That ain’t cotton, cont’d

So, we arrived home on Sunday, October 11th and woke up on Monday, October 12th -

let me make that clear – OCTOBER 12th. not December, or even November…

to, you guessed it.

SNOW.

And not just a few fluries. That would be okay in the beginning of October.

We got a good 3-4 inches. And not to mention, it was like 29 degrees.

So, what are we to do but make the most of it?!

It probably took 15 minutes to get E all bundled up. And poor thing could hardly move, but she was bound and determined (note her tongue ) to play with those darn books while I got my self bundled up. (How am I going to do this with 2 babies?)

Finally ready to play. Ellie Jane could barely even smile. We might need to get a bigger hat or something.

I set her down, and she stood just like this for a good 3 minutes. Didn’t (or maybe couldn’t?) move till I moved her!

“So Mom, what exactly am I supposed to do with this stuff?”

We are really going to have to work on keeping gloves on her hand. She just won’t do it. But her poor little fingers got so cold!

She couldn’t figure out why all the flowers were covered up. I was wondering the same thing.

After about 10 minutes, she had had enough.

We decided that Starbucks and the Library sounded like a better option!

Wedding Weekend

Well, I guess I win the “bad blogger of the year” award. Life has just been busy, and this little blog keeps getting put last on my to do list. But, I sure do have a lot to catch up on…

Last weekend, my little brother got married. Wow! It was a really fun weekend – especially getting to spend so much time with my family. Not to mention the 85 degree weather.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures, but we had a ton of fun.

Ellie Jane had no lack of attention (aka Spoiling)

And she loved getting to (skip naps, eat sugar, get whatever she wanted) hang out with the big girls all weekend!

The best part was all of us getting to be together – first time since Christmas!

We also loved getting to see my Nana and Pop!

I have no pictures from the Wedding. Christine was stunning, and I loved watching my little brother marry her. The whole ceremony and reception were just beautiful! However, the only pictures I have from the whole day are of Ellie Jane dancing at the reception after her DaddyGrand let her eat about 30 strawberries that he rolled in powder sugar! So much for her pretty while dress.

It was a great weekend, but the 85 degree weather made it even harder to come back to this…

…and that ain’t cotton.

The cold has arrived…

After having the most wonderful, warmest September in the history of MN – temperatures in the 70’s and even 80’s most days! – we had a drastic turn of events last night.

Winter arrived.

Well, Fall actually. But we all know what fall means…winter is just around the corner.

The weather man said that today it was 50 degrees, but I beg to differ. It was cold outside! Even Ellie Jane would bury her head into my neck everytime we walked out the door. This is not a good sign considering it will likely get 60-70 degrees colder over the next 7 months. Better toughen up little girl!

But, no worries. We were prepared…

1. With new “Uggs” from Mimi. (note: this is the mark of a true Minnesotan. I, apparently, have not reached that status yet. Though, I might cave this winter because my southern-blooded friend Samm told me her Uggs changed her life last winter.)

2. Some new fleece footy pjs (Doesn’t get much cuter! She was very proud, but kept trying to get her toes out)

3. And her very own pair of gloves. (She literally pulls things our of her drawers and wants me to put them on her, hence this “outfit!”)

And we tried out the first on my list I have been making entitled “Winter Activities” (AKA: “Help me! I have a very active 1 year old and we must get out of this house!”)

I realize we are not quite stuck in the house yet, but after I turned my head for about 3 seconds and turned around to this…

(yes, that is an entire box of spaghetti)

and later walked into this…

I decided it was time to get out.

We went to story time at the Libary. It was so fun! We read and sang and played with other kids – all of whom were Ellie Jane’s age and she loved it! I think we will make this a habit.

So, inspite of the nip in the air, we had quite a fun day.

And, I actually really love the fall in MN. So, here is my commitment to enjoy it and try to not let my dread of the impending winter ruin it…

Red Shoes

Well, do I have a lot to catch up on!

But, first things first…

I got Ellie Jane a pair of RED shoes at a consignment sale yesterday. (I love red shoes!)

Problem is, we can’t get them off of her!

As soon as she woke up this morning, she brough them over to me saying “Dis! Dis!” while patting her chest (Translation : This, this. PLEASE!)

And as soon as she stopped admiring herself, she ran through the house saying “Dada dada dada dada…”

She was so proud to show him her new shoes!

(more updates to come soon!)

It’s a…

Well, the polls were WRONG!

It’s a BOY!

Baby boy and mama are both really healthy.

We are so grateful!

So, what do you think?

We go Thursday for our ultrasound of the new baby. Do you think its a boy or a girl?

Random pictures from the week

Ellie Jane and I went and picked out a new toy this week with some of her birthday money. She really likes balls, so we got this.

Ellie Jane is a big fan. We brought it home and she played with it for – no lie – 30 minutes straight!

The only other toy that has gotten that much attention are those ABC books…

Look at that concentration! Tongue and everything…

Now, we just have to keep up with all 12 balls!

On to the next random topic…I haven’t had any really intense cravings this pregnancy like I did with Ellie Jane. But recently (the last 2-3 weeks) all I have wanted to eat is good Tomato Basil soup. With good sourdough bread. And so, in the last 2-3 weeks, I have made 2 batches of soup (of which Colby won’t touch, it has no meat in it ) and had it for breakfast and lunch just about every day. I’ve also been baking all of our bread for the past month, so now I have added Sourdough to our repertoire.

For anyone interested, here is one of my favorite Tomato Basil soup recipes. This is my variation of the Tomato Soup in my favorite cookbook – Tables of Content (from Birmingham Junior League).

2 T butter

1 onion, chopped

2-4 cloves garlic ( I like lots)

4 cups milk

3 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes (I had lots of fresh tomatoes from the farmers market this week, so I used those and it was even better)

1/4 c flour

2 T tomato paste

salt and pepper ( i use lots of pepper)

Saute onion and garlic in butter til it smells good. Heat milk in pot, but don’t boil. Put onions, garlic, tomatoes, flour, tomato paste, s/p in food processor and blend til smooth. Add tomatoes to hot milk and let simmer 15 minutes

The first time I made it, I added fresh basil. The second time, I made pesto and it was even better. I made the pesto with a bunch of fresh basil, a few garlic cloves, some pecans ( i didn’t have pine nuts), some Parmesan cheese, salt pepper and then streamed in some olive oil. YUM. I also made some croutons out of sourdough that was getting a little stale. I just sauted them in some garlic infused olive oil. It was great (6 times this past week )

On to more random news…

College Football started this weekend (does anyone not know that?!) Colby has been anticipating this since last December when college football ended.

Remember last year when it started?

Well, Ellie Jane is still cheering on Bama with her Daddy!

They were both quite excited about the game!

Okay, enough random posting for tonight. We find out what the new baby is on Thursday. I think I’ll put up a poll and see if there are any guesses!

New Silverware

Ellie Jane got her first set of silverware today…

At first, she was not too sure what to do with it.

One thing’s for sure, she was not going to let it slow her down…

Then, with a little help from mom, she caught on…

We clapped after each success!

Fun at the Zoo

We have a really fun (and free!) zoo and conservatory close to our house, so we met up with our friends there this morning.

The girls all had lots of fun. Ellie Jane liked all the animals best from a distance and in my arms, so it was a little hard to take pictures of her. But, here she is looking at the tiger…

I’m not sure if she liked the tiger or the ball more!

We loved watching the seals swim around…

But our favorite thing was the butterfly garden. It was beautiful!

You can’t really see them in the pictures, but there were butterflies everywhere!

We tried for a while to get a picture of all four girls…quite a task!

I think finally, this was the best we got…

…before they all did this…

( I can’t believe she turned 13 months this week! )

We had a great time at the zoo, and will go back soon I’m sure!

Grand Marais and a few random pics

We are back from Grand Marais and getting ready to start the first school week of the semester. Everyone that has been living and storing things at our house have all moved themselves and their stuff back into their dorms, and life is settling down a bit. yeah!

We had a great time in Grand Marais…quite different than the year before!

Last time we were there, Ellie Jane was a tiny 3 week old and I was one tired (and probably stressed) momma…

This year, Ellie Jane was a very active 1 year old and I was a pregnant and still tired, but also very happy momma!

We all had fun with our staff team, and Ellie Jane loved her four friends being there.

Her favorite thing though, was all the rocks by the lake…

She carried them around with her all over the place. She also learned how to throw them in the water.

Her second favorite thing was her first pair of blue jeans that I got her

She thinks she is quite the big girl when she’s wearing them!

Here’s a few things we’ve been up to since we got back…

Ellie Jane is all about accessories…Aunt Abby would be proud! I have a drawer in her dresser where I keep her shoes, socks, hats, etc and it’s her favorite drawer to open and pull things out of. She will find what she wants and bring it over to me and say “On”. (and she just learned how to sign “please.” It’s pretty cute!)

The other day, she brought me her babylegs to try on…

All three of us went to the farmer’s market on saturday. We had so much fun sampling all the fresh stuff! Look at all this we got for $17…

Yes, that’s okra you see there! I couldn’t believe it either. The only place I’ve ever been able to buy okra here is at the Middle Eastern food market. On this weeks menu is stewed okra, Hot and Hot’s Tomato Salad, and peach cobbler. YUM!

Also, that is fresh from the farm, thick cut peppered bacon you see. We had the best BLT ever for lunch yesterday. I baked bread all day on friday, so we had fresh bacon, fresh sourdough, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil. MMM.

Ellie Jane has been enjoying all the strawberries too. Her new favorite breakfast treat is a Green Smoothie…

Don’t you love that morning hair?!

And then we’ve just been doing lots of playing. Ellie Jane is pretty good at entertaining herself. The other night Colby and I were talking in the living room after I had finished unpacking from Grand Marais and we watch Ellie Jane do this for about 30 minutes…

Then she went on a mission…

Can you tell what she’s doing?

She gathered up all of her ABC books and put them in “her suitcase”…

and sat to read them. So funny!

She has read them so many times now, there are certain books that she knows what is in them. For instance, when she sees the “C” book, she starts yelling “at! at!” because there is a cat on first page. and for “K” she blows kisses to the book because one of the words is “kiss.” It is amazing how fast she is learning things right now. It is so fun to watch her.

Ellie Jane and I are going to the zoo tomorrow with some friends, so I will update soon.