Good Book

Last month's book club choice was Annabel by Kathleen Winter.  It was slow-going at first but that might have been because my mind was elsewhere (babies).  I ended up really liking it and I'm definitely recommending it.  It is about a child born, both male and female, in a 1968 small town in Canada. It follows his life and the relationship with his parents, who decided to raise him as a boy, and with a family friend/teacher who wants to embrace his differences and inner female.

Mini Donuts

OK I have to admit right away that these are baked and so they are not nearly as good as real, fried donuts. But...they turned out really cute and pretty so I guess that makes up for it.

I got this idea from Cupcakes and Cashmere over on this post.

**I used a real piping bag because the dough is really thick and the plastic bags just kept ripping.

Here is her recipe:

Recipe from BakingBites.com

Ingredients:

Donuts
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Vanilla Glaze
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 tsp milk

Directions:

Donuts

1. Lightly grease a mini donut pan.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together brown sugar, egg and melted butter until mixture is smooth. Beat in vanilla extract, then half of the flour mixture. Mix in the buttermilk, followed by the remaining flour. Stir only until all ingredients are combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain visible.

4. Scoop batter into a quart or gallon-sized plastic bag and chill for 1-2 hours, or overnight if you want to prep the donuts the night before.

5. Preheat the oven to 325F and remove the bag from the refrigerator after batter has chilled. Snip the corner off of the plastic bag and pipe batter into mini donut cavities, filling each about 2/3 full. 

6. Bake for 9 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly pressed. (For regular-sized donuts in a larger donut pan, bake 12-15 minutes)
Turn donuts out to cool on a wire rack. Dip tops of donuts in glaze when donuts are completely cooled and decorate. Allow glaze to set for at least 1 hour before storing, or just eat and enjoy!

Makes about 18 mini donuts.

Vanilla Glaze

Whisk all ingredients together in a small, shallow bowl, adding milk as necessary to make the glaze thick enough to stick easily to the donuts. If it becomes too thin, simply add a bit more confectioners’ sugar.

St. Patrick's Day

I’ve traded in green beer for green whole wheat pancakes. 

My how things have changed J

14 Weeks

How Far Along:  14 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a lemon

Total Weight Gain: About 3-5 still, I think. I need a scale at home.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet.  I keep hearing that maternity pants will change my life so I might be getting some soon.  For now I have a bella band that is still unopened and the waist of my jeans is always digging into my belly.

Stretch Marks: Not yet.

Sleep: I’m still so tired during the day.  I have very good intentions of working out but napping seems to always take priority.

Best Moment of the week: Prenatal Yoga!! So relaxing.

Miss Anything?: The sugar that I am trying to cut back on.

Movement: No.

Food Cravings: Not really.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: I still have not been sick once. (knock on wood)

Gender: Don’t know yet

Labor Signs:  No

Symptoms: Crazy dreams.

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding Rings on or off: On

Mood: Good but stressed.

Looking forward to: Finding out the baby’s sex.

Exercise:  I have big plans for exercise this month J Something Funny: Our last ultrasound had the creepiest picture. It looked like the face of a scary old man like I’m carrying Benjamin Button in my womb.  We got a good laugh, after I had the doc confirm this was not my baby’s actual face. Might go in the baby book but definitely NOT in a frame J

Our Wedding Day-After Shoot

We did a day-after wedding shoot a few months ago with a friend that is starting a photography business.  She does amazing work and since she has a modeling background, her work comes out really glossy-magazine style. I have only seen 3 pics so far from our long day of shooting but they came out amazing!


If anyone is interested in booking a photo shoot for engagement, maternity, family or even a wedding, I HIGHLY recommend Mikaela.

Her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/DigitalCreativity?fref=ts
Her website:
http://digitalcreativity.tv/

Baby OBZ Coming Soon 9-9-2013

Recap of the First Trimester

How Far Along:  12 weeks (I’m actually 13 but I wrote this at 12)

Baby Size: About the size of a plum

Total Weight Gain: About 3lbs, not counting the 15-20 I gained (pre-pregnancy L) when I went off my ADHD meds.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet.  I do feel like the only person who isn’t disgusted by them.  I think there’s tons of cute maternity stuff out there.  I think it’s weirder to just buy bigger sizes of regular clothes.

Stretch Marks: Not yet.

Sleep: I’m sleeping fine at night and napping almost every day.  I’m ready for that 2nd trimester energy burst.

Best Moment of the Trimester: Seeing my baby’s heart beat.  There’s really nothing like it.

Miss Anything?: Subway ( I used to live on turkey sandwiches) & sushi.

Movement: I saw the baby moving on an ultrasound.  I can’t feel anything yet though.

Food Cravings: Spicy Spicy Spicy!!  I started craving it before I even knew I was prego but that has pretty much faded away now.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: Just the sight of my expanding butt J

Gender: Don’t know yet

Labor Signs:  No

Symptoms: Sciatica.  I don’t know how or why but I had the worst Sciatica at about 8-9 weeks.  On the bright side, this was my only symptom.

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding Rings on or off: On

Mood: Good.  Only a few instances of crying in my car.  Once because I saw a dog on the side of the road that was just hit (I found out later that he was ok).  Another time was on the way home from work after a particularly hard night  and the Sciatica was crippling me and I decided I would never be able to work again, we would go broke, and I would be giving birth to my baby in the street.  Totally normal right?? I tend to overreact.

Looking forward to: Finding out the baby’s sex. I can’t wait to start planning the nursery.

Exercise:  I've been pretty good about exercise although I’ve been so tired.  I’m hoping to step up my game now that I’m supposed to have more energy.

• Interesting fact:  At my first ultrasound, my doctor said that I had ovulated this baby out of the left ovary.  It’s amazing what they can see in that black and white mess of nothing in an ultrasound.