Dirkey

In The Shadow

2012-02-06T20:28:00.005-05:00

Last week we had some gorgeous days so Bug and I took the opportunity and went to the playground. Bug loved it and was running around like a madman. He's such a social little guy and was having such a fun time just being around all those kids. It was a big playground so I spent my time chasing Bug around making sure he was safe. I stopped short when I looked up and I saw that Bug was completely encased in my shadow. It just struck me that no matter how hard I try I can't keep my Bug safe from everything, the realization took my breath away. There is One who loves him even more than I do and in His shadow I pray he will dwell all of his days.

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

New International Version (NIV)

Budgeting for Organic Foods-Menu Planning

2012-02-03T12:19:00.006-05:00

The key to a successful budget is planning. My biggest problem is waste and overbuying and you can combat both of these with a great plan. The other thing I notice is that when I plan I am more inspired to make more new and interesting foods.
My first step to planning is taking stock of what I have in the fridge/pantry that needs to be used up. This week I have some leftover beef stock from making crock pot roast beef sandwiches, zucchini and ham that I want to use up.

So lets start from there with the leftover beef broth, I'd like to make Risotto. I found a great recipe online that sounds delicious! Now I'm not using tenderloin for this, I'm using leftover chuck roast. That's another one of my big ways of saving money, really stretching our meat and using cheaper cuts. We really just use meat to add flavor and see it as a side not the main component. Pinterest has been a great source of inspiration and I saw these healthy Zucchini chips that I'd love to try. The ham is just begging to be made into Spit Pea Soup, YUM!!

Saturday-
Beef Risotto-I'll be using some mushrooms we have in the fridge for this, so we have everything in house to make this except for the wine. I'm also using Aborrio rice instead of the carnaroli rice the recipe calls for (Aborrio is also a great Risotto rice). As a side I want to make Zucchini chips because I think that would brighten up the heaviness of the meal, Also I'd like to bring them to the Superbowl party we are going to Sunday but want to try out the recipe beforehand.

Sunday-
SUPERBOWL!! We were invited to a friends house so I just wanted to bring a couple things, the first being the Zucchini chips and the second is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip. These look delicious! For the Cookie Dough Dip I'll bring some apples as well as Graham Crackers to dip.

Monday-
Monday I'll be babysitting so its a great day to use my crockpot for some Split Pea Soup. We have some Ezekiel bread that will hold up nicely toasted with this soup! Another meal we don't need to buy anything for.

Tuesday-
Spicy Honey Chicken, Brown Rice and Broccoli. For this we buy our Chicken from Trader Joes and get Organic Cage Free thighs for 4.99 lb. It is a bit pricy but this will be the only meal this week that is featuring meat and using more than a lb.

Wednesday-
Another Pinterest find is Coconut, Shrimp and Corn Chowder. This looks delicious and we happen to have some wild caught shrimp in the freezer and all the ingredients in the pantry.

Thursday-
Dahl with Spinach served with brown rice. One of the hubs favorite foods is Dahl, which is awesome because its cheap and nutritious! We often do vegetarian nights to save cash. Thankfully the hubs will eat everything! If your family isn't big on the vegetarian bandwagon try to cook foods from other cultures, they might be so fooled by the new flavors that they will not even realize that they are eating vegetarian!

Friday-
Pizza! Pizza crust is cheap and easy to make yourself. Pizza is also a great fridge emptier; take your veggies, leftover meats, cheese ends and use them up! One of my friends parents instituted pizza night at their house when we were younger. Everyone was invited and they just made pizza after pizza. It was so fun and delicious and everyone ended up there on Friday nights! Something I definitely want to start doing in our house!

So as far as our menu plan goes here is what I need to buy: Garbonzo Beans, Graham Crackers, Onions, Garlic, Broccoli, Spinach, Chicken Thighs and Corn. As you can see I'm relying heavily on what is in my pantry so I really only need to pick up a few things to make our dinners. Now I go through and add in some of the other things we'll need this week: fruit, yogurt, milk, eggs. For our breakfasts we either eat eggs, oatmeal or smoothies so I try to have those things in the house at all times. Lunches generally are leftovers. Now that I'm all done figuring what we are eating this week I go through my house and see what needs to be re-filled. I like to keep a well stocked pantry (flour, sugar, oatmeal, beans, coffee, butter, peanut butter, tuna, jelly, baking needs, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, olive oil, etc). Once I see what I need to replenish I check the sales and see if there is anything there that I can buy in bulk. This week my groceries I need will probably only cost $40-45 so I have about $30-35 to restock my pantry or stock up on sales items. Sometimes I'll use this extra if I see good sales and sometimes I will roll it into the next weeks budget to save up in case there is a good sale on meat or I'm close to needing a high priced item (maple syrup, oils, etc). I'll also use the surplus to sometimes treat us to takeout.

What are you making this week?

Grocery List
Garbonzo Beans-3 cans (1 for the dip and 2 for pantry as I used mine up this week on hummus)
Graham Crackers
chicken thighs
Onions
Garlic
Broccoli
Spinach
Corn
Apples
Bananas
Oranges/Clementines
Yogurt
milk
eggs
tuna

Extra
Red Wine

My sweet boy

2012-01-30T05:43:00.001-05:00

I want to bottle 15 months up and save it so I never forget it. My Bug is full of sweetness, smiles and hugs. He bends low and puts his head against you for his hugs and his open mouth big drooly giggle-filled kisses are the highlight of my day. Yesterday he was hugging his plastic animals. He has a tender heart that doesn't like when someone's sad. His Mom-Mom has been sick in bed and he takes every opportunity to give her drinks from his sippy cup and hugs whatever he can reach; her foot, her hand, the mattress. There were two little girls selling girl scout cookies door to door yesterday, he heard them giggling and took off running after them. He caught up to them and just started hugging them and chattering away. I hope to have a heart like his, sweet and kind. My boy, I already want to be like you. May you never stop inspiring me.
Love,
Your Mama

Budgeting for Organic Foods-Step 1 Taking Stock and Prioritizing

2012-01-24T13:25:00.006-05:00

A few of my friends have been asking me how we afford to eat organic foods after they watched Food Inc. After some discussion I was a little shocked to know that we had almost the same grocery budget (mine was $5 more a week). I was asked to tell how to eat clean foods on a budget. Let me give you a little background on this, I started on this lifestyle shortly after we got married and have gradually gotten "crunchier". We make some choices that have been viewed as extreme in order to be able to fit this into our budget. I view our budget as a game of "Would You Rather", lets dive in a bit.

In our home we:
cloth diaper
use rags for cleaning
use cloth napkins for food
clean with vinegar and baking soda
line dry whatever clothes that we can
change our own oil and do car repairs that we can (well the hubby does these)
mend our own clothes
try to learn new skills rather than paying someone to do them for us (plumbing, electrical, etc)
buy used "beater" cars with cash
stockpile food either by buying in bulk for better prices or by buying the max amount of a sale price
shop at multiple stores for best prices
buy used clothing for the whole family if possible
bake from scratch instead of buying convenience foods
turn off lights like freaks
I cut my husbands hair
we don't have premium channels (and our cable is free)
we don't watch tv until the evening
we drink water for beverages
we don't have netflix or hulu plus

This is not an exhaustive list but it gives you an idea of the types of ways we cut back on our budget in other ways to accommodate the things that we find most important. What's most important to our family right now is for me to be home with our son and for all of us to eat nutritious REAL foods. Now don't think we are complete misers here. We do allow some luxuries into our life. My husband and I have a slight Starbucks addiction, we both have smartphones (his company pays for his and because we don't have to pay for a cell phone for him we use that savings for the data plan for me) and other things. We live a rich full life that we enjoy by taking stock of what's important to us and cutting things out that we don't care about. I would rather do these things and eat well than have some more conveniences and not be able to eat this way.

So I challenge you to take a look at your spending and write every single blessed thing down that you spend your money on. Once you have a month of that take a look at what you are spending your money on and figure out if there are things you can do to reduce that number. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and you don't need to make complete and drastic changes overnight but just little steps in the right direction. Figure out what the most important change to you is (for me it was buying organic milk and cage free organic eggs) and make that change this month. If you have questions or scenarios that you want to know more about let me know and we can address them in future posts. I'm not the authority on this but whatever knowledge I have I'd be happy to pass on.

I know how you feel Bug

2012-01-23T09:07:00.001-05:00

The hubs went into the office this morning only to turn around and work from home. Being the generally wonderful person he is he stopped and picked up Starbucks for me. Well, ever since he got home this is what I've been dealing with. Seems like the boy wanted his own and has been throwing an epic fit to get mine. Oh little one, this one, mommy can completely empathize with. That is totally how I feel before my coffee.

The Past Few Months

2012-01-21T22:14:00.001-05:00

So it's been quite awhile. Things have been crazy hectic for the past few months. Shortly after Bug's birthday we found out my mother had breast cancer. What a terrifying phone call to get, but it really helps you put in perspective what is important. Thankfully after two minor surgeries and radiation treatment she is now cancer free. She still is dealing with hormone treatment and will deal with that for the foreseeable future. I don't envy her in this as I've heard that this can be a very difficult.

Shortly after my mom finished her treatments the hub's mom got horribly ill. For awhile we weren't sure if she would make it. Thankfully she is home now recuperating. I'm praying that 2012 is a year of health for our family.

During this time we have really just been focusing on being with our families and helping as much as we can. I'm thankful I am home and can help when needed. I'm more thankful that both our Mom's are ok.

Hiatus

2011-12-05T08:56:00.002-05:00

So I clearly took a break from the blog and while I was away I realized that I like doing this. If only a couple times a month as a chronicle of whats going on in our life. So, to catch you up the boy turned 1 and now is 14 months exactly today. He's walking, starting talking more, starting imaginative play, eating more and is really just a pretty good time right now. He's still not a sleeper and I need to try to give him more of a predictable routine but things on his front are pretty amazing. I am loving this age and learning to embrace the some of the chaos as he pulls out my pots and pans to cook, dumps his bowls upside down to finish food, screams just to hear his voice. Its a different stage that definitely takes getting used to but its so much fun seeing the joy in his eyes as he learns knew things and the comprehension; I'm amazed by him every single day. The hubs and I are doing well, we just celebrated 6 years since our first date and 5 years since we got engaged. Things with weight loss are going well, I just added in more exercise in a big way. I've been walking about 3 miles most days for awhile but just added in Jillian Michael's 30 day shred and wow it kicked my butt. I could barely walk the first few days but it felt so good to do something that I haven't done for so long. So thats about it for right now, hoping to update more on Bug's birthday, what he's been up to, pictures, crafts, recipes and all that good stuff.

11 Months of Bug

2011-10-02T23:27:00.003-04:00

Dear Buggy,
We are running quickly towards your first birthday and I wanted to get some of the little nuiances of your 11th month documented. You remain to be such a joy to me and your dad.
You have developed a fascination with the cat. We have an outside cat that you are obsessed with. You love hanging out by the front door and get so excited when the cat comes to the door. When you get excited you quietly and excitedly say "oof oof oof" which is woof to you, it is so adorable. Everything is woof to you, you love animals! You do say meow as well but your first instinct is always woof. I've brought you into the pet store near us a few times just because I figured you would like it and I was right you would be happy to sit there for hours staring at the birds, lizards, fish and love when people bring their dogs in. Two of your best friends Taylor and Rebekah both have puppies and you love watching them play together, you will sit and just crack up watching their dogs run around.
We also went to a Phillies game with our friends Matt and Tracey, we were able to get some amazing seats thanks to Matt and his father. Your second game was spent in the first row leaning up on the dugout. You loved watching the game and everyone near by was amazed at how good you were. You would watch the field then look at the jumbotron then look around. I think you were just so excited by the crowd. There ended up being a rain delay and I got a little momma bear with some people pushing and shoving but you ended up sleeping for the whole rain delay and waking up to watch the rest of the game. It was one of those times that I will never forget, just a great time with our little family and our friends. Thankfully I have some amazing pictures to treasure.
You also lived through your first earthquake and your first hurricane. We were out walking one day when your daddy called asking if we felt that. Felt what? We had no idea that there was just and earthquake we were just having fun on our walk! It took awhile before I stopped worrying that your dad lost his mind and realized that there was, in fact, an earthquake. I'm hoping its your last! That same week we had a hurricane coming. I like being prepared for things but since I've had you I think its gone to the next level. We spent most of that week picking up things just in case we were stuck without electricity. I put you to sleep on the dining room floor just to have you near us, then when they started adding tornado warnings in we all ended up sleeping on a mattress in the kitchen. I just wanted my boys safe and all together! You were none the wiser to all this excitement though and weren't even impressed with our new sleeping arrangements.

This month you continued getting around more and more. You have taken a few steps here and there but you still like to hold hands and hold onto things. You love stairs and will take off like a shot towards any unattended stairs. You are very good at climbing them the problem is that when you are done climbing you just try to sit down and most of the time you would just topple back down if we weren't there to catch you. We've started letting you just crawl up the steps for bath time or diaper changes to let you get some practice and you love to crawl up and visit daddy in his office when he is at home. The look of pride on your face is priceless when you get to the top, if its possible you almost start crawling with swagger like "check me out". You are also starting to love doing things like unroll the toilet paper, run for the toilet to play in the water; basically you are starting this toddler destructive stuff. Its pretty funny right now but I'm sure it will get less funny soon :)

You also had your first year of the Labor Day Races and I'm so excited for the years to come. We've been going to the Island Heights Labor Day Races all of my life and I have only missed one year (last year because I was too pregnant), but more than me your Granny grew up going to the races and we have so much family history and physical family there that I just can't wait till you can participate. You loved watching your cousins do all the races this year, and you and cousin Lily were scouting out your competition for future races. Your dad and I raced in the Potato Relay, the 50 yd dash, the Three legged race and the pie eating contest this year to show you how it was done. You had a good time hanging with Granny, Uncle Wayne or any of the other family that was around while we were racing; I love that you are growing up with such a loving extended family. You are a blessed Bug!
You are just so fun Bug; you are a happy, silly, sweet, loving baby. I can't even describe how blessed I feel to be your mama. I love that right at this age we can make each other crack up with just a look. I can't wait to watch your sense of humor develop because you are so funny right now!! I can't even imagine how much laughter will fill our house in a few years and I look forward to it! Well I just look forward to more days spent with you and your dad to be honest. Now on the eve of your birthday I'm going to go up and kiss your sweet 11 month face and nestle you all snug in our bed.
I love you my sweet boy!
Your Mama

10 Month Newsletter

2011-08-23T09:15:00.004-04:00

Dear Buggy,
Here we are, another month gone by, it is going so fast! You have changed so much this past month! As usual it was pretty eventful and busy with your very first vacation, spending time with family and doing our normal stuff.

I was so worried about vacation it was crazy, you have never been the greatest for car rides and my anxiety was high. You can get pretty upset and it breaks this mamas heart to hear that; so the thought of 12 hours in the car with you was stressing me out! We ended up staying with friends in Massachusetts on the way up to break things up for you and to visit a bit. Turns out all my worrying was for nothing, you were a champ!!
I was also worried about the sleep situation on vacation, we are still co-sleeping at home and I worried how you would do in a new situation. Well once again you did just fine. Even with three of us on a full bed you did just fine. I did so enjoy getting back to our king bed though!!

The vacation was a good one. Our first week we just stayed around Aunt Karen's and Uncle Wayne's house and relaxed. It was so great we spent most of our days playing with cousin Mason in the lake, taking walks, kayaking (yes, even you!), reading and just having fun together. Mason took great care of you and kept you entertained during breakfast, helped change your diaper, helped give you baths; whatever you needed he was your guy! Your smile when he is around is just priceless!

You also were babysat for the first time ever! Aunt Karen and Uncle Wayne watched you one night so your dad and I could go on a kayak ride, I was so nervous I brought my phone with me just in case but you slept through it all with no problems. You loved Aunt Karen's dog Murdock and kept saying your new word "woof" which sounds more like "oof oof". We also were able to see Aunt Kim and Bruce, Aunt Kim even found a replacement Phillies hat for you in Maine of all places!

We also spent a couple days with Uncle Walter, Aunt Pam, Gracie and Meghan. We went to Ft. Knox with them and hiked around. We also went to the top of the bridge with them, the view was amazing we could see for miles and miles. Gracie and Meghan loved playing with you too, they also gave you baths, read to you, sang to you (they taught me an Italian lullaby that they knew); you are so blessed to have such great cousins as Mason, Gracie and Meghan! We also got to share in Meghan's birthday! Granny and Pop Pop came up right before we came home and you were happy to see them as well. You loved their dog (shocker, I know!)

It was so fun finally bringing you to Maine. I grew up going every year and ever since your dad and I have been going up we have been dreaming of bringing our own child with us. I loved taking you to the places that I remember from childhood. It was also sweet introducing you to our friends up in Maine, they loved you!! I look forward to watching you explore as you get older! Your dad and I did a ton of hiking with you this year; hopefully we will both become more in shape so we can keep up with you in the years to come!

You have become quite the climber this month. You climbed on top of a portable high chair, you then used that to get up on a chair and tried to then climb onto a suitcase on top of the chair. I couldn't believe but soon realized that the time for anchoring our bookshelves has come!! You also took a cardboard box and was using that to cruise around the room, I was amazed.

This month went by quickly and as with all of the ones we have shared with you, we enjoyed you so much. I love showing you the world around us, introducing you to new friends and watching your joy and happiness spread to those around us. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for the great pleasure of knowing you and the privilege of being your mom. I love you Bug!
Your Mama

9 Month Newsletter

2011-07-13T22:16:00.012-04:00

Oh my baby boy,
How is it that another month has past. I have so enjoyed watching you this month growing and changing. Its amazing watching someone adapt and change so much to the world around them, it inspires me to continue trying to change and better myself as well! I love watching you meet an obstacle and see your determination to overcome and get to your goal. You are a determined little boy, I know that the temptation will be there to control that but I pray that your daddy and I continue to encourage you to be the boy God made you. That determination will take you far.

This month brought about so many changes, the biggest is how vocal you have gotten. You have been saying Dada for a couple months already and Mama for not quite as long. Now you say Nana's for nursing which is ADORABLE. You also sing along with me when I sing songs and sometimes you just hum to yourself. You babble, screech, laugh and sing all the time. I love your little voice. You can click your tongue, play the recorder, and you also will hum while I pat your mouth to make silly noises. You also do this funny thing where you scrunch up your nose and breath in and out really fast, its so silly! You are quite the mimic and we will say things then randomly you will repeat them back to us; like Payton, Murdock, Good Boy. I wouldn't believe that you were doing it but other people hear it too.

This month you also took your first trips to the Beach! YOU LOVE IT!! You are definitely a bit timid when it comes to the ocean or the pool. You like to be right up on me with your head on my shoulders watching and you will sit like that and look at the ocean for a long time. If we are back at our blanket that's a different story. You love eating sand, much to Dada's chagrin. You also love the baby pool that Aunt Karen gave you and will happily sit in that for a long time. You also will actually nurse and take a good nap on the beach as well, which is SHOCKING(you are usually too busy in public to nurse or nap)! After we go to the beach we usually will go up for a walk on the boardwalk and you are even good for that!! I love that you love the ocean, I can't wait to watch you as you get older at the beach; jumping waves, making sand castles, having best friends for a day.

fun with the smallest three cousins

You are so happy, its pretty easy getting a laugh out of you. I try to make it my goal to get good belly laughs out of you every day and I don't think I've missed one. You are ticklish right up under your chin and on the top of your chest. Sneezing is hysterical to you, whether you are the sneezer or anyone else is. You love people and if someone is trying to get a smile or laugh from you, you are quick to happily oblige.

You are pulling yourself up on EVERYTHING, while you have stood before (with assistance) this month you have taken it to the next level. You pull yourself up whenever you can. You can also walk with the assistance of hands or furniture and take every opportunity. This is the first that we have needed to babyproof but you have gotten into everything this month. You love ripping books and paper, eating paper and make it your life's goal to grab my phone. You have moved from the army crawl to the full on regular crawl and you are quick to get where you want to go. A good amount of time is spent racing to electrical cords to try to eat them, ACH! So a good amount of my time is racing ahead of you to put them up and away.

You still are doing about the same with sleeping, some days that is harder on your mama than others. Generally though I try to remember that this is just a small small portion of my life that I get to have this special time with you and even in the middle of the night I try to appreciate that. I'm amazed though I can be nursing you to sleep and you will be sitting there with your eyes closed then flip over and start crawling without any hesitation. Usually you start laughing when you do this, you tricky baby :) You are just so curious that sleeping and eating take a back seat to exploring.

Bug and Payton's legs, oh my so sweet

Aunt Anna came to visit you from the frozen tundra of Minnesota and we had a crazy week visiting with them. We got to go to your cousin Gracie and Meghan's birthday party pig roast together. We had a blast visiting with family, singing karaoke and playing with the kids. It was so nice seeing Aunt Anna and her family and finally meeting your cousin Payton in person! You loved Payton but also loved Ryan and Kaila who were soo good with you! You also got to meet your Uncle Bill and Aunt Elrene from Michigan. We spent the week with Aunt Anna and family going to Philly(twice!), Ocean City, Seaside Heights, Granny's and Uncle Wil's then finally having one last breakfast out with them at the diner. It was so cute watching you with your cousins, your eyes lit up with them around you. We are really going to miss them!

We also have been hanging out with some great friends going strawberry, cherry and blueberry picking. You have so much fun with your sweet friends, sometimes you get so excited you bite them (and leave marks! ach!). It was pretty funny the day after you bit your little friend your other friend bit you and the look of indignation on your face was hysterical, I could just hear what you were thinking "why would anyone bite me!?! that hurt!" Overall you play well together, as well as babies play together anyway. Mostly you just steal toys from each other.
This month was chock full of activity and business and thankfully you go with the flow pretty well, sometimes better than your mommy. Having you with me really makes me try to slow down and enjoy things more. I know when we are super busy I'm missing little things like a toothy smile over a long breakfast, how you rub my arm as you fall asleep or the lengths that you will go to zerbert me. Those things make my day and make this Mommy gig, which is the toughest job of my life, more than worth it.

I am excited to see where this next month brings us, I have my ideas of the things you are just about to learn but I know you are going to do things on your own time schedule. I'm just happy to be on this crazy ride with you.

Love always,
Your mama

8 Month Newsletter

2011-06-19T20:41:00.009-04:00

Hey Boo Boo,
Wow, 8 months. Good grief, how did we find ourselves here? Its so incredibly cliche but time has been flying by. It doesn't help that you don't seem to realize that you are a baby and just keep growing up!!
You have a sweet new baby cousin! Its hard to believe you have two cousins younger than you already (soon to be three!!). You look so big next to your little cousin Lily, I know its going to be a blink of an eye before you guys are running around causing havoc! It has been nice going to see them and spending time getting to know your sweet cousin. This coming month we get to meet your other little cousin. Well, we get to meet her in person, we Skype with her and her family often, but it will be so great to all be together.

We also had a visit from Uncle Ardvark, Aunt Nae Nae, Hannah and T! It was so wonderful seeing them and getting to spend some time together, they moved to Virginia before you were born. We miss seeing them so bad, but are so happy for their new life they have. I look forward to going down to visit them and making memories of crazy sleepovers! We had a great time seeing them and playing. You even got to take a bath with T, you two were so cute together!

Sleep! Oh yeah, that! Well this month you had to start taking naps in your crib. You were sleeping on our bed but you move soo fast that it just wasn't safe anymore. Wow, that was quite a transition! I didn't think I would make it. It took so long to put you to sleep the first few days but with patience and coffee we made it and now you nap relatively well. We also put you down in the beginning of the night in the crib and move you over when we go to bed. Its so cute when you wake up though because you pull down the bumper and call to me so the first thing I see when I come in your room are your little eyes looking between the crib rails.

You look so different to me this month. You are thinning out, I knew it would happen when you started moving around but knowing it and watching those rolls get smaller and smaller are two different things. You also have 8 teeth now, yes, eight! Your mouth full of teeth makes you look like such a little boy. Your hair has also gotten very blonde from being outside so much, its also developing curls in the back. Speaking of being outside, it seems like you do not really burn. I have no idea how you have that type of skin coming from the parents you have but its nice! I may be a little biased but you are a particularly adorable child. We get stopped all the time while we are out so people can say how cute you are.

We took a road trip out to Lancaster to visit some friends. I was a little worried on how it would go but it went pretty well. You were VERY tired of the car by the end of the day though. It was so worth it for the visit. We took a walk to a great park, went in a caboose from a real train, and got a tour of a chocolate factory(sorry no samples for you!). The best part of all was introducing you to some wonderful friends and just spending time with people we don't get to see often. I look forward to going out and visiting again soon and meeting a sweet new baby girl for you to be friends with. We also went to a bunch of parties; your Aunt Tink's birthday, Uncle Steve and Aunt Bern's Housewarming Party (in your Great Grandmom and Popeyes house), your cousin Jeffrey's birthday party and we also had a party for Cousin Hannah! Whew it was crazy but so much fun! I love watching you with these people that are so important to us! I hope as you grow older you value relationships with people and seek out people with great character to share life with.
You babble nearly constantly, most notably you say Dada. You LOVE your dada. He's been working from home 3 days a week and your smile when you know he is home is priceless. If you hear your daddy talking on the phone you need to see him. I will just hold you up just inside the door and you will just sit there and smile. You will just sit there smiling quietly until your daddy turns around then you giggle like crazy! You still have your morning time with daddy, he wakes up with you every morning and plays with you until he's ready to go to work. We definitely hit the daddy jackpot with him!

This month it really seems you have become more independent. You crawl around and play with all of your toys. You love having us play with you but can also play by yourself just fine. You love the swing we got for the front yard! I'm still wearing you and you are quite content to be worn most times, you do not like to sit still though so if I'm standing around you start fussing. You love to play peekaboo, you will take a blanket and cover your face then uncover it and laugh! When you nurse or when you are falling asleep you will rub my arms like I rub your back, it is pretty much the sweetest thing in the world.

I enjoy you so much. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with you. Every day I thank God for allowing me this great privilege. You are such a joyful little boy and my heart bursts with every belly laugh you gift to me.
Love Always,
Your Mama

On menu planning

2011-06-17T09:03:00.004-04:00

Generally the best way I have found to follow our budget and eat real foods is menu planning. While I have been faithful to following weight watchers recently, I admit I have let this fall by the wayside. I haven't been inspired in the kitchen and so we have been eating out more than I care to admit or just eating boring foods. I'm going to try to break this rut by at least making one new recipe a week and menu planning. This week we did go over budget by about $20 but our menu also includes a special fathers day meal of grass fed steaks.

I have been pretty disgusted with what I am learning about much of our food supply, so in general we buy organic; and our beef must be grass fed. I want to incorporate at least one fish meal as well a week and that must be ocean caught. Its so important to me right now that I would rather eat vegetarian rather than conventional beef or farm raised fish, it really just doesn't seem safe to eat any more. I have been called a food snob before because of this but honestly I feel it's a question of safety. We eat like this at home knowing that while we are out we can't employ the same practices but at least we know the vast majority of our diet is safe.

This has been a challenge as far as the grocery budget so I will be working on following our budget strictly and incorporating vegetarian meals to offset. The fish cost has been offset by buying wild alaskan salmon in a can.

This weeks Menu:

Sunday-Father's Day! Grass Fed Steak, asparagus, roasted potatoes, salad and for dessert Cherry Pie (from the 50 lbs of cherries my friends and I picked and processed). All favorites for Schmoops first father's day.

Monday-honey lime enchiladas made with homemade tortillas (I will be subbing coconut oil for the shortening).

Tuesday-Pizza- store bought crust, store bought sauce. Easy peasy

Wednesday-.Crock Pot Black Bean Soup-served with Greek Yougurt instead of sour cream and flavored with fresh cilantro from our garden

Thursday-Quiche with sausage, onions and peppers

Friday-Alaskan Salmon Chick Pea and Mint Patties served with cous cous

I'm hoping that Wednesday can be a beach day and we can bring leftover pizza for lunch and then come home to some wonderful crockpot soup. Also, did you notice the two low cost vegetarian meals that I snuck in there?

Are you menu-planning? What helps you?

Monthly Update-Month 3 on WW

2011-06-16T15:01:00.002-04:00

Weight Watchers-24lbs lost
Pre-preg-36.4 lbs lost
preg-51.4lbs lost

This was a month of plodding along, my losses were very small but steady. I know, especially with as much as I need to lose, there will be times when its slow. As my good friend Shanna told me as I lamented to her that it might take 2 YEARS for me to lose all this weight "Two years will come no matter what". Wow, right?! So yes, plod along I will knowing that if I do keep at it, it will eventually come off. I am extremely happy with some things; I got into a pair of pants bought in January that were 4 sizes down from where I started at. Well I didn't only get into them they didn't muffin top me! I also bought a couple of pairs of shorts in that size and they fit well :)

I can tell in my energy levels that I'm at a much healthier place than I was before. My bug better watch out because as I get more fit I might run circles around him!! I have noticed this month that I've become lazy with cooking as of late, so that is my goal for this month to make more nutritious meals at home and have better planning for when I leave the house to bring something healthful and quick.

7 Months of Bug!

2011-05-10T13:40:00.015-04:00

Oh Boy,
You little man! Thats what I see now when I look at you, a little man. You are silly, curious, happy, vocal, energetic and wonderful! Its amazing to watch you learn about the world around you, express yourself and just growing to be your own separate person.

The beginning of this month you were just starting to be able to sit on your own and now you are an accomplished sitter and you are also moving! You don't flat out crawl yet but you are never where we set you down. You do this cute little army crawl and grunt and whine and just go for it. When you first started you would shove your face into the ground and crawl, how happy am I that you moved on! I have started realizing that I need to sweep and vacuum like 100 times a day to get all the tiny bits and flecks that you seem to find and instantly put in your mouth!!
You are a sleep fighter during the day it takes awhile to get you to realize how tired you are but you do have some tells. I know when you start flapping your arm that you are ready for a nap, when both arms are going watch out I have a sleepy bug on my hands. You also suck on your lips when you are tired. You are still waking up about 2-3 times a night, thankfully you only wake up for a snack and you go right back to bed. Also your wake up time seems to be pushing back to 5 am which is nice, I really wouldn't mind if you adjusted that to 9am :) You are ready for bed around 6:30 or 7 and love your routine.

You are all about the bath and your bath toys. Your turtle is definitely one of your favorite toys and you will carry it around in your mouth from the bath to get your diaper and pjs on and only relinquish it when the hope of food presents itself. You love the bath though and will splash and jump around. Its so fun watching you play with your bath toys!
You also got another tooth this month! You look like quite the hillbilly with one tooth up on top and two below. I adore your little toothy smile and the belly laughs that come out it! You love to laugh and your daddy and I both have our own ways of getting a laugh out of you. My favorite way is to pick you up straight out of the bathtub and kiss your spine, you get the biggest smile and giggle! Daddy goes for the fake sneeze and you go for it every time.
This month you had your first Easter. We celebrated by going to church then having Mom Mom and Pop Pop M over for dinner. Your dad and I aren't sure how we are going to celebrate Easter with you, whether we want to keep it just about our faith or to add in the Easter Bunny to the mix. This year we colored eggs and went to church, I'm glad to have another year to figure it out :) We also had two first communions, one for cousin Mason and one for cousin Grace. I love watching you with your cousins its so adorable to see how much they love you! I can't wait to watch you guys all grow up together, I'm so excited that you have so many so close in age to you! You are going to have 4 within around a year of your age, that just sounds like such fun :)
I can't forget to mention your first baseball game, of course it was a Phillies game! We were surprised with the gift of tickets by some of our favorite people, your buddy Luke's parents. What a treat! You and I took the train into Philly and got so many people commenting on your Phillies hat and sign. Daddy met us over at the stadium and you seemed to really be loving it!! After the game started you fell asleep and stayed asleep for a couple of innings. It got loud though as stadiums do, and I had to fight the urge to shush people! You and I ended up standing in the back of our section where you charmed the ushers with your cuteness. We had such a great time and bonus the Phillies Won!!
I'm a little late in writing this update as we have been so busy. The two weeks leading up to your 7th monthaversary were tough. There was not much sleeping going on and you just weren't acting yourself. Its hard to see when you are in the moment but I should have known that there were going to be some big developments going on and there were(those are for next months newsletter though!). Such is life, if only there was a way sometimes to take the focus back and see the bigger picture. I do try to take it a day at a time, always find things to enjoy in you, and be purposeful about being content in where we are; I'll continue working on this as I pray that you grow up on a house full of peace and joy. Thats not the easiest thing to create sometimes but your Dad and I are committed to it and with both of us working to create that tone in our house hopefully that is the type of home we have.
With the warmer weather you have started waking up with sweaty head and have started having a definite little boy smell. I look at you sometimes and I'm amazed at how big you have gotten. You look so different from that little baby I met 7 months ago and I am starting to see glimpses of the little boy in you. I'm trying to take in each special moment; nursing you to sleep at night as your hand rests on my cheek (or holds my nose), tickling your belly, singing to you, taking walks together, sitting on the front porch watching the neighborhood kids play. There are so many moments that go by that I know I'm going to look back on so I just try to take a mental picture, smell your little boy smell and hold onto it while its here. Tomorrow comes ever too soon.

not the best pic of daddy, I hurt his eyes trying to capture this sweet moment

All my love little one,
Your mama

Monthly Update-Month 2 on WW

2011-05-04T20:12:00.003-04:00

WW- 17 lbs lost
Pre-pregnancy- 30 lbs lost
Pregnancy- 45 lbs lost
So this month I was really happy with my lifestyle is changing. I have been consistently tracking and consistently exercising. I also have been consistently losing, woot woot! One big victory was the ability to take my wedding and engagement rings off, I haven't been able to do that for 3 years! So yeah, they needed to be cleaned like CRAZY!! I also wore a dress from Ann Taylor for Easter and it fit! I love Ann Taylor and I'm soo happy to be able to wear clothes from there!

Cake Decorating Gerbera Daisy

2011-04-15T11:44:00.001-04:00

The last two cakes I've made I have been working on my Gerbera Daisies and I think that I finally figured it out. The next time I make them it will be perfect!!
This is the first attempt, I was going for Gerbera's and also Zinnia's. I think it was passable but there were a few things I wasn't thrilled about. The dusting powder I put on was too thick and took away from the flower, also the icing wasn't as smooth as it needed to be.

This is the second. I used a #104 tip.
To start I took a drinking glass and lightly used it to make perfect circle indentations on the cake. Then I took the #104 tip and started from the outside and placing the icing bag at a 45 degree angle and brought it into the center. The first cake I started from the center and was frustrated with how the outside edges turned out. After I finished the petal color I just filled in the center with a contrasting color. Next time I would use a small star tip and use it multiple times to fill in the center. I still love the effect that it had and thought it was beautiful!

Diaper Cake Centerpieces

2011-04-14T11:32:00.000-04:00

We had my sister in laws shower the other week and one of the decorations was diaper cake centerpieces. These weren't the huge type they were the size of a normal 9" layer cake.
To make three of these I used:
3 receiving blankets
a package of 44 diapers
15 big silk flowers
contrasting ribbon
1 rubber band

Here is the breakdown of how I did it, the pictures above show chronologically how to do these types of cakes.
1. Lay the blanket down on a smooth surface
2. Place a glass in the middle and bring the blanket up and into the cup
3. Roll a diaper up and put a rubber band around it
4. Continue rolling diapers up and place inside the same rubber band
5. Place the glass inside the circle of diapers
6. Take blanket out of glass and smooth around the diapers
7. Take the glass out and fill the hole with wrapped up diapers
8. Flip cake over and tuck in the excess blanket
9. Flip back over and tie ribbons around the diaper cake
10. Tuck in silk flowers and arrange so that the dipaers on top are hidden.
11. Place on an elevated cake plate as a centerpiece.
Beautiful!

We used these and accessorized with fresh flowers that were also prizes.

6 Month Newsletter

2011-04-06T09:55:00.018-04:00

My Buggle Boy,
There is a part in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" that says that "That the Grinch's small heart Grew three sizes that day!". That is the best way I know to describe being a mother to you. Every day I feel like my ability to love grows. This month was a month of changes, as every month seems to be since we've met! There are so many things that I thought I knew about being a parent, or ideas I held about how things were going to be; I learn every day that I was wrong. Its a good kind of humbling though and I'm happy to learn from you.
I had it set in my head that we were going to exclusively breastfeed till 6 months and I was holding strong to that. You had other things in mind as you lunged for my food and drinks day after day. Finally we relented about a week before 6 months and gave you your first official meal, banana and water. This was after your first unofficial meal which was sharing my apple the day before. I was a little surprised because you were very underwhelmed by the banana but LOVED your water. Since then you've had banana, avocado, blueberry and apple. Your favorite is apples, and you don't want me to cut it up really tiny or puree it; you like to use your teeth and shave yours right off of the apple.

This month we also had your dedication, it was a beautiful day filled with family and friends. I was so excited to have you dedicated, before you were born I felt very much like Hannah in the Bible. I wanted a little boy so much, I prayed and prayed. I can't even describe the desire I had for a son and after 16 months of trying and one miscarriage we were blessed with you. After Hannah had Samuel she said:

" I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.
So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.”
1 Samuel 1:27-28

This is how your Dad and I felt; we were blessed by God with you and we dedicate you to Him. We promise to raise you to know the love of God and teach you all about our faith. We pray that when you are old enough to make the decision that you will share our faith. We also picked your Godparents, Uncle Walter and Aunt Pam. It was a very difficult decision to pick them as you are surrounded by many Aunts and Uncles, Relatives and Friends who love you dearly.
You also had your first St. Patrick's Day! I don't know if you picked up on it, but St. Patty's Day is kind of a big thing in our house. Your daddy and I got married on St. Patty's Day! Daddy took a long weekend and we had so much fun together! You always seem most happy when the three of us are together. We had sushi and went to an indoor water park (your first time in a pool!). You weren't digging the water too much but we took you right during nap time which is just silly. Eventually you fell asleep in the wading river, proving once again if tired enough you will sleep anywhere. We also visited a couple of parks nearby one for a walk and one for a picnic. We put you on the swing and you loved it. Granny was impressed with how well you held on in the picture we sent her.

This month you also had your first tantrum. It was pretty funny, you are generally a pretty happy fellow and usually when you cry it is for a reason; so when you completely lost it in the bathtub we were stumped. Your dad had just used the blue plastic octopus cup to rinse your hair and then you lost it. Finally we realized that you WANTED THAT CUP!! While I wouldn't have guessed it, I kind of like these tantrums. Its just another way that we can communicate, I like that you know what you want and tell us! Eventually I hope you learn the tools to tell us in other ways but I do hope you always feel welcome to tell us your thoughts and desires.You also have gotten shy this month. You are still quick to give smiles but will hide your head on my shoulder or in my chest when people come talk to you. It is pretty adorable I must say! You also started splashing in the tub with your hands, you have always loved soaking anyone near you with your feet but the hands is a new one for this month.

he kind of reminds me of a marionette here

You have started reaching for people this month. The first time was to nurse at night then the first person besides Mommy and Daddy that you reached for was Aunt Pam. You are getting really good at sitting up on your own as well. You do fall over but you can stay up for awhile before you do. You haven't quite got the transition from sitting to hands and knees intentionally but I know its coming. You are really getting close to the crawling too, you generally will get where you want to go but it doesn't look like crawling yet. The other day you just scooted yourself across our bed on your back and pushing with your knees. More often than not you do this thing where you push with your feet and kind of jam your face into whatever surface you are on to get where you want to go. I am going to be so happy when you learn not to do this!!
You really enjoy a good book, I can usually get in 3-4 in a sitting without you losing interest. We read all the time and you love to listen to music too. I have caught you keeping time with the music which is already better than me!!
You are really enjoying the change in the weather which has led to more walks outside. We try to go every day and you love being in the BECO and walking! We go for at least 40 minutes at a time and you have never fussed while on a walk.

You are so much fun my boy. I am having a blast being your Mommy. You make me laugh, teach me and humble all at the same time. This Mommy gig can grow you like nothing I've known before.
Love Always,
Mama

Monthly Update-Month 1 on WW

2011-04-04T12:35:00.003-04:00

So I started Weight Watchers last month and I'm debating on how I want to document that here. I don't think I want this to be my accountability but it is something big in my life now so I do want to mention it here; so I think it will be a monthly update.

Since Bug has been born I have been trying to be conscious about my food choices and try to make better choices and be more active. On a total from the date he was born I have lost at least 39 lbs. Holla! Based on my pre-pregnancy weight I have lost 25lbs. I am so happy about this! Weight Watchers has really helped give me a jumpstart because I was stuck on the same 5 lbs for a month jumping up and down then once I started it has just started coming off.

This month I have lost 11 lbs. I am ecstatic about losing weight but even more so about being a role model to Bug in this. If I keep at it, he might not even remember me being overweight. I want to be a mom that can chase him around, run and play with him. I want to be a mom that can model good food choices and not pass on bad habits to him. Mostly I want to be a mom that is around for awhile. Now I realize that this isn't completely in my control that God is sovereign but I can help it by keeping in shape and decreasing my chances of Diabetes, heart disease and heart attack.

The biggest help to me has been having a food tracker right on my phone. I can look up all my food and keep track of is so easily this way; no juggling books and keeping paper and pen on me or relying on my memory. Also I have been using my kitchen scale like a fiend. The thing I feel most accomplished with is activity, Bug and I have been walking and I can tell that my energy and endurance is already up. I wear him in my Beco and just walk and walk; generally he gets tired and takes a nap but sometimes he just looks around on our whole walk. I love that I am teaching him to get out and get active!! We have also had a few parties to attend, that has always been a stumbling block to me in the past. This month I feel like I have really gone into them with a healthy attitude of not worrying too much but trying to make healthy choices. One "bad" day won't derail weeks of healthy choices if I don't let it.

As far as clothes I am already down 2 sizes and I am on the cusp of the next clothing size. Its a big one for me because once I get there I can start shopping in one of my favorite "regular" stores that don't cater to the big girls. I am still in plus sizes but just being able to shop in certain stores is a win for me and shows me that sometime soon I won't have to be in plus sizes anymore. So yes, things are going well. I keep praying for the strength to take this day by day and make good healthy choices.

****I am not being compensated for this post. This is just my unbiased opinions of these companies/products.

The Neighborhood Challenge-They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

2011-03-16T11:44:00.005-04:00

I was very inspired at my MOPS meeting the other week. There was a young woman who was a mother of two (I believe) and a missionary who spoke. Part of her lesson was about raising children and she said, and I paraphrase, that by attending ONLY and primarily to your children's needs that you raise them to be self centered people. You need to model for them the focus that you would like them to have.

About a week later we had something horrible happen to someone right on our street. One of our neighbors murdered his ex-wife's boyfriend then killed himself. In the news article it said that the police were familiar with this family before and had been called for domestic disturbances. This was terribly sad to me because while I was friendly with their two boys (we have chatted it up about hockey a few times). I had never spoken to either the mother (who moved out 6 months ago) or the father and I had no idea that this poor woman was abused or even had even moved out. As I tried to sleep that night a verse kept popping into my head.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31

Obviously I wasn't working on loving my neighbor or modeling the love I want my Bug to have for those around us. I didn't even know their first names. This kicked around my head for a few days and I prayed about it trying to figure out how I could accomplish this. I am outgoing by nature but just going to someones house and introducing myself, uhh do people really do that?

As I thought and prayed over it, I thought about how God made me, my strengths and what gives me joy. God has given me a love of baking and cooking. There are so many things I would love to bake and cook but with working on my weight I am also working on not having so much temptation in my house. LIGHTBULB!! I can bake and cook and just drop off treats to my neighbors with a little note on it introducing our family and letting them know they are in our thoughts and prayers. As we get to know more and more people we can make a neighborhood map with peoples names on it and we can pray for them as a family.

The first neighbor we dropped off treats to was the woman and her children that I had mentioned previously and I was NERVOUS like shaking nervous. I brought Bug and we rang their doorbell, they answered and I just introduced myself and handed them a plate of molasses cookies with a note letting them know they were in our thoughts and prayers. Bug and I just went out today with our second drop of carrot cake cupcakes and met a new neighbor. It is definitely a bit nerve-wracking to me but I am hoping that it will get easier each time. The woman I met today was so sweet and is stopping by with her husband tonight so they can meet the hubs.

We are going to work on doing this once a week and it will take awhile but we should be able to get everyone on our street at least once a year. It is just a small thing but hopefully it will open my eyes and Bug's eyes to the needs around us we can pray for.

What are your strengths and what can you do with them to show others love?

It's Funny Because It's True

2011-03-14T17:07:00.002-04:00

5 Month Newsletter

2011-03-08T08:41:00.006-05:00

Dear Buggy,

Every month I say I can't believe that you are another month older and its true. I've been staring at you all morning wondering how it is my little 7lb 9oz infant has grown and changed so much! It is a great reminder to stop what I'm doing and just enjoy you. This month has brought about so much change!

look you are all grown up and a Flyers goalie! Where did my baby go?

You started rolling over!! Its crazy watching you because you have to get pretty worked up to do it, you grunt and fuss but eventually you flip over. Once you do you are pleased as punch though.
Also you got two teeth! TWO! On Feb 21st your two bottom teeth came in. I remember the exact moment, we were in the car and daddy was driving and I was riding with you because you were fussing (probably because your teeth were poking you!) You were chewing on my hand then all the sudden you bit me! Wow, those little chompers are sharp!!! Daddy and I are very wary about putting our fingers in your mouth now because you love biting everything! You love kisses too and will just open your mouth and "kiss" all over my face :)

Speaking of biting, you have been so interested in watching us eat lately. Every time I take a drink of water you tip your head back and open your mouth. You watch us most intently while we are eating though. I have even let you start chewing on some veggies; a carrot, celery stick and sugar snap peas. You are VERY interested in that. "this duck is kinda creeping me out"

I'm excited for you to grow and experience new things but the thought of you eating anything other than momma's milk has me so sad. I have loved nursing you, it has had its own challenges but holding you in my arms and feeding you is the most special thing. It allows me the time to slow down and just look at you. I know I'll be nursing you for a long time to come but this coming milestone is bittersweet for me. We will definitely be waiting for at least 6 months to start actually feeding you things (instead of just letting you bite!).
You are so smiley and boy are you LOUD! You love to talk, squeal, sing and screech. Whenever I'm on the phone people are always laughing at how loud you are. You are also quite the flirt, you love smiling at pretty girls. Last Sunday in church you were distracting all the teenage girls behind you (the very gorgeous William's girls) with your smiles. It was so funny! You do that to me though too, I'll want to do the dishes or something dumb like that and you just look at me and smile and a half hour later we are still playing. Making you laugh is like an addiction!

you and your "girlfriend" Kira

You are the ultimate morning person you generally need a diaper change at around 4:30 every day and Daddy generally takes one for the team on that one. You wake up with the biggest smile though, its really adorable. You will just sit and smile and talk and take one hand and put it on my arm and one hand on your daddy's arm. It's so cute, you love our little family :) Most of the time after your diaper is changed you will settle down, nurse and go back to sleep; this month Daddy has even started to need his alarm clock again! Some mornings you will even sleep till 8 or 8:30 (THANK YOU!!), I feel so bad for Daddy when that happens because he doesn't get his special Buggy Time before work. He definitely makes up for it when he gets home and carries you around most of the night. I can't even describe the look you have when you look at your Daddy, just pure Awe. We were in church and singing a praise and worship song to God and you were looking at your Daddy with such love and amazement; I just laughed and told your Daddy it seemed like you were singing to him.

you and your daddy at the Discovery Museum watching HOCKEY!!

We have started being able to go outside more and we both are enjoying that. Although when the wind blows you don't quite know what to do. You just shut your eyes tight and hold your breath!

Another thing you love is BATHTIME!! Oh my you love bath time. You are like a little fish! I'm convinced that you think you can swim as you are always trying to throw yourself underwater or gently lower yourself. You will quietly stick your face in the water and when I lift you out you are like "what? was that a problem?". I can't wait to get you in a pool or in the ocean to see if you are the little water baby I think you are.

making our first craft, Valentine's Day Cards

That's pretty much how things go around here right now. I'm so excited for where we are at and excited for the things to come. While a piece of me mourns every milestone because it means my little baby isn't such a little baby anymore. You are such a sweet boy and your smile lights up my life in a way I've never known before!
Love always,
Your Mama

Turning Point

2011-03-03T17:36:00.002-05:00

We reach a point every day where Bug is so tired that he is literally thrashing around unable to fall asleep. I have to hold him, sing to him, nurse him; just basically help my little boy fall asleep. He doesn't have the facilities to do it on his own so I help.

I feel like this right now. I've been working on losing weight off and on my whole life. I feel like I thrash about and try and try and it doesn't work; I need help. Tomorrow I'm starting Weight Watchers, again. Yes, again. I feel like I need the tools again and to realize what normal is. I need to get into good routines so I can be healthy. There are so many things I want to do and be in life that require me to be healthier.

Deep breath, I'm taking the plunge.

Tips!

2011-02-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

So, the hubs and I turned the t.v. off on January 3rd and kept it off till Feb 4th. Since then we've watched 1 tv show and 2 movies. I think we have broken our tv addiction. Woo hoo!

While at the library this week I picked up some videos of Julia Child's "The French Chef" series and have been watching one per day while Bug is nursing. I've never seen any of her shows before and I discovered that I ADORE her!! While watching she solved a big annoyance to me in the kitchen. We rarely have paper products as we use cloth napkins, cleaning rags, etc. One thing that I always need a napkin or paper towel for, is to butter pans for baking and cooking. Well while watching Julia, she used a spatula to spread the butter in the pan. It was like a huge lightbulb moment for me! One of those things that you don't think of but its such an easy solution!

Made my day!

Rollin, rollin, rollin!

2011-02-10T14:31:00.001-05:00

4 Month Letter

2011-02-07T16:56:00.009-05:00

Hey My Buggy Boy!

4 Months!! I can't believe it but another month has gone by. It seems like this month really marked so much change for you and you are your own person now.see look at you chewing on your 4 month sticker instead of letting me take a picture of it!

Before it just seemed like you were an extension of me but now you are really starting to express yourself and use your body.
This month marks a milestone for us. We have been taking this nursing thing as it comes with my first goal being 6 weeks, then my second being 4 months. I've been reading so much research about how good it is for me to exclusively breastfeed if only to the 4 month mark. We have hit that and set our new goal to at least 6 months exclusive. I love nursing you, as you get bigger and we interact in different ways its my guaranteed time to cuddle and snuggle with you.

Speaking of cuddling and snuggling, we are also still co-sleeping. This is mostly because it just works for us. You still wake up 1-2 times per night to nurse and it's so nice to just nurse you in bed and go back to sleep. I love waking up to see the two people I love most in the world as well. I know it doesn't work for everyone but I am enjoying this time we have all together as a family.

the "Back Ben"

One of the cute things you do is a maneuver we call the "Back Ben" other people may refer to it as a back bend. If your daddy or I get out of bed to get ready for the day you will bend as far as you can backwards to look for us, sometimes you will even start talking like "hey, you forgot me!!"

You are really talking up a storm now, you normally wake up around 5:30 am and spend some time with Daddy before he goes to work. Most mornings I take that hour to sleep some more but sometimes I'll just hear you talking, cooing and just telling your Daddy stories.

video of one of our conversations

I talk to you all day long and now you are talking back to me(makes me feel less crazy, thanks!). You get so excited sometimes that your arms and legs get moving too. I am a little worried that you might end up a lawyer like your Uncle Wally but we'll see :) You also laugh like a champ.
You are such a joy to me and your dad, we know that we are blessed to have such a happy boy. We enjoy you so much!

This month it really seems like you are figuring out your hands. You grab and actually play with your toys. Ok, by playing I really mean you try to eat them, but they entertain you and that is fun to see. You are really into the teething thing, EVERYTHING goes into your mouth. You love the maple wood teethers that we got you for Christmas and it is pretty funny seeing a little boy just chewing away on a piece of wood! Sometimes it looks like you might turn into a thumb sucker too, a couple of times you have found your thumb and kept it there for a few minutes. I guess that's just another thing to watch for as you get older.

"Little" boy is not such an accurate description of who you are, you are quite the big boy!! Your cousin Payton is just a little thing so your Aunt Anna and I laugh every day about the differences in you guys! Pop-pop even made this side by side comparison that cracks us up!
I love your rolls and chunkiness and you seem to love the belly kisses and neck kisses that come along with being a chunker! You also seem to be getting a little ticklish with your neck now so I am excited to see if that is going to be your tickle spot.

Your daddy and I have started a night time routine for you this month, we give you a bath, change you, read to you, pray over you and nurse you. You have really taken to the routine and seem to be ready to go to bed right afterwards. I love watching your face as we take turns reading to you, you are a pretty attentive little guy and love to read books. You also seem to be pretty reverent while we pray, which is pretty cute but I'm sure its just a coincidence. Some times you even grasp your hands together, ahh cuteness!

You have been getting really good with tummy time too and sometimes can move yourself forward a little bit!! This amazes us, but most things you do amaze us. You have also been using the excersaucer and your legs to hold yourself up while in it. I am really working on not comparing you to other kids your age, this is so hard for me. I want to gauge where you are and see how your development falls with all of your "friends". I'm reminding myself that you are a unique little guy and to just enjoy every moment we have together. You are working right through the developmental chart so that is good to see. Most important though is to show you how much we love you no matter what. Oh Bug, we do, we love you so much just for you being you.

we call this your "south Philly" outfit
being a Flyers Fan is the only thing you have no choice about

I'm excited to see the changes that this new month brings. I love watching you learn and grow and do new things. You amaze me! No matter how big you get or how many things you learn you will always be my baby boy and you will always be surrounded by my love.

Love Always!
Your mama

new masthead

2011-02-06T20:48:00.001-05:00

check it

Parenting thought for the day

2011-02-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

pic of my Bug nursing

Psalms 22:9
Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.

This really struck me when I read it the other day. You "led me to trust you at my mother's breast". I am teaching my baby how to trust. How that colors the way I treat him if I first ask myself, is this a way to teach him how to trust? I pray that I act in such a way that he would trust me and in turn trust God.

This Moment

2011-01-31T22:46:00.004-05:00

Sitting here with my sleeping babe
Sun streaming in the window
Diapers drying on the rack
Breakfast dishes on the table (Irish Oats)
French Press coffee freshly made

I never knew my life could be so wonderful. This moment of peace fills me for the rest of the day.

The kindness of strangers (and husbands too!)

2011-01-27T17:40:00.004-05:00

So today I put the Bug in his baby carrier to go outside to shovel the driveway. This was completely by choice because I wanted a doughnut and had to shovel the driveway to get it. It also killed two birds with one stone because I wanted to work off said doughnut before I ate it. I've been trying to make better food choices and lose some weight lately so this seemed like a good way to do it.

So while I was out shoveling two young guys (one was probably mid 20's and the other mid teens) walked by with shovels and asked if I would like them to shovel for me. I thanked them and just let them know we didn't have any cash on us but I appreciated the offer, then I told them of my doughnut plan. Before they walked off I just asked if Bug looked comfortable because its harder to see him in the back carry. He said he did and was asking me a little about his stitches from his surgery and commented "What beautiful blue eyes he has" (aww how sweet, stranger guy!). I started shoveling again and the two guys start shoveling as well; I thanked them and said they didn't need to help and again that we didn't have any cash on us. The older guys then said to me "sometimes its just not about the money, you seem like a really nice lady and we'd just like to help you". How kind of them! So we shovel together for about 20 min and get my driveway done and I asked them if they would like some hot chocolate (hubs was working from home would not have offered if he wasn't there) they declined but did ask for some water. I brought them out glasses of water and they went on and on thanking ME for the water, what wonderful selfless people!

Then we finished and I came in to show the hubs the sleeping Bug on my back and he asked what I was doing. I told him I shoveled the driveway and he said "You didn't have to do that, that's my job!" I said that it was fine I did it because I wanted to (and wanted a doughnut). What a wonderful thing to have a choice whether I want to shovel or not!

Just a little part of my day but it has had me smiling for the rest of the afternoon :)

How to check if your yeast is still yeasty

2011-01-25T13:35:00.006-05:00

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:"
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Baking bread is such a great thing to do for your family. One of the main benefits is that you can insure what is in the bread, the ingredients on most grocery store loafs can make you cringe! For a time I was baking bread every week for the hubs and he LOVED it, literally ate it up :)
But as things go, I entered a season of not baking bread and my yeast stayed put in a glass jar in my fridge. I'm starting to feel a season of bread baking coming back around and was wondering today if my yeast is still good.

There is a quick test for this; you need
1 cup of water
1 Tbsp of yeast
1 Tbsp of sugar
Basically you mix and let sit and see if it foams up within 5 minutes. If it does than your yeast is good.

I set about to do this while Bug was nursing figuring I could keep an eye on it. and after 5 minutes I had this.

Problem solved right? Yes, I can now confidently bake bread knowing my yeast will rise and will not waste all of my other ingredients. Well Bug didn't finish nursing in the prescribed 5 minutes so I sat and watched this...

the miracle of yeast :)

3 Month Letter

2011-01-07T19:32:00.028-05:00

Dear Buggie,
Another month has past, they seem like they are flying by, it is so bittersweet. You are my sweet baby but you grow and change every day; I love watching it but a piece of me wants to freeze time so we can take in these moments together. I've been a few days late in getting this update up and that's just because you are too darn fun. You started laughing this week, you are also cooing and "talking" up a storm!

Speaking of storms, you experienced so many firsts this month of them being your first snow storm! You didn't much care about the snow the first time, you just slept through it but then we had to go out to the post office and OH MY you were not happy about that. You usually are very good in the car but I think all the white was bothering you! We have taken you for a few walks in the snow and as per your norm as long as you are snuggled in your Moby you will sleep as soon as we are off of our block. We tried to do a photo shoot outside in the white stuff the one day and just as Mommy got started you decided that you were not having it so these are the pics we have of your first snow experiences. Hopefully next year you will like it a bit more!

We also celebrated your first Christmas this month, I think it was my favorite Christmas ever! Because you had to have surgery on the 23rd it forced us to really take it easy. We had to keep you home so you wouldn't get sick, but it really allowed us to enjoy Christmas. We weren't rushed or struggling with overcommitment, we did get to do some of our normal Christmas stuff like doing the advent wreath, making candies and watching Christmas movies. We started you on the family traditions of going to Granny and Pop pop's for Christmas morning with the family and having Mom-mom and Pop pop over Christmas afternoon. Daddy and I decided we are going to have our special day be Christmas Eve where we just spend time together as a family and we started this year. We ended Christmas Eve with a candlelit service at church, you slept for the whole thing!! I also went a little nutty with the pictures, I couldn't help it you are too cute!
Everyone always says what a "big boy" you are and this month you became a big cousin! Your little cousin Payton Joy was born, I joke that you had your two months of special being the youngest grandchild but you are proving day by day to be such a special little guy so I think we can grant you a bit more :). You really are a big guy though, you are pretty much in 9 months clothes. With your surgery I was a little worried about how you would nurse afterwards but you don't seem to have any problems in that area; no stitches were going to keep you from your mama's milk! I love your chunky little legs and Flinstone feet, so I guess you can keep on growing if you want.
You had your Ptosis surgery this month and it was so hard for me and Daddy to hand you over to the surgeon and it was so sad to see how swollen you got. You did so well though! When you came out you nursed right away and really didn't seem like you were in much pain. We have loved watching you look at things now, and can see how it bothered you before to not be able to see well. You used to hate your swing and your bouncy seat and now you love them and I attribute that to you being able to see in that position now. You are so curious, when you are taking something in you have the most intense look on your face. So for the past few weeks when I carry you around the house you have this look on your face like you are studying everything in the house (probably because you are a genius or something).
You have some definite favorite things now. You have always loved your birdie mobile and that love affair is going strong. I will put you on your changing table so that I can fold laundry and you will sit there talking to your birdies or just looking at them without fuss, EVER. I love that you love it because it always reminds me of where I was when I made it, praying and hoping that one day I would have a baby to look at it. Now that time is here and it reminds me of how blessed I am to be your mommy! A new love that you just met this month is Lamby, or Lovey, or Lovey Lou. Granny gave you Lamby to have before you went into your surgery and its adorable how much you love him! Daddy and I have tried to sub some of your other stuffed animals or blankies but you won't have it, Lamby is the only one for you. You give Lamby kisses, and clutch him close to you and if you are cranky we can always get a smile if we bring out Lamby. We have it on good authority to buy a few back ups so we are on the look out!
This month you also started losing your baby hair. You are rocking quite an interesting do, its the mix between a mullet and a mohawk. You make that Mullethawk look good though!
You have changed our lives, Bug, its undeniable. I am a better person for knowing you and I've only known you 3 months!! I know the behavior I model will impact the way you view the world around you, what responsibility and also what an honor! I am doing my best and praying for wisdom along the way to be the best Mommy I can be to you. I love you with all my heart my sweet sweet boy.
Love Always,
Your Mama

Ptosis Surgery Update

2010-12-30T22:51:00.006-05:00

So on Dec 23rd, Bug had his Ptosis surgery. It was so hard driving him in while he was screaming in the backseat because he was starving. It took two hours from then for them to take him back for surgery so the poor boy hadn't eating in about 5 hours. When we got into pre-op they had us change him into a hospital gown, dude, baby gowns are soo sad. They weighed him again and he is 97% for height and weight, the boy knows how to nurse! Then the surgeon and the anesthesiologist came in to meet with us. We prayed over the Bug then handed him over, hardest thing I've ever done.

They sent us to a waiting room for the parents of kids in surgery, we were at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania). I thought CHOP handled this part really well, they had people coming in and updating all the parents on that status of the surgeries about every 30-40 minutes. When Bugs surgery was done the surgeon came in to talk to us and told us it was successful and that we would be called back to see him in a few minutes, once he woke up from anesthesia.

Nothing could have ever prepared me for what we saw when we went back. My boy had so much attached to him (IV, blood pressure cuff, pulse oxygen monitor, heart monitor, etc). The first thing I saw was a bottle though and I think all my anxiety flew onto the nurse. I was soo mad they gave him a bottle, don't they know that Breast is Best?!!! They finally gave him to me after what seemed like forever and I couldn't believe what I saw. He was swollen and bloody. The hubs and I were horrified that we had chosen to do this to our son. After about an hour they let us bring him home.

He seemed to be fine once we got him home. He just seemed like he was in a little bit of pain so we gave him a dose of Tylenol. I just kept staring at my poor boy. His right eye was swollen shut that day. He nursed fine on both sides though, which was one of my worries. We have to put ointment in his eye every two hours and he's on an oral antibiotic 3x a day which is interesting to say the least. He is a very strong, very stubborn little boy.

As the dust settles and the swelling goes down the hubs and I both realize how he needed this surgery. He looks around at things like he's never seen them, its so easy to tell that the surgery was necessary. He loves his swing now and sitting up; before he would fuss at either (I think because his eyelid would shut so he couldn't see that well in that position). Its so nice to see him sitting up and looking at me with his big dimply smile. We are blessed.

Praying tonight for a bloggy mommy that I read who was blessed with twin baby girls only to lose one. My heart breaks for her.

All I want for Christmas is.....

2010-12-21T19:58:00.003-05:00

This is Bug's first Christmas and I'm really wanting to set the tone for years to come. We are doing a very simple Christmas. I got him some socks and pjs, a childrens nativity, and some wooden teethers; that's it. I'm making him a few things; his first sock monkey, a sweet little hat and some cloth wipes. I really want to make sure that our family Christmas isn't about gifts but about spending time together and about celebrating our faith. I know we have a few years before the lil guy will remember these Christmases but I know that it will take a couple years to de-program myself and the hubs. I do really like giving gifts and would LOVE to spoil the boy with everything he could possibly want. However, I know from my time working at the preschool that the more toys kids have the less they play with them. I also know that having so much stuff in my house would drive me insane and that would not be good for the tone of our house.

The hubs and I are also doing a minimalist Christmas. We are doing a $5 limit and are getting the most ridiculous thing we can find. I CAN'T WAIT to see what he finds. I am also going to make him something, and fill his stocking with some needs and some little odds and ends.

I've been so bothered lately by some of the commercials, especially the jewelry store ones. "Every kiss begins with Kay" and others that basically say that the only way to express or receive love is lavish gifts. This bothers me so much. I'm the first to admit that I have gotten jewelry and loved it for certain occasions but my relationship is not dependent on my husband getting me lavish and expensive gifts. I want to find different and unique ways of expressing love without giving in to our culture of overspending and excessiveness.

My bug was all I really wanted this year and now that he's here I want to focus on showing him what is important in life. Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas, however you choose to celebrate.

Fun at the Docs

2010-12-15T21:32:00.002-05:00

So we've been hanging at doctors offices but we've been trying to make it fun. Thankfully the Bug is a pretty silly guy. Here's him figuring out his tongue :)

2 Month Letter

2010-12-07T20:53:00.011-05:00

My Dearest Buggy,
Its hard to believe another month has past! You have changed so much in the past month, and even though I didn't think it was possible I love you more. You are such a fun little guy, your daddy and I are really enjoying having you interact more with us. One of our favorite times is Saturday mornings, you usually wake up pretty cheerful and we love cuddling with you. You LOVE kisses and we play a little game where we sit on opposite sides of you and take turns kissing your cheeks, you turn your head from side to side with big smiles!! Your smile is the best thing I've ever seen, I love making you smile. Whether its a sweet little sleep smile, or a nursing smile or a big old giggly smile they all make me melt. I've had a hard time capturing it on film because usually my focus is on making you smile more.

We've definitely caught our groove with the nursing, and we've even nursed while walking around Target! Don't worry you were all covered, we weren't flashing anyone :) Last month I was scared we would never leave the house but we have and even took our first trip to Hershey Park! Your dad and I celebrate the anniversary of our first date by going to Hershey every year during Christmastime, its also the place where your dad proposed to me. the exact spot where your dad proposed to me

You slept for most of it but we're so excited to do it every year and can see how fun its going to be as you get older. It was sooo cold, your dad was worried if it would be too cold for you to be outside but you were nice and cozy with me wearing you in your Moby wrapped in a blanket.

thats you under that blanket all snuggly!

You still LOVE to be worn and I wear you most of the time, I can count on one hand the number of times you've been in your stroller. Sometimes I just bring it to store the diaper bag and still wear you. Its so nice holding you as we go through our day, I love my snuggly little man. busy playing on your playmat

I brought you into the office this month and you were so good, I was able to work for 4 hours both wearing you and having you play on your playmat. You've been letting me work a few hours a day at home as well, you entertain yourself really well with your play mat and just looking around. You have started to look around more and take in whats around you. I love watching you discover things, the funniest has been your tongue. Its so cute watching you stick out your tongue and play with it. You've even started licking us sometimes when we kiss you its pretty funny.

You are sleeping better, in the past few nights you've gone for like 4-5 hours of straight sleep. Umm seriously this has been AMAZING! To tell the truth though I went in expecting you not to sleep so even though I was tired it didn't bother me to wake up to change and nurse you. Taking care of you has been the most rewarding job of my life, I love being your mommy!

This month we also found out you need to have minor surgery on your eyelid. Its the first time that I really feel like I can't protect you and it kills me. I know that this is just the first time of many that I will have to watch you go through trials without being able to take them away from you. You are my gift from God, so I trust you in His hands and place you in them every day in prayer. I know that your life experiences and how you choose to view them will make you the man you're going to be; good or bad. So even though I can't take this trial from you I plan to model my faith to you that you will learn that through anything we can trust God.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."Matthew 10:29-31

God has numbered the very hairs on your head, He loves you my boo. Its hard for me to believe but He loves you even more than I do.

I love you so, my Bug, and look forward to getting to know you more as the months go by. Sometimes I just wish we could pause it a bit, its going so fast! I can't wait to see where this month is going to bring us and what new tricks you're going to learn. I can't wait to make the memory of your first Christmas! To celebrate the New Year with you, you've already shown me so much more hope and promise than any new year could.

Love Always,
Your mama

Like a 12 yr old girl

2010-12-07T17:58:00.004-05:00

Oh hormones you are so cruel. Pimples, really?? All over my face right near Christmas, when we have parties to go to and actually see people. Arghh, this part of motherhood I could do without! Forgive the crazy eyes, I can't take a decent picture to save my life.

Ridiculous

2010-12-02T20:58:00.002-05:00

I just finished organizing all of my medical bills from the birth of my son. You know the natural birth where I didn't require any medications of my healthy son who didn't require any medical interventions. Good grief, it was more expensive for me to pay my copays at the hospital than it would be to pay for a home birth in full.
For the nursery alone they billed us $10,000, my son was in the nursery for 3 hours total. I even tried to refuse him going because I thought it was ridiculous. $10,000=INSANE!

Tonight I'm going to purposefully focus on how thankful I am to have had a healthy delivery of a healthy son.

Nablopomo

2010-11-30T22:49:00.002-05:00

So yeah, I finished!! Sorry that it was pretty lame but I'm just happy that I completed it! Today was a great day, my sister gave birth to my newest little niece. She's a sweetie and this auntie is having a hard time living a flight away from this newest little one! She's a red head just like Bug, he's going to be in good company with 4 other ginger cousins. I think both sides of our family are proving that red heads are going extinct thing wrong.

Blerg

2010-11-29T21:45:00.003-05:00

Just got our birth announcements and they cut off the first letter of his name, the b in born and the 7 in 7 lbs.. umm kinda important parts. I emailed the company that I ordered from, not my usual company. I'm reaaally hoping that they resolve it quickly as I have been seriously neglectful of the thank you cards for the gifts since he was born because I'm planning on sending them with our birth announcements. On another note our Christmas cards came so they will all get sent out together once I get the corrected birth announcements.
I'm going into the office tomorrow with the Bug to do some data entry. I'm having a little anxiety about it cause I'm scared how he will react. Say some prayers peeps the extra cash would be nice around Christmas :) I have the travel swing and his floor gym in the car, hopefully he'll take a good nap so I can get some time in.
Major pet peeve, when my baby smells like cigarettes. I HATE that he smells like that after relatives who smoke hold him. I really try to limit his time in the hands of smokers but man it makes me want to cry when my babies hair smells like that. I can't believe that I used to smoke considering my current reaction to that smell.

Started decorating

2010-11-28T21:10:00.002-05:00

The tree is looking less Charley Brown than I thought it would, makes me much happier. The ridiculous amount of garland and lights really help the situation. I forgot how much the cat likes to eat this tree though.. whomp whomp whomp.. Anyone want a cat??

Mine is way less cool than these

Fake Tree

2010-11-27T23:58:00.000-05:00

We're thinking of going fake this year, gasp.. I don't know if I can handle it :)

So excited

2010-11-26T21:15:00.002-05:00

I've been looking at pictures of my nieces and nephews first Christmas' and I can't wait to start making these memories with Bug. We're planning on decorating the tree this weekend and starting the Advent Wreath on Sunday. Next week we are heading up to Hershey for the Anniversary of our first date and also our engagement. I'm so excited to bring our little boy to our special place :) We've been talking all week about fun things we can do with him when he's older and traditions to start with him. I'm a self proclaimed Christmas nut so this is all too exciting for me :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T21:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Fall Colors Fall

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Remember kids give thanks in all situations, our God is good!
Yes this is our turkey!!!

Thankfullness

2010-11-24T19:30:00.003-05:00

I've been reflecting on the difference between this year and last. Last year was the deepest valley of my life and I'm just so thankful to be on the other side of it. Those valleys certainly help you appreciate the peaks. Right now we are standing on a peak but I know that there are times and seasons for all of this and that there are other valleys we will have to walk through and other peaks to ascend. I'm thankful right now for both the valleys and the peaks because both of them make you who you are.
I'm so excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow, we are going over my moms and I don't have to cook. We are also bringing a turkey over to my parents house to have my brother fry. Soo not only do I not have to cook but I still get leftovers.. How thankful am I for THAT! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and run out of fingers and toes when you count your blessings. :)

Family

2010-11-23T21:49:00.001-05:00

Nursing in a ring sling!

2010-11-22T20:30:00.003-05:00

Wow, so last month I was having such a hard time even contemplating nursing in public. I'll admit to thinking I would be relegated to my house for the rest of our nursing relationship. The few times I did venture out I was bringing my nursing pillow and basically exposing myself in the back of my car. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get proficient at this whole nursing deal. I'm still not that great, I do alright with my Hooter Hider (thanks Anna!) despite flashing my friend Lisa some nip today. It has gotten drastically better though, like I don't start sweating every time he looks like he's rooting outside of the house. Today I did the unthinkable, I nursed in the middle of Target WHILE WALKING AROUND with him in a ring sling. Dude I was so proud I had my friend snap a pic :)

Buggy Smiles make my day

2010-11-21T20:35:00.004-05:00

My little bug just started smiling this week, it melts my heart. He's such a happy guy that he smiles for most of the time he's awake. Happy Sigh!

Birth Announcements Done

2010-11-20T21:25:00.002-05:00

check off my list woot woot.
Now to finish ordering our Christmas cards as we're sending them out together.
This is amazing, I feel so productive :)

Mother's Heart

2010-11-19T20:25:00.002-05:00

I'm learning so much about my faith with my little Bug. We are God's children and He loves us with a perfect love, he loves me and my Bug far more and better than I could ever. My Bug has a weak muscle in his eyelid and it seems he needs surgery to correct it. I learned today that my little tiny 6 week old baby needs surgery and I would do ANYTHING to make him not have to go through that. If I could give him my eyelid I would, if I could take that from him I would in a heartbeat. How much more would our Father in Heaven do for us. Just reflecting on the love I have for him with my limited heart makes me realize how much more the perfect love my God has for both of us.
I'll do what I can, I'll learn as much as I can and make the best decisions that I can for him. I'll love him and smother him with kisses. Then I'll rest in the knowledge that there is an All Powerful God that loves him even more than I do.

I was made for this

2010-11-18T20:03:00.003-05:00

I wore my baby and went out to hang up his diapers this morning. Pinning each one on the line I was just filled with peace. I've never been happier than I am right now. I realize this probably sounds crazy and stupid but I love the place I'm in. I love keeping my house and taking care of my baby. I'm pretty sure most people don't feel this way when doing laundry :) I'm a lucky girl!

Free pictures

2010-11-17T22:32:00.003-05:00

So there are all these free offers flying around for pictures. I've been using picture websites that I don't usually use to take advantage of them since I have about 300 cards to buy between Christmas and our Birth Announcement. Let me just say that I definitely am happy with the site that I normally use. I've had such problems with the new ones! Just so you know I would never link to a site or service that I'm unhappy with for the sake of free pictures I have always used and liked Shutterfly. Ha ha and yes this counted for nablopomo, I was going to post a picture of the Bugs outfit today cause its an original but that would mean I would have to find my camera cable and upload my pics so sorry. Hopefully I'll stop being lame with these posts soon!

Great Link for dad's to bond with thier breastfeeding baby

2010-11-16T20:43:00.003-05:00

So the hubs has really been thinking of ways for him to bond with our peanut. He asked about me pumping so that he can feed him and I was a bit hesitant because of nipple confusion. Then I found this link up on Facebook:
How New Dads Can Bond With Their Breastfeeding Baby
It has some great tips on it that we're totally trying. I'll let you know

A little nastalga

2010-11-15T20:17:00.004-05:00

This is a picture I took 5 years ago, I lived in that cabin by myself and LOVED it. It was built before the United States of America was the United States and was once a one room dirt floor cabin. When I lived there you couldn't see any other houses or the road from the cabin, the views were all trees and fields. I would do the dishes with views of deer running through the fields and wild turkeys running around. I would fall asleep to the sound of the whipperwills. The hubs and I dream of one day building a cabin in the woods for ourselves, but for now I just treasure that memory.

Bloggaversary

2010-11-14T19:23:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is my 5 year Bloggoversary, I started this blog about 2 weeks before I started dating my now husband. It seems so weird that my life has changed so much in this time. I'm so happy to have a record of all these changes even if I wasn't always the greatest at updating.

I'm having a hard time with this Nablopomo thing mostly because I'm exhausted. The little man is going through a growth spurt right now so I'm literally nursing him ALL THE TIME. He also won't go to anyone but me right now so taking a nap on the weekend is all but impossible as he'll scream the whole time if I'm not holding him. He is such a wonderful little boy and I'm so happy right now but I'm really really really hoping for just a bit of sleep tonight. Its 7:30 and we're all in bed for the night so I'm crossing my fingers :)

Anyway I hope to update with some good stuff this week to make up for my lameness in the past few days.

I'm gonna be an aunt again!

2010-11-13T23:32:00.000-05:00

Thats all I've got, its late, I'm tired and excited.
night.

Most used infant products-the first month

2010-11-12T19:40:00.001-05:00

So I thought it might be useful or interesting to hear my most used baby items so far.

1. My Moby Wrap- I have LOVED this. The bug adores being in it and will snuggle right up. I love having him so close to me and rarely if we're out do we use the stroller. Its just been easier to use the Moby.

2. The My Brest Friend Pillow. I love this pillow and love how secure it is. Those first few weeks of nursing can be tough so anything you can get to make it easier do it. This was one of my favorite things that I had.

3. My Kleen Kanteen- The hubs makes sure that this is always filled and I don't think I would drink anything in those first weeks unless it was right there for me. I love these and bring them EVERYWHERE.

4. Zippy Pajamas-I loved not dealing with buttons or snaps in the middle of the night.

5. Sophie the Giraffe-This toy is so cute, I love it. The bug tracks it with his eyes and will bat it with his hands too :)

Sometimes there are just no words

2010-11-11T21:24:00.001-05:00

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas Card time!

2010-11-10T21:40:00.006-05:00

I used to be one of those people who bought Christmas cards and never sent them. I would write them all out and then come March I would throw them out, yeah that was a great use of my time and cash. Since I've been hitched though I've been so good with sending them out, patting myself on the back for that. We've used Shutterfly and we couldn't have been happier. We actually have used shutterfly for other things too, we even made a photo book as our wedding album and for albums for our parents.

This year is a little more exciting for us with our little Bug so we're so excited to send our Christmas cards out with a picture of our little man included. This year the Count Your Blessings card is definitely ringing true for us.

I also like the Good Blessings
Its one of my favorite verses and songs, I also love the artwork on the front.

I also like the simplicity of the Scarlet Script Frame and Vintage Merry Christmas.

I know this year we'll be looking into getting some other things from Shutterfly; both for us and for gifts. I would love a photo ornament to commemorate Bug's first Christmas and could see getting them for the grandparents as well. I know the grandparents would freak their freak over a wall calendar with 12 months of cuteness on it. I have been so happy with the quality and also the customer service in the past with Shutterfly and will be ordering with confidence this year.

***This post is part of the Shutterfly free card promo. Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Great Great Great

2010-11-09T20:19:00.004-05:00

Today Bug met his Great Great Great Aunt Ginny. It was sweet to see how much it meant to her to hold my little man, and it warmed my heart to see how he responded to her. She sat and rocked and sang to him and he ate it up.

This is something that is important, I think, to have your children visit the elderly. They can learn so much and they also can bring so much joy. It was amazing watching the eyes of my 93 year old great great aunt light up when she met my little man, and the way she watched me as I rocked and nursed him. You could tell it made her day.

Comparison

2010-11-08T20:04:00.003-05:00

My boy is getting so big, I just went through his closet and had to pack up all the newborn clothes and a decent amount of the 0-3 and 3 month clothes. I put him in his first 6 month shirt today. Can't believe that he's already had a graduation of sorts.

Milestone!

2010-11-07T19:01:00.001-05:00

I nursed in a restaurant and didn't flash anyone!!!

Big Day Out

2010-11-06T23:56:00.003-04:00

So today the hubs went surf fishing with my brother while I had some friends over. When he got home he watched the Bug so I could get a nap, then we decided to rent a movie and get sushi. I decided to go get it myself to just get out of the house a bit by myself. Well I pick up the sushi and am driving down the road and pow... I get a flat.
Now its about 40 degrees and I was wearing flip flops with no jacket (big surprise for those who know me). Whomp whomp whomp not the big outing I was hoping for. I started changing the tire myself, cause thats right I can give birth and change a flat--I'm totally singing "I'm Every Woman" in my head. A nice guy came up and started helping then my father in law pulled up to help(the hubs called him to help me since he was at home with the baby) so we got it changed in no time. I got home and we watched Iron Man 2 (well I watched it while the hubs slept) and ate the sushi. All ended up well but I'm really hoping thats the end of our tire woes cause this is the 2nd tire in a week to blow. So yeah this really has no point but I REALLY WANT TO DO THIS NABLOPOMO

1 month letter

2010-11-05T16:22:00.006-04:00

Dear Buggaboo (Bugs, Bugsy, Chunky Monkey, Boo Boo Face, Sweetie Boy),
I can't believe it was only one month ago today that we first saw your sweet face. It seems like forever ago and just a moment ago at the same time. To say you've turned my life upside down is an understatement, but the biggest change was my heart. I've never loved so much. When I was dating your dad I said that it made me understand God's love for me a little more because I had never known love like that before. You have shown me yet another depth of love, and I'm amazed again at God's love for me. I keep saying I can't believe that God gave his only son for me, that is a love that I cannot even fathom. I pray every day to live that out in my life that I can be an example to you of this great love.

We are starting to catch our groove with each other. Nights are sometimes rough, you usually wake up about 2 times a night. A good number of those nights though I admit to staying awake much longer than needed to just look at you. Nursing has been one of the sweetest experiences of my life, it has come with its own set of obstacles but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm amazed that the only sustenance you've ever had has come from me. I'm still not so great at nursing in public so we haven't gone out too much or for too long, I'm hoping to get better this month and get out of the house more.

I love watching you with your daddy, he loves you so much. Every night you fall asleep on his chest, he usually falls asleep too. I didn't think it was possible but you've made me fall more in love with your daddy more. I'm amazed that God used the two of us to make you, I love looking at you and seeing all the ways you look like your daddy, EVERYONE says you look just like him. I pray that you grow up to be a good man just like him.
You are out of newborn clothes and some of the 3 months are a stretch for you as well. Daddy has weighed you a few times and the last time we checked you were around 11.5lbs, we'll find out next Friday for sure what you are up to. I love wearing you and it seems your favorite place to be is in the Moby. One day daddy came home and kissed your head and said you smelled like Chicken soup, well that's what I had for lunch and I'd been kissing your head all afternoon. You don't seem to mind though so I keep wearing you.

I love you with all my heart little one, and I'm so thankful that you've made me a "mommy". I feel like all my life I've been waiting and preparing for this, to be a wife to your daddy and a mommy to you. I promise to do my best by you.

Love,
Your mama

The Weaning

2010-11-04T20:12:00.006-04:00

We've had Halloween candy in our house for about 2 weeks I have been indulging a little too much, using my sugar high to diffuse the sleep deprivation. We ran out yesterday and lets just say today has been rough, like so rough I wanted to spell it ruffffff. Resisting the temptation to run out and shop the clearances...
So for today this is all I got.

Cloth Diapering so far

2010-11-03T21:07:00.004-04:00

pic of my Bug's cute little cloth diapered tush!

Some of our parenting decisions were made automatically for us; cloth diapering and breastfeeding being the biggest. It was VERY important to both of us for me to stay home to raise the bug and for that to happen we had to lessen the cost of having a child. Diapering a child comes with an obscene cost, cloth diapering seemed like the best way to cut that and it has been. Thankfully we had purchased some cloth when we took care of my nieces twins and one of my friends handed me down some of her cloth diapers as her kids outgrew them; so even the cloth diapers didn't really have a significant impact on our budget. Even if we did have to purchase them it really just does make sense financially to go cloth. There are other bloggers who have gone into the cost analysis so I'm not going to do the math, I'll just link up a few here, here and here. I also like the environmental aspect of cloth diapering and appreciate how my frugal choices also tend to be green.

What we didn't realize is that when we left the hospital they would give us TONS of disposable diapers, we literally left with 5 packages. These 5 packages proved to be a great incentive to start with the cloth, we both HATED them. The bug some how leaked so bad that every time we changed him at night we were changing the sheets and his clothes too (some times ours as well).

It was so irritating, and both brands that they gave us let to the same effect. The hubs and I were so happy when we started using cloth because they really held the business in. We honestly haven't even noticed the laundry part of it too much, it works out to be an extra load every 2-3 days and you don't have to fold them!

So yeah, we cloth diaper and it isn't at all horrible like everyone insisted it would be when we were pregnant (all while giving us knowing looks and saying "we'll see how long that lasts"). It just works for us and for the boy, although I could see how if you were working full time or didn't have a washing machine cloth diapering would be hard. Also breastfeeding has its own advantages on cloth diapering so if I was formula feeding I might be singing a different tune.

The one thing that bothers me when people talk about cloth diapering is that they believe you have to buy the fancy expensive diapers. You can go crazy with cloth there are many many different options and some of them cost over $20 a diaper but you can go way cheaper than that. We opted to purchase prefolds, cheap prorap covers
and snappis to secure. Diapering with those options it costs about $50 per size and you can reuse for subsequent children, super cheap!

So what do you do? What made your decision for you?

A Moment

2010-11-02T16:44:00.005-04:00

He sighs contentedly in his sleep, nestled up against me. He grasps my necklace with both hands. We sit like this for hours each day, he finishes nursing and I hold him. I know this won't last long, that my tiny man will grow so much quicker than I will like; so for now I will let the dishes sit in the sink and the clothes will lay unfolded. I'll take a deep breath and breathe in his baby smell. I'll make myself remember how tiny his hands are, how soft his hair, how he fits perfectly all nestled against me.

I know this is special.

Napoblomo! For Real!

2010-11-01T21:54:00.003-04:00

So yeah I'm doing the Napoblomo, I've gotten way out of the whole blogging thing but have alot going on. I'm figuring this will help me get back into blogging. I also have a little Bugaboo that is A-dorable that I can fill space with pictures of if I run out of things to say.
We are starting to hit our groove after the birth of our son, our groove is a different groove than it was. Its a much more sleep deprived groove than it used to be but it also contains an obscene amount of cute and the fiercest of love. So yeah I have alot of posts flying around my head about being a first time mom, breastfeeding, natural birth, and then just my crazy random thoughts.
I'll leave you with a picture of the cuteness.

The Birth of my Little Man

2010-10-09T00:11:00.007-04:00

Baby Bam Bam

So this week has been a bit busy. About 4 hours after I wrote that last post I went into labor with my little man. After a long labor he was born on 10/5/10 at 3:11pm weighing 7lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. The labor, birth and reality of having a son have rocked my world. I feel so incredibly blessed right now.

Birth Story-Long version ** I am a doula and I go into detail here so if you don't feel comfortable reading the birth story from my perspective do not continue**

Monday morning I woke up about 4:30 shivering uncontrollably. I went to the bathroom then came back to bed to get under as many blankets as I could. About a half hour later my contractions started. They started out about 5 minute apart lasting about a minute each, I jumped in the shower to see what would happen. They got a bit more intense and the hubs popped his head in to see what was going on and if he should go to work that day. We figured it would be a good idea for him to stay home, and called my awesome doula, Mama K at about 6 am, and did a few laps around the block. We lapped the block a few more times, watched Flight of the Conchords and I took alot of showers. It started to get pretty intense at about 11:30 am and I felt best laying in bed; the contractions were about 2-3 min apart. The hubs called the midwives and they said to head on into the hospital.

I was extremely anxious about going into the hospital; terrified of having unnecessary procedures, of having my blood pressure go up because of anxiety. The whole hospital part of the birth scared the tar out of me and I think the decision to go in then stalled me out a bit because after that the contractions spaced out again at around 3-4pm. We ended up going out to dinner and while there they picked up a bit then we went over and walked the mall, then we headed home. Mama K headed home to see her little guys for a little bit with instructions for us to call her when things got going again.

They did start picking up again around 10pm, and at about midnight we headed to the hospital. My thinking was that I would sit in the parking lot until I just couldn't stand it then head in, and maybe walk around the parking lot in the meantime. Well it was raining and freezing so that made that difficult, the hubs and I did lap the hospital a couple of times but ended up going home again as the contractions seemed to space out again.

When we got home, I tried to sleep. The contractions were making that impossible, I was exhausted and in a good amount of pain. I called my mom for her advice knowing that if I got too tired there was no way I was going to be able to push this kid out, she basically told me the same thing. What finally made up my mind was that if we got to the hospital and things petered out at least I could get some sleep if they didn't then woo-hoo baby time. So we called Mama K and headed on in. I had to be on monitors for 20 min out of the hour but for the other 40 minutes I was able to labor in the shower, walk around, use the birth ball, listen to music,etc. The 20 minutes in bed were the hardest for me, the contractions just slammed me with back pain. Mama K and the hubs were wonderful in here; offering counter pressure, sips of water, walking with me, distracting me. It was funny I would be doing one thing then remember, hey if I were my doula this is what I would say and it would really help me, the one thing that really helped was the vocalizing making the low hmmmm noises and focusing. I remember during my contractions in bed I focused so hard on the bassinet which was directly in front of me. Towards the end I was so tired I was delirious, I remember just mumbling gibberish then realizing it was gibberish.

Here is the timeline for my dilation during all this at 4 am they checked me and I was 4 cm dilated, at 0 to -1 station and 80% effaced. Then at 6 am I was 6cm and 90 % effaced, at 8 am I was 8 cm and 90% effaced (see a pattern here??). At 10 am I was still at 8 cm and 90% but by noon I was at 9.5 cm with an anterior lip and 100% effaced. The midwife asked me if I wanted to have my water broken at this point and we decided that it probably would just help move things along. She broke my water at 12:30.

At this point we had that lull that they promise every laboring mom. Oh it was so appreciated as I was so incredibly tired from being up since about 5 am the day before laboring. The nurse walked in at one point here and I jokingly asked her if I could have my epidural now. She did such a double take cause I did it with a smile on my face calm as can be, lol. I was pretty happy because this was the only point that I asked for anything and I was just kidding around. What really helped me with this was I requested not to be offered any type of pain medication, they abided by my wishes and my stubborn Irish self wouldn't ask to save my life :).

I started pushing at 2:07. Wow, NOTHING could have prepared me for that. The midwife gave me full discretion to push in whatever position felt good to me and it seemed to be hugging the back of the bed on my hands and knees. I just remember while pushing having such doubt if he would ever come, if I could do it. I started praying in between the contractions asking God to help me, to give me strength, to get this baby out of me! The nurse told me later that I also politely asked the baby "Get out of me! Please!!". After pushing in that position for awhile I moved to stand next to the bed bent over the bed pushing, I kept feeling the midwife underneath me putting the monitor on my belly to get the heart rate and wondering where the heck she was to be doing this. At this point they realize that my hep lock (port for IV) came out so they were trying to clean up the blood on my arm from that, that gave me something else to focus on while pushing so that was good. I could feel his head coming out but no one was saying anything so I figured I was wrong, I was having so much self doubt here. I remember thinking if that isn't his head this labor is going to kill me. The midwife said for the next contraction she wanted me in bed using the squat bar so I did that and his head came out on the next push. She wasn't ready and didn't have her gloves on so she was yelling at me to stop pushing!! I started crying because its impossible to stop and I thought there was something wrong with him (ie cord wrapped around his neck, not breathing). Oh I was soo mad when I found out that it was just because she didn't have gloves on!!

All that was quickly forgotten at 3:11pm when she placed my sweet man on my stomach. I was so overcome with emotion, I couldn't do anything but just cry. I was so in love with this little baby boy and with my husband, I couldn't believe that one room could contain it.

Thoughts on 39 weeks

2010-10-04T01:55:00.002-04:00

So here we are in the waiting game. A twinge here and there, is that it? Am I in labor? Its not really bugging me or wigging me out yet. I just really really hope to go into labor soon just to avoid induction talk. As far as the pregnancy its really not that bad, physically I don't feel too bad. I think the worst part is people calling and asking if you are in labor. My brother was cracking me up, he called last week and said "as soon as you go into labor call me the next day", if only the rest of the world was like that :). My IL's were over on Saturday and I swear every time I moved they were like "are you ok?"...Really... I'm fine I can manage shifting positions. The hubs has been absolutely incredible picking up so much slack around the house. Thankfully his office has also let him work from home a good amount of the time, its so wonderful having him there for every appointment. I just finished thank you cards tonight which was the last thing on my "really really really want to get done before I have the baby list". There is other stuff but I'm not too concerned anything not on my big list.
So anyway thats really all that I've been up to, just waiting. I'm so excited to meet our little boy.

Majesty worship HIS Majesty

2010-10-01T00:33:00.002-04:00

So I woke up this evening with my normal pregnancy bathroom break and something drew me downstairs. Once down there I could hear the wind blowing outside and I found myself walking around our block at midnight, 9 months pregnant. Feeling the breeze across my face, watching the wind through the trees and I couldn't help but start to sing. It was one of those moments where you are so filled with praise that you can't help it. What a gorgeous night tonight is, I'm so thankful to have a little one on one walk with God through it.

Majesty worship His Majesty
Unto Jesus, be all glory,
Power and praise
Majesty, Kingdom authority
Flow from His throne,
Unto his own, His anthem raise.

So exalt, lift up on high
The Name of Jesus
Magnify, come glorify,
Christ Jesus the King
Majesty, worship His Majesty
Jesus who died, now glorified,
King of all Kings.

Baby Shower

2010-09-22T10:55:00.010-04:00

So a couple of weeks ago my friends and family threw us an amazing baby shower.

The threw it at my parents house and it was a gorgeous day; it was so special to have so many of the important people in my life celebrate our little man with us. We were so touched with the hard work that went into the party. There were alot of people there and everything was just so special, I loved it! Instead of a guest book they had alphabet coloring pages that they'll put into a book for the baby. The theme was birds and trees and Mama K outdid herself with handmade birdie garland and little birds and birdcages all around. The trees were easy since my parents live in the middle of nowhere!

just one picture of one of the strings of garland. Its hard to tell here but the picture frames are filled with my siblings and my wedding pictures and the one closest to the camera is the hubs and I.

One of my oldest friends, T, made the cake and it was soo delicious. Each slice had four layers filled with lemon curd and a marscapone cheese filling. It was soo delicious!!! I normally don't eat cake but I still drool thinking about that one!

Another friend Eminstiches made these awesome bird nest favors! They were so cute and tasty!

My siblings were in charge of the food and they didn't disappoint, I've never seen such a spread at a shower. There were other tables full of food as well.

We were completely floored by the generosity of our friends and family. I loved this onsie it says Mommy + Daddy = Me :)
It was such a great day celebrating Baby B and seeing friends old and new. I'm so thankful to have such wonderful people in our lives. We are so blessed.

The difference a year makes

2010-09-21T18:27:00.002-04:00

It was a year ago today that we lost our first little angel. I vividly remember so much of that experience; physical pain, emotional pain, anger, hurt, grief. I know that God has done so much in me this year through that loss. It is weird to me to think that if it didn't happen I'd be holding a five month old baby right now. I'm technically full term right now and our little boy could make his arrival at any time. I know that I cherish this pregnancy more knowing that I'm blessed to be able to carry this little one. I really find it hard to complain about the normal pregnancy stuff because I'm just so happy to be pregnant. I do find myself talking about it a bit just because its whats going on but to be honest; I don't mind not sleeping, I don't mind the pelvic pain, I don't mind the doctors appointments and I don't mind the swelling. I'm so overjoyed to carry this little boy and will carry with me the memory of my first little one forever. I know that one thing he taught me was to be grateful for what I do have. I'm so grateful for both of my little ones, for my wonderful husband, incredible friends and family; we have so much.
The one thing I'd say to anyone going through that is to seek to see what you have learned. Seek to see the positives. When you go through something that hard sometimes it is easy to get sucked into bitterness and anger but that won't help you get through it. Take it easy on yourself though because you can't be suzie sunshine all the time, sometimes you just might need a good cry.

Nursery

2010-09-14T14:07:00.006-04:00

So we're in our 37th week here and anxiously anticipating the birth of this little guy. I'm totally loving watching him moving around my belly though, I will miss having him inside of me. Things are definitely getting real; we have the nursery together, bags packed and carseat installed. When we left church on Sunday I realized that there are only a couple more times that we'll be leaving church and its just me and the hubs. The nursery is done, clothes are washed and put away, diapers are washed and put away. There are a few things left to do; like scrub the house and bake an insane amount of dinners and snacks.
Without further ado, here is a look at the nursery.
This is a look at the corner of the room; I love the crate that holds the books you can't see it but it the fabric has awesome numbers and letters in different fonts. The books were the wishing well at the shower, we really got some amazing books that I've been enjoying reading to Baby B already. I have some handmade things from when I was little the Strawberry Shortcake figures were made for me by my sister and there is a little duck finger puppet that my cousin made me. We've been calling this baby our lobster because thats how he looked in the ultrasound and there is a cute lobster hat from his Auntie and Uncle. I also love his Piggy Bank gifted from Eminstiches. Our quilt is also hung here, the theme of the nursery is birds and trees but its really just a loose theme.
I love this crazy mobile. Last Christmas I used some money I received to purchase some things for our nursery. This was before we found out we were pregnant and I was so happy to find out a few weeks later that we were expecting. The birdies are Christmas ornaments from Anthropologie, and I just really liked all the colors, a few of them have little shiny bits as well. Baby B will have a good amount to look at there!!
This is a pic of the shelf above the crib. The garland was decoration from my shower made by Mama K, the cute birdie print is from Mama K as well (you can't tell here but the birds totally match the ribbon from the mobile!). The cross is St. Brigids cross, if Baby B was a girl his name was going to be Brigid after this saint. The cross is made by weaving reeds from the River Shannon, to me its just a beautiful way of using God's creation to tell the story of redemption. The angel is hope, because we hoped and prayed for this little boy.
We received some really beautiful homemade goodies for Baby B; the Froggie was made for me by Eminstitches, this blanket was made by Granny Dirkey for Baby B. When he's born I'm going to be posting some more of the handmade goodies we received, I really do treasure the hard work that goes into those types of gifts.
I love this present that we received; its Baby B's name, meaning and a scripture (2nd Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. "). My friend did the calligraphy herself and I love that its the first thing that we see when coming into the nursery.
here's a look into the room with the little toy basket and hamper at the base of the bed. I really like how the room turned out. We purposefully wanted it to be pretty gender neutral (in hopes of future little ones) and think we accomplished this. Every time I look around I see all the love that surrounds our family and Baby Ben; he is so blessed to have so many wonderful people in his life.

So much to say

2010-08-30T11:23:00.003-04:00

Its been awhile since I've blogged. Things are going well here, in the home stretch of this pregnancy. We've had a great summer with a vacation to Maine, lots and lots of trips to the beach (I am a very tan preggo, well for an Irish girl anyway), and filled with friends and laughter. This weekend the hubs and I were thrown a beautiful baby shower from close friends and family, they threw such a wonderful party. I'm blown away by the love and care put into the shower and am so thankful to have people that care about us that much in our lives. Then the people who came to the shower it was just so good to see so many of the people we love celebrating with us and holy mackarel were they generous! We are so blessed, our little man is surrounded by so much love. The shower really deserves its own post so that is coming.
Here is a filler while I do some laundry and try to put some things together. Its the Emmy's openning number and I loved it!

Nursery Update

2010-07-09T18:04:00.003-04:00

We bought a crib today! Yay, well more specifically my parents bought a crib for us! Woot Woot thanks Mom and Dad!
Its this one

Which can be found here
I'm surprised it took this long for me to find one I like but apparently I decided to become ridiculously picky about this which is pretty out of character for me. The hubs might be rubbing off on me, as he once spent 2 YEARS looking for brown dress shoes (side note when we found the "right" shoes I wanted to buy like 15 pairs). Anyway I ended up going through Babys R Us shaking all the cribs and this one was the nicest one that endured my shaking test. This reminds me of my parents story of buying their kitchen table, they were VERY rough in the store as they had six kids and wanted to make sure that it would last (to the point where I believe one of them was standing on it or something but I could just be making that part up who knows). That kitchen table is just as strong as it was when I was little though so I guess its good to do things a little goofy when buying furniture.

We aren't doing the whole traditional nursery thing where we're redoing the whole room. Our guest room was painted a nice pale green color when we moved in (with future babies in mind) and we'll keep the current furniture in there. The furniture that is there is from my great grandparents and matches the crib. My idea is to still keep this as a spare room/baby's room. The baby will most likely sleep with us for the foreseeable future and just use the crib sporadically for naps and such for awhile. When he's sleeping a bit more we'll move him over to the crib and then when he is old enough we'll transition him into the big bed that is already there and keep the crib in there for future kidlets. With that in mind we got a pretty gender neutral bedding set that looks like this

Actually the walls in our room are a similar color and I got a dark blue comforter for the bed to "boy" up the room a bit.

I am excited to set up the crib and do some rearranging in the room. We might have to move one of the dressers out for space issues but we'll see. Mostly I just need to sell some stuff before this baby comes so we have room for him. The hubs and I have collected some crazy stuff that we don't use but could bring in a pretty penny on Craigslist.

Thinking Positively

2010-07-08T11:22:00.003-04:00

So lately I've really been working on having a positive outlook. This isn't too far of a stretch because I'm generally a glass half full type of person, but lately I've been stressing about things that I don't need to stress about. Noticing that my mind was going places I didn't want it to go, I wanted to nip it in the bud. For me one of the best ways to do that is to control what comes in; books, tv, movies, conversations. All of these play a part in where I allow my mind to go. A verse that I memorized a long time ago (it was displayed in my best friends bathroom when I was a teenager, made it so easy to memorize!) always comes to mind when I'm struggling with my thoughts.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

How much different would our day to day life look if we consciously made the effort to only think on those things. How many tv shows, movies or books would this cut out if used this verse to decide what you were allowing in your mind? How often do we think worst case scenario's or dwell on how others have hurt us? Surely this colors our outlook on life. One of the girls I work with goes a step further and makes sure you are only speaking good into others lives. This applies to your own as well. How much more positive your life would be if your words are words of affirmation and not degradation.

Psalm 126:2
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

When people see the words that come from my lips may they be able to say "The Lord has done great things for Kristi" He surely has; let my actions, reactions, words and thoughts attest to this.

Viability and a sigh of relief

2010-06-23T02:59:00.003-04:00

So this week I hit a milestone, I'm 24 weeks. Which now is when the baby has a fighting chance of surviving out of the womb. Don't get me wrong I want our little Bam Bam to cook a bit more get some fat on his little body but this really does make me breathe a sigh of relief. I'm also coming pretty close to my 3rd trimester, it seems like its going pretty quickly. I do find myself pretty freaking grumpy when I'm stuck in the heat, thats pretty much the symptom that is most apparent right now. I love feeling little Bam Bam moving and kicking and generally can't keep myself from talking to him when he does, which makes me look pretty "interesting" (read: crazy) when it happens in public. It is such a magical time, having this little boy inside of me growing and sharing everything with me. Its so hard to believe that pretty soon he'll be on his own and on the outside. I can't wait to get to know him, to see who he'll look like, to watch him grow.
I decided we're going to do some childbirth classes. I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not because I am so familiar with birth through my doula work but I figure the refresher is probably good and it will be good for the hubs to have a little more confidence going into it. We are using the Bradley Method because it emphasizes the husbands role as the coach and I've seen great success with clients who use it. It amazes me the difference it makes in labor when you are prepared rather than just "going for the ride". I'm going to do the best I can to prepare both me and the hubs for the events coming up.
I'm going to start researching cribs and deciding what we want. One of the girls from my birth board just posted pictures of her nursery and its soo cute so now I have the itch to get ours going. Right now its filled with so much baby stuff and furniture. I need to reorganize and get rid of some stuff then work on decorating. Conveniently this can be done in air conditioning so maybe that will help with the general grumpiness when its hot outside.

Feeling so Spoiled

2010-06-05T11:41:00.003-04:00

So the hubs and I went out yard sailing this morning and I was keeping my eyes open for a few things. Things for the baby that I didn't really want to register for but kind of wanted anyway; like a co-sleeper and an extra swing and some other stuff. Well I found a Take Along Swing for $5, great deal as they go for $70 in the store. Found some other great small things; some outfits, a baby gate, random stuff. Then as we were leaving the one I just said a random prayer "Lord it would be really nice if we could find a cosleeper for under $20". It was a tall order as they retail for anywhere from $140 for the mini and $190 for the regular. I didn't want to register for it because I really wanted a play pen and couldn't see registering for both. Well we went to one bomb of a yard sale and on the way home we passed by a house with like 6 things in the driveway and stopped. You guessed it, they had an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper. I asked the lady how much and she gave it to me for $5, doesn't even look like they ever opened it up!!

It makes me laugh because it seems like there are alot of prayers that God answers like this in my life. It reminds me that I am His child and he really does delight in me and listens to my prayers. One time I was moving 15 min away but didn't have a couch and said "Lord please help me find a couch for $10 on the way home", don't you know I did and they delivered it for me! It may seem silly to some but these answered prayers just reinforce the love I already feel and today I just feel downright spoiled!

Have you ever tried some yard sale prayers?

I'm making pregnancy sexy

2010-06-04T12:07:00.001-04:00

I just sneezed and peed my pants..
Oh yeah, sexy!

To all the Debbie Downers in the world

2010-06-03T14:00:00.004-04:00

Read an article over at Offbeat Mama and was struck by this quote:

This is where I still feel very sensitive. I hate it when people say things like, "At least you have a healthy baby." Or, "That's why you shouldn't make plans for birth–it never goes according to plan." It's very hurtful. I don't think it's fair to imply that I am not grateful for my child or that I am selfish for wanting birth to be more than a "get the baby out" exercise. It is okay that I wanted to be treated as more than a baby-bearing vessel. I am not out to prove something and I'm not trying to be a martyr or get a medal. I just wanted a positive, empowering birth experience and I felt fully educated and aware of my options.

I don't think I will ever understand why people feel the need to poo poo on someones dream for a "natural" birth. Sometimes it seems like whenever something good happens people instantly need to say what could go wrong, like well you shouldn't be too happy cause the other shoe might drop at any moment. I want to be someone who can encourage and who can share joy without being the Debbie Downer to the situation.

I believe birth is like anything else that you would train for, the ending is not all up to you. You can train for a marathon for a year and twist your ankle that morning getting out of bed. You can plan for a natural birth but hey things might go wrong. I think if the person is educated they already know that, they don't need you telling them all about your best friend's cousins birth where she delivered 13lb twins. I'm constantly amazed at how people need to tell me about late miscarriages, stillborn babies, mothers dying in labor. Yes, I know those things happen but I don't need you to constantly remind me of them. I'm working towards a goal, and while maybe you didn't achieve that goal or maybe you don't even care about my goal, I would appreciate you saying nothing if you can't say anything nice or encouraging. Thankfully I do have very encouraging people in my life but there are always the select few that just need to tell you something horrible every time they see you.

Long Weekend

2010-05-27T15:31:00.002-04:00

This weekend is a little bittersweet for us, the hubs twin brother and family are moving to Virginia on Sat. They currently live about .5 mile away so I was kind of hoping our kids would grow up together but no such luck.
There is a ton of fun stuff going on though, tomorrow I'm heading out to Ocean City NJ to get my beach tags and possibly have some beach time. Then we're having a little BBQ in honor of the VA transplants. Then Sat we have a bbq welcoming home a good friend that moved to Washington State and recently had brain surgery; I can't wait to see her as I've been praying like a fiend for her. Sunday looks like I'm going bowling to celebrate one of my oldest friend's birthday, ha ha oldest friend.. Oh wait, she's younger than me...
Then Monday I'm going to said friends parents house for an annual softball game and picnic.

Pretty busy weekend planned, any big plans?

It took me 3 years to realize

2010-05-26T09:05:00.003-04:00

That "all natural, organic" deodorants just don't cut it for me, and yes, I've tried every kind. I finally broke down and bought a Dove deodorant yesterday and I'm enjoying smelling good. My super spidey pregnancy sniffer maybe who to thank for this change but it was bound to happen sooner or later. I officially resign my status as a smelly hippy, you can now just refer to me as a hippy.

Its a Boy!!!

2010-05-17T11:03:00.003-04:00

We had our ultrasound this morning. I couldn't sleep all last night I was so worried/excited. Everything went so well though, the baby is measuring perfect we watched his little heart pump away. He was moving and jumping all over the place so much so that the hubs was like "WHOAH DO YOU FEEL THAT?!", the look on his face was priceless. I just fell in love with little Bam Bam that much more watching him move around and wave to us. It was so amazing to be able to count little fingers and toes right on the screen. I'm so amazed and so thankful for our little boy!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T11:47:00.002-04:00

This is the first Mother's Day that I can celebrate and I celebrate as a Mother of two; with one baby in heaven and one baby in my womb. I'm so thankful this day for the child living within me, for this incredible answer to prayer. I'm thankful for my amazing partner and the love of my life and that our journey this year has brought us even closer together. I anxiously look forward to meeting our little one, counting fingers and toes and kissing little baby cheeks. My days are mostly filled with promise and hope thinking of the future.

There is also an ache that is ever present, wondering what might have been. My first child would have been due in just a few days, I find myself wondering if he would have been early I might already be holding my child. I look at my friends that are due this month and I find myself slipping into thinking what might have been.

Today I pray a peaceful Mother's Day to those with empty arms and mourning hearts. I pray that they may find some joy today in the middle of a day that can be so painful.

New Masthead

2010-04-06T13:23:00.003-04:00

I do feel like I'm living my dream. I married the best person I've ever met, sometimes (especially when the hormones attack) I get a little annoyed at my wonderful hubs but he really is the man of my dreams. We have a nice little place to live, I love our neighborhood, our church which is nearby and our little house. Finally the dream I've had all my life of being a mom. I've got my little bean percolating inside and I'm so excited for this new adventure. Things are good :)

I got the car buying blues

2010-04-01T19:12:00.003-04:00

So about two weeks ago my little engine that could became a little engine that couldn't anymore. Since then we've been looking for a new car, I haven't been in the market for a car for a good long time (I had my old car for about 10 years). Jason and I are fairly conservative financially and personally don't feel right in getting a car loan. I hate debt and we've successfully avoided it thus far (except for the mortgage) and I really really don't want to add another debt as well as another person to our family. So with this said we're looking for a reliable older model 4 door or minivan., we've found we can afford a pretty decent minivan per our research on Kelley Blue Book. Problem is that there is a ridiculous shortage on used cars so the used cars that are out there are at ridiculously inflated prices. All this adds up to a supremely frustrated Dirkey.
Thankfully my brother in law (who lives the next street over) has been giving me rides to work as its on his way, which is an awesome blessing. I'm just praying that we find something soon and wondering if I should just bite the bullet and get a loan.

Anyone have any tips for me?

HUGE sigh of relief

2010-03-22T11:47:00.002-04:00

Last night I was at a benefit concert for Haiti and saw about 1,000 people that I knew. Of course it got around that we were expecting, well all last night I was freaking the crap out. I was so worried that I Murphy's Lawed myself out of this pregnancy. Completely rational I know. Thankfully we had our appointment today we had already seen the heartbeat but we hadn't heard it yet. I was practically having a panic attack as we're walking in. Thankfully the midwife I see is awesome and completely reassuring. She advised that we might not hear the baby's heartbeat but to save me from certain freak out she would bring in the ultrasound so we could see the baby if we couldn't hear the heartbeat. So I sat there trying to breath in and breath out an not freak out as she started looking for the heartbeat, literally 5 seconds later we heart the gallop of our little lobsters heart. Such an incredible sound, I totally think my baby has the cutest heartbeat of any baby around.

In other news we drove my little car into the ground this weekend. Which is fine since we were in the market for a 4 door anyway it just makes us look sooner rather than later.

Completely Irrational

2010-03-11T13:23:00.005-05:00

So I've been doing pretty good with this pregnancy. Mostly I'm just beat tired, I could (and sometimes do) sleep whenever possible. I haven't had morning sickness too bad, but I have had nausea and some crazy food aversions.

Things that are currently ridiculously disgusting to me:
chicken, turkey, eggs, ice cream, anything in my refrigerator, any meat that is not beef.

Whats been killing me is that I'll go grocery shopping and two days later everything that was ok the week before is suddenly disgusting to me now.

I'm not complaining at all about this cause, I know people have it soo much worse and its for a good reason. Also, I have not been cradling the porcelain god so I am happy. It just makes for interesting meals. Like today nothing at all was remotely appealing to pack for lunch so I got to work and it got to lunch time. I started going through our work file of menus and EVERYTHING looked disgusting and by this point I'm shaking cause my blood sugar is low and I need to eat something. What do I do, I started to cry at my desk. Yep 31 yr old big girl crying at her desk cause she needs to eat lunch and doesn't want anything; it wasn't pretty. I had to talk myself down from the ledge, completely irrational. I ended up just getting some breadsticks cause thats the only thing I could remotely imagine eating and now I'm feeling a bit better.

One good thing-pregnancy pants.
Dude EVERYONE should wear them. They are sooo comfy. I felt funny breaking them out but my appendix scar has been bugging me and the waistband of my other pants sits right on it, not fun. I might buy a pair for my buffet loving brother and sister in law for Christmas.

Cloth Diapering Amazingness!

2010-03-07T09:10:00.006-05:00

So this little lobster is getting cloth diapers, way more for frugal reasons than for any other but the environmental issues did weigh in in our decision making. The hubs is totally on board with it, I think it made it easier that he learned how to do cloth with the twins and realized its not that difficult. Thankfully I have some IRL friends that use cloth on their tots that have totally helped me decide what I do and don't need. When we had the twins we purchased about 2 dozen prefolds and about 6 covers in medium size; which is awesome now cause that money was long ago spent and doesn't impact our current budget. In the past week or so I've gotten awesome gifts and loans of more cloth diapers. One of my former doula clients and friends gave us on loan 32 Swaddlebees with a bunch of newborn covers, woolies and fleece. Another friend who is on her last babe passed along a bunch of prefolds. My dear friend, Mama K, has said she would help me organize my stash and see if there are any holes (as well as pass along on loan some of her small ones). I also won the most adorable medium cover from Deb at Made By Mama by being her fan on Facebook.

As it looks now we pretty much are set for diapering our babe in October. I'm just so incredibly thankful that this is working out so early in my pregnancy and I don't need to worry about it later on. I'm also so thankful that I have friends and family that already do alot of the things that the hubs and I would like to do with our child. What a wonderful support network already in place.

I am blessed.

70X7

2010-03-05T08:49:00.003-05:00

Matthew 18:21-22
²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

²²Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Wow this is so hard for me sometimes. I'm struggling right now with forgiveness and here's the thing. The person that has hurt me, they probably don't even realize/care that they have. I am called as a Christian to love them and forgive, but for some reason this one is really hard for me. I keep thinking that I do act like this to God all the time, and he forgives me. Where would I be without that forgiveness, I shudder to even think. So how do you forgive when people don't ask for forgiveness and to confront them is to call them a liar. I'm at a loss but I'm praying that God will continue to work on me, that I will love as I'm called that God will grant me wisdom to know how to deal with people like this.

Any suggestions?

-This person, to my knowledge, does not read this blog and I'm trying to keep as anonymous on it as I can so no guesses please.

Dream

2010-03-02T04:53:00.004-05:00

So this morning I woke up at 3:30 am after having a dream. It wasn't a bad dream it was one of those ones you kind of wish you could fall back asleep and revisit. I had a very vivid dream about my best friend Amanda. I was at a spending time at her house with her and it was obvious that I was in her world. She was doing great with a whole host of friends and a lovely house. The house was one of those ones that you would love to explore with nooks and cranys and odd spaces. I was able to tell her my news and see her reaction. It was one of those dreams thats like a gift to you. I've gotten several gifts like this since Amanda had passed but this one was special because its been so long and my news is something we both dreamed about all growing up; to be moms. I got to tell her all about Jason and then tell her my news, it was so nice. Its still amazing to me that you can miss someone so much after so long, but I'm so glad I got to share with my first bff if only in a dream.

I wasn't going to share my news on my blog just yet but I couldn't keep that dream to myself. I don't want to forget it.

We are due 10/10/10 and are so incredibly excited. We saw our little lobsters (what the baby looks like on the ultrasound) heartbeat last Tuesday and it was so incredibly amazing to watch that little heart going.

Prayers Please

2010-01-13T13:29:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, as most of you probably know, Haiti was hit with a rather large earthquake. Haiti is the poorest country on the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. I've had the privilege of going to Haiti twice in my life. Once to New Missions then the next time to Hope Alive Clinic (that trip was about 6 weeks) both trips had a profound impact on me. The conditions normally aren't that good in Haiti, I can't even imagine them now with all the devastation I see in the pictures on the news.

Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers as well as these ministries as they try to help people as best they can. Also keep my friend Melody's sister and her family in your prayers.

Pics from my trips to Haiti.

As they say in Creole Kris Kapob!, Christ is Able!

If you are looking for a way to donate, Hope Alive has a link on their website through Paypal. They are one of the most ethical ministries I have ever known, 100% of money donated goes to Haiti. My good friend Becky's parents started this.

Check your Receipts

2010-01-06T13:46:00.000-05:00

So one way that I save a good amount of money is checking my receipts when I'm grocery shopping. I've saved so much money by just making sure that the prices I paid were the prices advertised. Most grocery stores have some type of scan rite guarantee where if an item scans for higher than it shows on the shelf you get that item for free. Some times they will not automatically do this and try to give you the difference between the prices but if you ask them if that is their policy they usually will give you the item for free. Went on a quick trip to the grocery store on Monday and ended up with beets and spaghetti squash for free, saved a little over $7 by just making a quick little scan of my receipt.
Just a little something that doesn't take too much time but can really add up.

Office Makeover

2010-01-05T11:37:00.005-05:00

I was asked to show you the pictures of our famous Office Makeover and have been seriously neglectful. To be an effective before and after I would have before pictures. I was ashamed, soo ashamed, too ashamed to take pictures of the before. It was bad. This is the only thing I can find and it really doesn't do it justice.

So I'm going to need you to use your imagination. First the desk is empty, it was never empty imagine it filled with paperwork and computer parts that if you moved anything something would fall off like those games at the shore where you drop a quarter trying to get piles of quarters to fall (anyone know what I'm talking about? no.. just me..) You see in the corner of the picture there you can see a lime green futon. Now if you can imagine a huge futon with a ridiculous amount of stuff piled on it to the extent you can barely see that its LIME GREEN and there is no way you could possibly sit on it. Now the floor, you can kind of see the floor, well now imagine that being completely covered in papers, and the closet just jam packed. Wherever there wasn't a pile imagine some type of musical equipment. There, now you have a mental picture of before we reorganized our office.

Now for the after
This is our new desk, the hubs and I are sharing the office so we do have two printers. The walls are all him though. He loves Blues Brothers so theres a good amount of Blues Brothers paraphernalia. There's a painting that I painted for him for his birthday inspired by The Flight of the Conchords. The hubs has a good amount of equipment in here for work to enable him to work from home, so its hard to pare down too much, but it seems workable.
You can see his video conference setup, our printers, a stool and our bookcase (all technical books). What you can't see is even better, no piles on the floor. Also you can see our filing cabinet which we're now using.
We moved a corner piece from our couch up here and its perfect for me to come and sit and talk or for him to play guitar on.

This is a view from the door, we have guitars hung from the one wall, with the closet near the window (which is organized but don't have pictures of). And of course kitten cat snuggle fluffle pants had to get in on the action as he's NEVER allowed in this room.

No TV?!?!

2010-01-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah we're thinking about it. Thats right taking the plunge and getting rid of our cable and possibly our tv. Its just a thought right now but one we're giving serious attention.

Our current contract is up on Jan 14th and as it looks now we'll be getting rid of the cable. I found a high speed internet and phone bundle thats $55 a month, currently we're paying $125 for our Phone, Internet and Cable (plus a DVR). So just by cutting the cable we'd be able to put $70 more a month towards our mortgage which adds up to a whopping $840 for the year. We do have our laptops so we'd be able to catch some shows on Hulu and we do have Netflix (for now) so I don't think it would hurt too badly. The main thing would be that the hubs wouldn't be able to watch sports.

As far as the tv, we have one of the flat screen wall mount jobs and I think its just too much for us. If we don't have high definition channels I don't think its worth it to have the tv either. If we sell it now I think we'd be able to get a good amount of money for it to also put on the mortgage. I have a very romantic idea of not having a tv in the house and how much I would get done in a day. I have crazy notions about a good amount of things though so we'll see if it comes to fruition or not. The hubs is still on the fence so I guess I'll let you know what we decide. We're going to have to figure it out soon!

Anybody gone and rid your house of the tv? cable? What are your thoughts

New Look

2010-01-03T09:35:00.001-05:00

So I updated the look of the blog. The header is from our big 2 ft snow storm we had Dec 19th. Its been a long time since I've seen that much snow at home but it was neat while it lasted (only about a week). The past year wasn't the best I've ever had, while it had some wonderful things in it, it also held alot of heartbreak. I'm happy to shut the door on 2009 and focus on 2010 and the things we can change. Hence the digging ourselves out bit. There have been a few times lately that I've felt that I was stuck at the bottom of a pit, the only way to go is up and I'm starting the climb. Thankfully I have a wonderful climbing partner in the hubs and amazing footholds in scripture and my faith. Well enough cheesy analogies for ya and you're welcome for finally changing my fall banner :)

Happy New Year to Ya!

2010-01-02T20:40:00.004-05:00

Hope you guys all had a great and safe new year! The hubs and I did, we were able to spend it with good friends. We made some goals for ourselves as a couple and as individuals this year and posted them by the bathroom mirror where we see them twice a day. I don't want to call them New Year's Resolutions because people never follow through with them but they are our goals and where we'd like to see ourselves by the end of the year.
Our goals as a couple are:
1. We'd like to walk together at least 5 nights a week.

We want to be more physically fit as a couple and regularly walking would be a good
start. It also gives us a chance to talk without getting to distracted by tv or the computer.

2. We want to pay off 50% of the remaining debt in our second mortage

I've been reading so much about setting up a financial plan. Generally, the hubs and I
are pretty good with money and budgets. I tend to be the spendier one in the family but neither of us is a fan of debt. Our only debt right now is our mortgage but we have two of them. I'm praying that we are able to pay off our second mortage within this year but the goal is just for 50% of our remaining debt in our second mortgage to be paid off. Once we have it completely paid off we're going to go aggressive on our first. If I had to do again, I think I would have rented and saved up to flat out buy our first home no matter how long it took. Live and Learn right...

3. We want to read through the Bible as a couple.

With this we both want to grow as Christians and as a couple. This will be a great way to grow and challenge each other. I'm so excited to do it!! It is a pretty aggressive reading to me but I'm excited for the challenge.

Anyone else setting some goals for this year??

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-16T10:48:00.004-05:00

So I have been so bad with this blog. Some days I feel like updating but I just don't get around to it. Life has been pretty good around here, we're getting ready for Christmas. The hubs and I just sent out our Christmas cards today. I'm two sock monkeys into the nine I want to make for Christmas. I have my good friend Mama K coming in this Friday for some candy making and possibly will be making some cookies as well. We have all our decorations up and most of our presents wrapped (which should make Christmas Eve much better).

We've been trying to take the time to really celebrate the birth of our Savior and giving to those around us. We're planning on going carolling tonight with the youth group at our church, going to a Living Nativity in the area, spending time being thankful, we've been doing an advent wreath at our house and taking time to spend with good friends.

We're praying that this coming year will be filled with joy, prosperity, love and hope for all that we know. We're also praying that we would be blessed with a little baby Dirkey this year.

So yeah thats what we're up to, what you doing?

Day #22 and Day #23 of Thankfullness

2009-11-23T22:23:00.003-05:00

#22 I'm so thankful for our cars. I can't imagine trying to do the things I do so easily every day without the convenience of having a car. Our little family is so blessed to have two of them. Even in their advanced age and mileage they treat us very well and have been so reliable, the extra grunts and noises mine makes as it ages remind me that I need to appreciate having a car even more so. Its taken me so far in life, from being single living in my parents house, to moving out on my own, to moving back home, to married life and parking outside of our own house. Its taken me to my jobs every day, through the changing seasons, to visit friends, to the hospital to visit relatives and to funerals. I've driven to Canada, to Memphis, to the Outer Banks and to multiple trips to visit the hubs when he lived so far away. I'm so thankful for my little car, its treated me well in the nine years that I've had her.

#23 I'm so thankful to have the day to spend with the hubs to mark a HUGE item off of our checklist, his office. We had it piled with too much stuff and too much furniture and it just wasn't working. My brother gave us a gorgeous desk to replace our old Target special. The gorgeous desk is HUGE and has tons of drawers where we were able to organize everything away, we also did about 4 years of filing (yes from piles and boxes of random papers), and moved out a huge lime green futon. It is now a functional office with one desk, a chair and a stool for when he plays guitar (like right now-ignore my paleness).

if you see that closet in the corner this morning it was insane. You couldn't get within two feet of the door and now it is crazy organized. Ahh feels so good to get something under control that has been a "door closer" for so long. A door closer is when you just shut the door when you have company instead of leaving it open, no matter how many times I've shut that door people always end up in it. So yay! I can keep it open now!!!