10 months

Isaac, you are 10 months old! Are we really going to be celebrating your first birthday in two short months?

You are army-crawling like a champ.... You still don't want to have anything to do with lifting your belly off the floor when you crawl. But, I guess you get around just fine, so why change, huh? You like to pull up on things now. Sometimes your legs start to slide out from under you and you start going into a split. I don't think you know how to correct yourself, so you just keep sliding! It cracks me up!

 I love how you try to reach something and you go up on your tip-toes! Look at those cute little feet!

We all love you so much! You bring us such joy! Everyone who meets you comments on how happy you are! I love that you are a happy baby! I pray that your joy stays with you forever!!

"Mint" for you!

I get tons of recipes from Pinterest. I've tried several and have yet to be disappointed.

I found this blog through Pinterest with a recipe for Thin Mint cookies. It's about to be Girl Scout Cookie season and one of my favorite things is seeing those little boxes of cookies outside of the grocery store. I love me some Thin Mints, so I thought I would give these a try....

.....AND THEY ARE TOTALLY AMAZING!!!

Seriously, go get you some Ritz Crackers and Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips! These are so easy! Michael helped make them!

Here's your supplies: Ritz crackers and a pack Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips (I'm sure regular Andes mints would work fine, but they probably cost more and you would have to unwrap all of them).

Pour the Andes Mints into a double boiler - I used a glass bowl over a small amount of water over low-medium heat. Stir around until they all melt!

Dip each cracker into the chocolate until it's coated. Then place onto some wax paper to cool.

We then made a cute little valentine card to attach to our mint cookies.

The hardest part is waiting for the chocolate to harden so you can eat them! We solved this problem by putting them in the freezer! They were ready in a few minutes!

My friend Sarah does blog posts about the things she tries from Pinterest. She calls them Pintentional Posts (clever, huh?).

I'm thinking about joining her, so consider this Pintentional Post #1! Success!

Through the phone lens....

I've not been so good lately about getting out my 'real' camera to capture pictures of our life. I am, however, always taking pictures with my phone! Sometimes I will take a picture just to send it to Sam at work so he can see what we are up to!

I finally uploaded all my phone pictures on the computer, so I thought I would show you what's been going on over the last month or so.....

Sam's basketball team had throwback night where they wore jerseys from 1975. It was hilarious! The boys had such great attitudes too. I loved that they wore sweatbands! Sam is in the back giving a time-out speech!

This is our day-to-day.... Michael loves that Isaac can now play with him. He is such a good big brother.

This was one of Sam's late night games. We watched the first half in bed! We are lucky that his school broadcasts most of the home games live on the internet!

Cleaning day! This little helper has loved to wipe things down since he was a baby! I use vinegar and water so he can help me and I don't worry about chemicals!

Best.Picture.Ever!! We saw Dikembe Mutombo at one of the games Sam was scouting. He is 7'2".... Makes me look like a little kid!

More playing together. Notice Isaac is putting tools in his mouth... Everything goes in his mouth! And I would also like to direct your attention to Michael's tool belt around his neck! :)

Michael loves to ride sugar like a horse. They were looking out the window together and I thought it was so sweet!

Michael helped me make banana bread in his apron and chef hat!

Isaac has 7 teeth now!! He looks completely different! I love when he gives me these big laughs!

....And he learned how to stand up in his crib a couple of weeks ago. It's funny because he was scared to fall back down, so sometimes he would just stand there and cry until I came in and laid him back down again or took him out.

My 'new' antique vanity! I looked forever for one of these and finally found 'the one'! 

I absolutely love it!

Last week was beach night at church. Michael looked fantastic in his Dominican beach shirt!

We've had a week of sickness at our house. Isaac had a cold, but he still looked as sweet as ever! And Michael got a stomach bug. Boo. (That big boo-boo on his head is from a sliding accident at a friend's house.)

 We are all on the mend now - hopefully! The weather here has been gorgeous, so we have taken advantage of playing outside! I think getting some fresh air has been good for all of us!

2012 Book List

I was just telling Sam the other day that I would love a day where I can just read and sleep all day long. Wouldn't that be nice? Maybe when I am 50!

I LOVE reading! I try to read a little every night. It actually makes me sleepy so it helps me unwind at the end of the day. I got a Kindle for Christmas and have already read the whole Hunger Games Trilogy. So good. Sooooo good.

I have seen several other bloggers make their list of books they would like to read for the year. I love the idea of setting a goal. It also eliminates the question of "What do I read next?"

Here's my list:

1. The Help - I haven't seen the movie yet because I want to read the book first. I have heard fantastic things about this book/movie!

2. The Well Behaved Child - Well, simply because I would love some insight on having well behaved children... I've heard this book is good. I think John Rosemond is wise. Obviously with these types of books, you take some advice and leave some... depending on what works best for your family. We shall see!

3. Grace for the Good Girl - Written by Emily from Chatting at the Sky. I've read reviews on this book and it sounds just lovely!

4. How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World - The art of living with style, class, and grace. I love me some Audrey Hepburn and some pearls!

5. How do you Tuck in a Superhero? - I got this book for Christmas! I love having my two boys and I'm anxious to hear from this mom who has FIVE sons!

6. Organized Simplicity - Well, those two words sum up the goal I want for my home, so this book looks delightful!

7. Give Them Grace - The subtitle is "Dazzling your kids with the love of Jesus"... Isn't that the goal?

8. Israel, My Beloved - I love reading Christian fiction (Redeeming Love is my all-time favorite book) and this one sounds fabulous!

Okay... So 8 books is a good start. If I finish those, I'll come up with some more. But I'm just going to work on reading these before the year is over!

Have you read any good books lately? I would love some suggestions!

Making Baby Food

As I was making some baby food for Isaac this afternoon, I thought it would be fun to capture it in pictures and share with you! I make most of Isaac's baby food. I will buy those squeezable baby food packs that he can feed himself when we are out, but most of the time he eats what I make. I have found that it saves us a bunch of money when I make his food!

I tried to make baby food for Michael when he was younger, but I talked myself into thinking that it was a huge inconvenience. This time around, I think just the opposite! I will spend a little time stocking up on our baby food and then we are good for the week!

I got this recipe from Erin at The Healthy Branscoms who got it from Wholesome Baby Food (great resource!!). I also have a book that I use for other foods called Blender Baby Food. I usually boil the veggies, but I like to bake squash and sweet potatoes. You could boil them as well... I just chose to bake this time!

Start with a squash of your choice... I chose an acorn squash because my mother in law gave one to me! :)

Cut it in half. You could scoop the seeds out now, but I chose to scoop after they were cooked. They came out easy-peasy!

Place in a dish with the faces down. Do you call those faces? Meat? Whatever... Put the yellow side down. Put in just enough water to cover the bottom - about 1/2 inch deep.

Now bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. It could probably take longer if your squash is bigger, but 45 minutes was plenty for this one!

Then I scooped out the seeds and scooped the squash into my handy dandy Magic Bullet cup. You could most definitely use a regular blender. It was actually soft enough where I could smash it with a fork, but I was having a lazy day. Didn't want to do any smashing.

And then puree.....

 Then I transferred it into my cute little baby food containers that I got on clearance at CVS! :) If I know Isaac will be eating them in the next couple of days, I put them in the fridge. Otherwise we keep them in the freezer.

I also label the tops of my containers with a dry erase marker so I know what's inside. I guess it doesn't really matter since Isaac will eat whatever I give him. But i just feel all organized that way....

And there you have it folks! Homemade baby squash! It's really easy to make, baby loves it,  it saves us money, and there's no preservatives in it! Win!

Guilt

Please know that I am writing this to myself. These are thoughts I've had for a while and thought they were worth sharing. I've even put blogging on the back-burner for a while because I feel like it's a struggle for so many women! I didn't want to write another post until I addressed this first.

We all feel that pang of guilt from time to time....

Am I being a good mom? Am I being a good wife? My house should be cleaner... My children should play more... I should be more in shape... 

As women, we often compare ourselves to others - me included! I think that with the popularity and accessibility of Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, etc... we get to peek into each others' lives a bit. I am quite a nosey person, so I LOVE getting to see what other people do! I even find joy in seeing the organization of someone's bathroom cabinets!

We see the glorious tiled bathrooms on Pinterest and long to take a bath in that ginormous tub!

We see the SuperMom who does all sorts of wonderful things with her children and still has time to keep her home immaculate and organized.

We see the woman bragging about all the things her child can do and say and how they are above average according to all standards!

What we don't see are the women who are hurting. The woman whose child isn't sleeping. The woman who has been going back and forth between physical therapy sessions for her child that is developmentally delayed. The woman who feels like she is constantly with her counselor. The woman who burns every meal she cooks. The woman whose husband lost his job. The woman who can't keep a clean house no matter how hard she tries. The woman who is stressed because she doesn't have help at home. The woman whose husband is serving our country across the globe.

I want to put it out on the table that this blog is a place where I write about positive things. You don't see every thing about my life. I NEVER intend to make my life look perfect on the outside by boasting and bragging. We don't spend our days going to the zoo, the beach, and making playdough. Most days are boring days that I don't find worth sharing... We have our own struggles that may make it to blogland one day, but for now we continue to work on them.

I came across a verse the other day and it was so powerful that I need to share with this world that so often compares.

"We do not dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us..."

2 Corinthians 10:12-13

I write this to encourage you and me. When we read things on the internet, keep in mind that we are seeing a snapshot of someone's life. Nobody's life is perfect - although some are presented that way.

I pray God gives us a feeling of worthiness! You are worthy! God put you in the role as wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter (and if any men read this...you are in the role as husband, father, friend, brother, son) for a reason! To His glory! Amen!

Hello!!

Why, hello there! Did you forget about me?

This little blog has been neglected as a result of taking care of 2 precious boys and trying to keep a clean house! I find that I can't put too many things on my plate or something really falls apart! My house was the thing that was falling apart and it was driving me nuts!! I cannot function when my house is a mess. It's so stressful to live amongst clutter and junk! However, I wasn't doing anything to help the situation.

I'm going to leave you with my new favorite picture of the two little men in my life that I am blessed to call my sons! I am so thankful to stay at home with them!

I hope to be more intentional about blogging and taking pictures this year! I love to be able to show our family that lives far away what is going on in our lives. If I can keep up with the things that NEED to get done, I will have time for other things I WANT to do! Here's to using my time more wisely in 2012!

I'm going to go unload the dishwasher now.....