What We're Into: August 2015

Music:

These two have definitely been my albums of the summer. Devin tells me that Colony house is the son or sons of Michael W. Smith correction, Steven Curtis Chapman...you'll have to fact check him on that but I'm guessing it's true. Regardless, it's really fun and good. And of course, I love anything by John Mark...

Shows:

We've been watching the summer season of MasterChef, as usual.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a Netflix series (thanks for the recommendation Christen!). The first season was really funny and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the humor is slightly off color though, as a disclaimer.

And...hanging out with Harvey and Mike on the summer season of Suits. 

Books:

I'm just getting started on both of these...

Jen Hatmaker's new book came out this week. So far, I'm really liking it. As usual with JH, I've found myself nodding in agreement and laughing out loud.

My mom started recommending Rebeca a few years ago and people keep telling me to read it. So finally, I am. I struggle to really get into fiction, but I think I'm going to like it. Devin is listening to it on audible at the same time so that's fun.

Life Recently...

In a matter of two weeks we decided to move, accepted a new job offer, sold our house, and bought a new house in Indy. 

Crazy.

But that's just how we do things...fast and furious. Maybe someday we'll slow down. God has been so faithful to provide and all the housing stuff couldn't have gone smoother. Not that there haven't been rough patches. The last couple weeks have been two of the most emotional and stressful weeks of my life. Yeah, I've had an easy life. 

But more about the move later. I really want to document our last weeks in our city and our home.

Mother's Day with my two boys. Gosh, I love these kids. I fail as their mom so, so much, but hopefully they'll look back fondly at being raised by me.

An afternoon at our neighborhood park. Going to miss this place.

Ira is growing so fast. He is so smiley and precious and as long as I don't eat too much dairy, he's pretty happy and low maintenance. The worst thing...he doesn't like the car. Lots of screaming in the car these days...at least on trips of more than an hour. Real fun.

We pretty much always do birthdays with Molly's family. My goal is to keep this tradition as much as possible even after we move. Marlee turned 10! She is such a sweet and beautiful girl and it's so fun seeing her grow up. She is such a great cousin to Henrik!

Henrik is smart. I don't say that in a braggy way. He just is...in a 'street smart' kind of way that makes him really funny but also infuriating at times. I took the above photo after he started calling me "Em" one morning with a smirk on his face.

Henrik generally ignores Ira, stopping to say hi to him at random times. He seems to like him and thinks it's funny when Ira accidentally touches him. He'll say "Ira's tickling me!". Henrik has started to really dislike when Ira cries. He covers his ears. When he's really tired and Ira starts crying he immediately starts waling. This is usually in the car. Again, real fun.

Ira wearing his cute outfit from Leah. :)

As of today, we have an accepted offer on a house. And will probably only have a week of being displaced or needing to live apart since Devin will start at his job before we close on the house. The house and location isn't what we originally had in mind or really a place I ever envisioned us living (the suburbs - gasp), but it's a beautiful home and made a lot of sense in many different ways. But for now, we have a few more weeks to wrap up life here and soak in time with people we love.

What We're Into To: April 2015

FOOD

These breakfast cookies! So simple and healthy

 and the perfect breakfast to grab out of the fridge for kids or adults. Recipe here.

This bark (we got ours from Costco) is life changing. Too addicting, if I'm honest.

This food blog:

I'm temporarily cutting out dairy for Ira and also on a 30 day hiatus from refined sugar, so her recipes have been a perfect way for me to still have some sweets. I would love to get her cookbook (Devin, hint hint).

MUSIC

I'm really into this Jesus Culture album, a couple songs in particular that I've played on repeat lately.

Kim Walker-Smith has such a dynamite voice...it really is captivating. 

SHOWS

When Henrik was born we started watching West Wing (totally recommend) in the evenings when he would cluster feed. So for Ira we needed a new evening nursing show. Devin found this one and it has been perfect. A Chef's Life is like my ideal show. Food, real life, no sketchiness, no cliffhangers, but interesting enough to keep you wanting the next episode. I would kill to learn in the kitchen under Vivian Howard. 

We're finally all caught up on Suits. It's a bit too dramatic for me at times but still really like it, especially the main characters.

When I'm home alone in the evenings nursing I've been watching Mr. Selfridge. I've always liked Jeremy Piven and I think his acting is phenomenal in this show.

BOOKS

Our community group is reading this:

We're only a few chapters in but so far it's good. Maybe not anything that has been mind-blowing though. Does that sound arrogant?

I'm doing this study with my women's group through church:

We're a couple weeks away from finishing. I definitely know more about the history and content of 1 and 2 Thessalonians than I ever have. As usual, I appreciate Beth Moore and her in-depth studies and always feel like she's so solid in her theology. 

The Birth "Plan"

It appears this baby is going to be here pretty soon. I'm dilated 4cm as of Thursday and all other signs point to going into labor at any time. So, in light of that, I thought I'd type out some of my thoughts on the birth plan. I put plan in quotation marks because I know that plans should be held loosely and sometimes things just don't go as "planned".

But, if things could go according to my plan, this is what would be ideal for the birth of baby boy...

My overall theme would be a birth with as few interventions as possibly. Ideally, none.

I definitely plan to let my body go into labor when it's ready. Thankfully, my Dr/Midwife would never even suggest an induction unless the baby was definitely at risk. Assuming that's not the case, I would not plan to be induced regardless of how late I go. But that's easy to say when you're 39 weeks and having signs of labor. :)

I haven't chosen where I'll give birth yet. I'm waiting until I go into labor. At that time I'll call my practice and they will find out if either hospital has a room with a tub open. I really, really want the option of using a tub during labor (possibly even birthing in it). I hear one of the hospitals is good about not giving those rooms to women who plan to get an epidural, so I'm hopeful there will be one open.

Once we're at the hospital, I would like to be as mobile as possible, so I won't be getting an IV and I'll ask for intermittent monitoring. This should allow me to not be hooked up to anything and be able to be in the tub, on a birthing ball, yoga mat, or really whatever I want to be doing. Obviously, it would not be in the plan to have an epidural or any pain meds. This is a side note, but I also don't plan to step foot in a hospital gown, which I didn't realize you could refuse until recently. Seriously, if you want to feel super ugly and fat, put a hospital gown on when you're 40+ weeks pregnant. My doctor recommends some sort of long shirt, short dress, or just a sports bra for giving birth. He says healthy women giving birth aren't sick patients who need hospital gowns. To me that's such a liberating thought.

At this point, it'll just be breathing and coping and waiting and trying not to die from the pain. :) Hopefully this is where my doula and Devin will be sources of strength and remind me of the end goal. Speaking of our doula, I haven't decided if I'll have her labor at home with us or just meet us at the hospital, I guess I'll have to see when the time comes.

I really think that's it. I don't have any set plans for pushing except for following my body and hopefully some good coaching at the end to minimize tearing, if possible. My doctor said that with the kind of tearing I had last time it would be almost impossible to avoid tearing at all this time, but hopefully it will at least be less. One of three people will deliver him, either the Doctor or one of two midwives. There is one midwife who would be my preference for delivery, but I think any of the three will be great.

So for now I'm just eating pineapple and lounging on a birthing ball. The waiting game is always hard emotionally, but I'm thankful to be doing it at almost 39 weeks instead of almost 41 weeks like with Henrik.

Homemade Eye Makeup Remover

Several months ago I pinned a recipe for homemade eye makeup remover ("they" say eye makeup remover is one of the most toxic self-care products). At the time, I was still using up stuff I had purchased and I don't go through it very quickly, so I'm just now getting around to trying it out.

The original formula I used from this blog needs altered slightly. It was too soapy, in my opinion. But overall, it works great and is really easy and cheap to throw together.

Ingredients:

Directions: Heat one cup of filtered water in the microwave for one minute. Stir in one tablespoon of coconut oil and one tablespoon of liquid castile soap. Lastly, stir in three drops of lemon essential oil. Voila.

Homemade products tend to settle, so you might need to shake once or twice before using.

Also, one cup is a lot of eye makeup remover. I'd recommend halving the recipe unless you go through it really quickly. I think it would stay good for awhile, but I think it's annoying to have to store the extra.

The above photo shows what my recipe made. The container on the right is my old eye makeup remover bottle. I'll never go through all of this, so a serious offer to anyone who lives nearby and wants some free eye makeup remover. Bring a little bottle over and I'll fill it up. Seriously!

What We've Been Into in January

Okay, January was a long month. Lots of snow. Lots of below zero temperatures, meaning, lots of indoor time for us. Some days I felt like I was going to go crazy. Other times I was very happy and content so be in our cozy home with Henrik for the day.

All the indoor time meant more time in front of the TV, which I'm not crazy about, but it is what it is. Here are some things we've been into this past month...

MOVIES / TV

Okay, I usually end up thinking movies are a waste of time, being bored, being disgusted, annoyed, etc. Not this time. I totally recommend Captain Phillips! It's definitely intense and I usually can't handle intense movies, but it wasn't intense in a gory, hard to stomach way. Nothing sexual. I can't remember about language, which probably means it wasn't bad (in my opinion). And movies based on true stories, despite being exaggerated, are always more interesting I think. Best movie I've seen in a long time.

That's really the only thing we watched that's worth recommending. Mostly it was just reruns on TV or Parks & Rec.

BOOKS

I have a couple books I'm waiting for at the library, so in the mean time...

My friend Leah got this as a gift while back (maybe housewarming?) and I had looked through it briefly, but never sat down and read through it. I'm really enjoying the food lessons and inspiration!

 These have been some of Henrik's favorites lately. We got so many amazing books as gifts so it's been fun rotating them, but he especially has enjoyed these three this month. I always get a little tired of all of his books after the third or fourth time, but I love that he enjoys being read to and looking at books on his own!

MUSIC

I'm still loving this album:

And Devin discovered this EP, which we've both enjoyed:

As usual, we're drinking through the two pounds of Utopian Coffee we get each month. Still the best local coffee in our opinion.

Henrik hasn't been sleeping the greatest lately and with my back issues, we've used a lot of these oils this month:

Well, I can't say I mind seeing January come to a close. One month closer to spring!

 Happy February to you!

Ten Random Facts

About me, Emily, the author of this blog.

ONE

During these long, cold winter days I daydream about being in a cute little cottage somewhere in the country of France (summer of course). I ride my bike into town every morning to buy groceries for that night's dinner. I spend my afternoon walking around a vineyard or napping in the sunshine. Then I spend my evenings cooking a fabulous meal and drinking dry, red wine. Of course, Devin and Henrik are there. ;)





TWO

I'm sort of addicted to reading blogs of people I dislike. I don't actually know these people, but I stumbled across their blogs somehow and keep going back despite the large amount of eye rolling I do through the entire post. But I just. can't. stop.

THREE

We don't solely do organic food / products. Given other things I'm into, that probably surprises people. But I typically buy what makes sense at the time. Sometimes it's organic, mostly it's not. I have in no way been convinced that organic-only is the way to go.

FOUR

I got kicked out of school for a few days when I was in the eighth grade. A girl in my class brought a bottle of caffeine pills to school and a few of us took some. Yep, caffeine. I got suspended because I took pills that had the same effect as the Mountain Dew in the school's vending machines. I'm pretty sure the school also made us girls see a counselor, which I'm sorry to report did nothing because 12 years later I'm still "on" caffeine.

FIVE

I'm having crazy back issues right now. I don't talk about it a lot because it's a boring topic of conversation, but daily I'm in a lot of pain. I'm hoping this new chiropractor I'm seeing is going to work things out.

SIX

I'm the youngest of five children. Of my four older siblings, three of them are girls and range from 5-10 years older than me. Growing up my sisters played the role of mother, friend, sometimes enemy, and yes, sister. I'm not sure I would have always said this throughout my life, but having sisters are the best thing that can happen to a girl. I always feel bad for anyone who doesn't have a sister, or three of them for that matter.

My three older sisters and me. Summer 2012

SEVEN

I used to have four different piercings at one point in my life (several years ago). I'm now down to one (normal ear piercing). I'm thinking about bringing my nose ring back but that would require going somewhere to get it done which sounds too hard.

EIGHT

My former job required that I wore skirts to work everyday (which sounds crazy when you stop and think about it). Now that I'm not working I've enjoyed purging my closet of "work skirts" that would have never been in my closet normally. It's nice to look in my closet and see only outfits that I like. Nothing against skirts or dresses, I wear them a lot in summer, but the whole 'knee length black skirt' thing needed to go.

NINE

Despite being a Christian, I very much dislike Christian radio and it's always a last resort of something to listen to. Some of you totally know what I'm talking about.

TEN

Tonight for dinner we're having this: Falafel with Avocado Spread

It's definitely more of a summer meal...but I'm sick of winter food.

Joining In

Keeping up with Sarah and An...

I'm currently obsessed with: Moisturizing my hands. This change of weather finds me using serious hand creme all day long.


My biggest pet peeve is: It's not my biggest, but one of them: when people throw recyclables in the trash when there's a recycling bin RIGHT next to the trash. Or when people who have easy access to recycling don't do it.

I could eat an endless supply of: Homemade hummus. I took a hummus break awhile ago because I was starting to get sick of it. Then several months ago I started making my own and it's a million times better than anything you can buy. With some Stacy's pita crisps? My favorite lunch.

I'm currently reading: I'm kind of in between books. But I did technically start the book Salvation and Sovereignty per my dad's request. Dad and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye on this subject (don't worry, it's a friendly debate) so he asked me to read a book that he thinks has the issue captured. In turn, he's agreed to read some of my stuff, but I think I have to actually finish his first. We'll see. :)

My bedtime recently has been: 9:45-10. I start thinking about bed a lot earlier than that. But by the time I'm actually in bed and sleeping it's around 10. I'm definitely not a night owl and one of those people who needs close to 8 hours consistently to function.

The last movie I watched was: I'm honestly not sure. I really don't watch movies, much to Devin's dismay. It's so hard to find a good movie that it's really not worth the time to me. I'm more of a TV show kind of girl. They're shorter and ongoing so stories can develop more. I'm really into Call the Midwife (even though it depresses me) and...

We just finished the entire series of West Wing. Since we were in our teens when it was airing and popular, we didn't really know about it. Then, last year at Christmas, Devin's cousin recommended it. We started it shortly after Henrik was born and I was sitting on the couch nursing most of my life and we were HOOKED. We watched the final episode last evening and it was so sad to see it come to end. Seriously such a good show. Unless you're a hard core Republican and love politics, then it would drive you crazy because it's about a Democrat President and his staff, but if you can look past that, it's worth your time.

I'm writing this while: Henrik is napping. Otherwise he would be clinging to my legs or wanting me to hold him and thus be pounding on the keyboard.

The scripture that has really been speaking to me is: Various Psalms. I've found myself not really sure what/where to read lately and have enjoyed the prayers of the Psalms.

On days when I don't leave the house, I: Wear leggings and a t-shirt all day, clean a lot, do laundry, and try to have quality play time and reading with Henny. I always enjoy these days, but I'm also super ready for Devin to get home by the end of them.

If I could hug anyone today it would be: I'm not a bigger 'hugger'. But I could squeeze Henrik all day long. And Devin, I love him too.

More of Audrey

Tonight we get to see Audrey Assad in concert again (we just saw her last month!). She's opening for Rend Collective, which to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of, but with their energy and instruments I'm sure they'll be fun live.

Lately I've been listening to this song from Audrey on repeat. In concert last month it actually moved me to tears, which is so rare for my unemotional self. Despite our differences in theology, I cannot get over her beautiful voice and powerful lyrics.

(I know, you all are all like, yeah we know how you feel you've done a post like this before. But whatever...just listen.)

Devin says we're going to be all crazy and go to Steak 'n Shake after the concert before relieving the babysitter. We're wild.

On Halloween

I don't like Halloween. I don't think it should be in the 'holiday' category and I think Halloween decorations are about as ugly as it gets.

That being said...

Dressing up is fun, especially for kids.

Getting candy is fun, especially for kids.

We didn't do much trick-or-treating when I was young, but the little we did (or the candy I got from the church "harvest" party) was so fun! Nothing thrilled me more than emptying my pumpkin basket on the living room floor and sorting through my loot (while keeping my older siblings at bay).

I tend to enjoy playing devil's advocate (no pun intended), so right now with some of the conservative crowd doing their "we don't participate in Halloween" blogs, I like take a different stance.

I'm not going to over-spiritualize this event. Sure, trick-or-treating is a great way to get to know your neighbors and warmly give something to others. But I'm not going to say that to make Halloween acceptable one must pass out a tract or Bible verse with the candy (though it's a good idea).

I'm also not going to piously say that our kids won't get to dress up and get candy like the other kids because of our faith (even though I totally understand this train of thought as well).

I tend to think that I can dress Henrik up in his cute little (handed down from cousins) Lion costume, take him around to some family so they can awe at how cute he is and to some neighbors just to say hi, and not partake in anything evil or ungodly. And as much as I cringe passing out highly processed and fatty candy to kids who don't need it, it's a fun excuse to have miniature Kit Kats around the house. Because, let's face it, Kit Kats are dang good.

And those are my thoughts on Halloween.

I should add that I'm secretly hoping it's storming like crazy from 6-8 tonight (sorry, Dev) because I hate passing out candy to strangers and I'd rather just sit inside eating those Kit Kats and watching Henrik crawl around in his Lion costume. :)

The Spending Freeze

Right now Devin and I are halfway through a spending freeze. It was a pretty sporadic decision that we didn't put a lot of thought into. One day I decided we buy a lot of crap we don't need and it'd be a fun challenge to only spend money on necessities like groceries and gas and monthly bills. Devin easily went along with it. Thus...

About a week into it, I was thinking how easy this was. However, seeing as we have a couple weeks left, I'm realizing this month might get a little long. My list of "things to buy in November" is growing. Which in some ways feels like it defeats the purpose if we're just delaying the purchase.

But, overall it has felt like a good discipline and has avoided several things that we won't end up spending money on and just don't need in general. I wanted to do this as part of something I'm starting to dive into: the long process of overhauling and simplifying our household. Purging. Reorganizing. And changing areas of how we live, eat, spend, clean, etc.

It's also been good for me to be forced to find something to cook on an evening where I'm getting home late or feeling lazy and would normally text Devin to pick up Chipotle on his way home. Although, if we're being honest, I think we'd both be thrilled if some people randomly asked us out to eat sometime before the end of the month. Not that I'm hinting or anything.

I'm kind of surprised we haven't cheated by accident or by justifying something. Although I have a feeling Devin has probably bought something on iTunes without thinking. Devin?
I do think I will have to bend the rules and buy poor Henrik some socks. He only has one pair of socks that fit right now and in case you haven't noticed, it's sock weather.

In addition to the spending freeze, I thought it'd be fun to do some extra giving outside of what comes out of my bank account on a monthly basis without me even noticing. We agreed we would give to our church, and then each of us pick a person or organization. I don't think either of us have decided on that yet, so feel free so suggest somewhere/someone if you know of a need!

Stitch Fail

You've probably heard of Stitch Fix. If not, here's the 10 second pitch: You fill out personal style information, they send you a box of clothes/accessories, you keep what you want, and send back what you don't like.

I more did it out of curiosity. It just sounded too fun to get a box of surprise clothes in the mail. Also, I'm not a bigger shopper, It's not something I make time for. So, clothes delivered to my door? Yes.

My first (and last) Stitch Fix

I guess you know where this is headed based on the previous caption and the title of this post. Overall, I was unimpressed with Stitch Fix. I kept one out of the five items because it made sense to use the $20 styling fee (which goes towards any item you keep).

I told their "stylists" the more adventurous, the better. Not classic, not chic, send me the fun stuff.

Um, they sent me red jeans, a black cardigan, and a bird print dress. The dress was okay, but you'd basically have to be six feet tall to look good in it (I almost saved it for my sister Sara's birthday, but it would have barely covered her thighs). Nothing against red jeans, I had some maternity red jeans and loved them, but I would call them a staple piece, not adventurous. And the black cardigan looked like something I would buy my mom for Christmas.

I'm thinking this company is geared towards the 30+ age group. The items they sent me felt more appropriate for someone 10 years older than me.  I think I'll look 25 while I can. ;)

The positives? They adhered to my 'no bright colors' policy. I was very specific that I don't wear pink or orange and they definitely stuck with cooler colors, which I appreciated.

These two items were pretty good. I kept the shirt, which you can't see all that well. It fit nicely; loose, but not too flowy. I liked the sleeve length and cut, and I don't really have any shirts that dark green color. 
The scarf was okay print-wise, but was a chiffon type material, which I don't like. I have tons of scarves I like way better, so it would never get worn. Return. 

Overall, it was fun to try, but I won't be placing any more orders.

Rookie Mistakes: Part Two

Part One on Pregnancy/Delivery: here

Post delivery thoughts and what I would do differently next time (or things I'll do exactly the same)...

This might have belonged more in the first post, but I'm glad I had Henrik in a hospital. Not because of the safety thing. Really, with how smoothly things went, there's no reason I couldn't have had him in a birthing center or at home. And really, someone with my birth preferences probably should do a birthing center or home birth. However, I'm one of those rare people that really like hospitals. I loved being pampered for a few days. I loved having people come see us in the hospital. I loved picking up a phone and ordering a strawberry milkshake. I loved the help from lactation consultants. I loved the free diaper bag (even if I already had one and chose girly colors). I loved our nurses. There are aspects of a birthing center that would be so much more my style...but bring your own food and be out within 24 hours? No thanks (unless our insurance situation would totally change). And birth is messy so you're crazy if you think I'm gonna do that in my house.

Contrary to the degrading breastfeeding blogs I read in the month or so after Henrik was born, not every woman naturally produces enough to feed their child. This was so frustrating. Nursing a kid for 40 minutes only to have him cry of hunger afterwards was pretty disheartening. I remember sleeping for like three hours straight once, soon after he was born and was amazed when I woke up that my mom had gotten him to sleep. She then told me she had given him 2 ounces of formula and he conked out. It's funny now, but I was actually annoyed at my mom for giving him the bottle. I was all paranoid, "will he prefer formula?" "will he nurse bad now?" etc. That was dumb. It took me close to two months to realize we just needed to supplement a little formula after each feeding. Once we did, we had a totally different kid. It was amazing.
That being said, formula stinks, is expensive, and it's just a huge pain to nurse and then give a bottle, so next time I'm hoping to get ahead of the game. I've found herbs and products and hope to put together a good plan for increasing and sustaining my milk supply in hopes of little to no supplementing. And hopefully Henrik isn't scarred for life from being hungry the first few weeks of his life.

Two words: disposable underwear. The ones at the hospital were great, but they ran out a couple days after we got home. Thankfully I have a stellar husband who was happy to run to CVS to pick up embarrassing items. :)

I had some really good tips from blog friends about things to take the hospital, so that was helpful. Having a good bath robe was was one of the best decisions. I'm not picky about pillows, but I do wish I would have brought my own blanket (better fabric). I also should have had someone bring coffee every morning since the hospital coffee was the worst and I needed a half cup or so to clear my head in the morning.

Having my mom come and stay was definitely the best decision. It was a good call to have her come a day or two after we got home. That gave us a chance to get settled, but also brought in reinforcements as the newness wore off for all parties. ;) I do think I should have let people help a bit more. It was awesome having meals, but I'm pretty sure people offered to do other things, like clean or laundry and I definitely should have swallowed my pride and let that happen.

I have mixed feelings about how rigid we were I was with training Henrik to not need rocked/held to sleep and to not need nursed to sleep. I guess I can't really say I know what things would be like if we hadn't done that. Maybe we'd totally regret it now? But here's what I will say...
We loosely followed the babywise schedule. Key word, loosely. It all pretty much got thrown out the window when Henrik was around 4 months and making him take a nap at a certain time or for a certain length was (and still is) laughable. It did seem to work well in his early life. He was sleeping through the night most of the time by 2.5 months, so that was awesome. But here's what I regret: Henrik does not fall asleep being held. So he might be crazy tired in church or at someone's house, and the idea of rocking him to sleep in our arms or him falling asleep on our shoulder is absurd. I get so jealous of people whose baby's are cashed on them. Secondly, I feel like I missed out on some time of just cuddling my new baby boy. Obviously we held him a ton, but next time I'm just going to relax, strap my baby to me lots more, and enjoy it, knowing he'll grow up way too fast.

 I'm sure there are more and I know there will be more and time goes on, but these are the ones that come to mind from Henrik's young life thus far.

Beautiful & Prayerful

Are the words I would use to describe the new album by Audrey Assad. I really love her, well her music, I can't say I know her. Though, I have walked right past her at a concert and was too shy to tell her how much I adore her songs. But I'm going to see her again in November, so maybe I'll get the courage.

Source

These songs speak to my heart so much. The lyrics are deep and her voice is gorgeous. The songs aren't typical either, which I appreciate. Not the standard verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus. Devin said she can do this because she's not with a label so there isn't pressure to do things the traditional way. She did a kickstart project for this album, which means she raised the money for it before she produced it. I think that's cool.

So far, this is my favorite from the album...

From the love of my own comfort,
From a fear of having nothing,
From a life of wordly passions,
Deliver Me, O God.

I'd love to gift her album to someone. Watch the video above and if you like it, leave a comment by Friday.

Labor Day Vacation

The much anticipated getaway is over. It's sad, but also not, because I love our real life too (most of the time). As usual, spending time in a much more fun city raises so many questions for us about where we want to be long-term. Do we sacrifice living in a not-so-cool area for being close to friends and family? Or do we branch out and do now what we might regret not doing in the future? The question looms...

Anyway, we had a great weekend with my parents and then a fun couple nights away while they kept our little doll baby boy. If you follow me on Instagram you've seen a lot of these (and more). I mostly instagrammed like crazy to have all our best vacation pics in one place with a hashtag.

Henny was so excited to go on vacation! Or, maybe was just excited that mama was joining him in the back seat on the drive. :)

This boy got tons of quality time with Grandma and loved every bit of it.

Brown Bear burgers and ale. I did the black and bleu, Dev did the pineapple/jalepeno. So good! I didn't take a picture of mom's grilled chicken and vegetables. :)

Henrik sneakily grabbed a fry off of dad's plate. Thankfully he dropped it before taste testing.

Always need a good 'big lake' shot. Love this place.

And a good 'small lake' shot.

Yes, the boy got lots of attention. He also got his first taste of ice cream. I totally caved. But then had to put a stop to it because I think mom would have fed him the whole cone. "Oh, he's not getting much!" She kept saying.

Sander's chocolate bowl. Enough said.

H might have loved his Grandpa time even more than his Grandma time. Dad can't even walk through the room without Henrik vying for his attention.

Sunscreen plus water...crazy hair!

Baby boy loved the water and hanging out on the dock!

As usual, these two found lots of time to fish.

As usual, mom made some great food. (I helped.)

H feeling like big stuff sitting in the restaurant high chair eating his squeezable meal.

The boys.

On Monday, Dev and I took off down the west shore. Stopping for lunch, some shopping, and some awesome mid-afternoon cake.

Chilly beach walk.

Hands down, the best sushi we've had in a long time, maybe ever.

The bridge we walked on early in our dating.

This is how I would describe Grand Rapids...vintage meets modern.

Amazing breakfast spot. We went back the second morning because it seemed like a shame to only eat there once.

This was chorizo with regular and sweet potatoes and peppers and lots of amazing spices with a couple poached eggs on top.

This is such a mom picture. We went to the cutest children's store. I was oohing and ahhing over the baby carriers and wooden toys and cloth diaper selection and baby skin products. This was the changing station in the bathroom. I was kind of sad Henrik wasn't with us to try out all these fun things. :) Like I said, such a mom.

View from our room.

Art Museum

Grand Rapids is full of awesome, local joints, I think we only saw a couple chains in the whole downtown area - totally our kind of place. All these fun breweries and gastro pubs with phenomenal food and cool atmospheres. Above, Devin with his flight at GR Brewing Co.

All the while, Henny was having a grand time with his (grand)parents.

Crappy front-camera shot. I always forget to ask someone to take our photo.

And finally, back home with our dolly.

Oops wait, just got these from Devin and blogspot stinks at moving around photos. So, out of order...

Stumbled across the exact same spot we took a similar photo two years ago. Remember this?

LOVE

We always ride our bike the same route each time we go to the lake house. Love this guy.