Pregnancy Cravings

Super close up: Falafel Ball

I'm sure we all know a few pregnancy stereotypes. I know I've heard my share over the years. Either from TV or from friends. Pregnant women are emotional, they can suddenly snap and be huge bitches and they have sudden urges for very specific foods. The cravings thing is always played up on comedy sitcoms. It leaves men running out in their slippers on  a cold winters night for chocolate ice cream and dill pickles. It has men turning around to head back to the store for a bag of crinkle cut potato chips when they bought the regular lays, not realizing the different would make their pregnant wife cry.

Well, so far I've put these stereotypes to shame. I've been pretty great to be around, if I do say so myself. I know, because I'm around myself 24/7 and if I'm grumpy, I hate it and I'm really hard on myself. I'm sure some women are beasts to be around when they're with child, but some women are horrible when they aren't pregnant too. The cravings thing I was thinking was a load of crap as well. I hadn't had any REAL cravings. I had food aversions the first three months. Ham steak made me cry while alone in my kitchen one time. "But it's so... slimy!" I thought pickles, mustard and anything vinegar based was the bees knees in my 4th month. I just never had that light bulb go off compelling me to eat only one specific thing. Like a food emergency. Like your baby inside of you has a switch blade and they're threatening your life unless you eat cauliflower dipped in carmel apple sauce. It hadn't happened.... until.

Sliced turnips in brine with a few sliced beets for color.

There is was. It hit my like a ton of bricks. I want falafel. I don't want box crap, I don't want to go to a restaurant, I want falafel like I used to make at the Lebanese restaurant I worked at for a few years. And I want that falafel with lettuce, tomato, dill pickle, tahini sauce and turnip pickles. You can't just go to the regular old grocery store and buy turnip pickles. I would have to make them, and wait a week for them to ferment. Okay. This is a intense craving that will take days to fulfill. This cannot be remedied by waking my husband in the middle of the night and forcing him to drive to the AM PM. No, I will have to handle this myself.

Falafel is a long process, but once you've made the mix you can freeze it and it keeps for a long time. Then you can just thaw what you need to fry a batch and make sandwiches. I went to the store and bought dry beans: chick peas and fava beans. Fresh herbs, onions, garlic, pita, lemon juice, turnips, beets, pickling salt and vinegar. This would be everything I need to make my beloved falafel and proper condiments.

Falafel, mix, chop, fry and assemble.

First, start the pickles. Slice, layer, vinegar, salt and water. Close the jar and into the fridge. Easy, the waiting part is hard. Next for the falafel. I started by soaking the beans over night. The next day, everything into the food processor. Mix it up and we're done. Okay, it sounds easier than it is. I skipped all the boring details. Interested in making falafel? Look it up online. They have every recipe in the whole world available. If it seems to easy and it uses canned beans, move on. It is worth the nights soak and the extra plucking of parsley for the best falafel.

So two days later, I could wait no longer. I would eat my turnip pickles before they were done. That's okay. The really amazing part was that I did not lose that craving. It was a strong urge, a pull, a drive to have this meal. It became very important to me, and I'd be damned to let this be forgotten. I fried the falafel, chopped some lettuce, tomato and pickles and make the tahini sauce.

That was the best friggin' dinner I have ever had. It was so worth all the work and waiting. My husband is the luckiest mofo on earth. Instead of wandering into the darkness in search of dill pickle flavored chips and buffalo sauce, he is sitting down with me to enjoy a delicious homemade meal. I like to keep him happy. He keeps me happy too. That dinner was rich with delicious and many compliments.

Stay tuned for pregnancy craving #2...

Shower Cakes Idea

Having a baby shower? Like cake? Get creative!
Who needs just a boring old cake again.

So tomorrow is my baby shower. It's a strange feeling. I've never been the star of a party, let alone one that I had no hand in planning at all. My mother, my aunt and my cousin are planning and prepping entirely. My cousin Krista picked out and mailed the invites. She did a great job picking out an invite that I really liked.

What is a baby shower? and do I have to shower first? The questions are endless. I know there will be gifts, there will be food set up in an elegant and decorative manner. That is what my mother does best. I will take a lot of photos to show it off to the world.

What I'm sure I won't have at an event like this is a amazing theme cake like the one pictured above. How better to say 'This is a Baby Shower' than with a cake that looks like a vagina with a baby shooting out. I know that this will happen to me, although my pubic hair is not made of chocolate frosting. Unfortunately.

We plan to have another party in the beginning of September. A House Warming Baby Shower. or House Baby Warm Shower.  Baby House Shower Warming. You get the idea. We just moved into a new house and we want to have some friends over. I want Paul to have a chance to celebrate the upcoming baby with friends and family too. Baby showers just for girls? Yeah, because it's traditionally boring. No guys would want to go anyway. Both. Let's do that, the traditional baby shower. Politeness, ladies, cleanliness and cute food. I will enjoy it. I will love being showered. This may very well be the last time that I am ever the center of attention. There will soon be the star of the show arriving. Enter, center stage, my vagina and baby.

29 Weeks and Moving

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything. We moved, I'm working full time and we went on vacation. Life is so hard. Kidding! It's great! But I just can't find enough time to keep up with my writing. Oh, well. There are worse things I could be neglecting. I think I've got my priority's in line.

Today is day four of my 29th week of pregnancy. I am into my third trimester and officially in my seventh month. Funny, I actually had to look at the Baby Center pregnancy app I have on my iPod to tell you how far along I was. In the beginning, I could have told you how many hours it had been since the egg was fertilized, now I have too look to remember if I'm 27, 28 or 29 weeks. By paying a little less close attention as far as this timeline goes, I am having a lot more fun and time isn't dragging by.

The fact is, this baby is going to be here before I know it. My husband was actually so confused that for a couple of days he thought I only had six weeks left, like I was due in September instead of October. I chalk that up to my fault because I'm not giving him those daily updates like I did in the beginning: "It's a tadpole, a blueberry, a apple, some other exotic fruit..." etc. When Paul told me, 'no Lanni, it's only 6 more weeks', my stomach dropped and I almost passed out. No. Friggen. Way. I need to pay better attention. Thanks again to my amazing Baby Center app that confirmed I still had 77 days until my due date. Holy moly!

My last doctors appointment went really well. My blood pressure is controlled, my weight gain has been great and my glucose test was passed with flying colors. This pregnancy is going just about as good as it ever could. I'm feeling spoiled almost. I'm still able to work full time, even overtime most weeks, and do fun things with my husband. Like Friday night, for instance, we went to a midnight movie with a bunch of friends. It was the one and only big screen showing of the made for Sci Fi Channel movie, Sharknado. Yes, it's about a tornado of sharks. It was amazing. I was out until three am and we had a blast. I just took a two hour nap before we left. I felt drunk from the weird sleep and didn't have to drive so that was a bonus too. If you don't know Sharknado and you love 'bad' movies, look it up.

Our move was also a great thing. Now I have a baby's room to work on! The toughest part about moving was trying to do what I always do. I am totally buff and strong and manly and can usually carry a full sized couch above my head with one arm, spinning. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I'm no wussy. This was so different. I couldn't even carry a milk crate full of records. Something we take for granted is the ability to brace objects we're carrying against our abdomen. Now, I have to hold things way out front and that is way harder on your back and arms.

When we were at the doctors my husband asked our doc to tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing for the move. This was his way of helping me be okay with 'not doing enough'. It was easier to let go after the doctors orders. I just used our super strong reusable shopping bags instead of boxes so I could carry one in each hand with my back straight instead of carrying one big thing out in front. This worked well and I was still able to help.

Unpacking, decorating and setting things up has been different too. Usually I'd want a marathon of activity and push through until things were set up and then I could relax and enjoy. Now, I get tired much more easily and I've been taking a lot more breaks. Paul was a big help moving the things we don't use all the time to our garage for storage. Like Christmas decorations, old keepsakes and our butt loads of ultra violent horror movies on VHS. I guess those don't have to be on the movie shelf anymore. We'll save those for later.

More to come on our vacation...