Silent Sunday

My sweetie booger face boy. This photo was from a couple months ago in the heat of some major teething.

View through one of the lenses of my glasses.. don't know what I would do without them...

The colors of autumn are fading away into the cold Winter ahead.

My stunningly beautiful 5 year old niece, Nouvelle, when I babysat her and her brothers Saturday morning.

Almost all of the leaves have fallen from the trees...

My sister's 10 year old kitty, Alien, yawning after a nice nap in the baby stroller in the yard.

 If you like my photos, feel free to follow me on instagram! Click right here to follow me! (I promise I don't take photos of just food - lots of my cute son - artistic, natural, animal, macro, outdoor shots, a little food here and there, but so much more of the good stuff!)

Rushing, rushing, rushing around...

4 days from now we'll move from our current location to our new place! I have to say that I am so excited and so eager to be there. I love our apartment that we are in right now (we've been here for over a year and a half) but it's absolutely time for a change. My son was born here, in our bedroom (Levon's birth story here) so it definitely makes the change bitter sweet. We switched rooms with him and it's been his bedroom as well, ever since he came Earth side. I have to remind myself tomorrow, to take a bunch of pictures of the outside of the house just in case anything ever happens when we are gone. I want him to know where he was brought into the world. It's a special thing, to be born at home (don't get me wrong, it's a special thing to be born WHEREVER a child is born but I feel so strongly about our home birth). I feel so overjoyed that we were able to share such a beautiful experience, creating life,  in the comfort and relaxing environment of our own place. I think back on it frequently. What an amazing opportunity. But, the time has come to move on and we are so excited for it.

Our apartment now is very baby friendly at all. Levon's bedroom is set up beautifully and is just as relaxing as it was when he was born in there. He's got all the toys he could ever want, his bright yellow bean bag, a rocking chair fit for a toddler, a recliner for momma & dada, piles of books, his bed, his drum kit (complete with his Grampa McInnis drum throne) - a multitude of things to keep him busy.. but it's the only place in the house he can really hang out as there is just no place to put everything that isn't baby proof. So, in the new house we are planning on baby proofing every thing from the get go and making sure our little peanut has free reign of the entire down stairs.

The new place is nestled on a cozy island off the coast of Maine, 50 feet from an ocean cove. It's quaint, relaxing, and lovely. It reminds me so much of our camp growing up that my great-grandfather built for our family. Years ago by grandparents had to sell the camp to make sure they had enough for retirement. That was a necessary but sad thing to have to let go of. But our new place reminds me so much of it.. we have a gigantic mud room when you first walk in, and all of the windows are old french doors. Through those windows there is a perfect view of the cove and a rocky coast line. There is a perfect little swimming hole in between the peninsula behind the house that we get to take advantage of next summer. Small details are what remind me of our old camp. The post and beam ceilings in the mudroom, the porcelain sink in the kitchen, the smell of the place when you first walk in. The place just has a wonderful vibe and I can't wait for our family to move in. It's located on 50 private acres, and across the cove is a wildlife preservation that can never be built on. So peaceful. Our dogs will absolutely love it.

So for now, I must get back to packing up all of our belongings and getting the apartment ready for showing tomorrow evening. We had the internet shut off here at our place so I would be motivated to get all I need to get done without any distractions... so, until we get it set up at our new home, I probably won't be posting too incredibly much...

Take care all..

My poor sick baby... what would we do without the Ergo?

Levon has been sick the last couple days. Not sure if it's just teething or that he caught the virus that all of my sister's kids have been passing around.. it's most likely a nasty combination of both. He's cutting his 10th tooth, his bottom right molar. The left one is still coming up but it's not anywhere near coming through. He already has his top two molars. But, yeah, anyhow. Poor little guy slept in until ELEVEN this morning which is so unusual for him, as he usually gets up at 7:30 like clockwork (which he did, ate, and went right back to sleep). And, when he got up he absolutely did not want to be put back down so I strapped him into the Ergo while I made breakfast. Man, I love my baby. And man, I love my Ergo so I can cuddle him close and still get things done!

(Please disregard the stay at home Mom hair do!)

Poor baby boy.

My skeleton cutie and breakfast are two of my most favorite things in this world...

I love breakfast. There is nothing like some perfectly cooked cheesy, yummy scrambled eggs with any type of hot sauce, on my plate. Crunchy, buttery toast, and a perfectly warm cup of coffee. You add my sweetie little skeleton baby and we've got a perfect pair. I love my mornings with him!

Happy Halloween!

mmmmhmmmhmmm.

I. Fit. In. My. WEDDING. DRESS!

I couldn't believe my eyes today! Here I am unpacking the bedroom closet to get ready for moving, and I stumble across my tote of our wedding stuff. So, I pull out my wedding dress and figure, hey, what the hell. May as well see if the ole girl fits... and.. much to my surprise - IT ACTUALLY FIT. PERFECTLY. I am in complete and utter AWE! I posted almost 1 year ago (here) that my post pregnancy weight loss goal was to once again fit into my wedding dress. Well, congratulations to me, I DID IT! And here are the photos to prove it!

Me in my wedding dress at the hotel, after getting ready for the ceremony. August 14th, 2010 in Austin, TX

Proof that the dress is ZIPPED UP! Unbelievable!!

Hoo-hoo-hoola hooping. The best way to drop pregnancy weight!

Hoola hooping is so much fun and so good for you. It's great exercise - you get to dance, swirl, twirl, and have a blast. I was babysitting with my husband yesterday, my sister's children, and I took a little break to go outside and have a little photographic, self portraiture hooping session. Here are the results from that leisurely excursion!

14 months

I have totally slacked off on this for months. But as we are leaving the apartment that Levon was born in (the room he is in now, his bedroom, is where I gave birth to him), I wanted to get ONE more progress photo in the house! It just had to be done. So here it is! 

Levon Patrick Alan will be 14 months in 6 days, on October 28th, 2012. He walks, runs, climbs, jumps, talks, yells, screams, smiles, cries, snorts, hollers, hugs, kisses, blows kisses, waves, high fives, feeds the dogs his left over food scraps, climbs over his gate, climbs out of his high chair, dances, plays peekaboo, plays the drums... this kid does EVERYTHING! He says all sorts of things: Dada, Mama, hi, yea, doggy, kitty, cat, baby, bitty, again, whats that, no, plus many more I can't even think of right now. He nods his head yes, and no. He has 10 teeth (almost 12, the bottom molars are coming in right now). This kid is incredible. We love him so much and can't believe he is ours! Our sweet little ginger boy, we are just head over heels.

(this photo is also on the Levon Grows! page, including more detailed information about his progress. It can be viewed via the links above or here.)

Rockin' Momma & Auntie's Red Glasses

Over the weekend I spent some fun quality time with my niece and nephews and my son over at my sister's house. Her and her husband were away for the weekend in Connecticut for a Cross Fit Team Competition. So, myself, my husband, our little Levon, and my Mom were all over there taking care of our family's littles who needed tending to! I wanted to share a few photographs from the weekend of all of them sporting my rockin' red specs. Here they are, with my son first.

My baby boy, Levon. Almost 14 months!

My silly, oldest nephew, Audric! Six years old!

My beautiful niece, Nouvelle. Five years old! (With my husband photo-bombing in the background)

The nephew with the most 'tude of them all, Milo! 2 years old!

And last but surely not least.. little Emie...

My littlest ham of a nephew, Emris! He is almost 16 months.

Can you handle all of this cuteness?!

Kadi - The Incredible Alaskan Klee Kai!

I rescued this dog from near death on August 25th of this year. She is over 10 years old, her name is Kadi! She is an Alaskan Klee Kai. She is about 22 pounds now, still teenie tiny, and a beautiful little princess, but has since gained weight since I rescued her. When I first picked her up, she was no more than 15 pounds, her ribs were sticking out, her eyes all gunky, flea ridden, hair chewed off of her back legs, and she was very nervous and anxious. The reason she was brought to the shelter is a long story - but to shorten it up I will just say that she's had a life of bad luck and it's finally been put to rest. She's now in a lovely home where she is SO loved and I couldn't be happier.

I brought her to my Mom's house after rescuing her and they are the best of friends, perfect companions, and my mum spoils the pants off this little pup! They have drastically improved each other's lives. It's a match made in heaven! Kadi gets all the dog food, treats, love, toys, cuddly crocheted blankets, adorable little doggy coats, kisses, and walks that she could ever have imagined getting! It's a wonderful thing.

I am so proud of the transformation she had made! It just goes to show - there are no bad dogs - simply bad owners. Bad situations. All of these circumstances can be turned around with a little motivation, a little love, and a little mutual respect. It doesn't take much.

Here is Kadi on August 25th, 2012.

And here she is yesterday, October 20th, 2012 at my sister's house - babysitting the grandchildren with her new favorite person, her owner, her mama.

Chillin out with the family. Bright white, gaining weight, flea free, well fed and happy as can be! 

All I can say is, this girl truly is something else. She has changed my mother's life. She has helped her become more active, more mentally stable, more secure with herself. And my Mom has done the same for Kadi. She is assertive yet calm, happy, well fed, flea free and overall very well taken care of. A job well done...

Jury Spicy, Creamy, Yellow Chicken Curry

Scroll past pictures for recipe! My inspiration for this dish came from a restaurant called Java Noodle in Austin, T.X. My husband and I shared a favorite dish - their infamous yellow curry with chicken, potato, and jalapeno. So, I took the time and recreated it so we could have it 2,500 miles away and it came out PERFECT. If not better. I'm one proud wife and momma when I saw my husband take his first bite and every one after that! He was in heaven. I highly recommend you give this a try! It's worth the work on the sauce!

Our homegrown jalapenos. 

Garlic cloves. 

Sweet, yellow onion.

Ginger root.

Organic, white rice.

Organic baby reds at a boil. 

To start:

1. Chop 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (into whatever size you prefer) and fully cook in pan. Set aside.
2. Boil 1 cup of organic white rice (or rice of your choice). Set aside, keep warm.
3. Rinse and boil one pound bag of organic baby red potatoes (you can do this while you are in the second 15 minute simmering period of completing your sauce).

Sauce:

• 8 tablespoons olive oil (can substitute for coconut oil, sunflower, etc)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp minced ginger root
• 3 tsp minced garlic cloves
• 2 c coconut milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp himalayan pink salt
• 1 tsp organic black pepper
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 jalapenos, chopped

1. Heat oil in pan and add onion. Stir over high heat for 5 minutes until softened.
2. Add garlic and ginger. Keep it at a boil for 30 seconds while stirring. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add coconut milk and heavy cream. While stirring, bring to boil. Simmer to 15 minutes.
4. Add spices and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. During the last 5 minutes, add chicken, potatoes, and jalapenos so they can all warm together.
6. Serve over rice. Salt to taste if the 1tsp wasn't enough.
7. ENJOY!