Baby Business

With all of the negative press surrounding Craigslist, I just had to share my recent experience with the site. It goes without saying that baby gear is expensive, so when I saw a listing for the swing we had registered for at a fraction of the price, I immediately sent the seller an email.

I spoke with her on the phone a few times, and the next day Mom accompanied me out to her house to see the swing. Cash in hand and Mom by my side to navigate (and for courage, ha), we pulled up to a ridiculously gorgeous house and were welcomed by the sweetest woman and her adorable twin boys (previous owners of said swing). It was such a pleasant experience, and we walked away with the swing AND a Bumbo Seat with a tray for less than the asking price of the swing.

The Lord gives :)

Bump Update

How Far Along: 33 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby T is the size of a pineapple (about 4 pounds and 17 inches long) She's been measuring ahead until a few days ago, but now she's back on track. Dr. Callison has scheduled a growth ultrasound for December 7th, and we can't wait to see her again.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: a whopping 24 pounds. don't judge me.

Maternity Clothes: I have 2 pairs of maternity jeans (one from Forever21 - $13!). Other than that, I'm still wearing normal clothes. Tunics and leggings are my go-to now.

Gender: It's a GIRL :)

Movement: She moves pretty regularly, and has shown a new-found interest in cheery Christmas music. Now that she's running out of room, Chase and I have fun watching her move from one side of my belly to the other.

Sleep: We've been incredibly busy, so I'm usually so tired that I sleep pretty good. I'm having to get up at least once during the night and sleep with a pillow between my legs. I'll be happy when she's here and I can stop sleeping on my left side!

What I miss: having a waistline!

Cravings: fruit, fruit, fruit, pancakes, and french fries from Shaggys or Chick-fil-A

Symptoms: Still feeling great! I'm starting to feel the extra weight and pressure on my joints now. It's getting increasingly more difficult to shave my legs or tie my shoes. No swelling (yet) and I'm so thankful.

Memorable Moment from this week: It's amazing how many people feel the freedom to talk to you about your very insecure body during pregnancy. Kendal and I were out running work errands and scored a great parking spot because it was for 'Expectant Mothers'. After exiting my car, a man parked near us rolled down his window and yelled, "Looks like you earned that spot!". I'm sure he meant well, and we had a good laugh.

Sweet Surprise

This is old news, but I wanted to share a few pictures of the housewarming/labor day bbq/gender reveal party we had a while back. Chase and I went on a Wednesday to find out the gender of baby T, and we were both absolutely shocked to find out 'it' was a 'she'. Absolutely everyone was convinced we were having a little boy. Still in shock, we left the doctor's office and headed to our favorite little cantina to talk about what in the world we were going to do with ruffles and hairbows and all things frilly. 

That Friday night we shared the news with my family. If there's one thing my family loves, it's Krispy Kreme donuts. I had planned to buy a dozen of the original glazed and place a pink, strawberry glazed donut smack dab in the middle. However, I was unaware that Krispy Kreme no longer makes strawberry glazed donuts for some unknown reason. We improvised, and put the news in the top of the box. I'm not sure if they were more excited about the donuts or the news. They were gone before I could get a picture of the chaos.

A few days later, we invited more friends over for the housewarming/labor day bbq/gender reveal party. Chase used the occasion as a good excuse to buy a new grill, and we served brats and burgers with sides like my Aunt Crissy's famous Greek pasta salad.

Our sweet friend Sarah, who is a baker extraordinaire, created gender reveal cupcakes for us. Chase thought the 'gender color inside the cupcake' was getting a bit too familiar, so he decided to switch it up and had Sarah fill all of the cupcakes with yellow icing except one little pink one.

After lunch, Chase made sure everyone had voted for what they thought the gender would be, and then everyone bit in. There was a bit of confusion when everyone saw yellow....until Jonathan, the self-proclaimed 'baby whisperer', discovered pink inside his.

-what a sweet surprise -

After the Airport

I'm back again sharing another story recommended to me via the blogging world.

After the Airport is a post written by Jen Hatmaker, a Christian writer, speaker, and adoptive mother who speaks/writes straight from her heart. While this post focuses mainly on life after bringing home adopted children (hence the blog post title), she writes to all believers, specifically addressing our responsibility to encourage and minister to others long after the fanfare has died down.

Oh let us be a community who loves each other well. Because someone is always struggling through the "after the airport" phase, when the chords of human kindness become a lifeline of salvation. Let us watch for the struggling members of our tribe, faking it through sarcasm or self-deprecation or a cheerfully false report. May we refuse to let someone get swallowed up in isolation, drowning in grief or difficulties that seem too heavy to let anyone else carry. Let's live this big, beautiful Life together, rescuing each other from the brink and exposing the unending compassion of our Jesus who called us to this high level of community; past the romantic beginnings, through the messy and mundane middles, and all the way to the depths. 

READ IT NOW

For the Love of Alfredo

Don't judge me. I really am making a concerted effort to eat healthy during this pregnancy, but Alfredo has always been my weakness. You'll be happy to know that I have recently replaced my cream-laden recipe with a nice low-fat-but-still-tastes-good version. However, when the craving hits and I really need 'the good stuff', I turn to this pizza. Oh my, it's good. Even on a store bought crust it's good. 

This recipe was adapted from some of the best comfort food cooks, The Neely's.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
Adapted from The Neely's via The Food Network

• 1 (3/4 pound) boneless skinless chicken breast
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 (16-ounce) ball pizza dough
• 2 cups baby spinach, well washed and dried
• 1 cup red grape tomatoes
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• Olive oil, for brushing crust

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Adjust racks to the middle of the oven. Put pizza stone in the oven to preheat while you begin the sauce. Preheat a grill pan over medium heat.


Season the chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Put the chicken on the grill pan and grill until cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and dice. Set aside.


Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and and cook until fragrant. Add the flour and cook until light blonde in color. Whisk in the cream, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.


Flour your work surface and roll the pizza dough into a 13-inch diameter. Carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven and put the dough on top. Ladle the sauce to cover the bottom of the pizza. Evenly top with the baby spinach, grape tomatoes, grilled chicken and the mozzarella. Brush the edge of the crust with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake the pizza until crisp and golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately top with another handful of spinach. Slice and serve.

As a Side Note: The sauce and the toppings make this pizza pretty heavy, so I would suggest avoiding a thin crust. Also, because we just love calories, I usually brush the edges of the crust with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and herbs before baking.

Who will I blame all this extra weight on AFTER the baby is born? :)

Breakfast Goodies

Now that things are slowly settling down in the house, I'm trying to get back into the routine of cooking. I have a few go-to meals that I freeze for when I need to fix dinner in a pinch, but I haven't been as diligent with breakfast foods. I'm slowly going back through my recipe files to find muffins, waffles, and other breakfast goodies that are 1) at least marginally healthy and 2) super quick to reheat. 

When I'm looking for something a little more savory, I turn to these Bangin' Bacon and Cheddar Scones. I think my favorite part of the recipe is grating the butter. It just makes the mixture come together so easily, and eliminates the need for me to use my hands to mix everything. If you're looking for an easy make-ahead breakfast bread, I would definitely recommend these.

Bangin' Bacon and Cheddar Scones
Adapted from The Food Network

• 3 cups self-rising flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
• 10 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg, for egg wash
• 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Add the flour, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. With a box grater, grate the butter into the flour. Mix the butter into flour with your hands until well incorporated. Add the cheese and crumbled bacon. Mix until evenly distributed. Add the buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a stiff dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle a 1/2-inch thick. Cut wedges of dough out to preferred scone size and arrange on a half sheet tray lined with parchment paper. 

In a small bowl, beat the egg and brush each scone with the egg wash. Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt and bake until nicely browned, about 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and arrange on a serving platter.

Bump Update

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby T is the size of a summer squash (about 6 inches)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I honestly have no idea. We just discovered our scale again in the moving boxes, but unfortunately it has no batteries. How tragic. I can tell you it's probably around 10 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing my normal clothes but I have a feeling I'm going to live in tunics and leggings. I'm ready for fall to be here!

Gender: Can't wait to find out!

Movement: Sometimes I think I feel a flutter, but no really strong feeling.

Sleep: I'm so tired that I sleep pretty good. I'm having to get up during the night sometimes when my bladder is screaming at me, but I suppose that's not too much of an inconvenience.

What I miss: large glasses of sweet tea at Mexican restaurants and Feta cheese (the Friday special @ Tazikis!)

Cravings: fruit, fruit, fruit, and french fries

Symptoms: Still feeling great with no morning sickness(Praise the Lord!)

Memorable Moment from this week: Arriving to work on a particularly rushed morning only to discover that I was wearing 2 different black flats. (At least they were the same color.)

Sharing the News

While we weren't able to capture each one on film, these are 2 of our favorites.

In this video, filmed on Father's Day, we took my family on a guided tour of our house construction. In the very last room we walked through, I mentioned that, "This room would be the nursery, but not until January." They were all so used to me describing each room that they gave the same, "Oh, Ok." response as every other time. A few seconds later, it sunk in. (My Mom, Aunt Sandy, and G-Daddy are seen in the video.)

Untitled from anna tyson on Vimeo.

The next video is from our closest group of Birmingham friends. We had made a day trip down to Birmingham to celebrate sweet Madelyn's 3rd Birthday Party at the pool. It had been a long day, but everyone still managed to drag themselves to dinner, kids in tow. (I have to insert this picture of everyone at dinner at Full Moon BBQ. In case you can't count, that's 10 adults and 7 kids age 3 and under.) 

After dinner, we moved outside to the patio to say goodbye. I asked the girls to take a quick picture with me. Of course no one wanted to, seeing as how we'd been at the pool all day. But they obliged, and that's where the video starts.

"She's a beaut, Clark."

Sorry - I couldn't resist the Christmas Vacation reference.

On a more serious note, the jumble of wood and concrete we saw in May....

....has now turned in to this little house, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

I can't wait to start 'nesting' and make it feel more like a home. Lord willing, we are set to close on the house this Thursday, and we sincerely covet your prayers during this time of transition. And, we can't wait to have you all over for dinner :)

Perspective

My heart is particularly heavy today for some close family and friends. Although I firmly believe that there are many things that happen in this broken world that we will never fully understand, it still breaks my heart. Reflecting on the difficult circumstances over the course of my own life, I see a gaping hole where I am quick to cry out to God in pain, but not as eager to dive into His Word to hear him speak in response. This excerpt came to me today, by no accident I am sure.

"The eradication of doubt and its hesitancy, the removal of confusion and its chaos, the banishment of fear and its paralysis, comes not by gazing at the circumstances of life to know God's will but by knowing God's word. Then we can understand the circumstances of life so doubt is replaced by confidence, confusion gives way to clarity, and fear gives way to courage.Simply put, you do not grasp God's will by reading circumstances but you grasp circumstances by reading God's will- His word."

-Pastor Harry Reeder
www.briarwood.org

Old News is Still News

This is old news for practically everyone, but for posterity's sake I will say again, "We're having a baby!" Chase and I are thrilled to be able to share that we are expecting our first bundle of joy in January 2012. Chase is still shooting for an early delivery and a tax write off, but I'm just praying for a healthy full-term little one.

I went to my first visit with my new OB-GYN here in Huntsville in April. (Side note: picking an OB-GYN is so ridiculously awkward, and this is the 3rd time I've had to do it with our various moves. yuck.) I'm pretty sure I picked a winner with Dr. Callison. During my visit, we discussed pregnancy, but neither of us thought I'd be back in 2 months for an ultrasound. On June 7th, we got to see this sweet little eggroll move and wiggle. 

We were also able to see his/her heartbeat. The ultrasound tech was so sweet to go over every little millimeter and explain each detail. Going in to the appointment, Chase and I were both so nervous. After it was all over, we just didn't really know what to do. So we ate. Some people have celebration dinners at Ruth's Chris or Connor's. Not the Tyson's........we headed to Mama Goldberg's Deli. (ironically, also part of our 'new baby tradition' seen in this post)

And for those of you keeping track.....a barely pregnant 6 week baby bump picture taken at a Memorial Day BBQ.

Newness

I've completely lost track of what happened and in which month the following events occured, so I'm grouping February, March, and April all together. Looking back over the things I've included, there seems to be a theme of 'newness'.

We traded in my old faithful Toyota Camry for this shiny new girl. (except ours is black)

My plan was to drive my Camry until the wheels practically fell off (because the car was paid for). When we started to sense that it might need several expensive repairs in the coming year, we began casually car shopping. We visited several local dealerships to check out the used car inventory. Honda started offering 0% financing, and when we paid them a visit they offered us much more for the Camry than we thought we'd get. As with any purchase, Chase researched and researched.....and researched. Oh, and negotiated - that's his favorite part.  About a week later, we drove this little girl off the lot. (just in the nick of time, too, seeing as how my car battery had died 2 days before)

I also have a new Sister-in-law! Sweet Brianna (known to us as Bri) officially became part of our family when my in-laws adopted her. For those of you that aren't familiar with our family, Chase's parents serve as temporary care foster parents. Bri was placed in their care on Thanksgiving day 2007, at 5 1/2 months old. 

She is now 4 (going on 18) and we love her to death. My mother-in-law, who raised 2 boys, has been thrilled to have a girl to dress up and shop with. If you know them, you know that Bri is my mother-in-law's 'mini me' in every sense of the word. It's hilarious.

Keeping with the theme of new, we finally quit browsing MLS and hired a realtor to help us purchase a new home here in the Huntsville/Madison area. When we moved here a year ago, we settled in an apartment to a) save money, and b) figure out what area of town we wanted to be in. Regina Underwood, who I highly recommend, did a great job showing us properties we requested to see and neighborhoods she thought we might be interested in. In the end, we placed a contract on a house in an area we hadn't even considered looking in and in a price range well under what we expected to pay. We put a contract on this....yes, this.

The best part about it has been that we have been able to select, within reason, several of the finishes and colors. I'm crossing my fingers that the things we picked out in 6 inch swatches end up looking good when they all come together. More house updates to come....

January...

...in bullet form. Did you expect anything else?

• Early January, we woke up to a record breaking snow for our area. Roads, schools, and businesses shut down for several days. We took advantage of the down time and entered into our church's snowman building contest. I have to give all of the credit to the 3 boys -- the rest of us just watched. :)

• We're always looking for new things to do in town, and someone discovered a coupon for a local arcade that promised "as many tokens as you can hold in your hand" for free. We took full advantage and spent a few hours playing every game in the place...and then spent 20 minutes trying to decide what to spend our tickets on.

• Our Birmingham friends are still nice enough to invite us to Birthday celebrations, and we shared in celebrating the big 3-0 with Jonathan at Jim n' Nicks BBQ.

 

p.s. clicking on the pictures will make them bigger

Surprised to see me at the top of your blog list? I'm Updating!

Most of you did a double take when you saw my neglected blog at the top of your reader list again. After several months away, I'm back. I certainly don't promise to blog frequently, but for posterity's sake I find it important to document the life events of the past few months. To keep this as painless as possible, I'm using bullets. That's right. Bullets and unedited, straight from my camera photos.

Let's rewind back to......December.

• We drove South to welcome the newest addition to our Birmingham crew, Ms. Mackinley Kate. She's such a snuggle bug (I know this because I steal her away every time we visit.)

•  We also met miss Sadie Kate and visited with proud parents Brian 'catfish' and Sally.

• We celebrated Chase's birthday here in Huntsville and broke our tradition of sitting in the Golden Ticket Seats for the Rick and Bubba radio show.

• We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house this year and rallied together to play Rock Band. I will not embarrass my family with the video we recorded, but let's just say that Mom won't be asked to sing Shania Twain again anytime soon.

• Christmas morning we woke up to a liiiiittle snow. This was my view when looking out the front windows. I was so grateful that we were able to experience the snow at my parents house because it just felt as if it went on for miles, perfectly untouched.

• After we had spent sufficient time looking at the snow, a rare thing in Alabama, we opened gifts and went to the kitchen to begin preparing our traditional Christmas Morning breakfast extravaganza. And that, my friends, is when the power went out because of all the snow and ice. My mom, a stickler for tradition, was beside herself with no way to cook breakfast. The rest of us laughed and ate cereal.

• On New Year's Eve we were able to spend some much needed time with our sweet friends Bethany and Stephen. They just relocated from Colorado to Mobile for Bethany to attend Medical School. (imagine the climate adjustment that occurred). We were able to enjoy a meal at one of our favorite spots during undergrad, and then went to a small party where we rung in the new year.

•  I also can't leave out that my absolutely adorable friend Ashley got engaged on New Years Eve and we happened to bump into the couple not long after the proposal had taken place. She and Brett are just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. And I totally stole this photo from their wedding website. (credit to the person who took this photo by hiding in the bushes)