Oh look, a computer monitor!

How shockingly similar to the rest of this week!

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It has been a busy week at work. Which is very nice, but after slaving over a hot computer all day, it does sort of short-circuit the desire to come home & hit the ol' keyboard again...

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The weekend was wonderful, chock full of meat & little girls. Actually, it was little girls, meat, little girls.

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Sound confusing? Well, the man & I whipped home to pick up one half of one cow & one half of one pig that Dad had cut up into assorted pieces for us. Every time I turn around these days, I find more adult questions that I know the answers to... "How do you want your pig done?" "Well, pork chops are so thick, roasts are so big, side pork please, & extra meaty ribs, trim is breakfast sausage." Amazing. So that was the meat.

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The little girls were A's - Z, D, & L were at Mom's, and yea, verily, they made a joyful noise unto the heavens. L was very huggy, in bewteen running around & around & around, D was quite taken with brushing & styling my hair (*wince*), and Z was kicking back all cool like. I think the man saw/heard them all & thought "Let's have at least six little people! So we can get twice that noise!!!"*

This one is still being quiet, volume-wise, but is starting to make his presence known. The occasional gentle little flutters are turning into more regular nudge-like movements... and out & out pokes can't be far away. That's okay, according to my little update book, she weighs one pound this week! Amazing! I know my belly has certainly pushed itself into the world the last couple weeks - I blame the get fat weekend. Or maybe the kid. I'm really quite pleased with my belly. Yesterday, I took my belly button ring out, which I'm sure relieves Mom - she winces every time she sees it. So now, I have a naked & expanding belly button.

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Pictures will be posted over the weekend - it's Pat's Xmas party in Edmonchuk, so I may even remember to get a photo of myself in my fabulous & pretty Xmas dress! With my fabulous & pretty husband! (AKA: the father)

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PS: Speaking of fabulous, the beef roast that the man did in the slow cooker was fantastic. Tender, tasty, awesome. D, can you please pass the good word on to Dad?

*-Ha ha ha ha ha.

Get down! Get funky with your fat self!

All right. My fat self, with a belly picture from Nov 8th - I swear, it's grown since then:
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Hm. Or maybe not. The picture, I mean, not the belly. I spent all of my patience today at work, resisting the urge to throttle ______ in the name of _____, because really, it's a bit far to expect that I will be contect with ______ after ______. Because of this, no belly picture today, but instead, the only picture that the interweb & my computer seem to see fit to upload.

One of my favorite photos from all weekend. Sarah working her rolling pin magic on gingerbread dough (batch 2). The fat weekend was wildly successful, chock full of sugar, spice, & everything nice. Also, some martinis for my girls. (And by that, I mean Liana & Lisa & Coreen. Not some reference to my chestal area. I talked enough about them a couple posts ago. And also, I think I will be talking about them again sometime soon. But not today. No, today is pure, clean, good old fashioned Betty Crocker. With some martinis. But not for me. I drank 8-10 glasses of water a day & juice & milk.)

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Huh. Still no luck with the images. Oh well, another day... Here, as a sop, is a brief & incomplete list of the fat weekend's production:

2 batches nuts & bolts (Donna's recipe, tweaked)

2 batches nutty choc chip cookies (Kourtney's recipe)

2 batches "dad's" choc chip cookies (Herman's recipe)

2 batches sugar cookies (Chatelaine ca 1965, slightly tweaked)

1 batch gingersnaps (Gramma Rouse's recipe)

1 batch gingersnaps (someone Sar know's recipe)

1 batch peanut butter caramel squares (Donna's recipe, but I suspect a creation of Satan or at the very least some nefarious Bond villain)

1 scone (mom's recipe, tweaked)

1 batch pecan praline shortbread (Bev the exec admin asst's recipe)

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Also, last night, window cookies for Dad.

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I feel like I'm forgetting something in the list, but after so many hours of bake time, it all blends into a bit of a blur. And speaking of blur, it's time to sign off! Later, with hopefully more pics.

It's Starting...

This is just the beginning.

The beginning of a wonderful, wonderful thing...
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The Get Fat Weekend: Bakin' One For The Team. When Sar & I do all of our Xmas baking.
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Stayed tuned for more images, descriptions, recipes, & reviews... (Incidentally, people at work still are coming up to me & saying "You're preganat? What?" in a sincere way.) And I've been scolded to eat more vegetables, but not that I've gained too much or too little weight. We'll be working on that over the weekend. Recipes include pecan shortbread, gingerbread men, sugar cookies, nts'nbolts, challah bread, popcorn balls, etc etc.

Awwwwwwwwww....

Is the baby cute? YUP!
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We know that for sure, and also - WE KNOW! WHAT THE BABY IS!!! (APART FROM CUTE!!) And Pat & I are so excited. Not that we weren't before, of course. Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil it by telling you over the Internet!
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PLEASE NOTE: My parents DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE BABY IS. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING TO THEM IF YOU KNOW THE FLAVOR OF BABY.
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And now! To the adorable baby pics!

The above is the traditional 2D. Below is the 3D - it reads back from the surface, instead of reading the density of various parts. So above, the bones look white, liquid is black, etc. This is the baby's face.

It was really fascinating. And educational. I learned way more from our private ultrasound appointment (even discounting the boy/girl info) than at the other ultrasound. And now we have a video - of Sim (Symbiote) the Fish Robinson swimming around!
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Man, what an active baby. I saw it, I can feel flutters now, and they're growing more insistent. I'm not sure how long until the baby will graduate from "flutter" to "shove".
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And, like the last image from the ultrasound was labelled,

"GOOD BYE FOR NOW!"

a-hem. Presenting the cravings variety hour...

To open, may I present, Calendar Girl!
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I love, I love Old Dutch ketchup chips.
Yeah……. Ketchupy chips.
I love, I love Old Dutch ketchup chips.
Each & every chip in the bag.
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On Monday, well then there’s ketchup…
On Tuesday, well you know there’s ketchup too..
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And our headliner, the Police, singing Roxanne!
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Ice cream... You don’t have to put on your lid tonite,
You’re almost empty, you won’t go back to the fridge tonite.
Ice cream... you don’t have to put on your lid tonite,
Get all cold & frostburnt, you don’t care if it’s wrong or right.
Ice cream... You don’t have to put on your lid tonite,
Ice cream... You don’t have to put on your lid tonite,
Ice cream... You don’t have to put on your lid tonite,
You don’t have to put on your lid tonite,
Ohhhhh.
Oh so sweet & fudgey…
Even though you make me pudgy… I have to tell you just how I feel,
I’m won’t share you with another boy.
You know my mind is made up,
To lick the ice cream in the bowl up
Told you once, I won’t tell you again,
I’m going to buy another pint.
Ice cream..
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On the off chance that you were overwhelmed by my subtlety, I think I’ve finally had some pregnancy cravings. Ketchup chips, vanilla yogurt, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream & frozen or thawed popcorn balls are all on the list. Also, porridge for breakfast & egg&bacon on brown toast for the second breakfast of the day. The man thinks I'm turning into a hobbit!!