Friday, October 23, 2009

Catching up


I'm a bit behind on blogging because we've been sick, but thankfully we are now all on the mend!

No one has gotten the dreaded and highly-anticipated H1N1, or as my Grandma pronounced it, the "Heeny" flu. Haha- love you, Grams!! :) (But the media is quick to remind us that it's most certainly going to hit our household soon. DUN-DUN-DUNNN!
Preston was even on his first ever antibiotic this week. (And has mastered coughing into his elbow.) It was the pink amoxicillin bubble gum stuff that I LOVED when I was little. For whatever reason, it was a nightmare to get him to take the stuff and we had to devise a little ramekin dish with a curly straw to entice him. CeCe was stuffy but never came down with anything major, but I am in the full-blown sore throat/head cold/exhaustion phase of whatever this is. Anyways, there hasn't been much to report since we've been laying low.

We took a trip to Elkhart last weekend so that Kevin, his dad, and his brothers could golf with my dad and Collin at Elcona. They had a beautiful day and Preston and CeCe got to make their first trip to Essenhaus which was delicious as always. Of course, I didn't have my camera with us for the trip, so I will have to wait to get copies of the pictures from Grandma and Grandpa Roberts! (hint hint, dad!)

Two weeks ago, we had a VERY fun day with a few high school friends and their kiddos! Erin Spencer, Michelle Byers and their moms brought the little ones to Fort Wayne for the day and Holli Adams and Finn joined us. (Wooohooo, CHS class of 97!) Seven kids and they all sat still for a picture on the couch! It was such a treat to have everyone here. All of these kids were precious, polite, played well together, and had a lot of fun. We missed you, Britt! :( Can't wait to do it again.
Meet our little friends Camille, Luke, Kate, Abby, and Finn. Preston and CeCe loved having them here!



In other news, Kevin and I have been busy on a new project in our unfinished basement. When we bought this house, we loved the fact that there was another 1000 sq ft down there and we planned on finishing it as a nice family room and space for the kids toys. Well shortly after we moved, we did the kitchen, then I got pregnant and was sick, then summer hit and all of our focus moved to outside, then CeCe showed, then... well, you get the picture. So now it's fall, the weather is changing and I panicked thinking we'd be stuck inside all winter with two restless kids and not a lot of space. Oh, and did I mention the basement held every box that existed in the house? With no organization, rhyme, or reason to the madness? Yep, it was just a giant empty space with cement floors and boxes of junk floor to ceiling. Long story short, we've made a hodge-podge play space that houses a few larger toys and will get us through till spring. I'd like to add some other specific toys and things for art activities down there, but for now, Preston is thrilled with the 24 pounds of macaroni I dumped into his train table. He can scoop, dump, fill, and generally just make a giant mess. (His favorite thing.)




Cecilia will be 7 weeks old tomorrow! She is all smiles lately and has had a generally great week. Knock on wood, she's even sleeping pretty well. Other than some fussy time in the evening, she's an angel. We've not had any luck getting her to take a bottle, though. We've tried frozen breastmilk from the freezer and I've also pumped fresh from the tap and she's just not interested. Preston took one with no problems. Any breast feeding moms experience this or have luck with a particular brand of bottle?

First smiles- she's a happy girl, but they are hard to catch on camera!






Here are some more pics and things we've been up to since my last blog post:

Our last trip to the zoo before it closed for the season! (as you can see, CeCe was completely enthralled.)




Making playdough- Flour, salt, water and a little oil makes a great playdough recipe. I couldn't find our food coloring, so we had to make something white. Meet "Percy James the snowman" (If your kid watches Thomas the Train, you will appreciate the name.)




These are from a couple of weeks ago- getting ready for fall. Preston was helping us rake and our front step was adorned with pumpkins and mums!




The messier the hair, the better the nap!



Sunday, October 11, 2009

Maternal guilt...

... has started already! I'm awful. I can't believe I forgot to update on Cecilia's one month doctor well-visit. OOPS!

We had her well-baby check last Friday, (which was great that Kevin was off because he got to come along!) she was 3 weeks and 6 days, and weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces. That's up from 6 pounds 5 ounces at birth. In less than 4 weeks, she gained 2 and a half pounds. Wooohooo BREAST MILK!!!
She was 19 inches when she was born and measured 21 at the doctor's office. Although, I am honestly not sure how accurate either measurement is since it's hard for a newborn to stretch out completely right after birth and I sometimes question the nurse's competence at our doctor's office. But nevertheless, she apparently has gotten both fatter and taller.
Still nursing well (obviously) and other than some fussy and gassy spells, she has been sleeping pretty well, aslo. Overall, just a happy and healthy little girl. (Cute, too!)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

weekend review

Here it is almost Friday, and I'm just getting around to blogging about last weekend.

Kevin had Friday off, so we did lots of fun stuff as a family over the three days. The highlight was our trip to the New Haven and Lake Erie Railroad. It was chilly, so we bundled up and headed out to New Haven, east of Fort Wayne. There is a cute little "railroad" and train station with an antique train that runs a small track, and takes you to a pumpkin patch. (Where the pumpkins only cost 25 cents a pound!) You can hang out at the patch, they have a picnic table with coloring books and crayons, painted wooden characters like scarecrows and mummies, and little wagons for you fill with pumpkins and gourds. Then the train comes back to pick you up and you head back to the station. Preston was slightly unsure of the train ride (even though he loves train) because it was loud and the ride was kind of bumpy. Also, we went at the end of the day on Sunday afternoon, so we were one of the only people there at the time. I think if it were packed full of other families and kids, he would have enjoyed the train a little more. He did love the pumpkins, though and had a ball picking them out.

This is what the station looks like when you pull up:

The train that is an odd combo of Thomas the Train and the little engine that could:


Having fun in the patch:





The kids showing off their pumpkins:



We also took Cecilia to meet Grandma Erb:



And enjoyed the toddler time story session at the library:




One thing that Kevin and I did just the two of us was check out the Parade of Homes. It accomplished two things for me-
1. ... It made me realize how desperately we need a mudroom. How great would these be? Some women dream of charming nooks and built-ins with original hardwood floors. Me? I thankfully have those things, so I dream of a mudroom off an attached garage.





And 2... It made me appreciate our own home, on our historic street with all it's character and giant old trees, which are currently changing to bright reds, oranges and yellows. There are many amenities about a new construction house that I'd appreciate for sure, but there's nothing like the feeling or energy of an old, proud house filled with memories and generations of love!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Welcome, fall!



It seems like ages since I've posted here. Not only is it rare that I get a free moment these days, we've been busy! We've been really fortunate to have friends, family and neighbors stopping by almost daily with meals, treats and adorable gifts for CeCe, (and Preston! How sweet!) and spending time as a family just enjoying the awesome autumn weather we've been having.

Cecilia will be one month old in just a few days- I can hardly believe it. I need to share her birth story soon, but in the meantime, here are a few cute pictures of her for those of you checking in for a baby fix... (thanks to Betsy for snapping the first two while she was dropping off a delish dinner last week!)









A couple of weekends ago, we attended the local favorite, "Johnny Appleseed Festival." Apparently, we missed the part of Johnny Appleseed that everyone raves about and just saw the part that I affectionately referred to as the "dream catcher" section. (That would be the section of 200 white tents, manned with people dressed as pioneers selling native american wares.) While the rest of Fort Wayne got to experience the vast sea of food, taste homemade breads and stews, visit iron smiths, see copper goods hammered right in front of them, and shop beautiful autumnal crafts. (Mental note to self- check out that section next year.) Anyways, Preston was lucky enough to get his face painted in the dream catcher section and he chose a star! Oh, wait, no he didnt. He chose a football, but the face painter messed it up and said, "Well, we'll make it into a star." (Ever heard of wiping it off and starting over, pioneer lady?) Ok, enough of that. We did love watching the center stage full of little girls clogging, though.



The same weekend, the Saint John the Baptist school/parish festival was calling our name, so we went to that, too. St. Johns is where Kevin attended school, most likely where P and C will attend, and just a few blocks from our home, so we were excited to support it's fundraiser. They had awesome food, games, and a silent auction and raffle. Preston got to ride a peddle car with Daddy and of course loved every second.





In other news, as the summer season comes to an end, we will miss the warm sunny days, playing in the water table and pool, trips to the lake, the golf course, and definitely our CSA! We bought a share of this "community supported agriculture" local organic farm this summer and got 20 weeks- yes 20!!- of locally grown organic produce. Everything from lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, corn, squash, raspberries, blueberries, potatoes, peppers of all colors, green beans, broccoli, celery, herbs, tomatoes, and a ton of other delicious veggies delivered once a week for 20 weeks. Not bad!
Here's a link: Graber Farms
Since we had tomatoes to spare and didn't want them to go to waste, we took an idea from a blog that Holli follows and tried this recipe in order to freeze them for winter:SLOW ROASTED TOMATOES
They are in the oven right now and the house smells delicious. Cecilia took a good morning nap, so Preston helped me prepare it.

First, you count them to make sure you have enough. (We used around 20 small grape, cherry, and roma tomatoes and a few larger yellows.)


Next, (while licking your lips in suspense of the deliciousness that awaits you,) slice them and then begin adding them to a bowl, drizzled with olive oil and spices. For added fun, you can drop them from "way up!" like a grapple truck.



Place skin-down on an oiled baking sheet, and bake @ 200-250 for 8-10 hrs! If you try it, let me know what you think!


We are gearing up for special October activities every weekend this month! Can't wait to reveal the kids' Halloween costumes and share more pictures of pumpkin picking and fall fun!