Maternity Photo Shoot

We had a great time with Tanya from Cozy Impressions Photography last weekend.  We went around to a bunch of spots on South Congress, one of my favorite parts of town.  If you'd like to check out the pictures, go here.   Check them out quickly - the slide show expires August 23rd!

Tanya will be photographing our baby girl just days after she's born, and again at 6 and 12 months.  I had something like this in mind for her "on camera" outfit:

Who can resist ruffle-butt bloomers?  Have mercy...

Peanut Butter Surprises - Success!

Thank you, Martha, for yet another successful recipe.  If you like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, you'll love these cookies.  A lot.  I found them fairly easy to make, but as you can see, mine didn't show off the peanut butter surprise nearly as well as Martha's.  I packed as much peanut butter in there as I could without it becoming a part of the chocolate.  Overall, this would be a great homemade gift at Christmas or when you're in desperate need for a chocolate fix.  

The Ultimate Coconut Cream Pie Dilemma 

 

A few years ago, Harlan and I celebrated a friend's birthday at Z' Tejas.  That night, I had the MOST delicious Coconut Cream Pie I've ever had.  The chef doesn't make it all the time, and the recipe varies from location to location (I tried it at another one, and I was very disappointed).  Ever since, I've wondered how to make it.  Before trying this pie, the only coconut cream pie I had was at Luby's Cafeteria.  Not high on my list of desserts to eat. 

What made this pie special:
- Coconut Crust - The crust of this pie was almost chewy, cookie-like, and made completely of coconut. 
- Flavor - The pie just oozed coconut flavor.  Some coconut cream pies taste more like pastry cream than coconut.
- Other - You know that nameless factor some things have that you can't quite put your finger on?  This pie had it!

And so, I've been on the hunt.  Shame on you, recipe writers, for using store-bought pie crusts with your coconut pies.  Once you've had that coconut crust, you cannot eat this pie with a store-bought crust. I've now been forced to piece together a pie that may or may not even compare to Z' Tejas.  Only time will tell!

For the crust:  Allrecipes has a crust recipe that sounds just like the one I had, and check out the ingredients:

1.5 cups flaked coconut
Butter

For the filling: I don't know!  I can't seem to find one I'm really happy with.  Here's a few I'm considering:

Emerils's Best Ever Coconut Cream Pie

Epicurious' Coconut Cream Pie

Baking Bites Coconut Cream Pie

Cakespy.com Coconut Cream Pie

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Did You Know?

*There are 53 days left until my due date.  FIFTY THREE DAYS!

*The baby weighs as much as a jicama.  That's 3.75 lbs, for those of you who haven't been weighing your jicamas lately.  By the way, what's a jicama?

* We're already halfway through our birthing class and will be learning about stage 2 & 3 of labor this week.

* I have learned that, when in pain, breathing actually does help a lot.  Now I just have to remember to do it when in labor...

*I don't like Babys R Us, and this baby's not even here yet.  Their coupons really only work on maybe 2 items, and they're rarely the ones I need.  There's more, but I'd have to write a novel to cover it...
Anyone else not a fan?

*My husband turns the lamp on in our baby girl's nursery every night when it gets dark.  Is he not the most precious ever?

More fun, useless facts next week!

Beardisms

Harlan found a blog he thought fitting to share with you, given the amount of hair currently growing on his face.  We had a good time reading through some of the posts on The Beardly and highly recommend browsing around if you need a good laugh.  Here's one of my favorites:

And speaking of beards, it's about time you got an updated picture of Harlan's:

There have been moments the amount of hair on his face leaves me speechless....

I'm truckin' along at just about 32 weeks.  I've decided not to even mention the weather in Texas anymore.  There truly is no point, as I will undoubtedly spend the remainder of my pregnancy with 100+ temps every day.  What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?  Here's my 32 week belly:

And the marathon continues...

I'm really hoping September will bring calm, peaceful, quiet evenings and weekends where we have the opportunity to say, "I'm bored!" and actually mean it.  As for August, we've had no such luck!  My neighbor has some baby girl clothes for me to look through, and I haven't even had the time to get over there.  I promise I'm coming soon, Amy!

So far, we've celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, enjoyed both family and friend reunions, and still have more to go!  We had our 2nd shower this past weekend, and I must say, we are blown away.  I think there's maybe one or two items still needed on our registry.  The rest has been taken care of by the generosity of our friends and family.  We are so undeserving of these amazing blessings!

I conquered yeast!

Yeast.  A word that used to immediately fill me with fear.  I find a recipe I want to try, see it contains yeast, and immediately move on to find something else.  But no more.  I have successfully baked with yeast and feel a new-found sense of freedom.

Another co-worker celebrated a birthday last week and requested cinnamon rolls.  My schedule's been so busy I just didn't know how I'd be able to make them, but I was determined.  I used Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls recipe, following the directions exactly.  The reviews were really mixed, which made me so nervous!  People's experiences ranged from hockey puck-like rolls to tiny ones that didn't rise.    I had no backup plan, so thankfully, they turned out even better than I could have hoped.

I timed these so they'd still be hot when I brought them to work.  It didn't leave much time for photos, so my apologies to all you photography buffs out there.  You may also notice one is missing.  You have to test things before other people eat them!

I'm still debating what to make this week.  After baking banana bread for 9 shower hostesses, you can rest assured it will have nothing to do with bananas.  Martha's been silently calling my name for weeks, so I'm thinking about these:

They're called Peanut Butter Surprises and they look delish.  We'll see if I have time to fit them in!

Reality hits at 3am

I am beyond excited to meet my beautiful daughter.  She has decided to train for the Olympics in utero, so one night I found myself awake at 3am and never did go back to sleep.  We prayed for this baby girl, know she's a miracle, and are anticipating some red hair on her sweet head.  However, at 3am, I was struck with the enormous weight her arrival will bring with it.  A human life.  I will be her mother.  For the rest of my life.  Whoa.  Quite a bit to absorb.

I know these thoughts are normal, but they have again brought me to my knees.  I know I can only be the mother she needs with lots and lots (and lots) of prayer.  I had to share with you a prayer one of my shower hostesses wrote especially for my sweet girl:

Father, thank you for the child You have placed in my care.  Guide me to teach her about Christian obedience.  Let me be a worthy example of Your love, discipline, mercy, and grace.  Help me nurture her so she becomes the person You planned.

As she grows and develops into the person You designed her to be, I pray for understanding to accept your design and for wisdom to nurture it.

She came into this world

Innocent and small.

She needs my love,

She needs my guidance,

But most of all

She needs to know

That there's a God above

Who loves her so.

How will I teach her?

What will I tell her?

One way is sure...

I'll have to show her.

Just as parents are kind to their children, the Lord is kind to all who worship Him. (Psalm 103:13)

Why Can't I See My Nursery Floor?

I can't really see the carpet in my baby girl's nursery.  That could mean one of two things:

1.  We're having some major plumbing or foundation issues.
2.  I was ENORMOUSLY blessed at my baby shower this weekend and am overwhelmed with items to make this baby girl's entrance into this world much easier.

Check this out!  Harlan and I just stared in disbelief for a while!  We are speechless by the generosity of our friends and family.

This shower was not your typical one.  I've mentioned countless times that this pregnancy is a miracle, especially in light of the struggles with infertility and pregnancy loss we've experienced.  Reflecting on God's goodness to us was a theme of this shower, and boy, I was thankful I kept my emotions fairly in check and didn't "ugly cry" all over the place.  What an amazing day of celebration (and yummy food, I might add).  Here's a few snapshots of the day:

A few of the mom's-to-be, in order of due date. 

The adorable blanket made by Sleepytime Rags that matches the artwork Harlan designed!

The grandmothers (Mema & Gammy)

Baking: 

I made that evil peanut butter pie I posted last week.  Why am I calling the pie names, you ask?  IT WAS SO GOOD!  I am my own worst critic when it comes to my baking, but I can tell you, this one's a keeper.  I have GOT to start taking pictures before it's too late.  Unfortunately, the only evidence of this pie is an empty pie pan...So delicious, it just has to be wrong.

For my amazing shower hostesses, I knew I wanted to make something special.  I found a great recipe for banana bread, which can be pretty boring, and spruced it up a bit.

The recipe calls for dusting the pan with cinnamon and sugar first, which peeked my interest right away.  It also called for sour cream, which made the bread super yummy and moist.

Recipe:  Allrecipes Sour Cream Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I used mini disposable loaf pans and had Harlan design the cutest label for them.  I hope the ladies who worked so hard on this shower felt the love in every banana-cinnamon-sugar bite!

Still More To Come!

This weekend, I get to help my grandparents celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary!  Pretty amazing, huh?  The next day, I have another baby shower to look forward to!  I'm seriously one blessed mama-to-be!

"Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
         how good God is..." Psalm 34:8 (The Message)

Meet Our Baby Girl

We have a big week ahead, and it all started with our 4D ultrasound!  Our little girl was being her usual, crazy wiggly self, so it was very hard to get a good look at her face.  She had one hand up by her eye almost the whole time, and then she decided to completely turn around and show us the back of her little bald head.  She was also very tightly curled up, so you can see her knee all the way up by her chin.  We did manage to get a few decent shots of her.  I think she's beautiful...

 This week, she's approximately 2.5 pounds and about the size of a butternut squash. 

On Thursday, we start birthing class, and this coming weekend is my first baby shower!  So much to look forward to and be thankful for. 

Baking

The cookie dough cheesecake bars were very interesting.  There's so much going on with this recipe that I could only eat a tiny bite.  I'm glad I attempted them, but they are pretty darn sweet.  Don't know if I'll attempt them again.

Pies have been on my mind a lot lately, so this week I'm going to try my hand at a peanut butter pie.  I found a yummy recipe on the blog Evil Chef Mom.  Looks pretty straight-forward, and check out how hers turned out.  I just have to try it!

New Things I'm Learning

Pregnancy is yet another way God is really stretching my faith.  Planning for the future, control, and fear are things I've discussed many times on this blog.  I have no idea how my pregnancy will continue to progress, what kind of labor I'll have, or how much (or little) this baby girl is going to sleep once she gets here.  I don't know if I'll be able to have any other children after she arrives.  I met with a great friend for dinner last week, and I was again reminded of the importance of giving up every day, every moment, to God continuously.  How important His truths are:

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

It is as if I need to tattoo this truth on my forehead so I see it all the time!  I am grateful for God's mercy as I stumble along, yet I know these experiences only make me more thankful that He's the one in control.

"Do no worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'...But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  Matthew 6: 31-33

Only 10ish more weeks until we meet this sweet girl!  Have a great week!

Hello Third Trimester!

The dreaded glucose testing is finally over. I should find out in 3-5 days if I'm at risk for gestational diabetes.  Just in case you're wondering what I had to ingest after fasting for 12 hours, here it is.  A small coke bottle-sized orange-syrupy-yucky drink.  Gives me the heebie jeebies.

Great news, though.  Baby Girl Elam is head down!  She may still do some somersaults before her arrival, but most likely she'll always return to this position from now on.  We're one step closer to delivery, and I'm very thankful she's decided not to be a breech baby. 

Most importantly, we're officially in the third and final trimester!  Check out how the belly's growing:

Harlan and I were at the grocery store and came across some eggplants.  She's a little larger than an eggplant now, but I just had to take a picture!  Check out the guy in the background.  He's not sure why we're taking pictures of produce...

We start our birthing classes in a few weeks as well.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, I feel very strongly about having the most natural childbirth possible.  By that, I mean not much intervention by a doctor (unless necessary, of course) or any pain meds, including an epidural.  The class we're taking will really help us learn some practical ways to manage pain and help Harlan coach me through the process.  We have some great friends taking the same class with us, so it should be a lot of fun!

Baking:

Over the weekend, I realized I had some blueberries I need to use right away, so I threw together some Lemon Blueberry Scones based on this recipe.  Here's how mine turned out:

This week, I've decided to go all out and make COOKIE DOUGH CHEESECAKE BARS!  My Baking Addiction is one of my favorite baking blogs, and when I saw these, I just couldn't resist.   I'll make sure to include a picture of how they turn out next week.

And lastly, my apologies.  I meant to get a pictures of the Maple Toffee Shortbread I made, but it's all gone!  I guess that means the recipe's a keeper!

A Countdown?

I get emails from thebump.com.  It just told me I had 83 days left of my pregnancy.  Why is there a countdown?  Yikes!

3D Ultrasound and Harlan's beard pics coming up next week!

A Day in the Life of my Ribs

Do you know what it feels like to be poked in the ribs from the inside?  Bizarre.  This baby girl favors my right side, and more specifically, nestling under my ribs.  I've tried pushing on my belly to move her, but her response is to kick me back and stay right where she is.  I've looked up this phenomenon online, and there are HUNDREDS of forums dedicated to the topic.  Kinda feels like the side stitch you get when you go running, except it doesn't go away.  I'm trying yoga poses and stretches, but so far, she's there to stay.  It's obvious that she's a growing girl, and as uncomfortable as it might be, she makes me smile.  I think she has some of her mama's stubborn genes.

She's officially the size of an eggplant:

We've also made quite a bit of progress on her nursery.  It's looking more homey and girly - It makes me more and more excited to meet her!  My bearded cutie designed the wall art behind our glider and also made an appearance in the last pic. 

Baking:

We spent the 4th doing a variety of things, including visiting my dad.  He's a real trooper who had knee replacement surgery right before we left for Chicago.  Hopefully he won't mind me showing you his crazy knee.  WARNING: If you get queasy, scroll past this pic really fast!

We thought it would be nice to go cheer him up since his life is focused around healing and physical therapy right now.  We went swimming, which is absolutely glorious during pregnancy.  I think I'll be in the pool a lot more before Baby Elam arrives.

We ended the night watching this movie.  Fitting, don't you think?

The pie I mentioned last week was a hit!  Here's the picture we took, and no, I did not have any Coors.

It was really easy to make, and you could use other things besides berries (chocolate, anyone?) to top the cheesecake.  I highly recommend!

I picked up some of these at the store last week:

There are 2 recipes I'm looking at to make good use of them. 

Maple Toffee Shortbread - Recipe here

Toffee Bits Triangles - Recipe here

If you're ever in need of a recipe using toffee bits, the Hershey's website has a bunch!  Both of these recipes make a TON, so neighbors and coworkers, watch out!  They're coming your way!

Other News: 

Next week, I have the dreaded glucose testing.  I'm really ready to get it over with and am praying all goes well.  We have lots to look forward to over the next few months, including 2 baby showers thrown by my friends and family, our 3D ultrasound, and a maternity photo shoot!

I always said I wouldn't be cheesy and get maternity pictures taken.  However, I think pictures of this journey are a great way to document the miracle this baby girl is.  Our photographer will also take her newborn, 3, 6, 9, and 12 month pictures.  Check out her amazing work!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Brooke Fraser songs:

Have a great weekend!

Baby Elam Visits Chicago

I'm seriously in shock that it's July.  June was so crazy busy it almost seems like it didn't happen!

We're just returning from a short trip to Chicago, and it will probably be the last trip we go on for quite some time!  We were trying to fit in some sort of vacation, knowing that life will be very different very soon.  Harlan happened to be going to Chicago for a work conference, so we decided to combine the two.  Here's a few highlights from our trip:

Millennium Park- Cloudgate (notice Harlan in the reflection, and my chubby cheeks from all that pizza)

Night Boat Architecture Tour and Fireworks

The Sears Tower

Chicago Stuffed Pizza

I think Baby Elam thoroughly enjoyed our culinary adventures.  I'm definitely a few pounds heavier, but thankfully Chicago is a walking city and I was able to get some exercise!

Here's a bump pic next to Sue the T-Rex at the Field Museum (Harlan made me take this embarrassing picture):

The third trimester is just 2 weeks away

Wow.  Somebody pinch me.   Everyone says I'll get used to being pregnant, the baby's kicks will become more routine.  Each time I feel her (and this baby girl is ACTIVE), I'm still in awe.  What an undeserved gift I've been given!

In a few weeks we're going to have a 3D Ultrasound, which will allow us to see our baby girl's face in a whole new way.  We've been on the fence about whether we want to see her features so clearly before she's born, but we've decided to go for it.  Stayed tuned for pictures!

A 4th of July Dessert

C'mon.  I can't resist holiday-themed desserts.  I found this awesome pie I plan to make in honor of July 4th.  

Unfortunately, Texas is experiencing a major drought, which means a ban on fireworks.  We've started a tradition of setting off fireworks since we bought our house, so it's a little sad not to be able to this year.  Maybe this dessert will keep us in the holiday spirit?

Berry Cheesecake Pie - Natalie's Killer Cuisine

I am really loving berries right now. Combining them with cheesecake and pie crust sounds perfect!  Check back next week to see how it turned out!

My husband is better than yours

Celebrating our anniversary was so special.  Harlan mentioned how hard our 5th year of marriage was, but I wouldn't change it for anything.  We watched our wedding ceremony video again - it's amazing how much more meaningful the pastor's words are after we've walked through some hard things together.  One thing's for sure:  He's going to be such a wonderful father.  Even writing this brings tears to my eyes!

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19