a few photos...

I have been horrible about blogging the last couple weeks, ever since I hinted at the ER visit, and then never explained myself. I will...eventually.
Until then, here are a few pictures and updates from the past couple weeks, in no particular order...

This girl started eating rice cereal. She is over the moon about it. Seriously, our kids love food.

We had a fun mother's day exploring downtown Hood River. (We didn't take many pictures)

Kipper became Wonder Dog.

 This guy stopped napping. (Perhaps a reason for the lack of blog posts?)

And baby Eleanor will be six months in four days. Crazy.

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the perfect morning to spend at an outdoor cafe

In case it is not especially obvious what is going on here, let me explain: we brought James' road map rug out onto the back deck this morning and built a cafe (complete with espresso machine, cash register, and walk-up window) for the "barista dinos" (what he calls them all the time) to serve lattes (with whip cream and "fwinkles") to the lego animals. After enjoying their beverages the dinos entertained the animals with some live music (please note the T-rex with the "ga-tuag").

James also made the zoo-keepers' car into a "monsta truck" so he could drive the elephant and fish to the concert.

I hope you (on the West coast) are all able to take full advantage of the wonderful weather this weekend!

PS coming up: Why the ER is not my favorite place to spend a Friday night...

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house tour: living room, James' corner

From the moment you enter our home, it is no secret that we have kids. In our living room I have attempted to keep the kid stuff to one corner ("attempted" being the key word there).

The chalkboard is owned by every family with a child within a two hundred mile radius of any Ikea. The previously mentioned guitar has taken up permanent residency in James' corner also.

(Can you tell I didn't clean before these pictures?) I love the random assortment of things James collects in the chalkboard shelf. Pictured here: cards sent from relatives, guitar picks, chalk, and "wild animal cards" from his little kid National Geographic magazines.

I love kid art. But instead of framing it I wanted to have it on constant rotation as James created new pieces. These hanging cords are from Ikea and can be found in the shower curtain section, which, I believe, is what they actually are.

Work bench and Melissa and Doug car carrier. Every time I put these away they ended up back out in the living room. I gave up.

The basket of randomness I daily collect off the floor. Generally composed of: dinosaurs, cars, trucks, and small musical instruments.

Secretly, it makes my heart so happy that we are in a phase of life when toys litter the ground and crayon scribble adorns our walls.

This time, a year ago: a brunch menu... this makes me want to have brunch right now...

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happy weekend

It must be spring...

 ... we discovered on a recent bike ride (with James new awesome glider bike)...

...the goslings are here!..

...and then...

... I got really into taking pictures of them...

...happy weekend.

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Eleanor Grace is five months old

This girl is five months today.

Eleanor means "light" and it could not be more fitting. She is such a sweet little light in our lives. 

She is happy, talkative, ticklish, and just so beautiful. We are blessed.

PS this post inspired by Sara, who (unlike me) gives us monthly updates on her cute little ones. 

This time a year ago: Yum.

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ordinary joys: coconut products and old lady edition

1. snail mail- yep, I'm an old person. I love receiving it and sending it. Creating art and mailing it is a great way for James to stay connected with family we don't see often, and I have a feeling receiving mail from James brightens their day as well.

2. cardboard boxes- We spent almost four hours the other day destroying a cardboard box and making it into a garage with a launch ramp and a vertical tunnel. The down side: it still is taking up way too much space in our living room.

3. coconut cream in coffee- You skim the inch of fat off the top of a can of coconut milk and dissolve about a teaspoon into your coffee each morning. Paired with the smoothness of our new aerobie coffee press. Sheer bliss.

4. the library- did I mention I'm an old person? When the kids and I were quarantined last week I had to get out of the house. We ended up making two library trips because it seems to be the only place you can be constantly wiping your child's nose without too many raised eyebrows. There are about fifteen books checked out under my name and scattered around our house, but it was totally worth it.

5. cereal for dessert- current favorite: "Mom's Best Toasted Cinnamon Squares." It is cinnamon toast crunch, but for some reason the off-brand makes me feel like it isn't as bad. (No HFCS, but just as much sugar.)

6. these adorable little page flags- my mother-in-law gave them to me. I use them to mark recipes in cookbooks that are new to me because I got them from the library (see #4... that's a number sign, not a "hash tag" by the way)

7. these free printable sandwich wrappers- what a fun way to brighten Lane's day when he goes to eat lunch.

8. coconut oil as face moisturizer- I got the idea from this gal. It works great on my ridiculously dry skin.

I hope you have a day filled with ordinary and extraordinary joys!

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joy through the screaming

I cried yesterday for the first time in almost four months.

I remember the last time very well: Eleanor was just over a month old, Lane was back at work, and I was trying to nurse her while James threw play dough toys at me. Not our best moment.

Four months is kind of a long time for me to go without crying, so I was kind of surprised yesterday when the tears sprang to my eyes.

This week has been a little rough. Both kids woke up with bad colds Tuesday morning: runny noses, coughing, eyes watering, and not sleeping well. Any plans we had or would have made were cancelled due to illness. We made one trip to the library and one to the park, but have been pretty cooped up aside from that. He had been difficult all morning. I should have seen the melt down coming.

It was time for James' nap. Eleanor was in her bassinet asleep. James hadn't taken a nap the day before or slept well the night before.  As soon as the words "nap time" were out of my mouth, he lost it. Screaming and yelling and fighting with all his might to not be put in his bed.
This is not a situation in which he can be talked down. He is two and half, and therefore not rational. I carried him into his room, pleading with him to lie down and I would cover him up and sing to him.
One final shrill yell out of him did it: Eleanor was awake. And screaming also.

I put James in his bed, quickly tried to cover him while he kicked, and explained that I would come sing to him as soon as I could get Eleanor back to sleep. I think he felt a bit of remorse for waking her up because he didn't argue and he stayed in bed.

I ran into our room (where her bassinet still is) and grabbed her up.
She was shrieking by this point, which doesn't happen often. I figured she must be hungry and tried to nurse her. No luck, she just kept screaming.
I stood up and rocked her in my arms as I paced the room. She didn't let up.
I tried nursing again, pacing again. She wailed and wailed. My ears and head began to ache, but I held her close, hoping to at least calm her down to a cry or a whimper.

Then it happened. I could feel my face getting hot and my eyes getting watery. I didn't try to hold it back.
I continued pacing and rocking and crying. And I started to pray.
I asked God to help me and to stop the screaming. I asked Him for wisdom and for my head to stop throbbing.
Then I began to thank Him.
I thanked Him for the little deafening miracle in my arms, and the one that kicked and fought me all the way to bed. I thanked Him that my babies didn't scream out of pain or hunger or cold or fear, as so many children, no less worthy of comforts than my own, do every day. I thanked Him for their health and for my healthy body that I am privileged to exhaust each day by caring for these sweet little gifts. I thanked Him for being there with me.
And my tears, which had begun as tears of exhaustion, frustration, and self pity, turned into tears of thanksgiving and joy.
Eleanor fell asleep in my arms, James fell asleep in his bed, and I had a few minutes to go and read my Bible and praise the Lord that in the screaming and kicking and fighting and exhaustion and tears there is still joy.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, 

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 

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happy weekend

This was my view this morning: a basil parmesan omelet and a happy little gal in her brother's old blue striped pj's.

As mentioned before, James has been at grandma and grandpa's house for the last couple days and, although we miss him terribly, I can't believe how much time I have! So far I have spent forty five minutes in New Seasons (I know, it's almost embarrassing; I won't even tell you how much money I spent on cheese alone), went for a run, had a coffee date (and an actual conversation, apparently people still do that), did a weight workout with Lane, read my Bible, ate meals sitting down, and got nothing done around the house. Today, Elle and I are planning another run and then going to meet up with Lane at Edgefield (he is there for "work" today... they call it "team bonding"). All that to say, James comes home tomorrow, and I can't wait. Oh man, I miss that kid.

I hope you have a cozy weekend full of buttery breakfasts and comforting soups.

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the perfect dutch baby pancake

When I was a kid my parents sent me up to Washington to see my relatives every summer.
I stayed with my aunt, uncle, and two cousins. My girl cousin, Joscelyn, is just a few years younger than me (I?). We would run around outside on imaginary horses, play with our American Girl dolls, and eat "powdered sugar breakfast" for breakfast.

It was not until high school that I learned the true name of this dessert item that you can eat for breakfast (the best kind) is actually a dutch baby pancake.

I was feeling a little nostalgic about this treat a few weeks ago and tried a few recipes. They all fell flat, literally. They would not puff up like they are supposed to. Suddenly a ingenious idea came to me: call my mom and ask her for Aunt Terre's recipe. It never disappoints.

The original recipe called just for "vanilla and sugar" so I came up with the amounts, which can be adjusted of course. Aunt Terre's recipe also called for 1/3 cup of butter, but I reduced it by half to 3 tbsp. (Sorry, Aunt Terre, but I didn't inherit the super-thin gene that everyone else on my Mom's side of the family has, apparently. Blast.)

The Perfect Dutch Baby Pancake
3 tbsp butter
1 c flour
1 c milk
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp sugar
powdered sugar (for topping)- not optional, this is a must
berries (for topping)- optional, but highly recommended

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Put butter in a ten inch (or the closest you have to it) oven-proof skillet and place it in the oven to melt the butter.
Combine the next five ingredients (flour through sugar) in the blender and blend until light colored and frothy (a couple minutes).
Remove your pan from the oven and swirl the butter around to coat the bottom and sides. Pour egg mixture in.
Return pan to oven and bake 15 minutes. Slice like a pizza, add toppings. Enjoy.

*a note on 4/15 (can you tell I've been into these lately?) I substituted 1/4 of the flour for whole wheat and it still puffed and tasted great. I would probably do up to half whole wheat. Also, amount of butter can be reduced or it can be substituted for coconut oil. Really, the adaptations are endless. I would love to hear what you think in the comments! Thanks!

This time, a year ago: Wooooo hooooo!

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little yoga

A few weeks ago James and I borrowed Little Yoga from the library. 

It is a really cute book, full of fun, colorful pictures that compare simple yoga poses to animal movements.

Perfecting the poses was not the goal, of course; the whole purpose is movement and fun. However, James caught on surprisingly quickly, and seemed to improve each time we went through the book.

I would love to enroll him in a real kid yoga class, but I assume they are crazy expensive.
Do you or anyone you know do yoga with kids? Do you know any kids who have taken a yoga class? I bet it would be a lot of fun and hilarious to watch.

(What, a mid-morning post?... I did not have to wait until nap time today due to the fact that my sweet little guy is currently on his way to Corvallis to have a "just James trip" to Grandma and Grandpas' house. Eleanor and I are not quite sure what we are going to do with all this quiet (certainly not catch up on cleaning!), but we are kicking off our girls time by making a grocery list and going on a leisurely shopping trip. So we can have more meals like this one.)

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