Eggshell Green

A Week Wiser

Fez - he's a good boy sometimes

I have learnt this week…

• Fez cannot be trusted to stay put when the front door is open.
• Marshmallows make a great cupcake topper. However cupcakes still require a certain amount of frosting or they’ll taste quite boring.
• Never ever store precut/left-over onions in the fridge, or anywhere for that matter. They stink!
• There are actually some good bus drivers in Wellington. Two school girls were occupying a seat and pregnant me was standing in the aisle. The bus driver told them to give up their seat for me. Yay – someone noticed :)
• My dad can be hilarious at the museum. There was a scale model boat at Te Papa and mum commented on how small it looked. Dad says “People were much smaller back then”. I told him that the boat wasn’t real and it was just a small version for display. We then sat and watched the presentation that projected images of people onto the same boat, and the people were only centimetres high. Was it mean of me to exclaim “Look dad, there are those small people you were talking about!”?
• My three-day threshold for living with my parents still applies. They’re fun out and about, but when at home, I go a bit crazy after three days.
• Cutting down on dairy doesn’t make a bit of difference to my carpal tunnel syndrome, despite what the acupuncturist said. I didn’t have my usual bowl of cereal for breakfast for the six days my parents were visiting. Hands still hurt, even more so now.
• If you collect shells from the beach, remember to check if there’s still something living in them. Don’t leave them in a plastic bag for three days first or you will have to deal with a horrible pongy mess.
• Kapiti Black Doris Plum & Crème Fraiche icecream is da bomb! We took the parents to the Lindale Centre (as you do when visiting Wellington) and treated ourselves to some ice creams (as you do when visiting the Lindale Centre). It’s not a new flavour, but it was new to me, and it was so delicious. I want some now!

Tags: family, pregnancy

Baby Update at 29 Weeks

Resources tell me that my blood volume is now double the normal. That explains the blood noses I’m having at least twice a day.

My belly button now looks like a moon crater with raised edges.  I wonder what it will do by the end of this trimester…

On Sunday I had my baby shower. Thanks to my cousin and Ms Constantine for organising things, and everyone who made it there.

Of course I had to make cupcakes and opted for the favourite black forest. I also made a lemon coconut flavour so I could make use of the dessicated coconut that I finally got around to getting (although I only used it on the icing).

Baby shower cupcakes

I opted to ice the lemon cupcakes by using a layer of butter cream and then plonking a giant marshmallow on top. A sprinkling of coconut made them look extra fluffy. Some royal icing helped to cement the teeny fondant flowers on top to complete the baby girl look. Lazy but quite effective I thought. I also learnt that I need to use more butter cream because the marshmallow may look like frosting but doesn’t give the same moistness and finger licking quality as frosting :)

The hubby made some cookies that I put away in Chinese takeout boxes for the guests.  Mmm, chocolate cherry, and almond and white chocolate…. He thinks he may have missed an ingredient from the chocolate cherry ones because they turned out rather flat and floppy, so apologies. I think they still tasted good.

The baby shower was great fun. We also got a lot of useful stuff that will help us get started when the baby arrives. Baby clothes, especially girls’ things can be unbelievably cute! Can’t wait to use everything.

We also had our first antenatal class last Wednesday. It’s quite scary learning what is going to happen. My cervix is apparently going to expand to nearly the size of a compact disc and that’s before I can start pushing the baby out!

Tags: baby, baking, cupcake, pregnancy

A Week Wiser

My learnings this week…

1. Have tissues handy at all times, especially if you’re sneezy like me and require emergency booger control.
2. Have a mirror handy at all times. Especially handy after emergency booger control because sometimes you don’t control it all.
3. If you’re 28 weeks pregnant, don’t over indulge in curly fries and rhubarb pie for afternoon tea, even if you think you’re that hungry. You’ll be regretting it for hours.
4. Don’t over excite the dog when he’s on the couch. Jumpy dogs and pregnant bellies don’t mix. Ok, I already learnt this from past experiences but thought I would stress it anyway. And the hubby has had a few crushing moments too if you know what I mean.
5. Don’t be afraid to move seats on the bus if someone is coughing every 30 seconds next to you. I’m always scared that people will get offended if I move for reasons like this, but in the end, I’d rather offend someone then be infected with a cold (or worse, the flu).
6. Remember to put the baking powder into your cupcakes when you’re supposed to. Once they’re in the cases, it takes a whole lotta effort getting them out of the cases just to add baking powder to the batter…

What have you learnt this week?

Tags: pregnancy

Tin o’ baby

Apparently, pregnant women tend to have vivid dreams, particularly later in pregnancy.

So it’s no surprise that I had probably one of the weirdest pregnancy dreams last night.

I dreamt that a workmate of mine was pregnant. And when I say pregnant, I mean she was growing a baby – inside of a giant tin can.

She brought it into the staff kitchen and decided she didn’t want the baby anymore, and so to terminate it she had to open up the tin and take the baby out.

She cut a wedge out of the top of the lid (with something or rather), and then opened up the lid fully.

She took the baby out. It looked like a greeny blue water balloon, shaped like a baby (almost like a giant jelly baby). She squeezed at it to fill in the legs and arms and then laid it on the table.

Next thing we know, the baby, still alive, was dressed in baby clothes and being pushed around on a tea trolley.

Ms Constantine was also in my dream. She oohed at the baby commenting on how cute it was. I was there thinking how I was going to tell her that the baby was actually being ‘aborted’.

HmmmMm…!

I really don’t have any explanations for this dream, and it probably doesn’t have any real meaning. I tend to have lots of wacky dreams anyway, especially when the weather’s warmer.

I know for sure that I love this baby growing inside of me and will love it even more when it arrives.

Image by idrewuk

Jelly babies

Tags: baby, dream, pregnancy