isn't she gorgeous!?

chocolate and pear cake

mmmh... it turned out quite well!

350g of butter
350g brown sugar (some soft, some dark)
5 duck eggs
300g self raising flour
30g cocoa powder
4 tbl sp milk
2 pears

10" round tin, 180C (fan oven), about 1 hour 30 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean)

i made a bag

it's a simple oversized shopping bag, or maybe it'll be a laundry bag, for the hospital! the size was based on my (currently essential) wedge cushion, so i can bring it to the cinema or a restaurant with me, should we go once more before the baby comes! anybody out there that's pregnant, too, get a wedge cushion! so comfortable! it has an angle so your knees are lower than your hips, instant extra room for the bump! and your back will get less sore, too! mine's very firm, and 4" thick at the back, i got it from 'the back shop'. if you're good at cutting upholstery foam you could probably make your own! i have another one, from 'lidl', but it's not as angled and not as firm. i use that one in the car.

the fabrik is 100% cotton, from ikea, i added the tiny embroidered bird,

the bump today (39 weeks)

i think it might be changing shape, getting lower maybe?

a walk without the crutches

i don't like how the camera seems to do very aggressive 'JPGing'... i don't know what it's called, but when i zoom in i see horizontal and vertical lines, i think it has to do with compression...

today i made carrot cupcakes

i had nearly all the ingredients... the recipe comes recommended by jo from piosacakes
i'm not very good at icing...

bump, less than 2 weeks before due date...

sorry about the bad image quality, was trying to take a picture outside and couldn't find my tripod, so it's handheld... not sure how the camera came up with this exposure...

last week's 'belly shot'

apple cake

i didn't quite get it right, it's slightly undercooked, i think. possibly too many apples (i used the right amount of apples but i think they were very big... or maybe the 30 min was for the smaller amount, my mum's recipe specified doing either the recipe in a round tin or double the amount on a baking sheet, but the time said 30 min for both... or, 3rd possibility, i think my mum has the 'oven sized' baking sheets, whereas mine is a big cake tin, so it's the cake would be a bit deepe than my mum's.
next time i go for 40 min, or for half the recipe...

some pictures from last month

i thought i'd posted these already... a line of freshly washed baby clothes!


the only sunflower we got this far...



closeup of the cutest babygrow...

after a week at home, i have to say, being off at home is much more fun if you're fit to go out! i finally got the new camera (just a point and shoot), and would love to go for a walk or a drive to take lots of pics and try out all the different modes, but with crutches and no car, i'm kind of limited... can't post any pics taken with the new camera yet, the house is too messy!

will hobble off now, and tidy up a little, and maybe work on some crochet... (i did make matress covers, but they are not worth photographing!)

pregnancy hormones

right now i'm just feeling very happy to be married to my husband... i didn't post any photos on our anniversary, but today i feel like posting one!

he brought me lindor chocolates. and he's drinking non alcoholic beer during the ireland qualifying match (in case i go into labour). and he's giving me hugs whenever i need them. and he's letting me have the first sip of his bottle of becks non alcoholic, the cold one (if i had a bottle of my own it would take me all evening to drink it and it wouldn't be nice at all after the first few sips).

36 weeks bump

4 weeks to go, or maybe only 1? or as many as 6! i can see now how people get very impatient, this baby is starting to kick me sore, plus p's granny could race me now, and she's 92, with an artificial hip!

hyper with exhaustion!

what a week! i'm not even gonna make it to yoga tonight, still in work, waiting for CDs to burn... busy busy week! had meetings and gave training every day, in preparation of maternity leave, only 2 weeks left! and diary's filling up for next week, but i am looking forward to my antenatal appointment and 2 days off, so next week should be much easier. but still, so much to organise and sort and explain to my replacement!

getting really restless now, can't believe it's still a month to the due date and possibly another 2 weeks after that!! it's getting harder to walk, got some kind of pelvic girdle pain, and feeling bruised and battered from all the kicking. i won't even start talking about sleep...

i can't complain though, i've had it so so easy compared to so many of my friends! this is really the first week where i properly feel the discomfort and pain that comes with a pregnancy, most of my friends were much earlier with that.

looking forward to the weekend and some nesting and resting!!

yummie tea...

i discovered this tea recipe on apron thrift girl's blog, and made up a similar mix with what i had in the cupboard and in the garden! it's yummie!

for a pot of tea (about a litre) i used 3 chamomile flowers (the ones i have are really strong), one lavendar flower from the garden (mine are very small this year, normal sized ones i'd probably use a half), one big sprig of mint from the garden (crushed) and two tea spoons of dried raspberry leaves (the ones i got are called 'pure raspberry leaves' and are green, not read). All this goes into the 'tea sock' (a filter/strainer for the pot) in the pot, fill up with boiling water and steep for ten minutes. stir 2 teaspoons of honey into the pot. drink some while hot, let the rest cool down and fill into a caraffe or bottle, for the fridge, i quite like it cold!

i'm not sure how much i'm supposed to / allowed to drink while pregnant, but i had 2 cups yesterday, and two today. i might step it up a little as i get closer to my due date (the raspberry leaves are supposed to 'tone' the uterus and make the contractions more effective when it comes to labour, that's why i bought the raspberry leaf tea initially)

if i manage to keep the tea drinking up then i might make up a mix, i might even try the rose hips in it, but from all i remember i don't like them, never have, too sour...

one big spider...

there are loads of them around this autumn!