Hot Potato Baby

Over the weekend, we celebrated my Auntie Rhonda's birthday. She's my mom's only {and older} sister who is ever-so-talented in the way of sewing and photography. Rhonda helped me do E's crib bedding, take our underwater maternity shoot and Christmas cards pics.

It's been awhile since we've seen this side of my family, but it's always doubly exciting with a new baby to pass around like a hot potato!!

 He was definitely a love-bug with all the ladies.

And there were those customary pictures of the family.

Rhonda and her boys...

That's so going to be me in like 20 years, with my boys towering over me!

My granny and her girls...

An attempt of getting my Granny with her great grand-kids...

Guess there's got to be at least one non-compliant member in the family, eh? Thankfully, Theo was not harmed in the process. {sigh of relief}

There was some outdoor fun and eating. 

Rhonda also ha a slide show that she put together with pictures from when my cousins were born-- we got some major belly laughs from those. Especially since my cousins are still punks even at the ripe ol' age of thirty-five and came up with some classic captions. And I'll leave it at that.

Recent Butterball Goodness

Cuz there's never enough Buttery-ball goodness out there in the world...

Seriously.

Future class clown? Maybe.

But it's certain that he's got lots of personality at 2.5 months. He's already making me laugh out loud. ;)

Unpublished Status Updates

Do you ever find yourself thinking in the moment, "I could use this as a status update" but then never get around to actually doing it?  Well, I do sometimes. I could have used these this past week...

It's cute when he can zip his pjs. Not so much when he can zip my make-up bag.

The clean clothes basketS {yes, plural} have been there so long, they left dents in the carpet.

Becoming quite the multi-tasker: making dinner while downloading pictures while blogging a post while shhhh-ing a babe back to sleep. Phew!

Boxing up maternity clothes is always bittersweet.

There must be something wrong with me if I'm already daydreaming what months Baby#3 could be born in while bfing my two month old.{see above status}. I'm blaming it on the fact that Theo is already way too big in my book.

 Recklessness is: buying a 4 pound bag of chocolate chips at Costco.

{unintentional} Smart thinking is: having a date night on daylight savings...just in case, he decides not to sleep in.

It's official: I cannot keep up with the toddler bread-crumb trails anymore {you know, the ones where they get into something and leave a trail of stuff behind}.Thinking about investing in a street cleaner to do the work for me.

Celebrated the cold weather with not one, but TWO warm fires this weekend! Thanks, Lumberjack W.

E's accessory obsession and winter mix well-- you'd think we're living on the east coast by the sheer amount of things he adds to his wardrobe any given day.

Training Wheels Included

W is to craigslist like I am to yard sales. And he's totally great at finding a steal-of-a-deal.

We've upgraded E's trike to a real bike, with training wheels and all. E is in absolute heaven! The bike is basically new with the tags still attached and the deal also included a helmet, which E desperately needed a replacement. The night we picked it up, E didn't want to get off to head back home. On the entire ride back he'd point to the back of the car {trunk} and say, "bike!" or hold out his helmet and say, "hel-met!" It was pretty awesome. 

And you can probably guess where we've been spending most of our days this week...{Laundry, you're gonna have to fold yourself!} The kid only comes inside for food and drink.

I think W knew I'd be taking pictures on this morning and wanted to make sure E was matchy-matchy with his new ride. ;)

A boy and his bike.

I thought of that while riding my bicycle.

--Albert Einstein

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. 

--John F. Kennedy

 Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling. 

--James E. Starrs

Getting some good exercise in while trying to keep up with him and carrying his brother...

Baking Bug

I love being a Mama, especially one that gets to stay-at-home. One of the unforeseen joys is being able to develop more hobbies and actually try to get good at them: sewing, crafting, decorating, cooking...and now baking.

Since sewing, diy, and crafting are a bit on the back-burner, I guess something enviably had to take their place for now. And baking is something I can do while E is awake and do it with him. Plus this is THE perfect time of year to turn that oven on, throw something apple-pumpkin-sugary in, and inhale its sweet aroma.

My trial run with E, if you remember, was an amazingly delicious Pumpkin Carmel Cheesecake Turtle Bread. We then moved onto some yummy Apple Fritter Muffins. And after both their huge successes in taste and baking performances, we've been on a big roll since. I've tried to make something new at least once a week. 

W had a work pot-luck on Halloween so the night before I made Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes. {pictured above} W got to pull out his culinary school skills and teach me a thing or two about soft and stiff peaks for whipped cream topping. He's a great teacher and I always learn a lot when he's in the kitchen with me. It made for a fun evening as we were both huddled over the mixer and scarfing down 'samples'.

Definitely love learning how to make more things from scratch, but I will admit that I'm way too intimated by yeast so I've steered clear of anything that requires it. And my piping skills, as you can see in the pic, need some serious help! My most recent challenge was this recipe for Pumpkin scones. I left them in the oven for too long and burnt the edges, but they were actually still tasty. After hitting the store this week for more butter and half-n-half, I'm determined not to over-bake them again!

Have any baking blogs or recipes to share?! I'm on the hunt for next week's treat.

Pumpkin Bourbon Shake

 In my most recent Real Simple, there was a drink recipe that sounded SO GOOD. Pumpkin and bourbon?! W and I were all over that like white on rice. And it did not disappoint. Absolutely delish! It's thin enough for a straw, but so rich and creamy! Just another way to enjoy this fall season....

What you need:

{Recipe serves eight, so we just cut everything by 1/4}

4 1/2 cartons vanilla ice cream

2 c canned pumpkin

1 c milk

1/2 c bourbon...buy the cheap stuff!

1/2 c packed light brown sugar

 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

whipped cream for topping

Put everything but the whipped cream in the blender and mix until smooth. Pour, top with whipped cream and add a straw.

Friday Happy Hour, anyone?!

Chop Suey

It's been done. E got his first hair cut on November 1st, 2011 at approximately 6:30 pm.

We had a close family friend, who's in beauty school, come over to give Ezra his first 'do. Em did my make-up for my wedding and she's fabulous at what she does. Plus, it was fun to have her and her mom over while W could be there to witness it too. 

The two quickly got acquainted...they bonded real fast since Em brought combs and a spray bottle full of water. For awhile now, Gpa was been styling Ezra's hair whenever he goes over there to play and Ezra is just NUTS about it. So E was definitely a fan of Em's from the get-go.

Papa helped at times to hold E's head straight while E occupied himself.

And away she cut. I was much more sad than I thought I was going to be. It was exciting to see it happening and see his reaction to a new experience, but it was definitely bittersweet. I'm so glad we waited until he was two, rather than get it around his first birthday!

And he loved it!

Some before and afters

 Yeah, we tried to keep it as long as possible. This cut turned out to be more of a trim. ;)

Thanks, Em, for giving our little dude a new 'do!

Merry Christmas To ME!

Saturday really felt like it was my birthday or an early Christmas. W took both boys in the morning...the first time I was away from Theo. I walked downtown and got my toes, fingers and eyebrows done. I strolled through the farmer's market; all the while thinking the boys were running around at the dog park.

NOT.

W completely surprised me by picking up my Christmas gift-- a few months early. 

My new, very own, awesome CAMERA!

I'm super stoked that he decided to give it to me early. And I loved the way he surprised me. My point-and-shoot was giving me issues recently so I couldn't use it. And how awesome to be able to document these up-coming festive months with clarity, zoom, and speed?! Boo-yah!

So these roses, that are currently a week old, are from him, but not my Christmas gift. It's my very first photograph using my very new camera. 

Major props to my hubby! :)

TWO months

Theo, our little butterball...

It's only been two months and already you've completely captured our heart. It just feels like you've always been a part of our family. You have so quickly melded right into our family; it seems so natural that you are ours. You have grown so very quickly {a little too quickly for Mama}!! But I love this process of getting to know who you are. What makes you happy, frustrated, giddy, sad...all of you. And that it's slow and takes times as you continue to grow and develop and learn new things. A sweet little mystery unfolds. As time continues to move at lightening speed, here are some things we've noticed this past month....

A bit of a night owl, although we're thankful for the improvements in this department already

Cooing and smiles galore!

 Like to sleep on your back with just your arms swaddled for naps, although you would totally do without the swaddle...it's just that you wake yourself up by jerking your arms

Actually enjoy the swing for longer than ten minutes {YES!}

Giving your Mama long stretches {6-8 hours} at night! 

Some days you hate the car seat, while others you don't seem to mind it

Already half the size of your older brother and in 3-6 month clothes. Basically, to us, you're huge.

Your hair is growing in dark and your eyes are looking hazel.

Still a little gun-shy around your brother's affections {and rightfully, so. ;)}

People consistently say two things: "He looks just like Ezra!" and "He looks just like William!"

Easily entertained with patterns, light, and faces...and the ceiling fan.

THE noisiest eater and sleeper!! I don't think you'll be sleeping next to Mama much longer...

You just seem to be a mellow little guy who likes to hang out until you're hungry or sleepy. I love your kissable little cheeks and soft baby hair. And your rolls kill me. You are already so different from your big brother; I don't think you'll have issues with people not telling you two apart. Theo, you are simply adorable and we adore you!

Pumpkin Guts

A first for both of them! Over the weekend we gutted our two medium pumpkins with the boys.

Well, one helped for a bit...

E did a great job de-seeding for like 10 minutes before he started playing with the ones on the tray. Or taste-testing them. Then that got boring so he went off to "mo" {play with his lawn mower}. Even with the short attention span, a great time was had by all. Another one of those awesome moments where I look over at W and think, "Man, we're really do this family thing!"

And the other little guy just hung out and watched all the action.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!