Changes

We had suspected it for about a month but this week got test results back that confirmed that Asher has a cow milk protein allergy. This is not lactose intolerance and is something that we think Cadie had and grew out of. Our pediatrician said that most kids grow out of this by 18 months but for at least the next 9 months I will be on a dairy-free diet. Good thing there are a lot of vegan alternatives available at the grocery store (milk, butter, cupcakes, ice cream). I will not be cooking Christmas cookies this year. Sorry neighbors. Hopefully Asher will have less stomach issues and sleep better (PLEASE). He really is a mellow dude though - except when it is time to eat:

Cadie had a Christmas performance at preschool. It was her last day as she is going to start day-care three days a week in January. We will miss Ms. Nicole and the fun kids. I'm excited for the new structure and classes she will have - yoga, music, math, reading, spanish. She loves learning new things and is really soaking up so much right now. I am nervous about the full-day aspect. 

We are also saying goodbye to Ms. Irene and ballet and tap classes. Maybe we will start up again next fall but for now it is time to take a little break. I'm trying to simplify life as I think things will be a little chaotic when I start my new position in January.

I start work as an assistant professor at OSU January 3rd. I teach fluid mechanics in civil engineering right away and then I teach a forestry class in the Spring. I'll be taking on graduate students and trying to get research going quickly. This is a 3-year contract appointment (non-tenure track) and so I had the flexibility of choosing part-time. I'm excited but nervous about the kids. Wish us luck!

She's Four and More

Look who is FOUR! 

Birthday donuts:

 

We have had a busy, but happy, few weeks. I keep looking around me and wanting to freeze time, or at least freeze these little moments in my mind. Maybe it is because I know that changes are coming, I want to hold on to every little minute. On Sunday I just sat and held my sleeping baby and watched Cadie play without thinking of my lists and projects. It was awesome. Why is it so difficult to enjoy the little things?

Eric had a work trip to Kuwait (yes, seriously) and so my parents and brother Tim came out to visit and help with the kids. Eric surprised us all by coming home early -on Cadie's birthday! - and he was able to join us on our overnight trip to Kirtland (church history) and Amish country. While the family was here we had Asher blessed at our church. Here is the little man on blessing day:

We celebrated the little girl's birthday with family and it was great! At four years old Cadie is 39.9 lbs, and 44.5 inches tall. Her pediatrician said she is "off the charts" in height - above the 97th percentile. She grew 4 inches in the last year. At this rate she will be as tall as me (E) at age 9. Opa and Oma Myers and the birthday girl: 

Our little cabin outside of Berlin, Ohio:

The Myers clan left before Thanksgiving so we celebrated the holiday a little early. Yum. Even greater that we were invited to a friends home for the real holiday so we got to pig out twice.

 Eric in Kuwait!

Amish

Too much fun!

Baby Shower

A few weeks ago (actually more like a month ago - time is going too quickly these days), I arrived at a friend's house for a meeting for church and instead was greeted by a SURPRISE baby shower for Asher. It was really great -except for the part that I was smelly and in my comfy clothes {read: grungy and not showered or maybe even looked in the mirror that day}. Asher got some adorable clothing and things and I got to eat loads of cookies and stay out late with my girlfriends. My amazing friend Laura did all of the decorations, she should go professional with this:  

The instigator/trouble-maker, Angell, and one of her cute accomplices:

Fun night!

Visit from Uncle Micah
Be prepared for an onslaught of photos. My brother Micah came out to visit us and I had to document everything. And boy did we have a busy weekend: apple picking, pumpkin patch, corn maze, car tour of our favorite places (campus, Short North, Victorian Village, German Village), Audubon center, pumpkin carving, zoo, and HALLOWEEN! Of course we had to introduce him to our favorite eats: Jeni's (ice cream), Figlio for dinner, DK Diner for donuts and breakfast. The one activity I did not photograph was the zoo but I'm not sure I want to remember this particular visit as we lost Cadie and had to call security to help find her. Yep, I'm a great parent. Here come the photos:
Corn maze, we didn't need to call security or 911 to get out.

I can carry my own!

Eric found his, or maybe that is mine that he is fetching from the far corner of the patch.

I'm strong mom, I'll carry yours too!

Maybe Micah can carry it.

Yum! 20 lbs of apples.

Spider web at Scioto Audubon Metro park.

Getting creative with the pumpkins

Scary family.

Micah made Cadie's day by bringing a costume - 3 wishes please.

It was great to have him here!

Asher 2 months
Seriously don't know how this boy is already 2 months old. At 2 months he is 12 lbs 5 oz and 24 inches long. He is stretching out his 0 to 3 month clothes. Checked in Cadie's baby book to find that she was 12 lbs 10 oz and 24 in at the 2 month mark. Asher started out smaller but is closing the gap quickly. Probably because he eats ALL THE TIME. still. Love him. I can't complain, he is a pretty mellow fellow. Even with a sometimes overly doting sister.

Family Photos

Thanks to Tiffany at Utopia Photography. It was a cold morning but we had sun!

Sous-Chef
I've been trying to get Cadie more involved in the kitchen as dinner prep time is usually the craziest time of the day. Imagine a fussy baby (he is a pretty mellow baby but right around dinner time he usually needs to be held), a 3-yr that needs attention, and a hungry/cranky mom trying to figure out what to throw together for dinner. I enticed her the other evening to help out by asking if she wanted to "paint" our food.
Homemade pumpkin ravioli! She loved it and soon took over from just "painting" the pasta edges to putting together the entire raviolis.

She assembled about 36 all by herself!


The best part- I think because she was involved in the cooking, she gobbled her dinner down without the usual fight.

The recipe:
For the pumpkin filling, in a food processor mix:
1 can white beans (I used Great Northern)
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
tsp garlic powder

Spoon about 1 Tbls filling in the middle of a potsticker wrapper, "paint" egg around the edges, place a second wrapper on top and press the wrappers together around the edges.
Cook in boiling water for about 4 minutes - until raviolis float to the top. Serve warm with a pasta sauce.
Adapted from J. Seinfeld's recipe from "Doubly Delicious."
yummy!

TIMBER!
One of our large trees is an Ash. Unfortunately the introduced Emerald Ash Borer, a beetle that is making its way across the East, has been found in our town and it is only a matter of a few years before all of the ash trees in town will be infected. There is no good treatment, especially for large trees. As our tree had some dead limbs already that worry me everytime we have a wind storm, we made the decision to take the entire tree out. It was a sad day but somewhat exciting. It will be nice to have a non-shady area in the yard that so that we can finally grow veggies in our own yard.
Some pictures of the action:


The tree really was large! Our neighbor remembers when the tree was planted 45ish years ago. It was probably 4 feet across at the base.


Plenty of firewood for our little fire pit!