Mila Mila Pumpkin Eater

Part One: 

A bright sunny day, a little boy leery of pumpkin guts, and a baby girl who just wanted to eat them.  
 

Can you see the seed(s) in her mouth?!

Part Two:

I promise we feed her. :)

It wasn't me!

All done!  A counter full of pumpkins and a belly full, too. :)

Our creations this year - Olaf the Snowman, a one-eyed monster, Batman, and a baby pumpkin for our little pumpkin eater's first Halloween.  What a ham she is!

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"a portrait of each of my children, once each week, in 2014"

Cruz: He's made a regular appearance in our bed lately and I'd be lying if I said we've been doing a lot to stop it.  Blame it on a lack of routine and structure, or maybe just a need to be close to our familiar right now, but we're enjoying snuggling with this little heat box at night. 

Mila: She's started pulling herself up by our picture window just in time to snag some pictures before we move.  I love this window, love crouching next to little bodies and sucking in the fresh air through the open windows and waiting for Daddy to get home from work.  It's the perfect height for little people and it's given us much light the last eight years.   

End of the Week Randomness

Is anyone else watching The Walking Dead?  I am obsessed.  Like message board reading obsessed.  Not since The Sopranos have I been so emotionally involved with a show.  Rick is the most badass character in television history and Carol is a close second.  Many people would never understand my love of this zombie apocalypse, but the character development is so good and the hour adrenaline rush is the perfect escape from reality.  But I swear if anything happens to Maggie and Glenn this season, I'M DONE!

I have been wanting to see what the Kiwi Crate craze is all about and ordered a subscription for Cruz for his birthday.  His first order was at our doorstep Thursday and I'm sold!  It's a different surprise theme each month, with enough supplies for two creative projects, as well as activity and story books to correspond with the theme.  This month is all about the Wild, Wild West.  We made a hobby horse and a bean bag game with little brown cow pie bean bags.  I'm already excited about receiving more of these adorable little surprises throughout the long winter months and giving Cruz and I something to dig into while his baby sister naps.    

We have entered the season of fall pajamas and there is nothing better.  My sweet friend, Kate, wrote about a family's love language at her blog Seedlings Sprouting -- "little words, touches, or regular activities that provide comfort and connectivity."  One of my love languages is absolutely demonstrated during our bath night rituals.  The habits of bath night, but more so, the process of drying them off, carrying each hooded towel wrapped baby to our bed after stopping for a few silly faces in the mirror, lathering them in lavender scented lotion, combing their hair, and dressing them in freshly washed, cozy pajamas makes me feel like I'm doing something right.  I comb Cruz Man's hair, help him brush his teeth, and usually depart for some post bath snuggles so I can smell the top of their heads before tucking them in bed.    

We had our very first meal together in our kitchen the other night.  I filled a thermos of soup, packed pb and js for Cruz and snuck in a bottle of vino that we used to toast our very first dinner together.  We watched the sun set from our windowless frame and talked about future movie nights, dinner parties, and birthdays celebrated in our new digs.  I sometimes wonder if Cruz will remember this important piece of his early history, but now I have the pictures to prove it. 

Ever been to DISH night at Hy-Vee.  I participated in one last week and it was such a great concept.  You get together with a group of 10-12 busy moms, scour through a recipe database of hundreds of recipes, and choose one to prepare for you and the other participants.  Hy-vee gathers your supplies, trims and prepares your meat, and prints freezing instructions for your signature recipe.  Then, you gather together for a couple hours of cooking and fellowship, a glass of wine or two, and at the end of the night, you leave with 12 prepared meals ready to go in your freezer and ZERO dishes to do!  It's been the biggest help to us as we spend our nights packing up our house and deciding on paint colors for our new one, and we've been impressed with the meals we've tasted thus far.  If you're local and interested, send me a message and we'll see about organizing another one. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone.  It's supposed to be upper sixties and seventies all weekend!!