Saving for Later

Community Supported Agriculture

The Box
(So excited, it felt like Christmas morning)

The beautiful produce
I already tasted the strawberries - they're delicious!

I am so excited about my first box of vegetables and fruit!! This month we signed up for a share of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). What does this mean? Each week, I get a box of fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits straight from the farmer. The box usually consists of 6-7 different types of vegetables and fruits and has 3-4 servings of each item. This week we received zucchini, squash, new potatoes, bulb onions, snap beans, lettuce and strawberries. What we'll receive in the box is totally dependent on what is in season. This is different from the supermarket mentality where everything is always in season, but is actually a very healthy way to eat.

Most people realize that I am not a fan of how food in the US gets from the farmer to the table. It's mass produced, they've (the powers that control the majority of the food in the grocery store) seriously limit the varieties of vegetables and fruits available, most food has traveled 1500 miles to get to you, and they use all sorts of bio-engineered/unnatural seed, pesticides, gases, etc. to ripen and grow the vegetable. I don't want to eat a science experiment. I want a naturally grown vegetable and fruit.

Plus, it'll give me opportunity to try different varieties of vegetables. There are so many varieties of vegetables that you never see in the grocery store. I can think of so many different types of squash that I have seen at the farmers market each summer. I'm so looking forward to cooking with different types of foods. It's going to be fun!

We made grilled veggies for dinner and had strawberries for dessert - mmm, good! :)

Ultrasound pics

Here are the ultrasound pics of our new little peanut. These were taken a few weeks ago when we first went to the doctor to confirm that I am pregnant. We are so excited to have another baby!

Round 2

Big Brother, Trent

We are so excited to announce that we will be adding baby number two in December! I am 9 weeks pregnant with our second child.

And for all the questions that usually follow:

The official due date is December 8th. This is exactly one week after my niece's birthday so there's a possibility that two people very dear to me could share a birthday.

No, I am not feeling that great. My "morning sickness" has been a lot worse this time around than last time. I'm hoping it clears up within the next couple of weeks. I have consumed more ginger ale and saltines in the last few weeks, then in the 29 years leading up to it.

There will be 20 months between Trent and baby number 2 and yes, we're happy about baby bunching.

We are planning on finding out the sex again.

Visit from MorMor and Bestefar

While we were in Tennessee, my grandparents came to visit! I call them Mormor and Bestefar (Grandma and Grandpa in Norwegian). They had fun seeing Trent and we all had fun hanging out. We went for a boat ride, enjoyed good food and had a great time visiting. My mom has an app on her phone called the Moron Test and we all took a turn at trying to beat it. It's hysterical.

Bestefar taking his turn at the moron test

Fortunately, with Dana's wedding in June, it won't be too long until we get to see them again!

Date Day

The biggest skillet I've ever seen

Shot of the mountains while in Cades Cove

After all the work on the house, Jesse and I drove up to Tennessee for a few days. One of the days, my mom watched Trent so we could have a "date day." It was a lot of fun. First stop was Bass Pro Shop. Next, we went out for lunch. We went to a place called the Chop House. It was tasty. I had corn cakes topped with avocado, pico, cilantro and drizzled in dressing. Jesse had an alfredo pasta dish. After lunch, we hit the outlets. We both were on the hunt for new flip flops and Jesse wanted a new pair of sunglasses. We ended up leaving with about 5 outfits for Trent and a new pair of sunglasses for Trent and nothing for us. Ahh, oh well... :) After the outlets, we went to Cades Cove. It was a community in the Smokies before the government took over the land to make the national park. If you're ever in the Smokies, you should check it out. It's really interesting and fun to see. They have churches and homes from the mid 1800s. We also saw a lot of animal life while we were there. We saw deer, bear, and turkey. The bears were adorable. We saw two different sets of mama bears with their cubs. One set was only about 40 yards away from us and the cubs were climbing the trees. I really need to start bringing my camera with me more often so I can take pictures of things like the bears!

Settling Back In

Well, we're finally getting back into a routine around here. All three of us are back at home. Trent had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa R's. Some highlights for Trent while he was there:

The boy LOVES country fried steak. My mom made it one night and ground it up so he could eat it. He went crazy for it!

My parents live on a lake and their property has a cove with a very gradual entrance into the lake. They took him down to the cove and fully clothed in jeans and a t-shirt, he walked straight into the water, sat down, and started playing. (The water is probably in the high 60s right now, hardly toasty, but he's a huge fan of water)

Jesse and I joined my parents and Trent for a boat ride, in which Trent drove. Thankfully, it's a big lake because he thoroughly enjoys vigorously turning the wheel back and forth. He has Grandpa wrapped around his finger too! He just walks over to Grandpa and looks up at him and smiles and he gets to sit on Grandpa's lap and steer the boat.

It's fun to see how different parents act when they are grandparents. Trent will empty out any drawer he can get his hands on. One of his favorite things to do this past week was to go and completely empty out my dad's dresser full of sweaters. I walked into their closet and there were sweaters thrown all over the floor. Something tells me if I had done that as a kid, it would not have been received the same way. He also loves to throw all of my mother's tupperware on the floor and then use them as ice skates as he skates around the kitchen floor... He is so loved!

Lots of Exploring

He can sit in this squat position for ages, I don't know how he does it!

WATER!!

Sitting on my lap but the steering wheel and Grandpa are directly behind me

(which is precisely where he's looking!)

Loves the Outdoors

As far as how things are going on the kitchen remodel front... We are loving how it has turned out so far. Currently, we are anxiously waiting on the arrival/install of our countertops. The wait thing wouldn't be a big deal except that this includes our sink. Hopefully, everything will be installed this week. I'm trying to be patient because in the long run, a week without a sink and countertop is really not that big of a deal. But when you're in the midst of it, it can get a little annoying. We went food shopping today and we are going to be eating very vegetarian this week. It's much easier to assemble salads and such than to cook without counters and water.