Domesticity

Today I scorned several domestic tasks in order to accomplish others. My house is still messy, and nothing got organized (sure, it's not even 2:30, but I'm pretty confidant the only other thing that's getting done today is playing with my babycakes). However, I made round two of biscotti for the week, I peeled, seeded, and stewed a bunch of tomatoes for soup, I baked snickerdoodle blondies, and my biggest accomplishment of all: freezer calzones. I'm not hugely into freezer meals, but with baby number two just weeks away, it seems prudent to have some convenient lunches and dinners on hand. Also, I was stressed because I had half a jar of pasta sauce and some sliced bell peppers in the fridge that I was paranoid would go bad before we could eat them. Solution? Whip up a double batch of homemade whole wheat pizza dough, puree the peppers, some random carrots, a bit of onion, and some olive oil and sautee it, cook up the defrosted ground turkey and add it to the vegetable mix along with the jarred sauce, and toss in some parmesean cheese and oregano. Then, I divided the dough into small pieces and made calzones with the sauce mixture and some mozzarella. I flash froze them and then sealed them up nice and tight in little baggies. Presto! 16 calzones in the freezer; dinner is only 30 minutes away!

Oh, and what's with all the baking? We're throwing a cozy fall coffee house bridal shower this Sunday, and the menu includes an assortment of coffee housey baked goods. I love biscotti so much, and it's so easy to make.

Finally, today I finished a rather substantial translation piece I was asked to do for church. I'm relieved to have it done before the baby comes! It was a fun challenge (the language was much more colloquial than I'm used to) and it was delightful to use my degree for something again! I'm slowly crossing things off the to-do list in preparation for hunkering down for a while with two babies.

Oh, maybe one more thing- it just began to rain! Go figure, I water the garden for the first time in a few days, and it rains this afternoon! But I'll take it! I thought monsoon season was over- praise Jesus for beautiful rain!!

September Showers and Such

It's an exceedingly busy season for the FCF shower ministry; it seems like everyone is getting ready to have a baby! On Saturday I helped throw a hunting themed shower for a friend who's having her first boy. It turned out really cute, and was lots of fun. I can't take any credit for the awesome decorations, but I can for the food, which included a make-your-own trailmix bar and an assortment of bright "hunter" orange items. Also, there were amazing BBQ elk sandwiches, from the mom-to-be's own elk!

Last night was the shower for me and my little guy- it was Robin Hood themed! All I did was come up with the theme (months ago) and show up! It was pretty fabulous- it took place at the lovely home of a family that lives deep in the woods (Sherwood Forest, of course). We ate lots of Englishy things, including homemade meat hand pies, scones with Devonshire cream, and root vegetables (which happen to be my favorite). I was highly impressed with our collective knowledge of Robin Hood trivia, and (thanks to a Wikipedia cram session) I was able to answer a couple questions myself! A woman from church gave a poignant talk, and another woman gave a, well, not so poignant talk (mostly involving the complexities of diaper changes for boys!). We got some terrific things for our little cowboy, thanks to my amazing friends! Rory  had lots of fun playing with the other young/baby girls in attendance, and she even got her own little present to hopefully lessen the coming trauma.

Awesome target and arrow cupcakes!

Our Englishy snacks

Some of the lovely guests

A few attendees getting some cider (Hint: I'm the pregnant one in the Robin Hood hat)

 Other random news:
- We are SO excited that my sister and brother in law and little niecey are going to spend Thanksgiving with us!!!!!!!
- I stored away almost all of the rest of Rory's summer clothes, which made me sad.
- I put baby boy clothes into a dresser for the first time in my life!
- We finally got Aurora's new big girl convertible car seat, which was mildly traumatizing for me (long story).
- We ordered 30 pounds of amazing bacon today, although we're only keeping half of it.
- I (with Blake's amazing assistance) canned 8 pints of tomato basil soup!
- Rory has added eyes, head, and chin to her body parts repertoire (belly button and nose).

Rory loves her new pushy cart thing, and is realizing quickly that walking may be handy

She travels all over the house with her pushy cart

Wearing a pretty summer dress for the last time

And her blue jellies for the last time too

Pushy carts are such fun!

I always told myself I would never have magnetic alphabet letters on my fridge. But not only does my husband add magnetic alphabet letters to the shopping cart, he adds numbers too! Sure enough, Rory loves them. And sure enough, they end up all over the floor. Nothing says "babies" quite as clearly as magnetic alphabet magnets on a fridge.

Cowboy

It's been a little while since my last post; life has just been so full lately! It's not like we've been up to anything overly exciting, just living. Autumn is definitely here, although summer is still lingering. I find it tricky to menu plan this time of year, since I never really know if it will be an airy lemony chicken day or a cozy soup and bread day.

While I enjoy summer, I'm wishing fall along right now, since fall means the arrival of our new family member! It's so neat to think that he's been specially chosen and designed to be with us; it makes me a little less nervous that he'll be unpleasant or he won't like me. We've been calling him "Cowboy" lately, and Blake's commented dreamily a couple of times that maybe he'll come out with a beard (obviously not okay in my book). There's still much to do before he comes, and the days are pretty full with cub scouts, MOPS, book club, Bible study, Blake's work and homework, and general festiveness.

We love everything we're involved with, but my very favorite evenings are the ones when we just stay home and be a family.

Aurora had her 15 month checkup the other day. She's finally reached 20 pounds! For the first time, her doctor was not concerned about her size or the fact that she's still not walking. I figure by the time she's 18 months she'll get around to it; we're not in a huge hurry for that to happen! Our Rory is not a risk taker; she'll walk when she knows she'll be proficient at it, just like she waited to crawl and stand until she knew she could do it with minimal bruises. As a mom, I'm grateful for that! She's a huggy, affectionate, joyful, goofy little creature. She loves belly buttons and laughing, puts her hand over her face when she's exasperated and buries her face in my shoulder when overcome with delight, and still is suspicious of vegetables. While she does test us on some matters, so far Rory is not terribly stubborn or defiant or rebellious; she's correctable and easy going. I don't know if there's anything more precious than the way her sleepy little face lights up when Blake or I go pull her out of her crib when she wakes up!

My children!

Polka dots and playtime

So excited to go for a hike!

Strawberry baby and handsome husband

Looking so grownup in her sparkle leggings!

Activity

This week the last of our fall activities is starting! We've got a full but fun schedule between cub scouts, MOPS, Bible study, and Blake's work and classes. Oh yeah, and we're having a baby.

I don't think I've written nearly as much about this pregnancy as the last one, mostly because it's been so easy. By easy, I mean that I've felt really, really good, and even more importantly, there's been none of the angst and emotional turmoil that I had with Rory. Whereas going from zero to one child seemed earthshaking, adding another seems like no big deal. I'm sure I'll be proven wrong. Thus, I've been exceedingly laid back regarding this little boy and his arrival, almost too much so! With Rory I was intent on her having a cute and orderly nursery; for this guy, I figure he'd be fine sleeping in a laundry basket and wearing white onesies all the time. I need to get on the ball and get his space all organized, and pack a bag for the hospital, and about a gazillion other things. But it will get done. Or it won't.

On a much more exciting note, my good friends Jenn and Cody had a beautiful baby girl eight days ago! Trinity Renae is such a sweetheart!

Me and Trinity!

Such a sweetie

The guys and their babies: Joe and Lisa's womb, Cody and Trinity, Jordan and Hannah, and Blake and Rory

Rory was sad to bid farewell to her friend Hannah last weekend; she had so much fun playing with her the last couple weeks. She now expects me to fill Hannah's void and crawl around the floor with her. It's not happening. I did get to pull out some autumn clothes for her, which was very fun! It's been very thundery and lighteningy here, and we've had tons of rain. I'm loving it! Blake (amazing man that he is), even brought me (and the other two ladies here) a pumpkin spice latte and some chocolates, and I got to pick a zucchini from the garden that I didn't know existed and make whole wheat zucchini bread!

They matched!

Favorite chasing game

Babies!

They're just about the same size, despite the 6 month age difference!

I have decided that I am a very brave person. Every time I have to go get something from the freezer in the garage, I am utterly convinced that a black widow is going to bite me. But I go anyway.

County Fair

When it was about time for the Coconino county fair to be rolling into town, I was giddy with excitement nonchalantly suggested to Blake that we should go. We had free passes, after all, and I was sure Rory would love to see the animals and bright colors and all the people. And I am obsessed with corn dogs I read in the paper that Friday morning there would be discounts on nourishing fair food.

So, come yesterday morning, we loaded up babycakes and her gear and headed to her first fair! Fair amusement rides seem exceedingly sketchy to me, and carnival games hold no allure; thus we went only for the animals and exhibits and corn dogs, and to spend some time helping at the Cub Scouts area. As a side note, I think the Flag fair is just about the perfect size: not nearly as huge as the WA fairs, but not too small either (it's quite maneuverable). We proceeded immediately to the sheep upon entering, where I was completely astounded to learn that sheep wear spandex! Who would have thought? To our amusement surprise, Rory was entirely unimpressed by the animals; she was quite distressed by the baaa-ing, and was openly disgusted by every animal we encountered (most notably the turkeys). She wrinkled up her nose and said, "eh, eh" in each barn. She may have liked the bunnies, but it was closed for judging the whole time we were there (apparently the bunny judging is pretty intense). On a tip from a friend, we stopped in to watch the pigs being shown, which was highly entertaining to me and made Blake hungry for bacon and bored the baby. So, we struck out with the animals. Rory was not especially moved by the horticulture exhibit, or the fine arts. The home-ec building excited her though, and she clapped enthusiastically at the prize winning breads. There's no doubt that the highlight of her fair experience was the law enforcement exhibit, which was in a room filled with balloons. We selected a balloon for her and exited, only to find she had snagged one for herself. Aurora spent the rest of the fair on a blanket by the scouts, being entertained by her friends Jon-Jon and Daniel and experiencing string cheese for the first time. Oh, and a corn dog may or may not have been consumed during the afternoon. If fairs are meant to entertain, then our time spent there was a success.

I think Blake was a little mournful that we did not go to the demolition derby, because demolition derbies stress me out and make me sad. Instead, I took Rory and Blake to the park to swing and play on the slides together. We're enjoying a quiet home-day: Blake is threatening the squirrels in the garden and I am contemplating whether a chicken chowder would be miserable or refreshing for dinner.

Not a sheep fan

Basically what her face looked like in every barn

Disgusted

Delighted: in the law enforcement exhibit

Fair-goers

Hanging with Jon-Jon

Tomatoes and chilies from the garden!!