Happy Friday! What a week it’s been. Watching the devastation caused by the flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Texas has been awful. It’s crazy to think that not even a year ago our own beautiful island was turned upside down by Hurricane Matthew. It was awful and the flooding in Houston looks so much worse.  I didn’t think Hilton Head would ever look the same, but almost a year later, it almost does. It’s amazing how people came together and so many wonderful incidences of compassion and aspects of humanity emerged from such a terrible storm. I know the same thing will happen in Houston, but the process will be long and heartbreaking for so many who lost so much.

As hard as the Harvey coverage has been to watch, Robert and I had something to celebrate this week as well. We are officially half way through this pregnancy, a milestone that seemed unimaginable at the beginning of it all. Hitting the half way mark this week also meant we got to experience our anatomy scan, which was indescribably amazing. Modern medicine is nothing short of miraculous, and watching an anatomy ultrasound is the perfect example of this. We saw tiny fingers and toes, the ventricles of the brain, two tiny kidneys (which honestly just looked like little black spots to me), a long spine and ribs, and best of all the 4 chambers of a rapidly beating little heart ❤

I was apprehensive going into this ultrasound since we opted not to do any genetic testing prior to this appointment. A few days before the test I wondered if that was the right decision and if we would get shocking news once the ultrasound began. Thankfully, all appears to be well, and the doctor reassured us that anything life threatening would have been picked up. I’m sure I’ll find brand new worries in a few days but for now I am feeling thankful and relieved.

We also got confirmation that we are having a little girl. Or as the doctor referred to the picture, “yep, three lines, that’s a hamburger!”. Awkward.

I was anxious to know the gender the week we got back from New York, so I went in for a private ultrasound and we found out with our families that night with an incredibly cute Publix cake.

It was an exciting experience, but also overwhelming. The second I found out I was pregnant I felt pretty strongly that it was a girl. About three weeks later those feelings disappeared and I started to think that perhaps it was a boy after all. Robert was convinced we’d have a son as were most of our family members. We fell in love with a male family name with special significance and jumped onto the boy bandwagon. Seeing the pink chocolates spill out of the cake was wonderful because of course we are thrilled to be having a baby girl, but to be totally honest it was also a little sad to know we would not be having that baby boy.

I know that sounds kind of crazy and of course I believe that all babies are the most beautiful blessing and am beyond thankful, but I don’t think it’s totally abnormal to have mixed feelings initially if you’ve been dreaming strongly in either pink or blue. Read: If you really want an X and feel kind of sad upon finding out you are having a Y then it doesn’t make you a bad person or parent, just a normal one. You can be excited about one possibility while mourning the loss of another all at the same time, the feelings aren’t mutually exclusive. I wanted someone to tell me that, so I’m telling you. And also if you express those feelings to someone and they say, “How terrible, you should be happy with either!” then that person is annoying and ignore them. “Mixed Feelings” is probably a good way to describe this entire pregnancy for me. It’s been wonderful but also terrifying and pretty much everything in between. I guess starting with a loss will do that to you, or maybe that’s just parenthood in general, the best thing but also sometimes the hardest, or maybe I really am just kind of crazy (probably).

Ok, so enough baby talk, on to the burgers! I was originally going to write about our trip to New York today but then I remembered that it’s a long holiday weekend, and probably the last “grilling out holiday” of the year, so obviously burgers took center stage.

Confession: I am not really THAT into burgers. I know they are all the rage on instagram and the hot thing with ‘foodies’ but I almost never order or make them. This is unfortunate for my darling husband who potentially loves cheeseburgers more than he loves me. As much as I am not THAT into burgers, I am THAT into THIS burger.

This burger recipe is actually from one of my Hello Fresh boxes, and it is hands down my favorite thing I’ve ever received from them. Since initially receiving it I have made it several times, always for company and always to rave reviews. As you’ll have noticed, my pictures for this recipe are pretty sub par because A. I’m too embarrassed to take food photos in front of company, B. I’m really NOT that good at taking food photos period (sue me) and C. Why even bother when the photos I take couldn’t ever compare to the professionally styled Hello Fresh ones? Bad pictures, Delicious burger recipe, it’s a fair trade. It’s just different enough without being too out there and if you even kind of like Thai flavors just the teeny tiniest bit then you will LOVE this burger. And whatever you do, DON’T forget the siracha mayonnaise!

I hope you love these burgers as much as I do! I also hope Hello Fresh doesn’t sue me for borrowing their photo. Whip some of these up this Labor Day and let me know what you think!

Lemongrass Pork Burgers (Barely adapted from Hello Fresh)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Lemongrass Paste

1 Lime, zested and cut in half

2 Shallots or 1 small white onion, minced

1/4 Oz Mint Leaves, chopped

1/4 C. Mayonnaise

4 tsp. Siracha

1 lb. Ground Pork

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

2 tsp. Thai Seasoning

4 Brioche Buns

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine pork, lemongrass paste, lime zest, shallot, soy sauce, mint, Thai Seasoning, half the siracha and juice from half the lime. Mix throughly and season with salt and pepper. Shape mixture into 4 (or more) evenly sized patties.
2. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, the remaining siracha (Or more to taste if you love heat!) and the juice from the remaining half of the lime. Stir thoroughly and set aside.
3. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add burgers and cook until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
4. Toast buns, spread each side with siracha mayo mixture and top with burgers. Enjoy!