Nutrimill Giveaway

One of my FAVORITE blogs is giving away something I've been dying to get!! You're bound to love this blog, too!

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/nutrimill-giveaway-from-paulas-bread

Pre-dinner snack

I left the boys playing with Marble Works (minus the marbles) so I could do a load of laundry. It got awfully quiet, and I returned to this:



Adon found the Cheerios I stashed in the diaper bag and kindly shared them with his brother. They were both very content to eat them right off of the floor. I love them so much. They're so cute!

Da Da & clapping

Gabe has randomly begun to say "Da Da." Of course, this makes J grin from ear to ear. Also, we've been struggling with Gabe at meal time. He's very demanding and grunts or screams loudly to get food immediately. We prayed, and I began to teach him the sign for "more." Though his fine motor skills and coordination are not very well developed, he's begun to clap his hands. He mostly claps them when he's sitting in his high chair and indicating that he wants more to eat. He smiles so big when I say "more" after he's clapped, as if he were saying, "Now you've got it, Mom!" Enjoy!

A Letter to the Baby

To the sweet little life entrusted to our care,

On Sunday evening, December 20, 2009, you were just 8 weeks old in my womb. You were precious from the beginning, and we were already so excited to meet you! However, over the next few hours and days we would learn exactly how precious you are.

I began spotting, which made me a little worried for your life. I did some research to see if I had cause to be concerned about a miscarriage. My concern was confirmed that spotting was an early sign of miscarriage, and I learned that if that's what was happening, there wasn't a thing anyone could do to help you. Our good friend, Mary Schutz (a labor/delivery nurse) confirmed what I'd learned, but prayed with me and comforted me. I felt so overwhelmed that I couldn't help you, my sweet baby.

The spotting continued that evening. Daddy was very concerned for you and for me. He began to pray. He called out to our Mighty God and King to save your life. Through tears, we acknowledged that God is the Author of Life. We confessed that He created you and numbered your days before you were even conceived. We prayed that God would show his power and his mercy and save you or raise you from the dead. God, and ONLY God, could save you. Daddy prayed for the Holy Spirit to bring peace so that we could rest.

As we were trying to fall asleep, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Hannah in the Bible. Hannah longed for children and she cried before the Lord to bless her and open her womb. God heard Hannah and answered her cry. When her firstborn, Samuel, was born, she knew he was a gift, and she gave him back to the Lord. The Holy Spirit reminded me of the names we had picked out for you. If you are a boy, your name means a gift made by the Lord. If you are a girl, your name means joyfully consecrated to the Lord. Sweet baby, we long to meet you and hold you, but we know that you belong to the Lord. He has given you to us, but we dedicate your life back to the Lord. We will treasure you as the gift from the Lord that you are, however long you may be a part of our lives on this earth. As one more measure of peace before I drifted off to sleep, the Holy Spirit put the song, "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong Australia in my heart. I've heard it before, but it was so much more powerful at that moment. I've written out the words for you, but the part that kept running through my mind was, "My Saviour, He can move the mountains, My God is Mighty to save, He is Mighty to save. Forever, Author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave."

Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.

Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.

Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.

I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.

My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus (x2)

My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

My Saviour, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave

God was beginning to open my eyes to just how precious you truly are.

I slept peacefully, though I spotted more through the night. When I woke up, the Holy Spirit didn't give fear or worry a chance, as He put these lyrics in my head, "Life, life, fullness of life. And joy in the presence of the Lord!" Little One, you are loved! Mommy and Daddy love you so much! You are precious to us, but I will never understand how precious you are to the One who made you. I can't even begin to imagine how much Jesus loves you and how precious you are to him. He created you and formed you with His own hands. He has given you life, and He has sustained your life. Little One, you are destined to do great things for our God and His Kingdom. At least in our family, you will forever be a reminder that life is a wonderful gift.

New life is an incredible gift, but ETERNAL life is the best gift of all. How perfect God's timing to remind us of the most precious gift of all. On Christmas, God GAVE His only Son, Jesus, to save the world. To give us eternal life.

"Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of this precious baby. Thank you for life and life again. Thank you for your life. Thank you, Father, for the gift of Jesus and the gift of eternal life."

Love always,

Mommy

I LOVE this part of being a mom!

Adon is holding Gabe, like in this picture, and kisses him on the head about every 15 seconds!

Happy 3-Month Birthday Gabe!

It's hard to believe it's been 3 months already! Gabe has learned so much in these short months. He:

• coos and "talks" a ton!
• smiles almost all the time.
• rolls over from his tummy to his back (for two months now!)
• sleeps well, up to 11 hours at night.
• goes 3 to 3.5 hours between feedings.
• weighs 15+ pounds and wears 3-6 month clothes.
• watches the mobile and lights in the swing.
• can grab the hanging animals in his bouncy seat to create lights and sounds!
  

Gabe is a joy and a delight! He is so laid back. He is a wonderful baby, a treasure, and a gift! We love you so much, Gabey Baby!

So the day begins...

This is how it went...child #1 woke up crying/screaming at 4:30. J had been getting up the last few nights at this time to console child #1, but since J had to get up to go to work today, I went in to console child #1. Once quiet, I went to the bathroom on my way back to bed. Child #1 was no longer consoled. Changed child #1's diaper. However, child #1's discontentment woke child #2. Warned child #1 to be quiet and lay down and went to console child #2 before he woke J up. Child #2 refused to be consoled without eating. Began to feed child #2 when child #1 decided it was time to get up for the day. Firm warning to child #1 to get back into bed. Child #1 cries loudly in protest. Child #2 didn't eat complete meal, he just wanted to be held at 5:30 a.m.!!!! Child #1 was out of bed again. Reminded child #1 it wasn't time to get up yet, get back in bed. Changed child #2 and put him back to bed with a few whimpers. Gave child #1 a stern warning to stay in bed and rest quietly. Dragged my feet back to bed only to hear J's alarm clock going off at 5:45. Dear sweet husband let me stay in bed and made his own lunch. Said children let me sleep a little while before they both demanded breakfast. I attempted to reheat some coffee, but it boiled over in the microwave. Child #2 is currently sleeping, while child #1 plays with his books. T minus 2 hours until family naptime begins!

Aromatic Cooking and Baking

Today is my normal cooking and baking day. However, with the volumes I've been producing lately with my pumpkin excitement and surplus of tomatoes, I'm running low on my grocery budget and freezer space! I can hardly find anything in the freezer without something falling out!

So, in lieu of a whole day in the kitchen, I'm trying a new recipe for dinner. It's an attempt to be frugal, use up some ingredients from the back of the pantry, and still make up for not cooking and baking all day. It's called Everyday Cassoulet (a bean and sausage casserole) from my Betty Crocker cookbook. It called for dried or fresh thyme, which is actually where I got the idea for this post.

I've been growing a number of fresh herbs in my garden this summer. I'm not a fancy chef, so I knew very little about spices and herbs. I really only used seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder, unless a recipe called for something else. In fact, I had to leave all of the little tags that came with the starter plants in the herb pot, so I would know what was what. Slowly over the summer, as my recipes called for them, I would learn about that particular herb (i.e. how/when to cut it, dry it, use it, etc.). I'm far from an expert, but using the fresh stuff, as opposed to the dried spices, has really expanded my knowledge and recognition of them. The stuff in my pantry is so old, it hardly has any smell or flavor. The fresh herbs are SO aromatic and add so much flavor to the dishes I use them in.

When I made all of that tomato paste, I had a bunch of extra herbs that cut and washed just sitting on the counter in separate bowls. Over the last few weeks, they've dried, and it's been so handy to have them almost ready to use. It's an inspiration to pick some more and wash it up, just to have it ready. Plus, as the fall settles in, less and less will grow. Next summer, I may not grow as much variety, but grow more of the stuff I use most. (I have plenty of sage if there's anyone interested!)

On the baking side of things, today I had a tasty spice cookie made by my friend, Darla. It looked like a snickerdoodle, so I was surprised when I tasted the nutmeg in it! I was equally surprised with myself that I could tell that nutmeg was the spice used! I think I recognized it, because I had ground some fresh nutmeg with Aunt Barb one time. Thanks Aunt Barb for encouraging my culinary desire, and providing ample learning opportunities!

You can help me learn more, too!! What are your favorite spices/herbs to cook with? What do you use them in? I look forward to hearing from you, and maybe trying some of your recipes!

Computer Issues

It's been an interested week around here without our laptop. It crashed last week, and I was petrified we'd lost everything on it...all of our 2009 pictures (including everything we have of Gabe), all of our freshly modified budget, and numerous other important documents.

My dad picked it up and took it to his IT guys. After some diagnostic tests, they found that the cooling mechanism (he compared it to the radiator of a car) was filthy...which explains why it would frequently overheat and shut itself off. They also found that some of the sectors on the hard drive were bad. However, we learned today it's been fixed and "working perfectly." I have no idea how much that will run. My dad took care of it, and said we'd sort it out later. He's even going to pick it up for us tomorrow. Thanks, DAD!!!

I'm so grateful we didn't lose everything. I think we'll be getting an external hard drive soon to back up everything, just in case. I'm also thankful that J had a desktop we could hook up to use in the mean time. I'll be glad to get this beast out of the living room and bring the baby swing back. I'll, hopefully, be able to start posting pictures again once we get the laptop back.

Great new/cheap/tasty recipe idea

I actually started this post on 9/9/09. My computer froze before I finished it, and then promptly shut itself off. We couldn't get it back on, and my dad took it in to the shop. We got word today that it's been fixed (no idea how much that'll set us back, though). Hopefully more posts to follow more frequently...and with pictures!

I'm really trying to be frugal with what groceries we buy, so this week, I'm trying to use lots of things we have at home already to make meals. Lunch today was a HUGE success.

I decided we'd have quesadillas. Here's how we usually make them....

1. Open package of tortillas.
2. Put one tortilla on a plate.
3. Open shredded cheese.
4. Put shredded cheese on half of the prepared tortilla.
5. Fold tortilla in half.
6. Spray tortilla with spray butter.
7. Sprinkle tortilla with parmesan cheese.
8. Nuke plate with tortilla for 45 seconds.
9. Eat quesadilla.

BORING! Simple, but very boring. I had a little inspiration to dress these up a bit, so I ran with it. Here's the new, creative, frugal way to make quesadillas with stuff we already had on hand.

First of all, we had no shredded cheese. We had a block of cheese, so I grated it myself. We had some black beans in the freezer that I had previously cooked. We had some leftover corn from dinner last night, and we only had one frozen chicken breast (what can you do with one frozen chicken breast that will feed a whole family???). So here's what I did:

1. Boil the chicken breast (I didn't even thaw it out) until there's no pink inside.
2. Shred the chicken using a fork to hold it in place and another fork to shred it.
3. Put corn, black beans (drained), and shredded chicken in a large skillet to heat them up. Season as desired (we used seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder). Move the mixture to a bowl.
4. Brush one side of a tortilla with olive oil. Put the oil side down in the skillet.
5. Top with a thin layer of cheese.
6. Add a thin layer of the chicken mixture.
7. Add another thin layer of cheese.
8. Top with another tortilla, and brush the top of the tortilla with olive oil.
9. Cook on medium heat until the bottom tortilla is browned (it will shrink).
10. Flip the whole concoction over to finish cooking. Quesedilla is finished when the bottom tortilla is browned and shrinks to about the same size as the top one.
11. Cut into triangles with a pizza cutter.
12. Serve with sour cream and whatever random fruits/vegetables you have. We had applesauce and carrot sticks.

I didn't have to buy a single thing to make this, AND everyone liked it. I should get some bonus points or something, because it was healthy!

Tired Mommy

I'm reading through a series of books written by Gary Ezzo. I re-read Preparation for Parenting (On Becoming Baby Wise), when Gabe was born. We incorporated the principles within the first week of his birth and never looked back. We were so grateful to get more sleep when he started sleeping 9-10 hours around 9 weeks of age.

Then I read through Preparation for the Toddler Years (5 months - 15 months), albeit a little late for Adon. Most of it was already in practice, but we learned a few new things. For example, we now require eye contact and have cracked down on first time obedience.

Now, I'm reading On Becoming Toddler Wise. So far, my favorite quote is, "There is no question that a toddler's mom is a tired mom, and for good reason. The emotional and physical energy needed to supervise an energy-packed tot can take down the most physically fit mom. If your toddler happens to be a boy, add... fifty percent more energy. Never so beautiful does this child look to his weary mom as he does when he closes his eyes in sleep." Oh, so true! I can only imagine how it will be when they are both mobile! I'm looking forward to this new stage of toddlerhood with Adon and all of the adventures and fatigue that come with it.

Busy-ness of life with a newborn

I know it's been ages since I posted anything, but what else is to be expected with a newborn around? However, my friend, Elisa has been posting at least every other day, and she gave birth a week ago! Thus, I am motivated to post a little more frequently. My first mission...finish Gabe's birth story! Stay tuned...

That's not how I left you...

I laid Gabe on his tummy (with his head on the burp cloth) so I could get Adon up from his nap and change his diaper. This is how I found him when I returned!

Rolling over at 1 month beats Adon by a whole month! The doctor didn't believe me when I told him Adon rolled over at 2 months. He certainly won't believe me at Gabe's check-up on Friday that Gabe rolled over on his one-month birthday. Happy Birthday, Little Guy! Where has the time gone?

Look what I got!!!

I went to the produce stand to get some bananas today, because J and Adon go through about 5 pounds a week! I picked out about 6 good California peaches and was ready to check out. Next to the cash register was a box of bruised peaches majorly marked down. Now, we're not talking bruised so bad you can't eat them. Just a soft spot here or there. Easy enough to cut out spots. The 6 California peaches I picked out were $2.90. The 32 bruised peaches in the box next to the cash register were $2.00!!!!! First, I'm going to make some peach muffins. Then I'm going to peel and cut them to freeze and use for smoothies and peach cobbler and....oh, the possibilities! Please let me know if you have any good ideas/recipes that I can try with my new-found treasure!

PS - Did you know you can often ask for "ripe" bananas at a produce stand if you want to make some banana bread/muffins? They're about half the price of the regular bananas!

More to report

• Adon just said "maa maa" (yes ma'am) without any prompting and immediately obeyed!!!
• Adon continues to love on (sometimes too much) his little brother.
• Gabe is chilling on his tummy with his paci in his mouth.
  
• Gabe gags when he doesn't want something in his mouth (i.e. paci, food supply). It's really funny.
• J is home from Springfield. It's so nice to have some middle of the night help again.

So much to report!

• I just noticed yesterday that one of Adon's molars has broken through his gums. I didn't even know it was coming in! He bumped his mouth and it bled. When I inspected it, I found a chomper in the back! However, he's missing a bunch of teeth between his front ones and that molar. :o)

• Adon knows how to pretend. We've been saving empty Pringle's cans for VBS at church, and Adon loves playing with them. He took the lid off, stuck his hand in, pulled out a pretend chip, and munched away pretending to eat. He also offered pretend chips to everyone else, who also enjoyed munching on pretend chips!
• Adon knows how to pick up his toys and books. He's become soooo helpful! He can take his shoes to his room and put them away, put dirty clothes in the laundry basket, bring blankets and pacifiers to me for Gabe, and he's learning more things every day.
• Adon is down to nursing just twice a day, morning and bedtime. We've eliminated the afternoon/nap time feeding unintentionally, but the afternoons have just been too busy.
• Adon learned so many new words while Aunt Donna was here. In the last couple of days, he's started saying, "Yes, ma'am" but it comes out like "ma ma". It's really cute!
• Gabe has started to have some head control. He lifts it up and then it flops back down.
• Gabe is eating every 3 hours, but at night he's been going 3.5 to 4 hours. One night, he even skipped a feeding and went almost 5 hours! I felt really good after that one.
• Adon loves his "bubba" so much! He always has a hug and a kiss for him. He tries to put (shove) his paci in his mouth. He says "shh" when Gabe is sleeping or imitates my shushing to calm Gabe when he's fussing.
• I'll report more as I think of it. I've started the post on Gabe's birth story, but have been too busy/tired/obsessed with Facebook to finish it.
  

Still No Baby

Sorry to leave so many of you hanging with that last post, but it's kinda disappointing when contractions stop completely.

My doctor's appointment yesterday went well. There was some progress, but not like we've seen week to week. It was almost a relief so my brain can slow down.

Sunday, the ladies from church had a "diaper" shower for us. We are so incredibly blessed! It only cost us about $10 out of pocket to get the absolute necessities for cloth diapering Baby. There are, of course, other things that we'll need as the kiddos get bigger or would be nice to have (i.e. swim diapers). But in the meantime, we're completely covered. The newest diapers are in the laundry now as we wait for Baby to come. (The new ones have to be washed and dried 5 times before they're absorbent enough to use!!) I'll try to get some pics posted of the kids cute little bums with their awesome diapeys.

In Adon news...he climbed into the chair in the living room all by himself! He toddles mostly by himself, making occasional stops at various furniture to re-steady himself. He has also discovered that Daddy has nipples and armpit hair...both of which make funny sounds when touched! He also has been dealing with allergies (I think) the last couple of days making him cough and his nose run. I think he senses something is about to change. He's been very snuggly and clingy. He's not eating much and not been his normal cheerful self these last few days. I can't wait for him to meet the new baby. Twice in the last week, he's very gently given hugs to little people (his size and smaller). One of them was a three-month-old baby. It made my Mommy heart so happy to see how gentle and loving he was.

Contractions are about 10 minutes apart. Please pray that this is the real thing. I'm so ready!

We're really thinking it could be any day now. Unless I make negative progress, I don't think my body can keep the baby in another 2 weeks. We're delivering we

dding cakes today to help pass the time and make a little extra money. I'm so thankful for J. He's actually doing all the work while I stay in the car with Adon