CSA News {1} - Who did we buy our share from??

Where has the time gone?? It's been forever since I posted about the CSA share I purchased this spring. What am I even talking about? I have so far spent $120 of my $160 share and have enjoyed a lot of fresh bounty throughout the market season. However, THIS post is alllll about the vendor we chose for our veggie share.

We had two farmers to choose from considering what we valued most - the opportunity to buy straight from the farmer's market. Like I mentioned in my first post, I didn't frequent the market previously much at all. That was the one thing I wanted to change. We live so close to the market so I knew that with the addition of purchasing a share would make it a MUST to walk over for a few fresh goodies. What narrowed our choices from two to one was the amount we could purchase. We decided to start small and see how it went. We chose well and without further adieu - PATCHWORK GREEN FARM!

Of all of the fresh vegetables and other items Patchwork Green Farm had available at the market, our most favorite items included: tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, kale, flat leaf parsley, onions and broccoli. I didn't stray too far from what I know. Next year, maybe I'll branch out a bit :)

A perk of the CSA program was the offering of a Patchwork Green Farm tour! It was a treacherous and frightening ride up the steep unpaved or graveled road leading to the gardens, but well worth it. I learned just how much work goes in to providing vegetables straight from a garden but on a grand scale. Made me appreciate what we brought home even more!

Another perk that I wiggled in there was a few trips for brunch dates with Owen. My absolute most favorite breakfast in Decorah is at Restauration and I missed it sooooo much since I stopped working there last August when it was known as Albert's. Who could blame me for going? Gspice likes to sleep in so he missed out :) I'm pretty sure the new folks that work there thought my wedding ring was a fake! Since the renovation of the restaurant space and the introduction of its new name, they added (but has since been updated) artwork of local vendors they buy product from. It's what makes me love Decorah so much. Showin' local love!

The Bump II {1} - Another Bump Reveal!

Fewer instragram photos.

Fewer blog posts.

Fewer hours spent doing anything other than sleeping.

You guessed it - we're expecting!!  

Gspice and I are both so excited to add another little one to our family. The kiddos will be about 16 months apart - this bundle is due at the beginning of March 2015. We'll have our hands full - one high energy, talkative toddler and one cozy, squishy newborn - but we'd have it no other way.

We found out right away like both our previous pregnancies. However, this time around, I was convinced that there was no chance I could be pregnant. So much so that after we planned dinner on the day we found out, I decided the perfect compliment was some of our favorite beers. Come on - cheeseburgers, the most delicious homemade fries and summer screamed "I need to get my drink on."

(let's revisit an old video for fun's sake. My college freshman self thought (and still do!) this was hilarious)

The Landlord from Will Ferrell     

With that in mind, Gspice got a little nervous and asked me to take a test. You know, just to be sure I wasn't pregnant. To appease him that is what I did. I take the test and see nothing. I decided to be cruel and run down saying it was positive. But turned out the joke was on me. Right before I head down the stairs, I see two freakin' lines! Whhhaaaaaaat?!!?!?!? So I continued on but wasn't lying when I said the damn thing was positive. Crazy! It made for a really nice night. We enjoyed our wonderful meal and I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the rest of the night.

 

To commemorate, we took a picture right then and there of our current bellies. Gary stuck his way out and I showed what was left over from my previous pregnancy. It was really bothering me up until I got pregnant :)

Taken the night we found out :) June 27, 2014 - 3w7d

 

Follow Your Arrow

There are two stations I listen to quite frequently on Pandora. By frequently, I mean like 99.9% of the time. Cassadee Pope and 3Oh!3. One is reserved for work and the other at home. You guess which is which. :)

On the one reserved for work, I came across a new artist that I have grown to love. Kacey Musgraves has one song out that is so adorably perfect. If I had to sing a karaoke song in a bar or in front of a crowd, this would be it.

Little Mr. {10 Months}

Owen is becoming quite the Little Mr. He keeps developing and learning new things and one day - he won't be so little anymore!

It is no secret that we've got a busy boy. Owen absolutely loves to roam and crawl about, reach for things that are quite often way out of reach, climb over low items like a box of diapers or a tub of clothes he's outgrown. Owen's arms are crazy strong - he'll latch on to one side of these things and pull his entire tiny body up and over. We've been lucky that we've caught him before he falls over the other side! He's not yet walking independently but he's getting very good at walking along with support.

One realllly fun development is his more deliberate babbling. We heard lots of "D"s and "B"s along with all the growling, yelping and squealing Owen loves to do. Another absolutely adorable development is what we call "fishy kisses!" It's actually just when he smacks his lips but he'll do this on demand too. It most often happens when he eats yogurt but he'll mimic me if I'm really close to him too.

Much like the past couple of months, Owen chews on e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. His fingers, every single toy, books, corners of boxes, my fingers, bottle nipples, spoons, the list goes on and on. Thus, it should be no surprise that Owen has sprouted two more teeth! The two upper lateral incisors popped through and poor Owen, he felt every bit of it. Cutting teeth is no joke! He hasn't been eating quite as much and I'm pretty sure he's working on at least 2-3 more! I can't quite tell - his chewing is getting farther in to his mouth so it might be the canines. I guess we shall see!

Catch up on Owen's First Year!
ONE  |  TWO  |  THREE  |  FOUR  |  FIVE  |  SIX  |  SEVEN |  EIGHT |  NINE

Little Mr. {9 Months}

No apologies this time. Life happens and Owen's monthly updates will be reallllly late. I've comes to terms with it :)

This was an awesome month. Owen has done so many new things,  it's hard to keep up. I've tried keeping notes so hopefully I won't miss sharing anything! Owen began swimming across the floor in mid July and would occasionally raise his belly. The crawling came soon after on July 31. We've got a VERY active little one. He gets in to everything he can get his hands on so for now, we keep him pretty contained in our living room. Baby proofing will come eventually for the rest of the house. Owen can also pull himself up into the standing position with anything stationary. He'll often try pulling himself up on things that are not all that sturdy and he'll come tumbling down. Does that deter him? Not in the least bit. If anything, it makes him even more determined to stand up. Perhaps the most adorable new development is Owen's little baby clapping. It barely makes a sound but it's so darn cute.

One more baby tooth has sprouted - the lower left central incisor came on July 26. More runny noses, a few nights of resisting sleep and infant tylenol and lots of slobber. Oh the joys of parenthood :) His two little teeth are adorable though! He likes to roll his tongue over them and chew on EVERYTHING. I had a dream recently that he got all his teeth at once. That was a scary dream but really, that wouldn't be so bad...

I decided to buy a few baby food bottles so that I could give Owen a bit more variety. I figure at this point, it's not so terrible to buy a jar of spaghetti for 70 cents. I also bought some puffs for him to work his pincher grasp. He hasn't quite mastered that yet but doesn't seem to like the puffs either. He'll  allow me to put them in his mouth but he'll promptly spit it out and then have it stuck on his hand for the rest of his meal.

Who else was eagerly awaiting Owen's nine month check-up? Just me? Ok, fine. I'll admit I'm a little crazy. Imagine how disappointed I was with that scale I bought at Target. It kept weighing Owen at 4.5 lbs. I don't think so! Finally got that returned even though Peaches had chewed a massive hole in the box. Here are Owen's long & lean stats!

9-Month Appointment (8/25/2014)
Weight: 17 lb 6 oz
Height: 27 3/4 in

6-Month Appointment (5/19/2014)
Weight: 15 lb 8 oz
Height: 26 inches

4-Month Appointment (3/18/2014)
Weight: 13 lb 1 oz
Height: 25 1/2 in

3-Month-Mommy-wants-a-weight-check Appointment (2/18/2014)
Weight: 11 lb 5 oz
Height: 24 in

2-Month Appointment (1/14/2014)
Weight: 10 lb 9 oz
Height: 22 7/8 in

2-Week Appointment (12/2/2013)
Weight: 7 lb 12 oz
Height: 21 in

Newborn (11/16/2013)                  
Weight: 7 lb 9 oz           
Height: 20 1/4 in

Part of the reason this post took a little longer (you know, besides the fact that I've been lazy) is that Owen was teething and got a cold at the same time. He was rather fussy (& dirty!) for a solid 7-9 days so I didn't want to subject him to a mini photoshoot.

 

Catch up on Owen's First Year!
ONE  |  TWO  |  THREE  |  FOUR  |  FIVE  |  SIX  |  SEVEN |  EIGHT