36 weeks! Playtime and Poll Time

Happy week! I'm 36 weeks! Bada-bing, bada-bam.

36 weeks, 2 days

I can honestly hardly believe it... this bebe's trimesters are flying by; and I would like to thank him sincerely for not giving me the worst nausea (cough, ladies). I cannot comment of various aches, pains and spasms... but no nausea! Huzzah! I am officially into the weekly doctor visits. Oh my gosh. 

I am entering into a severe nesting phase, which has included finding un-mailed thank you notes, birth announcements, Christmas cards, birthday cards, etc. So, if you receive any later-than-usual cards from me, this is why. 

This is also why I decided to get us a new toy storage unit in hopes to simplify and teach the girls more about organization/ nightly clean up.

So, already successful.

It's been another long month of MICU, and we're finally into the last week. I cannot WAIT for this rotation to be over. The hours are long, the patient cases are tough, and Will has had two days off total. (No, I do not count the time in-between the overnights. It's not a "day off"!) And even though I've started many blog posts this month, most of them end up being rants, so I delete and consider them stress-reducing therapy.

So back to the happy times:

36 weeks, 6 days.

I am have a lot of pains and twinges; no actual progress, according to my PA. Buuuut some people say boys come early? I think I am just wishful thinking at this point. Let's take a poll anyways: when is Bebe Baldwin going to come?!?

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I am on my way

Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways 
Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways
--"Down in the Valley", The Head and the Heart

"Ithaka" by C.P. Cavafy
Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard 

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

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When You Have 6lbs of Beef Chuck: Slow Cooker Pot Roast

After my in-laws left us, Will and I realized we had 6.5 pounds of beef chuck... and how do you cook that much meat? Our slow cooker, son.

Most recipes call for less meat... I sort of followed The Pioneer Woman's "Perfect Pot Roast" and Food Network's "Slow Cooker Pot Roast" - and used what was in my kitchen. 

Will and I have never cooked pot roast before, so I was a little apprehensive. Spoiler alert: this is delicious and super simple.

Ingredients:

• 6.5 beef chuck
• 1/2 onion
• 1 lb of carrots 
• 2.5 cups of celery
• 1 cup of beef broth
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• 32 oz of diced tomatoes

Also: olive oil, salt, pepper, 12-inch pan, slow cooker 

I started by caramelizing those onion slices. Oh yes. 

Ree (the Pioneer Woman/ chef extraordinaire) said to generously salt and pepper both sides of the beef before searing both sides. Brown it, baby, brown it.

Oh, and caramelize those carrots too! Just a minute or so before plopping the beef in after adding a little extra olive oil.

Everybody clap your hands! Everything in the pot. As an after thought, I added the diced tomatoes... I added so many because that was the only size can I have... a smaller can works too.

We cooked it on low for 10-12 hours.

Will's on MICU for the next month, so this is a perfect filling meal to send with him to the hospital! We currently have a lot of spaghetti, so we're pairing it with noodles for now. This would go great with mashed potatoes, stuffing, egg noodles...

Bon appetit!

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