Autumn

Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,

With banners, by great gales incessant fanned,

Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,
And stately oxen harnessed to thy wain!

So lately I have been thinking about food...

Food keeps coming into the forefront of mind and I keep thinking of things I want to say about food and therefore this post came into existence.

Yum. These are the best cupcakes I have ever made. Toasted Marshmallow-Cookie dough-Chocolate cupcakes from the Joythebaker website. 

I love cooking, baking and especially eating food. We need food to survive, but really it is so much more than that. I am not by any means an incredible chef, but I can make some tasty meals. I have been thinking about what it takes to make food taste good and I came up with a list of important things. They are:

Feelin' Fallish

I love pumpkins! ( i just used a pot I found out in our yard for that stand) I do not have any Halloween/Fall decorations so I got all of these pumpkins at the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago and tried to be creative with them.

Ten.

Elanor turned 10 months in the tenth month and on the tenth day, so here are ten things I love about Elanor and ten new things she can do:

Our Trip(s) to the (3) Pumpkin Patch(es)

On Saturday, we decided to go to a pumpkin patch.  Tyler and I both really wanted to go to a real pumpkin patch, not a place that sells pumpkins. This proved to be a little difficult. We looked  up some pumpkin patches online and found that there were quite a few in Salt Lake County.  Most of them were down in South and West Jordan and thus a thirty minute drive. We found a few that were a little closer. We first went to the Historic Wheeler farm (only maybe 10-15 minutes away).

Elanor and Tyler at the Historic Wheeler Farm

Of sunny afternoons...

Playing in the grass,

Just a thought...backed up by fiction.

All day I have been thinking about how important the first year is for a baby. They learn so many things in that first year, but most importantly they develop relationships---close relationships--with their parents. I have been pondering on how a baby clings to its parents, especially its mother, for security, love, entertainment, etc. This got me thinking about some of literature's most famous orphans. There are several, but Anne Shirley (of Anne of Green Gables and the rest of the series by L.M. Montgomery) and Harry Potter came to mind. Both of these orphans were born to good parents who loved them and took care of them for the first year or so. I believe this made all the difference. Anne and Harry are very similar in many ways. They both lost their parents when they were babies, were both handed off to families who did not love them, and then around the age of eleven both found a place (Hogwarts for Harry and Avonlea with the Cuthberts for Anne) where they belonged and people loved them. They both had some insecurities associated with their backgrounds. However, despite the fact that no one in their memory before the age of eleven or twelve had ever loved them, they both had the incredible capacity to love very deeply. How could they possibly love others when they had never felt it themselves? I believe they had. That first year of babyhood (even if not in their memory) taught them how to love and trust because they formed that bond with their parents.

I know these are fictitious characters, but I think they are a great example. The Harry Potter books give us another example of another orphan,Voldemort/Tom Riddle. In many respects, he was very similar to Harry. He grew up in a place where no one loved him and when he turned eleven he made Hogwarts his home. However, Voldemort was born in an orphanage and his mother died soon after. His genes were not all that great either (crazy grandfather and uncle), but his mother did love. I think, that if Voldemort's mother had survived (even for a year) he may not have turned out quite so bad and not underestimated the power of love. Instead , he was brought up in an orphanage, where he was cared for, but not loved and became not only evil, but callous. Of course this is all completely made up. None of these people exist, but there is something to learn here. I never thought about before, but Harry and Anne are perfect examples of why we should be great parents--because that first year makes all the difference.

Babies need hugs, kisses, cuddles, your time and your love. I am so glad I am a stay-at-home mom. I know there are many people that have to work, go to school, etc. but if you have the chance to be a stay-at-home mom (even for the first year) take it. I think it makes all the difference. It did in the imaginary world for Anne and Harry. Babies need to learn how to love. We have to be the ones to teach them.

Is it that time already?

Yep. Elanor is 9 months as of September 10th. I can't believe how fast it has gone. She is developing her personality and I am so excited to see who she is becoming, but at the same time want her to stay my little, cuddly, baby forever.

 This picture was rather difficult to get, as she kept getting down and crawling towards me (she wanted the camera). My mom got this dress for her in Bath, England---I love it!