My Niece

My niece is due in 3 weeks but Emily is already feeling some contractions. Early labor perhaps? Aldous was 10 days early - so maybe she is just one of the lucky ones with a little shorter pregnancy... Probably best not to get one's hopes set on that but excited that she is getting so close! I think Charlie's pretend play below is actually a reoccurring nightmare of mine...

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Matching pjs

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MN Playtime

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Russ, Ashley, Nate and Sarah!!!

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MN Highlights

Pine Nuts and Water Births

 We've experienced some sticker shock with the price of food in NZ. I'm trying to figure out how to get the best deals on food. Eating out is expensive, but frankly eating in is also very expensive. I ordered Alicia Silverstone's Vegan Cookbook in hopes of finding some cheaper and healthier recipes.   I made a really fantastic Lentil Sweet Potato Stew (Link to Recipe) this weekend.  We also had an extremely rich (and not that unhealthy) Chocolate Banana Tofu Mousee (Link to Recipe)  We were in dire need of a grocery run this evening, but I tried to put together a meal with what I had at home. That being said, I found a yummy vegan sun-dried tomato pesto pasta recipe.  I bought a few basil plants several weeks ago, so I stripped off all of the basil leaves.  I had the garlic and sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts. Well, I purchased the pine nuts at Trader Joes earlier this year when Aunt Ashley made us a delicious pesto pasta in Virginia after Liam was born.  I stuck them in the shipment from Virginia to New Zealand.  Did anyone know that pine nuts can go bad?   I didn't know that.  Now I know.  After pureeing all of the ingredients and pouring it over the pasta noodles I tasted the dish, and something was seriously not right.  Usually in this situation, when I suspect something might have gone bad, I serve some to Jason and search his face for any trace of yuckiness.  He is a bloodhound of sorts, with keen smell and taste senses.   After two bites, he started googling "do pine nuts go bad?"   I was a little annoyed and I chose to try my best to eat the pasta as quick as possible as if nothing was wrong.  I made a comment that at times like this, I pretend that I am in Uzbekistan where I'm served something gross, but I want to fit in to the culture so I eat the entire dish to show respect and hope to develop a taste for different-tasting food.  He looked at me like I was crazy and did the same.  I asked Jason if he wanted salad, but he said he lost his appetite.  My poor husband.  Charlie actually ate quite a few bites of it, but grew bored and turned his noodles into underwater squid and train tracks.   So now, I know...  pine nuts can go bad...    



Impressive train network made out of noodles

 Before he went to bed, we asked Charlie what he wanted to pray for.  He wanted to pray for Judah.  He said something about praying for Judah that he would learn how to swim underwater for when he was born.  Now I'm really curious what he thinks happened at Judah's water birth.   For Judah's birth, I knew that my mom was going to call me on my iPhone so I could "be" in the room.  As it happened, Jason, Charlie and I were sitting down eating dinner when I got the call from my mom.  I sat on the couch with earphones on witnessing the birth of my nephew.  It was an intensely crazy experience - much different being on the other end of things.  Charlie watched my face move from excitement, to surprise, to awe, to joy ... but he didn't see anything on the phone or hear anything except me.  He was extremely disappointed that he missed it.  We called Maria back on skype and I think she was in the water holding baby Judah.  Charlie was excited to see his cousin but more than a little confused.  He's talked about Judah swimming and breathing underwater ever since. I find myself trying to change the subject and not get into it with him.  I think that he thinks "pushing" involves a slide at the playground and the midwife "catching" the baby is at the bottom of the slide.  I think we'll keep it that way for a while...

Cloth Diapers and More Fun Stuff

I decided to cloth diaper when I was pregnant with Charlie and I'm so thankful I did. I started with over 30 BumGenius 3.0 velcro diapers when he was born. After 3 years, the velcro is starting to curl and lose its "stickiness". My sister Emily encouraged me to convert the diapers from velcro to snaps saying that it was a relatively easy process. My 3 goals for my past summer in Minnesota were 1.) Wedding Album 2.) Baby Book 3.) Cloth Diaper Conversion to Snaps. I successfully completed #1 and #2, but ran out of time for #3. I am happy to say that I have (pretty much) successfully conveted 24 diapers to snaps from velcro. I am one of the least crafty people I know (my sisters will attest to my Christmas tree ornaments made of walnuts on popsicle stick skiis - pretty lame gift for a 10-year old from her middle school sister). I've really improved my skills. At first each diaper would take about an hour and ended up looking like the first diaper below. Today I was able to finish each diaper in about 15 minutes and they really turned out nice.

The snaps are very unforgiving, in that it's very hard to remove them if you mess up.  I just kept adding a snap to try to remedy my bad snaps... it was a mess! 

All that being said, converting all of the diapers cost me about $50 and I'm sure they will last through Liam potty-training. I know I've saved a bunch of money by primarily using cloth, and they look so stinkin' cute in the colorful cloth diapers. It is also really fun to share cloth diapering with my sisters who are also doing it with their little guys. Speaking of potty training - Charlie went poopy on the potty twice today - making a point to do it "all by himself" (pooping, wiping, flushing, washing his hands). He was SO proud of himself!

Baby Judah - pic o' day:

It sounds like Baby Judah is extremely chill and peacefull (gets it from Maria for sure - ha, ha, just kidding Aaron!). I'm excited that I came up with his middle name "Aaron." I guess, Maria and Aaron would've eventually suggested it, but I would still like be able to claim it. Oh wow - I just want to hold that little guy so badly!!!

Health update - Liam and Charlie are finishing up their antibiotics and look MUCH better than last week. Charlie is itching to go to preschool - so I am hopeful he will be good to go tomorrow. Jason is still feeling a little residual cough/chest stuff - so please pray for him if you think of it.

Here is Liam and Jason skyping with Gran and Grandad: