My favorite things

Some updates, and a few of my favorite things.

In Cedar news, we still have no middle name.  They're over rated and silly, and I grew up hating mine, so what's the point?

Also, it's impossible to get ideas out of Jody without him suggesting, Cedar Harbaugh? Cedar Kaep?  Maybe Cedar San Fran Powell?  (Go Niners, but good-freaking-riddance to football season!)

She is supposed to be weighing in around 2 lbs, and I can now feel her above my belly button, which means I'm really beginning to round out.  Jody mistakenly used the word 'plump' the other day, a word which was quickly amended by yours truly and then was dismissed from any vocabulary in our house, especially regarded Kayla, pregnancy, or bottoms. 

Last week, she was a flip-flopping-kicking-boxing maniac, but has really taken it down several notches since the weekend.  I really love it when she moves, and it still blows my mind that my daughter is living and growing in my own belly.  It's fantastic, and the thought of parenthood overwhelms me daily.  God has really changed my heart in these last few weeks, because there is no other thing in this world that sounds better now to me than being Jody's wife and Cedar's mother.  I feel truly, truly blessed and I can't wait to meet our baby.

Now that's one happy preggo with some 'tude!  I took this at (on?) 24 weeks.  I'm now 25ish.

 I feel great.  I ordered two prenatal exercise dvds off of amazon a few weeks ago, and I'm fascinated with how much better my back is feeling after committing to doing one or both dvds almost daily.  Almost daily.

It has been very cold here lately, so I haven't been to the gym.  (Like how I use 'So', as if that is a legitimate excuse?)  I hate the cold.  My skin is dry, my feet are freezing, and my attitude is not great.  Is it Spring yet?

Anyway,

I am not really experiencing any horrible symptoms of pregnancy.  I don't know what's normal for this end of second trimester phase, but I'm growing very tired again.  I do wake up at night every now and then and am unable to fall asleep, despite being exhausted.  It's odd.  I'm not feeling outrageously hungry, but I think that's because I eat meals every three hours, whether I'm hungry or not.  It's just safer for Jody if I keep that blood sugar level at all times.

No silly cravings, but I'm very into sweets and desserts.  I bought a carton of ice cream for the first time since we've been married a few weeks ago, and have been taking spoonfuls straight from the box every now and then.  Nothing, however, beats a bowl of vanilla yogurt mixed with frozen fruit and dark chocolate chips.  Mmm.

I am not going to keep talking about how much I love chocolate chips.  I'm not.

Moving on, before I lose you to boredom -

I wanted to share a few recipes that I've decided I can no longer live without, and neither should you.  Enjoy!

• A friend and I made this scrub a few weeks back, and I've had to resupply myself at least four times since then.  You can use it as an exfoliant before shaving, or as an all over body scrub.  Better yet, if you're like me, just stinking rub it all over, daily, if you're very superficial and are afraid of the things pregnancy has been known to do to a woman's body.  The scrub itself smells amazing, and you should have all of the ingredients in your pantry.  (we subbed out almond oil for coconut) Just be sure to clean out the tub when you're done :)
• Here is a wonderful recipe for eczema cream.  I am convinced that bathing my body in this stuff is keeping my skin from peeling right off during the winter time.

For the foodie in me, (or rather, the hungry, hungry hippo in me) here are a few of my favorite most recent recipes:

•  It is a bad idea to be alone in a house with these cookies.  Sweet balls of peanut butter, they were delicious!  I knew there was nothing 'bad' in them, so I had about zero self control.  Good news?  They are grain, dairy, egg and sugar (except for chocolate chips, but I maintain that those are a health food...) free.
• I made these for dinner a few weeks ago, with tomato soup.  My only mistake was thinking that I could still eat tomato soup without a volcano erupting inside my chest for the next three hours.  Oops.
• This is the best burger recipe, and this is the best guilt-free pancake recipe I've found.  Cedar likes three things:  burgers, pancakes and chocolate chips.  So back off, and just trust me on this.  Yum.

Let me know if you end up trying any of these, or have any fun projects/recipes to share.