Recipes and ideas!

Ok you cooking folks out there. I need recipes and/or ideas of things that I can freeze and have ready quickly and easily. Any ideas?

I'm really starting to run low on ideas of foods to cook for supper. The problem is that I love to cook and I don't like taking short-cuts or using boxed and processed foods. Well, that makes for one tired mama after making a meal. So, I'm trying to find things that are simple yet fairly healthy to make for supper. I'd like these recipes to be meals I can double and throw 1/2 in the freezer for the end of October, beginning of November, and after the baby arrives.

Tonight we had baked chicken, steamed broccoli with a homemade cheese sauce (yum!) and garlic bread (although Abigail had blueberries instead of the bread).

Another quick question, if I make a chowder (with cream or milk) should I leave the cream or milk out of the frozen portion and just add it when I'm reheating it or would it be okay to freeze?

Beyond Thankful

*Disclaimer: people are listed in no particular order.*

I am sitting here after quite a day. I won't go into many details (or try not to) but it consisted of getting ready with no electricity, finding out our sitter was sick so she was unavailable today, and spread to a few other things throughout the day.

There is one thing that I am so thankful for today, in the midst of all these annoyances . . . that is family.

I have NO idea how people can raise their children without the loving support of family both near and far. Let me explain just a bit . . .



You see . . . this is Andrew's mom. Not only does she take care of Abigail for us two days a week (and any other time we ask) but today when I called in a panic because our sitter was sick (and woke her up), she gladly took on another day of childcare and even came to pick Abigail up from me at work. Beyond that, she had us over for a yummy dinner tonight and does so frequently. All of this is such a huge blessing to me. I am always so thankful that Abigail is being cared for by loving family members and not having to do dishes or cook is a huge help for me right now. I love to see the wonderful things Abigail is learning from my mother-in-law who is a wonderful teacher. I'm hoping Abigail will learn the beautiful art of quilting, as our family has been blessed by many beautiful homemade quilts from Andrew's mom as well as learn the art of hospitality from her as well.

Let me explain further what I mean . . .



This guy, a.k.a. my dad, does live far far away in Kansas. However, his long distance support, interest in Abigail and joy when he does get to see her, mean the world to me as a parent. I love to see the way he interacts with her when he is here, or we are there, and how he wants me to go away (ha!) so that he can babysit. I remember his visit right after Abigail was born and how she was wearing a particularly tricky outfit (dress) and my dad managed to get her dressed without even a peep from her. He certainly has a way with newborn babies. I called him the baby whisperer!

And Andrew's dad (right side of the picture). . . how many times has he saved me from catastrophe. Let's see . . . there is the time he taped up my car window one cold morning because it wouldn't roll up. There's the time he drove my purse over to my house in the early morning because I had left it at a restaurant the night before (and they rescued it) and it had my car keys in it so we were stuck - not to mention all the mornings that he spends feeding Abigail breakfast and playing with her. Some of her favorite things to do are to water the plants with "papa" each morning. I also couldn't go without mentioning all the stuff he does to help out around our house.


And of course, my own mama. First of all, I am blessed by her, simply because she is my mom. I know that raising a quick-tempered, stubborn, selfish (whatever else applies) person like me wasn't easy but I learned a great deal from her gentleness and caring. Now that I'm a mom, she is the first person that I turn to for advice. If my daughter is sick, my first reaction is to sit down at the computer and email my mom for advice or give her a call. She is always there for an encouraging word and helpful suggestion. I am blessed beyond measure to know that I have her wealth of knowledge to lean on as a mother.

Do you see what I mean now? How do other people raise children without a wonderful support system like this? . . . And I didn't even get to the great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, cousins, etc, that give us help each and every day.

Believe me, I could type pages of ways that Abigail's wonderful grandparents help us out.

There is no way I can repay this kind of support and help to my family, except to say that you have my word it will be passed on to the next generation (and beyond).

The night I almost killed my dog (and weekend recap)

Our dog almost was murdered last night.

I got up 2:20 am to use the potty (as usual) and I heard whining. I thought it was Abigail but when I checked the monitor, I realized it was the dog all the way in the laundry room on the other side of the house. I took him outside to use the bathroom (yes at 2:20 am) and put him away.

In addition to Dewey's whining, I heard Abigail coughing in her sleep. She has had a minor cold this past week (no fever) but just can't quite shake it yet and has a lingering cough. I went into her room and actually woke her up (ha! payback, kid!). I had her drink some water and gave her a homeopathic cough syrup and let her sit (sleep) on my lap for a while so she would be sitting up. When her coughing lessened I put her back to bed and headed back to my own bed. The dog was still whining.

*A little side note: do you know how precious it is to hold your sleeping toddler at night? I think I could become addicted to going in there and waking her up and holding her. Why will I be annoyed in a few months by the amount I will have to be up at night with the new baby? Maybe I'll be able to remember to cherish the time because pretty soon they don't even wake up when they cough!*

Anyone looking for a new pet?! :)

__________________

The rest of our weekend was great. On Saturday morning we all headed to IKEA. Our main objective was to buy a second crib. This will be used by Abigail until she is ready for a big bed. She's NOT ready yet. We got the crib and a few other small things.

In the afternoon, during her nap, my sister-in-law and I worked on painting Abigail's bedroom downstairs. I'm thinking that 33 weeks is about the cut off for climbing ladders but I made it up and down our step ladder and will have to do it once more to finish up. However, we made great progress!

We had a lovely supper and enjoyable evening with family until Abigail had a melt-down over a purse. She wanted to play with the name-brand purse and not the cheap knock-off we wanted her to play with. I think her daddy and I are in trouble!

We had a lovely Sunday. The sermon at church was especially good and it topped of the day when the Bengal beat the Steelers. I actually watched the whole game. :)

The only other bummer news I have is that our "new van" is sick. It was acting funny and smelled hot while I drove it last week so I took it into the mechanic last Friday and we have to replace the water pump and a few other small things. Needless to say, that was not good news. Hopefully we'll get the fixed and be on our way with a nice reliable van.

Countdown is on, only six more weeks of work for me (weird!) and seven more weeks until my due date.

Wow!

For my memory - 33 weeks

Just so I can remember this pregnancy in the future (after all, this is my only journal and record of life - yikes!), I'm going to write a few things down:

I'm almost 33 weeks (tomorrow) and my feet are swelling already. I was hoping to avoid that this time. Ugh! I think they started about this same time with Abigail. I'll have to look back on the ole' blog.

Thankfully no painful carpal tunnel this time. I hope it doesn't show up but I don't have much time left. I struggled with it most of the pregnancy with Abigail.

Starting to feel panicked about the birth. I think Andrew and I have done relaxation exercises once. I must take the initiative and do them myself! Every.single.day!

I'm going to do my best from here on out to say "no" to things. I need (for my sanity and my strength) to rest more. Abigail goes to bed by 7:30 each night so I need to be resting after that! I've lost a little of my grip on what it is like to have a newborn.

However, her room is still not done and hasn't been worked on in weeks. Maybe I can put in an hour on Saturday to do some painting.

I have started to pack a bit. I just have some nursing clothes and a night-gown that I wore for Abigail's birth in a suitcase. I have a few small toiletries that I need to throw in as well.

I need to wash baby clothes (yikes, I have so many) but I have no place to store them since Abigail is still in the upstairs room. I think there is one drawer free.

Ok, that's all my ramblings for the day. Hopefully I'll get some of the cute videos and pictures on here soon.

Morning Conversation

I had a phone conversation this morning that went something like this:

Lady: Hi, I'm from out-of-town and plan to attend your church (*note: the church where I work, not where I am a member) this Sunday and I have a few questions.

Me: Okay, great. What can I help you with?

Lady: I see communion will only be at your late contemporary service and I need to take communion this week. Is your service ultra contemporary?

Me: I'm not sure what you mean by that. There are modern praise songs played with guitar, piano, and drums, but there is still traditional liturgy included in the service.

Lady: Okay, so it's not all that hand waving junk, then?

Me: (*At this point, completely at a loss for what to say.) I actually don't attend this church so I'm not sure if anyone raises their hands in worship or not.

Lady: Oh, okay. Can I just come and take communion then?

Me: (*Closed communion and I have NO authority to tell her yes so I say) I think it would be best if you spoke with our Pastor. He's in this morning.

Lady: Okay

Call transferred!

I'm just baffled. Of course this is coming from me who sang this song in church on Sunday. Enjoy!




I love thinking about "Oh how He loves us" - All of us!

All of us! And I'm so thankful that He does!!

Random Things

I tire so easily these days. I came home last night (after work) made supper and cleaned up the kitchen a bit. After putting Abigail to bed I headed for the grocery store. It was nice to take my time. After I got home Andrew and I watched our daily dose of Battlestar Galactica. It's been fun to watch these with Andrew (no . . . I'm not usually a SciFi fan so to answer the other question going through your mind, yes . . . I love him a lot). I was almost asleep on the couch by the time the show ended at 9:15 pm! :)

The new van is great. I have enjoyed listening to Abigail saying "new car" when she sees it. Quite fun!

Speaking of things she is saying, the girl has just been booming with new words and even phrases. She will now repeat almost everything we say. I kept trying to put a clip in her hair yesterday and she finally pulled it out one last time and said "mama hair" so I stuck it in my hair and she was as happy as could be and excited that I understood what she meant. :)

She also loves to talk to the dog. Every day she says "Dewey sit, Dewey stay, Dewey no, Dewey food" and LOVES to feed the dog. She can almost feed him by herself except she can't always lift the full bowl of dog food from our container. Someday soon we'll be adding that to her chore list! :)

She also loves to pat people. It is so sweet and funny. She'll say "Pat Dewey, Pat Mama, Pat Dada" and then come up and pat us. She also loves to "pat baby" so I hope she helps me out with that. :)

I'm already packing for the hospital. I figure that it will just be less for me to do later. Of course I only have two things in the bag.

Okay, now I need some suggestions for things (if you would, please):

1) Relaxing songs! I made three CD's for my labor with Abigail. Now, she surprised me a bit by coming 3 days early and the CD's weren't packed in the bag so I didn't have them with me at the hospital but I used them afterwords. I am planning to burn some CD's NOW and put them in the bag NOW so I'll have them in the birth center but I need more relaxing song suggestions. Those old CD's are just that . . . old.

2) Names! We are still at a stand-still with names. We just can't find a name that we like.

3) Good books! I haven't read a really good book in a while and I'm dying for one. Actually, I'd love to have a stack of good books for the early newborn days. I definitely won't have time to read during the day but with Abigail I read a lot during nursing and it helped to keep me occupied! :)

Mom Car

Guess what we bought this weekend? A van! We've been looking for one since June and the right one just happened to come across our path (actually we found it on autotrader.com but it seemed just right for us). It's a little smaller than normal but I like that. It seems easier to drive to me. It was 100,000 miles, leather seats, 6-cd changer, and all the windows work! Yeah! I'm happy.

I am excited to have a new (ok, used) vehicle but I did LOVE my little Camry so it will take some getting used to. I also really hate spending money, lots of money, but I guess that I should consider myself blessed that every time we need a vehicle the money has been there for us to pay cash. We don't always have it in the budget to save for a car (and should) but it has worked out so far. Yeah!

Blast from the Past

I really need to go wake my daughter up so we can go to my midwife appointment but I'm blogging instead. I think I can still make it on time. :) I hate to wake her up if I don't have to. Anyway, these pictures are from our Hawaii trip last year. Just look at how precious my little girl was/is.

I'm definitely feeling excitement that I get to have another one of these. Sure, it may take six-months for that cuteness (and sleep) to happen but, oh well.

Preparing for a Newborn

This is a very sensitive subject for me but I was inspired to write a little about this from another blog I read. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only mommy who felt this way (actually about 80% of this bloggers polled felt the same way I do) about newborns.

Let me start this off by saying how much I love my daughter. I would not have wanted to miss one precious moment of her sweet life. I love being a mommy to her (at any age).

Ok, having said that, let me just begin by saying that I found the newborn stage to be the most confusing, stressful, painful (emotionally), tiring, and all-consuming phase (although very sweet at times).

• Perhaps it was because I had horrible first-time-mom syndrome and didn't know what to do with that screaming infant.

• Perhaps it was because I had a difficult labor and was already exhausted when we got home.

• Perhaps it is because I try to be sensitive to my husband's sleep issues and take the night-time duty by myself so he doesn't have another reason to wake up.

I needed someone to say to me "yes, this too shall pass". I did get that when my friend Bridget came to visit me. Abigail was napping and Bridget and I sat for a while and chatted. I don't think she had any clue that she was saving my life (metaphorically, of course) but she was. Her son is two months older than Abigail so she had just been through it. Remembering that conversation makes me feel teary even today!

So . . . by the way . . . it does get better! And quickly!

Thankfully I read this blogger's post today and she said that while preparing to have her second child, she braced for the rough newborn stage and said . . . it wasn't bad at all.

Oh my goodness, I cling to that hope and I pray it will be true for me as well.

I'm sure it will be different because well . . . I have been there before. I have had a newborn. I know what they're like. I'm a seasoned breastfeeding mama (17 months of it!). I also know that I have a toddler to take care of as well.

Here are some things I plan to do differently this time to help in the first few weeks.

• #1 - Not sleep in the easy chair!!! I slept with Abigail up on my chest in our easy chair for far too many nights the first two weeks. Very uncomfortable way to sleep, especially after giving birth. Ouch!
  

• #2 - Get her to sleep by herself, preferrably in a crib (with a swing and bouncy seat for backup) from the first day. This will only help in the long run. I felt absolute panic when Abigail was 5 weeks old when my husband said she needed to start learning to sleep (he was right of course). Really, it was very smooth (for her, NOT for me) and so I need to start as I mean to go on.

• #3 - I will not co-sleep with her. I didn't do this often but occasionally a night would get so long that I would plop down in the single bed in her room and just snooze away while breastfeeding. I was never comfortable, she was never comfortable, and it just got to me (mentally). *See below.

*I would wake Andrew (accidentally - of course!) many times during Abigail's first few months because I would be dreaming that she was in bed with us and I'd think we were smashing her. I would be frantically feeling around the bed for her and end up patting his head. Poor guy!

• #4 - I will ask for what I need. This is tough for me. I usually just like to do for myself, especially at night. I can count a handful of times that I actually woke Andrew up to help me. One was the first night Abigail was home. She was cranky, her tummy was rumbly, and I was clueless! Another time was when she had the 104 fever and had vomited everywhere. I knew that I needed other parental support to decide if an emergency room run was necessary and I wanted him to clean up the throw up!
  

Having said ALL of that. . . (bless you if you're still reading) . . . I'm still thinking about hiring a postpartum doula. Will I actually do it? Probably not because way down deep inside, I'm cheap when it comes to things like this!

Wouldn't that be nice though? A person there a few hours a day who is there to only oodle over me?! Sounds glorious!

Picture this: painting nails, getting back-rubs, getting spa treatments (hello facials), cooking me whatever I want to eat, watching movies together . . . and I realize I'm being delusional!! By the way, in my day-dream I can smell lavender! :)

Those are my thoughts. If I'm a bit discombobulated in the six weeks between November 14 (or whenever she's born) and Christmas, please just look the other way, I will have a newborn (and a toddler). Yikes!

Preparing for Birth

The birth of this precious baby has been on my mind a lot lately. I have been contemplating hiring a doula for the process but have recently decided against it.

The main reason is because I love the birth experience I had with Abigail. It was a very private and joyful thing between Andrew and me . . . just the two of us. It was lovely. I think I'll keep it that way.

The reason I was considering one is that I currently have this (irrational?) fear that Andrew somehow won't make it to the birth. He works downtown Cincinnati and we are having the baby in downtown Dayton. He is traveling to NY when I'm 36 weeks pregnant and probably again the week after (although that will be a closer destination). More than likely it will be fine.

However, if I don't have a support person/coach I am not allowed to deliver in the birth center that we love so much. Thankfully the midwives that I see would still be with me in the Labor and Delivery ward and so I think I could still do it natural, although it would be tough!

Okay that being said I want to touch on natural birth and dispel some of the myths I have heard lately. Here we go:

1) I do not think poorly about other women who decide to have pain relief during childbirth. If I am passionate and talk to you about it, it just means that I want you to decide for yourself what is best, not have a doctor or other medical staff tell you that you need a particular drug just so the birth is easier and more convenient for them. (A BIG problem today in Labor and Delivery Wards - heard of Pitocin? - sometimes necessary but usually used when the doctor just wants your baby born). I am all for having a safe healthy baby but I think it is pretty obvious that too many interventions can lead to a unnecessary cesarean section rate.

2) I did not choose to have a drug-free birth because I want to be looked upon as heroic or tough. That's quite silly!

3) I did choose to have a drug-free birth because I believe our bodies were created to do it with the least amount of interventions possible. When we are in labor it is the only time we are in the hospital and we're not sick. It is one of the only times that we are in pain but are not injured or sick. I want to be treated like I'm in labor, not like I'm sick or injured.

4) If you have drugs you probably won't be allowed to walk around or eat. It will probably be highly discouraged. (I'm not sure about drinking. My first practice told me "no" - which is why we left). You will be hooked up to a continual fetal monitor, and an IV. I had occasional monitoring with a Doppler and a hep lock IV (meaning it was in my arm but not hooked up most of the time).

5) I chose to have a natural birth because I felt it was better for my baby and would make breastfeeding easier. This doesn't mean that I think those of you who do choose to have drugs are out to harm your baby or you won't be able to breastfeed. That's not the case at all!

6) Yes, I am hoping and praying that #2 will be easier because I'm not sure I can do the same labor again. Abigail was quick moving at first (7 cm when I arrived) but stalled very quickly. It was probably because I got into the huge warm tub and wasn't walking and using gravity. It was a 15 hour labor with 2 1/2 hours of very painful hard pushing but . . . she finally arrived safe and sound.

I was able to breastfeed immediately and walk shortly after birth. I didn't need a catheter (yeah!) and was able to get up with Abigail (she only woke once!) during that first night. It was lovely.

7) I have never experienced such a euphoric high as I did after Abigail was born. I don't think it would have felt the same if I hadn't felt the pain. The absence of pain and the presence of my daughter was the most unbelievable experience for both of us!

I am planning to have a drug-free natural birth again because of the reasons I listed above but I will admit that I hope it is easier than last time!

Today

I don't think I'll write much today. I don't think it will make much sense.

My post time is wrong on the last post. Neither of us were in bed or asleep before 2 a.m. Ok, well I was in bed but not asleep.

But, 6 am rolled around and we're awake. I'm sure we'll both sleep well tonight!

By the way, we talked about it and step #1 in helping Andrew sleep better is no TV in the bedroom.

P.S. Having another baby will probably help him sleep better. :)

Tired

Guess who is going to be tired tomorrow . . . we both are (not Abigail, she's sleeping).

We've got to get these sleep things figured out. Would not be good with a new baby!

This is from the guy who used to sleep through an infant screaming in the next room.

Seriously!

"Moe" Video's

Abigail says more "moe" all the time. Would you all like to see more videos of her? Yes, that's what I thought. :) Ok, here's one! (I have another great one of her watching her daddy mow but it's not downloaded yet).

Sleep!

(I may be a bit biased but isn't this photo adorable?!!!)

It's not secret that my darling has trouble with sleep (Andrew). I have always thought it to be mostly mental, as in he thinks he can't fall asleep but really he's usually asleep before me. However, this week it has been worse than normal.

Last night was the second night in a row where he tossed and turned for some time before getting up. This meant that I was up until about 12:30 am (because trying to sleep next to a tossing and turn 6'4" man is difficult - let me tell you) and he was up until 2 am. These are not fun times when you get up at 5:45 am like he does.

I'm trying to find a proactive approach to the problem. I think the first step we need to try is to have him take a 4 mile walk or jog and see if he can't sleep after that. I feel so sorry for my poor babe and want to help him out if I can. As for me, no problems sleeping here. Occasionally I can't sleep as well but for some reason I can just lay there and relax!

Any other ideas?

P.S. He's highly opposed to drugs!

Return of the Sobbing Mess

So, I have had a nice break of . . . oh, 2 or 3 months where my emotions evened out a bit. I thought, "Great, I guess it was just 1st trimester hormones". But no. They have returned (as has my back pain/side ache which is a weird coincidence).

8 1/2 weeks until my due date. Then I'll have the baby, be a weepy ball of emotion for a month or two after that (if history repeats itself) and then get back to my old cold, unfeeling self (just kidding about the last part - I just consider myself to be "reserved" emotionally).

Soup?

No, I did not make soup for supper. It just seemed too warm! Instead I made Chicken Pot Pie x2. Yes, I doubled the batch (which was very easy, actually) and froze one pie and we ate on the second one! :)

I also made brownies for Bible study tonight. I didn't let Andrew have any (yet!).

We have a busy weekend ahead of us.

On Friday, Abigail and I are going to take a short trip to look at a Dora Kitchen for her. It is being sold for only $15 and they are originally $85 so I hope it is in decent shape. Andrew/Dada doesn't want me to get it because it's not a "need" so I might save it for a Christmas present for Abigail. It just seems that with her love of Dora and play kitchens, this is a deal we shouldn't pass up!

I am going to spend the rest of the day (though it won't take me that long) making Pioneer Woman's Best Baked Beans for Andrew's company picnic on Saturday (and cleaning). I'm looking forward to getting to know his co-workers better and letting Abigail run around outside at the park.

Then Saturday night we're having some friends over to our house to take pictures of their newborn. In case you were wondering, almost all of our friends have newborns so don't be confused! This year alone our small group will add at least six babies (and I may be forgetting someone).

That's it for now. I just enjoyed my left over Chicken Pot Pie so I'd better get back to work.

Yumm! Soup!!

Many of you know, if you know me in real life or just read this blog, that I'm not a huge fan of winter. I'd take one or two snowfalls but then I'm ready for the warm weather again. I like pools, beaches, capri pants, flip flops, watermelon, corn on the cob and all the other joyous things that come with summer! However, if there is one thing I appreciate about winter, besides beautiful snowfalls, snuggling, and Christmas, it is getting to eat and cook soup recipes!

Right now I almost can't wait for it to cool off enough for me to make some of my favorite soup recipes and try new ones. I hope my husband is up for all this soup because I'll probably be making them a lot! (I'm sure he won't mind).

My favorite is probably Corn Chowder. Yumm! (Sorry the recipe is at home. Maybe I'll share it when I make it).

I want to try Pioneer Woman's Cauliflower Soup. (I'm sure I'll be making about any soup recipe she posts).

I found this recipe and want to try it. We love Salmon and Chowder so why not put them together.

And of course, my favorite "sea food" is crab so I've got to find the perfect crab chowder too. I'll start by trying this one.

I'm also thinking of starting now, making lots of soups, and freezing them because I'm going to be a bit busy this winter. I can hardly find the time to really cook (beyond making spaghetti, pizza, and egg sandwiches) with my toddler, so not sure how another baby will play into this so some frozen meals would probably be a good thing.

Also, I have found that soups are great to feed kids. Mine is a pretty good eater most of the time, but especially with soup.

Ok, maybe I should make corn chowder for supper, even though it's 75 degrees outside!

Ok, I also think I'm going to need (ok, want) something like this. Too bad it's so expensive!

Dancin' Dancin' Part 1

We have had a lovely weekend so far. I'm very thankful for another day off today that we can all spend together! Enjoy this little video clip of Abigail dancing. It was taken with my phone so the quality isn't the greatest but our other camera wasn't around when she was dancing and I didn't want to miss it.

Boy, do I have videos for you!!

We finally got all the videos downloaded from our camera and onto this computer. This is one that I took on Friday. Enjoy!

Abigail's shoe obsession!

Night Away!

I didn't write about this for fear that my husband would find it. I surprised him with a night away last night to our favorite Bed and Breakfast (in this area anyway). Abigail spend the night for the first time with her grandparents and did great.

However, I tried feeding her lunch when we got home and she threw the biggest tantrum ever. So, she's in bed, already asleep after 5 minutes. However, with very little lunch, I don't know how long that will last. I'm off to clean up her lunch and save it for later!

19 months old

Happy 19-month birthday, baby girl!

I keep thinking that at some point, we'll have to stop celebrating your month birthday's. I guess that doesn't come until you turn 2! Here is a little update on what you've been doing.

• You have so many new and fun words and phrases.
  
• You are starting to put together more words all the time such as "Dada Dora" (when he let's you watch a Dora video on YouTube.
• You whined in the car this morning and I said, "what's wrong?". You answered me by saying "milk" and proceeded to pick up your sippy cup of coconut milk and take a drink. (I thought it was funny).
  
• You're obsessed (seriously) with watching the Happy California Cows videos. You'd watch them all day if we'd let you. I think we're going to set some TV watching limits at our house because you ask constantly!! :)
• When I drop you off at daycare, you know the first think you'll do is eat breakfast. You're so hungry that you'll go to your highchair and say "bye bye mama" and then you're ready for me to leave.
• You are getting physically stronger too. You can drag a little step stool around and it's becoming quite dangerous (I think we might have to put it away for a while) because you can reach the top of the counters!
• You love to help out but do get frustrated if you can't figure something out quickly.
• I have noticed that lately you've been saying "wait" a lot. That's probably because it is one of the most frequently used words at our house . . . at least along the same lines as "patience".
• You're also starting to really love Dewey. You love to bring him in, put him out, help feed him, tell him "no Dewey" and also now "sit Dewey". He can't quite understand you yet, however. :)
• Your eating habits are finally changing. You've been a big eater all your life and you're starting to get a little more choosy about what you eat. We're learning very quickly to give you the veggies first!
  

You are certainly our little adventure. Each day brings something new, whether it is a challenge or a joy, it doesn't matter. We love you and you bring so much joy, adventure, and love to our lives (along with practicing of patience on our part).

Can't wait to watch what you come up with next!

I've decided it's time . . .

No . . . not to have the baby, although with numbness, aches, pains, tiredness and cramps, etc, I'm getting there. I decided that it's time to cut back.

So, as far as I am able, no extra spending this month. Of course, my husband doesn't know this yet. Oops! I suppose we ought to have a meeting this month. The date is coming (very quickly) where we will only have one income for a while, and while we do have savings, it would be nice for those to be a little boosted before then.

The one exception may be that we might buy a swing set. You see, I came across one that a single, male friend of mine doesn't want or need, so the value will be exceptional. Also, my daughter needs to play outside more, I have decided but she doesn't have much to do at our house.

Now, if only we can figure out how to haul it to our house, we'll be set.