The home stretch

Today I was informed by babycenter.com and various books that I am now entering the home stretch of pregnancy--the third trimester. Things have been going along very smoothly that I feel like time has just been flying by! Anyway, I thought I would mark the occasion with a picture so you can see how little baby girl has made me grow. And yes, the non-maternity t-shirt I am wearing is stretching a little tight--I have shopping plans with another mommy-to-be on Friday to get some clothing with a little more room. :)

Glimpses from Springtime

Peony buds

Creeping Phlox

Baby Shower Cake

Cutest baby girl outfit

Lemon-Blackberry Muffins

adapted from Cooking Light

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 cup blackberries
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Combine buttermilk, egg, and rind; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Gently fold in blueberries.
Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched. Remove muffins from pans immediately, and place on a wire rack to cool. Combine lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze evenly over cooled muffins.

Baby's First Trip to the Symphony

Some good friends of ours gave us tickets to go see the National Symphony Orchestra this past weekend at the Kennedy Center in DC. Bill and I have never been before, and really enjoyed the experience. We of course joked that we were being good parents making sure our baby got culture even before she is born. She did dance around through the whole second musical piece; I think she liked the violin solos. ;)


and in case any of you were wondering how I look pregnant, here I am at the Kennedy Center, watching a beautiful sunset over the Potomac.

Tomboy, Princess, or both?

Yes, there is a little girl on the way! (well, at least the ultrasound tech is 95% sure that she is a she. These things have been known to be called wrong.)

I have to admit I am very excited to know that we are having a little girl. Not that I wouldn't have been just as excited to have a boy, just now that I know we are having a girl I have been thinking a lot about it. I love that I was a firstborn girl (who was born and raised by a firstborn girl), and now Bill (whose family also has a firstborn girl) and I are blessed to be starting our family that way. We are excited to be meeting this little girl who if she takes after her mom and maternal gramma will be a bit more tomboy than princess. :)

On side note, it has been waaaaay too much fun buying little girly clothes and planning the nursery and baby registry.

Hi World!

Harbinger of Spring

Just a few days ago we were buried in six inches of snow. Look what I found in bloom today in our back yard. The crocuses are blooming and I am very excited that spring is just around the corner.

I think there is something in there....

Have you ever held a tiny frog or toad in your hands and closed them around the little guy? The toad kind of jumps around in there a little bit, bumping and pushing on your palm. Well, that is the closest I can come to describing the sensation of the baby moving in me. What a strange and surreal experience this is! I started feeling it Saturday night while watching a movie and every time I hold really still in a reclining position I can feel the little wriggles very faintly. At first I wasn't even sure of what I was feeling, but being on day three of those same sensations I am pretty sure it is none other but Crane Jr making his or her presence known.

The winter we thought would never come has finally taken hold of us with its frigid fingers. This is the first time that I have seen the stream in our neighborhood freeze completely over. It hasn't gotten out of the low twenties in quite a few days now. Every once in a while the sun will beckon Dexter and I outside, but the windchill in the single digits drives us back in just as quickly. Well, drives me back in, Dexter is unphased by the cold. If anything it just makes him jump around in a more hyper fashion than usual. Yesterday I resorted to exercising him inside in our basement with the laser pointer. It worked out quite well, I could sit on the couch and watch TV while he would run around in circles and up and down the hall after that elusive red dot that he just can't seem to grab. I know these cold days will pass pretty quickly, only about a month and a half until the warm spring comes to our area, but for now we feel a touch of cabin fever.