Ode on the Month of October

I remember when it was September 30th and I was so excited for October to begin! I remember thinking that my birthday month couldn't come fast enough. Well it did. And it went just as fast.

So lets see if I can keep this post, on everything that has happened this month, to a minimum.

The month of October began like this:

Beautiful and warm!

Luisa has only gotten bigger and crazier

And so has baby cow #2 who we found out is definitely a boy!

My birthday weekend was amazing to say the least. Honestly, it couldn't have been more perfect! It began with a birthday miracle; Luisa slept in from her usual 7:30 to a blessed 9:30! Donny and I took full advantage by enjoying with peaceful and delicious cup(s) of coffee and pancakes. After Luisa woke up and had her fair share of pancakes, we went to Mass and then to the park across the street. It was the most gorgeous day. After we got home, Donny and I cleaned the house in preparation for the babysitter who was coming that night so that we could enjoy a birthday dinner. It was all I had asked for this year. Just a nice dinner, baby-less (well technically there was a baby there but quietly incubating). The last time we had enjoyed a dinner without Luisa was on our first anniversary, when Luisa was still a newborn. This is hard to do since we don't have family nearby and even though we have tons and tons of teenage girls who beg to babysit Luisa, we never felt very comfortable having them babysit for many reasons which I will spare you of in the spirit of keeping this post from taking up all of your day.

So back to the story of my birthday. We just finished cleaning the house and we sat down to watch a mid-day movie (something we love to do on our days off) and all of a sudden...knock, knock, knock...who was at the door? My entire family (well most of them)! It was a huge surprise! Apparently, Donny and my mom had been planning this for weeks! Donny even sneakily planned for the babysitter to come on Monday night instead of Sunday, all the while I had been telling her Sunday! My sister had just got engaged the day before so I was able to see her and her fiancé, and give them tons of wedding details. It was so much fun!

Let me derail for a second to tell you about another birthday miracle; no school on Monday. See, here at the Abbey, we never have a legitimate weekend. Classes continue on Saturday and most Sundays, Donny and I have some sort of commitment which means its more like a 7-day work week. But on this glorious weekend, the planets and stars aligned! My birthday fell on one of those few weekends where the Abbey has an actual weekend!

And as if the family surprise and the promise of dinner with just the two of us wasn't enough of a gift, Donny and my mom coordinated another surprise; my birthday gift!

A Vitamix blender! The most powerful, versatile blender ON EARTH! It is said that if you want to know whether a restaurant is great, ask if they have a vitamix in their kitchen. Why? Because it saves tons of prep time, it makes the freshest dishes quickly, and it makes it easy to be creative and change up the menu often!

Since getting this irreplaceable kitchen tool, we have been livin' it up! Healthy style! From smoothies to soups, to sauces to sorbets, even to flour, freshly ground from wheat berries! We have had this blender for a couple weeks now and we have noticed a huge difference in our health and our happiness. For example, we went pumpkin and apple picking this month.

                

With everything we picked, we made pumpkin bread, apple and butternut squash soup, apple pie, apple juice, apple sauce, and so much more! 

Another example of how this blender has revolutionized out lives is in the morning. My midwife told me that a good way to know that I am eating well for me and the baby, is to eat a fruit or vegetable of each color of the rainbow. I can eat an apple or a banana or even a salad in a day, no problem, but thats only 3 colors! Plus its boring! Now, with my ingenious tool, I fulfill my rainbow requirement before 8AM with my rainbow smoothie. 

It includes:
Strawberry Kefir
Banana
Orange/Carrots
Spinach or Kale
Frozen Blueberries

Frozen Rasberries

Beets








And the best part is that it doesn't even taste healthy! Donny, Luisa and I just suck them down! We love our morning smoothies!

No, no, no! You want to know whats REALLY the best part?! This blender cleans itself! Let me repeat: IT CLEANS ITSELF! Which means I can make so many dishes in no time! So when Luisa sleeps, I blend. I blend the soup we will have for lunch, I ground the flour we will have to make our pasta, bread, or pizza dough we will have for our dinner, I blend the sauces that go with our dinner, I even blend us a nice healthy sorbet for dessert! I make it all with the freshest ingredients, all pretty much local and seasonal. 

This thing is truly a game changer! And getting this blender couldn't have come at a more perfect time. My 7 year old niece was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. To be honest, I never thought diabetes was that big of a deal. I knew plenty of people with it. But man, for a 7 year old with 3 (soon to be 4) younger siblings, it is tough! Testing her blood every 2 hours, even through the night, giving her shots 4-5 times a day, watching every little thing she eats! Its crazy! Anyways, ever since the diagnosis my family and I have been researching diabetes like crazy. What we have all come to realize is the serious problem with modern wheat. As a result, I have cut out all modern wheat from our house. We try to avoid it as much as possible but when we do have wheat, it's Einkorn wheat. Einkorn is the purest and the only unhybridized wheat that exists today. Because it's been untampered with for thousands of years, it is more nutritious and naturally low in gluten. It is a much simpler wheat, much less chromosomes, and therefore easier to digest. Since making the switch, we have come to see that Donny in fact has a mild gluten/wheat allergy and its unbelievable the difference the switch has made. Anyways, the Vitamix helps make this switch to Einkorn easy and delicious!

Suffices to say, I'm very happy with my Vitamix!

Luisa was a cat/leopard for Halloween. 

We did trick or treating with the other faculty kids as they went house to house, dorm to dorm, around campus.

Although October began bright, warm, and sunny, it has ended like this:

With Boots and hats!

Oh, and here is my first Maternity Monday...Wednesday! 23 weeks!

 

 

Sweater: Banana Republic

Pants: Gap

Shoes: Minnetonka

What was your October like?