Friday Letters

Dear Hubby!

Your daily hard work does NOT go unnoticed! What a guy to work all day and come home on your lunch break to hook up our washer instead of relaxing before you go back. I love watching you play with Jules, melts my heart every time! She loves you so much and I love watching her run when you come in the door from work. 

Dear Jules,

You are SWEETNESS! I love catching you sitting in your room flipping through your books like such a sweetheart! Though this week we've been having lots of disciplining moments, it's only because I love you! I am here to teach you all the things that are right and good instead of what your sinful nature would like you to do :) You've done such a good job with not emptying my plants! Now lets work on being nice to baby kitty instead of carrying it around by it's neck hahahha.

Dear Me, 

Just because you're pregnant, nauseous and constantly cleaning doesn't mean you can stay in your sweats, not wear make-up and try to rock the messy bun. Remember you said you'd never turn into "that person!" well here she is in all her glory. Get it together! LOL

Dear Nap time, 

Thanks for suddenly becoming a very unproductive time! No matter how motivated I am (or how much I've told myself I will get done while she naps!), once I leave that dark, lullaby music room it's all I can do to not collapse on the couch! 

Dear Flu Bug,

STOP COMING AROUND! You are NOT welcome in my home! I mean seriously, how many times can you cycle around. My daughter is trying to GAIN weight so she can't afford another bug. Thank you and goodbye!

Dear Winter,

We are no longer friends. I never have liked your cold, dark self but now with a 1 year old who is constantly sick I don't like you AT ALL. So hurry up summer months! I miss you! Juliana thinks inside "fun" is only fun for so long, we both want to go out and play without becoming ice cycles.

Dear Elmo, 

Though my daughter had never seen you in any way shape or form somehow you made your way into our home and apparently into her heart. Whoever created you did an excellent job determining how to captivate a 1 year old! Now everything Elmo is ALL she wants! my goodness!

Dear Baby #2,

I am sorry I keep forgetting to pray for you and think about you!!!! Is this the start of what 2 kids is like? hahaha. With Jules my pregnancy is all I thought about now I'm so preoccupied taking care of her I sometimes get so excited when I remember, "Oh yea! I'm pregnant!" I love you and do pray for you!!!! 

Happy Friday Readers! 

Weekly Pregnancy Update!

How far along: 

9 weeks!

Total weight gain: 

Some weight loss due to sickness but gaining it back :) Don't worry it'll ALLLLL come back in time :) 

Maternity Clothes: 

nope

Stretch marks:

 Not from this pregnancy :S

Sleep: 

Not great :( Keep waking up to pee a billion times.sigh.

Best moment this week:

 Feeling a LITTLE better !

 Miss Anything? 

hahah energy please?

Movement: 

Can't feel my little sweetness yet! Well, I can feel it's EFFECTS on me :) 

Food cravings: 

blah, nothing! Actually soup is the one thing that I just want all the time, the hot broth makes me feel better! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: 

everything? :( Dinner time especially, even thinking about dinner makes me feel sick. so weird! 

Gender: 

Can't tell yet!!!!

Belly Button in or out?

In. LOL and slightly saggy around the edges from last time :S

Wedding rings on or off?

 On. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: 

I can get pretty moody :( Crying during movies that aren't sad, crying when tired, ya know, the usual preggers hormones hahaha!

Looking forward to:

 Having my first appointment!!! Can't wait to hear my baby love's heartbeat!

Dinner Tonight

MMmmmmm homemade split pea soup for dinner!

Poor Jeremy is probably getting so sick of soup but it's really the only thing that always sounds good for me! I've been making him dinners then can't eat a bite :( So soup has become a regular around here these days, which is so funny because normally I hate soup. But baby B must love it :) The hot broth just feels so good for my nausea!!!! 

We had a fun little family dinner on Christmas Eve (the 3 of us :) But we have TONS of ham left over, so split pea soup is what's for dinner!

Recipe : 

(keep in mind I was just dumping stuff in so this is the "basic" idea)

1 lb dry split peas

ham hock 

2 cups chopped ham

1 chopped onion

2 chopped carrots

2 cups chopped celery

4 cups Chicken Stock (should have made it but didn't this time)

2 cups of water

Salt, pepper, a bay leaf, dried thyme, oregano and parsley (how ever much you want!) 

Throw it in the crock pot on low, near the end take the bone out. Most of the ham on it will have fallen off. Serve with yummy bread!!!!!

Happy Day after Christmas!

I'm sure you were just waiting around to read what I have done today :)

Well folks, we are in the full swing of discipline over here. I am thrilled my girl is growing but I have to say, the first year of simple sweetness is wonderful. She has now purposefully been disobeying, isn't that fun! 

It's like she's picked certain things to repeat over and over, like emptying my plants of their dirt. lol. Today has been at least 5 times of me walking in and her stopping mid-grab, watching my reaction with her handfuls of dirt. And as I approach to say no  (and sometimes is also hard to keep a straight face cause she's just so CUTE even when she's being defiant!), she runs away. Lovely. Once I've snatched her and am trying to return her to the plant to empty her hands and have a "sweet little teaching moment" she collapses herself on the ground and refuses to make eye contact. WOW --- human nature 101!!!! And who says we're not sinful in nature?!?!?!

So we've been doing a lot of that this morning. She also bit me for the first time today :( Right through my skin :( I hope my daughter is not that kid who bites other people's kids!!! We will work on this one hard as well! NO biting!!!!! She's been getting really frustrated lately when she can't communicate what she wants, so I'm trying to teach her signs and other ways to get help or attention if she needs something. 

Poor girl is also on antibiotics cause our kitten scratched her and it got infected. Say what?!?! This child, she gets everything.

It's amazing how much I underestimated what she can understand. I still treat her as if she has no clue what's going on so Jeremy and I started doing little tests. Telling her to go do this or that or grab me this or give daddy that. She gets it ALL! So she definitely understands what she is not supposed to do :) 

In other news! I am 8 weeks pregnant and feelin it!!!! Sick sick sick but I know it will pass soon. Carbonation helps a lot. You also know you're in this phase of pregnancy when you start realizing all the places you could lay down to take a nap as you're working around your house! I went to pick something off the floor and the thought going through my mind was "I could just lean up against the wall right there......" REALLY!?!? So  funny.
I am also determined to keep a pregnancy journal this time! Maybe I will use my blog to keep me accountable :) 

Jeremy proposed 5 years ago today :) Love him! 

Seems so long ago! I love that we are more in love now than we were then.....that it just keeps getting better :) 

And lastly our house is a Christmas bomb. Wrapping paper, crafts, cookies along with the usual dishes and laundry makes it look like a tornado went through. So I'm off to tackle that while I still have some of her nap time left! 

Not my favorite morning.

There are SO many great moments as a parent, but I am also just beginning to learn there are very hard moments too.

 This morning was not my favorite. 

Took Juliana to her 15 month appointment which should be routine and just checking growth. Well, she's still the same weight :(, has been getting sick pretty much constantly her whole life and has been having a few other random weird symptoms too (blue lips, shaking, lots of diarrhea and vomit and fever, etc). So after shots and all that fun, we were over for a blood test (NOT FUN). I've already had to do this when she was 4 months old and really sick, but at least then she just sat there and cried, now that she's bigger I had to basically pin her down and hold her arm down while they tried to get her blood. Once they finally got a vein I kid you not the blood was BARELY going up the tube. Took FOREVER to get like 1/4 teaspoon of blood. The seat was all wet from her tears :( SAD MOMENT as a mommy. At least I held off crying till we got in the car. 

The next appointment we have is with a GI specialist cause the Dr. thinks something might be wrong in there :( After that we'll move onto the allergist. Part of me knows that this is all the beginning steps just to rule out a number of things but it's still hard that we can't just have one regular appointment where everything looks great and we go on our way. 

I am blessed to have a child and I know she'll be fine, just frustrating to have to put her through all these tests.

Praying for a good result from her blood test! 

An order of Pad Thai please!

Ever since we were Thailand for a while, I have been in LOVE with Thai food. Thai food is known for it's amazing blends of spicy, sour and sweet. Everything from their curry to soups to noodles is amazing.
But my favorite is still the classic -- Pad Thai. While nothing can compare with authentic, off the street THAILAND Pad Thai. There are several places here that are really good! After lots of years of trying all the Thai places around (such hard work but I sacrificed and got it done :) I definitely have my favorites. 

But we can't go out for Thai food all the time ($$$$$) So I've found my favorite for at home cookin!

The "A Taste of Thai" kit has a larger sauce packet, although I like the Thai Kitchen ingredients better and the overall taste is more authentic. 

(did you even think you needed this information?Haha)

BUT the Taste of Thai noodles are WAY thicker and I like that too!

The fun part about the boxes at home is that you have the freedom to either keep it simple and authentic, or just go ahead and throw in bell peppers, carrots, whatever. 

I like to keep ours basic :) Just the protein (tofu and chicken), noodles, bean sprouts, egg and green onion. 

Even though I was only cooking for the 2 of us I made 2 boxes (and we hardly had left overs :S) so I tried one of each :) Yummmmmoooo! 

And although in Thailand you would just get the basic Pad Thai dish wrapped in a banana leaf, I DO love the toppings we've added here in the good ol USA :)  My favorites are fresh bean sprouts, shredded carrot, cucumber ribbons with rice vinegar, peanuts and cilantro with lime juice!

 DELICIOUS! 

Go make some Pad Thai and enjoy!!!!!

Beer-glazed sausage and apples with green beans

What's for dinner???

I made this a couple nights ago and it was SUPER good! It's great for these cold nights yet still doesn't leave you feeling yucky and full of carbs!

Enjoy!

What you'll need

• 1 12 oz. bottle Belgium-style wheat beer (I used Blue Moon)
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 14-16 oz. package smoked sausage, such as kielbasa, cut in 3-inch pieces
• 1/2 lb. fresh green beans
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 medium cooking apples, cored and thinly sliced (I used Fuji apples)
• 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel

In a large saucepan combine 1/2 of the beer and the crushed red pepper. Bring it to boiling. Next, add the sausage and the green beans. Return the mixture to a simmer. Cover the saucepan, and cook 5-8 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Then, drain the saucepan and set the meat and beans aside. Next, in a large skillet melt 1 tbsp of the butter, then add the apples. Cook the apples, turning occasionally, until they are just tender. Transfer them to a platter. Add the sausage and green beans to the skillet you cooked the apples in. Cook the mixture, turning occasionally, until the sausage is browned on all sides. Once the sausage is browned, remove it and the beans from the skillet and drain the fat. Next, carefully add the remaining beer to skillet (mixture may foam) and stir to scrape up the browned bits. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of butter, brown sugar, cider vinegar, and orange peel to the skillet. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and boil the glaze gently, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Place the sausage and green beans back into the skillet to coat in the glaze. Then, fold in the apples. Mix over low heat until warmed through. Serve warm, and enjoy!

Mmmmmm so delicious! I served it alongside couscous! 

Update Time!

We've had a fun past few weeks around here! Here's what's been going on in our little family 

 Found out I was pregnant on Thanksgiving morning :) Such a fun surprise! We are so excited for Baby #2! I can't wait to see my precious girl as a big sister. 

We got to go out on a fun date to celebrate our new baby coming :) Sometimes life just gets SO busy it's hard to remember to take the time to make these memories!

Had such a fun night at the lights parade last night! Love this town :) 

We got a kitten!!!! Juliana LOOOOOVES him! I couldn't be happier that he lets her "pet" him (more like hitting him......working on that!) and he comes up to her an plays with her! Love it!

Me, my baby and baby kitty! (Don't mind the orange peal she is spitting out)

Our house has been stomach flu city this past week and a half :( Jules came down with it and right when she got better Jeremy started. I am still to go :( :( :( oh joy.

Along with this exciting pregnancy I have been SO much more nauseous than last time. Seriously I have felt like I am going to throw up, all day every day for over a week. Dry toast and tea have been my staple :( PLEASE go away soon! Hurry up 2nd Trimester! 

hahaha we saw this online and thought it was a hilarious announcement! 

Christmas time!!!!!!!!!!! We are working away on presents and homemade goodies! If I have to be stuck at home with a bunch of sickos at least I can look at my tree and listen to fun music. 

And right now I'm plopped on the couch eating an entire box of sour candy while baby love sleeps :) 

Cheapest way to Hang a HUGE picture!

By now I'm sure you've seen this all over Pinterest but I wanted to try it for myself! 

One of the hardest parts of getting LARGE pictures hung in our house is the cost. Printing then framing is just way too much, so I was excited to try this.

You start by picking a picture you like and making it black and white. Then run down to Staples and give them your flash drive and ask for an engineer print. There are a couple different sizes, I went with 24 x 36 (you can go bigger!)

Your picture will print out on regular copier paper and the quality is obviously not perfect, but it definitely works!

In the original post she then mounted it on foam board but since this is handing in our bedroom and living room I decided to go a little nicer and get a thin piece of wood (which of course my hubs already had haha!)

Just decide how much "boarder" you want and what color you would like. Then spray paint! You can leave the middle unpainted since it'll be covered :) 

You basically need 3 supplies for this project (other than picture and board)

• Spray Adhesive
• Mod Podge*
• Brush

Then position your paper where you like and have another person hold it in place 

Spray under one side, then flip up the other half and spray again. Such a hot helper :) :) 

I decided to save myself $8 and make my own mod pog. Just a 4 oz bottle of glue (like the knock off brand of Elmer's) and 2 oz water. It turned out great!

Here's where things got messy  :( And by that I mean went wrong! Mod podge on that thin of paper just makes it bubble and wrinkle and smudge and makes a huge mess. 

You can see I started to stroke it on and it immediately began to bubble :(

So that part didn't work as planned :(  and if you look closely you can see the corner where I put the mod podge. So if you get it done on thicker paper it would be fine, otherwise, just use more spray adhesive and then use a varnish spray on top to kind of "seal" it on. I am still working on better ways to do this :) But I did 3 different ones all over our house and everyone loves them! Yea for super cheap and easy crafts!

What having a constantly sick baby can teach you

Today as I was starting to grown and grunt about being "held back" from yet another thing due to my child being sick I began to think about all the things I have learned not only through being a mom, but during the times when being a mom isn't so fun --like when you're kids are sick. 

I guess my title is a bit dramatic. My child doesn't have some fatal disease or cancer so I cannot even begin to complain!!! And I guess it should read toddler now that she's 15 months :( Anyway! Ever since around 4 months, Juliana has seemed to catch ever little flu and bug. At 5 months she got very sick with a high fever, throwing up and lots more, and we had to go to the ER :( After 5 days they finally took her blood but said she just had had a virus. 

(picture of when she was little and trying to get that fever down!)

Next time she got a cold she had the same -- High Fever and (usually) throw up. This has continued for much of her 15 months of life! This past weekend when we were at the dr (I think they should have a standing weekly appointment for me haha) they said that she is the type that whenever she gets even the mildest of colds her body just reacts by getting high and long fevers and usually throw up is involved at least once lol! lovely. The girl who used to run and gag if people even talked of throwing up now has the kid who perpetually vomits. Are we sensing God's sense of humor yet? 

Today I began reflecting on how much I am learning and still have yet to learn. God is using these little sicknesses to work in my life. Crazy huh. I have always been a bad worrier. Anything I can find to be anxious about I will. So I have had to work and work and work on continually surrendering my child back to God (who loves her MORE than I do!) and knowing her is holding her, watching over her, and keeping her safe. Instead of laying awake listening to the monitor I've turned up far too loud, I've tried to relax and fall asleep praying. The other night is a great example. After a fun dinner out, Jules started throwing up in her car seat (if I had been reading this 2 years ago I would already be gagging just thinking about it). We're not talking a small amount of milk like she used to, we're talking lots of lots of.........ya know. Thankfully my hubby was driving so I got to hold handfuls of vomit until we could stop the car. Once we got home and my sad little lady was in bed. I just laid there praying and praying that we would not have a long week of a high fever again, that the throwing up would be done for the night. Well! I woke up the next morning and she seemed better and all those things had been answered! BUT in typical me fashion, I started worrying and praying that as the day progressed she wouldn't get sick again instead of realizing how he had blessed our night! So the first lesson I'm working on learning -- Stop worrying! I know I could give it excuses like, "Oh, I'm a mom it's what I do" or "I will always worry about my kids, it's ok!" I've decided I can't live worrying like that all the time. I trust God, but when I worry I'm not acting like it. She is His, she always has been. 

When your kid is sick it also means less fun for you. Not only because you'll be cleaning up puke and snot, but because you'll miss out on social outings! Sometimes I feel like I go a little insane after a couple sick days at home where I've had little adult interaction! But as much of a bummer as it is to miss stuff (especially for someone like me who hates to miss anything) it's part of sacrificing for your family and your child. There have been so many times where I've pushed it taking her out when I know she's sick and everyone ends up suffering because of it! Putting your family and kids above yourself isn't always fun, but it's what pleases God and boy it teaches you a lot in the process. 

Today she woke up with a cold LOL, which now makes for over a week of solid sicknesses, but we'll just deal with that! I hope everyone else is surviving with there sick kiddos! (And hopefully they aren't sick as often as mine!)

Happy Monday haha!!!!

Decorating time!!!!!

This is what our house looks like while decorating with a 1 year old :) 

Mini Me!!! Off to the craft fair! :) 

Love her!

Trashin my dress.........

Tomorrow I am doing a "Trash the Dress" photo session! I am BEYOND excited! I have wanted to do them for so long. Tomorrow it's supposed to be dumping rain so I guess we'll see how much we can actually do. We will be doing some rain shots of us playing in the rain and puddles and today I'm off to find cute rain boots and an umbrella :) 

What are your thoughts on trashing the dress? 

I do completely understand people who could never imagine doing it. They had their dress cleaned, preserved and it's stored perfectly in a box. And I also understand people who feel like it's just a dress, and it's better to have fun with it then let it hang in a closet untouched for your whole life (and secretly hoping your daughter will wear it......) I am just so excited to take lots of pictures without worrying about getting my dress messed up or dirty! I am even excited about jumping in puddles and playing around in it :) 

Here are some of my favorite ideas!

Aren't these fun????? Can't wait to do ours!!!!!!!! 

Pinning to Christmas Music.......ahhhhhhh :)

Do you ever have days that just zoom by and you CAN'T believe it's already evening? 

Today is the opposite! haha. I cannot believe it's only 11:20 am..........We've had company, gone for a walk, worked on Christmas presents, did some sewing projects, cleaned up the house and now have a play buddy over. It's amazing what can happen when Juliana wakes up an hour earlier than normal (and dragging me out of bed :) I wish I didn't wait until I heard her in the monitor to get up. I could accomplish so much if I just got up 30 minutes before her! But every morning.........I decide, "uh, nope!" 

I'm pretty much in love with Pinterest's new "Secret Boards". FINALLY I can pin Christmas presents and my family won't see them (insert evil laugh here :) 

Here's some non-secrets I'm pinning today

For flowers by the window

Sorry if this offends anyone!!! But it IS awesome! I love this idea for parties :) 

Delicious hot soups!

LOVE this :) 

You've got mail!

Well I'm off to chase the 2 one year olds that are doing a good job leaving a destructive path :) 

Happy Thursday! 

Crafty Nap Time !

This is what I'm doing during nap time! :) 

I had them all done, addressed and ready to go, but then realized I still had 13 people left  on the list (don't ask me how I miscounted!).............ok let's get the craft stuff back out! 

Work faster hands!!!!!