A Little Beach Time

Here we go, go, go, go... on an adventure!

A couple of weeks ago, after lots of planning and waiting, Jason, Sophie and I took off for a week on Hilton Head Island with my mother-in-law, Mary, Jason's sister, Shannon, and her family (husband Michael, son Andrew and daughter Olivia) to celebrate Mary's retirement.  Despite the early hour we departed, Sophie was so excited to get on the road to see her cousins, she was all smiles. 

Seriously, the best I could do to get her to stay still long enough for a pic!

After about eight long hours, several pit stops, lots of screen time (introducing her to Cinderella and Tangled) and a time change, we arrived on Hilton Head and couldn't believe how beautiful the beach was or our good fortune in finding a large oceanfront rental in Sea Pines where we could all stay together.  It looked good online, but you just never know!  We used The Vacation Company and were really happy with their customer service and prices.  They even have an app that allows users to access all rental info, attractions, gate codes, etc in one place and that was really convenient. 

The highlight of our week was seeing Sophie and her cousins have a blast together.  We have the best niece and nephew, 10 and 13 years old, who love playing with their two-year-old little cousin.  She's a lucky girl!  

Our condo had four bedrooms and the kids decided they had to sleep in the same room and, even though I'm still sometimes an anxious parent about doing anything out of the ordinary or out of our normal routine, I didn't let that get the best of me and went with it... and it turned out to be great. So good, one morning I had to wake Sophie up after 10am because she was passed out cold after having so much fun.

We did a lot of good eating during our week on the beach, so we tried to round it out with a lot of running on the beach.  It was great to get up and hit the sand with Jason, Shannon, Michael and Andrew every day and feel a little less guilty about all the good food.   And the food... here goes the list: Giuseppe's, Steamer Seafood, Old Oyster Factory, redfish, Santa Fe Cafe, Hudson's and our absolute favorite, Skull Creek Boathouse.  I'd be remiss if I didn't add that we had ice cream at least 4 out of 7 nights and our favorite place was The Ice Cream Cone in Coligny Plaza.
 

22 weeks

There's a bump now and I got a few stares and second looks on the beach but I decided I didn't mind.  This was taken at 22 weeks, proof that Baby Powell was with us at the beach! I had a chance to be pampered, along with Mary and Shannon, when we took some time out to visit Ahh Green Spa, where I had not only the best prenatal massage I've ever had, but one of the best massages overall.  
 

We took a break from playing in the pool and at the beach for a two-hour boat ride through the Broad Channel, dolphin and bird watching and just enjoying the ride.  We had a fantastic captain who took our family out in a small boat and we were excited to see lots of dolphins up close as well as plenty of beautiful birds and other scenery.  Here's a video of the dolphins swimming and playing next to our boat.  

It was great to spend a week with our extended family and have it be unencumbered by the stress of holidays or the other events that usually bring us together.  We got to just have fun!  

The ride home was uneventful and long, like rides home always seem to be.  Sophie fought valiantly to stay awake for the entire drive, only to fall asleep about 15 minutes from home.  Isn't that always how it goes?? Overall a great week and we can't wait to do it again. 

Just Wait Until...

This parenting article really struck a chord with me this week.  Maybe it's because I'm more than halfway through my second pregnancy and people are full of advice and warnings along with the compliments and criticisms.  And sometimes the compliments and criticisms are one and the same; one person says "It's so great that you're still running!", while the next person says "I can't believe you're still running - isn't that dangerous for your baby??"  (Side note: that makes me want to scream.  Of course I wouldn't run if it were in any way uncomfortable or unsafe for me or my baby.  I have the blessing of my OB team.  I ran through all 40 weeks last time and, once again, I'll take it one day at a time. Every woman and every pregnancy is different.  I'm not exactly eating blowfish and drinking hard alcohol at my daily happy hour.)  

Sometimes it makes me crazy to hear people say, "if you think this is bad, just wait until..." because I just want to be in the moment and feel whatever happiness or despair that particular moment might bring me.  I don't want to compete with your happier or sadder moments!  When Sophie was born and we relished how much we enjoyed being parents, we heard "just wait, when she starts to smile, it will be even better!" and when she started to crawl and we talked about how much it changed life in our house, people said "if you think this is bad, just wait til she walks!"  We didn't want to just wait and see, we wanted to experience what was at our fingertips in that moment.

As the author of the article says, this is a total first-world problem.  However, it will make me stop and think about what I'm about to say the next time I talk to a parent-to-be or new mom or dad.  Just because I've been through it doesn't mean they're not entitled to experience it for the very first time themselves, in their own way.

Rant complete!  Happy Wednesday, and a link to the commercial that makes me laugh over and over.  

And this, just because she makes me smile!

Hello, Weekend

This picture kind of sums up how I feel about beginning the weekend with my family!  We've had a busy week and not much time together, so I can't wait to pick up some dinner that somebody else made and head home to this little curly headed child and Jason.  

We have a big day Monday, "the" ultrasound, the one that will determine whether we spend the next 20 weeks or so explaining to Sophie that a baby brother won't be so bad or listening to her excitement over a baby sister!  I know she'll come around to the idea of a brother if she has to, but she is really determined to have a girl.  

I forgot how often people ask you, when you're pregnant, how you feel.  I feel great.  I'm in that happy place in the 2nd trimester with energy and no more food aversions.  I will say, however, that riding on the spinning rides at local fairs was not a good idea.  Why do they all spin?  Torture.  

I have a love-hate relationship with my CSA share.  I love having all the fruits and vegetables, but I stress out (why?!) about using it and meal planning.  I've found a few recipe gems out there that offer something a little unique, including this Warm Corn Salad from the Skinnytaste blog, which is a Weight Watcher-friendly site and includes points for every recipe.  Jason is a longtime member of WW and is on a mission now to lose 53 pounds by January.  He's already lost 18.2 lbs in the first month, and we're really proud of him.  Meanwhile, I'm gaining weight!

Photo courtesy of www.skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

• 4 large fresh cobs of corn
• 2 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (more or less to taste)
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice (from half a lime)
• 1 tbsp minced cilantro
• 2 tbsp scallions, minced
• 1/2 cup (40 g) cotija cheese, grated
• 5 lime wedges for serving

Directions:
Boil corn in boiling water for 5 minutes, remove from heat. When cool enough to handle, cut corn off the cobb. (makes 4 cups) In a large bowl combine mayonnaise, yogurt, chili powder, and lime juice; mix well. Add corn, cilantro, scallions and cheese and toss. Serve with lime wedges.  

I won't lie and say Sophie was a fan of this dish, but Jason and I really enjoyed it.  Hope you will, too! 


 

The Powells Go to Chattanooga

When presented the opoprtunity to see the President of the United States in person, I can't imagine not moving heaven and earth to accept, regardless of the party affiliation.  I've been fortunate twice in my life so far to do just that, first in high school when President Bill Clinton spoke in our gymnasium and again yesterday, when Jason, my mother-in-law, Mary, and I had the chance to attend Obama's jobs speech event at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Chattanooga. Here are a few pics taken during the event, something we'll all remember forever.  

POTUS working his way through the crowd. Mary had the chance to shake his hand and was thrilled to meet a President once again after meeting Gerald Ford years ago.

My handsome husband

A passionate delivery of the jobs speech

Special thanks to Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton for making the wait much more enjoyable.

POTUS greets Lydia Flanders, the Amazon employee who had the honor of introducing him.

Finally, here's one of several stories from The Tennessean regarding the event yesterday, including a couple of quotes from Jason and Mary.  What a day! 

The Best News

Most people who know me as an adult don't know that, for my family, being surrounded by health issues was the norm for many years.  From my dad, who was a paraplegic as a result of a car accident he had in his early 30s (when I was Sophie age, a little over two years old) to my mom, who was diagnosed with kidney disease when I wasn't much older, and then my dad's two bouts with cancer, first when I was 16 and finally, terminally, when I was a 19 year old college sophomore. 

It wasn't until the worst of those medical situations were behind us that I realized there is life outside of that particular framework.  I don't feel sorry for myself or wish things had been different; it was just the way it was.  What I am is grateful for every day now that my family doesn't struggle with disease or injury. 

All that leads to the truly amazing news my mom received at her annual visit to the Mayo Clinic.  For the first time since 1984, she crossed the line from partial remission to no kidney disease. That's a long way from the doctor who originally told her she'd never see me grow up!  I feel so thankful that she received this good news and I'm reflecting on what it means to know that almost 30 years ago, a terrible doctor gave her a death sentence that she could have accepted but chose not to.  I'm also thankful to my mom for choosing to fight for her health and find the right medical team to see her through this long and difficult journey.  I love you, mom!

I hope good news finds all of you in the days ahead and thanks for letting me share a little piece of our happiness!   

 

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Odd Jobs

I read a post over at Babble this week about the odd summer jobs of celebrities and I thought back to some of my own gigs over the years.  Here we go:

Starting with High School:

• Jack's Discount Store Cashier and Hot Dog Mobile Server in Galesburg (miserable, hot and ended up in the ER after passing out on top of the buns one particularly hot day!)
• Classic Kids children's clothing store sales in downtown Galesburg
• Bergner's men's and children's department sales at Sandburg Mall 
• Kastle Kreme - quite possibly the best summer job ever.  Working shifts with my best friends, getting a birds-eye view of all the action and who was seeing whom all summer plus free ice cream and the best waffle fries in the world.  Con:  working for an elderly pervert!
• A box factory.  Yes, a box factory.  I assembled boxes inside of other boxes in a factory with no a/c.  First world problems, I know.

 College, all in Bloomington-Normal except Rippy's:

• IWU Office of Student Life, freshman year work study
• IWU Alumni and Development, various summer jobs including entering the +4 digits to alum zip codes
  
• IWU IT Department work study answering phones and troubleshooting in the computer lab
• IWU Information Line operator.  One summer, wasn't asked back because I wasn't nice enough on the phone!
• Carlos O'Kelly's server.  I lasted exactly one day.
• Killarney's bartender for three years.  I'm looking at you, Liz Grad, with our pleather pants! Right up there with Kastle Kreme as far as best jobs go.  Working for cash, free drinks, and a birds-eye view of a whole other kind of action!
• Babysitting.  One family that shall remain nameless once tried to offer me a measly $170/week for 40 hours of childcare for their two kids.  More first world problems, but come on!  I realize 10 years later I'm paying time-adjusted prices of $13/hour for a babysitter and a small fortune for full time childcare but that would have been a real bargain for them.  That's $4.25 an hour for watching TWO kids!
• Construction company marketing for the guy who built La Bamba restaurants
• Rippy's in Nashville bartender and server - for exactly 89 days until I would have had to take classes and get a real ABC card.  I gave myself a deadline to find a job, and I managed to meet the challenge

That's a lot of odd jobs.  What were your most interesting, dreaded, memorable and fun?  

Countdown to Baby Powell #2 Begins

We were thrilled to find out in early May that we are expecting another baby, and it feels great to finally be able to share the news with friends!  After finally having our first appointment and ultrasound last month at 12 weeks, we started talking about when to tell Sophie and how to share the news.  We decided to tell her on our vacation in Seagrove Beach last week, when we'd have plenty of time with her to answer any two-year-old questions and tell the rest of our friends after our return.  Sophie is elated about being a big sister, although she is skeptical about the possibility of a baby brother.  We'll find out one way or another next month and there's a 50/50 chance we'll spend the ensuing weeks trying to convince her a brother will be great!

We had a relaxing and fun week at the beach, with lots of nice runs on the beach, great food, a little sunshine and lots of pool time and sandcastle-making time.  

Now that we're home again, we're settling back into our routines and enjoying the difference a week made in what our CSA box is bringing us!  This week we had a variety of green peppers, eggplant, cabbage, corn, peaches, tomatoes, blueberries, cucumbers and a few types of squash.  Such great summer foods!  Last night, we had this Tuna and Orzo dish, modified slightly:

Original recipe as posted on Taste of Home

Ingredients
1+ cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
3 T minced basil
2 cans light tuna in water, drained
1 cup cubed part-skim mozzarella cheese
3 T olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
 
Directions
Cook orzo according to package directions, drain and cool.  Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and add tuna.  Fold the tuna mixture into the orzo, then fold the cheese and cherry tomatoes into the mixture.  

I thought it was slightly under-seasoned and added a little more salt and pepper to taste.  I also cut the corn off one of cob (just for myself, would do one cob per person otherwise) and sauteed it on medium heat for about 4 minutes with just a dab of butter.  

This weekend one of the most important people in my life is getting married, and I can't wait to be a part of her day.  More to come on that next week!  Have a great weekend!