We fell in love a week ago

I can't believe it's been a week. Time seems to be flying by at moments like the one above and slowing to a near stop when I'm watching the clock at 3 am.

I try to memorize the feeling of his little body curled up on mine. I try to breathe in the scent of him. Thank you for reminding me to appreciate every moment.

This was just after his first sponge bath. He looks so content.



Most of it was spent screaming. Oh the cold and the wet and the nakedness! He doesn't mind the water, it'll be interesting to see how he feels about his first real bath.

Lots of new experiences for little Peanut!



With all the mistakes being made by these new parents around here, it's a good thing kids are so resilient!

Like when I went to feed him last night and forgot to screw down the bottle top all the way. Poor kid looked a little shocked when the milk hit his face. So we wasted an ounce of breast milk, had to change his clothes again but got a good laugh. In the end all Peanut cared about was his food. He didn't cry he just kept searching like a little baby bird.

There is a reason God blessed us with limited memory of early childhood.

Lime Bars (the code was lime bars)

OK, so someone out there might be sick of baby news. I mean, you all do have regular lives going on, not that I would know because I haven't had the chance to see what anyone else in the world is up to.



You see... we're all wrapped up over here... oh geez, with the stupid pun. Anyway, for those of you looking for baby news you'll be happy to know that lime bars had a hand in my successful hospital experience.

You all know that I've been on a baking streak and so I would set aside things to take to the hospital in case I went into labor. I put aside half a pan of lime bars to bribe the nurses to be nice and give me drugs and trade me for a baby. AND IT WORKED! Lime bars were to be the code words for when I went into labor. My sister and I would send false texts to each other... lime stars! We joked that mom couldn't ever remember the code. When we showed up at the house the morning of Halloween she mumbled something and said, "lemon drops?"

Coming up next I'll tell you about the birth and the drama and trauma of breastfeeding as I've come to experience it so far. Just know, that I am reading your messages, love and truly appreciate them and will respond before Peanut turns 13.

Back to the lemon bars!!

My parents neighbors gave us a bunch of limes and I wanted to make something easy with them. I came across this lime bar recipe by the Neely's and had to try it.

The recipe is really easy with a cookie crust (which I find easier than the shortbread crust) and the curd set perfectly.



Excuse my lack of pictures- in my baking fury lately I keep forgetting to pick up my camera.

Preheat your oven to 350 and spray a 9 x 13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl mix 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter with 1/2 cup powdered sugar on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add 2 cups flour and a pinch of salt and mix for a minute until well combined.

I just now realized that I forgot to spray the pan which is why my corners stuck. Oops!

Press the dough into your pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden. If you are having a problem with your dough sticking to your spatula or spoon as you try to spread it, give it a quick spray with some Pam.



For the topping whisk together 4 eggs, add 2 cups of sugar and whisk again.

Add 6 tablespoons of flour, whisk away.

Add 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of lime juice and 2 teaspoons of lime zest and.. you guessed it... whisk again.

For the record this would definitely work with lemon juice.

Pour your mixture over the crust (I didn't wait for it to cool) and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until set. I ended up baking mine for about 20 as it was getting pretty brown on one side.



When you pull it out of the oven make sure you let it cool before you slice it up. That way the curd gets a chance to really set. Dust with powdered sugar, lots of powdered sugar.

I would go a step further and garnish with some lime slices or some candied lime peels for a special presentation. Otherwise, I'm not sure people would know they are lime bars since we automatically think lemon when we see these.

Like I said, I'm pretty sure my bribing worked as I ended up with a gorgeous baby boy. Who knows what kind of kid I would have ended up with if I had showed up with liver and onions.

I'm sure these will be a hit, let me know when you try them!

Second Cousins

Yesterday Peanut had his first playdate. I introduced you to his 2nd cousin back in July when he was born. This is my nephew's son and his only exposure to Peanut before now were the kicks he could feel thru my tummy when I held him.



Skinny baby legs! On the left you have my parents 1st great-grandchild and on the right you have their 10th grandchild... amazing.



I love their hands in this picture.



They are a little less than 3 1/2 months apart and I can't wait to see them grow together.



We should take advantage of the time we have with them when they aren't getting into trouble :)

Messages of Love

Someday soon I'll blog about his birth and the days following. We've already had some ups and downs. Things have been more stressful than I had anticipated and I've had some breakdowns. B has been completely wonderful and my parents have been there with the needed support.

I'll get more into that soon. What I really want to say is thank you. After a particularly rough night I logged into facebook and then into blogger and checked over 100 messages of love and support.

Andrea wrote this and I think it just about sums it all up. "I am so, so happy for the three of you, and for your parents. I'm sure there are two grandma's who are madly in love. : )

There are also a lot of blogging ladies in love too, and when I stop to think about how much love is being sent out to this newest entrant of life, from all over the world, well it just blows me away. I don't think anyone could have come into this world with more love, tripping over love, for him."

There, I'm crying again.



When we got back home on Tuesday we checked the mail and found this!

Alex, our nephew, was given an assignment at school. He had to write a letter that included the date, greeting, message and closing salutation (not shown).

This is definitely going in the baby book, can it be any sweeter? It's just another testament to how lucky we are.

Thank you all for being my support system. We are so very blessed.



Baby boy, you are already a part of so many people's lives.

May you always know how very loved you are.

We're home!

Peanut was born on October 31st at 6:12 pm.
He was 7 lbs, 8 oz and 21 inches long.



We're both completely and totally in love. I can't even type that without crying.

I've gotten about 5 hours of sleep since Sunday morning but I had to share some pictures from today. I'll tell you more about his arrival when I can form coherent sentences.



I cannot get over how lucky I am. I cried the car ride home, I just couldn't believe we were a family. I couldn't believe how lovely life is. Can I be anymore blessed?



Right now my husband is holding our baby boy and checking on the short ribs he made for dinner. B is standing in front of the refrigerator looking down at his boy with complete adoration.





Thank you all for your well wishes, thoughts and prayers! We're doing well as we try and learn the ropes of parenthood and life outside the womb.



I'll be keeping you posted on our little Halloween baby.

Peanut, where are you? IMPORTANT UPDATE!

Can you see the Peanut in the picture above?

There he is content to be in his mommy's tummy.


But that didn't last forever...

CAPTAINS LOG:

3:05 am

I woke up with contractions that were definitely different then the Braxton Hicks I've been experiencing. I think we're going to be having a Halloween baby after all. I guess B wins the bet, he thought so all along.

4:13 am

I can't go back to sleep, contractions are coming every 6 minutes or so. We're supposed to wait until they are 5 minutes apart for at least an hour before we leave for the hospital. They are getting so intense and I'm getting a little nervous. We're about 20 minutes from the hospital here as long as we don't need to go during traffic. I'm debating waking B up and heading to my parents who are only a few minutes from the hospital. But then everyone will be up and waiting for something to happen. Then again, I baked lime bars and set some aside for the nurses. I could make up a plate while we waited. Or I could have someone else make up the plate. Am I talking about lime bars right now?

4:43 am

Still 6 minutes apart. If I were like my mom I'd already given birth by now. Her labors last about an hour after the first pain. When she had me, she went in to her check up and was already dilated to 5 without having felt any contractions at all.

4:58 am

I'm tired and keep thinking I can take a little nap but napping thru contractions just isn't happening. That's it- that one really hurt. I'm waking B up.

5:26 am

Still about 6 minutes apart but they are getting stronger. Heading to my parents and continuing to count to that 5 minute apart mark.

This better not be a false alarm... wish me luck!

Happy Halloween!

I'm a big fan of family holiday movies. Watching the movies is another way of getting into the spirit and gives me the warm fuzzies in general.



I do not watch horror movies. I mean, I have but it is always, ALWAYS a mistake. B practically forbids it because he knows the result is paranoia, sleeping with the lights on and me buried half-way underneath his body the entire night. Go ahead and try to picture me (and the Peanut) trying to wedge myself underneath him with the covers pulled up to my neck. Sweating or not, the covers must stay up around my neck.

This post here is a perfect example of what happens when I decide to watch a horror movie. I laugh hysterically whenever I read it.

So this morning I plan on watching my annual movies of Hocus Pocus, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! and B will surely watch Young Frankenstein.

We don't have any plans for tonight but I'd like to think I'll be in labor :)

No sign of the Peanut yet but I'll keep tweeting updates!