Little bit of this, little bit of that

It's been awhile since my last update, time seems to be moving exponentially faster these days, I feel like it should still be January.  So here is a little of what we've been up to...

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary last week

It was a very happy day!

And since our freedom to traipse about will drastically decrease in 4 months we decided we should probably head out of town for a few days.  We went to Glenwood Springs, which is pretty far in to the mountains.  Since skiing is off limits for me (not that I would do it anyways since the LAST time I went skiing resulted in surgery) as were other thrilling adventures such as roller coasters and spelunking, we found the happy medium in the hot springs.  The natural pools were very relaxing and there was even a not-so-hot one that I could lounge in.  It was a bit chilly, but I imagine that made them even more lovely, and even a little romantic as it flurried on and off during our dip. 

Since the weather was rather erratic with periods of blizzard-like snow, then sunny, then overcast, we decided to not venture on to any hiking trails and instead enjoyed some great food and lots of basketball.  My bracket won the first round but Eric pulled a slight lead in the 2nd.  We'll see how this weekend goes.  Since I can't sample the local beers I made it a point to indulge in some dessert, I even went so far as to not finish my dinner so I would have room, because I can.  It was a lovely time but a miserable drive back through snowy mountain passes.  Eric, marrying you was the best decision I have ever made and I love you more than ever!  I can't wait to find out how much more I can love you as I watch you fall in love with our daughter. 

Speaking of daughters, here is my latest belly pic:

25-ish weeks

Just big enough that I'm starting to feel uncomfortable with a sense of dread knowing I'm just going to become more so in the months to come.  I won't whine too much about all the lovely things my body is going through, I'll save that for my mom.  I will say, though, that I continue to feel mostly ok with some back pain and heartburn thrown in for good measure.  The baby makes her presence known on a regular basis now with kujo kicks to my bladder and, what feel like, multiple barrel rolls in quick succession.  These performances are now visible and palpable on the outside, which often makes us giggle or stare in disbelief, depending on the mood.  Everything is progressing normally, per my OB, except my months of meat and vegetable aversion have caused my iron to be slightly low.  So a cheeseburger for lunch it is as well as torturing my husband with spinach and kale. 

More on dessert, since I've still got some weigh-gaining to do.  I saw a facebook post  regarding the following naughty brownies and coud not get them off of my mind for two days, so I finally gave in.  The posted recipe gave a basic guideline which I modified a bit but here's the general roadmap.  Are you ready to have your mind blown?  Ok....So, start with chocolate chip cookie dough, either make your favorite recipe from scratch or pick up a package of the pre-made stuff, whatever floats your boat.  Then make decision as to what shape and size you would like this delectable treat.  The original recipe showed large, square muffins tins, I decided to start mith my mini-muffin tin since I don't feel so guilty eating wee tiny treats (what, you ate 5!  Well, they're small).  I also made a batch with a square baking dish since I only had one muffin tin and had some "complications" which I'll explain in a minute.  After pressing the cookie dough in to the bottom of your baking vessel press a reeses peanut butter cup upside-down in to the center.  You could use the standard size if you had big cupcake wells but I used the mini-size (not the "original" mini size that is usually pre-wrapped and available in holiday colors, these are even minier) that come in a bag.

Looks pretty tasty as is, right?  Well, are you ready to have your mind blown?  Ok, here's the next step.  Cover with prepared BROWNIE MIX!

Oh yeah, its a chocolate-chip-cookie-peanut-butter-cup-brownie brownie!!  I know, I'll give you a minute....

Alright, moving on.  If using a muffin tin try not to fill as full as I did here, only go 2/3rd or so.  Otherwise a brownie "muffin top" forms and it is very hard to get out of the individual cups in one piece (I suppose cupcake liners could potentially solve this problem).  The bar-variety did not have this difficulty.  Oh, bake at 350 F until set (for me it was 15 min for the muffins, 30-40 for the bars).  They. Are. So. Good.  I suggest that you have some other people to pawn these off on otherwise you will eat them all yourself.  Co-workers and pet-sitters where my victims, uh, I mean lucky recipients of the most delicious treats ever!  And this is why I do not browse pinterest, especially while pregnant, I'm sure our house would be overrun with baked creations. 

Other life-updates, work is good now that Noro and Flu virus season seems to have waned down.  It is very difficult to be a pregnant nurse as your first priority is no longer your sick patients but keeping your fetus safe and sound.  So anyone on isolation had to be cared for my another nurse, which, although I felt guilty, I didn't feel guilty enough to risk my baby's health.  Thank goodness I work with awesome nurses.  Being a pregnant nurse is hard in other ways too.  First off, the smells.  I have never been bothered by poop, vomit, or other bodily smells, until now.  Now changing a colostomy bag may as well be torture and results in multiple dry heaves as I turn my head and pretend to be coughing.  I try to tough it out and can proudly say that I have yet to throw up in a patient's room.  Bending over also happens much more throughout my shift than I realized, be it to retrieve a dropped item (which I a doing much more frequently) or sitting on the floor to change an awkwardly placed dressing or fight to pull up some compression stockings.  I used to proudly claim I could do such tasks upside down and standing on my head, now, not so much.  Can't expect everything to stay easy I guess. 

Well, that's about the highlight of our lives over the past month.  We're gearing up to host Easter on Sunday, although my dinner will more resemble the traditional Thanksgiving fare as I missed out enjoying it the first time around and the smell of ham now makes my gag.  I am looking forward to an Eastery dessert though...