Thai Spring Rolls

I got this recipe from Pampered Chef and it is so good. Just the right thing for those times when you want something tasty but not heavy. I made them the other night. Blueberry Lucas has decided she really likes Asian cuisine (particularly Thai), which is making living in Sanford difficult. (Too bad she doesn't like Mexican). I've had to improvise when its not feasible to drive to Cary.

Sauce Ingredients
1/4 c. peanut butter
2 T. rice wine vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. water
1 t. minced garlic
1/8 t. Cayenne Pepper

Other Ingredients
spring roll wrappers (I actually found these at Lowe's foods in Sanford)
cucumber, julienned
carrot, julienned
red pepper, julienned
baby spinach leaves
deli meat turkey or chicken, or diced cooked chicken


These spring roll wrappers are funny boogers. The package tells you how to do them. Soak them in water until they are really soft. Then lay them out on a damp down and dap them sort of dry. Put all your fillings in and slather on a generous amount of the peanut sauce. Then wrap them up like a burrito. They're real sticky so it takes some getting used to. Oh, and don't leave them out without covering in cling wrap. The wrappers will dry out and be chewy and hard. The downside of this recipe is that it is time consumming to chop all the vegetables and wrap the rolls. Next time I'm going to try to save some time by using tortillas and making a chicken Thai wrap.

Blueberry Lucas Update

We are now close to 17 weeks along (almost halfway there!) I had a check up appointment yesterday and everything is looking terrific. Whew! I get nervous before those appointments every time. I was glad to hear the midwife specifically state that my weight gain was right on target. I fully expected her to be all Whoa Hoss, Slow down. But she actually used the terms "great" and "ideal". Hah! At this time when I was pregnant with Joseph, the midwife gave me a stern talking to about weight gain and junk food. Which, mind you, I did not consume. I kept trying to tell her that I actually ate really healthy and consistently exercised but she just pursed her lips and ignored me. I know she was thinking, "Yea right, Fatty", while writing in my chart, "This woman is delusional." I was all upset and felt like a giant land dwelling whale woman. But I ended up only gaining about 45 pounds with Joseph in all, which really isn't bad. And it all came off...a year later. The difference between first and second pregnancies is this: The first time you cry when the medical professional tells you that you have gained too much weight and worry about how you are damaging your unborn child. The second time you tell her to shove it and pass the gravy.

I'm still convinced Blueberry Lucas is a girl. Evidence is as follows:

1. I carry the baby higher. Some of my pants still fit. Said pants would have never fit last time. (But, see paragraph above. Maybe I was just a fat ass).

2. The midwife yesterday said the heartbeat was fast, meaning a girl. (But the little stinker could have been doing laps in there or maybe just freaked out that something was poking on it, explaining a higher heart rate).

3. I have a list of several girl names. And Drew even agrees on some. I cannot think of any boy names. (If you ask me what they are, I will pretend to not hear you.)

4. When Joseph was in the belly he like meat, big hunks of slightly undercooked meat. This baby prefers fruits, veggies, grilled chicken and sushi (cooked, of course). This could just be an indication that I was psychologically damaged by the fat talk last time that my mind and body are colluding to reject all that good stuff.

5. The first weeks of this pregnancy were about zero fun. Meaning that she is already being spiteful to her mother.

AND FINALLY, the most compelling evidence:

6. I had a client tell me when I was pregnant with Joseph that I would have a girl if I ate hot sauce on my fried chicken.

We will be able to confirm Blueberry's girlness on May 3.

ELMO!

I just wanted to post some pictures of this sweet boy. He's hanging out in his drawers watching his beloved ELMO! When ELMO! comes on the screen he looks at us like we should be just as excited and yells ELMO!!! Then he gets mad when the ELMO! bit cuts to another skit, which is oddly directed at one of us like we did something to cause it. Yet we can't explain that he will be back and that's the way TV works. Maybe a solution is to get a DVD with just ELMO! I just thought of that. Dilemma solved. Thanks internet.

Joseph's New Sandbox

A couple of weeks ago we created raised garden beds to plant a garden-palooza this spring. When the dirt was delivered, Joseph was obsessed with standing in it and running his hands in it. I decided that he needed a sandbox, which the Easter bunny dropped off a few days before Easter to lighten his load. It is a hit. Nothing else can cause him to sit still for so long (other than the truck book late in the evening, and sometimes the very loud Elmo book). As I committed, I'm taking more pictures despite the drama. Joseph has special shoes (Crocs) for the sandbox and he'll take them to you and grunt to let you know in no uncertain terms that its time. I've been hiding the shoes as of late.

Easter

What a fabulous Easter weekend it was! You know it's a good one when you have to break out the SPF 55. Saturday we had our annual Lucas Easter extravaganza. A 12-hour affair complete with an egg hunt for the kids, an "extreme" egg hunt for the grown-ups, a sack race, a spoon race, an egg decorating contest, a copious amount of alcohol and, of course, Amish trivia (don't ask). Who doesn't celebrate Easter with alcohol and Amish trivia? Just a quick recap of the highlights. The defending champion (ME!) defended her title as reigning egg decorating queen with a basket of three eggs decorated like baby bluebirds. Aunt Catherine came in strong with two eggs decorated as a bride and groom complete with a tuxedo and a gilded dress. Andrew came in as runner up with a man wearing suspenders made out of a rubber band -a last ditch effort that paid off. The extreme egg hunt was not as extreme as past years due to one pregnant contender, one contender with a hurt knee, and, let's be honest, we're all getting older. Drew, as in past years, came home withe the most eggs. Over 200 eggs were hidden, most of which contained dollar bills. One even had a twenty dollar bill, which was brought home by the reigning egg decorating queen. A "special" egg was uncovered by Andrew, which was also worth twenty dollars. Andrew, who has an unnatural hopping ability (really, it's crazy) won the sac race by a mile. No one else could even muster up any competition. Drew came come with the spoon race prize. Prizes in the form of lottery tickets were handed out for Amish trivia. (As mentioned, don't ask). Sunday we went to church bright and early and then continued to eat more food all day long and recover. Here are some picture of the boy hunting his eggs and after church.

Easter Bunny Boy

We had Joseph's Easter picture taken professionally. You've probably noticed that lately there have been a lack of pictures of Joseph. While the child is quite gifted in many areas, he is simply not photogenic. Every time I try to take his picture he does one of two things. He either dashes towards me and tries to take the camera, resulting in pictures of a little hand reaching towards the camera. If he happens to be still, he scrunches up his face in this weird little grimace/scowl. I think it might be an attempt to smile, but not sure. Anyway, if we happen to get a candid smile shot, he's probably going to be covered in snot/food/dirt. It's hard to find the energy these pregnancy days to fight the picture taking struggle. But, I realized how few pictures we have of him over the last couple of months and have committed to fight the good fight.