16 Week Check Up

Friday, Adam and I had our 16-week Baby Knies check up. They did the usual - checking my weight, blood pressure, baby's heart beat, etc. Before I stepped onto the scale, my nurse commented that she didn't think I had gained a pound. Well, I proved her wrong! I gained 1 lbs! I think that makes the total about 2 -3 lbs, bringing me up to a whopping....nope, I won't tell. As much as I would love to prove wrong the friends of mine who said "Congratualtions! I can't wait until you get fat," I don't want the rest of you blessing me with words that only sailors use, so it will be a Knies Family secret!
Adam and I really liked the doctor we had this time - more personable than the ole stick-in-the-mud we had last time! He said that I was carrying low, which is one reason why I still don't look very pregnant, especially with blue jeans on. We decided not to do the blood test to check for brain or spinal malfunctions, since basically all you can do is worry or abort, and aborting is out of the question. We love this baby so much already and will love it no matter how many fingers or toes or no matter any other complications it could possibly have. The doctor said he personally didn't think I needed to do the blood test either, since I am young and healthy!
We got to hear the heartbeat again. Mom was in Oak Ridge on Friday as well, so she got to hear the heartbeat too. It truly is amazing to hear that little thumping sound, and know that everything is okay! The heartbeat was still high - 154! We will have to see if the old wife's tale is true next month when we get to find out the sex!
The doctor asked if I had any questions, and Adam piped up about my weight! Dr. Peters said that he usually doesn't hear parents-to-be asking about whether or not mom-to-be is gaining enough weight, it is usually the exact opposite. He said that I WILL gain weight, but as long as I am eating healthy, then I am fine and the weight will come! I am still having morning sickness on a weekly basis, if not more often, so that is one reason why I have a lower pregnancy weight. Dr. Peters said that should subside before long. I hope he's right!
Our next appointment is March 27th. We will find out if Baby Knies is an Addison, or a Baby Boy Knies (we still have not picked out a boy name). It will be an exciting day! Until then, keep watching for bump pictures!

Fat Tuesday!

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras! It is a very exciting day, for partying purposes, but Adam and I have our own Fat Tuesday tradition. Growing up in my church, the Presbyterian Church, we had a Fat Tuesday fellowship in the fellowship hall. Church members would bring tons of indulgent food, like pancakes, waffles, cakes, and sweets - a child's junk food playground! Basically, it was the last chance to eat indulgent food before giving it up the next day, Ash Wednesday, for the start of Lent. So, Adam and I continue my church's tradition by going to IHOP on Fat Tuesday. Actually, I think the first time we celebrated Fat Tuesday together, we ate at Waffle House, then the next year we upsaled to IHOP.

This year, people must have caught on to our Fat Tuesday tradition! Typically there is no wait or just a short wait at IHOP on Fat Tuesday, but this year, people were lined out the door, at both convenient IHOP locations, here in Knoxville - or maybe it was because they were giving away free stacks of pancakes to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network! Well, we didn't want to wait, but wanted to keep with the concept of Fat Tuesday, so we went to Cracker Barrel for the Breakfast Menu. I got Mama's Pancake Breakfast: 3 pancakes, 2 eggs and 2 sausage patties (plus I added a side of fried apples - yum!). I didn't eat it all, or at least not by myself, but I made a good dent in my 2 plates of food! Our Fat Tuesday meal was quite yummy, but I still prefer IHOP pancakes.
So what am I giving up for Lent this year? I feel like I have given up a lot, as it is, because I want a healthy pregnancy. I still eat candy from time to time, and I know it has no nutritional value, so I'm giving up candy. Now, lets define candy, to me! Gum is not candy! Candy is candy! I'm still on the fence about my favorite candy/gum - Razzles! It says on the package, "First it's a Candy, then it's a Gum." However, the candy aspect is more like a powder that almost immediately turns into gum, so I think Razzles are okay! Plus, I bought a pack last night at Cracker Barrel, since they are the ONLY place that sells them now, and I didn't finish the package! Lets just say, Razzles are up for debate!

Pink Night 2009

This has been my second year participating in Pink Night with the Lady Vols! This year the Lady Vols hosted Duke on Monday night, and even though we lost, it was a win for Breast Cancer Awareness! Also again this year, my Mary Kay unit was at the game to help raise money for the Cause! Last year we auctioned off Kisses for the Cure and raised $9,500 to donate to the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation, which funds research grants to help find a cure for cancers that affect women!
This year I got to make over a Breast Cancer Survivor, named Susan. She recently finished treatments and had very little hair growth yet, but she looked like a million bucks, with a huge smile on her face, when I finished with her! She commented several times about having no hair and needing me to "make" her some eyebrows. I jokingly told her she could borrow some of my hair if she needed because I seem to have an excess here recently, which reminded me of why I cut my hair last November! I hope someone out there has a very nice wig of my hair! I'm sure I will have another hair donation to give by the time Baby Knies arrives, if not before then!
Then we all went out on the concourse to gather donations, again for the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation and the Kay Yow Foundation! We did not gather as many donations as last year, so my unit has decided to take it upon ourselves to come up with the rest through our Mary Kay parties in February and March, so I am booking myself silly through the end of March with parties! I'm booking parties everywhere, even out of state with some of my family!
If you'd like to hostess a Mary Kay Party for the Cause, please let me know! I have been doing some very fun shows: Skin Care Cocktails, Chocolate Affairs - (yum!), Spa Nights, and Gorgeous Evening Eyes!

Second Trimester!

Yay! We are officially and safely in the Second Trimester! Whew! It is such a relief! As most of you know, there are so many things that can go wrong with a pregnancy during the first trimester. My own doctor (or group of doctors) don't even act like you are pregnant until the second trimester. They said they were very "cavalier" about complications in the first trimester because anything can happen for any reason or no reason. Adam and I are very grateful to have had a healthy pregnancy so far, especially after hearing the news this week that some are not so fortunate.

Bump Watch 2009

Friday, Adam and I went to the doctor's office for our 12 week appointment. Everything went extremely well! The doctor said that despite my little frame, I should be able to deliver naturally unless I had a 9 + lbs. baby! I really don't want to have a c-section or even an epidural. I am hoping that I am just like Mom, and have no labor pains at all!!
We got to hear the baby's heartbeat at this appointment as well! It was so amazing! It was beating so fast. We got to see the heart beating on the ultrasound four weeks ago, but didn't get to hear it. It is so reasurring that things are going well when you hear that little fast-paced heart thumping away!
I have managed to gain absolutely no weight, which is apparently very common. Some moms lose weight from morning sickness, which I did earlier in the month, but I haven't gained any since our visit two weeks ago.
We are almost through the first trimester! It will be such a relief to be safely in the second trimester, and then I should start packing on some pounds! The doctor said I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs total during the duration of my pregnancy, but 25 lbs is ideal for me and my size!
As we were leaving the doctor's office, another patient's mother was sitting near the elevator and said, "It's a Boy!" to someone on the phone. She apparently just found out the sex of her grandchild. Adam said that he didn't think I would be saying that because he thinks, especially after hearing the heart beat that we are having a girl! We will have to wait eight more weeks to find out! So far, everyone who has made a prediction of the sex of the baby in our families have predicted a girl! Mom predicted it the moment I told her that I was pregnant, as did her mother. Mom is even calling the baby Addison already! Addison is our girl name, and no it is not from the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice star - lets just go ahead and squash that thought! Addison means Adam's child! Adam and I have no preference for gender, we just want a healthy baby!
So now to the bump. It is here! I've had a bit of a bump for the past few weeks but even Adam wouldn't admit it. It's as if he thought he would get in trouble for saying that I had a bump, like it's a bad thing. However, now there is no denying it - there's a bump! Most people tell me that I don't look pregnant at all, but winter clothing hides a lot, and my pants seem to come up half way on the bump, so it's not as obvious!

The Bump at 12 weeks!

Adam with the "neck pillow!"

Adam and I have been cleaning out the spare bedroom closet to prepare for the baby and moving our office into the spare bedroom. This was a Boppy that I had bought for River, and now that he is too big for it Ronnie gave it to us to have for Baby Knies. All the donated baby stuff is in the spare bedroom closet. Adam pulled the Boppy out and put it around his neck and said, "this is the biggest neck pillow I have ever seen!" I had to get a picture of it - he is too cute!

Our next appointment is in 4 weeks, so stay tuned!

Touchdown Chili

I made this chili for the Super Bowl! It seemed appropriate!
This is my uncle's recipe, the directions are kind of funny!

Ingredients:

Ground beef (1 lbs.)
Red Kidney Beans (1 average can)
Tomatoes, whole (1 average can)
Sweet Pepper ( 1 red or green)
Medium/Large yellow onion
sour cream (optional)
Flour
Chili powder
Oregano
Thyme
Dry Mustard
Cayenne Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper
Garlic, clove, crushed
Celery Seed
Ground Cumin or Coriander
Black Pepper
Salt
cheddar cheese (optional)

Basic Chili Mix:
Flour - 2 tablespoons
chili powder - 1 or mor tablespoons depending on how hot you like it!
oregano - 1 teaspoon
thyme - 1/4 teaspoon
cumin or coriander - 1/4 teaspoon
dry mustard - 2 teaspoons
cayenne pepper - 1/8 teaspoon
celery seed - 1/2 teaspoon
black pepper - lots
Crushed Red Pepper - sprinkle

This adds up to 4 1/2 tablespoons of mix

Directions:

You will need a big pot and a frying pan (or use just the big pot and adjust directions appropriately). Peel and chop onion and sweet pepper. Put the beans and tomatoes in the pot with the onion and sweet pepper over low heat. Put the ground beef in the frying pan over a moderate heat and stir it and separate it as it begins to fry. When it is well separated, and beginning to brown nicely, dump in 4 1/2 tablespoons of chili mix. Stir it into the grease from the meat at the bottom of the frying pan and then turn the meat so that the chili is well mixed. Add a clove of crushed garlic. Transfer the whole business into the pot with the beans and the tomatoes!!! Then put a little cold water into the bottom of the frying pan and heat it, stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon. All of the bits of meat and chili stuck to the bottom of the pan will come loose and you can add this to the bean pot as well. Add salt to taste. Cook chili over low heat and keep it simmering until the onions and peppers are done and the sauce has thickened a little.

When you serve the chili, put a dollop of sour cream in each dish.

No Water!

Adam and I had a very eventful weekend, starting bright and early Friday morning. As most of you know, it got very cold here in East Tennessee over the weekend. So, in preparation Adam and I decided to leave the faucets dripping in our master bathroom Thursday night because it was supposed to get down to 5 degrees and we had a little pipe issue last year (i.e. the builders forgot the insulate our master bathroom pipes at all!!!). Friday morning we were scheduled for our second Baby Knies appointment at 8 o'clock - just the family history appointment with a gallon of blood drawn! So I woke up bright and early to get a shower for our doctor's visit and there was NO water. Not a drop - anywhere in the house! We assumed that the water main must have busted somewhere in the neighborhood because there was no way our pipes could be frozen when we left the faucets dripping. So Adam and I ate our breakfast and brushed our teeth with the glass of water I leave by the bed every night since I wake up every morning feeling extremely dehydrated and we washed our hands with the one bottle of water that was left in the refrigerater.

So we went to our appointment, probably a little smellier than we would've liked, and like I mentioned earlier, the nurse took our family history and then another nurse named, Penny Lane, took what seemed like a gallon of blood. As she took the blood I kept singing the Beatles song in my head - I'm sure she gets that all the time! Our next appointment is the 30th!

So we got back home, hoping the water was miraculously back on and of course it wasn't. Adam went down to the clubhouse to see if the water was on there, and of course it was! I was so furious! We called the water department to have them come check everything out and the water was running out the water meter but still no water in the house. The water department guy said that either the pipe in the ground was frozen or the pipes in the house were frozen, both of which really shouldn't happen. He said that if the pipe in the ground froze then it wasn't buried deep enough, which is a code violation, and if the pipes in the house froze then most likely they weren't insulated properly, again, a code violation! So we called the builder and left a message for the warranty department, even though our warranty is up, we've obviously had pre-exisiting issues with pipes freezing. Finally after a few hours of not hearing back from the warranty department we called Jo Ann and Frank, desperate for a shower and packed up to go to Kingston to stay for the night. I jumped into the shower immediately - it was the best shower ever!
So even though we were at Jo Ann and Franks in the nice cozy house with running water, and hot running water to boot, I had a problem. I was supposed to make a cake for a friend of mine who was having her birthday party on Saturday! So I started baking the cake Friday night but I had issues with Jo Ann's oven or it has issues with me because the cake almost overflowed and then fell in, leaving it useless for cake decorating.
Saturday morning I had a Mary Kay meeting in Knoxville so I drove back for that and took my cake supplies to redo the cake. We actually had running water Saturday morning but only COLD water. I started the cake, but had to boil water on the stove to wash the dishes. It was a long and laborous process! I spent almost all day making the cake - 11AM to 7Pm - because the cake itself was made from scratch, not to mention the icing and then I covered it all with fondant and added more fondant decorations. I enjoyed making the cake but it would've been a lot easier and quicker with hot running water!
I had to take the cake to the Bistro at the Bijou downtown, and when I got there the Birthday Girl called me to tell me that they had to move to the bar across the street - so yes I was the pregnant lady in the bar, but only for a short time and no one was smoking! They had to move the birthday dinner because the pipes in the Bistro busted and water literally started to come down on the birthday group and was rushing out onto Gay Street!
So, today we finally got a call from the builder about the pipes - so much for that so called Emergency Warranty Number! They are coming tomorrow to take a look at the pipes and hopefully they will fix this problem. So the morals of the story are...don't buy a Saddlebrook Home, and if you have a house built through a company, hire your own inspector to check up on the house throughout the building process!