Just Wishing and Hoping and Thinking and Praying...

I can't believe October is almost over and Baby Smith's due date is only six days away! Hunter and I are both SO ready for him to arrive. We had an ultrasound back at the end of September because I was measuring large and it turned out that I wasn't the only one. Baby Smith was measuring nearly three weeks ahead of schedule. Even though our midwife did not change our due date (much to my disappointment!), I think Hunter and I have felt that he should be here "any day now" for almost two weeks. It has made this last month slightly harder to get through since we feel like we should have him already!

To help pass the time, cure some of my restlessness, and encourage Baby Smith along, I have been getting in about 45 minutes at the gym four or five days a week. It is also kind of nice when you are at the gym and people ask how far along you are, and then when you tell them they are very impressed with your dedication. However, I think I may have overstayed my welcome this week because I am beginning to make the older ladies who work the front desk nervous. I think they are afraid that I could just give birth at anytime! I now have to provide them with emergency contacts when I come in. So to ease their anxiety, I think Baby Smith and I are going to stick to walking outside. (Not a bad thing with this AMAZING fall weather!)

I have been listening to my body and not pushing myself- well for the most part. I must say that it is hard to feel like you are working out without "working" a little bit. There have been some times when I've been out walking that I have had some pretty serious cramping but have just slowed my pace, taken some deep breaths, and kept on going. (I'm convinced that pushing through this discomfort will help me deal with labor pains better.)

I have had a couple good runs with pre-labor contractions. At least for me, contractions feel pretty much how you think they would- at this point they aren't too painful, just uncomfortable and can take my breath away. According to our midwife, these have been good practice for me and have been warming-up my muscles for when the real thing comes along. (Makes sense, I guess. It would be like running your race without stretching and doing some warm-ups beforehand.) And the contractions have not been in vain, but have actually dilated me to 3 cm- which again according to our midwife, many women would kill for. She said that it doesn't necessarily mean he is coming anytime soon (some women dilate that much and stay that way until their due date or later) but it is a good sign that Baby Smith does indeed want to join us!

A couple people have asked me if I'm scared about labor and delivery, and a few months ago I would have answered YES. (I remember reading the labor and delivery section of What to Expect and having a total meltdown because I didn't want to give birth- not really an option when you are seven months in!!) However, I'm pretty sure that is why God makes pregnancy nine months long because by the ninth month you are feeling miserable and just ready to be "done" that you don't care how your baby gets out of there! I have accepted that there are only two ways for Baby Smith to come out and have made peace with what is going to be asked of my body. I'm SURE it will still be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I think I am in a much better mindset to handle the challenge. Plus I'll get to meet my handsome son, who I have already grown to love more than I can imagine.

So here's to wishing and hoping our little bundle of joy doesn't keep me waiting too much longer!

Pumpkin Perfect

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin roll cake, pumpkin soup, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin oatmeal... I could go on forever! Pumpkin - in my humble opinion- is the perfect fall ingredient. I could be accused of going pumpkin overboard, but lucky my husband is just as pumpkin crazy as I am.

Pumpkin also packs some powerful health benefits. It is loaded with vitamins (A, C, and E!), fiber, and a variety of carotenoids (which can help lower your risk for a variety of cancers and heart disease), and it is also low in calories. So as you reach for your second or third slice of pumpkin bread, you can at least console yourself with the fact that you are getting some good nutrients.

While we all probably have a family recipe for pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread (or just use the one from the side of the Libby's can), I thought I'd share with you a couple of nontraditional pumpkin recipes.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

I found this recipe last fall on Whole Foods recipe website and have used it for many a football games and crisp fall evenings. I will say that when I first suggested making this, I did get some turned up noses, but in the end they all ended up becoming fans of my new spin on chili.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeds removed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb ground turkey
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained

Directions: Heat oil in large pan over medium heat. Add bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, and garlic. Cook stirring frequently for 5 minutes or until tender. Add turkey and cook until browned. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, 1 cup water, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add beans. Cover and cook stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Then it is ready for enjoying. You can also make it a day ahead because chili always tastes better on the second day after everything in the pot has really gotten to mix together.

Great Pumpkin Cookies

Now you may recall my rant on not eating cake again until 2011 and vowing to find a different way to indulge on my birthday and these cookies were it! This recipe came from my cousin (also an October birthday!) and now I can't imagine a fall without it! I have already had people asking for the recipe, so here it is:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter or margarine softened (If using butter, add some extra flour or the cookies are flat.)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin (plain, NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions: Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. Cream butter, Gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkins, mixing well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough (for large cookie) or a rounded teaspoon (for small cookie) onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. If you are feeling very Martha Stewart, you can use a thin metal spatula to form dough into a pumpkin shape (with a stem). Bake 20-25 minutes for large or 10-12 minutes for small cookies, until cookies are firm and lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets; cool on racks. Cookies can be enjoyed plain or topped with icing or peanut butter with some raisins or nuts- either way they are SCRUMPTIOUS!

Conventional vs. Organic (And what the heck does Natural mean?)

When I was originally rolling around the idea of Vie Balance, one of the subjects I was most passionate about was eating organically. I had been shopping at Whole Foods because they have the best selection of organic produce, meats, and other foods in our area. And despite your preconceived notions about Whole Foods and shopping organically, I was able to stay within our grocery budget. I was not buying the same amount of snack food and such which in the end was a good thing- less food sitting around the house waiting to be eaten when we got bored.

The biggest downside of shopping at Whole Foods was that the closest one is an hour from Purcellville, which meant with commuting time and time spent shopping, a whole afternoon was spent. Eventually, I stopped allotting the time needed to shop there and my organic shopping dwindled too.

Now, that I have gotten my blog started the flame has been rekindled to evaluate what and how my family and I are eating.

Why spend the extra cash to eat organic food? Why spend the extra time to prepare more meals from scratch and not from store bought packages, mixes, or kits? Well, we are what we eat right? I think so many of our health problems stem from what we are putting in our body. Doesn’t it freak you out when you look at the shelf life of some of the products you buy? No food was meant to last in your pantry for three years! Just think about what the manufacturers must add to it to give it that life expectancy!! I firmly believe that many of the conditions and diseases that plague us could be significantly reduced if we put better things in our bodies. And I am committed to try with my family.

How to start? If you don’t feel like you can commit to an organic lifestyle because you don’t have the store/options or you have a strict cash flow, or even sometimes you just can’t make it to the grocery store that has organic options, you can still take some small steps. You may have heard of the Dirty Dozen- a list of the 12 produce items with the highest pesticide residue. I think this is a great place to start, especially if these are things that you and/or your family eat regularly.

Another thing that confused me when I started looking at eating organically was what the difference was between organic and natural. You see so many items in the grocery store these days labeled as “natural” and you think “hmm that sounds nice and healthy…” but really a lot of times you might just be paying more money for the “natural” name. I recently read an article in Runner's World about organic food, and it had a great chart in it that I’ve reproduced below that explains the difference between organic, natural, and so on.

So this past Sunday, I dragged Hunter to Whole Foods and we loaded up on organic groceries- mostly things that I can use to make some meals before Baby Smith arrives such as Turkey Pumpkin Chili, Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna, Chicken Noodle Soup, and such- now if only I had a bigger refrigerator!

Falling into October

This year I have been head over heels in love with fall. It has always been my favorite season (What is not to love- pumpkin patches, apple picking, Halloween, chili, college football... I could go on forever!), and I think this year I'm appreciating it even more because this summer was so stinkin' hot and of course Baby Smith is just around the corner!

So I considered setting some work out goals for October, but after giving it more consideration I decided that this needs to be the month that I start to learn to listen to my body. I have never been very good at adhering to my body's requests to slow down or take a day off. Instead, I push myself, and sometimes it pays off and other times I end up nursing a sore back or some other sort of injury. This is not the month to push myself to achieve more (well at least in terms of exercising), but the month to listen to my body and enjoy the physical activities (Did I mention how awesome it feels to go for a long walk on a crisp fall day?!) that I feel like I can handle.

Learning to listen to your body and actually listen (not hear and ignore like I usually do) is not always easy, especially when what your body is saying and what your goals are do not line up. This month though I know I need to listen. Hunter and I took a long walk on Saturday morning and my pace was too fast, and I'm pretty sure it contributed to the awful day I had and why I had to spend it on the couch. (I am terrible at relaxing and sitting still. I like to be doing things and on the go. If I'm not doing that, I feel like I'm being wasteful with my time.) So this month in order to prepare for childbirth, I am going to listen to my body and exercise as I feel like I can handle it and only up to the point where I do not cross the line that puts me out of commission. If I can master this skill now, I know it will make it easier for me when I start working out postpartum and really need to listen to my body.

This month I am going to continue to watch what I eat and try to incorporate some more protein and veggies into my diet. (Baby Smith seems to hate those. I love veggies, but throughout my pregnancy nothing has been more revolting to me.) Our midwife said that since Baby Smith is measuring large (by nearly three weeks!) and is bound to keep getting larger, I need to be more cautious about what I eat so that as our childbirth instructor so eloquently put it "I'm not pushing a toddler out of my who-ha." Evidently what you eat now can really affect the baby's growth, so I am trying to stay away from empty calories which has been kind of difficult because with the majority of my torso being occupied by Baby Smith it is hard to eat anything filling. I much prefer popsicles, sliced fruit, apple sauce, crackers, bread, and the likes. To my credit, I have been working some nuts and peanut butter into my diet. Hopefully some of my efforts will pay off or Baby Smith will arrive early and I won't have to worry too much about his seemingly gargantuan size.

So here's to turning over a new leaf (Terrible, I know!) and learning how to listen to my body. In the end, I know I will be glad that I did.