Thankful, day 3.

I am so thankful for my son.  I am still amazed every single day that God has entrusted us with such a precious little soul to care for and raise.  (Kinda scary, huh?)  I love him more than I ever could have dreamed would be possible.  His smiles melt my heart every time, and I can't get enough sweet baby cuddles!

Vote.

Today is election day in our great nation.  So get out there and vote!  But, before you do, inform yourself.  Don't vote for any candidate solely because of a political ad.  And, please don't not vote for someone because of an opposing party's nasty ad.  Get online, look up each candidate's views on the issues that really matter to you, and go vote!

Thankful, days 1 & 2.

     Happy November!  November and December are my favorite months of the year because we get to celebrate so many fun holidays--our wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday, New Year's Eve!  Of course, during the holdays, I get to decorate, bake, and spend lots of time with loved ones--all of my favorite things!  This year, I'm extra excited for the upcoming months because we'll get to enjoy them with Nathaniel!!  We all know that Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks to God for all of the blessings that he lavishes upon us every single day.  But, why do we only bother to give thanks once a year?  I don't know about you, but I am so blessed that I should be thanking Him every single minute of every single day!  That being said, I am going to attempt to post a blog every day this month about what I am thankful for.  Since I missed yesterday, I'll do two today.  I am thankful for my husband who loves me for who I am, no matter what.  He is amazing, and I love him beyond belief.
     I am thankful for the upcoming holidays, during which we can relax, spend time with family, and show people how much we truly appreciate them.

My Husband.

     Two years ago today, I married my very best friend in the world.  Eric and I met in a high school Spanish class, and it's been a whirl of romance, travel, and adventure ever since!  He truly is the love of my life, my partner, my other half, my husband.  We've had our ups and downs, but the journey has been amazing--and it gets better every day!  I cannot even begin to imagine my life without Eric.  He is everything I could want in a husband and a father for our son.  Eric works hard to provide for us, and he is always striving to better himself.  I admire him greatly, and I am beyond blessed.

     I love you, Eric!  Thank you for five years of dating, two wonderful years of marriage, and our beautiful son!  It still boggles my mind that a tiny bit of me, a tiny bit of you, and a whole of miracle gave us such a precious child to raise together.  You're an amazing daddy and a wonderful husband.  I cannot wait to see the next twist in this road that is our life.  I love you more than ever!

What I'm Loving...



Nate in a box.

Dinosaur jammies.



Pumpkin Cake Roll.

Having never made a pumpkin roll before, I thought it would be super difficult (hello, how does one roll up a cake?!).  It wasn't.  Actually, this was pretty easy to make, and turned out to be super delicious!  Even my husband who "doesn't really like pumpkin" enjoyed a few slices!

3 eggs

3/4 C all-purpose flour

2 t cinnamon

1 t baking powder

1 t ginger

1/2 t salt

1/2 t nutmeg

1 C granulated sugar

2/3 C canned pumpkin

1 t lemon juice

sifted powdered sugar

1 recipe cream cheese filling (below)

     Allow eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan.  Line bottom of pan with waxed paper; grease paper.  Set aside.  In bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, salt, and nutmeg; set aside.

     Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored.  Gradually beat in granulated sugar.  Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice.  Fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture.  Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

     Bake about 15 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched.  Immediately loosen edges of cake from pan and turn cake onto a towel sprinkled with sifted powdered suagr.  Remove waxed paper.  Roll town and cake into a spiral, starting from a short side of the cake.  Cool on a wire rack.  Meanwhile, prepare cream cheese filling.

    Unroll cake; remove towel.  Spread cake with cream cheese filling to within 1 inch of edges.  Roll up cake; trim ends.  Cover; chill for 2 to 48 hours.

Cream Cheese Filling

     In a small bowl, beat 8-ounce package softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Gradually add 1 cup powdered suagr, beating until smooth.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Nate's Afternoon.

"Hey Mama, let's play!"

"Do you always have to get out the camera?"

"Ooh, look at the ceiling fan!!"

"What a fun time!"

"You know I don't like tummy time, but I'll try....."

"Zzzzzzz....!"

Avocado Baby Food.

Nathaniel won't be starting solids for a few more months, but I've decided to get a head start on making my own baby food.  {Okay, really I'm just so excited that I couldn't wait--that's what a freezer is for, right?}  I've read time and time again that avocado is a wonderful homemade baby food because it's easy to use, and super healthy.  I decided to give it a whirl.  Plus, avocados were on sale this week at the grocery store!  So this isn't so much of a recipe since there is only one ingrediant, but we'll deal. 

I used two avocados to make 18 servings.




First, slice the avocados into thirds (don't cut down the center; you will hit a large seed).

 

The easiest way to remove the flesh of the fruit from the peel is to slice it into small squares, then scrape them off with a spoon.



After removing the avocado chunks, scrape the peeling to get every bit of fruit off.

Throw all of the avocado pieces into the blender and blend to your desired consistancy.

I added a fair amount of water to the avocado because I wanted it to be very smooth for a young baby, but you could leave it slightly chunky for an older baby.

I used an ice cube tray to divide the avocado into servings to freeze.  After they were solid, I popped them into a freezer bag.  Obviously, if you're going to use the baby food immediately, it does not need to be frozen.

What I'm Loving...

Mommy & Nate time.



Brand new baby sneakers.



Smiley baby!

Grover's head in the cat door.  All day long.

 

Thunderstorms with hail.

Bedtime Routine.

Since Nathaniel is getting older, we are starting to get him into a routine during the evenings.  He is a wonderful sleeper every night, so the routine is mostly for Mommy and Daddy to get used to having a regular night pattern!

 First, we start with a bath in the sink.  Despite the look in the picture, Nate really enjoys his baths!  I enjoy them too because they're so much easier and faster this way than the sponge baths were!

 Next, Nate gets cozy and warm in his bathrobe and bunny slippers!  Really, every baby needs such luxuries. 

 After that, it's time for jammies! 

Lastly, Nathaniel enjoys bedtime stories with Daddy before falling asleep for the night.  He's been sleeping 5 to 7 hours at night, then waking up for a feeding--and then sleeping another 3 to 4 hours.  We're quite pleased with his habits!

2 months.

Nathaniel is two months old today!  I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was heading to the hospital for my induction, and now I have a baby who has already outgrown all of his newborn clothes!  He is 11 pounds now, and is 22.5 inches long.  We had a well-baby doctor's appointment today, and Nate had to get three different vaccines.  Needless to say, he has been quite grumpy for the majority of the day. 

What I'm Loving...

My darling son.

Beautiful autumn right outside our windows.

Nathaniel taking an interest in his toys.

Smudgie giving Grover a swat.

What I'm Loving...

This adorable smile!!!!

Rainy days.




A swaddled baby on a chilly day.



The amazing way that Nathaniel is learning and growing so quickly!

Smile.

My baby smiled at me today!!  We were playing with his toy rattles and looking at books when he gave me three of the biggest grins.  Of course, he absolutely melted my heart and got loads of cuddles for it!  Soon thereafter, he got sleepy enough to throw a fit and take a nap; I guess a first smile is hard work!

Zoo.

We took Nathaniel on his very first trip to the zoo this weekend.  Despite the fact that he slept through almost the entire trip, I'm pretty sure that he enjoyed it!  I love visiting the zoo, and I cannot wait to take Nate when he's a little older and more interested in the animals.