So much to read, so little time!

We won't even talk about the fact that it's been i-don't-even-know-how-long since i've blogged. my apologies. as you know a lot has been going on the last couple months what with buying a house, celebrating a zillion birthdays, countless other parties and on and on!

But anyway, on to the main topic...

I have compiled quite the stack of reading material lately! i'm not a very avid reader, in fact i almost never read fiction. But i do enjoy learning, even though i'm too lazy to research a lot of important things i'm interested in. I leave that up to Mommypotamus and a few others.

Here's my problem-- every one of these books is about something that is up there on my priorities right now, and every time i sit down to read (which is a rare treat in and of itself) it's so hard to pick one. i want to read them all so bad! which of course means it will be a day short of forEver when i finally finish. some of these are brand new and some of these i've had for years and just haven't ever finished, either because i didn't have time, got another book that caught my eye and forgot about the other, etc. and of course by the time i do finish i will probably already have another dozen waiting for me to crack them open.

I have a lovely, comfortable sitting area in our master bedroom with this basket of my books (okay, some migrate to my nightstand/kitchen/car), and well, here they are in random alphabetical order:

Calm My Anxious Heart (previous book for bible study group), page 166 out of 198.

Crazy Love (current book for bible study group), page 87 out of 205, current with where we're reading.

The Home Experience and The Table Experience (given by the author, Devi Titus for our housewarming), page 52 out of 275 and 19 out of 190. 

In Defense of Food (recommended by my friend Heather), page 27 out of 205.

The Happy Intercessor (given by one of my pastors Kathy), page 52 out of 201.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution (the one for babies was really good so i got this one that's for toddlers and preschoolers), page 85 out of 387.

The Power of a Praying Parent (given by my friend Amanda when I was pregnant with Julia), and I'm on page 37 out of 223.

Secrets of the Secret Place (says 2004 in my writing on the inside, i think it was for a bible study), page 106 out of 217.

Shepherding a Child's Heart (given by my sister Laura), page 21 out of 237.

They're all so good (what i've read so far) and I just wish i could put them under my pillow and wake up knowing/practicing everything inside their pages! But alas, that probably won't happen. So what's a girl to do?!

Somebody please tell me i'm not alone. Or what to do about my issue. And if you like, tell me what's in your basket/stack! Do you have a bunch that you are reading all at the same time or do you finish one before starting the next? When do you find/make time to read?

The best thing that ever happened to me

This here is the love of my life, the man of my dreams, my only mr. right, the perfect one for me!

My husband is what you might call "handy" with cars and computers or perhaps "friendly" but to me he's so much more than that. he's a genius, he's my snuggle-buddy, he's the one who encourages me when i'm down and motivates me when i'm tired, who teaches me when i'm clueless, who i know would do anything in the world for me. he's my superman, he can do anything. especially when someone thinks he can't.

He's also the father of my two precious babies. I don't know any other man who has done what he did before our daughter was born. He is the one who stood on the battlefield fighting for our family to be together, who never gave up, who always loved me unconditionally. He is one of the biggest examples of God's grace in my life.

For newlyweds, I think we've come pretty far! We've been through a lot together in such a short amount of time (i know every couple probably says that, but if you know our story you know it's true!) and the Lord has shown us his power and love time after time after time. We are so thankful for his mercy and grace and abundant blessings.

Today is this handsome guy's birthday. I don't think he'll mind me telling you he's turning 32. After all, he's accomplished quite a bit for his age. College degree, a great career, married, two kids, a new house. But all of that is just the surface. Inside you will find a man who will go to the greatest length just to help somebody out, no matter who it is or how big or small the need. You'll find the most tenderhearted guy you've ever met. You'll find a man who's not afraid to cry. You'll find someone who asks his wife to dance in the middle of Pottery Barn when "Better When We're Together" comes on, and makes that dance the best part of the whole day. You'll find a father who will drop everything else that's important to be there when one of his kids needs him, and who melts my heart when he loves on our children.

I have watched him grow so much in the last four years that we've known each other, and I am honored to be the wife that God chose for him. He is such a great provider and protector. The kids and I feel so safe and taken care of, and just incredibly blessed!

Like me, his birthday falls right next to a holiday so he doesn't always get the special attention he deserves. I just hope I can make up for that by letting him know how dear and special and wonderful he is to me and our family. You're the bestesetestest Riley Sloan Moore! MUAH! I love you! Happy Birthday! You'll always be the peanut butter in my triple decker PBJ sandwich!

It's no wonder you're so patient

...we certainly give you lots of practice!"

Or something like that. I've been looking for my mother's day card from the kids for about ten minutes now, so I could post what it said that was so funny. But alas, it has grown legs and run off been snatched back by its gracious giver. Even though I deliberately placed it out of Julia's reach (or so I thought). Oh well, I'm sure it will turn up somewhere.

Anyway, inside the card was a sweet paragraph of thank yous from each of the children. Julia's was longer and I don't remember what all it said but Josiah's read, "Thank you for keeping my belly full, my mouth wet and my bottom dry." LOVE IT! Daddy did a good job, on that AND the one that he got me from himself.

I didn't actually get those until Sunday night but the whole day was great. We started out with breakfastunch at Bayley's. Amazingly, the wait wasn't long at all. I hesitantly forewent my usual French Toast for My Mom's Favorite and a Cinnamon Waffle. Yum! The orange juice wasn't that great but what can you expect if it's not fresh squeezed, right? Wow, that just made me sound like a real food snob. Ahem.

Church, shopping (3 hours in Bed Bath and Beyond and we're still not 100% sure on the bedding we want for the master), no nap.

Pizza, ice cream and a movie. Sherlock Holmes, why did you have to be so full of wickedness? I would've finished watching but it just kept getting worse. Sigh.

Oh, and I got a super cool present from Riley. (I'm not mad, I actually requested an apron and he picked this one out! Isn't it adorable?

Wish I could've been with my mom Sunday, but I'm glad she's planning to come for a visit in a few weeks. Yay!

Tomorrow's our 3rd anniversary, woohoo!

Oh and here are the little darlings that make my job as a mommy so rewarding! (You didn't actually think you'd get to read a non-food post without being subjected to pictures of my precious children, did you?!)

Confessions of a SAHM

1

1. I'm not entirely convinced that this picture is an appropriate match for this post, but I've been saving it for a while and figured it would be a nice way to start out. So that's my first confession.

2. Some days I spend more time on the computer than I do interacting with my children. Yes, I am working to change it.

3. I have a problem with a vicious cycle of guilt and blame-- thinking my husband works harder than I, and thinking that I work harder than he.

4. Never getting to clock out can be really tiring, and even when I do get a "break" it's hard not to be anxious about when I'm going to get "beeped" as I'm pretty much always on call.

5. Sometimes I genuinely didn't have time to clean that day, and sometimes it didn't get done because I just procrastinated all day.

6. Cloth-diapering is becoming more of a challenge now that Josiah's poops are getting less runny and more sticky. I've been tempted to "temporarily" switch back to disposables but I'm committed to stick with it. Besides, a poopy diaper is still a poopy diaper. And it's not like he even has them every day!

7. Being a parent is SO much harder than I ever imagined it would. Before I got pregnant with my first child, my visions of motherhood consisted of breastfeeding, holding, and in all other ways bonding with my baby, dressing him/her up in cute little outfits, peaceful strolls in the park, enjoying the oohs and ahhs of family, friends and strangers. Little did I know.

8. I have no desire to homeschool my children. I have the utmost respect and admiration for those that do it, but I just feel like I'm going to want to enjoy a break every day. Maybe it's just my daughter's personality that makes me feel that way, I don't know. I wish I felt differently, but I don't. However, I'm no stranger to the Lord changing my heart.

9. I make way too many excuses. I need to just work with what I've got and where I am.

10. Sometimes I judge. Other moms that don't believe/practice the way I do, and myself for not being as good of a mom as the ones that I look up to. I know, I need to stop.


11. I've never, ever cleaned my baseboards.


12. I don't always make Julia wash her hands after using the potty, even in public restrooms.


13. I just realized TODAY that Julia yells because she learned it from me. Ouch.


14. I second guess a lot of the parenting decisions I make. Most recently, circumcision.


15. I need to be constantly reminded of what's most important in my parenting: building a relationship with my children, setting an example for them to make good decisions and love the Lord.


16. It feels good to still have a nice figure after having 2 kids. Don't be jealous, because I have my own cross to bear.


17. This has nothing to do with anything mom-esque, but after all we've done the last few months to change our eating habits, we broke our sweets fast today with not one but 2 very sugary desserts at cheddar's to celebrate closing on our house. I'm not going to feel guilty, especially because I know I'm not going to get back into the habit of eating sweets all the time.

18. Josiah might get one bath a week, and unless Julia gets one (which she does every 2-3 nights), it just doesn't occur to me to brush her teeth. I keep hoping we get a good report when we take her to the dentist for the first time this summer.


19. I wish my blog was as cool as some other mommy bloggers' out there.

20. And finally, I will probably think of many more and want to come back and add them, and I just might if I can't resist. I obsess like that. Even over little things. Like matching things, or deliberately making something unmatch as much as possible, or organizing something way more than necessary, or trying to think of a witty way to end my posts.

There you have it. Some of it.

Healthy Snack GIVEAWAY!!!

My friend Heather is giving away a case of healthy snacks you and your kiddos will love! Hop on over to The Mommypotamus to enter!

Tomorrow

After years of this being the only kind of house I ever owned, my dear husband and I are closing on our first real house. Tomorrow morning.











AAAAHHHH!

Can you sense my excitement? No? Ok, then...











AAAAAHHHHH!

There you go. 

Some of you know what a ordeal/long-drawn-out-process/challenge/what-have-you this has been for us. For the rest of you, here's the reader's digest version (I wish I had been blogging about everything this whole time, but I always hesitated to constantly update because I just wanted to get to the end!):

In March of last year, we found what we thought to be the perfect house for us. It was small but well laid out, nice looking neighborhood, move-in ready, and less than $90k. We offered, the bank countered, we countered, they countered, we accepted, we got an email saying it had been opened up to multiple bidders (I KNOW...) we submitted the same "offer" that we had accepted, but didn't win. It stunkg. Bad. But it was out of our control. After wrestling with the Lord and the seller's agent, we finally accepted that He had something better for us, although we didn't understand how. I was pregnant with Josiah at the time and we really wanted to get into a 3-bedroom before he was born, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. We stopped looking at houses and decided to wait until we were in a better place financially.

Fast forward to February of this year. The 8k tax credit for first time homebuyers had been extended. Riley had been promoted and given 2 raises, a nice tax refund and bonus, and we were still expecting a settlement from his accident 2 years ago. We figured we might be able to get a house this year (instead of waiting till Julia turned 5 which had become the plan after the Hidden Oaks sting) so we contacted the realtor we'd been working with (Dave Eichhorst, great guy, highly recommended if you're in the market) and had him set up a new search for us.

We started looking online, saw a few houses and not 2 seconds later (ok, it was longer than that) had put a bid in on a HUD home. The street name was Tranquility. 4 bedrooms, twice the square footage of our apartment, 2 stories, great neighborhood, top-notch schools, extra room downstairs, good size backyard, large open kitchen with island, garden tub, massive master bedroom, I could go on. But in short, SO MUCH BETTER than what we were trying to sign up for a year before. And we could pay it off in half the time.

Um, it needed a little bit A LOT of work. I was scared. Riley assured me it was no big deal. Ok this has started to turn into the unabridged version, sorry. We won the bid (still don't know by how much, but I'm curious) but then after looking at what all it needed a second time around, it looked like we might not be able to afford it after all. Oops.

Before we could even mull it over and decide for sure, it looked like the decision was being made for us. There was a problem with the water heater and the lender didn't want to loan us the money because it wouldn't pass FHA inspection. And the seller wouldn't even let us fix it. Or something like that. 

We started looking at other houses, wondering if we'd EVER get one. Namely, before the April 30 contract deadline. But then,


There was a loophole and we and the house made it through. Approved! I'll save all the details for another post, but the Lord proceeded to bring one blessing after another in the form of contacts and discounts for all things home-improvement, credits on closing costs, etc.

And now, we're all set to sign 1,000 documents at 11:00 am and start living the American Dream (kidding)! Well, except for the fact that our bank has no local branch and FedEx still hasn't delivered the cashier's check we will need to present at the table.

Isn't this a fun ride?!




...Problem almost solved! I just talked to our bank and we can do a wire transfer in the morning. Whew!

Tranquility. Think we're supposed to learn something through this whole thing?! Our worries have turned into being humbled at the Lord's constant showering of blessings upon us and proving that He is more than able to do above and beyond all that we could ask, think, or imagine. Every time I'm wowed by the latest provision, he goes, "Oh yeah? Watch this!" Ok, I get it. No, I won't ever get it. I'll never understand why He's so good to me when I so don't deserve it. But I'll try to always be grateful.

Now, if I could just decide on paint colors. Oh, and START PACKING! =) 

Meal Plan Monday!

I'm dreading this, really. Not that I'm burnt out on cooking or anything, I'm just tired and don't feel like thinking. And partially because, like last week, I have a couple that just didn't actually happen and are carried over. Doesn't make for a very interesting blog, does it? But, I can either do it now, or fumble around every night this week at dinnertime trying to figure out what to make. So, onward!

Okay, let me open up my Excel spreadsheet of meals to choose from! (um, and last week's blog to see what we didn't have) Ahem....

Last night's Greek Lentil Soup was fantastic! Thanks Hannah =)

Tonight:

Ribeye Steak, Salad

Tuesday:

Taco Chicken (Riley's fave!); Green Beans. Here's the yummy recipe if you're interested:

Preheat oven to 400.

3 Chicken Breasts (or more depending on how many people you're feeding)

1.5 t Taco Seasoning (or you can make your own with 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t each of oregano, paprika, garlic salt and chili powder)

3 T Mayo or Miracle Whip (we use MW but I'd like to gradually switch over to homemade mayo)

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Tortilla Chips (we've switched to Garden of Eatin' Organic Blue Corn Chips, so that's what we'll be using this time)

Taco sauce, hot sauce, or salsa

Mix the seasoning and mayo, spread it across the tops of the chicken, crush the chips and press into the chicken, then sprinkle the cheese on top. Sometimes I put the cheese on first, I always forget which way it's supposed to go. Just use as much as you want.

Bake for 20 minutes, then top with sauce. Enjoy!

Wednesday:

Tuna Sandwiches (1 can of tuna, 4 boiled/sliced eggs, 3 heaping T of mayo, and sometimes I sneak in some finely chopped celery)

Thursday:

Bruschetta Chicken Bake; Cinnamon Carrots

Friday:

Lentil & Couscous Salad 

Saturday:

Chicken Parmesan; Chard and ricotta gnocchi with sage butter (can't wait to try this!)

Crock Pot Sunday:

Ground Turkey Casserole

I'm looking forward to Wednesday morning moms' Bible study, we're having a menu-plan swap! So, I should have some great new meals coming soon!

Oh, and my children are now eating kale chips. Well, not right this minute, but you know. I'm so proud that my little ones are eating healthier than ever! My guacamole turned out kind of bland, so i'll just go back to my old trusty recipe, I didn't even try the beet top/banana smoothie but Riley and Julia finished it off, and the spelt crackers turned out great! Lasted a whole day. Actually, not even a whole day. So, those will definitely be repeated! And I was inspired to try and create a new fun recipe with spelt, so stay tuned for the results!

Ok, so I know I've been a bit obsessed with all things gastronomical lately, but that's good! However, I don't intend for this blog to become all about food, so I promise to post something else this week that is totally unrelated!

Now I lay me down to sleep

When I was a wee lass living out in the country with my mom, there was a brass plaque on the wall that my bed was next to that read, "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I  pray the Lord my soul to take."

I said that prayer every night, but didn't really pray much more than that during those years.

Something that I love about my daughter is how she prays. She blesses people and asks Jesus to heal ouchies and thanks him for her food and socks and "MommyandDaddyandJuliaandJosiah" and proudly declares "AMEN!" at the end.

I can remember my dad praying with me as a teenager, something that still means a lot to me.

When Julia was born, I knew that it was important to pray over her and speak blessings over her every day. Now, I'm not going to lie, there have been many days that I've failed to do so. Either because I forgot or was just plain *gasp* too lazy.

These are the things I pray over her regularly:

"The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. May you love the Lord with all your heart all the days of your life, and know Him at an early age. May Jesus be your highest passion. May you be bold and compassionate, shining your light to the world around you. May you have the faith of a child and know that you are a princess in the kingdom of God. No weapon formed against you will prosper; all those who rise up against you will fall. If the enemy comes at you one way, he'll flee from seven. May you be pure for your husband. May you be full of wisdom and discernment. Every piece of ground that you walk on is yours to take. May you have the confidence to fulfill your destiny. I declare healing over your body from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. Sweet dreams, restful sleep and visions of Jesus."

Of course I usually forget a few of those, and they don't always go in that order. I think she really enjoys it and sometimes even falls asleep as I'm saying it. There are few things in life more enjoyable than watching your child calm down under the blessing of the Lord!

I've noticed that it doesn't occur to me as often to pray these things over Josiah, not for lack of desire or need, I'm just so used to it being a thing that I do with Julia. So lately I've been making a point to pray the same things over him as well, plus some other things that I think are especially for him.

Meal Plan Mon--, Er, Tuesday!

I

 I promise, I made this meal plan Sunday morning! But as fate my children would have it, I didn't get around to actually putting it all together so pretty in my dear blog. Until now.

Okay, so since we're being realistic here, I will confess that only 3 out of 7 of last week's menu plans actually happened. And the three we did do weren't even on the right day. Not that we didn't eat the other 4 days, other things just came up.You know, life.

So, here's how my new recipes turned out:

Beet Greens Salad-- didn't even do it. Instead, since I was so not in the mood to use my brain follow the recipe, I got creative. I sloshed together the chopped greens/purples with a Tbsp each of dijon mustard, honey and lemon juice. Topped it with the salmon that I was too lazy to patty. Oh, didn't you know? Patty is a verb now. Turned out decent after baking, but because I didn't chop the purples small enough, I couldn't stomach all of mine. But I did eat most of them, and am healthier for it!


Let's see, what else did I try out? (clicking over to blog because my memory doesn't work the same these days) Ah yes, The Mommypotamus' Homemade Pizza.

Ok, so this was something I was looking forward to ALL WEEK. I even bought fresh, organic basil to make my own homemade pesto. I followed all the instructions exactly, even the night-before soaking. Well, let's just say I started to wonder what I did wrong. It didn't exactly look or feel like dough. I would say, hmmm, oatmeal/porridge/soup? Very watery, but I didn't have any flour and since the recipe didn't call for more than I put in it, I trusted that it would thicken up while it sat in the warm place to rise. Um, no. Instead, my precious, long awaited, hard earned dough that I kneaded smeared for 10 whole minutes slowly dripped off the edge of my pizza stone onto the inside of my oven. Boo! I was getting pretty upset because my expectations weren't being met and therefore disappointment began to set in. I could very well make something else for dinner, but I wanted pizza. That pizza. That I had all the toppings for. And had started working on the night before. I contemplated getting a store-bought crust but decided not to. Dang it, I was gonna cook that dough no matter how it ended up tasting! So, we did and finally, after hours of preparation and stress, we had our first homemade pizza. It was obviously not how it was supposed to be, but it tasted good. But not as good as the new one I made today (that Heather so graciously prepared the crust for while I sat and watched in her own kitchen this morning!)! What did I learn? When in doubt, add more flour. A little bit more. A little bit more. Heck, a whole cup more! (she has corrected the proportions now so don't be afraid to hop over there and try it out!)


Ahem, what is the title of this post? Ah yes, Meal Plan something-or-another. Well here's what might end up in our mouths this week (in no particular order):


Last night: (ha! we really did eat this.) My deeelicious Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup


Tonight: Pepper Steak; Sweet Potato Casserole (See? I really do have a few meals from last week that got bumped)


Wednesday: Spaghetti; can't-remember-what-kind-of-leafy-green Salad


Thursday: Bruschetta Chicken Bake; Green Beans, Cinnamon Carrots


Friday: Zesty Chicken Penne; Peas, Broccoli


Saturday: Fish Sticks; Romaine Salad


Sunday: Greek Lentil & Chicken Soup; Chard (will find a recipe because I don't really know what to do with this but it came in our coop pickup Saturday)

Monday: Chicken, Lentil, Tomato, Arugula & Couscous Salad


I will most likely rearrange these as the week unfolds, but it's good to have some sort of an outline of ideas to choose from instead of panicking at 6pm every day with no ingredients in the kitchen and a hungry family! So, I guess I better make it to the store tonight to pick up the handful of things I need, huh?


Oh yeah! I also made Kale Chips last week. Wait, don't cringe. They're AMAZING. They are super healthy and are a totally yummy alternative to traditional potato chips. I'd never even eaten kale, but I kept hearing new friends and acquaintances talk about them so I had to give it a whirl. Tear 'em off the stalk, brush some olive oil on, sprinkle some sea salt on, stick 'em in the oven for 10 minutes and voila! Julia didn't try them but I know she eventually will, and will love them as much as Riley and I did!


I'm also going to make some guacamole/salsa sometime this week that will include the avocado and cute little colorful peppers we got in our coop. That should be fun. Oh and there were some beet tops too, and someone posted a recipe for a smoothie with these and bananas. Honestly, it sounds disgusting, but it will be pink so maybe that will make it taste better! We'll see.

Alright now, it's your turn: What's on YOUR dinner table this week?

Meal Plan Monday!

First of all, I have to say that I'm kind of so extremely glad that I started weekly menus again. It really made the past week less stressful and super delicious!

Here's a brief review of how my new recipes turned out (I took pictures but for some reason they won't upload, so forgive the lack of evidence):

The Gorgonzola and Bacon Stuffed Burgers turned out really yummy! We decided to do beet "chips" instead of the other recipe though, and except for a little overcooking (next time I'll do it at a lower heat and take them out quicker) they were pretty good! Especially dipped in poppyseed dressing. MMM!

The Goat Cheese and Arugula Quesadillas didn't turn out exactly how I hoped. Partly because I changed so much of the recipe- used spreadable instead of shredded cheese (what was I thinking? No wonder they didn't stick together well!) Partly because I used spinach tortillas that didn't cook too well at high heat. But they were OK. I might try them again in the future but follow the recipe exactly. It was really just a way to use the arugula that came in our coop produce share.

Apple Cider-Glazed Turnips- Not bad! I've read that you can mash them like potatoes so I may try that route next time.

Ok, on to this week's fare!

Tonight:

The Chicken Casserole that we didn't end up making last week; Sweet Potatoes (anybody got a good recipe? I tried making fries last time but they didn't turn out too well)

Tuesday:

Pepper Steak with Green Bell Peppers and Tomatoes on Brown Rice, Corn on the Cob (also carried over from last week's menu)

Wednesday:

My famous Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup; Cinnamon Carrots (wait, is that a THIRD thing that we didn't go through with last week? Geez!)

Thursday:
Spaghetti, Twice Baked Potatoes (can anybody say YUM!), Peas

Friday:

Chicken Parmesan on top of some kind of Pasta; Green Salad

Saturday:

Early dinner with our produce coop families, then a second dinner at Primo's with my good friend Katiebug!

Sunday:

Salmon Patties, Mac-n-cheese, Beet Greens Salad

Wait! I bought all the fixins for a new homemade pizza recipe-- Which dinner should I knock out to replace with this?

What's on your dinner table this week?

Meal Plan Monday!

C

Don't judge-- I just couldn't resist jumping on the wagon with The Mommypotamus and The Belgexans! 

This is really just for my own benefit (ok ok, my husband and children's as well) to make a weekly meal plan. Not that I'll stick to it exactly, but hey it's worth a shot!

Well, here goes:

Tonight: Stuffed Burgers on thin whole wheat buns with Gorgonzola Cheese and Smoky Bacon*; Tangy Buttered Beets and Greens with Dijon*


Tuesday: Goat Cheese and Arugula Chicken Quesadillas*; Cinnamon Carrots


Wednesday: Lil Smokies in BBQ sauce; Corn on the Cob


Thursday: Rosemary Plum Chicken; Apple-Cider Glazed Turnips*


Friday: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches


Saturday: Paula Deen's Chicken Casserole (I have to tell you what's in it because it's not your everyday chicken and rice dish)... this is a thing of beauty really, snatched from the kitchen of my mother-in-law-- french style green beans, cream of celery, mayo (or in my case, miracle whip), long grain and wild rice, pimentos, water chestnuts, diced chicken, cheddar cheese.


*new recipe (www.wholefoods.com)-- wish me luck!


So what's on your dinner table this week?

Turning over a new leaf

Riley and I have finally hunkered down and truly committed to beginning a journey towards a healthy lifestyle. And I'm not talking about low-fat ice cream.

We're totally stoked. Who wouldn't want to feel better, look better, act better, think better? So, our journey began a couple months ago when we decided to join a gym. Woohoo! And we're actually still going! 

The next step was cutting out high fructose corn syrup and Red 40. This made a huge difference. Riley's reflux has pretty much gone away, I have more energy (despite my extreme lack of sleep) and Julia's behavior has improved significantly.

We've also starting drinking a lot of water (reverse osmosis at that) and adding vegetables to more meals. Cutting down on sweets is another area we've been working on!

And now we're joining an organic produce co-op! I never even knew about these until recently, and in years past I didn't even really give a hoot about the fact that i was filling my body with pesticides.

Let me interject with one thing: I would much rather have a box of chocolate chip cookies than a bowl full of vegetables. At least, taste-wise. Hopefully soon, my body will begin to crave the healthy stuff over sugar. Not on top of sugar, instead of.

One of my inspirations as of late has been my new friend Heather. Her blog, The Mommypotamus, has been a great source of information on natural wellness and eating healthy.

Friday night we had our very first piece of grass fed beef! It was a ribeye steak and we paired it with a wonderful green salad. Yummy! But expensive! Organic meat from what I can tell so far, costs about 3x as much as the kind we're used to, but hopefully we'll eventually get there in our steps towards a healthy diet. And really, it's still cheaper than buying a corn-fed steak at a restaurant. I keep remembering a quote, "Pay the farmer now, or pay the doctor later." So true! We could totally look at our medical costs and say we can't afford to eat healthy, but really? Really? We can't afford not to. And as we make small changes, our health care budget will shift towards prevention instead of treatment. And we'll be enjoying, rather than enduring, healthy food (paraphrasing Heather).

Another change we've made is going to the chiropractor. Julia has gone twice and the rest of us have appointments coming up. The whole philosophy just makes sense. It's funny-- like many people, I used to think all they did was help people with back pain, and it seemed really scary. Boy have I learned otherwise! But I won't go into all of that, you can research it on your own!

I'm really looking forward to having a back yard that I can plant a garden in! I don't know the first thing about growing food, so I'll need help with that.

And here before you is my new favorite snack:

Ok, so I don't exactly pick it from the tree myself (maybe someday!) but it's a delicious organic gala apple. MMM!!!

We have a long way to go, but we're really excited about getting healthy! Our bodies are the temple of God and it feels so good to finally be taking better care of it.

Thankful Thursday

This is what I'm thankful for today. Not just snow, but a second chance to enjoy the snow! We didn't get outside to play when it snowed at Christmas, so we feel especially blessed that God sent us a great amount of beautiful white powdery goodness! 

Julia had so much fun today. This morning she looked out the window and said, "Mommy can we put our shoes on, and pants on, and sots on, and shirts on, and jattets on, and nose on, and eyes on..." and i'm just sitting there anxious for her to finish and say "and go outside?!" In that moment I just couldn't wait to say "YES! Let's do it!" 


Strangely enough, it took her longer than expected to get ready to go outside. But hey, we did it and wonderful memories were made. The snow was kind of hard this morning so i couldn't really roll it up good and my snowmen were really tiny. So we threw snowballs at each other, and at our window (Riley was just inside, working from home on his laptop). Cue Julia's giggles. 


Then I laid her down to make a snow angel, she didn't really get it but laughed! My mental camera was flashing like crazy. The look on her face as she lied there with her eyes closed tightly and the giddy smile that stretched across her precious face. Ahhh yes, i am thankful.

While I was cooking dinner, Riley took her outside again, this time in the back of our apartment, there was a lot thicker snow. He pulled out a broken down box from the patio and used it as a sled. I couldn't get very good pix since I was taking them from inside the glass door, but I'm just thankful that our camera stayed awake long enough to capture a couple. (It's been majorly on the fritz lately, which is another reason to be thankful that we'll be getting our Nikon soon!)

From the sound of it (good ol' meteorologists makin' those economists look good!), we should get to have more snowy fun tomorrow. Woohoo! What are you thankful for?

On second thought...

those of you that know me (who else reads my blog?!) know that for a really long time, i wanted to have a lot of kids. like somewhere between 5 and 8. no one told me that might change after having one or two.

after having julia, i was pretty content for a few months and even thought that i would be okay if i never had anymore-- she was perfect! but of course as she approached her first birthday, i started wanting another one. not right away, but by the time she was 2 or 3 i was hoping to have another. a boy, at that. it took a little longer for riley to feel the same way, but i'm glad that eventually we both were okay with getting pregnant again. only a couple months after we stopped preventing, we found out that #2 was on the way!

we were thrilled but nervous, and i was definitely eager to find out that i was having a riley 2.0!

fast forward to august, 2009. zip-zip-zip...

being a mom just got a little somewhat A WHOLE LOT harder! and math doesn't work the same anymore. taking care of two kids isn't just twice as much work as one kid. the increase in difficulty is exponential, my friends! just to give you an example, here is a typical rundown of how things go just to get out the door: feed josiah and change his diaper . get julia dressed. decide there's no time to change josiah's shirt so just wipe the spit up off with a burpie. put julia's socks and shoes on. put josiah in the carseat. put julia's shoes and socks on again, because she took them off. sing to josiah so he stops whining. take julia potty. make sure i have everything i need in the diaper bag. nope, where's that thing i need? put the toy bar that julia ripped off josiah's carseat back on the handle. fill up julia's sippy cup. find that thing i needed. where are my keys? and my sunglasses? put julia's socks and shoes on again. no, julia you can't take your doll stroller in the car. stop whining, we need to go. out the door we go. julia, wait for me. julia, stop! (running down the sidewalk towards the parking lot)... finally everybody's all buckled into the car, and i realize my cell phone is still on the charger/bar/nightstand/desk/wherever. ugh. you get the picture. and that's just the abbreviated version!

cleaning is harder. naptime is harder. and when it does happen, julia wakes josiah up, or i spend one of their naptimes trying to get the other one to nap. it helps when riley's home because he can help with one while i put the other one down. i'm thankful that julia has finally stopped trying to pick josiah up, now it's just a matter of keeping her voice down while he's sleeping!

there's so much more, but i digress. you moms of more than one know what i mean. alas, i have gradually gotten to the point where "eight kids?! on second thought, i'm good." don't get me wrong, i think it would be totally awesome as a grandma to have a whole bunch of adult children. but right now, it's too hard just with two! maybe i never thought through the fact that i'd have to see eight babies from birth through the toddler years. 

i have to bite my tongue when i hear yet-to-be-parents talk about their grand intentions of having lots of children. "ha! just wait till you have ONE!" seriously though, i wish them well. 

as for me, i have to really try hard to depend on the Lord for grace, and remember that it IS sufficient. children are a blessing, and while i would recognize that if i ever did get pregnant again, at the moment i'm pretty happy with our family just being a foursome! one boy, one girl, no minivan, one hand for each. 

not that i'm scheduling a tubal ligation or anything, but i just don't have the desire for more babies. i applaud and admire large families, and even felt guilty when at first i realized i no longer wanted to have a lot (after all, we're supposed to be fruitful and multiply right?!) but hey, if anybody has experienced this it's me: God is more than welcome to change my heart! and hey, I LOVE AND CHERISH MY TWO WONDERFUL, ADORABLE KIDDOS!

Almost there!

Riley and I have been wanting to get a DSLR for quite some time now. We both have somewhat of an eye for creative photography, and since our regular digital camera has been on the fritz lately, we've stepped it up a notch to save towards this bad boy:

 

This is the Nikon D5000. I don't know a whole lot about DSLRs but am aware of the competition between Canon and Nikon. Riley knew that he preferred Nikon but we still did a lot of research to make sure exactly what we thought would be best. It also helps that there is a discount program that we can buy from through his work. Woohoo! So we've been selling stuff and doing odd jobs to rack up enough cash to buy it and we are almost there! We're just waiting on a refund check for our old monitor that lost 1/3 of the screen and was still under warranty.

I'm so excited! Even though I've never even taken a picture with a DSLR (or an SLR for that matter!) and have so much to learn. Who knows, I may even get good enough at it to start a business! One can dream, right? It's no secret that I do love taking pictures of children... 
=)

Let's get physical!

That's the song that our P.E. teacher played every week during class in elementary school. I don't know the other words so don't attack me if it means something beyond exercise.

Ok!...so, Riley and I joined a gym! I'm totally excited. I've been wanting to for a while now. It's the 24 hour fitness like 3 minutes from us, they have free childcare (major points!), and it's cheaper than most of the other clubs I looked into. so yay. we're getting in shape! My goal is to work out 3 times a week. Some cardio each time, and alternate arms-legs-abs workouts also. I've also tried out a couple classes. I've heard a lot of great things about Zumba, but it just didn't do it for me. As far as dancing goes, I'll stick with Lindyhop. The spin class was great though. Well except for the first 5-10 minutes which royally sucked because I'd never done it before and the seat hurt my bum like nobody's business! So I'll probably do that again. May try some yoga or other classes too.

Had my fitness orientation last week, although it got cut short because Josiah needed a diaper change so they had to page me since they don't take care of that. My body fat is 19% which I could care less about, I just want to look and feel better and be healthier. We're going to have a followup next week so he can show me some stretches that will help some funky leg posture thingy he noticed.

I started the couch to 5k thing again on the treadmill, the 1st one was a piece of cake, so i'll probably just skip ahead to week 2 next time. yay! we're going to get in shape, and i'm so thrilled.

Just because I don't have pictures...

...doesn't mean I can't blog! I think that's why I don't do it more often, because the thought always pops up in my head, "Oh I'd have to take a picture to make it interesting." well phooey. If it's boring then it's boring. I've decided to write anyway! So, without further ado, this is the end of a photo-less blog. Go Me!

Six months!

There's no way my baby boy is halfway through infancy. I just don't believe it!

So yesterday Josiah turned 6 months! At his checkup today he measured:

16lbs 13 oz -- just under 50th %ile
28 in long -- 90-95th %ile
42.5 cm head circumference -- normal i guess because they didn't say anything else about it

so on the length, it's safe to assume that he was NOT actually 27.75" at his 4 month checkup (and therefore off the charts) because i just don't see how he could grow 4 inches in two months and then only 1/4 inch in the next 2 months. anyway, so my little prince is definitely tall. his weight has leveled out though!

what's he doing now?

rollin', rollin', rollin'!

all.over.the.place.

like, i put him on this huge blanket on the living room floor and before i know it he's way on the other side. i know he can roll but i have yet to see him actually travel in the manner that he obviously does. of course, he's been known to be facing the other way in his crib when he wakes up, so i guess he's got some scooting power going on!

he babbles, laughs, growls, and wiggles like crazy. his socks don't stay on his feet very long, so i don't bother unless we're going outside. his hair is so fuzzy, i just can't resist petting it constantly.

he's wearing mostly 9 month clothes, some 12, and a few unusually large 6 month ones.

he usually has a thumb or fist or toy or burpie or something else in his mouth! the dr told me today that he is definitely teething! i don't feel anything sharp but he stopped sleeping through the night a couple months ago so maybe that's why. hopefully they'll poke through soon and i'll start getting full nights of sleep again!

we'll be starting cereal this week, then moving on in a few weeks to veggies and fruits. fun! i guess that means julia will be moving up to a big chair so josiah can have the highchair, although i don't foresee any complaints =)

everybody always says how good and happy and calm josiah is. and they're right! people are also starting to say that he and julia look a lot alike. which i think is funny because julia looks like me and josiah looks like riley. i guess they have a little bit of us both though!

he still won't take a bottle. i've tried a few different kinds, breastmilk and formula. guess i just need to keep at it. it'd be nice to be able to leave him for more than 2 hours at a time!

most of his waking hours are spent playing on the floor or in the exersaucer. well, except when i'm carrying him around or nursing or helping him sit up (almost there!) or taking him with me on errands!

i just love to give him hugs and kisses! who wouldn't?! he's so cuddly and lovable. he and his sister get along great too. i look forward to them being good friends and actually playing together!

Well he's napping right now so I can't take a picture, but here's the most recent one! (thanks mom for the cute onesie, i love it!)

Pookie 2.5

forgive me, that's the best title I could come up with instead of "Julia's 2 and a half year update". next, forgive me for writing this 11 days after her half birthday.

and yes, that's her nickname. it's short for punkin poodle pookie. she's also my honeyboo. josiah's my hunkaboo. julia tries to convince me that it's the other way around, but i won't have it!

anywho, there's been a lot of talk and updating about josiah lately but i mustn't forget my precious firstborn! so much has been going on lately in her world!

what's new:

~ her vocabulary has SOARED. we're not just talking complete sentences... she will go on and on about something and i can actually understand most of it. her grammar is fantastic (tenses, persons, etc...) and her complex thought processes simply amaze us. she is truly brilliant. it's like God took the genius of her father and yours truly, multiplied it and squeezed it into 25 lbs and 3 feet. no, not 3 feet as in 15 toes, but stature. indeed, she's almost half as tall as her daddy!

~ her intelligence is incredible. sometimes we just sit and watch her figure things out. she's even more curious than me (gasp!) which can be quite a bit of a challenge because she gets into EVERYTHING! tell her no, she moves on to something else. repeat. repeat. repeat. get frustrated. repeat. pull hair out. repeat, ad nauseam.

~ she absolutely ADORES her baby brother. gives him kisses without prompting, sings to him when he's crying (with prompting), tells me she loves him, has ceased to drag him off the boppy and the like. i can trust her to be alone in a room with him (whereas before i couldn't even go brush my teeth w/o taking one of them with me for fear he wouldn't be safe) which is great because they can now share a room.

~ so a couple weeks ago we started putting josiah in the crib at night, which is in her room. usually at least one of them wakes up in the middle of the night. but if it's just josiah, julia stays asleep because she's a heavy sleeper (once she finally surrenders her wakefulness).

~ we're still working on jumping. she tries but usually doesn't get both feet off the ground at the same time. it's fun to try though, we always end up just dancing and twirling!

~ julia LOVES to help. as in, so much that sometimes she takes over and won't even let ME help. it's so sweet though and we're trying to channel that quality in a productive way. it's a good thing to know when i need to distract her from destructive behavior, because she's so very fetching. ha! "julia sweetie, can you bring me such-and-such?"

~ sometimes when we're riding in the car or putting her to bed, she blesses people. if you're a relative or friend that she's ever met, it's likely she's said, "bless [insert your name here]" at least a hundred times! hey, your life is probably better now!

~ back to the subject of talking, she always gets compliments on how well she speaks. not because of her pronunciation though. there's still some consonants she has trouble with. like k and g. for example a dog is "dod" and a cake is "tate." it makes for quite a few humorous ones like when she's trying to say "kitty" or "kix". one of my favorites that i'm not sure how she concocted is "dibbyup" which means "giddyup." i often have to translate for her but it's fun to listen to her express what's going through her busy little mind!

~ on the subject of potty-training, we're still working on it. she can go potty, both #1 and #2. she very rarely poops in her panties which is a nice break from cleaning up so much pee. we usually keep her in panties all day even going places, and put a diaper on her at night. of course even then the bed gets wet because she's become quite the heavy wetter at night. i tried one of josiah's one size cloth diapers on her and it seemed to fix that problem so i'll probably get her a couple of pink ones and that'll be that. so, she still has accidents and it drives me crazy when she does because she knows when she's peeing and has the ability to control it, but for whatever reason doesn't tell us. we try to remind her often enough that she won't have accidents, and a lot of the time she just goes on her own! treats seem to be a good thing for her. i'm going to make a chart too, both for pottying and good behavior.

~ which brings me to: we've been having quite a few struggles, if i may understate, with julia's behavior. i won't go into the details though since i'd like this to be a mostly positive blog! it's been really exhausting, frustrating, depressing, etc. for us but we have sought counsel about it, got some really good ideas and prayer, and are working with her to improve things in that area.

~ i hate winter! it's hard enough to get outside with two kids (next to impossible really, what with julia's tendency to run off) but tack on the low temps and all-around it-takes-forever-just-to-get-out-the-door-ness, and all of a sudden you have a toddler who's bouncing off the walls just to get some natural light, fresh air and open spaces. but thankfully, i found out about a couple places that will really help out in that area. when it's not incredibly cold, i'll take her to this playground in colleyville that has a fence all the way around. one way in, one way out, and i can sit with josiah right there while she has the freedom to play in quite a large space full of climbing and such. then there's an inside "playscape" at a church in richland hills that has comfy seating for parents. cold day solution! i can bring snacks and nurse josiah while julia plays. these 2 just might be my saving grace for the next few months! i'd like to try storytime again (haven't taken her since josiah was born) because i'm sure she'll like it now that she's a little older and has a (slightly) longer attention span.

~ we're currently in a pretty good nap routine. doesn't usually happen till later in the afternoon, but i can usually count on getting her down as long as josiah is asleep or at least happy for 15-20 minutes. we sit in the rocking chair and i rock her to sleep. sometimes she wants me to sing to her, sometimes we bless people, sometimes she things we're just rocking HER baby to sleep (sneaky!) But the good thing is, she sleeps soundly for 2-3 hours and i get a break. yay! now if i could just get the two back to napping at the same time, that'd be great!

~ her hair is becoming quite adorable. she's got these sweet little curls that just capture my heart! for whatever reason, they're not always curly but oh well. i just can't believe how long is finally getting! now don't get me wrong, it's still shorter than most 2 year old girls' locks but at least i get to put it in ponytails now! granted, she usually takes them out in the car, but eventually she'll gain appreciation for my styling prowess (heh heh) and leave them alone!

~ she loves to dress herself. she loves to undress herself and run around nekkid. she loves to wear pajamas all day. she loves wearing anything princess. she loves trying to fit into josiah's clothes (and has been successful a number of times). what can i say, she's a girl!

~ she loves dancing and singing. she even makes up songs. mostly to tunes she already knows, just changing the lyrics. so cute. i love this!

~ it's hard to explain but when she "points" at something, it's not with her pointer finger. or any other single finger. it's with her whole hand, fingers pressed tightly together as in hail hitler. not that hitler's funny, but it's cute when she does it.

~ i've officially come to the conclusion that her eyes are hazel. i thought they were going to be kind of green like riley's but they're just not. it's funny though because people still think they're blue. i guess because mine are and she looks like me.

~ when she's really into telling you something her eyebrows stay raised the whole paragraph like it's so important and serious. which it is.

~ her newest obsession is betty boop. namely, a dvd with about an hour of short betty boop cartoons. she wants to watch it all.the.time. we're trying to cut back on her tv/movie watching but this is definitely one of her favorites. followed closely by horton hears a who, kung fu panda, stuart little, wall-e, strawberry shortcake, and finding nemo (my favorite). i asked her one time, "do you like betty boop?" to which she responded after i long pause, "i LOVE betty boop! i LOVE betty boop!"

~ she can draw circles! it usually starts out as a little straight line, and then she goes round and round and round. my little artist! ooh which reminds me, the other day she was given some playdoh and we were making different shapes with it together. then after playing with it by herself for a few minutes, she brings this to me and tells me it's an elephant. just so we're clear, she did this completely by herself. try and convince me that it was an accident and she's not a genius!



~ getting her art out of the furniture is still on my to-do list. =)

this pic is from a month ago (i'd put a newer one but we're having camera issues) but here you go!



ok i take that back here's a pic from yesterday (pardon the puffy eyes, she just woke up from a nap. yes, in a shopping cart. she fell asleep in the car and we weren't about to go home after driving all the way to a far away mall and having nothing to show for it. note to self: always bring the stroller!)