A Miscellany kind of Monday morning

one Mum went back to England yesterday and we are left a big void and cries of "I want my Nanny." It was potentially the most wonderful trip we've had in years. Toby adored her, she was here to help through easily the roughest two weeks of my morning sickness, and we were able to get so much done AND relax at the same time. September can't come soon enough.

two Work is extremely stressful. No one in the office is happy and collectively we are all affecting each other. I have to try not to care. I have to try not to let it get to me. I have to not get stressed out by things beyond my control.

three Now we're in business! Zucchini abounds in our garden and I am on the hunt for a chowder recipe that matches the one I ate in the hospital the day Toby was born.

four My brother in law gets married next month and there is no way that the present is going to be finished in time though I've had about two years to work on it! Procrastination is the name of the game people. Now I have to get going on that custom guest book too!!

five Two weeks of 80-100 degree heat is not what this "Mainer" signed up for - thank heavens for inflatable pools and sprinklers!

six I get to hear peanut's heartbeat this week. We're still talking baby names and are in the middle of the great Martha/Sophia debate of aught 11.

FAFFLE

My little boy is a picky eater. Since starting solids he has been very particular about his foods. Vegetables are to be hidden or on pizza but never solo, or God forbid, cold! Sweet Potato may be mashed but not french fried, apple may be warm but not whole. Tomato's are for pizza sauce and nothing else. He no longer asks for oatmeal in the morning, for many months now his first word of the day has been "Faffle." He eats two sometimes three every morning, sometimes with a banana or yoghurt, mostly on their own. Syrup maybe once a month and then only about 1/4 tsp. For the longest time we bought store brand waffles, I switched to Eggos from Sam's because the bulk purchase was such a good deal. I also like only buying something once every six weeks instead of in smaller portions a week. I may need a deep freeze for Christmas!

But then a miraculous thing happened...

Nanny came to visit....

 

 Nanny decided we needed a Waffle Maker, so three hours down the highway (more on that later) and a Williams Sonoma outlet store later and here we are making our own waffles in the morning. I even have home made ones in the freezer - ah Crystal would be proud. Here's the kicker, I love them, Toby loves them, and they are so much better for him. At least they will be when I start experimenting with flavors and flours. Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Waffles here I come!

Anyone have any good recipes? I'm using Better Homes and Gardens standard recipe right now but would love to give my babe some variety.

In my vegetable garden

 

We have begun to Harvest. So far that enormous box of lettuce, twice, and three enormous Zucchini. The one I'm holding is nothing compared to the others that are each the size of my forearm. We also have a smattering of blueberries and tomatoes. The chicken has stopped laying since the latest trauma which is unfortunate. We are by no means self sufficient but it's nice to have lettuce without having to buy it! We picked up Pumpkin plants this week so I don't miss out on my pumpkin patch, that is Toby's pumpkin patch, again this year.

Now if it would just dip below 80 degrees and rain I'd be a lot happier.

Missing in Action

I have been remiss in posting lately. Many things have been happening, lots of living and less writing which is both good and bad for me. One of the driving events of the moment is that we found out that we are expecting baby number two in February 2012!!! That's right Toby mark two! This pregnancy is progressing much the same as the first. I took a test because I was irritable and falling asleep everywhere like last tim,e and there was that extra pink stripe. The nausea is pretty much constant but again, like last time, no throwing up yet. The exhaustion takes me by surprise even when I expect it, then on the days I do manage to nap I have insomnia at night! It's mostly due to the 8pm bedtimes that I haven't been blogging much of late. So for those of you who still check in every so often here is the run down on recent weeks in this Maine home:

The Chickens

Ah the chickens! Where to begin in the ongoing saga of the chickens? After my last post I watched feverishly as the new chickens began laying eggs and the baby chickens adapted to their new, bigger friends. They were playful, they were angry, but they settled into a nice routine. 

 

Then, while we were on vacation, something bigger than a fox came and ripped off the back hatch and pulled a chicken through. So we were back down to three chickens again, the two adopted chickens and one of my babies. My Father in law was devastated to lose a chicken on his watch so constructed Fort Knox around them. Last week we finally let them out of the chicken run to roam in the garden. It is truly wonderful to look out and see them pecking away in the garden, especially when you catch them eating Japanese beetle larvae and mosquitoes! Alas on Saturday we noticed that a hawk had decided our house was a good place for take out, he took up residency in one of our bigger trees and just watched the chickens. So we put them back into the chicken run to hopefully send him on his way. Yesterday I went out to check on them and found one of the adopted chickens "asleep" at the back of the coop in the nesting box. No blood, no dismemberment, just dead and lying there. No holes in the chicken wire, no wooden pieces ripped off, nothing, no point of entry. I woke Husby from his fever induced coma to clean it up. I'm pregnant and he's good like that. It now looks like my sweet baby chicken pecked her to death, he found blood on my chicken and punctuation marks on the adopted gal. We buried her and now I have two chickens again. One baby and one adoptee. We have to clip baby's beak so we don't end up with just one chicken again. I now have the big debate over buying yet another replacement chicken or just accepted that my project was doomed to failure. Funny, we thought winter would put an end to this project. Never thought it would be cannibalism!

The Annual Camping Trip

 

We went to Acadia National Park in northern Maine for our annual Fourth of July camping trip. Logistically it was a little more interesting this year. Two car seats, two cars, a 21 month old and an 11 month old. We still had a lot of fun and Toby had an absolute blast. We spent much of the time following him around as he picked up rocks, chased puppies and made friends with other campers in his eternal quest for new, cooler parents. Husby was amazing, taking on most of the Toddler time so that I could feed my pregnant body with Ramen Noodles and sleep. He was an angel and I couldn't have done it without him. Toby took a while to take to the lake this year, but once he did enjoyed splashing around. He learned many new words, including how to say Adelaide's name properly, instead of Adel Adel or Laide. Next year they'll be a five month old in tow as well. We bought guide books to help plan next year better! Needless to say we spent a week beforehand doing laundry and packing (and sleeping) and the week afterward doing laundry and packing (and sleeping), so not much else was accomplished!
 

The Nanny

The creme de la creme of activities in recent weeks? Picking up my mum at the airport this past Sunday. Toby loves his nanny so much, he screamed when she went to the bathroom this morning so I dread what's going to happen when she leaves!

 

There are many other things that are new with us, but I hope to get into those as I get my blogging groove back. If ever I'm absent here for a few days and you need a dose of this dry wit, you can catch me over at GeekMom where I work on my craft and level of dorkdom!