house

#LoveGrowsHere ~ Berkeley’s Garden

10. May 2015 · 16 comments · Categories: Berkeley, crafts, house, life · Tags: #LoveGrowsHere, Herb Garden, Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! I hope you’re able to spend some time with your children today. Sadly my mom is in Florida (she was here a couple weeks ago), but we’re lucky enough to have Nate’s mom stay over and obviously I’ll have little Berkeley with me!…unless he has other plans?

Berkeley's Garden 3 ~ ElephantEats.com

Berkeley LOVES being outside. Now that he’s sleeping through the night and on an actual schedule during the day, we’ve actually had time to do things, and being outside has been a priority with this gorgeous spring weather. Prior to his sleep training, we spent the majority of his awake time in his room playing…it didn’t help that the weather was cold. Now that it’s warm, though, we’ve been out taking walks, enjoying the front porch, or sitting in our yard.

Berkeley's Garden 4 ~ ElephantEats.com

This Sunday will be my first Mother’s Day as an actual mom (did being a cat mom count?), and this is also our first spring in our new house with a little one! One thing I’ve been wanting to do in our backyard is plant an herb garden. We hired out some landscaping last year, but last summer I was a tired pregnant lady with no energy for my own projects. Now that I finally have time to cook again, having fresh herbs right outside my back door would be so nice! Once I master herbs, I’m going to move on to vegetables. I want Berkeley to grow up knowing where the things he eats come from.

I had been procrastinating planting the garden because ~~I’m lazy~~ I needed to go out and buy some sort of container, soil, etc, so when Personal Creations reached out to me as part of their #LoveGrowsHere movement and offered me anything from the “Garden” section of their website, I jumped at the opportunity! I ended up selecting a Galvanized Metal Planter on a stand and I even got to have it personalized :) They offered me this gift not with a requirement to blog about it, but simply to help inspire a blog post of me and Berkeley outside in the fresh spring air working on a beautiful garden space, and that’s exactly what they did!

The planter arrived and was EXACTLY what I had been imagining for my herb garden. I went to Home Depot and got some Potting Mix (I read it’s better for herbs than potting soil), garden gloves and a spade, and all my favorite fresh herbs- basil, dill, cilantro and rosemary. The planter didn’t have any drainage in it, which I had read is crucial for growing herbs, so I simply drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of the container. It was really easy.

Berkeley is a little young to help with the planting of the garden since he puts everything he touches in his mouth, so he was more of a bystander on this project. Hopefully next summer he can help me plant some veggies!

Personal Creations also let me pick out a plant or two from their sister site, ProPlants, to help with my project. They sadly didn’t carry any herbs, but I instead selected a gorgeous lavender wreath (which for some reason I can’t find on their site anymore) for my front door. It came packaged really well so it arrived in one piece- something not easy to do with dried flowers! It smells SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good and totally brightens our door :)

Pregnancy Update and Belly Pic- Weeks 27-30

05. July 2014 · 78 comments · Categories: house, life, pregnancy · Tags: belly pic, Nursery

I have a recipe all ready to post finally! It will go up in a few days but I thought I’d give you a little pregnancy update in the meantime.

I’ve been MIA and missed a couple weeks of a belly pics because I managed to somehow throw my back out. I woke up one morning with it hurting and by the next morning I literally couldn’t move. It wasn’t fun.

My doc told me to head over to the PET unit at the hospital which is basically the ER for pregnant women. I didn’t know it existed but it sure made the wait better!

I wasn’t worried about the baby since he was kicking a ton, but wanted to make sure I didn’t have some sort of bladder infection. Turns out it was just muscular and they gave me some pregnancy-safe muscle relaxers that I took for a few days and then switched to Tylenol.

I was back at work this past week but still in some pain. I got this pregnancy back support thing that you wear around and it seems to help a bit. I think I just need to take it easy and be careful of my posture now that I have what looks like a soccer ball strapped to my belly.

I stupidly decided to paint in the nursery right when my back was feeling better and managed to take my recovery back a couple days. Oh well.

I painted birch trees in the corner of the nursery where the crib will eventually be. I’m going for a Woodland Theme as I think I mentioned in my last post. Here are some before and after pics :)

Nursery “Before” (Excuse the mess of stuff- the nursery was a dumping ground while unpacking)

Nursery “Progress” – Still need furniture, obviously

You can’t see it in this pic since I added it later, but I “carved” the baby’s initials into one of the trees. Nate thought I should add a little heart with his and my initials in another tree, which I think would be super cute!

I’d seen a bunch of other blogs doing this little pregnancy update and although it’s not quite as fun since I haven’t been doing it all along and so can’t compare now to then, I stil thought it would be nice to look back on later:

How far along: 30 weeks

Gender: Baby boy!

What Fruit are you? He’s the size of a large cabbage now- about 15.7 inches long now and weighs almost 3 pounds

Due date: September 8, 2014 – At 12 weeks they told me I was measuring a week ahead and he seems to be measuring consistently according to that now. At the last appointment his head was measuring large (thanks a lot, Nate!) but his body was right on track.

Total weight gain/loss: At my 29 wk appt, I was up 20 pounds according to my scale at home, but my doc is claiming 23. They told me this is right on track and I should be gaining about 1 lb per week now.

Exercise: I walk about 40 min a day with my commute, so that’s good. The last two weeks when I was out of commission from my back I basically did nothing. I did meet Nate at the train a couple days (20 min walk total) and he also suggested taking a walk with me a few days.

Stretch marks: None so far (fingers crossed)

Swelling: None

Belly button: It’s still an inny…seems it will prob stay that way.

Sleep: I’ve been feeling really tired lately. I seem to fall asleep easily but then wake up throughout the night to shift positions (very difficult now!) or pee. I also haven’t been sleeping deeply and so have been remembering some weird and vivid dreams.

Food cravings: I’m back to craving what I did in my first trimester- anything juicy, specifically watermelon, nectarines, grapes, etc. Also craving meat whenever I smell someone bbq-ing.

Symptoms: Major back pain (I somehow threw my back out), feeling generally large and heavy. I don’t enjoy having to bend down to pick things up. Pretty good otherwise!

What I miss: Stomach and back sleeping :(

What I’m loving: Baby kicks :)

What I’m looking forward to: Feeling better prepared for the baby- we’re getting some baby things now but keeping them in a closet til the baby comes home. I finished painting the trees on the nursery wall as you can see evidenced in my belly pic from this week.

We’re also taking a birthing class and that’s making me feel a little more ready.

Latest Concern: I have a different complaint every week. The doctor told me she’s never had anyone with such odd maladies…but we already knew I was a hypochondriac :)

Also the birthing class taught us about epidurals and c-sections last class, and I’ve decided I really hope I don’t have to get either. They’re scary!

And just for fun, here’s a collage of my pregnancy thus far…

A Tasty Clafoutis and Pregnancy Update Weeks 24, 25, 26

04. June 2014 · 136 comments · Categories: Baking, Breakfast, Brunch, Cake, cooking, Dessert, food, house, life, pregnancy · Tags: belly photo, blackberry

While down at Nate’s mom’s for Memorial Day, I managed to find the energy to make us a dessert in addition to that yummy pasta salad. Nate has been sending me a lot of NYTimes recipes and this one for a berry clafoutis sounded pretty tasty.

It ended up being really easy and delicious. It was low on the sweetness scale, making the leftovers perfect for breakfast. I’d definitely make it again and maybe try switching up the type of fruit inside. I also think it could have been tasty with some vanilla ice cream on top…but then what isn’t? ;)

I’ve been doing some cooking in our new kitchen. Our house is now preeeeetty much done (pics to come when we finish unpacking boxes). The kitchen island has been installed, finally, which gives me another cooking surface (and another area to make a mess on). LC has decided that this is her newest lookout point. I think she’s the kitchen supervisor.

For a Pregnancy Update:

I’m now 26 1/2 weeks. Baby boy is kicking a ton! It’s the weirdest feeling when you feel him actually kick your hand while it’s on your stomach. Sometime I feel his foot (or maybe his fist) swirl around. It’s so surreal and it makes me smile every time :)

I had Nate put his hand on my belly to feel the kicking a few times. Now when I ask him to feel it, he says that if he’s felt it a few times, he’s felt it enough. Can you believe him?! I guess it’s different when you’re not the one with a living thing inside your abdomen.

I haven’t been great about keeping up with the weekly photos, mainly because they’d been sanding and then painting the outside of the house and had all our windows covered with a plastic film. Not great for photo lighting, as you might imagine. But painting is almost done and I’ve decided the new belly photo location is the nursery! So you get to see a green background now since the walls in there are a light sage green.

When I find time in the next month or so, I’m going to be painting some birch trees on the wall, as I want a Woodland nursery theme.

And just for fun, here’s a couple pics Nate took over the last couple weeks.

Blackberry Clafoutis

2014-06-04 19:35:39

Serves 8

A not-too-sweet treat, perfect for dessert or brunch!

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Ingredients

3 cups blackberries, rinsed and drained on paper towels
2 tablespoons kirsch, eau de vie de myrtille, or crème de cassis (optional)
7 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup almond flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt (not greek style)

Instructions

Toss berries in a medium bowl with the kirsch, eau de vie or crème de cassis and 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together all-purpose flour and almond flour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9- or 10-inch ceramic tart pan or clafoutis dish.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs with remaining sugar, vanilla, and salt. Place a strainer over the bowl and drain berries, allowing the liquid from the berries to run into the egg and sugar mixture. Whisk to combine. Arrange drained berries in the buttered baking dish.
Beat the flours into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Add yogurt and combine well. Pour over fruit, scraping out all of the batter with a rubber spatula.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the top is browned and the clafoutis is firm and puffed. Press gently on the top in the middle to see if it’s firm. If it isn’t, return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Adapted from NY Times

https://elephanteats.com/

Life post-move…

06. May 2014 · 126 comments · Categories: house, life, pregnancy · Tags: belly pic

I know I know, you guys haven’t heard from me in weeks and now you’re expecting a recipe- soon I promise. These last few weeks have been a bit crazy to say the least.

House News

We moved into our house on April 16th and my parents came up to help. I don’t have many pics but I can share some instagram ones of LC enjoying the new place.

LC finally finding peace in the sink after a rough first day

My parents stayed most of the weekend and then Nate’s mom came into town for Easter. My parents both managed to get sick on their return home…and since pregnant women have weakened immune systems, guess who they got sick?

Enjoying a unpacking break in our new living room

I had a really bad cold that kept me home from work the week after our move. It was bearable but I was just paranoid it was going to turn into something that would require medication, which I really hate to take while preggo. I did take some Robitussin DM and tylenol, both of which the doc said was safe. Thankfully after 4-5 days I was feeling much better.

LC’s favorite lookout spot- our new mantle!

Nate’s mom and brother came to visit the next weekend, so we still haven’t had time to unpack our house! I will take pics as soon as it’s slightly cleaned up. Or I suppose I could have some “progress” pics before it’s really decorated.

Exploring new heights…

Our kitchen island still hasn’t arrived (hopefully it will get installed next weekend!!!) but I did manage to FINALLY cook a meal on Wednesday. I used our new oven’s convection mode to roast two trays of veggies at once and it worked great :)

Baby News

In other news, the ultrasound doctor at the hospital told me that I’m measuring a week ahead…so i’ve skipped to 22 weeks now! Aaaaaand…

It’s a boy!!!

I think knowing the gender has totally made this more real. Also, I’ve felt some definite kicking, and even Nate felt it the other day! I’ve been wearing more belly-hugging clothing and still find myself surprised that I’m pregnant when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. It’s just very strange. I think my belly just expanded overnight.

Sorry about the quality of this photo. I finally remembered to take a pic at dusk so the light stunk. From here on out I’m going to try to take weekly pics tho…and I’ll try to get them in daylight!

I apologize for not being around much but hopefully I’ll get back in the groove soon. Hope you’re all enjoying your spring!

House Update #5 + a bonus I’ve been “cooking up” ;)

30. March 2014 · 150 comments · Categories: house, life, pregnancy · Tags: monthly photo

Hello everyone. I’m sorry I’ve been totally MIA (if you’re my blogging buddy, I promise I’ll be to your blog soon to comment!!). Our house has had some delays, and I’ve had to make a billion decisions. We’ve officially booked our move for April 16th although the contractor has told me that he’s barely going to finish by then. UGH.

Anyway, we’ve already started packing, and we’re going to be leaving this apartment with a little more than we came with:

I wanted to tell you guys SO BADLY. I was waiting til I announced it to my boss, but the secret’s out now…and so is my belly!. Is a belly this big normal for 16 wks?! I’ve only gained 7 lbs so far, so it’s kind of crazy.

Anyway, this baby is a large part of why I haven’t blogged recently. The first trimester I was majorly nauseous and exhausted all the time. I didn’t think you would want to see my “recipes” that I made on a nightly basis (plain pasta).

I’ve finally made it into the second trimester, and I’m feeling so much better. Baby is officially the size of an avocado :)

Now if I just didn’t have the house stuff stressing me out, I might find some time to cook something for you. Soon we’ll be packing up our kitchen so I hope I can find some time between now and then to cook up something tasty. But if I don’t, I promise that I will do lots of cooking in our new kitchen!

Speaking of the new kitchen, the island has a little issue so we will be island-less for a week or two after moving in :( Not the most convenient thing but at least it will be corrected in the end.

Here’s a pic of the kitchen partially assembled…but this is with the incorrect, too-big island:

And now since I’m sure you can’t wait to see, here are some more progess pics of the rest of the house. It’s actually even more done now but I haven’t been out there with a camera lately.

Entryway:

Living Room:

There is going to be a wood mantle surround and cabinets around the fireplace. They’re in the process of being built. The living room is smaller now because there’s a front hall closet and built-in desk/bookcase on the living room side.

View from fireplace towards front door:

and here’s the bookcase/desk being built, plus some trim on the windows/doors:

Looking towards living room windows from what will now be the hallway:

view from living room windows towards the new hallway to the kitchen/dining rooms:

Kitchen:

Now the “kitchen” is officially a dining room and the window in the back is actually the kitchen:

Den:

What was the den is now the back of the kitchen and the new mudroom/laundry room (through that doorway).

Ok, let’s go upstairs.

I don’t think I ever showed a before pic of this, but there used to be a closed door leading up to the attic…and now it’s a nice bright, open stairwell!

Master Bedroom:

There are still windows on the other wall, they’re just cut off in this pic.

View from new Master bedroom “through” the new walk-in closet to the master bathroom:

And here’s a pic from the bathroom back thru the closet hallway into the bedroom:

And the rest of these pics don’t have good “before”s unfortunately, so I’ll just give you a new tour:

Nursery (!!!):

Hall Bath:

Bedroom 2:

View towards the closet, which is next to the door to the room:

On landing to 3rd floor looking at 3rd floor bedroom door:

3rd Floor Bedroom:

3rd floor bedroom, view from windows to other side of room:

3rd Floor Bath:

and same view with tiling started: