I Love - Farmers Markets!

So I am a big fan of a Farmer’s Market, or really any outside local produce store.  It can be a small shop with just one farmer’s amazing produce, it can be a small Farmers Market with a handful a vendors, or it can be a large one with tons of vendors and local businesses.  I love them all.

Now I grew up basically in the heart of Amish country (it is our next door neighbor that lived only about 5-10 minutes away).  So growing up we would make many trips out to Amish country for good produce, cheese, trail bologna, baked goods….whatever!  And it was always delicious, homemade, and of course locally grown.  AWESOME.

In/near BG we have a few small stands that are on the side of the road that sell great local items.  We go to this one stand multiple times a year to get our corn, tomatoes, and any other special fruits and veggies.  We go to two other shops to get cider & apples in the fall as well as they have an arrangement of nuts, baked goods and other seasonal fruits and veggies.  However, there has been no one place where many of these farmers go (like a farmers market) to sell their products.

So you can imagine my surprise when I just happened to drive through downtown BG on a Wednesday after work and see what appeared to be a Farmers Market! WHAT?!  When did that get there?!  After a little research and asking, apparently this Farmers Market had been going on for some time on Wednesday evenings during the Months of May – October. Again….WHAT?!

 How did I not know about this?  Well probably because I avoid downtown BG during most months because of all the students and just take the back way home from work.  But a Farmers Market, albeit a small one, in my town is totally worth taking a look.  So Wednesday night, when it was a beautiful 75 degrees outside, I stopped by to take a quick look.  Basil, tomatoes, baked goods, freshly made breads, corn, flowers, even candles….all so lovely and available for me to purchase.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I didn’t really know what to expect so I didn’t bring much cash with me, but I did have enough to get a few things.  I got some large tomatoes; I can already taste the basil, tomato, and mozzarella salads I will be making this weekend.  I got these extremely sweet yellow cherry tomatoes….seriously they are almost like candy!  I got some sweet local corn – YUM.  And I got some homemade salsa from Willy’s Famous Salsa in BG.  I have had this stuff many times before and it is SO good.

Overall there were around 10-15 different vendors out selling their products.  So it was by no means a huge Farmers Market, but had more than enough to get what you would want/need all in one place.  The hardest part was choosing which of the 4 places that sold tomatoes should I pick….seriously, I felt guilty and wanted to buy from ALL of them and of course they all want you to come over and buy from them.  Now that I know what to expect and what vendors are there, I feel I won’t be so overwhelmed and I am totally going back next Wednesday, with a little more cash in hand to get some more items.  There were these homemade breads that looked amazing.  And do you know how hard it was to walk past the baked goods and not even buy ONE cookie!! 

I absolutely love supporting local farmers and small businesses and think this is such a great way to get the community out to not only support the farmers but also the local businesses in a small downtown like ours.  There was a good crowd of people there and I hope they do really well at this so it can continue and grow.

YAY for Farmers Markets!

Terry and I even already decided this would be the perfect place to venture out and visit after Henry is born this fall!

Who Wants Play Along?! Guess Henry’s Stats!

Let’s have a little fun, shall we?!

As I am now about 32 days away (give or take) from meeting our little boy (Insert excited squeal here!!!) I thought it would be fun to guess when Henry will be here and how big he will be! 

As a reminder my due date is September 9^th.  My uterus is measuring about 2 weeks ahead size wise.

So, what do you think?

1.) What day will Henry make his grand entrance?

2.) What time will Henry arrive?
3.) How long will he be?
4.) How much will he weigh?

Pregnancy – 35 Weeks

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

What the baby looks like this week.

Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now.

 Blood Pressure: Down again, YAY!  126/80

Weight: Up 3 pounds this week.  You would think hearing this it would prevent me from going into work the same day and eating a bunch of peanut M&M’s.  However, my Dr. also told me that I hadn’t gained any weight in the 4 weeks prior to this visit so really (in my mind) it was like I had barely gained any weight at all. Bring on the peanut M&M’s.

Henry: His bpm is 140 and his heart sounds good.  She also ran a physical check-up on me and said it feels like his head is down! 

Exam: Besides checking the position of the baby they did a standard check for the bacteria called Group B streptococci (GBS). I will know the results next week.  (By the way, I had NO idea I was having a physical exam and was not prepared…down there.  Nothing catches you more off guard then going into to hear a heartbeat and instead having to get an exam!  And since Terry does not like to miss a single appointment, he got to be a part of it too….I am sure he was excited for that.)

Food Cravings/Aversion: No aversions that I can think of, but I am ALL about sweets….which is not normal for me as I am usually all about salty foods.  But I basically *need* something sweet every day since being pregnant.  There really is no passing on the dessert for me!

Overall: When the Doctor checked me out and said she could FEEL our son’s head, I think the realization that this is getting close really kicked in.  He is getting ready, my body is getting ready, we are trying to get ready at home….all because our son will be here so very soon.  I want him to fatten up a little more, but I must say we are SO ready to see him.

Um, Yahoo….I Should Grab Some What Today?!

I follow YahooNews on twitter and every day I get a tweet about what “Day” it is.  There are always the traditional days like groundhog day, memorial day, and so on.  Then there are days that may not be common to all but are fantastic like donut day.   But I am not so sure if one of the items today is a real day or if someone over at Yahoo is giggling to themselves because they added that August 3 is Grab Some Nuts Day.

Now yes, I am sure they are referring to those salty and tasty little nuts we love to nibble on. 

I mean peanuts, cashews or almonds you perves!!!

Ok, for someone like me, who still laughs at farts and has a bit *cough cough* of a dirty mind….just calling it Grab Some Nuts Day is hilarious to me!  You know someone is over at Yahoo now chuckling at the fact they put that on twitter exactly like that instead of referring to the food nuts.  (And for the record I would also laugh at “Grab Some Balls Day” too, though nuts sounds so much funnier.)

Of course, who knows?  Maybe it is to be taken perversely and it is Grab some Nuts Day….in which case Terry is going to be in for a bit of a surprise when he gets home and goes in for the hug.

Yeah, I know.  I don’t blog for awhile about anything other than my pregnancy and when I do I go here.  That is just how I roll.

Pregnancy Update - Week 34

LESS THAN 6 WEEKS LEFT!!!   

Where has the time gone?!  I have no idea, but let’s just say I am SO excited to meet this little guy! 

How are you? 

I am doing very well, thank you!  Overall I feel great and have no real complaints besides the few pregnancy related aches and pains that are just part of this wonderful process.  However, I go in for a pregnancy massage August 5^th and am very excited about that. 

How is Henry? 

He is also doing very well!  He is a strong mover, which is great to feel and SEE.  Yes, there have been kicks to the ribs and he does like to push his butt into my ribs….but I also love it because I know he is healthy and strong!  He is measuring a couple weeks ahead, so the Dr. think he could be a longer/slightly bigger boy….especially as T & I are both 5’11”.   He responds to my voice and he loves when “we” eat! (That’s my boy)  I absolutely love when he pushes out and I “push”/touch back and he wiggles around and then pushes out again!  Don’t know if he enjoys it as much as I do, but I think it is fun!  He is also on a great schedule and is such a good boy already.   He starts slowly moving around at about 7 but is fully awake around 9am (he wakes up slowly like his daddy!).  He is pretty active during the day with his most active time being after breakfast, lunch and between 3-7.  By 8:30 he is still moving a bit but has calmed down and by 9:30 or so he is pretty much sleeping or has just settled down for the night.  He rarely moves during the night, there have only been a couple nights he was active but it was because I ate something late at night and had major indigestion.  For the most part I only feel him move when I re-position myself during the night.  He has been on this schedule for a long time now…please oh please I hope it carries on after he is born!

How is your blood pressure?  

My blood pressure has gone down nicely to 130/80 which is a drastic change from the 138/64 it was 2 ½ weeks ago!  I still go to the Dr. every week, but so far so good.

How is your weight?   

I haven’t gained any weight the past two weeks which surprised my doctor, but is most likely due to the fact that I am back to eating small and frequent meals.  I get full SO quickly so I have been eating less which is most likely why I am maintaining my current weight.  Altogether I have gained about 10 pounds from my starting weight.

How is sleeping?   

I have good nights and bad nights.  Sometimes I can get comfortable and sometimes I can’t. 

How is his room?   

It is coming.  Basically Kristen has moved about half of her stuff out of the room and into the storage unit.  She has until August 12^th to be all packed up, though she will still be sleeping in there.  At that time we will clean and start getting the room set up.  We currently have the crib, mattress & changing table but just need to put it all together.  As for the bedding, we ran into a little snag.  Apparently all of the bedding we originally registered for has been discontinued and we can’t find it in stock anywhere near us.  Babies R Us was having a big sale last week and I was just going to purchase it all and I come to find out it was on clearance (which it wasn’t when we registered) and everything was out of stock.  Even on the manufacturer’s website and Amazon it is out of stock.  Needless to say at first I was a little bummed.   

(Here is what we wanted...the bedding and the room accessories) 

However, we have found some sage green items not in a set but that will still work with what we want as well as monkey sheets. (Here is what we are getting) 

And I got this super soft blanket:

So basically it is the same thing and will work just fine!  I am also going to attempt to make my own monkey valance…..we will see how that goes!  I do have some other ideas for his room but nothing is finished and will post pictures the end of August when the room is complete.

Favorite part of the day?   

Interacting with Henry.  He is getting big and strong and is making himself known in that tiny space.  I absolutely LOVE when I lie on the couch or sit back in my chair and talk to him and “tickle” him and he responds back by moving.  Just saying his name and talking to him gets him moving. No matter what kind of day I am having, those moments are truly the best.

Favorite thing someone has said to me?   

Each of my female co-workers gave me a letter with advice/encouraging words about having a baby.  I loved them all and thought they were all sweet.  However there was one line in one of the letters that moved me to tears.  She said “Whenever someone says something to you about having your hands full or you feel like your hands are full and you can’t do it, just think to yourself how lucky you are to have your hands full rather than empty”.  That right there said it all to me.  No matter how stressed I may get and no matter how frustrated I may feel, I hope I can always keep this in the back of my mind that I am truly thankful and blessed that I infact have this little one to keep my hands full.