Nursery Teaser III

So I don't remember when or where I first saw this quote, but I do remember telling Darrell that when we had a kid, I was going to get a print of it to hang in our future child's nursery.

Well, it's years later, said kid is finally on its way, and you can bet I haven't forgotten about including this quote in the nursery decor (perhaps to Darrell's chagrin). And after some careful searching, I finally found the perfect way to incorporate it into our nursery:

Maybe it's just me, and maybe these will just be a passing fad, but I seriously love the printed wall decals (we also have this one in our foyer and another in our kitchen). And I was totally thrilled when I found one that included stars because they fit in perfectly with our gender-neutral nursery theme.

Oh, and yes, that is actually an image of the decal hanging in our house, which means those are the actual colors in our nursery. It may just be my most favorite shade of green ever...

Wedding Wednesday: Picking a Florist

I don't have a lot to share in terms of advice on picking a florist, but my biggest piece of advice would be similar to what I've said with all the vendors--make sure it is someone that you feel comfortable with and trust. They should be happy and excited to be doing the florals for your wedding; you'll probably be able to tell at the first meeting if this isn't the case. Beyond that, the only other major consideration you need to make is to make sure the florist has access to the types of flowers you want. Not all florists may be able to import that beautiful rare flower you have your heart set on; not all florists have large collections of silk flowers. And if you want to include non-floral items in your centerpieces (like lights), make sure your florists does that as well. 

There is also one main thing that you can do to ensure a good experience with your florist (which I alluded to above): trust them. Giving your florist a specific bouquet or centerpiece to re-create (right down to the number and types of flowers) will significantly limit their ability to put together the best possible arrangements for your wedding. An experienced florist will know which types of flowers will work best for your environment (indoor/outdoor/season of the year) and which type of flowers will best complement each other (remember that the colors you see in pictures may not reflect the true color of the flowers). It is best to give your florist guidelines on the theme and style of the wedding (bringing in photos of things you do/don't like is always helpful), as well as discuss color combinations that you are planning to use, then give them some creative freedom to create the final product. Don't hesitate to schedule multiple consultations with a potential florist to help build this trust, and as always, talk with former brides that you trust to help steer you in the direction of the right florist. 

Sarah's Key

It's been a long while since I've had a book review to share (almost five months exactly!), and I have no excuses other than I really haven't been reading. Well, at least not leisure reading; I have made my way through a few pregnancy/baby care books, but I haven't really felt compelled to share my thoughts on those (mostly because I have no experience by which to gauge the applicability and use of the books--at least not yet).

I finally got around to starting a book club with some friends in December, though, so that forced my hand at doing some reading for fun. And I'm glad it did--this is a book that I've been wanting to read for quite some time, but probably would have never bitten the bullet to go out and get it if it hadn't been for the club (the same is true of the book we're reading for next month--Life of Pi).

Sarah's Key starts by alternating between two separate stories--the story of Sarah, an eleven year-old French Jew who is part of the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup in 1942; and the story of Julia, an American journalist in France during 2009 who is writing an article about the upcoming anniversary of the roundup. During her research, Julia discovers that her husband's family (Paris natives) is connected to Sarah's story, and Julia makes it her mission to discover the truth, no matter what dark family secrets she must unearth along the way.

As a whole, I really enjoyed this book. Rather than being distracting and hard-to-follow, the style of alternating narrators actually caused me to become more engrossed in the book and subsequently increased the pace with which I read the book. I was also fascinated by the story of the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup--in all of my reading and studying of WWII, I was unfamiliar with this particular event, which is a testament to the French government's attempt to keep quiet about this dark spot in their history. However, I did feel at times that there was too much going on--family secrets, marital struggles, internal conflicts, etc--and that all these themes were in some ways only loosely connected and addressed. I also thought that some of the character reactions and responses were a little contrived and over-exaggerated, but after discussing with Darrell and my book club I found that I was a minority in that perception (as someone who has no personal experience with many of the conflicts that occurred in the book, I had a hard time rationalizing an appropriate response to the situation, which caused me to be overly-critical of the character's response).

I would definitely recommend this book to others; the few flaws that it may have are not enough to distract significantly from the griping (and at times, heart-wrenching) story.

Our Biggest Weakness

Darrell and I had quite a few reasons for choosing to not to find out the sex of our baby, but as we get closer to the due date, I'm realizing we could add another reason to the list: financial savings. If we knew the sex of this child, I can almost guarantee that every trip to Target or Babies 'R' Us or even a second-hand store would result in us coming home with at least one new outfit for little one. In fact, I've even been tempted to buy some of the super cute outfits I've seen because I'm afraid they won't be available once baby actually arrives, but I can logically reason myself out of those decisions because I know I won't be able to return the outfits (at least not this far in advance) if they end up being for the wrong sex. And let's be honest--none of the gender neutral pieces are really to die for (although Target did have some cute ones while we were there this weekend--and they've since been added to our registry).

However, there is one piece of baby gear that we haven't been able to resist spending money on: books. At the rate we are going, baby is going to have a library that will rival mine by the time he/she is born (and believe me--I have a pretty extensive collection). It hasn't helped matters any that as I get closer to my due date I become more reluctant to buy full-priced maternity clothes, which lands me at second-hand stores to do my shopping. Second-hand stores that just happen to have large selections of super cheap baby books. Who can resist this gem for just $3.00?

Or this classic for a mere $1.50?

And no child's library is complete without a little Dr. Seuss (just $1.00 for the book!)

And that's only the tip of the iceberg! I suppose there are worse things we could be spending our money on, though, right?

I've got Darrell working on a pretty sweet bookshelf project for the nursery that I'm excited to share once he gets it finished; we've also crossed a few other nursery projects off our "to-do" list that I hope to share by the end of the week!

Sugar Cookie Icing

Public Service Announcement: If you live near me (and maybe even if you don't), don't be surprised if I show up bearing gifts of sugar cookies in the next few weeks. I've been staring at this photo all week as I've been working on this post, and you have no idea how much of a craving I have to make and ice these cookies Right. Now. I don't know if it's the bright colors of the icing, if it's the fact that I know they taste delicious, or if baby just can't get enough sweets, but I want these cookies again. Soon. And since I just made them a month ago and remember that they aren't nearly as time-consuming as I had previously thought, making them will probably become a reality. Especially since I discovered I have a ton of fun cookie cutter shapes.

And honestly, even though I think the sugar cookies taste delicious on their own (or lightly sprinkled), it's the icing that is really motivating me to make these cookies again. Almond extract is probably one of my favorite baking ingredients (random, but true), and I love the subtle flavor that it gives this icing. I wish I could claim this as an old family recipe, but I'm pretty sure I got it off of Allrecipes.com or something. Not nearly as glamorous--but still delicious. And although this icing doesn't "need" anything more with it, it would be really easy to use this icing as a base layer and then pipe additional decorations on to to cookies to take them to the next level of fancy. I've never been quite that ambitious, though--but that's usually because I'm in too much of a hurry to just eat the cookies.

Sugar Cookie Icing
(makes enough to ice approximately two dozen cookies)

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract
Food coloring

Stir powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. Add more corn syrup if icing is too thick. Mix in food coloring to achieve desired color. Dip cookies into icing or paint them with a brush.

A few other tricks of the trade if you've never worked with icing like this:

--If icing thickens while you are working with it, you can microwave it slightly to thin it out instead of adding more corn syrup.

--If you are choosing to dip the cookies, I've found that it works best to dip with the cookie in one hand and then to use a finger from the other hand to wipe some of the excess icing off the side of the cookie (you won't be able to get it all and as you can see from the picture it will still drip a little, but this will certainly help).

--Use a flat-bottomed container (or bowl) that is at least as wide as your largest cookie.

--Be sure to let the icing set completely before moving or stacking the cookies otherwise they will stick together.

Happy cookie-making!

Summertime Goals

So I know summer is still months away, but it's been seriously cold up in these parts all week and I can't help but think of a little warmth. Of course, thinking of summer does tend to freak me out a little bit because there will be a baby--OUR BABY--this summer, and I know that the little bugger will change things. And probably in ways that Darrell and I can't even imagine.

However, it's important to Darrell and me that baby doesn't completely change our way of life, because as excited as we are for baby, we do enjoy our life as it is now. So to keep us grounded--and to make sure we don't fall into a routine of staying cooped up at home--I've decided to put together a list of things I want to accomplish this summer. There is nothing terribly life-altering on this list--in fact, in each of the past four summers we've probably completed this list two times over--but for my own piece of mind I wanted to write it down. And if our hopes of maintaining a semblance of our "normal" life totally fails because Darrell and I are so incredibly naive about having a baby, then at the very least I'll have a list of the things we used to do before baby came around. But let's hope that isn't the case.

--Have at least two bonfires

--Attend at least five Sioux Falls Saints baseball games

--Go hiking at least twice

--Make time for at least two "Mommy and Daddy" only dates

--Participate in a road race

--Have at least two lunch dates downtown with Daddy

--Go to the lake cabin at least once

--Attend at least one large public event (Jazz Fest, Rib Fest, Sioux Empire Fair, etc)

--Get together with friends for at least four social gatherings

--Go on at least one long bike ride

I'm sure I'll think of more as summer gets closer, but if we can make it through even just those ten items I'll consider our summer a success!

Wedding Wednesday: Choosing Your Baker

Pretty simple here: Google any potential baker on Cake Wrecks. If they show up, immediately take them off the list of possibilities. If they aren't there, you're golden.

Okay, so that's maybe a little over-simplified, but there's definitely some truth to it. One of the things people will remember most about the cake is how it looks, so you want to make sure you can trust your baker to create a quality product. You might be tempted to think that as long as all the images on their webpage/in their portfolio are good than you can trust them, but a baker isn't likely to display his/her unsuccessful creations. Likewise, a baker might only share positive reviews on his/her website, so don't be afraid to dig a little deeper on the internet to find out if there are any dissatisfied brides out there. Also, be sure ask around to people who got married in the same area--even years later a bride will be able to tell you whether or not she had a positive experience with her baker and if the end product was what she was expecting.

Of course, the taste of the cake is important too, so be sure to schedule a tasting (like I have to twist your arm on that one. Cake tastings are definitely one of the perks of wedding planning). Don't just sample the cake, either; remember that the frosting and/or fondant can have a huge impact on the taste of the dessert, and the flavors and textures will vary from baker to baker. And don't be afraid to ask questions during the tasting--if the baker is serving you fresh cake at the tasting but freezes her wedding cakes before delivering them, you'll want to know how that may affect the taste.

Lastly, if there is a specific design or style that you are dead set on having for your cake, try to find a baker who has created a similar product. While a baker may be able to create beautiful geometric shapes, they may not be as skilled at producing delicately piped flowers. With the easy access to information on the internet, it's probably easy to find lots of cakes that model the style and design you desire. But if you want to make sure it is something your baker will be able to re-create, limit your searching to styles that are already in your baker's repertoire. Find cakes that they have previously created and choose the designs/patterns you like off of those, because it's pretty safe to assume that they'll be able to recreate something they've done in the past.

Hopefully with a little careful discretion and some diligent research you can avoid some of the disappointments that these brides had to face with their wedding cakes! (Or these brides--Cake Wrecks is such a fun and addicting site!)

Cut-out Cookies

So I know it's maybe a little early to start thinking about Valentine's Day (although most stores have had stuff out for weeks, so you've probably already been forced to think about it), but if you are looking for a simple, homemade treat for your Valentine this year, why not try some traditional sugar cookies? I know a lot of people can be intimidated by cut-out sugar cookies--they have to be an even thickness or some will burn in the oven, the dough can be sticky and hard to roll out--but with a little patience they really are quite easy. And delicious.

Now, I may be a little biased because this is the recipe I grew up making with my grandmother, but I happen to think that this is one of the most fool-proof (and tasty) recipes for cut-out sugar cookies. Try them for yourself if you don't believe me!

I know, those aren't very Valentine-y. But that's the beauty of cut-out sugar cookies--they can be used for any holiday just by changing up the cookie cutter!

Grandma's Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
(Yields approximately 3 dozen based on the size of your cookie cutters)

3 cups sifted flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter or margarine
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tbsp light cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400*. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and cut into flour mixture with mixer or pastry blender. Mix in egg, cream, and vanilla. Chill for at least four hours (makes the dough much easier to roll out). On a floured surface (with a floured rolling pin), roll out dough to an even thickness (approximately 1/4 inch) and cut into desired shapes (dip cutters into flour if they are sticky). Bake five to eight minutes on ungreased cookie sheet.

A simple way to dress up the cookies is just to toss some sprinkles on them right before baking. Frosting is always a good option--and a fun one to use to create a "decorate your own cookie" project for kids (or adults!). I also like to use an icing on my cookies--recipe for that coming later!

A Good Day

I've delayed posting today because I have been (impatiently) waiting the results of a test I took this morning. A test that I was terrified of failing--and yet knew that no amount of studying or preparation for it would help improve my odds.

But, I'm happy to say that after twelve hours of fasting, one incredibly concentrated sugar drink, and four blood draws, I do not have gestational diabetes. Thank goodness. I mean, I know tons of women are diagnosed with it and it really isn't that big of a deal, but I would have had some serious difficulty cutting way back on my carbs (and, of course, sugar!)--especially with Valentine's Day and Easter still ahead before my due date. Way glad to have dodged that bullet  :)

Nursery Teaser II

So after sharing our crib and changing table last week, Darrell and I went out shopping to start looking for a recliner/glider for the nursery. And, as tends to be our M.O. whenever we have a big purchase to make, we ended up buying one of the first ones we saw (I'm not kidding on this. You should have seen us when we were building our house. Drove to one carpet store, walked right to the section of carpets in our price range, picked the first one we liked, and left. Ten minutes, in and out. We did that for just about every purchase/decision that needed to be made). Thankfully, we've always ended up with stuff that we like long-term, so we haven't been forced to change our methods. And although we haven't actually put the recliner to any sort of "baby test" yet, it's safe to say I think we'll be happy with it (besides, it's a La Z Boy--how could it not be awesomely comfortable?). In fact, I think Darrell has already spent more time in the chair than I have--but I suppose I can let him have his time now since I'll probably commandeer it once baby gets here.

I know it looks fairly blue in the picture, but it's actually more of a slate grey. Perfectly neutral

The other good news with this purchase is that we now have all the "big" pieces of furniture for the nursery so we can finally get the room arranged. And once the furniture is arranged, it'll be time for wall decor and accessories--my favorite part!

Embarrassed

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I completely forgot about my blog yesterday. Straight up forgot about it, about writing a post, everything. It wasn't a case of being too busy (which is often the case when I don't get a post up), and it certainly wasn't for lack of things to talk about. I just plain forgot. Completely and totally. I've heard rumors of pregnancy brain, and I'm pretty sure I feel victim to that. Because forgetting about my blog wasn't even the least of my issues yesterday.

For starters, I forgot to put on my watch as I was getting ready in the morning. I'm honestly not sure how this happened--I swear I remember picking it up and undoing the clasp--but nonetheless I was in my car halfway to work and realized that my wrist felt uncharacteristically naked. Now, if it had been my earrings that I had forgotten, I probably would have turned back to the house to get some because I have this weird phobia of not wearing earrings and having the holes from my piercings visible (seriously. I've made Darrell go back to the house on more than one occasion to remedy this), but I figured I could live a day without my watch.

Of course, upon getting to work I realized that I had also forgotten to open the curtains in our living room. Most days in the winter this isn't a big deal because it's cold and overcast, but yesterday was actually nice (relatively speaking) and sunny. And open curtains means natural light warming the house which means lower heating bills. Plus we have two plants (that I've managed not to kill in well over two months!) that sit near those windows, and I'm regularly concerned that they don't get enough sunlight (especially since one is a tropical plant). And it's not really like opening the curtains after work would have done much good, not with as early as the sun sets (plus they are in an easterly facing window anyway and get the best light in the mornings).

As if my day wasn't starting awesomely enough, I got to my classroom only to discover I didn't have my keys. At all. I always keep them in the same place, and they were no where to be found. Thankfully, they turned up at the house yesterday evening (still not sure how they fell out of my bag though), but I had to borrow keys from the office throughout the day to make sure I could get into the rooms that I needed. Definitely made me feel silly and irresponsible.

So after all that drama (and all before 7:30!), I decided that the day couldn't get much worse. And it really didn't--at least not until I realized that I had completely forgotten about my blog. Not like I'm being held accountable for posting regularly or anything, but I still felt bad. Hopefully this "pregnancy brain" thing doesn't rear its head again anytime soon, and with any luck, its counterpart--"mommy brain"--won't plague me either. Fingers crossed!

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Despite my strong love of chocolate, I'm typically not a fan of desserts that have a heavy chocolate base. I prefer my cakes to be white (or marbled) with chocolate frosting, and am not a huge fan of chocolate ice cream (but give me fudge swirls and chocolate cookie pieces any day of the week). However, I can't resist the occasional cocoa-rich recipe, and this cookie is definitely one of those exceptions. It's a great, basic recipe for any time of the year, but to spruce it up for the holidays I substituted mint chips for the Reese's Peanut Butter chips called for in the recipe. Mmm... Mint and chocolate. Another winning combination.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies
(from the back of a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips)

2 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup (10 oz) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips (or any kind of chip)

Preheat oven 350*. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating well to combine. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake eight to nine minutes and cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool completely.

As you can see from the picture, these cookies will flatten a little as they cool (even though they puff up while cooking). So be careful not to over-bake them.

Adjustments

Something that will take some getting used to: Randomly running into my sister and her fiance in Sioux Falls.

You see, they used to live about two hours north in a tiny little small town. So seeing them had to be an intentional act. But then he got a job in Sioux Falls and has been living in town for about a month now. And although my sister has to finish out the school year before she can officially move down, she's in town quite frequently on the weekends (wedding planning is busy work, you know). Now, before they began the process of moving to town, any time they were back for the weekend was cause for a family get together (or two or three)--because that's just the way my family rolls. But since the novelty of them being in town is wearing off, pre-organized family plans are much less frequent (yay!). However, Sioux Falls is only so big. And apparently we like to frequent the same places.

Friday night Darrell and I were enjoying a bona fide date night--dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants (Bros Brasserie) and then plans to go dancing (ballroom-style, not bump-and-grind college-style). As we're walking downtown from dinner to the dancing, who should we run into but Amanda and Nick. We shared a laugh, then went on our separate ways.

Saturday afternoon Darrell and I actually had some free time so we headed out to run some errands (the baby's room isn't going to get ready on its own). We head into Target, and there are Amanda and Nick--again (we also later ran into one of my cousins--talk about a family reunion). This time, bumping into them was a little bit more fortuitous--we had just purchased a recliner at a furniture store, but were having them hold it until Sunday when we could get my brother's truck to pick it up. Well, turns out Amanda and Nick were out running errands in Nick's truck, and they were just about to wrap their errands up (as were we), so we made plans to meet up with them to pick up the recliner. And then since it was getting late, we decided to have dinner together since none of us had plans. Nothing like a little spontaneity, right?

It was certainly a fun--and convenient for us--chance encounter, and one that is certainly likely to happen again. But I suppose that's okay--after all, they are family, and we do like them... Most of the time, at least  :-)

Nursery Teaser

So after a few productive weekends (mostly on Darrell's end), we're actually getting pretty close to have a workable nursery for BOB. Of course, the hospital still won't let us actually bring the baby home to said nursery because we don't have a car seat, but whatevs. We've still got time to take care of that. As well as finalize some of the "pretty" details in the nursery. But since I'm getting impatient to start sharing what baby's room is going to look like, meet our crib and changing table!

They're Westwood Designs, Copa Collection, and we love them. They ended up costing us a little bit more than we were anticipating, but after purchasing a crib online and being horribly disappointed with the color, we decided to head to the local baby furniture store (Kids Stuff Superstore--tons of selection and pretty awesome service) and pick up a crib that we could actually see in person before buying. As an added bonus the pieces were quite easy to put together (at least Darrell made it seem like they were), and they are incredibly solid and sturdy, so we should be able to get quite a few years out of them. 

I'm still getting used to the fact that there is actually a crib in our house--and that in a few short months there will actually be a baby to put into that crib--but I'll get there. Eventually. Because baby is coming, ready or not. 

Peanut Butter Blossoms

So I had every intention of posting a series of delicious Christmas treats in the weeks leading up to Christmas.... And then never got around to it. I considered just holding on to all these recipes until the next holiday season, but decided that some things are just too good not to share. Besides, none of these recipes are really limited to just the Christmas holiday, and it's never too early to start thinking about some treats for your sweet on Valentine's Day.

Of course, Peanut Butter Blossoms are definitely something I always associate with Christmas, but they're so good I need to remember to make them at other times of the year as well. And as I've seen my sister-in-law do, you can always roll the dough in some colored sugar to make them a little bit more festive for any holiday or special event.

Peanut Butter Blossoms
(Yields 3-4 dozen cookies)

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Hershey Kisses (or other chocolate pieces)

Preheat oven to 375*. Beat butter and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended. Add sugars; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat flour mixture into peanut butter mixture. Shape dough into one-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake eight to ten minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate piece into the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely (or at least partially--my favorite time to eat these is when the chocolate is still a little melted from the heat of the cookie. Soooo good).

Wedding Wednesday: Selecting a DJ

So I realized during my two weeks off from blogging that I had shared some advice on how to select a photographer, but never continued with advice for selecting any of the other wedding vendors. And since sifting through the websites, online reviews, and personal recommendations can get overwhelming, I want to make sure to share a few considerations to make when selecting each of the wedding vendors. Starting today with the DJ.

One of the first things you'll want to decide before selecting a DJ is the "mood" you have in mind for your reception/dance. Do you envision a laid-back evening with casual dancing? Or do you want a wild and crazy dance party? Some DJ services specialize in the latter--lots of options for fun, rave-like lighting, lots of speciality sound-system features, and the DJ often assumes the role of "entertainer", interacting heavily with the guests and spending a fair amount of time on the mic. Perfect for some people, but probably not for everyone.

It's also a plus if your DJ is familiar with your reception site. They'll already know what they are and aren't allowed to do, where to set up, where the outlets and such are for them to use, etc. It's also likely that they would know the site manager, especially if they've done multiple events at the venue, which means they might take care of some of the necessary communication and not need you to facilitate everything.

Also, don't overlook the importance of meeting with your DJ a few times. It may seem tempting to dismiss meeting with the DJ to save yourself some time--after all, you can just email your DJ the list of songs you do and don't want him to play--but it's important for him to get a feel for you and your fiance. I was at a wedding where as the bride and groom were leaving the DJ decided to play "Let's Get it On"--perhaps cute and funny for some couples, but totally inappropriate for this particular couple.

Oh, and as I alluded to, make sure you give your DJ a list of songs that he is NOT allowed to play, as well as songs that you really want him to play. This is not only another way for him to get a feel for who you are as a couple, but also helps make his job easier, because he knows you'll be satisfied with the songs he plays. Most DJs will probably have a list of popular wedding dance songs for you to "yay" or "nay", but don't hesitate to add your own songs to the list (our DJ thought it was strange that I wanted Lonestar's "Amazed" on our do-not-play list, but trust me, I had my reasons).

Lastly, don't be afraid to be overly-thorough with what you expect from your DJ. This is true not only in terms of the general mood of the reception, but also in any "special" songs/dances you want your DJ to do. Be specific what song you want played for the garter/bouquet toss (or that you don't want either of those "traditions"), lay down guidelines for how many songs can be played during the dollar dance (and make sure he announces "last song" so people get rushed through the lines more quickly if there is a lot of them left), and make sure he knows whether or not he is allowed to let any of the guests use the mic (easiest way to avoid drunk Uncle Frank making an awkward comment? Make sure the DJ never gives him the mic). An example of something that ran afoul from personal experience: Darrell and I opted to do an Anniversary Dance at our wedding (basically inviting all married couples to the floor then slowly sending people off to find out which couple there had been married the longest), and afterwards wanted the couple to have a chance to share some marriage advice with us. Well, we weren't very clear about our vision for this, because after getting marriage advice from the longest-married couple, our DJ then went around the circle that formed and had each couple share a piece of marriage advice. And let me tell you, we had a lot of married couples at our wedding. But once he started going around the circle, it's not like we could really stop him.

The right DJ can really help create the perfect mood for your wedding reception, so don't be afraid to be picky and ask lots of questions. But also remember that most DJs are trained professionals, so don't be afraid to give them a little bit of leeway in allowing them to do what they see fit.

Belly Pics: Weeks 21-26

It's been awhile since I've had a bump picture on here. And it certainly hasn't been from lack of growth. Let's take a look, shall we?

Last time I posted (November 27th), I was at 20 weeks. This is what the belly looked like:

I'm not even sure I feel justified in calling that a "belly" anymore--it looks so tiny!

I'm now at 26 weeks--and there's just a little bit of a difference.

Oof. Do I really have 14 more weeks to go? Things might start to get a little rough for BOB--I'm already bumping him into door frames and tables because I have terrible depth perception and am so not used to protruding out so far. Thankfully, most of that "belly" is just protective layering around a (for the time being) fairly small baby, so BOB probably can't feel most of my collisions. And I don't have any terrible aches and pains in my joints or back or anything yet, so I suppose I can't complain too much.

Just for fun, let's take a look at the progression from the totally reasonable bump to the super crazy bump. As people have said, I unmistakably "popped" during this time frame--enough so that I've even had a few strangers ask me when I am due!

21 Weeks

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks

(Belated) Christmas 2012

Well, I didn't really mean to take two weeks off of blogging over the holidays, but I guess it happened anyway. And I suppose I could blame busy schedules and lots of family time and a trip to the East Coast, but really, it felt nice just to get away for a little bit and not worry about constant updates. Which, of course, means I've got quite a bit of stuff to get caught up on now (and not just on the blog--I kind of pushed all things off during the holidays), but I suppose there are worse things that could happen.

And in the interest of not boring you with my updates (especially since Christmas was two weeks ago), I'll keep this one short. And in a bulleted list--because I like lists.

--Christmas morning Darrell and I actually got to celebrate at our house together for the first time since we moved in (I can finally cross another item off our "101 in 1001" list!). And it'll be the last Christmas morning just the two of us--scary thought!

--We spent the rest of Christmas Day with my family: lots of food, lots of games, lots of fun. I was definitely ready for bed by the end of the day though--and definitely glad that I got to sleep in on Wednesday.

--Thursday night Darrell and I left for Omaha so we could catch our (super early) Friday morning flight to Charlotte. And it was a busy five days out visiting Darrell's family: we had a wedding, a baby shower, and Christmas (it was a little reminiscent of the crazy celebration on my dad's side of the family last year, just spread out into a few more days).

Family Photo after the Wedding

Family Photo out-take--too funny not to share :)

Thankfully, Darrell's family is a little more laid-back than my family, so the busyness of the weekend never really felt that overwhelming and we were able to enjoy quite a bit of relaxation. At least as much as our nephews would allow us--but who could say no to these faces?

Darrell and I both went back to work last Thursday, but it's been slow work trying to get back into a "normal" routine. Especially since "normal" now includes regular conversations about preparing for baby--and then actually putting those conversations into action (turns out car seats don't buy themselves and cribs don't magically assemble overnight). After all, it's now 2013--the year we are going to have a baby. Shit just got real, folks.