A very Amish day

I felt very Amish today. Ish. My friend Mary and I went to a local farm and picked gobs of strawberries...which are totally gorgeous this year! Very red, very juicy, very sweet. I picked 15lbs and paid $20, totally awesome. Then we went to the farm's little stand and I bought asparagus, peas, and honey. And THEN we stopped by a little farm house that was selling eggs and I bought a dozen. I loved that it was a little mini-fridge perched on the porch with an old cash box next to it, admonishing me to "be honest!" and pay my $2. Which I did, cross my heart.

I even wore a straw hat (Mom, I've been wearing that hat a lot that you gave me).

Now if I were really Amish, I would have picked strawberries from my own garden, harvested my own peas and asparagus, collected the eggs from my own chicken (and perhaps even hacked the neck of my own chicken and it would be boiling on my stove right now). And would have done it before 4:30am. But I can pretend, right??

Now, I have a super-awesome smoothie recipe that is bound to change your life. Or at least sweeten your morning. It's very easy, very fast, and packs a few servings of fruit at once. You can use whatever you want, but here's my fave:

Frozen blueberries (however much you want)
Frozen strawberries (man, I can't wait to use my yummy ones)
Frozen mango or peaches
Some OJ
Some honey (make it local honey!! Especially if you have seasonal allergies, it'll help)
2T ground flax seed (I don't eat fish so this is how I get my good omegas in)

First, blend, then puree. Delicious. Just watch out...those little blueberry skins are teeth-clingers. Have a mirror at the ready.

If you're a yogurt-in-the-smoothie person, have at it...but once I tried Jamba Juice's "all-fruit" smoothies, I was way hooked.

Pregnancy is going quite well...I'm 19 weeks on Wednesday, and "the big" ultrasound is NEXT Wednesday, when I'm 20 weeks. Already halfway there!!! I'm somewhat nervous about this ultrasound, I'm sure everyone is, just wanting to know that all the right pieces are in the right places. A lot of people think that the 20-week ultrasound is just to find out the sex of the baby, but it's really called an "anatomy scan" because, well, they want to know the anatomy is correct. I'm praying for a brain, lungs, functioning kidneys, a four-chamber heart with the vessels in the right spot, intestines that are tucked inside the body, a fused palate and lip, an appropriate amount of amniotic fluid...I know, pretty high standards.

So please pray that we have a great ultrasound (deep down I have peace about it, I really do), and please pray also for me as I head into the 20's. I don't want to get into too much dramatic detail, so I'll quote Matt's very correct summary: "So this is when the NICU nurse needs a sedative." Yep. My prayer is for a pregnancy that continues as smoothly as it has so far...until at least 38 weeks.

I've felt quite a bit of movement (I have since about 17 weeks, which I know is unusual for a first-time mom), and this baby is definitely a mover and shaker! I use the doppler every time I'm at work and I spend more time chasing the baby around than I do listening to the heartbeat. I hear a LOT of kicking, swooshing, and turning. It's quite amazing. I poke at my tummy and it hops to the other side. In fact, as I write this, I'm feeling a lot of tap-dancing! It won't be long before those little feet are tearing all over the house!

Anyway, that's the update, and next week I'll post a 20-week tummy picture...and hopefully pictures of a very healthy Little Bird!