Trick or Treat!

We invited our friend Jessica over to ToT with us this evening. We didn't go to *that* many houses, but stopped when the boy's buckets got too heavy for them to carry.  It was great! They had a lot of fun & so did we!

Ian was Buzz Lightyear, Aaron was Sheriff Woody, & Lauren was Bo Peep. 

Playing Outside

Hard to believe

On October 27th in Pennsylvania

We were out in shirt sleeves

Playing in the crunchy leaves

Acting silly, as always

seeing nothing but blue skies and fall colors

Refusing to give mommy just ONE good picture

Telling secrets up on the hill

Waiting for Daddy to get home

Aaron's 2 Year Stats

Aaron had his well visit this morning.  He got his final 2 "baby" vaccinations that he'd missed previously because he was sick and/or I didn't want him to have more than 1 vax at a time.  No more vax until he's 5 (except for the flu)!! Yay! That's become something I look forward to...reaching the point in childhood where they don't have to get shots every 2 months or whatever.  Although it is hard to believe that Ian won't go back for another well visit until April! (And Aaron won't have another one until next October!)

They didn't tell me his percentiles today so I had to plug them into a calculator on the Internet just now so here we go:

At 24 months:your child is 25 pounds, and that is at the 14th percentile for weight.
your child is 32.75 inches, and that is at the 10th percentile for height.
your child has a head circumference of 18.9 inches, and that is at the 30th percentile for head circumference.

So thinking back a bit, at 18 months old, Aaron was no longer on the percentiles chart for weight.  You may be thinking... why is Aaron gaining weight a good thing? It's a good thing because he was so sick through is first 18 months that he wasn't gaining anything.  He was not able to intake enough calories to both gain weight/grow and fight off the sickies.  So the fact that Aaron is now gaining weight and back on the weight chart means his asthma and allergies are being managed well enough for him to put on some pounds.  That is really good. He's still teeny, but he's doing better.


Aaron now has a very healthy height/weight/head circumference ratio and that is super!

Aaron's vocabulary is incredible.  He knows almost as many words as Ian does.  (Which is why I'm not even going to try to put them all down.  He speaks in full sentences (even if the words are all "out of order.") and we can understand him 80-90% of the time.  His fine and gross motor skills are excellent.  He's eating well and playing well.

He wears 18 months size clothes...and mostly hand-me-downs from Ian. It is really so nice for me to "relive" a lot of the outfits I really loved on Ian now that Aaron can wear them.

Aaron is a sweetheart with a stubborn streak, by far the laid back one of the 2 boys.

I think that's about it about Aaron for today...

2 year Photo Shoot & 3 Month Photo Shoot

Tomorrow, Aaron will be TWO years old! (Unbelievable.)  But even harder to accept is Lauren will be 3 months old tomorrow. Here are some photos I took this morning.  (Ian was at school or he's be in them too, of course, he's 3 1/2 years old now.)  By the way, getting a 2 year old to sit still & smile is... hard.

more coming

 

I didn't help him paint this!

Tea Time

Today I had a Tea Party for Grandma Bishop, Great Grandma Kelley, Aunt Sam, Aunt Pat, & Aunt Carol. I tried to make it kinda fancy!

The Menu Was:

• Pumpkin Soup
• Smoked Turkey Sandwiches with Dijon Mustard Cream Cheese on Wheat Bread
• Pumpkin & Vanilla Scones with Apple Butter Whipped Cream
• Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
• Grapes
• Tea, Coffee, & Lemonade

 Pumpkin Soup:

(This was originally a recipe from a magazine, but I've tweaked it over the years)

1 lb pumpkin (pr butternut squash)

canola oil

1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh sage

1/4 lb bacon or pancetta, chopped

1/2 of one large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 1/2 cups chicken broth-low sodium

3 1/2 cups water

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Salt

Pepper

1. Roast pumpkin/squash until tender, scrape flesh from skin, puree in blender

2. Cook bacon in 4qt. heavy pot over medium heat until browned. Remove from pan. 

3.  Cook onion until softened, add garlic & sage, cook about 1 minute.

4. Add pumpkin, broth, & water. Stirring occasionally, simmer 20 minutes. Puree Soup in blender.

5. Stir in vinegar, salt, & pepper

6. Serve garnished with crispy bacon (sometimes I also garnish w/ roasted pumpkin seeds)

*notes*
-this soup tastes even better refrigerated overnight & reheated!
-Somtimes, depending on how watery the pumpkin/squash is, you need less/more water. Just add liquid until it is a consistency that you like.
-Pureeing the second time is optional
-you can use canned pumpkin, but the roast flavor is really superior.

"Light" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eating Well Magazine

3/4 c. rolled oats

1 c. whole wheat four

1/ 2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. canola oil

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 lg. egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. mini chocolate chips

Cream butter, oil, sugars. Add egg & vanilla. Add flour, salt, soda.Gently stir in chips.

Bake 8-10 min at 350 on greased cookie sheets or parchment paper. Store in airtight container with a piece of bread.

Serving Size 4 cookies: 98 cal, 12g Carbs, 1g dietary fiber, 5g fat, 1g protein, 7g sugars

Turkey Sandwiches:

I just made this up yesterday ;-)

Sliced Deli Smoked Turkey Breast

1/3 less fat cream cheese

Grey Poupon dijon mustard

wheat sandwich bread

Mix softened cream cheese & mustard, spread on all bread slices, add 2 slices turkey breast. Cut off crusts & into shapes (triangles, strips, or special shapes using cookie cutter) 

Pumpkin Scones:

http://www.green-tea-health-news.com/easy-pumpkin-scones.html

I followed this recipe exactly for the scones.  I served them with my own creation of:

Apple Butter Whipped Cream:

1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. Apple Butter (no extras, just apples, spices & cider)

Whip cream until soft peaks form, add in vanilla, & gently fold in apple butter.  Adjust with more apple butter if you need to.  (I didn't measure this morning...)

For the Vanilla scones- I swore on my life that I wouldn't give out the recipe for these after begging for it from my friend & former boss Melissa.  THIS is a very similar recipe. I did not use raisins. While traditionally served with vanilla cream or strawberry jam, today I served them with apple butter... AWESOME.

Lauren 2 Month- Statistics

Lauren had her 2 month doctor's visit yesterday (at 10 weeks) and she is a healthy specimen.

She weighs 12 pounds 12 oz and is 23.5 inches long. 

She got all her vaccinations yesterday and it is safe to say she felt like CRAP last night.  She seems to be doing much better now though & I expect will be back to normal after a nice long nap.

I'll be back to update with her head circumference & percentiles as soon as I grab the paper.

Finally some sunshine

I took advantage of our first sunny day all week to take some pictures of Lauren :-)

Mystery Trip: Triple B Farms

Click here to view these pictures larger