{pretty, happy, funny, real} - Birthday Edition!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

 Our sweet Evangeline turned one on Tuesday! I remember her birth like it was yesterday, but here we are, one year and ten pounds later:

We had a nice little family celebration, ending with a visit to the playground by the lake.

{happy}

 Being a parent is such a blessing, and the amount of joy these two monkeys bring to our life is more than I ever expected. I cannot imagine life without them.

The whale I made for her. It went together pretty easily, all things considered, and I will probably make more. This is the (free) pattern I used.

{funny}

This is Crab, crawling around the playground. For a while Tony told us he was an orange bunny. Lately it has been a crab. 

{real}

Since I don't make dessert on a regular basis, I like using birthdays or feast days as a time to try out new recipes. For Evie's birthday I made this apple yogurt cake (only I used peaches). I think I pinned the recipe after it was mentioned in {bits & pieces} some time ago. I made it the night before and covered it with plastic wrap not thinking that the hard sugar on top would soften...alas. It was still really yummy, and would have paired quite nicely with vanilla ice cream if I had had the foresight.

Daddy's girl.

Happy Pentecost!

This is how 98% of the pictures of them together turn out.

I have been trying really hard to do more reading this past week (The Little Oratory and In This House of Brede, as well as listening to Mansfield Park), and I have been hard at work on a wedding dress for my uncle's fiancée...

The dress form is a little too big for the dress, hence the kind of odd look.

 I just finished the zipper and hooks & eyes, and now need to attach some rope trim and it is done. Once the dress is complete, I need to make a simple cotton slip, which should take me less than an hour (please, Lord). Then tomorrow we ship it off to a lady who will be carrying it with her to the Dominican Republic, which is where my uncle lives and will be getting married. The wedding is in August, so I used an embroidered cotton, with a chiffon overlay on the bodice. The pattern went together easily, even though sewing with chiffon is always a bit of a pain. (In this case, I brought it upon myself, but foresight doesn't remove the pain.) The worst is over, though, and tomorrow it is out of my hands, sent with prayers for a happy union. Will you please pray for them, too?

Has anyone else read the Otis books? We came across the first one at the pediatrician's office, and found the rest at the library. The illustrations are so lovely, and the stories are fun, without being annoying like a lot of modern children's books.

This was one of the "9 month" pictures I took. She is getting so big. I started feeding her food last week, and she has been enjoying it for the most part. She keeps putting her fingers in her mouth and gagging herself. Yesterday she puked twice after doing that, poor thing.

Dinner, the dress, and Tony are all begging for my attention (Evangeline is sacked out in the carrier, or she would be throwing her hat in the ring, too).

Much love,

Jess

Happy Mardi Gras!

We stayed true to my (Grandma's) New Orleans roots and enjoyed Jambalaya for dinner, with a GF King Cake for dessert. Tony and I were jamming to Mardi Gras parade music all day which was tons of fun.

This year we decided to give up meat every other week. I've mentioned before that we eat a lot of meat, so it will not only be a sacrifice because we like meat, but for me on the planning side of things. Cooking vegetarian is really hard when you don't eat grains. At least it is for us, maybe because we eat so much (it's kind of embarrassing sometimes how much food we eat. I can eat as much as a man sometimes {most of the time}). I've been collecting some meatless dinner recipes, and hope to survive it without too much difficulty. 

So serious.

I meant to post after Evie's surgery, but the next day she start teething really bad, and that first little tooth finally broke through on Saturday...and has been busy working it's way up some more since then. 

The tooth breaking through there on the bottom, and the white part under her tongue is from the posterior tongue tie revision.

The Birthday Buddies - 6 months later.

Our experience with Dr. Kotlow was excellent. He was very kind, and his office was very timely. 

Evie's lip tie was a class III and she also had a class II posterior tongue tie. 

I managed to control my anxiety the whole time, even though I really wanted to cry when he took her. She was gone less than 10 minutes - I barely had time to text people and let them know she was gone before he was back in the room. 

Recovery has been fantastic. She nursed immediately after the procedure, and only seemed to be crying from pain for a few minutes in the car on the way back. I stretch her lip and tongue twice a day to keep it from reattaching, but even that doesn't seem to bother her. I have already noticed a difference in the way she nurses, which has been so much better for both of us.

I pray that Lent may be fruitful for all of us! (And that spring comes SOON!!)

Love,

Jess

Someone is 6 Months

 

Evie went yesterday for her 6 month well baby visit and is growing wonderfully. One of her favorite things at this point is listening to Zach play the violin. Sometimes she will dance around on the bed, and other times it lulls her right to sleep.

One of her hemangiomas has grown a little, and she has either another hemangioma under the skin or a dermoid cyst by her eye. Thankfully they aren't anything to worry about at this point. I'm hoping they never require treatment, even if we decide to have them taken care of when she is older.

Please pray for us tomorrow - we are taking her to the dentist to have her lip tie revised. The whole ordeal has caused me a ridiculous amount of anxiety, and I am ready for it to be over. Zach is taking the day off of school to go with me, and my Mom is coming to watch Tony, since we will be gone for more than a few hours driving there and back. Prayers for good weather so that she can make it here and back home again safely would also be appreciated.

Love,

Jess

I have had so many things on my mind lately. Little by little life is becoming more orderly, and I can sit down and type without feeling guilty.

We finally moved Tony's bedtime to 8pm (it had been 9, sometimes 10, if he was being particularly naughty). We were nervous that he would wake up at an ungodly hour, but that hasn't been the case. He's in bed by 8, and wakes up between 7:30-8am. I've read how important routine is for children, but it has only been now that I have seen how well Tony does with the predictability of our evenings. When dinner is over he asks for a bath, and then he knows it's time for prayers. Once prayers are done, we read, and then he gets in bed. Often times there are momentary tears as we leave the room, but he stays in bed, and falls asleep in 10-20 minutes. He doesn't nap (some days he really needs to, but getting him to settle down takes a million years and Evie has been eating up all of my patience in that department), so I have been savoring the time after he goes to bed like fine wine. It's amazing. Even if I have to put Evie in the carrier to get anything done after that. Right now she's asleep in my lap. 

We are finally saying the Rosary as a family. We haven't been very successful in the past, but we've been going strong for nearly 3 weeks now, which makes me so happy. We haven't been able to engage Tony yet - any suggestions? (Sometimes he will hold his "Rose", but lately all he has wanted to do is make noise and climb on Zach. I have a little better luck making him sit by me, but can't always because of Evie.)

My breakfast lifesaver: Egg muffins. I started making them for Zach, so that he doesn't have to eat the cafeteria garbage every morning. But then Tony asked for one and loved it, and I tried one and realized they are quite tasty. So now I make two dozen egg muffins on Sunday night to get us through until Thursday. That is, if Tony doesn't scarf down more than two a day. He hasn't eaten scrambled eggs in months, and will occasionally eat a single fried egg, but he will eat two egg muffins (which is equal to two eggs, with a little bit of sausage and some frozen spinach), and ask for more. At that point I give him yogurt because I don't want to run out of muffins. People say they freeze really well, but I haven't had a reason to freeze them yet. 

Has anyone else ever printed out those lovely cleaning schedules you see on Pinterest? And then proceeded to not do anything on them because it just doesn't fit your life? Ahem. I'm a person who needs lists and directions. If I don't have a plan for the day, it just kind of evaporates. Nothing extra gets cleaned, and I might make it to bed with the dishes done. Maybe. My mother-in-law is coming to visit this weekend, so I made a schedule for this week of what to clean on what day. Mainly so I didn't forget anything. I started yesterday, and actually did everything I had planned. It felt so good. Today I got most of it done. I locked myself out of the house this afternoon which made me lose a couple of hours while I waited for Zach to finish class. But anyway. I am now inspired to make my own schedule so I can stay on top of cleaning better. Cleaning one room a day really does not take very long, I don't know why I always think it will. 

You know that "one word for the year" thing that people do? I had never heard of it until I saw it on someone's blog last year. I didn't think about it again, until I saw it a couple of different places this year. I've been trying to set goals and get my act together a little better, and when I thought about what my word would be I came up with Patience.

Being the wife of a student is incredibly overwhelming sometimes. I get little to no break from anything. Zach has been trying to help me get the dishes done after dinner since I hate waking up to dirty dishes. And he will take the kids upstairs while I make dinner, which is fantastic. But during the day, and most evenings, it's me. Just me. And my patience with Tony wears really thin. Especially since Evie has not been napping unless she is held the entire time. 

So, I'm making a concerted effort to have more patience. And not just with Tony, with myself, too. That's not to say I'm going to use it as an excuse to be a bum parent, but I am a work in progress, and I need to remember that.

And now that I have written a novel, I am going to go brush my teeth. And get the clean, but not yet folded, laundry off my bed.

Love,

Jess

5 Months!

 

This sweet girl is 5 months old already.

A couple of months ago some friends sent us a lovely baby gift - a pink dress and headband, with a doll in a matching dress. I'm awful at estimating the size on baby dresses, so I didn't put it on Evie until today. Her pudgy little arms were almost too big for the elastic in the sleeves, so I'm glad I pulled it out!

My backdrop is a little wrinkled, but that's just too bad...next time I will iron it. I just wanted to snap some photos quickly, before the day came and went. I used the Boppy pillow underneath of the sheet to help her sit. 

What rock have I been living under?

I'm going to share some things that probably all other Catholic mothers have known about for ages. Somehow I have been seriously missing out on Catholic mommy blogs. 

Carrots for Michaelmas: Not totally a mommy blog - Haley and Daniel write about the Faith and other issues. One of my favorite posts being AFP: Awesome Family Planning. Their chickens make me wish I could keep chickens. But we're going to try the next best thing, so stay tuned for more details. Zach gave me their cookbook for Christmas, and I can't wait to get myself together enough to use it.

 

Happy Mommy Box. This just started in November, so I'm not too out of the loop. The founder is Catholic and her blog looks like fun. One day I might have to treat myself to a box. If I had the resources I would send one to all of my friends, too. Moms need more encouragement.

Camp Patton: Grace is married to an OB-GYN resident. Whenever I start feeling like my life is so hard...I think of Grace, pregnant, with three little kids and a husband who is gone far more than mine. Along with being highly amusing, I've also been encouraged by her and her husband's beautiful testament to life, even when it would seem crazy to people. I know people look at us and wonder why we are having kids while Zach is in school, but life can't stop just because things are busybusy. And, honestly, when is it not? We will be leaving here to start our own business, and I've heard that that is truly hell on earth, so...yeah.

You're welcome. I know you really need more ways to waste your time on the internet. For those of us who don't make friends in our community very easily, blogs like the above help get us through the rough days. (...I don't make friends partly because there are very few people here to be friends with and partly because despite my social nature I'm also a hermit. I like my home, and my peace, and my routine-that-doesn't-really-seem-like-a-routine.)

Happy Feast of the Baptism of Christ!

Love,

Jess

Tony talks...

This morning I was buckling Evie into her car seat and Tony said...
"Sit down and kiss me!"
So I did.
"Thanks, Mom."
Heart melted.

I don't know what happened to September, but October seems headed in the same direction. How is it the 13th? Evie is almost 2 months old, our 3rd anniversary is in 9 days.

At the head of one of the lakes. It took my breath away.

 I love everything about autumn. The weather, the colors, the food - especially butternut and delicata squash. Which brings me to a delicious dinner I made the other night. 

You will need:

• Ground beef, pork, venison - I did a pound of beef and half pound of pork
• Butternut squash - I used a medium-sized one
• Bell peppers - I think I used 2. Any color or combination of colors
• Quinoa - I made 3/4 cup UNcooked
• Fresh cilantro
• Cumin
• Salt and pepper

First, bake your squash. I cut mine in half, scoop out the seeds, put them face down in a pan with a little water. 350° until the skin is kind of brown and the meat is soft (usually 45min).

Next, bring the water for your quinoa to boil. Quinoa is like rice - twice the amount of water. Once the water is boiling, add the quinoa, turn it to low and cover. It's done when the little curly strings are curly. 

While that is cooking, brown your meat (with a little diced onion if you have an onion). Throw in the peppers. Cook until peppers are soft. 

Once the squash and quinoa are done, scoop the squash out of the skin and add it with the quinoa to the meat and peppers. Throw in a handful of chopped fresh cilantro and cumin, salt and pepper to taste. You can serve it now, or put it in a dish and bake for 20 minutes. 

I made it again last night, sans quinoa and cilantro, with 4 peppers and a large squash using chili powder as my spice. I wanted to add some chopped kale, but Evie needed to nurse so I skipped it. Next time. This kind of meal is very forgiving - you can adjust the amounts to suit your family - more veggies/less meat, no problem. Since we don't eat wheat products, I probably cook more meat than most people. I also try to make enough so that we have leftovers for lunch.

Evie is growing so quickly. She's very alert and follows you around the room. She knows if I leave and promptly cries. But she is a very good girl. We get lots and lots of big smiles and coos.

Cross-eyed.

Jack returned with us from my parents. He has been incredibly well-behaved, with the exception of escaping the other day and being gone for a few hours before we got a call that he was found two streets over. Tony loves having him here. Jack is very patient with Tony, and hasn't bothered Evie at all. He's sniffed at her in her bouncy chair a couple of times, but for the most part is completely uninterested.

Tony is growing like a weed. He talks all the time, and wants to know what we are talking about. At dinner, if Zach and I have a pause in our conversation, Tony will say, "Whatcha talking about?" (Complete with hand motions, which kills me. When I get off of the phone, I get interrogated, "Talking to Grandma? Talking about squash?" It's adorable and crazy. The other day I was telling Zach something, and part of a conversation I repeated included "Shut up." In the car on the way home, Evie started crying and Tony said, "Shut up, Evie. Shut up." I felt awful - he was playing in the grass while I was talking to Zach, so I didn't think he heard, and I certainly didn't think he would understand the context. Thankfully, that was a one time thing. He's back to his sweet big brother self - "It's okay, Evie. Mommy is coming. We are almost there."

Life is such a blessing. Bringing children into the world is a blessing. Some days are hard, no doubt about it, but most days are good.

The statue inside of the Capelhina.

 In case anyone else's pastor didn't find it worth mentioning, today is the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. A few years ago I had the great fortune to visit Fatima. It was amazing. I would love to go back to Portugal some day and spend more time at the Basilica.

Love,

Jess

Evie is 1 Month!

Prepare yourself for photo over-load. I'm too tired to say much, so I'm just going to throw a bunch of pictures up and call it a post. Evie usually goes to sleep easily, but tonight she was really cranky, and has finally fallen asleep in the bouncy seat. I had high hopes of being in bed by 10pm...ha!

This is the sling I made a couple of weeks ago. I used the medium rings from the SlingRing website, and the fabric is from my stash. The fabric has a teensy bit of stretch, but feels like twill. It's very sturdy. And beautiful. I made it 38" wide, which I'm thinking might be too wide. I pleated it onto the rings, and it bunches up a little on my shoulder, which is annoying. Once I get through my little list of projects that are more pressing, I think I'm going to take it apart and trim it down a few inches.

 Threaded. 

Unless I am wearing it incorrectly (rings too low?), it folds up around my neck going over my shoulder.

Overall, I am really happy with it. I've used it almost daily since I made it, and would definitely recommend a sling to anyone with a newborn. I wish I had had one with Tony!

With my babies.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! We had a fine Hobbit dinner tonight - beer-braised rabbit with potatoes and carrots, scones and hot apple cider. 

Love,

Jess