Plenty to Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving marks the start of the "Holiday Season" - traveling, visitors in and out, coma-inducing food extravaganzas, shopping, colder blustery weather . . . Thanksgiving is also my favorite holiday - one that I usually take the time to reflect upon before hand, gear up the gratitude so to speak.  Don't get me wrong, this past week was wonderful; we got to see loads of family and the fridge is still stuffed with several rounds of leftovers.  It's just that I let it slip by without really acknowledging the people, places, and things I am grateful for.  So, it is time to fix that!

First and foremost I am thankful for my family -- for the ones that brave loooonnnggg car trips for too brief a visit, for keeping us stocked with favorite foods that bring up warm fuzzy feelings no matter how many times we've eaten them, for pitching in wherever needed with an attitude of love, humor, and "many hands make light work", for being equally happy with getting out and about to explore and hunkering down for a snuggle fest on the couch.  I am thankful for my growing family -- for my husband who works his butt off every day to take care of us, yes, but also to better himself, to keep pushing himself to embrace new challenges.  Jesse inspires me to value change and steadiness, lightness and responsibility, fun and day to day simplicity.  I am thankful for my DooodleBug with her small hands and big blue eyes, that big toothless smile that makes my heart happy.  I never thought that motherhood would make me a better person, but it has - more playful, more in-the-moment, I'm singing around the house again . . .

I'm thankful for Syracuse, to live in a place where we can walk to the co-op, our favorite restaurant, a dance studio; where we are getting to know our neighbors and they recognize us on the street and wave to us at the regional farmer's market.  We're learning what it is to eat local, to consider the journey our food has taken from seed to ground to truck to table.  We're setting down some roots - though we won't be staying forever, maybe we'll be leaving a bit of a mark when we finally are able to move closer to family.  In the meantime, we're working on gathering a family together up here :)

I'm thankful for Autumn, for the crunchy leaves on the sidewalks and that the sun still shines even though the temperature has plummeted; for winter gardens in hibernation, for the colors of Fall that will always make me think of my wedding day.

I am thankful to get bounced out of complacency every now and then.  I am thankful to have friends I can be proud of, who inspire me.  I'm thankful that Jesse, Eddy, and I are healthy (I've discovered I'm a bit of a wuss when I'm sick!).  I'm thankful for people who vex me - they teach me patience.  I'm thankful for those who try to put me down because "my courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me."  I'm thankful that I've accepted the fact that making mistakes is how 99% of the population learns - and that includes me! 





I'm thankful for all of you.  May we remember to be thankful and feel it fully when we do!

Sunday Funday - the Way it was Meant to Be!

It's been a long time since we had a Sunday Funday.  What does a Sunday Funday entail, you ask?  Football - check.  Lazin' on the couch - check.  Some form of yummy food - uummm we'll get back to you on that one.  Cute Jets onesie - yes!  Uncle Johnny Love - check, check! 
With Miss Eddy napping upstairs, we're all being snuggly and mellow on the couch - it's the best feeling to be utterly relaxing with old friends and family.  The dark chocolate I've been munching on doesn't hurt either (yes, dark chocolate before noon!).  We'll see how my fantasy football team does today.  In theory, I have good players but their collective efforts have been consistently atrocious - thus my team's pitiful ranking in our league.  Ah well.  I say screw my fantasy team for this week - I just wanna root on the J-E-T-S, Jets, JETS, JETS!!

Eddy's First Halloween

So yes, this video is pretty cute EVEN THOUGH it is sideways for more than half the time . . . Eddy was a Pea-in-the-Pod for her first Halloween.  Thanks Grandma Lo!  We had a great time carving pumpkins, sippin' cider (with a little extra sumthin!), and passing out candy to trick-or-treaters.  Eddy wasn't in her costume for long, but it was long enough to get a bunch of cute shots!  And P.S. . . . her 3 month birthday was the day before on Oct 30th.  We had a bunch of my PT classmates over - it was great to see them.  I am a liiiittttllle jealous that they will all be done with their academics so soon . . .

Eddy Candy

Alright, you asked for it: more "Eddy Candy" coming up!

Cider Day and More

Just some quick eye candy from Cider Day 2010 and our trip with (Great) Aunt Jan to the Montgomery Community Garden.  Enjoy! (Renee took most of the Cider Day pix and I took the garden pix!)

Baby Paraphenalia

Baby business is an INDUSTRY (just like buying a car and getting married) - soooo many products that you ABSOLUTELY NEED or your baby will die or worse NOT GET INTO A GOOD COLLEGE.  Aside from the not-so-subtle pressure to buy all this stuff you don't need or even like, there's the whole OTHER issue that a bunch of it is actually really really cute.  If I have been successful at all over the years in resisting shopping sprees for myself, I have recently discovered that it is SO MUCH FUN to shop for Edylene.  Kohl's is becoming both my friend and my enemy - I can find cute things for cheap, cheap, but then that means I begin stuffing my shopping bag with more items!  Lest Jesse read this and starting panicking about our Kohl's bill, I promise to only window shop unless she actually NEEDS something . . .  or we get 30% off in the mail . . . or we have Kohl's Cash . . .   oh dear.

The other thing this rant was leading to was to share with you some of my favorite baby paraphenalia I've been scouting out recently.  Our friends Walt and Liz came by for dinner the other night (what else - Dream Dinners - and Liz's apple pie!) and they brought a super cute "clutch toy" from HABA.  HABA uses natural materials and nontoxic dyes and paints for their toys so Edylene (when she can actually "clutch" something) will be able to chew and drool on this mousy to her hearts content.  I'm going to be on the lookout for more HABA toys when they are on sale (keep me posted Liz!) . . .

I've also been excited about decorating Edylene's room a bit more.  We had a nice base color (sea foam? celery? something like that) to start with and now I want to add some pops of color to make it a cheerful place for sleep and play!  I've got a couple projects in the works (more on that hopefully soon!) but I've also been scouring Etsy for some nursery artwork. 

Etsy is an online community where crafty people can showcase and sell their handmade work.  You can find anything from baby clothes, toys, diapers, and furniture to grown-up jewelry, vintage clothing, stationary, and lampshades.  One of my favorite Etsy "shops" to check out is Gingiber - she does lots of pen and ink drawings featuring animals like owls and foxes :) I've been coveting this owl alphabet drawing:

A hoot for each letter!

Eddy and I are having a nice day today.  I've started tracking her naps and feedings to see if we can determine a pattern here and hopefully try and give our days a BIT of predictability.  We'll see how that goes . . .So far we've we've eaten and peed and pooped a few times, been out on a walk around the 'hood (gorgeous out today!), and gotten a "howdy" call from Daddy during a break at school.  Now is nap-time, we'll see how long it lasts! 

Chicago Guests

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to get to spend a few days with two of our favorite people, Jed and Laurie from Chicago.  Many of you may remember them speaking at our wedding three (!) years ago.  Chicago is far away and we don't get to see them often enough, but now that both their boys are off to college, these empty-nesters feel free to roam!  We were so glad they got to meet Edylene-the-Peanut.  We had so much fun playing with her - Laurie put on her Super Mom cape and enchanted Eddy all weekend.  Saturday around noon time we were joined by Jesse's dad and we all hopped over to Barry Park for a short walk in the nice weather.  It was Eddy's first time in Barry Park - she even got to see a few minutes of a Syracuse rugby game (it was Mommy's first time watching a rugby game as well - I tried pointing out there was something wrong with their soccer ball, but nobody seemed to pay attention to me).

Edylene was still in happy baby mode at the end of our walk so we took the time to head over to Hughes (Jesse's school) to show off the perennial beds from the "Dig-In" I mentioned in yesterday's post.  The front bed especially gives a nice "Welcome one and all" feel to the school entrance and when you peek over the hill you see four more happily situated "bits of earth."  And we've had a good amount of rain lately so we're optimistic that the beds will take and do well next season.    

Dinner consisted of one of our favorites - Munjeds!  Their meat is so tender and flavorful and the hummus, falafel, and tabouli are fresh, fresh, fresh.  Our only sadness was that they didn't have any spanikopita - apparently "Sammy's mom makes it every morning, but she didn't make it today" (we don't know who Sammy is but at least it's nice to know that the spanikopita is made fresh every morning!).

We couldn't get enough of the outdoors (and knowing the rain was coming wanted to take advantage of the nice weather!) so the next day we all trouped out to Green Lakes.  Green Lakes seems to have become our go-to for not-too-strenuous outdoorsy fun with guests and Eddy.  It's a cinch to pop Eddy into a wrap or the Ergo (though we haven't tried it yet we could even take the stroller) and we have the flexibility of walking around both Long and Green Lake or just Long Lake if we're pressed for time or suddenly pooped (or experiencing a poop emergency!).  Grandpa Goodglass (G.G.) and Eddy snuggled together in a wrap as we treked around both lakes - usually walking in the wrap puts Edylene to sleep, but she was alert and looking around for more than half the trip!

Another highlight of the day was Jed and Laurie offering to babysit Edylene while Jess and I went out for a pre-Anniversary night out :)  We both got dressed up - I even put on (gasp) mascara AND lipstick!  We left Eddy in safe hands and a bottle in the fridge and headed out to Armory Square for our first date alone in more than 9 weeks!  We started off with a pre-dinner pint at Empire Brewing Company, Empire's own Amber Ale for me and their Black Magic Stout for Jess.  For dinner, we headed over to a new-to-us restaurant called Lemon Grass.  I sort of have an unspoken rule that if I'm at a new Thai place, I have to try out the house Pad Thai.  I'm always on the lookout for a place that does it really REALLY well but I haven't found my Syracuse Pad Thai go-to spot yet :)  Jesse had a chicken in tamarind sauce that was delicious but WAY too spicy for me to take more than a bite or two (with a chaser of jasmine rice!).  Lemon Grass was fun; the menu was a bit limited because it was a Sunday, so we'll have to try them out again for some weekday special occasion. 

We topped off our evening with a nightcap over at Al's Whiskey Bar (small glass of port for me, an earthy mossy scotch for Jess) - the place has great atmosphere: an entire wall of liquors, wines, and beers; a long solid wooden bar; friendly staff; splashes here and there of red neon lighting amongst numerous couches, tables, fluffy chairs.  A band was setting up but it was still early enough that we had the place mostly to ourselves and we could lounge alone on the overstuffed couches watching the sloppy mess that was the Bears/Giants game.  All told we were gone for a leisurely 3 hours and when we got home, we even got to kiss Eddy goodnight.  Thank you Laurie and Jed for making such a fun relaxing evening possible!

Counting down the days til Cider Day . . . love to you all!

2 Months Old! Or . . . 9 Weeks and 3 Days!

"Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin', into the future . . ." 

The days fly by!  Edylene is already 2 months old - how did that happen??  Jesse has been having fun (50% in jest) putting "checks" next to the developmental milestones that Edylene has reached in our "What to Expect in the First Year" book.  For example . . . "By 2 Months, will probably be able to lift head to 45 degrees" - CHECK!  "May even be able to roll over" - not so much yet (thank goodness!).  Her most recent check?  Laughing out loud!  Eddy and Jess had a 15 minute back and forth "conversation" yesterday (a cooing call-and-response if you will) wherein she DEFINITELY turned one of her coos and grunts into a genuine laugh.  Daddy just about burst with delight.  GENIUS BABY!!!

For her 2 month birthday, Eddy got to have her check-up with our family doc and . . . her first round of vaccinations :(  Eddy was a champ tho - she cried while getting the shots, but quieted down soon afterwards.  She was a little extra sleepy the rest of the day and had a small red bump at one of the injection sites, but other than that - success.  The fun stats from that visit:  weight - 11 lbs/6 oz, length - 24.5 inches, head circumference - 38 cm!!  That means that she has gained over 4 lbs, grown FOUR INCHES, and increased her head girth by 3 cm since birth - what a bruiser we have created!  The four inches in length seems to be the most amazing statistic - while her weight and head circumference are semi-near the mid average for her age, her length puts in the 90+ percentile!  Long and lean much?  Has that Too-Tall-Steeves gene finally kicked in?

If it's possible, Edylene has been getting even cuter as the days go by - we can't wait for many of you to see her at Cider Day at Great-Aunt Renee's!  We've been taking pictures like mad - many of them while she's asleep or in one of her pieces of baby equipment because the main photographer (moi) has trouble holding said baby and taking pictures at the same time!  We have to prod Daddy into remembering to grab up the camera a little more often ;)

The parade of guests continues!  We had Jill and Tom a couple weeks ago come for a walk around Green Lakes, Dream Dinners, kitchen floor mopping (Thanks Tom!), and frittata and whoopie pie-making.  The whoopie pie extravaganza was especially fun.  Tom brought an old-school recipe that utilized gut-churning amounts of Crisco in both the icing AND the batter (I chose to block this from my mind while chowing down on them later) - one batch made nearly 40 latte mug-sized whoopie pies!  We were so thrilled to be able to catch the two of them on a break from their crazy schedules - Philly is too far away!

And what - you may be wondering - on EARTH would we do with 40 whoopie pies?!  I may have been in danger of eating ALL of them except we had the opportunity to share them with the Hughes Elementary community at the "Dig-In" lead by Jesse last Saturday.  As a member of Hughes' Health and Wellness Committee (and a board member of CNY Slow Food), Jesse organized the planning, purchasing, and executing of 5 perennial, edible beds at Hughes Elementary School.  With the help of Hughes administrators, teachers, students, parents, and some Slow Food members, we got some edibles like blueberry bushes and apple trees and perennials like hostas, bee balm, and joe pie weed into the beds.  Afterwards, the small but sturdy crew of diggers and planters shared a potluck meal inside the school cafeteria.  And what did we bring, you ask?  Chicken fajita makings and . . . whoopie pies!  Both were a big hit with the hungry bunch :)

Later that afternoon we had a quick (but lovely) visit from cousins James and Mary - in town from Detroit, Michigan!  Margaret and Greg joined us as well and we shared (more) Dream Dinners, took our guests on a house tour - Jesse is a pro at these by now - and basically had fun showing off Eddy.  She does seem to show off with extra cuteness for new people - our guests usually leave thinking that we have a baby who never cries, always smiles, and pees and poops on cue.

This is the trouble with how fast the days go by - I could keep writing and writing, but I should save more of our adventures for another post.  In fact, that is just what I'll do.  Stay tuned to hear about a wonderful visit from Jed and Laurie from Chicago, our pre-Anniversary night out on the town, and some super adorable baby nursery items I've been coveting recently . . . til next time!  Caitlin, Jesse, and Eddy out!