show of pictures of her, and it was playing that night. It's quite a compliment. She was beautiful. I will miss her so much.

with my dad in the yard of the family home in Raleigh

Mema and Papa

July 2010

After we returned home from Raleigh, which was my third set of flights in two weeks, we went out to the garden to pull some carrots. And to my surprise, some peas were ready, too! Here's a few pics of the corn and a poppy flower before we left. I believe these were taken on January 14 -- between the New York and DC trips.

And here's when we got home on Sunday morning.

 Carrots for dinner!

I think we'll actually be able to eat corn from the garden!

poppy

We have also been in the middle of a bathroom remodel. It all started with a post on Young House Love. Here's their post about the delivery of theirs. We just wanted a new washer and dryer. We got that and a whole lot more. After I ordered the same pair (we got 10% off and they got 20% off), I realized that our hot water supply was leaking. Not a big deal on our old set. I just washed all our laundry on cold, but now I want to take advantage of the hot water features on modern washers. When I called our neighbor over I told him we wanted it fixed, but we really wanted them stacked to make room for a double vanity. And new tile on the floors. Soooooo.....we currently have tile down (travertine I found on sale for $1.68 per sq ft) -- no grout yet. The vanity and faucets are on the way. We have a new backsplash, light fixture and a toilet in the office waiting to be installed. Quite exciting. So long old mauve tile and cheapo vanity! I'm hoping to show some pics of the progress this week. And hopefully we'll have some after photos by this weekend!