12South is a cool place to live

Okay, I think the neighborhood in which I live is a little too cool for me.

Last Thursday night Dave and I walked down to Imogine+Willie for "Supper and Song". I+W is a shop where they make custom jeans. Think $300+. I plan to get a pair as a reward for losing pregnancy weight! I've been following I+W on twitter for a while now, and noticed every Thursday they have the Mas Tacos truck pull up for dinner. And every third Thursday of the month they host Supper and Song, which means the Mas Tacos truck pulls up and they have someone singing live music outside behind the shop.

I was very excited when I got home last Thursday and Dave suggested we walk down there for dinner. We walked right up and got in line for tacos. I ordered a Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Taco and a Quinoa Sweet Potato Taco. Dave ordered the same chicken taco and a Spicy Beef Taco. All tacos were very good! Next time I definitely want to order the beef taco.

We took our tacos to a back table (the only table, mind you) where others were standing around to eat their tacos. The music had already started and the "stage" was under lights - the kind of outdoor lights you would string across your backyard. It was very cool. There were approximately 100 people there, eating tacos and listening to music. About five minutes after we set up at the back table, a young woman asked us if she was allowed to be there or if she crashed a party. Dave and I were very confused and told the woman that I+W does this every third Thursday and anyone can come. She mentioned she wasn't sure once she saw Nicole Kidman in the crowd listening to the music. WHAT? WHAT? I hadn't seen any celebrities in person since I moved here, and there Nicole was, not ten feet from me sitting down and listening to music. Cool! When Dave and I finished our tacos we moved away from the table so others could use it. We stepped up closer to the music, which happened to be about five feet from Nicole and her small entourage. The entourage included her children, and Sunday Rose was playing around while the nanny played with the younger child (they have two, right?). At one point Sunday was play-yelling at a man in their group and Nicole stopped her conversation, pulled Sunday over to tell her that was not acceptable behavior and to apologize to the man. Sunday walked over to the man and said she was sorry. So 1) yes, were close enough to hear all this without trying, and 2) Nicole parented - which was nice to see even though she had the nanny there.

Overall, the night was very cool! I think Dave and I will try to head down and participate in Supper and Song on a monthly basis. It's only three blocks from our house! I am hoping the "coolness" factor of 12South rubs off on me. :)

I felt lil fab move!

Two weeks ago when I was at the doctor's office she asked if I had felt the baby move yet. I said I wasn't sure if I'd be able to tell the difference between gas and baby movement. :) Last night I thought I might have felt lil fab, but it was immediately after I finished some leftover pulled pork and garlic cheese grits (yum!!!), so I couldn't be sure. Tonight while I was sitting down after I ate dinner (granola and a banana) I thought I felt lil fab move. So I pushed in on my stomach to see if I'd get a response... and I did! Lil fab pushed back! It was awesome. It's so cool! Just thought I'd share. :)

Lil Fab's First Trip to Notre Dame

Dave and I made our annual trek to Notre Dame for the home opener this weekend. Despite the ridiculous weather and horrible performance by the ND football team, we had a good time! Here are a few pics of me and lil fab to share with you...

Me and lil fab at The Grotto. Just before the picture I went in and said a prayer for the little dude/dudette.  

Me and lil fab at Main Building, aka the Golden Dome. And yes, I look bigger here because I was taking direction from the photographer who told me to stick my belly out further if I could. :) I think this is a framer, though! Thank you, photographer.  

 Dave and I bought lil fab's first piece of clothing! A Notre Dame onesie. So cute and relatively gender neutral. 

Me, my friend Jen (she was a bridesmaid in our wedding), and our two fetuses. She is due 9 days after me. Dave and I stayed with Jen and her husband, Pat, this weekend in St. Joseph, MI. They were great hosts!

Introducing lil fab!

Here is our little fabulous... lil fab for short. :)  Such a great profile pic, right? This baby is going to be adorable, I can just tell. I thought I'd share lil fab's picture with you all here before I go public on Facebook tomorrow. Dave has tried to tell as many of his friends in person which is why we've waited to make the public announcement.

This picture is from our third ultrasound during the Down Syndrome screening. I had gone in the week before but lil fab wasn't long enough to complete the analysis. The good news is our risk for having a baby with Down Syndrome is low... I tested at a 20 year old level instead of my ripe, old age of 32. There is still a chance, but it's low. We have another doctor's appointment next Wednesday and I believe we are doing more genetic testing that day. I don't even know what for, all I know is they are blood tests. Dave and I thought it would be good to get the tests done so we can prepare ourselves if we are at higher risk. We would absolutely follow through with the pregnancy, we would just prepare ourselves in advance.

Overall I'm feeling very good. I have never had morning sickness; I have just been very tired. In fact, today is the first weekend day I haven't take in a nap in a very long time. Last Sunday I took two naps! So maybe the energy boost you are supposed to get in the second trimester is finally arriving. That's great since we have a lot to do in the next 12-13 weeks... travel to Austin, travel to South Bend, move into our house, and get the nursery started!

35 days and counting...

Dave and I stopped by the house again this morning before work. We selected granite for the kitchen and the bathrooms, carpet for the bedrooms, where the receiver for the speaker system will go, and concrete. By concrete I mean we selected where it will go: driveway and sidewalks up front, and a patio and walkway in the back. We need the patio so someday when we get a Green Egg we'll have a place to put it. :) We can also use the patio for doggy pool and our existing gas grill. We will have one parking place in the back of the house, so the walkway will take you from the parking place, through the backyard, by the patio, and to the deck. It's going to cost us extra, but it will definitely be worth it to get it done from the onset versus getting someone new to come out in a year or two.

The good news we found out today is they will be completely done with the house on September 1. So we are going to close on September 6, the day after Labor Day. We will take off Wednesday-Friday that week and just get settled! This will allow us to be home for the movers, and schedule cable hook up, ADT hook up, etc. I cannot wait! September 6 seems a little far away since College Football even starts before we move in. I'm guessing it will be here before we know it.

 This is a picture of the kitchen island. It's a mocha color... think extremely dark brown/almost black. The kitchen cabinets are white as you can see off to the left.

 Lil fab's room! It's a green color. Perfect for football or frogs. :)

 The fireplace mantle in the living room. I love it!

 The master bedroom. It's a grey color... although it definitely has a blue tint to it.

 The wall in the living room against which we want to put an entry table. I only have the old Target table I've had since Albuquerque and it's falling apart. For example, two of the three drawers don't actually have drawers anymore, just the knob facing thing. It's bad.

A picture of the cubbies at the back of the house off the kitchen. 

Pancake Heaven

Yesterday when I got home from my pilates class and massage I decided I wanted pancakes for lunch. I made oatmeal pancakes the weekend before that weren't great and knew I didn't want to leave this weekend's pancakes up to a weak recipe. So I called my Dad and asked for his pancake recipe. I have a copy, but it's in storage in Georgia. The recipe doesn't have exact measurements so as my Dad was talking I was getting the ingredients out of the cupboard and refrigerator. I put together all the ingredients pretty well for a first time "eye-baller".

They look pretty normal, right?

Then today I decided I needed pancakes for lunch again. That's right, needed. :)  I decided to use my dad's recipe as the base and throw in some oatmeal and bananas. These pancakes turned out just as good, albeit a little bit heavier. I didn't eat again for another five hours!

Don't they look yummy?

Right now I've got stuffed zucchini in the oven. See... I do branch out for dinner!

My own version of Man v Food

I was in St. Louis last week for work and went to dinner with a friend, Jamin. He graduated with Dave and I from Notre Dame, he used to work at Frito Lay (and was helping us try to get in there), interviewed with Mars Petcare in December but didn't get the job, and now he's the Brand Manager of Beneful dog food. The competition! Regardless of that fact, he is a great guy. He loves BBQ and College Football. So we get along pretty well. Jamin goes to a college football game almost every weekend in the fall, and eats his way there and back. And he blogs all about it. This year he's invited Dave and I to participate in two games, but one of them is the weekend we move into our new house and we have a game at Vanderbilt the other weekend.

Anyway, Jamin and I went to dinner in St. Louis. I trusted him to pick a good BBQ place. And I was not let down! We went to a place called Pappy's Smokehouse. The line was relatively long even on a Tuesday night, but it was worth the wait. While I was in line I noticed an item on the menu called the Big Adam - named after Adam Richman, the host of Man v Food. He had visited Pappy's when he was in St. Louis, which I thought was very cool.

I got the pulled pork plate with a side rack of ribs and sweet potato fries. The fries were just okay - they had really sweetened them up by using brown sugar. I'd prefer them plain. The pulled pork was some of the best I've ever had! And the BBQ sauce was great, too. Jamin also had the pulled pork and he didn't use any BBQ sauce; it was that good! The ribs were pretty yummy as well. If I'm ever back in St. Louis - or if you all ever go to visit - you definitely have to go to Pappy's Smokehouse!