16 week photos...

 Stef under the cherry blossoms and lilacs.  16 weeks.

 The boys!  : )

Movin' along...

13 weeks.  Next ultrasound in a month.

They're Heeeeerrrrreeeeeee...

Where to begin?  At the beginning I suppose.  Stef and I have been trying to start a family of our own for a number of years now.  We had been told by our Ob/Gyn that we would probably have to use some sort of fertility medication, but out of concern for multiples we opted to wait until Tom was closer to completing his program.  Around September we decided it was time to progress to the next stage.  Stef was started with two rounds of Clomid (to help with ovulation), without any response at all.  In January, Stef's Ob/Gyn progressed us to a drug called Femara.  Stef seemed to respond and had all the symptoms and discomfort of ovulation; on both sides.  However, on ultrasound, the doctor thought the developing follicles were still a little on the small side, but was optimistic that we still may be successful, although she outlined the next plan to up the dose of Femara plus add some shots for the next round if it didn't work.  We were optimistic, but cautious--just glad to see that Stef was actually responding.  As part of our established cycle of fertility treatment, we took our pregnancy test. 

The morning of February 19th, 2011 (14 years to the day that I asked Stef to be my girlfriend) we had a surprising result (see below).  Please note, that according to the test, Stef was not just pregnant, but was "very" pregnant.  The line on the left is the "yes you're pregnant line," while the line on the right is the "yes, you peed on the stick line."  Notice how the line on the left dwarfed the line on the right. Hmmm...

Later the following week Stef had some blood work done, some of which included a quantitative hcg over a two day course.  We were pleased to here back from the doctor that everything looked great, and that she would like us to have an ultrasound as soon as possible.  Which seemed sort of funny...  Everything we had read stated that you really wouldn't be able to see anything on ultrasound--too soon to see an embryo, too soon to hear a heart beat.  We justified it to ourselves by saying,"They probably just want to confirm proper implantation and placement." 

But, now we understand why.  Because apparently, Stef's hcg (or pregnancy hormone) was doubling twice as fast as a normal pregnancy.  Below is the result.

So yes, you are seeing double.  TWINS!

We wanted to wait to post and tell extended family and friends after we had confirmed both babies' heart beats, which happened this morning (See bottom strips on the right side of panels).  What an awe-inspiring moment when we heard two hearts woosh-wooshing to their own little rhythms.  We're still in shock, but it is starting to sink in.

Homemade Pizza Night...

Homemade dough...

 Calabrese Salami, marinated artichoke hearts, tons of garlic in a homemade tomato sauce with entirely too much oregano...

 Fresh mozzarella...

Baked to a golden crisp with a soft doughy center edges... 

Mmmmm...

Happy Holidays

The night before Thanksgiving, Stef and I partook in our, thus far, 3 year tradition of Chinese Food dinner before Turkey day.  We have no particular reason for doing Chinese food the night before Thanksgiving, other than the fact that it's just what we've done before.  Tradition for the sake of tradition.

On Thanksgiving we had Rosemary/Sage butter encrusted turkey, mashed potatoes, jalepeno cranberry sauce, sourdough stuffing with celery, onion and sage, and rolls.  We used the melted butter from the Rosemary/Sage drippings combined with flour to make the roux and combined it with the turkey drippings to make the gravy.  Oh so good.

 Today we went to Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm and chopped down our christmas tree.  It's not snowing in the picture, but it's cold enough to be.  Thanks to Sophia for the wonderful Doppler beanie hat; very toasty.

Tala and Rusty (with Antlers)

Summer Days and Bountiful Harvests

Rusty keeping cool in the shade.

Tala just got back from a walk and is playing in the yard.

Our budding Giant Pumpkin.  It's "only" 16" in diameter, but still has 2 and a half months to go to Halloween.

One of several weekly green bean harvests from the yard.

Fresh vine-ripened Romas and Cherry tomatoes from the raised garden.  Stef made the most amazing tomato sauce with these.

Fresh raspberry harvest from our friends Jeff and Julie.  We gave them ~ 2 gallons of fresh sour cherries from our tree.  I think we may have a summer food co-op going.

Making some Home-made Raspberry sorbet.  The best...

Small batch of peaches from our tree.  We would have had a bumper crop if it weren't for torrential down pour of rain for a week, which made the remaining peaches mushy and non-useable.  I guess next year will be the year.

Making some peach sorbet.

Stef is allergic to peaches.  But if we cook the puree, it inactivates the allergens.

Cherry Harvest...

When we bought our home, one the features we liked the most was the two mature cherry trees in the backyard. So, after all of our projects over the past two years, we now have the time to harvest the fruit of our labor.  Literally.  So far we have 4 and a half gallons of fresh Sour Cherries, pitted and frozen down.  Later this summer will be the Peach harvest.

For now, it will be the "Best Ever Cherry Pie:"

1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups pitted fresh or fresh-frozen (not canned) sour cherries, juice drained
4 drops almond extract
Cornstarch to thicken (about 2 tablespoons)
Pastry for Two 9-inch pie shells
Butter, cut in small pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Lightly mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, cherries, extract and cornstarch.  Mix lightly but thorougly (allow fresh-frozen cherries to thaw slightly).  Pour cherry mixture into pastry-lined pan and dot with butter pieces.  Top with pastry, either in a lattice pattern or one piece.  Crimp sides to seal.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes.  If necessary, use foil to protect pastry edges from over-browning.

Source:  Toledo Blade.  JoAnn Glick receieved this recipe from Pat Buehrer of Sylvania, OH.  They both say not to use canned cherries, and that the almond extract is the secret.

Tala and Rusty like to take care of the cherries that miss the bucket and fall to the ground.

Our hands were so sticky with cherry juice.  And the juice was so sour/sweet and good.