Table For 4

We're Moving!

2009-10-12T14:51:00.005-05:00

After nearly 7 months of debate, Randy and I have finally decided on a new name for our family blog....since, ya know, we'll no longer be a 'Table for 4' in just 6 short weeks. We didn't want to use a number just in case we continued our family expansion project and, we wanted to avoid using our last name since the Internet is, well, the Internet....so the decision took some time.

BUT, from today on out, you can follow our family news at........

The Fruits of our Labor

'Table for 4' will be up for the next 6 weeks or so, but after M3 joins our family, I will be deleting it...so make sure you update your blog feeds, IE Favorites, etc.

Wait for it.....

2009-10-05T08:59:00.003-05:00

My sister so nicely reminded me last night, "You're behind on your blog posts, and I need new pictures."

So sorry, dear blog readers, but as you can imagine, I've been a little preoccupied....but mostly tired.

BUT a new blog post is coming soon.....complete with news about our new blog 'location'.

Busy Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-11T23:05:00.006-05:00

Sadly, I'm almost a full week late in posting pics and such from our Labor Day Weekend...but better late than never, right? So, here is what filled our weekend....in semi-bullet point fashion.

Friday night: Randy's first love is football...he just can't get enough of this season. And since our Residency Program docs work as one of the local HS team's "Team Docs", he thought it would be fun to take the family....show us (specifically, Josiah) where he will be "working" many Friday nights till November. It was a great night (minus the surprising cost of admission=$24)...and the kids really enjoyed themselves. We sat right next to the band (on the non-student side) where Josiah and Laney could dance their little hearts out...and they did! It was an interesting environment, being around all of those 'kids' (boy, things/kids have changed in the last 13 years--whoa, that makes me feel old) and seeing the marching band (yep, I was one of those band geeks, but I loved it). And one other interesting observation....a popular concession item here is cucumber wedges seasoned with chili powder and lemon. Hmmmm, wasn't quite sure what to think of that, so I refrained. Here are a couple off snapshots from our of HS football game experience.

Football is SO big here in TX that it's not uncommon to see scoreboards with jumbo-trons at the HS level...I was amazed.

As long as Laney had popcorn, she was good to go.

Ah, just remembering the days...wool uniforms in high heat and humidity.

Laney also turned 16 months on Friday...and sported her first up-do (or 'whale spout' as I've just been informed my bloggy friend, Sabrina). Isn't it just darling?! Up to this point, she's not really had enough hair for us to pull up/back with even a clip...but with all of the outside activity (translation: sweating), she kinda sat still long enough to let me pull it up off her forehead in an effort to cool her down.

Saturday: I decided it was time to finally install Laney's new car seat. The big, pink, flowery car seat had been sitting in the entry way for the last couple of months...and every day, Laney would sit in it. My hesitation about installing it so soon after it was delivered was that it was too big to sit rear-facing...and I wasn't ready to turn her around quite yet. But I broke down, cleaned out the backseat, switched Josiah to the passenger side (his legs are too long to fit comfortably when Randy drives), and installed Laney's new seat....she LOVES it. Now there's just one more seat to install.......

Sunday: We headed to Brownsville for a friend's first birthday party at a local splash park. I've been wanting to go the park since we discovered it last year; but when it came down to it, I never really could get myself excited about traveling 30 minutes just to play around in water when we have multiple friends in town with pools. So this was perfect....plus, we didn't have to worry about a ton of random kids pushing over the babies, my friend had reserved it specifically for her daughter's birthday. It was so much fun...and the weather was perfect (yep, still really hot down here; however, we have cooled down to the low 90s)!

Monday: We just relaxed and enjoyed having daddy home for a change. I cleared out the hall closet to make room for my newly organized file boxes (I no longer have clutter in the 'junk' corner of our bedroom--YAY, now we have room for the crib!) and was granted time to grocery shop ALONE. Randy had also smoked a turkey on Saturday, so we invited our fellow PGY2s over for fellowship and food.

It was a great weekend, filled with lots of family-time. Only a couple more weeks before Randy heads into another horrible month of hospital service, and then shortly after that, we become a family of FIVE.....we are definitely cherishing these moments as our little 'Table for 4', full weekends or even an hour--we'll take whatever we can get. Hope you had a great weekend!

Hiding His Word

2009-09-03T14:44:00.005-05:00

Last night was Josiah's FIRST night as a Cubbie in our church's AWANA Club. And if you aren't familiar with AWANA, it's an international, nondenominational, Bible-centered ministry for 3YOs through HS students, and the name comes from 2 Timothy 2:15:

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." Approved-Workmen-Are-Not-Ashamed.

Last night was also Parent VIP Night for the Cubbies, so I was able to sit in his class and observe how he'll be spending his time (6pm-7:45pm every Wednesday)...and Josiah did pretty well considering he one ball of non-stop energy, which is only enhanced when he's around his friends. He began learning his first Cubbies Bible verse: "...God...loved us and sent His Son..." (1 John 4:10), the AWANA Pledge, the Pledge to the Christian Flag, the Pledge to the Bible, and Cubbies song. Each week, Randy and I will work with Josiah to memorize a different verse, thus hiding the Word in his heart. And with each successful verse recall (or series of verses), he will earn a badge to put on his Cubbie Vest, which he'll receive in a couple of weeks.

Randy and I are excited to use this additional opportunity to teach Josiah (and Laney) about Jesus and God's grace (truthfully, I think I'm going to learn just as much). We just can't believe that we have a little one old enough to participate in the Club. 7-8 years ago, before Randy and I were married, we were group leaders for our church's kids program...I remember thinking just how cute, small, and impressionable our Cubbies were....and now we have one.

Kind of a goofy picture....he's learned the art of cheesy smiles.

Preparations for Baby: Part 1

2009-08-31T14:36:00.005-05:00

Today I'm 28 weeks pregnant, which means that I'm officially in my 3rd Trimester. I honestly can't believe how fast time is passing! It seems just like yesterday that we told our friends and family our shocking news.

I had the beloved glucose tolerance test this morning...and passed! I really didn't think I would fail, and I was praying that I wouldn't because I would not know life without my carbs and sweets....I already have to endure 6-9 months postpartum without chocolate or dairy.

Anyway, with only 12 weeks left, I've started preparing bit by bit.

1. Nursing cover: during the last couple of years, nursing covers have become popular among nursing moms. But for whatever reason, I've never purchased one. In thinking about things that I would enjoy having with this baby that I've not had with either Josiah or Laney, I decided that I wanted a nursing cover. However, I did NOT want to pay $35 for one. Sooo, I decided to search online for free tutorials and sew my own. I found two tutorials, but ended up using this one. There are a few things I would change upon sewing another one, but in the end, I was happy with how it turned out (despite its imperfections, which will probably continue to drive me nuts--but I do have the satisfaction of being able to say "I made it myself").

2. Travel changing pad: in my search to find nursing cover tutorials, I ended up spending a few extra minutes perusing around Esty (very dangerous) and found that I could buy a travel changing pad to match my nursing cover. What a great idea! So that led me to search for changing pad patterns, and this is what I found. But again, I was unwilling to spend $31 for something I could easily sew myself for much less. Here are pics of my end product:

Again, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Although, next time I would use only 1 layer of quilt batting between the fabric layers (the 2 layers I used does make it extra cushy, but it definitely adds bulk) and try to find a softer fabric for the back side.

3. Diaper clutch: this is the last piece of the set, and I'm just waiting on my mom to send me the pattern so that I can put it together. A friend made me one of these 'envelopes' when Josiah was born and thought it was one of the best gifts (thank you, Lori)! However, when I started carrying around diapers for TWO kiddos, the original clutch was too small....so my mom copied the pattern, making it bigger to accompany more diapers and wipes. And of course, I will be using the same fabric (bubbles-outside, orange-inside).

FYI--The cost to buy all of the fabric, quilt batting, ribbon, thread, boning and D-rings was a grand total of $35, the price of just one Hooter Hider.

4. Freezer meals: I've also started the process of stocking my big freezer. A couple of times a week, I'll make a double batch of dinner and freeze one. So far, I've got a Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole, Noodle and Spinach Casserole, meatloaf, and some 3 Bean Turkey Chili already done.

This week will be:

Tacos in Pasta Shells,

Baked Spaghetti,

King Ranch Chicken,

Swiss Stuffing Chicken, and

some banana bread (I've got tons of frozen bananas that I need to use up to clear out my in-house freezer).

And once I get my hands on a couple of OAMC cookbooks, I'm going to spend a day just cooking my little heart out. If you have any great recipes that work well for the freezer, please pass them along! If there is one thing that has me a little anxious about caring for a newborn, a 19-month old, and a 3YO, it's finding enough time and energy to cook. I just don't want to have to do much more than thaw and bake.

Next on the list....moving Laney to her new car seat (and finally turning her forward-facing), crochet another baby blanket, organize drawers, and transition Laney to the toddler bed. Wish me luck...and energy.

Getting SO Big

2009-08-22T13:55:00.009-05:00

It's no secret that the baby stage is by far my least favorite stage about having children, so it should be no surprise that I'm filled with excitement and joy each time Josiah and Laney figure out how to do more 'big kid' things.

Last Thursday, Josiah's 3rd birthday, I decided it was time to really try the potty-training gig (having 3 in diapers really scares me financially). The night before I purchased some cool 'big boy' underwear, the ones that had all of his friends on them--Buzz Lightyear, The Incredibles, Nemo, Wall-E, and Lightning McQueen, hoping that this would be a good place to start, incentive-wise. I'm excited to announce that since last Thursday, he's only had a handfull of #1 accidents and NO #2 accidents. In fact, as soon as we got home Thursday night from a Residency pool party/dinner, he told me that he needed to go poo-poo. SUCCESS! And don't you know that we had quite a cheering session! In this past week, we have even found him running out of the room, taking himself to the potty (even climbing up onto the toilet to take care of #2). He's also been waking up dry from nap and nighttime. I'm not entirely sure if I can say he is potty trained quite yet, but he is making strides everyday. We are SO proud of you, Josiah!

Not only has Josiah tackled potty training during this past week, he is working on dressing himself. The arrangement is for me to lay out his clothes, and then he is responsible for putting them on. We are still working on "the tag goes in the back" and "your head goes through the big hole at the bottom of your shirt first"...and dressing in a timely manner, but he's doing a great job. And a lot of times, despite his obvious struggle, he still wants to "do it by myself"......

thus the unique way to wear his underwear.

And we moved Josiah out of the 'baby' room and into his own room, complete with 'big boy' bed with 'big boy' sheets. As per my mom's suggestion, instead of transitioning Josiah and Laney at the same time, we decided to make a big deal about him moving to the big bed...and we disassembled the toddler bed. There are days when he wants to sleep in his 'little' bed, but overall he's doing really well.

Laney, too, is growing by leaps and bounds. She can now speed walk, can step up and down stairs unassisted, throws balls well (and is even trying to shoot baskets), is gaining a little bit more 'air' each time she tries to jump, is speaking many more words--saying 'more' and 'all gone', will say "uh-huh" and shake her head 'no' depending on the question, and can tell you what the letters A, B, D, and M say...it's so cute! She's also become our biggest picky eater....not entirely sure what happened, but one day she wouldn't eat her up-til-then most favorite foods. Speaking of eating, she loves, loves, loves, to sit in a booster seat and will sometimes prefer it over a highchair.

She is also becoming quite a the 'little mama'....she sits her baby in her highchair when she's not in it, she brings baby up in the highchair with her and feeds it Cheerios, and even enjoyed helping me change Josiah's diaper by wiping his bottom (when we were using diapers, *wink, wink*)....let's just hope this behavior continues once her little brother/sister arrives.

I took both kids to their well-child/baby exams on Tuesday (Josiah-3 years, Laney-15 months), and here are their stats....

Josiah
Weight: 37.5 lbs (just shy of 90%)
Height: 39.75 in (between 90-95%)
Head: 19.5 in. (50%)

Laney
Weight: 27.5 lbs (between 90-95%)
Height: 32 in. (90%)
Head: 18.5 in. (75%)

Clearly, neither one of them is deficient in the physical growth department. YAY for healthy babies!

Outside-Inside

2009-08-19T12:51:00.005-05:00

As of today, we are 26 weeks and 2 days pregnant...only 96 days to go....or 14 weeks....regardless of how you count it, though, it's not much time left at all!

Everything is going well....I'm measuring right on target, my BP is good, weight gain is fair (as in maybe gaining too much), my iron level is great, and baby's heartrate is around 150-160bpm.

On Monday we had our 'big' ultrasound...and I managed to keep my word and tell the U/S tech that we were not interested in finding out the gender and to please tell me when she would be taking the abdomen and femur measurements so I could turn my head. Baby M#3 is still laying horizontal with its feet near his head. According to BabyCenter, he weighs about 1.75 lbs and is 14 in. head to heel.

Picture from the OUTSIDE....

and from the INSIDE....

In 2 weeks, I go in for the oh.so.loved glucose screening and the following week, I have my very first appointment with the Nurse Midwife. I've hesitated in switching my provider to the CNM mainly because I've loved my epidurals too much and I really don't think I can endure 12+ hours of labor with no medical intervention (I'm too much of a pain wuss). But after sitting hour after hour to see my OB and then to just feel like a chart, I'm more than willing to try a different perspective to labor and delivery. Please pray that it goes well.

Flashback Friday

2009-08-14T14:56:00.010-05:00

I'm going to be perfectly honest...I'm not sure if I failed to post a "Flashback Friday" last week because I was wrapped up visiting with family or if I was just hesitant to post baby pictures of both me and my husband....okay, maybe it was a little bit of both.

BUT....for your viewing pleasure and a few giggles.....

Me: 3 1/2 Months

Randy: 3 1/2 Months

Josiah: 3 1/2 Months

Laney: 3 1/2 Months

(I always thought my children looked similar, but geesh....at 3 1/2 months, it's hard to tell who is who)

Me: 2 Year Birthday

Josiah: 2 Year Birthday

Three

2009-08-13T12:45:00.012-05:00

My dear, sweet Josiah,

As we celebrate the THREE years of life God has given you and blessed us with, we can't help but reflect on all of the things you've done or come to enjoy this past year.

Since you turned 2, you've become quite the big brother...you gladly bring me diapers and wipes whenever I ask, you inform me when Laney wakes up from her naps, and you make her laugh every day in a special kind of way that no one else can.

You learned how to pedal your tricycle and eventually ride a bicycle with training wheels....you especially enjoy riding up and down the 'ramps' (aka driveways) when we go out on our family walks.

You absolutely love anything to do with skateboards, scooters, motorcycles and tractors. You ask Daddy for a ride on his motorcycle each and every time he takes it out.

You enjoy helping me in the kitchen....you are a great stirrer. You even made your first gingerbread house this past Christmas.

You discovered how much fun carnivals are....you love the rides, the faster and taller-the better.

In the last 3-6 months, you learned your letters and their sounds. Plus, you enjoy playing Starfall on the computer since you figured out your hand-eye coordination with the computer mouse.

You love to play basketball....and you often say to us, "I have to practice so I can make the team."

You took your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th trips to the beach this year....and you loved it! Plus, you love to swim in your friends' pools....and you even started purposefully putting your face under water.

You love to sing, play your guitar, and drum on anything....you are our little noise maker. Lately, your favorite song to play your guitar to is the "Fruit of the Spirit" song.

You love to go to church (the worship is your favorite part)....and play with your friends during Children's Church.

Your favorite movies are Bolt, Cars, and Kung Fu Panda...you could watch them over and over and over again.

You don't really have any favorite foods because you've grown into a very picky eater (except if we stop at Rudy's for smoked turkey). However, you do love your 'hot cocoa' (aka chocolate milk), and you call it 'hot cocoa' because you heard it once during an episode of Curious George.

And today, you moved to your own room and wanted to wear underwear...marking the start our potty training endeavor.

We are so proud of all of your developments and accomplishments this past year, and we can't wait to see how you will make us laugh, how you will make us jump for joy, and how you will stun us with your knowledge/comprehension this next year.

We love you.

XOXO,

Mommy & Daddy

A Bouncy House and Motorcycles

2009-08-12T13:55:00.016-05:00

The day that Josiah's been waiting for, for what seemed like forever, finally arrived on Saturday, his birthday party--complete with bouncy house and motorcycle cake!

Josiah and his cousin, Samuel

We had a great evening....WE (yep, the pregnant momma even enjoyed the bouncy house) bounced until 9:30PM. Many thanks to Randy's family for making the 10 hour drive down to celebrate with us....for the smoked brisket, homemade tortillas and potato salad, and especially for spending an extra day in town, just hanging out with us and the kids.

Tomorrow is Josiah's real birthday, and we will be spending the morning moving him to his own room, the afternoon decorating cupcakes and the evening swimming with friends.

You Know You're A Mommy When.....

2009-08-06T10:17:00.012-05:00

Despite the fact that I never leave home without both sippy cups full of some kind of liquid and a snack cup full of Goldfish crackers or two (or more) packs of fruit snacks.....

that I've cleaned up multiple piles of cheerios and raw oatmeal off the floor (because the kids wanted a snack)....

that I just spent the last 45 minutes talking with a friend about car seats....
and that I consider myself lucky if I get a shower once/day....

You know you're a mommy when you get the store, rummage through every pocket of your bag only to find that you have no pen (to mark things off your list) BUT....

you have crayons.

Beachy Sunday

2009-08-04T22:24:00.004-05:00

We headed to the Island on Sunday, our first trip of year. Sad, I know...we live 45 minutes away from the beach, and we haven't been but one time all summer....but there is no appeal in dragging two toddlers (and all of their gear) to the beach by myself. But since we would be joining friends (who have a tent for shade) and Randy was able to go with us, I thought it would be a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon...before we start a rough month.

It was beautiful out on the Island (translation: it was 10 degrees cooler). The water was a little cool, but it was still refreshing; and the sand was soft. Surprisingly, Laney wasn't too excited about the water--she went crazy in Corpus. But after we sat down, started digging a hole, and building/destroying a couple of sand mounds, she was ready. Unlike his sister, Josiah jumped right in with his friend, Lincoln. They immediately found fun in trying to jump over the waves and splashing in the "baby pool" we dug just a few feet from the "big pool".

*I decided to take the camera off 'automatic' and play in 'P'....

clearly not ready to take the next step...

but this is what we walked away with.*

We stayed all afternoon...and we heard not even one small whine from the little people. We all had a great time, and the only bit of sunburn happened on my back (due to an error in application by the husband)...is it bad to be jealous of your children because they have gorgeous tans (and don't seem to burn)?

I'm so glad that Josiah and Laney enjoyed themselves and were so well behaved because next weekend is our Program's Beach Retreat, and I'll be taking them....alone because Randy has to work.

Flashback Friday

2009-07-31T08:47:00.006-05:00

During the summer, every Friday we have a playdate at the pool. It's the only place outside we can stand to be for longer than it takes us to get fastened into the air conditioned car. Have I mentioned that we have been on quite a lengthy stretch of 100 degree weather?

Much of my childhood was spent in the water, and I'd hope that my children would love it as much as I did. I'm excited to say that it takes quite a few "no, not yet"s and "wait"s once we enter the "pool zone" to keep them from jumping in alone. They are more than ready.

Here are a few pictures from Josiah's first swim at 6 months old.

These are a couple from Laney's first trip to the pool....she was just 2 months.

Thank you, Sabrina, for hosting "Flashback Friday"....I've really enjoyed looking back. Although, I'm not sure I'm too excited about next week....baby pictures of me and Randy (if I can find any).

Compliments of Big Brother

2009-07-30T15:02:00.004-05:00

This is what happens when you bend over to pet a puppy, and then your big brother decides to pet the puppy from the front of his bike, accidentally moving backwards and causing you to face-plant into the back tire. Poor baby....now she has an eyebrow boo-boo, just like her big brother.

Cafe Preggers

2009-07-28T14:37:00.007-05:00

Instead of enjoying a much needed afternoon nap, I dove head first into a massive pile of papers begging to be filed. I've never been really good at keeping the filing pile minimal, but it's also never really bothered me...before. Now it bothers to me to end that one corner of my bedroom has become overrun by a mountain of loan statements, receipts, tax documents, etc. I'm pretty sure it's a result of needing to find all of the extra space possible in order to welcome baby #3 to our home without resorting to putting him/her in the bathtub...and as we all know, clutter takes up more space.

Sooo, after about 30 minutes into my filing extravaganza, I undercovered an issue of Babytalk magazine. Of course, I had to stop my efforts and read through the magazine real quick before I threw it in the "garbage pile" (plus, I had to take a potty break--boy, I forgot just how small the bladder gets when a baby is competing for space). And written on the last page was a menu from "Cafe Preggers"....I thought it was just too funny not to share. Hope you enjoy it just as much as I did.

*******

Cafe Preggers

We always have just what you want, at any stage of pregnancy--from the queasy beginning to those last weeks when the baby has taken up every ounce of spare room in your belly.

First Trimester Menu

Appetizer

Turns compote

Entree

Fresh Saltines on a bed of Saltines, lightly seasoned with Saltines

Beverage

Ginger ale (IV drip available upon request)

Dessert

Ten minutes in a dim room with an ice bag on your head

Second Trimester Menu

Appetizer

Half a roast chicken, extra crispy

Entree*

A succulent leg of lamb smothered in pork chops, served with BBQ ribs and garnished with cheeseburgers (all burnt beyond recognition for your safety)

Beverage

Toll House-pie smoothie, prepared with 1/2 pint heavy cream

Dessert

9"x16" pan of double-fudge brownies

Third Trimester Menu

(Each course followed by a 15-minute neck massage and/or bathroom break)

Appetizer

Three bites of tossed salad

Entree

Two bites of lasagna

Beverage

None-so you'll have room for dessert

Dessert

A Tic Tac

*Double portions available if you're expecting twins

Flashback Friday

2009-07-24T08:00:00.010-05:00

I mentioned last week that I wanted to start posting old pictures, particularly of Josiah, since this blog started about a year and a half after he blessed our world. Soooo, I decided to join my good bloggy friend, Sabrina, in her "Flashback Friday" series, which she created to enable her love of looking through old fotos. I, too, enjoy drifting back....although it does make me a little sad to see just how quickly and how much my children have grown.

It was tough deciding on which pics to use for this post, so I decided to copy Sabrina's idea and use pictures from our first family vacation in July 2007. Randy's parents, brother, SIL and our nephew flew from West TX to VA to celebrate Josiah's first birthday as well as visit Washington, DC (it was their first visit).

National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial

(Randy's uncle was shot during a routine drug check at a Greyhound bus stop in West Texas in 2002)

WWII Memorial

(Iowa--the other half of his 'roots')

Randy and I always enjoyed our time in the DC area....and we miss being so far away.

Zoo-tastic!

2009-07-22T21:53:00.013-05:00

Our MOPS group decided to change up the scenery of our Wednesday AM play date this morning, from the air conditioned church gym to the 95 degree ambient air of the Zoo. It really wasn't too bad, even being pregnant....we just made sure that we had enough juice and water. The kids really enjoyed themselves. Josiah thoroughly enjoyed running around with his good friend, David; and Laney giggled each time I picked her up out of her stroller to get a better look at the animals. She loved watching the flamingos and did a petting hand motion each time she saw a big kitty--lion, tiger, or bobcat (she pets the kitty cats in her books while she reads).

After 2.5 hours, we just couldn't stand the heat any longer and left to enjoy a picnic lunch at a neighboring park. Even though Laney missed her morning nap, she did really well...and enjoyed playing with the other kids. Of course, she crashed once I got her fastened in her car seat and got the A/C circulating. Josiah amazed me by continuing "full throttle" despite a full morning of running around the zoo in the heat. But they were more than ready to say "good night" tonight. No fighting at bed time always makes for a perfecting ending to the day, don't you think?

I'm still trying to figure out this whole collage construction thing in Photoshop, but here are a few pictures from our day.

Taken Sept 2008 (Laney was just shy of 5 months old)

Something New

2009-07-18T12:26:00.008-05:00

In preparation to change our blog name (ya know, 'cause we're adding another little Mexican to the family), I thought I would try my hand at redesigning our blog. I'm trying a free 30-day trial of Photoshop Elements 7.0 just to see if it would be something I would and could use...and so far, I'm LOVING it!

I've also learned a little bit of HTML to change the background tile as well as adjust the writing space.

Who says you can't teach an old dog (with preggo brain) new tricks? LOL! Nap time for the kids just can't come soon enough.

Soooo, what do ya think?
(I've got a lot to learn, but I don't think what I've created thus far is all too bad.)

Then & Now

2009-07-17T19:53:00.005-05:00

My bloggy friend, Trisha, started a "looking back" series as a way to incorporate the pictures taken before she started her blog. I thought it was such a good idea, I couldn't not copy (imitation is the ultimate form of flattery, after all).

Not counting our trip to IL just last weekend, our last trip up to visit my parents and sisters was Dec 2007, when Josiah was just 16 months old (he's now just 1 month shy of being 3).

And since I finally broke down and started a new ~~addiction~~ friendship with Photoshop, I thought I would try to compose a simple collage of a couple of "Then & Now" pictures. (It's far from perfect, but you have to start somewhere, right?)

Fun in IL

2009-07-16T12:57:00.016-05:00

Last week we travelled to IL for my sister's wedding, the last "Good" wedding. And we figured that since we were spending $$$ on tickets and we are uncertain when the next time we'll see everyone again, we decided to spend a week at Grandma and Papa's house.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves...we had great weather and lots of new things to do.

They had fun at the park....

They wrestled with Aunt Kara....

They rode the John Deere with Papa....

They loved on Moby (Aunt Leslie's furry child)....

Laney got her toes painted....

Laney with Aunt Leslie and Soon-to-be Uncle Josh....

They played the piano....

Josiah played Candy Land (game board circa 1978) with Aunt Kara and Uncle Chris....

They rode on the John Deere some more....

They helped Grandma sweep the grass clippings off the driveway....

They posed with Grandma....

Laney quietly ate a mouthful of black M&Ms....

They even celebrated their birthdays (2 months late for Laney and 1 month early for Josiah)....

Laney even blew out her candle by herself...

Whew, it was a fun yet exhausting trip. We were sad to leave, but it's good to be home.

PS. I apologize for all of the individual pictures....I have just downloaded Photoshop and hope to figure out how to create collages and edit color, etc. Wedding pictures will be posted soon.

Happy 4th and Fourteen Months!

2009-07-09T11:14:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I'm a bit behind, but better late than never, right? I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend, celebrating the freedom that our many service men and women work so hard to protect.

We spent the afternoon at a cookout/pool party at our Program Director's house. We enjoyed good swimming, good food, and good fellowship with our fellow Residents and their families.

July 4, 2008

(Laney was just 2 months old)

July 4, 2009

In addition to fun in the pool, Josiah tried out the homemade slip n slide, complete with dishsoap (helps in gaining distance).

There were also games. Josiah was excited to be able to participate this year. I think he was even more excited about wearing matching bandanas with Randy.

Our evening ended with a small backyard fireworks display. It was a great night...bright moon, no clouds, light breeze, and NO mosquitos. After spending the last couple of days saying how he wasn't going to be scared of the fireworks this year, Josiah ended up hiding out inside while Daddy, Laney, and I enjoyed the site, sounds, and smell of the fireworks outside. Laney even fell asleep during the "show", that's how much she enjoyed them. Oh well....maybe next year.

*********

And while we were celebrating our country's independence, we were also celebrating Laney's 14 month birthday. Laney is getting so big and is doing and saying so many things. A couple of weeks ago during a visit to see Randy, I weighed her....26.5 pounds, so still a big girl. She is still wearing 2T clothes and has grown into a size 6 shoe...and speaking of shoes, she loves to wear them. If she sees them laying around, you can most certainly expect that she will bring them to you, say "shoes" or "here ya go" and sit down. Definitely a girl (well, except for the whole not-wearing-a-bow thing)!

In addition to saying "shoes", Laney now says "juice", "go", "ouch!", "uh-oh", and "up". And she will clearly sign "please", "thank you", "milk", "more", "eat", and "all done" (and she'll also open her mouth REAL big if she sees something she wants to eat and say "ah, ah"). Laney is also thoroughly enjoying learning her letters and sounds along with her brother, she already knows that "the A says ah, the A says ah, every letter makes a sound, the A says ah". She is also learning her animal sounds and has cow, dog, and goldfish down pat. If you ask what a goldfish says, she'll open and close her mouth silently...it's SO cute.

Laney is still seated rear-facing in the car (her feet are just now barely touching the back of the seat). However, she will get an opportunity to see the world from a whole new perspective when we turn her around this week for my sister's wedding. I hope that she won't like it too much because I do plan on turning her back around when we get home....until her new car seat and baby brother/sister arrives.

Laney sure does love her brother...if imitation truly is the highest form of flattery. It's 100% "Monkey-see, Monkey-do" around here. And in just the last couple of days, she'll walk up to Josiah and give him a kiss. It's darling! Eeek, so many cute things to capture on video before they are gone and forgotten!

Laney, you are definitely one quirky, sassy, funny, and cute little girl...and we just love that about you.

Happy 14 Month Birthday!

Halfway

2009-07-06T14:53:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that I've reached the halfway point of this pregnancy already. It seems like just yesterday I was sharing our shocking news. I guess that's what happens when you're in denial for 3 months. *wink* Things have been going well, and I feel great. I've just barely started showing, and I'm not in maternity clothes yet (losing 30-40 pounds twice now has given me a little bit of room for growth in my "fat pants"). While Laney has no clue what is about to happen to her little world, Josiah is much more aware...and he has started talking to the baby and pat my belly when we lay down together...it's very cute.

Please pray that the next 20 weeks go smoothly (and I'm on the fence about whether I want them to go by quickly or not) as we adjust the house and the big brother and sister for baby's arrival in just a few months. We hope to transition Josiah to a big, "big boy" bed, in a separate room from Laney, move Laney to the toddler bed, and move the crib back to our room, in about 4 months. New car seats are on order (our current seats are too wide to accommodate 3 seated across the back of our car)....I just hope they fit and that the kids like them as much as their current seat.

Lots to prepare for in the next 5 months....

Promotion

2009-06-28T21:04:00.014-05:00

As of Friday evening, Randy is no longer the lowest on the food-chain, an Intern. WE are now 2nd Year Residents, which also means that we have drastically less "First Call", more time spent in education-packed rotations (ie. Hospital Service), and a teeny, tiny raise! Woohoo! But Friday night's Graduation Dinner was bittersweet....while we were excited to be one year closer to being done with this training nightmare (my word, not Randy's), we were also sad about saying "good-bye" to friends.

I had a lot of reservations about moving all.the.way.down.here for a number of reasons...probably too many to list...but a good friend helped make the tranisition a little easier. She was willing to look at houses for us, she hooked me up all sorts of information about utilities/formalities once we got here, she kept Laney's breastmilk (AKA liquid gold) in her freezer just days after we met in person (we lost power for a week after we moved in because apparently you just can't transfer the names like we were originally told), she frequently brought her daughter over to play with Josiah to help pass the time, and she shared whatever she learned about coping (about Residency and about living so far away from 'home'). Over the past year, she and I had dinners together, MOPS together, Bible Study together, and chit-chatted about anything and everything while the kids played together.

Katie and Matt became wonderful friends over the past year, and we will miss them. They've headed to St. Louis for the next year for Matt's Sports Medicine Fellowship.

And while I am losing a good friend (in person--thank goodness for Facebook and the Blogosphere), so is Josiah. Isabella (only 6 months younger) and Josiah grew to be great friends, and Josiah will tell you that she is one of his best friends. They were MOPS buddies, sandbox buddies, Children's Church buddies, and pool buddies. Being dropped off at MOPS or Children's Church seemed all right as long as they were together. I know Josiah will miss his friend.

Katie and Matt, we are so blessed to have gotten to know you this past year. We are excited for you guys as you start yet another new journey in this crazy life we call "playing doctor"....we just wish it were closer. ;-) We pray abundant blessings for you and your family...and can't wait to hear the news of Isabella's Big Sisterhood.

Dr. Matt left his scooter with us to sell.....so in the meantime, the kids are enjoying it.

Inner Iowan

2009-06-20T09:33:00.006-05:00

"Sweet Corn" season is by far my favorite food season of the year, if I can describe a season by what which food is harvested when. I just *heart* sweet corn....and we were able to find some pretty decent corn in our neck of the woods this year ("knee-high by the fourth of July" doesn't apply down here as corn season is already over-sniff, sniff)...however, it's just not the same as the good ol' fashioned Iowan variety.

I apologize for the not-so-great pics (not great lighting)...but I wanted to show my family that I haven't forgotten that the kiddos are half Iowan (as much as Randy drills into their heads that they're 100% Texan). ;-) To say that my children loved sweet corn would be an understatement...Laney couldn't get enough (this was her first time eating corn straight off the cob).

AKA Trouble

2009-06-16T09:01:00.005-05:00

Guess who's tall enough to open doors now?

Oh, this has introduced us to a whole new meaning of child-proofing. I've already had to switch out the knob going out to garage because of Josiah's excitement to wash the car (he helped himself out to the garage, fetched his stepstool, opened the big garage door, and hung out in the garage by himself while I was busy putting Laney down for a nap when a Police Officer drove by, walked into the garage, and then proceeded to tell me that I need to keep a closer eye on my child or he would write me up the next time he saw this happen).

We have started closing the bathroom doors because she thinks unrolling the toilet paper is a great way to keep busy for 10 minutes. However, now that she can open doors, we can no longer keep the toilet paper where it's supposed to be....it's now kept on the counter.

And, I can't forget that she (and Josiah) thoroughly enjoys playing in the pantry. And now that she can open the door, I have found canned food, boxes of mac-n-cheese, and various other pantry-stored kitchen items strewn around the house.

Of course, now that she's taller, she can grab things off the kitchen table, our usual dumping ground for bags, mail, emptying pockets (Randy).....and sidewalk chalk, need I say more? Thankfully, I watched her grab the chalk, so I could successfully intervene before our walls and floors were recolored.

Laney is into SO many more and different things than Josiah was ever interested in....we've really had to grow eyes in the back of our heads.

Adjusting to the News

2009-06-12T14:00:00.005-05:00

It has been 10 weeks and 4 days since the "Congratulations, you're pregnant" bomb was dropped on us...and I'm just now starting to accept that I will soon be a mother of THREE, 3 years old and under.

I'm still not sure what God is thinking...the only explanation Randy and I can come up with is "at least we won't be 50 raising a 5 year old". Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not for us.

I know I briefly mentioned the news already in a previous post, but I thought I would write more detail about 'that day'...you know, for documentation purposes and something to laugh at later...when it's funny.

April 1, 2009: I went in to see the doctor, a friend and fellow Resident, about getting back on birth control now that I was done nursing (I avoid any kind of birth control pill while nursing because it decreases my milk supply) and couldn't manage to get my cycle back on track. Dr. Nina asked a bunch of questions and then directed me to give a urine sample with which they would perform a routine pregnancy test. Ah, no big deal. After all, you have to get all of the routine stuff taken care of before you can move on, right? Not even 10 minutes later, Dr. Nina opens the door and says, "I have goosebumps!" while carrying a small slide to me. She showed me the slide, and I asked, "What does that mean?" (Pregnancy was the furthest thing from my mind).

Nina: "You're pregnant!"
Me: "Nina, this is the meanest April Fool's joke anyone has ever played on me!"

Unfortunately, she wasn't joking. Oh, the tears started immediately....what was I going to do?! Randy and I had fully planned on having more children once he graduated and we could afford a bigger vehicle and home...in TWO years. I'm just now adjusting to having the two I have...and Laney just turned ONE.

For at least 6 weeks, I didn't want to talk about it, tell anyone (we did tell family and a few praying friends), or have Randy touch my belly. I didn't even have my first prenatal visit until I was 12 weeks, which is a good 4-6 weeks later than my first visit with both Josiah and Laney. I even hesitated to listen for the baby's heartbeat at the visit. I really went through a tough time.

Well, today was my second visit, and after they conducted all of the routine stuff (pap smear, blood work, blood pressure, weight), I was asked if I would like to have an ultrasound (I hadn't had one yet). If you'd asked me 4 weeks ago, I would have declined. But after discovering that I CAN fit three car seats in the back of my Accord (we are going to look like a clown car), keeping us from having to find a larger vehicle that we simply DO NOT have the money for right now, I'm a little bit more accepting of adding #3 to our 'Table'. Silly how finances can help me better accept the gift God has given Randy and me, I know....I just was feeling financially overwhelmed (babies are NOT cheap). But today, I decided it was time to see who I've started to feel kicking me...on the inside, that is.

Introducing Baby M#3.....

16 weeks and 4 days

Today's ultrasound just measured crown-to-rump, and we appear to be right on schedule with my LDMP. In 5 weeks (after we get back from my sister's wedding in July), we'll have another U/S, during which they'll take the brain, abdominal, and femur measurements. And right now, the plan is NOT to find out what God has blessed us with until his/her "birth" day...gotta keep the trend going.

So while I was in complete denial for about 8-10 weeks, I'm starting to warm up to the idea of having a baby in the house again (even though it's my most least favorite part about having babies). I've even started rearranging furniture, you know, while I have the energy to do it. ;-)

Now for my request to you, dearest readers. Since Baby M#3 will be Martinez #5, I no longer will have a "Table for 4".....so I'm currently taking suggestions as to what our new family blog name should be (I have the hardest time with creating a name), preferrably with no numbers in it...you know, just in case. ;-) Looking forward to what you come up with.

Corpus Christi/Houston Vacation: Part 3

2009-06-12T13:36:00.009-05:00

After spending a couple of hours at the Texas State Aquarium, we hopped in the car and headed for Houston. Randy's cousin, her husband, and their darling little man, Noah, just recently made the move back to H-town from North Texas. It had been almost a year since we had seen them last, and we figured that since we were just 3 hours away, that we should 'go the distance' and visit for a couple of days.

About 5 years ago, we travelled to the Mayan Riveria with Noah's mommy and daddy and had a blast! We just love their company...and enjoyed visiting. Randy's cousin recently made the transition from career-woman to stay-at-home-mommy, so we enjoyed 'exchanging notes' and recipes. And while we didn't 'go into town' to see the sights and smells of Houston, we enjoyed relaxing at the house and watching all three kiddos play. I think Laney enjoyed having someone a bit more her size to play with, Noah just turned 16 months. And Noah enjoyed chasing Josiah around the house.

Thursday arrived, and it was time for us to make the trek back to The Valley. A drive that should take a family travelling sans children (or those with older children) 5 hours took us 2 stops and 8 hours. We really enjoyed our short, not-so-far vacation...and while it may not have been to anywhere absolutely amazing (ahem, St. Maarten like my BIL), we just enjoyed spending a few days together as a family, visiting family. That's what it's all about anyway, right?

Corpus Christi/Houston Vacation: Part 2

2009-06-09T12:15:00.005-05:00

We spent Tuesday AM at the Texas State Aquarium. It is a beautiful facility, sitting right on the bay, just next door to the USS Lexington.

The bay side of the aquarium, taken from the Lex's Flight Deck.

The dolphin show was our favorite part of the whole aquarium experience (I still think it would be awesome to be a trainer). The kids loved it!

The aquarium has a really neat touch pool where you are encouraged to touch and hold hermit crabs and urchins. Randy was brave and picked up a pencil urchin. Josiah had no interest in holding one.

The USS Lexington seen from the aquarium's "back yard"....what a big ship!

Randy and the kids at the aquarium's entrance.

We took this as we were leaving since 5 bus-loads of elementary kids took over the area as we arrived. Laney was exhausted and ready to get her nap-on for the ride to Houston.

Corpus Christi/Houston Vacation: Part 1

2009-06-08T14:08:00.020-05:00

A couple of months ago, Randy was granted access to use the last 5 days of his vacation, so we started planning for a short, simple vacation...somewhere just to get us out of The Valley. We had no idea where we wanted to go: FTW, Houston, San Antonio, etc., until Randy spent a couple of days in Corpus for CME. He couldn't say enough wonderful things about how his hotel overlooked the USS Lexington and was located right on the beach. I was sold. Corpus was just far enough away to "get away" but it wasn't too far where the kids (or me) would have to sit in a car for 10 hours just to get there (not to mention getting home, which is always worse). So we booked the same hotel Randy stayed in during his CME course.

We left Sunday after church (Randy was on-call on Saturday so we couldn't leave any earlier), arrived in Corpus around 4PM, checked into our hotel, unloaded the car/changed diapers, and then headed down to the street so the kids could take in the water/sand/gift shoppe where the entrance was through an open shark's mouth/entrance to the USS Lexington. The kids were SO excited about being in the hotel room...somewhere different, I guess. They were excited about the small balcony, small fridge which contained their special juice, and closet safe (the buttons beeped when pressed, which they LOVED, of course).

At the entrance of the USS Lexington:

It's not a very good picture of Josiah on the anchor, but we just thought it was hilarious that it came from the Norfolk, VA Navy Yard (something also from VA having been transplanted to TX).

Once we filled all of our tummies first thing Monday AM, we headed over to the USS Lexington. It was an overcast day (translation: not as hot), so we thought it would be a great day to use at the big, for-the-most-part unairconditioned ship.

Josiah and Laney LOVED all the buttons.

And the telescopes.

Josiah trapped in the Brig.
It would be nice to have once of these at home sometimes.

Laney and Randy's turn.

No significance of the picture other than the name listed in slot #41....
my not-so-common maiden name--Good.

On the flight deck

Me with my babies (All 3 of them)
(Laney fell asleep soon after making it onto the flight deck)

Josiah taking a seat on the Bridge
(where the Captain would have been seated).

Sadly, I don't know much more about the Lex after spending 5 hours walking through her bowels than I did before stepped aboard (small children just don't allow time for much reading). But it was really cool to see the berthing areas (did you know the Lexington could sleep more people than the world's largest hotel?), the ER, isolation room, barber, kitchen, engine room, and Captain's Quarters (he was the only one with a private escape port).

After dinner, we headed to the beach to spend the remainder of our day. Josiah loves the sand and water (his first experience was VA Beach in 2007) but we just don't make it over to South Padre Island very often. This was, however, Laney's first experience since being old enough to be excited about it (the last time we took her to SPI was in November when she was 7 months old). She was SO excited...and had no idea what to think of the sand.

Laney just plopped down just where the waves came up to greet her.

She thoroughly enjoyed splashing in the water.

About an hour (and a face full of salty water) was all it took before Laney decided she'd had enough...then it was time to watch the birds before heading inside to take a shower followed by bedtime.

Accidents at 13 Months

2009-05-29T13:57:00.006-05:00

This past Monday, Laney proved that my children are accident-prone around 13 months.

Since Friday, we've been dog-sitting our favorite Harlingen kanine, Rocco, and I've managed to keep Laney out of the dog's water bowl (although keeping her out of Rocco's crate is a different story)....until Monday. On Monday, her curiousity resulted in a puddle and semi-wet clothes. I immediately grabbed a towel to sop up most of the water; however, she was ready to relocate prior to me being able to dry the floor completely. It was when she was on her way away from Rocco's crate that she slipped (thankfully, she was just crawling) and smashed her face on the tile. We had screams, tears, and blood immediately (yet another reason why I HATE tile). My heart sank and instantly worried about her teeth. We were able to stop the bleeding within a few minutes, so that was a good sign. But her upper lip had caught her front teeth coming down, resulting in a pretty good-sized gash, but nothing requiring stitches. And the impact of the floor-to-face crash caused a verticle split of the under-belly of her upper lip. As you can imagine, her lip swelled within minutes.

Once she calmed down (with a walk outside), we gave her Motrin, which must have helped a lot because she was still able to take a bottle and her paci before bedtime.

I failed to take a picture shortly after the accident happened, but here is what it looked like the next morning.

During our trip to VA Beach a couple of summers ago (for my half-marathon), Josiah managed to pull a small side table (which sat next to the chair in our hotel room) down onto his eyebrow, causing a pretty ugly gash. Unfortunately, it didn't really quit bleeding, so Randy made the decision to take him to a local ER. Thankfully, no stitches were required on this gash, just a little Dermabond. And you can barely see the scar...unless you're really looking for it.

What is so interesting about these accidents, is that Josiah and Laney were almost the exact same age (just shy of 13 months) when they incurred their first accident. I'm praying this is not a new trend....but I'll be keeping my eye on M#3 when he's 12-13 months.

It's My Party.....

2009-05-15T13:10:00.012-05:00

Two weeks ago we hosted a double 1st Birthday Party since having two separate parties (a couple of days apart--James is only 3 days older than Laney) where the same people would have been invited would have been perhaps a bit too much. James' mommy, Cassie, and I decided to go with a Western Themed party, seeing that we're in Texas 'n all. It was a lot of fun.....we had grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, chips, baked beans, fresh veggies and dip......and can't forget about the CAKE and ice cream.

Laney sitting with her fellow birthday friend, James, in front of a cowboy pinata (the pinatas down here are just amazing).

I found the cutest red bandana pillowcase dress on Esty and just had to have it...it was so perfect for the theme...and she just looked darling in it, especially with the bow which she definitely was not sure about.

And just as she was unsure about the bow, she didn't know what to do with the cake. She definitely didn't "dig right in". However, she tried a couple of times to bite it.

We were so blessed to have Randy's family (Mom, Dad, Sister and nephew) make the 12 hour drive down from West Texas so that they could celebrate Laney's birthday with us.

Laney with Tia

Laney and Josiah with Grandma and Pappo

O-N-E

2009-05-14T13:37:00.008-05:00

My dear Princess Alayna,

When Dr. Anderson announced "It's a Girl!", I could hardly believe it....and neither could your daddy. Both of us thought, "what are we going to do with a little girl?" And your daddy went a step further and said, "I guess it's time to buy a shot gun". Once the initial shock of being the parents of a big (8 pounds, 8 oz) little girl wore off, we were so excited! And we were just amazed by how much you looked just like your big brother.

You endured a lot during your first couple of nights "on the outside". Your bilirubin levels were too high to allow you to go home with me, so we spent your third night in a "tanning bed" in the Pediatric Unit. I was so sad because I could only hold you long enough to nurse you. I was never so excited for you to make a poopy diaper.

Our first picture as a family of 4....being discharged from the hospital.

Your brother was so proud to hold you all by himself....and he's been very protective of you ever since we brought you home.

You've had quite a year, young lady. Your daddy and I are so very proud of you. We've had a lot of fun watching you grow and learn about the world. You now have 13 teeth: 8 on top and 5 on the bottom, including 3 of your 1st year molars. You now weight 25.5 lbs (95%) and are 29.5 in. (75%) tall. You love to snuggle and will remove your paci after I pick you up out of your crib (first thing in the AM or after nap) and give me a kiss. You started walking about 3 weeks ago and sometimes forget that you can't move as fast as you want to, resulting in a face-plant. You still don't like cow's milk (or soy milk for that matter), but you love to drink water from your sippy cup. You are still taking 2 naps/day and are usually ready for bed around 8PM. You want to go everywhere your big brother is, and you get upset if you can't go out to the garage with "the boys". You definitely know how to throw a tantrum....as your grandma says, "she came by the drama honestly". I have no idea what she is talking about. *wink*

You make us laugh every day, Laney....and we just love that about you. We can't wait to see what the next year brings.

We took you to Chili's for your official birthday dinner since we partied a few days before. You enjoyed quesadilla, salmon, french fries, and black beans.Happy 1st Year! We love you, Princess, and thank God for blessing us with you.

Love,

Mommy (and Daddy & Josiah)

Catching Up

2009-05-14T13:14:00.003-05:00

After an unexpected 3 week blog hiatus and a few "just checking up on ya" emails, I decided to forgo my usual 2 hour nap this afternoon and take some time to update you on what's been going on....because A LOT has been going on.

Randy just finished up a hard month on ICU. While I know Randy learned a lot, the hours were long and the patient care was difficult. Sadly, Randy sent multiple patients "down to the floor" with orders for "comfort measures" and even had to tell a young 20-something man, new husband and new father that he had AIDS. He spent each Thursday on-call, which meant that by the time Friday afternoon rolled around, he had spent over 24 hours, awake, on the unit. Needless to say, it was a very tiring month for both of us....and we're very glad it's over.

Almost 2 weeks ago, Laney celebrated her 1st birthday. We had a lovely party and celebrated with many friends and family (Randy's parents, sister, and our nephew drove down from West Texas).

Last weekend, I travelled ALONE to Columbus, OH to stand up for one of my very best girlfriends as she married her long-time boyfriend/soul mate. While leaving my children behind for the very first time was very difficult, I had such a wonderful time. I hadn't seen those crazy chics since Randy and my last weeks in VA, when Laney was only a couple of weeks old.

And lastly, we were ~~informed~~ SHOCKED to find out 6 weeks ago that the Martinez Family Expansion Project is in full force. While we fully intended on having another 1-2 children, we were in NO WAY expecting #3 so soon. Baby M #3 is due November 23....and no, our plans to find out the gender this go-around have not changed from the first two. ;-)

I'm going to apologize ahead of time....I'm definitely lacking the mental energy these days to write much, so I'm just going to post mostly pics.

Thank you to those of you who 'checked up' on me....it meant a lot. ((HUGS))

Pinchin' Pennies

2009-04-21T13:55:00.005-05:00

We're almost 5 months into the year, only 1 month away from taking a small family vacation, 2 months away from buying THREE plane tickets for my sister's wedding in IL, and 7 months away from buying THREE more plane tickets to travel back to IL for the holidays....so I thought it would be a good time to re-evaluate our current budget and try to save a few pennies.

My first "cut"....the cable TV. Knowing that I could save $50/month just by eliminating HGTV (and Co.) was eating me up. We survived all 4 years of med school without cable, so I guess in our minds, we felt like we deserved this small luxury...even though NONE of our fellow Residents have it. It was nice to enjoy the dozens of channels for the past 10 months...but we really don't need it, we need the $50/month, however.

The next "cut"....the gym membership. Since March, I've barely stepped foot into the gym.....whether it was due to Randy's schedule or my lack of motivation. The early AMs or the late PMs were just no longer working for me, and since the gym's child care rule is "2 AND potty trained", working out during the day is so not an option. While I know that my gym time during the past year is what has helped me stay sane, I'm willing to sacrifice it in exchange for $40/month and find something else (I bought Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred).

Next....the monthly allowance for diapers. I have been cloth diapering Laney for the last 9 months, so I've been doing a pretty good job at keeping her diaper purchase minimal (still need to buy 'sposies' for when we leave her in the nursery for church, MOPS, babysitters, etc). However, Josiah has always been in 'sposies'. A fellow Resident wife shared that she puts her 2YO daughter in undies in the afternoon just to "save" a diaper or two (1 diaper = $0.25). I thought this was brilliant!!!! But because I was too afraid of cleaning up messes (I was no where near ready to start the potty training process, or so I thought), I just put him in a cloth diaper along with his sister. He loved it, he loved matching his sissy. But then the more I thought of it....Josiah is just 4 months shy of turning 3 (the supposed "magic age" for boys when they finally get the whole potty training thing), why not see if he's ready....that would drastically save our monthly diaper purchase. Operation Potty Train is a completely different post, so I'll save all of the specifics, but he's doing pretty well (with #1 anyway--he's still not sure about using the potty to catch the #2 business). We might use 3-4 diapers/day now instead of our normal 6-7 (3 diapers saved = $0.75).

Now that Laney is just 2 weeks shy of her first birthday, I will no longer have to spend $50/month in formula. I tried EVERYTHING I could to keep the nursing going (after all it is best for baby--AND it's free)...but alas, my body said "ENOUGH!". Thankfully, we only had to buy 6 months of formula, but each can adds up....and before you know it, you've spent over $300 on milk. YIKES!

And lastly, since I'm constantly doing laundry (adding another little person sure does impact how quickly the laundry hamper fills up), we're using an amazing amount of laundry detergent. In my quest to find recipes for more natural cleaning products, I came across a recipe for homemade laundry soap. I made my first batch this afternoon. And as soon as it cools, I'll be washing my first load tonight. A friend of mine makes her own, too, and enjoys it....so we'll see. If we do end up liking it, it could potentially save me $20/month.

And there you have what I've done to squeeze a few more dollars from our budget so that we can enjoy a small family vacation and buy 6 plane tickets in the next few months without gasping for air. If I add up the aforementioned "cuts", we should save around $180/month. Whoa!

What am I missing? What have you done to your family's budget to make your hard-earned dollar stretch a little bit further?

On Top of Spaghetti

2009-04-21T13:40:00.004-05:00

Last week I made my most favorite meal in the whole-wide-world-- Spaghetti with meat sauce, toasted bread, side salad, and a big ol' glass of milk (I absolutely CANNOT eat spaghetti without milk--weird, I know). It just so happens to be something that Josiah enjoys, too...and since we are so hit or miss these days about what he'll eat, it was the perfect meal (and it made for great leftovers).

Laney also enjoyed it...it was her first experience with noodles. And the second day when I just gave her meat from the sauce (the noodles were just SUPER messy), she got mad because everyone else was eating noodles.

And thanks to Cindi, who reminded me of the long-lost "On Top of Spaghetti" song we learned waaaaay back when...it was fun to listen to it again.

We ARE Virginia Tech

2009-04-16T07:51:00.006-05:00

2 years ago today, I remember driving back to work from the Christiansburg Recreation Center and seeing multiple Sheriff's office vehicles speeding towards Blacksburg, Home of Virginia Tech. I had no idea what I was about to hear and see on the television once I stepped foot into my office.....there had been a tragic shooting on campus. I can't even describe to you the atmosphere...it was pure sadness, pure disbelief, pure anger, pure fear.

While this event had occurred just miles from my backyard, it was brought even closer when I found out that one of my very good cubicle buddy's husband was in that building. Fortunately, he and some others barricaded themselves in a small office just a couple of doors down from those classrooms. She was so scared...and I was so scared for her.

Even though we have moved over a thousand of miles away from Blacksburg/Virginia Tech, we have not forgotten what happened 2 years ago....the Hokies are forever in our hearts.

Days after this tragic event, a song was created by The Season, "Forever Changed". I was able to find a memorial tribute using the song....

We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.

-- Nikki Giovanni

Randy and Josiah on Orange & Marroon Effect Day

Please keep the town of Blacksburg, VA and the entire Hokie Nation in your thoughts and prayers today.

T-minus 1 Month

2009-04-04T13:40:00.009-05:00

Here we are, already at Month 11. Princess Laney sure is growing quickly...and we're enjoying most every second of it.

Laney participated in her first Easter Egg Hunt this evening.

Walking around the pool with Dr. Chaylah

Here are some of Laney's latest accomplishments:

She now associates "Mama", "Dada", and "Brother" with a person, and will turn correctly each time we ask her, "Where is __?"
She will walk while pushing something, whether that be a walking toy or Brother's step stool.
She likes to test how long she can stand alone (just about every time she pulls herself to a standing position)...and will clap while standing (she's so proud of herself...and so are we).
She will now crawl UP steps/stairs....we're still working on the DOWN part, but thankfully, we don't have stairs in our house.
She is down to about 3-4 bottles a day....last month of formula, YAY (well, unless she just hates whole milk--but who could blame her--YUCK)!
She blows kisses when we tell her to say "Goodbye" and "Goodnight, Brother".
She obtusely signs "more", "all done" and "eat".
She prefers to feed herself; although, she will still accept some oatmeal and applesauce from a spoon in the morning...and will eat just about anything (we gave her edamame last night for the first time and she LOVED it).
And she still thinks her brother is the funniest person in the world (they've started handing things to each other while in their car seats--it's SO sweet).

Happy 11 Month Birthday, Laney!

Complete Randomness

2009-04-02T09:50:00.010-05:00

Many things have been keeping me from the computer this past week....on-the-go days, naps (for everyone), Randy studying for Boards, after-the-kids-go-to-bed cleaning and reading, and going to bed early. But since my family specifically requested that I post more pics of the kids, I thought I would spend a few minutes this morning sharing completely random pics taken during the last couple of weeks.

Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show:

Josiah LOVES carnivals....he went strong until 10PM.

Josiah also got to pet this calf while she was eating.

He thought it was great when she stopped eating to give him a kiss--right on his face.

Bathtime for Princess:

Visit from Rocco:

These kids just love it when Rocco comes for a visit...

and, truthfully, I don't mind either--he helps pick up crumbs.

Brownsville Children's Museum:

Laney's first balloon...she wasn't sure what to think of it.

Misc:

It's Yummy!

2009-03-26T15:28:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Randy and I took the kids to eat Chinese. And just like most Chinese restaurants, we received Fortune Cookies with our bill. This is one of Josiah's favorite parts of the meal. As soon as he got situated in his car seat, he asked for his cookie. A few minutes later, I asked if he enjoyed his cookie (I no longer heard crunching).

Josiah: "Mmmm, mmm"
Mommy: "Where's the paper?"
Josiah: "What paper?"
Mommy: "The paper that was inside of the cookie."
Josiah: "I ate it, it was yummy."

********************************
Today, I cut up some strawberries to eat with our lunch. However, Josiah didn't want me to cut up his strawberry, he wanted to eat it whole. "Okay" and gave him the strawberry. After I observed him try to eat the piece of fruit (stem side first), I instructed him to eat only the red part, not the leaves. After a few minutes, I asked him if he was done with his strawberry, ready to tell him to throw the leaf part away. "Mmm, mmm" and stuffed the rest of the strawberry into his mouth.....stem and all.

Man, I can't get this kid to eat a decent meal without force, but he's more than willing to eat paper fortunes and strawberry stems. Hmmmm.

Little Panthers

2009-03-18T13:57:00.009-05:00

I started the Great Baby Clothes Organization Extravaganza a couple of weeks ago in an effort to increase the amount of storage space in the guest closet (because I hope to not have a reason to use them for another 2 years). I had so much fun sorting through all of the clothes and remembering back to when Josiah and Laney were small enough to fit them. During the sorting process, I pulled out some of Josiah's old jammies and a few shirts that would fit Laney now...not caring one bit that they were a tad on the boy side (she's mistaken for a boy all of the time even when I have her dressed in purple--really, it's purple, people!).

When Josiah was about 13 months, my parents came to visit, bringing gifts purchased during their trip to their beloved Alma Mater, University of Northern Iowa, Land of the Panthers. Well, I found the UNI t-shirt during my sorting rampage and thought it would be fun (and CUTE) to keep the shirt out for Laney and compare the two siblings wearing the Purple and Gold, making Maga and Papa proud!

Josiah at 13 1/2 months

(sorry for the "flashy" pic--I know now just how TERRIBLE flash is--

but it was such a fight to get a decent--non-crying--picture of him that evening)

Laney at 10 1/2 months

Match Day

2009-03-16T10:18:00.010-05:00

TODAY is "Match Day", a very important day for many medical students everywhere. Many of our cohorts will be getting the much anticipated email/letter this morning/afternoon to find out if they "matched" with a Residency Program. Note they only find out the if part, not the where part, which comes a few days later....UGH! March 17th, 2008 was a day filled with much anxiety for us.

The "catch" about Match Day is that the Program Directors are not allowed to say "Yes, we are ranking you in our Top XX". So you have to decide your rank based on how you felt the program fit with your future goals as a physician and how well you felt your rotation/interview went....and then pray that the Program Director felt the same way about you. So, after much praying and constructing a benefits/disadvantages chart, we decided to rank Valley Baptist #1, and prayed that they ranked us in their Top 5 (they only accept 5 Residents per year). And here we are! Praise God! (I don't think I could have gone through the process had we not "matched"--see below).

Of course, there is the very real possibility that you don't "match" with a Residency Program at all, which is why all of this is such a BIG DEAL. If a student doesn't "match", they end up participating in what we call "the scramble", where the medical student scrambles to find a program that didn't fill up all of their available slots (in the same specialty), ask for an interview, and if you're blessed, start your Traditional Rotating Internship there to keep from getting a year behind (this whole process can just make you sick to your stomach). Every medical student completes a Traditional Rotating Internship, and it doesn't have to be at the same place where you finish up Residency. In fact, many 1st Year Residents change location after the first year is over and finish up their training somewhere else...and certain specialities even require it.

Okay, I may have shared a bit TOO much information...but it's such a BIG DAY today for many medical students, just as it was for us one year ago. My friend, Bea, posted this article if you're interested in reading more about "Match Week"...it might help make things a bit more clear. ;-)

And another friend, Joy, posted about how there is SO much that goes into becoming a physician....MCAT, applications, med school, Board exams, Residency, Board exams, fellowship, Board exams......does it ever end???

Best wishes to our future fellow Physicians In Training....hope today is filled with exciting news!

His Other "Pad"

2009-03-11T22:47:00.005-05:00

My friend Trisha offered a tour of her 1st Year Surgical Resident husband's home away from home (aka on-call room) last week, so I thought I would do the same....and it dawned on me that no one other my father has seen where Randy works. So without further adieu....

Here is Randy's cubicle, which he shares with a 3rd Year Resident. If there was an award for organization, sadly my husband would not win...and he knows it, too.

This is one of two "bed" rooms for the Residents to use when they're taking "Monday Call" during their Inservice month. Mondays are also known as "Unassigned Days"...if a patient presents to the ER and does not have a PCP, that patient gets assigned to our Family Practice group. Usually, our Residents field calls from home when they're on-call, but since Mondays are so busy with admits from the ER, the docs stay up at the clinic and sleep here whenever their pager is silent. No 5 star Hotel here, folks...just the basics...but there is a window hence the glare (sorry 'bout that).

This is the Practice's conference room. Morning Report (Randy reports each morning at 7:30AM--whenever he's available and not rounding on his hospital patients--to hear/learn about particular cases), Noon Lecture/lunch, and Resident Meetings are held in this room.

And this is the "teaching room". This is where the "Teaching" Attending oversees the Residents' cases. Randy, as a 1st Year, is required to present all of his cases but as he moves into his 2nd and 3rd Year, he will only approach the "Teaching" Attending when he has questions/problems/concerns.

There you have it....Randy's other "pad". Frankly, I'm quite impressed with the facilities....Randy has his own "office", can sleep AND shower up at the clinic during Monday Call, and everything other than Randy's desk is neat, clean, and organized.

A Few Laughs: Courtesy of Josiah

2009-03-06T14:25:00.008-06:00

Donut anyone?

Josiah has really been making me laugh lately with some of the stuff he's been saying.....

Since Laney has started crawling, she's been invading Josiah's personal space with increased frequency, reaching for whatever toy he's playing with and sometimes this means that she crawls up his back and reaches over his shoulder. As you can imagine, this doesn't go over real well with him. He often tells Laney "no" and proceeds to hand her a different toy while moving away. I try so hard to make him understand that she's learning and just wants to be near him, doing whatever it is that he is doing. A couple of days ago, instead of saying, "she's learning" (which he seems to understand) I said, "she's just curious". Josiah responded by telling me, "she's not Curious George, mommy". No argument there.

******************

10-15 MPH winds are quite commonplace here, a good breeze right off the beach. However, some days are more windy than others, like yesterday (20 MPH).

Me: "Boy, it sure is windy."

Josiah: "Yeah, maybe we can tell God to stop it."

Me: "You think so?"

Josiah: "Yeah, maybe He can press a button."

Me: "Hmm, maybe He does have a button."

Hmm....we turn things off and on using buttons all the time.....interesting association.

Hittin' Double Digits

2009-03-04T23:30:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that Laney's age will no longer be counted using single digits (well, until she reaches 2 years old). And as time continues to fly by, we are enjoying watching her learn more about her world and gain new skills.

Laney has been quite the mover and shaker this month, literally. The week after her 9 month birthday she learned to crawl, the "right" way, unlike her brother who started moving by pulling himself along the floor with his arms...much like a military crawl. So for the last 3 weeks, we have found Laney all over the house. But her most favorite place to crawl to is under the table where she will sit and move the chairs back and forth for at least 30 minutes. Laney has also discovered that she can see (and get into) a bit more by pulling up on the furniture and cruising around it. Her transfer from sofa to sofa to activity table to coffee table to chair is still pretty deliberate, but she's getting faster every day. She is also learning how to bend down and pick up items from the floor...ahh, the art of balance. And becuase she is now able to pull herself up using just about anything, it was time to lower her crib mattress. It's so cute to go into her room after she's awoken from her nap...and she's just standing there in her crib, waiting for me to come and rescue her, wearing a big smile and peering through the bars of "prison". The only problem we're faced with now that she can pull herself up is that she doesn't really know how to sit herself down in the crib to then, in turn, lay down and go to sleep. I have just let her cry a little bit, but she just gets more and more frustrated with feeling like she's "stuck". Josiah never did this, so this is a new dilemma....any suggestions?

Not only has she been perfecting her gross motor skills, she's practicing how to contribute to a conversation. Laney's new sounds this past month included, but not limited to, "ba ba", "ge ge", "ma ma" (although not connecting the words with mommy, the person), "sha sha", and "ra ra". She will also mimic Josiah if he's singing. It's so cute. And she squeals every time she pushes the button to close/open the garage door.

Laney continues to be a good eater and, depending on what we put in front of her, she will sometimes out-eat her older brother. She enjoys oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast, yogurt for snack after nap, eats what we eat for lunch and dinner. We've been slowly but surely reducing the amount of food coming from the bottle, which she can now hold herself. Not sure what she gained in the last month, but I dressed her in 18-24 month stuff yesterday and it fit perfectly. YIKES!

I definitely am loving this stage more now that she doesn't have rely on me to get her to where the "action" is (she would get mad if I walked out of the room briefly to just do laundry, now she just follows me and she loves it). It's also a lot of fun to watch her interact with Josiah. Just other day at the store, she turned around just enough in the seat part of the grocery cart so that she could reach Josiah who was standing in the basket part of the cart. She was doing everything she could to get on his nerves. It was quite funny to watch. Sadly, because "she's just a baby", she is getting away with a lot more than what we would let slide with Josiah...poor guy, he just doesn't understand the entire dynamic yet.

Happy 10 Month Birthday, Laney!

Weigh in Wednesday--Kiss Me, Week 1

2009-03-04T14:37:00.005-06:00

It's not lookin' too good, folks. Not good at all. I'm not exactly sure what happened...everything was looking promising until Saturday (I had lost another 1/2 pound or so between my weigh in on Wednesday and Friday)...until we went out to eat Chinese on Saturday, lunch out with friends on Sunday, and no workout on Monday (because I had failed to do laundry). I really didn't think that I ate all that badly on Saturday and Sunday, but I guess the scale thought differently, like I had eaten an extra 14,000 calories. OMGoodness! There is NO way....so the only other plausible explanation is that I'm retaining fluid (I am having a hard time putting my rings on) because I'm not drinking enough (maybe too many Diet Coke with Cherry Happy Hours at Sonic?). ???

Whatever the reason...all I know is that even after I worked my was-shrinking-at-one-time tail off this past week (logging 21 miles), I didn't see the results I was hoping for. UGH! So this week, I've decided to take a "pass" on weighing in...and hope for a better outcome for next week. Hope you don't mind.

However, on a brighter note, I completed Week 3 of the push up challenge last night, cranking out 18 consecutive push ups and 60 push ups all together (5 sets).

So my goal for this next week is to drink 60-80 oz. water/day, log 5 miles at least 5 days with a 7 mile run on either Saturday or Sunday, and consume 5 servings of fruits and veggies for at least 5 days.

So, how 'bout you? Are your jeans shrinking?

Warning: Resisting Morning Nap....

2009-02-27T13:32:00.005-06:00

may cause crankiness, need to be held, unreasonable frustration towards toys and older siblings, and drowiness or, ahem, passing out "cold".

Weigh in Wednesday

2009-02-25T13:58:00.003-06:00

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! I lost those last 2 pesky pounds that I've been trying to lose the last 2-3 weeks. I'm so excited to share that in the last 7 weeks, I've lost another 5 pounds. Woohoo! This makes me only 4 pounds away from reaching my pre-preggo weight, which has always been my goal....BUT since I wasn't done losing weight after I completed my half marathon in Sept. 2007 (when we unexpectedly found out that we were going to add another little one to our family), I'd like to lose another 5 pounds once I reach my pre-preggo weight goal. Then we'll see what happens after that.

I've repeatedly shared how much I LOVE these bloggy weight loss challenges: great source of accountability, encouragement, and even a great outlet to share frustrations and seek advice. Therefore, I will be joining the Sisterhood, once again, for their next challenge, "Kiss Me, I'm Shrinking". This challenge is going to be a quick 3 weeks, where I hope to lose those last 4 pounds of baby fat. Anyone interested in joining me?

I've been doing SO well about getting to the gym and befriending the treadmill. This past week I logged 21 miles in 5 days. I'm totally loving it now that I've worked my way back up to 5 miles. While I may only average an 11 m/m pace, I'm just excited that I've been able to increase my distance without feeling like my heart is about to fail. This week's goal is to log 5 miles most days of the week with a 6 mile workout on either Saturday or Sunday.

I also just started Week 3 of the 6 week push up challenge. It's getting hard, but I've gone from hardly being able to kick out 5 push ups at the beginning of the challenge to being able to kick out 14 in a row now. It's not as much of an improvement as I would have liked from last week when I was able to complete 12 push ups, but I'll take it...it's still an improvement, right?

So, if anyone's interested in joining in on all of the shrinking fun going on over at the Sisterhood, come on. I'd love to cheer you on!

Menu Plan Monday~February 23

2009-02-23T18:42:00.003-06:00

Well, this month we've tried a week of beans & rice, chicken, and ground turkey. So this week, I thought I would drag out the crockpot.

Monday--frozen pizza (I can't remember the last time I prepared a packaged meal--it was a nice break)
Tuesday--Crockpot Turkey Cabbage Rolls
Wednesday--Crockpot Cranberry Chicken
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--Crockpot French onion/cream of mushroom soup Chicken with Jasmine rice (E, this is your recipe)
Saturday--leftovers
Sunday--leftovers

I actually struggled to find a couple of good crockpot recipes since I don't cook with the crockpot as much as maybe I should. Anyone have any tried and true favorites?

Is the Grass Really Greener on the Other Side?

2009-02-20T13:57:00.014-06:00

If someone had showed me, not just told me, how hard motherhood is, I just might not have signed up for it. About a month ago, I had a really hard time with the kids....Josiah was testing me to my very limits (I lack patience anyway so testing does not get very far) and Laney was having a hard time getting back into her "before Christmas" sleep routine (naps and bedtime suddenly required a lot of attention). This just drained me to my very core. All I wanted to do was go back to bed and pray that it was time for Randy to come home when I woke up and could "save" me from my children. And I would be lying if I hadn't ~~gotten on the computer to research job opportunities~~ thought about going back to work every day for about a week. I just didn't think I could handle it any more. And I often questioned if this was what God really wanted for my life...to stay at home?

Honestly, I do wonder sometimes (when it seems that nothing good could come from the day) what it would be like if I were to go back to work. I'd be providing another paycheck for our family, which would allow us to enjoy/buy new things. I'd meet a group of work friends. And I'd be using the college education that I worked so hard for. In addition, I'd drop my children off to spend their entire day with someone other than their mommy. I'd use most of my hard-earned salary to pay for that "someone else". I'd probably be the second or third or even fourth person to see the "something new" that my child learned that day. And I'd miss the fellowship with my awesome MOPS mommy friends.

I also think about what my life as a stay at home mom would be like if my children were older, like 5 and 3 years old. I dream that they would listen/carry out requests better (not ask "why?" so darn often), would be completely potty trained, would be able to help me clean up (to my standards), etc. But then I realize there is a whole new world of learning and challenges that goes on "when they're older", too.

I admit that I'm far from being a very profound thinker, but after watching Josiah and Laney learn how to do things for the very first time, such as putting together a puzzle and crawling, respectively, and it sinking in that I was the very first person to see it happen...it just got me thinking about how blessed I am that I can stay at home, even when I'm at my wit's end and don't think I can take another second of it.

Laney learned how to crawl last week. I was excited to get a little bit of it on video...for the archives.

Things have been a lot better since that week about a month ago. I've adopted a new schedule (aka getting out of house more) and put a radio in the kitchen so that I am able to listen to positive and uplifting music whenever I'm in that part of the house (which is pretty much always), and we all are much happier. I'm also participating in a bible study of Titus 2 using Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother. Reading just the first couple of chapters has really helped me change my attitude about being just a stay at home mom. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't worry if I'm teaching Josiah what he needs to be learning for his age level (letter recognition, getting rid of the sippy cups, becoming more precise with his eating utensils, etc) and whether or not I'm challenging Laney's development (promoting walking/cruising, sounds/words, drinking less from the bottle, etc). I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and consult more "experienced" moms and teachers.

Other "what if's" that I've thought about recently:

what if we had moved to Tulsa instead of South Texas? We would have been a heck of a lot closer to family (and a couple of bloggy friends), out of the destructive path of hurricanes, and able to experience all 4 seasons. On the flip side, we would have had to deal with tornadoes, snow/ice, and spending on-call at the hospital instead of fielding calls from home (a very unique and awesome perk of our program here)
what if we hadn't even moved at all and entered into a traditional internship with the hopes of starting the new surgical residency the following year? I, more than likely, would have kept working...I LOVED my job, the group I worked with/for, and the daycare that Josiah attended (it was in the hospital I worked in and the providers were AWESOME). However, there was a slight possibility that the surgical program would not have been approved, resulting in us having to either find a 2nd year slot (very hard to come by) or start 1st year over again the following year. Surgical residency is pretty hard core, so I would have seen much less of my husband than I do now....resulting in Randy second-guessing his decision (far from ideal).
what if we lived in a bigger house, with just one more bedroom? While having a designated play room sounds simply LOVELY, more space means more to clean...and I'm having enough trouble in that department as it is. Although, I'm working on my homekeeping skills...baby steps, right?
what if we could skip residency but learn everything that "physicians-in-training" do during the 3-5 years of working for "free"? I truly believe that residency is necessary for the family just as much as it is for the physician. I don't think I could go through the relatively set hours of medical school and jump right into the "flexible" hours of being in a practice. I need the time to learn how to adjust.
what if we could skip the residency salary and bank what a good Family Practice Doc is worth these days? I would be lying if I'm not looking forward to Randy finally earning what he deserves. After all, we've invested A LOT to get us where we are today....but sadly, it's not going to pay for itself (one of the bad things about being a civilian or not signing with the National Health Service). So while Randy will hopefully earn a nice income in 3-4 years, those monies will be going towards new (once in deferment) bills.
And what if we just trust and love God, to trust that where we are now is where we're just supposed to be in this season of our lives? I know, without a doubt, that I would be much happier all around.....the one instance where the grass IS greener on the other side. It's just too bad that trusting and loving God whole-heartedly isn't something that comes easy.

You Know You're A Mexican....

2009-02-19T16:53:00.006-06:00

when you enjoy eating beans for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. Have I mentioned how much this little girl LOVES beans (with onions, ham, and cilantro)?

Weigh-In Wednesday--Lookin' Fine, Week 6

2009-02-18T07:19:00.006-06:00

6 weeks have come and gone, and today is the last weigh in for the Sisterhood's "Lookin' Fine" challenge. Have I mentioned just how much I LOVE these bloggy weight loss challenges? I have found they are a great way to stay accountable, meet others who are also going through the struggle of weight loss, and to find encouragement to keep going even when every ounce of your being wants to give up.

Things were looking up this week....I made it to the gym W, Th, F, & Sunday, logging 14.5 miles. I had even weighed myself on Friday and was excited to see that I had lost those last 2 pounds to put me at my 5 pound goal. What happened you ask? Nature happened. I have been waiting, and waiting for the last 3-4 weeks for "hormones" to happen now that I'm completely done breastfeeding....and "it" decides to happen 2 days before weigh in....how convenient! So this week, and my final weigh in, I am reporting NO CHANGE. UGH! This means that in the last 6 weeks I have lost 3 pounds (and hopefully it'll be more when I weigh in again in a couple of days, after the water retention has subsided). What is it that they say, "Slow and steady wins the race"? I'm still happy, though, that it's a 3 pound LOSS vs. a 3 pound gain....I'm 3 pounds closer to reaching my pre-preggo weight.

And while I don't have very exciting news to share in the weight loss department, I am excited to share that I completed the first week of the Push-up Challenge. Last week I could barely kick out 5 standard push ups....but on Monday, I was able to kick out 12 IN.A.ROW! That's quite an improvement, if I do say so myself.

Well, that's all from my little neck of the woods. I'm sad that this particular challenge is over, but I'm looking forward to hearing about what the ladies (and guy) at the Sisterhood have up their sleeve regarding the next one. I'm all about shrinking my jeans!

Halfway to Three

2009-02-16T13:23:00.017-06:00

Last Friday marked the halfway point of Josiah's birthday....in just 6 short months, I will be the mother of a 3 Year Old! I really can't believe how fast time is flying. While we I have definitely had many I-AM-GOING-TO-PULL-OUT-ALL-OF-MY-HAIR moments, our time with Josiah has been quite a bit of fun. In just the last 6 months, he learned:

to pedal his tricycle
to ride a bike (albeit with training wheels)

to sing a couple of songs from memory (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; Jesus Loves Me; My Girl)
that skateboards can be a ton of fun....he LOVES to watch the kids at the local skate park, uses the jungle gym slide as a ramp, and pretends to skate throughout the entire house.

to climb jungle gym ladders

the cheers from the Nation's best universities ("Hook 'em Horns" and "War Eagle")
to recognize letters, specifically those which make up his name
to speak some Spanish (he knows 6-7 articles of clothes, food, and a few animals)

And while we are still in the beginning stages, Josiah is learning to recognize when he needs to use the potty. YAY! Funny story: While I was gone to the gym yesterday, Josiah woke from his nap and told Randy that he needed to pee. Once Randy sat Josiah on the potty (we have a small potty seat that sits on top of the "big boy" toilet), he started straining to pee. Not long after straining did he realize that he needed to poop, too. Mission Accomplished! But because he was so excited about the size of his business, he wouldn't flush until I got home and could show me---45 minutes later. I was so proud....I thought for a brief second about taking a picture, but I refrained (lucky for you).

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Josiah! We love you!

Menu Plan Monday~February 16

2009-02-16T09:07:00.003-06:00

So far so good on keeping with "theme" weeks. I'm not completely sold on preparing the menu this way (by Saturday I'm pretty much burned out), but I had to give it a try. Two weeks left: this is going to be the week of ground ~~beef~~ turkey and next week is still up for grabs, maybe a hodge-podge.

Monday--Sloppy Joes
Tuesday--Taco Ring
Wednesday--Turkey Meatloaf
Thursday--Stuffed Green Peppers (WW 5)
Friday--leftovers
Saturday--leftovers
Sunday--leftovers

Demolition at its Finest

2009-02-12T11:29:00.007-06:00

This past Christmas Josiah and I gave it our best shot to construct our very first gingerbread house (from scratch). Even though it took DAYS to complete the project, it was a lot of fun; and I have no hesitations about doing it again (although, I'll be making a much smaller house next year).

With all of the hard work we put into constructing our masterpiece, I've had a hard time finding the courage to demolish it...even though it's been sitting on our countertop, taking up valuable space, for the last 3 months. But today, I was determined to get my kitchen all cleaned up...and that meant the gingerbread house had to go.

I took it outside on our back porch so that Josiah could have as much fun with it as he wanted (he LOVES to hammer--and destroy things like any little boy). I also set Laney up outside in her exersaucer so that she could watch and cheer him on. If I said that they both had fun, it would be an understatement....they LOVED it! Both of them laughed and screamed in delight with each smash of the hammer.

Before the fun started....but he's ready with hammer in hand

Bye-bye pretty gingerbread house

Once most of the demolition was complete, Laney expressed that she was ready to eat, so I brought her inside....leaving Josiah outside with the remnants of his gingerbread house. That kid smashed every piece until it was no bigger than a quarter, keeping him busy for a good 30 minutes.

Working on getting those pieces even smaller

There, that's better (but he's still working on smashing a piece of candy)

And to see the demolition in action, here is the video footage. Enjoy!

Weigh-In Wednesday--Lookin' Fine, Week 5

2009-02-11T14:51:00.007-06:00

I'm slowly but surely getting back on track. This week's workouts have been countable....I either made it to the gym or walked 3 miles around the neighborhood with the kids. Now, I'm not saying that I broke any world records or anything, but it was definitely something to overcome the lack of motivation that I'd been experiencing the last couple of weeks.

And it's a good thing that I made it to the gym a few times this week because my eating has been the one thing this week dragging me down. We went to a baby shower on Friday, ate Sunday lunch with friends, ate Sunday dinner out on because we went to the local rodeo, and ate Tuesday's dinner with our fellow Residents as part of the incoming Intern's interview season. And while I tried to really pay attention to portion control, it's hard when you're faced with foods you've been avoiding for months (and LOVE--ahem, carrot cake).

So the eating and gym time balanced each other out this week, and I didn't lose any weight. BUT I didn't gain, either....which is GREAT news, too. There is very little that is more frustrating than when you're losing and gaining the same 2 pounds. I only have 2 more pounds until I can say "Good Riddens" to the 160's (yep, I just admitted my weight--oh well, we're all friends here, right?)....and I want to lose those 2 pounds SO BAD! So in addition to making it back to the gym regularly (the other night I spent 1.5 hours there and LOVED it), I started the 100 pushups training program. I must admit that taking the inital test made me feel like such a weakling, but then that's the whole point of the program...build up enough upper body strength to complete 100 pushups (REAL pushups, not the "knee" pushups) in a row. I'm so excited to see how much I'm able to accomplish in 6 weeks.

And on another happy note, I weighed in for my MOPS Biggest Loser challenge this morning, too. I lost 3 pounds since last the weigh-in. I'm down 5.2 with another 14.8 to go before May. I can do it, I just need to get my butt in gear, as my mom would say. ;-)

Our Little Chunk-a-Monk

2009-02-10T10:53:00.006-06:00

Laney had her 9 month well-baby check up yesterday. Everything checked out well. She didn't even have to have a finger/heel stick in order to check her iron levels...so no shots! Yay! However, she'll make it up by having a venous blood draw at her 12 month check up...boo. We will be incorporating a new eating schedule (more of a routine b/c I've never done a precise schedule) that will hopefully help her get more of her calories from table food and less from formula (which will help ween her from the bottle) AND help her sleep through the night again.

Anyways...as promised, here are her health statistics:

Weight: 23 pounds 11 ounces (with a lightweight dress and diaper on)--95th percentile. I knew she was going to weigh quite a bit since she's been following the curve, but almost 24 pounds--WOW!
Height: 29"--90th percentile
Head circumference: not sure the exact measurement, but I was told she is inbetween the 50-75th percentile.

Menu Plan Monday~February 9

2009-02-09T23:59:00.001-06:00

Monday--Chicken Baseballs (WW 6.5)
Tuesday--Chicken, Black Beans, and Corn Enchilada Casserole (WW 6) **new recipe**
Wednesday--Pulled Chicken BBQ Wrap (WW 6) **new recipe**
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--leftovers
Saturday--Green Chicken Enchiladas
Sunday--leftovers

While I'm not officially following Weight Watchers, the point system helps me to identify "expensive" meals and keep within my recommended calorie allotment--something I deparately need since I've been such a slacker in the going-to-the-gym department. And instead of wading through seas of couples on Saturday, we will be spending the evening at home with good friends, enjoying Randy's special and very yummy Green Chicken Enchiladas, rice and beans with homemade sopapillas for dessert (I don't even want to think about how many WW points for this meal).

What are you making this week?

Weigh-in Wednesday--Lookin' Fine, Week 4

2009-02-04T12:55:00.009-06:00

I had yet another week "off" week, "off" from the gym, that is. I really don't know why I'm still so unmotivated to get moving again. I feel a ton better about myself and sleep better when I do. If I really sat and thought about it, I could easily come up with 5 reasons as to why I've refrained from getting my butt back to the gym....

I'm up with the baby multiple times during the night, so I'm too tired to get up early in the morning, mid-day, and after the babies go to bed to work out.
I'm still seeing the scale move, in the downward direction, just by paying close attention to why I put in my mouth.
No one is physically relying on me to meet them at the gym (and sometimes I need that).
I can't find my workout clothes...I know they're clean, but I'm just not sure which laundry hamper they're still in from the laundry I did a couple of weeks ago.
I'm such a slow poke now, and I'm frustrated with how fast my endurance went "down hill".

And even though I'm not having nightly "dates" with a treadmill, I'm making sure that I have been eating well. I'm still not drinking the water I need, but I'll continue to work on that. Anywho....I'm excited to report that I lost the pound I gained last week plus one more making my loss this week 2 pounds (3 pounds total since the beginning of the challenge)! Woohoo! Just imagine what my losses would be like if I added in some cardio to burn off some extra calories....I'd be reaching my goal in no time!

On a slightly positive note, I mustered up enough courage to ask a friend if I could drop the kids off for an hour this morning so that I could go to the gym. It was refreshing! I jogged 3 miles straight through (yay, me!). It felt so good to get moving again....I missed it. Plus, I was able to watch some "normal" tv, something other than "Curious George" or "Little Einsteins", while I cranked out the mileage. So after this morning, I'm feeling a little more motivated to back to where I was before Christmas (and a little less hesitant to ask friends for help).

Here's to a much better week!

3/4 Birthday

2009-02-03T22:20:00.010-06:00

Today, our sweet princess Laney reaches the momentous 9 month birthday. She's 3/4 of her way to turning ONE YEAR OLD! While many mommies get teary-eyed when they start thinking about how their baby is no longer a baby, I'm just the opposite. I'm sooooo over the baby stuff and am excited for the next stage. I get super excited at the thought of her and Josiah ~~fighting~~ playing and laughing together. I must admit, though, I enjoy observing the infant-baby-toddler transition...they are so fun to watch as they figure out the world around them, taking joy in the simple things we've forgotten.

Okay, and just as I do every month, it's time to bore you with some of Laney's latest accomplishments and enjoyments...

soon after her 8 month birthday, she started rolling over in BOTH directions (it took her a while, but she finally got there--it's hard to get enough momentum to roll that chubbiness around)
since she starting utilizing her pincer grasp, she's been feeding herself more, sticking her nose up at baby purees (and will NOT take more than one bite of jarred baby food).
we are slowly working on some sign language, but the one universal sign she can do is shake her head no when she's done, especially with eating and when she doesn't want to get changed.
she loves it when Randy sings "My Girl" to her.
she enjoys talking via Skype on the computer.
she is now starting to reach for objects further away than just the length of her torso
she's reaching so far that she's now getting up on her hands and knees for a few minutes
tooth #7 will be cutting through soon, you can see it.
the girl LOVES playing with shoes (and untying shoe laces).
in addition to her love of Cheerios, she LOVES beans (black, pinto, red)
she tried chicken, tortilla, guacamole, beans, cheese, and yogurt this month (we are now starting to feed her more from our plates instead of feeding her purees).
she gives a big smile each time I rub our foreheads together or give eskimo kisses.
she would rather stand than sit (this has been going on for a couple of months now but it seemed that most of the times that I tried to sit her down, she would refuse).
and her hair is finally starting to really grow...hair is now long enough that it's going over the tops of her ears. Yay, I'm pulling the bows out as soon as she has enough on top!

And while this is faaaar from an accomplishment, she started waking up 2-3 times per night again...something she hasn't done since she was 2 months old. My body is just now getting used to it again. I'm not sure if she's waking because she needs to feel me near her (she's had some real separation anxiety issues this past month) or if she's really hungry. I've been feeding her each time she wakes, and she eats like she's starving...so I feel bad about just snuggling and not feeding her. But I'll do anything to get her to sleep through the night again. Any suggestions?

Laney's 9 month check up is on Monday, so I'll post her latest stats (weight, height, head measurements) then.

And since we are only 3 months away from celebrating her 1st birthday, you better believe that I've already started thinking about her party. I'm leaning towards a cupcake theme. I found this cupcake cake pan....and I'm thinking that it's way too fun not to make for her. I've also found some cute outfits with a cupcake and 1 candle embroidered on it...again, too cute! We'll be coupling her party with her boyfriend, James', party since their birthdays are only 3 days apart, and I think we've decided on a BBQ/pool party....SO FUN! I can't wait!

Happy 9 Month Birthday, Alayna!

Yay for Shadows!

2009-02-02T14:39:00.006-06:00

Happy Groundhog Day! So I read that dear ol' Phil saw his shadow this morning, meaning that there will be 6 more weeks of winter. Darn! 6 more weeks to enjoy opening the doors and windows while mid-70 degree winds blows through our home, exchanging out the stagnant air for fresh...I just can't stand it!

And before you Northerners say, "Sure, just rub it in", just remember what we'll be served up come May...100 degree weather. While you are outside enjoying mid-70s and 80s this summer, we'll be boarded up in our homes (literally, if another hurricane decides to come our way) trying to find "cool" ways to have fun.

Menu Plan Monday~February 2

2009-02-02T10:17:00.005-06:00

Happy Monday....and yet another menu plan! Randy and I thought we would try something a bit different with our plans this month....choose a theme for each week. We have thoughts that this will help us save on our grocery budget, something we didn't do well at in January (we went over by $53.52). So this week's theme is Beans. I know, I know, pretty exciting, right? But a new rice and beans recipe that I made last week (and LOVED--even Josiah and Laney ate it up) inspired us to give simple ol' beans and rice a try for a week.

And while I've not posted a recipe review in a couple of weeks, I haven't forgotten...I'm still trying at least one new recipe a week. I'll try to post the reviews later today during naptime.

Monday--Beef and Black Beans with Rice
Tuesday--Santa Fe Beans and Rice **new recipe**
Wednesday--leftovers
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--Tex-Mex Rice and Beans Casserole **new recipe**
Saturday--GOYA Black Beans and Rice **new recipe**
Sunday--leftovers

For more menu plan ideas, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

A REAL Date

2009-01-31T20:34:00.005-06:00

Randy and I went on our first REAL date tonight since our Anniversary last March.

We spent REAL time away from both kids (even though it was just for a couple of hours).

We went to a REAL movie theater (instead of renting from Redbox and watching it at home).

and saw a REAL movie (we saw "New in Town" --very cute)

and ate REAL movie theater popcorn (instead of from our air-popper).

I wore REAL perfume, Pure Turquoise by Ralph Lauren (instead of eau de Laney's drool and snot).

I wore REAL make-up.

My hair was blown dry using REAL fabricated (how's that for an oxymoron?) hot air from my hair dryer (instead of letting the Valley wind blow it dry).

I carried a REAL purse (instead of the overly-used-and-carried-everywhere-tote-for-a-diaper bag).

And after a night of refraining from thinking about our "extra appendages", we were slightly bummed when the movie ended and realized that we had to pick up our REAL kids.

We REALly enjoyed ourselves and REALized that we don't do it nearly enough.

Weigh-in Wednesday--Lookin' Fine, Week 3

2009-01-28T07:21:00.006-06:00

This week was pretty uneventful....taking care of a Flu-ridden husband and snotty-nosed and refuse-to-get-a-full-night's-sleep children, and dealing with a virus myself, which made me feel like I got hit square in the face by a MACK truck. Needless to say, with the exception of last night, I hadn't been to the beloved gym in a week. So it's no surprise that I gained back one pound. Grrr. I also didn't get in my "required" water either.

I've had a heck of a time dusting myself off and getting "back on the horse". I don't know why because I always feel better when I'm consistently working out. Why must it be so easy to get back in the "rut" after weeks of working hard and doing so well? That question has always frustrated me. I really want to lose 5 pounds during this challenge, so that means that I must find my lost motivation and get moving....and fast, since I only have 3 more weigh-ins. I just need a serious push to get started. As Newton (and my friend, Christie) discovered....an object in motion, stays in motion (unless acted upon by an unbalanced force). Definitely easier said than done, especially when it's so easy for the couch to absorb the energy (and act as that unbalance force). Ha!

Here's to a much better week, a much better attitude, resulting in a much better weigh-in next Wednesday!

Project 365 Vol. 4

2009-01-25T19:36:00.008-06:00

January 19-25, 2009

I can't believe I've taken a picture every day for 4 weeks now. While I was/am really excited about this project, I was doubtful that I'd be able to follow through. But so far, so good.

I've really enjoyed this project. It's not hard for me to take pictures every day, especially when my children are the subjects of so many of my photos...because after all I am one of THOSE moms. But I'm finding that the hardest part, for me, of this project has been variety (and finding the time to post my pics). And while I'm a little frustrated that so many of my pics are of either my kids or my hubby, I have to remember that I'm participating in this project so that I can remember what I, my kids, or my hubby did during a particular day. Right? Right.

So here is my submission for Week 4 of my Project 365.

Day 19: Catching Laney in the act of pulling up.

Day 20: Randy came home early on Tuesday with the FLU, which knocked him out COLD.

Day 21: Laney fell asleep on Randy's belly and the sweetness was just too sweet NOT to take a snapshot and freeze it in time.

Day 22: One of Josiah's most favorite things to do is climb up on top of the coffee table/tv stand and "play" his guitar. Yes, I do let him climb on our furniture....I'm THAT kind of mom, too.

Day 23: We've been going to park in the afternoon to celebrate the beautiful weather.

Day 24: I challenged myself to shine my sink EVERY night before I headed to bed for one week. For those who know me knows that this was a really hard thing for me to accomplish. BUT, I did it. And boy, did it make each day start "fresh".

Day 25: After losing a tire a couple of months ago, Josiah "got back on the horse" today.

No Vitamin D Deficiency Here

2009-01-23T14:40:00.009-06:00

It's nearing the end of January, and I think the coldest day we've had so far this winter produced a high of 50 degrees, which to us now is COLD (it took NO TIME for our blood to thin). It's definitely a perk living this close to the ~~equator~~ Mexico, but don't even get me started about what it means for this summer. UGH!

Since we've been blessed with temps ranging anywhere from 75-85 degrees, we have been spending a lot of time outside. We've been going for walks/rides around the neighborhood, visiting the city parks after naps, and meeting friends for lunch with the inclusion of a run around at the park. Not only does this give the kids their required dosage of Vitamin D for the day, it provides an outlet for energy depletion. It's just been lovely and the kids are really enjoying it.

(Josiah is also sporting a new haircut...a mohawk. Temporary, just temporary.)

Big F, little f, what begins with F?

2009-01-22T09:52:00.014-06:00

My SIL, Elizabeth, participated in a fun meme that required her to write about 10 things she loved beginning with a particular letter. And because I'm always up for a good challenge, I asked Elizabeth to assign me a letter....and she gave me the letter "F".

Here are 10 things I LOVE that start with "F", in no particular order.

1. Friends--I'm a very social person and LOVE to be surrounded by all my
best girlfriends. Unfortunately, now that they live ALL.OVER.THE.COUNTRY, I have to settle for conversation via Skype, IM, email, etc. My beloved friends know how to give me a "lift" when I'm in need of some encouragment, how to "bring it down a notch" when I'm overreacting, and how to separate me from being "Josiah and Laney's mommy".

2. Facebook--yet another way that I've managed to keep in touch with my friends. I've also reconnected with some old ones. I LOVE to be nosey and finding out what my college roommate, Iowa and Florida classmates have been up to for the last 10-15 years has been A LOT of fun. I've also become "friends" with some of my bloggy friends, and I've enjoyed getting to know them, too.

3. Freshly washed sheets--there are few things that are as soothing as a freshly made bed with clean, fluffy sheets, especially those of a higher thread count. Ahhhh.

4. Family--as much as my children grate on my last nerve most days (I'm working on my patience level), oh how do I LOVE my little family of four....and hope to make it "five" some day soon. I also could not have been more blessed with more loving parents, siblings, and in-laws. They are, after all, the ones who helped sculpt me into the person I am today....and they did a wonderful job, I do say so myself.

5. French Manicure/Pedicure--I just LOVE, LOVE to get my nails done and my favorite polish is "the french". When I'm in need of something just for me, as a reward for a job well-done and don't want to reward my weight loss with a double fudge brownie, I'll go nail salon for a mani and pedi.

6. French fries--something a good hamburger should NOT be without. And because I wasn't given the letter "H", I had to go with the next best thing. The french fries I enjoy the most are those from McDonald's and Red Robin. What are your favorites?

7. Fireworks/Firecrackers on the Fourth--going to see fireworks is almost as much of a family tradition as driving around to see Christmas lights. I LOVE the BIG ones, the ones with a lot of color (and even different shapes). As a kid, we only did sparklers at home. But now that Randy is in charge of home-based explosives, he comes home with a bunch that I've never even heard of...and they make lots of noise.

8. Fondue--what is more wonderful than dipping strawberries, pound cake, pineapple, marshmallows, and pretzels in fondue? The chocolate kind (and in my opinion, the ONLY kind).

9. Flowers--while I am just like most girls and enjoy receiving a bouquet of flowers on special occassions (or for no particular reason), I would rather have my husband's hard earned money go towards something more permanent (a book, iTunes gift card, DVD, jewelry, card, etc).

10. Fireproof--while I haven't seen it yet, I know that I will LOVE it once I do. I can't wait for its release next week.

If you want to play along, let me know; and I'll be happy to assign you a letter.

Weigh-in Wednesday--Lookin' Fine, Week 2

2009-01-21T08:08:00.005-06:00

This week was a bit of a struggle....about mid-week I hit the proverbial "wall", which translated into NO motivation to work out (or even eat well). After being away from running since Christmas (to give my knee injury time to heal), I really wanted to get back onto the treadmill. But I found it so discouraging when I could barely complete 3 miles at a snail's pace. What!? I went from running 5 miles at 10-11mm pace to that of a snail? Hellooooo, "wall"!

However, on a more positive note, I was able to reach my goal of drinking 80 oz. of water EACH day, which I really think helped me in losing 1 more pound this week! I was totally shocked when I saw that I'm now only 3 pounds away from reaching another decade of numbers. Woohoo! Additionally, I may not be losing pounds at lightening speed, but I'm definitely noticing a difference in my "shape". I no longer have the cul-de-sac of fluff where my arm meets my back, and the elbow fluff hangover is slowly, but surely, is disappearing. I'm also able to use the next notch in my belt, which I wear with my loosely fitting pre-preggo pants. YAY!

My goals for this next week, assuming that I can push through the "wall" and get over the sickness that my dear doctor husband brought home from the pediatric clinics, are to continue with drinking at least 80 oz. of water/day and to get back to my evening treadmill workouts at the gym, averaging 3 miles each night. There is a 5K run on February 15, here in town, that I hope to participate in, and I really hope to cross the finish line in less than 32:00.

To Be Expected

2009-01-20T21:19:00.006-06:00

1 Doctor + Pedriatrics rotation + no flu shot =

1 Doctor flat on his back with the FLU!

PS. Please pray that the FLU decides that MY body is NOT a good hostess.

Menu Plan Monday~January 19

2009-01-19T20:18:00.004-06:00

Monday--Sloppy Joes
Tuesday--Taco Pasta Salad
Wednesday--Easy Enchilada Casserole **new recipe**
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--out to dinner w/interviewing student
Saturday--leftovers
Sunday--Pronto Pizza Patties

For more menu ideas, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Project 365 Vol. 3

2009-01-18T16:05:00.009-06:00

January 12-18, 2009

Prayers for Harper

2009-01-17T08:49:00.004-06:00

Little Miss Harper was born yesterday at 7:03PM, weighing in at 9lbs, 12oz, with pneumonia in her lungs. The pneumonia is so serious that they immediately flew Harper to Tulsa, OK in order to perform a heart/lung bypass.

I have been amazed time after time how powerful the act of praying is, which is why I'm asking you to please pray, with me, for Harper and her parents, Kelly and Scott. Kelly prayed for years to get pregnant with Harper, please ask God to protect her precious little girl.

Kelly has been posting updates as she has time, please visit her blog for updates on Harper's condition.

Blessings,
Jessi

1/2 Off the Wagon

2009-01-15T21:05:00.007-06:00

I have to blame my only slight fall from the wagon today on the new neighbors that just moved in across the street. I ran across a new brownie recipe the other day while visiting Bakerella and simply could not resist ~~trying them for myself~~ baking them for the neighbors. This brownie is AWESOME, marrying extreme fudge brownies with chocolate chip cookies topped with rich chocolate frosting. Mmmmmm, mmmm, mmmm!

Please excuse my feeble attempt to recreate the pics that Bakerella took of her finished brownies...I'm still learning my camera.

I apologize to my dear readers who are currently in calorie-counting mode, but this was a recipe too good not to share.

And I only considered myself to fall 1/2 off the wagon today because I did workout this morning, and I also consumed around 100oz. of water. With all of that water, many of those brownie calories are surely expected to be washed away, right? ;-) It's right along the same thinking that my dad has about freezing chocolate chip cookies...if they're frozen, the body won't absorb the fat. Silly, dad!

Weigh-in Wednesday--Lookin' Fine, Week 1

2009-01-14T05:00:00.007-06:00

In keeping with my resolution to lose 20 pounds by May 1st, I joined in on the fun at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans last week as they started a new weight loss challenge, "Looking Fine for Valentine's". I did so well with losing 13 pounds during the blogosphere challenge, Hot For the Holidays, that I thought I would participate in another. I found that it's an awesome way to stay accountable. Rules are the same: I'll post a Weigh-in Wednesday report, and then go to the Sisterhood blog and share my success/setbacks with the group. In this 6 week challenge my goal is to lose 5 pounds. I figure the slower I lose the weight, the more real the weight loss is. Make sense?

So now onto the nitty gritty....

My week's worth of workouts:
Wednesday--ran 3 miles
Thursday--P90X Chest & Back AND Slim In 6 DVDs
Friday--nothing (meant to try spinning but the baby woke up right before I headed out the door)
Saturday--nothing
Sunday--nothing
Monday--start of 2-week trial period with P90X (Chest & Back DVD)
Tuesday--P90X Plyometrics
Wedesday--Slim In 6 DVD (workout buddy had a sick kiddo--had to pass up the P90X this AM)

I lost 1 pound this week. It may be small, but I'm so excited to see the scale continuing to move on down!

In other weigh-in news, today was our first weigh-in for the Biggest Loser challenge I'm participating as a part of our MOPS group. I lost 2 1/2 inches and 2.2 pounds since starting the challenge on December 5. I have to say that my weight loss would have been more if it hadn't been cold outside this morning and required that I wear jeans and a sweater. BUT a loss is a loss in my book, and I couldn't be happier....even though I wasn't the biggest loser this month. Oh well, there's always next month, right?

Menu Plan Monday~January 12

2009-01-12T13:25:00.003-06:00

Nothing too exciting going at our table this week...other than the new recipe that I'll be trying out on Tuesday.

A few years ago we purchased the Eating For Life (EFL) cookbook which is a supplement to Bill Phillips' Body For Life exercise program. It turns out that from my quite diverse cookbook library, the EFL cookbook one of our favorites. So in an effort to help BOTH of us shed some oh-so-unwanted pounds before my sister's wedding in July, I've decided to cook more from the cookbook to make sure that our carb/protein/veggie ratio is in check (which is sometimes hard to do because I LOVE carbs).

This week's menu comes entirely from the Eating For Life cookbook. And even though we've had the book for years, there are still recipes that we haved tried, like the Chunky Beef Stew, which will be my recipe review of the week.

Monday--Spaghetti & Meatballs (EFL) with steamed broccoli
Tuesday--Chunky Beef Stew (EFL)
Wednesday--leftover spaghetti
Thursday--leftover stew
Friday--Grilled Chicken Kabobs (EFL)
Saturday--Egg-cellent Enchiladas (EFL) & Birthday party out
Sunday--Egg-cellent Enchildadas & leftover kabobs

For more menu plan ideas, visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Project 365 Vol. 2

2009-01-11T17:26:00.007-06:00

January 5-11, 2009

11 days down, only 354 to go!

This week was full of a bunch of fun stuff. I really struggled with deciding which one picture to select that best documented each day. I'm slowly but surely getting over the weirdness of carrying my fairly large camera every where I go, but I'm enjoying finding pleasure in the simple things including, but not limited to, Josiah wearing underwear for the first time and running around the house in his excitement, watching Josiah sit quietly in his room and read, Laney falling asleep in her highchair after filling her belly, drinking from a sippy cup for the first time, and having fun pulling diapers out of the diaper basket, and finally finding some much needed play space (other than the living room, kitchen, or the kid's room)by just simply moving some furniture in the guest bedroom.

To see more pics, visit Sara.

Recipe Review-Week 2

2009-01-10T08:11:00.006-06:00

Chicken with Snap Peas
(recipe from the Alli cookbook)

6 oz. whole wheat blend wide egg noodles
1 pound sugar snap peas
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
2/3 cup orange juice
3 T. hoisin sauce
3 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. tomato sauce
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 3-inch strips
3 T. cornstarch
3/4 cup dry-roasted unsalted cashews

1. Prepare noodles according to package directions, adding snap peas and pepper 2 minutes before end of noodle cooking time. Drain.

2. Meanwhile in a small bowl, stir together orange juice, hoisin sauce, vinegar, and tomato sauce.

3. In a medium bowl toss chicken in cornstarch, shaking off excess cornstarch.

4. In a large skillet slightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, cook and stir half of the chicken over medium heat for 5 minutes or until light brown and no longer pink. With a slotted spoon, remove chicken to bowl. Repeat with remaining chicken.

5. Return chicken and drippings to skillet; add orange juice mixture and bring to boiling. Add noodles, snap peas and pepper; cook for 1 minute or until heated through. Place in serving bowl and sprinkle with cashews.

Makes 4 servings.

Not a great pic, but I'm working on my food photography skills.

Review: While this is the type of meal that I enjoy cooking (easy, noodle/chicken/veggie combo in a sauce), the flavor of the sauce was just a little bit more tangy than either of us cared for. The recipe also required an ingredient, hoisin sauce, that I don't normally keep stocked in my kitchen, so that was definitely a negative aspect of the recipe...but I was willing to buy some just in case we really enjoyed it. I also left the cashews out because I didn't want the extra fat, but I think they would have added a dimension of crunchiness to the meal. Overall, "it's okay", according to Randy, and I probably won't make it again...it just didn't "WOW" our tastebuds. Oh well, at least I tried, right?

Menu Plan Monday~January 5

2009-01-05T22:42:00.005-06:00

Getting involved with Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie was one of the best decisions I've made regarding my efforts to get my home organized. Planning meals has made my grocery shopping so much easier (and when I'm having to drag two small children along for the ride, there's no time for dawdling--that is, unless you don't mind dealing with a breakdown in the middle of the dairy isle), and it has kept me from spending excessively. And even though Randy still asks me every day what's for dinner (when it's posted on the fridge for all to see), the meal plan provides me with an answer other than "I don't know, what do you want to eat?", which is the most frustrating part about not having it all laid out beforehand.

One of my Resolutions for 2009 is to continue planning menus each week, with the inclusion of a little something new, to try at least one new recipe each week and then post a review. I just LOVE trying a new recipe, so this shouldn't be something too unreasonable to accomplish.

So here's my plan for this first week of 2009:

Monday: Baked Turkey & Jack Cheese Chimichangas
Tuesday: Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
Wednesday: leftover chimichangas
Thursday: leftover peppers
Friday: Chicken with Snap Peas **new recipe**
Saturday: Steaks with baked potato & veggies
Sunday: leftover chicken with snap peas

Having trouble with what to cook this week? Check out additional menu plan ideas at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Project 365 Vol.1

2009-01-04T15:39:00.004-06:00

January 1-4, 2009

Here's to a New Year documented by taking a picture every day!

I have to say that I'm pretty excited about this project. What better way to learn about my new digital SLR camera and enhance my photography skills than to take at least one picture every day?

While I'm excited to share our lives through pictures, I am a little intimidated that my pictures will be of little interest to anyone besides me. I guess we'll just have to see what this project turns out to be, but I'm sure that it will most definitely include many pictures of my children.

So here's my first plunge into Project 365. Click on the button above to visit our hostess, Sara, and see how others documented their first week of 2009.

8 is Great!

2009-01-04T08:08:00.006-06:00

I think all of the Christmas hustle and bustle caused this 8th month to whir by in a flash. Laney is getting so big. PLEASE let me bore with a few details. Pretty please? Great, thanks!

she started clapping her hands, although she only moves one hand when she claps.
she started waving some
she clicks her tongue and loves it when we click back
she says "da da da da da" regardless of how hard I try to have her repeat "ma ma ma ma"
as soon as we got back from Christmas break, Laney could pick up cheerios (which she LOVES) and put them successfully in her mouth. What a difference a week makes!
she can NOW roll over from her belly to her back...unassisted! Woohoo!
she has started eating the equivalent of 1 small jar of baby food plus some oatmeal and cheerios in one sitting.
she graduated from her infant carrier to a "big girl" convertible car seat.
tooth #5 started to cut through, making a very cranky little princess.
and when we took her to the ER the day after Christmas, she weighed in at 21 pounds.

Happy 8th Month Birthday, Alayna!

Christmas in the Valley

2009-01-03T17:37:00.019-06:00

Alternatively titled: Fun with the new Nikon (Alert: picture ladened post)

Since things were so crazy before our family trip to West Texas for Christmas (and since there was NO extra room in car after packing it), we decided to wait and open our gifts here, sent by my parents, until New Year's Eve. And I'm so glad we did. It was nothing but crazy during our break in Pecos, with the baby being sick and all. Plus, with 10 adults and 7 children staying under one roof, things were bound to get (and stay) a little chaotic, which Randy is used to...I, on the other hand, am not (I grew up with 2 sisters and NONE of my family lived nearby). But I just adore my in-laws....and all of the family that lives within such a short distance of "home". A holiday without all of the people just wouldn't be same, a definite perspective change from my first Pecos family get together a short 5 years ago.

Anyway....and because there is no better way to celebrate a birthday than with a nice meal and CAKE, that is exactly what Josiah and I did. We baked Jesus a Tres Leches Cake....and boy, was it "yummy in my tummy", as Josiah says. But before we endulged, we enjoyed, as a family, a nice meal...our favorite, Singapore Shrimp with Jasmine Rice and Edamame. THEN it was time for cake. And Josiah was insistent that he was going to blow out the candle for Jesus. So following our birthday song, Josiah successfully blew out the candle. It was a much better effort than he demonstrated just 6 months ago when it was time to blow out his own 2 candles (when he was scared to get close enough because they were "hot").

(Lesson learned: put sprinkles on cool whip just before serving.)

Thanks, Trisha, for the cake decoration idea.

Of course, no Christmas would be complete without pictures....posed in front of the tree. I dressed the kids in their Christmas sweaters and made them smile before opening any gifts. There's nothing like bribery. (I also had fun taking some pictures the night before in the dark of our tree, a few ornaments, and my newest Christmas decor project).

Believe or not, this was the best one I got of them together. *sigh*

I took this one earlier in the day...not particularly special, I just thought it was too cute NOT to post.

I was so excited how these "gifts" turned out. This was my first bow-making experience.

Once I felt that I had gotten as good of pictures as I was going to get, THEN it was time to open presents. Josiah was "gone" after he opened his first gift and saw that it was a much coveted remote control train for his Geo Trax. Laney was much more interested in tearing up the paper and rolling around the box instead of what actually came inside of it. But her face lit up as soon as ~~she~~ I opened her Taggie Doll. Perfect choice, Mom!

We had a lovely evening, spending some much needed time together. It was a wonderful way to spend our last night of 2008.

Recipe Review-Week 1

2009-01-03T13:26:00.005-06:00

I thought I would try a little something new this year....try at least one new recipe a week and then post a review. Seeing as I LOVE to find and try new recipes, this task shouldn't be that daunting, right? We shall see.

So my new recipe from this past week was Baked Rigatoni Cake. If you're looking for a fun (and easy) alternative to lasagna or spaghetti, then this recipe is one you should try. I used ground turkey and reduced fat cheese to make it a little more healthy and Italian herbed crushed tomatoes to add a little bit more dimension. My friend, Trisha, over at "Because I Said So" posted this recipe not too long ago, along with a picture, and it sounded/looked too good to pass up...especially since she mentioned that ALL of her children ate it without fuss. Any recipe that can do that deserves 5 stars!

Enjoy!

PS. Seriously, please feel free to leave me links to yummy, healthy recipes--either ones that are family favorites or ones that you just haven't gotten around to trying yet. I'm game for just about anything!

Fat Ticker Friday--New Year's Edition

2009-01-02T12:55:00.011-06:00

I may have ~~accidentally~~ purposefully not posted a Fat Ticker Friday in a couple of weeks, since I used the holiday break to let my knee heal from whatever was causing it to ache. Unfortunately, "letting my knee heal" (to me) meant that I could stop exercising AND allow myself to taste test the cookies I baked prior to the family get together as well as the pecan pie once I got there (I just wouldn't have felt right about anyone else tasting it to see if it was "just right").

I was just so darn, down-right frustrated at what my not-so-friendly scale said to me at my last weigh in. Add that to the stress/exhaustion of caring for sick babies during a time that is meant to be full of rest (that is what I was hoping the other 8 sets hands were going to help me achieve) and joy, but instead Randy and I spent our entire Christmas break caring first for just one baby (unbreakable fever, slight dehydration, vomiting, trip to the ER) then proceeding to care for two (fever, cough, congestion, vomiting). I just wasn't in the mood to go out for a walk and enjoy the beautiful weather we were blessed with nor eat well. Truthfully, I figured I couldn't do any more damage than what the scale said, so I decided to just temporarily "throw in the towel"...and enjoy the foods/candies/cookies that I oh-so-enjoy during this special time of year....and avoid that darn scale!

So just for kicks and giggles, I just thought that I would step on my good ol' friend this morning. And much to my amazement, I didn't end up doing too much damage after all. I lost 2 pounds (probably the water retention weight caused by the beloved hormones, but so....a loss is a loss in my book). So now I'm back to only needing to lose 2 more pounds before earning a new shiny badge--15 gone! But because 2009 is here, so is a new weight loss goal....22 more pounds. That will put me 10 less than my pre-preggo weight, just in time for wedding season. I'm standing up for both my sister and a most wonderful friend this summer, and I refuse to look frumpy in beautiful black gowns!

In my quest to lose these 22 pounds, I have pulled this and this out from our DVD collection in an effort to work in some additional strength and flexibility training. Not exactly sure when I'll work these in but I've got good intentions. I'm also going to try and work in a spinning class at 6AM on Fridays. I've only been to a couple of spinning classes in my life, but I'm excited to try them again. In my opinion, there is no better time to learn than at the beginning of year when others have the same idea (I hate being the only newby in a class--especially such a challenging one). I am also seeking out a few small races to complete between now and May/July, either here or in the cities I'll be visiting this summer. Again, good intentions. But just so that I stay accountable, you get to hear all about my efforts. I know, lucky you!

I'm also on the quest to find new, healthy recipes. So if you have any favorites OR you've seen a couple but have either too busy or too apprehensive to try them, PLEASE forward them on. One of my "unofficial" goals is to try a new recipe each week and then post a review.

And because I haven't yet said it....."Happy 2009!" May you be so very blessed with His goodness!

All Things Divine in '09

2008-12-30T14:13:00.004-06:00

It's amazing to think back at just how fast 2008 passed by. So many special things happened to our family this past year. So many that I cannot list them all, but here are the big ones that stick out to me:

Randy and I celebrated our 5 year Anniversary.
Our family grew by one more and was blessed with a healthy little girl...making our "Table for 4" complete.
After 4 long years, Randy graduated from Medical School and moved us to South Texas for Residency.
Josiah was blessed with another year of life; and turning 2 has turned out to be quite an adventure for all parties involved.

The Lord definitely carried us this past year. With the many things that happened, and we're not too proud to say, that without Him, we wouldn't been able to get through them as well as we did. Reflecting back on where we've come from only makes us excited about where He is going to take us next.

Continuing to reflect.....it's time for New Year's Resolutions. After all, I LOVE making lists and the feeling that crossing out completed tasks gives me. Last year, I set out to accomplish 6 goals. And I'm sad to report that I'll be dragging over some, if not all, of last year's resolutions to the 2009 List. Specifically, the half-marathon (it was too lofty of a goal to expect my body to be in the shape necessary to complete a 13.1 mile race 4 months after having given birth), learning to bake bread-from scratch, getting organized, and paying down debt.

So here is the list for 2009:

1. Lose 20 lbs. by May 1, 2009 (yes, the most popular of New Year's Resolutions made my list this year, but only because it is the year of the wedding).

Complete a few 5 and 10K races....and maybe a half marathon in one of the cities I'll be visiting over the summer.

2. Get Organized

Sort all of Josiah and Alayna's first year pictures in an album
Implement and stick to 'zones' for cleaning the house. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".
Continue with meal planning (boy, does this make grocery shopping so much easier)

3. Pay down debt while saving

Last year, I tried a lesser expensive diaper for Josiah and they worked. For 2009, I will use cloth diapers for Laney when at home to cut down some of the expense associated with buying two sets of diapers. And hopefully, Josiah will become potty trained sometime this year, so I won't need to buy many diapers at all.
Implement and stick to a budget/envelope system (I know quite a few folks that use this methodology of budget control and it works--my big thing is just sticking to it and avoid getting sucked into the airline mile-accumulating credit card).
Set aside some monies each month to go towards a family vacation, plane tickets, or Christmas gifts.

4. Take a picture every day....with my new fancy schmancy digital SLR that my husband surprised me with on Christmas. I'm SO excited to enhance my photography skills, I can hardly stand it.

5. Invest in relationships....my friends, including my friendship with the Lord, my husband, and my children, are my lifeline. I LOVE getting to know people, especially those with whom I've met via the blogosphere. I LOVE keeping up with what my friends are doing (another reason why I LOVE the blogosphere and Facebook). Nothing is sweeter than opening an email and seeing a quick message or comment from a friend, letting me know that they are thinking of me. So I resolve to do the same for my friends.....send a quick email, comment via blog or FB, or even an ol' fashioned note in the mail. Sadly, I've lost touch with so many friends I've made in my 31 years...you know, life just gets in the way sometimes. I also resolve to rekindle some of those long-lost friendships, including that with my husband. With all of the med school/residency chaos and our family expansion projection during the last 4.5 years, our relationship has fallen from the top of the priority list. In 2009, I resolve to schedule (if we don't schedule it, it won't get done) one date night/month in an effort to rekindle the love/relationship we had "back in the day".

6. Get involved in a church....the last 4 years have been pretty tough on us with regards to finding a church family. When we left our "family" behind in FTW, we never expected for it to be so hard to find another loving "home". We have learned, the hard way, that we cannot put God or the way He ministers to us in a box. We have to be open to learn of Him in new ways with new people. We think we have found a new "home", I feel comfortable there and they have a wonderful Children's Ministry. We just are still seeking His confirmation. I'm looking forward to the day we make the decision so that I can offer my time to a couple of women's ministries.

Well, I think that's it. More details may follow as I lunge forward into the action plans. I may have no idea what I'm up against, but I'm pretty excited about it.

So are you, too, one of the many millions of folks around the world who participates in Resolution planning? If so, what have you included on your list?

Christmas Recap

2008-12-29T21:39:00.005-06:00

Alternatively titled: 12 days of Christmas--Martinez-style (and my attempt to be creative)

Now that the house is quiet, I thought I would take a quick minute to share about our Christmas vacation.

We are now back home after a 5 day vacation to West Texas to visit Randy's family. We left as soon as Randy finished up in the clinic on Tuesday, drove straight through, and 12 hours later we arrived at the house Randy grew up in. We LOVED being at home, visiting with everyone....all 17 of us, under one roof. Unfortunately, the baby got sick, making our vacation less than spectacular. In fact, we were so distracted with her illness and sleep deprivation that we have little-to-no pictures documenting this milestone--First Christmas--for her. *sniff, sniff*

I won't bore you with all of the details, but I'll leave you with a song (to sing in your head--trust me, you don't want to hear me sing), adjusted to provide a recap of what the Randy Martinez family experienced.

12 hour drive to Pecos
11 x 11 ft. room to sleep in (all 4 of us)
10 homemade tortillas
9 new toys
8 on-the-road DVDs
7 dozen cookies
6 bottles of medicine

5 pounds gained back

4 songs on SingStar
3 trips to Walmart
2 vomiting children (and car seats needing to be washed)

and

1 trip to the Emergency Room (for 105 fever, vomiting, dehydration, & to rule out RSV, flu, and ear infection)

And just in case you're wondering, the children are doing much better. We are now treating Josiah for fever, cough and congestion; and Laney will continue to receive her antibiotic treatment through Friday, but she is back to nursing and bottle feeding (although not fully back to "normal") without vomiting and is sleeping without being held (although she was insistent on sleeping next to me in the bed just as she had for the last 3 nights). We learned that we will NO LONGER leave on a trip without a medical kit containing the nebulizer, Xopenex, stethoscope, oto/ophthalmoscope, tylenol, motrin, baby vicks, and benedryl.

And because we didn't want to "push" the children, we decided to break up our trip and stop half-way, in San Antonio. During our lay-over, we drove to a suburb known for it's Christmas lights. It was awesome. Our most favorite home won 2nd Place in the Creative Lighting category (1 of 8 categories). They had synchronized a light show to music which you tuned into on your car radio. It was very similar to this.

Anyway, I suspect it'll be a while until things are back to "normal". But till then, I'm just trying to survive being without Randy 24/7, unpacking, washing vomit covered laundry, and finding storage for new toys.

Home Sweet Gingerbread Home

2008-12-20T23:47:00.005-06:00

We finally did it!!!! It took us 5 days, but Josiah and I planned, constructed, and decorated our very first gingerbread house...from scratch. YAY! I was never so excited to pull the soup cans away (used in place of stability beams) from the roof panels and see it stay in place instead of crumble to the floor!

Josiah is just old enough this year to participate in projects like this, which is why it's so exciting and special. I've been ~~chomping at the bit~~ waiting patiently to start some family traditions. This will definitely be added to the list.

Once I got past the fact that it's not going to even slightly resemble those showcased on Food Network, it was a very enjoyable project for both of us. Josiah was so excited to share what he had done with his daddy (he helped me with the M&M roof tiles).

And without further adu.....

Can you see Josiah's monogram?

I thought it would add a little some extra to his house.

While I definitely enjoyed this project, I learned a few things...things that may make next year's project go a bit smoother:

make a house HALF the size (the roof panels alone were 7x11").
use larger candies for the roof tiles--placing each M&M became tedious and Josiah lost interest).
use candies that I don't have any interest in eating to decorate the house. wink
combine the peak and the front/back square into one piece instead of relying on the triangle cookie to maintain it's shape and size during the transfer from countertop to cookie sheet.
try buttercream icing instead of royal icing for the edible cement. I think I need something a bit more thick in order to keep the candies from slipping during the drying process.

Whew, now that the BIG project is done....it's time to bake a couple dozen christmas cookies.

Fat Ticker Friday

2008-12-19T07:02:00.004-06:00

Please forgive me as I'm not going to sugar-coat my report today, unlike the gingerbread house that Josiah and I are constructing.

My unfriendly scale read this morning that I have gained 2 pounds since last week. On one hand, I'm surprised. In the last 7 days, I was able to get in 5 workouts:

Friday--1 mile, strength train
Saturday--5 miles
Sunday--off
Monday--3.5 miles
Tuesday--1 mile, strength train
Wednesday--off
Thursday--2 miles, strength train

But then on the other hand, the gain doesn't really surprise me, I can feel the water being retained by my body (thanks, hormones). And I'm sure the fact that I've helped myself to some of the candies I bought to decorate our gingerbread house didn't help either (note to self: will only buy candies I don't enjoy eating for next year's activity). AND since my knee is still giving me troubles, I've had to lay off the long runs. All leading to a darn gain this week. UGH!

I was really hoping to report that I had reached my Christmas goal of 15 pounds, and I really think that without the extra water and M&Ms/peanut brittle, I would have. Bummer. Now I really have to watch it during our vacation. An just how do you propose I resist Glorified Rice, Tripas, and Christmas cookies?

I won't be weighing in next Friday since I won't be bringing my unfriendly scale with me to West Texas, but you can bet that I'll be stepping on it first thing Monday AM. ;-)

Fat Ticker Friday--Strength in Numbers

2008-12-12T14:54:00.010-06:00

Even though the "Hot for the Holidays" challenge ended last week, I'm still keeping up my Fat Ticker Friday posts....mainly, to keep me accountable for my weekly workouts. Nothing kept me going more than knowing that I was going to have to post on my progress for the week.

Quite a bit happened this past week.....

I lost another pound, making my overall loss 13 pounds since starting in October. Only 2 more to reach my Christmas goal.
I found a running/workout buddy
Instead of waiting until Randy gets home at whatever hour, I get up at 4:15AM, nurse the baby, and head out to join my friend for an early morning run at 5AM.
I managed to wake up on time and workout EVERY morning.
I started incorporating strength training 2 days/week.
And lastly, I made a tough decision not to run in the Austin Half Marathon in February (sorry, Sabrina and Christie). Money is a little tight, and the race fee + trip to Austin would have easily equalled a plane ticket, 1 of 5 we'll need to buy this summer for all of the wedding travel. However, I'm going to continue training just as I would be if I were running the race.

In addition to finding a running buddy and changing up my routine a little bit, I joined TWO groups (one online and one IRL) of ladies to help me continue my journey to lose the baby. Christie, our hostess for HFH, at Baby Tea Leaves started up a new challenge, Quest for Greatness; and my MOPS group started a Biggest Loser challenge. I'm super excited about each of these opportunities to gain overall health, shed weight/fat, and do it with other ladies who share similar goals.

The "rules" behind the Quest for Greatness are....

Rule #1: There are no rules.
Rule #2: Find an event somewhere around Feb/March
Rule #3: PAY for it. It's harder to back out once you've put down $$.
Rule #4: Weigh in, focusing on completing runs and workouts
Rule #5: Add the event (rule #2) to Christie's calendar, so that it's there for ALL to see.

While I no longer have a mid-February "event", I'm still training for it. Plus, I'm planning to participat in a 10K scheduled for January 10. It should be pretty awesome, and I'm really excited about it...it's the Causeway Run. The cool part about the race is that the run is on the causeway bridge from Port Isabel to South Padre Island. FUN!!!!!

Of course, most everyone is familar with The Biggest Loser, so I don't need to go into all of the specifics. About 15 of my fellow MOPSters have joined in on the fun and challenge to change their bodies. We all put $5 into the "pot" and signed an agreement stating that should we gain, in either inches or pounds at any monthly weigh-in, we owe $1 per inch or lb. to the "pot". We will weigh in each month till our last MOPS meeting in May. And there are also incentives...not only will there be a big "stash" earned by the one of us that loses the highest percentage of weight loss, prizes will go to the one who is most consistent with their workouts each month. You can bet that I'm working my tail off to earn the most prizes. (It's no secret, I love gifts--it's my love language. That, and I can be very competitive person). My particular weight loss goal for The Biggest Loser MOPS Edition is 20 pounds, which would put me 10 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with Laney, which was 10 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with Josiah. I just love that trend. :-)

I am hopeful that I can achieve my goals with a little bit of support from my bloggy and IRL friends...and that there's some truth in the whole "strength in numbers" thing. :-)

Thanksgiving (Better Late than Never)

2008-12-08T20:44:00.015-06:00

So much has been going on that I've been saving my post, a very comprehensive post, about our Thanksgiving until I've had more than 5 uninterrupted minutes. And now that all three kids are in bed.....

Mom and Dad arrived on Wednesday evening after a 20 hour drive from IL. Don't ask me why they drove, it's just something they've always done. Plus, Mom had a trunk full of Christmas gifts, her fancy sewing machine, and luggage; flying just wouldn't have allowed her to bring everything they did. However, I think after they experienced just how faaaar south we live, they'll be considering flying next visit.

Thursday morning was spent cooking relleno and jello cups, two side dishes I agreed to bring to our Program Director's home for Thanksgiving dinner. Josiah helped Dad wash the car and clean out the garage, Mom worked on assembling a display shelf for Laney's side of the kid's room, and Randy kept Laney entertained. I also had a fun time experimenting with Mom and Dad's new fancy camera. That afternoon, we spent a lovely dinner at Dr. Liebert's home and enjoyed a yummy dinner with his family and a few of our friends. It was during this dinner that Laney experienced her first bites of food, straight from the table...mashed potatoes, turkey, and a roll. Now that she's tried "real" food, she has very little interest in her fruit and veggie purees. Oh well, who could blame her?

Friday morning Mom and I avoided the craziness of the mall/WalMart/Target, and started on our craft project, curtains for the kid's room. I intended starting the project 4 months ago, I even purchased the fabric. But as we got closer to Mom and Dad's visit, I decided just to wait so that I would have Mom's sewing expertise. And I'm so glad I did...they couldn't have turned out more perfect. If I had tackled the project alone, I know that we'd be re-doing them once Mom got to town. Here are a couple of pics of the newly decorated room for the kids. It's almost done. Now I just need to track down some natural wood frames to create a memory wall/collage in the last bit of open wall space.

Friday afternoon, we decided to take Mom and Dad to the Island. Yep, the beach in late November. Wanna come visit? It was a lovely day for the beach, a little breazy, but lovely. Josiah even got in the water....there's very little that would keep that kid from the pure joy of splashing around. And Laney just LOVED watching him get tackled by the incoming waves. For dinner, we sat outside on the restaurant patio, taking in all of the sights and smells of the beach. It was lovely.

Saturday morning Mom, Laney, and I were out the door by 9AM to drive 45 minute to McAllen to do a little bit of shopping, mainly in search of a couple of potential bridesmaid dresses for a wedding in May. Well, we were very unsuccessful in finding the particular dresses, but we did find Josiah some black dress pants for his Christmas outfit and Laney a cute little romper to open on Christmas day. We were home by 1PM to enjoy freshly grilled turkey burgers. The rest of the day was spent just enjoying each other, some football (Auburn where were ya?), and a nap here and there. For dinner, we took Mom and Dad to a locally owned restaurant known for their brisket and banana pudding....yummm, what a combination. It was a delicious meal, except that Dad still thinks that Randy's dad's brisket is the BEST. I'm with ya there....once you've had Rudy's brisket, you can never go back.

We took Mom and Dad to the Lutheran church service on Sunday morning. In the many places the Randy and I have lived thus far, we have not lived somewhere where there is a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod...until now. And what's interesting is that the Pastor of the church, here, in Harlingen, is an old Concordia classmate of the current Pastor of my parent's church. What a small world. After church, Mom and Dad stayed just long enough to take a few more pictures, change clothes and load up the car....and then they were on their way back to IL, another 20 hour drive.

Thanks, Mom and Dad for a wonderful visit. Randy and I so very much appreciate the long hours you spent in the car so that you could spend some much needed time with your precious grandchildren (and us, too). We enjoyed showing you where we live and introducing you to our new "family members". We only hope that it's not another 6 months before we get to spend time with you again. We love and miss you.

1 Year

2008-12-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend, Table For 4 celebrated its 1 year Blogoversary. Yay for a wonderful year of blogging!

It's hard to believe that a little over a year ago, I really didn't know what a blog was. But thanks to my SIL, Elizabeth, I have found a new ~~addiction~~ extra-curricular activity. I always enjoyed reading about what my niece and nephew were up to since we lived so very far away and only got to hug and kiss on them once a year. And because Randy and I were expecting a new little one and were preparing for a move, I thought a blog would be an awesome way for our friends and family to keep in touch with us. I never expected to be so sucked into the blogosphere the way I have....and I LOVE it.

The blogosphere has been a wonderful way to stay connected with old friends and build relationships with new ones. I have accrued/exchanged many wonderful recipes and stayed on track coordinating weekly menu plans for the family, joined in a weight loss challenge that has kept me accountable and helped me lose 12 pounds thus far, and has encouraged me to learn more about my camera and take better pictures. The blogosphere has been amazing!

I don't have anything too special to share on my blogoversary, except that in the last year I have submitted 132 posts, and I have linked you up with my favorite. Josiah was only about 18 months when I took the video....we (including Josiah) LOVE watching it.

Thank you, readers, for your support (and comments). Looking forward to what the next year of blogging holds.

Menu Plan Monday~December 8

2008-12-07T22:33:00.004-06:00

I know, I know, it's been forever since my last MPM post. Rest assured, though, I have still coordinated/stuck to a plan even though I never got around to posting it. This time of year is so hard for me to stay focused, all I want to do is party, shop, and enjoy time with my friends....leaving the cleaning and, most definitely, the cooking behind. But I have forced myself back to a semi-routine, and that means trying new recipes again (using old, tried and true recipes is just waaaay easier). Everything planned for this week is NEW. I'm excited to see if they become repeat customers.

Monday--Lemon Chicken with Green beans & New potatoes
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--Pork Tenderloin, rice & veggies
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--Skillet Sausages & Peppers
Saturday--MOPS Social
Sunday--leftovers

For more menu inspiration, visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

From the Desk Mouth of Josiah

2008-12-07T17:45:00.005-06:00

As we drove through a neighborhood, on our way home from our progressive dinner last night, Josiah noticed all of the Christmas lights.

Josiah: "Look at the lights. They're pretty!"

Randy: "They are pretty." "Is mama pretty?"

Josiah: "No, lights are pretty."

Laughing.

Me: "Is daddy pretty?"

Josiah: "No, lights are pretty."

More laughing.

Randy: "Daddy's handsome, not pretty."

Me: "Is daddy handsome?"

Josiah: "No, I handsome!"

If we hadn't been in the car, we would have been rolling on the floor.

******
This afternoon we spent some time outside (how could we not, it was 75 degrees outside). Josiah enjoyed rolling around the grass, literally.

Josiah: "I don't eat grass, I not a dog."

We just laughed at the randomness.

******
Later this afternoon, Laney was ~~rolling~~ rocking around on the floor, just cooing.

Me: "Wow, Laney, is that right?"

Josiah: "She's talking Spanish."

Me: "She's talking Spanish, huh?"

Josiah: "Uh-huh"

******

Oh, how my boy just makes me smile.

Fat Ticker Friday (HFH)~Weeks 10 & 11

2008-12-05T07:01:00.008-06:00

Due to the craziness of Thanksgiving and my parents' visit, I didn't get a chance to post about last week's notsogreatness. So I'm going to share now before I report about this week. Well, thanks to both hormones, if you know what I mean, and Thanksgiving goodies (aka Mom's famous chocolate chip cookies), I gained 2 pounds. YIKES! And the sad part about it was that I was fully expecting it. I didn't make it to the gym one day. Nope, not one day. There were too many things that needed to be accomplished before my parents' visit and heading the gym was the last thing on my "to-do" list.

Now onto this week's details. As the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end". Sadly, the 12 week Hot for the Holidays challenge ends today. But because I didn't find out/start the challenge with the rest of the group, I still have 2 more weeks left, which is plenty of time to accomplish my weight loss goal of 15 pounds. ;-)

While I wasn't any better about getting my butt to the gym this week, I was a lot better about tracking what I put in my mouth and took the kids out for walks around the neighborhood each night to enjoy all of the Christmas lights (I just LOVE it). I'm also experiencing patellofemoral pain syndrome in one of my knees, which is making it extremely hard to complete my runs. Simply, this means that the muscles around my knees (quads) need some strengthening to support the stress of running. UGH! I hate strength training, but my body is clearly telling me that it NEEDS it.

Thankfully, I was able to lose the 2 pounds gained last week. So now I'm back down to having lost 12 pounds. I am kind of bummed because I was really hoping to have lost those pesky 2 plus 1 more. Oh well...at least I'm still a loser. ;-)

HFH Hostess, Christie, asked us to post a pre- and post-challenge picture of ourselves. Sadly, there aren't many pics of me. Instead, I'm the picture-taker, which I'm loving BTW as I'm figuring out how to really use our camera. So I don't have any to share. Sorry. But just know that I'm now wearing some pre-maternity pants and my XL shirts (that I bought to accomodate the nursing boobies) are looking more like drapes. :-)

I can't express just how much I'm going to miss the Hot for the Holidays challenge. It has been a wonderful accountability tool, I've lost some serious poundage (10 lbs is serious in my book), and I've made a couple of new friends along the way. Christie says she has something else up her sleeve as a way to keep the accountibility going, and I can't wait to see what it is. Thanks, Christie, for hosting such a wonderful bloggy event. ((HUGS)).

I enjoyed posting about my weight loss/training progress (and regression) so much that I'm going to continue with it. I know that many of you will ~~bother~~ ask me about it if I miss a week. Thank you in advance for doing so. ~~Bother~~ Ask away. ;-)

7 Down--5 To Go

2008-12-04T06:00:00.005-06:00

Our little princess is 7 months today....she's getting so big. And yes, I do say it each and every month...but really, where does the time go? I can't believe that there are only 5 short months left until we celebrate her 1st Birthday!

Please do let me bore you with the details of this past month....

**Alayna's hair is FINALLY growing! Slowly but surely, but it is, indeed, growing!
**She has FOUR teeth (2 on top and 2 on bottom) and is working on cutting more, as indicated by the constant chewing of her fingers.
**Laney tried pears, sweet potatoes, avocado (which she hated), butternut squash, and apples....now it's time for carrots, peas, and a 2nd go around with the avocado.
**She, too, enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner....1st hand, not through "Mommy's milk"....and she LOVED it. In fact, she loved it so much that she doesn't particularly care for the purees anymore. The look on her face while we eat at the table is one of "You guys get real food, where's mine?"
**We are STILL working on rolling over. Rest assured, she has rolled over at least 3 times, like 2 months ago, but she has rolled over.
**While she may not be the most mobile child, she is working on other things like waving when we wave "Hi" to her...it's so cute. She even tries to mimic saying "Hi" back to us....again, so cute!
**Laney has officially graduated to 12 mo. clothes and easily fills 12-18 month onsies even without the bulk of the cloth diapers (just look at her hamhocks in the picture above).
**And she still thinks that her big brother, Josiah is the greatest....and she laughs at nearly everything he does....she's such a happy baby.

Happy 7 Month Birthday, mama!

Thankful

2008-11-25T00:01:00.002-06:00

We are just 2 days away from Thanksgiving, one of my three most favorite holidays, and I'm torn with how I feel. While I'm excited that we are so close to a favorite holiday, I'm saddened by the fact that Thanksgiving seems to have been forgotten in all of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holiday, including but not limited to whether or not stores will be turning a profit this year with our current economic situation. Christmas decorations were hung and placed on the store shelves the day after Halloween. And folks have been blogging about getting out their own Christmas decor, if they haven't put it up already. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as excited as the next person is about celebrating Christmas, but I want to take a few extra minutes to enjoy Thanksgiving first.

On Sunday, I was reminded that Thanksgiving is a day when we should turn our focus from Black Friday shopping, football, and special foods that we only get to enjoy once a year towards God, thanking Him for His mighty provision.

I found out about Ten Things Tuesday, hosted by Mrs. Brownstone at XBOX Wife, thanks to a bloggy friend who is a faithful participant. I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to to share what I'm most THANKFUL for, in an effort to turn my focus.

1. I am thankful for my hard-working and loving husband with whose help, I have....

2. TWO beautiful (and healthy) children.

3. I am thankful for Randy's successful completion of Medical School so that....

4. I can stay home to raise our two little blessings.

5. I am thankful for my parents and their love for us that they are driving 26 hours (one-way) for a 3 day visit.

6. I am thankful that the Lord provided me with 4-5 ways in which to GIVE during this season of Thanks.

7. I am thankful for wonderful friends who know when I need to be listened to, encouraged, loved, or given a good ol' kick in the butt.

8. I am thankful our move/transition back to TX went smoothly, and that I've started forming a couple of true friendships.

9. I am thankful for my change in attitude regarding homekeeping duties, keeping in mind Joshua 24:15.

10. I am thankful that in just a few short weeks we will be spending another favorite holiday with my very loving extended family, something we haven't done in 2 years.

What's in a Name?

2008-11-23T14:56:00.005-06:00

I saw this done on another blog and thought it looked too fun to pass up.

What Jessica Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you.

You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries.

You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.

You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.

You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.

You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.

A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic “Type A” personality.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I have to admit that this descriptive is pretty close. I would agree with most of it except the parts about being creative and adaptable. :-(

Small Fryday Contest

2008-11-21T23:59:00.003-06:00

It's no secret that I, in addition to 1000's of others in the blogosphere, ~~am addicted to~~ enjoy reading MckMama's blog, My Charming Kids. She tells the most miraculous story of how our Mighty Creator healed her unborn son, Stellan, from a fatal heart condition. Stellan is now a 3 week old perfectly healthy little man.

Stellan joins 2 older brothers, Big Mac (K) and MckNugget (C), and an older sister, Small Fry (M)...hence the name of this contest. MckMama is offering a customized blog header and some photography goodies. The only requirement for entry is to mention her contest on your blog....hence this post.

Oh, how I would LOVE a customized blog header....I've really been struggling with this one but I'm too frugal to spend the dinero to have one "done" for me. And photography goodies....ooh, la, la. I'm ~~secretly~~ hoping my husband blesses me with a digital SLR camera for Christmas so some photography goodies would be awesome!

Again, if you haven't checked out MckMama and her MSC (many small children) yet, you're missing out....on one Charming addiction.

Fat Ticker Friday (HFH)~Week 9

2008-11-21T07:55:00.009-06:00

Wow, what a week! Since making the decision to bump up the date of my race (February instead of April), I had to bump up the intensity of my work outs, starting this week (ie. a lot of interval training).

And since a bloggy friend and I decided to become training progress buddies (she is training for her first Half at the end of Feb), I'm using this post to outline what I did each week...as a way to stay accountable (to both myself and my bloggy friend).

So, the nitty gritty of my week looked like this:

Friday--off
Saturday--5 miles (average 10:45 pace)
Sunday--6 miles (average 10:58 pace)
Monday--3 miles (average 10:30 pace)
Tuesday--3 mile tempo run (average 10:04 pace)
Wednesday--off (I was so tired at the end of my day that I decided to take a 2 hour nap instead)
Thursday--3 miles (6 x 400 intervals, average 10:08 pace)

I'm definitely starting to notice an improvement in my cardiovascular endurance/strength, which is such an encouragement for me. I started out barely able to keep up with 12:00 m/m pace, and now that seems like a slightly-faster-than-walking pace. I LOVE seeing that my average pace during my long runs is below 11:00 m/m and 10:15 m/m during my interval runs.

But that is not even the best news.....my scale told me this morning that I'm 3 pounds lighter since last week. Woohoo!!!!! This weight loss is quite monumental.....

3 more pounds means that my overall weight loss has now hit the double digits.
3 more pounds means that I'm saying "HELLO" to another decade of numbers.
3 more pounds means that I'm only 3 pounds away from my pre-Josiah weight (unfortunately, I'm still another 13 pounds away from my pre-Alayna weight).
And 3 more pounds means that I have reached a weight where I can finally wear my engagement ring again.

Our "Hot for the Holidays" host, Christie, asked us what our "Aha!" moment was that influenced our decision to get up off the couch and do something about the way we looked. I think mine was the day that I decided to graduate from maternity clothes to "real" clothes (about 3 months after Josiah was born)....when I had to buy a size 18 pant and an XL shirt. It took me another couple of months after this day to buy a new pair of running shoes and find my way to the Huckleberry Trail (I wanted to wait until I was done nursing Josiah), but I REFUSED to stay that size. I also REFUSED to lose all but 10 pounds of the baby weight (I had read once to expect to keep 10 pounds from each pregnancy--sorry, that's not going to be me). Fortunately for me, my sister was running half and full marathons during this time. She was my inspiration for setting a goal to complete a half marathon. So there begins my running journey/obsession....until I stepped foot onto the "Huck", I wouldn't have considered myself of a runner. Yes, I ran track in HS (I was 400 and Hurdles gal), but I always died when it came time to do the 1 Mile Run. I never thought I'd be able to "kick out" 12-13 miles in a single run....and now I have and am more than ANXIOUS to try it again. Not only am I excited to see what my body can do but to lose ALL of the baby fat that came along with my latest pregnancy). :-)

Wordless Wednesday--Power of Reading

2008-11-19T12:37:00.004-06:00

Oh, Brother

2008-11-18T15:23:00.004-06:00

My conversation with my 2 year old son this morning while he rolled around in his blanket on the kitchen floor and I made a breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls for Bible study....

"Mommy, I wanna brother."

"You do? How come?"

"So that I would have someone to play with me."

"Oh, Son, but you have Laney. Not too much longer, and she'll be able to play with you."

"But that's different."

"I'm sorry, but you won't have a brother to play with for another couple of years....Laney will just have to do."

Seriously??? Did I just have that conversation with my 2 year old???