AWKWARD AND AWESOME: LOVE VINCENT AND FRIDA

AWKWARD

A bad cold that just won't quit. I can only really breathe if I sit cross-legged on the floor, a boon to the Bradley Method but horrible when your feet fall asleep 10 minutes in. Side note, I was googling the term "tailor sitting" and found this hilarious piece of clip art. I feel you, sister. Although that is more of a butterfly...

via 

Anyway, at this point, every time I sneeze and don't immediately pee my pants I feel a certain sense of victory.

Every one of my meals yesterday was different forms of pasta. I am so sorry, little baby.

AWESOME

We rallied and pulled together some pretty sweet Halloween costumes!

And- Jared won the church chili cook-off!

Not to brag, but that crockpot was scraped clean, y'all! We originally started with my dear Pioneer Woman's recipe, and have perfected it to Alexander taste. We usually always double this recipe because the soup just gets better the day after, and freezes/thaws like a dream, but the below would easily feed 6 people. We will definitely be stock piling this before Baby Alexander's arrival. I highly recommend serving with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream. Avocado and lime if you fancy.

Jared's Blue Ribbon Chicken Chili

1 whole rotisserie chicken
olive oil
3 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup diced onion
3 minced garlic cloves
2 cans Rotel
32 oz chicken broth
3 tblspoons tomato paste
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
3 tblspoons corn meal + 1/4 cup warm water

Mix together your spices. Shred your chicken and mix in about 1/2 your spices, set aside. 

Heat oil and sauté onion, garlic and the rest of your spices until onions are translucent. Add chicken, scrape the bottom of the pan and stir to combine.

Add chicken broth, rotel, tomato paste, and beans. Stir to combine. 

In a separate dish, mix corn meal and warm water together until dissolved- no clumps! Mix this slurry into the pot until all is combined.  Bring pot to a boil, then drop to a simmer for 45 minutes uncovered. Dip it low, then bring it up slow, pop pop pop that thang....sorry I digress. 

Add corn, taste for seasoning. 

At this point you are good to eat it! However, if you can rest this stuff in the pot on the lowest setting for awhile and let all the flavors marry, that would be great too!

LAS VEGAS

I was lucky enough to spend 4 days working in Vegas for a conference, and to stay in a hotel that looked and smelled a lot like Kim Kardashian. Actually I really hope Kim doesn't smell like the Delano, which as soon as you walk across the threshold hits you with a blast of thick sweet perfume. It haunts me even now. But odds are that in one of her and Kanye's palatial estates there is a giant wall sized leather headboard.

I always like traveling for work, stretching my legs and getting out of the office. It's one of my favorite parts of my job.

I also love when my destination coincides with people I love. It's funny how some people just stick. I've known Kelly for 12 years. 12 years! We got to see Beatles Love together and eat a meal which consisted of copious amounts of butter in various, delicious forms. Little did I know that I really need matre d'hotel butter with every meal. Oh, and I had her eat her first gastropod and delivered her first taste of Cafe Rio sweet pork and horchata. Oh sweet pork, how I love thee. Let me count the ways. And then there I was talking to her four year old about nurser sharks and complimenting her two years olds sunglasses, and comparing due dates (1 week apart.) Life moves pretty fast, man.

Speaking of le bebe, at 24 weeks I find myself out of breath when I walk quickly or get excited talking about something. The fact that there are 12 inches and a little over a pound of kid inside of me is mind boggling. Oh! And I bought a few gender neutral onezies! And I think we even figured out Halloween costumes! Look at me! Progressing!

A few weird things I would like to remember about this trip:

- Going through security in JAX I was pulled aside for two items: canned dry shampoo and a 6 inch pair of scissors I had forgotten in my purse. How do you forget a 6 inch pair of scissors in your purse? You're Kipin Alexander and almost 6 months pregnant that is how. ANYWAY. Guess which one they let me keep? You're right! The scissors!

-It took me 10 minutes to walk from my room to the conference I was attending...and it was all housed in the same building! The joint was huge.

- I ordered room service one night and the guy who delivered it looked JUST like David Carradine. Then he dropped my macaroni all over the floor and smashed the plate to pieces. His Kung fu doppleganger would nay have been proud.

- I had to take out some money from an ATM and the only one around was in the casino. They required picture ID, confirmation of address and a FINGERPRINT....in blood. Just kidding. But seriously Kelly and I were in sweats and glasses and scraggly hair at 10 pm standing in the middle of a casino getting fingerprinted next to the Lone Wolf slot machines. Memories....

- The woman I sat next to on the plane home was wacked out of her mind. She kept waking suddenly and asking me if it was time to get off the plane, drinking tiny cups of coffee and insisting on taking every cream on the cart, accusing other passengers of stealing her iPhone...which she then found on the floor under her seat, watching the movie I was watching, over my shoulder with no headphones and then asking me what they were saying. The list goes on.

- And can I brag for a second? I missed my weekly birth class - and Jared braved it alone! 2.5 hours of Bradley all by his lonesome. It takes a good man.

GREETINGS FROM 22 WEEKS

Some updates on myself and Baby Alexander. It's long y'all, I should probably do this more often:

- I finally look pregnant! Though, if you didnt know me pre pregnancy theres a good chance you think I have a stout little beer belly, or am just chubby as all heck if I'm not wearing form fitting clothes. Most of my clothes still fit well, with a belly band or a rubber band helping me along. Up there is me at 6 weeks and then at 20 weeks. I'm a tiny bit rounder now.

- Around 20 weeks I felt the baby kick and move. Jared felt it the other day. I have an anterior placenta which means a lot of it is a bit muffled and feels really low- so hands off everyone else. It feels just like you think it would- a squirmy little alien feeling, repeatedly probing and poking you in the low gut.

- Still feeling great, though I do get afternoon headaches. I find that if I drink something caffeinated mid-day, I can avoid it. I figure a small coca-cola is better then a daily dose of Tylenol. Any opinions out there on this? Its been happening since about 15 weeks. I have gone back and forth on the solution, as caffeine gives me jitters, but this article kinda tripped me out a bit. :/ I'm also trying to up my protein and water intake. 

- Speaking of water, lest I forget and go crazy and drink it ice cold - heartburn. How about room temp? Oh yes, more heartburn please. Water must be chilled, yet not iced, and sipped s l o w l y over an hour or so to avoid wakening a hell fire in my chest and throat. 

- Overall, I really enjoy being pregnant. My diet has really affected the way I feel on a daily basis. This child did not appreciate the pop tart I scarfed down the other day. I feel best when I eat a good amount of protein with each meal, and avoid too many raw veggies which tend to be hard on my stomach these days. 

- Clocking roughly 20 bathroom breaks a day.

- I have to go in for a second ultrasound, which we weren't planning to do. Baby Alex is totally fine but my placenta is riding a little low. At 28 weeks they'll take another peek and make sure that everything is in its proper place. As my friend Danielle said "That placenta best behave and make like a hunter gatherer and migrate!" I can't say that I'm not excited to get another look at whoever's in there!

- Jared and I are still throwing around baby names. This kid won't have a hard and fast name until I look into that little face, Jared and I play rock paper scissors and I finally get a testimony of the one true name. In all seriousness I find talking about names super entertaining. I've been collecting names for years, and I've got a list on my iPhone an inch long. 

- I have started craving alone time. I am generally a very social person, and prefer to be out and about. Lately I have been super content to just relax at home reading or catching up on Mad Men. Maybe this is a realization that my days of quiet book reading are numbered. 

- The other theory is this: I have always had a temper but these days it's been hard for me to hold my tongue. I call it my pregnancy rage. I can literally feel my blood boiling some times and it takes me a half hour or so of deep breathing to calm the heck down. It doesn't happen every day, and little annoyances I can still breeze past, but certain things hit a nerve!. SO maybe I am craving isolation so I don't bite anyone's head off? Apologies in advance! If you see me doing deep breathing activities and looking a little flushed, you'll know whats up haha. This article explained it perfectly. I love this quote:

"Just like pregnancy crying, pregnancy rage is an unexpected and extremely disproportional reaction to whatever is going on in real life. Often times, it’s an out-of-body experience where you hover over yourself as you slip into unadulterated lunacy."

- On the flip slide, a lot of the fretting I was doing in the first trimester is gone. Overall I would say I am less stressed about little things. I was beating myself up a lot about the fact that I wasn't going to be a stay at home mom, and really stressing about who would watch the baby, if I would get enough time with it, did this make me a bad mom, etc. I'm sure these fears may resurface later or once the baby is actually here, but for now I take comfort in my family support and I know that everything will work out. Jared has also help me feel more confident about our decisions, and having someone like him I can put my complete trust in has eased my fears. 

- I've also gotten more excited about the possibility of this baby being a girl. The idea of a daughter has always been super daunting to me, but I've been doing some soul searching and gotten a real feeling of peace around the gender. Still no clue what this baby may be, but I can honestly say I will be thrilled either way. 

- We started our Bradley classes last week. Its pretty interesting stuff and I'm excited to give everyone a review once we get through the entire course. But real talk: 2.5 hours a class is a loooong time y'all.

- I feel an increased awareness of my weaknesses. I don't mean this in a disheartening way. There is definitely an aspect of "Oh crap" here as I recognize how much I gossip, how many swear words slip out as I slam on the breaks in traffic, how often I have to grab gas on the sabbath or indulge in a questionable movie or TV show. I want to be better for this baby. Its so so hard. But I want to be better. 

- Still haven't bought one dang thing! I just really haven't felt the urge to shop. However I am on the hunt for a perfect little red beanie. Holler if you see one!

- Blanking on Halloween Costumes this year. Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I feel like this one will be pretty low key for us.

- February seems so far away and also...tomorrow. 

FORTUNE TELLER

I've listened to this 3 times already.