Baby Loot

John had a baby shower at work on Wednesday and I feel like we were given one of everything a baby could possibly need. I was surprised by how many coworkers came, but I guess cake and an afternoon break helped. Everyone was really fun and we had a good time. 

 Then last night my friend Lauren threw a shower for me with ladies in our ward. She made some great treats and lots of people came. I wish I'd brought the camera. If John and I were competing for best present collection, it'd be a close call. 

It is nice to know how many people care about us and are looking forward to meeting this little guy. He's already getting spoiled rotten. Our friends have been overwhelmingly generous and we're going to need another room for all of his things.

Then today this little bunny came in the mail from one of my best friends.

It's an ice pack for boo-boos! How adorable is that? Not that I want him to get hurt, but I can't wait to use it.

Fruity Weekend

Thanks mostly to Alan's delivery, we found ourselves with an abundance of fruit this week. I finished my paper for school a little bit early Friday and got to work.

 I also needed some extra magnesium, which poppy seeds have, so first up was lemon poppy seed muffins. I used this recipe, but omitted zest and added a lemon glaze on top instead.

 Since John and raw apples don't get along, I made some applesauce. I never knew how easy and fast it was. I peeled and chopped 4 huge apples, then cooked them with 3/4 c. water, 1/8 c. brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon for 20 minutes. I blended them in the Ninja and voila. He said it tastes like his grandmothers' applesauce, which I took as a compliment.

 We shared the muffins, so they did not last long. During my insomnia this morning I replaced them with banana bread. I make it in a 9x13 now instead of a loaf pan because John likes the banana breadstick texture instead of the traditional moist slices. As you can see, it's not likely to go stale with John around.

We also ate some real food, not just baked goods. I used some lemons for a strawberry, spinach, pecan salad using Katie's dressing recipe.

 And John put his new apron and spatula to work making dinner.

Our backyard oranges are still a little tangy, which made for really delicious orange chicken.

Overall an excellent use of fruit.

Maternity Pictures

I wanted to have a few pregnancy pictures with John before I got too puffy. When I saw the picture from 34 weeks I decided I'd waited too long, so Amanda came over today to take some for us at the park.

35 Weeks

Amanda looked at a few maternity photo shoots online to get some posing ideas. Some were cheesy, but we had a good time.

These are my favorite little shoes:

 And these are John's:

It was windy and chilly, so we just took a few then headed home for hot chocolate.

 Amanda's the best photographer because she makes us laugh the whole time.

 She's going to be a fabulous aunt.

A Day of Carbs

After Stake Conference today John went out with the elders and I made bread. Then we made spinach ravioli and fettucini.

 The carbs have not been kind to my waistline:

34 weeks down, about 6 to go!

Pasta Time

Our valiant taste testers trying our first batch of spaghetti.

 Next we tried ravioli. 3 dozen cheese (ricotta and parm) and 2 dozen with orange, served with olive oil and parmesan. They were tasty, but we had a few adjustments we wanted to make.

 So tonight we whipped up 8 dozen spinach and cheese ones, but with a thinner setting and John made a garlic red sauce.

 The result was heavenly. Sorry my plate's dirty, I swallowed my first serving whole and didn't take a picture until my seconds.

Just know they're really good and worth the forearm workout. And if you come visit we'll make more.

First Temple Trip

John and I reviewed our personal and family goals from last year and tweaked them for the upcoming year to try to be realistic about having a newborn.

 For example, in 2011 I wanted to average reading one book per week, which I did if you count school texts and scriptures. For 2012 my aim is one per month (for book club).

Last year we attended the temple twice per month. This year we'll try for once a month.

Our first trip was with the San Jose South Stake. There was a beautiful sunset in Oakland, but by the time John came out for a picture it was dark.

It still looks so nice lighted at night, though.

And I already finished January's book. So far so good.

New Year's Eve

This year we had family in town to help us celebrate (meaning eat) so we made lots of food. We tried making homemade mozzarella sticks, which turned out great.

 We also made a batch of ice cream and bread and brought over some litl smokies and bottles of cider.

When we got to the party at Karen and Alan's we realized we may have overdone it when we saw what they had already prepared:

 We spent the evening eating and playing with cousins (Sam, Jack and Lizzie).

 Here's the rest of the group: Terri, Russ, John, Stori, Karen, Alan, Hailey, Brian and Annie.

Then some of us watched Undercover Blues until we fell asleep. We woke up to see the ball drop, I had some peanut m&ms and fell promptly back to sleep. A perfect evening.