Miscellaneous

There's a lot to report, it seems. We've had a busy week. First, we've had a birthday among us. Will is officially one year older, that's right. In the pictures, you'll see Will's birthday celebration at his parent's house in Winnetka last weekend and then pictures from his actual birthday on Tuesday, the 11th. I could not help but post a picture of the cake I made and decorated for him since it was, by far, my best work to date. It's a boxed cake but with two different homemade frostings. I got some tips and a recipe from the Feed Your Family blog I like to look at. The cake he features is way fancier, but I was happy with the way mine turned out. :) There's also a video of Ethan's latest obsession: blowing raspberries. He does it all the time now. It's a messy habit but still cute.

Another piece of news we have is not as celebratory. Ethan had his second head scan this week, and because his head shape has not improved, we are going to go ahead with a reshaping helmet. We're not too happy about this but know it's the right thing to do. From the front, you cannot tell there is any kind of problem, but there is definitely an obvious flatness on the back right of his head. Hopefully, he will only be in the helmet for a few months. He's still pretty young, which is a great advantage. But I'm still sad. I realize he could have far worse issues and in the grand scheme of things this is not at all a big deal. But the mama bear in me is really dreading this helmet. I don't want strangers looking at him funny or feeling sorry for him, and I know I will not be able to help feeling sensitive about this, even though I know I shouldn't. Also, both Will and I were talking about how strange it will be to not kiss his little head and how the helmet will seem a bit obstructive. He'll have it off for only 1 hour a day. Even though it's only a few months, I won't get this time back with him when he's just my little man. He loves to burrow his face into my shoulder, which is such a wonderfully cute thing, and I keep thinking he won't be able to do that anymore, at least not easily. Thankfully, when it's all over, his little head will be back to normal, and we won't have to worry about teasing later on.

This leads me to a contest for all readers of this blog. Please leave a comment with your most entertaining comeback to someone that either asks about the helmet or stares at it in an annoying way. Will said to tell people he was born with an extra large brain and is waiting for a cranial transplant. What do you think? Might as well have some fun with the situation.

I have to close now because our replacement keyboard (ours broke this week), which is a floor model while we wait for a new one, is making me have to pound on each key in order to work. Very annoying.

*Dec. 19 addendum: Click on the first picture below and it will show up nice and big. Then look at Ethan's face. We discovered this last night...so hilarious!

Peek-a-boo!

I couldn't resist posting this video right away. I played peek-a-boo with Ethan for the first time today. Oh, to be so easily amused...

I became a mom today...

No, I didn't give birth to another child 5 months after the first. And, no, Ethan didn't start saying Mama today. Nope, I think I just have calmed down enough to observe my own life, and it is the life of a mom for sure. My musings started this morning when I saw an LT friend at the bagel shop, where I was meeting another friend from LT, who pointed out the spit up on my shirt. He said, "Oh, you are definitely a mom!" I didn't know Ethan had spit up on me before I left, I promise, but I also didn't care all that much when I did discover it. (Sadly, I'm also not going to change.) Once I left the bagel place, I started thinking about what he said and decided he's right.

So, as proof that I am, in fact, a mom, here's my day today so far:
I crawled out of bed around 6:15 this morning (after having been up twice in the night), put on my giant robe, and sleepily tended to my very awake, and very happy, baby. After changing his incredibly heavy diaper (morning diapers are a treat), I fed him and proceeded to start my own morning feeding routine. I got my coffee ready, a new addition to my morning routine since having Ethan; put Ethan in his high chair; heated up my oatmeal while I cleaned up Will's kitchen mess, not a new addition unfortunately; turned the kitchen radio on to Good Morning America; and ate my oatmeal while Ethan played with his new teething ring. When I was finished, we went to the living room for some floor tummy time. Ethan gnawed on anything within reach and also gave me a bit of a scare when I left the room for a second only to come back to an empty blanket. He had rolled off of it and from where I was standing, I couldn't see him. (I had a brief moment where I thought he might have crawled away before I noticed him kicking his arms and legs right next to the couch and off the safety of his ABC blanket.) Once I established Ethan had not, in fact, run away from home, we played for a bit before nap time. His nap routine is so well-established at this point, he goes down with little or no fuss. It's beautiful. While he napped, I showered. I hadn't washed my hair since Sunday - it was time. I picked out an outfit that was not sweatpants for a change because I knew I was meeting my friend. I also put makeup on, a rare thing these days. By the time I was all set and dressed, Ethan was up so I changed and fed him and got him out of his pajamas for the first time in a while, too! It took us about 15 minutes to get out the door and into the car. When I got to the bagel place, I had to unfold the giant stroller and put Ethan's car seat into it so I could keep him covered from the snow. I struggled getting through the not one but two doors to get into the shop. A cute older man watched as I tugged at the stroller that was caught on the door. I remarked to him, "It will be nice when he can walk," and then struggled some more, trying to find a spot to park the giant stroller where I wouldn't be in people's way. Once settled, I took out the car seat and unfolded all the layers of blankets and such covering Ethan so I could take him out and sit him upright in the stroller. I got out the toys I had brought with him in my big diaper bag and got him settled. All of our extra stuff (my coat, his car seat, and my diaper bag) took up one small table in the store. My friend Katy and I used the table next to it. We had a nice visit (Ethan was a very good boy) and then it was time to go. I packed away Ethan's toys, snapped him back into his car seat which had to be lifted back into his stroller, covered him up, and walked him the ten feet to the car. Then I lifted the car seat out of the stroller (he's about 18 pounds now so no easy feat) and snapped it into the base. Next, I folded the stroller back up, put it in the trunk, and drove the 5 minutes back home, where we started the nap routine all over again.

Those of you who are parents read this and think, "Yeah, so? Try it with two or three kids. Deal with it." My sister Lisa is thinking, "Try it with two kids under 4 and one baby on the way!" And those of you without kids may not have made it through the entry and, if you did, think, "God, I'm exhausted just reading that." And a couple of years ago, I would have thought the same thing. I remember watching other mothers lug their kids around and thinking simply, "That looks hard." I was right. It is hard. I am exhausted. But the thing is, I don't really think about how hard it is or how exhausted I am. (OK, that's a bit of a lie, but I don't dwell on these things at least.) I just go through each day, following my new mommy routines because it is my life now. And what a good life it is - spit up and all!

Rashes and Rolling Over

If you've been following the life of Ethan on the blog, you know that he rolled over for the first time about a month ago. Well, he hadn't done it since. That is, until yesterday. I was practicing with him by tucking his arm under and he was doing it. Then, I put him on his stomach with both arms totally free and then left the room for a second. When I came back, he was on his back playing. What a little stinker! He did the same thing this morning. He seems to have gotten the hang of it at last.

The other new thing in Ethan's life is the rash that just won't end. It appeared last weekend, and we took him to the pediatrician Monday. She said it was something viral going through him, manifesting itself as a rash. She also said it might get worse before it got better. Well, it seemed to be going away already the next day but on Thursday, it flared up and got a lot worse. It almost looked like hives everywhere but without raised bumps. On Saturday, his back and the back of his head were covered! So I took him back to the doctor. She said he's still fine. He was happy as ever, eating her stethoscope and clearly not bothered by the rash. (see video) Yesterday and today, the rash has migrated to his front, attacking his face and belly. Still, he seems completely fine otherwise. He does have a mild fever and had a little one yesterday but it's very low. I imagine it's just the virus working its way out. Stay tuned...

I Got My Hair Cut...Don't Tell Will

I just got back from a salon in Wheaton where they cut more than 10 inches from my head. Tomorrow, my hair will be on its way to Locks of Love where it will hopefully make a nice looking wig for a deserving young child. I feel good about that. What I don't feel good about is the look I know I will get from Will when I pick him up from the airport on Sunday. Don't get me wrong. I do not allow Will to determine my hair styles, nor am I afraid of him. But I know that he really, really, really did not want me to cut my hair short, and it makes me a little sad that he will not be able to hide his disappointment when he sees the new 'do. He will still love me (I think), and he won't say it looks bad, but he will be sad. Poor Will.
My decision to cut it came after one too many, "Wow, your hair is really long" comments that was not followed with any kind of compliment. It's kind of like when you see someone wearing a terribly ugly sweater. It startles you and before you can even process the sheer ugliness you have to say, "I love your sweater," mostly because you need to say something so you don't throw up all over said sweater. OK, well, I hope my hair didn't make people want to loose their lunch, but it definitely needed to be cut. I made the wrong decision to put long layers in. It looked fine, I think, when it was done properly, but these days I'm lucky to get a shower during the day. I certainly never had time to dry and style my hair. I ended up air drying it, and all of you know how crazy thick and unruly my hair is. Air drying just doesn't work for me. So then I'd pull it back and have the long bangs hanging. It annoyed my grandma so much to see me constantly tucking the bangs behind my ears, last time I was over, she pinned them back with a bobby pin without asking. She, unlike Will, will be thrilled with my haircut!
Yes, so anyway, I'm not going to tell Will about my haircut while he's in San Diego at his conference. This shouldn't be hard since he's not calling me because he doesn't want to pay for roaming charges. And, actually, his fiscal responsibility (quite the euphimism) might just help me justify my new haircut. I'm going to save a lot on water and hair products. Do you think that will help lessen his disappointment?-

Gobble Gobb-Ho Ho Ho

Ethan loved his first Thanksgiving! And, I know that I am a bit partial, but Ethan and Jake were PERFECT yesterday. Both boys slept all the way through dinner in Winnetka. Seriously, I was amazed at the great timing. Never in a million years did I actually expect to sit through the duration of the meal. I thought, OK, I'm a mom now, so the time of relaxing holidays are over. But, man, I tell you, it was like I didn't have a kid for that little bit of time! He's such a good boy! And when he was awake, he was wonderfully social and tolerant of the many flashbulbs. And there were many! Can you blame us? They're cute enough without their matching Thanksgiving outfits, but come on, they were adorable! And I really can't get over Jake's fantastic hair. It was parted and styled yesterday - classic! He's such a tiny peanut compared to our big boy. I like to hold him and relive my tiny baby days from just a few months ago. We all had a great day. And we even got to spend some time with my family, too. We drove from Winnetka to Lemont in under an hour and had some dessert and visited with the family. OK, I'll admit it: I also had another plate of turkey with the trimmings. I thought it was only fair to sample it since the food was still out. In my defense, though, I chose an apple for dessert and skipped the pies. I was glad we made it out there because it was the first time for a while that the WHOLE family was around for Thanksgiving at the same house. Auntie Nancy does an amazing job cooking for so many people. Fun times!

Then today we got ready for the next holiday! Our house is fully decked out, tree trimmed and all, ready for Christmas. And we had Will's Grandbob, his friend Jan, his Aunts Marge and Carolyn, and his parents over for a big pasta dinner. I made meat sauce, they brought a salad and pie, and we had a tasty meal. I was excited to use my individual dishes for oil and cheese that I rarely use. (Thanks Crate and Barrel.) Will's Grandbob lives in Indy and doesn't get a chance to visit often, so it was nice they could make a trip out to our house. Ethan ate at the table with us, and Will's aunt commented that it was his first dinner party. These days are full of firsts, that's for sure.

Can I just gush for a bit and tell you that I really am so in love with my son. He is the cutest little man in the world, and he's laughing and smiling all the time now. I just want to squeeze him! Being a parent, with all the exhaustion and worry, is so worth it. Who knew we had this capacity to love so fiercely?

Senior Day at Kohls

Our lives have been fairly uneventful this past week. Hence the following blog entry about Kohls:

Ethan and I took a trip to Kohls today so that I could return something. I ended up buying an outfit for Ethan, the picture of which is below (along with a few other recent pics). He will wear it when him and Ben and Drew have their winter picture taken. We've been talking about it, so I thought I better get him a nice wintery outfit. I figure since it has a polar bear and not something strictly Christmas (like Santa...or Baby Jesus), he can wear it all season. Smart shopping, I say! Today was senior day at Kohls as well as a big 50% off sale. What this means is that there were even more than the typical amount of seniors at the store. Everywhere I looked, old, old women were wheeling around those basket walkers you can use at Kohls. It was quite difficult navigating around the hundreds of grandma's stocking up on, well, seemingly everything. You see, those wheel around baskets were a marketing genius on the part of some Kohls employee because I have never seen one of those carts not filled to the brim. It's incredible! People can really pack it in those things. There are clothes (with hangers poking dangerously through the mesh) and frames and shoeboxes all crammed in and usually items hanging out. I really think people end up buying more because they have someplace to put it. I mean, how many department stores have carts? You don't walk into Carsons or Macys, put your kid in a cart and tool around like you do at a grocery store. No. You only get as much as you can carry in your arms. But at Kohls, they give you that cart, giving you the excuse to buy one more holiday novelty decoration that, for some reason, is ALWAYS at least 50% off. Man, you gotta love Kohls. But, alas, I do not use those carts because then I would need to fill it, and I don't want to hear about how much we don't need that cute soap dispenser in the shape of three stacked pumpkins. But, Will, it was only $3.95 marked down from $12.00!
OK, here are the pictures:







Move over Hugh Hefner...

Ethan's discovered his tongue.









Cute, huh?

My Son Hates Books...or Elevators

So, I took Ethan to the brand new LaGrange Public Library today. It's right on LaGrange road in downtown. Yesterday, we were going to walk there, but he got really sleepy and we aborted the mission. So anyway, I threw him in the car seat (gently) today, and we drove. I put him in his umbrella stroller and we walked into the beautiful new building. Everything is so nice and pristine still, and I was so excited to finally have a library in our town again.
First, we went to the children's section. We walked around it and then I realized that Ethan has a ton of books on his shelf we haven't even read, and, who am I kidding, he's not old enough to pick new ones out. So we left and headed for the elevators to go to the adult section. There are two books I wanted to check out, and I was going to see about renting a DVD or two.
No sooner had the elevator door opened to the second floor when Ethan started SCREAMING. Not crying. Not whimpering. Not moaning. SCREAMING. High pitched, fast, scary, get-me-the-hell-out-of-here kind of screaming. This is a scream that I hear maybe once a week. It means, "I'm in pain" or "I'm really pissed" or "I'm so overtired it hurts!" Immediately, every person in sight turned to look at the abusive mother with the psychotic child.
I bent down to him and shushed in his ear, trying to calm him down.
I made a fruitless effort to insert his pacifier.
After what seemed like an hour but was more like 30 seconds, he calmed down.
I did a quick look around, said out loud to nobody in particular, "I don't know what happened. He never cries like that" and pretended to be very interested in the random shelf of books I was next to at the moment.
Then, WHAM, Ethan was screaming again.
I beelined it for the elevators as quickly as I could and started frantically pushing the button while trying to calm him down and doing my best to look inconspicuous. (Pay no attention to the frantic first time mom attempting to look calm in the face of a crisis.) Thankfully, this grandmothery woman walked over and suggested I pick him out out of the stroller. I will forever be indebted to this woman, who, so eloquently, gave me the number one piece of baby advice I have ever received, hands down: when babies cry, pick them up. Genius! Thanks, lady. I know, I know, she didn't mean any harm, and she was sweet in an unsolicited, annoying, and obvious advice sort of way. I did pick him up, which did, after a moment, calm him down, eliciting a "See, he just needed some loving" comment from Well-meaning Grandma Character.
At last, the elevator opened, and we rode it down to the first floor, where we gingerly danced out the door.

Now, there are two conclusions one might draw from this situation:

1. Ethan hates books. His parents are teachers and voracious readers, but he is asserting his need to be different early.

or

2. Ethan hates elevators. Something about the feel of the elevator spooked him, and he freaked out accordingly.

Let's hope for number two.

First Time for Everything

There were two major firsts in the Meuer household last night. First, Ethan rolled over from his tummy to his back. The story, actually is pretty tragic. I had just left to go tutor this student, but I remembered I needed to ask Will a question. While pulling out of the driveway, I called his cellphone. Thirty seconds into our conversation, Will yelled out, "Oh my God! He just rolled over!" I was like, "What? You're kidding!" Nope. Not kidding. Ethan, who I spend ALL day with rolled over. And I wasn't there. I'd like to say I was simply happy Will got to see this milestone. I am happy Will saw it, but I was terribly sad I missed it. Everyone is saying, "He'll do it again." Yes, of course he will. But he will never do it for the first time again. Oh well, at least I was on the phone when he did it. I sure couldn't get him to do it again today, though, so we'll have to keep working on it.

The other big first was his first solid meal. As solid as you can call rice cereal mush. We gave him just a teaspoon or so at our dinnertime. He did pretty well, definitely interested but still pushing most things out with his tongue. I am a bit sad to be starting him on solids as it means he's really growing up. But it was also fun, and I like having him in the high chair at dinner. This morning, he had more cereal while I ate my oatmeal for breakfast. It was pretty nice eating breakfast with him and having a relaxing morning routine. I imagine just a few short months from now feeding time will be nothing but relaxing. I'm already thinking of what to use as a drop cloth under his high chair.

Here are some of the latest pictures of the man:


In the spirit of a typical four month old, everything goes in the mouth. Here's a picture of Ethan's makeout session with his fish.






I put Ethan in a straitjacket, er, I mean SwaddleMe for his naps. He's getting crafty, though, and manages to get out of it sometimes.











Here he is at our first full family dinner.

100 Years of Reading This Book

I've been reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's book, One Hundred Years of Solitude for about two months now. I put it down for a while and read Water For Elephants (very good), but now I'm back to it. I stopped reading it because I just needed a break. It is a book about everything and nothing. It is so incredibly random yet strangely entertaining. I read a full page and then have to reread it because I have no idea what just happened. It's weird. It's endearing. It's annoying! You may wonder, then, why on earth I continue to read it. I thought about this today, and here's what I came up with:

1. I don't like not finishing a book. Those of you who know me well know that I have an obsessive compulsive evenness issue. I need symmetry. Reading half of a book is not symmetrical. It's uneven and terrible and cannot be tolerated.

2. It's a challenge. This is a book that won the Nobel Prize. I don't know why, but I keep thinking if I finish it I might have a better idea.

3. It's my book club book. I have a two person book club that basically started when my friend and colleague Joseph and I discovered we were reading the same book. Hence, our book club was born. We don't have meetings, and we don't discuss the books all that much. We simply decide what we'll read and read it. And I always take at least two months longer to read the book than Joseph. Regardless, I feel a responsibility to finish for the sake of our Not So Real Book Club. Plus, Joseph thought the book was completely crazy, too, but says the ending was worth reading it. He may be lying, but I need to find out.

4. I read another Marquez book, Love in the Time of Cholera, in my AP English class senior year, and I remember loving it. I couldn't tell you one thing about it, but I do remember I really liked it.

5. Finally, the book can be downright entertaining while frustrating the heck out of you. Seriously, I don't know what really is happening (not your typical plot line here), yet I find myself chuckling inside a lot. I just opened up the book and pointed to a random passage and this is what I got: "When they thought of the desperate measure of seasoning him with pepper, cumin seeds, and laurel leaves and boiling him for a whole day over a slow fire, he had already begun to decompose and they had to bury him hastily." I know from teaching a Marquez story to my Honors class that his style is called Magical Realism. It is weird, no doubt, but cool because the strangest things happen yet the way it's told you believe it.

I am finally more than halfway through and have 180 pages to go. I hope to finish by Thanksgiving! Then I can get started on the next book club book that I imagine Joseph has already finished. Sigh...

(Hershey) Kisses from Ethan

Happy Halloween! We had a fun day today with a visit to Peter Pan and Captain Hook's place and also Grandma at her work. (On a side note, my mom's new preschool/daycare building at COD is amazing! It sure beats the place I was at when mom was in school and I was in preschool. Too bad we don't live closer because I would love to send Ethan there. In fact, I kind of want to play there - it's so cool!) Ethan's costume was a hand-me-down from Ben and fit very well. I didn't stuff it until later on tonight, but we didn't get any pictures of that because our little man was a bit cranky from not getting good naps in today. Take my word for it that the costume was even cuter when you puff it up a bit. Ben and Drew had great costumes this year, bought a while ago to use on their trip to Disney in early October. They LOVE to wear them.

When I got home, I made some pumpkin soup for dinner, a recipe my mom saw on the Channel 7 news. It was rich and pretty tasty. I thought maybe it will become our traditional Halloween meal, like chili was for us when I was a kid. We'll see.

We really have had very few trick-or-treaters, which is terrible because it means I will have a lot of leftover candy. I bought four bags at least a month ago and didn't open them until tonight. That's pretty good considering I'm always hungry and I'm home all day. Of course, I've already had three pieces tonight. We have had a few students come to the house already. One came (sans costume - more on this later) and said, "Hey, is this Mr. Meuer's house?" I said, "Who's Mr. Meuer?" and a kid came up behind the first one and said, "Is it?" and the first kid said, "No." Then the second kid saw me and said, "Oh, it's Mrs. Meuer! Yeah it is!" Dangit! I didn't have either kid but apparently they recognized me from the hallways last year. So then Mr. Meuer had to come and say hello. Neither was in costume and when I asked about it, they said they were teenagers. This is one of my all time pet peeves. I think high school kids are too old to trick-or-treat, first of all. But, if they are, they should be in costume! The thing is, though, that you can't give them too hard of a time about it when they come to the door unless you want eggs thrown at your house later on. Grrr! One group of non-costumed LT kids came to the door and I heard them tell Will, "Oh, Kit Kats. Can I have those?" No please. No thank you when he gave them their candy. I yelled out from the background, "Say please, you non-costumed kids who are too old to trick-or-treat!" My sister Lisa said for someone who teaches teenagers I have a low tolerance for them. But I assured her that the kids I teach would have gotten their Halloween lecture from me had I been in the classroom today. I always polled the kids on who was going out and then told them they better dress up and say please and thank you. Oh well, if I continue I'll have to start my own rant blog like my dad.

Happy Halloween!

4 Month Check Up

Ethan is growing up! We had his four month check up today. He's a perfectly happy and healthy little man. (16lbs 6 oz and 26.5 in) OK, so he was not so happy when he had his shots today, nor was he happy a half hour ago when I put him to bed (a bit clingy to mommy tonight after his trauma this afternoon), but, in general, he's happy. Both mom and dad did better this time around with his shots, though dad admittedly didn't really watch. Ethan really started screeching after the shots and didn't calm down right away. When we walked out of the exam room, there was a little girl about to go in a room, and she looked up at us with utter horror on her face. She must have heard Ethan screaming and thought, what on earth are they doing in there?! Her face was classic. Too bad it wasn't Halloween today. It would have been even funnier if the nurse giving the shots was dressed in a devil costume when she walked out in front of us. Alas...

In other news, Ethan met his new cousin Jake yesterday. We drove out to see Uncle Hammond, Aunt Courtney, and cousin Jake. The pictures are of their first meeting. Jake is SO SO cute with all his dark hair, and his mom and dad are doing so well. I know for a fact I was not as calm as the two of them seem to be after only one week. I can't believe how teeny tiny Jake is, and it's a bit sad to think that Ethan was that small not so long ago and now he seems so big! Where did my little baby go? In the picture, Ethan looks like Godzilla about to pick up Jake and have him as a snack.

We also went to see Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brian, Ben, and Drew yesterday. They love their "Baby Eefen!" Drew loves to hold him, but he's got a bit of a cough and had to stay away. He did get to tickle his feet, though, which he likes to do. I love how interested both Ben and Drew are in the baby, asking so many questions. "What's baby Eefen doing?" "Why is baby Eefen crying?" "Why does baby Eefen have to eat now?" "Can baby Eefen have chicken?" Can't wait until Eefen is in the question phase!

Cloth Dipes and Trail Mix

Ethan started with cloth diapers yesterday! It took me half the afternoon to prepare our washer to wash them. I did a load with vinegar to clean it out and get any residue off the sides. Then, I did a small wash of towels with Charlie's Soap to help clean it out even more. Then, I washed all his new diapers and inserts. From now on, I'll be able to simply wash the diapers, but I wanted to make sure our washer was very clean since any residue can compromise the dipes. As you can see in the pictures, Ethan is very happy with his Fuzzi Buns. They're great because with the snaps Will knows exactly how tight to put them. And the inside is so soft! Ethan's bum will thank us. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but the diaper he has on is a light green. I got 4 different colors and a few white ones. They're a fashion statement on their own, really. The big news is that we used the cloth diaper at night with an extra insert and he went 11 hours with no leaking! So we feel comfortable using them at night, too, which is good. It was definitely full, just like his disposables were, but no leaks, and his bottom was nice and dry because the microfleece wicks away the moisture. So far, we're really happy. It hasn't even been a full day, though, so check back in.






Besides starting cloth diapers yesterday, I also made some homemade trail mix bars. (I told my mom that next thing you know I would be growing the hair out in my armpits or something. I'm a big hippie now, apparently.) There was a recipe on the top of our peanut butter. They're super good and easy; I'm already thinking of new recipes for different bars. My new money making scheme is to market these to organic-loving, busy moms. Here's the recipe:

3 cups crispy rice cereal 3/4 cup sugar
3 cups toasted oat cereal 1 (16oz) jar natural peanut butter
1 1/2 cups raisins (I used dried cherries) 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sunflower nuts 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup honey (optional - I didn't use them)

1. Combine cereal, raisins, sunflower nuts (and chocolate chips) in large bowl.
2. Combine honey and sugar in medium pan; heat over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute.
3. Add peanut butter and vanilla; stir until peanut butter is melted.
4. Pour mixture into greased 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan. When cool cut into bars.

The recipe says it makes 5 dozen bars, but, honestly, who are they kidding? They would have to be cut into bit size pieces. I probably got 20 good sized bars out of them. They are great snacks and really easy, especially since the ingredients are usually around the house. Enjoy!

Fall Family Fun

Yesterday, while waiting for news about the arrival of little Jake, we went for a walk to the park. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, just perfect and probably one of the last good days for a while, and we decided to take Ethan for a swing. We got some great pictures. The ones with Will and Ethan are the greatest because we caught Ethan smiling, which is difficult with camera delays! I can't believe how big he's getting - Ethan, not Will. :)

Jacob William has arrived!!

Courtney and Hammond became the proud parents of little Jacob William yesterday, October 21st. All 8 pounds 14 ounces and 22 inches of him arrived at 4:51 pm yesterday. Jake has a great head full of dark hair and is just beautiful! We're so happy for the three of them. Courtney and Hammond will be great parents! And we look forward to watching him and Ethan grow up together. Enjoy the pictures of little Jake: