Introducing...

The belly:


Sorry I disappeared there for a few days, right in the middle of the 12 DAYS OF COOKIES; work picked up and I had a few long days to deal with, which meant nothing but work got done because I still feel low on energy.

The baby is still down near my lower hand, and will make it up to about my belly button soon, but is still making quite the bump. One not-so-bright acquaintance exclaimed "Oh! You're so big!" It took all my strength to not say "bite me" because I know I'll get a lot bigger. But yes, I am much bigger than I though I'd be at this point. I'll be 20 weeks (halfway done) at Christmas which kind of blows my mind.

********************************************************************

Speaking of 12 DAYS OF COOKIES, here are 3 yummy-looking recipes to make up for missing the past 2 days and one for today.

First come the prettiest Peppermint-topped Brownies I've ever seen, and really, is there a better combination than mint and chocolate? Not this time of year, I don't think. (There used to be a picture with that recipe, and I don't know what happened to it, so sorry if it's not there but promise me, they looked pretty.) Although they sound like a bit of work, the work doesn't sound difficult just time consuming, and they'd be perfect if you were trying to impress someone with your mad baking skills.

Next, are Lemon-Frosted Sugar Cookies. I, personally, love cookies that are sweet and a bit tart, so these would fit the bill nicely, I'm sure. And, with a little wheat germ in them, they sound like they may have some nutritional value. Score!

This next one is for all the Seinfeld fans out there: Black-and-White Cake Cookies! I'm sure these will be nicer to you than Jerry's was to him.

***********************************************************************

Our 3-year wedding anniversary is next week (I can't believe it; 3 years already!), and Aaron has been mentioning taking me somewhere for the weekend. I also have my work Christmas party tonight, so this is shaping up to be a fun weekend. Too bad I have zero Christmas presents bought yet except for one I made for Aaron. Yes that's right. None.

I'm beginning to freak out a little bit about this fact.