A recipe for disaster

I am teaching a unit on the biological perspective of psychology and we are currently focusing on a study by Rosenzweig involving the effects of enriched vs. impoverished environments on the brain development of rats. I love to use video clips in my class and did a youtube search for "Rosenzweig Rats" to see if there were any videos out there. The first video that popped up was a cooking demonstration for lamb ravioli . . .

No thanks, I'll have the chicken.

Aloha from a Total Slacker

We are at 33 weeks . . . and I have been a bit of a slacker in keeping up my baby-growth-via-food-products diary. For those of you waiting with bated breath, we missed cabbage (30), 4 navel oranges (31), and a jicama (32). Sorry to have fallen behind! As mentioned before, we're at the point where the food item typically represents EITHER the length OR the weight of the baby. A pineapple, for those of you not regularly weighing your tropical fruits, is approximately 4 pounds.

Uh Oh

Unfortunately, I can't remember where I snapped this photo - but it was in the restroom of a restaurant somewhere in G'ville - I just forgot to post it. Regardless I don't recommend "dining here."

PopeBaby

Husband and I attended a class at the hospital last night called "Bringing Home Baby." It was a 2-hour course on diapering, bathing, safety, and general newborn care. Although there was some debate on whether he had dressed our baby as the Pope or Moses, it is clear that Husband took the class VERY seriously.

Betting lines are open

What's the over-under on how many times I will have to tell the neighbor-girls that I can't "hang out" before they get the picture that I actually don't want to hang out and they should stop ringing my doorbell?

I'll give you a hint. It is evidently more than six.

Caught red handed

. . . or red-faced, as it were.
I suppose it was only a matter of time before I would have to buy new underwear while living in Greenville. And of course, since I run into students everywhere else I go in town, it should come as no surprise that I would run into one of the lil' buggers on this particular shopping trip as well.

"Oh, hey Mrs. Barden, good to see you out and about, and while purchasing your maternity-sized cotton skivvies no less. Well, take care now. See you at school on Monday."

Great Expectations

I don't want to set too many pie-in-the-sky goals for my unborn child, but given her current level of in-utero activity - she definitely has a bright (and sparkly) future ahead of her.

Not for a long time . . .

Today I had 6 students and a faculty member ask me when I was going on maternity leave. Not sure whether that is a commentary on how big I got over the break or how much my absence would be a welcome relief for some of these kids. Regardless, it's not for a long time . . .

Nesting (and a bit of bragging)

We are doing some major nesting this holiday. Husband was fortunate to have New Years off from work - so he has been home for the past 2 days and has the weekend off, too! The plan was to paint the baby's room - but Husband, having a Y-chromosome and all, had other plans in mind. He wanted to install beadboard in the nursery as well. We are mid-way through the project and I'll post before, during, and after pictures on the other side of the weekend. So far, it looks incredible.

Yesterday was a big painting day (the walls of the room as well as the beadboard and trim), which meant that, due to fumes, I couldn't be helpful in any way - so I told Husband to pick any cookie out of my new Martha Stewart Cookie Book (thanks, Grammy!) and I would bake it for him. He chose Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, complete with fresh ground spices, multiple steps, and hand-broken chocolate chunks. The recipe took hours (it has become clear what Martha did to pass the time on house arrest), but the cookies turned out fantastic. Pat self on back.

In addition to the cookies, I also took the free day as a chance to finally attempt the infamous Houston's Chicago-style Spinach and Artichoke Dip recipe. While I can't say that it tasted exactly like Houston's. . . it was definitely good and definitely provided a huge sense of accomplishment on a day in which I was otherwise feeling a bit helpless.

For now we are back to work! Pictures to come soon.