All Things Supercinski

This was a lighter reading month, due to two things: 1) Completing my labor doula certification requirements (the paper-writing and paperwork aspect, the births were done months ago) and 2) Falling asleep when I tried to read. Ah, third trimester!

23. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin – I read this part of this book during my pregnancy with Sugar, and I found many of her recommendations helpful while laboring. I saw it at Half Price books and bought it to put in my class lending library, but I read it first. The first half of the book is birth stories–over 100 pages of them. This is so encouraging for couples planning their first natural birth and/or first homebirth. We tend to be bombarded with negative births, and getting positive stories makes a huge difference. The last half is very well researched, and the part that I didn’t really get to read last time. I highly recommend this book, even for experienced moms-to-be.

24. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer – I needed some light, easy reading in my current sleepy state, and this was perfect. (Thanks, Jenna!) Written entirely in letters, this book dealt with the heavy subject of recovery of a small island in the English Channel following German occupation during WWII. It was very sweet, funny and all-around a good book to read. I highly recommend it.

You may recall a very similar picture to this around 16ish weeks. I’ve definitely grown!

How far along: 30 weeks
Size of baby: about the size of a head of cabbage, approx. 3 pounds
Total weight gain: 26 pounds
Maternity clothes: Yes, and even those are getting small. Why is it that shirts that I bought with the other two pregnancies are so much shorter than the latest?
Gender: I still have no real feelings either way, poor child, and we have yet to narrow down our names
Movement: tons – this baby is a mover and shaker
Sleep: fairly well. If I roll over to my back (despite a pillow stuffed behind me), I wake up gasping for breath and feeling like I am suffocating. Not my favorite part of pregnancy, but it has been going on for some time.
What I miss: being able to do more physically
Cravings: nothing strange or overpowering, just still needing to eat all the time
Symptoms: achy pelvis, Braxton Hicks contractions
Best moment of the week: ordered the birth kit already, and actually started thinking a lot more about the birth. I love that my midwife asks pointed questions about my thoughts, fears, and expectations involving it. Though I spend so much time teaching this to others, I neglect to consider it myself. (What can I say, I’m sleepy!) I decided that while I am not overly excited about all that comes with it (not the baby, the other parts), I’m not scared of it and I’m glad it is normally just one hard day.

There once was a little bunny named Backyard Bunny. It lived in the backyard and neighboring yards and flower beds of a certain Old Mr. Supercinski. He was a wee little bunny, but he possessed amazing powers of speed, agility and squishiness (in squeezing under tiny holes in the fence that Old Mr. Supercinski continually tried to block, only to find a smaller hole that the bunny could squeeze through.)

Old Mr. Supercinski spent many evenings hunting the bunny by flashlight, many early mornings rummaging under melon leaves, and many a time chasing Backyard Bunny around and around the backyard. He researched making snares, considered purchasing a pellet gun, borrowed a rabbit trap from a friend, and prayed that the little bunny “would be delivered into his hands.”

Poor Backyard Bunny. All he wanted was to eat the fresh blossoms and leaves off the melon plants, green bean leaves and nibble on tomatoes!

One early Saturday morning, Backyard Bunny was chased around and around Old Mr. Supercinski’s garden and yard, but he noticed that Old Mr. Supercinski had much more vigor and pep, little did he know that he started working out again. Old Mr. Supercinski chased Backyard Bunny into the neighbor’s yard (they were out of town), with Old Mr. Supercinski jumping over the fence, back and forth at least three times. Backyard Bunny was frightened so he ran to his favorite hiding place, between two of the compost bins. Unfortunately, Old Mr. Supercinski called in backup, the ladies of the house in their pajamas. After another rousing chase around the yard, poor Backyard Bunny got caught in some bird netting around the tomatoes. There were no birds nearby to implore him to exert himself, so he was actually delivered into Old Mr. Supercinski’s hands, deposited into the trap, fed apple slices and pet by the children.

The Supercinskis loaded up their Backyard Bunny and deposited him in Independence, Texas, a good 30 miles away. (The Supercinskis were on their way to Burton to pick up their side of beef from the processor, so it was a nice pit stop.)

The End.

Some of you may have seen and eaten from the amazing charcoal grill/smoker that my father welded for us shortly after we were married. (Wow, that link is from 2005. This blog is old!) It is amazing, but sadly, I have been terrified of using it and lighting the charcoal when Thomas is not home. It is great for many things, but a quick dinner made my yours truly is not one of them.

For Christmas, Thomas surprised me with a gas grill so I could do some grilling. Most ladies I know don’t grill, but I don’t understand why not. I love to grill, and I guess I grew up doing it, so I’m not scared of the gas grill. I love grilling because it doesn’t heat up my house, there are fewer dishes to clean, I don’t have to stand at the stove stirring something, and it is a great way to cook a lot of meat at once for later in the week. Since getting the grill for Christmas, I estimate (lowly) that I grill two or three times a week. It helps that we have a freezer full of grass-fed beef so I can throw a steak on there and satisfy my pregnancy cravings for dinner.

I tried this recipe a few weeks ago and highly recommend it. With this dish, Thomas and I can eat almost a full plate of veggies each with a little chicken on the side. It is also a great way to use some seasonal veggies your garden may be generously producing this time of year. Mix up the veggies and try what you like. It is highly adaptable. I have even made it with just squash and zucchini and it was good.

Mediterranean Vegetables (adapted from Taste of Home)
1-2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers, sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 small squash, sliced
large handful or two of green beans, ends removed
1 small red, white or yellow onion, sliced and separated into rings
1/2 cup grape tomatoes (I just use the tiny Roma’s in the garden)
optional: small head of broccoli, asparagus, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, whatever your family likes and is in season
1/2 cup or less Greek vinaigrette dressing, buy it or make your own
1/4 cup or less crumbled feta cheese

1. Prep your vegetables and place in large bag or bowl. Pour vinaigrette over them and turn to coat. Let it sit and marinate for 30 minutes (or just 5, it works that way, too).
2. Transfer vegetables to a grill basket or wok. I don’t have either, so I used a disposable foil pan that I poked holes in the bottom of with a paring knife.
3. Grill, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 8-12 minutes or until tender, stirring a few times while cooking.
4. Place on a serving plate and sprinkle with feta. Eat your vegetables!

May was a nice, restful month around here with our normal activities all taking a break for the summer. The kids and I enjoyed the slower pace by doing more school, playing in the sprinkler and splashpad, and being under-budget on gasoline. We took the kids fishing one chilly Saturday morning, but in spite of using live worms, did not catch anything. The kids had a great time with the worms.

I started teaching two concurrent Bradley classes (15 couples!), which gives Thomas and the kids more time together and me opportunity to really hone my material as I repeat it twice each week. I also picked up a wonderful breastfeeding video and some new books.

The garden was giving us more broccoli than we could handle, along with our first cauliflower, carrots, onions, cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and green beans. We pulled our potatoes and got about 25 pounds from the 4-5 pounds that the kids and I planted. We used a different variety this year since my favorite was sold out, and it was definitely lower-yielding, but still good. The harliquin bug war still rages on, and I’ve officially listed Thomas as a fellow soldier to fight those things with me as the heat is starting to get to me.

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

19. Anne of Ingleside – again, I think these books get better and better as I read. This was a nice, light-hearted choice.

20. The Wolves of Andover – this was the prequel to The Heretic’s Daughter that I read last month, and in the same way so many sequels/prequels are overly sensational and disappointing, this one was, too. I don’t recommend it.

21. One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp – I really enjoyed this book and was very challenged by it, and I will likely read it again to continue soaking up the truths in it. The main idea of this book is that being thankful in all circumstances and seeing all things as gifts from God will free us to worship, serve and live fully where we are.

22. Half the Sky: Turming Oppression into Opportunities for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn – this was a gut-wrenching, heart-stomping book that gives a glimpse into some of many problems faced by women around the world. They take a look into sex-trafficking (more girls and women are sold into sexual slavery each year now than African slaves were shipped to slave plantations each year in the the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries), honor killings, rapes and violence against women, why women die in childbirth (one woman dies every minute giving birth around the world), maternal mortality rates (this looks into the horrible reality of fistulas among women in Africa), women and Islam, the value of education, microcredit and ways of really helping women around the world. While many books like this are incredibly difficult to get through, I really appreciate the way the authors approach this subject–with hope. As each well-researched chapter discusses a different horrible reality for women, they have a section of what someone is doing to help, along with how and why it is working. The book is hopeful and is full of practical ways someone here in our wonderfully cushy life in America can help. I highly recommend this book.

Sugar turned three on Saturday, and we celebrated with a small party with her grandparents. She had so much fun getting ready for her party and on the day of her birthday, it took some time for it to sink in that she was really three now. I gave her a few party options, and she selected a butterfly-themed party.

I made some really cute (if I say so myself) butterfly cupcakes. She had requested cupcakes, and I thought these were just too cute. I combined these tutorials, and they turned out really well. Next time, I will invest in a few icing piping tips–cutting the edge off of sandwich bags was a bit difficult for accuracy.

Bud, Sugar and I made some coffee filter butterflies and hung them all around the kitchen and living room. It was quite festive.

Bud and Daddy surprised her with her own bouquet of birthday flowers.

After singing “Happy Birthday”, she wasted no time digging into the butterflies she had so patiently watched me make.

We had a great time celebrating. Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

A lovely picture taken post-workout by Sugar. She held the camera straight!

How far along: 26 weeks
Size of baby: approx. 14 inches head to heel, almost 2 pounds
Total weight gain: 18 pounds
Maternity clothes: yes, only. Some shirts are already getting too short. What’s up with that?
Gender: don’t know and we won’t find out, I’m starting to go with the kids and think it might be a boy.
Movement: lots – so many hard, belly shaking kicks these days. Also some dramatic movements of baby sticking its bottom out really far.
Sleep: really well most nights in spite of frequent bathroom breaks
What I miss: still miss being able to do workouts at the gym as I start growing bigger and bigger
Cravings: none really, just need to eat some protein every two hours
Symptoms: nothing out of the ordinary, achy hips and feet are probably the biggest
Best moment of the week: I sewed some old prefold diapers I was given by a friend into fitteds. I need a baby to try them on, but I think they will work. It’s my first project for the baby! I also purchased a co-sleeper and made a nice, long to-do list. Hopefully I can start crossing some things off it soon.