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.