Big Belly and a Popsicle

It's about time I update the blog so here goes... this could get long!
First I'll start out with the most recent belly shot- 35 weeks! I can't believe there are only a few more to go.

My newest obsession- popsicles. As you can see, I couldn't even put this one down for 5 seconds to let Matt take a picture! Last week I couldn't stop eating these...
Skinny Cow Ice Cream Cones! This one's chocolate, obviously, but they also have vanilla with caramel sauce and mint with chocolate. I have yet to see the mint ones but my mom swears they do exist. B-E-W-A-R-E it is very hard to eat just one of these, hence the reason I had to switch to popsicles. It's a little easier to justify eating 2-3 popsicles a day than 2-3 ice cream cones. We affectionately started calling them fat cows because after 3 they aren't skinny anymore!

As you've probably heard it's been raining quite a bit around here. Matt just snapped this picture of the hail on our chairs out back. Now, I know it's not the big golf ball size hail that they get in a lot of places but hail in general really isn't common around here so it was pretty exciting!
Pregnant + lots of rain = lots of cooking. I made Ina Garten's (The Barefoot Contessa) mustard chicken salad the other day and I HIGHLY recommend it. You can find the recipe on foodnetwork.com. We didn't have any white wine so I used a little chicken stock and some champagne vinegar instead- it worked surprisingly well!
I was really craving broccoli the day I made this so I used more broccoli and tomatoes than called for but I figured you can't have too many veggies.
See the recipe for the sauce but it has some mayo, dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, tarragon, chicken stock and champage vinegar (my substitution for white wine.) The sauce is amazing- I only mixed in about half of the sauce and saved the rest. Honestly, I think it would be great on just about anything- turkey sandwiches, a dip for veggies, pasta salad, etc.
A bowl (or two...) of the final product for lunch!
This is how Tate and Riley pass the time when it rains... Tate hates the rain with a passion. I think you can see it in his eyes here- Riley is dozing off and it looks like Tate is just hatefully staring at the rain through the window above our sink. Poor guy.
While I was waiting for the chicken to cool I thought it would be funny to take a picture of the way I see my belly. I'm glad I took it, it's turned into one of my favorites.
Here's how Riley keeps me company when I'm snuggled in my chair... With all the rain we've had I've spent a pretty good amount of time here over the past week and Riley does a great job of keeping my feet warm. I mean really, how cute is she?
There isn't too much else to report. I can definitely tell my body is getting ready for the big day. The Braxton Hicks contractions have become more intense and frequent and our little man seems to have decided it's a good idea to jam his head into my spine. I'll be sure to thank him for that when he's older.

Anyways, we're pretty much ready for the big day. We have a few baby related things coming up over the next week- on Monday we have our 'pre-admission interview' at the hospital which is a chance for us to take a final tour of the Labor and Delivery area, meet some nurses, ask any final questions and go over our birth plan with the hospital so they are more prepared to meet our needs. We have our 36 week appointment on Wednesday (after this one we start going every week!!!!) and on Saturday we have our baby shower! I still think it's funny that I get so excited to go to the Dr. considering they don't do much other than the usual tests (blood pressure, urine and weight) and answer any questions we have but hey, I'm a first time mom so I have an excuse to get excited over these little things :)

That's all for now. I'll be sure to post some pictures from the baby shower as soon as I can!