What's spooky with the Hernandez-Tostenrude clan?

Well, nothing really. Except how freakishly cute our babies are!

This month has been pretty exciting. We enjoyed hand-picking pumpkins at the pumpkin patch with our friends, we introduced Olive to solid foods and took the girls trick-or-treating at amazon.com's campus (Nick's work). Here are some of our favorite moments, captured...

 Stella has decided that she likes to make funny faces at the camera.

 Olive was mostly excited about trying to grab Stella, as usual...

Pumpkin patches in the Pacific Northwest means wearing wellies, rain coats and hats.

 I sure am glad Stella has her cupcake wellies!

 Nick and his tennis buddy, Peng.

 Olive's first foods: brown rice cereal (she hated it), avocado (loved it), and acorn squash (loved it).

 But let's be honest, the bib was her favorite part of the meal :)

 Stella spends most of her day picking out new outfits. This one was particularly lovely!

I just love her. That's all I can say about these photos!

 For Halloween, Stella was a unicorn. She was convinced that her "horn" made rainbows :) 

 Stella the unicorn thought my rainbow wrap matched her costume nicely - and Olive the dragon :)

 Happy little unicorn trick-or-treating at her Daddy's work.

 Dinner after our Halloween festivities. As you can see, Olive's favorite game is "Grab Stella".

 Silly little girls!

Oooh, Stella hair! Olive's favorite :) 

The things I do and don't miss about living in Oxford.

By Liv

I know I've spouted on and on about how much I love(d) living in England. I really did love it. There were quite a few things that (now that we are back to the USA) I can honestly say that I do NOT miss about living in Oxford. Here are a few:

I do NOT miss: hang-drying all of our clothes, hearing all the goings-on and people walking past my house (i.e. drunken undegrads), Nick being away working on assignments for what seemed like 24/7, the never-ending bug problem in our flat (first moths, then spiders then slugs!), using a self-rigged shower (our bathtub didn't have a shower head but just a hand-held shower head that we had to rig to the ceiling so we could take a shower!) and not being able to call and chat with my American friends whenever I want.

But, the list of things that I DO miss is even longer. I DO miss being surrounded by academics, amazing architecture everywhere (it really looked like I was living in the Harry Potter movies), the hilarious British accents all around, making new friends that were all in the same situation together (i.e. starting from scratch in a brand new place), walking EVERYWHERE, having so many wonderful restaurants within walking distance - my favorite Indian restaurant of all time was only a block away!

Mostly, I miss the friends that we made during our stay in England. I will never forget them and hope that we stay in touch for a long time to come. Here are some photos from our last week in Oxford. Everyone really rallied together towards the end of our stay - and we ended up having more than one going away dinner, which was lovely. I wish we were heading back for Capstone and Graduation, but it doesn't look likely. For all our OX friends, please keep in touch! We miss you all :)

 Anas can really play the tennis-guitar!

 Laka and the gang put together a delicious home-cooked Indian going-away feast for me!

 

Lovely Laura and her precious son, Tenzing. Stella and Tenzing Skype almost every day :)

 Stella's best-buddy at their favorite spot: The Perch Restaurant in Oxford.

Fancy a spot of tea?

Our old "home" - Visiting Portland, Oregon.

By Liv

After spending a couple of weeks in California, we flew up to Portland to visit with Nick's parent's and our friends – many of whom we haven't seen in over a year!

We spent most of our time in Portland hanging out at Mike & Marlane's house and watching Stella enjoy all of the awesome kids toys that they have. Nick and I were both glad to see how much Stella enjoyed being around her grandparents, too. And as it turns out, they had just as much fun as she did!

First off, let me start by saying that I have the best in-laws ever. When we arrived to Mike & Marlane's house, it was just a few days after my 30th Birthday and I was welcomed with this beautiful birthday gift:

 

There's a reason why Stella loves her Grandparents: because they are fun!
Their house has the best toys - including a sandbox!

Fun at the playground in Vancouver, Washington.

This place isn't just for kids!

A quick visit over to Paul & Annie's house was just what Stella 

needed. She quickly remembered Ava from their time together in Germany 

last summer, and the girls went straight to work getting in to all sorts of trouble...

"We've got a phone and a wheelbarrow... what kind of trouble can we get in to?"

Plotting and scheming.

Ava doesn't have to say anything, her face says it all!

They are pretty sure there's something hidden in these cupboards.

Just in time for us to say goodbye, I hosted a dinner for a group of my 

girlfriends and their kids. I've never seen all of them together at the same time, 

so this was a special treat. Stella especially enjoyed all the other babies :)

She loved holding Cooper :)

Friends since I can remember: Autumn and her beautiful twins: Joselyn and Cooper.

Maria, Autumn, Melissa, Me, Tiffany Jarvis, Tiffany Turner, Angela, Shaun & Syreeta.

February happenings.

By Liv

This month has been a busy one. I have some exciting news to share: I am in the process of applying to graduate school! I am returning to school to obtain my MSM (Masters of Science in Midwifery) which means I will be a Certified Professional Midwife. This is an amazing career change for me and I am very happy to be working towards this new goal. I plan to be attending home births and birthing center births in less than 5 years!

I don't expect this to be the easiest thing I've ever done–in fact, earning my Master's Degree will probably be one of the most difficult goals I can think of right now–but since experiencing such a joyful pregnancy and natural birth experience with Stella, I have found the unmistakable calling towards Midwifery. I look forward to offering the same love and support to pregnant and laboring women that my Midwife offered to me.

Nick has been busy with schoolwork, tennis matches, mock interviews and REAL interviews (yay!). Now I understand the meaning behind "MBA widow". We don't see each other much but Stella and I are making the best of it. Whenever we get a chance to hang out as a family, we make sure to go on an adventure!

 

Our latest outing was to the Oxford Covered Market. Inside the market, there are dozens of shops and vendors–many selling local/organic fare. Nick has decided to educate himself on the fine art of cheese tasting (I'm serious), so we stopped by the cheese counter and picked up a few different types.

 

Admiring the floral shop in the market.

Stella is growing in to an incredibly chatty little girl. She wakes up and goes to bed talking. I wouldn't be surprised if she talks in her sleep. She has very specific preferences and has no problem communicating them in both verbal and sign languages. Her newest pastime is to pretend to change her doll's diaper and breastfeed it. She has blossomed in to this incredibly nurturing little creature. Her Mothering instincts are so profound, I can hardly believe how loving she is! She gives hugs and kisses willingly and loves to make people happy. She has always been a joy to be around and I can tell that this happiness that she brings to our lives will spill over in to our friends and families' lives, too.

Stella's loot from our trip: a handmade "Puppe" (this means doll in German) from the fairtrade shop. 

Back at home, Nick and Stella built a fort in the living room and watched cartoons together in their little blanket cave. 

Stella's best friend, Tenzing, had an awesome First Birthday party. There was a puppet show put on by Tenzing's Mama and her 2 friends. The story portrayed in the show was about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and how we should work hard to protect our bodies, our planet and the livelihood of future generations by saying, "NO GMOs on the jungle gym!" and insist on buying local and organic foods. A great message to share with the future generations!

Stella is calling Tenzing to say, "Happy Birthday!" even though she's already at his house.

Stella picked out a fair-trade drum to give to Tenzing for his birthday. As you can see, he's a natural.

Besides partying it up like a couple of one-year-olds, Stella and Tenzing spend a lot of time together posing for pictures and just being adorable.

My lovely friend (and my herbalist/detox coach) is always around to commiserate about how much time we spend away from our husbands... aka she brings over chocolate and we eat chocolate and watch the kids play :)

Perfect weather for a Sunday hike

By Liv

On Sunday we woke up to a beautiful bright sun glowing in through our curtains. It was the perfect day to go for a hike. So we packed up Stella in the backpack and joined our new friends Xavier, Laura and their son Tenzing on a hike along the Thames.

Along our hike we saw cows, horses, fishermen and their live bait (ew), rowers practicing their pace and an array of beautiful trees and plants. We ended up finding our way to an amazing (and somewhat secluded) french-inspired pub/restaurant called The Perch This pub formed part of the inspiration for Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland, one of Britain's most loved authors.

The inside of the pub is spectacularly decorated with an eclectic array of paintings and bright decorations. The only thing more exciting than it's interior is it's exterior! The outdoor seating directly behind it is beautiful - covered in trees that hang low, beautiful sweeping branches down and almost touch the ground. Picnic tables dot the lawn and a huge stretched-canvas canopy offers covered seating, for those rainy times. Luckily for us it we didn't need any cover and instead sat in the grass on a picnic table and watched Stella and Tenzing devour the snacks that we had packed.

Nick and I shared a homemade waffle and a crepe filled with goat cheese, arugula, ham and fresh tomatoes. I can't wait to return to this little gem of a place and hopefully it will be with the same company. We love our new friends!