In The Kitchen

While we were at the patch, I spotted some butternut squash that looked amazing. So, I bought one on impulse; not knowing what in the world I'd do with it once I brought it home.

While meal-planning and making my grocery list on Sunday night, I started searching for some promising recipes. I've been loving all the soups and stews that have been cooking in my crock-pot, but I wanted to find something different for a fall recipe. Totally found a keeper!

Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta

A wonderful mix of flavor! We're definitely bacon fans around here so it was little surprise that we loved this dish. And I don't know if I can go back to using regular onions after using shallots for this. It's a bit laborious {well, at this stage of life, anything using two pans or more is}, but totally worth it. I felt a little "Lucille Ball"-ish while figuring out how to prepare the squash. That thing was dang hard to peel!! But it didn't scare me away, because I bought an acorn squash this week to try this recipe.

I tried baking with Ezra for the first time this week. It was a blast! He {and I} enjoyed every minute. And I'm happy to report that no major messes or disasters occurred {this time!}. Perhaps it helps that E has had practice since he uses measuring cups when he feeds the dogs. And he took his job of helping very seriously. We made a delicious loaf of pumpkin caramel cheesecake turtle bread. And yes, it tastes as good as it looks!

Because I Have Camera Envy

I told my mom the other day at the patch that I felt like I was not officially a mom since I didn't have a fancy-smancy camera. You should have seen the masses: all the moms with their cute camera straps on their expensive cameras that actually capture their kids running away instead of blurry blobs. Some serious camera envy. Heh. For now, I just steal borrow my mom's. 

Like the other day...

So that's my confession...

...and my Christmas or Birthday wish...

Highlights from the Weekend

Saturday morning, W took E and the dogs to the park. And with a sleeping baby, I was left with some time to get going on T's costume. So excited that it's actually coming along. I'm so glad I'm starting this whole "homemade costumes" with an infant size. I went through at least seven trials of the can opener that will stick out of his "knife" before getting it somewhat right.

I bought the last piece of E's costume. Epic. Cannot wait to see him and his mullet in these:

Gma came with us to Joan's for more pumpkins. A great time was had by all. We now have a family of four pumpkins outside our door to greet visitors.

And I love how there is an entire range of things to do here and what does Ezra love the most?! The little plastic structure with the slide. 

Theo attended his first party. We hung out with some friends: making pizza and playing games. It was also the first time I fell asleep at a party-- made my hubby proud. W is notorious for his ability to fall asleep no matter what's going on: movies, parties, earthquakes...So the fact that I finally made it into 'the club' makes him quite happy. Thankfully, these are good friends so it was all good that I was knocked out on the sofa while everyone else played. ;)

We finally made it back to church! We have literally tried for the last three weeks to make it, but something always came up: my random fevers or something recovery related. Being 20 minutes late didn't matter, it was just so nice to be back!

The boys and I hung out with Gma during an afternoon so my dad and W could go shooting. I'm really looking forward to going with W sometime soon, but he has been itching for so long to try out his 'new' firearm so Dad went with him.

Almost 2

Just two more months and my oldest baby will be 2!

It's becoming more and more apparent that you have an 'oldest' personality. There are so many "Type A" tendencies that happen more often. You like things done a certain way and it must be done that way. You must put things back after playing with them, like Papa's shoes.

You are so much more independent now that Brother is around and I can't be playing with you all the time. You used to not leave me for very long or if you wanted to do an activity, I had to sit right next to you. Now, you'll explore and get into things. Your play is prolonged and you'll spend extended alone time with your toys.

Before we forget, here are some things we want to remember about this season of your little life:

Vocabulary continues to multiply and it seems like with each new day, you copy a new word. The latest favorites have been "next", "new", "under" "two" and "back". {loves those prepositions!}

Such a great bike rider!! You can ride over a mile without a sweat.

 Besides "seven" {those two syllable words!}, you can count to ten by yourself

Your hair has now grown so long, it gets into your eyes but you don't seem to mind

Had a rough time when Papa started his new job

Wear 2T now and about 26 pounds

Sleep in a big boy bed at Gma and Gpa's now

Ask Gpa to style your hair with water whenever you go over there

Walk on your tippie-toes often

 Have a rock and {beer} bottle cap collection that you keep in a plastic cup or in your pockets if we're going somewhere

Love music; with your favorite song being Justin Roberts' "Noah"

 Still obessed with hats, helmets, sunglasses {goggles} as well as bike riding, taking walks, and now socks

Do a great job cleaning up your toys and messes

Still ask "Up" for us to hold/carry you

Definitely NOT giving up that binky anytime soon now that Brother is here

 Can make the most awesome-est noise for a 'momo' {motorcycle}, thanks to Gpa

 Getting good at putting on your shorts, socks, shoes or pants

Ask every day to hold brother

Starting to get into things while I nurse

 Totally in a band-aid stage

 Starting to rough-house with Papa or your friends

You fill our lives with laughter, love and pure silliness! Please don't ever stop being so cuddly and cute!

Love you, Buki! 

The Boys' Costumes

I've hit a road block for some time. Since like June, W has been dead-set on E being Macgyver/Macgruber for Halloween-- given E's long lustrous blonde mullet. But I really wanted the boys to "go together" since let's face it, I only have a very limited amount of years in which I can freely do this without their permission. 

I just couldn't think of something Theo could be that would go along with this theme. Until W suggested the best idea that I might actually be able to pull off!

I bought this:

and this online yesterday.

I only need to find some gray tights or just turn some kids' socks into leg warmers. Then it's off to Joann's to get materials for the main part. I'm still not sure how this will turn out since I have no template and not a whole lot of time to figure it out. Nothing like some pressure to get ya going!

For Ezra's costume, we pretty much already have everything...except for the khaki utility vest. I'm going to need to come up with something and haven't had any luck so far in finding one to purchase. 

So, here are my inspirations for this year's costumes:

E's...Macgyver/Macgruber...

T's...the quintessential Swiss Army Knife!...

Hysterical, right?! Now, let's hope I can pull this off in time! ;)

On Having A Home Birth {Part Two}

 {FINALLY! This part II has been in my queue for.stinking.ever. Either half way finished, waiting for concluding thoughts or finished, waiting for W to give it a look-over. BUT better late than never. Here it is 5 weeks a bit late!}

The two best things about this birth experience was having Theo during the day and having him at home. I seriously think all children should come during daylight hours the same day you start labor--that way no one loses sleep and you're already off to a great start. If only!

Many of you were aware that pretty much since I've started to think about having babies I've wanted to give birth at home. E's birth had a complication that led us to the hospital, but many people knew it was a planned home birth. This time around we did things a bit differently. We basically kept completely silent about where we were planning on giving birth. If people asked, we'd either totally ignore the question or just reply with, "We're still on the fence." Both W and I had learned from last time that many people have opinions about topics they know very little about. And while most of the time, this can be just mildly annoying, for a such an apparently "hot topic", people seemed to think it was okay to tell us where we should or shouldn't give birth. We totally understand that some of these people genuinely love us and were concerned; we also realized that many just didn't have enough information/experience to make educated suggestions that were constructive for our decision-making. That and we really weren't asking for their advice. I mean, my own mother didn't even know we were thinking about a home birth until she saw me ordering our birthing kit online a few weeks before my due date. She's full of love...and well, like any mom: full of worry. ;) That's just how silent we were. That's only half of the reason.

The other half was...well, honestly, I was still on the fence about it in my own mind. For part of the pregnancy, I'd convinced myself that I'd be just as happy birthing at Kaiser, using their tub, and hiring Melissa as only a Doula. I was nervous about how this birth would go. What about complications out of our control? What about unnecessary intervention? What about Melissa's experience? I felt so much calmer and at peace at home, but would the hospital be a wiser choice? E's birth was traumatic {mostly, once we reached the hospital} and we had zero experience then. I was so torn mentally between what I knew to be true and what I feared. The whole emotional vs. the mental. 

Up until 2 weeks before my due, I was still unsure and had only paid Melissa the Doula fee.

Then W and I finally carved out some time for a heart-to-heart. This pregnancy had gone by so quickly that even I didn't have enough time to really process and pray through my concerns, wishes, and hopes for this birth. And W's my go-to guy for helping me process the jumble that rumbles through my head. We booked a Saturday appointment with Melissa and drove out together to talk. I laid out my fears and together, we went back to beginning....we went over all the reasons why we wanted to be a home, the benefits of being at home, addressed the "what-ifs" of being a home, and once again came to the same conclusion: home birth is our choice and we wouldn't want it any other way if everything is low-risk and healthy.

We finalized our decision then and there.

And I am so glad we did.

Now, having had both a hospital and a home birth experience, I hope to never enter the hospital again...Lord willing. When I was chatting with the midwives as they first arrived, Sunshine stated, "You are the queen for the day. Anything you need, we'll get!" And that's truly how it was. 

I had freedom. I could walk, sit, or stand if I wanted to. I could do walking laps outside in the sun and fresh air. I wore my own clothes that weren't exposing me in the back. I had my own toilet, room, and comfy bed where W could lay right next to me. I could drink water. No one came in and out during the night or woke us up.

I had service. The three ladies and W were so amazing at tending to my needs. I was their one and only patient for the day. Right after Theo was born, my stomach growled so loudly--clearly, I was hungry. Kerri asked what I wanted and fixed me up with some toast, peanut butter, and jam. They took care of every detail for set-up and clean-up. We didn't have to go anywhere; they came to us to care for us. Melissa also came to our house for the follow-up check-ins. She came the following day and on Sunday.

I had peace, calm and comfort. Most of the time, the midwives talked in hushed voices. They were smoothing, calming, and totally controlled. There were no weird, loud or foreign sounds outside my room. No harsh lights. Nothing was rushed {although things moved super fast during that last hour of labor} and I never experienced any panic besides those beginning moments of pushing. I didn't feel like we were fitting into someone's time table. After the birth, things moved slowly from one activity to the next like getting me food, getting me into the bath, and getting Theo's stats. It was comforting and relaxing to do everything at home.

I'm so thankful that the Lord wrote that day as he did. He could have written it entirely different, but he blessed us with a great experience. Pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and raising children are all such personal things.  And this was, personally, just the way I wanted it to be. Who knows what the 3rd will bring? ;)

::Special Thanks::

Giving birth is never a one-woman event. Many supporting roles are essential to its success. I'm so thankful for...

The Lord-- without Him none of this would have been possible! His role in all this definitely trumps all of ours.

Melissa and her team-- such an amazing midwife who has helped us each step of the way; truly top-notch customer service and care.

My wonderful birth partner and hubby-- I can't share the most of what makes him so amazing during birth, especially this last one, but he is a source of constant support, encouragement, and practical help that I'll forever remember. Having done this together twice now has given me an entirely new level of respect for his sacrifice and love.

My parents-- for putting on a great face even with choices that make them so very nervous, for being such fabulous grandparents and for always being there when we need them!

Perry's Patch

We hit up Perry Farm this weekend to start out the pumpkin patch season. We hung with some hay.

Checked out all the pumpkins-- which Ezra went berserk over. He tried to pick up every one. Some seriously love.

Papa and Theo kept tabs as Ezra as he roamed the field, looking at every pumpkin.

The highlight of our trip was the tractor ride. Perry Farm is an running organic farm so we got a quick tour of their crops.

We got a little pumpkin for E and on our way back to the car, realized that we hadn't sent any pictures to Gpa and Gma. We quickly remedied that by sticking E against a tree and took a few pictures. As you can tell, it was getting super windy!

Love my little pumpkin lover!

post-note: please don't be fooled...even though we're taking advantage of our weekends with little outings, I'm still very much in recovery mode and not fully healed. Well, I should say that I recover then something else happens. So, we are definitely not out of the battlefield just yet, but praying that it's right around the corner. {at least for my own sanity sake!}

Bath Time

It's amazing how steep the learning curve is for parenting. Take bath time, for instance. Ezra didn't seem to like bath time in the beginning. We later learned that we were way too conservative on the the temperature; we were worried about it being too hot. Instead, it was too cool. Poor guy...and it was winter too. Heh. Live and learn. 

Theo sure has some things easier just because we've done this before. ;)

So, of course, Theo loved the time in the water. We already knew this though because when I went into the tub, post-birth, we cuddled in there for awhile before taking his stats.

Did I mention he's balding?

Yup, losing all the fuzzy hair. Question remains: Blonde or Brown when it grows back in?

Theo's Newborn Pictures

Theo is not a very cooperative subject. We had to do two sessions in order to get some good pictures and I'm still amazed at how Jessi was able to get more than five good ones for the CD. Here's a few of our favs:

Theo's 1st Month

Sweet Theo,

You are already a whole month!! We are so thankful for your smooth entrance into our world and that you've been so easy and so healthy. Here are some things we've noticed about you as we get to know who you are...

--Mr. Spitter-Upper...without fail you spit up every.single.time we change you or hand you over to someone. We're thinking this has to do with Mama's oversupply of milk.

--Already moving into 0-3 month clothing and showing rolls...something that is very new to us.

--Early puberty...you have had quite a few zits {milia..is the technical term} in your first month

--High pitch volume...you definitely make sure we know you're here and hungry. You are super mellow when you're not hungry, but when you want it, you shriek out! I guess you're just living up to your middle name of Zev, meaning "wolf"

--A great sleeper...already giving Mama some 5-5.5 hour stretches

--Super alert and great neck control! I swear you've actually smiled at me!

--Look a lot like your big brother...we thought perhaps you would look entirely different, but you share similar features.

--Even though you look like brother, you also have many Swenson traits: feet, mouth, and ears

--Your big brother just adores you! You are still on the fence about all his affection {albeit rough}, but he loves to kiss, cuddle, hold, and 'pat' you.

--Jury is still out but we're thinking that you may actual do just fine in the car...but again, it's a bit early.

We are all smitten with your newborn sweetness. As your Papa says, "You are freaking adorable!" 

Love you, Butterball