Baby bump - 18 weeks

I'm 18 weeks today and depending on the size of my last meal, my belly either looks bigger or smaller than it should at this time period. I feel huge but all the ladies at work say I'm looking pretty tiny. Last night I made potato/egg/cheese/salsa tacos (with Darin out of town I get to eat whatever I'm craving for dinner) with a side of broccoli. 2 tacos was too many - after dinner I looked like I was at least 30 weeks along!

Took these photos this morning...added a pretty scarf and jewelry to dress it up for work.

My workplace has over 900 employees so obviously I don't know everyone, but many people I recognize by sight if not by name. I caught one of the maintenance guys looking at my poochy belly yesterday in the elevator and that made me wonder - how many people don't know I'm pregnant and just think I'm eating too many tacos for dinner night after night?

Tuesday update

Peeps, I'm exhausted! This baby is sapping my energy. I may ask the doc to check my iron levels at the next appointment to see if anemia is present, although I should be fine because of the prenatal vitamins I take every day (aka horse pills - they're huge!). Lately I've been falling asleep at the normal time (before 10 p.m.) but waking up in the wee hours of the night and then laying in bed awake for a few hours. It's maddening.

I keep forgetting to take belly photos. Worst mom ever, already. Currently I'm between 17 and 18 weeks. Only a few more weeks and we'll know if Baby P is a boy or girl. My pants are all getting tight and I've started to wear more skirts and dresses to accommodate my growing belly. It's that in-between stage where I don't quite look pregnant yet - just fat.

It's cold and rainy across Southcentral Alaska. Mushrooms have popped up in yards all across town (they love the wet weather) and I picked the very last batch of raspberries from the backyard. Our rhubarb did so well this year and picked a few more stalks for the freezer. I like to freeze them in 1 and 2 cup packages for easy baking. We also put away most of the deck furniture since winter is on the way. I left one chair and most of my flowers out - the first hard frost will take out most of my plants and I'll dispose of them after that.

A friend asked me if Drift had picked up on the baby yet. Her dog is very sensitive/nervous and started acting very weird toward her close to the 4th month of pregnancy. Drift, on the other hand, is still as happy-go-lucky as usual! We'll see if that changes as I get bigger in the coming months.

Drift in sled dog booties. D finds these on the trails during walks and brings them home. They protect puppy feet from prolonged running outdoors.

Big announcement

Most people know our big news by now, but D and I are proud to officially announce that we are pregnant! As of tomorrow - Friday - I will be 16 weeks (4 months) along. I'm in the 2nd trimester and very happy about it. Only 6 more months to go...

I'm feeling much better now that morning sickness has FINALLY passed me by. The unrelenting nausea (think all-day seasickness) was one of the reasons my summer trip recaps were nonexistent. June and July were spent laying down, alternately clutching my head and stomach, and praying for someone to put me out of my misery.

Everyone had told me that the 2nd trimester ushers in a period of high energy and action. LIES! The nausea is mostly gone but I am exhausted by the time 9 p.m. rolls around. I crawl into bed, read for about 45 minutes and am passed out by 10 p.m. In other body changes, my waist is getting thicker (goodbye skinny body!), my face is breaking out and my nose is consistently stuffy at night. My sweet tooth has returned and I'm still eating small meals, but more often. I can't go more than 2 hours without a snack or bigger meal. The one thing I can't get enough of is cheddar cheese! Before bed I have to eat a few cheese slices and crackers or I'm ravenous in the morning.

My most recent appointment was on Tuesday and they took my blood pressure (117/65), weighed me (gained 4 pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy - normal), and had me pee in a cup. With the Doppler, the doc checked the baby's heartbeat and it measured at a very nice 148 bpm. My next appointment is scheduled for September 22nd in the morning. It's the 20-week visit - when we'll find out the sex of the baby!

The following are images from our 12-week ultrasound, taken 4 weeks ago. We also opted for the nuchal screening at that time, which is a combo ultrasound and lab work to test for chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome. We are in the clear with that and the sonographer says our baby is perfect so far. It's amazing to see our little peanut get bigger and bigger! (Click on the images to see them larger...)

I'm so sad that my Dad won't be around to meet our baby and teach him/her all of the wonderful things he wanted to share about the world. But the one blessing we have is that he knew about his grandchild before he passed, and I know it meant so much to him. I know he will be our baby's guardian angel forever.

Drift and I went for a quick 1-mile walk last night. Sadly, it tuckered us both out! What a bunch of wimps we are. My doc says the elliptical is fine to use if my heartrate doesn't get too high, so I need to start working out again. I've started to tell people at work about the pregnancy - my boss knows and seems very excited, which is good because she's the one who will be approving my maternity leave.

D is off working an out-of-town job about 2 hours away, but is able to return home on the weekends. It's quiet around the house without him. Our friends who know about the pregnancy have offered to help if I need anything done during the week, and Risha will be up here in Alaska by mid-October.

Weather is wet and rainy now - low 60's during the day and colder at night. Feels like fall already! The raspberries and rhubarb in the backyard are all starting to come in, so I spent Wednesday evening gathering those. They get wrapped and frozen for use in winter baked goods. 

Loss

I'm still heartbroken over the loss of my dad. He passed away at the age of 64 on August 11, 2011 from cancer. Although his passing was unexpected and very quick, I am so thankful for the time we had as a family to say goodbye and spend together.

Rest in peace, Ulys Elbert "Squeaky" Whalen, one of the best men to ever walk this earth.

Dad at my wedding last year - June 26, 2010.

Foodie weekend

Our twice-monthly organic food box came with a ton of apples and kiwis last week, which are both perfect for dehydrating. I pulled out our trusty dehydrator that we received as a wedding gift and got to work.

Core apples & cut all fruit into uniform slices. If the slices are the same size it means they will dry at the same speed.

I only have 4 trays - I definitely need more.

I found a tasty recipe on the Pioneer Woman website: Fried Mozzarella Sticks. They are SO GOOD! And very quick/easy to make. Perfect to whip up for parties or a night when you just need something fried and cheesy.

Get the ingredients together. Dip cheese sticks in flour, then egg/milk mixture and coat with panko/parsley flakes.

Lay on baking sheet and place in freezer for 30 minutes.

Fry in canola oil, no more than 2 minutes.

Enjoy with sauce!

 D took the boat down to the Kenai River this week to fish for king salmon and dipnet for reds (sockeye) with a buddy. I had to stay home and work (hey, somebody has to make the money!) You can read about our past dipnetting experiences HERE (2010) and HERE (2009).

With just one person netting (D drove the boat since I couldn't go) it was slow going for the guys. But in total D brought home a whopping 35 fish for us, which is legally what we are allowed to have for the season. We don't usually keep that many, but since we haven't had a chance to fish very much this summer I'm happy he was able to do that.

After checking out our healthy stock of canned salmon (from last year) it was decided that we'd just clean and fillet these reds, and then process them. D had gutted 1/3 of the fish on the river, but had 2/3 left to do at home. While he worked on that, I washed the fillets, laid them out to dry a bit and then cut them to fit in the vacuum-seal bags. It was approximately a 5-hour process for us both. 35 fish means 70 big filets! My back was killing me by the end of the night, and I'm pretty sure I still smell like fish.

Friday update

Oh geez, sorry for the long delay in posts everyone!

My trip to California was great, if not very short - only 3 days. We ate out at food trucks (the new cool thing!), visited Japantown for fresh mochi, sampled San Jose cuisine, Dad made a couple improvements to Risha's apartment, and of course my sister and I stopped by Ikea for a few essentials. Good times and a wonderful way to spend Father's Day weekend.

It's already July 1st - where did June go? The weather here in Anchorage has fluctuated between glorious 75 degree sunny days and cool, rainy ones. Today is overcast but surprising warm in the 60's. Not quite sure what we're doing for the 4th of July holiday. I just got hit with a nasty cold so that added to my recent sleep issues is making me unbearably cranky today. I'm so tempted to head straight home and hide under the covers for the next 3 days!

The house is looking pretty good - D is working on little maintenance issues here and there. I love the way the lawn looks (and smells!) right after it is mowed. All the deck chairs are out and my flowers are blooming, so the back deck is our favorite place to be on sunny days.

Memorial Weekend in Homer 5

More fun photos of our last night in Homer - the skies cleared and it was sun all the way!

This is the beach area near our campground and Land's End Resort. The time was 8 or 9 p.m. I think?

Huge bald eagles everywhere in Homer.

A fish/seafood processing plant where boats offload their catch. The operators lower the cranes down to the boats at the waterline and bring up fish in the brailers.

Deadliest Catch boat, Time Bandit. The Hillstrand brothers own the boat and are from Homer.

We turn around the dog is already down playing in the water!

Memorial Weekend in Homer 4

I've been posting photos a little out of order, but sometimes it's nice to group by type than by day. Anywho, the following are day 2 of fishing. 

Leaving the spacious boat launch. We were pleasantly surprised at how laid back it was, especially for a holiday weekend. I'm sure the 4th of July weekend will be pure insanity - it usually is.

Rounding the tip of the Spit - that's Land's End Resort and some vacation rentals there on the left.

Mussels and other shells. The sea otters eat really well out here.

Shore break! The water was awfully choppy this day and the swells just about did me in. I kept my breakfast in though - I've only puked on the boat once and I'm pretty proud of that.

The Ramblin' Rose is one of the new Deadliest Catch boats this season.

Eagles everywhere in Homer. This was in a parking lot near the fish-cleaning tables we use.

They're not monster barn doors, but chickens sure are easier to pull up from the bottom! Got our limit of 2 each on this day. The day prior, D pulled up a REALLY nice halibut. If you can believe it, we ended up with the same amount of fillets from that one big halibut as from these 4 chickens!

D does the filleting of each halibut - we get 4 sections from each halibut. Then I wash all of the sections thoroughly with a hose at the table. After he has discarded the carcasses, D cuts the remaining skin off the halibuts and I place them in gallon-size Ziploc bags. At the campsite we plugged in the vacuum sealer and package the fillets to place in the freezer.

Halibut are born with eyes on each side of their body and as time goes on, one eye migrates over to the brown side of the fish. The mouth wraps around both side.

Memorial Weekend in Homer 3

Oops, I forgot about my Homer recaps! We ended up doing a ton of little home projects and clean-up on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was pretty rainy/wet and I'm glad we decided to stay home over the weekend. D is now off bear hunting in the Sound for the next few days. Cross your fingers that he is successful...we need the meat! He took the dog so it is very quiet around the house since it's just me and the cats.

The Salty Dawg Saloon is a Homer institution - usually only open spring to fall, it's THE bar on the Spit. They only take cash and the walls/ceilings are covered with dollar bills, underwear, business cards and whatever else you feel like tacking up. It's an Alaskan landmark and hundreds of thousands of people walk through the doors every year. It's the kind of place where rubber boots and rain jackets are fashion-forward. You can't miss it on the Spit - just look for the little lighthouse.

 

The weather was pretty unpredictable during our 5-day stay, trading off between windy and calm, and sunny and rainy. There was one day that we didn't go out to fish since the seas were so rough. It was beautiful but seas at 4-6 feet, plus the Kachemak Bay swells? No thanks. But the wind brought out the kiteboarders...

You have to be incredibly strong and in shape to wrestle with the kite...

The kiteboarders wear dry suits to keep warm in the 48 degree water. 

Continuing our walk down the beach, on the bay side...

Memorial Weekend in Homer 2

The Homer harbor is pretty big, compared to Whittier and even Seward. There are multiple walkways down to the boat slips and the launch is nice and long - plenty of room for boats coming in and out!

Huge buoys -I'm thinking they're for weather or monitoring?

More buoys.

This is the back side of the Homer Spit. All boats come around the corner and enter the harbor here.

My favorite beach-combing area.

Mouth of the harbor.

Crab pots.

D found out that there are open slips at the harbor - only $250 per year! That sounds like a steal to me.