So, like I said, I was in California for work last week, so I had to find a substitute mirror for my weekly photo. Luckily, there's one in the womens locker room at work that did the job just fine.

We've been checking out a bunch of baby-related books from the library recently. This past week, I read The Diaper-Free Baby, which is about elimination communication. The basic premise is that babies are born with an awareness of their need to pee/poop, and an ability to communicate that need to parents (albeit subtly at first). Typically, we train them to go in a diaper, and then a few years later, we have to retrain them not to go in their diaper. Theoretically, if you follow the EC approach, they will communicate with you when they need to go, so you can have them use a potty from the start instead of using diapers.

When I first heard about EC a few years ago, I thought it sounded pretty crazy (and stressful--like do you have to spend all your time watching the baby, always poised to rush them to a toilet?), but after reading the book, I think it seems pretty reasonable. The nice thing is that there's no need to go cold turkey; you can just go diaper-free a few hours a week if you want. If it means fewer diapers to clean up, it seems worth a try. Of course, I say that now, before the baby's born. Trying EC might fall by the wayside when we're actually in the midst of figuring out how to care for a baby. But the nice thing is that you can start at any point, so we don't have to worry about it right away if it seems overwhelming.

In other news, I bought this cute giraffe, made by local crafter ScissorStitch, at Union Rose. This is the kind of thing that I would normally see and say "I can make that!" and not buy it, and also never end up making it. But this was reasonably priced, and I figured I have enough crafting projects to do, so I just bought it. It makes me happy :)

Since I was traveling last week, I don't have much in the way of food pictures to share, but we did get in a couple of meals before I left.

1. Tomato sauce with butter and onions. This was easy and tasty, as promised. I definitely plan on making it again.

2. Vegetarian baked beans (from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook) and golden northern cornbread. The beans turned out really good, probably because of all the yummy butter and sugar that went into them. The only downside was that for the first 8 or so hours of cooking, the house smelled like cooking beans, which is not the most pleasant aroma. But the end product was worth it.

3. I had some heavy cream left over from various meals, so I used it to make hot fudge sauce (recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking). It hardens when you put it on ice cream, which is my favorite part about hot fudge sauce. Yum!

In other food news, I'm a little worried about the Little Blue Waffle Wagon. They've disappeared from their spot on Division Street! I know they had cut back their hours for winter, but this seems a little extreme. Are they gone for good? I hope not! In the meantime, I'm comforting myself with waffles from the nearby Waffle Window. Not a bad alternative!

Since I'm in California for work, Patrick was nice enough to pose for the belly picture this week.

He makes me laugh :) Real post and picture to come in a few days when I'm back home...

I played around with Photoshop today, trying to find some good paint colors for the nursery. I think I'd like to get paint from Yolo Colorhouse (they're local! And environmentally friendly, but of course), if they have a color that works for us. Luckily their website lists hex codes approximating each of their colors, so it was easy to plug each color into Photoshop and change the background of the photo I posted yesterday.

The bigger paint companies have all sorts of fun online tools for choosing paint colors, but I'm having enough trouble choosing between Yolo's 85 colors--I don't need hundreds more to choose from! Although Sherwin-Williams' iPhone app does sound cool.

My top five Yolo colors in no particular order:

Nourish 01:

Aspire 03:

Thrive 02:

Water 02:

Dream 04:

Yolo's website recommends blues, greens, and neutrals for bedrooms, and there is the anecdote about the color yellow making babies cry, so maybe we'll just stick with yellow accents instead of painting the walls yellow. I think that could be nice!

Week 22! All is well.

• The baby book says the baby can hear at this point, and to celebrate, we took him to a Builders and the Butchers show at The Woods. Okay, so the timing was just a coincidence. He could definitely feel and/or hear the music--he moved around a lot more than usual. I hope it was because he was enjoying the music and not because it was too loud.

  The book also says the baby can sense light, and if we shine a flashlight on my belly, the baby might move to get away from the light. That seems kind of mean, but I'm tempted to try it anyway. Maybe if we get really bored this weekend...

• I had my first charlie horse of the pregnancy yesterday morning. Woo! Apart from that, I'm still sleeping pretty well. Thank you, Snoogle!

• This morning we went in for the monthly checkup and for a quick ultrasound redo, to try and get some better pictures of the baby's heart, since it was hard to see two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the little goober was in the exact same position that he was in at the last ultrasound (sideways), so the ultrasound tech didn't have much luck getting better pictures (also, no cute profile pictures to be had, though we did get to see the baby yawning, which was fun). She assured us that the heart looks fine; she just needed better pictures to send for routine analysis. It's not clear if we'll need to come in again.

  Also, I forgot to mention that at the ultrasound two weeks ago, the tech noted that my placenta was low (placenta previa). I didn't think much of it at the time because she mentioned it so casually, but she commented on it again this time, as did my doctor. It looked like the placenta had moved up and off of the cervix a little, compared to two weeks ago, so it will probably resolve itself, but I may need to go in for another ultrasound at 32 weeks just to check on its location. I figure it's not worth worrying about at this point, since there's nothing I can do to change it. I haven't had any bleeding, so that's good.

• Last weekend, Patrick checked out the used crib a little more closely, and some of the slats on the drop side were loose, which made us nervous. He used wood glue to make everything tight again, but we were feeling generally uneasy about the used crib issue, so we decided just to give in and buy a new crib after all. (Not sure what to do with the used crib--it's hard to find anyplace that will take crib donations, because of liability issues. I was thinking I could make some sort of crib slat art with it, or use the sides to display quilts or something)

  We narrowed our options down to three cribs: the Pacific Rim Arts and Crafts crib, the Ikea Gulliver, and the Land of Nod Straight-Up crib. We liked the Pacific Rim and Land of Nod cribs because they're made in the US out of solid wood. Taking shipping into account, they're approximately the same price. On the other side of the price spectrum, the Gulliver is also mostly wood and has gotten pretty good reviews in Baby Bargains.

  We made a trip out to Beaverton to see the Pacific Rim crib on display at Segal's, and we both liked how sturdy it was. I like the color and style of the Land of Nod crib better, but we decided to go with the Pacific Rim crib because it's made in Eugene from local maple, using non-toxic finishes, etc. It just seemed like if we're going to use the resources to generate a new crib, we might as well support local craftspeople while we're at it. Plus it seems sturdy enough to last through multiple kids (assuming we have more). We ended up ordering the fixed-side version from Go Natural Baby, since they have free shipping. Now we just wait 6-8 weeks for it to arrive!

  I hope the baby likes his crib! The funny thing is that the plan right now is to have him co-sleep in our room (in an Arm's Reach bassinet or similar) for the first 6 months and then transition to the crib, so he might not actually spend much time in the crib for a while. But I have no idea how things will actually work out, and it seems like he'll end up in the crib sooner or later. Who knows...

• We've been thinking about nursery decoration (okay, that's mostly my department--Patrick is busy making sure all of our pressing home repairs are done in a timely manner). I think I want to go with yellow, brown, and gray, inspired by these two photos by Elizabeth Soule.

  

  I think the general feeling I'm gravitating toward is cozy forest--woodland creatures, wool blankets, etc. Pretty stereotypically Portland, I suppose :) The picture below has a collection of some of the things that will be in the nursery. I think the Pendleton blanket at the top of the picture fits pretty well. We bought the brown tulip print fabric in the middle to make into a Roman shade for the nursery window, and the four fabrics at the bottom are for crib sheets. I mostly picked them because I liked the fabric, not because they fit in with the grand plan. The three on the left are flannel for winter; I need to pick out a few more fun cotton prints for summertime.

  

  We decided to forego an expensive rocker/glider, since we're getting an expensive crib. Instead, we'll try using our existing Poang and ottoman in the nursery (I've seen quite a few people online recommend the Poang for nursing, though I'm worried I won't be able to heave myself out of it while holding a baby). I'm thinking of re-covering the Poang, but I haven't found the right fabric yet. It's possible I'm overcommitting myself with all of these sewing projects...

  Our goal is to choose the paint color for the nursery walls this weekend. I'm thinking light yellow, but I'm not sold on that. Any suggestions?

Foodwise, none of our meals has really impressed me this week. At least the desserts were good!

1. Pasta with walnuts, caramelized onions, and ricotta salata - This was okay, but I probably wouldn't make it again. Maybe it would have been better with the recommended whole grain penne (we used fresh pasta from our farmers' market instead). It seemed a little cheese-heavy, and not saucy enough.

2. Artichoke, leek, and fontina frittata with whole grain sourdough waffles (from Dorie Greenspan's Waffles) - The frittata was pretty good (it probably would have been just as good without the bacon, by the way), but not super exciting. The waffles were yeasted, which meant they were light and crispy, but they also got cold really quickly. They were nice, but I think we prefer non-yeasted waffles (which is weird, because a lot of people love yeasted waffles!).

3. Halibut and sweet potato chowder - This was better on the second day after the flavors had blended a little. We used half the amount of halibut called for (halibut is expensive!), and it was still plenty fishy. I liked the twist of using sweet potatoes in the chowder, but I don't think I'd make this particular recipe again (a common theme for this week).

4. Pumpkin custard (from Rustic Fruit Desserts) - This was pretty labor-intensive (because you make vanilla shortbread cookies to use as the crust), but it was tasty! The vanilla shortbread dough was crumbly and kind of frustrating to work with, but the cookies tasted good. The custard was nice and smooth and tasted just like pumpkin pie (not too surprising). Yum! I think given the amount of work involved, it would have been easier to just bake a pumpkin pie. I do like things in ramekins though!

5. Chewy almond cookie + ganache sandwiches (old-fashioned almond cookie recipe from Paris Sweets) - I had some egg whites to use up, and this recipe seemed like a good candidate. I made one batch using the standard recipe, and a second batch using the cocoa powder and cinnamon variation mentioned in the book. I liked the original almond cookies the best, but both types were yummy with ganache in the middle. Kind of like macarons, but not quite. The sandwiches ended up a little too tall to eat daintily, but they were still good. I figured the almonds and egg whites provided some protein, so they weren't the unhealthiest cookies ever!

Twenty-one weeks--the baby is allegedly as long as a (large) banana. That seems about right. His kicks are getting stronger, which is exciting! We can count on him to put on a little kicking show right when we go to bed, with a couple other appearances in the late afternoon and evening. Hi, baby!

• After moping around for a day or so, feeling kind of sad that the little girl I was imagining wouldn't be making an appearance (at least not this time around), I got over it and got on board with having a boy. I think having a son will be great! It helped that Susan brought over some adorable little boy clothes that she picked up at Children's Exchange (on the left in the picture below). The little red shoes make me especially happy :)

• Speaking of clothes, I've been trying not to go too crazy buying baby stuff, but there have been a few purchases I've felt compelled to make. I picked up some sweet German baby bunny slippers at Mamas n' Papas back in December (my first baby purchase), and then I bought a pair of corduroy overalls at Vintage Pink. And most recently, we made our first purchase of new baby clothes--an awesome pair of Hatley footie pajamas on sale at Black Wagon. How could we resist that bear print?

  

• We also made our first foray into buying a piece of baby furniture--we picked up a used crib and mattress from Baby to Baby this past weekend. It's a pretty standard crib. The only thing is that it's a drop-side crib, and we didn't read up on the risks associated with used drop-side cribs until after we'd bought it (I figured it was just a risk of pinched fingers, but it's a little more serious than that), and now we're second-guessing whether we should use the crib. Patrick's going to assemble it and check to see if there's any sign of a gap between the mattress and drop side. On the plus side, we can definitely use the mattress even if we don't use the crib, so we won't be out too much money either way.

  Edited 1/22: I spoke too soon. Apparently buying used crib mattresses is not recommended because of sanitary issues (or possibly because of a fungus that reacts with fire retardants in the mattress to create toxic gases, though that theory seems a little less mainstream). Oh, but also, new mattresses are bad because of off-gassing. Man, there's no end of things to worry about regarding babies! That's it, our child is going to sleep in a dresser drawer lined with a scratchy old wool blanket ;)

• Finding out that we're having a boy got us working on narrowing down our list of names. We're currently putting together lists of our top 10-15 names from the master list of ~130 names (plus anything else that catches our fancy), and then we'll compare to see if we have any overlap between the two lists. Fun! The Baby Name Wizard Name Voyager has come in handy in figuring out which names are trendy right now (like most other parents to be, I don't want a name that's too trendy, but I have a feeling that my taste in names is just like that of other parents-to-be in SE Portland). Plus it's just cool seeing how names have changed in popularity over time.

In non-baby news, we finished a house-related project that I've been working on since August! I sewed a Roman shade for our bedroom using hardware and directions from Terrell Designs (so helpful!), and Patrick took care of hanging it up. Even though it took me six months to finish the project, it really wasn't that hard to do; I just kept putting it off. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it looks so much nicer than the spare bed sheet we were using as a curtain before.

We've got another shade pretty close to finished for the stairwell window, but that one is on hold because we may end up replacing the window (it's old and leaky and maybe a little rotten on the outside). I'm also gearing up to make a shade for the nursery. I'd better get going on that before too long!

And then there's the food. I'm still putting my second trimester energy to good use in the kitchen. It's good to be back! All recipes are from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone unless otherwise noted.

1. Quinoa chowder with scallions and feta. This sounded intriguing, but it turned out kind of boring. It could be that it was too light and brothy for a mid-winter soup. Maybe worth a remake in spring or summer.

2. Rice cooked in black bean broth (with 2 cups of cooked black beans added along with the broth), topped with scallions, queso fresco, tortilla chips, and our pickled roasted peppers. I wasn't a big fan of the pickled peppers, but everything else was great! It was like a burrito in a bowl.

3. Mushrooms and tofu in hoisin sauce on soba noodles, with lightly steamed shredded carrots and cabbage. This stir-fry included diced tomatoes, which made it kind of unorthodox, but it wasn't bad. The flavor was nice, actually. I'd make it again.

4. Bun-bun noodles with spicy peanut sauce (recipe from Morning Food), garnished with carrots, peanuts, lime wedges, and green onion. We had a little stir-fried baby bok choy on the side. The noodles were very easy to put together (and we had all the ingredients in our pantry). Definitely comfort food--probably not very healthy, but I'd happily down another bowlful.

5. Pepper-crusted tuna with oven fries and lemon spinach (I used tilapia instead of tuna steaks). Real Simple tends to stress me out more often than it simplifies my life, but this recipe actually was really simple! It yielded a well-rounded, tasty meal that only took about 45 minutes to put together (with 20 minutes of downtime in the middle). Cool! It reminded me that we should eat more fish--it's so easy to prepare.

6. This past weekend, I baked a batch of classic chocolate chip cookies (from Cookies and Brownies) for a bake sale to raise money for Doctors Without Borders. The first sheetful came out underbaked and structurally unsound, so I kept them for personal consumption. The cookies turned out really well. I actually liked the underbaked ones the best, so that worked out well. Man, looking at that picture makes me want more chocolate chip cookies!

7. Last night, I baked a batch of lemon poppy seed muffins (from Baking) to use up some leftover sour cream. I added a little bit of plum-amaretto jam in the middle as a little surprise. The muffins turned out super moist and tasty. Next time I'd actually omit the jam surprise--the muffins are perfect just as they are. I took particular joy in making these muffins because one of my favorite baking-related activities is rubbing lemon zest into sugar. It smells so nice!