6 baby months flew by

This year I embraced fall. Monroe, you love running through the leaves and crunching them under your big green boots. I've always gotten anxious when fall arrives because it means winter's coming. But watching you play, enjoying the good and the beauty that fall has to offer has made my perception change.

Lottie, you're first teeth came through on your 6 month birthday- talk about momentous days! Your bottom two razors have been chomping away at anything that comes in contact. You've actually gotten really loud lately, I guess you know you have to be loud to be heard (Monroe's taught you well). Dad always said he didn't want a screeching baby, but now that we have you here he's taken to you pretty well.

We took pictures at the park to document how big you've gotten in 6 months, Ms. Lottie. We used the tripod and Monroe, you insisted on being the one to push the button and run back into the photo as the self-timer beeped. You did a great job pushing the button, but sorry that your facial expression  never was the best due to your running and shortness of breath.

Pee no evil!

Wild Man! In front of the Ivins' waterfall at the cookout.

Monroe, if you could be naked all day everyday- you would! You are such a sweet boy... with so much energy and creativity. Our friends, Simon and Kate, came for a visit from England. We had a dinner over at the Ivins' home in Bountiful. It was beautiful summer night and this is how we spent it.

the gents'

ma' ladies

Beautiful time, thanks Jay family!

On a side note- Monroe, you make us laugh so hard. A few of the things that make us smile and laugh are:

• Your cute cousins taught you the correct terminology for the female anatomy (thanks Dr. Dan) which you have now warped to vajunkie
• When we sit down for family dinner you tell me, "Thank you for making these mommy." Melt my heart!
• You like talking to Lottie, and call her Lod most of the time.
• You love swimming in the "swimming cool"

Lottie, stop growing!

P.S. you were asked to model headbands in your blessing gown. You nailed it!

Lottie, you keep growing- I knew this was going to happen but it doesn't mean I like it. I want you to stay my little cuddly baby forever, but it is fun to see your little body get stronger and change. You are a happy baby, everyone that meets you feels special because you smile at them (I don't tell them that you smile at anyone that makes eye contact with you). You started eating solids 4 days ago, pureed pears, and haven't wanted to stop since. Last night we went to get gelato for FHE and you lunged at my gelato cup and sucked a piece off the top : )! Happy 5 months mama, can't wait to see what other changes are to come.

Dal the Pal

Monroe, you've been asking for the last week if we could go bowling. You are so proud of your dad because he owns a purple glittered bowling ball. You tell everyone, "My daddy has a bowling ball." So for family night, you asked all the neighbors if they wanted to go bowling. You have a special way of always including everyone. Dallin was the one that accompanied you! You bowled a 78!

Sadly, you're hair didn't glow in the black lights... wa wa. And this is THE purple bowling ball.

Lottie thanks for being a trooper! With your white muslin blanket glowing in the black lights, we kept worrying that it may over-stimulate you into having seizures : ). You just smiled away and chewed away on your hand (you're already starting to teethe!).

12" Rims... what what

Monroe was having troubles going to bed at night, so we challenged him. We made him a chart and at the top of the sheet, we placed a picture of the bike that he's been wanting. Katie, the lady at the bike shop, told us that she'd help us. She told Monroe that she'd save the bike for him and that when his chart was full she'd give him his blue bike! For the last couple weeks he did awesome and even asked to help with getting dinner ready and other chores to try and earn extra stars.

 Needless, to say he achieved his goal and we got his big boy bike last night. He did so well practicing with pedaling, that he wanted to ride it home. He rode over a mile on his first day, way to go Monty!

Naptime- your favorite pastime

Yesterday, Monroe, you said that Lottie was your best friend. It was so sweet- even if you didn't fully comprehend what you were saying. Right now the ratios are about as follows:

• 50% of the time you're ignoring Lottie
• 25% of the time, you're finding a way to make Lottie laugh and smile (which earns you a Lottie-pop)
• 25% of the time you're finding a way to terrorize the little Ms.
• 100% of the time Lottie is happy to get any of your attention

The more Lottie starts to do, the more your relationship keeps growing! Your favorite game to play together for the time being is Naptime. It just means that the two of you cuddle up in bed and you cover you and Lottie both up with your blanket.

A Funeral, A Wedding and Family Time

Summer always gets away from us... Maybe it's because we live in a valley with all four seasons, that I try to ignore the small signs that fall will come again, it will snow and I will be cooped up inside for a few months. The university students are back, which with my timeline means only 2 weeks left of warmth. Somehow all of our summer plans got packaged into three weeks time. I wanted to make sure to document the fun we had.

Grandpa Williams' Funeral (Blackfoot, ID)

Kira and TJ's Wedding (San Diego to Yuma and back)


Brundage Reunion(Redfish Lake, ID)

When your family gets to be this big, it's hard to pick what to highlight. Cliff jumping, water skiing, story times, hiking are a few of the things we did. It's not easy camping with a baby for 5 days but it's totally worth watching Monroe be surrounded by nature (no electronics, but yet completely content).

Grad Man

Kirk's a graduated man! I had forgotten that I made Kirk take this picture on his first day of school (you can tell by his expression that he was super excited). Although he walked on May 3rd, he actually had his last day of class a week ago. He did an amazing job in school, he got really involved in the following:

• President over Entrepreneurship in the MBA Association
• President over the Development Team for the E-Club on campus
• and graduated with a 3.5 GPA!

At their final dinner Kirk was in charge of the slideshow for the whole year and made everybody laugh. One of the professors said that she'd been to so many of these end of year dinners but Kirk had made this one the best by far. Two of his class mates said in their farewell speeches it wouldn't have been the same without Kirk there to make them laugh throughout the year.

Way to go Kirky, can't wait to see what our future has in store!

Monroe's No Cavity Day

Monroe had his first dentist appointment today! For us, he never behaves this well. He did such a good job, I think it was in part to watching this YouTube video over and over. He is in love with a Georgia peach. Here is his entire visit if you want to watch it (grandma's and grandpa's).

After we left the dentist's office he told me, "That dentist, no like it. That boring." He's an opinionated little guy, there were no toys so he wasn't too impressed.

Welcome, Lottie Elisabeth Brundage

Not too much has changed between my sister and I over the 28 years we've been together. I remember our biggest day to get into trouble was always Sundays... our parents usually took a nap & we couldn't watch T.V., which left us with a lot of unsupervised time on our hands. Eating whole 'chocolate bars' of Ex-lax or potpurri because we had a sweet tooth that needed fixing were just a few of the not-so-bright ideas we had. When our parents would wake up, they were greeted by two sick girls more than once.

My sister came to visit las month and had a set amount of days that she was given as her time-off (she's a traveling nurse). With her she brought a a great Sunday activity- a recipe for a milkshake** that supposedly induced any 'ripe' uterus. It contained: two cups of ice cream, 2 oz. of castor oil and 2 raw eggs. I wanted her to meet Lottie before she left, so I downed it and pretty quickly started to feel the burn. Within 6 hours of the initial contractions starting, I was at the hospital measuring at a 10 with my sister, Kirk and doula by my side.

I pushed for an hour but I apparently have an odd shaped pelvic bone that I was not aware of (I should have learned after Monroe's birth). So Lottie was delivered by c-section. Nothing too traumatic or overwhelming and one healthy baby girl and mama!

Miss Lottie Elisabeth Brundage was born into our family April 15th, 2013... Tax Day.

A few quick facts about Lottie:
• She was born 7 lbs. 15 oz., 21 inches long- same as her brother Monroe (hopefully these weight and height similarities don't carry on into or past puberty)

• She is the first 'Brundage' girl to be born of her cousins

• She came into the world with her little mouth wide open, looking for food. Every nurse at the hospital kept telling me how hungry she was!

• Her one physical attribute that everyone comments on are her cute cheeks. She gets them from her daddy.

Monroe has been such a cute big brother to her. The one thing that bothers him is watching her nurse. He tells her, "No Lottie! No bite mami's chi-chi's!". It makes Kirk and I laugh every time (thanks for watching out for me Roe-Roe)!

**side-note- the milkshake really worked, but only drink it if you're past 39 weeks and ready for a baby. If you're uterus isn't ripe, it may just end in a prolonged trip to the bathroom. 

Happy, Happy Easter

I had to post these pictures of Monroe. Time is slowly running out to have Monty all to myself. He just keeps getting cuter growing so fast! I love him and enjoy listening to everything he's learning and how he filters his environment and communicates it back to us. 39 weeks... he'll be a big brother any day now!

Labels... gone but at least I've been busy

To view the rest of these creations or to order, visit my Etsy shop. They are 20% off until 11/30/12!

Whenever I start working someplace, I remember why I like creating my own designs. I've been working at a design agency for the last few months as a production designer. Which basically means just redoing and doing again oh yeah and one more time please... other people's templates basically. The last couple weeks I needed to vent creatively and make something for me. I needed to make it a little bit productive so I created some holiday mailing labels. Here is a sample of my favorite!

D.I.'ing it up

The D.I. is the place you can tell Monroe is my son. Where Kirk won't even step inside, Monroe and I can spend over an hour just browsing through the aisles of treasures. Kirk has set some boundaries for his woman, and asked me to stop bringing home items from the D.I. Seeing that we have also been a on budget, I've found a way to still get my D.I. fix, but not make any purchases.

I have a list of people that I send photos to of items that I think need a good home. This week I found a mid-century headboard (just gorgeous) for $8, a breadbox with kitchen canisters for $6 (for the set!) and a peda-stool table with a leaf for $15. I sent out my mass text to my adoptive parents and found a good home for the headboard and bread box.

These items are just too dear to let go unnoticed and it makes me so happy to find people that appreciate them. If you'd like to get added to my D.I. list, just leave a comment. I'll get your number added!

Commitment Issues

Alright, I'm recommitting myself to blog more often. I need to keep up with all the cute happenings that go on with Monroe. It's going by too fast to miss! Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to. We were able to go up to Idaho on two separate occasions. If you haven't ever experienced and Idaho spring/summer you're missing out.

Monroe got to spend time with all of his cousin at his Opa and Nana's house in Idaho Falls. We roasted hot dogs, made smores, built a tee-pee and had a slip and slide party. Can't get better than that.

Back in April, we got to go to Boise with Abuelos to visit my grandparents. It was so much fun and Monroe got smothered in love and attention. We had a busy schedule so there weren't many pictures but we got one with the cutest great grandparents in the world!

Lastly, I finally got a picture (maybe not the best) of the beautiful tulips that come up every spring in Logan. It's one of my favorite explosion of blossoms!

We love our family and the time we get to spend together.

Hail Deustchland

I've had a fixation with German pancakes and thought I'd share the recipe. It's one of Kirk's families recipes and I've made them before but never fully embraced the recipe. It calls for topping the pancakes with sour cream, brown sugar and strawberries. In my mind, nothing sounded worse... until I tried it. Now I just can't get enough of it and neither can Monroe. Please try this, I promise you'll find a new love!

German Oven Pancakes
1/4 Cup Butter (of course)
3 eggs
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Cups of Milk
3/4 Cup of Flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 450º. Put butter in 8"x12" Pyrex plate and bake until butter melts and bubbles. Put remaining ingredients in a blender, and mix on medium until smooth. Remove plate from oven and immediately pour in mixture and return to oven. Bake for 20 minutes (until edges are puffed and brown). Spread with sour cream brown sugar. Top with strawberries and enjoy!

Mother of the Year Cookies

My mother and sister-in-law introduced me to a little trick that can make you the mother of the year in your children's eyes. Have you ever made frozen cookie balls? It allows for you to have fresh baked cookies anytime or any day within 10-12 minutes, and no mess! The recipe that we use makes enough for 4-6 dozen cookies (depending on cookie size).

All you have to do is whip up a huge batch of cookies, and place your cookies on a cookie sheet as usual. But rather than bake them, place them in the freezer (or outside if you live in Logan, haha). Once the cookies are frozen, pull them off the cookie sheet and place them in a gallon Ziploc bag. Then whenever you're feeling in the mood for cookies, need a treat to run over to your neighbors or just want frozen cookie dough... there they are awaiting you! Here's our family recipe, with just a little tweaking:

Frozen CC Cookies
4-6 dozen

3 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
1 lb. Butter
4 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
5 1/2 Cups of Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Soda
3-4 Cups of Chocolate Chips

Cream sugar and butter for 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beat for 5 minutes. Mix all dry ingredients in separate bowl, add to creamed mixture. Add chocolate chips. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350°, or freeze. If frozen, bake for 10-12 minutes instead.

Happy Easter!

Thanks Sis. Gianni!

Pokey-Man

We had a lot of fun taking Monroe to see all the baby animals. It was a lot of work getting there but definitely worth it. I loved seeing him with his chubby finger, poking/petting all the animals. He was great with all the big animals, and even baa'd with the sheep. The smaller animals (chicks, ducks and bunnies) I was nervous that he would squeeze to death. He was responsible and only extended a finger to pet their delicate little bodies. It was different than other years, since this year Kirk and I were mainly watching our baby and waiting for his reaction. It was so enchanting watching Monroe's expressions, and he only cried with the piglets. Love that little guy!

Baby Animal Days!

It's baby animal days this weekend, April 5th-7th. It's honestly one of the sweetest traditions here in Cache Valley. I always forget to tell people about it so I wanted to be sure to get the word out. If you're going to be near Cache Valley, it's worth the visit. They have baby horses, sheep, piglets, goats, chicks and ducks that you can hold and one year they even had baby buffalo! The twins (Kirk's siblings) have always gone, even though they had no kids and were in their twenties. It really is fun for any age group. We're going to make it Thursday before all the chicks and ducks get squeezed to death by sweaty little kid hands, haha.

You can visit this website for more info.

Pupusas, heard of them?

My mom is from El Salvador as most of you know. And in El Salvador the pupusa is what eggrolls are to China. Pupusas basically consist of a corn tortilla dough on the outside with beans, cheese and a pork mixture called chicharon stuffed inside. They are eaten with a pickled cabbage mixture called curtido. It is definitely one of my comfort foods. While I was in Las Vegas this past visit I learned more in the art of pupusa making. Since there is a filling on the inside it's tricky to get the inside to stay in. I took some pictures of my mama with her master skills and wanted to share.

Under careful supervision, I was able to make the curtido and it was amazing. I'm going to include the curtido recipe below. I'm not quite ready to have a step by step on how to make pupusas, but I will include it sometime in the future (when I don't end up with a cheesy mess of a pupusa). Even if you don't have a pupusa to eat this with, it's a great topping on tacos, enchiladas or an alternative to salsa. Enjoy!

Salvadoran Curtido, 30 minutes
(the beauty of this recipe is that there is no cooking/boiling, which is a lengthy process that a lot of people use)

Ingredients:
1 head of green cabbage, thinly sliced and cut down into 1" in length
1 onion, thinly sliced from end to end
2 carrots, grated
1/2 chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno cut into thin rounds
3/8 cup of coarse salt
1 cup water
3 cups of apple cider vinegar

Add cabbage, onion, carrots and cilantro to a large bowl, mix. Add coarse salt to mixture. Using your hand, mix in the salt and squeeze cabbage. Continue to squeeze cabbage mixture and mix with hand. The point of this is to extract the water from the vegetables. You know you're done when there is about a fourth an inch of water at the bottom of the bowl.

Prepare a container with a lid, grab a handful of cabbage and squeeze out all the salt water, place it in your container. Do this until all your cabbage mixture is in your lidded container and only salt water is left in your first bowl. The purpose of this is to remove the salt from the cabbage mixture.

Add jalapenos (do not add before, as they may cause heat burn), water and vinegar. Seal with lid and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 3 hours before using. And done!

(Pupusa recipe soon to come!)