October Days

October is absolutely without question the best month of the year.  This is not my opinion.  This is Fact. 

The leaves, the cool crisp air, finally a reason to get out the cozy sweaters, ahem my birthday, fall decorations galore, pumpkin bread, applesauce, the list goes on.  I LOVE IT. 

Yesterday there was Gospel Meeting in town, about a mile and a quarter away, and the weather was so beautiful that we decided to walk.  Maxwell did great - he has never sat through two meetings in one day, so I was pretty happy.  He was quite fidgety, and then he got the loudest hiccups ever .. but really, I can't complain.  I have been blessed with a child who saves his high-pitched shrieking voice for home. There is a family with four kids under the age of 10, and they always make a beeline for Maxwell as soon as meeting is over.  I love this so much.  The girls do "coochie-coos" and make funny faces while the boys stand there grinning and occasionally mussing his hair.  Maxwell, of course, eats it up. 


This morning Trevor said he'd like me to make pork chops again sometime, so Maxwell and I headed off to Giant for a quick grocery trip.  Maxwell has graduated from riding in the cart in his portable carseat to sitting in the front of the cart like a big boy!  We got a great cart cover that I can attach toys to, and it even has a fabulous little zipper pocket for my wallet and other stuff.  I hate carrying a purse, so this is like a dream come true.  But oh. my. goodness.  I can hardly stand how cute he is sitting there like he's the king of the grocery store.  He stares at everything and everyone that passes him.  It would be less awkward if he would give the occasional smile, but today he was sleepy and just stared at people with his mouth hanging open and drool rolling out.  Awesome.  My kid is so polite.  Good thing he's an adorable little chunker so he can get away with it. 


In other news, Wii Fit and I are getting along famously.  I love it SO MUCH.  Why did I wait so long to buy it?  Oh yeah, I'm cheap.  Thank you Trevor for buying it for me anyways :-D  I do about 20 minutes every morning while Maxwell takes his early catnap.  It doesn't sound like very long, but I'm usually sweating up a storm by the time I'm done.  (This could also be caused by the fact that the boiler is in the basement ... bummer.)  Trevor and I usually play a little in the evening too; Maxwell loves to watch.  I'm sure he'll be winning all the games by the time he's walking.   


Thanks to Wii Fit in the morning, a long stroller walk (1.5-2.5 miles) later in the day, and a new no-junk-food-in-the-house rule, I've lost about 3 pounds.  It's about stinkin' time!  Maxwell is 6 months old and I'm still walking around looking 6 months pregnant.  The no-junk-food rule will most likely go by the wayside for Thanksgiving, but I'm okay with that.  Hopefully a month from now I'll have lost a few more pounds and won't have to feel so intensely guilty over a slice of pumpkin pie.  And apple pie.  And maybe chocolate pie too ....   O:-)


Life is grand, really.  That about sums it up. 

Autumn has Arrived in Carlisle!

After 20 minutes with Wii Fit's Rhythm Boxing, I was sweating up a storm, but Maxwell still wanted to go for a walk so off we went! It was short due to the fact that about halfway along our route I realized I desperately needed to pee. Awesome. But Maxwell enjoyed it immensely, squealing the whole 1.2 miles.

Apparently autumn arrived here while we were in Maine - the leaves on our walk were B E A Utiful!

Now that we're home, Maxwell is happily chewing on his playmat. Good job, little buddy!

Weekend in Maine

(Picture stolen from someone on Facebook that I don't know. Shh.)

Thursday afternoon we hit the road as soon as Trevor got home from work and arrived at Briana's right around midnight.  Thankfully Maxwell slept most of the way - he is a traveling champ!  After dropping me and Maxwell off, Trevor drove the rest of the way to Orono for Alumni Band at the homecoming football game.  What a crazy kid - I'm sure he was exhausted, but it sounds like he had a blast.  Here he is drumming away on Saturday. 

(Picture stolen from Tavia's Facebook ... Thanks Tave!)

Maxwell and I spent the morning with Bri & Iz, and then headed to Tave's for lunch with her and Aunt Bonnie.  SO good to see them all, and of course I didn't take a single picture.  Tavia made THE best butterscotch cookie bars.  It's probably best that I do not ask her for the recipe, since I am on a junk-food-hiatus until Thanksgiving.  Ugh.  Wii Fit is right, I really need to shape up .....

Saturday evening, Briana drove me and Max up to Freeport where we met up with Dad to take us the rest of the way to Union.  Saturday night we pretty much just crashed.  Well, everyone except Maxwell ...  He was too excited to finally be at Gramma and Grampy's house to settle down.  It wasn't long before he had us all worn out.  Here's Maxwell entertaining Grampy, while Nellie lays beside them feeling quite neglected.

After Sunday meeting a few people stayed for lunch and Bananagrams, and of course more entertainment from Maxwell.  He really is on his best behavior when there are lots of people around.  He tends to be a lot fussier when he's just home alone with me - apparently I am boooorinnnnggg.  He is a social butterfly, just like his daddy.  He loves to be in the spotlight and just ham it up!   

Monday, Aunt Pammy came over for lunch and Maxwell snuggles.  Aunt Darlene, Uncle Mahlon, and Carol Lee stopped by that afternoon.  Max is a pretty popular guy.  I guess that's what happens when you're super cute and then you move far away ... whenever you make an appearance, no one wants to miss it!!

Gramma did not mind one bit giving him all the attention he needed and more this weekend.  I'm not sure how Maxwell will be able to wait until Thanksgiving to see her again!  I had fun this weekend trying out the camera on my new iPhone.  I feel like I've finally entered the 21st century now that I no long have a flip phone.  Trevor is enjoying his too, just a tad ..

Tuesday morning we headed out bright and early to hit the road for home.  We hit a few snafus on the way* but eventually we made it home and tumbled into bed.  Now I feel like I need a vacation to recover from our vacation!  PHEW!  Thanks for an awesome weekend Mom & Dad!!  Miss you already and can't wait for Thanksgiving.  :o)

*Traveling Snafus:

1) Got 6 miles down the road and realized we left 3 bottles in the fridge.  Oops, we kinda need those ...

2) Had to stop mid-trip for an oil change when the "check engine" light came on and the car started heaving.  

3) Came upon a deer standing in the middle of the highway, at night, while traveling at about 75mph.  Almost peed my pants.

Review: The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



LOVE LOVE LOVE. I literally could not put this book down. My poor son was neglected for a few days...



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Review: My Name is Mary Sutter

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I really had to force myself to finish this book and am not sure why I bothered. When I get really into a book I FLY through it, so it should say something that I had to renew this one twice. I think the main problem I had with this book was that it felt too much like reading for history class. But I suppose that's what historical fiction is supposed to be like ...

Mary Sutter's story is really interesting, but it is interspersed with snippets from the perspectives of Dorothea Dix, Abraham Lincoln, and other civil war figures. I got lost in battle descriptions and many times found myself reading the same paragraph over and over again. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't LOVE United States history.



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More Cooking and My Birthday

Honey Mustard Pork Chops and Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Trevor loved this meal.  I don't think these two things went together very well, but I wanted to try them both, and they were both delicious .. so why not?  I've never liked pork chops, but these were pretty fantastic.  And EASY.  The potatoes were a bit of work and took a long time to cook (obviously) but if I plan ahead it's not a big deal.  It just means I have to start thinking about dinner at 4pm instead of 5pm.

I also made applesauce muffins this week.  They're so-so, probably because they're healthy.  I'm realizing, however, that while I want to keep trying new recipes, I don't have much to say about it.  I follow the recipe, it tastes good, or it doesn't, and Trevor tells me whether or not I should ever cook it again.  The End.

In other news:  Today is my birthday!  Trevor got me Wii Fit, which I've been wanting for EONS.  I'm so excited!!  I got it all set up only to have the little Wii Fit narrator tell me that I'm obese and then my Mii character proceeded to grow very large hips.  Awesome.  I'm more embarrassed about the fact that my legs are sore from 20 minutes of trying it out.  Yikes, I'm out of shape.  That slalom slope is intense.

To celebrate my birthday (and the fact that according to Wii Fit I need to lose 72 pounds), we got take-out from Chili's and Trevor made Carrot Cupcakes.  I have THE best husband in the world.  YUM.

Maxwell gave me a pretty great present too:  two poops today instead of the usual one!  Good job, little buddy.  Good job.