Look what I baked from scratch!

Sorry for the delay in postings, but I have been busy.  For the last 9 months, I have been cooking up my best recipe ever.  Please welcome to the world "Little B" born on Wednesday, September 23 at 9:12 pm!

 

 

More photos to come soon.  But right now, I have to get back to staring in amazement at my new love.

Step away from the angry, pregnant lady

One of my least favorite things about pregnancy is the comments that people make.  So for all of you out there that have never been pregnant before, here are some things that you should never say or do to a pregnant lady:

• Tell a horror pregnancy/labor story that has happened to you or someone you know. Seriously people!  What is up with that?  Every time you get into a car, I don't tell you about a loved one that was seriously injured or died in a car accident.  Pregnancy can be scary enough on its own without your help.
  

• Tell about how you adored every moment of your pregnancy.  This is the flip side to the horror story tip.  For all you women out there that think pregnancy is the best thing ever and you love every minute of it, great.  I am very happy for you... jealous, but happy.  But unfortunately, I don't think we could be friends right now.  Maybe later, but not now.  No one wants it rubbed in their face that they did not win the pregnancy lottery that is filled with maternal bliss, no morning sickness, and perfect nights of sleep.
  

• Ask about breastfeeding.  There is a strong chance that if the topic of my boobs was off-limits before pregnancy, it is still going to be off-limits during and after pregnancy.

• Touching the belly.  I am not okay with this.  I don't touch your belly so why should it be okay for you to touch mine.

• Any comment about face-fat, swelling, cellulite, etc.  There is a small percentage of women out that there that look absolutely amazing pregnant and ruin it for the rest of us.  Thank you Heidi Klum!  But for us real girls, we do not need to be reminded that we have lost our pre-baby bodies.  We notice everyday when we look in the mirror.  And have you ever noticed that the people that usually make these comments are not in the best shape themselves.  I often bit my tongue when I want to scream at them, "Yes, I look this way because I am having  baby.  And after the baby, I will look great.  What is your excuse!?"  But I just smile and silently plot their downfall in my mind.

• Ask about the due date and then tell how it fits best into your schedule.  "Well it would really work best if you had this baby on a Saturday so that I don't have to miss any work."  This is not a lunch date, it's a baby.  Get over yourself! 

• You look like you are about to pop! Better comments include "You look gorgeous" or "You make pregnancy look so easy".
  

• Ask if you have had the baby yet.  I know friends and family mean well.  I feel blessed that so many are as excited about this new baby as I am.  But as the due date approaches (and maybe passes), it is very frustrating to get repeated calls and emails asking if the baby is here yet.  Seriously!  If I was in labor, do you really think that I would be answering the phone?  Plus, that is a lot of pressure on a pregnant lady.  If I could control it, this baby would have popped out with one good sneeze on Week 38 and 1 day.

If you are at all offended by this post, I am sorry, but this may not be the blog for you.  I am just a lady in the last days/weeks of pregnancy that thinks Mother Nature may have overlooked some serious design flaws in this "natural" process of creating life.  I promise to try to have a better attitude in about 6-9 months.

Wyndell sighting

We live in an older, quirky neighborhood in Austin with many "characters".  One such character is named Wyndell and lives next door to us.  Wyndell is a little bit of a legend in our neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods.  People call him "The Angel".  Rumor has it that he is a good luck charm and if you see him out on one of his walks then you are going to have a great day.


Before I tell you about today's Wyndell sighting, there are a few things you should know about him:

• Wyndell is in his early 80s and has a full head of white hair.
  
• Wyndell walks everywhere.  He probably takes about 3 or 4 walks a day, rain or shine.
• On each of his walks, he visits with all the dogs in the neighborhood.  And when I say visit, I mean that he has long conversations with them and then gives them "dog biscuits".
• He rarely acknowledges the presence of anyone, unless you are a dog.  You can be right in front of him and say "Hi Wyndell" and he will act like you are not even there.
• His house is the creepy house on our block that the kids avoid on Halloween.
• He climbs our fence at least once a day to talk to our two dogs and give them "biscuits".  Our dogs love it and sit in front of the fence everyday waiting for him.
  

So with all this information about Wyndell, you can imagine my surprise when he came running up to talk to us this morning as we were getting out of our car.  And then you can imagine my even bigger surprise when he spoke to me and then hugged me!  What!!!  He told me that he was so excited about the new baby coming and that he has already talked to our dogs explaining that a new baby was coming to their family and they needed to be very good to her.

David is very excited about this new development with Wyndell.  And because Wyndell is supposedly a good luck charm, David is sure that this means that the baby will come today.  Here's hoping.

Frozen Nutella Banana Popsicles

Maybe Frozen Nutella Banana Popsicles could be filed under weird pregnancy cravings, maybe not.  Either way, I think they are sooo good and I don't feel guilty eating them.  Plus, they could not be easier to make.

Frozen Nutella Banana Popsicles

bananas (not too green, not too brown)

Nutella

popsicle sticks

Peel and cut the bananas in half.  Then insert a popsicle stick into the flat end of the banana.  Be careful not to push it in so far that it sticks out on the side of the banana.  Then take a knife and spread on the Nutella just like you are icing a cake.  It is helpful to have the Nutella be room temperature so that it is easy to spread.  Then once the banana is covered with Nutella, lay it on a cookie sheet so that it is not touching any of the other bananas.  Once you have all the Nutella covered bananas on the sheet, place the cookie sheet in the freezer until all the bananas are frozen (a few hours or so).  Once frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag if needed.

Fall... is that you?

So I heard a rumor that fall may make an appearance tomorrow on the official first day of fall.  And by "make an appearance", I mean the highs may be 80, instead of the current 95.  For all you northern friends, I don't want to hear any laughing... let me have this "fall weather".  I need it!

I love books!

Most people that know me well know that I love to read.  I love books of all kinds... cookbooks, suspense novels, dramas, period pieces, fantasy, biographies... I love them all.  To me, the trait of a great fiction book is that it completely wraps me in... the kind of book that you rush home so that you can read more of it.  Here are a few of my recent favorites that fit into that category.

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston

As I sit here "cooking" during these last weeks of pregnancy, I am on the hunt for another good book... One that keeps my attention and distracts me from this endless waiting game called pregnancy.  Any recommendations?

Grow zucchini grow

Now that Austin has finally had a break in its 100+ degree temps and stage 2 drought, the garden is making a comeback.  This little zucchini plant is growing like crazy.  Here's hoping for some homemade zucchini bread very soon.

Obsession with lists

My name is Colleen and I like lists.

I have to-do lists, lists of books to read, lists of plants for the garden, lists of business ideas, lists of projects that I want to complete... the list goes on and on.  My friends openly make fun of me for all my lists, but I am okay with that.  It is one of my charming quirks, right?

Sometimes I think that I am the only one that feels some sense of accomplishment, organization, and purpose with my multiple lists.  But every once in a while, I will meet a kindred spirit that loves lists as much as I do and it will just make my day.  I also have recently noticed that I tend to love websites like Netflix, Goodreads, and Amazon that allow me to feed my list obsession.

If list-making is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Bath time

So apparently everyone is getting ready for the new baby's big day... even the dogs got a bath.

Not sure who was wetter, David or Wrigley.

And so it begins

Welcome to my blog.  This is a place where I write about my random musings about life in general, my transition from the advertising agency world to motherhood, gardening, cooking, reading, travel and anything else that happens to capture my attention for the moment.

A little information about me...

• My name is Colleen and I am a thirty-something mom-to-be (baby is due in a week!) with a wonderful husband and 2 black dogs.
• I live in Austin, Texas and love it here. 
• I work in the marketing/advertising world, but am taking some time off to start our family.
  
• I hate peanut butter and peanut butter hates me.  I have severe allergy.  So to all you peanut butter lovers out there, sorry but you will not see any love for peanut butter here.
• I have never learned how to whistle, but I am okay with that.
• I think Halloween is the greatest holiday of all time.  It is a magical night where children rule the world and anything feels possible.
• Charlie Brown is my all-time favorite cartoon character.
• I am a pie snob.  I have inherited that trait from my mom.  It all comes down to the crust.  In my opinion, it should be homemade or nothing.  There is no sense in arguing with me about this.  You will not win.
  
• I adore books.  Looking at them and reading them... they just make me happy.
• I was inadvertently baptized 3 times as a baby... I guess they just wanted to be sure at least 1 stuck.
• I love traveling.  Growing up I wanted to be a National Geographic journalist just so I could travel.  And no matter how much I travel, I still get that excited feeling whenever my plane takes off.
• I have the best group of close friends ever and that is something that I never take for granted.
• I love food... like books, it just makes me happy. 
• I have a fear of sidewalk grates. I refuse to walk on them. You know what they say... Alligators live down there.
• Thunderstorms make me smile.