I had a great weekend! With Friday marking our half-way point in the pregnancy, we were naturally in good spirits. On Friday, we pretty much just laid low and hung out at home. There’s a chance I was in bed sleeping by 10 pm. Then Saturday, I was up early to meet my mom, sister and niece for manicures (the best way to start a Saturday).

Jessie (my sister) painting Gabbers’ nails… me in the background soaking in the loveliness of being pampered.

Happy Valentine’s Day Nails… I couldn’t resist getting a little festive!

After nails, mom and I grabbed a delicious lunch at my favorite local restaurant, Cafe 1505, and then we were off to do a little maternity shopping. While I have most of my staples, I was in desperate need of a pair of black pants that I could wear to work, some tops, a bra, and potentially some basics for Mexico (shorts, tanks, swimsuit). We were pretty successful in that I was able to get a pair of black pants that I’m in love with, some nice tops including one tank and a short sleeved-shirt or two, and a pair of shorts! BUT, the swimsuit and bra saga were not even a little fun. I almost shed tears a few times. I have always had a chest that is just too big for my frame, so things like swimsuits and bras are VERY difficult for me to find. Maternity bras and swimsuits were no different. Turns out my bra cup size is not made in a small enough band size… or at least not at Pea in the Pod. The lady recommended we go to a different store called Allure, which just so happens to be in the same little mall as Cafe 1505… I’m thinking lunch and bra shopping will be in my near future. As for the swimsuit… ugh. That was just as frustrating. NOTHING fit and I literally tried on about 10 swimsuits. I looked online and Old Navy sells swimsuit separates, which I think might be my best bet. I’m planning to order about 3-5 different styles and sizes and hope that one of them fits.

Okay, enough bitching about shopping. We all know how frustrating that can be… but the positive, is that I came home to my amazing husband who was ready to celebrate our 20-Week milestone. From balloons and flowers to frozen pizza (I have such a soft spot for frozen pizza) and cupcakes, everything was perfect!

I just love these colors and the polka dots! Perfection!

What I walked into!

So, we put our jams (PJ’s) on, made some delicious pizza, and curled up on the couch together. We actually watched, “The Business of Being Born,” which I’ll write about in a different post. What I’ll say now, is that every pregnant woman and her husband should watch this movie. It’s really powerful and is a great reinforcer of the importance of knowing your options at the time of labor.

The next day, Marky helped me make homemade caramel dipped pretzels covered in chocolate and sprinkles. The original plan for these was to just bring them to my doctor and her nurse on Tuesday as a little celebration of us finding out the sex (and the obvious bribery), but I decided to make a double batch and bring some to work. Here’s what I did…

Brought an excessive amount of sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil… then added sweetened condensed milk.

Then, I cooked the healthy mixture over medium-low heat for what felt like forever (stirring the entire time), until it reached 245 degrees F.

Once it was the right temp, it turned the right color! And caramel was made…

So we dipped the pretzels and let them sit and harden on a buttered piece of parchment paper. This took hours.

Once the caramel was hardened (after about 3-4 hours, I ended up putting it in the fridge for a half hour to really do the trick), I melted different colored candy melts in a double boiler, dipped my pretzels and covered with sprinkles.

The result was a lot of REALLY delicious pink and blue pretzels!

And for my doctor and her nurse, I wrapped up some pretzels in a little bag and added a cute bow! Voila!

I poured the leftover caramel into two well-buttered baking pans and let those harden into yummy caramels!

Here’s the recipe for the pretzels if you’re interested: Caramel Pretzel Stick Rods Dipped in Chocolate.

And while we baked, my sweet husband took some time to chat, up-close and personal, with the babers.

And even took the time to listen a little 🙂

How cute is he?

All in all, it was a great weekend with my hubbers and fam! And now, it’s just one day until we get to see our sweet baby on the big screen and find out the sex… and then Friday, we’re off to NY! This week is definitely going to be an amazing whirlwind!

Symptoms

Besides the rough patches during shopping, it was a great weekend. I’m feeling really good… except for some back pain. But, I’m headed to the chiropractor this afternoon and my sweet Milly gave me money for a massage that I need to book once I’m back from NY. All in all, feeling really excited, happy and good!