The Baby Story (it needs to be told)

Even though Stella is now almost 8 months-old, I feel the need to tell the story of how she came to be. She was a very pleasant surprise and we were very shocked at first but after a little while we couldn't have been more excited.

Thanksgiving, approximately 6 months along:) She was barely starting to kick around this time. It was so exciting!

                          

And just before the due date..... I avoided pictures for most of my pregnancy and finally Alex made me take some toward the end. I'm glad he did because then I would have had no pictures of the last month.

Molly was my best bud during the pregnancy. She was always right there with me:)

About one week before my due date I had been in pre-labor for a few weeks and was very ready for Stella to get out! I know women labor for far longer than I did (17 hours) but it felt like forever!! But then she was here and we loved her from the first moment we saw her!

7 lbs. 6 oz.

Perfect baby girl

Sweet daddy.

Hanging out with Aunt Brita

Stella and her Grandma Susan

Meeting Grandma Jackie!

The cousins meet! Stella Mae and Vivienne Claire:)

Stella's guard dog:)

Stella's first swim. She was pretty darn cute in her Gap swimsuit:)

At our family reunion on Camano Island this past summer. Alec, Vivienne, Isaac, and Stella

It has been a wonderful 8 months! We love our happy, screaming, smiling girl!

Momma's kitchen helper

Lately Stella has become more and more clingy. She doesn't like to be in a room by herself, she needs to see Mommy at all times and there are those special moments (that are occurring more frequently) where she wants to be held all the time. This makes it very difficult to get anything done so when I need to make dinner I set her on the kitchen floor and give her something to play with. She seems to really enjoy orange spatulas:)

Last of the summer days

I'm super late on this one. It has been getting colder and colder the last few weeks and the leaves have turned orange and red and are starting to fall now. It's absolutely gorgeous! During our last few days of warmth we tried out the little baby backpack and Stella loved it! (I think Alex did, too!)

Chubby cheeks!

This sweet little face always makes me melt.

Cute daddy.

Maybe I post too many pictures...but I just can't choose any to leave out! Those lips!! And of course I have to include a picture of Stella's cool uncle Jake. He's pretty good on anything with wheels.

Our little guard dog....sort of

Not the best picture...sorry

When staying with my dad at his house we would frequently get deer in the backyard and this particular time we sent Molly out after them knowing that a 4-pound poodle could do no harm. Well we tell her to "go get 'em!" and off she goes and the poor deer start to run away and then stop, turn around and just stare at Molly as if to say "really?" Instead of running away the deer started walking toward Molly and she didn't know what to do so she just stood there and every once in a while would look back at us to say "am I done?" We finally called her back.

The next time around Tiffany's slightly larger dog, Hurley was with Molly and they both went after the deer. Since Hurley was there the deer took off this time and Molly went after them barking. If only she knew that it wasn't her that actually scared them away:) Sweet Molly.

The deer came back at night and this time they were walking up to Molly! We decided she belongs with the deer.

This girl likes her apples!

We began giving Stella solid foods about a month ago and that girl loves to eat! If you have ever seen her in person you would know...she packs it on quite nicely:) I decided to stick some apple slices into her little mesh thing (name???) and last time she wasn't a big fan but this time she couldn't leave it alone! It was so cute! Of course now I have a nice mess to clean up but maybe I'll just leave that for her daddy when he gets home....

Trying to show her how she can hold it herself

The video is kind of long...but when the subject is this cute, how do you know when to end it?! I like to catch as many of her cute smiles and giggles as I can. Love my sweet baby girl:)

A taste of the old life

About a week ago Alex and I heard that Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes were playing at Marymoor Mark so of course we looked up tickets and it would be $100 for both of us to go and I would probably say "no" to that since we are still in between jobs:/ However...a few years ago we were walking through Marymoor in the evening and Duran Duran happened to be playing and we could hear them pretty well! We danced around the park to "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" and other great songs so we figured we would just do the same this time!

We put Stella down for bed at 6:45 and some of her awesome grandparents kept an eye on her for us while we went out. We dressed in our running clothes so that we would just look like some oblivious runners just making our way through the park:) We started running and there seemed to be a lot more security than last time! It got dark and we found a little grassy spot in some trees and so we sat there waiting for the band to start. It was really dark except for the lights from the concert so when people walked past us (we were by a dark trail connected to the parking lot), we probably looked kind of creepy just sitting there in the trees. After what seemed like forever (!!) the band finally started and it was so worth it! We could hear them very well and we could even see a little bit of the stage! Unfortunately it started to get cold and we couldn't stay too long since we had a little baby at home so we left after about an hour. We didn't get to hear our favorite song but it didn't make our night any less enjoyable. It was so fun to get out and enjoy a quality concert (YAY for the awesome concerts in Seattle!!!). And of course we ended the evening with a raw, vegan fudge ice cream bar from Whole Foods.

Supposedly this is the concert we heard but could barely see....

We're excited for more nights like this one.

The famous vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I've had a lot of people request this recipe so I am going to post it and satisfy a lot of cravings that people are having:) Sometimes I like to change it up a little bit, like changing oat flour for wheat flour or taking out the walnuts since Alex doesn't like them. No matter the variation, though, they never fail to appease my sweet tooth.

• 1 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (or 3/4-1 cup oat flour, 1/4 cup whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil (you can also use canola oil, vegetable oil, or even Smart Balance or Earth Balance butter)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (the real stuff!)
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. water

Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until they are even. For best results, let the batter sit for 5 minutes. Form desired size of cookies and place on oiled baking sheet or on parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes. For higher altitudes, begin checking the cookies at 8 minutes.

So I just made these cookies the other day and didn't take a picture of them (didn't think I needed to...so why waste time when they're hot!) so I got this picture off the internet. Not the exact cookies but this picture will have to do until I stop feeling guilty from the last batch and make some more:) They look something like this.... 

I've learned that pictures of food need to be BIG!

Another great vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that is also low in carbohydrates is one that I found on an amazing blog called Elana's Pantry. My sister told me about it a while ago and I've made a few of her recipes. These are the Primal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Another amazing recipe of hers is the Lemon Lavender Cookies (also vegan and low in carbohydrates).

Primal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 cups blanched almond flour (almond meal works, too)
• 1/4 tsp. celtic sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 cup vegan palm oil shortening (I use grapeseed oil or Smart Balance)
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda in a food processor. Pulse in shortening, honey, and vanilla until dough forms. Remove blade from food processor and stir in chocolate chunks by hand. Scoop dough, one level tablespoon at a time, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press balls of dough down gently. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes (do not handle before they are cool or they will break). To see a picture of these just go to her blog.

Dinner with Friends

I had the opportunity to meet Erik and Amy when Alex and I got engaged. They were married a couple of months after us and then we moved to Utah and they moved to Arizona and then Texas. Now we are all back in the Northwest so we met up for dinner! Erik and Amy have a lovely studio in downtown Seattle and invited us over for some homemade pizza! It was so fun to see them again and catch up, and   they got to meet Stella!

    

100% Girl

This morning, Alex decided to set Stella in front of the mirror to distract her while we got ready for the day. We had no idea how much she would enjoy it! She was smiling at herself and of course smiling at us as we looked at her through the mirror. When you look that cute how could you NOT stare at yourself forever?!

Looking herself over...

She sees Mommy in the mirror!

                 

I think she liked what she saw:) And of course some more adorable pictures of Stella playing at Grandma Susan's house.

                

Cutie pie!