Mexican Extravaganza

Ok, so maybe "extravaganza" is a bit of an overstatement, but it felt like an extravaganza compared to what I normally cook for dinner... It all started with some Hatch Chilis from Whole Foods. Every year around this time, there is a big "Hatch Chili Festival" going on at all the supermarkets. Everything from Hatch Chili Salsa to Hatch Chili Apple Pie to Hatch Chili Cheese Bread to Hatch Chili Fudge is featured. Basically, there is  a whole lot of this Hatch Chili Hype swirling around. We were at Whole Foods after a family run on Saturday and decided to splurge and spend a whopping  49 cents for three of these infamous Hatch Chilis. Today Jonathan came home early and took JD on a run, giving me the opportunity to make these Baked (Gluten Free!) Chiles Rellenos with Smoky Tomato Sauce.

First, you have to roast the chiles to get the skins off of course. So glad I have a gas stove! This smell definitely brought back childhood memories...

Then you make this sauted onion, zucchini, corn mixture and stir in some cheese which you then stuff into the chiles. After that, you dip them in egg and coat them with bread crumbs. Then bake at 425 for about 30 mins...

 While those were baking, I whipped up some refried beans and yellow rice along with the Smoky Tomato Sauce with chipotle and WA - LA! A delectable Mexican Extravaganza was ready for Jonathan and JD when they got home!

This was accompanied by an impomptu Strawberry Margarita (one all natural strawberry popsicle, juice from three limes, some agave, some tequila, ice and a splash of champagne - I'm not big on measurements - all blended up) for Jonathan and I and a limeade for the little man. It ended up being a little Wednesday night fiesta, reminding me how much I really do like to cook when I have a little less "help." =)

Meal time was promptly followed by bath/snuggle time for both kiddos, and who can resist naked babies?

Also, I am happy to report that

1. JD is once again sleeping like a champ for naps and night. I guess it just took him a week or two to get used to the whole new world of using the potty. Once again, consistency pays off...

and

2. My pre-pregnancy shorts fit again (if somewhat snugly)! Hallelujah!

Adventures in Toddlerhood

I started to make this a status update on Facebook, but decided that it's one of those things that not everyone cares about and it was getting way too long for a status update anyway. So, I'm blogging about it instead. Please feel free to weigh in if you have experienced anything similar...

So, JD (almost 2 1/2) is now potty trained. There's so much out there about the whole topic of POTTY TRAINING. Honestly, I was kind of dreading the whole process, having heard about those 3 day "boot camps" where you let the kids run around naked all day (JD has always been a fan of running around naked though, so that part would not have been out of the ordinary...), push liquids, make them sit on the potty every 15 mins, light candles and sing songs and give treats, stickers, etc, every time they go on the potty. Most of that sounded pretty much like torture for both of us.

I knew I would not be going the "boot camp" route, so I decided to just wait (until 3 if needed!) look for signs that he was ready and then make the big switch cold turkey. Well, I have been seeing plenty of signs (asking to be changed as soon as he poops and more recently even when he pees, staying dry during naps and occaisionally overnight) for about a month now. Last Tuesday we went to Target and he picked out two packs of big boy undies, a step stool so he can reach the toilet and a bag of M&Ms as a treat. We came home and he put his undies right on. The few diapers we had left were thrown away. No accidents, lots of treats. The next day, Wednesday, he had two small pee accidents which I did not make a big deal out of - just helped him change and cleaned it up telling him it was okay and calmly reminded him to go in the potty and not his undies. Thursday, Emily had her two month checkup and even though I was somewhat nervous, I had decided we were just going to go all out - no pull ups for outings, etc. He did great. Since then, we've been out to multiple places and no accidents. So I feel like potty training was rather anticlimactic. We bought undies and now he does his business in the potty (or the nearest bush).

The issue, however, is SLEEP! My star sleeper is totally resisting naps (and even bed time on occasion which has NEVER happened!). At first, I had him wear a pull up for naps, but they were always dry afterwards and he seemed very uncomfortable in them. And even though he had the pull up on, he would yell at me from his crib insisting that he needed to go pee-pee in the potty even when he had just gone several times. The last couple days, I've let him wear undies for nap because he's been dry after naps for a long time now anyway. (And why insist on him wearing a pull up when he wants to wear underwear and stays dry?) Still, after reading stories and following our usual naptime routine, when it comes time to actually get in his crib (yes, he is still in a crib - just trying to conquer one thing at a time) and for me to walk out, he keeps insisting on going to the bathroom again. Today we went three times and he still wanted to go again. Finally, I just had to leave the room, knowing that he just can't have to go that bad. This led to loud protest crying followed by talking to himself, followed by continuous requests to use the bathroom, followed by on and off whining, demands to get up, and more talking, followed by about 10 mins of crying, followed (about an hour after I left the room) by sleep. In the past week, he has actually gone to sleep for about 3 of his naps. The others, I just leave him in there for the allotted amount of time (an hour and a half) and then get him up.

My questions are these: Is he insisting on going to the potty over and over again as a stall tactic or is he anxious about not going in his underwear and subconciously fighting off sleep? Other theories include him not being tired and being ready to drop his nap, but I honestly feel that he IS in fact tired - yawning, fussier, sucking thumb, etc beforehand. Also, he is getting his top two year molars, so I am sure that has something to do with it because teething has thrown off his naps in the past as well. I know that children often experience set backs in one area while conquering another milestone so my basic plan of action is just to be consistent and ride it out, hoping that if he is using potty as a stall tactic he will soon learn that it doesn't work. And if he is genuinely anxious, then surely once the newness of potty training has worn off he will fall back into his old routine of willingly and peacefully drifting off to sleep as soon as I shut the door. Right? RIGHT?

Regardless, nap time/ rest time is going to be around for a long, long time in this house. If he doesn't need a nap anymore, so be it. But there will be quiet time/ rest time.

And here is a picture, just so we can all remember how cute and sweet this little non-napper is (and how chunky his sister is for that matter!!). =)

Thoughts?

Back to the V

Hello again! I am determined not to let the same thing happen this time with my blog that happened after JD was born -  which was nothing. I had been blogging semi regularly ever since getting married and then JD was born and NOTHING. No picture. No announcement. No birth story. Nothing. I mean, we took tons of pictures and Facebook was full of him, but that's just not the same. I have since recommitted to blogging and blog I shall! So, let me begin by (officially) announcing...

Emily Claire Patton

Wednesday May 30, 2012

12:47 pm

6 lbs 8 oz

18 1/2 in

Newborn cuteness...

A first peek

Up close and personal

 We came home on Friday and a proud big brother woke up Saturday morning and wanted to hold "Emmy" first thing!

On her way to her 2 week check up... She went from being born at 6 lbs 8 oz down to 5 lbs 15 oz in the hospital and back to 8 lbs 1 oz in two weeks! No trouble in the eating department!

Taken today, JD picked out this headband for her to wear and proceeded to wear several more himself...

But what I really wanted to blog about was the whole birth experience... the labor and delivery. So if you are into that kind of thing, read on!  If you would rather pass on all the details, feel free.
Several people have asked me in person and online about my VBAC and so I thought I'd share it on my blog. I highly reccommend going "back to the V" (as Jonathan was fond of calling it) if your circumstances permit. That being said, to each his own (or her own in this case). I am not one to say there is a right way or a wrong way to have a baby. It's a personal decision. This is just how things happened for me.
So, obviously for there to be a VBAC there had to be a C-section in the first place. With JD I went into labor naturally. One Friday evening (10 days before my due date!) after a long walk with Jonathan, I started feeling "period-like cramps.". Nothing really painful but noticable. I didn't mention it to Jonathan and just went to bed as usual around midnight. I figured that if this was the real thing 1.) I would wake up and 2.) I should get some rest. Sure enough, around 1:30am I woke up and could  definitely feel the contractions getting stronger and coming and going every so often. I couldn't go back to sleep at that point so I just lay in bed until about 5am when I woke Jonathan up and we started timing the contractions. Still not very painful. I took a shower, packed my bag. Jonathan went out and picked up breakfast for us. I ate my blueberry pancakes around 8am. Finally, it seemed like the contractions were averaging 5 minutes apart for an hour (anywhere from 8 mins to 2 and a half mins apart). We called the doctor's office. They told us to come on in, so we got to the hospital around 9am. My biggest fear on the way there was that they would send me back home. At this point, I wanted to have the baby! When they checked me I was 4, almost 5 cm dilated. I got admitted and still was not really feeling too terrible. Each time I had a contraction, I remember just kind of pausing and breathing through it and then being fine. I had planned to get an epidural and decided that if I was getting one anyway, I might as well go ahead and get one sooner rather than later and get my money's worth! No use waiting til I was in a ton of pain. So, anesthesia came and gave me my epidural and I sat back to await the birth of my son in comfort. Or so I thought. Immediately after the epidural kicked in, the doctor (since it was Saturday, my beloved doctor was not there but the doctor on call was great too) broke my water and I was given Pitocin to speed things along. Around that time, JD's heart rate started to drop down into the 70s and 50s with each contraction that I had. After the contraction passed, his heart rate would come back up. The nurses assured us that this was fine and fairly normal as long as it came back up each time. They had me lay on one side, which seemed to help. Still, our eyes were pretty much glued to the monitor, willing his little heart beat to come back up after each contraction. A few times it didn't. About 5 nurses would rush in, clamp the oxygen mask over my nose and mouth, turn me from one side to the other (with the epidural it felt almost impossible to move), inject my IV with an antidote for the Pitocin, etc. During those times, it felt like there was all this flurry of activity and urgency and they would all be talking excitedly over me instead of calmly to me like they did during more routine procedures. One time I heard the phrases, "Page NICU!" and "Call Anesthesia!" and the doctor came rushing in. Then his heart rate finally came up and everything calmed back down again for a little while. This all went on for many hours. Also, I was not dilating very fast at all. After being at the hospital about 12 hours, I was at 7 cm and holding steady. Apparently, the position I needed to lay in to keep JD's heart rate happy, was not a good position to force him to move down further and cause me to dialate more. Around 8:30 or 9pm, we were still watching his heart rate rise and fall, getting tired (remember, I'd only slept an hour and a half the night before) and more and more stressed. We opted for a C-section. We were not coerced or pressured. We were just offered that option. So, it was not an emergency, but within probably 30 minutes or less of saying "Yes, we'd like to go ahead and do the C-section" JD was born. I remember as they were wheeling me to the OR, thinking, "Wait, I don't really want to do this either..." The anesthesiologist had said, "You won't feel any pain. You'll just feel a tugging and pulling sensation." Yuck. But I closed my eyes and kind of just went to another place. And then I heard the doctor say, "How's Mom?" The anesthesiologist beside me said, "Fine!" and the doctor held up my healthy, wailing son. There was certainly nothing wrong with his lungs! Instantly, relief and joy and love all flooded over me and I got this big rush of energy. The rest of the night I was asking all kinds of silly questions and talking up a storm which is totally not like me, but that's another story. One that Jonathan greatly enjoys telling.
So, the healing process after the C-section went just fine. Leaving the hospital, I felt like I had no ab muscles whatsoever. I couldn't imagine ever doing another sit-up in my life. I stayed on my pain meds for about a week and a half probably and things just gradually improved. I had nothing to compare it to, so the recovery didn't seem too bad. (Of course, all I had to do at the time was take care of my newborn. No two year old!)  By the time JD was 6 weeks old, I felt back to normal and Jonathan and I started P90X together.
This time around, I had another very uneventful and healthy pregnancy. My doctor told me at my first visit that 92% of women who've had C-sections opt for a second one. Of the 8% who attempt a "trial of labor" 70% are successful and 30% end up having another C-section. One percent experience a "uterine rupture." Which Jonathan kept referring to as a "uterus explosion." Of course, it's nothing quite that dramatic. The doctor was very matter of fact about it all. I did not feel like he was pressuring me one way or the other - merely giving me "the facts." I did get the feeling though that a VBAC was out of the ordinary and was a little intimidated by the waiver with the list of horrible things that could happen they gave me to sign off on in the event that I decided to do a VBAC. I took it home and decided to think about it.
 I knew that part of me wanted to experience having a baby the "old-fashioned way." Not neccessarily all natural, just the whole progressing through all the stages of labor, getting to 10cm, pushing the baby out and being able to hold her right away. It probably sounds weird, but the idea of just scheduling a C-section, going in and then having a baby 30 minutes later seemed somewhat anti-climactic or something. Not that I am a big spontaneous thrill seeker or anything. So another part of me liked the idea of being able to plan out what day I wanted the baby to be born, control it all and be totally prepared - especially since we were planning on having Jonathan's mom fly into town to take care of JD while we were in the hospital. Not to mention, my C-section recovery had been smooth while the idea of a sore bottom and tearing was still unknown and scary!
Ultimately, Jonathan and I agreed to pray for peace about doing the VBAC if that is what I was supposed to do. So, I started praying. During that time, I read the chapter on VBAC in A Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer. This was very encouraging towards doing a VBAC based on solid research. I also came across http://www.vbac.com/ which was also very helpful. In addition, I randomly met a doula while at a park with JD. She said that in my case a VBAC should be completely safe and told me that the hospital I would be delivering at was positive towards women having VBACs. Also, during one of my routine check-ups the head nurse was the one seeing me and told me that my doctor had offered for her to do a VBAC with her second child and encouraged me to give it a try as well. All of these contributed to me gaining a real sense of peace about going ahead with the VBAC...so God answered that prayer.
As the time got closer to delivery, I still had plenty of peace about doing the VBAC. I was not worried about the uterine rupture, but now that I had my heart set on VBAC I was getting worried that it would somehow end in C-section again. Even though my C-section had been a good experience overall, I just really wanted to do the vaginal delivery. So, the last couple months my prayers turned to asking God to make it successful.
The afternoon of Tuesday May 29th (13 days before my due date!), I went on a long walk with JD in the stroller and we stopped at a park for awhile. That night, I couldn't sleep. I got up and read on the couch for awhile - feeling slightly uncomfortable and "different" but not sure if I was having contractions or not. Finally, I got into bed and went to sleep around 1:30am. About 3am I woke up and could definitely feel contractions coming and going fairly close together although I was not timing them. I had a checkup scheduled for 7:45am that morning and figured I would just go in then and see what was up. Around 4am I got up and went to the bathroom. Right after that, the contractions started getting alot stronger and I started timing them. They were about 2 1/2 or 3 minutes apart for the next hour and getting pretty painful - much more so than the ones I remember having when I went into labor with JD. I woke Jonathan up and we decided we better find someone to come stay with JD, this definitely seemed like the real deal. I hastily threw together some stuff to take to the hospital, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. We started texting and calling friends and got a hold of a our sweet friend, Ashly, who lives less than 5 minutes away. She came right over to stay with JD while we headed to the hospital around 5:30am. The nurse checked me and said I was 3 cm dialated. This was rather discouraging bc I was really feeling the contractions - much more so than I had at 5 cm with JD's labor! I was also feeling really intense nausea with each contraction. Felt all clammy and like I was going to black out. I had wanted to hold out and see if I could go for awhile without an epidural but at this rate, I was starting to think about one already! I was admitted and moved to a labor and delivery room and they told me to just let them know when I was ready for an epidural. By the time I got to 5cm, I was in the middle of a contraction and told Jonathan, "Call them and tell them I"m ready for the epidural!" Which he promptly did! The anesthesiologist got there pretty quickly and got set up. Unfortunately, she was putting the epidural in right as I was having an intense contraction. That was not cool. Then she said she didn't think it had gone in quite right. Also not cool. This was somehow due to the fact that I was "really fit" and had strong ligaments in my back. Well, at least the reason was a good one. =) She said that if I a didn't get relief soon, to call her back and she would put another one in. Ugh. Pretty soon, I could no longer feel the contractions. At least not in the front. In the back, now that was a different matter. Every contraction caused what I would call excruciating pain in my lower back! To the point where I was clinging to the bed rail or crushing Jonathan's hand bones and groaning. About this time I actually did throw up which the nurses took to mean I may be "transitioning" and checked me. I was at 7 cm. The anesthesiologist came back and decided to give me another epidural bc  she wanted to make sure I had a good one since I was a VBAC and at higher risk for emergency C-section. This time she got it in right and I couldn't feel the back labor anymore. In fact, I couldn't feel anything anymore from my shoulders down. I even felt short of breath... I mentioned this and everyone said it was ok, I just had about a dose and a half of the epidural medicine! Also about this time, Emily's heart rate dropped down as did mine. Unfamiliar nurses rushed in (mine had gone on lunch break so they would be back before the baby came bc I was still progressing pretty quickly) and put the oxygen mask on me, turned me over, gave me a shot to stabilize my heart rate. This was certainly disconcerting as it obviously brought back memories of what happened with JD... Both our heart rates quickly stabilized, however, and before I knew it the nurses were calling the doctor and getting everything ready for me to push! At one point, my nurse said something like, "We are going to give this (pushing) a try, but I don't think her (Emily's) heart is going to be too happy about it." This was not what I wanted to hear at this point!! Started getting nervous that her heart rate would somehow worsen during pushing and I would be rushed to a C-section. Also, I was worried that I would not be able to push bc my entire body was totally and completely numb and I couldn't have moved my legs (not so much as a toe twitch) to save my life. Anyway, the doctor came right in and checked me and said that we were "Going to do this!" and the nurses helped me get into position. They all said "123 PUSH!" and counted to ten while I pushed. I did that three times, took about a 30 second break and did it again. I heard the doctor say, "The head is out!" and I couldn't believe it. A couple seconds later, the rest of her body was out and they put her right up on my chest and Jonathan was right there and of course we were laughing and crying and so thrilled! The doctor helped Emily out a bit with the forceps (or "salad spoons" as he called them) due to the fact that her heart rate had been acting up and there was a little unexplained bleeding (which turned out to just be a little tear in the placenta). He didn't want things to drag out. The whole pushing experience lasted less than ten minutes (I had thought it would be like an hour or more!) and I felt absolutely nothing. No pressure, no tearing (had a small 2nd degree tear) no stitching up. Oh, and the doctor was able to feel my old C-section scar afterwards and said that it was all intact. Before he left, he told me that everything went perfectly and that I could expect "all the rest of my children" to be born vaginally as well! Not sure how many that will be, but good news none the less. =)
My most overwhelming feeling after it was all said and done was, "I did it!" and more importantly the definite sense of just being very blessed and knowing that God had heard me and specifically answered my prayers. First, to have peace about attempting the VBAC in the first place and then by allowing it all to go (relatively) smoothly and successfully! So, if you were looking for all of the carefully researched facts about VBAC vs. elective repeat c-section, sorry. You will probably have to do your own research. I did do a little research which God used to give me the peace I had prayed for. But my story isn't really about all the facts and the research and whether or not it's best to do VBAC or C-section. It's more about God blessing me with a specific answer to my prayer.
My recovery this time has also been smooth, but much different than the C-section! Pros and cons to both I would say. =) I've got about 10 more pounds to lose and I may just start blogging about how I shed the weight. I do need some motivation to stop eating so much ice cream, that's for sure! And now my sweet girl is demanding an evening snack!

 

Photo Shoot Fun

Glad I was able to get these up before Emily Claire makes her appearance. I feel like it's getting close, even though technically the due date is two weeks away... =)

Always fun to work with  our fav photographer Whitney Runyon - check out her stuff in the link to the right! She and her hubby have just started a non-profit called the Archiblad Project which raises awareness about all kinds of adoptions through their awesome photography. Her stories are already incredible!

Off Topic

Well, no big "topics" are coming to mind so I thought that in the interest of trying to post somewhat regularly, I'd just put out a good old fashioned update...

First of all, this week has gotten off to a pretty great start. Yesterday, my wonderful husband came home a couple hours early to stay with JD while I went to the Y for a prenatal yoga class. Yessss! (The Y does have childcare, but so far JD has not been too fond of being left. ) Unfortunately, when I got there (in what I thought was "just in the nick of time!") the door to the studio was locked and several other ladies were sitting outside waiting on the instructor. After about 15 minutes, someone came up to unlock the door and told us the class had already begun and that the door was unintentionally locked. So we all went in. It was nice and relaxing but also kind of a bummer to miss 15 mins of a 45 minute class.  Oh well, I wasn't complaining. After the Y, I stopped by the library and leisurely picked out a couple books -something that I have not done in quite awhile. A novel by Isabelle Allende and a biography about Christopher Columbus. Have been lacking a good downtime book and without a functioning tv, books are really a must. Facebook and online tv can only fill so much of an evening... So, a great afternoon. I came home to find that Daddy and JD had been on an adventure to a little old fashioned drugstore nearby to get ice cream and then came home and washed the car. Nice. We ate a cool summery dinner of Greek Quinoa Salad with Spinach and Avocados. Yummy!

Today was just as fabulous. This morning I did laundry (which reminds me I still need to get it out of the dryer and fold it...) while sipping my half decaf coffee and playing with JD. We were just hanging out waiting for an electrician to come fix the lights in our bathroom and laundry room. (And as a side note, after owning two houses and neither Jonathan nor I being very handy, well it's been nice to just be renting for now. We have a great landlady and when something breaks or needs attention, we tell her and she sends someone out right away. A nice handyman shows up at our doorstep, fixes our problem and goes away sending the bill to our landlady. It's quite nice, actually.) After the lovely fix-it man left, we ate lunch and then JD took a nice long nap, made extra nice by the fact that he has not been able to nap due to a slight sickness/fever the last 3 out of 4 days - not cool. Anyway, I always consider it a great nap when I have time to workout with my good friend Jillian (Michaels, that is), spend some quality time with God, and take a shower and dry my hair. When JD got up, I was able to sit back and enjoy watching Dora with him, then we went and did some fun errands (yes, I consider Target and Buy Buy Baby fun these days...) and ended the night at ChickFilA (JD's new favorite hangout which I am trying to limit to a once every other week maximum!) since Jonathan had a late meeting and won't be home til later.

Bath time was followed by a lengthy and peaceful story time (as opposed to the kind where he runs naked around his bedroom pulling out toys, resisting the donning of pjs, climbing on top of his toy box, throwing all his books onto the floor under the guise of "choosing one", smearing the Vaseline, etc...). That's my week so far. Nothing too exciting. But very good nonetheless.

And in other random news...

1. I had a fabulous baby shower last Saturday thrown by three of my best friends here in Austin. The whole thing from the invitations to decorations to food to non-cheesy games was exactly my taste! I left feeling very blessed to be raising my kiddos in such a loving community of friends where I know there are several families we could call on at any given moment for support!

Jayme, Ashly (hostess), Alissa, and me (blaming my extra large look on the pattern of that dress!)

2. As a challenge to myself, I have committed to using a good chunk of JD's nap time each day to spend quality time with God. Reading the Word, praying for specific things and doing my best to just listen (not my strongest ability when it comes to my relationship with God). Since today is May 1, I decided to commit to this for the month of May. Gulp. This is a big commitment for me, b/c I am a "doer" and honestly when I am spending time with God, I don't really feel like I am getting anything "done." I would rather use the time to workout, prep dinner, pay bills, write emails, blog, clean the house, fold laundry without "help", tackle a project, etc. But, in my heart, I know that this is so much more important and will be more rewarding than any of those things. I've heard it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I'm hoping that 31 will really seal it! And once June hits, all schedule and routine may be out the window for awhile so I think I'd better try this now. 

3. Pregnancy is moving along nicely. Emily Claire is certainly making her presence known these days - right now she has the hiccups. I have a nurse visit on Friday morning, and then two weeks after that I start going in for my weekly checkups. This pregnancy has gone by way faster than JD's did and I keep having to remind myself that this time next month, I'll be in the final few days!! My doctor and all the nurses have seemed pretty supportive of my desire to do a VBAC (or "Back to the V" as Jonathan calls it), which I am thankful for. God has answered my prayers for peace about going this route in some very specific ways so as crazy as it sounds, I am actually looking forward to (hopefully) being able to deliver vaginally this time. Not even worried about the dreaded uterine rupture (or "uterus explosion" as Jonathan so reassuringly calls it - yeah, he really needs to stop with the lingo). Sorry if that is too much information, but I'm guessing most of my readers are ladies. =) And what lady doesn't love to talk about pregnancy, childbirth and child rearing?

And now, I am off to fold that last load of laundry, eat some ice cream, and watch last night's episode of Dancing With the Stars online. Not necessarily in that order.

And the winner is...

Meghan Cavas!!

Congratulations! Meghan is the sweet mom of Caden and Kailey. She and her husband, Troy, were some of the first people we met here in Austin through a small group. They have since moved and are now enjoying life on the sunny shores of Florida. She loves to work out and was a great inspiration to help me get back in shape after having JD! And I know she loves coffee too!  Hope you enjoy this little treat! =)

(Meghan, message me your address and look for your package later this week!)

Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway! I thought it was super fun and am already thinking about the next one...

My Current Obsession Giveaway!!

NOW is definitely the time to be outside in Austin! The weather has been amazing for at least a month now. Highs in the low 80s, beautiful, sunny, and green- thanks to a good amount of rain so far this spring. The bluebonnets and wildflowers are incredible! Needless to say, I've been trying to squeeze in as many outdoor activities as possible (before these breezy warm weeks turn into stifling, dry months that are only fit for water related activities - preferably in the early morning hours before it reaches 110 degrees)! We've been hitting up all the neighborhood parks, we've been jogging (well ok, I've been walking - briskly!) the trail by the lake in the afternoon (which would be asking for a heat stroke in a few short weeks), Jonathan and I took JD canoeing two Sundays ago, last Sunday we played at Zilker Park - flew a kite, dug in the sand, kicked a soccer ball, climbed the big rocks, and played fetch with Kip. This Sunday the family field trip is to the fun little par three golf course (dogs, kids, and coolers are all welcome). JD and I are hitting up the Farmer's market tomorrow afternoon and the zoo on Friday. Anyway, you get the idea. We are taking advantage of this weather and storing up lots of good outdoor memories to be remembered from the air conditioned interiors of the children's museum, the library, the bounce house, and most afternoons our own house once the thermometer starts inching toward 100.

Anyhoo, all of this gorgeous weather talk leads in to one of my most favorite things of all time.

ICED COFFEE.

It is kind of an obsession of mine lately. A nice sunny afternoon in the park (the perfect temperature is warm but not sweat inducing) with my little man is super fun. Top that off with an iced coffee and it is downright divine. Even our tiny little back patio feels more festive with an icy tumbler of coffee balanced on my belly - which is now the perfect size to hold drinks and/or snacks (looking on the bright side).

So, I'd like to try something. A Giveaway!

Just leave me a comment here on the blog or on my Facebook post by the end of the week and I'll enter you into the random drawing. The winner gets this:

A 5 Pack of Starbucks Via Iced Coffee and a BPA free tumbler (with, I might add, a straw that can't be pulled out should you happen to have your iced coffee in one hand and a grabby baby on your hip!) Plus, there will be a little bonus item as well! Can't wait to see who I get to send this to! =)

March Revisited

How did I let the entire month of MARCH slip by without even one post? Oh dear. I am sadly very lazy in the blogging department. Well, here's what we did last month...

I cooked up a few gluten free treats for the fam:

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins (w/ a rough draft of the recipe)

 Chipotle Chili with Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

I was a huge fan of this hearty stew, but Jonathan deemed it "all right." The recipe is from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's vegan cookbook Appetite for Reduction which I highly reccommend if you are interested in thinking outside the animal product box...

Ingredients:

1 t. olive oil

1 red onion, diced small

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. coriander seeds, crushed

2 t. dried oregano

3 chipotles in adobo, seeded and chopped

2 average sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces

12 oz. Brussels sprouts, quartered lengthwise

2 t. ground cumin

1 T. chili powder

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 c. water

1 16 oz. can black beans

1 1/2 t. salt

Freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions:

In a 4 qt pot over medium heat, saute the onion in the olive oil for 5-7 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, coriander seeds and oregano and saute for a minute more. Add the remaining ingredients (except the lime juice). Mix well. The sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts will be peeking out  of the tomato sauce, but don't worry, they will cook down.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and cook for about half an hour, stirring ofter, until the sweet potatoes are tender but not mushy. Squeeze in the lime juice to taste. Let the chili sit uncovered for at least 10 minutes before eating.

And, of course, I couldn't have done any of this without my little helper.

Mom came to visit:

 Of course, I kept her hard at work sewing for me! She whipped out a rocking chair cushion and cover, four  throw pillow covers, and two crib skirts. =)



She barely had enough time to squeeze in some kisses from JD! We also picked out material for Emily Claire's quilt, and took a trip to IKEA which is always a good thing!

Story Time at the Library:

JD and his buddy Oliver. Very proud of these newspaper hats they "made" at the local library toddler story time.

JD turned TWO:

We had a small family dinner on JD's actual birthday and gave him his gift from us - the little red tricycle. Check FB for a hilarious video of him trying to figure it out... Then, on Saturday morning, we invited all of our friends to the park for homemade breakfast tacos (thanks Ashly Stacy!!), Starbucks coffee and cupcakes. I'm happy to say that we had fabulous weather and the kids and adults had an equally great time. I  was way less stressed about this party than I was last year about his first birthday party for some reason. Maybe I've given up some "control issues" about trying to make everything picture perfect (a two year old tends to have that effect on one, I hear). Or maybe I'm just lazier. Either way, it was super fun to host and see JD have such a great time surrounded by all his Austin friends.

We enjoyed the great outdoors:

 This is the sign of true tiredness. Laying down on the playground!

 We took our first real "family adventure" to Pedernales Falls State Park, about an hour away. JD thouroughly enjoyed himself. We ate at a local outdoor BBQ place with live music afterwards and you can bet, we heard some loud snoring from the back seat on the way home! We hope to establish a family culture of being active, getting outside, and exploring nature early on! March was a beautiful month, and we are trying to do as many things outside as possible before the heat of summer sets in.

So that was a little snapshot of March, I promise to do a better job of blogging in April!  This month should include other fun stuff like a maternity photo shoot with Whitney Runyon, a giveaway, more tasty gluten free treats, an update on the kids' room redecoration process, and more! Stay tuned!

Valentine's Day Past and Present

Yes, it's true. I slacked off with my weekly post last Monday night. (It's nice to know that some of you noticed though, I must say!) And since I was planning on posting about Valentine's Day, I thought I better hurry up and do it while we're at least still in the month of February!

So without further ado... Jonathan and I have celebrated 8 V-Day's together now and I will admit that I don't actually remember all 8 of them precisely. But a few of them do stick out in my memory so I just thought I'd share.

Now, on our very first Valentine's Day together, we had only been dating since mid December. And we had already broken up for like a week and gotten back together somewhere in those two months... But by the time February 14th rolled around we were both madly in love I am sure. So, anyway, a few days before V-Day, Jonathan casually asks me if I would like to go to New Orleans Riverfront Restuarant (one of the nicer restaurants in Columbia, SC at the time) for our Valentine's date. Now, let me interject that right before (as in two weeks before) I met and started dating Jonathan, my boyfriend of the past year and I had just broken up. He was from New Orleans and I had been on several trips to visit him there. Jonathan was aware of this. In fact, he was more than aware. That little aforementioned week long "break up" between Jonathan and I was due to the fact that I thought it was unfair to continue pursuing a relationship with him while I was getting over my last relationship and still had some feelings for my previous boyfriend. As it ended up, the break up I had instigated with Jonathan ended rather quickly b/c he characteristically decided that he would take aggressive action and win me over. He boldly declared his love and began sending me flowers, etc. It worked. =) So, when Jonathan asked me to go to this particular restuarant  for our first ever Valentine's date, I (naturally) assumed he was being totally insensitive. And I burst into tears. Sobs. He (naturally)  had no idea why and thought I must not want to go out with him at all. He perservered though and comforted me and calmed me down enough to figure out what the problem was. But even now, he doesn't really understand what the problem was, I am sure. He just thought he was asking me out to a nice restaurant. The funny thing is, I can't remember if we ended up going there on Valentine's Day or not... I tried to find a picture, but the glorious establishment has since closed down and this sad remainder was all I could come up with:

Incidentally, about 4 months later, Jonathan proposed and I said "Yes" about 100 yards from the restuarant - right under this bridge that crosses the river the restaurant overlooks.

Oh! And I almost forgot! We had our rehearsal dinner at New Orleans Riverfront Restaurant since it overlooks the place where we got engaged!

HAHAHAHA! It is all very hilarious to me now.

On the Valentine's Day during our third year of marriage, Jonathan surprised me by taking me on a journey (I had no idea where we were going) that ended up at the jewelry store where he let me pick out my third ring! The one with the little diamonds in it.

That was a good Valentine's Day. I'm pretty sure I did not cry.

For a couple years while living in SC, we had the tradition of eating sushi at Sushi Yoshi in Five Points on V-Day. It's a cozy little hole in the wall that was never cowded on Valentine's. For some reason, I think sushi is a very romantic food.

Yummy.

In 2010, about a month before JD was born, we took a little trip north of Austin and celebrated our last Valentine's Day without kiddos here:

At the Warwick Melrose boutique hotel in the Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas. That weekend Dallas had gotten a record amount of snow - like three feet!! And it was quite lovely being holed up in our luxurious one of a kind hotel room. We did make one foray out through the snow drifts to

for brunch and it was ah-mazing. Well worth the hour long wait crowded into a small warm bakery with only a huge cinnamon bun and a hot coffee to tide over my pregnant self until our table was ready...

Last year, our Valentine's date included a babysitter for the first time. Well, she wasn't included in the date but you know what I mean... We went to

That's right. An Italian restaurant called Romeo's. On Valentine's Day. We had a Groupon. They had an extra tent set up for more seating and we got the privilege of sitting in this "love tent" complete with cupid and heart shaped cutouts stuck to the canvas sides, live music (think romantic crooning), and a red balloon for all the ladies. Aaah. It was the epitome of classic V-day cheesiness. We had a wonderful night observing and discussing the other couples - guessing which ones had just gotten together only to be awkwardly faced with Valentines's Day right off the bat, which ones had been together for a long time and making up stories for everything in between. Good times. Average pasta.



And that brings us to this Valentine's Day. We opted to stay in. I put my sweet little boy to bed while Jonathan went out and came back with this:

A bag of Whole Foods deliciousness- roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, veggies and a nice selection from the chocolate bar that I drool over every time we pass by (cabernet truffle, strawberry balsamic truffle, dark chocolate with cherry and almonds, etc.).  A bottle of wine (with a bow no less!). A red rose. Candles. And a love letter. Does it get any better than that? I think not.

Heaven Anyone?

Now that I've finished off the Hunger Games Trilogy, it's time to get a little more serious with my reading once again... something that my new "evening" allows me plenty of time for. It's been awhile since I read a book with a friend but over Christmas my South Carolina friend, Sarah Ashlin, and I decided to do just that. And we aren't letting the 1,000+  mile distance stop us. I think I suggested the idea to read together and SA suggested the book (probably b/c she already had a head start on me). So, we are reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

Now, I must admit that while I was excited about reading a book with a friend and having a phone date to chat about our thoughts every couple of weeks, I just wasn't too excited about the book itself. I mean, I don't spend that much time thinking about Heaven... b/c honestly I'm not really all that interested in it. (Shocking, I know.) I guess I've always just felt like, while it's great that I'm eventually going to be going to Heaven and all (especially considering the alternative...), the Here and Now is what really consumes me. And since it's probably the same for most everyone else, why not just focus on the reality of what a relationship with God is like now instead of trying to imagine some distant otherworldly future? It's going to be good, but beyond that I've never really been very concerned.

But then I started reading the book...

And the first two chapters have convinced me that Heaven is actually pretty interesting - contrary to what most people seem to think about floating around singing hymns and playing harps and not recognizing anyone from Earth.  Apparently, these misconceptions don't come from Scripture anyway. Not only that, but we are commanded in Colossians 3:1-2 to "set (our) hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (To) set (our) minds on things above, not on earthly things." Not to get all hermeneutical on you here, but according to Alcorn the Greek word translated "set your hearts on" refers to a diligent, active, ongoing, single-minded investigation. And now I'll just go ahead and quote a paragraph that I've underlined in the book:

The command, and its restatement, implies there is nothing automatic about setting our minds on Heaven. In fact, most commands assume a resistance to obeying them, which sets up the neccessity for the command. We are told to avoid sexual immorality because it is our tendency. We are not told to avoid jumping off buildings because normally we don't battle such a temptation. The command to think about Heaven is under attack in a hundred different ways every day. Everything militates against it. Our minds are so much set on Earth that we are unaccustomed to heavenly thinking. So we must work at it.

I'm sure the good old phrase about someone being "so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good" has already come to mind here. But perhaps the opposite could actually be the truer statement: Maybe we are often of such little earthly good precisely b/c we think of heavenly things too little. 

One of my favorite authors, John Eldredge, suggests that our desires were given to us by God b/c we are made in His image. Our frustrations (however big or small) with ourselves, those around us and the world as we know it, stem from the very fact that God created us for more, for His reality. He gave us the desire for perfection and beauty and health and orderliness and happiness and love and connection and peace and unity and life and strength. But instead we see imperfections, ugliness, diseases of every kind, chaos, depression, hatred, loneliness, war, death, and weakness all around us and it is disheartening/disappointing/dissatisfying (dis-everything!). To say the least.

But there is a reason why it is so hard to look past what we can see with our physical eyes and focus on the object of our true God-given desires. The reason is this:

There is a lying, deceptive, jealous, and resentful Satan who has tricked  us into thinking that while Heaven may exist, it's not really going to be a very fun place and we shouldn't waste our time thinking or worrying about what it's going to be like. What's more, he's persuaded us that what we see here on Earth is the only reality. He's blinded us to the fact that things are not as they should be. To quote the book again,

We're prone to deny the great realities of God and Heaven, which we can no longer see because of the Curse... Sitting here in a dark world, we must remind ourselves what Scripture tells us about Heaven. We will one day be delivered from the blindness that separates us from the real world... If you're a Christian suffering with great pain and losses, Jesus says, " Be of good cheer" (John 16:33, NKJV). The new house is nearly ready for you. Moving day is coming. The dark winter is about to be magically transformed into spring. One day soon you will be home- for the first time.

Those are some pretty awesome promises. 

Maybe you are like me, though. I don't feel like I'm really suffering with great pain or loss right now. I enjoy my life here on Earth aside from some pretty petty frustrations and worries. I've always thought I want to enjoy it here a while longer before having to go to Heaven. But I'm realizing, maybe that is the most dangerous state of mind to be in! Maybe Satan has already achieved his ultimate goal with this mindset! I have become satisfied with far too little. I don't know about you, but I don't really like the idea of someone tricking me, persuading me, blinding me to reality. In fact, it makes me pretty mad. And it really makes me want to find out what he's been trying to hide and why he's been trying to hide it.