Blueberry Ever After

• A baby. Yes, I would like to go ahead and have this baby, that would be a great birthday present to me!

I am due tomorrow (and it is almost tomorrow as I post this) so I am really hoping Baby Blueberry is just waiting to make an on-time appearance. I kept telling him I wouldn't mind it if he decided to come early but he is already not listening to me...I think I am in trouble!

So everyone keep your fingers crossed that he will come soon. The good news is that if he doesn't come out on his own before next Tuesday, my doctor will be seeing to it that he makes his way into the world then. I am officially scheduled for an induction on 5/19, but hoping we don't get to that point!

We'll give an update whenever he decides he's ready to join the real world!

Until then I will just keep staying busy and eating lots of spicy food. ;)

I can usually never think of anything when people ask me what I want for my birthday, but for some reason this year I have a plethora of wants. No mind that I am unemployed and withchild and Jay and I about to be broke for the next 20 years or so due to said child...I still want any and all of these things:

• First and foremost, I would like a shiny new laptop that is mine, all mine. A third floor office is not going to be conducive to my jobhunting activities once baby is on the scene so this is my priority number one. Expensive? Yes. Do I want it anyway? Yes.
• My heart also desires one of these snazzy little pocket video cameras from Creative Labs: http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=833&subcategory=834&product=18108. It meets two very important requirements. A) It is purse perfect. B) It plugs directly into your computer to upload videos. I think it will come in very handy for clips of Baby Blueberry!
• A bicycle. I would really like one and have been wanting one for a while. Obviously not a priority in comparison to my first two wishes, but still, it would be nice.
• Gray towels for my bathroom. Our master bath towels are coming up on 3 years of heavy rotation and could use a facelift. I am thinking gray would be lovely. Even some like these from (gasp!) Walmart would be just dandy: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10805354
• Some cute black Merrells for summertime. I am looking for comfy, easy to slip on shoes for a soon-to-be Mom on the go, like these perhaps: http://www.merrell.com/us/#store/W/W-F/15538W-30547/
• New clothes. After all these months of pregnancy, I am looking forward to having a waist again at some point this summer. I know when I reach that point, I will be in need of some new duds. All hail the gift certificate!
• Bare Minerals. I want to go and get pretty with some new makeup...and I need something low maintenance.
• Super Paper Mario. Yes, I am that far behind the curve when it comes to gaming. But I still want it!

I know there is more but I will leave it here for now. Let's just hope Baby B decides to make an appearance sometime soon. That will be by far the best gift I get this year!

In an attempt to plan ahead for meals after the baby gets here (in only two more weeks hopefully! Ahhhh!) I spent yesterday peforming a freezer meal marathon. I have stocked up our freezer with the following dishes:

Homemade Pizza Dough
Breaded Mac & Cheese
Sausage Lasagna
Beef Noodle Supreme
Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Chicken Bruschetta Bake
Sticky Chicken
Easy Chicken Manicotti
Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

But wait, there's more! I also plan to make a Broccoli Cheese Bake and a Chicken Casserole too. And I will keep going with the freezer meals until either the freezer is out of room or the baby arrives, whichever comes first. Swollen feet be damned!

Well I am now past the 37 week mark in my pregnancy which means that Baby Blueberry will be considered full term whether he decides to come out now or 3 weeks from now. It is hard to believe that I am almost at the end of the road. I have been so blessed and lucky to have had a relatively easy pregnancy that the time has just flown by! In fact, the only I can really complain about even now are my heinous and unattractive cankles, which I affectionately refer to as sausage feet.

But, if getting this baby means I have ugly feet for 3 weeks I think I can hang. Plus, Jay didn't even try to object when I told him that me and my fat ankles are going for a pedi next week, whether I am jobless or not! Being withchild does have its benefits...

In other exciting baby news, Kathleen and Bill welcomed their new son Nolan William into the world on April 13th! He was 10 days overdue and hanging on for dear life in there, but the doctors finally coaxed him out and I have to say he is about the cutest and squishiest little bundle of baby I've ever seen! Way to go Kathleen and Bill! I am hoping you guys have some pointers for me by the time my little guy decides to make an appearance.

That's about all the updates I have for now, so I will leave you with some squishy Nolan pics (Seriously, is he not the cutest?):

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Prepare cake mix with water, eggs and oil according to package instructions. Divide among liners. Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
• Chop chocolate (I used chocolate chips). Transfer to microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 10 second intervals, stirring until melted. Cool. Meanwhile, on medium speed, beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in corn syrup 1 tbs at a time. Gradually beat in sugar until blended. Beat in chocolate until frosting is smooth. Reserve.
• Transfer pudding to pastry bag fitted with plain tip. Insert tip 3/4" into top of each cupcake. Pipe a little pudding into each cupcake center. If desired, transfer reserve frosting to clean pastry bag fitted with large rosette tip. Pipe or spoon frosting over cupcakes.

Enjoy!