T-minus three weeks and counting

Woohoo 37 weeks! We're getting pretty anxious for baby Maegwin to get here. She's getting really strong in there and kicking me. Sometimes I can feel her bony little heel or foot pretty clearly. We're almost prepared, basically we just need diapers. We're going to use disposable diapers for at least the first week or two since I don't want to ruin nice ones with the icky stuff. That gives us a bit more leeway on building up the Bum Genius stash. So far we have seven. All my co-workers had a shower for me and got us the Ergo baby carrier and the stroller frame to go with our car seat. I was really surprised. It was so generous of all of them. I'll miss them all while I'm out. One of my co-workers, Chris, also was purging baby stuff from his baby who is now two. We scored a swing, playmat, and cart liner for $50. I was very happy since we needed a swing and the playmat is really neat with lots of interactive things for when she is a bit older. The basinette came from Josh's family along with a tiny De La Salle sweatshirt that Josh was very happy about.

Lately I've been on a bit of a baking kick. As the weather starts to turn cooler I get excited about firing up the oven more often without worrying about it making the house too hot. I'm really into the bread making and Josh has been enjoying the fruits of my labors. I've tried whole wheat and a wheat blend loaf. I like them both and am going to try adding in some milk and honey to the next one to get a more sandwich bread kind of consistency. I also made cinnamon rolls which oddly are really easy. No more Pillsbury dough in a can or Cinnabons! I know, I know, *yawn* where are the pictures!? Well I documented my cinnamon roll making journey in steps. I used the food processor with the dough attachment to mix everything together and then rolled it out on the island (I'm better at this now and have since figured out that my silicone baking mat is awesome for dough rolling).

Once they were rolled out came the fun part. I slathered some butter on there and then coated the dough with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. I think the cardamom is the secret. It's such a neglected spice but it has an amazing flavor and just wants to be loved.

Note, the sun is now coming up in this picture. I'm glad my marble rolling pin made it in there. I love that thing. Anyone who wants to work with dough-spring for the marble, it is worth every penny! Nuts you say? Say no more!

Mmm, pecans...Then I rolled it all up and threw them into my beloved springform pan. Again, go for the glass bottom one. People always comment on it and it makes nice presentations.

And finally the icing. I made a double recipe and scraped out some vanilla from the beans we had to put in it.

Josh pronounced them the best cinnamon rolls he had ever eaten.

I'll have to post more later today, Planck has a vet appointment. We are also invited to an OSU vs. Michigan party. Now, I hate football or rather I am extremely indifferent to it. I'm treating this as more of a sociological experiment where I will observe the behavior of others. I'm just hoping a few people there will not be into the game and will talk to me. It is with all of Josh's co-workers so I don't know anyone. Otherwise, I'm packing some knitting so I can at least finish up some socks.