Pumpkin and Pie Party

On Saturday, we went to our friends' pumpkin carving and pie eating party. Everyone brought their own pumpkin to carve and a sweet or savory pie to share. I thought it was a great party theme. It was easy for the hosts and fun for the guests.

Between that darn pumpkin shortage and our procrastination, Chuk and I couldn't find any pumpkins. We bought squash instead, which cost a fortune (more than $10 for two little squash) and were very tough to carve. We wound up just doing bas relief instead of hollowing them out and carving them. Mine is the BOO above and Chuk did the Capital's logo below. I thought he did a great job, but everyone kept thinking it was a bat. They aren't hockey fans though.

If you decide to have this kind of party, you should remember to provide lots of pumpkin carving tools and knives and have a plan for easy clean up as people work because those pumpkin guts get messy fast. While it's easy to come up with ideas for sweet pies, if you have trouble thinking of types of savory pies, quiche, shepherd's pie, and chicken pot pie are all great options.

Happy Halloween!

Deciding on a Halloween Costume

Before I got pregnant, I had decided I wanted to be Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords for Halloween. I already had an Elvis-esque wig with sideburns that I knew I could style to look like Jemaine's hair and a pair of 3-D glasses from when I went to see Avatar that I planned to pop the lenses out of. The only thing I bought for the costume was a snap front denim shirt from the thrift store.

photo credit

Then I got pregnant and I knew the Jemaine costume wouldn't work, mainly because the shirt no longer fits. I saw the Halloween outfit below on Etsy and thought I could recreate it pretty easily.

I also had the idea to use the messed up fake teeth below (my dad bought a pair for himself, my brother, sister and me one day before we were going out to play bocce ball and I've kept them ever since) and wear a stained wife beater and be white trash and pregnant.

(This is not the most beautiful picture of me ever taken. Chuk and I had just gotten back from a camping trip--hence the cooler in the background-- and instead of putting stuff away we decided to mess around and take pictures. It takes supreme bravery to post pictures of yourself on the internet with dirty hair and without make up.)

So while the problem with the first costume is my baby bump is too big, the problem with each of these costumes is my belly bump isn't quite big enough. I just look like I've gained a lot of weight. I don't yet have that perfectly round pregnant belly.

Now I don't know what to be and I need to decide soon. We're going to a party on Saturday and I want to wear a costume to it because Chuk has class on actual Halloween, so this it's my only chance to dress up. Any ideas???

Dinner Made Cute

I saw this idea somewhere else, but can't remember where. It's only stuffed peppers, but if you use orange peppers and a paring knife to cut a face, dinner becomes infinitely more fun.

I think I'll need to make these again before Halloween. Even my big, burly husband called it cute and told me to take pictures of them.

Telling Family I'm Pregnant, Part II

I can't get these pictures to orient properly. (My mom sent them to me from her phone, so I think that's why they're wonky.) If I invest anymore time in trying to fix it, I'm going to lose my mind, so just tilt your head to look at them. Thank you very much.

I wasn't able to tell my mom about my pregnancy in person either because she lives in California too. This was really sad because my mom loves babies more than anything and has been longing for a grandchild for YEARS. She is the only one of her friends without one. So I knew I had to do something extra special to tell her about her her first grandchild.

I made her a mini book from Snapfish. (I wasn't compensated to tell you that.) Blogger isn't letting me link, but it was a 2 x 3 mini photo book and cost $6. I titled the book "Family" and it had chronological photos of our family starting with baby photos of my great grandfather, then my grandmother, my mom and then my mom's kids. Then the pictures started to include images of my siblings and I as we grew up so that towards the end of the book there were pictures of my wedding and recent pictures of Chuk and me. This book holds 24 pictures, so it was easy to tell the "story" chronologically.

The final picture was of my positive pregnancy test and I wrote the announcement on the inside of the back cover.

The book was so little I was able to stick it in a regular business size envelope for mailing. It was light enough for just one stamp, but I put two on it, just because I'm paranoid. I wrote on the envelope for my mom to call me before she opened it because I wanted to hear her reaction.

The few days wait for her phone call was agonizing, but when she finally did, it was so special. She started crying halfway through the book before she even got to the pregnancy announcement. When she finally figured out what was going on she screamed and started crying even harder. It was really cute and certainly the biggest surprise of her life.

She carried the book around with her everywhere in a ziplock bag "for protection" for more than a month and has also requested a back-up book so she can safely store the original while still showing everyone her book. She's kind of crazy, but I'm glad she likes the book. I keep telling her it's the best $6 I've ever spent.

This Weekend and Last

Last weekend was so special. I've been going through a rough time the past few months, so I really needed a few days of fun. Last weekend was full of fun, family and friends.

Friday, a dear friend of ours (the one who introduced Chuk and me, and who performed our wedding ceremony too) who now lives in San Diego came to spend the night. He brought me flowers and Chuk beer. We sat around the kitchen table all night eating pizza and chocolate chip cookies and drinking beers. (Well, I drank water.) Then Saturday morning we had a nice big brunch and my cousin, who lives several hours away, came over. We played Scattergories until our bellies hurt from laughing.

Our friend had to leave that afternoon, but then we got to have some one-on-one time with my cousin. I hadn't seen my cousin in two years because she had been doing a tour of duty in the Middle East for the Navy. She had literally just returned to the U.S. the day before. (I'd also like to mention it was her second tour in the Middle East.) She's back stateside because, after twenty years in the Navy, she's retiring. I'm so proud of her and her service to our country.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking down by the river and catching up and then we went out to dinner at a local restaurant.

On Sunday, Chuk made us waffles and then we headed out to my cousin's favorite spot in DC, Eastern Market. If you've never been, it's a combination farmers' market and flea market right in the middle of the city.

At Eastern Market, we had literally the best peaches I've ever had in my life. It's so late in the season, I don't know how the farmers kept them so sweet and juicy. I wish I had taken a picture. They were huge! Each one was like the size of a grapefruit.

We had a late lunch at a different restaurant, where we were able to dine al fresco. The weather that weekend was so perfect. Sadly, I had ended our fantastic visit on a down note when Chuk had to pull over the car on our way home so I could throw up on the sidewalk...for twenty minutes. My poor cousin was in shock. She's never had children and didn't realize my morning sickness was as bad as I had been describing it. She held herself together, but I think I traumatized her.

This weekend was much more low key. Chuk and I spent the at home or close to it. We went to IHOP Saturday night for some free pancakes (join their "Pancake Revolution" on their website and they'll email you a coupon for a free meal) and then we did a little shopping for the baby--a couple of pairs of pajamas and a pack of cloth diapers I'm going to turn into burp cloths. Sunday, I made a quick Ikea run while Chuk did homework with football on in the background. Then Sunday night I cut his hair and we watched The Amazing Race while doing laundry.

Are You Freaking Me: Forever Lazy

My favorite part are the "zippered hatches" described at 1:14, though I also really enjoy the comment that "it'll be the talk of your next tailgate." You're darned right it'll be the talk of my next tailgate. If you wore that to my tailgate party we'd be talking about "What the hell are you wearing" and "Have you lost your mind?"

What do you think? Horrible or the Snuggi's new and improved relative?

Blame It on the Rain

I totally have this song in my head (and now you do too.) Music from the early 90s is totally my favorite. Say what you will about Milli Vanilli, but this song is awesome.

P.S. I haven't been around for awhile for two reasons. The main reason is stupid Blogger wasn't publishing my posts. The second reason was because I didn't really have anything to say that wasn't a complaint (pregnancy, apartment troubles, etc). I was trying for that whole "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" business. I slipped up with the above Blogger comment, but you know, some things aren't the rain's fault...they're Blogger's fault.

Still Feeling Barf-y

But I heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time yesterday, so hopefully it's starting to balance out. (Can you hear the pleading in my "voice"?)

Anyway, I'm alive and hopefully I'll have the energy to start posting again more regularly soon. In the meantime, I'm getting lots of rest and trying to keep up with your blogs. Please send me recovery thoughts.