Say Anything: Pregnancy Edition

My pregnancy app, The Bump, encourages me to take weekly belly photos. On Tuesday, number 37 is due and guess how many I have in my gallery? Two. Whoops. So in hopes of keeping some memories from this pregnancy, here are some things people, mostly strangers of course, have said to me over the past month:

• A woman talking with my neighbor, after my neighbor says Isn't she big?: When are you due? Oh wow, 7 weeks is a long time!
• Louisa: Mom, your tummy is like a chair
• The rental car attendant, after telling me where to pick up my car (maybe 10 spots down the isle): Actually, you wait right here, I'll get it. It's so far down
• Another rental car worker: Can I help you? Wait, first, how you are you feeling? You must be having a boy. I have 3 boys and my wife looked like you every time...like she had a football in there
• A 3-year-old girl in Lou's class: Why is your mom's tummy so big? Why does she eat so much food?
• A 30-year old construction worker, this morning on the street, beaming: Congratulations!
• A 70-year old woman (with yellow teeth spotted with lipstick) at Whole Foods: You're having a girl, aren't you? I had 3, actually 4...all boys. Congratulations. Have a wonderful life

I'll blame the camera function in the app for this low-quality photo, because that big pink phone is supposed to have a great camera, right Nate?!

Smooth-ish Travel & Lagging Limbs

We're back in Campbell after a wonderful 2-week trip to Wisconsin, Michigan and Washington DC! There were many highlights, but a few things we're especially thankful for include:

• Cora napping on Nate's lap (and not mine) during three of our four flights 
• Nate's upgrade to first class on the 6-hour flight from DC to San Francisco, which he graciously gave to his wife
• No clots in my left leg, which was a concern my midwife had with all the flying
• The chance to see all of our immediate family and even many from Nate's extended family
• No delayed or missed flights and only one rental car snafu

***Warning: the following paragraph may sound a little whiny, so feel free to skip it***

We rental a car from December 21st through the 29th, which worked great to shuttle us from Milwaukee to Madison to Oconomowoc to Grand Rapids to Chicago. It's somewhat ironic that our only travel woe happened with a different rental car that we picked up in San Francisco on January 3, the day we arrived back in California. After weighing the costs and hassles of the various ways to get from our house in Campbell to the airport (or vise-versa), we've found that a 24-hour rental is usually the cheapest and most convenient. Unfortunately, this time, we were given a car with a bad tire. Five miles south of the airport, it went flat. Of course my handy husband can deal with a flat tire under normal circumstances, but this time the lug nut had been stripped and the wrench was poorly made, so he wasn't able to remove the flat. We called roadside assistance who initially said they would send AAA to swap the tire and have us drive back to SFO and get a new car. Good thing Nate was the one talking to the representative, because I probably would have become hysterical at the mention of driving back to the airport to trade in the car. He calmly explained that he would rather drive 50 mph for the remaining 45 minutes of our trip home than have to switch cars, which meant reinstalling carseats and reloading luggage. So then we sat on the side of highway 101 for 2 hours waiting for AAA. iPads and iPhones were handed out freely after food was used to bribe, reward and distract. Louisa successfully peed on the side of the highway and Cora managed to sit somewhat peacefully in her carseat the whole time.

Of course this experience made us extra thankful that we had landed in California at 11:30 am on a Saturday. I felt calmer during the whole ordeal because we weren't sitting on the side of the highway in the dark and I knew that we had Sunday to recover before jumping back into real life.

Real life did return this morning, but it's been gentle on us. Louisa was excited to go back to school and while I wouldn't wish a horrible head cold on Nate, it did allow me to leave Cora at home with him while I drove to Santa Cruz for a midwife appointment. I even got to stop at the gym and walk on the treadmill while listening to This American Life...something I wouldn't have done with Cora since she also has a bit of a nose-dripping cold.

The baby seems to be doing well, although I wasn't surprised to hear that the midwife was concerned about his growth based on my baby-bump measurement. Over two weeks ago, at 33 weeks, I measured 33 centimeters, but today, at nearly 36 weeks, I measured 32 centimeters. To the ultrasound room I went! Thankfully this happened with Louisa and Cora at 35-36 weeks as well, so I've learned to stay calm and not google "growth concerns" or "low amniotic fluid."

I was sent home with instructions to drink more fluids without caffeine and less than two hours after the ultrasound was complete, I received an email that said everything was fine although his limb measurements are lagging and he could be 4 days late based on his growth. A late arrival will not surprise me, but short limbs? That would be a new one for our family.

To close, a few of my favorite photos from our midwest & east coast adventure:

Christmas brunch in Madison

Bosscher Family Photo

Watching a video (of themselves, of course)

Cora was always up for a walk with me. Louisa preferred to stay inside and play

Botanical Gardens Christmas train exhibit

Louisa in a train engine

Playing a new penguin game with Uncle JP (DC)

The Goose is Getting Fat

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in San Diego with my mom's side of the family. The Mazda car did great on the road trip, although Nate wishes it had more power. In good 'ole 3-year old fashion, Louisa managed to initiate some great Thanksgiving table conversation, asking, how did the turkey die?

Because Thanksgiving was so late, we decided to get a mini-tree from Home Depot this year instead of going to the Santa Cruz mountains and chopping down a big one, as we have in years past. I feel a little bit unfulfilled when I look at our tiny tree with unevenly hung ornaments, but I'm just trying to remember that it's good to let some things go.

I guess when I feel disappointed by the tree, it helps to look at the mantel, where our new Christmas stockings hang! I love them so much. I made three...all slightly different, and let Louisa and Cora pick theirs, leaving the last one for the new baby. I was surprised that they left my favorite for him. I bought a pattern to get a consistent stocking shape, but ended up turning to a sewing blog for help adding a lining. The perfectionist in me knows that someday, someone is going to look inside their stocking, so a lining was a must!

Cora puts the tree's size into context nicely

Bunkin' Up

We have less than 10-weeks to go before our parenting style transitions to a zone defense! At times it feels crazy that I'm over 75% done with this pregnancy, but other times, probably when my pregnancy symptoms flare up, it can't seem to go fast enough. All in all, it's been a pretty good pregnancy though. On this Thanksgiving eve, I can easily reflect on a few things I'm thankful for, that have made my pregnancy easier:

1. Louisa's oft-repeated statement: You need extra help 'cause you're having a baby
2. A wonderful pre-school for Lou to attend on Monday and Friday mornings
3. A gym membership with childcare for Cora so I can work-out while Lou is at school
4. My artistic husband who insisted on making a beautiful bunk-bed for the girls
5. Cooler weather so I can cover up my hideous left leg, purple and puffy with varicose veins

I would have been happy to have the bunk bed ready to go by January-something, but Nate was very interested in getting it done sooner. It turned out so well and Louisa loved helping build it as much as she loves sleeping in it. Cora won't join her until Nate adds a railing to create a crib at the bottom. Reflecting back on Lou's crib-to-bed transition, we did it too quickly (before age 2) and I now realize we probably could have avoided much frustration keeping her contained for a bit longer.

Although I know the process would have been more enjoyable for Nate if he had a nice indoor shop to work in, it was so nice to see him back in his wood-working element...designing, creating and perfecting. I know he's talented, but during this design-build process, I was reminded that he not only has engineering smarts, he's really artistic too.

Because the world needs more before and after photos sets, here goes:

Before (a trundle/day bed given to us by my parents)

After (complete with Alicia-picked. Louisa & Nate approved bedding)

After (water-cup and tissue shelf installed ASAP to avoid call-backs after the final tuck-in)

After (Louisa loves the trellis-ladder and Cora has yet to attempt the climb)

Looking at these photos makes me realize that Ries' dog bed should absolutely be removed from the room. It doesn't match at all and she'll never sleep on the floor of anyone's room, let alone the girls'. Also a shout-out to my Aunt Jeanne who made the black/red fish pillows, to Overstock.com for a nice, thick zebra rug that has stood the test of Louisa's first 3.5 years of life, and to myself for some great coordinating black-out curtains. The patterns of the curtains, pillows, bedding and rug have the potential to be overwhelming when thrown together, but I think they look really great with the modern, white bunk bed. So three cheers again, for Nate, my artistic, project-finishing husband!

Ramekin Chocolate Decadence

I have no intention of transitioning our blog to a cooking/baking blog, but I'm going to tell you about another recipe. Many of you have probably had the privilege of devouring Marcia's chocolate decadence (an almost-flourless chocolate cake). It's one of my favorite go-to dessert recipes because it's easy, yet looks (and tastes) so fancy. One problem with it though, and I realize this is a dietitian-only-problem, is that when I make it for less than say, six people, I end up eating it for the next week. Which is fine, I suppose, but I could potentially grow tired of it during that week which would make it lose it's special place in my heart.

Tonight we had 2 guests over and I realized that I had the ingredients for chocolate decadence, but didn't want to make a full 9-inch springform pan of it. Thankfully I also realized that for my birthday this year, I got 6 ramekins. I googled "flourless chocolate cake ramekins" and found this recipe. The problem with using her recipe is that I didn't have bittersweet chocolate and didn't feel like experimenting with sugar to make the adjustment for the semi-sweet chocolate that I did have. So I ended up making a 1/2 recipe of chocolate decadence to fill 5 ramekins. Sorry Cora, but I planned to put you to bed before dessert.

So that I can make it again and be confident in cooking time and temperature, here is the recipe: 

Ramekin Chocolate Decadence

• 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1.5 teaspoons water
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 teaspoons flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the chocolate chips, butter and water in a bowl and microwave for 90 seconds. Stir until smooth. Beat 2 eggs until pale and increased in volume. Add flour, then beat in melted chocolate. Divide batter between five 5-ounce ramekins (mine were half full). Bake for 18-20 minutes. Serve with whipped cream and frozen (thawed) raspberries.

As I type, I'm watching and feeling my belly wiggle and jiggle. I think little baby boy Bosscher is trying to say something: MAKE THE FULL SIZE CAKE EVERY WEEK MAMA! I LOVE IT! Sorry baby, but I firmly believe that the adults choose which foods to prepare and the kids choose how much to eat. Although I realize that the amount part is probably not a choice for you right now. Pretty automatic based on how much I eat.

As proof that I'm not becoming a baker/cook blogger, I have no step-by-step photos, nor do I have photos of the finished product! You'll just have to make to see for yourself.

Frizzled Sage

Two weeks ago we had a wonderful visit from my parents and only one day later, Anne and Wren came to visit! Oh, how easy it is to get used to being able to run errands during nap-time or cook dinner while my children are entertained. It was fun to confirm that I still love to cook as long as I've planned/shopped ahead and don't have to tend to Cora-meltdowns while keeping the pecans from burning under the broiler, sweating an eggplant's bitter juices and preventing dishes from piling up.

Speaking of cooking, one of my larger fears about having kids was introducing ungrateful, potentially picky eaters into my cooking utopia. I know they're only 3 and 1 years old, but so far Nate has remained grateful for the food I cook and the girls have not yet become too picky. And although Nate can't cook as much as he'd like, he still sends me interesting recipes (saying we should make this) and is happy to cook on the weekends when I say I don't care what we eat, as long as I don't have to make it. For these things, I'm thankful. Cooking was definitely a shared interest when we first met, so it's fun to be able to enjoy and talk about food together a short 7-years later.

Tonight I made this Pressure-Cooker Butternut Squash with Frizzled Sage and Brown Butter. Yes, that is actually the ridiculous title of the recipe. I'll refer to it as "risotto" from here on out. We grew some beautiful and massive butternut squash this summer, so it's always nice to find interesting recipes that call for 3.5 pounds of the stuff. The risotto tasted great, but it's definitely not a quick dinner, despite the "pressure-cooker" part. Very tasty though, so I won't complain. It seemed like the perfect kid-food, and it was even finished at 6:30 pm, the perfect time for a tired Cora to eat. Unfortunately, she was in no mood to even consider whether or not she'd like it. Louisa must have been trying to be really nice to me because I let her watch PBS Kids while I cooked, because she said, very sweetly, mom, if Cora doesn't want it, I'll eat it! And she did while I got Cora ready for bed...without dinner. I really felt no guilt, because I AM NOT a short-order cook and the fact that she pushed the risotto away told me that she wasn't truely hungry.

All that in order to share the recipe and also to say that if you decide to make it on a chilly fall evening, don't skip the "frizzled sage" or brown butter. Both sound so optional, and they are, but also added something tasty, rich and fancy to the dish. I did make a stop at the garden store to buy a new sage plant today though, because our other plant got overtaken by tomato vines. This one-stop shop was welcomed because lately I've been very open to structured activities with the girls...like baking Halloween candy into cookies, planting mums they pick out, and going swimming outside in November. I'd love to say that I do these things to enrich the minds and lives of my children, but really, it's more selfish than that. I'm pretty sure I would...

a) go crazy
b) waste time on Facebook
c) clean too much

....if I let us stay home without at least one activity or outing per half-day (pre-nap = one half, post-nap = the other half). And then of course taking photos or videos during these activities gives me something for my checklist (i.e. blog about making cookies, going swimming or planting mums), which makes me feel like I've accomplished something each day! Whew.

Soooooo, that was the long way to arrive at sharing these photos and this recipe, which I would recommend if you want to make your Halloween candy feel less processed while quickly diminishing your supply.

And finally, a video from our time at the pool today. I'm so glad that Cora is tall enough to be in the deepest end of the kid pool without hand holding by me. I'm such a baby. The water was probably 80 and the air temperature 73, but still, I didn't really want to go in.

Fall & Love in Wisconsin

Two weeks ago we all traveled back to Oconomowoc to attend my cousin Claude's wedding. It was beautiful, creative and drenched in beautiful sunshine! One of the highlights of the trip was seeing all my siblings and meeting Matthew's lovely girlfriend, Kelly. For my parents, the highlight had to be seeing their pack of grandchildren that has grown from zero to six (almost seven) in less than 5 years. Because gatherings like this are so rare, we hired a photographer to take photos and the session went as well as we could have hoped. We have at least one photo where everyone is looking at the camera with eyes open!

My mom did an amazing job of coordinating housing, food, babysitters and people all while hosting the rehearsal dinner, wedding and Sunday-brunch in their gorgeous, restored carriage barn. As a bonus, she even offered to keep Louisa for a special "grandma week" while Cora, Nate and I flew back to San Jose after the wedding weekend. All of these events made October fly by and I'm not at all surprised that November is nearly here. I'm confident that November and December will pass quickly too, which makes me realize that soon enough, I'll be done with these varicose veins in my left (yes, only left) leg and we'll be learning how to parent a little baby boy, most likely to be endearingly referred to as Peter _____ Bosscher!

Alongside all the events of October and the upcoming months, I finally found the courage to launch my mini-business endeavor on Etsy. See my newest blog tab, My Etsy Shop, to read more about it. Or if you don't have time to read the update posted today, here's the short version: it's so FUN and I've sold 10 sets (30 burp cloths) and continued to gift sets to friends!

Enough about me and onto my favorite pictures from our visit!

Thankful for a layover in Denver so we could stretch our legs

"My fingers are cold and it's windy in my eyes, Mom"

Cora took to Uncle JP wonderfully

Sarah's Japanese bike quickly became a favorite of Cora's

The barn, all spruced up

Prepped for a beautiful ceremony

Fun on the "farm" with Oliver, Sarah's oldest

Matthew, Cohen (JP's oldest), Oliver & Kelly

Louisa quickly warmed up, apparently

Chilly, but sunny Saturday morning

Nate being squished by silly LouBear

You really do need a professional to capture this bunch

I'm still not convinced we're twins, but I will agree that Cora and I look more alike than Lou and I

Killing time in the Milwaukee airport

My Apple Girls, Captured on Film

Our real camera whispers to me from it's shelf every so often. Use me! I take better photos than your phone! I swore I'd never sacrifice "good" pictures just because I have a decent camera on my iPhone, but sadly, I have. So earlier this week, I tried to capture some cute but normal moments during our post-nap hours of 4-7 pm, when I'm making dinner, the girls are making a mess, and we're all counting down the minutes before Nate gets home.

I think this apple break was snack time at Louisa's make-believe school, where Cora is the only pupil. Actually, while editing the photos, I noticed for the first time that they each have a lunch bag next to them, so maybe the apple was part of lunch. Naturally, Louisa is the teacher. My instinct is to stop Lou from being bossy in make-believe games such as this, but then messages from articles like this ring through my head, so I bite my tongue.

The attire you see the girls in is rather representative of the norm: Louisa dressed as a princess/ballerina and Cora wearing mostly what I dressed her in, except for her shoes, which she is very particular about. The only exception to this rule is that if Louisa picks shoes for Cora (which is the case here), she generally doesn't object. The ones she's wearing are a size 8 and she wears size 5. Me to myself, constantly: Let it go! Let it go!

Poor Ries Dog

In December 2013, we knew we'd be traveling back to Wisconsin for Christmas and we wondered if Nate's sister, Georgia (a veterinarian student at Wisconsin), could hook us up with some discounted eye surgery for Ries. For at least a year, Ries' eye sight has been failing. Hoping that the cause was treatable, we took her to her VTA vet here in Campbell, who threw cotton balls in front of Ries to see if she would track them. Although I'm generally happy with this particular vet, this time I regretted not just googling "how to tell if your dog is going blind" so I could throw cotton balls at home for free. Alas, he referred us to the pet ophthalmologist, conveniently located just another mile or two away.

Before I sound too sarcastic about serious matters such as blindness, I should officially admit that my concern and love for Ries is not what it was before children. I don't think I could quite give her up for adoption, but I've considered it. Thankfully, as my love has scaled back, Nate's has remained strong. He often tells Ries, she didn't mean that, or reminds me to be kind. It sort of makes me feel like there is only so much love in my heart and that as I have children, that love can no longer be divided amongst four-legged things, only those with two. Maybe it's just a hormonal thing? I used to be a cat lover, now I don't think someone could pay me to let one reside with me.

So, all that to say that I would have just accepted "going blind" as a diagnosis, but Nate was fairly insistent on paying $120 to take Ries to the specialist. So I scheduled a Saturday appointment. Sound familiar? Louisa's Saturday at the dentist with dad? In the end, I'm glad Nate insisted, because now we know that Ries has progressive retinal atrophy. There were no surgeries back in Madison last Christmas because other than experimental nutrition supplementation, there is no treatment. It's sad, but there are worse diagnoses for a 6 year old dog, right? As long as we keep Ries safe from cars, it doesn't seem like her life should be shortened. She still gets excited about treats, the sound of a squeaky toy, and the moment Nelly, our nanny, walks in the front door. I don't know what kind of treats Nelly gives Ries, but she adores Nelly.

Unfortunately, she can't track tennis balls much at all anymore. She hasn't seemed to let that ruin her excitement the dog park though:

Letter of the Week

I admit that I spend very little time reading about what to expect next developmentally from Cora or Louisa. It's nice to read the occasional BabyCenter update that comes each week or month, but generally I delete the emails quickly, thinking, yeah, yeah, I'll come to you if I have questions. Well today I found a wonderful benefit of not reading ahead, so to speak, and that is being pleasantly surprised when your child draws their first actual stick figure or flower, writing their name, or spells a word out loud.

Louisa goes to preschool 2 mornings per week. She loves it socially and I love it anti-socially. That's only kind of a joke. Louisa loves to talk, and often entertains us with her funny make-believe scenarios and questions, but being the introvert that I am, I appreciate some time with my less-verbal Cora Bean, too. Today Cora and I picked her up from "sool" as Lou calls it, and drove home in our new/used Mazda5, Louisa finishing her lunch as we drove.

I knew that the letter of the week is "A", so once we got home I asked Louisa what letter the word "apple" starts with. To my surprise, she spelled the whole word. Another surprise...she happily did it again while I took a "bideo". I think I could listen to Lou say the letter " L" over and over again.



I felt so proud that I sent the video to Nate. I must be tired, because it took me a minute to get his joke.

Okay, free time is over...Cora's awake. Love to you all!