One Month!!

An old high school friend does these fabulous update posts and takes pictures of her kids with a sign saying their age. It seemed like a great idea to me because sometimes the pictures get mixed up and you forget when they were taken, but if the date is in the picture, no problem! So, I'm stealing her idea and going to start updates on Secora.

I can't believe Secora is already one month old! I would list all the fabulous things she's learned how to do, but she's still in that bump on a log stage, so it's a rather short list! I put her on my baby scale and she's already a hefty 9#6oz, so I guess her biggest achievement is eating. She still rarely cries. She wakes every 2 hours like clockwork at night, but she sleeps with us and nurses well laying down, so we only have to actually get up when she needs a diaper. Her tear ducts were blocked and the left one has opened up, but not the right (Sedona had that too, it's not a big deal and almost always opens on its own). She doesn't like baths, but does like her hair washed. She still has those newborn gray-blue eyes. She still sleeps a lot of the day, but is starting to have some "quiet alert" times.

The postpartum hypertension I developed after she was born (that was a surprise) has cleared up and I'm already back down to pre-pregnancy weight despite having put on an average of 2.5 pounds a week for the last 3 months (a side effect of hyperemesis gravidarum...I had a sizable deficit to make up). I'm making up for all the nesting I couldn't do when I was pregnant and she's happy to snuggle down in the moby wrap and come along for the ride.

Our only problem is finding a way to share her between all of us. Everyone wants to cuddle the baby!
Add photo shoots to her list of dislikes

Tree Trimmin'

Last weekend was tree decoratin' time in the Hill household! Secora can't help, so she cheered from the sidelines. This was her inaugural ride in the same swing we used with Sierra Here's Sierra in it, for comparison's sake Secora promptly fell asleep and the rest of the family set about decorating the tree In no time at all, it was all done. You may notice areas where 3 or 4 ornaments are clustered together on one branch. That's because we gave the girls free reign and Sedona seemed to think they would get lonely if they were each on their own branch And you'll also notice the patch of blue lights at the top of the tree. That's what happens when momma's nursing and daddy takes over light duties (I'm pretty sure this is the first year he's done it since we had kids). Whatever. The kids like it and it's unique. Since these pictures were taken, we've also added count down chains. The girls each made their own out of construction paper (how is it a 3 year can go through an entire glue stick on one tiny project??) and draped them on the tree like tinsel.

Oh, and my brother-in-law's already fussed at me about hemming those curtains (in a loving way ;-) I'm working on it. I aim to have them all above the heaters before the weekend's over!

Pumpkin Scones

About 2 years ago, I discovered a fabulous Pumpkin Scone Recipe. I had never made scones at all before, but these sure did go fast at home and at book club meetings! Over time, I've changed the recipe a little based on ingredients I usually have on hand and to make more scones. Here's how I make them now:

1 3/4 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C. cornstarch (makes them less dense)
3 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground allspice
1/2 t. ground ginger
12 T. cold butter, cut into pieces
2/3 C. pumpkin puree
2/3 C. evaporated milk
3/4 C. brown sugar
1 T. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a pizza stone or foil lined cookie sheet (I use non-stick cooking spray). In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Place bowl in freezer.

2. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Put this bowl in freezer and take the other bowl back out. Dump the butter pieces into the flour bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Get the liquid mixture out of the freezer and pour into the flour mixture all at once. Stir until everything is just moistened. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and knead it just a couple of times until everything is together. Don’t knead it too much or the dough will get too sticky.

4. Separate the dough into two equal pieces. Pat each piece out into a rough circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut it like a pie into 8 pieces. Place pieces on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Bake scones for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. They should be light brown on the bottom, the tops will darken as they cool.

Icing: Mix together 1 C. powdered sugar, 2 T. milk, 1/4 – 1/2 t. cinnamon (to taste). Adjust amounts to change consistency as desired. Put the icing into a small ziploc bag, cut the corner off the bag and pipe onto the scones.

This recipe was copied from the Pinch My Salt site and I only changed the things I now do differently from the original recipe. As an aside, I did actually use cream in the scones pictured above because I happened to have it on hand. Honestly, I like the scones with evaporated milk better.

After I make this recipe, the leftover pumpkin in the can (a regular 15oz can) is just enough to make a loaf of pumpkin bread too. Here's the recipe I use for that:

about 1/2 can pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 C applesauce
1 1/2 C sugar
1 3/4 C flour
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
3/4 t ground all spice
3/4 t freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a loaf pan (I use non stick spray and a stoneware loaf pan)

2. Combine the pumpkin, applesauce, eggs and sugar.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the other ingredients. Mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture.

4. Pour into loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour.

Juggling Three

Totally candid shot...moments like this make me wonder if I'm going to end up with 20 grandkids one day

In my group of mommy friends, there are quite a few women who just had or will soon have their third baby, so I've had a few questions lately about how it's going juggling three kids. I had a feeling number 3 was going to be the easiest and, so far, that's held true for me. With the 1st baby, I was so out of my element that every day felt like a struggle. As soon as I felt confident, a new developmental milestone came along and I had to adapt to this "new" child I was parenting. With the 2nd baby, I had another young child around that was used to having my undivided attention, so even if she was being helpful, she was still always right there so there was a lot of juggling to keep everyone happy. With the 3rd baby though, the first 2 kids can go off and play together, which leaves me the time to just sit and cuddle the baby again. Only this time around, I have the confidence to enjoy it without worrying over every little thing.

Of course, I still have to make lunches and read stories and clean up the kitchen, but I'm better at multi-tasking too so it still seems easier to get that stuff done now than it did with the 1st or 2nd baby. If Sierra was in school, I think that might make it harder too. Not only is she a constant playmate for Sedona, she also sets a good example of how to act around/handle the baby.

The exception is getting out of the house...that is definitely harder. The girls and I have always done better when we are out doing something. They don't act up as much and I don't get as frustrated with them. I'm not sure if the difficulty with getting out of the house is just because there are 3 kids, or because it looks like this outside my kitchen window and has been a pretty steady 15-20 degrees around here
Which means I have to spend what seems like an eternity getting everyone decked out in all of this to go anywhereFor now, I spend an hour getting everyone ready. Then I change Secora, nurse her, check that the diaper bag is packed and put her in her carseat. I threaten the older girls with their life if they touch the carseat and run out to start the van so it begins to warm up. Then I come back in and help with snow boots and jackets and get my own jacket on. Then I herd everyone through the mudroom and out to the van. Sierra buckles herself in and Sedona gets in her seat while I put in Secora's carseat. Then I buckle Sedona. Then I scrape the ice off the windows of the van. THEN we can go. The reverse process is even more fun because the mudroom is small and I haven't figured out the best way to set it up to allow me to get in and unlock the door while the girls take their boots off without sitting in a puddle of slush they just tracked in. I don't have anywhere to go that's more than 2 miles away (literally, it's a small town), but I have to plan on leaving 30 minutes before I want to be anywhere because it takes so long to get in the car (again, literally).