Merry Christmas

Thanksgiving weekend, in pictures

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  Not only do I love that we have a celebration of thanksgiving but I love the fall season as well.  I so enjoy the cooler weather that November finally brings for southern Arizona and the chance to bake all things pumpkin without apology.  I wanted to share a few of my favorite memories from our Thanksgiving weekend this year.

Our Thanksgiving table minus most of the kids.  

Bass, my brother in law, fried two awesome turkeys that he injected a garlic solution into.  They were great! Also pictured are my Dad and two nephews.

My babies and I.  I am so grateful for my children and absolutely love having them to share holidays with.

After working on Turkey Day, Kelly joined us for family photos and Christmas tree cutting.  Oh, and to help HB feed Papa's calves.

The Copeland's joined us for our own Griswold family - like adventure where we drove to Williams to cut our own Christmas trees.  The weather was perfect!!  And we absolutely could not have had better company.

 

Our little family during Groseta family photos.  My Dad captured a few of his own shots while the professional photographer did her job;)

And...one of my favorite shots from the weekend.  My sister, her daughter, Katherine and myself, and my mom.  Taking pictures is hard work for babies so both our girls caught some shut eye on our chests.

Happy half birthday, Katherine

Wow, my little girl is six months old.  Where does the time go?  Having two children has certainly made time seem to slip through my fingers even quicker.  Katherine is becoming more and more fun the older she gets.  She still seems rather serious at times but her personality is coming out more and more with each passing day.  Here are a few of her milestones at six months...

• She has rolled to her tummy once or twice but she is much more inclined to stay on her back.
• Whether she is in the tub, on the changing table or playing on the floor, she loves to chew on her feet.
• Baby purees and solid foods are now making an appearance in her daily diet.  She has an oatmeal cereal concoction in the morning that includes milk and prune juice.  Doesn't that just sound delightful? She has only tried green beans so far but seems to really like them.
• Girlfriend loves to grab at your cheeks and pull your face close to hers.  If she isn't able to grab your face she will gladly pull your hair, or ears, or whatever she can get her hands on.  She loves to nuzzle your face though and with an open mouth, ha!
• Her sleeping habits are improving all the time (thankfully).  She goes to bed at 6pm or a little after and wakes sometime mid-morning for a bottle - if it's before 4am I give her the pacifier, if it's after 4am I oblige and then she will typically sleep in until around 7am.
• Although her weight is average, she has the most delightful chunky thigh rolls.  She weighed 16 pounds 1 ounce (50th percentile) and measured 27 inches long (90th percentile) at her 6-month well check.  
• She has found her voice and I think we may have a screamer on our hands!  She actually sounds like a pterodactyl, or at least what I think one would sound like.  
• Bath time is prime play time.  Her favorite toy is a plastic bath book.  She howls in despair when I remove it from her death grip to dry her off.  She actually rolled her head to the side this past week and put part of her face in the water.  

Prepare yourself for a picture overload.  I.can't.get.enough.of.her.  

Clockwise, from top left.
1-Playing with Grandma while visiting Grandpa at the hospital.
2-Just chilling with the Baby-ators on.
3-Sitting in her big girl high chair preparing for some actual chow.
4-Daddy helping with the monthly "chair photo."
5-Smiling at Daddy instead of at me while I took her six month photo.
6-A girls picture after church.

What was big brother HB like at six months?  Check him out here.

Full of Thanks

Adding children to our family has made me recall and reflect on the family traditions that Kelly and I grew up with and spend waaayyy too much time thinking about the traditions we want for our own family.  I actually felt pressured last year to have elaborate holidays with all kinds of meaningful traditions.  But then reality kept hitting me over the head and reminding me that HB was only eight months old and he wasn't going to remember if we did things the same since he was an infant or not.  As we head into our second Thanksgiving with children I wanted to share a few of our Thanksgiving traditions which are not guaranteed to stay the same forever.  :)

Last year (or was it the first year we were married??) we shared a meal at some friend's house and they had a jar on their table that contained little slips of paper with notes about what people were thankful for (Thanks Amy!).  I loved the purposefulness of this activity and the conversation starter that is also provided for dinnertime convos.  We adopted this tradition for the month of November with the hope that it would increase our gratitude for the things we take for granted.  We wanted to extend our Thanksgiving from one day to a longer period of time.  Most nights we each take a moment to write down something we are thankful for.  At the end of the month we read them all out loud and then save them for our family scrapbook.  {Note: I have not yet scrapbooked this page yet.  Surprised?  I didn't think so.  I hope I can break the cycle of not scrapbooking for a whole year.}  As a twist on this tradition, I wanted to share something about each member of my family.

1. My hubby: I am thankful for your tireless work ethic.  You do what it takes to make ends meet without complaint.  This does not go unnoticed.  I am grateful for the chance you have afforded me to stay at home and raise our children.
2. My son: I love our snuggle time.  You would sit on my lap for hours as long as we read books and paged through magazines.  I cherish this time as I know someday you won't want to sit on momma's lap any longer.
3. My daughter: Your facial expressions are priceless and you are only six months old! It's almost like you know a secret.  I so look forward to the day we become friends.
4. My Lord: last, but surely not the least.  I am grateful for the depth of your grace for I have faced my own dire need for this more in this last year than ever before.  Thank you for doing for me what I could never do myself by sending your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for me.

Without making this post too long, I wanted to share one more tradition that is a bit more light hearted: watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  My paternal grandmother, Katherine, and now my Dad always turn this on on Thanksgiving morning.  And with that said here are a few fun facts to end today's post.

• There are 50 million viewers who tune-in to watch and 3.5 million on-site spectators!
• The highest balloons reach 60 feet high!
• The parade started in 1924, running a total of 86 times only taking a break for three years during World War II.

Thanksgiving 2012: Thanksgiving Day humor and gratitude

If it can go wrong, it will go wrong

Have you ever had one of those days where if something could go wrong it would go wrong?  That was totally last Thursday.

I had Katherine's 6-month well check and the pediatrician was distracted which frustrated me to no end.  I locked myself out of the house and I had two sleeping babies in the car.  I realized I forgot to replace the hide-a-key which was hiding on my kitchen counter.  I ran over something on I-10 while driving to get my husband's house key and my tire popped.  Both jacks in my truck no longer worked.  And the icing on the cake? My spare tire was flat too.

A "side of the road" selfie with HB.  Captured during one of the moments where he was  not frustrated and crying.

That day was certainly one where there were plenty of opportunities to complain to the Lord.  As all of this was happening though God was gently reminding me of the two week study that I had been participating in through Good Morning Girls.  The theme of this particular study was "Thanksgiving" and for the past two weeks we have been reading scripture every day that pertains to giving thanks to the Lord.  Despite blessings or challenges, we are to come to the Lord with thanksgiving for he is the Rock of our salvation.  (Psalm 95:1) I am so grateful for the past two weeks - I had a full cup of scripture to draw upon yesterday as one frustrating incident after another occurred.  Not to say that I didn't have a few moments where I was on the brink of breaking down.  But through it all, I kept feeling thankful.  And the true praise for that can only be given to our God. 

I share this story, one, because it is humorous, and, two, because I was made aware of the importance of scripture in our lives once again.  I surely would have lost it more than once yesterday  had I not had 10+ scriptures running through my mind about giving thanks to the Lord in all circumstances and at all times.  Regardless of the season of my life I have reason after reason to come to singing praises and shouting joyfully to the Lord.

Oh, and I can't forget to make mention of how thankful I am for my handy hubby.  He left the AI (artificial insemination) class he was in to rescue us.  He was truly my knight in shining armor yesterday.  Love you babe!

Haven't heard of Good Morning Girls before?  It is an online bible study for women.  For more information, check out their website here.

Gourmet Cooking Class

Throwback Thursday: Gourmet Cooking Class

My mother has informed my siblings and I that she no longer needs any gifts of "stuff". She is at a point in her life where all she wants to do is clean out junk so that when she dies there is less of a mess for us to deal with.  Her words, not mine.  I appreciate her effort although I haven't really thought that far in advance yet.  Now, how does that relate to this delightful post on a gourmet cooking class? Instead of gifting my mother a tangible gift to place on a shelf last Christmas, my sister, sister-in-law and I gifted her a gourmet cooking class for the four of us.

Myself, Anna (my sister), Gretchen (SIL), and Mom

We selected a date in March of this year to attend "Italian 101" where we actively participated in creating a gourmet meal that would later be our dinner! Anna and I carpooled and met up with my mom and Gretchen.  A humorous side note: I was in my third trimester with Katherine and one of the weird pregnancy side effects I often encountered was motion sickness while driving.  I totally got carsick on the way there.  I started crying and my sister pulled over - at first on the left side of the 101 (super busy freeway in Phoenix) which was a little scary and then eventually she pulled entirely off the freeway into a parking lot so I could get out. Driving helped alleviate my motion sickness for some reason so we switched spots and off we headed again.

Our meal consisted of:

·         Wild Mushroom Cannelloni with Lemon Thyme Cream Sauce

·         Chicken Saltimbocca with Creamy Polenta

·         Chianti Poached Pear with Cinnamon Semi-freddo (my fave!)

Anna rolling out her pasta with some assistance.  This took a little practice at first but was quite fun to practice.  Now...I only need to practice using my own pasta roller at home!

We cut the long strips of pasta into rectangles, cooked them in boiling water and then used them for canelloni.

The Chianti Pear dessert was awesome.  I have never had a semi-freddo before and I felt like I could have eaten a gallon of this. Semi-freddos are not for those who are afraid of raw eggs though.  It was fun to learn some new kitchen techniques, like how to make pasta from scratch, and the people watching was pretty fun as well.  We sat with some interesting people.  Overall it was a super fun night making memories with my mom and sisters.  It turned out to be one of the best gifts we had given!

Merry Christmas in March Mom!

Naughty Cornbread

Whatcha Making Wednesday: Naughty Cornbread
(Tammie Zimmerman)

Tis' the season to make chili  and cornbread, is it not? I love chili and I love cornbread and I especially love the recipe I am sharing today.  I saw it on a friend's Instagram so I will give her credit but I'm sure there are other variation out there.

Ingredients
-1 recipe cornbread (I use my mom's recipe but you can use a box mix as well.)
-1 yellow cake mix

I apologize for the super long grocery list. Hehe.

Directions

Mix the cornbread recipe with the yellow cake mix recipe.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes at 350 degrees.  Test it just like a cake for doneness by sticking a toothpick and making sure it comes out clean.


This recipe is definitely more cake than bread but I promise you'll never go back to regular cornbread again!  Never!  Enjoy:)

I'm becoming a hoarder

Or so says my husband.

HB and Katherine had Daddy all to themselves as I went to help the local FFA Ag Sales team with their last practice as their volunteer coach.  As I do each time I leave Kelly with the kids, I leave a list with a few reminders that includes general times he can expect to feed and bathe our children, et cetera.  Kelly does a great job making sure tummies are full, little bottoms are dry and everyone goes to bed generally happy and pretty much clean.

This time though, Kelly took his responsibilities over the top.  (We use the phrase "over the top" around here to describe exceptionally great things and often with saracasm as we refer to exceptionally not so great things.)  Earlier that same day I had made a pile of papers that Kelly needed to go through which included a few pieces of mail, some forms and a few other items that I cannot remember at this point.  I didn't mention the pile to Kelly before leaving however upon my return I was pleasantly surprised that he saw the pile AND sorted it (read: thrown away).  I was actually more than pleasantly surprised.  I was down right delighted.  I sang his praises about being a great husband and daddy and then I noticed that the remaining pile which contained my papers looked significantly smaller.  So much so that it warranted me rifling through the papers to take account of the situation.

I asked him if he accidentally went through my pile to which he replied, "Yeah, you are kind of becoming a hoarder."  I then asked what he threw away out of my pile and he looked totally oblivious so I walked over to the trash can and started pulling out our mail-in ballots for the local election (totally not important), several handouts from the pediatrician that I had just gotten that morning from HB's 18-month well check and a handful of other documents.

My husband's initiative to clear off our counter that night brought us both a good chuckle although I would not go so far as claiming to be a hoarder of paper or any other item for that matter.  I will admit that I have a genetic disorder for something I inherited from my mother called "stack and pile" disease where I basically suffer from stacking and piling papers and other important items around my home.  I go through piles as I have the time, sometimes re-stacking after sifting and organizing.  Hoarding though?  Naw, that's a step too far.

Carroty Mac-n-Cheese

Katherine was a bear to try and teach to breast feed.  She would cry for up to an hour before latching on, if she even did that.  Stubborn?  I'd say so, just like her father. ;)  That said I still wanted to breast feed her so I turned to pumping as the next best option.  With Katherine at 5-months old I am still pumping four times a day and supplementing with formula as needed.  All this to say that I often times have long periods of time with nothing to do but stare off into space - at least when I pump before my bambinos wake up in the morning and after they go to bed at night.  I quickly tired of Facebook and checking email so I began reading recipes in search of new, yummy and fairly quick dishes to make.  Weelicious provided a link to this recipe on a list of their favorites from 2011 and it has proven a fast favorite with the two and under crowd in our house.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Whatcha Making Wednesdays: Carroty Mac and Cheese
(Three Many Cooks)
Makes 6 servings

2 cups whole wheat macaroni
2 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrot (about 8 small)
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400° F and grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Arrange a rack in the top third of the oven.
2. Cook macaroni according to package instructions in a large pot of salted boiling water; add carrot 3 minutes before pasta is finished cooking; drain well.
3. While pasta is hot, stir in all but 1/2 cup of the cheddar and the butter. In a bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, salt, mustard powder, and pepper. Fold mixture into the pasta.
4. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar and the parmesan over the top. Bake until the casserole is firm to the touch and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

What Else?(from Three Many Cooks)

• If you’re grating your cheddar cheese in the food processor, you don’t have to wash out the machine before grating the carrots. Or vice versa.
• This is one of those macaroni and cheeses with an eggy custard base that puffs as it cooks, and is cut into squares to serve, like a casserole, as opposed to that gooey, creamy, stove-top béchamel sauce version. I know that some people have strong opinions about proper mac and cheese (I’m an equal opportunist myself), but thought I’d let you know what you’re getting.
• You can vary the cheese to give this rather plain (if tasty) dish more personality. Gruyère, aged Cheddar, pecorino, and aged Gouda will all add a sophisticated allure that will raise it above mere kids’ food.

Happy half birthday, HB

It seems like everyday another friend posts about how quickly time is flying and that they can't believe their little person just turned one, or two, or three.  I find myself saying that same exact thing.  No matter what Kelly and I do, time seems to slip through our fingers.  Our little people are growing up way too fast.  I often wonder am I enjoying it enough, or savoring it enough?  I hope that by processing and recording a little bit of our busy life on my blog we can look back someday and enjoy it all again.

HB turned 18 months this past week - toddler-hood can be such a joy and a challenge; and I'm learning to enjoy the good moments because Lord knows a fit is just around the corner.  Much like the one pictured below.  This young man is getting really good at throwing himself on the floor.  These type of fits usually coincide with one of two things - either coming in from playing outside or being hungry.  Boy has no patience or grace for momma when his tummy is rumbling.

Our boy is a great eater though and that is a huge blessing.  He eats whatever Kelly and I eat and most often he eats it with gusto.  We are all about rubbing our peanut butter and jelly in our hair and on our neck.  Or our lasagna.  Heck, why not rub everything we eat all over our face, head and neck?

At 18 months, here are a few of the fun things our sweet boy can do:

• Starting to form actual words - mama, dada, baby, dirty, go, baa, moo.  Oh, wait, the last two are animal sounds.  
• Understands simple directions like "pick the toy up" or "give it to baby" or "sit on your bottom" or "go sit in your chair."
• Still loves to cuddle on your lap before bedtime.  Usually this is coupled with looking through livestock magazines and making lots of animal noises.
• Helps do chores outside.  He is surprisingly strong for someone sub three feet.  He tries dragging flakes of hay to the sheep pens or will grab whatever coffee can or bucket of grain he can.  He likes to keep it interesting too by randomly moving anything and everything within reach and relocating it.  This includes a drench gun, pliers, his own toys, and buckets.
• Mimics mommy in the kitchen by grabbing spoons and bowls and "stirring" whatever he can.  He is at the fun height where he can grab things like knives off the counter when his forgetful tired mommy doesn't move them far enough away from the edge.
• Starting to potty train, although it is going to require more consistency from momma and daddy to actually make this a concrete habit.  He has gone number one and two on the toilet, although the number two was more like a lucky save because he was headed for the living room when I made him sit on the toilet!
• He loves to kiss his baby sister.  His kisses consist of placing his face on you and making the sound "mm."
• As he grows the phrase "long and lean" comes to mind.  He weighed 26 pounds 4 ounces (50th percentile) and measured 34 inches long (90th percentile).  

He is definitely a goof ball and loves to laugh.  Please note the fire hat on backwards and the Twister game mat on the floor behind him.  We have not taught him to play this game yet but he loves to pull it out of the cupboard and drag it around.

HB, we love you so very much little buddy, and are so blessed to call you son.  While you occasionally make momma want to pull her hair out, we are both enamored with your charming smile, sweet offers of help and cuddly moments before bed.  We can already tell that there will be lots of laughter and fun ahead with you.

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas

Whatcha Making Wednesdays: Crock Pot Beef Carnitas

(Eat.Live.Run)

This recipe is seriously awesome.  One of the best crock pot recipes I've ever tried and definitely a new favorite BEEF recipe of mine!  My friend Lauren shared it with my sister and I  and we ended up making it for my parent's joint birthday lunch in September.  It obviously is now making regular appearances in the Wright household.  Try it, you won't regret it!

Ingredients:

2 lbs flank steak (I want to try this with a top round steak aka London broil....I have a few in my freezer that need a destination!)

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

for spice rub---

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

for serving---

corn tortillas

avocado slices

cilantro

your favorite salsa

limes

Directions:

1.       Mix together all spices in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over your flank steak---be generous here! Then, place your steak at the bottom of your crock pot.

2.       Cover the steak with the chopped onions, bell peppers and jalapeno pepper. Turn heat on LOW and cook for 8 hours.

3.       After 8 hours, remove meat from crock pot and shred with a fork. It should be incredibly easy to shred. You can either stick the shredded meat back in the pot for another hour or serve as is.

4.       To serve, heat your corn tortillas in a skillet on the stove. Spoon some carnitas on a tortilla then top with salsa, avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

5.       Enjoy with a margarita for best result.

Time:

active time--10 min

total time---8 hours

Play date at the "beach"

Throwback Thursday: Play date at the "beach"

Referring to our play date at the "beach" is a bit of a stretch.  Okay, a big stretch but we had fun anyway.  Our friends, Katie and Carson, hosted us for a mid-summer play date this past July.  HB is only two days older than Carson and they were both delivered in the same hospital.  If my memory serves, Katie and I actually  had the same due date.  I liked to refer to her as my pregnancy twin at that time.  It's fun to get together now since our boys are so close in age.

HB loved the water slide and sand table.  He ate so much sand that day I feared for his digestive tract.  No matter how many times I washed his mouth out with water he continued to go back for more.

Katherine was about six weeks old but I somehow failed to capture a picture of her on her first play date.  Truth be told though she didn't do much playing.  She napped on the patio table while the boys played and then napped some more while we snacked and played inside.  I also failed to capture a picture of Carson's cousins, Moses and Lancy, who stopped by with their mom Amy.  We love this whole family!  Thanks for a great time:)

Carson is trying to crawl up the water slide here because as I have learned with little boys, slides are meant to be crawled up.  Duh, mom.

It is seriously a feat to get more than one toddler to look at the camera at the same time and have them both look happy.

The awesome water and sand table I mentioned earlier.  Carson is showing HB how it's done.  Don't they look like two little old men?

HB is now getting his hands dirty along with throwing sand into Katie's beautiful lawn.  Sorry Katie!

Miscellany Monday

1.  I realized I haven't shared anything about our annual lamb sale...yet.  Kelly has been selling lambs he has raised for 20+ years but I'm not sure how long he has hosted a sale at the farm.  This year we sold 21 feeder lambs (feeder lambs weigh less than 100 pounds), four breeding ewes and three rams.  It poured rain early that morning - we were afraid it wasn't going to let up.  But it cooled things off nicely!  Here is a family picture, sans Katherine who was sleeping, with our Lot 1 lamb - we are pretty proud of him.

2.  I added an "About" page to La Ranchita.  You can check it out by selecting that tab which is right below the picture at the top of the main screen.  I am thinking about adding a Recipe Index page.  I didn't start my blog to share recipes but I've started posting them fairly regularly and cooking is definitely a passion of mine.  Thoughts?

3. I occasionally have a soapbox and I wanted to share this thought - I think the government regulates far too much including school lunch programs.  I don't even want to begin to imagine how much time has been spent debating how to provide (and fund) daily nutrition for American children.  As a parent I appreciate the concern, but do not think it is the job of the American government to provide breakfast and lunch, or even after school snacks for children.  At some  point parents should actually do their job.  I'm stepping off my soapbox now.

4.  If you are interested in what your child is being served in a public school lunch room, you may be interested in knowing that five new beef recipes have been develop and tested in schools and are now available.  To see more, including actual recipes, visit the newly updated Beef Nutrition website. Recipes include a beef wrap, chili, sloppy joes, Thai beef and rock and roll beef mash up.

5.  I started a new (to me) Beth Moore bible study in August on the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul.  Through the study I have been convicted about the ways I am beginning to teach my children about Christ.  I have begun asking myself about the ways I bring Jesus into our day - what am I doing to talk about Jesus and how am I teaching my children to begin praising Him?  I started playing a children's worship CD on a regular basis - not only is it soothing when my nerves are frayed but it has also been a sweet reminder of many songs I sang in Sunday School as a child.  I would love to hear your suggestions on incorporating teachings about Jesus into the routines you have with your small children.

Blessings as you start this week!

Katherine's Birth Story

It was Monday, May 20 and I woke up with a laundry list of errands I wanted to accomplish in town since I had an OB appointment that morning.  Kelly was on the second day of his shift so HB and I had the day to ourselves; running errands would surely make it pass quicker and I had plenty to do before Katherine came.  At my OB appointment Dr. Fernandez asked if I wanted her to strip my membrane.  I had requested this in my first pregnancy with HB and after experiencing the discomfort and pain once, I immediately told her no.  I also used Kelly being on shift partially as my excuse.  She would tell me the next morning in the hospital that she had a feeling today was the day since my husband was on shift and it “always seems to happen that way when someone’s spouse is working a shift.”  She checked my cervix and I was dilated to 3 centimeters which was a definite improvement after not being dilated at all the week prior.  Dr. Fernandez left and I was expecting a call with my induction date sometime later that day. 

HB and I loaded back up and headed to Chick-fil-A to refuel before scooting around town.  I loved when the lady who took our order asked when I was due and I replied “In four days…”  She smiled and wished me luck.  HB and I love us some Chick-fil-A and had come to make lunch here after my OB appointments somewhat of an irregular tradition.  After we both finished eating I let him explore the play room and then we left much to his disappointment.  I’m sure he would have loved to play for another hourJ  We headed to Saba’s to buy Kelly’s birthday present, picked up our pictures from Costco and returned a few items at Hobby Lobby.  I was preparing to start and finish a small craft project for Katherine’s room the next day so I need to exchange a few things.  Little did I know that this same project would still be incomplete a month after her birth.  I guess I should have started much sooner!

After finally arriving home and getting HB down for an afternoon nap, I putzed around the house putting things away and trying to tidy up in general.  I was mentally going over all the things I wanted to accomplish on Tuesday (May 21) because a good friend of mine, Sarah Geiger, had offered to keep HB for the day.  I was really looking forward to the day because Kelly would be home, HB would be busy playing and I was planning on making one last productive push to get stuff done around the house before Miss Katherine came.  After dinner, finishing up chores outside and getting HB to bed, I sat down in the recliner to rest and call Kelly.  I told him that I was pretty tired that night and my body felt a little weird but I just thought that it was the toll of running errands and that I was having some cramps after having my cervix checked.  I went to bed shortly after our phone call ended.

It was 12:50 am and I woke up to go to the bathroom, or so I thought.  I had a huge gush of liquid come out as soon as I sat down.  As groggy as I was, I thought wow, that was weird, and almost instantly I realized that my water just broke.  I changed my jammies and as soon as I sat down to call Kelly I had another gush of liquid come out.  I was totally ignorant when it came to being prepared for having my water break.  Before I changed a second time I texted Kelly, “I don’t think we will mop the floor after all tomorrow because my water just broke.”  After getting situated, I was planning on sitting in the recliner with the heating pad on my lower back because I was a little uncomfortable and planned on monitoring contractions for a bit before alerting the troops.  Contractions started rolling in.  Seven minutes apart.  Six. Five. Four.  And that’s where they hung out.  I immediately got scared about having my baby at home, by myself, so I started calling people.  Kelly hadn’t texted back yet so I called him and he didn’t answer.  I called my mom so she could make plans to get on the road in the morning.  She commented that I sounded scared.  I said, why yes, I am a bit.  And I called my friend Emily Rovey who was going to pick up HB and keep him until my mom got into town.  Emily was on her way over when Kelly called back.  He mistook the sound of my phone call for the tones at work and thought they were for someone else.  He assured me that he would be home in an hour (that’s how long it takes to drive home for him).

Emily arrived and I was still rushing around trying to get HB’s food together.  I had all his clothes set out but for some reason I still hadn’t packed them in a bag.  I packed his clothes and shoes and started pulling out food, bottles and snacks.  Note to self for next pregnancy: pack much sooner than the week you are due.  Painful contractions every four minutes make it much harder to focus and be efficient.  We went and woke up HB; at first he was kind of like “this party at 1am is fun mommy” but this soon escalated into tears of grogginess and confusion as we loaded him into the car seat in Emily’s car.  This scene right here raised my emotional level about 10 times higher than it was.  I was sad to see my oldest baby (he was only 13 months!) go and on top of that cry while leaving.  I also realized this was the last time it would just be him and I and I got sad about that too.  Emily offered to drive me to the hospital if Kelly didn’t arrive home soon and to call her if I needed.

Kelly pulled in the driveway about 15 minutes later.  My hospital bag was in the same condition HB’s bag was – empty.  Thankfully I managed to get everything packed before Kelly arrived because he was more wired than I was.  He came in the house and said “Let’s go babe” – I quickly asked him if he could load the hospital bag and car seat, you know, in case we needed a car seat to leave the hospital with Katherine.  J  All saracasm aside, hubby did great through this unexpected surprise in the middle of the night even after working a 48-hour shift and being up straight both nights.  I probably would have been a bit disorganized too if I were him.  We locked the house, loaded up in his truck and were off!  Okay, well, we were off to make a quick stop at Circle K so hubby could get some tobacco for his fix.  Now we were really off!  We were about 10 minutes away from the hospital when I asked Kelly if he could “just slow down a bit because he was scaring me.”  He informed me that he was just trying to get us to the hospital because he did not want to have this baby on the side of the road. 

As we pull up next to the Women and Infant Services entrance at Banner Estrella, my hubby notices a nurse preparing to enter the building.  This is a good thing because she could let us in this entrance! (Between midnight and 6am this entrance is locked and you have to enter the hospital at the Emergency Room…which is a bad thing because then you have a really long hallway between you and the maternity ward.)  He hollers out his window, “Miss!”  She does not hear him.  He hollers a second time.  Still no response from the nurse.  He puts his truck in park, part way has his head and upper body through his window and yells, “My wife is having a baby!” She turns and notices us – a couple of hillbilly’s trying to take the shortest route in the building.  I am a little embarrassed at this point and as he is yelling I was trying to gracefully exit the truck while mid-contraction.  Due to the contraction I was unable to ask him to refrain from yelling any more.  In retrospect though I loved my husband for getting me as close to possible as the building with as little walking as necessary.  The nurse, who was a labor and delivery nurse at that, not only let me in the building but walked me into triage and then went to let Kelly in the same entrance after parking so he didn’t have to go through the Emergency entrance.

After getting checked into triage, the nurse checked my cervix (I was a 4) and then tested the fluid to make sure it was amniotic fluid to confirm that my water had in fact actually broke.  I wish I could remember her name because she was totally cool.  And I feel totally like a 7^th grader saying totally cool but she was.  She made me feel comfortable and at ease even though the contractions were already kicking my tail.  We were officially checked into the hospital at 3:15am.  My super cool triage nurse moved us into a delivery room where my delivery nurse Jaime (nope, this is not a spelling mistake) immediately got me hooked up to some fluids so we could do my epidural ASAP.  Sitting still for this epidural was more difficult than with HB’s because my contractions were already rolling in every two minutes at this point.  Yep folks, I said two minutes.  In the two hours since my water had broke my contractions had sped up immensely.  It seemed very fast at this point because I had contractions for almost 48 hours with HB before delivering him.  After my epidural, I settled in for a short nap.  I think Kelly would have appreciated an epidural too so his hospital couch/bed would have seemed more comfortable.  At a little after 5am Kelly started sending a few text messages out to family to give them an update.  My sister told Kelly that she woke up thinking that I was having my baby – she was right!  I sent a mass text a little after 6am and made sure to tell Miss Sarah that we would have to take a rain check for HB’s little play dateJ  Dr. Fernandez was on call overnight so she stopped by at 6:45 to see how things were progressing.  I was dilated to an 8 but still not ready.  She had a c-section scheduled for 7 so she was gonna have to go.  Boo.  Two babies in a row I have had a different doctor deliver them.  Jaime said good-bye (the shift change happened at 7am) and Christina my new delivery nurse said hello.  She checked me and informed me that I should press the call button should I feel any more pressure in my bottom.  It wasn’t but five minutes later that I told Kelly I was thinking I should call Christina.  I’m glad I did because after she checked me she told me I was ready to push!  She called the doctor and she started prepping for his arrival.

The shift change had just happened so it was a bit chaotic preparing to push.  I felt like I had every nurse from Labor and Delivery in my room although there were only five extra people aside from Kelly and I – Dr. Johnson, who would deliver Katherine, Christina, a student nurse, and two sweet nurses who would care for Katherine once she arrived.  The room felt a bit small at that point.  But I was focused, and ready to push.  At this point I kind of lost track of time because I could almost taste the victory of having my new daughter in my arms but start to finish I don’t think I was in active labor for very long.  I guess in thinking about it, the shift changed happened at 7:00am and I delivered at 7:12am, so nope, I wasn’t pushing for very long at all!  I so appreciated this at the time because I was in active labor with HB for almost two hours.  The process of pushing this time was also much more relaxed to me, I felt more calm, more like I knew what to expect.  I guess I did since this was round number two.  Before I knew it Katherine was out wailing in Dr. Johnson’s arms and I was elated.  She was more blue than I remembered HB being but she was certainly breathing just fine on her own.  My daughter.  My daughter was here.  It felt so sweet to whisper that to her – daughter. 

Katherine Beth Wright was born on Tuesday, May 21 at 7:12am.  She weighed seven pounds four ounces and measured 19 inches long.  And she had a head full of beautiful black hair, just like her brother, dad and myself. 

After she was cleaned up a bit and wrapped up like a burrito, I could focus on the next most important task of the morning: ordering breakfast.  Both times I’ve checked into the hospital to have my babies I have thought “Crap, I should have stopped and ate something because they’re not gonna feed me until I have this baby.”  I was hungry BEFORE I really got deep into labor so I certainly felt famished after.  Kelly and I were glad our baby was here safe, and were eager to get some rest and finish up the rigamaroo involved in hospital requirements.  We had stayed two nights in the hospital when we delivered HB and we really only wanted to stay one night this time.

Gosh as I sit here typing this almost five months later I am wondering how to wrap this birth story up.  In general, I felt more relaxed about the whole delivery process and I think I enjoyed it more with Katherine.  I was also not experiencing near as much back and hip pain this time around so that naturally made it easier to enjoy.  I was so grateful for having a positive experience though and was so looking forward to going home.  My mom and dad took HB for four days so I can adjust to life with a newborn again and try to start learning the breastfeeding process all over.  I actually experienced some sadness when my parents brought HB home to us because he was no longer my “baby” and he seemed so big in comparison to his sister.  I also experienced some guilt towards him because I wasn’t able to take care of his needs as quickly.  Despite the craziness of it all, and the fluctuation of my emotions, life quickly adjusted.  With Katherine at about six weeks I felt like a new normal was coming and now at four months we have definitely hit our stride having two children.  I am in love with both of them and so grateful to be their mom and wife to their daddy.

Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches

Whatcha Making Wednesday: Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches
Kindly adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 12 whole Dinner Rolls Or Small Sandwich Buns (I used Rhodes frozen dinner rolls and "made" my own!  The sandwiches turned out to be more like sliders.)
• 1 pound Thinly Shaved Roast Beef Or Ham (or Both!)
• 1 pound Cheese (Provolone, Swiss, Mozzarella, Even Cheez Whiz...I used slices of whatever I had and needed to use up in my fridge)
• 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
• 3 Tablespoons Grated Onion (or 1 Tbsp Dried Onion Flakes))
• 1 Tablespoon Poppy Seeds
• 1 Tablespoon Spicy Mustard
• 1 Tablespoon Horseradish Mayo Or Straight Prepared Horseradish
•  Dash Of Worcestershire
•  Optional Dressing Ingredients: Sriracha, Hot Sauce, Dried Onion Flakes Instead Of Fresh, Garlic Powder, Pepper, Etc.)

Preparation Instructions

1. Slice rolls in half. Mix together mayo, grated onion, poppy seeds, spicy mustard, horseradish, and Worcestershire. Taste it and adjust ingredients however you wish.
2. To assemble, generously spread dressing on top and bottom buns. Lay on roast beef or ham, then one or two slices of cheese (I cut them to fit the small buns.) I ended up using a small slice of provolone and cheddar.  I liked the ooey gooey mess they produced together.
3. Wrap each sandwich in a foil square, and either keep in the fridge or bake right away. To bake the sandwiches, put them on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. The buns should be slightly crusty and the cheese should be melted.

HB and I made a test run of these bad boys the night before Kelly got off shift.  HB seriously devoured his and I may have devoured the three on my plate too!  I ended up making another batch of freezer rolls for round number two the next night when Kelly was home.  I made enough for dinner one night and then had some extra in the fridge because my husband is a snacker.  He loves to come in from working outside and grab a quick snack and head back outside - these fit the bill perfectly!

Miscellany Monday

I've had some serious thoughts lately and I feel compelled to share:

1. I love the wet foot prints my son leaves behind on the bath mat afterI lift him out of the tub.  These may be the cutest imprints ever.

2.  I've become a coupon nerd.  However I have made two foolish purchases including scented dryer sheets and spray-n-go lotion simply because I had a coupon.  The lotion is actually pretty awesome but the dryer sheets give me a headache and I decided to throw them out.  All in the name of saving some money.

3.  I think my dog eats more dog food since we give her free choice.  I am considering limiting her intake to reduce the amount of the dog food we go through. 

4.  I uploaded close to 1,000 pictures from 2012 using my cell phone as our Wifi hub last month.  I received notice from Verizon when I was uploading the November pictures that we had used 75 percent of our data allowance and we stilll had two weeks to go.  I went without Facebook (gasp) for two weeks and only sporadically checked my email so I didn't have to sell my firstborn just to pay our cell phone bill.  Hubby and I both survived.  And I think we're better for the time spent away from Facebook.  Praise the Lord for the forced separation.

Pretty serious stuff, no?  Okay, here's one serious bit of miscellany.

5.  Hubby and I are fixin to lose an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 out of his paycheck next year due to higher healthcare insurance premiums caused by Obamacare.  I was devastated when I found out, and now I am mostly frustrated.  We are praying that God moves in BIG ways where our finances are concerned so that I can continue to stay home with our kiddos.  This quote from the September 5 Investor's Business Daily sums it up nicely: "Some consumers will have subsidies and may not pay these higher rates, someone will pay for the increased premiums, whether it is the consumer or the federal government. (Emphasis mine.) The reason for my frustration is underlined above.  I am really struggling to understand why the middle class is going to have to take a huge hit for the citizens (and yes, non-citizens) who apparently are "too poor" to pay higher insurance rates (oops, and too poor to pay taxes) yet are more than able to receive every benefit.  I continue to stand by the biblical teaching of no work, no eat.  (If you want the scriptural address for that, leave a comment.)  I realize I left the realm of Monday Miscellany and am firmly standing on a soapbox, but my ire has been raised.  If you are able to receive a benefit from the US Government (driving on public roadways, access to public libraries, enrolling children in public schools, fire protection from your city fire department.....) then you should be contributing to the cost of all these "free" benefits.  Oh wait, they aren't free.  People including my husband and I are paying taxes so others can utilize these "free" benefits.

Okay, soapbox vacated.  But for real, please be praying for our family.  This is a huge loss.  Please pray that we would remain confident in the Lord's provision AND plan for our family through this.  Please also pray that my faith would increase because I am straying constantly from trust and faith in the Lord that he will provide.  I know my worry and stress are not productive and will not bring any good about so please pray that I would re-focus my thought life and energies on the Lord.

3-and-4 month milestones

Who would have thought that my precious baby doll is four months old already?  Where has the time gone friends?  I now understand the absence of some of my blogger bodies after having an additional child - I am lucky to get the dishes done, most toys put away  and possibly a load of laundry at night before succumbing to sleep much less writing a blog entry.  Ah, but I found time for this one!  Finally!!

Katherine is rather serious in her 3-month photo but don't let her fool you folks.  She is a smiler, more and more everyday in fact.  She has the cutest chuckle - I wouldn't call it a laugh yet - and is very ticklish under her arms, over her ribs and under her chin.  Here is a small list of her achievements at four months old:

• She weighed 13 pounds 12 ounces at her 4-month old well check (50th percentile) and measured 25 inches in length (75th percentile). 
• She has just started grabbing items and bringing them to her mouth.  It was just this past weekend that she managed to get a set of plastic keys far enough in her mouth that she was gagging herself, repeatedly.  If that's not a milestone, I don't know what is.
• She also loves to grab her pacifier and try to re-insert it in her mouth.  She is not very successful at this yet but she has a mighty strong grip.
• I am still pumping four times a day so she can eat a hearty 3 1/2 ounces of milk roughly every 3 hours.
• Praise the Lord, she is sleeping through the night!  She hits the rack early though - 6pm - and wakes mid-morningish for a quick snack before sleeping in until 6am or so.
• She holds her head up rather well although she despises tummy time.  She loves to sit on my lap and watch her brother roving about as he lovingly destroys any semblance of order in our living room.



I almost captured a smile this time around.  Maybe next month.

HB continues to dote on his little sister bringing her toys and continually wiping her face and re-inserting her pacifier even if she does not want it.  He has brought new meaning to the phrase "temper tantrum" as of recent and is truly challenging my patience.  He continues to sleep great at night and eats almost anything I place in front of him.  He is a bit nosy and loves to watch everything going on around him.  And he is a lover of all things outside - dirt, sticks, livestock troughs, mommy's dog and all our livestock.  I take him outside each morning when Katherine goes down for her first nap.  We can be outside for an hour though and he still throws a fit when we come in.  Boys will be boys, right?  All in all though, he is a good natured, charming little guy that has stolen mommy's heart.

Loving on his sister in the swing.  He loves to lean in for a "hug"!

Update on prayer priorities for 2013

I've been meaning to write this post since April.  April y'all.  How did that happen?  It's only taken me roughly four months to find the time (and the mental willingness) to look back and reflect on the prayer priorities I shared in 2013.  In all honesty I guess it's been a matter of wanting to reflect rather than finding the time.  This year has been more full, more trying and more stressful I think than at any other season of my life.  I guess that is why I have put reflection off.

Many of my prayer requests for 2013 involved relationships in my life - relationships with my husband, our children, my extended family and Jesus.  The intent of this post isn't to update you with a play-by-play but rather to modify my requests and again ask for continued prayer.

Two of the most difficult relationships this year include the ones with my stepdaughter and my mother-in-law.  2012 ended without my husband and mother-in-law being on speaking terms.  Praise the Lord that they are speaking again.  Not everything has been sorted out but at least we are heading in a direction instead of being at a standstill.  My stepdaughter has moved back to Florida, yet again, to live with her mom.  This is the second time she has chosen to leave in two years and this time was not any less drama filled than the first.  Sadly our relationship with Brandy is very strained right now.  Brandy's coping mechanism is to "run" or leave when she is unhappy or upset.  Unfortunately she never shared what was making her unhappy enough to leave but it is our prayer that she learns how to cope with difficult situations before becoming an adult.  These two relationships are at the forefront of my prayer priorities.  I am struggling with frustration and anger in some ways and am asking for patience and a continual reminder that God extended grace and love to me even when I didn't deserve it.

Please continue praying for protection upon my marriage - I have a special unspoken request for my husband.  Please pray that he would be strengthened and upheld by the Lord's right hand as he faces a struggle of his own.  Also, I have been convicted recently that I need to be more expectant of God's provision in our lives and finances.  I don't expect, much less look for, God moving in this area of my life and I know that He is.  I need to pray more and worry less about our finances.  God has never not provided what we needed.  May His faithfulfullness in this area of our lives be at the forefront of my mind.

Finally, please pray for my father-in-law.  In the same week that we celebrated my grandmother's life, Kelly and his mom starting talking again, and Brandy left for Florida my father-in-law was in a life changing car accident.  The throttle in a hot rod truck of his stuck and he ran into a tree going roughly 45 mph.  He has been in and out of critical care, regular hospital care and a rehab facility since the beginning of April.  He is recovering from 13 broken ribs, 9 shattered vertebrae and a stroke that occured the first time he started rehab.  He is now in stable condition and is in rehab learning how to live life again is a parapalegic (he is paralyzed from the waist down).  While this is a life changing event for my father-in-law Kelly and I are both praying that this might do good things in his heart.  There have been several praises born out of this situation - Kelly and his dad were "reunited" after being estranged several years and Kelly has reconnected with his half-brother who also became a Christian recently. 

There are two things that I have learned more this year than at any other time of my life:

1. The Lord's timing is not our own but it is perfect.
2. Pray persistently.  Pray in all things.  Pray patiently.  Pray when life is hard, when life is good, when life is uncertain.  Pray even when it's the last thing you want to do because you think you have something more important to do. 

I am grateful for the life I have been given even though 2013 has been full of unexpected things.  I am looking forward to seeing what is in store for the remainder of this year!  Thank you in advance for praying for me and my family.  I would love to know how I can pray for you - leave a comment or email your prayer needs and share your praises with me at katygroseta@gmail.com.

Two Month Chair Photos

 I attempted our classic chair photo on the actual date but I learned, yet again, that timing is everything with infants.  Katherine had already been up for about an hour and I was hustling to fit one more thing in before putting her down for a nap.  Well, she wasn't going to have any of that!

I love the little mini Keds she is wearing.   Makes her look so adult like!

Take two happened two days later.  I actually managed to get a bow put on her without any crying ensuing.  And her hair looks semi taken care of.  Girlfriend has some crazy hair. 

15 and 2

That's months, not yards and downs.  Although college football is right around the corner.  My babies are 15 months (on Sunday) and 2 months (on Monday).  It's hard to believe that I've survived eight weeks with two bambinos.  There were definitely points that I thought I might not make it, or maybe my one year old wouldn't make it hehe, but here we are.  Alive. Healthy. And joyful.  I can't post milestones for baby girl without mentioning a few outstanding things (and some not so outstanding) that my lil man has completed either.

Baby Girl, aka Katherine
Girlfriend has captured my heart.  She started smiling about two weeks ago which has made many a sleepless nights worth it.  She now likes to coo as you talk to her, as if we were really having a conversation.  She did not like the bath at first, but now might even slightly enjoy it.  Many baths ended in tears.  Just like the tears I encounter as I dress her each morning - Katherine does not like to have stuff pulled over her head.  I reassure her that I will not suffocate her so she should just calm down.  She ignores those admonitions though and continues to scream.  She has curly hair like her brother did as an infant but it seems like her curls will be bigger.  She has crazy hair on a daily basis (like her momma) that I typically only put bows in long enough to take a picture.  She eats every 2 1/2 hours and sleeps a nice long six hour stretch most nights.  I am sooo grateful for the improved sleep habits - removing dairy from my diet and starting a reflux medication have alleviated most of her tummy troubles.  She measured 23 inches long and weigh 11 pounds 2 ounces at her 2 month check up.

Her 2-month chair photo will be posted at a later date...when she is not madder than a wet hen and screaming at me.

HB is very sweet with Miss Katherine- he has quickly picked up on ways to take care of her.  He puts her pacifier in her mouth, even if she doesn't want it.  Thankfully she apparently thinks this is funny; most often she just smiles when he jams it in her toothless mouth.  He also thinks she needs his sippy cup - he doesn't have as good of aim with this though and it is often jammed into her neck.  Finally, he wipes her face down often with her burp rag.  If wiping her mouth is good, why isn't wiping her entire face even better?

Lil Man, aka HB
Our first born is testing the limits of my patience each day as he has recently learned to scale the dining room chairs and crawl across the table.  Each time I sit down to pump or feed Baby Girl a bottle, something must instantaneously go off in his brain that urges him to climb on the table.  So far he has drawn on papers that didn't need to be drawn on, torn up napkins, dumped the entire salt shaker out and only fallen off once.  He is becoming well acquainted with the confines of his room behind our new baby gate.

He continues to be a great eater although he has picked up a few poor habits that drive me C.R.A.Z.Y. He now throws his food or sippy cup as soon as he is ready to be taken out of his high chair.  I love having a clean floor so this is driving me batty.  He does have some redeeming mealtime qualities though - he started lifting his plate to his mouth to lick any remaining food off of it.  Kelly and I do NOT do this.  I repeat do NOT. So I'm not sure who modeled this behavior for him.  Maybe his Aunt Banana when he had his first sleepover with his cousin?  Hehe. He also loves to blow on his food - he blows on everything like it is piping hot.  He measured 32 and 1/2 inches long and 25 pounds 5 ounces at his 15 month checkup.  He also has almost 13 teeth - he just cut three molars on top, hence the almost.

HB enjoying our hillbilly pool aka livestock trough.  My Queensland was also enjoying our pool this day.  He thought it was the greatest thing to have my dog jumping in and out and trying to get him to throw her stick.

 
He runs around the house, stands on his tip toes and attempts the Irish jig. I joke about the last part.  I pretend to run and chase him so he now pretends to run too.  It is seriously the cutest thing he does.  He tries running in place but it's like his little baby legs are in slow motion.  I could just eat him up when he does this. He likes to close the bedroom doors but cannot open them yet so he is learning to be content for a few minutes after he closes himself in a room.  He has started trying to sort shapes with some of his toys and is working feverishly to rearrange all of the belongings of my lower cupboards.

Mothering two children has proven to be a blessing times two but has also revealed even more about my need for Christ.  I tire of dealing with the sin of selfishness over, and over and over as I struggle to be selfless with my children and husband.  I am reminded though that it is a blessing to know I need Christ.  I often feel like there are many big failures and only small victories to my days.  Motherhood has blown my mind.  I didn't know it would be so hard.  Or so good.  Through it all though I am beyond grateful for the grace of God which carries me through it all.