A "Quiet" Moment

Baby Girl is doing her best to master the art of the sippy cup. Her downfall is that she loves to talk. So, she will take a drink and start talking, which makes all the milk that was in her mouth to drool itself down her chin. It gets under her chin, coats her neck and whatever she happens to be wearing soaks it right up.

It's cute though. I love to hear her babble on and on.

Friday = Things I Put On My Baby's Head

"Sunday's a'coming!"

That was the term Pastor Husband used during a sermon a couple of months ago. When Monday feels like it's going to be forever, trials never seem to have an end, or when stress is the only emotion you've felt for the last month - always remember that "Sunday's a'coming!". Always remember there is hope and there is joy. I thought about this phrase as we entered the new zone in Baby Girl's life. The no-nursing zone!

::Sing Twilight's Zone theme song now::

We started weaning a couple of weeks before the big numero uno birthday and she had her last bit of me about a week ago. It was hard for both of us. Probably physically and emotionally for both of us. The day time was fine, no melt-downs and with napping, snacks, and meals it was actually nice to have some time to do all of it plus play. Pastor Husband and I were worried about the mornings and I was incredibly worried about bedtime.

I know, I know, I know...don't feed your baby to sleep. I've heard it and read it, but it worked for us. And I loved it. I loved that calm, quiet time between us with her sound maker playing the rain and the slow, swirling image of the fishes on the ceiling. I also think that Baby Girl sleeps better with a full tummy...the girl loves to eat so why not fall asleep doing something she loves. Anyway, it worked. She would wake up maybe once during the night with a quick cry and fall right back asleep. I don't feel as if this routine backfired on us at all. Well, maybe, until now...Baby Girl has not enjoyed being put to bed anymore.

"Sunday's a'coming!" and it came for us last night after two nights of no bueno. It's funny because everything you read about babies, especially sleeping topic stuff, it usually says "give it a couple of nights" or a "couple of tries" and it's so true! It wasn't hard when we were first trying to get her to sleep a full night, at least not emotionally, for me. It was emotionally hard, this time around, with trying to get her to sleep by just putting her down in bed, no nursing. To hear her cry was horrible. I felt like I was suffering right along with her. The first night, we both went in to rescue her a couple of times. It was the longest two hours for all three of us. The second night, I think we went in only once to give her her pacifier. She may have cried for about an hour or so. Then last night...Baby Girl had her bottle of warm milk (yeah, she's a princess), we picked up the toys, and then read a couple of books. I told her I loved her, gave her a kiss, and put her down in her crib. She cried a bit, at first, nothing unusual. I turned off the light and closed the door.

It wasn't until about a half hour later that we realized that she wasn't crying. She was quiet. She was sleeping! Sunday came and it was glorious!

Tonight the same has happened, only I started hearing music coming from her room and I realized she turned on one of her glow worm toys. She's so precious!

Moral of the story: "Sunday's a'coming!" Don't give up!

Sometimes I put her to work :)

Wordy Wednesday

Ezer Kenegdo - "Help Meet" (Genesis 2:18, KJV)

"Hebrew scholar Robert Alter, who has spent years translating the book of Genesis, says that this phrase is 'notoriously difficult to translate.' The various attempts we have in English are 'helper' or 'companion' or the notorious 'help meet.' [...] Alter is getting close when he translates it 'sustainer beside him.'

The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the entire Old Testament. And in every other instance the person being described is God himself, when you need him to come through for you desperately.

Kenegdo means alongside, or opposite to, a counterpart.

You see, the life God calls us to is not a safe life [...] God calls us to a life involving frequent risks and many dangers. Why else would we need him to our ezer?" (Eldredge, Captivating 31-32)

Why else would we, as daughters of God, be described as an ezer?

Time for Dinner!

We've had a couple of yummy dinners this last week. I can tell how often I've been cooking - or not cooking - by how many forks come out of the dishwasher. If it's mostly spoons that means really only Baby Girl has been eating homemade stuff while her parents have been eating out. This week, we've been very good about eating at home or at least food made from our own kitchen. Our fridge has actual leftovers in it! We're a real family now.

The first dish just screamed fall to me and I really wanted to stand next to the stove all afternoon and eat it out of the skillet. It made the house smell all warm and cozy on an above 90-degree day (ugh! Today is the first day of fall and you would never know it!). It was a sausage, green beans, and apples cooked in vinegar and beer. I used just the original flavor of Blue Moon beer (I know nothing about beer and really despise the taste of it so I went with what seemed safe and popular). I also used an apple cider vinegar. I figured with the wheat beer it needed a somewhat sweet yet harvest-y flavor. It was so good! The flavors of the entire dish was like eating a perfect fall day where you get to wear a scarf in Southern California.

The second dish we had tonight. Apparently, we decided to be vegetarians for about an hour. Our main course was Penne Pasta with Roasted Asparagus. Another just yummy dish that you really could just stand and pick at from the pan. The asparagus gives it a very fresh taste and you toss it all together with a great reduced balsamic vinegar that has brown sugar and pepper in it. That is what keeps me going back for more.

As a side we had a Broccoli Salad. This was tempting to make because I like homemade dressings, which always seem hard, but they're really not and the recipe called for shallots. Curtis Stone used these all the time on his "Take Home Chef" show and I always wanted to try one. I'm glad I tried it raw for the first time versus cooking. In the salad they are sliced thin so they easily get lost in the salad, but when you bite into them it's the texture of an onion and the flavor of garlic...well, almost like garlic. I enjoyed them and I look forward to cooking with one next.

Give these recipes a try when you can. They are simple and delicious.

Sausage, Green beans, and Apples

Penne Pasta with Asparagus

Broccoli Salad

Friday = Things I Put On My Baby's Head

Wordy Wednesday

On Sunday, Pastor Husband thought he made up another word, but one of our HS-ers looked it up and it really is a word!

We're going to do a year-long series all about Jesus. Now, don't get the wrong idea, we talk/learn about Jesus every Sunday. For this series though we are delving into the details of Jesus. Pastor Husband's goal is that we really KNOW Jesus. "The more you know..." (remember those commercials?). I'm looking forward to it!

in·fec·tious/inˈfekSHəs/

Adjective:	(of a disease or disease-causing organism) Liable to be transmitted to people, organisms, etc., through the environment. Liable to spread infection.
Synonyms:	contagious - catching - communicable - taking

Hey Look...A Whole Year Went By!

Baby Girl is officially one-year and two days old. Wow, oh wow! It was a fun first birthday, I think so anyway. Baby Girl may say, "Why Momma? Why did you make me stay outside all day with all these crazy people?" The only thing that was just insane was the weather! It was so dang hot! It was like Inland Empire hot and we had I.E. people there and they were wondering why it was hotter in Orange County. The yummy treat table looked good for the first fifteen minutes and then global warming occurred. Choco-Bananas...glaciers melting and raising the chocolate level. As people came we cried out, "Hurry! Eat a banana!"

Here are some of the highlights of the day:

Baby Girl so happy to be inside with the A/C going.

Before the ice age ended.

Two cakes with quotes from the Birthday Book.

Baby Girl's little piece of sugar coma.

Blue Hawaiian Punch with Lemonade and Raspberries. I love the color!
The water is a citrus flavored water and nothing was more refreshing than this on a 500-degree day.

Pastor Husband did all the hanging of decorations. I thought it looked so whimsical and fun.

A kiddie pool with plastic balls...a hit!

Always serious.

The End. 

Oh, blogging in church again!

Http://bible.us/Phil3.10.NIV84 10-11

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

We Made It!

Pocoyo

Just about every morning after Baby Girl wakes up around 7am and Pastor Husband changes her diaper and brings her to our bed where I feed her. I'm half asleep, she really does all the work. A few times she falls asleep when she's done and we all doze for a bit. Most of the time Baby Girl stays awake and out comes some kind of electronic device where we go to YouTube and watch Pocoyo. We watch the episodes in Spanish and little by little - VERY LITTLE - I'm learning some Spanish words.

It's a very cute show and the majority of the episodes are seven minutes long, perfect amount of time I think. Here is one of my favorite episodes and it has captions!

Baby Girl you slept in this morning and now Pastor Husband is running to the bus!

Where Am I At?

I'm a day behind on my stuff to make for the birthday bash. Ugh, I can't stand it when that happens. I ran out of chocolate for the choco-bananas so I got about half done yesterday. I have a little bit of OCD and need bookends to everything I do - a beginning and an end. The end being a completed project. Oh well, I'll have more chocolate on Friday and will finish then. So, for today, I am making cupcakes and the official smash cake! I'm going to do the can cake that I did for one of my Youth girl's a couple of months ago. This time I'm going to follow the official recipe and, hopefully, it won't take over an hour to bake. We shall see...

Waiting for Pastor Husband's soccer game to start...He's a studly ref :)

Oh my gosh! Two days to go!

Wordy Wednesday

Today's word is a word and a name. If you name your baby Irene then you have named her using the Greek word for "peace".

Strong's G1515 - eirēnē

εἰρήνη

Transliteration eirēnē

Only three days left to go and when I think of all the changes you've gone through in the last three weeks it blows my mind away! 

Yummy Dinner

This is from about a week ago, I believe. I decided we were going to be Filipino for a night and made Pancit Bihon (don't ask me how to say it, at least not properly). It was so tasty! It was really easy too.

You can find the recipe here: Cooking with Crouton

Before noodles.

After noodles. I wish this was a scratch and sniff sticker!

Baby Girl only took an hour nap this morning, but I still love her :)

Cute Kid of the Month Contest

Vote for me! Thanks!

The Countdown Begins!

Remember those annoying countdowns we all put up on our Myspace pages? Remember Myspace for that matter?

Anyway, it is the official "Week of the Birthday" and things are kicked into high gear. I can't take days or even months to finish stuff especially since this week is doing all the perishable items. It's time to start baking!

Cutest baby ever!

A Quiet Moment

It's been awhile, but it's been awhile since I actually got up on time on a Sunday morning. These last few weeks, I've barely been up on time to get dressed before heading to church. This morning I had Pastor Husband nicely wake me up.

Ugh, it's too early! Oh well, I'm awake, Baby Girl is asleep, so all is well.

Here's a lovely picture of her sleeping from a few months ago.

She still sleeps this way :) Six more days Baby Girl and I love you more with each passing day!

Friday = Things I Put My Baby On

Did you catch the twist for today?  Here's the latest and LAST project done for Baby Girl's birthday bash!

Happy-almost-Birthday Baby Girl - 8 days to go!

Wordy Wednesday on a Thursday

...life happens and then the new word of the day doesn't come until the next day...better late than never!

This new word for all of you comes from the dictionary of Pastor Husband:

Comfortability

Adjective The state of being comfortable with your life and deciding never to get up off your easy chair.

"Jesus never promised you comfortability."

Synonyms lazyability complacentability unconcernedability

Vote for Me!

Baby Girl wants you to vote for her...and here is how you do it:

Click Here: Gerber Generation Photo Search 2012
Entry ID: 212208

You can vote once every day. Baby Girl says "Thank you so much! I can't wait to go to college!"

This is the - hopefully - winning photo :)

Just Around The Riverbend!

In twelve days Baby Girl is turning one and you know what this means? Our nursing days are over! For now anyway...until the next one comes around. At least, the days will be done with long enough for me to enjoy my wardrobe again.

I know, I may sound like a horrible mother right now, but that whole "I love to nurse" never happened with me. It was actually kind of traumatizing in the beginning. It got better around month four. When Baby Girl was around a month old we did bottles for about a 24-hour period. Then the lactation nurse from Kaiser introduced the shield, which saved my life and Baby Girl's life. There was just no way that I was going to be able to continue nursing her without it.

I'm not sure why it took so long for us to work the whole process out. Sometimes I think it was just because her mouth was so little, but the nurses never said anything about her size. Either way, there was a lot of tears from the both of us. Oh, and the guilt! Goodness! She wasn't gaining weight very well or as fast as she should have been and I heard so many times "try it without the shield", "pump more", "just let her keep eating until she lets go herself". I felt like I was failing our baby. My life-long best friend and I both agree that there is some kind of postpartum depression that comes with nursing.

Like I said, it did get better and all of a sudden she was eating, I wasn't bleeding, and it's been going well ever since. When she was teething it was kind of painful for her to eat and there was a lot of fussing. Overall though, it was, I think, as nursing should be. I do prefer it to formula because I know it's the best thing for her, it makes me stop the busyness of life and just be with her, and it is our little time where I have the excuse to close the door and be away from all who may be in our home (I'm an introvert!). It's not the most terrible thing in the world, but we're weaning now and it is kind of nice to be able to take her out and not have to worry where I'm going to feed her - though, let me tell you, Southcoast Plaza has a beautiful family restroom with really nice nursing rooms. I can wear things that don't have easy access. I don't have to worry about her sweating to death underneath her nursing cover.

I feel less stressed. And, I know, I probably shouldn't feel stress when it comes to nursing, but I do at times. I don't know, maybe I sound horrible and cold, but it's true. I am so looking forward to the end of nursing and the onslaught of sippy cups!

Texting During Church! Shhh...don't tell!

http://bible.us/Josh1.5.NIV84

5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Back to Reality

Actually, I think you don't ever really leave reality when you go on vacation with a baby. It's not as if Baby Girl is suddenly able to change her own diaper, but it was still fun to actually go somewhere and have family time. 

Vacation started the day of my birthday and we spent the day at the beach. We then left for San Diego where we went to Sea World and the next day we went to the beach for a bit in Oceanside and then spent the afternoon lounging at the hotel. After that we were home for about a day in a half before heading out to Big Bear. We went out on the lake, hiked, and then just rested. Unfortunately, vacation is ending not as well as it started. Pastor Husband has a horrible ear infection going on at the moment. He has been to see the doctor three times and each time comes home with a stronger antibiotic. The last doctor gruffly said to him that if he still doesn't feel any relief by Monday to see an ENT. Poor guy.

Baby Girl had a good time...I'm not sure she got the idea that we went to look and watch animals, but the few times she did focused she did get excited. Shamu taught her how to clap so now she claps all the time. Also, the last couple of weeks she learned the "m" and "b" sound and is babbling like crazy. At one point I put her down for a nap and she talked for about a half hour before falling asleep. She has just changed so much so quickly and in 14 days she will be a year old! It's so incredible. I saw a pin on Pinterest and it said that if you don't believe in miracles you should because you are one. Getting pregnant, carrying the baby, birthing a baby, and watching that baby grow is the ultimate miracle.