The 10 Month Boy!

It's hard to believe, but this little Goose is a whole 10 months old-- time to start counting down to the big O-N-E! 

I must officially be a parent, because I feel like I could just sit here and type about a million things I love about Henry-- he's really just a complete joy to be around. 

These days the Honeyboy is 2'7 and pushing 22 pounds. He loves fruits, especially blueberries and melons. He can clap, wave, point and say, "Mamamama," if he wants me, or, "Baba," for Matt. In the last month or so he's become quite affectionate, and likes to give little hugs and the occasional (very sloppy) kiss. He's been crawling and pulling himself up for about 3 months now-- maybe bipedalism is just around the corner? 

He's pictured below with what is probably his favorite toy these days... a little dump truck that was a hand-me-down from his buddy Ellen. He can easily spend 10+ minutes (an eternity in almost toddler time) pushing it around the rug. We're hoping his enthusiasm for wheeled things will soon translate to biking-- we just bought a bike trailer! Who knows, perhaps my blog name will once again become semi-applicable? 

Moving On

Last week we closed on our house deal. While I mostly just felt relieved that everything worked out so nicely, a small part of me certainly felt sad. Not sad about moving-- that was definitely the right choice for our family, but sad that our well-intentioned and perhaps naïvely optimistic plan for a small farm didn't go as intended. 

As I've mentioned before we thought the house would be much easier to fix up then it was, and as the situation spiraled out of control we realized that we were not in a space financially or time-wise to transform the property and house into what we'd envisioned. 

I do hope that we will try again someday. Who knows when that will be... perhaps a long way in our future, but I am quite certain I'll eventually make a fine crazy goat lady and Matt a fine orchardist/part-time bike mechanic. We've all got to have goals, eh? 

Anyways, as we close this brief, somewhat traumatic, but very educational chapter in our life I want to be sure to thank everyone who supported us in ways big and small while we floundered through the last year and a half-- especially my parents who never say, "I told you so." That's real love, no?  

Blueberry Picking (In Pictures)

Changes Afoot

This last weekend we moved all our worldly possessions from one house to another. Our house deal is almost wrapped up, and we are happily making a return to renting. Quite unfortunately though, our search for a new home pretty much came down to being homeless or keeping Duncan, and we had to opt to not be homeless. 

Fortunately, my parents (being both dog lovers and a constant source of support) have taken him in, and hope to find him a loving home. While I know that he is in a familiar place and probably very much enjoying being part of a dog pack, I feel pretty terrible. Taking in an animal is certainly a commitment, and one I feel like we've reneged. 

Though he is certainly a quirky fellow, I've grown to love and appreciate Duncan. He came to us needing a home, and I'd like to think we were able to give him a very nice one as long as we could. I'll miss his companionship and love for Henry, and I'll always be grateful for the part he played in my physical recovery from Henry's arrival. 

Anyways, I apologize for the melodramatic post-- I hope to be back sometime soon with some happier thoughts and happenings. 

Summer Vacation

Sunday night we returned home from our big summer vacation-- a roughly 1300 mile road trip to Montana and back. Henry, Matt, and Duncan were all first time pilgrims to the treasure state, and it was wonderful to get to share such a lovely place with my favorite guys.

Henry enjoyed visiting with his aunt and uncle, grandparents, and great grandmas. Honestly, it was just great to have some backup for the week... and incidentally, the little guy has discovered cake, cookies, ice cream, and french fries-- there's no going back now.

I'd like to think we'll squeeze in another decent trip or two this summer, but right now the next several weeks seem likely to be hectic-- Matt started a new job (!!!) on Monday, and we've accepted an offer on our house that has us moving by the middle of August. I'm a little too superstitious to do much besides mention that at this point, but all in good time.

For now, some Montana pictures... plus more on Matt's blog!

An Update

Our family currently has some big changes in the works. It feels a little uncomfortable, as things that are not quite certain and wrought with anticipation tend to-- but the direction things are headed is very positive and hopefully things will firm up soon and we can be on our merry way.

Other than the shifting tides (and being vague), things have been pretty good in these parts. I signed myself up for a half marathon even though I've only been running about two miles at a time, we are planning to avoid being shellshocked over the fourth by fleeing into Canada, and the little guy is keeping us on our toes with his speed crawling. It has also been hotter than heck, which I'm trying not to complain too much about because I realize I wished for warmth all winter... and you know the heat is still bearable if you are willing to heat the oven to 450 for sweet potato fries.

Anyways, here are a few pictures of Henry & friends to accompany the random musings...

Family Camp

This weekend we enjoyed our first camping trip as a threesome! We had a wedding to attend on Saturday at one of Camano Island's lovely state park, so we seized the opportunity to get away and spend a couple nights camping with friends. 

To be honest I've been struggling with a bit of anxiety lately-- though our schedule allows for a good amount of flexibility, I find deviating from it to be stressful. It's all me though... Henry seems to go with the flow, so I am working on calming myself down and adapting as well as he does. It's easier said than done. Anxiety is certainly a fickle beast. Like I said though, I'm working on it, and each successful new experience seems to help, and the weekend was most certainly a success. The proof is in the pictures (though I wish they were pudding at this moment). 

Couldn't have done it without borrowing a huge tent!

Just hanging out.

One amazing madrona. 

Sun! The beach!

Duncan loved it.

Henry is still the cutest... even when covered in a film of snot and dirt.

This Guy

I took this picture of Henry last night because he just looked so cute and grown up sitting in the lawn chair. Looking at the picture now I realize that he also looked very tired. Naps have recently become a bit of a battle and occasionally they just don't happen. Honestly I think it's harder on me than it is on him... he never seems too much worse for the wear. The recent nap battling is one of the reasons my blog has been so quiet, but I realized that I never did my (super official) six month update, so I wanted to pop in and share a few things about this guy, if for nothing else but my own memory.  

10  7 Henry Things at 6.75 Months (Revised due to a situation that involves Henry pulling dog hair off Duncan and trying to eat it.)

1. He crawls! It's more of an army crawl still, but if he wants to get somewhere (e.g. to something shiny) he certainly will. 

2. He's become much more independent recently, and I can plop him in his (never slept in) crib to play with toys for 10-15 minutes here and there while I furiously try to accomplish something like sweeping all the baby puffs out of every nook and cranny. 

3. He has this super sweet beaming smile he does where he squishes his head into his shoulders and gives you a huge grin. It's probably the cutest thing ever. 

4. I'm predicting that his first word will be "Duncan." He finds the dude SO interesting and thankfully Duncan has been a total gentlemen about all the yanking. 

5. He's been playing with a lot of new sounds lately. Working on them phonemes!

6. We introduced solid foods around five months when he started ripping food out of our hands (like mother, like son). He wouldn't let us feed him baby food, so he's been feeding himself from the get-go. Recently, he's gotten quite a bit better at actually getting the food into his mouth and it is so fun to see him enjoy foods like avocado and toast and cucumbers. 

7. He laughs harder with (at?!) Matt than with anyone else. 

8. .... 

Checking In

Hello, loyal readers! I suppose it has been a little while (my apologies, as usual)... let me quickly fill you in:

1. Recently, we took this show on the road. Matt had a work conference in the Bavarian Village (beautiful Leavenworth, WA), so Henry, Duncan and I tagged along. It was a nice change of scenery, and a good pit stop en route to visit Grandma and Grandpa. While Matt was busy at the conference I stayed busy watching cable (only while the little guy snoozed) and eating frozen yogurt and giant pretzels. Don't worry, it was only temporary... as far as I know, I'm not really becoming one of those women.

2. Before we left we began one of our final house projects: replacing the shower surround. It's one of those long, silly house stories we seem to have a whole slough of these days, but (long, silly story short) we still don't have a shower. We've both managed to find hot showers here and there, but there has also been plenty of hosing down in the backyard. For the most part I haven't minded, but the other night I did have a dream that in the midst of a zombie apocalypse I opted to take shower in what was obviously a zombie infested abandoned resort. Analyze that. 

3. This week Henry caught a nasty little bug. He had a couple days of sniffles back in January, but this is his first time with the real deal, complete with an achy little ear, a cough, and a fever. It has been so sad, but seemingly we're on the upswing and hopefully he'll be himself again soon. On a very, very selfish note, the timing has been most unfortunate because I've been unable to take him to the gym daycare all week, and thus unable to access my main shower source. The upside? He does seem to get a kick out of the "hosing off," situation. Good for him.

4. Yesterday we celebrated a birthday and a half-- Matt turned 28 and Henry turned .5! One of the (the only?) nice thing about it taking days for Henry to be born is that when he did finally arrive, it happened to be Matt's half birthday! I love those guys, and plan to express my appreciation and adoration tomorrow through fried dough and sugar. Recipe to come. 

Anyways, nap-time is over, so I must go. Here are a few pictures from our Bavarian travels...

Dutch Oven Bread

So, I haven't been baking at all lately. The cold hard (as opposed to the warm, gooey) truth is that I gained about 75 pounds while pregnant. It's not exactly a number I'm proud of, but it just kind of is what it is. Honestly, I ate pretty well and exercised through the whole thing, so I'm not even sure how it exactly happened, but it did... so oh fucking well.

The good news is twofold:

1. At roughly five months post-partum I am down about 40 pounds and getting plenty of regular exercise.

2. Thanks to my so-called, "maternal fat stores," I've been able to continue sustaining Henry, and that is something I am glad for.

Anyways, all that said, I got this le beautiful Le Creuset dutch oven for last winter's Festivus celebration, and wanted to try the apparent internet phenomenon of a crusty bread baked in a dutch oven.

Only, most of the recipes I found called for something called "instant yeast," (which I refuse to acknowledge based on name alone), and required a 12 hour rise. I was definitely not operating with 12 hours of forethought on this project. So, thanks to some Mormon mommy blogs (it's a whole thing, let me tell you), I was able to figure out a recipe that would only take an afternoon. 

The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of yeast, which pretty much just gives the dough an insanely fast rise time-- about 20 minutes. I think you could definitely reduce the yeast significantly, if you didn't mind waiting a little longer for your dough. Also, the recipe requires you to pre-heat the dutch oven, and the first time I made this recipe I skipped that step... I ended up with a delicious, cake-y bread, which is great, but I was going for crust.

Anyways, without further ado... 

Adapted from around the Mormon Blogosphere

Dutch Oven Bread

4-5 Cups All Purpose or Bread Flour

2 T Yeast

2 T Sugar

1 t Salt

2 Cups Warm Water 

1. Combine water, yeast, sugar, and salt and allow yeast to begin to bubble.

2. Add 3.5 cups of flour. Knead in additional flour as needed in 1/2 cup increments. Knead dough until it is smooth and comes together in a ball (just a few minutes). 

3. Cover dough ball and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 20 minutes.

4. Preheat oven with dutch oven to 400 degrees. 

5. Coat the bottom of the dutch oven with flour, transfer dough ball and coat the top with flour.

6. If you are brave you can attempt professional looking slits on the top of the dough... I tried and failed.

7. Bake for 30 minutes covered. 

8. Remove lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until brown and crunchy looking. 

9. Transfer to cutting board and enjoy with butter and/or jam!

A Picture Post

Drying Henry's "bum pants," in the sun. 

Duncan the duck dog.

Trying to eat more vegetables. 

Our plum tree(s) in bloom.

Walk time napping.

Five Months Old!

Today the Honeyboy is five months old! 

The last several weeks have been transformative. He is quickly becoming a little boy with his own personality, opinions, and sense of humor. These days he does lots of giggling, rolling over, playing, sitting up (though not for long), drooling, and "talking." 

As of last week he has two bottom teeth, and because of his high level of interest in food (like mother like son), we've even started giving him some solid foods! At his four month pediatrician visit he was 16 pounds and in the 75th-80th percentile for weight, height, and head size. He's big, but well proportioned. His eyes are still quite blue, and I'm beginning to believe it's possible that he got his Papa's pretty eyes.

He's just the cutest and sweetest little guy.

Family Hike

Late Saturday afternoon we took our inaugural hike as a threesome  foursome with Henry in his Osprey hiking backpack! The pack was a very nice gift from my Grandma Alice, and we've been looking forward to using it since it arrived. Osprey says most babies are ready to hike at six months, but our boy is big, and seemed quite ready this weekend.

We planned to take a short hike as a test run, but missed a turn being jerks and gawking at a strange display of woodland cell phone usage. So, because we kept thinking that our turn must be, "around next bend" we ended up hiking about 7-8 miles.

It worked out well though, because aside from the short snooze he took right after we started walking, Henry spent the whole hike happily looking around and making funny noises.

When we finally realized that we'd missed our turn long ago, we took a side trail to a close-by viewpoint as a turn around. The view was pretty underwhelming, but we took the opportunity to try and take a family picture. Our best attempt was pretty terrible... 

However, we did better taking turns... 

I have a feeling the baby backpack will be well loved by all of us. It was great to be able to take a hike with all my guys on such a beautiful spring day...

Also, two days later, I am still sore.  

Just had to add that.

March

I apologize for the long silence in this space. I guess March kind of got away from me (I'll quickly fill you in-- it was rainy), but it's winding down and it certainly feels like spring is coming.

Somehow I doubt I'm known for being any sort of great optimist. There are really only so many times you can be compared to Daria without taking a hint, but I do mean it when I say I am really looking forward to the new season. Don't get me wrong-- the last several months have been uniquely sweet, but I am very much enjoying the shift we are currently experiencing.

This last weekend we took a one-night family trip to the big city. After anticipating every worst-case scenario for our little traveler everything went off without a hitch. Honestly, it was a big relief, and hopefully a good omen for adventures to come.

I've learned a lot about change and transition in the last several months. My thoughts are a bit difficult to sum up without sounding like an asshole, but I will say that I hope I'll be better at going with the flow in the future-- change is a process, and not a seamless one.

I know there are certainly many challenges to come (and many we are currently sorting out), but recently I feel like we're reaching the other side of our big transition. We are beginning to establish a nice rhythm as a family of three.

I've have so much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to. Maybe there is something to this optimism thing?

Eh.

Dear 3-5 Readers,

Fear not-- I have not re-abandoned my blog. I've just been lacking in both inspiration and free hands. I hope to return with something more interesting to say soon. Until then, here are some cute, recentish pictures of Henry.

A Picture Post

16 Cups of Frozen Berries = 19 Jars of Jam

The chubbiest,  cutest little hands.

A mid-winter (indoor) flower. 

A weird-o, but also sometimes a beast.