Hair: Not the Musical

Immediately after yesterday's post my mom texted me to say that I shouldn't lower my standards just because I'm packing on the pounds.  She ordered me to return those two tops immediately as she had found much better in Phoenix.  Sorry Chez Quinlan commenters - she inadvertantly insulted your sense of style too!
Also, now that the bump is fully visible, the comments from well intentioned onlookers have started.  "Wow you're really popping out!  It must be almost time!" or "Oh you look great, you're due in March, right?"
If I were due in March, that last one would be a really kind comment, but seeing as I have at least 94 days to go (thank you My Pregnancy app) I'm starting to get a little worried.  Not worried enough to stop eating ice cream, but worried all the same.  
Ellen must have seen my post on hair the other day, because she was talking about hairstyles on her show too!  Here's the clip - I love the first guy's hair.  If this baby is a boy, that's the style I'm going for.  Sadly, Ellen didn't have an answer to my long/short dilemma, but the people on Pinterest have spoken!
I pinned this picture awhile ago after my mom told me it should be my new hairstyle (she's relentless, I tell you!).  It's had 183 repins and 24 likes, which is approximately 10 times more repins than anything else I've pinned.

I don't know - my hair isn't that thick, and it's a bit too unkempt looking for my tastes!

  Poor Ginnifer, on the other hand, she only got 1 repin.

Personally, I'm partial to this one, but it hasn't been repinned even once.  

If you're interested, you can see what I'm pinning here.  Just don't judge me when you see my board dedicated to HRH Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
Shelby

Fancy Camera Work

Wow, this is embarrassing.  These may be the worst photos ever taken.  All you young people on Facebook make it look so easy to take pictures of yourself.  Not so.  Clearly, it takes many hours of practice.  But there's no way I'm waiting for Jimmy to get home from work to retake these.  That would mean getting dressed all over again.  I tried to set the self timer on my real camera so I wouldn't be stuck capturing myself in the mirror via camera phone, but these beauts let me down.

Shocking I know, as POWER XT is such a well reputed brand.
Enough small talk.  On to the atrociously bad photos.

Whoops.  And turning flash off.

And looking at your audience this time.

Seated, so you can see the boots, of course.

On to outfit two:

Not quite as bad.

The bed is really sagging under my petite frame.

Trying a new pose.  So non-chalant.

IDK!

They're so crystal clear that you can really see all of the lovely details I added to style these fabulous new additions to my wardrobe.
Sadly, that is all for today. 
Shelby

Sluggish Sunday

Sorry guys, no fashion show today.  I'm feeling too lazy to get dressed and take pictures.  I will do so soon though, for reals.  Just not today.  So, what will I entertain you with instead?  What I'm making for dinner, of course.  I feel obligated to make dinner, and obligated to post, so why not put the two together?  Une solution parfait!
On the menu: Turkey meatball soup.  Jimmy's favourite soup.  This is a recipe adapted from Deceptively Delicious, a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld geared towards getting children to eat vegetables, combined with my own recipe for tomato soup.  Why do I own a cookbook based on hiding vegetables from children, you ask?  Because my taste in food can be quite child-like, and I hate most cooked vegetables.  This book seemed like the perfect compromise.  The base of Jessica's soup however (just blended tomatoes and carrots?  Where are the herbs??), was too bland for even my tastes, so I had to adapt that part of the recipe. The results can be found below!

Turkey Meatball Soup

Inspired by Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld
Serves 4

For the meatballs:

1 lb ground turkey breast

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 sweet potato pureé

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Inspired photography, I know.

For the soup:

1 can (28 oz.) tomatoes, whole or diced

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Small pasta shapes such as macaroni or shells

1.  Combine all meatball ingredients in a medium bowl.  Mash together with your hands, then roll into bite sized meatballs.  At this point you can either put them in the oven to brown at 425 for 8 minutes, or set aside to be cooked in the soup.  I think it's weird to cook raw meat in soup, so I opt to brown them first.  Jessica throws them straight into the soup, and maybe when I have three kids like she does, I will too.

Pic as promised.

2.  Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, and carrots, stirring often for 4-5 minutes.  Next add the garlic and herbs, stirring for another 2-3 minutes, or until all vegetables have softened and browned slightly.

3.  Add the tomatoes, stock, and salt and pepper to the pot.  If you do not have child-like taste in food, you can simmer for 20 minutes, adding in the meatballs to be cooked through.  If you do have child-like taste in food, you can pureé all of the ingredients for the soup in a blender before returning them to the pot and adding the meatballs to be cooked through.

4.  Meanwhile, cook your pasta until al denté, about 2 minutes less than the time recommended on the package.  Add pasta to the soup pot for a final 2 minutes of cooking time.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

A perfect wintry dinner for a lazy Sunday!  No pic of the finished product yet, as I must go and make it now, but I'll add one, and you can bet it will be breathtaking.  I just had to get this post published, as I'm sure you've been waiting with bated breath, and I always aim to please.

Also, for your viewing pleasure, the cutest video message sent to Jimmy by some of our nieces and nephew before his team played the Washington Stealth last night:

"I want you to take it to the Stealth! Take it to the stealth!"

There was also a follow up message after a big Rush win (and a goal for Uncle Jimmy), but due to technical difficulties, there is no sound, so I'll sum it up for you.  Says our nephew of five years: 

"Uncle Jimmy, I asked you to take it to the Stealth, and you took it to the Stealth.  So thank you for taking it to the Stealth."

Impossibly cute, no?

Shelby

Arbitrary-ness

I just wanted you to know that I totally kicked butt at pre-natal fitness this morning.  I think it may have been the extra long soak I enjoyed in the tub last night, not to mention an excellent sleep on a certain memory foam mattress.  Back pain, be gone!
I then promptly proceeded to sabotage all of that hard work by inhaling some banana loaf and two cookies for lunch, winning myself a nomination for worst pre-natal nutrition ever.  Fret not, I'm rectifying the situation by eating some nutrient rich cucumber right now.  
In other news, buying maternity clothes in Edmonton has just become even more nightmarish than (I presume) it was before.  How can this be, you ask?  Well, it turns out Mexx will no longer be carrying their maternity line.  That means the only chains that carry maternity are Old Navy, Thyme Maternity, and Motherhood Maternity.  I went into all three of these establishments today hoping to find something to swath over the girth that has become my middle and had to leave, horrified.  

I could not, would not go for the stripes.

Nor was I feeling the cropped housecoat. 

And apparently, this is the type of shirt I can look forward to wearing as I nurse my new bundle of joy.

People are always saying that maternity clothes are so cute these days, but I'd like to respectfully disagree.  Sure, there are the boutique maternity stores in and around the city, but I haven't ventured in yet because I'm afraid the prices will send me running right back out the door, not to mention how it will affect Jimmy's blood pressure.  
I did find one okay pair of jeans, but I just couldn't stomach spending $50 on them. Maybe I'll get desperate as time goes on, and I bet by then the one pair I liked will be gone.  I did end up buying two non-maternity tops at Old Navy and two maternity tanks to keep the tum decent underneath.  One is a cardigan, so it will easily go the distance for the 97 odd days of gestation that remain.

The other, I'm not so sure.  The pintucks at the bottom may start to balloon out at odd angles as I continue to expand.  Time will tell.  

Maybe tomorrow I'll set up a de-luxe fashion shoot to show you how I've professionally styled these items, if you can wait that long.
Have a super fun Saturday night!
Shelby

(Un)Preparation

My sister-in-law Shannon asked the other day if I've bought much for the baby yet. I called some of the things I've purchased to mind.  This really cute elephant bank, a onesie that says "Tougher than I look", and some grey and yellow fabrics for the baby's curtains - you know - all of the essentials.  Shannon, mother of three, listened to my acquisitions then said, "Oh, actually I was thinking of things like a good thermometer or a humidifier."  R-i-g-h-t. 

Cute and practical.  What?  It teaches the value of a dollar!

She also had a hot tip as to how to keep the healthcare and vaccination cards organized.  Each child has their cards in a ziploc bag in the same drawer (for her it's the change table drawer) so that if a child needs to be rushed off to the medi-centre or hospital in the night, their info is all together.  The fact that they're in a ziploc means that you don't even have to take them out of the bag to show them to the nurse or doctor, meaning less chance of misplacing them.  This is great advice given my recent tendency to lose everything I touch.
Not only that, but when I was visiting a friend and her six month old the other day, topics such as the schedule for routine doctor's check ups and vaccinations, the introduction of cereals and fruits, and milestones like rolling over and crawling were of course discussed.  And at some point during this discussion I started to panic.  
Ohmygosh I am so unprepared!  And clearly not as obsessively organized as I thought!  The birth?  No problem!  I've been reading everything and anything on the topic and have been attending classes and practicing the breathing techniques and visualizations at home.  But how on God's green earth am I supposed to know all of the other stuff?  There's a lot of focus on preparing for the birth, but let's get real! Labour will be one day, or two if I'm cursed like my mom.  But I'm going to be responsible for a tiny person everyday for the next 18 years.  Where are the Parenting 101 classes?  
I suppose I'll do what I always do when faced with a problem to solve - research. Reading up on the topic will at least give me a false confidence not to be shattered until the baby arrives and all of the things I read about work 25% of the time or less.
Amazon.com and library website, here I come.  If you've got any good recommendations or useful tips, I'd love to hear them!