Mary's Shower

Last Saturday I co-hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Mary at the Estates at Cougar Mountain Clubhouse here in Issaqauh.  Mary's friend Lindsay is a resident there, and boy was it a beautiful space!  Mary's waiting to be surprised before she finds out if Baby #2 is a little guy or gal, so I tried to come up with a color palette that was fun and bright without being gender specific.  I settled on red and lime-green, and while I had some hesitations that it would translate to 'Christmas in May' it seemed to work really well. 

The center-piece of the shower was a modern take on the diaper cake that I worked on with my friend/co-host Leslie.  Karen, Vivie and Keira had made me a diaper cake for one of my showers and I just loved it.  I do have to confess that while I was working on it the smell of newborn diapers took me back in time to Rok's first few weeks.  I don't know what came over me, but I started thinking I wouldn't mind another tiny baby to love...good thing I do reusable diapers now!  Keep those baby-fresh disposables far away or I might be making a 'big announcement' on this blog in the near future:) 

Here's a pic of the cake.

There were circle elements throughout the shower, and I found a super-easy way to make garland by punching paper circles and feeding them through my sewing machine with contrasting thread.  I got inspired by a 99 cent pack of cardboard circles at Michael's and combined them with a coat hanger wrapped in ribbon, fishing line, and some scraps of lime green paper to make this mobile.  It's hanging over the prize-pails that went to winners of the games.

For the menu, I found a great cookbook from the library with lots of fun and unique ideas that were really simple to whip up, especially with the help of the new food processor Mary's letting me use!  I made 'Pretty Party Pinwheels with Herbed Cream Cheese,' 'Spicy Cheese Balls' (as I mentioned at the shower I think this is a really gross name, but I couldn't think of a cuter one...'Spicy Cheese Marbles' sounded just as weird) Mini Broccoli and Cheddar Frittatas, Cupcakes, and Gingery Pineapple Punch.  Despite thinking I was a master multi-tasker and wearing Rok in the Ergo for much of the preparation, I was cooking up to the last second. 

The shower was a ton of fun and it was a great way to shower Mary with love before the baby's arrival.  Baby's due on my birthday and I would be honored to share it with such a special little one!

Six-Months...

It's hard to believe that our baby is six-months old, and that I've been a momma for half a year.

I remember so clearly that first day home from the hospital.  Gabe and I staggered through the door of our apartment half-asleep, still achy with a nasty cold & flu, and carrying our newborn son in a car-seat that overwhelmed me with its labyrinth of straps, clasps and anchors.  As we set the car-seat down on the table I peered in at Rokstad napping peacefully and had only one thought...what now?  Gabe and I quickly realized we were hungry, and that preparing food seemed out of the question so he went to get takeout.  He returned with food and a big fuzzy pink robe that I lived in for what seemed like the better part of a month.  In those first days I was overwhelmed with love for Gabe, love for Rokstad, and the realization that there isn't a fool-proof manual on how to raise a child.  I'd be figuring this out one day at a time. 

Well, one day at a time has turned into six-months and I can say that while I'm far from perfect, I do feel like I'm growing as a mom.  Those first weeks I used facebook as my primary mode of making parenting decisions.  Questions on feeding, eating and sleeping quickly became wall posts and I scrolled through dozens of answers in the wee hours of morning as I tried to keep from falling asleep while nursing.  I've moved away from this 'parenting by polling' as Gabe would call it, and though I do enjoy the wealth of information the community of mothers on facebook provide I'm gaining the confidence to make decisions with Gabe after doing the appropriate research and holding firm to what I feel is best for our family and our son.  I've learned that there's a difference between hearing advice, and feeling obligated to follow it.  Though I'm extremely well-read when it comes to babies and sleep, in retrospect it was likely unnecessary to read the six different books various moms recommended on the topic.

I will also say that the first day home from the hospital I felt a sadness when I looked at Gabe and realized that our 'fun and free couple' days were behind us.  What if we wanted to drive to the ocean on a whim?  What if we wanted to spend a day lazing about the house in our pjs and eating ice-cream?  What if we wanted to go to the movies?  When I started crying, Gabe explained that while we were no longer a 'fun and free couple' we could still be a 'fun and free family.'  Our days would look different, but it wouldn't mean that there was any less joy or fulfillment.  Now I get what he was talking about.  I look at our life now and its hard to remember life before Rokstad.  He fills our life in such a way that there is more love in our house than I ever thought possible.  We've committed to making Rokstad a part of the life we love and not resolving to an existence of baby-induced solitude because he might occasionally scream or poop his pants (don't we all?)  The kids at Gabe's school love him, we took him on a hike to Rattlesnake lake last Saturday, and he accompanied Hunter on a round of putt-putt golf in celebration of his tenth birthday.  As a brand-new mom I might have thought these things would be 'too hard' for a baby, but as a six-months-new mom I've found them to be totally manageable and totally enjoyable.

I'm looking forward to the next six-months; what I'll learn, what Rokstad will teach me, and of course the awesome first birthday party I plan to throw. 

  



Starting Solids!

We started solids this Monday and boy was Rokstad ready for this milestone!  I really wanted to wait until we hit six-months, but there were some big signs he was ready a couple weeks early.  For example, every time I eat around Rok he's either reaching for my fork or opening his mouth like a baby-bird. 

Monday night after I nursed him he was acting ravenous despite a full feeding so I felt like we were ready.  We grabbed the Bumbo, stripped him down to his diaper, and mixed some rice-cereal with milk.  The first taste evoked some funny faces and he did a lot of smacking his gums together to get the feel for it.  But any initial hesitation quickly passed as he lunged for the spoon and reached at the bowl for more!  We captured the experience on camera but for some reason it wont let me upload it on here.  I'll try again tomorrow and see if there are less 'technical difficulties'.

Starting next week I'll be making Rok's baby food.  First up on the menu is carrots as we explore the realms beyond rice cereal.  My biggest hope for the baby food experience is that Rokstad hasn't inherited his Daddy's picky eating habits.  But on that note....for those of you that haven't heard, Gabe has given me an amazing gift in the month of March; he's willing to eat ANYTHING I put on his plate (with the sole exception of onions).  The first night I went wild and made Souvlaki, a Greek dish consisting of large chunks of tomatoes, olives, and cucumber (as Gabe put it, he had to meditate on the love of Christ to get through the meal).  He also pointed out that this was the very first time he's eaten fresh tomato and reminded me of a story from his childhood where he turned down 20 dollars from Papa and a whole glass of soda offered to him if he tried it. 

The second night I didn't go as wild and made salmon with lemon and roasted fennel, and Gabe said he'd eat the exact dish even if it wasn't in the month of March...Win!