Thankful Friday?

Ran out of time yesterday! Here's my Thankful Thursday... a day late :)

This week I am thankful for...

1. Cousin baptism! Eva and Phoebe got baptized alongside each other last Sunday at church. Scott continued the tradition of being our bowl-holder, and both babies did great. Phoebe kept trying to get her hands in the water during the prayer. Scott tried to move the bowl away from her, and then Eva made a break for it. He finally just had to put it down. Eva was apparently smiling at everyone, and Dom was not sure what to do with himself, so he just licked David's hand haha.

After church we had some of David's family over for lunch. The kids and Rebecca played the whole time, and we had tortellini soup. In the afternoon we all went to my parents' place and had dinner with all the kidlets. Dom skipped dinner and opted for some quiet time upstairs since he didn't get any earlier. The babies made messes while they ate, and then the three big babies had a bath together. Great memories!

Dom & Uncle Kyle racing to name cars. I think Dom won.

Got me some Owen snuggles! <3

Jeff took Owen out to give Marta a little break! Good man.

Yummy! Boerenkool!

This is just the kind of meal I will be avoiding making/feeding her at home. So. Much. Mess! I'm trying!

Eva checking out her baptism blanket, made by Desiree and given to us by the church :)

2. Getting more comfortable with Baby Led Weaning. I really never thought I'd be that guy. I wasn't anti baby led, or pro puree, I just did what I knew and refused to let the hype get to me. Alas. Here I am. I am loving it. Eva's loving it. It's not as messy (so far) as I was expecting. It does make for a couple more bathtimes throughout the week though. 

First time having broccoli and loving it!

I prepped some food for her and boy does her lunch plan look a lot healthier than how I eat! Haha

I love the wet eyelashes!

3. Choking safety. Shannon Tripp (@shantripp) hosted a free workshop this week on the top three most common "injuries" we face with our babies/children: Fevers, head injury and choking. I am now quite confident in what to do if anyone in our house chokes, and it makes me feel better about the baby led weaning too, as there's often gagging and big pieces of food in her mouth. 

4. Accidental Hello Fresh. I technically have a hello fresh account, but I skip the order almost every week. I guess I forgot this week, because it suddenly showed up at our door. Initially I was choked, but it was actually a very welcome surprise as I only had one meal planned for the week, and that was on Wednesday. We got chicken parm, pork chops, and Irish stew from the box. All three meals were delicious and I didn't even have to think about them! 

5. Pumpkin carving help. I don't like carving pumpkins. It's not a secret. I'm okay with it. S&A&P and my parents came over yesterday for dinner, and then Phoebe went to bed here and we carved pumpkins with the kids and then with just Scott & Ash afterwards. I carved a couple pumpkins just to help out. Dom carved Thomas the tank engine in his (with Dave's help), and Emilia carved Percy into her tiny green pumpkin. Her Percy pumpkin might be my favourite. It takes some imagination, but she loves it haha. 

Picking a Percy inspiration pic is serious business

Dave free-handed Thomas. Very impressive. I don't always need a pattern, but I do need to draw it on with pencil first or else I'm going to cut out the wrong pieces for certain.

"Dom, why don't you stick your hand all in that bowl there?"

Thomas on the left, Percy on the right. Emilia really led the charge with Percy there apparently. Putting the knife right where she wanted things and told Aunty Ashleigh what to do to guide her.

All in an evening's work

We had some beer leftover and some time, so we played a couple games of 5 in a row. Naturally the Gerbers dominated. We're due for a loss... We've won 3/3 of the last games we've played as a group haha.