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.

The American's Creed

by William Tyler Page

I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.

–Written 1917, accepted by the United States House of Representatives on April 3, 1918.


Happy Fourth of July friends!

She's here!!!!

Miss Katherine Beth Wright made her entrance into the world on Tuesday, May 21 at 7:12am.  She weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and measured 19 inches long.  We are ecstatic that she is here.  And I am completely. In. Love.

(Birth story to come...)

HB loves her too!  He is making his first attempt to hold her hand in the car.  Total sweetness.

Our sweet angel baby.

Happy 2nd Anniversary

Note: I scheduled this post about two weeks ago knowing that baby K's due date fell four days before our anniversary.  I am hoping she is here by the time this is published. 

Two years of marriage have flown by - who knew it would go by so fast?  My husband has truly been an unexpected gift from God because I never expected to get married (note to self: I should do a post on that someday).  Has it all been easy? No.  Has it all been worthwhile.  Definitely. 

Kelly - I am so blessed by your hardworking nature and the sincerity with which you approach all relationships. You are talented beyond words and I love seeing the way your problem solve and create with your hands.  You surprise me all the time with interesting pieces from your past and you make me laugh at the most hill-billiest of things.  I look forward to the next year of marriage with you, not to mention the following 57 after that!

Happy wedding day!

Happy one year! This was taken on our first date after having our son one month before this anniversary.

Easter 2013 - we are now a family of 3 1/2 as we approach our second anniversary! Hopefully a family of four...c'mon on baby K!

Is today the day?

Today is baby Katherine's official due date folks: May 24!  Since I am putting this post together a few days early I'm not sure if she has arrived...or not.  In my opinion, most likely not.  She seems pretty happy right where she is at and enjoys making me uncomfortable, giving me heart burn and terrible leg cramps at night.

I asked family and friends to weigh in on their estimated due date and her weight - I wanted to record what everyone guesstimated for future prosperity of course! If you were not on the email I sent out, or did not respond, and would like to, feel free to leave your guesses in the comments section.  If you are interested in a little perspective from HB's delivery, my contractions started on his due date but then it took me almost 48 hours before delivering (45.5 hours!) and he weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces, so apparently I grew a chunky monkey that took awhile to convince it was time to come out!

Date:
May 17 VerRona (sorry friend, this date has sadly come and gone!)
May 19 Uncle Paul
May 21 Stephanie
May 22 Amy G.
May 23 Greta
May 25 Becca M./Kir/Sherry/Grandpa G.
May 26 Carrie Pedreiro
May 27 Aunt Anna Banana/Grandma G.
May 28 Ann/Daddy aka Kelly
June 1 Holly ( surely hope she comes before this!)

Weight (bless everyone who guessed less than 8 pounds!):
7lbs 5oz Sherry/Becca M.
7lbs 8oz VerRona
7lbs 10oz Ann/Carrie Pedreiro
7lbs 12oz Sarah Schroder
8lbs 1 oz Grandma G.
8lbs 2oz Greta
8lbs 3oz Kir/Stephanie/Holly/Amy G.
8lbs 4 1/2oz Grandpa G.
8lbs 8oz Daddy aka Kelly
9lbs 1oz Aunt Anna Banana (My sister said she was being realistic...but 9+  pounds sounds terrible!)

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Whatcha Making Wednesday: Blueberry Crumb Bars

I adapted this recipe from Deb over at Smitten Kitchen.  I realize I just dropped her name like we're BFF's.  We're not.  She doesn't even know who I am.  But I definitely know who she is - I have been reading her blog for years (seriously).  I love most every recipe I try and rarely adapt them.  But this recipe wasn't sweet enough for me upon my first try.  I think that's my pregnancy talking though because I have had some serious cravings for sweets while pregnant with baby Wright #2.  I also just really like brown sugar so that is where I changed things up.  These blueberry bars are heavy on the crumb topping (just the way I like them) and could honestly be served as a sweet side to a breakfast or brunch or  you could easily add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make them a dessert.  Whatever your preference though, enjoy!

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar (1/2 white, 1/2 brown), 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares.  These store really nicely in the fridge too!

A Journey that Matters

I have been attending a women's only bible study for more years than I can count on one hand.  Although the group of women changes over time, and sometimes the entire group changes as I've changed churches, I wouldn't trade this female fellowship for anything.  If you are a woman reading this, and haven't ever studied God's word and shared your life with other women on a regular basis, I would encourage you to do so.  You will be encouraged, lifted up and reminded that you're not the only one experiencing your struggles, doubts or hardships.

Which leads me to the topic of this post - in the Beth Moore study Stepping Up, a Journey through the Psalms of Ascent I learned something that struck a chord in my heart for this journey of motherhood that I recently embarked on.  Before this study I was completely unaware that there was even a grouping of Psalms identified as the Psalms of Ascent; during my study of these 15 Psalms, chapters 120 through 134, I learned that they were a group of songs sung by Jews on their pilgrimage to the Three Great Feasts.  As modern day Christians we too are on a pilgrimage, maybe not to the earthly Jeruselum, but a pilgrimage nonetheless.  Since we are headed to the heavenly Jeruselum our hearts and minds need to be of the mindset that we are NOT stuck in park.  We are not living static lives.  We are on the way to somewhere.  Figuratively AND literally.  And God cares about how we live as we travel from here to there.

I don't know about you, but have you ever felt stuck in a situation or relationship?  Have you ever felt suffocated by your circumstances, feeling like things are never going to change or improve?  I'm not saying that is how I feel about motherhood but I will say I feel stuck sometimes.  I get in the mindset where I focus on single moments that tend to be really challenging or difficult and I feel like I am making no progress or as if things are never going to change.  Maybe it's a day where I feel unappreciated or buried in dishes and diaper changes.  Whatever it is though, I can't seem to focus on the fact that I am still on a journey to the heavenly Jeruselum and God cares about the life I live, moment to moment.  And that is why I was so encouraged by this study - my journey matters to God.  He cares how I live my life and I need to remember that I am not stuck.  I am on a journey and God is not looking for perfection out of me; He created me and knows that I am a broken vessel that makes many mistakes.  He is looking for a sincere heart and someone who loves Him and seeks to live my life more like Him everyday. And like any trip, the hard times will pass.  There will be better days ahead.  I don't know about you but that encourages me to remember to look forward to those days.

Psalm 84:5-7
[5] What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jeruselum. [6] When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. [7] The will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jeruselum.