For some reason, I've been doing a lot of baking lately...more than usual, especially with the new baby. Recently I made Chocolate Chip cookies, Ciabatta bread, Apple Pie, Pecan Mandelbrot, and Cinnamon Rolls from scratch. Perhaps its the weather which has been downright chilly, almost wintry at times. Last week we spotted our first snowflakes gathering slightly on the deck. The deer are starting to show their faces again in our woods. And last weekend we caught a glimpse of the long white feet of a snowshoe hare. (Their furry coats turn from brown to all white in the winter.) I did some baking too partly because my mom was up for a visit last week. She came bearing a big bag of freshly picked Haralson apples. We did some tag-team baking which is best when there is a little baby around. I made the crust and streusel topping, she made the apple filling. And perhaps I've been baking more because I'd been reading the latest Amish novel by Beverly Lewis. She is always writing about delicious sounding things they are baking up and I think it soaks into my fiber a little as well. The characters are often sharing these baked goodies with their neighbors and extended family too...which makes me want to do this more often with my neighbors. So banana bread is up next on the baking agenda. (The aging bananas on my counter are dictating this one.)
Lately I've been thinking how much I love being a mom too. I think I love it even more than I thought I would. I remember the day I felt thoroughly like I was a real true "mom". It was the Saturday morning that Hub and I took little Bub to get his 3 month photos taken at JCPenney because we had a coupon and then afterwards ran some errands. I picked up some bags of frozen vegetables...something I never used to buy (except for frozen peas because they're best that way) but now I thought they'd be nice to have on hand in a pinch. I don't know...photos at JCPenney and frozen vegetables sounded and felt very "mommy-ish" to me at the time. Although my baking may have increased lately, my cooking quality sure has fallen a bit...hence the frozen veggies. It's a give and take I guess...where one thing exceeds, something else must give a little!
All for now ~ there's a baby crying!
...just a few photos to share of my finished 
Today was a day I wanted to lock tight forever in my memory.
To always remember the way the wind blew through the trees, dry leaves rustling and blowing...
the flowers turned to soft puffs of white... 
my little garden sorely neglected this summer, now overrun with leaves... 
the blue of the sky, the perfect warmth of the sun...
the content feeling of my little one riding snug against my belly in the babybjorn, holding his tiny fingers and knowing he was just as content and happy to be outside on this perfect day too... 
showing him our colorful Maple, just a bit past peak...
to enjoy each day, always remembering each day is a blessing, a gift...realizing anew that I have it so good to be able to enjoy each day, each moment with my little one, beginning to see them different and new through his eyes... 
I think (hope) I'm getting better at letting things go, taking each day as it comes, and enjoying each moment...because they are so fleeting.
enjoying the last things of summer lately...
we recently squeezed in a mini late summer vacation...it was fun to do a first family vacation with our new little one...i even cracked out my knitting needles again after a 
picking wild blackberries (which were the most bountiful we'd ever seen them here)
eating some (okay lots of!) delicious seven layer bars (I made them for the first time ever especially for hub's bday...we kinda got hooked on them from the bakery of our local fancy grocery store as a little indulgence after the baby was born...much cheaper to make them myself. I sort of followed 
making delicious gooey ooozing smores 
just being together, enjoying the simple things...like finding a pretty blue feather in our path...
