Dog-Tested; Parent Approved

We're getting creative in trying out our latest and greatest baby products! Stuffed animals are good for cloth diapers, and Panchos are good for baby carriers! The rest of us had a belly-aching laugh session as we watched W be the first to demonstrate our new wrap. Shown here is the classic love my baby hold...Needless to say, we are both so stoked about wearing our little one as often as possible. After asking around (thanks, C!), we purchased a Sleepy Wrap & it arrived yesterday!! Many parents are aware of the great benefits to baby wearing & Sleepy Wrap has a "learn" section that provides actual research notations. I thought it was so cute that it came with a little pouch bag for storage in addition to a brief manual for 5 different holds with recommended age ranges! Oh, and the added bonus of the company being from Boulder, Colorado-- ahhh, of course, my granola loving nature sang at this! In just a few short months, I will hopefully post a revised photo with Baby S being carried instead. ;)

The Band Goes Marching

The last few years, W & I have headed downtown for the Farmer's Market only to be stuck in the middle of the Annual High School Band Parade/Competition. Being close, we tend to get awoken by the beats of the drums & tuning of instruments at Amador where they start...early in the weekend morning. This year we actually knew it was happening & accidently slept in for most of it. Ironic! We still managed to see some performances while heading down for our weekly fruit supply. We brought our German visitors & they were amazed. Apparently, they don't have things like this so they enjoyed watching the bands walk through Main St.

Side Commentary: Still funny to see high schoolers. Some look like 8 year olds while others look as old as me!! And many flag teams had males this year. I'd never seen that before! Times are sure a' changin'!

Favorite New Recipe

Well, the meal-planning & recipe adventure has been a success thus far. I found this new recipe in a wedding gifted French recipe book & we LOVED it! I served the tomatoes with some brown rice. And they make delish left-overs too!

Spinach-Ricotta-Stuffed Tomatoes (I added ground turkey since we're meat-lovers)

What You'll Need: (Serves 8)

8 big red tomatoes

Salt, for draining the tomatoes

3 T olive oil

1 C chopped yellow onions

Dry Spinach, about 4 C

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Grated nutmeg, to taste

1 C ricotta cheese

2 egg yolks

1/2 C toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup parsley

Shredded Italian Cheese, used as topping

What You Do:

1. Wash & dry tomatoes & cut off tops. With a teaspoon, scrape out all the inner parts while being careful not to pierce the sides. Salt the cavities and set them upside down on a paper towel to drain

2. Heat pan with olive oil over medium-low heat, add (turkey here) onions, & cook until tender (about 25 minutes)

3. Chop the spinach & add to pan. Then season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cover over low heat, and stir occasionally, for 10 minutes. Careful not to burn.

4. Preheat over to 350 F

5. Beat the ricotta and egg yolks together in mixing bowl. Add spinach mixture (with turkey if added), toasted pine nuts, parsley and season with salt & pepper.

6. Gently blot tomato cavities dry with paper towel & spoon an equal share of spinach mixture into each one. Top each tomato with a sprinkle of shredded Italian cheese.

7. Arrange the tomatoes in a shallow baking dish & set in oven. Bake until the tops are well browned and the filling is hot & bubbly, about 20-30 minutes.

Meet The Germans

So for the past week and a half we've had some awesome people staying with us. Meet Matthias & Anne Nitsch...(wearing American sunglasses we lent them)They are visiting from Heidelberg, Germany. Our high school ministry went to Heidelberg earlier this year, and some friends of ours met these two wonderful people. So when the Nitschs needed to come to an English speaking country for school & wanted to intern at a church, they came to our city. Our friends asked us if we could host them until the end of October & we jumped at the chance!! We love having our guest room occupied & knew we could fit in some guests before little Swenson arrived! Matthias & Anne will be here for 5 and 1/2 months so they'll get to meet our little one too!

It's been *such* a blessing having them! We've had some awesome late night conversations about life, Christ, history, marriage, cultures, etc-- you name it, we've covered it. And it's been fun to introduce each other to new things. I couldn't let them not experience this, this, this, and to make sure someone brought them here. And they are huge fans of this cereal. They, in turn, made sure we saw this--which is quite addictive and has reoccurring references in our talks.

It's really cool how Christ is a constant thread & how He binds people from all different walks of life. We're really looking forward to experiencing a German meal & W is excited about trying the German beer. And of course, continuing to share lots of laughs and good company!! :)

Cloth Diapering 101

One of the many awesome shower gifts we received a few weeks ago was a great starter kit for our chosen cloth diapering system (and there are many to chose from!). After doing my first load of baby laundry, I figured the next most logical thing was to learn how to use these things! So, here's what I learned from internet tutorials (what would we do without the internet, I mean, really?!)

Supplies Needed:

1. A Prefold (basically the cloth part of the system)

2. A Diaper Cover (we decided on Thirsties brand after much research)

3. A Snappi (this is the modern pin to keep the cloth on the baby's bum)

4. A victim (in this case, another fabulous shower gift...later, our little Swenson)

Step 1:

I found there are many ways to fold the prefold depending on what you like and what works for your baby's bum. I did the "angel wings" fold because it seemed like the easiest. First, fold the prefold into thirds length-wise, then open the back end as seen here...

Step 2:

Stick victim onto the prefold and fold the front part up (like a disposable). I folded it a bit under for an infant's cord.

Step 3:

Wrap the back wings around to the front & secure with a snappi.

Step 4:
Put diaper cover over cloth prefold. The cover acts just like a disposable with velcro closures & all. There's just the huge bonus of getting to use it over and over and over again! :)

And there you have it!! A very happy and dry victim to cuddle & love! :)

32

We were 32 weeks last week and I am posting now! :) Last week was a bit harder than normal, but I really think it came down to not napping as much. I'm noticing that "normal" activities are more taxing & I'm more fatigued. My body feels like it got a major work-out the day before and it's getting harder to wake up-- even if I have a good night's rest. But I'm only feeling these symptoms either early morning or right before bed. Overall, things are still fabulous.

At my doctor's appt, she pointed out that Baby is already up to my breast plate so I'm guessing it's only out from here. And I'm really wondering how much more out I'll get. Baby Swenson still moves around like crazy and we love watching all the rolls & pokes that push out my belly. This miracle, 32 weeks later, is still so amazing & something we can only partly fathom. I'm truly grateful for our health and the smoothness of this pregnancy! We're both getting really excited to meet our little one!!

Here Comes Baby!!

Not ours...yet!! We are so excited for the Moogs who just welcomed a baby girl into this world yesterday. I have been blessed by Nat's journey during her pregnancy & really enjoyed having another woman to confide in during the roller coaster parts. Baby Moog came a few weeks early so I think they are still deciding on a name (they didn't know the gender either!) and are still waiting on that carseat that's coming in the mail! If anyone can handle unforeseen situations, it's the Moogs! And even with all the abrupt earliness, I think she still went natural (although they had planned a home birth as well)!! Solid work, Nat!! It's been a great reminder for me that I need to hold all desires loosely before the Lord. Even our home birth is wholly dependent on His will. Flexibility is key!! Congratulations, Nat & J for your precious little girl. She is so blessed to have you both as parents! Here's a couple of pics from Nat's shower a few weeks ago.

Pumpkin Carving

So this was suppose to be a continuation after our pumpkin patch post, but life got hectic last week. After the patch, Linds & I set to doing some serious pumpkin carving. We printed templates, poked holes, hollowed out insides, and finally cut our little faces out. It was hard work! My feet swelled for the first time that night, that's how hard core we were! Martha Stewart would be proud-- they both turned out so well!! So professional! We love our little pumpkins.

Mine on the L, Linds's on the R

And just as a reminder as to why I'm so stoked on the templates...here's W & I's pumpkin from last year! :) We're definitely moving up in the pumpkin world!!

Keep Warm

With these! :) And when they are currently buy two, get one free...why not stock up?!

It's Pumpkin Time!!

Our fabulous friend, Lindsay, W & I headed over to Joan's Farm to go to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend!! And we had a blast! Last year W & I went to Moore's Pumpkins at Rowell Ranch Rodeo. We liked it fine, but it didn't have all the bells & whistles that Joan's does. We walked through a corn maze, petted goats, took advantage of their silly photo opps, people-watched, checked out the staged "Western Town" and finally, picked out our pumpkins!

This is definitely a great kid place, as made evident by all the families & little ones running around. I was surprised to still see so many of them an hour before closing time. The pumpkins were a great price and a fabulous time was had by all! A Swenson family tradition-- 2nd year in the making!!
W really enjoyed scaring the snot out of us in the corn maze! I caught him long enough to take a quick picture before he went off hiding again. ..

We both found the perfect pumpkin for just $4 each!!

We Got A...

Crock pot!! Ok, so not the most typical exciting news, but we were blessed by generosity nonetheless. A few days ago, I went over to my favorite jeweler designer's house for some gifts and was updating her on my recent adventures of house-wife-hood. She asked me if I had a crock-pot to which I answered, "No...Goodwill here I come!" And she said, "I have one for you!" She gives them as wedding gifts and had one that she was planning on returning. Wow! I was so floored by her giving. It's a 5+ person, really nice quality, brand new crock-pot! And she even e-mailed me a few recipes to get started. Then I found this blog from a friend's blog list. I'm *very* excited to get my crock pot cooking on!! :)

Maternity Photography

Here are some more great photographs that our dear friend, Meghan, took. It was such a treat to hang out with her & her assistant! She has such great talent and an awesome personality! I really think she could make a living out of this!!

Coupons

My mom recently shared these little tid-bits of knowledge about coupons as I've become much more enthusiastic about them. I thought they were great reminders and wanted to share them. Most of them are well-known, at least in my house growing up, but here they are anyway...

As an avid long time coupon clipper there are a few things to watch out for……

1) Generally a particular product will be put on promotion and may or may not be the best deal. The store brand/generic can be just as good and a better price than with the coupon

2) Check out all the grocery ads because something might be a better price at Safeway one week then a better price at Raley's the next. You could be like grandma & grandpa running around to different stores each week. Just remember to factor in travel costs.

3) When you do this for a few months, you'll get a feel for where the best deals are…..I sometimes walk the aisles at Raley's and look for their manager specials because it is a really good deal…if I like what it is and will use it.

4) You'll also learn that the prices dip in cycles so if you have the cash and the space (and then can remember you have it in stock) you can buy a bunch to get you to the next sale. Some products you just always use.

5) Costco doesn't always have the best prices….especially if something is on special at one of the grocery stores, deeply discounted.

6) The largest size is not always the best deal, be sure to check the "per unit price"

7) Make sure you are purchasing an item that you would want to buy anyway

(image from cheaptweet.com)

Two More...

I totally didn't realize that we only have TWO more months left until our due date! Wow! We went to our midwife appt. this evening & she remarked, "Oh, today's the 7th!! Only two more to go!" We had completely missed that detail today! And we're also like 8 weeks behind our picture updates next to our blue wall. Oy Vey! The days feel like they have been going by at super speed as we near our little one's arrival. We even got our birth kit supply list today for us to order! Now, that's some serious business! We also got to find out our baby's position in the womb (called belly mapping). S/He was enthusiastically responding to our hands. So our baby's back is on my left side and the knees & feet are up against my belly's right side (which would explain all the kung-pow action going on over there). And the head is down! I'm still feeling really good which I'm so thankful for. And....I still got my innie! :)

(photo by Meghan A. Marrell)

Narnian Feast

W & I joined a college & career "growth group" over the summer. It was a book club that went through C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew. We looked at biblical and life themes that are saturated in this children's novel. Each week, a guest reader would come and read the chapter out loud. We also read some at home. It turned out to be great fun and lots of laughs.

Last night, we celebrated the end of the book with a feast--complete with a delicious meal, costumes, silliness and good discussion. W went as the cabby who eventually becomes King Frank and I went as a symbolic interpretation of the tree, in the walled garden, that Digory picked a silver apple from to save his sick mother. (My belly being the silver apple, of course!) There was also Uncle Andrew, Polly Plummer, and the flying horse Fledge. The Fledge costume was a real hit! ;)

Coffee & Friends

Last weekend, a friend took some fun maternity pictures for us. Afterward, we headed to downtown for some coffee and meet up with some other friends. It was the 2nd time I've been to Cafe Main & I discovered their cute cups! It was THE perfect fall evening with lots of people downtown. We enjoyed our coffee, food and company. I must say that October is my favorite month!! It's also a bonus to realize that I've finally started to grow roots somewhere & have an awesome community of friends and family. I'm truly no longer a nomad and as much as I love travel & adventure, it's nice to have somewhere to call home! (Not to say, we'll never move though!) :)

Back To School

A few weeks ago, W started up a new year (and hopefully the last year) of school! Yippie! And as goes tradition, we took a picture in front of our door before he headed out. He biked the first day, but drove last week because we had other activities to get to. This quarter, he has a pretty heavy load and has finals week the week we are due! So, it should make for an interesting quarter of balancing family life with school! Wish us luck & keep us in your prayers!! ;)

Barn Wedding

We got the privilege of video-taping a beautiful wedding today...in a BARN!! It was soooo cool. There was even a horse in one of the stables & a huge stack of hay outside! I was so stoked I got to wear my awesome cowgirl boots that W bought me last summer in Texas!! W got asked to video-tape when another videographer fell through at the last minute. It was so fun to help the Moogs out and get to celebrate such a beautiful union! We had a fabulous time!

The reeeaaaally hot videographer!

At the reception

W & I

♥ What are your middle names?

Erin and David

♥How long have you been together?

On Sept 10th, it was 3 years

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?

We knew each other exactly ONE week. :)

♥ Who asked who out?

W asked me out at his nephew's 10th birthday party.

I asked him "Why?" in the attempt to buy some thinking time

while he thought it was the BEST question ever to ask!

His answer to the question was very good!

♥ Who made the first move?

Definitely him. He pretty much pursued me at each

moment of our meeting & dating which I'm so grateful for.

I never worried about his intentions or commitment about us.

♥ How old are each of you?

me-26

him-28

♥ Did you go to the same school?

Nope.

♥ Are you from the same home town?

me-here

W-Anaheim

♥ Who is the smartest?

That's a really tough question. W is extremely smart both

in the world and now come to find out at school too. He can do so well in his

classes without much effort (which drives me crazy!) So, I think either him or both of us!

♥ Who majored in what?

Me- Mass Communications & Multiple Subject Credential.

W- Culinary Arts & Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting

♥ Who is the most sensitive?

W when I'm not pregnant

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?

Thai or Sushi

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

We went to Mexico for our honeymoon,

but I think Chicago, IL is further mileage wise??

♥ Who has the worst temper?

Hmmm...neither?

♥ How many children do you want?

A quiver full ;)

♥ Who does the cooking?

At first, W...but now we're about equally

helping out with preparing meals

♥ Who is more social?

Both

♥ Who is the neat-freak?

I'm definitely much more tidy than W.

But neither of us are really into spotless cleaning.

♥ Who is the most stubborn?

Both, I guess. But we are both willing to

admit when we're wrong and ask for forgiveness too.

Or to try and compromise.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?

W does on work days when it can be as early as 3am!

Yikes!

♥ Where was your first date?

Ice Skating and dinner at Mimi's Cafe.

I loved his wrangler tight jeans because I could look at his hot butt!

Plus I hadn't gone ice skating in a looong time

so of course he had to hold me to make sure I didn't fall! :)

♥ Who has the bigger family?

Definitely W- 7 kids total. And that's not

counting spouses & nieces/nephews.

♥ Do you get flowers often?

Not really. It happens every once in

awhile when I least expect it!

♥ How do you spend the holidays?

For thanksgiving, we just stay here with my folks since he doesn't get much time off.

At Christmas, we do both!

♥ Who is more jealous?

Neither! With God's grace, we attempt to live in a way

that's wholly dedicated to the other in sacrificial love

and therefore avoid situations that create this reaction!

But if he gets a job where he travels & I can't go, then I'll be jealous! ;)

♥ How long did it take to get serious?

Oh my! Not long at all. W says he *knew* after the first day of meeting me.

It took me about a week. :) We started talking marriage about a month or so in.

No messing around here!

♥ Who eats more?

W-unless I am pregnant. Then we're even.

♥ What do you do for a living?

W- Student & Chauffeur

Me- Baby-Maker & House Keeper

♥ Who does the laundry?

All me.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?

Both. Probably W more though.

♥ Who drives when you are together?

Him.

♥ What is "your" song?

It would be the song W wrote for our one year anniversary, or

"Only Fools Rush In" by Elvis which we danced to at our wedding

I tag...Stef, Megan, Jill, Amy and Edie!

The Joy of Preparing

Here's our oh-so high tech/ uber cute design of our recent adventure: meal planning! I know, right?! You've never heard of this before...we are forging into new territory at home. So up until recently, I have been rebellious and teen-like in my attitude toward meal planning. That's probably a heart-check issue for another time! ;) A week ago, I saw the error of my ways. W showed me how his mom used to meal plan with said above chart & I'm loving it. We know with the addition of a little one coming, simplifying our life would be a huge asset.

So we review the upcoming 7 meals for the week and plan our grocery list accordingly. All on the same piece of paper! Asterisks mean I need to buy it that week. It's also encouraged me to try new recipes from the *cough* wedding-gifted cookbooks that have been gathering dust on our top shelf. I've given myself a goal of one new recipe a week. I tried a french fry recipe last night which was amazing! I've even been looking at (gasp!) coupons online! Who am I?!

Our life has become easier already. I look forward to cooking since the guess work has already been taken out of it & I already know I'm prepared with all of my supplies. And W & I are both helping in the kitchen more. Team effort! I'm finding it similar to teaching...I would never present a lesson without preparing beforehand! This life-theme could probably fall into all categories...I'm just focusing on feeding my family for now. ;) Who knows what I'll try to prepare for next!!