Calvin's First Month

I can't believe that our little guy is already a month old. These past weeks just flew by. He's been growing like a weed, putting on weight, and being simply a ray of sunshine in our family. He's a very cuddly little guy and generally prefers women over men (yes, a ladies' man already!!). His sisters at least are totally in love with him, and so are we!!

Here are is current stats and favorites:

Height: tbd (at the well-baby visit next week)
Weight: also tbd
Clothes size: He's still wearing a couple of newborn outfits his aunt has sent last week, but mostly he's wearing 0-3 months clothes now.
Number of teeth: none

Favorite food: mommy's milk
Favorite toy: not quite sure yet. He's mostly cuddling with a security blanket Lily gave to him, but also has a plush tiger and plush smurf.
Favorite book: so far, he's not very interested in books yet, but I tend to read out loud to him if I read my weekly magazine (note to self: an article on Ebola may not be too interesting for a one-month old...)
Favorite outfit / piece of clothing: none yet. I love his "handsome" onesie on him, or his "My Mommy can do everything except sleep in peace" shirt  :-)

Likes: cuddling, singing, getting his little toes tickled, getting warmed by the space heater.
Dislikes: bathing, changing his clothes, having a tummy ache.

Happy 1-month birthday, little guy!!

Calvin at 1 month

Fall Baking Fun - Streussel Fruit Sheet Cake

Fall is upon us, and with it tons of local fruit is ready to be harvested and turned into yummie baked goods.  A couple of weeks ago, I found locally-grown plums in the store and picked them up, along with a cube of fresh yeast to make a delicious streussel sheet cake.  Since Lizzi (aka the Considerer) asked for the recipe, here it comes!

Ingredients:
Tons of fresh fruit (plums, apples, berries, cherries, mix and match, or stay with one type of fruit), if necessary cut in halves, slices, etc.

Dough:
1 lb. flour
1/3 Red Star® cake yeast
3 oz. sugar
3 oz. butter
a pinch of salt
1 egg
1/4 - !/2 cup of milk (luke warm)

Streussel (optional):
3 oz. flour
2 oz. butter
1 oz. sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

Mix about 1 tablespoon of sugar with half of the milk. Crumble the yeast into the milk and dissolve. Let sit in a warm place for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile mix sugar, salt and flour in a large bowl and make a dent in the middle. Cut butter on the edges. Pour the yeast-milk mixture in the middle and add the egg. Mix and knead the dough, add more milk if necessary. Let the dough rise at a warm place until doubled. Knead dough again on a floured surface and roll to the size of a baking sheet with a rolling pin.

Spread fruit on top.

If desired top with streussel.

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes.

Enjoy!!

ER Adventures

Sunday afternoon, we went with some friends to a beergarden in town that celebrated its 25th anniversary. The girls had fun playing at the playground there and running around with their friends while we adults enjoyed cool drinks and conversation, until a nice gentleman brought a crying Violet back to our table. Obviously, she had fallen backwards off the swing and hit the ground with her head. Quickly, we collected Lily, who went home with our friends and we took Violet to the ER.

There, we waited while TWO adults skipped the line ahead of us.

At the same time, two totally drunk teenagers were lying on the emergency vehicle driveway and were picked up by two police cars later.

Calvin used the chance and the audience to rip the hugest fart you could possibly imagine out of such a small person (or any person at all). I think most people in the waiting room turned their heads, but for some reason I was the only one giggling. Especially since his daddy went to change THAT diaper (which turned out not nearly as bad as it sounded).

After I complained to the nurse there that people keep skipping ahead of us, they immediately took our information, and not too much later, Violet was called in to be seen by the doctor. Fortunately, she did not have a concussion, just a mild whiplash and a bump on her head. I think we really need to get a bubble-wrap suit for our Sweetie  :-)

Week In Review - Ten Things Of Thankful (64)

Our weekend is half over already, with not much on our schedule for next week. I'll need to run some errands in town one day and meet my mom to pick out sports shoes for Lily another. One more week with our Lily at home before elementary school will start. Can't believe that so soon, she'll be a 1st-grader!  I can still remember her being the little baby just born. And a blink of an eye later, she is the big sister to two little siblings and will start first grade.

Here are the ten things I'm incredibly thankful for this week:

1. Our baby smiling. He's been trying to a couple of times, but today he gave me the brightest smile you could imagine. His whole face was lighting up with this smile. So beautiful!!

2. Finding a new and absolutely delicious chocolate cake recipe. Thank you, Pinterest!

3. Getting wonderful back-rubs from hubby as the muscles in my back knot up from nursing and carrying a baby around for most of the day. I see a visit to my chiropractor in the near future.

4. Family. I am so thankful that we are all getting along again and enjoy each other's company.

5. Meeting a colleage from out-of-country for a drink this week. It was so great to meet him again. And he was excited to meet little Calvin, who had a great time on his arm :-)

6. Support from the hubby, who gets up, helps the girls to get ready for the day and takes Violet to kindergarten when I'm in no shape to leave the bed because Calvin has kept me up most of the night. Hope poor baby will get rid of the tummy aches pretty soon!

7. Kids who eat most veggies, and sometimes even request oddities like spinach, caulifower, or brussle sprouts.

8. Enjoying walks to and from kindergarten with the girls. The time with just one of them is really precious to me.

9. Finally, FINALLY having the girls' furniture delivered. Even though it's not perfect and complete yet, they do have proper furniture in their rooms now!

10. Being surrounded by so much love and support. The girls who are more than happy to help out taking care of their little brother and hubby who's doing his best to take as much load as possible off my shoulders. He sure is such a passionate dad and husband; I couldn't imagine a better family!


I hope you all have a great weekend!

Excited For Fall

And just like that it's Friday again. Somehow, Fridays feel different now that I'm home, because afternoon naps also happen on Fridays nowadays, not only on weekends. And since I am well-rested now (somewhat), I'm linking up with Kristi and Stephanie for yet another Finish The Sentence Friday. Today's cue:

At the end of summer, I always feel...

EXCITED!!!!!

- for my favorite season to start.
- for the heat to be over.
- for colorful leaves.
- for lots and lots of pumpkin goodness.
- for Halloween fun.
- for Thanksgiving somewhere down the road.
- for cocooning a little bit on yuckie days.
- for some purging and organizing.

Yes, I admit, there may be a tad bit of nostalgia for summer dresses, ice cream in the sun, and pool time, but generally, I'm looking forward for fall all year long  :-)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

And The Furniture Saga Continues...

Yes, we're somehow still in the midst of moving. Over the last 3 months, Lily has been sleeping on the floor on her mattress and slats, Violet's wardrobe did not survive the move at all, and Calvin's room is used for storage until he inherits Violet's furniture. And I think it's save to say that it wasn't for a lack of organization on our end.

In mid-may, I went furniture shopping for the girls' rooms with my mom; and learned that I was indeed pretty late since the delivery time of the furniture we picked would be about 10 weeks, to be delivered in the end of July. I was a little shocked, but guessed that it was alright, since we'd still have a few weeks time to set up Calvin's room before his arrival.

So we moved, made do with the furniture situation as it was, and waited. As the 10-week period drew to a close, I called customer service to see when they would deliver the furniture, just to learn that the manufacturer had a huge back-log and the furniture would not be delivered until mid-August at the earliest. Which would be after Calvin was born, meaning that neither his room would be ready for him nor would I be able to set up the girls' furniture with Richard. After protesting profoundly, we were offered free set-up for all the furniture, which we accepted, not having any other chance.

At the end of August, we were finally called to set the delivery date for all of our furniture at the beginning of September. The delivery of our wardrobe went fine, but on Tuesday, when the girls' furniture was set to be delivered, I received an early morning phone call informing me that the furniture would not be delivered that day due to several workers calling in sick. You can imagine, I was more than bummed, especially since the day later, when they wanted to deliver the load, we already had a few appointments. But since we were sick and tired of the preliminary furniture situation, we juggled around a bit and were able to have me be home to supervise the delivery and set-up.

Wednesday arrives and the workers were even early. Poor Lily had to be woken up and she moved to the couch to finish her beauty sleep. The workers were even done early, and informed me that not everything could be set up since a few parts were delivered broken and a whole pack of parts was missing all together - no idea when it would be delivered. Later that day, when I got to inspect the rooms, I found chipped of pieces and edges in this almost €1,400 per room set furniture!  On top of that, the slats and matress we got for Violet did not fit the bed frame, even though it was supposed to.

And there I was again, calling customer service, taking pictures, writing emails, wondering, whether it will ever end.  Definitely a never-ending story!

Wordless Wednesday - Find The Lily (A Search Picture)

Ignore the mess and find Lily  :-)