Apple Picking!

This year’s apple picking was a whole lot more fun compared to last year, that’s for sure!  Last year Toby was half whining/half snoozing in the Ergo attached to me; this year he was running up and down the aisles with an apple in his hand the entire time.  He enjoyed throwing some of them, too, but luckily his aim is still low to the ground and he didn’t hit anyone.  He took quite a few tumbles because of all the ditches in the rows but he got the hang of it eventually.  Towards the end we also checked out the pumpkin patch, but we decided to wait a few more weeks until we take home a pumpkin.

Best part about apple picking this year was that Hubby made apple crisp twice…I didn’t even have to peel any apples!

ONE YEAR OLD!

I really can’t believe that at 9:43 am last year little Toby had arrived.  While I don’t remember a lot from his actual birth day, I do remember very clearly when the nurse finally placed him on my chest and I cried so many happy tears.  I checked out his eyes to see what color they were (blue like mine), his tiny little button nose and his mouth that was very similar to Daddy’s, his fingers and toes to make sure they were all there, and then felt the top of his head, which was covered with just a small amount of fuzzy brown hair.  The first few weeks were a blur but once we got into a routine, I remember feeling more complete.  I knew something had been missing from my life and Toby had filled that void.

This year has been rewarding, sometimes challenging, but there have always been more good days than not so good days.  We’ve been blessed with an easy-going baby, but I do like to think his laid-back personality has something to do with our parenting skills.  We’ve learned a lot this year, grown a lot, and created so many memories.

Love you, Toby James!  Simply put, I am a better person because of you, and for that I’m forever grateful to you. 

And Happy Father’s Day to my hubby!  Hard to believe this is year #2 for you:

Happy Friday!

This was from a couple weeks ago when we went to a nearby farm.  Toby was too busy looking at the ducks in the pond to smile for the camera.  Quack Quack!

Love my guys :)

New Year Wishes

Starting a new tradition of creating New Year’s cards…figured it’s nice to receive a little something after the holidays are over! 

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Christmas Eve & Christmas Re-Cap

Toby was a trooper this year while traveling!  We started off by going down to CT the afternoon of the 23rd, celebrated Auntie’s birthday a day early, opened presents with CT family on Christmas Eve in the afternoon and early evening, and then on Christmas morning we traveled to MA to celebrate with Hubby’s family.  Even with all the naps in the car and interaction, Toby still did really well.  No meltdowns until we got home on Christmas evening.  So grateful he’s a fairly easy kid!

He received a ton of gifts this year and we’re really thankful for our family and friends giving him everything!  He’s seen everything he can play with at this point now and I’ll probably hide some things away and bring them back out in a couple weeks.  He always forgets about toys and gets all excited for them again. 

Here’s some pictures of our celebrations!

Ho Ho Ho!  Being silly with Daddy:

Looking cute with Auntie:

Christmas Jammies!  Little reindeer on his feet and one on his butt:

Sour puss…apparently not excited to open presents:

Four generations in this pic! :

Finally a smile!

Our big present to Toby…Radio Flyer Wagon.  Can’t wait to use it next summer!

 

I will be totally honest in saying that I wasn’t a huge fan of Christmas in the past.  It’s stressful buying presents, budgeting enough money, doing endless mall trips, and then adding traveling on top of everything.  I was nervous of how Toby would act this year but he surprised me in doing so well and it made everything well worth it.  I’m a little sad we don’t celebrate Christmas in our own house but hopefully he won’t notice a difference as he gets older.  We’ll just have to fib a little about where Santa travels to instead!

Turkey Day Menu

I’m still in denial that Thanksgiving is this Thursday!  Ahhh!  At least the house is looking somewhat clean at this point.

We are hosting for 15 this year, so the recipes below I typically double.  I’m cutting back on appetizers and a couple side dishes, and making more of certain things based on what people ate more of last year (like we ran out of mashed potatoes).  Here’s our line-up:

Main Dish:

• Turkey (got a 21 pounder in the fridge!)…Hubby is in charge of this.  All I know is he uses a lot of celery, carrots, and onion to help season it.

Side Dishes:

• Sweet Potato Casserole – I love sweet potatoes on their own, but adding some milk to them with brown sugar and pecans on top is heavenly.  I usually make this the day prior and then put the topping on in the morning on Turkey Day.

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Slow Cooker Stuffing – this is another recipe Hubby is in charge of. He omits the mushrooms from this since we’re both not a fan. Love using the slow cooker since you can just leave this on all morning and not worry about it, and it also takes up less room in the oven.

Source: allrecipes.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Skinny Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes - I add some shredded cheddar cheese to these to make them even creamier so my version isn’t totally skinny.  This recipe is really easy to make so I do this the day of.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce…this is SO good and takes very little time.  I’ve always been a fan of the stuff in a can but this homemade version really is better.

Source: williams-sonoma.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Lightened Up Corn Casserole – so I made this last year and completely forgot that I left it in the oven while we were eating.  Thank God we had shut off the oven so it wasn’t too brown but at that point everyone was full so we just dumped it! 

Source: skinnytaste.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Salad (just a house salad with various dressings to choose from)
• Squash
• Carrots & Turnips
• Green Bean Casserole
• Rice Pilaf

Desserts:

• Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I made a version of these for a cookie swap last year but they were really flat and soggy so I’m trying this new recipe.  I figured it’s something I can make tonight as an extra something in case people don’t want lots of pie. 

Source: themessybakerblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Pumpkin Pie
• Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Trifle (easy easy…alternating layers of butterscotch pudding, pumpkin spice pudding, french vanilla pudding, cool whip, and then some graham cracker crumbles in between and on top.  Love using my trifle bowl!)

Not sure why it doesn’t feel like it’s time for this holiday yet.  Maybe it’s just because this whole year has flown by :)

Thankful Thursday

I’ve seen some Facebook friends post things they are thankful for each day during November, as this time can be considered a month of thanks.  I really liked the idea and while I don’t think I can keep up with doing it every day on the blog, I think I’ll try to at least post on Thursdays and maybe continue it even when November is over.

This past week, I am thankful for…

• our house being warm and safe and for having power throughout Hurricane Sandy and the other snowstorm yesterday.  I can’t imagine what those people in the states hit worst are going through right now. 
• dark chocolate almond milk.  I don’t think I’d be able to swallow my vitamins without a big glass of it at night.
• coffee…lots and lots of coffee
• yoga pants.  The weather this past week has made me so unmotivated to get dressed in jeans.
• my camera.  We have taken some really cute photos of Toby lately.
• my sister being a great and helpful aunt (especially when I’m running late)
• and, as always, for these two guys in my life:

Fall Activities

So many good things to love about fall…we’ve been trying to take advantage of the nice weather and get out when we can.  We had some “firsts” for Toby, including going to Pumpkintown in Connecticut and apple picking at a local farm.  I’m not sure what he thought of all the pumpkin people – I think he was just trying to take everything in, especially because it was pretty crowded when we went.  For apple picking, he was trying to get used to the Ergo again since we haven’t used it in a while but he became pretty calm once I got walking around the orchards.  It was breezy that day so the leaves on the trees made a lot of noise which interested him.  I don’t think he cared much about the apples, though :)

I’ve had more that my fair share of pumpkin coffee and apple cider donuts…along with plenty of homemade apple crisp.  Sometimes I wish it could be fall year-round but then I would miss out on spring, which I’ve also always loved.

When people found out I was pregnant, I heard so many comments of how I was so lucky to have the summer off and that mid June was the perfect time to have a baby.  In reality, while it was nice to not be pregnant in the hotter months, it was kind of a bummer being cooped inside when it was really gross out.  Toby would get sweaty easily in the car seat and it’s not like he could be out in the sun for very long.  The weather transition to fall has been so nice and a welcome change.  We can go for walks and I don’t have to worry about him getting overheated or having to cover his legs up since he’s always wearing pants now.  I just wish he would cuddle more on crisp, chilly mornings :) 

Can’t wait for Halloween and Thanksgiving to see how he reacts to everything!