10 Year Dateaversary & Brad's Birthday Weekend

As things seem to happen in the summer time, we've gotten a bit busy in the past few weeks.  Weddings of close friends and family, work, and all those little things in between.

This past weekend is a blog-worthy kind of weekend.  We celebrated Brad's birthday, and it's only fitting that we post about the awesome food we ate.

As a pre-celebration to Brad's birthday, we went out for "drinks" at Butch's to celebrate our 10 Year Dateaversary (10 years from when we first began dating).  Butch's has a great selection of wines, beer, and - my current favorite - mixed drinks.  This is what's call The Preggers; a non-alcoholic blend of fruit juices to make you feel like you have a grown-up drink, without the lasting affects it could have on an unborn child.  It was delicious.

Skipping ahead to Saturday night,

we celebrated Brad's Birthday Eve with dinner at Salt of the Earth.  If you love incredible dishes that only use fresh, local ingredients, then this is your new favorite restaurant. Brad had a scrumptious roasted half chicken and a glass of local Pinot Grigio out of Leelanau Peninsula:

I had the pierogies.  And not to diss my dad's home-cooked pierogies (Papa - the squash ones are still number one on my Pierogi List), these were the most amazing pierogies I have ever eaten.  Simply delightful.

We polished off the meal with a latte (Brad) and a decaf cappuccino (me), and it couldn't have been a better meal.

Sunday after church, we decided to head to the beach before summer faded away.  Ice cream and hanging out in the sun for a bit was just the ticket.  Despite it being Brad's birthday, I still had him do a little bit of father-to-be help.  It seems when you are pregnant, there is a large growing mass in your abdomen that prevents you from laying on your stomach.  Problem solved, thanks to a great idea from a friend!  Brad dug a hole in the sand, spread my towel on top, and viola!  It's as if there were no belly at all...

 But, on second glance it still seems to be there, getting bigger by the week:

Happy 10 years to the love of my life, and happy happy birthday!  Here's to the next 10 years, and the adventures they will bring!

~M

51% of you were totally wrong

And... we're having a boy!!

We're absolutely thrilled!! Even more importantly, the baby looks very healthy - literally every single measurement taken was smack-dab on the 50th percentile for our due date.

Woohoo!!

It turns out that there is a human boy in Maggie's belly!

Week 20: Your belly is now the size of a major landmark?

We took a road trip down to Springfield, IL (the home of Abraham Lincoln, as we became acutely aware) last weekend for my cousin's wedding reception. It was great to see extended family that lives out of state and we rarely have the opportunity to see. We are so happy for my cousin and his new bride, wishing them the best in their new life together!

At our hotel (creatively named the Abraham Lincoln Hotel), they had a chair appropriate for ol' Abe himself.

I imagine that the authority I need as a father will come easily if I routinely sit in a chair such as this

Early Sunday morning we made the spontaneous decision to head south rather than the assumed north. I hadn't ever seen "The Gateway to the West" in St. Louis, so I figured why not?

Maggie and I have been frequently discussing the "fruit size" that our baby is each week, but this trip got me thinking: why don't people mark the progression of their pregnancies by what national landmark they resemble in shape?

Week 20: St. Louis Arch-Belly

We had a great time in St. Louis.

Excuse the sweatiness - it was nearly 100deg

Only 1 day left to vote on the boy-girl topic. Make your voice heard! We'll let you know the winner in a couple days...

Because We Value Your Opinion

So here is your chance to decide what Baby H-G will be!  Oh wait, it seems that's not really how it works... but we thought it'd be fun to see what everyone thinks the baby will be.

Put your vote in whether you think it will be a girl or boy, and we'll see who is right and wins the prize of Self-Satisfaction, and who is wrong and will shamefully go along their way, wishing they had selected the other gender.

Polling will close August 3rd at 8:00pm EST, and the answer will be posted sometime after the Deciding Ultrasound, which is scheduled for August 5th! 

Cast your vote at the top of the blog page before it's too late!  (A note of apology for those who voted on the poll that was originally posted inside this blog post: It seems we had two polls going at the same time, instead of one so I had to delete one.  Sorry about that!

Good luck guessing!
~M

Half-Way Report on the White T-Shirt Experiment

Towards the genesis of our blogging time, we presented a new research opportunity called The White T-Shirt Experiment. To recap on the purpose of the project, we wanted to see how quickly Pregnant Woman M could grow out of a Men's Medium Cotton White T-shirt, commonly worn by her husband.

White T-Shirt

At the beginning, the shirt was loose and obviously ill-fitting. Now that we have reached 19 weeks, the shirt is tight and obviously ill-fitting. Here is the progression of key weeks during the study:

From Left to Right: 8 Weeks, 10 Weeks, 14 Weeks, 15 Weeks, 17 Weeks, 19 Weeks

And, so you know what has been causing the shirt to be more ill-fitting...

Again from Left to Right: 8 Weeks, 10 Weeks, 14 Weeks, 15 Weeks, 17 Weeks, 19 Weeks

We're just about half-way, meaning that the next post might be revealing whether the baby is a girl or boy.

Stay tuned!

~M

I wasn't kidding about the artichoke dip...

Proof Is In the Pickles

So friends, I'm here to tell you the big news.  That is, I am here to confirm what was rumored to have been the case on Facebook (you know how those things spread...)  Though there may have been partial evidence shown before of a "possible pregnancy" (two pregnancy tests, ultrasound, large growth in abdomen, etc.), none were able to fully confirm the pregnancy... until now.

While wondering the aisles of the grocery store, I happened across a large display of pickles - sweet, dill, relish, hamburger size, etc. - when I found this deep voice in my head screaming, "MUST EAT PICKLES!"  Not knowing what to do, I grabbed a jar off the shelf, quickly finished my shopping and darted to the check-out lane.  Once home, I stuffed everything haphazardly in the fridge and grimaced as I wrenched open the jar of pickles.

My Very First Jar of Pickles (yes, I have already eaten half of them)

Now, I must preface this tale with a very important fact: I don't actually like pickles.  I always enjoyed the scent of pickles, but once I tried to taste them, the flavor was much too powerful.  I am the one at the deli shop that asks not to get a pickle on the side of my sandwich (lest the juice may interfere with my sandwich's deliciousness), or otherwise beg those at my table to take it off my hands.  So this indeed is fascinating proof that I am pregnant.

Strangely enough, a friendly neighbor must have sensed this over-powering need of mine to consume pickles.  Appearing on my doorstep, she presented me with a jar of Homemade Bread & Butter Pickles.  Is this not fate?

Neighbor Friend's Homemade B&B Pickles

So, I'm glad that the pregnancy is in fact confirmed.  Wasn't quite sure for a while there...

How about you out there - ever been surprised by your own strange cravings?  Were you always a fan of pickles or have they been an arch nemesis from the beginning?  Tell us your tales...

~M

The Perks of Having a Pregnant Wife Part 1: "Aren't you just CRAVING sea urchin and french fries?"

It is hard justifying going to the brewery on the grounds of pregnancy ("They do have great artichoke dip there..."), but at times pregnancy can favor the gustatory life of a father-to-be. I admit to encouraging (read: planting) certain aversions and cravings. Fewer PB&J sandwiches and more restaurant menus....

You ask for evidence, do you?

Snack time: "How about warm cider donuts downtown?"

Dinner Option #1: "Kraft M&C in our new dining room sounds nice, but pregnant women need fresh air (and gourmet mac & cheese with chorizo)."

Dinner Option #2: "I know you are tired and sick of cooking. How about steaks?"

Dinner Option #3: "You think pickles and ice cream is the perfect combination? Try sea urchin, caviar, fried egg, garlic aioli, and french fries!"

Dessert Time: "For proper development, the baby needs Crema Catalana and Flan with Caramel Seafoam."

So, the penultimate image deserves further attention. The second-best thing that Canada has ever offered us (the single-best being Rick Moranis, clearly) is poutine. Strictly speaking, the dish involves french fries, cheese curds, and gravy, but up-and-coming restaurants have recently been embracing the idea of combining indulgent french fries with more decadent upscale ingredients. The poutine in question was found at one of our favorite new eateries: Brewery Vivant. We highly encourage you to go there, but you likely won't be able to enjoy this poutine as this was one of their frequent specialty one-and-done dishes.

Mothers - what were your strongest aversions and cravings?

Fathers - will you admit to using pregnancy to your advantage to eat out more?

Others - what is the best meal you've had at a restaurant in July?

Bieber Fever?

Apparently, in H-G Time (and before you ask, yes we are petitioning that H-G Time become a standard time zone), the phrase "will write again soon" could mean tomorrow, a few decades, or some strange calculation in cat years.  In this case, it was a few weeks... so our apologies for the delay!

In those weeks, we have had a variety of family and friends in town from all parts - Germany, Oklahoma, Nashville, and locals, too - and those visits make you truly cherish time well spent with good food, great people and memories to last.  This last week I have caught myself thinking the cliché "wow, time has flown!" and yet - on the other cliché hand - time seems to slowly lumber by and we look forward to big events to come.  Philosophy aside, I shall come to my point:  I have found a particular song of Justin Bieber quite comforting these days, and I hope you do, too.  (Those of you unfamiliar with this youthful pop-icon, feel free to read more at his Wikipedia page here.)  

Mr. Bieber

Not someone you would catch me (dead) listening to, there is now a clever version you won't find on his next album (or any album for that matter).  One of his top hits has been slowed down by 800% and has now become a soothing ballad of sorts.  As the remastered 30-minute song is no longer available, be sure to listen to a portion of the stretched song on YouTube here.  As you listen to this once fast-paced radio topper, try to think of life slowed down.  I've heard it's nice if you have roses nearby.

In other news, the White T-Shirt Experiment continues on slowly.  We have seen what's called the Peekaboo Phenomenon as the abdomen begins to jut forth into the fabric of the shirt.  This will be followed closely by our team of researches, but you can see the evidence in weeks 14 and 15 below.  We have posed them in what is colloquially called a Belly-Off, which Week 15 obviously takes the cake (seeing how it appears an entire cake was consumed moments before the Belly-Off took place).

Week 14 (left)   vs.   Week 15 (right)

And to ensure an actual cake was not wedged under the White T-Shirt...

Week 14

Week 15

More adventures to come in this hyphenated life.  In the meantime, we'll be working on cat year calculations to decide the date of our next post.  Remember to slow down (800% is always preferable) and enjoy these times.

~M

The White T-Shirt Experiment

First of all - let's tare off the band-aid and let you know the good news:  The H-G's will be expecting their first child in December of this year!

In trying to think of creative ways to take belly pictures, an idea came to mind:  Wouldn't it be interesting to see how quickly I could grow out of my husband's white undershirt?  We have both always been people of thin proportions, though I still find his shirts quite big on me.  So, here is how the experiment went:

Materials:

• One pregnant H-G (to be photographed)
• One non-pregnant H-G (to be photographer)
• One medium-sized Hane's Comfort Soft White T-shirt (tagless, of course)

Results of weeks 8 - 11:

8 weeks

9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

After several weeks of slipping on the white t-shirt, it's been fun to see how things have changed.  But, I also grew tired of wearing an over-sized shirt for the sake of the experiment.  So, here are some more normal photos:

11 weeks - Trip to Nashville, TN

12 weeks - In the Backyard..

... and Backyard again.

Bye for now - will write again soon!

~M