The Baptism of Aila Grace

Sunday June 28th, 2009- Aila Grace's Baptism

at the Hingham Congregational Church

It was a lovely, upbeat service.

Aila was an angel all the way through which was a blessing

in and of itself. No crying, no fussing.

And what I feared even more- a total diaper blow out,

that would leave a pumpkiny looking (but not smelling) stain

on her gorgeous white dress- thankfully did NOT happen.

Aila did look like an angel in that beautiful white cotton/linen dress.
It was handmade by Cheri Dauphinee
with lots of love and care.
And its trimmed with lace from Aila's Nanny's (Terri's) wedding gown.
So amazingly special.

Here's some special people:

Godfather David, Godmother Jen (me),

Mom (Kris) and Dad (Matt) with baby Aila

Aila with her great grandmother (Terri's Mom), GG and Uncle Bill

4 generations: GG, Nanny, Mom and Aila
and cousin Emelyn jumped in too

I love this sweet shot of David with his Goddaughter. And since I always seem to pick a "favorite of the day"...

Here it is. Sleeping like an angel in Leslie's arms.

Unfortunately it ended up being a raw, mostly rainy day. The house and yard were beautifully decorated with pinks and browns. Flowers and cake to match. Kris did a wonderful job (Matt too, of course)- though I'm guessing the design ideas were mostly hers ;)

We didn't end up taking as many pictures as planned (hopefully soon we'll do some pictures close-up of Aila in her dress and some parent/child shots too-- when its sunny and Aila's not so wrinkled)... but I managed to get a couple group shots- this being my favorite.

Left to Right:

Dan, Luther, Matt, Willy, Larry, David and Uncle Thad

What a handsome group of guys!

Later on when it quieted down, and Aila settled into some comfy play clothes, I snapped a few more photos of her. Ok, I'm not even a parent and yet I can finally understand why its SO much harder taking photos of the second child than it was of the first. There is just never time... Willy's always up to something, or if he's not, Kris and I are finally getting a few quiet minute to chat, and more than likely Aila's asleep (I forgot how much they do that at this age)... and so... it doesn't happen. I'm going to work on it though. After the zillions of pics of Willy I have, this kid's going to have a complex if I don't get going ;)

I swear her eyes just kill me!!

So content.

And getting big. So long! All arms and legs, just like her big brother (and her Mama).

So despite the rain, it was a beautiful day. Delicious food, great company, lots of laughs, tons of little ones playing together and enjoying every minute of that, pictures, cake *really yummy cake.* Lots to be happy about!

Mo-Hawk!

Saturday night I hung out at Krissy & Matt's.

They were frantically trying to get ready for Aila's Baptism the next day. I had picked up some stuff they needed, brought over the table runners I put together for Kris, and spent the night hanging out and helping out.

Giving Willy a bath was the most entertaining part of the evening. He LOVES taking a bath. Splashing around. Playing with his boats. Filling his bowl full of water and dumping it out. All of it= Fun! But frankly, watching him have fun gets a little boring when I'm in my clothes and trying not to get soaked... so to amuse myself (and him), I figured it was mohawk time! His hair is long enough. Why not, right?!

Willy could see himself in the chrome of the drain mechanism and he thought it was pretty funny too! I think we ended up making 3 different mohawks over the course of the tub experience. his 'do from the back! Gotta get the "smile" face in a picture or two (not that I have a choice).
What was even funnier than the mohawk itself is that Willy couldn't quite say the word mohawk. He got the first half down ("mo")... but the second half had a "c" sound instead of an "h" sound... and then he dropped the 'mo' part all together... and well, that was just foul... and freakin hysterical!!! it took a LOT of practicing but I think we finally got there... however if you hear Willy talking about roosters or male genitalia and trying to mess up his hair... you can blame me.

Oisín's First Birthday

Wednesday June 24, 2009

Oisín's First Birthday!

And we were ready and waiting, with party hats and horns to celebrate!

An otherwise quiet night at the Fortin/Rowan household...

Doug, Megg, Tom, Emmy & Oisín(pronounced Ush-een), Uncle Conor, Auntie Krissy, Uncle Matt, cousins Willy & Aila, and Auntie Jen (Terri aka Nanny was away at Work Camp in NY)

Willy & Emelyn
Pigpile on Uncle Conor!

Just realized that by the time we sang, we'd all taken off our hats! All except the birthday boy himself, who was looking awfully cute!

Blowing out the candles, with a little help from Daddy, cousin Will and big sister Emelyn. I think Oisí just wanted to get his hands on that cake! :)

The Official Birthday Cake!

MMMMM!!!!

Safe to say he liked the cake!

Covered in it!!

And then he was done. Plate on the floor...ready to move on.

Perhaps he knew there were presents waiting?

And then it was present time. Just a few gifts so he could enjoy opening them- his official party is in July. A book from Auntie Jen. Look at Willy. Reading the card. As if he knows what's going on.
How cute is this kid?!

I forget exactly why he was stripped down to his diaper. Covered in cake no doubt... but at age 1 you can pull that off! Oisín is a tank! :) Absolutely solid, much like his good friend Riley. And there's nothing cuter than a roley baby!!

Like Willy & Riley, Oisín has a "thing" for my camera lens cap. He had a present twice the size of him in front of him... no interest. I'll play with this black plastic circle thank you!

This is my favorite shot of the night.

Oisín opening his remote control car from Auntie Krissy and Uncle Matt!

Sheer joy!!

We had a great night. Low-key and rainy (par for the course this month).

Kids running around like crazy.

WIlly was deathly afraid of the elastic string on the party hat, but kept wanting it on anyways.

Emelyn loved blowing the party horn as loud as she could.

If I remember correctly Aila slept almost the whole time.

And Oisín was happy as a clam. Just as it should be.

Happy first birthday little dude. Wishing you many more happy, healthy, playful years!

I love you!

Friday Photo Finish- catching up

Playing Catch up-- on blogging my walking AND actually doing it.

I was walking gingerly after surgery- think I did a few short walks before the week of 6/13 and it was tough getting back into it. But looking at this week, I think I can safely say its all systems go again!!

Fundraising Update

I am officially able to participate in this walk. We're required to raise $2,300 just to walk and I'm now at $2,575.00!!! Thank you ALL for your donations. I am so excited about the energy and good will I've been privy to along this journey!

Gear
I also splurged on a new pedometer this week, and a hydration backpack. I know my small waist pack will not be large enough to hold everything I need over the course of the 3Day walk, so as much as I told my friend Christine she was nuts for thinking a backpack would be more comfortable, I'm trying it out. Its a Swiss Army pack that I got at BJs for $20! Figured for that price it was worth a try. I used it yesterday... of course it came without directions and I wasn't very smart about it... ended up spilling water all over the back of the pack while filling so I had a wet back for much of my walk. Oh well. better luck next time! It was fairly comfortable and I'm not feeling any discomfort in my back today. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

CSA Pick up Wednesday 6-24-09

Another week, another batch of truly wonderful food.
Too busy for extravagent menu planning this week, but i'm still making a dent in it.

the strawberries are so sweet and delicious. its like experiencing a whole new fruit. i gave one to krissy last night and she agreed. perfection in a berry!

since we had pizza for Oisin's birthday party on wednesday night, i told kris i'd make something quick for us for dinner on thursday. i cheated and got her and willy a rotisserie chicken. we also enjoyed the CSA sweet potatoes with sour cream and scallions (MMMMM!) and the zucchini. accompanied by a salad with the red boston lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, cukes, 'salad fixins' and balsamic vinaigrette.

simple and easy. a contrast from last week's adventerous burst.
still yummy though and that's what counts.

my new mission for this week- finding out how to preserve spices. freezing versus drying. any expertise out there?

My first CSA Farm Share Pick-up!!

Wednesday June 17, 2009

Wednesday was my first pick-up of fresh, local organic produce that I get from Heaven's Harvest Farms. I was sooo ridiculously excited. It really was like Christmas for me! I rushed home from work. Did my walk, then flew out of the house to find the pick-up spot.

I used my handy GPS (a smart birthday gift from Dan)

I was feeling awfully green- with my car on battery mode, going to pick up my produce! I'm a serious dork, I admit that. But I was seriously almost high! LOL!!

See how happy?! Sun roof open (one of the FEW sunny days we've had this month)

Of course I still managed to get myself a little turned around... not that it was really Garmin's fault- I was too excited to pay attention I think! Oops!

This is my bundle. Its called a half-share. Supposed to feed 2 people. A full share is for a family of 4. But I figure since I eat enough veggies for two, and Dan will rarely eat any of them, this would be perfect.





I knew it would take some creative planning to find recipes for these veggies. Many of which I had never tried-- but then that's part of my reason for wanting to do this. I really am ENJOYING being a vegetarian (still fairly new- started Sept '08), but I think I needed this push to try vegetables I wouldn't normally buy.

Wednesday night I made stir fry with the summer squash and bok choy from the CSA. And used up peppers, carrots, mushrooms and ginger that I had.

I also made a cold Cucumber Couscous Salad which came out great! Recipe can be found here.

Then Thursday I invited Kris and the kids over for dinner at my house, instead of going to hers. She was glad to come, and as it turned out Matt came too- and Dan didn't have cards that night, so we had a big family dinner.

Results: I thought it was a little oily but the flavor was good. Kris liked it.

Results: I thought they were undercooked, even though I cooked them longer than the recipe called for. The flavor was just ok. Kris said, and Matt & I subsequently agreed, that they "taste good for you." It wasn't a bad flavor and the ginger/butter helped... but it wasn't something any of us will be craving in the near future.

collard greens- washed and ready to go

Results: The salad ended up being room-temp instead of warm because we were running a little behind. Dan thought he'd have liked it better warm and with a little less mustard. I thought it needed less Vinegar. Matt doesn't like sweet potatoes but he liked 'em. Kris and Matt loved the salad.

I ended up buying chicken legs and breasts, marinated them in olive oil and lemon balm and Dan cooked them on the grill.

Results: They all said the flavor was good. That's all I have to go on ;)

We also grilled some portabella mushrooms and summer squash on the grill. mmmm

I still need to experiment with the turnips, and I've got another sweet potato to enjoy this week. I'm thinking I'll indulge on a sweet potato with sour cream and the rest of the fresh chives! mmm.

Hope you've enjoyed hearing about my cooking adventures. I'll try to post some new ones each week as the produce comes in!

Doe. Go. Dance.

Sunday June 14th
This deer is loving our backyard.
She's a full grown doe now, or almost.
I think she was the fawn we used to see a lot last year.
I'm fascinated by her.
And clearly she's fascinated by us. She'll stand and stare for long periods of time.
Seemingly spooked, but not enough so that she feels the need to move on.



I left home around 10am to go spend the day with my buddy Willy.
Matt, Krissy and Aila were going to spend the day working/helping/sleeping at the Dance Recital. And Willy and I were going to PLAY!

Once he found out I had my camera with me, he was ready to pose.
"What do you want to do?" I asked him.
I said "Smile? Silly face?"
He said "Chair!" and climbed on up.
Ok, dude. You call the shots.

I think he just might be the happiest kid in the whole world.
Sitting on a chair.
Laughing his head off.
For no apparent reason!
I love it!

These days its all about balls- baseballs, soccer balls, basketballs, footballs (unless its cars, trucks, choo choos, helicopters and planes).

He wanted me to sit with him... but then didn't want to look at the camera.

Oh well. Good enough.

Race Car Drivers! Likely one of Willy's favorite toys. Love the close-up of "orange driver" and his chubby little dimpled fingers.

After some play time, and a light lunch, we drove over to see Emelyn in the dance recital. I had checked a CD out of the library the previous week called Most Amazing Truck, Train & Plane Songs. I sang along more times than I'd care to remember the "helicopter" song, and the "choo choo" song. By the ride home, Willy was singing along too!

Emmy did a great job. Even though we were late, we managed to catch 3 out of 4 of her dances. Willy kept saying "again" "again" wanting to see Emelyn dance, but he was patient watching the other girls in between.

Here's Em with her trophy for Showmanship (a girl after my own heart), and 2 (count 'em 2) bouquets of flowers. Poor girl... they did the Kinderdance trophies at the end of the first half of the show, like they always do, and everyone was getting their trophies for this and that... and towards the end Emelyn started thinking she wasn't going to get one, and was apparently crying (I couldn't tell from where I was sitting). Terri had left her for last on purpose since she was her granddaughter and she thought she wouldn't mind. Plus, she had a special gift, a bouquet of flowers for her- for being so kind as to share her grandmother with the 9 other girls, which of course is never easy. It was sweet!

Willy and I left after the second half. Went home and he took a much needed nap.

For almost 2 hours! I finally woke him up because it was 6:45p and he usually goes to bed around 8p. I asked him, once he got the sleepies out of his eyes, if he'd like to go see Uncle Rick and Auntie Diane. He immediately grabbed his sneakers and said "Red Sox" indicating that he'd need his Red Sox sweatshirt on so we could leave the house. Guess that's a "yes."

We ate dinner with my parents and Willy enjoyed looking for the "kitty cats!" who unfortunately wanted nothing to do with him. Dad taught him how to say "whasssup" in a deep voice, which Willy thought was hilarious! Will be interesting to see if that sticks ;)

Then it was home and time for bed.

He was wiped after our big day out and about, and went down easily.

Another good day with my good buddy Will!

Can't wait to do it again soon!