we're still alive!

I haven't done a blog post for a month! I think that's a record. Also, I can't believe it's been a whole month since we found out that Baby Congdon is a little boy - and that was the last blog post I wrote!

What we've been up to:

• We went to the Dallas Zoo! We found a deal for $1 tickets, which is just too good to pass up. It was a pretty decent zoo - they had lions, cheetahs, tigers, crocodiles, elephants, giraffes (which you could feed), zebras and so on. We had fun walking around... even though we were pretty much the only people there without kids. Not for much longer!

Rhino

Big crocs

Elephants

Baby giraffe :)

Cheetah

 White alligator - I had no idea these things existed. I was convinced it wasn't real until it started moving.

It was a hot day and I was pretty exhausted by the end!

• Thomas's parents and youngest brother Paul came for a visit. We had a great time, but unfortunately I was in a cold-induced fog and didn't take any pictures. We went to the Texas State Fair with them, and  Thomas took lots of pictures of the bird show (because apparently birds are more interesting than people...) He did get a couple pictures of people, though.

A paparazzi picture of Paul.

Watching the bird show.

A really big bird... crowned crane, or something like that!

• We went apartment hunting. We're going to stay in The Village (the mega apartment neighborhood where we live), because it's a great, safe location with pretty parks and walks and we love it, but we need a bigger place with baby boy on the way. We're thinking of moving  in early January while Thomas is on break from graduate school. I'll be very pregnant then, so I won't have to do a thing :) Haha.

• I've been doing lots of cooking and even some baking. The 2nd trimester energy rush and appetite have arrived [side note: I can't believe I'm 24 weeks pregnant!]. Here are a few pictures of things I've made.

Twice-baked quinoa-stuffed butternut squash. SO. GOOD.

No-bake raspberry-lemon cheesecake. Indescribably amazing.

I also made two pumpkin pies last weekend... I've made pumpkin pie before and it didn't turn out as yummy as I wanted. But this time I looked through a few different recipes and pieced together my own recipe... and it turned out really well.

I forgot to take pictures, but here's the recipe I came up with (it makes two 9-inch pies):

2 (15oz) cans of pure mashed pumpkin

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 (12oz) can evaporated milk (or 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2/3 cup of sugar

1/3 cup agave nectar *

2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

*If you don't have agave nectar, just use another 1/2 cup of sugar (agave nectar is slightly sweeter than sugar).

Mix pumpkin and cream cheese together with an electric mixer. Add in evaporated milk, cream, sugar and agave nectar and continue mixing. At this point I skip over the eggs, and put in the salt, vanilla, and spices so I can taste the mixture and add more to taste (I don't eat raw eggs). Then I put the eggs in at the end and continue mixing until smooth.

Pour the mixture into two pre-baked 9-inch pie crusts, and bake at 350*F for 40 - 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pies comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream :)

• We did some pumpkin carving with Craig & Emily and Andrew & Janelle. Mine and Thomas's pumpkin was defective... the skin was so hard it took Thomas half an hour just to cut a lid in the top. But everyone else made awesome pumpkins :)

Thomas trying to saw his way through our impossibly hard pumpkin.

Craig & Emily.

Andrew & Janelle.

 

Emily having way too much fun with her pumpkin guts :)

 Trying to figure out what to do with our lame pumpkin.

Emily's pumpkin squishing Craig's pumpkin :)

Me & the stupid defective pumpkin.

Everyone else's awesome pumpkins.

Apparently pumpkin carving wore Thomas & Andrew out.

• I've been getting more pregnant (surprise!) and baby boy has turned into quite the acrobat inside me! It's fun to watch my belly move when he's doing his exercises :) This is me at 23 weeks.

• Thomas has been plugging away at his graduate engineering classes and working full time as well. I've been cleaning, reorganizing, getting ready for baby and even starting to pack for our move while he's working. So we've been busy, busy, busy!