THECARROLLEXTRAVAGANZA: October 2012

CSA

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. We have recently joined a CSA in the Houston area and we LOVE it. Here what they offer:

-Locally grown, organic produce that was picked within the last week

-Drop site locations all around the Houston area

-Pay half up front for a season and remaining balance half way through. It comes out to $29/week.

-You can add other products to your order week by week to pick up along with your produce. They have other farms in the area you can purchase from, all on the same website, week by week. For instance, you can add a whole chicken, eggs, cheese, yogurt, honey, fresh herbs, etc. to your order and it is ready to pick up at the same location and time you pick up your veggies.

I think the whole thing is awesome. Sooooo many benefits…eating healthy, no lines at the grocery store, and it’s supporting local farmers. If anyone is interested, here’s the website: www.homesweetfarm.com. Here’s what our first share looked like for this week (cost for all of this was right around $70):

2 Tomatoes, 4 Squash, 3 Sweet Potatoes, 4 Bell Peppers, a Bunch of Arugula, A bunch of Broccoli Greens, 12 oz. of Green Beans, A Whole Chicken, A Pint of Yogurt, 8 oz of Cheese, a Dozen Eggs, and a Large Jar of Honey.

Sariah Summer- 9 Months

Sariah is now 9 months old. She weighs 18 pounds, 6.4 ounces (37% for weight), her length is 28.25 inches long (69% for length), and 17.52 inches for her head circumference (62% for HC). She has a very sweet personality and we love her to death. She loves to play with toys, especially push things around, and loves to put everything in her mouth. She is starting to stand for a few seconds here and there without holding on to anything, but she’s totally mastered pulling herself to standing.

We are, however, a little concerned about our sweet girl. She has not even attempted any type of babble whatsoever. The only thing she ever says is “Aaaaa” or “Oooo”. On top of that, she may be having seizures when she hits her head. We’ve seen this happen seven times in the last few months. Anyway, we don’t want to jump to any conclusions yet. We are scheduled to see a pediatric neurologist next week. We are also scheduled to see an audiologist, but I really don’t think it’s her hearing. Just keep her in your prayers and pray that we would make the best decisions regarding her health. We will love her the same no matter if it’s something minor or life changing.

Here are some pictures of her recently.

Oh, and she loves to eat. She just eats what we're having for dinner now. No more baby food!

She loves to see all the sights and hear all the sounds outside.

She thinks she's a big girl here. She is at the toddler play place in the mall. She was looking around at the other children.

"This is the life, Mom."

"I'm so sleepy."

That pool was fun and all, but there's nothing like sitting in Mommy's lap wrapped in a warm towel.

First time eating watermelon. She got really mad when we took it away. This was a couple of months ago when she just started eating table food.

She likes the front seat of the double stroller a lot better then the back seat.

Chillin' at the art table. She's always trying to eat the crayons and playdough.

Messy baby!

She's mastered the pincher grasp. She picks everything off the floor like really tiny specs of stuff all the time. They go straight to her mouth. I've pretty much given up at this point. It's constant. There's no telling what little specs she's eaten.

"Daddy is so cool!"

Ashlyn Avery- 23 Months

Ashlyn is getting so close to being two. She hasn’t changed too much over the last two months except talks even more (basically talks our ears off) and has started showing episodes of beginning the “Terrible Twos”, oh my…

Ramon and I said, "Oh no! Who drew on the wall?!" Ashlyn said very quickly and matter of factually, "Maesto did it." Maestro is the cat. We said, "Maestro did it? I don't think Maestro did it. Did Ashlyn do it?" She said, "Ashlyn did it." We made her clean it.

Ashlyn refused to eat her peaches and was demanding more waffles. I told her to eat her peach. I turned (for maybe 5 seconds) and I heard a big plop in my milk...

This look says it all:

Showing off for some random mom at the mall.

She still loves being a big sister though (and maybe being a little bossy), but she can be very sweet too.

"See the airplane?!!!" One of the MANY things I'm asked to look at throughout a day.

This was her idea...Daddy got some on his face too.

This morning I asked her if she wanted to go for a walk. She said "Yes." I found her by the front door waiting to go wearing daddy's had and carrying her purse. Daddy always takes his hat and Mommy always takes her purse.