It's a B-O-Y!



So, I haven't been posting for a L-O-N-G while ... I tried to access my Myspace today in the land of dial-up and it kept on shutting down with some error, so forget it, I will go back to posting on my Blog.

So, the good news is we had our Ultrasound yesterday and everything looks good -- lucky for us little Henry is quite the show-off and had his legs spread WIDE out for all the world to see. I've posted a pic of his face. There is also a pic above of his legs crossed. During the ultrasound this was the point where he was swallowing or yawning or yelling -- either way his little mouth kept on opening and closing widely. I sure hope that doesn't mean he is going to be a noisy little one. (as I get a little kick in the tummy from the inside) I was going to post a picture of the ultrasound snapshot that showed us he was definitely a boy, but I figure why embarrass the little guy when he doesn't have a chance to defend himself. I am sure in the distant future, we will embarrass him enough when he is a teenager. We've decided that he is the offspring of the Terminator. Doesn't he look kinda like a miniature version? I wish my hospital had a 3D Ultrasound, because then you can actually see that he looks more like a baby and less like a little alien. Jim is over the moon happy now that he has someone to talk to about Camaros, cars, and such ... he is already searching for an Arctic Cat Kitty Cat for Henry once he is old enough to go snowmobiling -- which makes me miss snowmobiling this winter, as my OBGYN advised against it.

The whole experience was quite spectacular - to finally be able to see the little person inside of me. I've been feeling little flutters and movements the past week or so, but it was neat to see him moving all around. He was moving around so much that the Ultrasound tech would get him into view and then he would somersault out of view. Funny thing is Jim was a highly active baby in the womb as well. It should get quite interesting when I can actually start to feel him move more and have to re-locate his foot away from my rib cage. The only part that stinks is the ultrasound prep -- trying being pregnant, drinking 32 ounces of water and then holding it for 2+ hours ... yeah, not fun. Not to mention the fact that I had my regular appt before the ultrasound so I kindly asked the doctor not to push to hard on my abdomen, as I would not be responsible for the clean-up afterwards.

I've been in that pregnancy "glow" period -- the only complaint that I have is that I have had a really tough time sleeping at night. I'm not supposed to sleep on my stomach (for obvious reasons) and I read a couple of places that say it is not good to sleep on your back for extended periods of time because the weight of my uterus can lay on a major artery supplying blood flow down there. Although it may not be as true as they say, I guess I am just being overly cautious. I am sure by the time we decide to have a second kid I'll be smoking and drinking the whole 9 months -- just kidding ... I get these really bad leg cramps and it makes it nearly impossible to sleep through the night. Maybe it's just my body preparing me for the lack of sleep I have coming in the next couple months. Whatever it may be, I know it is all worth it because I can't wait to meet my son Henry :)

To all the scumbags of the earth:

Dear Mr or Ms scumbag:

What gives you the right to steal stuff off my front lawn? Do you think that just because you have different political views than me and my husband it gives you reason to take the McCain/Palin sign from OUR yard. If that was the case I would come to your house/trailer/apt and steal YOUR lawn ornaments just because I have a different view on little gnomes and plastic deer than you do. I think they are ugly and tacky as hell. Instead of taking things that don't belong to you, why don't you spend your time more wisely and do something that will benefit America such as brushing up on your politics.

Sincerely,
Kristin

Hot in Herrrreeeee

I guess I shouldn't complain seeing last week I was begging for heat at work, but this is a little over-doing it. I am sweating, flushed, and very uncomfortable in my office today. Not to mention that all the little old ladies keep their rooms at 85 degrees so when I go into see my patients I can barely stand being in the room for more than 5 minutes without having them call a code 1000 (medical emergency).

BBQ Pulled Chicken


SUPER easy (but you can tell everyone it was difficult!)
Please note all measurements are kinda random - I just go by my instincts

1. Place desired amount of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in crock pot (I usually use one 1.5-2# package when I make it for Jim and me so we have leftovers and don't cut up the chicken breasts)
2. Add tablespoon of minced garlic (I use the jar stuff)
3. Add a dash of liquid smoke
4. Add around 1/4 cup Worcester sauce
5. Add enough BBQ sauce to lightly coat chicken - don't drown the chicken, just enough to cover the pieces. You can always add more later
6. Cook on low for about 5 hours, checking on chicken occasionally, turning pieces and adding more BBQ sauce as needed.
7. As the chicken cooks, you should eventually be able to tear it apart with two forks, making shredded chicken pieces. You'll know it is done when it tastes pretty darn good :)

Poop

I feel like crap today, I think I am coming down with a cold :( Not to mention Jim and I were out in the yard for a good part of the day on Sunday spreading around 15 yards of crushed asphalt in the driveway in an attempt to make it look semi-decent. Our driveway isn't very long, but it's very wide -- about 6-7 cars wide (and if you know Jim and his car obsession, we need every square inch, plus the 2 car garage and the car port). All in all it looks pretty good -- and it will look much better once it is compacted more. I think my cheeks got wind-burned yesterday so that is not helping my situation. Not to mention the fact that Nono's house was around 78 degrees last night so I was going from one temp extreme to the next. I think that is what menopause is going to feel like.

Onto brighter notes, this weekend is Gilbert Lake (yay). I've already begun my packing and prep (One word: Virgo). I made BBQ pulled chicken last night for the Pavillion pot-luck) as well as got together a bunch of ingredients for the chicken corn chowder I will be making for Fri night dinner. I also make a killer corn muffin to accompany those dishes! It's a lot easier to make these items and then freeze them because the kitchens in the cabins are limited and they don't have hot water. I'm trying an old school recipe that involves baking (yes, me the anti-baker is trying to bake). My Mom used to make these cupcakes in ice cream cones for us when we were little -- well, I think she made them once and realized they were a pain and didn't make them again -- so I am going to attempt to make them and transport them 3 hours to Oneonta. Good luck. right? The only bad thing about making these items ahead of time is you smell them cooking and can't resist to take a couple bites ... or more ...

Did this bother anyone else?

Did anyone else notice that Biden referred to himself in the third person like 3-4 times last night during the debate? It was kinda freaky. Also, he called "Bosnians" "Bosniaks." Does that mean we are "Americaniaks?"

Now, I don't consider myself a definite Democrat nor Republican, so I was anxious to watch the debate last night. I've actually tended to lean more towards the Democrate side of things in the past, until this year. I guess that's why I registered myself "Republican" in the primaries (not like it makes a difference in VT because they are such a liberal state). I was, admittingly, a little nervous for Palin, although I think she did a pretty good job, other than dogding a few questions and mentioning "Energy Policy" like a bazillion times. I was rather unimpressed by McCain's debate against Obama the other day - but I was only able to stay awake for part of it, so maybe I didn't give him justice. Some of you may know that Jim is a REPUBLICAN, so he was rooting for Palin, but we had a really good discussion last night about how we didn't feel prepared to vote for either ticket, not feeling that we had a great grasp on what either stood for. I guess it is partly due to the fact that there wasn't definite candidates for the tickets until a couple weeks ago. Usually, you know months in advance of the convention who is going to be picked.

What scares me is I feel that Jim is pretty well-informed on politics and so I usually get a lot of my info from him, or go to him for questions, but if he doesn't feel like we have been shown enough of these candidates, then what are other people going to base their vote on? I fear that they are going to base their decision on Bush's years of service and think, "Well, we don't like Bush and he's a Republican, and so is McCain, so I'll vote for Obama ..." I just hope people actually try and form an opinion for themselves rather than base it on previous leadership because I really think that McCain and Palin can do America justice.

Move over Martha!

So I FINALLY bought a sewing machine! YAY! I am soo freakin' domestic it scares me. I've been getting into sewing, using Jo-Ann's (Jim's mom) really nice Bernina and decided that I wanted to take this wife thing ... I mean sewing thing serious. I have been making wine coasters of plenty for family/friends/gifts and have started to get the hang of it. It's actually a really easy project that involves scrap fabric and not too much time. I wanted to have my own machine so I don't have to impose on Jo-Ann every time I want to sew. She had suggested a White intro model that has some neat options on it (1/4 foot, walking foot, needle down button ... ) and when I searched at Jo-Ann Fabrics, they said that they were no longer going to carry the White brand. So my search continued in NH (no tax!) and we found a place called Vacman and Bobbin (hilarious, I know) that sold vacuums and sewing machines. They had the model there but she wanted $200 for the floor model. No thanks. I ended up buying it online and when all said and done (shipping and all) it came to around $143. I am anxiously awaiting my new purchase via UPS next week.