Spicy Magnolia

A Heart Stealer

Baby girl, in addition to the months you rapidly add to your life as you grow, the joy and delight you bring to our family also increases by leaps and bounds!

On December 29th, you turned five months old. That fifth month of your life was packed full of adventure, discovery, special moments, and firsts. Here’s a peak at what that month held for you:

Lots and lots of PJ days! You and Brennan were sick 3/4 of the month, and you occasionally joined Mr. Brennan for movie time.

You picked out your first Christmas tree, Filbert.

The jumper became one of your favorite play time activities, and has since contributed to you being quite the mover and shaker when we’re holding you. Brennan wanted to share his hat with you here.

Starbucks runs on Thursday mornings were our continued hang out spot before moving onto our special corner at Brennan’s school where we play before picking him up. You still take two short cat naps in the morning and a long one (2 hours) in the afternoon. I obviously enjoy holding you for some of your cat naps, and Daddy loves you sleeping on his chest for naps, too.

As a note, our Starbucks time is coming to an end because you are on the move: wanting to discover, play, touch things, learn, be active. You are full of life and zest!

A brand new adventure took you to see a live Bethlehem reenactment on your first train ride!

You watched your first Denver Broncos win (yeah, Tebow!) at BJ’s.

 

Your big brother thinks you come quite handy as a pack horse, and you had the privilege of witnessing Brennan’s first ever school Christmas program. You think he’s pretty cool.

Some other discoveries and developments include: grabbing for toys and passing them back and forth between your hands; the use of your tongue and lips to make all sorts of sounds; the recognition of your name; the fun times your toes can bring you!

You experienced your first really cold winter day. Well, it really wasn’t as cold as this picture alludes, but by Austin standards, it was pretty cold. And your Daddy takes extra care in making sure you’re bundled up nice and warm.

You celebrated your very first Christmas at Pops and Mees’ with Uncle Mac and Aunt Julie, too! Your brother made sure you felt special and would bring you your presents and help you open them. He’d also show you how to play with them.

(I have to throw in that last picture of Christmas morning to show our Internet peeps how much I goofed on your Christmas PJs this year! It’s a tradition for our family to open one present on Christmas Eve, and it’s always a set of PJs. Since being a momma, I’ve wanted to buy my kiddos their PJs and well, look how it turned out. Kensington wore a six month one-piece but it ended up being way too short, and I ordered 5-6 size for Brennan, thinking it was the same as 5T. Obviously looking at how we tried to roll the pants up 80’s style, I was dead wrong. He can wear them for years to come! It’s taking every bit of will power in my Momma to keep her from snatching the responsibility of buying Christmas PJs for my kiddos, too!)

You’ll never outgrow this hat, right?!

You’re discovering your love for puppies!

You continue to be quite the buddy to your big brother, watching him incessantly and admirably! And oh, how he makes you laugh. Your all’s bath times together are hilarious. We have a number of videos as family treasures of your giggles, which seemingly come effortlessly for you. Just about anything can spur on those heavenly sounds. You are undoubtedly a very happy, content and easy-going baby. One of my favorite times of the day is to get you from your crib after waking up because you’re so smiley. Only when you get really tired do you turn into our little punkin’.

You had your first taste of playing in fall leaves, albeit a very delayed one.

You had quality Popsie time before he headed back to Florida.

You are also on your way to being a big Daddy’s girl! The way you light up when he comes into view melts this own Daddy-girl’s heart.

There’s no doubt about it: you have stolen our hearts, Kensie Jane!

Foibles and Fumbles

If I could apply the idiom, “learning the ropes” to this parenting gig of being a new mom of two children, the accurate picture of such a phrase would find me flat on my face with enough scuff marks to prove I’d not just fallen once but multiple times. It’s a wonder I get back up and try again the next day!

Oh, I mostly write this in jest of myself, as the only thing I can do is laugh. But humor me for a moment. If the past five days is any indication of what my family will have to endure for the rest of their days, then by all means, they may be entitled to a permanent wife/momma swap. Although a swap implies that an interchange takes place and that I would be placed in another family. And I’m not quite sure another family would take me. My resume of the last week does not bode well:

• Brennan and I made some awesome cookie dough to bake cookies for a care package to send to Pops, because if we like receiving packages, so do others. And who better to send a package of cookies than to Pops? The cookie dough sat in our fridge for a few days before I had a chance to bake it, but I wasn’t in too big of a hurry as the dough was a pretty good snack. (Whomever thinks that giving up emotional eating while having a newborn is out of his ever-lovin’ mind.) When I finally baked the cookies, I burned three-quarters of them and undercooked the other quarter! It was pathetic. Three different batches of cookies were botched and unworthy care package treats. (But this emotional eater didn’t care. They’re all gone.) I have a week and a half to perfect cookie baking before Brennan starts preschool. Help!
• Monday morning I had the bright idea of carting my kids thirty minutes each way to the children’s museum downtown. By 10 a.m. it was already a steaming 90 degrees, quickly climbing to the bemoaned 105 that it’s been all summer long! Kensington was placed in the Bjorn and Brennan was unbuckled. I reached for my purse to pay for parking and the museum fee. Oh, wait. What purse? That’s right, folks. No money. Nothing. I left it at home, and to home we returned.
• Before heading home on Monday after the no-purse fiasco, we stopped at Chick-fil-A (I had to redeem myself to my 2.5 year old), and Matt came to our rescue with the use of his plastic. But after lunch while loading Brennan in the car, not only did I accidentally scratch him, I bonked his head on the car door.
• A $3.40 fine per 17 overdue library books adds up to be a lot of money. Yes, I have a newborn and “just didn’t get to it”. But doggonit, it’s also just right up the street and simply lazy.
• Upon proceeding to defiantly and disobediently walk away from me in the mall with the utter purpose of going to climb in a school bus ride, I tried to administer some form of discipline to Brennan. We were in the middle of the food court, and while I tried to ignore every glaring eye, the feeling of such glares could not be ignored as my child screamed bloody murder yelling, “No!” to me. Meanwhile, Kensington was crying because her bow fell in her eyes and I didn’t know it. So every passerby saw my daughter’s face covered by a huge pink bow that was making her holler while my son was giving every indication that I was a mother who needed to be carted away by security.
• Today was the real clincher. The next three all happened today. Molly was going ballistic with (what I thought was) excitement knowing she was going on a walk this morning. Her barking and jumping up and down while trying to get the kids ready was making me go bonkers. I proverbially “tossed her” into the garage while I could calmly finish up inside. She was really grating on my every nerve. Before I even had a chance to raise the garage door, I noticed she was squatting and pooping in the middle of the garage! The poor girl, whom I was hushing and scolding, didn’t want to go outside the back door (which was opened) because the grass must be too high, or too burned (depending on the area) for her liking, and was busting.
• Returning home from our walk (that Molly pooped on three more times), I must have been too focused on the person walking toward us to notice the moving sprinkler which I walked straight into, giving all of us a huge douse of water. Brennan, Molly and I didn’t mind it so much. But the sleeping beauty who was harshly awoken by a powerful spraying of water in her face made it quite clear she wasn’t happy.
• We made it to Target, our first store run today the three of us. One of the things on my list to buy was deli meat. That was at noon. Fast forward to six o’clock this evening and what did I discover: the bag of deli meat inadvertently placed on a kitchen chair instead of in the fridge. Do I dare use it on Matt’s sandwich tomorrow <grin>?

Do you think they will survive, or should they swap me now? This could be a good picture for a family personal ad: “Father and two children (and dog) seeking wife and mother…”

She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come <grin> (emphasis mine).

Proverbs 31:25

Simply trusting,

 

 

 

Two Weeks

We made it two weeks! I feel so much in a fog right now that I’m not even sure what to write, and I confess my emotions might get the better of me. I don’t want to bog you down with fleeting feelings that change from one moment to the next. Instead, I’ll give you a glimpse of our beautiful daughter whom we are enjoying immensely and her big brother, who lavishly loves her and who is a huge helper. I know some grandparents are eager to get recent photos, and a certain Miss Corrie who has also put in a specific request for pictures. So without further ado, here are a few to tide you over until my next quarterly post <grin>.

It takes a lot to wake this girl up for feedings.

These two, Pops and Brennan, are best buds.

My Momma, bless her a hundred fold, was here all last week serving and loving us! I managed to have my first successful day with two kiddos while she went back to San Antonio for a night. I use ‘successful’ loosely as the house was a mess and we watched more TV than I’d like to admit, but we managed to get out and about the three of us and it was a fun day. I start my first official week on my own with two kids today. I’m a bit apprehensive.

Molly turned 10 years old this past week! So we went on a walk with her and Mees to the playground and had a celebratory muffin picnic. The kiddos are christening their new double stroller.

Singing “Happy Birthday” to Molly with a mouthful.

Not only is Kensington a sleepy head, she’s a snuggle bug!

This is what happens to Brennan when Mees gives him his bath. Mohawk dude! He’s still blinking when he smiles.

Even at 2 weeks old, she’s still a tiny thing, but with bright blue eyes.

I haven’t opened the blog up for questions in awhile, so lest I splatter all my emotions to the world wide web without any fraction of discernment, please oblige me by giving me some topics to write about for next time by leaving a question about anything you’d like to know.

Hope y’all are doing well! Thank you for all the sweet comments and congrats in the last post!

Simply trusting,

Snow & Secrets Revealed

Good evening, dear Internet peeps! I’m curious, who of you have not had a good dose of winter this week? Anyone? Even here in Austin, Texas, we’ve had the artic blast affect us all week. We’ve been sick this week, too, so it has helped alleviate the stir-crazy feelings. Our couch has a permanent imprint of our bodies, and I don’t want to admit how many hours of movies we’ve watched. I have, however, reveled in the sweet fragrance of my son as I’ve held him for many hours, even helping him get through naps because the fever and coughing were rocking his little body off its norm.

Last night, we received a beautiful 1/2 inch dusting of the fluffy white stuff. It’s our once-a-year joy: freezing cold weather with precipitation that brings the busyness of life to a stand-still.

 

Brennan is not a winter-lover. Unlike his parents who relish some snow and winter weather, Brennan complains about the cold. I guess he’s a Texas boy at heart. We tried to put mittens on him and he hid them behind a door. He didn’t want a hat. And he most certainly did not want to be let down in the snow. The same thing happened in Virginia over Christmas. It was only until we brought his truck outside that he endured sitting in it for awhile. Molly, on the other hand, was a frisky puppy and loved playing and trying to eat the snow. Eventually, Brennan got bored and too cold, so Matt and I did what any understanding parent would do. We put him inside to play with some toys while Matt and I continued enjoying playing with our puppy, throwing her stick and sending snow balls her way. Don’t worry, we continually checked on him and didn’t stay out too long. I think Molly liked the special attention.

 

 

Here’s a short video that captures the opposite nature of our children:

Snow Day from Meg @ Spicy Magnolia on Vimeo.

 

What was the other part of my title? Oh, yeah. Secrets revealed.

Yep, that’s right folks, we are going to have another baby! We are due August 2nd. I’m nearly 15 weeks along and everything is looking great with the baby so far. Brennan was known as “Polka” when he was in my tummy; the nickname for this precious one is “Skittles”. Here are a few notables if you’re interested:

• Our aim and intent is to wait to find out the baby’s gender again until he/she is born. It’s harder this time around!
• I had about the same amount of nausea as I did with Brennan, and it seems that ship has sailed, thankfully.
• I am more exhausted and drained this time around…probably because I have an energetic toddler to chase this time.
• My complexion was the best it’s ever been with Brennan. My face it completely broken out like it was when I was a teenager. Argh.
• I crave cheesy, comfort food.
• We found out we were pregnant the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I happened to be shocked as were trying to get pregnant again, but it had been a busy month <grin>. We were decorating for Christmas that day, so I thought I’d add a stocking to our mantle and see if Matt noticed it, as a way of surprising him. Usually it takes him days to observe such things, but he had a keen eye that night and recognized something looked awry:

• We told each set of our parents in person over Christmas which was a lot of fun to surprise them with the news.
• I am bulging out with a baby bump a lot faster than I did with Brennan!
• I have already started to wake up to go the bathroom during the middle of the night a lot, and am having a hard time falling back to sleep. One night last week was special though because as I laid there awake, I felt Skittles for the first time! That little one was active, punching and kicking in all sorts of places.

Anything else would you like to know?

I don’t have a creative way to wrap up this post because it’s 9:30 and I am ready to snuggle into bed and fall fast, fast asleep. Well, at least until 2 a.m. At that point, you’ll find me in the bathroom.

Choo Choo

I’m taking a moment to put my feet up, unwind, and breath. A piece of the Apple Dapple cake I made this weekend is my only compadre at the moment. Brennan and Molly are both down for their naps. My little Molly girl has had some complications after her eye surgery a week and a half ago: she has an ulcer on her eye and has to sadly remain in her “Cone of Shame” for the rest of the week. We had plans to celebrate the removal of the cone with some Hey Cupcakes on the way home from the vet, which may I remind you, is a fifty minute drive from our home. So toting a toddler and a puppy across the city multiple times during a week for vet appointments is no small feat! Therefore, it made it all the more reasonable to still get the cupcakes on the way home even though Molly was stuck in her collar. It was actually a lovely afternoon and perfect for a picnic, which we enjoyed on a small rolling hill behind the Sonic in Lakeway. 

Someone was really excited about his cupcake. And note to self: eat them outside!

I had a couple of scares this past weekend with Molly’s eye and drove to the emergency animal clinic. Once on Saturday, which was a quiet day in the animal ER, but Sunday morning was anything but. I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of sadness. One family was in there getting ready to put their dog to sleep. Another one came carrying in their five year old Labrador who had bright red eyes and all of a sudden couldn’t see. The poor dog was petrified. Then a young eight year old boy and his dad came into the ER carrying a box which held a little dog who passed away the day before. And to my horror the little boy kicked open the lid of the box to which my eyes suddenly beheld an image which is now burned in my mind. I was having a really hard time holding it together in the waiting room! Thankfully, I left with my precious Molly who is still filled with vim and vigor and whose eye should recover well over the next week.

While Molly had a rough weekend, Brennan had the time of his life. Pops and Meems treated us to a Day with Thomas the Train in Burnet. The guy was fascinated with the train ride! I’ve never heard so many little boy “choo choo” sounds in all my life. We discovered his love for a Legos Ferris wheel and left with some great stamp art. It was a gorgeous fall day and perfect to eat lunch outside at Mighty Fine, watch some football, play at the park, and wrap it up with some Mexican food from Chuy’s. Here are some snapshots of our outing with Thomas. You just get the pictures; I don’t have enough creative juices flowing at the moment to think of captions. Feel free to come up with some of them on your own and leave them in a comment <grin>.

We had a couple over for dinner on Sunday night who is new to our church and also lives in Round Rock. They have a seven week old baby girl and I was amazed at Brennan’s response to her. He kept saying, “baby, baby, baby”, kneeling beside her car seat and handing her her paci when she dropped it. He’s not around babies like that often so I was surprised at how taken he was by her. It was endearing. And don’t let your mind wander with this too much, but it was impossible not to think that Brennan will make an amazing and thoughtful big brother one day.

Tomorrow, guess what I’m gonna have for you? Some recipes! Some wonderful, fall recipes for y’all that are easy and scrumptious. Yeah, like the Apple Dapple cake. It’s all in love, Internet peeps.

Until then, join me in a moment of savoring the simple things of life, like the sweet taste of some cake, the beauty of the day, or the joyous onomatopoeic echos of a train.

A Bunch of Good Stuff

The alarm blared a little too early this morning. At 3:50 a.m. Dazed and confused, all three of us somehow made it intact to the airport where I said, “See ya later,” to my loves. They jetted off to Canada this morning and should land in about an hour whereupon Brennan will receive the first of hopefully many stamps in his passport. Little did we know that we were supposed to pay an international tax for Brennan’s travel and it nearly jeopardized the boys’ final leg of the trip across the border. But I happen to think that blondie simply captured the hearts of the flight crew that they had no choice but to transport him to his final destination.

I mean, really. Who can resist this face?

 

Matt’s dad runs a school for children with learning disabilities in Canada. He’s commuted 20+ years to Canada from Virginia and this is the first time any of his kids have been able to see first-hand the school he’s directed with passion all these years. For Matt’s birthday and Christmas last year, my parents helped Matt with a ticket to visit his dad. And a few months ago, we thought it would be great to take advantage of Brennan flying free (well, aside from the international travel tax or whatever it is) and make the trip my boys’ first Daddy/son trip. Even at 4 a.m., “Da Da” was repeated over and over and over. I think he knew he was gonna get some good testosterone time. Everything is about “Da Da” these days. He’ll see a car that looks like Matt’s car and it spurs a number of “Da Da”s. He’ll walk into the closet and see Matt’s clothes and out comes the “Da Da”. I haven’t heard “Momma” in quite awhile unless coaxed out of him. That’s alright. My man child has a great man to look up to!

Speaking of clothes, I had some slight jealousy in me yesterday of Matt who will get to see Brennan wearing some of his new fall outfits for the first time this season along with his jacket, hat and mittens. Matt endured a 10 minute schpeal about all of the outfits: what socks go with what, what outfits were for what days, when to wear the tennies and when to wear the brown shoes. And as a courtesy, I even threw into Matt’s pile of clothes a nice shirt that I encouraged him to wear when Brennan wears his nice outfit as they meet Ed’s staff for the first time. I almost tied bows around each of the respective outfits so there was no chance taken in a pair of socks being paired with the wrong outfit. I know my hubby’s weaknesses. Matching is one of them, bless him. And I’m no fashionista!

What will I do while they’ve run off to Canada? Give some TLC to Molly who has surgery tomorrow. Plant my behind on the couch to rest and watch some movies. Maybe pick up the new Francine Rivers’ book, Her Daughter’s Dream. Start on my third round of antibiotics and new steroids to kick this lingering bronchitis (I’m on week #4) to the curb. Hopefully it’ll kick the sinus infection I’ve had the past week to the curb, too. I’m desperate to feel better, so if making sure I stay on the couch all weekend is part of the plan, then so be it. I’ll happily oblige! I’ll meet my momma for lunch on Saturday. And I have the honor of treating my friend, Courtney, to a nice lunch tomorrow in thanks for the many lunches she braves eating with me and Brennan at Chick-fil-A! As a woman who doesn’t have children, that says a lot about her character, people! I’m aiming for peace and quiet. That’s what my body and my soul need. If only I’d be brave enough to turn off the TV and sit in total silence.

Last week, I recorded a bit of Brennan and a new routine we’re working on. I’m no Julie Andrews, just warnin’ ya! And I’m not sure where all the facial expressions came from. Maybe he wants to be the next Jim Carrey.

 

I hope to catch you sometime this weekend, friends! And before I sign off, if you want some good, albeit challenging, reads, I highly recommend these:

J.R. Briggs wrote a post regarding the possible Quran burning a few weeks ago. If you’re tired of the whole topic, this is not the same old stuff! J.R. actually called Terry Jones and you need to read about it!

Lysa TerKuerst on marriage and parenting. This post gave me some great prayers to pray for Brennan. How counter-cultural is it to pray that he’d get caught when he makes wrong choices!? Good stuff! And this one made me reflect more on the cost of my choices.

What do you think of the American church? That topic can open up a can of worms. Kathy Escobar wrote a letter to the American church that is some great food for thought. And potentially, some powerful encouragement for transformation.

And this post over at Nothings and Notions from my Noodle broke it down in a way I could totally relate to wanting to live for the glory of God in our daily lives. My daily life that looks like cleaning peanut butter and honey off the booster chair every morning. My daily life that includes giving thanks for the family bathroom at the mall that offered some privacy where I could run to to discipline and instruct Brennan when he was having the FIT OF HIS LIFE yesterday. Yes, it was a great post to remind me I have ample opportunity to bring glory to God in my daily life that doesn’t necessarily mean me hopping on the next jet plane overseas. But I’d like that, too!

Happy Times

Summer-time blues. That’s what I experienced last year. It was probably mixed in with the baby blues, too. So at the onset of this summer, I simply dreaded it. There’s no way I wanted to experience the same isolation and sadness I did last year. The heat in Texas can be the equivalent of hard-core winters in the north that keep you cooped up inside out of necessity. But, I’ve decided to approach the summer with a better attitude, knowing how quickly these days will pass by, and I didn’t want to let a whole season be eaten’ up in fear and my own wallowing. So I’m choosing to make the most of it and savor these more relaxed summer days with my best little buddy! It takes more effort and a lot more planning since most of the structured, scheduled activities are on hiatus for the summer. But so far, there are lots of happy memories I’ve tried to not just capture on film, but memorize in my heart. That said, my heart already flutters when I think of the cooler fall days and FOOTBALL!

 

Two weeks ago, we had a breakfast date with Pops at Chick-fil-A. Brennan ate a whole chicken biscuit and a medium fruit cup all on his own. It was the perfect way to start out our full day which also included making a run to Hallmark, where Brennan was able to spot a Cars card among the slew of kids cards. I mistakenly gave it to him to look at while I finished my browsing and he ended up tearing it. And I ended up buying it. However, it has been a wonderful source of entertainment for him in the car. He’s mesmerized by his “GO” friends.

Then we met Daddy at The Domain for a picnic lunch and some play time in the fountain.

Even my Momma is still amazed! For the sole purpose of showing Brennan a frog up close and personal, I picked up this baby frog that was playing in some rain water in Brennan’s pool. Brennan giggled when it would hop from my hands. I would consider this a formal initiation into the “Momma of Boys Club”, thank you very much.

 

There is a gem of a park called Champion Park. It has a covered sand pit for digging, building sand castles and playing with monster trucks…

Then there is a splash pad that is a perfect way to cool down and see expressions of delight on a little boy’s face.

 

At the park, we received the thrilling news that Matt’s sister and her husband gave birth to our second nephew, Baxter Paul! We’ll get to meet the little fella at Christmas. Just look at this precious one!!

 

Hangin’ with Pops always includes eating what Pops is eating, which in this case was a “pig in the blanket”.

Coolin’ off with Daddy and Uncle Mac, learning how fun it is to throw a tennis ball at each other in the pool.

Summer reading.

Meeting Daddy for lunch at his office where we got to feed the fish.

A new word that the boy says is “squirrel”, and he points to pictures and the real things as they saunter in front of him. The funny thing is that Molly gets overly excited at any sight of a squirrel but also hearing the word. So at the same time he says “squirrel”, he’ll point outside and then point to Molly, who in turn has quickly arisen from her slumber and made her way to the back door ready to pounce.

About a week ago Brennan and I were playing out front painting with water and the hose when it started to rain. So we went inside and I stripped him of his wet clothes. The next thing I knew, he rediscovered the doggy door and starting going in and out, enjoying the light drizzle and getting all muddy. He’d collect rocks, bringing them inside to show me, and then went back outside where he paraded around in his diaper. I really have some cute clothes for the boy; he wears more than just his diaper usually <grin>.

This is so, so bad, I know. Nothing about the last three weeks have been all together “normal” in our life or in our routines. As such, it was par for the course to wake up in El Paso after driving 11 hours and having little sleep to a breakfast of Goldfish. Don’t worry, the boy received something more nutritious than just Goldfish. I, on the other hand, didn’t end up eating anything else for the next ten hours until I stuffed my face with gorditas. It was nerves and emotion.

A happy moment on the road.

Summer wouldn’t be complete without watermelon! Earlier this week we played outside with the hose (a regular occurrence for us) and I let Brennan go to town on watermelon. He LOVES the stuff and couldn’t get enough of it as he shoved it in his face and let the sweet juices trickle down his cheeks and shirt.

A little dirt always make it taste better.

Some more summer readin’ time. In his diaper, again.

Momma/Son date at Chick-fil-A where I became a huge, addicted fan of the Spicy Chicken Sandwich! But more notable is Brennan drinking out of a big boy cup.

A random picture in the car and proof that the Cars card aforementioned was well worth the $2.99 I forked over!

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And now, why don’t we pause and consider how we can be a part of letting an 8 year old boy named Achile experience happy times, too. He lives in Burkina Faso and has a congenital heart defect known as tetralogy of Fallot. Because of Achile's heart condition, he has been in pain for five years and hasn't been able to attend school regularly and receive the full benefit of sponsorships through Compassion International. Compassion International has provided medical care for Achile for the last two years at the National Teaching Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo in Burkina Faso in western Africa. However, doctors there now believe his condition requires urgent heart surgery, which is not available in Burkina Faso. Achile will be transported to a specialized hospital in India for a lifesaving operation that will cost an estimated $20,449. Please prayerfully consider making a donation to aid with the cost of Achile’s surgery. You can either click on this link or the banner in the side bar. Any funds raised in excess of the cost of Achile's surgery and transport will be rolled into Compassion's Medical Assistance Fund to aid children in need of medical help in the future. I’m speaking to myself here: remember, there is power in prayer, so please pray for this precious boy! Thank you, dear ones, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Photo Catch Up

Since I’ve been so bad at writing “Project Life” posts, please permit me to highlight some of my favorite moments from recent weeks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet, sweet Jillie made me dinner to celebrate my birthday. She came over and fixed us jalapeno roast tacos and death by chocolate, and the best of it all was that I got to spend a few hours with her! Those roast tacos were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. and the death by chocolate was, well, the death of me in the most heavenly sense of the phrase.

If you’re ever looking for a fun outing with a kiddo, go to the nursery. That particular week we went three different times scoping out plants to replant our flower beds for the third and hopefully, prayerfully last time dog-gone-it! Two years ago we lost plants because of flooding. Last year, I think it was the drought and some nasty bugs. This year, we have declared war on the bugs and are hoping for a beautiful back yard. One of the afternoons at the nursery it rained a little bit, but it made it all the more fun for him to jump in the puddles and get all messy.

 

 

 My helper in his PJs planting flowers. If you can tell, his version of planting entails shoving all of the contained flowers in a pot with the constant presence of the hose. This was one of my favorite days ever with my boy. He loved planting outside with me. The only pot of flowers that has already died is the only one I didn’t have his help with, so you know who has the green thumb in this family.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Trying out a new jumpy playground and having a blast! We were only one of two kiddos in the entire place at the time. He’s still leery of getting into the ball pits and holds onto me for dear life when we’re around the huge, inflatable animals that move. He’s become quite the dancer and danced from one section of the building to the other listening to the children’s music played over the speakers.

 

 

For kicks we thought it would be brilliant to give him the iPhone with a video of himself to watch in order to help calm him down while changing his diaper. He was so drawn and mesmerized by it it was a little scary. And after the eruption that ensued by taking it away after his diaper was changed, that made it the first and last time we’ll be doing that to assist with diaper changes. However, we’ll whip that iPhone out with no hesitation when we’re flying with an 18 month old later this summer! <grin>

 

 

 

Like father, like son. Matt was headin’ out to work and his boy was quick to follow suit. He even waved goodbye to me!

 

 

A big ol’ thanks to Meems for introducing the boy to Nilla Wafers this past weekend <grin>. She let him the keep the box and there was no turning back from giving it to him as a snack this week. He even drug the empty box out of the recycle bin in hopes there were more.

 

 

 

I walked into Brennan’s bedroom last night to this scene. It was priceless! They’re wrapping up C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair.

 

 

And lastly, this was taken today. We had a day where the normal routine was completely thrown out the window with an unexpected trip to the vet for Miss Molly. Miss Molly’s vet is 45 minutes away and we needed to leave her there for some x-rays and ultrasounds, so we ended up staying on that side of town for the rest of the day. The highlights were introducing Brennan to the water fountains which he had a great time splashing in (it was near 100 degrees today, folks!!), talking to my brother during lunch, having a bit of down time while Brennan slept in the car, and reading with Brennan at Barnes & Nobles. We weren’t short of things to do. It was, however, rather humbling trying to wrangle a toddler and a 71 lb. dog at the same time while trying to listen to the vet—on two different occasions today. And I’m not sure I want to tell you that so far, what it looks like is that I paid $600 today for the vet to tell me to put Molly into another room while we’re eating meals and to not let Brennan give her any raisins which I’ve included in his snack cup lately. And being the genius that I am, I knew that grapes were toxic for dogs but didn’t put two and two together to realize that the dadgum raisins are just dried grapes. DUH!!!! So yes, $600 to have my vet tell me not to give my dog dried grapes. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful, thankful, thankful that this is just what it seems to be: food she doesn’t need to eat on an already sensitive tummy. I am deeply thankful and hope that over the next few weeks of watching her that it proves to be such. But I just ate a big ol’ expensive piece of humble pie!

Project Life: April 6th-12th, 2010

Greetings, Internet peeps! How are ya’ll doing and what have you been up to? I’m not gonna lie, most days last week I wanted to curl up in a little ball and cry. Brennan was crabby with allergies and teething. I was feelin’ blah and wasn’t functioning very well as a momma which automatically affects that day’s rating. I’m not complaining, just sayin’ it was one of those weeks with days you simply want to fade away as you fall asleep with the hope of a new, better day. The weekend was definitely the highlight and the bright spot of the week. Here’s a glimpse (and you can check out other Project Life posts here):

 

Tuesday, April 6th

Brennan helped me prepare an asparagus, tomato and feta salad for dinner. I’d chop the tomatoes and he’d throw them in the bowl. Then he put the asparagus in the pan for me and we had a lesson on “hot” and “no touch”.

By the way, this salad was a side dish I served for our Easter brunch and it was a really good, simple salad to make if you want to enjoy asparagus, a spring green gem this time of year. I posted the recipe below if you’re interested.

 

 

 

Friday, April 9th

After a week of not feeling like doing anything but curling up in a ball, I finally got into gear and did my weekly cleaning on Friday morning, just in the nick of time before my parents’ visit. Brennan’s naps weren’t that great and after lots of clinginess, I finally caved and put in Ratatouille. It bought me 30 minutes, just enough time for me to wrap up my chores and make it to our neighborhood park for a picnic.

Part of Brennan’ crabbiness is that we stopped giving him a bottle in the mornings when he wakes up, and that has started the day off on the wrong foot for a couple of weeks now. Did you all experience that? How did you move past it?

 

Saturday, April 10th

Welcome Pops and Meems! My heart is a wellspring of joy watching Brennan with Pops and Meems. You could tell this weekend that he knows who they are and puts on special antics and shows just for them. Yesterday was my 31st birthday and so Pops and Meems came to celebrate this weekend. We started off with a delicious picnic that Matt put together. I have to mention, too, that on Friday night, I got spoiled with dinner from Chuy’s, a movie of my choice and a foot massage. <grin>

Is this picture a foreshadowing that Brennan will be like a duck to water this summer?

We had to stop by Shakes after the picnic, just had to! They give puppy cups for free and Miss Molly always gets one, so she has become quite familiar with the custard and will hound you until you give her some.

Snack time with Pops

For dinner, my momma made an amazing chicken curry and I got my chocolate meringue pie! I asked for two last year, but this year I regrettably only asked for one. It went bye-bye too quickly. After Brina, our little neighbor friend, came over on Friday to make pretend chocolate pies, I told her I’d share a piece of my real chocolate pie with her on Monday. Don’t be too quick to think that was sweet of me. I gave her the smallest piece I could before it looked too pathetic to give to her with the caveat, “I didn’t want to ruin your dinner.” Is it truly a gift when the size of the slice was determined by greed???

 

Sunday, April 11th

After church, we tried out a new gourmet grilled cheese place in town called Chedd’s. It was really good! For my birthday present, my parents gave me a magnolia tree! I’ve always dreamed about having one for our home because of their sentimental value to me. And best of all: Daddy and I planted it together!

 

Monday, April 12th

Tiny bubbles… make me happy, make me feel fine.

 

Hope you all are having a great Tuesday and I hope to catch you later this week! Blessings, dear ones, and thanks for stopping by. <grin>

 

Asparagus, Tomato and Feta Salad

(source unknown)

 

16 stalks asparagus, blanched 5 minutes (I probably doubled the amount of asparagus)

1 pound Roma tomatoes, diced

1.5 TBSP fresh basil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 pound crumbled feta

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Project Life: March 29-April 5, 2010

Hi, dear Internet peeps! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. There were sure some special moments I wanted to record the past week. Here’s a tiny glimpse into this week’s Project Life:

 

Monday, March 29th

This is the finished Easter card project we sent to family. The verse on it was Ephesians 2:1-2,4-5 which says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…BUT because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by GRACE you have been saved.”

They were fun to do with Brennan and I felt good having started the project weeks before Easter to finish them in time, but that was only up until the day before Easter when I realized I’d forgotten to get Easter cards for the two most important people in my life: Matt and Brennan. Ay carumba! There’s nothing like scrounging something up at the last minute for those dearest to you and admitting you forgot about them. Humbling.

Tuesday, March 30th

Tuesday mornings Brennan and I venture to church for my women’s Bible study and he gets to play with his buddies in the nursery. Since it means skipping his morning nap, he usually wants to crash on the way home, whereupon I try my darndest to keep him awake. Sometimes don’t you get in the mood to do something fun and spontaneous? Well, this was one of those days. So on our way home I decided to take my little guy on a date to Firehouse Subs. I caught him in action doing his “smokin’ guns” shot. We thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company and he was fascinated by the Dalmatian-spotted table top. We split a meatball sub and well, while it’s incredibly tasty and my favorite kind to get, I came home to look at the nutritional value and that just sucked the incredibly tasty right out of it. Good thing it was more about the company than the food choice.

Wednesday, March 31st

Matt made the effort to be home right at 5:30 p.m. for us to dye Easter eggs together as a family. Instead of dying eggs, we were treating a little boy who had his first injury that drew blood, a fair amount of it, too. He was playing near the stroller which ended up rolling him over and he cut his lip, inside and out, and scratched up his face pretty badly. We were thankful it didn’t affect his teeth! We finally got him calmed down but he still wouldn’t keep ice on his lip, so we tried a strawberry popsicle, his first. It did the trick.

 

Thursday, April 1st

Oh, I love my little buddy! We took an adventure to the Austin Nature and Science Center and had the best time together. Brennan dug in the Dino pit, looking for fossils, but he was more interested in climbing up and down the rock steps. More scuffed up knees! He was also fascinated with the coyote. His absolute favorites though were the bunnies, which we’ve been talking a lot about with the stuffed bunny Meems gave him and the other bunnies we have around the house for spring. My brother, Mac, got a kick out of the middle picture where Brennan is holding the shovel like a sword. Is fencing in your future, Brennan?

 

Thursday night was a successful Easter egg dying night…no bloody injuries to tend to! I have no idea what I was thinking as I envisioned the dying. I thought he’d just watch or simply hold onto the flimsy metal egg dipper the dying kits provide. Nope! I was not prepared at all for what Easter egg dying is like with a 14 month old, but that made it all the more fun as I just went with it. I had no plastic or newspaper down to catch the water, which explains the rainbow colored water all over our counter that thankfully, did not stain it. Brennan experimented with how many eggs he could fit into a glass and would move the eggs back and forth into all of the colors. We had gorgeous multi-colored eggs this year! Oh, and make that hands as well.

Saturday, April 3rd

We experienced a full on Austin kinda day! One of my new favorite blogs is 365 Things to Do in Austin, TX. I have a whole list of fun things we need to try and unique places to take visitors! To start off the day, after Brennan’s nap, we ventured down to S. Congress (or SoCo as it’s known around these parts) to watch the Easter pet parade. Participants dressed up their dogs in Easter costumes and marched around to the tunes of a band. Miss Molly came with us and I think she was glad to simply be a spectator. And I can guarantee she was thankful she wasn’t walking around in bunny ears. Although Brennan would have gotten a kick out of that. Then we ate lunch at The Mighty Cone, a less expensive take off of Hudson’s on the Bend. The restaurant is a trailer (you sit outside), but don’t be too quick to judge by outward appearances because the food is delicious…and all served in cones. We spent the afternoon at home where Brennan and his daddy played some baseball.

 

Sunday, April 4th

Easter Sunday! The Lord has risen! The Lord has risen indeed, alleluia!

The result of another skipped nap in order to go to the early service. Once we got home and our guests arrived, you’d never have known he was tired!

We had some very special guests for Easter lunch: Chris, Jill, Harrison and Haddie! Take a look at these three. The picture on the left is Easter a year ago when Brennan was nearly 3 months old. A year later and now look at ‘em. Wow! I love these kids so much!

Jillie and I hid Easter eggs for these precious ones, and it was a blast to watch them hunt. This was Brennan’s first Easter egg hunt and he was able to scope out a few eggs on his own and put them in his basket.  Harrison and Haddie were so sweet to help Brennan look for eggs and share some with him as well.

Thanks, Pops and Meems, for my drum! I am crazy about it and love to be in my own parade!

Ahem, Pops and Meems: before you ever consider getting our son a real drum set, you must ask us for permission first! <grin>

 

 

Monday, April 5th

Because of Brennan’s accident last Thursday, Jillie and her brood thought it was appropriate for Brennan to have something that marked his initiation into true boyhood that is typically known for the cuts, scrapes and bruises because of all the adventure they get themselves into. So they shared with us a t-shirt Harrison used to wear. Please know that normally, Brennan would not be allowed to stand on the container, but I thought it was a fitting context for the shirt he wore today. <grin> And he was quite proud of himself! Yes, buddy, you do all your own stunts quite well!