William Antonio Nelson is born!

After a few hours of contractions Friday night that finally faded away, I woke up Saturday thinking "Well, maybe tomorrow we'll get this baby!" We went to swim lessons for the boys at the YMCA in the morning then came home to play outside and have some lunch. After a leisurely afternoon, I cooked dinner (hamburgers, ensalada rusa and cole slaw) and began our evening routine. During dinner, I began having contractions again, this time a bit stronger than they had been. We got the boys ready for bed and the contractions started getting closer together, around 10-15 minutes apart. They were stronger this time so I went to get my bags ready thinking, we'll go to the hospital once they get to be closer together. I wanted to make the nurses a treat so I went to the kitchen to make brownies.....I got as far as opening the box when I got another STRONG contraction and thought, "Ok....maybe I won't make brownies today! Let's get to the hospital!" Aunt Ann came over in a flash and we headed out the door just before 10 pm. Throughout this whole time, I was listening to the Hypnobabies Birthing Day track on my ipod and at 10:53 pm, William arrived! He is our biggest baby weighing 8 lb 13 oz and is 20 3/4 inches long. His brothers, Joe and Thomas adore their baby brother and we are all excited to have him here.

Baby William is finally here!

Patience

is what I need these days. I have now been pregnant the LONGEST I ever have been. 38 weeks and 2 days so far. Joe was born at 38 weeks and Thomas at 37 weeks. I totally thought that this baby would have arrived ages ago, especially after being put on bedrest, but no such luck. Yesterday, I had contractions that were down to 5 minutes apart but then they stopped abruptly. ARGH! I know that I need to be patient but the waiting is killing me. The boys and I have continued to do fun things around Charlotte both by ourselves and with Daddy. This past weekend we went to Latta Park and went exploring in the creek. We caught a salamander in the creek which was a big hit. After that, the boys played in the splash park that is right near the playground and got drenched! No pictures unfortunately, but I'll bring the camera next time. I can't believe that it is only a little over two months before the big move to Texas. Crazy! The weather in El Paso was 98 degrees the other day. YIKES! Look out Texas, here come the Nelsons!

Happy Mother's Day

We had a fun day today with the boys! First we went to church then out to lunch with Aunt Ann and Jeff to a new restaurant, "The Flying Biscuit." Later, the other two fellows from the trauma program came over with their families for a cookout. It was great fun and definitely hilarious to see the six kids running around the backyard. Today marks 36 weeks and now I am off of bedrest! Yippee! Not that I have all that much energy but now the baby is free to arrive when he wants! (Not too much longer I hope!) 36 weeks and counting!

I love my precious little boys!



Fun in the wagon!

From the mouths of babes. . .

I have to share what Joe said to me today. We were getting ready to go to swim lessons and I had just changed from pajamas into regular clothes and he looks at me and says, "You look beautiful, Mommy!" My heart just about melted. What a cutie pie! No prompting from Ken either!

Butternut squash, sausage and sage over polenta

Since I am now unofficially off bedrest (my doctor said I could do whatever I wanted at 36 weeks....I am a day early, so sue me!), I decided to go back to my old ways and cook a tasty dinner. We were lucky and have been eating dinners that my MIL had made while she was here 2 weeks ago and then had my Dad cooking last week. I should also add that Ken made a great spaghetti sauce the other day too!
Anyhow, this morning we went to the farmer's market and I thought I would try some sausage from one of the local farms and use it for dinner tonight. I paged through some of my cookbooks and found a recipe to draw some inspiration. I tend to get bored of using the same recipes and need to try new things so I flipped through a new Italian cookbook that I have, "La Mia Cucina Toscana" by Pino Luongo. I have not tried any recipes yet as they are a bit involved but I probably will do so soon after my attempt today. I based my dish for the most part on his recipe for Pappardelle with roasted butternut squash, crumbled sweet sausage and sage. Pappardelle is a kind of pasta by the way. I decided to use polenta instead and changed the sauce a bit as well. Both Ken and I agreed that the result was pretty tasty. I also used some of the lettuce I bought at the market to make a great salad to go with it along with a yummy vinaigrette based on one of Rachael Ray's recipes. Try it and see what you think!

Butternut squash, sausage and sage over polenta

3-4 cups butternut squash cut into 3/4" pieces
4 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 sage leaves
salt
pepper
1 lb sausage (I used spicy but the original recipe called for sweet)
1/2 c. dry white wine
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 c. polenta

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix squash, olive oil, sugar, bay leaves, sage together in a medium bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Place squash on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes or until soft.

Brown sausage over medium heat. Drain fat then add wine and let it evaporate, about 3-4 minutes.

Boil 3 cups water. Lightly salt the water. Add polenta slowly while stirring constantly with a whisk until it resembles a creamy porridge. Add 2-3 tbsp parmesan cheese if desired.

In another pan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add flour and mix together to make a paste. Cook about 1 minute. Add milk slowly so that you don't get lumps. Salt and pepper to taste. Add parmesan cheese. Once squash is finished, remove bay leaves, then puree about 1 cup in food processor or blender. Add about 1/2 c. or more water to make puree smooth. Add puree to the bechemel (white) sauce. Mix remaining squash with sausage.

I served the sausage and squash over the polenta and spooned the sauce over top. Yummers!

Bedrest continues

Well, I am still on bedrest (modified, of course as I have 2 toddlers!) Baby in the belly made it to 35 plus weeks so far which is good. We are hoping he gets to 36 weeks then he can come out any time. I am not feeling great, with lots of intermittent contractions and of course feeling some cabin fever. Basically, "bedrest" for me consists of taking care of the boys as usual but trying to sit down a lot more and not going on any trips to the store, museum, park or any other fun places we usually go to. BOO! I have yielded to the prescribed doctor's order, however, as I do want the baby to be healthy and not be a preemie!

I have been avoiding going up/down stairs as much as possible so recent pictures will follow soon. I know I am guilty of sparse posting at best, but I keep trying to get back into it. Honestly, at the end of the day when the boys go to bed, the only thing I want to do is collapse on the couch! Not that I think much will change once the newbie arrives. At least I won't be so uncomfortable though!

The boys are looking forward to meeting the "baby in the belly." Joe even tells the baby "You stay in there baby brother!" when we pray for the baby to wait a little longer to arrive. It is really cute. Can't wait to meet the little guy!