Happenings in our Life: Joseph & Melanie

Baby Shower

2008-10-19T11:17:00.002-04:00

I had my baby shower yesterday (Saturday) and it was fantastic! It couldn't have gone better. We had 20 people come and honestly, I couldn't believe how many presents I got! I was overwhelmed. I got a bathtub full of bath stuff, a playyard, high def digital baby monitor, and TONS of clothes...on top of a million other items it seems! My mom made matching Christmas aprons for me and Kira to wear when we make Christmas cookies together. She also made all the nursery stuff (curtains, crib skirt, quilt, etc.) and gave to me as a shower gift, plus some hand-knitted sweaters. :) It was so much fun.

The funniest part was the cake. It had a little topper of a baby on some leaves that we thought was fondant, so I made big plans of taking it home carefully and freezing it and using it on Kira's first birthday cake. Then when we removed it and happend to turn it over, there was a little gold sticker that said "Made in China". LOL Oh well, it's plastic...makes it easier to keep for a year! :)

Slideshow with a few pictures...
http://s514.photobucket.com/albums/t348/mpurkis/Baby%20Shower/?albumview=slideshow

Harvest is beginning

2008-08-25T19:41:00.005-04:00

My tiny little tomato plants have grown into 3 out of control tomato bushes! I have tomatoes coming out of my ears, particularly my Roma tomatoes. Since I personally don't like tomatoes, but I love tomato juice, I am juicing all my tomatoes, cooking the juice with some salt and a bit of sugar, then freezing the juice so I can enjoy it all winter long. It's SO yummy!

I have also started my first batch of homemade blueberry liqueur. It's basically vodka, fresh blueberries, and sugar. It will be ready on October 25th, so we'll look forward to seeing how that goes. If it's delicious, I will start making lots of homemade liqueurs.

Autumn is just around the corner - more delicious treats to be created in the coming months!

It's a girl!

2008-08-12T15:43:00.003-04:00

We had the ultrasound yesterday and everything so far looks fine and normal. We are having a girl - saw definite girl parts and no boy parts at all. She is very very cute and I am very excited to be having a daughter :)

Her name is Kira Louise and she is due to be born on 12/25/2008.

It's moving!

2008-07-01T15:29:00.002-04:00

Today I felt the baby move for the very first time!!! It was so incredible!!!

I know 15 weeks is early, but I've researched and it is possible, even for someone with their first. I may not feel it again for a while, but it was definitely baby and not gas. It was a cross between a fluttering feeling and a muscle spasm-like twinge. It was deep down in, slightly below and to the left of my belly button. It was right where the baby was hanging out the other day when I was at the doctor.

I'm so excited, now poised to try to feel it all the time, even though I know this early the fluttering will be few and far between. I can't wait to start feeling it more - it's amazing!!

Ba-Bum...Ba-Bum...Ba-Bum...

2008-06-12T14:32:00.003-04:00

On Monday I had my 12 week appointment and we heard the baby's heartbeat for the very first time! It took a minute for her to find it. At first all we heard was my slow heartbeat and some swishing noises...then all of a sudden, a fast, strong little heartbeat. 156 beats per minute. And that was our little baby, just growing away in there. It was one of the most awesome moments of my life. I was so happy and relieved to know that a) there really is a baby in there, and b) that it so far is alive and strong.

We also got to schedule the ultrasound for 20 weeks. On July 11th we will find out what we're having - I can hardly wait!

In the meantime, I am constantly poking at my abdomen trying to feel the baby and counting the days (24!) until my next doctor's appointment when I get to hear that beautiful heartbeat again.

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-26T11:08:00.007-04:00

Memorial Day weekend has finally arrived and marked the unofficial start to summer. It also pretty much marks the unofficial end to planting season - the planting season that lasts all of about 2 weeks if you want to get stuff in before autumn frost.

My garden is finally in the ground! I have to give much credit to my husband who dug all the holes for the plants and my mom who planted everything...and pretty much picked everything out too. I am awful with trying to visualize what something will look like; I'm much better at maintaining it once it's already there. All the vegetables that I had preplanted back in April have died. I put them in the ground and they lasted less than 24 hours before they just tipped over and gave up. Sigh. So it was off to the nursery to buy new plants.

This time I have planted tomatoes, chives, parsley, dill, carrots, green beans, strawberries, and raspberries, plus a variety of flowers.

So here is the overall shot of the garden. It looks small, but it's actually bigger than I thought I'd have this year, so I'm happy with it.

Some of the things you see above are my 3 tomato plants (Roma, Beefsteak, and Bush Champion)

Also my flowers and bushes...

And of course, no garden would be

complete without a catnip plant and

a kitty to watch over it!

8 Weeks!

2008-05-16T12:49:00.002-04:00

So it's been exactly 1 month since I last posted and also exactly 1 month from the day I found out I am pregnant!! So needless to say I've been a little distracted over the last 4 weeks and have woefully neglected both my blog and my sad little garden.

The garden is still growing, however, and most plants are flourishing, although begging to be put into some real ground. We have dug up the garden plot (courtesy of Joseph and my dad) and tonight we'll be shopping for some shrubs and flowers to mix in with the vegetables. I also have 2 raspberry bushes to plant, as well as hanging baskets of grape tomatoes and strawberries. Hopefully I will have the energy I need to get stuff in the ground this weekend and next weekend, as this is the heart of the wee little planting season that we get here in Michigan. If I wait too much longer, I won't be able to harvest anything before the frost hits.

So stay tuned!! I will be updating with actual photos soon, I promise!

Oh how my garden does grow!!

2008-04-16T20:56:00.002-04:00

Okay, I admit it. I think I definitely planted too early! Half of my stuff is already ready to go into the ground, while most of the rest will be shortly. And there are still probably 4 more weeks before I can safely put this stuff outside.

I've repotted most of the larger plants into their own pans of dirt and they're much happier now. Peat pods are really only meant for a couple of weeks and then the plants outgrow them.

Kitty just can't understand why she can't help.

The Garden - Day 7

2008-04-01T19:11:00.009-04:00

Yay - things are actually beginning to grow! I am very excited. Things never grow for me. They die.

I've had to remove the sprouted ones from the covered trays and the only thing I had that was a decent tray substitute was a collection of pans. So the garden is a little hodge-podge right now, with the sprouts in baking pans and the rest of the crops still under cover. Once they've all sprouted I will put them all neatly back into the trays (uncovered) until planting time.

The garden is now located on a futon in Joseph's office. There they can get a nice dose of morning sunlight. His office is also very warm due to the computer, so the temperature is perfect for them. Also, his office has a door on it so we can shut the kitty out; my office does not.

Here are the sprouts:

Kitty needed to help out with the gardening...

Mmmm...I like me a good sprout!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Brandy Snaps

2008-03-31T17:38:00.000-04:00

I had this gorgeous dessert at a restaurant in New Zealand and simply had to try to remake it back home. I found quite a few recipes online and got the general idea, then created my own. I served it to my family at Easter filled with light whipped cream and drizzled with homemade raspberry puree. It was a hit! Trust me - these are a bit of work to do, but they are ever so delicious! They are the best dessert because you get the richness of a wonderful treat, but you don't have a heavy feeling of having eaten a big piece of cake or pie.

Brandy Snaps

1 stick (125gm) unsalted butter
1/2 cup fine baker's sugar
4 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup light corn syrup
3 tbsp brandy
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp ground ginger (to taste)
1 cup flour

Note: I used ground up crystallized ginger. You can make this by putting cubes of ginger and just a tiny bit of fine white sugar into a grinder. Make sure to put the bit of sugar in there before grinding; it soaks up the moisture and gives you a nice powder. Otherwise you get ginger mush, which doesn't mix in very well.
Also Note: If you choose to use the ground ginger you buy in a can at the store, use only about 2-3 teaspoons, rather than 2-3 tablespoons.

Directions
Heat the butter, sugars, syrup, lemon juice, salt, brandy and some of the ginger in a saucepan over low flame. Stir gently until the butter melts and sugar is dissolved. At this point, you should taste it to make sure that it has the right amount of ginger for your taste. Add a bit more if you would like a bit more of that ginger "bite".

Remove the pan from the heat and pour into a mixing bowl with the flour. Mix well and allow to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 325º F (160º C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and place 4-6 teaspoons of the batter well-spaced apart on each sheet. Warning: These will spread a LOT, so start out with 4 if you only have a small baking sheet, otherwise they will run together. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Note: It's easiest if you rotate your pans and just do one at a time. While one is baking, you can form the others.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let it cool for just a minute or two. Once they can be handled without falling apart, but are not set yet, roll them around a wooden spoon handle, a small dowel, or shape with your fingers into a roll. They will be very hot and slightly greasy at this point, so be careful of burning your fingers. You will have just enough time to shape 4-6 of these before they cool too much and can't be formed. If they do end up too firm to shape, pop them back in the oven for a minute and then try again. Once they're firmly shaped, pull them off the spoon handle or whatever you were using, and place on a rack to cool.

Once cooled, fill with a lightly sweetened cream and drizzle with chocolate or fruit puree. Enjoy with a nice strong cup of coffee!

I have planted my garden!

2008-03-26T19:13:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know it's only March and planting season is officially a long way off. I just couldn't wait any longer. I reasoned that since we have such a short growing season here, it only makes sense to start my little crop 6-8 weeks early so that they're ready to go mid- to late-May when the frost has finally stopped for the year. I think that makes pretty good sense.

Originally I was only going to have a wee little garden, with maybe 4 or 6 different vegetables and herbs. Joseph is going to build me some raised garden boxes so that I can plant all my stuff without tilling up the yard. That way if we move, the grass will still be relatively all right looking. I will plant a few flowerbeds, and some of the vegetables that like to spread out a lot (like pumpkins) I'll just plant near the house. They'll look like regular greenery until the very end anyway. Anything I don't have space for, I will plant over at my mom & dad's house.

We found these neat little peat pods that are great for starting seeds without all the fuss of dirt in the house. They come in little flat discs and then after adding water, they swell up to about 1 1/2" thick. They have a little hole in the center all ready for seeds. You just poke in your seeds, cover them up, put the plastic lid on top and your garden is on its way!

Of course once I discovered how easy this was going to be, I got completely carried away with how much I planted. At this rate, we'll need a field to hold all of our plants this summer. However, since I don't have a lot of faith in my gardening abilities, planting 12 of each item doesn't seem so bad; probably only half will actually grow. Sigh.

So here's our garden for this year.

On the left there are Garlic Chives, Sweet Basil, Parsley, New Zealand Spinach, Garden Beans, and Sugar/Pie Pumpkins. On the right there are Sugar Baby Watermelons and lots of Lobelia and Alyssum (flowers). The bottom picture is White Onion, Sugar Snap Peas, Sage, Corn, Tomato and Oregano.

Did I go a little overboard? Oh yes.