Newport

Saturday we spent the day in Newport, RI. It is a charming coastal town famous for it's ostentatious mansions. They are gorgeous! We spent the first part of our day driving along the coast trying to get Kate to take a nap. It was a cold day but the sun was out and the ocean was a beautiful sparkling blue.
Most of the mansions are now owned by the Newport Historical Preservation Society and no longer occupied by the opulent aristocrats. And to think that these mansions were only their summer homes!
Becca and I toured this mansion, The Breakers, formerly owned by the notable Vanderbilt family, while Paul and Shane took the squirmy babies to the library to crawl around.

It really was impressive and festively decorated for the holidays. One of our favorite things about the mansion was the monogrammed china--imagine eating breakfast off that plate every morning!
Kate's favorite part of the day was riding on Paul's shoulders. She likes the view from up high, but every few minutes she tries to bend around to look at Paul's face--to make sure it's still daddy, of course.

Pumpkin, my love

I really do love all things pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin chili... the list goes on. So when I came across this recipe for Pumpkin Bread with a twist--cranberries--I had to make it. Yes, it was delicious.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
This recipe uses either two standard loaf pans, or three aluminum foil loaf pans.

• 1- 3 / 4 cup canned pumpkin (one small can)
• 2/3 cup butter, melted
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 / 2 tsp cloves
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 / 2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 / 2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 cup chopped fresh or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Combine the eggs, pumpkin, butter, and water in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients, plus the nuts and cranberries. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix with a wooden spoon by hand. Mix until the batter is combined, but don’t over mix. Grease the pans, and distribute the batter equally in the pans (should fill each about half way up). Bake for 1 hour.

Recipe via DesignSponge

Speaking of recipes... I love trying new ones and reading recipe blogs. I know some of you already contribute to recipe blogs but for those who don't, I'm thinking of starting one...anyone interested?

Projects, Projects, Projects

I've kept busy these past few weeks with lots of projects. (Not that Kate doesn't keep me busy enough!) There are so many great craft and sewing blogs out there with tons of projects to inspire. One I like to read is The Purl Bee authored by the masterminds at Purl Soho. I still can't believe I didn't find out about the shop until I had moved out of Manhattan! I guess being a working girl and pregnant I was too exhausted to think about crafting. I got the idea to make some simple cloth napkins here. I made some for us and some for our Thanksgiving hosts, the Lloyds. Lately we have been using cloth napkins more often during our regular dinners. It makes dinner feel a little more special, plus it helps to conserve and save money on paper napkins.Paul and I have matching Christmas stockings and I looked everywhere last year trying to find one similar for Kate. I didn't have any luck so I decided it wouldn't be too hard to make one myself. It ended up being a little trickier than I thought trying to line them, use batting, sequins, sew on her name, etc. But it's done in time for Santa to fill it up! There are a few other projects in the wings, but I don't want to ruin any surprises! Now it's on to Christmas cards...
Notice we are still sporting the humble 3 foot Christmas tree. We decided it will have to suffice until we stay home for Christmas. Then we'll get the real thing.

Plymouth

Friday we drove 2 hours north to Plymouth, Massachusetts. It seemed fitting to visit the site of the first Thanksgiving feast. Kate all bundled up and ready to go--it was cold!

We went to Plimoth Plantation where they recreate villages that existed during the 1600's. At the Wampanoag Homesite the "Native People" told about their culture and history and demonstrated what life was like for them during the 17th century.

The 1627 English Village was a re-creation of the small farming town built by English colonists in the midst of the Wampanoag homeland. The people were costumed role players who took on the names, viewpoints and life histories of the people who actually lived in the colony in 1627, popularly known as the "Pilgrims" today.
We also visited the Mayflower II. This ship arrived in Plymouth in 1957 and is a replica of the original Mayflower. Plymouth Rock is, well, a rock. It is smaller than you would expect, only about 3 feet long.
We went out to dinner and stayed the night in Providence, RI. Kate and Peter were pretty excited to be out of the cold!

Thanksgiving Day

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was unseasonably warm and so sunny. The ground was blanketed in colorful leaves.

We ate cinnamon french toast made with challah bread for breakfast.

Went for a walk and swinging at the park.

Enjoyed a beautiful table, great food and friends thanks to our gracious hosts, the Lloyds.

And Kate got to play with Peter under the Thanksgiving table!

{p.s. I brought this appetizer to dinner. It seemed like an appropriate seasonal dish and I will definitely be making it again.}

It's getting cold around here...

We bundled kate up this weekend and went to the park and found this peacock.
We didn't stay long because it was so cold! I can't believe winter is almost here.
We are thankful to be her parents

First Steps

Check out Kate's new trick!

Bye Bye Mimi and Papa

Kate can’t figure out where Mimi and Papa went. We were lucky enough to share our home with them for the past 6 days. They left today and all afternoon Kate has been looking at the front door waiting for them to come back! We did so many fun things while they were here and enjoyed showing them around our part of the country.

Here is Dad becoming smarter at one of Yale’s many libraries.

Kate had her picture drawn by the funny old man at Lyman's Orchards.

Kate loved all the attention and playtime. We just loved having them around. We miss you guys already. Come back soon!

Poor baby Kate...

went to the doctor today and got her flu shot. This is how she felt about it…

The good news—she is growing. 28 inches and 21 pounds of pure baby fat goodness. You should see those rolls…yummy.

The Purple Dinosaur Strikes Back

Kate loves Barney. I’m not sure when or how this love affair began but it exists. We have one episode recorded on our tv and she will sit for 30 minutes, eyes glued to the screen and watch that same episode, even though she just watched it the day before (and before and before). Lately she wants to “touch” Barney so she tries to pull up on the tv cabinet so she can get as close as possible to the purple dinosaur. Her eyes light up when she hears the music coming on and she flaps her arms because she is so excited. It has become our “stall” tool. We use it to fill up that time when it’s not quite bedtime, but she is tired and restless. It always works. She stops whining, smiles and watches Barney. In some ways this is a good thing, but on the other hand, she’s only 9 months old!!

I have been wondering more and more just what affect tv has on her and whether it is ok or not for her to be watching it. I picked up Into the Minds of Babes: How Screentime Affects Children from Birth to age 5 and was amazed at what I read. The author takes a "real world" approach and puts all the available research in lay-mans terms. Here are a few highlights from the book and points I found most interesting:

-The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends NO television for children under age 2, yet they give no scientific basis, just the thought that eliminating screen time is bound to increase beneficial interactive time between parents/caregivers and children.

-No research has been done on baby Einstein to determine if it really helps babies brain development. They only go on testimonials. The only company that does research is the Sesame workshop.

-Background television noise has been shown to slow language development because babies sometimes have a hard time differentiating the words on television with their parents words. The people on the tv speak too fast and the babies have a hard time focusing on their words. Also studies show it decreased the length of play episodes or the amount of time the child would spend with each toy. The baby would become distracted and may glance up at the tv or not, but they don’t retain focus on a toy for as long if the tv is on.

-Many Disney movies are marketed to much younger audiences than the films are recommended for, thus confusing parents. For example, many sippy cups have Finding Nemo on them while the movie is intended for children age 6 and up.

-Babies do not comprehend images the way adults do, they are still trying to work out the connections between symbols and objects, between pictures and the real thing. Babies and toddlers are not yet ready to absorb much more than the here-and-now, not typically comprehending sequential narratives until after age 2. After age 2, children have been shown to learn from tv programs when they are well designed (sequential plot, lots of repetition).

-Studies cannot determine any cause and effect relationship between television and autism & ADHD, contrary to popular belief.

I found this all to be really interesting. We’ve since changed the way we use the tv in our home. We are trying to cut out any background tv that she is exposed to (with the exception of some sports on the weekends). I used to enjoy watching the Today show in the morning while we were getting ready and Kate would play on the floor with her toys. We decided to stop doing this and get our news other ways (Internet mainly). We’ve done this for a week now and it’s worked out fine. We wait until Kate goes to bed to watch other tv shows we like. Also, Kate only watches 1 Barney episode per day, and sometimes none. We save it until the end of the day and sometimes it seems like a lifesaver.

So far this is working for us. I’m sure as she gets older it will all change. We are still new at this parenting thing. I’m curious, what are the tv policies at your house and are you happy with them?

Halloween Happenings

School of Management Parade




















Carving our pumpkin. Kate liked looking through the eyes and trying to see what was inside.

Our ward Halloween Carnival. Kate's friend Pete (aka Rooster) and his mom Becca.

Paul and I playing the "eat the donut off the stick game". Definitely not one of my finer moments--although funny. Paul won (barely) .