Another T-Shirt.

Is it just my husband, or does every boy dream of owning an intramural champion T-shirt for every sport under the sun??

I don't know how many championship teams he was on in undergrad, but Rick's count for med school jumped to TWO last week when he made some tricky defensive moves to help his team beat out the law school.

The field. That's the REAL Wake Forest football stadium!!

The defensive player of the game.

The team, including one self-declared coach.


The wife.


I am also so grateful that this champion husband of mine supports me in my athletic pursuits, like this morning's 16 mile run! He does diapers, early morning feedings (I do supply the milk), and understandably cuts out his Saturday morning football so I can do my long runs. He is a champ.

I just made lasagna.

I only make it about once a year. I blended up tons of fresh veggies and mixed them into the pasta sauce. Take that, Carson, Mr. I-Pick-Anything-Green-Off-Of-My-Plate-And-Feed-It-To-My-Mom.

And now I'm having a very hard time finding the motivation to wash all the pots and pans.

Usually I would let Rick, Mr. I-Can-Wash-Any-Mountain-of-Dishes-in-Ten-Minutes-Flat do it, but he has a test on Friday, and it's been a while since he had a free night to study. So, I will force myself to go clean the kitchen, hopefully before the singing and cooing I hear from the respective bedrooms gets louder and more demanding...

But first, a couple of cute pictures. One, Carson loves to feed Everett. Two, all the boys ready for a Sunday walk. Enjoy!

Yesterday was one of those days...

That happened about four times.

You know your baby really loves you when he aims the spit up so it goes not just on your neck, but down your shirt and into your hair, too.

Also yesterday, Everett showed his definite preference to rolling, rather than napping. And somehow there was never a moment when both boys were asleep, meaning I had to strategically plan even a bathroom break without a little companion. I also managed to create a disaster in the playroom while trying to hang the boys' names. And finally, I was suffering from a mother-of-a-newborn type state of fatigue, since suddenly my perfect 12-hours-a-night sleeping baby decided he needs a 3 a.m. feeding again.


Today was a much better day, and I'm going to check off one more item on my to-do list with this catch-up post.

Everett's eyes are still blue. (And last night, he remembered how to sleep through the night again, thank goodness!!)

And this little blondie chows down his solids!! I tried to start him a couple of weeks ago, and he just wasn't getting the whole swallowing thing. So I put it away and brought it out a couple of days ago. Now he does great and has eaten sweet potatoes, avocado, and banana.

Love that he's still so bobbly, but he sure does lean in for the bite!

This guy is proficient at taking his sleeper off, and he also knows exactly what to do with a breast pump.

This was one of the best days of Carson's life, getting to be so close to a tractor.

He and Sadie were buds during a Stake Youth Activity at a farm.

Is this place pretty or what??

The babies are calling... guess that's all the pictures for now!

Boys in Action.

We take way too many videos with our camera. They take up all the space on our computer, but I just can't bring myself to delete them.

So, if anyone wanted to see Carson identifying a tortoiseshell cat, or eating salsa and then laughing like a crazy man, or being "Busy Timmy on top," or tackling his brother, or blowing on his brother's belly, or fumbling a football, or declaring that he's "camera shy," ... well, then, here you go!

Triumphs of a Home Maker.

I have had a few successes on the home front lately:

1.) I discovered my absolute favorite way to use sweet potatoes. African Sweet Potato Peanut Stew is AMAZING. There are about a million different versions of it out there. This is the one I used as a base, but added black beans and didn't use zucchini, and I used a lot more peanut butter, and I don't remember what else... but oh my, it was GOOD. I was even excited to eat the leftovers, and I usually have this thing about never eating leftovers. Anyway, I just had to share the recipe, because it is the perfect warm and cozy meal for the fall season, and it is super healthy too!! (Vegan, in fact!)

2.) Cloth diapering has finally become second nature in our home. It took a few weeks to get there, and definitely some trial-and-error problem solving. (Like when Everett got a nasty rash... switched detergents... and when my "clean" diapers were stinky... stripped the diapers and did one cycle with bleach... I could go on and on!!) But anyway, now that we've figured things out, we are officially all cloth here! If you're thinking about going cloth, here is why we did: a.) THOUSANDS of dollars saved (there is a hefty cost to get your supply of diapers, but in 3 more months I would have spent that in disposables, and for our next baby, the cost is 0 DOLLARS! Even with extra energy/water costs, it still saves a ton.) b.) They are sooo soft and snuggly on your baby's bum! If you use the right detergent, your baby will never get a rash and will rarely to never have a blow out. It feels good to put a soft clean cloth on my baby's bum instead of scratchiness. c.) Save the environment! Our trash can is SO empty on trash days now!! The energy used to wash is a fraction of the effect of thousands of diapers in a landfill, I believe. d.) Ok, I will stop here, because if you want to read a Cloth Diapering 101 Post, there are certainly plenty of those out there. But seriously, I would love to talk cloth if anyone is thinking about it.

3.) We've discovered how to get Carson to EAT more than just two bites at a meal. Tell him he can "dip," and he is good to go! Some days breakfast is cereal he can dip in yogurt; lunch is pasta he can dip in spaghetti sauce; etc, etc, etc. Here he is pictured dipping his calzone in salsa. This is also a great trick for keeping him entertained a little longer at the dinner table.


The next challenges to be tackled include: keeping Everett warm at night in his freeeeeezing cold, windows-on-all-sides room; potty-training (I am SO scared to start); and learning how to be better at couponing. Advice, anyone??

my nudie baby.

pansies.

Our wonderfully fun neighbor, Barbara gifted us some pansies the other day. Rick and Carson had fun digging (with spoons!) and planting the flowers.





And I had a delightful time watching them do all the work, using Everett as my excuse for staying on the porch. He sure is a sweet little thing!