Today was so fun! It felt like a field trip from my regular blog schedule! Thank you all again for all of your sweet words.

So here’s what was going on behind the scenes all day –

Breakfast

Cereal in da house!

A big base of greek yogurt topped with Morning O’s, grapes, blueberries, chia seeds, Cville Cluster crumbs and WF peanut butter.

And tea on the side. Did you notice all of my dessert teas disappeared? I didn’t run out – tea has just not been appealing. Or at least the kind I was so into before pregnancy. Now I’m into Earl Gray and Lipton and the occasional peppermint – like today. But that’s it. I don’t really have a taste for coffee either, but I’ve had a few (mostly decaf – except when I forgot to declare decaf to the barista!]

After breakfast I worked on post #2 and then headed to Pump Challenge.

Two exciting things happened there:

#1 my friend Lindsey, who happens to be 34 weeks pregnant, said she said me walking around the track before class started and noticed a pregnant belly and then looked at my face and saw it was me! Showing – bloat or not – indeed.

#2 I made a new friend. Hi Lara! She congratulated me on the news – had just read before class!

We did NOT get to hear Rihanna today, but I did do a killer set of chest flies that I imagine will have me sore tomorrow. I’ve been skipping out on abs since my 7.5 week cramping scare, so I left swiftly and came home.

Lunch

Breakfast kept me full for hours (and I was so busy reading comments!) that I didn’t eat lunch until about 1:30.

Burger time!

It wasn’t until after I finished my No Bull burger that I realized they are lentil based and I liked it! I guess I just can’t have lentil soup right now.

I topped the burger with some leftover pimento cheese from the super bowl and greens – more for photography than for appetite, but I ate them all! Served on a Great Harvest Virginia Potato Bun : )

On the side – fruit! My latest lunch side item. Fruit is delicious.

Grapes + grapefruit. So different, yet so alike.

This afternoon Karen came over with a surprise – two maternity outfits!! She said she got excited after reading my post this morning They are both stylish and cute – a tunic, leggings, a flowy shirt and some cropped khakis. For our San Diego trip in a few weeks! I don’t really need maternity clothes yet, but the pants are sure comfy and the shirts flattering.

Snack

I only did this because I can now Ice cream for a snack!

In all seriousness, there are much worse snack options than Breyers All Natural. With a simple ingredient list, 120 calories per half cup, and protein, fat and sugar amounts that are not unreasonable, I can think of much worse things to eat. Of course I can think of much better too, but that’s not my point Mix this with some milk to up the protein and “dilute” the density of the sugar + cream, and you have yourself a delicious calcium + protein rich snack.

Dinner

Dinner was both tasty and delicious!

I think I’ve mentioned before that I am just not a pasta person. I mean, it’s good, but I have much stronger emotions towards bread and oatmeal than I do pasta. But things have changed! Pasta almost always sounds good to me now – even with veggies involved. And of course with goat cheese!

I found this goat cheese pasta next to the goat cheese in Whole Foods. It had a big “local” tag on it and I found that it is from Silver Spring, Maryland. 6 minutes in a pot and dinner is served!

I added a cup of frozen edamame for more protein in the last 2 minutes of cooking, a nice side of herb salad for greenery (which I ate!) and of course a sprinkling of goat cheese, which melted nicely on top. Black pepper to taste!

The raviolis were great! Very pesto-y!

Note the giant bottle of sparkling water!! And the Izze-esque I had for cocktail hour.

I asked Matt to share his emotions of fatherhood with you all and this was the face he chose. I think there are elements of joy, pride and fear in there!

Or maybe he was just really excited to watch a few episodes of LOST after dinner!!

Because that’s where we’re headed now!

If you haven’t read this morning’s post yet, go there first!

Thank you guys so much for all of your sweet comments. This is such an exciting time! Here are a few questions that I thought you might want to know to the answer to…with a surprise at the end!

How far along are you?

Nearly 11 weeks! I’m due at the very end of August. I’ve worried over when to break the news to the blog world for weeks. I knew from the beginning if the worst happened I would eventually share it with you all, so I’m comfortable sharing now even if things change tomorrow. I realize it’s still early, and really there is never a “safe” time to tell in the whole 9 months, so I told myself I’d spill the beans when I couldn’t keep the secret any longer. And I couldn’t keep the secret in a day more! We are hoping for the best.

Wait, what about all those Jamaican cocktails!? Saturday’s wine tasting? Friday’s beer?

The Jamaican cocktails were all virgin!!!! The staff there was great about making me fun virgin drinks. My favorite was a Lemon Drop Martini: lemon juice, simple syrup, a squeeze of lime and a sugar rim.

I have photographed some beers and wines like they were my own because KERF without craft beer just wouldn’t seem right. Friday’s beer was actually a bottle of ROOT BEER!

I really did take a tiny sip of this beer – so the photo would be truthful!

And at the chocolate wine tasting on Saturday, I stuck my tongue in each glass, but unfortunately didn’t really get to taste.

Have you really been eating what you’ve shown on KERF?

For the most part, yes. There haven’t been any fake meals shown. Even on my sickest days, I did my best to eat what I photographed. I have occasionally reduced the amount of vegetables that actually made it into my mouth (like took one bite of a salad and decided it was not palatable), and there have also been extra snacks. For a while I was nibbling on graham crackers and saltines between meals to help with the nausea. And those salt and vinegar chips I had with lunch one day? The serving size was actually much bigger

I’ve downed a few ginger ales too. It’s quite amazing how different my palate is, and I’ve been focusing on eating as much normal real food as I can and letting the cravings slide in on the side. Things have been improving the past 2 weeks – the salads you’ve seen I have actually gotten down!

I’ve also been drinking a small glass of OJ nearly every morning right when I get up. I wake up SO thirsty and OJ tastes like the most wonderful beverage in the world at 7am. Perhaps my body is demanding the folate!?

Oh, and one day I had another bagel with cream cheese but knowing it would be so obvious, I fudged a bakery sandwich instead. I apologize for the fib!! I haven’t had regular bagels in YEARS and knew they would be a dead giveaway.

I have felt like my food has been SO WEIRD that it’s been obvious, but hardly anyone has mentioned it. I suppose you were all being polite – and I thank you for that! I see now from the comments than many of you had guessed

Has your exercise been normal?

Yes – no fibbing there. Doctor says everything but skiing, horseback riding and hot yoga are fine. I’ve been lucky not to have too much fatigue – just a few days when I felt really lethargic in week 8. But maybe that’s a catch 22 because I’ve been pretty active! I took a few days off of Body Pump, but I am back and using lighter weights for squats. I’m running much less, but winter has been a good excuse for that. But if I said I ran 4 miles, I really did run 4 [very slow] miles. Walking has been my favorite activity though!

Have you had any morning sickness?

Oh boy yes. I was actually really, really sick for a few days. So nauseous I could barely stand up, much less think about food.

I finally called my doctor and asked if there was anything he could do to help (I had tried ginger, crackers, dry heaving – nothing worked). I started taking vitamin B6 and Unisom, a sleep aid that helps with nausea. Lifesavers! I’ve been taking 25 mg of B6 3x a day and half a Unisom 3x a day and the nausea was reduced by 80-90%. I don’t like the idea of taking drugs, but my doctor assured me that the combination had been tested on 1.7 million mothers and babies with no adverse effects.

While I haven’t been horribly sick since I started the medicines, I have had a million food aversions! Not surprisingly, vegetables are no longer a staple of my diet, but they have made appearances in meals and I’m sure they will make a return. In fact, salads are starting to become more appealing. But oddly – the only salads I could eat for a while were Caesar salads! I am craving all kinds of foods from my childhood (like the mac n cheese, bagels and rice krispie treats) and having weird childhood flashbacks all the time! I took a short break from oatmeal for cereal, but it made a comeback and I can eat it again.

Favorite foods: cereal, OJ, mac and cheese, lasagna, pasta, bagels with cream cheese, goat cheese, Caesar dressing, yogurt, ice cream, cookies. [Sweets really do make me feel better!]

Worst nightmares: My old favorite vegetables (like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, greens), pumpkin (!!), beans (although they are making a comeback) and lentils of any kind – the horror of lentils right now!

Have you seen a heartbeat?

We have! But only by chance. My doctor’s office doesn’t normally do ultrasounds until 13 weeks. But at 7.5 weeks I woke up to a really scary painful cramp in my lower abdomen. I really thought I was losing the baby. I was vomiting and shaking and nearly fainted on the bathroom floor. Karen rushed over to take me to the ER. But the cramping subsided about 20 minutes later, and so I called my doctor. He ordered an ultrasound that afternoon and everything looked fine. The heart was beating at a cute 166 bpm! My doctor suspected that the pain was caused by my uterus growing and stretching. I haven’t had any trouble since. I’m SO glad I got to see the baby and heartbeat then because waiting until 13 weeks would have been the longest wait of my life.

Are you showing yet?

Not technically, but my stomach is definitely rounding and my jeans no longer fit well. My whole abdomen is just thick. I bought a BeBand to help me out! Doctor says my abs and ligaments are relaxing, which is why it’s so comfortable to push my stomach out.

I actually bought a pair of maternity jeans with a low, elastic waistband and wore them for the first time yesterday. SO COMFORTABLE! (Especially when eating too much pimento cheese )

How did you share the news?

We are both so excited! I’ve been a bit reserved because anything can happen in the first trimester – or any time during a pregnancy (sadly my mom had a miscarriage at 21 weeks). But as the weeks tick by, I get more and more excited.

Caitlin was the first person to know – when I suspected a test was positive I emailed her immediately. We’ve been chatting daily since. I called my grandmother second – it was her birthday and I couldn’t hold it in (I did warn her how early it was though).

I actually told Matt over dinner the night I found out, and beer was involved. Are you surprised!? Like Caitlin, I caught it on hidden camera, but I’m not planning to share the video. The stills are pretty funny though!

Confusion:

Joy:

We told our families over Skype and the telephone over Christmas!

Are you going to do pregnancy updates on KERF?

I am starting a new blog! I’d like to keep the food on KERF and the baby talk separate, and a new blog sounded like fun. I am waiting a few more weeks for the debut, but I promise it will have all the details from Day One. I have tons of posts already written over the past few months, and I’ll share them all when the time is right. I have no idea what’s in KERF’s future, but I intend to keep it a food diary and lifestyle journal for ever and ever – even if the style and food content changes as our family does.

What’s with the orange juice? The cereal? The mac n cheese?

In fact, why is there cheese in every meal I eat?

There was popcorn and gelato for lunch one day. Multiple bagels with cream cheese.

And perhaps most obvious: where are all the vegetables?!

Why have some of my posts seemed so aloof they elicit a round of comment complaints?

Why did I claim sickness for a few days?

Why am I obsessed with an appliance that makes breakfast for me?

Why are my jeans so TIGHT!?

Why does my stomach still turn when I think about this lentil soup?

And why is there beer all around me but not a drop to drink?

……………because the bread menu is going to change late this summer. A new loaf is rising.

Surprise!?

Fun times with Sara + Juan tonight!!! We went over to their house (our house!) to watch the game on their big TV.

But clearly the highlight was our spread of foods. I’m stuffed!

I made a bean, corn, tomato, jalapeno salad to take. Seasoned with Southwestern seasoning (so handy – coming to OpenSky this week), lime juice and salt.

AND I made Ashley’s Chocolate Greek Yogurt dip – probably the easiest, healthiest chocolate dessert there is.

Sara had her magical quartet of dips again (this time with pimento cheese!!)

Plus her famous salad.

Sara’s Whipped Balsamic Dressing

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp agave nectar (or maple syrup)
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste (a big pinch of each)
• Italian seasoning to taste (a big pinch)

This dressing can certainly be mixed by hand, but the KEY giving it the wonderful fluffy, creamy texture is using a Magic Bullet or blender to froth it together! Will keep in the fridge for 5-7 days (and will hold emulsion!)

We also had a tier of healthy foods

And pizza!!!!

Plus homemade guacamole and Great Harvest cookies.

I ate way too much in the first quarter and then nibbled on the desserts in the third. Still full! It was a good night for sprawling on the couch. Tomorrow I will eat less!

That was actually a really good football game!! I was nervous for both teams in the end.

I thought the commercials were pretty meh. What happened to the days when each one tried to top the next with humor, wit and surprise!? The days of the Bud-wize-er frogs? Those were the glory days. Tonight’s commercials were full of obvious humor with only a few clever twists. My favorite was the Bud Prohibition one. I love vintage themed commercials

And the polar bears!? I didn’t even understand them half the time.

Thought the halftime show was OK – Madonna was good (mostly at the end), but I would have liked a lot more diversity of artists and song styles. A big mash-up.

Going to chug water and get in my warm bed!

I was quite surprised when Matt seemed as excited as I did about a shopping trip. We actually really considered going down to Short Pump outside of Richmond to hit up some big stores. But 2 hours in the car and increasing hunger after our run had us thinking local.

We decided to make it a date and go out to lunch.

A MILLION options were suggestion: Brixx pizza, The Nook, Bluegrass Bakery brunch, Arch’s, Aromas, Beer Run, Panera, Rev Soup, sushi. Nothing was really calling us in the $$ or the taste departments, so we found ourselves at Bodo’s, where two people can get lunch for under $10.

Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese for me ($2.05! This seems so cheap to me – although I do remember when we used to go to Lu-e-G’s after church every Sunday and get $1 bagels with cream cheese. So fun!) Matt’s was a bacon and egg that we both agreed needed some kind of cheese too [his ordering mistake.]

We also shared the Cleo salad ($3.75!) that was topped with almonds and veg and deliciously refreshing.

Oh – and to put us juuuuust over $10, we shared a raspberry seltzer, which I believe was a fountain drink they assemble there. It wasn’t sweet at all – just like the flavored seltzers you get at the grocer store. What an awesome option!

$10.67. Not bad!

We found ourselves at Pier 1 where we were glad we saved on lunch because we spent on some furniture for our porch! I’ve been looking at these outdoor sectionals that are not only too big but thousands of dollars more than we wanted to spend [with boring cushions.] We ended up choosing a set from Pier 1 from the Santa Barbara line that comes with a loveseat and two really comfy rocking chairs to make a conversation area.

But my favorite part were the colorful outdoor pillows we bought (on sale!) to go on them! Warm weather, come our way soon!

We’ve had good luck with Pier 1 furniture – the table and chairs that we bought for our first apartment’s kitchen, that became our first house’s kitchen table, then Matt’s desk and now our porch set have lasted almost 7 years in great condition.

We also went to Kohl’s where I bought some new underwear ($1 a piece – can’t beat that!) and finally to Bed, Bath and Beyond where I put some coupons to the test and bought some new curtains for our master bedroom. They’re very similar to the white ones we had, but the white ones just looked yellowed to me next to the white IKEA closet and freshly painted trim. I really like the richness these bring to the room! [And I do wish they were 4” longer to swipe the floor, but our windows are an odd height and we’re not going to re-drill the rods, so I have to just live with it.]

And finallllllly we moved this little desk downstairs to act as a office supplies station. I really like it positioned here – it gives the stark white basement some charm.

Off to do some food prep!!

I woke up to SMELLS this morning. Luckily they were good smells. Cinnamon and oats, bubbling away.

Giant bowl of rice cooker Coach’s Oats with chia, banana, raisins and stirred in cottage cheese. Topped with a graham cracker and Whole Foods peanut butter. I had a craving for the old fashioned kind and boy is it good. Love the texture of the Whole Foods too because it’s drippy for spreading! I have GOT to make my own nut butter again – just have to remember to put almonds and/or peanuts on the grocery list!

Consumed in bed with my book. And drowsy husband waking up beside me. Another great thing about rice cooker oats: one can take a single portion out and keep the sleeping partner’s portion warm!

As much as I’d like to, Matt and I have decided NOT to spend the entire day watching LOST. We’re obsessed with the series (clearly) but we are sick of sitting in front of the TV. Our weather isn’t that great, but I think we’re going to go for a run and then figure out some shopping to do.*

*I say figure out because we don’t really need anything so we shouldn’t spend too much $!

Super Bowl at Sara’s tonight! Despite my Giant title, I think I’m going for the Patriots. Because I was born in New England and all!

Very short post for you tonight because none of my photos turned out. Go read about chocolate instead!

The above photo actually did turn out though – because we went to a rockin’ dance party at our neighbors’ and that’s what it was like! Our neighbors are actually the coolest “adults” we have ever met. And so were all of their friends! Matt and I didn’t end up breakin’ it down, but we did make a bunch of new friends.

We nibbled on some amazing dips and crackers, guac and chips and grapes at the party.

For a light dinner before we left, we shared a big bowl of leftover salad –

And I tried the latest flavor of Siggi’s I picked up at Whole Foods today! Sadly it was not what I was hoping for. It’s very high in fat (coconut + 2% yogurt) so it’s pretty calorie dense despite being low in sugar (200 calories per container) but it was not the thick, creamy treat I was hoping for. Instead it was runny and tasted more like vanilla than coconut. Not worth the premium cost, but it was filling. Blueberries + chia seeds made it more fun.

Debating a LOST – or perhaps some Hunger Games before bed!

After a morning power walk to Great Harvest and a taste of a Raspberry Chocolate Scuffin (heavenly!), I realized I was running out of time – had to shower and eat lunch before 12:20!

Luckily I had leftover fiesta cups to quickly heat up

Along with an amazingly juicy grapefruit!

Unfortunately this was consumed very quickly so I could get out the door to pick up Sara and head over to Thomas Jefferson’s house!

My friend Natasha works at Monticello and gave me a complimentary pair of tickets to a Taste of Chocolate event at the site. Our day had 3 parts: history, cooking and wine. And of course all three involved wine!

History was first and was led by a representative from the historic division of MARS/M&Ms. We learned all about chocolate’s history and production. It goes from fruity beans to fermentation. Then the beans are dried and then finally roasted when you can crack them open and find the nibs inside. The nibs are then ground into cacoa butter and powder which form a paste. Very interesting!

There is a whole line of American Heritage Chocolate that is flavored and spiced like it would have been when people first started consuming cacao beans. The American Heritage line comes in bars, sticks and drinkable mix and it all has a rich dark chocolate flavor with the essence of banana, likely from flavors like anise, red pepper, nutmeg, orange and cinnamon that were used to make it palatable. I found the same flavor to carry through all the forms – drinkable, bar, baked.

The first taste we got was in the form of drinking chocolate, much like Jefferson might have consumed. The spices were very apparent and this was incredible. I had a second mini cup!

Part I was a cooking demo by the head chef of Brookville Restaurant.

He made a chocolate mousse out of the Heritage blend for us and we tasted a brownie and Brookville’s famous Bacon Chocolate Chip cookies just for fun. All three were incredible!

Finally we arrived at the wine tasting!

We were graced with the presence of the famous Gabriele Rausse himself! He gave us a talk on wine and a bit of the history of his story and Jefferson’s. I absolutely loved listening to his Italian accent, and he made some hilarious jokes as well.

Each of the three wines were paired with the MARS Pure Dark line – Sea Salt, Raspberry Acai and Chipotle Cinnamon. All were wonderful, obviously!

The wines paired well – Gabriele Rausse Merlot, White Hall Petit Verdot and the Barboursville Malvavaxia Passito, a dessert wine.

When our chocolate daze concluded, Sara and I walked up to Monticello and back. I love going there – it makes me feel like Cville is so important : )

Afterwards we went to Whole Foods, which was slammed, and stocked up on groceries and Super Bowl foods. And tonight Matt and I are going to a birthday party for our neighbor! Going to have a healthy snack now before I go.

Not that dark chocolate isn’t full of antioxidants though : )

I woke up to breakfast cooked for me in the rice cooker: a steaming bowl of porridge. After dressing it up (and taking it out for its morning photoshoot) we got back in bed and read Catching Fire for a good hour. I’m nearing the end of the book – so good!!

Rice cooker base:

• 1/3 cup Coach’s Oats
• 1.33 cups water
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• pinch salt
• cinnamon
• half banana

Porridge setting with 7:30 timer

1/3 cup milk stirred in at end and rested for 1 minute to heat

Toppings included Nuts About Granola Minty Chocolate, Cacao bliss and Nuttzo.

I haven’t had breakfast in bed in years and it was pretty fun indeed!

Alas, I have peeled myself from the down comforter and am ready to start this Saturday. We have two events to attend and a grocery store to visit.

Firrrrrrrrrrst Friday!!!!!

That means we go downtown, check out some art, eat some cheese, drink some wine and play.

It was a gorgeous evening – cold enough for a winter jacket but warm enough to ditch the gloves.

I met up with Hillary and Matt [who walked from the bakery] and we went to our favorite gallery – Second Street – to find a new watercolor exhibit.

My favorite piece was this one [photograph permission granted]. The artist used masks on many of the pieces and the detail was almost photo-like.

Second Street always has amazing nibbles

We filled up on pimento cheese and veggies, and this incredible lemon goat cheese dip from Greenwood Grocery. Must replicate!

Plus some popcorn and cheese straws!

Our next stop was to The Garage, which is literally a tiny garage in the middle of downtown that opens up for art and music.

We gazed at glittering photographs

Sipped some vino

And nibbled grapes!

Hillary had never been to Positively 4th Street (informally known in our family as P4th now) so we took her there for the ambiance and local food

Beers around!

In the spirit of my crabcakes from Duners, I ordered the Crabcake Sandwich. Sadly, there was little lump meat between the buns – only the stringy stuff. Hope it wasn’t the lungs!! (And if you’ve had fresh crabs, you know what I mean!) The second half tasted better without the bun. Asparagus on the side was delicious! Does that mean it’s springtime?

I also spied Matt’s French fries and traded him an asparagus spear or two for a couple. Fair trade indeed!

Appetizers and dinner left me pretty full, but I wanted something sweet and ended up with a tiny little Bambino cone from Splendora’s full of Hazelnut. The PERFECT size for a tiny bit of sweet after dinner!

And I’ll end with this photo that Matt took that I found neat. I love how the focus is on the middle of the wallet.

Happy weekend!