a happy thanksgiving for us and to you

we had a happy thanksgiving.  i hope you all did too.

 we celebrated with luke's brother and family and friends.  it was our first thanksgiving being able to make and bring food and we had such a great time deciding on just the right brussel sprout recipe and how to use our csa share in the appetizers and just which pie crust ideas from martha we'd use.  the food was amazing.  my favorite things were ashlei's garlic-y mashed potatoes and her friend dre's amazing cheesecake.

we forgot to lug the nice camera over and we also forgot to get a group photo.  but here are some of the cute cousins celebrating 2 of their first thanksgivings.  big eyes must run in the family.

the most beautiful hike

 hi friends!  i just have to share these photos from a hike we went on yesterday.  it possibly made my top-10-hikes-ever list.

we went on the airport mesa trail, right in the middle of all of sedona.  the trail goes around the entire mesa, so you get views of all the red rock monuments.  it was so beautiful!

i kept finding hearts in the prickly pear cactus.

 we used this baby backpack for the first time that was given to us by a friend back in michigan.  it was amazing for my shoulders.  :)

 

mateo was so excited to discover that there were both cactus on the trail AND on his shirt.

can you see all the trees changing along the creek?  it was the most beautiful, bright view on a cloudy day.  the leaves in flagstaff have long ago fallen off the trees, so we were (happily) surprised to see sedona still in the middle of fall.

our camera batteries died halfway through our hike, so not pictured in this post are all of the other monuments we saw on the other side.  the rain came for a bit and then left, leaving that amazing desert rain smell plus rain-glitter all over the agave and red rocks.  it was gorgeous!

on our way back home we stopped at starbucks to cash in on the buy-one-get-one-free holiday drink hour to enjoy on the ride home and it was the sweetest end to one of our best arizona days yet.

at six months ruby

i am famously late with these every month.  today ruby is 7 months, but here is her 6 month recap for record's sake.  :)

at six months, ruby

 :: still has baby dimpled hands ::

:: and sparkled eyes ::

 :: and is becoming busier, like her brother ::
:: loves to look in the mirror, and at other babies ::

:: can sit up on her own ::

:: can move around on the floor, mostly by rolling ::

:: but is going to crawl any day now! ::
:: likes to flap her arms and legs ::

:: has a little more hair ::
:: wakes up 3 times a night or more ::

:: and would like to sleep in a bit if her brother didn't wake her each day ::

:: but shares a morning ritual with him of laying on their backs in our bed and playing with coches in the air ::

:: says "da, da, da" most frequently ::

:: and "tha, tha tha " often ::

:: is beginning to show some stranger anxiety ::
:: really doesn't like being in a dressing room ::

:: loves to eat both milk and solid foods ::

:: is a very quick and precise grabber ::

:: seems wise in her gaze ::

:: is just the sweetest and most lovely little girl we could imagine ::

walnut canyon

 last month i took the little ones with me to walnut canyon, just a few minutes drive from our house.  we'd made doughnuts that morning and mateo kept accidentally calling it "doughnut canyon".  :)

luke had to work so it was just the three of us, and i was slightly nervous about mateo running and staying on the path, but the park rangers told me we'd be fine so i felt confident, and he ended up doing okay.  we started up on the cliff of the canyon, and then hiked carefully down 180 steps.

right away we saw several cliff dwellings from the sinagua people all over the canyon walls, and soon we were able to explore inside some of them.  (lauren, i kept thinking of you here and how much you would have enjoyed it).

every time we visit i am fascinated and in awe of the thought of living on the side of a canyon wall, and all that that would mean for food, water and communication.  mateo really enjoyed exploring the "tiny casas".  ruby enjoyed the fresh air and then fell asleep.

at the farthest point of our adventure, mateo got tired and wouldn't walk anymore.  i had ruby in the mei tai so i put him on my back in the ergo... and walked the rest of the way through the canyon and then up those 180 steps carrying the two of them.   it was hard work and i am sorry to say i think i messed up my shoulder because of it.  but we had a good time and hope to go back to doughnut canyon soon.  :)

ruby eats

right around her 6 month mark, ruby began showing the classic i'm-ready-to-try-solids signs.  so a few weeks ago we started solids with a sweet potato.  we gave her a spoon to keep her little hands busy and fed her with a finger to make sure the temperature was right.  she LOVED it.  i had to wait awhile to get a typical first food photo (the last one, below) because she was enjoying it so much.  i have never seen a baby eat so well, so soon.  everything she has tried so far she has loved.  it's not just that, but more the way she eats - going right for our finger and keeping food in - that i can't get over.  it is like she has been waiting every single day of her life to finally try eating the way we do.

as with many things, i feel so much more relaxed this time around compared to the stress i had when feeding mateo.  with him i read and researched and worried that we needed the special baby food books and kits and contraptions, but this time around i just pull something from whatever we are eating that evening and steam or bake it especially for her.  i like to include flavorful (not spicy) spices with their food to keep it exciting and get them comfortable with it.  so far so good.

i am enjoying the timing of our two spring babies in relation to the seasons.  pregnant and warm all through winter, new life in the spring along with animals and blossoms, no covering up their sweet newborn skin in the summer, and then being surrounded by some perfectly seasonal first foods like apples, sweet potatoes and winter squash around the time of their first tastes.

ps. i like to compare these photos to mateo's here.  :)  (except that they make me miss our old house)

7 inches

food related

we finally (after years of debating) have joined a csa!  last week we picked up our first share of the harvest and we were overwhelmed!  but also: giddy!  we were given a pumpkin, a watermelon, a giant cushaw (this is the most intimidating - any ideas?) red potatoes, green tomatoes, green peppers, roasted chiles, bags of basil and arugula and salad mix, and a bunch of radishes.  and possibly more that i am forgetting.

we debated for awhile signing up for a full or half share and decided on the full share - to go in 100% and see how it goes.  not an hour after signing up i met a woman who told me she feeds her family of 5 on the half share alone... so i am a little nervous about if we will be able to eat it all, but so far i am enjoying the challenge. 

on another note, here are some things we have recently tried that we've loved so much they've made it into our regular weekly meals but that i have no photographs of because we eat too late and nobody likes food photos taken with flash: 

these pumpkin muffins that we make each fall (with less sugar, and 1/2 whole wheat)

this butternut squash apple soup that is both perfectly sweet and spicy

this friend's super quick and really great pizza

these sweet potato and black bean tacos (just make sure you have a good tortillas)

my new favorite grilled cheese sandwiches (we made them 3 days in a row!)

carrot cake pancakes similar to this recipe

this chili with sour cream/cheddar/jalapeno biscuits or just plain and delicious cornbread

this mexican green rice with roasted chiles from this cookbook which was quite possibly the best mexican rice we've ever had, ever.  we made our own flour tortillas with them which, turns out, are ridiculously easy to make with ingredients you already have and totally delicious

and these soft chocolate chip pumpkin cookies (especially with the spices tripled)

on my list to try soon is this basil ice cream, this pretty salad, and this thai-inspired pumpkin soup.

what are you eating?  anything we should try?

happy halloween

happy halloween!  we had a super fun night.

mateo wanted to be an aspen tree.  ruby had been given a gold tutu which inspired me to make her into an owl like this one.  unfortunately, i began making their costumes the day before halloween which meant some pretty crazy hours trying to make them happen up until the very second that trick or treating started.  next year i will try to start earlier!

i think my sewing is like my spanish - i don't really know how to do it correctly, but i have found ways to cut corners and pull something together.  mateo could barely fit his arms in his costume.  :)

we surprised luke at his office, then walked downtown for the trick or treating at the shops.  it was great and i'm grateful that they do it, but the crowds + me wanting to have real interactions with neighbors + give these guys old school halloween experiences makes me think we will stick to neighborhood trick or treating from now on.  we went to a neighborhood near downtown towards the end of the night and mateo knocked on a few doors and that was my favorite part of the evening.

 

they both did really great - ruby fell asleep and was a total angel baby, and mateo did good with all the commotion.  (don't ask me about his post-candy behavior at a restaurant later in the night).

 right now we are heading out to a local dentist in town who buys back the candy we received and sends it to the troops.  don't worry luke - i saved you some kit kats!

   i am including way too many halloween photos here, because they make me smile and i want to look back on them next year.  hope you enjoy.  :)

 

ps. we really missed our michigan friends.  wish we could have been out with you all.