Massive three-part picture post... it's been a while!

PART ONE: The Belly  

If authors were honest, books on pregnancy would have these words of advice under "pregnancy fashion"

If you really care, don't get pregnant.

Because it doesn't matter how much money you have and how fabulous the designers are that are making the clothes, eventually you will, like me, find yourself in the -- I have trouble typing this -- Practical Shoes section of DSW wanting to hide your face in shame.

Ah yes!  It's out!  I did some "advanced calculations" and decided that the chances of anyone but my mom reading this beats the likelihood of running (big belly first) into a friend not-yet-in-the-know so I might as well get the process down on record.

So here's where we've been while I wasn't posting because who can post about anything else when you're GOING TO HAVE A BABY?!?   (G-d willing!)

So, here's the little bugger from a few weeks ago... this shirt doesn't fit anymore.  That was fast.

PART TWO: The Food

This is for Whitney, who requested photos, here was the massive erev Shabbos cook-off from last week.  We had some amazing guests and a really lovely time.  I'm a huge fan of making lots at a time, in small batches, and freezing.  Here are the 16 baby challahs that I baked.  I won't be baking challah again for a few months :)

Or my absolute favorite carrot cake...
(The recipe is no longer online! Such a shame!  This cake is packed with raisins, walnuts and, of course, shredded carrots.  Deeelicious.)

Ok this chicken is slightly charred... but it's my favorite chicken dish and tasted better than it looks.  And this from a girl who's really not a fan of meat.  Broiled chicken with Jack Daniels' BBQ sauce and veggies and pineapple mmmmmm...

Potato kugel, which we don't particularly love but goes great if left on top of the chulent pot until lunch on Saturday.








Finally, here's a preview of what I couldn't take pictures of because it was made (or finished cooking) on Shabbos.  Our chulent, some amazing fresh cherries, and the pineapple that's left from the chicken which turned into an amazing fruit salad.  We also had dips, gefilte fish, a regular romaine salad, an Asian cabbage salad, and another fruit salad.  Mmm...





PART THREE: Boston

We went on a fabulous overnight to Boston for 4th of July (although the only thing we DIDN'T do was fireworks!)  It was amazing to do the fun road trip, see open roads and SPACE (something we miss dearly in NJ), and get away from our crazy heat wave.

Our view as the sun was coming up on the highway... about two hours into the trip.  (We left at 4 AM after a brief nap.  Fenway was the next day, which kept us going strong, but we opted to watch the fireworks from the comfort of our hotel room bed.)

We had a difficult time trying to figure out why there were so many parking spots available  We spent a good ten minutes looking for hidden signs until we realized we're just not in NY anymore.

Our view from the bleachers at Fenway, by far the highlight of our trip, despite the fact that the Red Sox seemed to think they were also on vacation.  That would be the one and only head between us and the (far far back of) the field.  Very exciting :)

Obligatory stadium shot.  Omri looks so hot in Red Sox paraphernalia.

The highlight of Omri's Fenway foray.  Meat and milk vending machines that "cook" your kosher food for you--and you STILL get to pay outrageous ballpark prices!  (They were small, but surprisingly good!)

Future Fan t-shirt.  Of course I bought it!

Proof that Omri's really a Jewish hippie at heart.  He went a night without sleeping to make sure he'd make minyan Sunday morning in Boston, but on Monday, he got to get in touch with his inner Chassid.

Finally, some silly tourist-y pictures to round it out:

 

Conclusion: road trips are awesome, especially with an Omri.