At my last OB appointment they asked me if I wanted to do a genetic screening blood test. While I would never even consider terminating a pregnancy I am absolutely on board with knowing what we can to know how to prepare. I asked if the test would also give us information on the sex of the baby….yep and with 99.4% accuracy! I left my appointment and talked to Seth. He had known I might have testing done but never asked about it so I decided as long as he didn’t ask I wouldn’t mention it and then would be able to surprise him once I got the call. The midwife mentioned it would be done in a week…so I called at the one week mark. And the two week mark. By week 3 I was going a bit crazy wanting to find out but also a bit terrified to get a call when I was by myself.

Last Monday my phone rang while I was seeing a speech patient. I silenced the call and called them back as soon as I left the appointment. It went to the nurses voice mail so I eagerly awaited her call back. When she called back she told me that the baby looks healthy with no blaring neural tube stuff going on. The baby looks great! Whew. And then she asked if we wanted to know the gender. I said “OF COURSE!!!”. She told me it’s a girl. I asked her to repeat it because certainly she was mistaken. We make boys…everyone we know for months have been telling us it had to be a boy, yada, yada. But she said again with a slight laugh at me that “it is in fact a GIRL, a female!”  (We have had lots of questions on whether or not we wanted a boy or girl. Anyone that knows we well knows that I have always longed for a daughter. I had totally prepared myself that this baby could very well be a boy and that that would also mean that we would likely not ever have a daughter. I had no doubt that we would be over the moon with another boy but I also see something so special in families with little girls. It’s just different. So in many ways this little girl is an answer to lots of prayers! I thought the answer would be that God would give me peace without having a daughter so it feels like an amazing treat that he decided to bless us with what we so much desired.)

Now I had this big secret. I couldn’t wait for Seth to be home to tell him!!!!

When I got home from work I dug out the couple of little girl things I had from friends during my other two pregnancies. I decided it would be fun to hang them inside Seth’s closet so when he got home and went to hang up his suit he would see the girl clothes.  Needless to say he was thrilled with the news but also in disbelief like me.  In such disbelief that he called the doctors office himself the next day to confirm!

The next day we decided to tell the boys.  We filled a big metal bucket with balloons and when they pulled off the quilt a bunch of pink balloons popped out. They are delighted with the news and can’t wait to meet their little sister!

On Friday we are all going together for the 20 week sonogram! Jackson is so excited to get out of school to go “meet” the baby. Can’t wait for our little date with her.  We are nearly half way to meeting her which is hard to believe. With two big ones and tons of activities going on I am afraid she will be here before we have time to blink!

Hi folks! While it’s not time yet to go on and on about tomatoes and pesto I thought I would throw out a few recipes we have tried lately that will now stay in the rotation! The basil plants aren’t ready for quarts of pesto we are tossing basil and fresh herbs into just about everything these days!  I would love to have more pictures to share but since I am just now back into cooking again I am not in my cooking/picture groove.  Since I don’t have many new pics I’ll toss in some from my day trip to Italy last May.

Giada’s Tri Color Orzo Pasta Salad This one is light and fresh! I subbed spinach for arugula thinking the kids might like it more but really the adults were the ones that ate it! My mom turned me on to this when my cousin made it and it was all the rage. Unlike lots of pasta salads this one is light and lemony without a heavy sauce!

Grilled Marinated Flat Steak This is the best marinade I have found in a while. I found some sirloin flap steak at Costco a couple of months ago and had never used “flap steak” before so I did a quick searcharoo. Up popped this recipe and it has been great every time we use it! *Just to clarify, the link takes you to a blog that has both a rub and a marinade. I used the marinade but my mom tried out the rub. The rub looks spicy, the marinade has lots of flavor but no spice which is nice with a crowd!

Any season appetizer…Baked Fontina  . This is delish! You literally cut up fontina, toss it into a small cast iron skillet and top it with fresh herbs, olive oil and garlic. Broil it and serve it with baguette! Thanks, Ina! It’s not for an outdoor summer gathering like a bbq but we had a chilly afternoon a few weeks ago when we had family over and it was a great preview to the above steak. To make it more summery you could toss sun-dried tomatoes on top and then when it comes out top it with fresh chopped basil or drizzle with pesto. Or even be really adventurous and in season and try it with one of those raspberry chipotle sauces or sliced peaches.

Mini potatoes- once it gets hot we are not in the mood for heavy potato meals but I am not always in the mood for all cold salads as sides. We have used the mini potatoes from Trader Joe’s before for fondue but I picked up a bag last week and they were a perfect summer dinner side. I boiled them for 15 or 20 minutes or so until they were tender. I then heated a cast iron skillet and added a little bit of butter, olive oil, garlic and a small shallot sliced. I tossed in the potatoes for a quick saute. When they were looking nice and golden I turned off the heat and tossed them with a tablespoon of fresh herbs. I used parsley, thyme and rosemary since we had those handy.

Don’t despair….tomatoes and pesto are on their way! Tomato basil pie will be here before you know it!