MN Winter Has Begun!

Cici pup walking

 And this might be one of the few years I'll really appreciate it. Now granted, I didn't like the day it was -12, and a high of less than 0.... and the day it was 32 Cici and I enjoyed a LOVELY walk, overall I'd say I'd take being pregnant in the winter over the summer any day.

Pond Across from our House

Beautiful snowy trees

1. It's easier to hide your growing body :) (The I just kind of look like I ate too much cheesecake, not the I'm growing a little baby in me body)
2. When you get overheated you just have to step outside and you feel great!
3. Boots..... so comfy for when your back starts to hurt halfway through the day.
4. Darker nights-makes you not feel as guilty when you go to bed before 9:00pm
5. Darker mornings-makes sleeping in on the weekends a tad bit easier.


Now this is not to say that we are not SO excited to go to NC this weekend to get to spend some time with a 70 day :) But more than anything excited to see my parents! And then at New Years to see all my lovely Suitemates!

Christmas cookie cutouts

 Until then I am just getting through these crazy last days of Pre-winter break week by admiring Christmas lights and enjoying little gifts from students. My favorite so far one group of parents went in together to get me a Sur Le Table gift card! :) I've got a good group this year! One more day left and HOPING the 1-2 inches of snow does not affect my commute more than an hour..... Crossing our fingers!

I'm hoping I don't grow too much over the break so that my kids can't recognize me :) But I am starting to have a LITTLE baby bump. I have gained 10 lbs so I'd hope I do! I'm hoping soon I'll be able to feel it kick, and the beginning of January we find out if it is a little BOY or GIRL :) SO excited to start shopping for little Baby A!

My I think i'm finally showing bump *17 weeks

Holiday Cooking and Baking

I can't believe it's already the last day of Thanksgiving Break! Boy do breaks fly by!
Thanksgiving morning I baked a bunch of homemade rolls for the big day (they were the hit of Thanksgiving I must say; my nephew had 7!)! I was able to make both gluten free and regular, and the gluten free may be the best gluten free rolls I've ever made! See recipe here: http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/2009/11/dinner-rolls-gluten-free-revised-22810/

After making the rolls and a few salads Mark and I headed out to Afton to celebrate with the Aronson clan + Paul and Susan. It was a nice day :) Lots of kids, football, food and a little bit of flurries :) The only thing that would have made it better was a mystery (Only the Gerlach clan will understand that: Thanksgiving circa 1990-2010) Unfortunately even with 17+ people there only 1 picture was taken... and upon taking the picture I realized she spit up... but since it's the only picture I have from Thanksgiving I'll post it any ways....

The day after Thanksgiving Mark and I enjoyed a nice omelet breakfast with leftover fruit salad and enjoyed celebrating the holiday just the 2 of us (2.5 of us?)

Later this weekend I made cookies that just SCREAM Christmas and may be the most unhealthy thing I've ever made, but boy were they good! See recipe below. After enjoying a few cookies Mark and I used a gift card from a student last year and went to our special date night locale McCormick and Schmick's. Unreasonably expensive but extremely good, Mark and I enjoyed some delectable fish and reminisced together the last times we went to McCormick and Schmick's (Like the first time, when Mark was still trying to impress me and our bill topped $100!) It was neat to just have a fancy night out together and remember the things we loved and miss about Kansas City and our Teach for America lives.

We're ending this weekend with Vikings, walk and prepping for the cold week ahead. Supposed to get snow/slushy mix Mon-Wed, and a cold front coming Thursday bringing lows in the negatives... Winter has arrived in MN!


White Chocolate Peppermint Chunk Cookies!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter  room temperature (usually I use 1/2 applesauce....this time went for it!)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar (usually half the sugar too, not this time!)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used a GF flour blend)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips (recipe called for 1 cup... I think it'd be too much)
• 1/3 cup peppermint candy cane, crushed

1. Mix butter and sugar until well combined and creamy. Add egg and vanilla.
2. In separate bowl mix dry ingredients.
3. Add dry to wet. My mixture got pretty thick.
4. Add in candies and chocolate chips (This part was hard because dough was so thick, really had to work the dough!)

5. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
6.  Roll into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheet.

7. Bake 8-10 minutes, flipping 1/2 way.

8. Take cookies out and WAIT! Do not remove cookies for at least 1-3 minutes so they have time to set. If you remove from pan right away they are too gooey and will break apart. Cici hates waiting...

9. Once you've waited, move cookies to wire cooling rack, let cool (we couldn't wait!) And then enjoy!

*Note these are far from healthy but OH soo good :) My recipe made about 30 cookies (even though it originally said it'd make 12!) Too many to eat alone... I have to share with someone.

Days off and Feeling Productive

WOW! What a great day today! One of my favorite parts of being a teacher, great vacation time. Today I had the day off (Mark did not) and I was so productive! It's nice to have energy to be productive again! I finally got the title changed over from my lender (I NOW OWN A CAR!) got an oil change, went to the gym, organized all our papers, contact papered our final bathroom and got Christmas decorations out! Throughout the day I just kept thinking about how thankful I was for the energy I finally have to do these things again, and the resources to make our house look like a wonderland! Now granted, we still have a cheap tree from last year, that is too small for a real house (and too sparse) but we bought a small real one for outside, and I bought 2 poinsettias (A pink one!) so I'm happy.

Our real xmas tree

Card Wreath waiting for cards :)

Xmas pictures on Fridge

Front Yard

Pink Poinsetta

Red Poinsetta

Thanksgiving meets christmas, not quite done yet

Christmas tree and stockings

Today I was also going to make my foods to bring to Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm bringing homemade rolls (gluten free and regular) spinach pear salad and fruit salad (Gerlach family tradition). I actually only ended up making brownies and dinner, grilled avocado, bacon and cheese sandwich with roasted winter vegis :) Yum! Between my cooking, Thanksgiving tomorrow, and my school's Thanksgiving buffet I am definitely gaining my baby weight :) I think I'm showing now, but when I tell fitness instructors in my classes at the gym why I am doing some moves differently are shocked when I tell them I'm 14 weeks pregnant. So maybe it's not as obvious as I think...

Baby Bump? 14 weeks

Grilled vegis and sandwhich :)

School Buffet.. yes I got 3 desserts

My contribution to school Thanksgiving

I'm excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow, we are headed to the Aronson household and there will be 17 of us! My brother and Susan included. It will be a fun affair! Even Cici is coming :) Look for pictures of Thanksgiving to come soon...

  

Roasted Vegi Recipe-Super Easy

-carrots, onions, brussel sprouts and squash

-olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley and white wine vinegar

 1. Chop vegis and put on baking sheet with oil and salt.

2. Bake in preheated oven 425* 30 minutes (mixing 2 x throughout baking)

3. Take out of oven and top with seasoning. EAT

 

Cici's life is going to Change!

Fall is underway! And we are enjoying a MN warm front :) It got up to 50 today! Mark and I used the nice day to enjoy another wonderful aspect of being a home owner.... raking. We have SO many leaves, we are slightly overwhelmed, and not sure what we will do with all the bags, and are afraid to know how many bags it will take, but it is definitely worth it to have this wonderful home!

The good news about the raking is I FINALLY feel like a human again... so for those who are confused, I have to explain what I felt like before. I'll let Cici say it

Come May, Cici will not be the cutest thing in our lives. Mark and I are expecting a baby! We are VERY excited (and of course a little nervous). I am just happy to be in my second trimester! First trimester was tough. If you didn't see me, or hear from me or I seemed to do nothing, I kind of did! I dropped all my fitness classes, haven't worked out, couldn't cook and went to bed every night around 8. Mark said I was my alter-ego. As opposed to my normal busy self I did a lot of sitting, laying and watching TV.

But NOW, I have more energy again! And I'm not nauseus! And the thought of eating my own food sounds GOOD! :) I still don't really want meat.... but I'm enjoying making other things that remind me of people I love like:

Omelettes, remind me of Wake

Salmon, cornbread and kale

My moms grilled vegetables subs

Cammie's sweet potato deliciousness

Now of course all these things have been a huge step up from the things like baked lays, doritos and icecream cake I was craving in the 1st trimester.... (yes 5/6 of the cake are still in our freezer! Anyone interested?)

So now that my energy is back, Mark and I are becoming more social beings again. I was able to go apple picking with my sister-in-law Susan (also pregnant :) We went to a wedding and hung out with Mark's parents, spent time with them at the cabin and have been spending time with my other sister-in-law Anne's newborn baby :)

Good Practice!

Pregnant Ladies

Wedding Fun

So second trimester here I come! I am excited for renewed energy and little baby Aronson to keep growing and start making his/her presence  :)

Fall Begins

A couple of months into the school year and I'm finally ready to update :) (Funny to think my first year of teaching this month -October- was considered "dark" and almost impossible to get through). Now in my 5th year of teaching, there are definitely challenges, especially with my crazy group this year, but at the same time I appreciate the fun aspects of fall to help me enjoy each and every day!

There's no need to say things have been busy, they always are. Mark and I ended the summer by attending our annual camping trip (yes it's only been 2 years, but it will be annual!) on Lake Pepin with our friends Charley and Shelby Bruce. This year was a bit hotter than last, but we spent a couple of nights and were able to enjoy swimming and shade to help us cool off!

Shortly after that the school year began! My group this year is... NUTS. The first month of school I literally had 1 of two kids crying every moment of my day (my teaching in KC really prepared me for this!) Needless to say, things have gotten better, but I have to be much tougher on this group than I was last year. I am still enjoying my school, though being in our new house and my commute changing from 9 minutes each way to 40.... has been kind of rough. I am nervous for our first big snow to say the least!

My kids learning to walk in line

As the school year began we had a couple of events take place! First baby Ella was born! (Our 8th niece/nephew!)

 AND my brother and his fiance (pregnant with our 9th) moved to Minnesota! Susan (fiance) has a job here and they felt like it was a place that had a lot of things they enjoyed doing, and Mark and I couldn't be more thrilled! They stayed with us for a few weeks, and then they found a cute little apartment in South Minneapolis! We are enjoying spending time with them. Yesterday we explored a park in St. Paul/Minneapolis we had yet to visit, Minnehaha Falls and today we are going to the apple orchard to get some fresh apples!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Sans frosting)

We've also really been enjoying our new home! We've gotten a little more furniture to fill it up, and of course because it's October, I've got Halloween decorations out! I've also managed to bake a few times using Halloween decorations of course :) Last weekend we had our House Warming Party, about time I suppose, and it was fun to host lots of our friends in our larger home. We are excited as fall continues to rake the leaves and have some bonfires in our back yard, and enjoy the last few days of warmth before winter :)

Halloween Treats

New Dining Cabinet with Fall Decorations

Den Reorganized

Den Part 2 (Still not finished)

Living room with new Coffee table and rug (of course Cici is posing)

Next weekend is our Fall Break. I was hoping to make it home to NC to see family and friends, and go to WFU homecoming game, but I never found plane tickets for less than 700! On the bright side, Mark's sister Sarah is coming into town to celebrate our growing families and spend time with baby Ella, so we are excited to get to see her! I guess I'll just have to wait a few more months to see NC (and I'm sure by then I'm going to be excited for a break from the COLD!)