Our Days in the City

My sewing debut and Lucy's diy toddler/child apron!

2012-01-18T09:33:00.000-08:00

Lucy and I love to bake together and experiment in the kitchen, and since I always wear an apron, she also wants to wear aprons. She's growing quickly, and has outgrown her all of cute little aprons, so I decided Christmas was a great opportunity to pull out the used sewing machine I bought off of Craigslist last summer for $25.

I'm not sure why I thought I had any business buying a sewing machine since I know ~~very little~~ nothing about them! So, I brought the sewing machine downstairs and went to work - figuring out how to load a bobbin and thread the machine! I would never have accomplished these tasks without the help of my dear friend known as Youtube! But good 'ol Youtube helped me and I went to sewing. I didn't get too far.

I have learned that if you know how to use a sewing machine, it's pretty easy. And if you don't know how to use a sewing machine it's completely tricky and somewhat hair pullingly frustrating! For me, the trick was having my Mom come into town and explain this tricky contraption to me. Now it's only a little tricky and getting much easier to use!

All that to say, this apron project would not have been completed had it not been for my mom, who is a sewing genius, to show me what to do, and to help me with the parts I found ~~impossible~~ tricky to do.

I started with this online tutorial, but I wanted a full apron, not a half apron, so we winged it after that. I also took inspiration from this little apron, which inspired the' L' on the bodice.

I went to our local discount fabric store and purchased all of the fabric and ribbon from the remnants section, so this apron cost me all of $7. And lots of emotional angst, but that all worked out well in the end!

The ruffle was the trickiest part, but I really wanted it, so we made it happen. The apron would have been a breeze to make if it weren't for that. And for people who know how to sew, like my Mom, even the ruffle is a breeze.

I used velcro for the neck strap to make it easier to wear and easier for Lucy to take off all by herself.

I was going to do the same thing for the waist, but ended up loving the cuteness of it being tied, so I left it long.

The final product ended up just perfect. It's so stinkin' cute, that the only thing cuter is Lucy wearing it. And she loves it! It already has flour all over it from making bread, as any well loved apron should.

And that was my sewing debut.

Thankfulness | Day . . . well, the whole month, really!

2011-11-19T08:18:00.001-08:00

It's November 19th and so far the only day I've actually recorded my thankfulness was way back on November 1st. This month has gotten away from me. I've been busy and I've been overwhelmed and I've been exhausted. This month has by far been the hardest weeks I've experienced since becoming a mom of two. It's also been one of the hardest and most draining months for Kip's studies, so we haven't seen much of each other. I haven't done as much baking as I would have liked, and I haven't done as me fall and Thanksgiving projects for myself or with Lucy as I would have liked. Lucy and I did make a Thanksgiving tree, though, and we've been keeping up with that, adding a leaf each day with something new we're thankful for. So I thought today, I would share some of the things Lucy is thankful for and that we have recorded on our tree.

Lucy's list:

Baby worms
Mommy and Daddy worms
Her old hurt green car (the Jetta was got rid of 15 months ago!)
Blue sticky goo (the sticky tack we use to hang the leaves on the wall)
Baby Rud
Pretty leaves
Papa's two boats
Her pink baby (her imaginary child in utero)

Does it need saying that I'm thankful for Lucy?! I mean, how could I not be thankful for the sweet, innocent, loving little girl so full of imagination and complete with a love of adventure that I've been blessed with? She's amazing. I am so blessed to have this little lady in my life. My heart melts when I blow her kisses and she catches them and puts them in her pockets to save for later. I laugh with joy when I hear her in her bed at nap time yelling "Land Ho!" and other boat like things that her Daddy is teaching her. I am moved to tears when I see her loving her little brother and comforting on her own without the suggestion from me. I am so thankful to God for my Lucy.

And even though I haven't been recording them this month, there are lots of things I've been thankful for and I have such a heart of gratitude in this season for so much I have been given and able to experience. So here's a list of a few other things that I'm thankful for right now.

A husband who loves me, love our kids, and serves us daily
My two littles who are just both amazing in their own ways
Seeing lots of Wilkins family this month
An amazing rehearsal dinner full of beauty and creativity
Having a new sister and the beautiful wedding of Cait and Chase
Good talks with old friends
Annapolis
Boston in the fall, complete with walks through the public gardens, leaves falling on my head, the amazing tree in front of my church, collecting leaves, drinking pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin bread, soup, and crisp weather. There are few things better than Boston in the fall.
Good books that encourage my heart
Conversations with my husband that we sneak in amidst the chaos that is our November
The sounds of laughter coming from the other room where Lucy and Kip are playing together
Allowing myself to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving
That my heart is now, finally, feeling ready for cold weather and a Boston winter

I could go on and on . . . and I might do that in the coming days. Or I might get to busy and decide that quality time with my family is more important that blogging. Because I'm so thankful to have a family that enjoys living life together. And I don't want to miss that.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Thanksgiving: Day 1

2011-11-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

It's November 1st. How did that happen?! This year has just flown by and so much has happened in the past ten months that it's overwhelming to think about. Life is busy and these days it's difficult me to slow down enough to really let the amazingness of the passing days amaze me. And they are amazing, I just get caught up in life and forget to notice.

So now we're back at November, and that's what these days are for. Slowing down. Breathing. Noticing. Being thankful. So let's take some time each day and be thankful, shall we?

Day One.

Farm fresh produce.

I'm so happy to live in a state where I have access to amazing produce that is picked and delivered to me on the same day.

Rud's Birth Story!

2011-09-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

My due date for Rud was August 11th, but he decided to not wait that long and graced us with his presence on August 6th, five days early. Here's how it all happened.

Kip had been planning on going out of town for some work training August 1-5, but a few weeks before the planned trip he decided he should cancel the trip because he was concerned the baby might come early and he wouldn't be here to support me through labor and witness our baby's birth. I told him he was silly and was insistent that he should go on the trip. Until about a week before he was scheduled to leave. I started having more consistent feelings of "ickiness" and started to feel like the baby might come. I still wasn't too concerned though, so we decided to spend a whole day in prayer about it. After that day, I felt strongly that he should not go on the trip. He had been more than willing to cancel his plans before our day of prayer, so once I told him how I was feeling he quickly changed his plans, cancelled his trip, and stayed home with us.

We spent that week doing family activities and last minute preparations for the baby. Rud was born on saturday night, and the thursday before, we went downtown to watch Shakespeare in the Park. That involved walking a mile to the T station, sitting on the ground for about five hours and then walking a mile home. I guess doing all of that got the baby moving, because on friday morning I woke up and had a bloody show. Since I had not experienced that when pregnant with Lucy, I quickly called my midwife, who, after asking me a series of questions, concluded it was most likely my mucous plug coming out, and it was nothing to be worried about, it was just my body preparing for labor. I was convinced contractions would begin imminently, and an hour later when I went to my chiropractor I told her I was in labor. She did some last minute adjustments. There also happened to be another midwife at the chiropractor for her appointment, so I described my symptoms to her and she had the same conclusion as my midwife. So, I spent all day friday waiting for labor to begin, but it never happened.

Saturday morning we woke up and had a nice family breakfast and around lunchtime we met a friend in Harvard Square to get some maternity pictures taken. Just in time, it turns out! We had a lot of fun walking around a park taking pictures and playing in a fountain. I mentioned to our friend that I might have the baby that night since I was still feeling icky, but none of us really believed it and we all laughed about it. After the photo shoot I decided I wanted to walk a mile to Central Square to get ice cream at a local place called Toscanini's. I had been craving their orange cardamom chip ice cream all summer, and there is never a better time to justify eating ice cream than when you're 10 months pregnant in August! So we walked a mile to Toscanini's only to discover they didn't have my flavor, and I had to settle on salted caramel instead.

We sat down to eat our ice cream on the lovely green leather couch in Toscanini's and suddenly I had a pain the lasted a few seconds and then went away. I looked at Kip and said, "I think that was a contraction!" That was around 4p.m. We took our time and finished our ice cream and then started walking home. I had another contraction and stopped on the side walk to lean against a store front and relax through the pain. It wasn't so intense that I had to stop, but the Bradley classes I took with Lucy taught me to relax my body during contractions so the uterus can do it's work. So that's what I did.

I had 2-3 more contractions on the walk home, so I started to think it could be real labor. I was definitely experiencing the first emotional signpost of early labor, because I was really excited. We both were. My biggest concern was that I still had a couple of freezer meals I needed to make before the baby was born, so I sent Kip into Whole Foods for a few things and I kept walking home. When we both got home we put Curious George on for Lucy and we started making Lasagna and an Enchilada casserole. I was having contractions while cooking, so I had to pause every once in awhile to relax, and then I went back to cooking!

We were measuring contractions with a handy dandy contractions timer app on my iphone, and it made it so easy to track the contractions. They were coming slowly and irregularly - every 10-20 minutes, so I started to doubt that I was actually in real labor. We fed Lucy and put her to bed around 6:30, but she knew something was going on and would not settle down. She just sat on the edge of her bed and cried. Kip decided it was time to call our friends to come pick her up for the night, so we got her out of bed, put more Curious George on and waited for Braden and Stephanie to arrive. They picked her up around 7:30 and took her to their house for the night.

She left and we sat down to relax. I told Kip that it might be real labor since I had had two contractions in the past 15 minutes, so we might have a baby by 5-6a.m. But I still wasn't sure. I guess having Lucy gone helped me to relax and focus, though, because she hadn't been gone long when contractions started coming more frequently and started getting more intense. I jumped in the shower to relieve the pain and stayed there about 30 minutes and had quite a few contractions. The heat and water didn't stop them, so I knew then that this was the real deal and we would have a baby soon.

After getting out of the shower things got serious. I moved to the second emotional signpost and I was getting serious! Getting through the contractions was taking work. And they were also getting really painful and I was finding it hard to relax through them. I leaned against the wall; I leaned against Kip; I sat on my ball; I laid on the bed. Every position I tried hurt and I was struggling to relax. My fabulous husband was a great coach and helped me get through each contraction with encouraging words and physical and emotional support.

Around 9:15p.m. he called our doula to give her a heads up and she wanted to listen to me through a contraction. That was silly because I'm silent during contractions. I internalize everything and stay really focused, so she couldn't tell how progressed I was by how I sounded. She told us to text her when we left for the birth center (Since she was a free doula provided by the birth center through their grant, she didn't come of the house).

I thought it would be awhile before we left since I wanted to do most of my laboring at home and contractions were still 6-7 minutes apart. Based on contraction timing, we still had lots of time left. However, based on intensity and my emotional signposts, we didn't have a lot of time. After one incredibly painful contraction where I couldn't relax at all, I told Kip we needed to go. I was feeling lots of pressure and I started doubting I could keep going. Third emotional signpost - self doubt. I thought it might be transition since I was doubting myself, but I was doubting that too. We left our house at 10:00 p.m.

Since the birth center was only three blocks away I thought I might walk there when labor started, but once I was in labor that idea quickly fled. We got in the car and drove and I had one contraction in the car. As we were walking up the steps into the birth center I told Kip, "I'm afraid they're going to tell me I'm only dilated to 5 and I can't keep doing this for another 5-6 hours." And even then, I thought that might be transition, but I was also terrified it wasn't. We got inside and the midwife on duty examined me and said I was dilated to an 8. Thank God!

We walked upstairs and went into our room, and things started moving quickly. All I knew is that there was a flurry of activity. I heard the doula say she was going to get the bath going since she knew I was interested in a water birth. I saw the nurse and midwives talking. They were deciding who would stay with me since all three rooms at the birth center were full of laboring mamas - something that rarely happens! We got the last available room that night. Kip was getting our stuff set up. And every time a contraction started I would yell "contraction" and head to Kip and lean against him to get through it. The midwife told me she had to break my water to check for meconium (since the presence of it would mean a transfer to the hospital). She broke it and it was clear, so I was cleared to get into the bathtub. I walked to the tub, stripping as I went (loss of modesty = birth is imminent!).

Before labor I wasn't sure if I would want a water birth or not, but once I got in the tub I never once considered getting out. The water felt so good and immediately helped relieve the pain. I wanted to push, but didn't know if I should. The midwife was down on her knees by the tub and I asked her how long it would be. She said soon. I looked at her and asked (probably in an unfriendly tone), "Does soon me 15 minutes or three hours?" She very calmly and kindly assured me that she was already in her birthing attire of pants and long shirt sleeves and it's a hot outfit that she wouldn't get in it unless it was going to be really soon. I asked her if I could push and she said in her super soothing voice, "Beth, we're just waiting on your body to do what it needs to do, so if you feel like it needs to push, then push."

So, I started pushing. I was feeling the ring of fire and it was burning! I looked at Kip and said "I hate pushing. People lie when they say it feels good - this does not feel good." He didn't respond. I probably sounded like a crazy person and he didn't know what to say. I felt the same way when I gave birth to Lucy. I really have no idea why people think pushing feels good. I assure you - it does not. I also told him that I didn't think the baby was going to come out - that I didn't think it would fit. Again, a crazy person.

I gave one hard push and let out a giant scream. I apologized for it because I'm not a screamer, but everyone assured me screaming is good. I don't really agree, but I completely forgot about good pushing form with chin down and holding my breath, so the result was a loud scream. I was working hard! The very next push, the baby came out and Kip and the midwife caught him and and put him on my chest. It took all of 5-6 pushes for the baby to be born!

We left our house at 10p.m., I was in the tub for 15-20 minutes, and our baby was born at 10:50 p.m.! Seven hours of labor and it was over and we had a baby.

He let out one loud cry and then just snuggled up against me and was quiet. And I was the first one that noticed he was a boy and I announced it to everyone. Kip had to double check and confirmed I was right.

{Minutes after Rud was born}

I stayed in the water until the cord stopped pulsing and Kip cut it, and then I got out of the water and went to the big full-sized bed to deliver the placenta. It didn't take long, and then the nurse quickly changed the linens and Kip and I laid in the bed together with our new little guy while I drank orange juice and ate a peanut and jelly sandwich my doula made for me. Rud did the crawl to start nursing, and nursed for a very long time and did a masterful job of it.

{He was so calm after being born}

Things could not have gone better. Around 2a.m. they finally got around to weighing him and doing the Apgar. He weighed 7lbs 7 ounces and scored a 9 on the Apgar. I had one tiny, tiny tear, but it was nothing to be concerned about.

{snuggling together in bed}

{A proud Daddy}

We slept at the birth center and went home the next morning, and I was on my couch with my new little man by 8:00a.m. The nurse and midwives told us that we were the last couple to arrive that night, the first ones to have a baby, and the first ones to leave. It was perfect.

{A healthy baby}

{9 hours old - coming home from the hospital in his special hat and blanket I made for him}

Introducing James Rudyard Wilkins V!

2011-08-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

The past three weeks have been a beautiful blur. Why, you ask? Because three weeks ago baby Rud decided it was time to make his entrance into the world. He's the most delightful and charming baby boy in the world, and we're all quite taken with him. His birth was just perfect, and I'll be posting the story later this week, but for now here are a few pictures to introduce to you James Rudyard Wilkins V. Or, as we call him, baby Rud.

{9 hours old! Coming home from the birth center.}

{Sporting his super cute new onesie from Mimi}

{Big sister Lucy loves to hold and kiss baby Rud.}

Recipe | Strawberry Rhubarb Spice Jam

2011-07-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last year I discovered the lost art of canning and jam making, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it's really, really easy to do! I made several jams last summer, and was careful to follow directions perfectly. Everything I tried turned out beautifully, so this summer I've been a bit more brave in my jam making and have started experimenting with my own recipes.

This first one I tried was what I am calling strawberry rhubarb spice jam. The spice comes from the cardamom and ginger I incorporated into the recipe, and instead of using tons of sugar like most standard jams, I instead used part honey and part real maple syrup. The jam turned out as a nice thick jam with a bit of complex spice and just a hint of sweetness. And since honey and maple syrup both have tremendous nutritional value, I can indulge in this guilt free to satisfy my pregnancy sweet tooth, and I don't mind giving it to Lucy on sandwiches or toast, knowing that she's getting mostly real fruit and minerals with each delicious bite she takes!

To make jam, I use Pomona's Universal Pectin, which is a 100% citrus pectin and allows me to use sweetener's other than sugar. I buy it at a local spice store, but you can also order it online or check natural/health food stores for it.

Okay, here's what I did in pictures. And these pictures are terrible quality, but I was in a hurry and using one hand to take most of them, so it's the best I have!

1.) I used fresh, local strawberries and rhubarb from our strawberry picking adventures.

2.) I put all of the strawberries into a dish and let my sous chef smash them up with her mashy mashy egg masher. She took her job very seriously.

3.) With a little help from me, we quickly got 4 cups of smashed strawberries that looked like this:

4.) I sliced, and then chopped up a bunch a rhubarb, enough to equal 3/4-1 cup after it was chopped.

5.) I then gathered my canning essentials. You don't have to use these items to can things, but your experience will be greatly improved if you do. I personally do not begin a canning project without these items. I bought them all at target, and the set includes a canning funnel, a magnetic tool to pick up lids and bands, a measuring stick to measure fullness of jars, and a jar-holding contraption used for lifting and lowering jars into hot water. I have no idea if those are the proper names of each item, that's just how I refer to them.

6.) I sanitized the jars, lids and bands in boiling water for 10 minutes (FYI - jars and bands can be reused multiple times, but you will need a new lid for each new canning project).

7.) I filled the jars with the jam recipe that is at the bottom of this post, using the canning funnel.

8.) I measured the fullness of the jars, and for this particular jam I needed 1/4" left at the top, but some had more space than that, which is fine as long as there was at least 1/4".

9.) I used my magnetic tool to place the lids and bands on the jars, and that way I didn't have to touch them and risk getting bacteria from my hands into the jam.

10.) I used the jar holder to lower the jars into a boiling water bath, and processed them for 10 minutes.

11.) I removed the jars from the water bath and waited to hear that glorious "pop!" sound, indicating that the jars had sealed and the canning was a success (Note: I still had to wait for them to completely cool to know if they had set properly, but the popping sound was the first indicator of success)!

My recipe:

Strawberry Rhubarb Spice Jam

4 cups strawberries, smashed

3/4-1 cup rhubarb, chopped

2.5 teaspoons pectin powder

4 teaspoons calcium water (comes with the pectin)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

juice of half a lemon

Mix fruit, calcium water, lemon juice, cardamom, and ginger together in a saucepan. In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix room temperature honey and maple syrup together with pectin powder. Bring fruit mixture to a boil, and then mix in sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously to combine. Return to a boil, let boil 2 minutes, and then remove from heat. Fill HOT jars with jam mixture, check depth, wipe jars clean, and add lids and bands. Use jar holder to put the hot jars into a boiling water bath and process, covered, for 10 minutes (if you're above sea level, you'll need to add 1 minute for processing for every 1,000 ft). Remove from water and let jars cool completely before checking for proper sealing (You know sealing has occurred if you press down on the lid and do not hear a pop because it is completely sucked down).

Wordless Wednesday | Happy girl

2011-07-13T04:32:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Picking!

2011-07-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Lucy and I trekked out to Concord to do some strawberry picking at Verrill Farm. We chose Verrill Farm for a few reasons:

1.) I like their sustainable agricultural practices

2.) Their strawberries are "no-spray"

3.) Location - they're only 1/2 an hour from our house!

4.) They were featured on Curious George (which is one of our very favorite shows around here!)

All of that, combined with the fact that they still had u-pick strawberries available this late into the strawberry season made it the perfect place for us to go, and we were not disappointed. We got muddy, hot and sweaty, but we had a great time and ended up picking three pounds of strawberries in the first 20 minutes!

Recipe | Salmon Protein Pizza

2011-06-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've shared a recipe, but this weekend I experiment with pizza and made a delicious high protein white pizza with salmon, so today I am going to share it with you.

I'm now deep into my third trimester, so eating protein and getting lots of omega 3 fats is more important than ever. I know I have not been eating enough salmon recently, so I was happy to discover some great sales this weekend on wild caught Alaskan Sockeye salmon and I stocked up. We should have plenty to get me through the next 6-8 weeks of #2 in utero (curious as to why I think I need protein, omega 3's and salmon during this time? Check out this blog).

Back to the recipe. Here's what you'll need:

Pizza Crust, precooked
4 oz Salmon
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
1/8 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
1 Bunch of Spinach
1/2-1 Cup of a Hard or Sharp Cheese (I used a pecorino romano/formaggio blend)

Dill to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Lime

Here's what you do:

1.) Cook the Salmon

I used one 4 oz salmon filet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dill to taste. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan and cook the salmon for four minutes on each side. Remove from pan, sprinkle with lime juice, and allow it to cool.

2.) Prepare the Sauce

In a food processor, puree the cottage cheese, sour cream, and some more dill. We love dill at our house, so we used alot, but you can use as much or as little as you want. I used cottage cheese to add more protein to the pizza to help me reach my protein quota for the day. I was quite pleased with the results!

3.) Saute the Veggies

Slice tomatoes in half and tear spinach into a manageable eating size, if needed. Our spinach came from a local farm, so it was really large and needed tearing, but if you buy spinach from a grocery store you can probably saute it without needing to tear it, since it will probably be smaller sized leaves. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan and throw in tomatoes for two minutes. After two minutes, add spinach and some lemon juice and cook the mixture until the Spinach wilts.

4.) Take cute pictures of the little cooks

This part is not required to make a yummy pizza, but it's entertaining to do! Lucy was busy trying to slice a lime with her cloth play knife from Ikea. For obvious reasons she was not very successful, but watching her attempt it was great fun.

5.) Create Sauce

Remove veggies from heat and stir in the cottage cheese sauce mixture. I did take a picture of this, but it was very unflattering, so I'm not posting it! It shouldn't be too hard to figure out this step without a picture, though. Pour the whole mixture onto a prebaked pizza crust.

6.) Finish Off Pizza Toppings

Flake the salmon or cut it into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle on top of the sauce/veggie mixture. Top that with plenty of cheese. I recommend something sharp and hard. I used sheep's cheese, which was a mixture of pecorino romano and formaggio.

7.) Bake the pizza

Put the pizza in an over pre-heated to 425, and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top begins to brown.

8.) Eat the Pizza!

After the pizza has ideally cooled for 10 minutes (although I never do this because I'm too impatient!), slice it and plate it. I made this into a deep dish pizza, since my pizza dough was limited because I let Lucy have part of it to make her own mini pizzas, but you can also make this pizza on a round pizza stone with a thinner crust. If you use a deep crust the way I did, you will probably want to use a fork to eat it. I use a fork every time I eat pizza, but Kip doesn't; however, with this pizza he did and found it much more enjoyable and much less messy to use a utensil to eat it.

WFMW: How we [quite easily] survived potty training!

2011-06-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do something I don't normally do, and link up with another blog for this post. That's just how pleased I am with our week of potty training. So, I'm linking up this post with Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family.

Lucy has been potty trained for awhile now. Almost three whole months. And it has been delightful. I'm only just now blogging about it because, well, that's just been the nature of my life lately. Blog procrastination. But let's not dwell on that - back to the potty training.

I read this blog and was inspired. She recommends "pre-training" beginning at 18 months, which I had not done, but I figured all of the "halfway" (and unsuccessful, I might add) potty training I had done for the past six weeks on and off had to count for something, so I just dove right in.

Here's what we did:

1.) I collected my supplies
Underwear, Gerber waterproof training pants, extra bed sheets, stickers, a poster, a potette portable potty (the one kid item I cannot live without!), m&m's, a donut with pink icing

[training pants]

[rewards]

[Incentive poster]

2.) We had a potty party!
We started on a monday morning with a "potty party" where we packed up all of Lucy's gdiapers and told them "bye-bye." Then we dined on a special breakfast of donuts with pink icing and sprinkles. Lucy has not worn a diaper since the one she woke up wearing that day, which means the last day she wore a diaper was March 26th. Starting that Monday, she began wearing the Gerber waterproof pants for naptime and sleeptime. No pull-ups.

[Diapers ready to be packed away]

[Saying "bye-bye" to the diapers]

[Throwing them into the storage bin]

[Blowing them kisses]

[Enjoying her pink donut]

3.) We stayed home all week

This one was hard for me. I like being out. I need to be out. But I knew that being out and about while trying to potty train would not be helpful for Lucy. So we stayed home all day, with the exception of one midwife appointment I had forgotten was scheduled. And she did have two accidents while we were out. I chose to invest in spending time with my daughter, which means I limited email, internet and phone calls that week so that I was as present with her as I could be. And I think we both had a great week with each other!

4.) Lucy sat on the potty at regular intervals and received positive reinforcements for doing so
Every 30 minutes Lucy sat on the potty for 2 minutes. And since she was not initially a fan of sitting on the potty, she was rewarded for doing so by getting a sticker to put on a poster we kept in the bathroom. It was incentive for her, and it also helped me keep track of how many times she was sitting on the potty each day. I also read her the same book every time she sat on the potty, so she began to anticipate that as well.

5.) I rewarded successes with candy
I know some people aren't comfortable with giving candy or food incentives. I personally don't have a problem with it for limited periods of time for something like potty training. So, Lucy got one m&m when she peed and two m&m's when she pooped or woke up from nap or sleep time dry.

6.) We made a BIG deal out of successes
We danced and clapped and called Daddy. We ate an m&m's. It was exciting.

7.) We were patient and diligent
My goal was to do this routine for seven days. I almost gave up on day three. But I had set out to do it for seven days, so that kept me going when I wanted to give up and run to the basement for the diapers.

8.) Our results
Here's what happened for us (and it's important to remember that the "successes" were mostly accidental, as they happened when I made Lucy sit on the potty longer than two minutes because I knew she needed to go potty and I didn't want to clean up another accident!) :

Day one: Four accidents, Two successes
Day two: Five accidents, Two successes
Day three: Three accidents, Two successes
Day four: ZERO accidents, SIX successes

After day four I stopped keeping track, because on day four, Lucy started going to the potty without reminders! In fact, at one point I realized she wasn't in the room with me and went to look for her. I found her on her little potty and she has just peed in it! All.by.herself. After that point, I can count on one hand the number of accidents she has had between that day (March 30, 2011) and today!

Lucy was 25 months old when I potty trained her. It was easy. With the next child, I will start even earlier. I highly recommend you check out this blog post for further instruction and explanation, and then give it a try!

It worked for me! and Lucy!

We made an egg carton spring wreath!

2011-04-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend Lucy and I expanded our craftiness by exploring paints and paintbrushes to make a spring wreath out of old egg cartons. It's getting warmer here (finally!) and feeling like spring, and saturday was Earth Day, so it seemed like the perfect time to make something that was both springy and recycled.

I got the idea from here, who got the idea from here, who got the idea from this fabulous Russian blog I can't read at all but has great pictures.

Here's how we did it
(excuse the bad photos. My camera was at the doctor, so these were all taken with my phone!)

1.) I used three old egg cartons and cut them out like this

And then into shapes like this:

2.) We got Lucy decked out in her fantastic paint get up and went to painting. I know nothing about paints, so I used the cheap acrylic paints from A.C. Moore. They were $0.50 each. We used purple, pink, blue, yellow and orange for the flowers and green for the wreath.

Lucy was not wearing blue gloves. Yes, that is paint on her hands. It turns out that she LOVES painting her body even more than she loves painting egg carton flowers.

3.) When we were all done painting, we let the flowers air dry for a few hours

4.) I cut out a wreath from an old cardboard box and painted it green. Sorry, no pictures. It's an inch and a half thick and 12 inches in diameter, and that was the perfect size for the number of flowers we had.

5.) I then hot glued all of the flowers to each other and onto the green wreath. Sorry, no pictures of that either. It's hard enough not to burn my fingers with hot glue when that's all I'm doing, and would be impossible to not burn my fingers while gluing and taking pictures at the same time. And I hate hot glue burned fingers.

6.) Then we hung it on our door

All in all, we're quite pleased with the way it turned out. This might just become a spring tradition for us.

Today's Lenten Reading

2011-04-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

For the Lenten season I am doing daily readings out of Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter. This week the readings are focused on the crucifixion, and I thought this paragraph by John Stott was a succinctly written reminder of a great truth:

The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.

(Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter: Stott, John pg. 217)

The Big Announcement!

2011-03-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

So . . . this is probably old news to most people, but here's the official announcement for the blog:

How to make the cutest duck cupcakes ever

2011-03-03T07:02:00.000-08:00

Lucy turned two this week and we had a great time celebrating. She's very into ducks these days, so ducks were the theme of the party. I'll share more about that later, but for now, here's a little tutorial on how to make the cutest duck cupcakes ever.

Step 1:
Start by making these delicious little cupcakes, but only fill the cups about half full. Once they cool, dirty ice them with canned vanilla icing.

Step 2:

Cut large marshmallows in half diagonally, and stick them on the cupcakes sticky side up. Then stick donut holes on the cupcakes and "glue" with icing. Stick in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Ours were in there about 2 hours.

Step 3:

Heat canned icing in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, until it's runny and drips off of a spoon. When it gets to the right consistency, add yellow food coloring. Then dip the entire cupcake into the icing to cover, and allow the extra to drip off.

Step 4:

Stick circus peanuts that have been molded into beaks into the front of the donut holes. Sorry this picture is blurry - it's the only one I have.

Step 5: Once the icing has dried, put two icing dots on the donut hole for eyes, and stick miniature brown m&m's on top of the icing dots.

Step 6:

Make a few with tails and feet instead of heads. Bottoms up!

Step 7:

Line them up for a picture, and then put them in the refrigerator. Ours were in there overnight, and it really helped improve the overall finished look.

Step 8:

Put on a cute display stand!

Thankfulness | Day 24

2010-11-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in the San franscisco airport right now. We're here because our plane to Hawaii is having mechanical difficulties. Kip and Lucy are walking around. Lucy has been awake for 15 hours with no sleep!

So what am I thankful for? That our plane didn't crash. That we had an extra seat for Lucy on both flights on the busiest travel day of the year. For mostly nice flight attendants and for nice fellow travelers. That we will eventually get to Hawaii and be with family. That we get to go through this as a family. That we get to celebrate thanksgiving. Because despite the inconvenience of this day we have so much to be thankful for. I am blessed, and far be it from me to let trivialities like unplanned plane stops and exhausted children keep me from having a thankful heart!

Thankfulness | Day Twenty-three

2010-11-23T20:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight I am thankful that I get to fly to Hawaii tomorrow! Kip's brother and his wife live there, and we had enough credit card points (yay USAA!) to get two free tickets to go visit them this Thanksgiving. A lot had to happen to make this all come together, including Kip getting special leave during the school year (which is usually not allowed), for us to be able to do this trip. But it all worked out, and tomorrow we will join Kip's parents and youngest brother at his middle brother's house, where we will all celebrate a Hawaiian Thanksgiving together. Probably by snorkeling and hiking and attempting to surf. Well, I'm sure some will succeed at the surfing thing. But the point is, it will be warm, it will be sunny, and we will be with family.

I would write more, but it's 11:05p.m., I start a looooooooooooooooong day of flights tomorrow at 8a.m., and I'm not finished packing.

Thankfulness | Day Twenty-One

2010-11-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

Today, I am thankful for a good friend who became an impromptu babysitter.

Kip and I had leadership training at church this afternoon, and although childcare was provided, I was hesitant to take Lucy for a couple of reasons. 1.) She has a runny nose, and I was concerned that her immune system might be down and I didn't want her to get sick before our big day of travel on wednesday, and 2.) She kind of threw up during church. It looked more like spit up and was very small, but smelled like vomit.

I was relaying this story to one of my friends, and she responded by offering to babysit. She was planning on a slow day, and said she could hang out at our place and watch Lucy. So, she came over to babysit and Kip and I went to our training. Where, it turns out, there was not a babysitter, and parents rotated in and out each hour watching the kids on a playground. In cold weather. Which would not have worked at all of our little runny-nosed lady.

I'm so thankful God has provided me with great friends who care enough about me to sacrifice their sunday afternoons to help me out.

Thankfulness | Day Twenty

2010-11-20T18:40:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for small joys. Like getting lost in a great book. And the ability to be crafty and create something fun. And giggles with my daughter. And snuggling with my dog. And leaves blowing in the fall wind. And newly pedicured feet. And a clean kitchen. And good friends who keep me accountable. And clean sheets. And text messages. And taste buds. And fall scented candles. And flowers from my guy. And holiday memories. I could go on and on. And I'm thankful I could go on and on!

Thankfulness | Day Nineteen

2010-11-20T18:34:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for a whole night with just my husband. We even got to go to bed at the same time - something we used to always do, until MIT and homework got in the way. Kip laughed at me as he was crawling into bed and I asked him what he was doing. I fully expected him to head to the office after our dinner and movie date on the couch, but he didn't do any homework and I had a whole night with him.

Thankfulness | Day Eighteen

2010-11-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

I'm really thankful for all of the places I have been able to live in and travel to. This country and this world are so amazing with all of the different cultures and immense diversity and I'm just really thankful I've been able to experience so much of it. I have lived in 13 different states and traveled to five different continents! I love that I have been able to experience so many different parts of the world and learn things from each of these different cultures. From Georgia to Washington, D.C. to Seattle to Boston, I have experienced the full range of american culture. I have lived in bible belt and the post-christian cultures of this country and everything in between. I have observed theistic, naturalistic, and transcendental cultures in the various countries I have visited. And in all of it I have gained richly and grown immensely. God has expanded my world and knowledge through my travel, and my love for Him and his creation has grown deeply through these experiences, and for that I am thankful. I am also thankful because I realize that not everyone actually gets to travel to as many places as I have. I actually never thought I would be able to, and when I really sit and think about it I am amazed at all of the things I have been able to do! Here's a few pictures from some of my favorite places:

Gibraltar on our Honeymoon:

The Old City of Jerusalem on a deployment visit:

A market in Malaysia on a teaching trip:

Prince Edward Island on our fifth wedding anniversary:

Thankfulness | Day Seventeen

2010-11-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today my heart and mind have been on my Grandfather. My heart is heavy because he is not doing so well. I love my "papaw" very much and I am thankful that I have had him in my life. As my thoughts have been on him today I have realized how very thankful I am for a few things.

1.) That God changed my papaw's heart before I was born. He gave his heart to Jesus and it changed his life. I never knew the Papaw before Jesus, but I guess he was very different from what I knew. I knew only an eternally patient and loving man who loved me and would do anything for me

2.) I'm thankful that my papaw stopped smoking years ago. For a long time he was a chain smoker, but he chose to stop smoking and I believe he is alive today because he did.

3.) I'm thankful that Kip has been able to spend time with papaw. Although my grandparents came to my wedding, we didn't have enough free time to really spend time with them. But when I was pregnant Kip and I travelled to Texas and spent a few days with my grandparents. Kip and Papaw got along great! I'm so glad we had that time together.

4.) I'm thankful that Lucy met Papaw. In September 2009, when Lucy was seven months old, my grandparents travelled to Georgia at the same time we did. Papaw loves his grandchildren and he adores his great grandchildren. He and Lucy seemed to have a special bond, and it was hard to tell who was
more enamored.

5.) I'm thankful he got to see the Texas Rangers go to the World Series!

6.) I'm thankful that my Papaw has a good doctor who is concerned for his care and is continuing to treat him with respect and dignity despite his declining health.

7.) I'm thankful that hospice care has been provided for him so he does not have to live in a nursing home.

I love my Papaw very, very much and I am so incredibly thankful that he has been a part of my life.

Thankfulness | Day Sixteen

2010-11-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for a husband who takes care of me. My guy is just the greatest. Tonight he has homework to do, but he knows I'm not feeling well so he's in the kitchen making a special snack for us that we are going to enjoy while snuggling on the couch together. I am thankful I am married to such a great guy who loves me and cherishes me and takes care of me.

Craft Day | Pressed Leaves

2010-11-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

Thankfulness | Day Fourteen

2010-11-14T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for snow. Not that we have any. Not yet, anyway. But I am thankful for snow because on my run this morning I was noticing how very unpleasant the landscape is looking. The once beautiful trees along the river have lost their leaves, and they just look dead. And the leaves on the ground are brown, not golden or red like they once were. And the grass is brown. And the sky is gray. and it just looks a little unpleasant. And it got me to thinking that snow makes everything beautiful around here during the winter, and I'm so thankful that God designed everything the way that he did. He didn't have to make snow beautiful, but he chose to. Our God loves beauty and is glorified by nature, and he chose to make snow beautiful to demonstrate His beauty and teach us about himself, and I'm so very thankful for that. Now I'm just waiting for snow to arrive!

Thankfulness | Day Thirteen

2010-11-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for contacts. Today I wore my glasses around and by the end of the day they were hurting my ears and I was just thankful that contacts were invented. And then I started thinking that I'm glad glasses were invented, too, because as much as I disliked them earlier today, it would be far worse to have the poor eyesight that I do and not have the option to correct it. So today I am thankful for medical advances in optometry, or opthamology, or maybe both, since I never remember what exactly each of them are. I'm thankful that corrective solutions for poor eyesight have been invented and that they have continued to improve so that I now can wear contacts. And the fact that they are approved for overnight wear and I don't have to take them out each night before bed is just icing on the cake.

Thankfulness | Day Twelve

2010-11-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

A little catch up (again!) . . .

Yesterday the thing I was really thankful for was the date night that Kip and I went on. It was a bit of a different date, and instead of doing something traditional, we spent the evening at a conference listening to a presentation. We had the opportunity to hear Jeff and Shaunti Feldhahn speak. For those of you who don't know who they are, they wrote the great little books For Women Only and For Men Only, among others.

A few years ago I discovered For Women Only, but didn't realize what a discovery it was. I thought it was just another women's book that would talk about how men are visual and wired differently. I figured I had learned enough of that in college communications classes and knew everything it would say. But boy was I wrong! I decided to read the book, mostly because my husband was deployed and I needed books to help fill my nights. I dived into the book, and I haven't been the same since! I learned a lot and I was amazed to discover that my husband backed up pretty much everything in the book. And he was amazed that I was learning from it because he thought I knew all about him and our gender differences, too. A couple of years later, For Men Only was written, and we quickly purchased it and it was great too.

Kip and I actually each read both of the books, putting our own notes in them for each other. So, as I read For Men Only, I would make notes about which parts I thought were true of me or not, and he did the same with For Women Only. We learned so much about each other through that experience, and we have kept those copies for ourselves and occasionally run to them for reference. We love the books so much, that we actually own separate copies of the books that do not have our personal notes in them that we purchased to loan out to other couples. That's how much we think these little books are worth reading.

Well, last night, the Feldhahn's were speaking at a conference in our vicinity, and we were happy to go hear them. About two minutes into their presentation Kip leaned over and said, "I think I really need to read the book again!" I had been thinking the exact same thing! It was a great refresher for our marriage, spurred on great conversation between us, and was a great night of joining together with other couples to worship and be reminded about God's design for marriage.

I am so thankful we got to go, and I'm so thankful my husband not only wanted to go, but enthusiastically engaged himself in the evening to better himself as a husband. As Shaunti said last night, "For those men who are here, thank you for coming, because I know that relationship conferences are not your natural habitat!" So true. But I am blessed to have a husband who wants to do everything he can to be a loving husband and to love me well. He doesn't consider relationship conferences a burden or a sacrifice, but rather, a tool to aid in him as he fights for our marriage and his wife every day. I love him, and I loved learning more about relationships with him last night.

Thankfulness | Day Eleven

2010-11-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

Today, on Veteran's Day, I am thankful for all of the men and women who have served our country in the military. I am thankful for those who have given their lives so that my life might be better and I am thankful for those who have dedicated their lives or portions of their life for our country.

Thankfulness | Day Nine

2010-11-09T18:21:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for my home. It is cold outside, but I have a warm home to sit in. I have a fireplace to keep me warm and a soft couch to sit on. In one of the most expensive housing markets in the country (boston is ranked #3!), God provided us with an affordable home in the most perfect location in this city. Honestly, without God's kindness to us, we would not be able to live where we do. But in his kindness, he provided a beautiful, spacious, affordable home.

I love that I am friends with my neighbors. I love that I have a yard for my dog. I love that I can walk from my house to restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, toy stores, libraries, grocery stores, drugstores, and a post office within minutes. I love that I have a reserved parking spot. I love that I have a washer and dryer. I love that I have counter space in my kitchen. I love that I have lots of windows. I love that I have hardwood and tile floors. I love that my bedroom has carpet. I love pretty much everything about my house.

And I am thankful that I get to live here. It's not just a reliable shelter. It's a beautiful, perfect shelter.

Thankfulness | Day Eight

2010-11-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for . . . sudafed. And coca-cola. And my pillow. And that they all help headaches go away.

Thankfulness | Day Seven

2010-11-07T17:27:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that I got a sunday afternoon nap. They don't happen too often these days, but today I took a lovely two hour nap in my bed while Kip and the little lady played. There are few things as lovely as a sunday afternoon nap and few things as lovely as waking up from a sunday afternoon nap to the sounds of husband and little girl laughter coming from downstairs.

Thankfulness | Day Six

2010-11-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

I just realized that we fall back tonight and get an extra hour of sleep! And that is something worth being thankful for! I was just thinking about how it's getting late and I have a bunch to do tonight, and then I discovered the great news that I have a whole extra hour tonight. Ah, I will enjoy that extra hour. And it probably won't be in doing tasks. It will probably be in sleeping. Yes, I'm thankful.

Thankfulness | Day Five

2010-11-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Sooo . . . I didn't get around to posting yesterday, so here's a little catch up. Yesterday I was thankful for a date night with my Kip. We're in a super busy season of life right now, and we're really having to fight to get time with each other. And we believe that time is important and worth fighting for. Or sacrificing for. So last night we bit the bullet and decided to go ahead and fork over lots of money to a babysitter so we could go out together. And it was totally worth it. As one woman I know, who is in a much later season of life than my own, said to me once, "date nights are cheaper than marriage counseling." And that's our perspective. It might seem expensive, and even like a financial burden, but a strong marriage is worth more than those extra dollars we forked out. I'm glad I have a husband who believes that and reminds me that spending money to have time alone is important and totally worth it. So I'm thankful for that date night with the great man I married.

Thankfulness | Day Four

2010-11-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thankful for all of the energy I had today to get things done around my house. And for the benefits of that energy, which are a clean house and beautifully organized kitchen cabinets. Ah . . . organized spices make this wannabe chef oh so happy. And vacuumed rugs and clean kitchen cabinets make me feel so relaxed. And if this cleanliness lasts more than a day, you know what I'll be thankful for in a couple of days! But for now things are clean and beautiful and organized and I still feel energized, so I'm thankful.

Thankfulness | Day Three

2010-11-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a long day, and I'm just now getting home. Even though it's late and I'm tired, I'm feeling completely energized because I have spent the last few hours with some incredible ladies enjoying relationship. This fall I have started attending a ladies bible study in which there are only six of us. I only knew one of the women before, and because I randomly sat next to her in church one sunday, we met and became friends. And then she invited me to join her study that is made up of a mix of women. But I couldn't because of a conflict. And then the conflict went away. So I joined this awesome group of women. It's a very diverse group. Some are mothers, some are not. Some are wives, some are not. But we're all grown-up, professional women who love God and life and each other. And I am SO thankful for these women. I'm thankful for the way we laugh together, and the way we're brutally honest with each other, and the way we pour through scripture together, and the way we wrestle with the toughness of life together. I'm thankful that we do it together and that I'm part of that togetherness.

Thankfulness | Day Two

2010-11-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful that I get to live in a country where I can vote and express my opinion on political candidates. I'm thankful that I live in a country where peaceful transition of leadership and political office has happened consistently since this nation's very first election. I'm thankful I can take my little girl to the polling center and explain to her what I'm doing, who I'm voting for, and why I'm voting for them. I'm thankful I can do this as a woman, and I can know that Lucy, in 18 years, as a woman, will be able to vote in this country and express her opinion publicly, too.

For all of the flaws of this country, today, on election day, these are things to be thankful for.

A Month of Thankfulness

2010-11-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

November 1st. And the first time I have blogged in a looooooooooooooong time! Do you like the new blog design? I got it from the girls at Designer Blogs. They're great, so if you want a new look I recommend you head on over there.

So, I'm forcing blogging back into my schedule with a month of thankfulness. Thanksgiving is my super, very favorite holiday, and not just because I get to eat green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. Although that does make it great. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it forces me to slow down, take a step back, and remember.

Remember all that I have been given. Remember all I have experienced. Remember my blessings and remember my sufferings. Remember my story. My story as follower of Christ. My story as an American. My story as a woman. My story as a daughter. My story as a sister. My story as a wife. My story as a mother. Remember that He holds me in His hands and He knows my complete story. Remember that my story reflects The Story.

It's too much to remember in one day. Especially when that day is also filled with cooking, eating, watching football, watching parades, playing games, eating more, and planning the black friday shopping schedule.

So this year I'm going to have a month of remembering. A month of thankfulness, in which I will choose to force my mind to slow down and be thankful. Each day of this month I will be posting something - or maybe somethings - that I am thankful for.

So here goes --

November 1

I am thankful I found my wallet today after losing it for a couple of hours. This morning I ran errands in multiple places. At the last place, when I went to pay I realized I didn't have my wallet. So I went to the car to get it, but it wasn't there. Which started a mild panic. Yet, I was surprisingly calm in handling it. A few minutes into it, I realized I had not prayed. So I slowed down. And I prayed. And then I looked for my wallet. I got in my car and retraced my errand route. And I found my wallet lying on the ground in the parking spot I had parked in 2 hours earlier. In a busy parking lot full of people and traffic in a not so great area. It had not been touched and everything was intact. The way I see it, God, in His kindness to me, protected that wallet lying in the parking lot. My lovely little Coach wristlet had not even been run over! And that's what I'm thankful for today.

How about you?

Rest Day Recipe | Powerballs!

2010-08-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

This week I was tasked with bringing dessert to soul care, which is our church's version of a weekly community group. Since Kip was out of town and I was taking care of the little lady all on my own, I decided to make something that required no baking, is quick and easy, and is easily adaptable to letting kids help. The fact that they are both delicious and nutritious was just an added bonus.

Powerballs are one of my favorite snacks, and I think they're one of Lucy's favorites now, too, if her ravenous devouring of them is any indication! They're called powerballs because they're packed full of nutrients. They have natural peanut butter, raw honey, flax seeds and almonds, so there is plenty of protein, good fats, omega-3's, vitamins, and energy boosters in these little balls, to name just a few of their health properties. In addition to being full of good, whole foods, these little guys have no sugar or artificial flavors (except for a few chocolate chips and craisins, but even those are optional).

I ate some of these when I was laboring with Lucy at home, and I think the energy they provided gave me the strength I needed to get through birthing her! Kip eats them when he's up late studying, and they have just enough sweetness to seem like a dessert, and plenty of natural energy boosters to keep him alert through late night study hours. I am now going to give these to Lucy in place of cookies or other sugar-filled desserts because I know these will satisfy her desire for sweetness while still providing her with plenty of vitamins and minerals. They are easily freezable, and we usually keep them in the freezer and will pull out a few at a time. After a five minute thaw, they're ready to enjoy.

So, here's how you make these little guys:

1.) Put 1 cup natural peanut butter, 1 cup honey, and 3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal in a mixing bowl and either use a mixer or a child to mix together

2.) Add 1/2 cup flaxseeds (ground or whole), 1 cup mini chocolate chips, 1 cup of nuts/dried fruit combined (I usually use 1/2 cup chopped almonds and 1/2 cup craisins, but any nuts or dried fruit will work)

3.) Mix together

4.) Roll into ping-pong sized balls and eat!

Recipe | Powerballs

1 cup natural peanut butter

1 cup raw honey

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup flaxseeds, ground or whole

1 cup mini chocolate chips, optional

1 cup any combination of nuts and dried fruit

Mix peanut butter, honey, and oatmeal together. Add in chocolate chips, flaxseeds, nuts and fruit. Mix togethery. Roll into ping-pong sized balls. Eat immediately or store in refrigerator. Can also store long-term in the freezer in air tight, freezer safe bags or containers.

Tip: place these in mini-muffin cups to improve presentation :)

In case you need to smile today . . .

2010-08-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Lucy's Adventures with Grandma and Grandpa

2010-08-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

The second weekend in July Kip and I turned five. Our marriage did, that is. We were thrilled to get away by ourselves to celebrate, and there will be more coming on our great adventures later, but this post is all about what Lucy did while Kip and I were away.

It was Lucy's first time being away from both of us at the same time. Before this she had only been away from me overnight once before, and it was only for one night and Kip was with her. She's had lots of overnights away from Kip, but I've always been with her. We decided that our anniversary was a great time to accomplish the big milestone of both of us leaving her overnight. We left her for four days and three nights, so it was a pretty big deal.

The way I see it, we love our daughter enough to leave her. Having parents who love each other and are in a committed, healthy marriage is the best thing for Lucy, and that means that Kip and I will make our marriage a priority, which means we will occasionally leave Lucy so we have time to ourselves.

Kip's parents graciously agreed to be our babysitters for four days, and while there was definitely some apprehension and anxiety on both of our parts in leaving her, but we knew we were leaving her in good, loving and capable hands. Grandma and Grandpa love spending time with their granddaughter, and we love providing Lucy with opportunities to spend with them.

We left early on thursday morning, and our anxieties were somewhat relieved when Lucy didn't get upset as we were leaving. She was enjoying her time playing with Grandma, and didn't even cry when we left! That was a huge blessing, and once we got on the road we were able to relax and enjoy our time together. We did call home a few times, but our thoughts were not consumed with Lucy.

As for Lucy, she did great! Everything went smoothly, and she had a great time playing and bonding with her grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa took Lucy on walks around the city, and Grandpa shared his new Boston Whaler hat:

Lucy and Grandma took naps on the couch together. Lucy apparently slept for multiple hours this way! I guess it's just Grandma's special touch, because Lucy has not fallen asleep for us this way since she was a newborn and she's never napped for more than an hour and a half at a time.

In addition to Lucy, we also left Grandma and Grandpa in charge of the cat and dog. I'm not sure if Grandpa or Kota was the initiator (although I have a pretty good idea), but somehow they ended up wrestling on the floor. I'm sure Kota loved it, and based on his face, Grandpa is either having a great time or terrified for his life!

Lucy was clearly unphased by the wrestling going on behind her (one reason we love having a big dog is that Lucy is perfectly comfortable around animals), and she looks like she's having a great time talking to and playing with Grandma (the photographer)

I'm sure this trip was exhausting for Lucy's grandparents as they took over early morning wake up calls! Lucy loves getting into bed with us in the mornings, and I love this picture of Grandpa and Lucy hanging out in bed in the morning.

We are so thankful that Lucy has such wonderful grandparents who love her and enjoy spending time with her! The four days she had with them created some great memories for them and continued to forge a strong bond between grandparents and granddaughter that we hope will only grow stronger as the years continue.

It turns out that accomplishing this big milestone went pretty smoothly!

Freecycle - I highly recommend it!

2010-08-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

I've always been a big fan of the "free" section of Craigslist and had heard Freecycle.org mentioned occasionally by friends, but never bothered with checking it out. Until a few months ago. I decided to sign up for this group that has saved countless items from the landfills by operating as a functional hand-me-down organization.

At least in my area, freecycle operates through a yahoo group, so I signed up to receive the daily digest, and every night I would check the email and occasionally email someone about an item they were giving away, only to find out the item already been claimed. And then I switched over to receive posts email by email. It can clutter up the inbox, so you really have to stay on top of it. I have found that using an email address other than my main one is helpful for managing the email flow, and I just read the subject line and quickly delete those I have no interest in as they come in. It works. And, if you ask me, it's completely worth the hassle of having to regularly clean out the inbox.

I've received some great things from Freecycle in the past few months, including, but not limited to:

1.) A jogging stroller
It's not in perfect shape, but it was free and it works. I'm training for a half marathon, so running when Kip is not around to babysit has become a necessity, but I didn't want to use my Phil&Ted stroller and risk hurting it and I didn't really have money for an actual jogging stroller. The one I got for free from freecycle rivals used ones I have seen on Craigslist.

2.) A slide
Lucy loves slides. So, when I saw a fisher price slide being given away, I jumped on it. I thought it would be one of the small slides appropriate for those around 8-12 months of age. Actually, it's about twice as big as anticipated, and even my six-year-old niece had a great time playing on it when she was here.

3.) Bath toys
New in the box, never been used bath toys. I find it hard to spend money on bath toys when things like tupperware dishes can provide such great entertainment to Lucy during bath time. I was, however, thrilled to pick up some bright and colorful, magnetic submarine boat toys for her to use and they've been a big hit.

So, all in all I've been having a pretty good experience with email updates from freecycle. Until yesterday. And that's when Freecycle became AWESOME.

Last night Kip and a friend of ours picked these up:

This is a three-piece all wood TV cabinet and bookshelves. From Crate and Barrel. That I got for free on Freecycle.org. The drawers have dvd-sized dividers. The shelves are adjustable. It has a built-in powerstrip. Did I mention that it's in pretty perfect condition? Did I mention that it was free? Did I mention that I LOVE Freecycle?

So, if you haven't tried it out, I recommend you head over to Freecycle.org and sign up to receive email notifications for your area. You just might find something awesome. I just doubt it will be as awesome as what I now have sitting in my livingroom.

The One About Independence Day

2010-08-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a very picture heavy post. I'm just warning you now. We love July 4th. We go a little crazy. Especially when we live in Boston and there are such awesome ways to celebrate the birth of our nation. And we proudly celebrate. Because despite all of it's flaws, I do truly believe that America is an awesome place and I am proud to be an American. I love freedom and I love democracy and I love American history and the way our nation came about to be a nation. I love the heroism of so many people who bravely stood up and fought for something they truly believed in. Despite all odds. I love the stories of sacrifice and dedication. I love that those people stood up to their fears and did not let their fears control them. And I love that, despite all odds and everything going against them, the Continental Army under incredible leadership won battle after battle and came out victorious against the British Army. They were farmers and blacksmiths and shop owners. They were not trained soldiers. But they believed in a cause and they were fighting for the very livelihood of their families, and fighting for something you believe in so strongly is a powerful thing. And incredible things happened. And I love to celebrate that heroism.

This year, Kip and I received special VIP tickets to the Boston Pops concert. The concert is free and held on July 3rd and 4th and everyone stands in line for hours waiting to get a seat on the lawn with their blankets and picnic lunches. We didn't go last year and were trying to decide if it was worth fighting the crowds this year with a 16-month-old in tow. However, thanks to the USO, we didn't have to fight those crowds. The New England USO is one of the best their is, and they had some complimentary July 3rd tickets for military families that we received. The tickets allowed us to forego the lines and arrive much later than most people and still have great seats in actual chairs instead of on blankets. In fact, our seating was about 10 rows back and we arrived at 5pm and our seating was aligned with people who had arrived at 8am to claim the cherished front lawn seats! It was an awesome experience and we loved it.

This is where we were sitting, and the people to the right were the ones who had been waiting since 8am!

This is the awesome set-up at the half shell, where the concert is held every year

Lucy ate LOTS of junkfood, that was given to her by the old people sitting in front of us! They were very nice, and they LOVED Lucy. This was her first lollypop, and it was a big hit!

They had complimentary flags and liberty hats for everyone!

Toby Keith was the guest artist this year. I knew all of the songs and Kip knew none of them!

Confetti snowed down on us at the end, and it was super cool!

July 4th fell on a sunday this year, so we skipped church to head downtown and enjoy the Boston parade, which is always a really fun experience. Boston is a beautiful city with a surprisingly small town feel to it. This is really felt a lot on July 4th, when the parade begins at City Hall and marches along parts of the Freedom Trail. Spectators follow the parade around, and it stops at various locations to pay tribute to certain Founding Fathers, and culminates at the Old State House, where the Declaration of Independence is read from the balcony just as it was in 1776! In 1776, after it was read the listeners celebrated fiercely, and even tore down the horse and lion statues from the top of the House building and burned them, so clearly Boston's reputation of rioting in celebration has a very long history!

Lucy was ready to cheer on the parade of Continental Soldiers with her American Flag

One of our favorite parts of the parade is watching the Minutemen fire their muskets!

These women are volunteers with the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums, and they were incredibly kind and incredibly talented. Lucy and I chatted with them for about 15 minutes.

This is the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was read, and these are the statues that were tore down in riotous celebration in 1776!

After the parade we went to the Coast Guard base, where the USO had a free catered lunch and lots of games and activities for military families.

Lucy looked very cute if I do say so myself, and she really enjoyed the cookies.

She did not, however, enjoy meeting Woody

This is how she stayed for the next 10 minutes, clinging to me with all of her strength and keeping an eye out on Woody, making sure he didn't get too close!

After spending a couple of hours at the base, we came home and prepared for our evening fireworks party. We had a bunch of friends from church come over and we all walked together to Memorial Drive, which is right on the Charles River, to set up camp and enjoy picnic dinners while waiting for the fireworks to begin. We had a great time hanging out together and socializing while listening to the live Pops concert on the big speakers, and we ended the night with an awesome fireworks display!

The kids (and a few adults, too) played Uno to pass the time

All in all, it was a great July 4th celebration weekend!

Rest Day Recipe | Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

2010-08-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

This summer, as I've mentioned before, Kip and I are experimenting with getting our vegetables from a CSA farm share. We use Farmer Dave's, out of Dracut, MA and so far it has been a great experience! We have a small share, but it's so plentiful that we're continually finding ourselves with leftover, unused veggies after a week, so we've been looking for creative ways to put more of these healthy, farm fresh vegetables into our meals. This weekend we tried this recipe for quinoa stuffed bell peppers, with a few slight variations of our own.

Not only were we able to take full advantage of our fresh veggies by using five (5!) different vegetables in one meal, we also discovered a delicious, protein-filled vegetarian dish that we will be returning to quite often! Although we are definitely meat-lovers in this house, we're also thinking and praying through choices that we make in regards to eating meat, both in a healthy way and an ethical way. So, I'm always thrilled to find great vegetarian meals that provide everything our bodies need. We love that this dish is a healthy meal packed full of plenty or vitamins and nutrients, and, thanks to the quinoa, also full of protein, amino acids, and iron. Quinoa has a nutty flavor/texture, so it really works great as a meat replacement, and as my husband said, "That quinoa is a sneaky filler upper!" We had plenty of leftovers, which are now in our freezer and will be used as a soup base sometime in the coming weeks.

So, here's what I did to make these stuffed peppers work for us:

1.) I cooked the Quinoa. It's two parts water, one part Quinoa. I cooked 2 cups water and 1 cup quinoa. I used red quinoa that I picked up at my local spice store, but any kind would work just fine. I just happen to think the red is the prettiest.

2.) I sauteed a chopped up jalapeno (minus the seeds, but next time we might add a few of those for more kick) and some chopped up green onions, then I added some fresh corn, chopped spinach, minced garlic, cumin, salt and pepper and I heated the mixture until the spinach began to wilt and it smelled really, really fragrant.

3.) I sliced the bell peppers open, removed the seeds and membranes, and boiled in water until they began to get tender

4.) I drained the quinoa and added the sauteed mixture to the quinoa and mixed it together well. After it cooled I mixed in feta cheese.

5.) I then sauteed some sliced onions in a little oil and some white wine.

6.) I put the onions in the bottom of a square baking dish, placed the peppers on top and filled them with the quinoa mixture.

7.) I baked them on 400 for 25 minutes, and they came out looking like this:

They were delicious! Even Lucy loved them. They were bursting with flavor, and the feta added a rich saltiness to them that worked beautifully! It's a really easy meal to put together, with about 15 minutes of prep time and 25 minutes of baking time. I didn't serve them with anything else because they are already packed full of veggies and grains, so it made for an easy meal for this mom of a toddler to cook while still chasing after my adventurous little lady.

Give them a try and let me know what you think!

It's a May week in June

2010-07-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

Our first group of visitors for the summer arrived in June when Mike and Claire May came to Boston for a week. For those of you who don't know, Claire is one of my very best friends from college. We've managed to see each other fairly often in the past six years since we graduated, mostly since Claire always seems to come to me. She has visited me in Washington, Virginia, and now Massachusetts! The last time we saw each other was at our 5 year college reunion in Tennessee in 2008 when I was barely pregnant with Lucy. Originally Kip and I had been hoping to drop into Tennessee to visit the May's in may when we would be in Atlanta and Chattanooga for weddings and graduations, but the timing wasn't working out very well. And then Mike found out he would be sent to Boston for some training, so that created the perfect time for us college pals to hang out and for Claire to get some Lucy time.

During the week Mike and Kip were working, so us ladies explored the state on our own. We did some fun sightseeing, some kind of odd sightseeing, and some great catching up on all things under the sun. In the evenings Claire and Mike did exploring on their own, and on the two weekends that they were here we all hung out together. It works out nicely that we both married men that each other like and who like each other, too!

We spent one day in Cape Cod, but I think the best part of that day was probably how cute Lucy looked during her first beach experience. It really had less to do with Cape Cod and more with our lack of researching where to go, but we were less than impressed. So, we let Lucy hang out on the beach and got a few pictures.

And then Lucy decided to run away, so Claire chased after her. Lucy learned it's harder to run away in sand than on grass when Claire easily caught her and snatched her into her arms.

We left the Cape and went to Plymouth. Which might still be considered part of the Cape. I'm really not sure about that. In any case, we really loved Plymouth and were happy we made the impromptu stop. We saw Plymouth Rock and then Lucy tried to run away again, this time toward the boats. We caught her that time, too.

We also managed to take the obligatory trip to Lexington and Concord and the Minuteman National Park. This is us at Paul Revere's capture sight:

And then Lucy played peekaboo:

After admiring her cuteness we had a picnic where no pictures were taken, probably because we were too busy chasing the 1-year-old, and then we headed to the home of the Little Women! We saw where Louisa May Alcott lived and wrote Little Women and took a really great tour of the home. I think it was one of our favorite things we did all week. We were very impressed with the tour!

When the weekend arrived we all had a great dinner in Harvard Square, where Mike and Lucy got some good bonding time in. She really liked him once she got used to the beard!

After dinner we picked up some delicious brownie batter ice cream and sat on the Harvard Yard to enjoy it. It really didn't last too long, because, I mean, it was brownie batter ice cream! The good conversation did, though, and we had a great time just hanging out and talking and laughing the night away.

And then we introduced Claire to John Harvard. Or so we thought, until Claire and Mike took the Harvard tour and learned that it's really just a statue of Professor Whore! But that's a story for another day.

One of the last things we did with the May's was one of the top things on Mike's Boston to-do list, but one of the last things to get accomplished since Kip also reaaaalllllly wanted to do it, so it got pushed to Saturday when they were both available. We toured the Sam Adams Brewery. At 10am on saturday morning. And drank free beer at 10am. I don't recommend it. The 10am drinking, that is. The tour was actually really fun.

All in all, it was a great week in June! Claire and I had lots of fun just getting to hang out again and have lots of talks and laughs together. We had some fun adventures. We had fun hanging out with our husbands together. Claire and Mike had fun playing with Lucy. The boys had fun drinking beer in the A.M. We're blessed to have such dear friends, even if we don't see each other very often. Next time we'll have to make the trip to TN. Or maybe the Mays will come see us again in whatever place the Navy decides to send us to next!

Ice cream!

2010-07-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Whew! These past few weeks have been a crazy whirlwind for us! Today is the first down day I've had since late June, and I'm having a great day just hanging out with my little lady.

I'm hoping to soon add details and pictures for the past few weeks, which will include some July 4th pictures, some wedding anniversary trip pictures, some Grandma and Grandpa babysitting Lucy pictures, some NYC pictures and some sister and nieces visiting pictures.

For now, here's Lucy participating in one of her new favorite things to do, eating ice cream!

Rest Day Recipe(s) | Pizza Night

2010-07-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! This is one of my favorite holidays, and I especially like celebrating it in Boston. Today my family has already been to a parade, where tribute was paid to particular founding fathers, muskets were shot by "minutemen", and the Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony of the Old State House, just as it was in 1776!

Right now I have rolls baking in the oven for our evening picnic with friends to watch the fireworks in a couple of hours. As I've been preparing for friends to come to my house tonight, I've been running to and fro getting cleaning and cooking done, and all of that work made me hungry! I was happy to discover some left overs in my fridge from our friday night pizza night, which I quickly scarfed down.

They were so yummy, I thought I would share the recipes. Our family does friday night pizza and movie nights. We have a great local pizza place, but we also enjoy making our own pizzas (and saving money on buying pizza!), so we alternate weeks of buying a pizza and making a pizza. This past friday was a week to make a pizza, and we tried one from a food blog I enjoy reading.

The pizza dough I used was her overnight whole wheat pizza dough. I think this is now my go-to pizza dough recipe. The recipe made enough for two pizzas, so I have a whole pizza's worth of dough sitting in my freezer waiting for the next time I make pizza. I did forget to make it the night before, but I made it friday morning and it sat in the fridge for about 8 hours before I made the pizza, and that seemed to work just fine. Also, once I started making the dough, I realized I only had about 1/2 a cup of all purpose flour remaining in my cupboard, so my dough ended up being mostly whole wheat. It was so good that way, I think I'll keep it mostly wheat in the future, too.

The pizza we chose to make was the Sherry Mushroom Pizza. We love mushrooms and chicken and sour cream and sherry, and this pizza put all of those together into one massive form of deliciousness! I will say, next time I will just use mozzarella cheese and maybe throw in a little feta. The fontina was a little pricy, and I didn't really love the taste of it. Also, I decided to use some leftover chicken breasts, but when I went to grab them out of the fridge there was not as much as I remembered, so this pizza was more like 90% mushrooms, 10% chicken. But, we love mushrooms, that was just fine with us.

To balance out the richness of the pizza, we enjoyed some garden fresh salads, made from the contents of this week's csa food share. I used iceberg lettuce (which is much, much different when it comes from the farm than when it comes from the grocery store), peas, grated radish and feta cheese. It was fabulous, and made even more so by this delicious dressing that my friend Janet shared on her blog.

And to top it all off, we made some frozen Slap Yo Mama Margarita's! A friend from FL gave me this recipe, so I whipped it up and threw it in the ice cream maker to make them frozen. It's the only way we'll drink them now, because they. were. awesome. To make them all you do is mix together these things:

12 Oz Frozen Limeade
24 Oz 7-Up
12 OZ Corona Beer
1 Cup Tequila

So . . . that was our friday night dinner. It was one that is sure to be repeated at our house, and now maybe one that will be tried in yours, too.

Since I've been typing my friends have all arrived and I'm being anti-social while blogging, so I'm checking out for now. Happy Independence Day, everyone!

A Rest Day Recipe | Tat Soi Veggie Pasta

2010-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

This past week our CSA/Farm Share began! I have been anxiously awaiting this, since I have been eager to eat locally grown organic produce on a weekly basis. The first week, we received a lot of greens, since it's still early in the season, and I have enjoyed finding creative ways to use these nutrient-rich and interesting vegetables. Here's a look at week one's produce:

You might see a few things you don't recognize. I certainly didn't recognize all of the items. We have a CSA where we get to pick and choose certain items, which I really like. This week, we got the choice between Bok Choy and Tat Soi. I had no idea what tat soi was, but it was pretty and I decided it would be fun to experiment with.

Tat soi seemed to me to be a mix between cabbage and spinach, so I decided to incorporate it into a pasta, and the result was something we all loved and will definitely be having again!

Here's the recipe:

1.) First, put a box of pasta onto boil.

I happened to have a box of whole grain penne pasta, but I think any kind of small pasta would work well. I will probably use rotini or farfalle next time.

2.) While the pasta is boiling, heat some sesame oil and add some minced garlic. We're big garlic people, so I used a lot, but you can adjust this based on your personal tastes.

3.) Once the garlic starts to brown, add some shredded carrots and sliced mushrooms and cook until tender. Set aside in separate bowl.

4.) When the pasta is nearly done, melt some butter in skillet and when it is heated add the drained pasta and mix to coat pasta.

5.) Once pasta is coated, add garlic/carrot/mushroom mixture as well as tat soi and sage, and heat until tat soi begins to soften and wilt

6.) Turn off heat and add in grated cheese. I used asiago, and because we're such cheese lovers, I also added in some feta. In our house, we believe feta makes everything 'bettah! Save a small amount of the cheese to garnish plates.

7.) Put into bowls, garnish with cheese and serve!

Tat Soi Veggie Pasta

1 box of small pasta

1 Tablespoon of sesame oil

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

5-6 carrots, shredded

8-10 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 stick butter

1-3 bunches of tat soi

1/4 cup of chopped or minced sage

1/2-1 cup of hard/sharp cheese, grated

Boil pasta. Heat oil in pan, add minced garlic, and brown. Add carrots and mushroom and saute. Remove vegetable mixture from pan and set aside. Melt butter in pan and add cooked pasta and mix to coat. Add vegetable mixture and tat soi and heat until tat soi begins to wilt from heat. Remove from heat. Add in most of cheese and stir to melt. Serve in bowls and garnish with remaining cheese.

Happy Father's Day, Kip!

2010-06-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

I always wanted boys. And then I met my husband. And he made me want girls. There are so many girls in this fallen, broken world that have been abused and hurt and mistreated and unloved by their earthly daddies. The way I see it, in this world of broken relationships between fathers and daughters, God provided me with an opportunity to provide at least one little girl with a Daddy who would love her and teach her what it means to be loved by a Daddy the way our heavenly Father loves us. So many girls do not have that, and a few years ago I started thinking that I needed to have girls so they could experience it. And that's when I started wanting girls.

I thought I would have a boy. And every day I'm so thankful that I didn't. And not only because of the amazingness of who Lucy is, although that is certainly part of it. I'm also thankful everyday that I have a girl instead of a boy because of the relationship I daily observe between my husband and my daughter.

I am often brought to tears when I see or think about Kip's love and tenderness and gentleness with his daughter. Lucy is blessed beyond measure to have the Daddy that she has, and I am amazed and thankful at God's goodness to her. I am also amazed by her Daddy. A guy who came from a family of all boys is now the Daddy of a little girl. A whole new world has been opened up to him! I love seeing his protectiveness of his little girl. And I love seeing his bafflement and his confusion over girly clothes and toys. And I love seeing him teach her things. And I love seeing the joy he experiences when Lucy is asleep on his shoulder or laughing at his tickling or kissing his cheeks. And I love seeing Lucy get excited when Daddy comes home, or when he spins her in the air or when he kisses her hurts or wipes her tears away. It is a beautiful picture of the love God has for us that I have been blessed to observe in the persons of my husband and my daughter. Wow.

My husband is an amazing man. He is a wonderful husband and a wonderful Daddy. He gets up in the middle of the night and feeds Lucy. Not just every once in awhile. Every single time she wakes up. When she was little he would get up and bring her to me. Now, he gets up and takes the bottle to her. He changes her poopy diapers without complaining. Not just when I ask him to. He frequently offers to do it for me so I don't have to. He sings to her at night to get her to sleep. A special song that he saves only for her. He feeds her applesauce and yogurt and cookies and icecream. He taught her how to drink out of a straw. He teaches her new words. Yesterday he taught her how to catch a football. He reads her bible stories and he prays for her. He teaches her about Jesus.

I love my husband and Lucy loves her Daddy. We are blessed.

Happy Father's Day to you, Kip!

Blueberries . . .yum!

2010-06-17T06:02:00.001-07:00

You can call her Jackson Pollack!

2010-06-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

I think we all create and express art in different ways, and it is so exciting and incredible for me to think about all of the beauty and creativity that God chose to place in his creation, both in nature and in people.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to as Lucy gets older is to teach her about creation and creativity and the arts. I'm excited about showing her the arts and helping her to appreciate the beauty, as well as supporting her as she discovers the creativity God has given her and how she will outwardly express it.

Francis Schaeffer wrote, "For a Christian, redeemed by the work of Christ and living within the norms of Scripture and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Lordship of Christ should include an interest in the arts. A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God -- not just as tracts, but as things of beauty to the praise of God. And art work can be a doxology in itself."

I love this quote! We are thinking through how art does and should influence our doxology, but I do believe that appreciating and actively living out art in our lives can be expressed in thousands and thousands of ways and God has given humans unique abilities to express art in ways that imitate the beauty of Christ.

So, this week I helped Lucy express some of her very own art. Admittedly, this idea was not my own, but I stole it from this blog. I gave Lucy a blank slate and let her create in her own special way. I loved watching her move from curiosity to uncertainty to increased curiosity to discovery and joy.

We both, along with my kitchen counter, got really messy and had a great time doing it! I don't know what Lucy's natural creative bent will be as she grows, but I loved seeing her express herself with paint and color at 15 months of age. And I'm pretty sure she loved it, too.

And with this quote in mind by Franz Cizek, "What adults call 'wrong' in Child Art is the most beautiful and most precious. I value highly those things done by small children. They are the first and purest source of artistic creation," I resisted my longings to "fix" parts of the canvas and allowed the finished product to be what Lucy made it. Even the part when she managed to get one of the drying canvasses from the kitchen counter and carry it around without my knowledge and smeared some of the paint. I was however, thankful for washable paint, because I'm not quite to the point where I'm willing to let Lucy's creativity be expressed on my kitchen floor, and stove, and refrigerator, and cabinets!

Lucy's first creations turned out quite well and I see beauty in them because I see her own expression, which I completely believe is an expression of Glory to God from my toddler. The finished product is now proudly displayed on my kitchen wall!

I couple of "first's"

2010-06-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Annapolis last week to visit Kip's family provided Lucy with a couple of first-time experiences. It's so much fun to see her discover the world around her and experience things that open new doors of discovery and wander.

1.) First Boat Ride

Lucy's grandparents and daddy have been anxious for Lucy to experience her first boat ride, and as it turns out, our first night in Annapolis was the perfect opportunity for that event to occur. It was a beautiful night, so we all got in the boat and headed to downtown Annapolis for dinner and gelato. Lucy hated it for about the first 10 minutes and she is not a big fan of the super-cute baby straight jacket life jacket, but after a few minutes she figured out the whole process and had a lot of fun on the boat.

2.) First trip to D.C.

Lucy's mommy, while not so concerned about the boat ride, has been anxious for Lucy to experience Washington, D.C. for the first time. This trip also provided the perfect opportunity for that, and we had a great time introducing Lucy to our Nation's Capital. We explored the Washington Monument grounds, the WWII Memorial, the Mall and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

A Comparison: City Running Vs. Country Running

2010-05-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

What I learned when I was in Georgia last week:

Running in the city:

Your nose is often greeted with the not so pleasant scent of sewage

Running in the country:

Your nose is pleasantly greeted with the fresh aroma of honeysuckle

Running in the city:

Your ears are greeted with the sounds of car horns and sirens and construction

Running in the country:

Your ears are greeted with the sounds or birds chirping and dogs barking and bees buzzing

Running in the city:

It might be hot, but there is always the occasional shade between tall buildings

Running in the country:

It's hot and there are no tall buildings to provide shade

Running in the city:

There are regular and short distance markers, like city blocks or bus stops

Running in the country:

There are not any regular distance markers, but instead you can see miles ahead without any real distance markers in sight

Running in the city:

Homeless people and construction workers leave you feeling icky when they stare at you and make the occasional comment

Running in the country:

Crazy old hillbilly men with long white beards leave you feeling icky and kind of creeped out when they make strange comments and mimic your running as though it is something new that they have never seen

Running in the city:

It's pretty difficult to get lost, because most of the city is on a grid

Running in the country:

They've never heard of a grid and it's really, really easy to get lost

Running in the city:

You set out to run a certain distance, and that's what you do

Running in the country:

You set out to run a certain distance, take one wrong turn, and end up running twice that distance before even seeing civilization again

Running in the city:

If you get lost, you discover new and interesting sights and usually some cool neighborhoods, parks, or restaurants

Running in the country:

If you get lost, you discover things best left undiscovered, like overgrown homes flying the confederate flag, unleashed rabid-looking dogs, and creepy houses with video cameras pointing toward the street and signs referring to said house as "The heartbreak hotel"

Running in the city:

If you get lost, there might be scary people or neighborhoods, but the danger feels minimal because there are always lots of witnesses around to hear you scream if attacked

Running in the country:

If you get lost, no one will have any idea where you are and the danger feels imminent because there is no one around to hear you scream if attacked by the owner of the heartbreak hotel. Except maybe the man burning his leaves, but he seems pretty caught up in that task to pay attention to the lone running girl

Running in the city:

If you get lost and are exhausted from running twice your intended distance, there is always a bus or a taxi that can take you home

Running in the country:

If you get lost and are exhausted from running twice your intended distance, the nice old manager of the gas station is willing to drive you home. He will also slow down at every house having a yard sale, talk about the great deals found at yard sales, point out his own house to you, and talk about Massachusetts with you because he just happens to have been born there.

Running in the city:

It can seem exciting because there's always interesting things to look at and occupy your thoughts

Running in the country:

It can seem boring because there is not much to look at

Running in the city:

It's actually straight-forward and has little unexpected excitement

Running in the country:

It's unexpectedly full of confusion and fear and excitement and good stories

Running in the city:

It's what you'll find me doing from now on

Running in the country:

It's what I'll leave to other runners

A Week in Review

2010-04-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday:

We skipped church. Kip had too much homework and I overslept. Since we never really know the nursery situation at church, it's hard for me to go alone anyway because if I have to keep Lucy with me I won't hear anything.

We called our landlord to see if he would be bringing the new washing machine by, since the other one had broke the week before. He said no. He said he would bring it on tuesday.

We drove an hour to the NH/MA border to meet up with Kip's best friend from the Academy, Dave. We hadn't seen him since 2006, but he was in NH for work so we got to see him. We had a great time sharing a bloomin' onion and good conversation with him.

Monday:

I went to the store to buy more boxers for Kip. All of his were dirty, and buying more seemed a whole lot easier than lugging laundry, quarters, and a baby to a laundromat.

I made some more homemade bread.

Tuesday:

It was dreary and rainy. I read some books and watched some television and played with Lucy.

I worked on wedding programs for my cousin's wedding next weekend. They're looking awesome.

My landlord called to say he couldn't get a new washing machine here until thursday.

We stayed in until my swim class, and then we met up with Kip. He ran over my toes with the stroller and I had an emotional breakdown and decided to skip swim class. It was the best decision I made all day. Instead, we headed to an empty computer room on campus and used the paper cutter to cut all of the programs to size and then went home and I broke my green smoothie diet to eat a real, yummy dinner.

I was disappointed to discover that Lost was a rerun, but Kip wasn't since he had too much homework to watch it, anyway.

Wednesday:

We ran errands.

I started the stamping phase of the wedding programs.

I talked to a couple of friends on the phone.

I did some amazon shopping.

Lucy entertained herself for hours with her wooden blocks, and then I let her watch The Muppet Movie. It was her first time with the Muppets, and really, with Television. She's in love. I think it's with the muppets, but it might just be the TV.

I gave Lucy a bath in the middle of the day after a very dirty diaper followed by her peeing in herself while diaper-less.

I did some more reading.

I put Lucy to bed and met a dear friend at Starbucks for good drinks and good conversation.

I laid awake in bed for a long time after the mistake of ordering a grande caramel macchiato and not making it decaf.

Thursday

I cleaned. A lot.

I worked more on the wedding programs and dried up the ink pad, so I had to go buy a new one.

Lucy took one, teeny tiny nap the whole entire day.

Our landlord came by and replaced the washing machine with another used washing machine.

I started laundry.

I went to swim class and struggled through learning the breaststroke, and then worked out the frustration of that on the elliptical.

I came home to finish the laundry, and discovered that the new washing machine lacks the necessary function to be able to spin.

Kip called the landlord.

Soul Care (our church community group) was cancelled, so I stayed home and watch Grey's Anatomy instead.

Friday

Lucy fell off of the couch for the first time. She only wanted her daddy to comfort her. I needed him to comfort me, too.

After a week of being obsessed with strawberries, today Lucy wants nothing to do with them.

In searching for things for her to eat, I've realized it's time to grocery shop.

I will attempt to finish the stamping phase of the wedding programs.

I might have to go buy even more underwear.

I will clean my bathroom and guest bedroom/study, because my in-laws are coming into town tonight.

I will pray for Kip as he takes a super-big test that has to do with all things propeller.

I will hope we get a working washing machine today or tomorrow I indeed might be lugging laundry and quarters and baby to the laundromat.

I will rejoice that it's friday and be thankful for the beautiful, warm weather after the cold and rainy weather of the past few days.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Bon Appetite!

2010-04-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

Kip has been incredibly busy lately with school, and we haven't had a lot of time to spend together. But, last friday night we unexpectedly got a chance to go on a date. We attended a French Cooking class at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.

I registered myself for the class a few months ago, after Kip gave me a gift certificate for classes on my birthday. Originally, we had wanted to take a couples cooking class, but they were booked through the end of summer. I was told; however, that this French cooking class was very similar to the couples classes, so two weeks ago I put Kip on a waiting list for the class. I didn't expect an opening to become available, but about four hours before the class I got an email informing me of an opening.

I scrambled to find a babysitter, and miraculously I did! Two of our dear friends gave up their friday night together to watch our little Lucy! I picked Kip up from school and he was expecting to go home and babysit while I attended the class, but I surprised him with the information that we had a babysitter and a date ahead of us!

We had a great time at the class and learned alot! There were twelve people in the class, and the menu included things like Mussels in Cream Sauce, Chicken Fricassee with Cognac, Individual Beef Wellingtons (these were definitely everyone's favorite!), Pommes Dauphinoise, Fraises Au Poivre Et Au Rouge (Strawberries in a wine sauce, which were really good), and Cream Puffs (which sadly, did not puff, so they became cookies instead). After cooking and plating everything, we all sat down to enjoy good wine, fine French cuisine, and engaging conversation.

It was a fabulous date night, and one we're hoping to do again soon.

Missional Living - it might just change YOUR life!

2010-04-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

When we moved to the Boston area last summer, we came here with the desire and intention of living missionally in this city. We wanted to engage the culture, know our neighbors, and love our community. That is still our desire and our intention.

This is the story of the result of one of our efforts to live missionally and love those around us. It is also a story of how God unexpectedly blessed and enriched our lives through an unlikely relationship.

We live on a small, private alley in the Inman Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and on our alley there are four homes. We live in an attached home with one next door neighbor, and directly across from our homes is another attached house of two separate homes. Over the summer, we developed relationships with all three of our neighbors - a single woman in her 40's, a 30-something married couple, and a divorcee in her 70's - and even gathered together with them for wine socials. In October, the divorcee, An, left for the winter as she does most years and rented her house out to a couple from Denmark named Thomas and Ellen.

And this is the story of Thomas and Ellen. Or rather, the story of Thomas and Ellen and Kip and Beth and Lucy.

Thomas and Ellen are in their late 50's/early 60's. He is a professor of hydrodynamics (or something equally as complicated! I'll have to ask Kip again to make sure I got that right) in Denmark and she is a linguist. They came to Boston for 6 months while Thomas was on sabbatical from the University in Denmark to conduct research and teach at MIT.

We met them when they arrived and our paths crossed briefly a few times as we we were coming or going from our homes. Kip and I felt like we should reach out to them, per our missional goal, so we decided to invite them to our home for Thanksgiving dinner. We had also invited several other people we thought might need a place to go on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone else already had plans. And so did Thomas and Ellen. A friend of theirs from Connecticut would be coming up with his wife to share Thanksgiving with them.

We were a little sad. We had great intentions of being missional during Thanksgiving, but no one needed us to! The night after we invited them over for thanksgiving, Kip and I got a babysitter and went out on a date. We went to a small restaurant in our neighborhood and while there we ran into Thomas and Ellen. They thanked us profusely for the invitation and then asked us to join them and their friends for Thanksgiving dinner.

It was not our first desire, but once we (meaning, I) came to terms with the fact that I would not be hosting a Thanksgiving like I had hoped to do, we happily accepted Thomas and Ellen's invitation to have Thanksgiving at their house. And, boy, are we glad we did!

We found Thomas and Ellen to be gracious, kind, intelligent, humorous, interesting people. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with them and their friends and it was that evening that our real relationship began.

As I said, Ellen is a linguist. She speaks 11 different languages and can read 13 languages. She has read the bible in its original languages. She is a fascinating woman. She also has a masters degree in theology, and refers to herself as a theologian. On Thanksgiving, she described herself to Kip in that way and they engaged in a discussion about its meaning as Thomas and the friends were busy in the kitchen and I perused the amazing floor to ceiling bookshelves in the house while eavesdropping on Kip and Ellen's conversation and praying about it.

Kip asked, "Do you consider yourself religious at all?"

And she responded with, "I find myself going in and out of religion, and whenever I am out, and I am always trying to get back in."

Kip invited her to attend church with us, and she immediately responded enthusiastically and positively. The rest of the evening turned into a wonderful Thanksgiving memory for us.

A few weeks later Ellen went to church with us. We asked her if Thomas would also like to come, but she responded in a light-hearted, joking way that "He's a heathen!" In Denmark, there is a state church, and every minister preaches from the same text each sunday. She was fascinated that our pastor chooses what he will speak about. Ellen described the Danish church as "cold" and thoroughly enjoyed the genuine and warm and (although she would not describe it this way) Christ-like love of our church. I do not remember what was preached, but I do remember that it led to conversations on the way home in which we were able to lay out the message of The Gospel to Ellen.

Over the next weeks our relationship with Thomas and Ellen deepened. During a snowstorm when Kip was out of town, Thomas shoveled my porch and Lucy and I went to their house for an afternoon tea. They offered to be Lucy's "substitute grandparents" and babysit so we could go on date nights, and we felt perfectly comfortable letting them do so. They absolutely love Lucy and she developed a sincere affection for them and would always light up when Thomas and Ellen were around. In December, we were surprised and honored when they invited us to their house for a traditional Danish Christmas Eve dinner. Their children, who are our age, were in town and they wanted us to meet them and become a part of their family for the night. We were happy to do so!

Our Christmas night experience was unforgettable. That night, we were a part of their family and they were a part of ours. We participated in traditional Danish festivities, some of which we have decided to adopt as customs in our own home. Thomas asked Kip to read the Christmas story, and then we enjoyed tea by candlelight as we discussed Christianity and faith and grace. And Thomas told us, that based on Ellen's description, he wanted to attend church with us. This was huge! Thomas had not entered a church in more than 20 years!

Thomas and Ellen, with Lucy and their children, Freida and Neils, and Christmas Eve

A few weeks later, Thomas and Ellen both came to church. Our friend Joie, who has had a rough life and has experienced grace and love and transformation at the foot of the cross, preached that day. His sermon could not have been better timed. He spoke about faith and the difficulty that men sometimes have in accepting God's free gift of grace and of the power of the cross to transform lives. He spoke from his heart, and it touched our hearts and the hearts of Thomas and Ellen. After the service, during lunch at our house, Thomas asked deep questions about what he had heard. He did not agree with everything, but he was seeking to understand it all. Seeds were planted that raised questions to ponder in his heart and mind. Two weeks later, Thomas and Ellen attended church with us again, this time to see Lucy be dedicated.

It was the last time they came to church with us, but not the last time we spent time together. They celebrated Lucy's birthday with us, we shared meals together, Lucy and I spent time at Ellen's table chatting about all kinds of things, Ellen spent time in my kitchen teaching me how to make bread. We shared life together and we were each other's family.

Lucy LOVES Thomas and Ellen

They returned to Denmark a couple of weeks ago. Did they accept Christ as their Savior before leaving? No. Was their view and understanding of Christ and His Church transformed before they left? I think that it was. Will they accept Christ as their Savior? I pray that they do. I don't know what will happen in their lives, but I trust that seeds of truth were planted. God is an omnipotent God who moves in the hearts and minds of His created beings. It is not I who save people by how I relate to them or what I say to them. I am called to plant seeds, but it is Christ who saves.

Our friendship with Thomas and Ellen began because we had a desire to live missionally. It was a task we were trying to accomplish. And in the midst of trying to be missional, we encountered real people with real stories. And our hearts were transformed. We put a face and real human emotions on what it means to live missionally. And at the other end of our missional project, we found a couple who became dear friends and whom we learned to love. And it is our love for them that now spurs us on to continue to live missionally - with them, across an ocean, and with others whom we encounter near us - because missional living has become a real, breathing thing to us, not just a task to complete. Living missionally isn't a task. It is living in relationship.

At the end of their time in the U.S., Thomas and Ellen found dear friends who they respect and who challenged their view of Christianity. And we found dear friends whose friendship we will always cherish. And that is the story of Thomas and Ellen and Kip and Beth and Lucy.

I do not know how it will end, or where it will go. I do not know how God will continue to use this experience in their lives; or really, how He will use it in ours. But I know that He will. And I know that God is all-powerful, and it is He who works in the hearts and minds of men.

This was taken minutes before Thomas and Ellen left for the airport to return to Denmark

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 2:7-20

A few shout-outs

2010-04-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for the day is to finish a long blog post that I've been working on for a couple of weeks. One I've probably been putting off because I don't want to think about it. But today I will. And tonight I will post it.

For now, though, I just want to point you in the direction of a few blog posts I've read recently that I thought were particularly good.

1.) Mitchell Meanderings
My dear friend Emily wrote this post about being a stay at home wife and/or mom, and I think she did a great job dealing with an issue that many moms, moms-to-be, and not-yet-even-thinking-about-being-moms struggle with in our culture.

2.) The Frugal Girl
This is a blog I have recently discovered through a friend, and I recommend you peruse her whole blog, because there's some good stuff on it. However, this post about extending grace more readily when the item is more frugal struck a particular cord with me, so go check it out!

3.) Practical Theology for Women
Okay, this post was actually written a while ago, but I think it's a good one. As Kip and I are considering and praying about discipline methods in our home, this post gives food for thought on the issue of spanking.

Now I'm off to clean up the dried figs Lucy spilled on the kitchen floor and has been trying to eat with the *clean* fork she pulled out of the dishwasher! Have a good day and happy reading to you all!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday in Boston was absolutely beautiful! I only wish I had remembered to photograph it better. The day was sunny and in the high 70's, which I guess is unusual for New England, but we felt blessed to be able to wear our spring clothes on our first Easter here. We began the day when the alarm went off at 5:30am. We got up and dressed and walked to Christ the King, the neighborhood PCA church that we do not attend, so that we could attend their sunrise service. It was my first ever sunrise service, and as awesome as it was to be able to wake up and immediately give praise to Christ for the resurrection, I found myself a little disappointed that, 1.) the service occurred about 40 minutes past the actual sunrise, and 2.) the sunrise service was indoors. Still, it was awesome and we'll make it our tradition to attend that service while we live here. After that, I went for an Easter morning run and then came home where we rushed around to get ready to head to our church.

Some of the rushing was related to finishing these little boxes of chocolate eggs for friends and giving Lucy her Easter basket, which was temporarily forgot amidst my desire for a morning run - oops.

We don't "do" the Easter bunny at our house - my neighbor asked if we dressed up as a bunny - do people do that? - but we do give an Easter basket. I neglected to get things to put in the plastic eggs, but Lucy didn't mind. She had a great time just opening and closing the empty eggs.

After church we grabbed some burritos from Olecito, our local version of chipotle and headed to Harvard for a picnic. Lucy had a great time playing on the grass and eating tortilla chips.

Trying to find the perfect chip:

Inspecting her choice:

Acceptance:

After a great afternoon, we headed home and I realized I had not taken any picture of Lucy in her Easter dress, so we redressed her and took some mock photos. Silly? Yes. Glad I did it? Absolutely!

Her dress is a 6-9 month old size and was given to her as a gift to wear last summer. I was happy on Sunday morning when I went to her closet to find an outfit for her and discovered that this one, which did not fit her last summer, fit her perfectly on Easter Sunday, at 13 months of age!

The Daily Lit

2010-03-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a lot lately. In fact, after a quick count of the books I'm going through right now, I discovered to my surprise that I am reading six different books! I've been this way since childhood, and have always loved reading and have always read multiple books at one time.

However, I'm finding that life with a toddler and the busyness of life in general at this time often prevents me from finishing a book as quickly as I might like. One of the six books I'm reading I've actually been reading since December! Hopefully I'll finish that one today, though.

For all of you who love reading and don't find the time to do it as often as you'd like because of kids, or work or whatever your particular kind of busyness is, I thought I would share something I discovered a few months ago.

It's called DailyLit . Now, perhaps this little gem has been around awhile and I have only recently discovered it and it's old news to all of you. But in case it actually is as hidden of a gem as I think it is, I am here to share! DailyLit is a service that will email a book - segment by segment - on a daily basis. In fact, you can actually customize how long you want each segment to be, what time of the day you want to receive it, and what days you want to receive it. And it's all for free!

I get my book segments at 7am on weekdays and use the average length segment size. So far I have read The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The latter was only 32 installments, and I had that one delivered on weekends as well as weekdays so I could get through it in a month. I am currently on day 2 of The House of Seven Gables. It's 121 installments, so I'll be with this one awhile.

So, if you wish you had time to read more, but just can't seem to find that time anywhere, give DailyLit a try. Happy reading!

Green Smoothie Challenge

2010-03-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I started the Green Smoothie Challenge! I first heard about this from my friend Noelle, who lives in Seattle. She did the challenge a couple of months ago and it was a great experience for her. So, I've decided to give it a try and I'm currently on day 2. For those of you who don't know, a green smoothie is a smoothie made up of fruits, leafy green vegetables, and water. They have tremendous health benefits and are packed full of vitamins and antioxidants. They also have a toxin eliminating aspect to them as they eliminate all the bad toxins from your bloodstream that can accumulate from eating unhealthy or processed foods. I know this challenge will be hard for me, but I'm determined and I am on a good track for success so far. I experienced a really horrible headache yesterday and a slight one today, but I think that is just the cleansing/elimination process doing its work. I'm hoping that the headaches will end in the next couple of days and I'll begin to experience all of the great benefits of green smoothies!

Day One

I began the challenge with a smoothie that was recommended as a good "starter" because it is sweet and masks the flavor of the greens well. This particular smoothie contains bananas and romaine lettuce.

I put them in the blender and this is what I got:

It was really yummy. Well, if you like bananas, which I do. My husband, who does not like bananas, tried it and his comment was, "It would probably taste really good to me if I liked bananas." It was really sweet and really all I could taste was the banana.

Day Two

Today I decided to get a little more adventurous with my smoothie. First, I tossed some of these into the blender:

Then I added one of these:

And lastly I added some of this nutrient-packed organic baby spinach:

And the smoothie turned out a little less green, and a lot more brown. It wasn't sweet like the smoothie on day one; rather, it had more of a tart taste too it. And I loved it! Lucy did too, when I gave her a few small tastes.

Day Three

Who knows? I'll have to see what I can come up with. I'm thinking some sort of blackberry-banana-spinach combo. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Par-tay!

2010-03-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

Lucy was born on saturday of last year, which means that her birthday fell on a sunday this year for her first birthday. That worked out perfectly for us to be able to celebrate her first birthday on her actual birthday. And celebrate we did!

We started out in church on Sunday morning when she was dedicated by our pastor, Matt. In our church, dedications are taken seriously, yet are very informal and short. We were happy to be able to dedicate Lucy to God and commit before our church family to raise Lucy in the love of the Lord and the truth of the gospel and communicate this through public admittance and corporate prayer. Lucy isn't smiling in this picture, but she was great for the whole thing and even smiled a lot!

When we got home from church Lucy napped and I ran to the party store to pick up the balloons for the afternoon birthday party. Lucy was in a great mood when she woke up and had lots of fun playing with the balloons. Three days after her party, we're still playing with them! My mom is holding her in the picture below. We were so excited that she was able to come up from Georgia to spend Lucy's first birthday with us. Lucy loved having her here, and I think she is still wondering where Mimi went!

I considered buying Lucy's birthday cake, but then decided that making it would be fun and more personal. I had a ton of fun doing it! It was the first time I decorated a cake, and I think it turned out pretty well. Lucy loves blocks, so I decided to make alphabet blocks to spell out her name. Because the fondant frosting doesn't taste very good, I also make some colorful buttercream frostings that people could eat with the cake. It made the table even more colorful, which I loved!

We did a couple of different things at the party. The first thing we did was read Lucy's 1st year "special" birthday card. At one of my baby showers, everyone in attendance was given a number when they arrived, and then during the shower they made a birthday card for Lucy that corresponded with the number they drew, so that we have a birthday card to give her for every birthday until she turns 20. The first year birthday card coincidentally matched perfectly the colors I used for the party decor. The card was from Aunt Lindsey, who is married to one of Kip's brothers.

In addition to reading the birthday card aloud, we also played the "Lucy Milestone Game." There were 12 milestones, one for each month of Lucy's age. The party attendees got to guess which month each milestone occurred in. It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit that in the chaos of the party I forgot to finish it, so late arrivers didn't play because they didn't hear about it and I forgot to announce the winner. Oh, well. It was a fun idea, anyway!

In addition to the cake I made, I also made Lucy her own individual alphabet game that spelled out her name, and I used buttercream instead of fondant so it would taste better to her. I guess it worked!

My in-laws gave Lucy this adorable little hat that says, "it's fun to be one!" We managed to get a couple of pictures of her wearing it before she pulled it off. Hats don't stay on Lucy very long!

We put a candle on Lucy's cake and sang happy birthday to her, and then it was her time to shine. All eyes were on her as she very happily dived right into eating her cake! She knew she was the center of attention, and she was loving it! And everyone at the party was loving seeing her so evidently enjoying the taste of something she had never experienced - sugar! And lots and lots of it!

Her cake was not on a plate, but at one point she grabbed my plate from me when it was a little too close to her chair! I guess her own cake wasn't enough! I'm not sure how much she actually ate and how much went onto the floor and into the high chair. I was afraid she was going to get sick from all of the sugar, but it didn't seem to bother her at all. I think this one has a sweet tooth. Or maybe two or three of them!

After the cake eating part of the party, I took her upstairs for a bath and got all of the cake and frosting off of her! She was much cleaner for the rest of the party, and everyone was having so much fun socializing and watching the US/Canada hockey game (we had both Americans and Canadians at the party, which made the game pretty fun to watch), that they didn't mind the delay.

After bath time we hung out for awhile with all of our amazing friends who came to the party, and then we opened gifts. I felt incredibly blessed by all of the gifts from everyone, and I was so surprised by everyone's generosity to our little girl. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who love our little Lucy so much!

Lucy loved opening all of her gifts and afterwards she had fun playing with her toys and all of the paper left on the floor after the gift opening mayhem!

It was a great day and we had a great time celebrating the first year of our daughter with family and friends. At the end of the night, this was one happy 1-year-old!

Tent time!

2010-03-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to post party pictures, but iphoto is not cooperating. So until I figure out what's going on, here is a glimpse into what we're doing today:

My little girl is one!

2010-03-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

My little girl is one!

Yesterday was Lucy's birthday, and we had a great time celebrating! Her day was full of family and friends and lots of love, and it was a blessing to her and to us.

It is hard to believe that my little lady has gone from a tiny bundle of joy that came to us in a hospital in Florida on a saturday afternoon to a beautiful, rambunctious, curious, intelligent, mischievous, silly, creative, lovable little one year old who is full of life!

Lucy is growing quickly and doing well. Her one-year doctor's appointment is on thursday, and I am curious to know how much she weighs. At nine months she weighed 15 pounds, and my guess is that she is now close to 18 pounds. She is eating more and more every day, but her favorites still seem to be peaches and cheese. And now maybe chocolate cake and buttercream frosting. Lucy took her first steps on February 4th, and now she is walking all over the place! She isn't talking too much yet, but can say "da" when she wants her Daddy, she says uh-oh when she drops something, and she uses the same word for "yes" and "no!" She occasionally says "mama" (although there might be some confusion with that one because a couple of days ago I said, "can you kiss mama?" and she smiled and leaned down and kissed the dog!). And speaking of kissing, that is Lucy's newest development. She started giving us hugs awhile ago, but now she kisses Daddy, Mommy, and everything in between to show her love and affection. She got some magnetic alphabet letters for her birthday and this morning she kissed the letter "I!"

We are so thankful for our little Lucy and cannot imagine not having her. She has changed our lives so much and we feel so honored and blessed that God chose to bless us with this amazing little girl!

Ash Wednesday Reading

2010-02-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning the the Lenten season. I will be abstaining from something I consider a comfort I so easily run to instead of Christ. I did not grow up observing Lent, but I now consider it a beautiful practice. Lent teaches me about Christ's sacrifice and about His grace for me and it prepares me to fully experience and revel in the celebration of his death and resurrection of for my sins that we observe on Easter.

But I will fail. And I think that is part of the experience of Lent. And that is where Grace comes in. It's 9:36 a.m. on Ash Wednesday, and already I am experiencing temptation. And in this temptation I am drawn closer to Christ. And that is why I observe Lent.

This year, as part of my daily devotions, I am reading "The Business of Heaven," which is a book of daily reading excerpts from the writings of C.S. Lewis. I love C.S. Lewis. In addition to daily writings, this book also has writings for religiously observed holidays. The following is the reading for Ash Wednesday.

What cannot be admitted - what must exist only as an undefeated but daily resisted enemy - is the idea of something that is 'our own,' some area in which we are to be 'out of school," on which God has no claim . . . I do not think any efforts of my own will can end once and for all this craving for limited liabilities, this fatal reservation. Only God can. I have good faith and hope He will. Of course, I don't mean that I can therefore, as they say, 'sit back.' What God does for us, He does in us. The process doing it will appear to me (and not falsely) to be the daily or hourly repeated exercise of my own will in renouncing this attitude, especially each morning, for it grows all over me like a new shell each night. Failures will be forgiven, it is acquiescence that is fatal, the permitted, regularized presence of an area in ourselves which we still claim for our own. We may never, this side of death, drive the invader out of our territory, but we must be in the Resistance, not in the Vichy government. And this, so far as I can yet see, must be begun again every day. Our morning prayer should be that in the Imitation: Da hodie pedecte incipere - grant me to make an unflawed beginning today, for I have done nothing yet.

I have read this a lot of times already. I'm still letting it sink in; I'm still seeking to fully understand it. I love that about Lewis! My prayer for Lent is the last words of this writing: Grant me to make an unflawed beginning today, for I have done nothing yet. And I know that nothing in my power will enable me to do that. It is only by Christ alone.

It's Coming . . .

2010-02-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

My baby is going to have a birthday

Body After Baby - trudging along

2010-02-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

I had a lovely raspberry protein shake for breakfast this morning and just completed a good workout, and right now I feel like I'm bursting with energy! It's a really great feeling, and I'm going to keep this short so I can be productive around my house while I'm feeling this way. There are piles of laundry and piles of dishes and piles of bills that need attending to and I intend on attending to them today.

Food:
I'm doing so so. I've been faithful in having my shakes for breakfast and mostly in having them for lunch too. I have cheated twice on the lunch bit in the past week, but I made up by having shakes for dinner. And it wasn't even a struggle. I love the way they taste, and I really wanted them. For dinner. It was very odd, even for me, but it's a nice feeling to fill one's body with things that are good for it.

Exercise:
I've had a great long run about two weeks ago, and the next day my foot started hurting pretty badly. And since then I've been limping on and off and exercising on and off. It started feeling better, so I ran a mile and then it stared hurting again. It seems okay when I only do the video, though, so I'm sticking with that. And it's feeling okay right now, so if that feeling holds out, I'm going to run five miles on saturday morning. We'll see how that goes. Sadly, there is no swimming. The class was full, so I can't get in until March 30 and the free swims don't fit into my schedule.

Progress:

One thing I have not been doing is recording my food and workouts. I'm going to try to jump back on that next week, because that would help with things like the cheating I did two days at lunchtime.

As far as losing weight, frustratingly, the gym scale has still not budged from three weeks ago! But I feel like I have lost, or at least toned, and I look smaller to me. I try not to rely too much on the way I perceive that I look, since there have also been times that I have looked bigger to myself than I actually am. Body dysmorphia and all that, and maybe this is the reverse. I must say, I like it better that way, but I'm still trying to work hard and get that scale to actually move.

So, that's where I stand. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the way things are going. I'm going to stick with this plan through the end of february and then in March I have a whole new idea I'm going to be trying, but it deserves a post of its very own, so more on that later.

Now I'm off to attack those dirty clothes and dirty laundry and unpleasant bills.

Walking practice

2010-02-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

Practicing walking with Gramps

(great grandpa Medeiros)

Service Announcement: How to Comment!

2010-02-03T15:02:00.000-08:00

It has come to my attention that people are having difficulty figuring out how to comment on my blog. And since I love comments, I want to make sure everyone knows what to do!

For some reason, on the new template that I am using, the comment link is at the top of the blog post, directly under the title. I don't know why it is this way, and I don't know how to change it. So, if you know how to change it let me know.

But for now, hit the comment button at the top of the blog to comment. Please hit it. Because I really do love getting comments.

That's all!

Love to Eat, Hate to Eat: a summary of part one

2010-02-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now, and always find myself getting distracted with mundane things and never getting around to it, but I've been rereading - more like rescanning - this book to rediscover its little jewels of wisdom, and it has been really convicting!

Part one is titled "A Renewed Focus," and it is really helping me to renew my focus on both my relationship with God and my relationship with food. I love that this is a book not just for those who genuinely have weight to lose, but also for those who should not lose weight; both for those who love food and struggle to not eat it, and those who hate food and choose not to eat when they should. Part one is really foundational to understanding how we allow food to control us when so much more (and better) is offered to us.

Chapter one: From Heartache to a Sense of Purpose
Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God - I Corinthians 10:31

Fitzpatrick writes in the first chapter, "So in terms of our eating habits we were all very different (talking about previous case studies she sites of overeaters, anorexics, and bulimics, which also included her own story), and yet all of us were totally consumed by the tyranny of food and eating" (pg. 17). She goes on to write, " Tyranny is just the right word to use when it comes to the way many of us think about food, dieting, and our weight. Tyranny is oppression. It is enslavement. It means that we're dominated by thoughts and habits that torment and overpower" (pg. 17). I love how she uses this word tyranny, because I think it is true for so many women that food or thoughts of food can easily be an enslaving issue. This word reminds me of a conversation I once had with a friend, in which she was describing a conversation with her husband in which he explained that he forgets to eat during the day because he is so easily distracted by other things. In telling me this, her response was, "How does he forget to eat? I plan my whole day around what I eat!" So many women (not all, to be sure) find themselves in some way enslaved by food or thoughts of food. So how do we move beyond this tyranny of food? How do we begin to live a life that is not controlled (or at least mostly comprised of) thoughts of food and begin to live a life of purpose beyond the next meal? Fitzpatrick submits that "the first step in learning to live a life that Glorifies God is to realize that every part of our lives is lived before Him" (pg. 20). Life is bigger than food and God has more planned for us than eating or not eating. Food is pleasurable to eat, and it was intended to be that way by God, but there is also so much more. As Fitzpatrick concludes, "When you begin to get a picture of the sweetness, purity, and loveliness of the Lord, you will realize that all that the world has to offer is insignificant in comparison to Him" (pg. 21). Food is a false joy in comparison to the joy that God offers.

Chapter two: The Change God Desires
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. - 1 John 3:2

So how do we move beyond this false joy to real joy? Is it possible? Absolutely! But real change begins not with the size of my jeans or the hours I spend running, but with the inward change of my heart. Fitzgerald writes, "The transformation that God wants to accomplish in you isn't merely the loss of 50 pounds or even the establishment of good eating habits. No, this transformation is much deeper than that. He wants you to be like Jesus" (pg. 27)! It's the outward change that we put so much effort into that will never bring true joy, and the inward change of the heart that we put so little into that will bring lasting change and true joy. Fizpatrick writes, "I know that it's impossible to really enjoy the presence of a holy God if my life is filled with anxiety, fear or self-indulgence" (pg. 29). Isn't this what eating and the tyranny of food bring so much of the time - anxiety, fear, self-indulgence? I'm worried I ate too many calories today. I'm afraid I'm never going to be thin or beautiful. I've been dieting well, so I deserve this cookie. Anxiety, fear, self-indulgence. The ugliness of our inward lives that God wants to redeem. As Fitzpatrick wrote, "He wants to free you from your trust and dependence in yourself and give you the peace and joy that comes only when you are trusting in Him" (pg. 29). So how do we begin to trust Him? According to Fitzpatrick, "The word trust means more than just "believe." It means that you must put your confidence in Him; you must rely wholly upon Him . . . this kind of trust is a firm belief in the reliability of God. I must learn what He says about himself - who he says He is - and then I must embrace this truth about Him. I can trust Him because I know His character - He's trustworthy" (pg. 30)!
In this chapter, she outlines a few of God's attributes: Eternal, immense, Perfect in Holiness, Perfect in Wisdom and Knowledge, Filled with Goodness. Filled with Truth. Just this list alone challenges me to want to know Christ better! He offers eternal happiness, and that is where true joy is. Not in losing a few pounds or gaining a few muscles. We often delight more in temporal pleasures than eternal ones, and that is where false joy takes root, grows, and then suffers a terrible death. Over and over and over. But eternal joy does not die and that is what Christ is offering. Fitzpatrick concludes by asserting that the change Christ wants to begin in you is an inward change, not an outward one. She writes, "I'm not saying that you shouldn't think about losing weight if you're overweight, or gaining weight if you're too thin. I'm just saying that is the wrong focus. Your focus should be on pleasing your heavenly father with a heart that is fully trusting, fully resting, fully rejoicing in his love" (pg. 35). So where is your focus?

Chapter three: Mirror, Mirror in My Heart
The King's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is interwoven with gold. - Psalm 45:13

Chapter three is all about believing the lie that outward appearance will bring happiness and joy to our lives. People starve themselves, hurt themselves, spend thousands of dollars on appearance. What is the reason? Fitzpatrick concludes, "It seems to me we act this way because we're willing to believe a lie. Here is what I believe the lie is: It is that somehow, if we could just look like the latest supermodel, we would find true happiness and contentment" (pg. 38). Yet, we know this to not be true. There are plenty of "beautiful" people who are miserable. Being at an "ideal" weight will not make life "ideal." Fitzpatrick submits that all of the focus we put on being "ideal" is distracting us from what is going on in our hearts. She writes, "Why would we be willing to believe such a ridiculous lie? Aside from the fact that our the cultural pressures to 'look good' are enormous . . . isn't there something inherently attractive in thinking that our problems are only skin deep? . . . 'I'm no a rebel or idolator, I just have this little appearance problem. It's really no big deal and once I lose 50 pounds (or gain 15 pounds, or get in shape, or have that cosmetic surgery, or . . .) then my life will really be just fine, thank you.' This focus on outward appearance is a nifty distraction from my real character defects" (pg. 39). We sacrifice hours of time and effort to look good, yet it distracts us from what we really look like. We see the outside, and often would rather not think about the inside. But that is all that God cares about, and that is all that will lead to true joy. Yet, Fitzpatrick is not saying that it is wrong to seek to look good or be beautiful. It's really a heart issue, and each must consider the state of their own heart in pursuit of physical beauty. She writes, "Are you trusting in the way that you look to enable you to experience peace and joy, to control the world, to garner praise for yourself? No one but you can draw the line between what is appropriate and what is sinful" (pg. 43). She does assert that the bible never commands or commends thinness, and seeking it for the sake of thinness alone (without seeking to Godly eating habits or considering the reasons for desiring thinness) is not a Godly pursuit, but a vane one. She submits that fear of God is what should be cultivated. She writes, "Instead of believing the lies from the world - lies that tell you that outer beauty is the road to happiness - you should learn to fear God and believe what he says about you. Let His word tell you what you should value, what you should seek after, what you should fear. Instead of fearing other's opinions about you, how you look, and your value, you should fear and seek God, your wonderful heavenly Father" (pg. 47). Life is bigger than a few pounds, and God desires so much more for us than to fit into those skinny jeans in the closet.

And that concludes part one,"A renewed focus," from Love to Eat, Hate to Eat: Breaking the Bondage of Destructive Eating Habits. It has definitely challenged me to rethink my focus and reconsider what is motivating me to lose weight. I hope you find it helpful as well.

We love books at our house!

2010-02-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

(We even give them hugs!)

Body after Baby . . . eh

2010-01-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

So last week I didn't even post an update for Body After Baby. That was partly because it was a c-razy week and by the time I got to even thinking about posting the link had expired over on MamaNotes blog, and it was partly because it was a bad week and I didn't feel like re-hashing it.

I just felt like I was snacking little bits between meals and I had two mini-desserts. Not a huge deal. It was really more of my attitude and internal struggling that made it such a bad week.

This week, things have gone much better. I have been on program with food and exercise through today, but tomorrow I'm heading out of town for the weekend, so who knows how that will go. I'm going to focus on not overeating.

Eating:
I haven't been snacking, I have been dieting, and I feel satisfied. I did get a little worn out on the cereal, so I'm trying out shakes, and it's been the change I needed this week.

Exercise:
This is going pretty well, I think. I'm keeping up with the shred video, maintaining my goal to hit up stroller strides once a week, I've ridden my bike on the trainer in house, and I've been running and have increased my mileage. Swim classes begin next week. I'm doing a baby swim class with Lucy, but I hardly think going in circles and teaching her to jump of the side of the pool counts as exercise. Maybe for her, since she took a 2 hour nap today . . . something she never does.

Overall:
I am trying not to be discouraged this week. I've been dieting well for the most part and done some crazy workouts. But today when I weighed myself I weighed the exact same thing as last week! And even last week it was more than I was hoping. It's so easy to find myself feeling that what I'm doing is pointless and why am I even putting myself through all of this if there are no benefits? Those feelings can easily get out of control and start a quick downward motion with me. That's why I'm trying to train my thoughts to recognize that what I am doing is good for my body even if it doesn't make the number on the scale go down. But still, somewhat (or maybe very) discouraging.

Weekly question:
I think last week we were supposed to mention our favorite snack, and since I didn't post I'm going to answer this week since I have a great and unusual snack I enjoy. I LOVE Kale chips, and they're an amazingly healthy snack. For me it's all about the texture, and I love the crunch I get from these and I could easily replace potato chips with these. So, I suggest YOU give them a try.

Love to Eat, Hate to Eat
It's midnight and I have an early flight tomorrow and clothes washing and packing still to do. So, I will do a long post on it next week when I return from vacation. Right now, I just don't possess the emotional and mental strength or will to think through it! Does that make me a bad blogger?!

Progress: Body After Baby

2010-01-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

This week with Body after Baby has gone much better than last week! And last week wasn't all that bad. But this week I have really fallen into a pretty good routine and the dieting is becoming much more routine and much less having to force myself to do it.

Eating:
I have maintained the original food plan. A couple of days I added a slice of cheese, and yesterday as I was making a meal to take to a new mom, I will admit that I "tested" the foods a little more than I needed to.

This week I want to work on making sure I don't serve myself too generous a helping at dinner.

Exercise:
I have been faithful with the Shred video. And I'm loving it.

I did stroller strides. We have a new instructor, and let me just say, I only thought the last one was hard. She's hardcore, and it's awesome. I felt muscles I forgot I had!

I ran once

This week I want to increase my running and I'm looking forward to starting a swim class at the gym. I haven't swam regularly since I was pregnant, so I'm super excited about getting back in the water.

Weekly Question:
MamaNotes is asking a question of the week, so you can head on over there to view this week's question. As for my answer, my favorite thing about the workout is knowing that I am pushing myself. It would be so easy for me to put it off, but each time I choose not to do that I am aware that I am deciding to better my body even though it is not easy. And I just love the time to myself too. I'm definitely an introvert and I'm finding that having my time to just workout and be alone (Well, alone with Jillian, anyway!) is very energizing.

Progress:

This week was so much better! The first week, I felt miserable so much of the time. This week I don't, and I am really learning to listen to my thoughts instead of my feelings when it comes to food.

I still don't know if I've lost weight, and that has been a struggle at times as I'm in the midst of a hard workout and doubting that it's making a difference. I'll find a scale at the gym this week and weigh. I have a general idea of what me weight was when I began. It also occurred to me that I should have measured myself at the beginning, too, but I forgot that too. Oh, well.

I'm continuing to go through Elyse Fitzpatrick's book, "Love to Eat, Hate to Eat: Breaking the Bondage of Destructive Eating Habits." It really helps me stay on track physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Some of you dear readers seemed to appreciate last week's information from the book, so I've decided that each week as I update about my progress I'm also going to share some more thoughts from the book.

One thing that continually strikes me each time I pick up this book is that my attitude toward food is really deeply rooted in heart issues. I think we all struggle with food and body image in different ways, but at the root of the matter is what is going on in our hearts and we're not all so different there.

So, I'm going to start at the beginning of this book at walk through it chapter by chapter, or probably, to be a little more brief, part by part. Starting next week.

This week I'm going to skip ahead and share 12 questions that the writer suggests you consider when eating. These might seem a little strict, and can even be somewhat legalistic, but they have been helpful to me, so take it as you will. She uses the acrostic D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E-D Eating to help the reader remember these, and she also attaches a scriptural reference to each one.

D - Do I Doubt that I can eat this food without sinning? Romans 14:23
I - Will eating this food demonstrate a heart of Idolotry? Exodus 20:3
S - Will eating this cause a weaker Christian to Stumble? Romans 14:21
C - Am I eating this food because I am Coveting it? Exodus 20:17
I - If I eat this food, will it create an Inroad for sin in my life? Romans 13:14
P - Can I eat this food with Praise and gratitude? I Timothy 4:4
L - Would eating the food harm my Life or health in any way? Exodus 20:13
I - Am I Illustrating good eating habits for others? I Timothy 4:12
N- Am I able to just say No? I Corinthians 9:27
E - Does my desire to eat this flow out of any sinful Emotions? Genesis 4:7
D - Will eating or preparing this food Distract me from something better? Luke 10: 41-42

E - Will eating this food Enslave me in any way? I Corinthians 6:12

(From Love To Eat, Hate To Eat: Breaking the Bondage of Destructive EAting Habits, chapter 8)

I tend to justify my eating habits by whatever is convenient at the time. This list cuts right through all of my justifications, though, and takes me right to the depths of my own heart and forces me to be honest about why I really want to eat and why I really want to eat what I want to eat. And that's why I am memorizing this list and posting it on my fridge.

These Slow January Days

2010-01-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

These first few weeks of the new year have been pretty relaxing ones for us. Kip is in his Jan term at school, which means he is only taking one class, and it's a relatively easy class (well, if easy exists at MIT, that is). He's been home by noon everyday, so in many ways we feel like we are still on Christmas break. We're taking full advantage of the times together, since we know the busy, busy days of the semester will soon be upon us.

Right now, we're spending the days playing with our little lady and enjoying watching her grow, organizing things around the house and creating a good system for the approaching busy season of life, and playing games and watching movies, to name a few. We're so blessed to be in this situation in life where we 1.) Get to spend to live in the same city, and 2.) Have free time to spend as a family. It hasn't always been that way. But now it is, and we are both thankful of the time and taking full advantage of it!

Here's a few pictures from the past few weeks:

Playing with Lucy in her room:

This is Lucy during her 10-month-old photo shoot. She was looking out the window at the snow

Lucy and her daddy went out to play in the snow. She's usually all smiles whenever she is with Daddy. We definitely have a Daddy's girl.

This is the 10-month-old photo shoot continued. She loved being out in the snow.

It wasn't terribly cold and had stopped snowing, so I briefly took her hat off to get a couple of shots that way. She loved it. The girl hates wearing hats!

The two of us together. I love this little lady.

This was the first time Lucy discovered how to open the dvd cabinet all by herself! We have a 5-minute video taken right after this of her destroying the cabinet and throwing all of the dvds on the floor. It is now one of her favorite things to do, and we will be babyproofing the cabinet soon!

Another one of her favorite things to do is "help" with the laundry. She mostly just loves the laundry baskets.

This is Kota and Lucy doing one of Kip's favorite things that they do. They are chasing a laser point - notice it on the wall a few inches above the gate. The cat was taking a nap or she would have been in on the action too!

I couldn't resist putting in this adorable picture of Kota and Snap lounging in front of the fire together!

Or this one of all three of our kids playing together in front of the fire. Lucy loves the dog and cat so much. Kota loves her too, as long as she still gets attention from us, and the cat tolerates her pretty well but tends to spend most of her days upstairs away from the reach of a crawling baby.

So this is just a little of how our days have been recently. I have to admit . . . It's been pretty great.

A slow, but steady start

2010-01-07T05:51:00.000-08:00

Oh dear. I wasn't expecting to have to give an update so soon. Mamanotes is asking for an update on the Body after Baby Challenge, though, so here goes.

I didn't kick things into gear until monday the 4th, which means today is really only my 4th day. And as of right now, I think things are going pretty well.

exercise:

I did stroller strides on monday
I did the shred video on tuesday
yesterday I did not work out, but was finally able to get all of the paperwork in order (quite the process!) to join the MIT gym, joined, and signed up for a swim class.

Nutrition:

I have had my raw veggie cereal everyday, which isn't too hard to manage since I LOVE it. I've had the applesauce and yogurt but have also sneaked in two slices of cheddar right before the lunch of a protein shake, which I've had every day and am starting to really enjoy too. I've had regular dinners in average sized portions.

Progress:

I have no idea if I've lost weight or not. I still haven't managed to find a scale. I was going to weigh at the gym yesterday, but forgot about it.

I have been recording exercise and food in a log, and that is helping me really think through what I am doing.

The biggest big of progress I have made though, is to really train my brain and my body to not give in to my (often) weaker emotions. I have really struggled with desiring to eat even if I was not hungry. I have found myself feeling like I've done a good job for a little while and deserve a reward, or feeling like I should be excused because we have company in town and I should be able to eat everything they're eating, or feeling like it's hopeless so I might as well give up, or feeling any number of other things that will someone justify my excuses.

And I'm learning to recognize those feelings for what they are and train my brain not to be controlled by them. And that's the biggest battle I'm facing during this process, and honestly, I think it's the biggest battle I've had success with in the past few days of dieting.

So one thing I'm doing is using the book "Love to Eat, Hate to Eat: Breaking the bondage of destructive eating habits" by Elyse Fitzpatrick as part of my daily devotions. It's a small jewel of a book that I discovered a few years ago and it changed the way I think about food. Just a few of the things in it that have already helped me are these:

1.) Lack of self control blinds us to the realities of the temporary nature of this earth's pleasures and our own sinfulness, and hardens our hearts to the joys and purposes of heaven (p. 119)

2.) Even if you are following a pre-planned diet perfectly, that doesn't mean that your eating is pleasing to the Lord (p. 120)

3.) When it comes to changing eating habits, one of the greatest lessons you'll ever learn is to stop trying to feed your desires with food and to begin to feed your hunger with the Word (p. 146)

I'll leave you with that for now. But as I continue to update on my progress, I'm going to include more of the pearls of wisdom found in this book, because it's really the BEST book I've read on the idolatry of food and the way women are so often controlled by a love or hate (or both at the same time!) of food and its direct relationship to emotions, thoughts, and relationship with God.

Body after Baby!

2009-12-31T15:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I just looked, and way back on November 15th I posted about getting organized and how I'd be blogging about my new organizational plan and the purposefulness I am intending in the the spiritual, physical, emotional and mental areas of my life.

I have not forgotten!

I've just been way too busy to implement any of it, so therefore way, way too busy to even think about blogging about it! But we got Kip through finals and then ourselves through the holiday season, and normal routine is about to begin for us. And we are starting out the new year with some changes around here that have to do with that post way back in November.

And this time I WILL be blogging about it. In fact, I'm getting so regimented in this new schedule that I am actually going to be setting aside "blog time" to make sure I devote time to this little space and stop giving it only a mediocre effort.

But more about that later . . .

For now, the first step in being organized and attending to areas of my life that I want to communicate is an aspect of the physical.

I plan to participate in the Body after Baby Challenge that Mama Notes is hosting. I first heard of this challege through my friend Sarah's blog. Her efforts and success in losing her goal weight during the last challenge has inspired me to jump on the bandwagon.

And so here I jump.

I stayed in great shape while pregnant with Lucy, but also gained a significant amount of weight. After she was born I was hoping to lose it quickly, but for various legitimate reasons I was not able to diet or exercise very regularly. I did register to compete in a sprint triathlon last summer, but had to cancel because I was not able to train to the extent that I needed to if I wanted to continue breast feeding Lucy. Which I did.

In November I stopped the breast feeding, which meant my body was mine again for the first time in a year and a half! I thought I would lose the weight quickly, and I have lost a few a pounds and even managed to lose during the holiday season.

But now it's the new year and it's time to get my butt in gear and get serious about this. I tend to be pretty detailed because it really helps me to be so. If you don't know that about me already, you'll figure it out as I start blogging more about the spiritual/emotional/mental organizational plans!

So here are my Body after Baby Goals:

1.) Lose 10 pounds by Lucy's 1st birthday on February 28th
2.) Fit into my favorite pair of pre-pregnancy jeans by Lucy's birthday
3.) Get into a regular workout routine that includes swimming, running, and strength training

And here is my body after baby Plan:

Food:
1.) Eat the raw veggie cereal for breakfast at least five days a week
2.) Eat two snacks a day - one of applesauce and one of yogurt - at least five days a week
3.) Drink protein shakes for lunch at least five days a week
4.) Eat dinners from the Diet for Life cookbook
5.) Don't eat desserts AT ALL
6.) Don't drink carbonated drinks at all
7.) Increase the amount of water I drink
8.) Keep a daily log of what I eat and drink

Exercise:
1.) Workout with Stroller Strides one day a week
2.) Complete the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred video at least 5 times a week
3.) Swim/workout/run at least one day a week
4.) Increase my running mileage
5.) Keep a daily log of the workouts I do, how I feel, energy level, etc.

So! That's the plan. I'll be updating the blog weekly with my progress. I don't have a scale at home, so I will not being weighing myself too often, but will try to remember to do so when I'm at the gym. I would love accountability from all of you - and I will in turn be being brutally honest about my progress on here!

Happy baby after body-ness!