Pumpkin Carving

Before we say goodbye to October, I had to post these fun Fall pictures from our Sunday afternoon carving the pumpkin that we brought home from the pumpkin patch. We have been so lucky this season to have a gorgeous sunny days and the colorful leaves. We live in a wooded area so there's no shortage of leaves. Aaron raked them into a pile and we put Ava in it while were carving our pumpkin. Bena jumped in too!

We told Ava to throw the ball into the pile of leaves so that Bena could sniff our the scent to find her ball. It's a fun challenge for a hunting dog!

 Before we carved the pumpkin we put the funny pair in the grass.

 Ava loves silverware. She swiped the spoon that I was using to scrape the insides from the pumpkin. Aaron carefully carved the jack-o-lantern and my job was to clean out the inside. We roasted the pumpkin seeds in butter and sea salt.

 There's Bena posing for her beauty shot. Bena's favorite season is Fall too. She blends in with the colorful leaves and grasses, which is perfect for hunting birds. She likes the cooler temperatures. Even though Vizsla's don't have an undercoat, they get very warm because of all the running around that they do. Bena loves to catch the ball in the backyard and seems to go forever in the Fall.

We placed the pumpkin at the front door and Ava had to check it out!

Aaron carved Ava's name on the side of the pumpkin for her.

The line-up....

Love that ruffle butt.

Our little family after our pumpkin carving afternoon.

Pumpkin Patch

Playing with the fallen leaves in the backyard.

Blocking a dog kiss from Bena.

Last weekend, we took advantage of the perfect Fall weather to visit the pumpkin patch. The weather was clear, warm in the sun, and the leaves were every shade!

Aaron went to an ExactTarget employee golf outing and got home just in time for us to go to Stonycreek Farm in Noblesville before they closed for the day. They have a Fall festival the whole month of October and have activities like bounce houses, straw maze, hay ride, carnival rides, and Autumn foods like kettle corn and apples dipped in caramel. We got there a bit too late in the afternoon so we went straight for the straw maze since it was easy for Ava to do on her own. It was perfect for a toddler! We helped her climb to top of the straw pyramid.

Straw maze

Are you following me?

Ava on top of the hay pyramid at the Farm.

On the hay ride with Mommy and Daddy

 

 

 

Our walk through the pumpkin patch. They're growing Christmas trees too!

 Then we took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin. When we started to get inside, I didn't realize you sit on real hay in the wagon behind the tractor. It was a surprise! It brought out the city-girl in me! Ava got right in the wagon with Aaron and sat on his lap. They dropped us off at the pumpkin patch. I was surprised to see the pumpkins growing along side the Christmas trees.

 We walked quite a bit with Ava at our side to pick out our pumpkin. We found a nice pumpkin with a deep orange color and Aaron carried it back to the wagon pick-up location. Ava liked walking through the pumpkins and trees!

Snuggling with Daddy looking at the pumpkins.

Trying to decide on a pumpkin.

Snuggling with Mommy. Drool on her face from her teething.

Helping Mama bake butternut squash cake in the kitchen.

On our ride back the sun was starting to fade and we relaxed on the hay ride back to pay for our pumpkin. We had one of the best days in a long time! I'm so glad we went!

Later that afternoon, Ava helped me bake some butternut squash cake. I pulled up the step stool to the counter so she could reach. She loves to use the measuring spoons and transfer the ingredients to the bowls. I showed her how to crack the egg and beat it with a fork. Now she wants to help with the eggs. She also likes to stir! Later when we put the cake in the oven to bake, she pulled out her cooking toys and started to continue to play!


October is my favorite month of the year! I'm glad we can start new family traditions to celebrate Autumn while Ava is small so she can remember all the fun from the season when she's older.

We're about to carve that pumpkin today! We'll roast the pumpkin seeds in the oven for a yummy snack. I'll post pictures on the blog!

Ava's 18-months!

I'm ready for bed, Mama.

Ava has grown up so much in the past few months!

Height: 33 1/4 inches
Weight: 23lbs 4oz
Shoe size: 5

Ava continues to be very tall for her age and her feet and hands are very slender. Even though she's slightly more than average weight, she looks thinner because of her height. I was a bit worried because she still eats so little. I'm so thankful that Ava is growing so well on mama's milk! We just went in to her doctor's office for her 18-month well-baby check and she had one vaccination and a flu shot. I'm hoping her healthy streak continues this winter! She did so well last cold and flu season with the breastmilk antibodies protecting her from the nasty bugs.

Ava's Fall art projects from daycare last week about apples and apple trees.

She is a very busy toddler! Ava enjoys music and loves to sing and dance to all types of music including nursery rhymes. She likes to hum and sing songs. You can definitely make them out! Her favorites are Row Row Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, the ABC song, and Thumbkin.

We transitioned her to a new daycare last month and she absolutely loves it! The smaller class size is very good for her and it gives her the chance to do lots of activities during the day. She has bonded well with her new teachers and likes to sit on their laps and she asks them to read her a story. Ava plays with her new friend, Amy, who is just a couple months older than her. They have a screened porch and a playground with a fun slide.

Last week Ava's class focused on apples and apple trees. She brought home these cute art projects on Friday afternoon. Then during our family pizza movie night, she started to say Apple. She said A-a-ple, then said Apple very clearly! I realized it was because of all the apples they discussed in class! She loves it!

Look who's walking Bena

Ava really loves to be outside. She often asks us to take her on a stroller ride on our street when we get home from daycare. With all the trees around our house, we're talking about the leaves changing and falling to the ground to prepare for winter. She likes to play with the leaves on our walk. The other night, Ava insisted on holding Bena's leash as we walked. Bena is very strong, but since she knew Ava was holding her leash, she was very gentle. It was very cute! Thankfully, our street has only local traffic so it's great for walking with the baby. The weather is cooler and the leaves have changed to orange, red, yellow, and brown. This is my favorite season!

Enjoying an evening walk with Mom, enjoying the Fall leaves.

Snuggling with Mommy before the walk.

Munching on granola bars before the 5k walk.

Ava talks a lot! Her language is developing well. Sometimes she launches into a big story and I have no idea what she's saying, but some of her words are very clear and she's starting to make simple sentences.

Ava's favorite words:

• No (she loves to say that really loud to show her independence!)
• I did it!
• Go!
• Apple
• Animal
• More (she pronounces it "moi")
• Mama
• Daddy
• Bena (Nena)
• Baby
• Bye-bye
• Corey (her friend) she loves him! When we went home after visiting Corey last weekend, she said "Bye-bye good boy, Corey." So cute!
• Colt (her friend)
• Cup
• Yah!
• Wee - when she goes down a slide or down the bed to the floor
• Woh - when she's excited
• Row, row - to sing "Row row row your boat"
• Um - something new she says all the time when you ask her a question. Silly!

We taught Ava to slide off the bed on her tummy and she loves it! Since she sleeps with us in our bed a lot, we wanted her to learn how to get down safely. She is an expert stair climber now, taking her time up each stair. We give Ava simple instructions and she responds.

Hanging out with her friend Corey!

Go Bears!

Last weekend, we went to the Corporate Challenge event and did a 5K Fitness Walk for ExactTarget. It was 55 degrees and cool. We were glad that it didn't rain and stayed warm with the exercise. We carried Ava in our pack and it was great. I had to switch her to Aaron because she was asking to nurse when I had her in the pack. She was a little anxious by the end, but we entertained her until the end.

Ava is a big helper. She likes to help in the laundry room, except folding clothes is a challenge because she wants to snuggle with all the clothes! In the kitchen, she likes to measure the ingredients with spoons and cups. She's pretty good at transferring ingredients to bowls without spilling too much. Ava likes to stir and even sprinkle chocolate chips on brownies before they go in the oven. I let her play with the beans that are soaking in the water before I turn on the slow cooker because she loves the texture. 

My last picture is Ava with her Chicago Bears cheerleader dress that we randomly found last summer at a secondhand store. She's a young Bears fan and when Daddy was watching the game she clapped! It was very fun!

Tomato-Zucchini-Feta Focaccia Bread

Last month, I made this focaccia bread for my La Leche League study group meeting that I hosted at my house. Since the group was coming over mid morning I decided to serve brunch foods. I made this focaccia bread, blueberry-oat muffins, and served sliced apples. Here's what was left of the bread after the moms, babies, and kids left that day. The night before, I made the focaccia bread, but we forgot to set the oven timer and it burnt to a crisp. So the next morning, I woke up early and make it again. I think it's better that way because it was fresh for when my guests arrived. My only regret was baking it on a cookie sheet instead of my pizza stone. It was a bit over done on the bottom from the cookie sheet in the convection setting of my oven.


The recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks Simply in Season. I used tomatoes, zucchini and feta because it's what I had on hand. You can experiment with different combination of toppings.

Focaccia Bread by Simply in Season
Serves 6

1 cup warm water
1tbs active dry yeast
Combine in a large bowl, stirring until yeast dissolves.

1 cup whole wheat bread flour
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
Mix in, stirring until smooth.

1 3/4 cup-2 1/2 cups bread flour
Add enough flour to make stiff dough. Knead 8-10 minutes until elastic (I used a stand mixer). Place in a greased bowl, turn to grease both sides, cover with a damp cloth, and allow to rise until doubled in size, 45 minutes.

Pat and stretch to fit a greased 10x15 jelly roll pan. Lightly rub top of dough with olive oil. Cover lightly with a damp cloth. Let rise 10 minutes. Top with the toppings below.

Topping:
2 tbs olive oil
Sea salt
1/4 cup feta
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, havled
1/2 cup zucchini, thinly sliced
Fresh or dried herbs. if desired (I used dried oregano).
Sprinkle with sea salt. Gently press toppings on the surface and sprinkle with cheese and herbs.. You can drizzle more olive oil on top if you'd like.

Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees until the crust is lightly browned, 12-20 minutes. If the bottom is down before the top is down, finish under the broiler. Serve immediately.

State Fair Visit

Ava was afraid of the calf

Sharing pizza

Since we moved to Indy, we started a tradition of going to the State Fair. It's only 20 minutes from our house and with all the animals, it's fun to explore on a weeknight when it's less crowded and hot.



I love the State Fair because I never went to Fairs growing up in California. Last year, we took Ava when she was only about 5 months old and she loved it! This year, she was more tentative of the animals. We took her through the animal barns and she got to see horses, sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle up close! Aaron tried to get Ava to pet the sweet sleeping calf, but Ava was too afraid. She didn't mind the sheep or goats, probably because of their smaller size. The horses scared her quite a bit when we tried to get her to touch them through their cages. I'm surprised by how close you can get to the animals.

Heading home after a fun night!

We shared a buttery ear of corn and slices of pizza for dinner. And for dessert, we shared an elephant ear with cinnamon sugar. You can guess that Ava loved it! We decided against taking her in a stroller for more freedom to move around the Fair. She likes riding in the baby carrier or on Dad's shoulder!

Sadly, we parked right by the site of the stage collapse that happened just days before our visit. That was sad to think about the horrific accident. They kept the stage in tact due to their investigation. It was eerie to be there only a few days after the accident, but we were glad to take advantage of the Fair since it's only once a year.

Our nursing picture at the Lactation Station

During our visit, we stopped by the Lactation Station to nurse and I was happy to see that it was very busy. There were three other moms and baby pairs using the Lactation Station while we were there. Ava felt refreshed after a short nursing session and then we met up with Aaron for one last walk through the Fair before we headed back to our car. At the Fair this year, our nursing picture was featured in the main Lactation Station. We posed for the photos in April and they will use them across the State of Indiana for breastfeeding awareness and education programs.

Enjoying the State Fair is a fun family tradition to look forward to every August. It will be fun to see what Ava enjoys next year!

Zucchini Brownies

Zucchini is a tricky vegetable in my house. Aaron doesn't like squash so I'm always thinking of ways that he will eat and enjoy it. I usually cook it as a side dish for myself, but this time I wanted to experiment. Ava won't try summer squash since I started offering it to her in the whole form. So I pulled out one of my favorite cook books last night for some inspiration. Simply in Season is based on cooking with seasonal produce. The summer section is the largest because that's when most of the produce is plentiful from your neighbor's gardens and local farmers. The authors created Simply in Season honoring their Mennonite heritage of being mindful of earth's resources and sharing with others. I like the Mennonite traditions of multicultural flavors in the cooking and this cook book is a perfect companion to my weekly seasonal produce box.


And last week, I received two local yellow zucchini in my produce box. I made Zucchini Brownies, which is a popular summer treat here in the Midwest because zucchini is plentiful. I was hoping that Ava and Aaron would enjoy the brownies. When Ava woke up from her nap, we mixed the brownies and she enjoyed sprinkling the chocolate chips on the batter before it went into the oven. And after dinner, we offered her a small piece and she loved it! This dessert is sure to please the whole family, even though it's not too sweet. The nature moisture from the zucchini gives the brownies a soft and springy texture. So if you're finding yourself overrun with zucchini, you may want to give this a try!







Zucchini Brownies - Serves 18-24



1 cup flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Combine in a large bowl


2-3 cups shredded zucchini
Stir in

1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
Combine in a separate bowl and beat with a whisk. Stir into zucchini mixture. Spread evenly into a greased 9x13 inch pan.

1/2 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Sprinkle on top of the batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F degrees until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (35-40) minutes. NOTE: Convection 25 minutes.

#NexusCafe Twitter Chat at the Indiana State Fair

I started a Twitter chat for digital marketers through my work Twitter account last year as an experiment to highlight some of our partners. I was inspired by some of the Twitter chats that I participate in such as #bfcafe and #healthychild in the mommy-blogger world. I found a kinship with moms even though the chat is only once a week, the hashtag was a great way for people to connect throughout the week. Marketers are a lot like moms. They like to share ideas and learn from each other, so I pitched the idea and my colleagues and manager were really supportive.

Now #NexusCafe Twitter chat is an exciting part of my week! The chat is every Thursday at 11am EST and we discuss different digital marketing topics each week. My role is to moderate the chat via our @ETNexus Twitter account. With my role changing to the user community manager, I'm now integrating the chat in the customer community as a whole. Two weeks ago, we hosted a #NexusCafe chat with an ExactTarget client and my favorite non-profit, the Indiana Mother's Milk Bank. The IMMB supplies donated human milk to hospitals and out-patients for babies in need. The antibodies and highly available nutrition in human milk helps sick and premature babies recover fast and help rehabilitate faster than artificial infant formula.

As a donor mom who has shared 24 gallons of milk, I've had the pleasure to work with the program manager, Dane Nutty (@milkbankguy), who is a gem! He was the mastermind behind their annual initiative to organize three Lactation Stations at the Indiana Sate Fair along with his team of summer interns. The Lactation Station offers a place for a nursing mother and child to take a break from the heat and hustle of the fair. They have cold water and a place to change your baby's diaper. The stations are staffed by lactation consultants, La Leche League leaders, and experienced breastfeeding mothers for moms to ask any questions. They work with local organizations such as La Leche League of Indiana, March of Dimes, Indiana Perinatal Network, and others to help educate the public about breastfeeding. The IMMB is also able to find potential donor mothers by the awareness campaign. They use the ExactTarget application for their program to organize the volunteer network to staffing the Lactation Stations for the 17 days of the fair.

On the day of the #NexusCafe chat, I organized a tweet-up at the Lactation Station. I tweeted with Dane and Sarah from the Indiana Perinatal Network. I had issues getting on the WiFi network so I had to hook up directly to an Internet LAN cable that as dangling from the side of the 4H building, which is why we did the chat sitting on the grass. We sat in the mid-day sunshine which made our computers feel like they were on fire by the end. Even with the ants crawling on my legs, it was still worth it! Our chat was successful and we had great ideas shared and many marketers "show up" on the Twitter hashtag. I'm excited that I could combine my personal passion with my work in a single day.

Check out my #NexusCafe recap blog post about non-profit digital marketing.

Flashback! Last year, Ava and I volunteered at the Lactation Station and here's my post about our experience.

This year, instead of volunteering a shift at the Fair, I hosted the Twitter chat and posed for some nursing pictures which the milk bank used in their main Lactation Station. Some of my friends who were at the fair told me that they recognized me and Ava in the picture hanging at the Lactation Station! Our pictures will be used for breastfeeding education programs throughout the state. I'm so honored!

Family Photos Summer 2011

Last weekend, we took family photos downtown Indianapolis at the Canal. When we arrived Ava was sleeping, but she woke up in a great mood. She loved seeing the ducks swimming in the canal. We walked in Military Park and then down on the Canal path. Our friend, Shawn, does our photography for us. His philosophy is to follow us around and let us play with Ava. He is a father and knows Ava so the pictures are so natural.

Ava just turned 17-months on Friday. She's getting so big this summer. Ava is really into giving kisses right now and makes the "mmmm" sound when does it. It's very sweet. Most of the time, she is really into singing. She sings the ABC song, making up the letters but you can hear the melody. She sings "row, row, row" quite a bit after our trip to San Francisco because Grandma sang it to her that week that we were traveling. And Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is another favorite including the hand motion.

We're moving her to a new daycare in another week. I'm really excited for her. The new center will provide her more one-on-one interaction and fun learning activities. They have an art room that they kids rotate through and a big auditorium with a stage to play dress up. I took her Friday morning to meet her new teacher and have some time in the new room. I'm planning on taking her a couple more times this week before she starts full-time next Monday in order to make her transition a bit easier. It takes her some time to warm up to a new care giver.

We're going through so many transitions this summer. Aaron and I both started new jobs. I took a new position at my company as a user community manager focusing on forming user-to-user groups in local cities. And Aaron just left Nuvo to work also at ExactTarget in Corporate Sales. We won't work together, but we're enjoying working at a growing company together. ExactTarget has a progressive work culture and surprisingly has many other couples working there. All three of us have changes under foot, which makes life at home interesting as we're settling into a new rhythm.

And last Saturday, Ava and I helped set a world record of simultaneous nursing celebrating World Breastfeeding Week. We got together in Broad Ripple Park with 57 nursing pairs. With all the family members we had 160 people attend. We also had the local news join us. What a great way to show support to families around the world sharing the health benefits through long-term breastfeeding. As I continue my journey in becoming a La Leche League leader, Ava is with me the whole way. I gain my experience with her nursing so it makes sense.

We're looking forward to Labor Day weekend at the Lake house!