Dip, VT, Prayer

We made a cheese dip for church potluck yesterday.  Super easy  it was my Weesie's (grandma) recipe.  It;s a cup of cheese, cup of onion, and cup of mayo.  Mix it all together.  Bake at 350 for 20 mins cvered and then another 10 uncovered.  serve ith crackers or chips.  Tasty!

Ryan LOVES Veggie Tales!  He asks for "tale" all day long.  At Family Christian Bookstores you can prebuy Twas the Night Before Easter for $13 and then get 3 Veggie Tales for free!  So, we went and did it and will give him the 3 free ones for Valentine's Day and the Easter one for Easter!   Saves a lot of money!  Oh, and mommy and daddy are pretty addicted to VT, as well.  Super cute stories, with lessons from the Bible.  :)

Twas The Night Before Easter - DVD
Available March 5
It‘s Easter time in Crisper County and cable news reporter Marlee Meade (Petunia Rhubarb) is hunting for a way to help others. On a tip that the old town theater will be shut down, Marlee cooks up a plan to save the stage and make a difference through the power of musical theater. With a cast of costume-clad townies, massive props and a 20-foot robot rabbit "Up With Bunnies" is hatched! There‘s only one thing missing –the star of the show! When news spreads that singing sensation Cassie Cassava (Melinda Doolittle) is arriving to perform in her hometown church‘s Easter service, Marlee gets worried. Concerned about the competition, she schemes to steal the starlet for her own pageant! But when things go haywire, will it be curtains for Marlee‘s dreams –or will she discover the true meaning of Easter and what helping others is really all about?


Prebuy "Twas The Night Before Easter" DVD and receive the God Loves You Very Much Triple Feature DVD for FREE

Finally, we ask for prayer.  Sean is trying to decide if he is going to his grandpa's funeral.  Hard decision with me being almost 37 weeks, in school, who would watch Ryan, tough for me by myself with Ryan, money, etc.  So, please just keep our family and all of Sean's family in your prayers.  Thank you!!!!!!!

The Park at Long Center

I love the cheesy grins he gives now!  What a goof ball :)

Daddy got a workout following Ryan around!  This playground was HUGE!

I see something else that is HUGE, as well!!!  lol  I guess I could give an update BTW:  I went to the OB on Thursday.  Measuring at 36 weeks, which is what I am, and not dilated at all yet, which is good.  I had never had that type of check before with Ry so I was caught off guard with the way that it feels!  I have gained 32 pounds thus far.

We decided to get Ryan out for a bit to run around and blow off some steam.  Someday it will be nice to have our own backyard that is fenced in so that he can do that without having to take him someplace.  He loves being outside!  For the past few days he has been super whiny.  Every word that comes out of his mouth is whiny and he has been throwing lots of tantrums and he is very clingy.  Not sure what's up.  He isn't sick, so I guess it's just a stage.  Maybe he knows his life is about to change soon......I dunno.  I will have to say this stuff and the disciplining stuff has been the biggest challenge of being a mom.  This is where I need the how to manual.  We tried timeout for a while for his hitting, pulling hair, not listening, just misbehaving, but he loved timeout!   Go figure.  We don't spank because of my own reasons.  Sean wants to.  I don't.  I did a couple of times, but both times I spanked him in anger and I will never do that again.  So for now that's out.  We tried putting him in his crib when he was misbehaving, which did work, but I didn't want him to start thinking his crib was a bad place and then not want to sleep in there.  Sean got on the Supernanny site and she said from 1-3 you can only tell them no, try to redirect bad behavior, and try to avoid things that will cause bad behavior.  From 3-5ish they are ready for timeout.  After 5, they are ready for alone time in their room.  So we are just doing what she suggested for now.  The Bible says "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" (Prov 13:24), and I want to follow what God wants me to do, but I just feel at a loss.  My friend Carly came over on Friday with her 7-week-old and it was very interesting to see Ryan 'interacting' with him (i.e. throwing things at his head, trying his best to wake him up, rocking his car seat, being very interested in her breastfeeding and trying to lift her cover up, etc).  Any way, any mom or dad suggestions are welcome and appreciated.  Have a blessed Sunday!!!!!!  xo

In Memory of Sean's Grandpa, he passed 01-28-11

Chicago 2008, Navy Pier

Bathed Baby!

Mom's photography

Picture taken while we were in AZ by my mom.  She posted on her blog, so I "borrowed" and posted on mine. :)

Nutella

This was taken when we were out in Arizona for Christmas.  He LOVED Nutella.  The toast it was on was merely a vehicle for the good stuff......."cha-chi" (chocolate) as Ryan would say!

Visting my Grandpa

We were not able to go to Granddad's funeral because we were in Arizona at the time.  Yesterday we were finally able to go to the cemetery and see him.  We went with my Dad and we brought him some flowers.  He is buried right next to my great grandparents.  I don't remember my great grandpa because I was one when he died, but my Nana died when I was 12 so I do remember her.  It was the first time visiting their graves, as well.  I thought I was going to be really sad, but I wasn't really.  Mostly because Ryan in his innocence thought we were at the park, which he loudly exclaimed when we got there.  He also liked to go to the neighbors' headstones and take their flowers (we had him put them all back, of course).  Here he is standing right on Grandad with one of the flowers we brought.  Ryan had fun running and laughing and touching the headstones.  The innocence of it all was actually quite joyful.  It was sad to see that Granddad's spot was so "fresh" with new grass; it just made it the reality of still being a new loss.  He doesn't have his headstone yet either.  The cemetery is actually very pretty and peaceful though and he loved being outsde so it felt like if this had to be his place, it was certainly a perfect place for him. 

Great salad recipe

I LOVE salads and this is really good, not the healthiest salad ever made, but yummy nonetheless.  :)


LAYERED SALAD
1st- 1/2 head lettuce
6 boiled eggs, chopped
1/ 2 lb. turkey bacon, crumbled
2nd- 1/2 head lettuce
1 can peas, drained
1 small onion , chopped
3rd- 2 cups REAL* Mayonnaise
1 small container sour cream
Shred cheddar cheese over top. Chill.
*Be sure and use REAL mayonnaise, it makes a big difference! 

http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html 

This made 2 salads meals for me and Sean and Ryan actually liked it, too.  I wold not use so much of the mayo and sour cream dressing next time. 

Santa

A little late, but I thought I would share Ry's photo with Santa.  We got it done when we were in AZ.  Ryan was not scared; I think he just kinda looks confused!

Prayer?

We pray all the time as a family.  Well, Ryan has started doing the cutest thing!  He will look at us and say "prayer?" and hold his little hand out to grab ours and then he bows his head.  He probably does this about 10 times a day.  We always stop and say a little prayer when he asks.  I just love it! 


I was also thinking of another helpful tip that Sean and I incorporated into our household this new year.  We do a to do list that we update in Word every night, print, and hang on the fridge.  We have categories:  urgent do today, do this week, do sometime, and do one of these days.  We add and cross off as needed.  We have been doing it about a week and our household runs much more smoothly, we know what we gotta get done, what appointments there may be, etc.  It has really been a blessing.  Another tip taken from the Duggars.  :)

New Car!!!!!!!

We have an amazing, God blessed story, to use for God's glory.  We have been talking about selling Sean's car because he had a 2 door Mercedes, which is not conducive to children, especially since we will have 2 now.  So, we were slowly getting prepared to put it on AutoTrader and all that.  Well, a week ago we were at Target and I saw a for sale sign on an Expedition.  I wrote down the number, but didn't think too much about it.  Then a couple of hours later on our way home, the very same car pulled out in front of us.  Sean and I thought how we definitely had to call because that just seemed too much like a God thing.  Later that evening we called and it turns out that the owner was looking for a smaller vehicle and had been looking at Mercedes'.  Sean said well, funny you should say that, we are selling our Mercedes.  So any way, she came over a couple of days later and we test drove each others cars.  After that we gave it a couple of days and really prayed over it.  She called again and said her boyfriend wanted to see our car.  That night, she decided she wanted ours and we had been really feeling at peace with getting hers.  One problem - hers was worth more than ours and she wanted an additional $6,000, which we did not have.  We were prepared to offer $1,200, which we did have.  So, she came down to $4,500, which we still did not have.  It was basically left at that.  After much more prayer, we decided that we could use our financial aid money that will be coming in this month or next month.  We both get the Pell Grant for school.  So, we should be getting $5,000.  Obviously that's next month though so we had to ask my dad for a temporary loan.  He was willing to do it as long as we got the car checked out by a mechanic.  My uncle knows a mechanic that checked it out for us for free and everything came back good.  We also did a CarFax on it, which came back good.  She took Sean's car to be checked out and it was fine, too.  Yesterday we decided to move forward with it and today we traded cars.  The really cool thing about it is since we traded we didn't have to pay any sales tax.  We both put that we sold eachother's cars for a $1 so our sales tax was 7 cents.  To change everything to our name was only $86 and our insurance only went up a couple of dollars.  We were able to bypass having to try to sell Sean's car through Autotrader and dealing with phone calls and passerbys and all that.  Romans 13:8 says "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law" so we have really purposed not to be in any debt.  Our only debt is our mortgage.  Of course, it doesn't always work out because we are making payments on a hospital bill.  But we do not have a car payment and we are totally excited about our new SUV.  And it seats 8 people, which is awesome!!!!!  Gd willing, that means we could have 6 babies!  :)  All the glory to God!  What a tremendous blessing bestowed upon us. 

Randomness

We have still been using sheet savers on Ryan's bed.  Not sure why because he never actually sleeps on them.  He is a mover and is all over his crib at night.  I guess we were using them because we had them.  Any way  around 5:45 this morning, he started crying so I went in there to check on him and he had ended up UNDERNEATH the sheet saver and was kinda stuck.  So that's a little dangerous!  Suffice it to say, I am no longer using them!


With this pregnancy, I have used a Boppy full body pillow to sleep with at night and it is so comfortable!!!!!!!  I love it so much, the pillow even has a name!   Pierre.  :)  They can be a little pricey, but I found mine at consignment a few months ago for a reasonable price.  Any way, it helps with sleeping. 

Also, we went to Motherhood Maternity a while back and I got a support band.  I chose the one that has the most support.  They have 2 other levels that are cheaper and not so big and bulky, but also don't provide as much support.  They allow you to try all 3 on and I didn't notice a difference with the first two, but when I put on the 3rd one it felt magnificent!  It is a little bulky and makes me look a little bigger than I am, but it is totally worth it!  The sales lady said a lot of women use this one for twins.  It helps my back, belly, and legs tremendously.  Sean puts it on me every morning and I take it off right before I go to bed.  I highly recommend one if you have belly, back, and/or leg/hip problems.  It was a little pricey, as well, at $40, but well worth the money!!!

Organization!

Baby #2's nursery.....almost completed.  We just need to get our rocker.  We are so thankful that Mom and Dad 2 are helping us with that! :)  We are also very thankful that Pappy (my Dad) bought us the crib and changing table.  I like that it is all one piece and the crib is a 3 in 1.

See organization tips below :)

We have been working hard since we got back from AZ!  In 6 days we got it all done though (and on the 7th day we rested)!  See, I made the mistake of just throwing all of Ryan's old clothes, toys, and whatnot into storage bins with absolutely no order! So, after reading the book 20 and Counting by the Duggars, we got a really good idea on how to organize it all.  First we purchased the overhead garage system because our garage is rather small.  Then I went through all of Ryan's clothes and organized them into the smaller beige bins that we purchased (see above).  I grouped it by gender and age.  So, for example, one box is 0-3 mos boys/unisex clothes.  I numbered the box and colored coded the boxes corresponding to the room that the box belongs in.  So, red is nursery.  Then I wrote on an index card the number of the box, the color of the circle and that it is 0-3 mos boys/unisex clothes.  Then I wrote everthing that was in the box in pencil so I can erase later if need be.  So, for example, I would write that box 1 has shorts, shirts, onesies, PJ's, etc.  Then I did the same thing for girls clothes.  We were very blessed and so grateful that one of my friends gave us all of her girl clothes.  We got from NB to 18 months in girls clothes.  Then I did the same thing with other stuff like Boppys, Bumbos, bottles, bibs, socks, shoes, blankets, etc.  Say I needed recieving blankets for a girl.  I could look up in my file box where those are.  Then I could ask the hubby to get box 13 down so I can get out the girl receiving blankets.  I think it is going to make things so much easier.  We also did this with our stuff, like out of season clothes, etc., and with holiday decorations.  Eventually, we will get these littler sized boxes for everything, but for now we have some things in big bins (we ran out of money!).  We also got a non-clear color so that the kids can't see what's in each box, which is especially helpful with toys because I stored all of those in boxes.  That way, they can have some toys in the toybox downstairs and then every once in a while I can switch them out and they will think they are brand new toys.  And it saves us room in our house and keeps it from being so cluttered.  We were able to mostly empty out the 2 kids rooms closets, which helped.  For new baby that meant we could store swings, bouncers, jumpers, etc. in his/her closet.  For Ryan's room that meant we could store some extra special toys in there for him.  Since we moved his toy box downstairs, he has wanted to help clean up his toys befoe naps and bedtime because we tell him to put everything in the box real excitedly and he gets so happy to do it (most of the time, anyway!).  Lastly, since we don't know the gender of the baby, we decided not to bring out any clothes, blankets, socks, hats, shoes, burp clothes, etc. until we get home from the hospital.  But it will be so easy because then we just go to the numbered box and get out all the girl or boy stuff depending on what we have.  Any way, I thought that this might be helpful to others, thus the longwinded explanation!  It takes some time for sure, but it is well worth it and think of how easy it will be when we move next!!!!

We also learned about blanket time from the Duggars' book.  We have started this with Ryan.  At first we have Ry sit on the blanket for 5 mins without getting up or conforming to weird shapes (bottom on blanket).  When we pull out the blanket, we excitedly exclaim that it's blanket time and how much fun it will be and he has no clue what we really mean yet, but he gets super excited.  Then whenever he tries to get off the blanket we correct him.  After 5 mins, we put away the blanket and praise him for doing such a good job and run around the room with him and clap so he can get out some energy.  Next step will be adding a few special toys that will only be used during blanket time.  If he throws the toy off, he will not be able to retrieve it.  Also, we will start increasing time with a goal of 30 mins.  He has to be quiet during blanket time, as well.  Then we will also move further away from where he is and come back in and correct him if need be if he gets up or gets noisy.  We try to practice this throughout the day when we have 5 minutes of uninterrupted time.  The point is for him to have some quiet time on his blanket without worrying about what he's doing, which in turn means that we can get stuff done, have adult conversations, I can sit quietly with new baby and breastfeed, we can do it when we are at friends' houses, etc.  I'm telling you, these Duggars have some experience!  :)

Glazer Children's Museum

We were able to go for free last night.  For the next few months you can bring your kids from 4-8 on the first Tuesday of every month for free, which is nice, and saved us about $40.00!  It's in downtown Tampa.

Here's the line because of course when it's free, they will come!!!!!!

Planting a garden

Ok yah, spelled wrong (and we live in America!!!!!!!)

This was a play Publix; Ryan thought it would be good to climb the grocery shelves.

firehouse

Play Outback Steakhouse

Airplane

Chicken Nuggets and Grandma's Mac-n-Cheese

4 whole chicken breasts
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/4 c parm cheese (grated)
1 t thyme
1 t basil
1/2 c butter melted

Cut each chicken breast into 6-8 nuggets  Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasoning in one dish.  Melt butter in another dish.  Dip chicken in butter, then seasoning, and place on foil lined baking sheet (leave room between to bake).  Bake in 400 oven for 10 mins. 

Fun and easy!  Fun for kids, too!  Ryan loves them and he is a picky meat eater.  :)

2 T butter
2 T white flour
1 t salt
1 t dry mustard
2 1/2 c milk
2 c shredded extra sharp cheese
8 oz elbow mac
7 grain whole wheat bread (2 slices)

Preheat to 375.  In saucepan melt butter.  Remove.  Blend in flour, salt, and mustard.  Add milk gradually.  Heat, stirring constantly until smooth and thick.

Add 2 c cheese, heat until melted - stirring constantly.  Cook mac as directed and drain.  Combine with sauce in 2 qt casserole with remaining grated cheese all across dish.  Add bread crumbs (2 slices of bread, melt butter, brown slightly).

Bake 375 20-25 min

4-6 serv

One of my favorite dishes that my grandma makes.  True comfort food!  we have made it quite a few times, too.  We are making it tonight to take to my Grandma's for New Year's dinner.  We are also making collard greens (money) and black eyed peas (good luck) to bring over there.  Traditional Southern New Year's dinner.....along with ham and cornbread.  Happy New Year!!!!! May you have a God blessed 2011!