Contemplating Christmas

 I strangely feel torn this December. On the one hand, I am bombarded on the internet and in every store and in pictures people post on Facebook with the materialism and secularization that seems to define the modern American Christmas. These images combined with the practicality that we are spending half of December in Oklahoma have led me this year not to decorate quite like I have in years past. I am rethinking the Christmas tree and the stockings and the themes in the holiday music, though definitely not forsaking them completely. It is almost like we are taking a "year off" from the traditional decorations. No tree up, no stockings. We do have a wreath on the door, we put lights on the tree in the front yard, and I moved our nativity figurine from our mantel where it stays year round to the center of our table (and even added a few poinsettias for a seasonal touch).

Shortly after we put lights on this tree, Bram added the word "tree" to his vocabulary 

(I'm sure it wasn't a coincidence, because he loves walking over the the tree to touch the lights).

Though, at this point it does sound more like "twee". 

So as one part of me is choosing this year to downplay some of the aspects of the traditional Christmas (for practical reasons, yes, but also for personal examination), another part of me knows that as a Christian I have the best reason to throw a big party. I want to loudly proclaim to everyone around me the joy of the incarnation of Christ! It truly is "good news of great joy" that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not because of the sentimentality bound up in Baby Jesus or because he would grow up to be a great moral teacher, but because he would one day pay for my sins on the cross. And the fact he would die on the cross is no mere footnote in his life but that is the entire theme and purpose of his life on earth. As stated in my favorite hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, "Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!...Mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth." And consider the following quote from pastor John Donne, author of The Book of Uncommon Prayers:

"The whole of Christ's life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line. Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death." 

-John Donne, "Christmas Day, 1626" in Sermons of John Donne, as quoted by Joseph "Skip" Ryan in Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

So all that to say, I am feeling some internal conflict. I am kind of enjoying a tree-less Christmas but at the same time, I do not want this season to pass me by. I want to greatly celebrate my Lord and Savior, the God-man. But I do not want the tree and the stockings to define the way I must celebrate Christmas, though in future years they may very well be part of our family tradition. That being said, I do not yet know what Christmas traditions I want to start for our little family. Next year when Bram is two, I want to be intentional about celebrating the incarnation in a big way in our house. I just don't know the means I want to celebrate with yet. It's kind of a Christmas Paraphernalia Incubation Period for me. I would like to end this post saying, "I am probably over thinking this", but yet, as this is over-and-above-everything-else a spiritual and Christian holiday, I can't say that. I want to take "every thought captive to Christ", and at the same time I realize that celebrating the incarnation of Christ is more about my heart attitude toward God in this season than whether we have a tree or not.

In what way have you chosen to celebrate this season with your family? As a mom, I'm realizing more and more that I have the opportunity to establish the way we do holidays around here. That is a big responsibility! How have you moms directed your family's celebration of Christmas?

You Know You Are Old/A Parent/Sleep Deprived When...

...you and your husband have a look of shock and confusion on your faces as you pull up to the bank drive-thru on Saturday morning only to find out it is closed. I think one of us even audibly scoffed.

Banks are always open on Saturday mornings! What's the deal?

We look down at the clock. It's 8:36am. ON A SATURDAY. Of course the banks don't open until 9am.

...

I think it just felt later to us, because we got up and at 'em around 6am. Made breakfast, ate it, cleaned it up, got dressed, headed out the door, mailed a letter, and made it to the bank precisely 24 minutes before it opened for business.

And yes, our beloved toddler is the very reason we were up at 'em that early. Old. Parents. Sleep Deprived. Went To Bed At 9pm.

That's us right now. :)

Early To Rise & TGiving Update

Bram's been sleeping better than he ever has (meaning, not waking up much at night, usually once), but he's been consistently waking up at 6:30am. Is it just me that 6:30am seems a little early for your one-year-old to be up for the day? It's still dark outside! Bed time doesn't make a difference, either. If he goes to bed at 6:30pm or 9pm, he is still up stinkin' early. We had many chances to try out late bedtimes last week due to spending time with friends in the evenings over the holiday weekend. And trust me when I say that there was no "sleeping in" going on the mornings following! Gotta love early risers (which I'm thinking I may have one?).

The ironic thing is, that this is the most predictable Bram has ever been with sleeping since birth. Predictability is so nice because that means I can plan! I decided yesterday that if he is waking up about 6:30am, I should try and get up at 5:30am, which means I should go to bed around 9:30pm. Well, my hubby and I did our best and went to bed before 10pm. Abram decided to switch things up on us and he woke up at 5:45am and never went back to sleep. My personal "rule" (I use the term loosely, because my plans seem to be quite fluid) is that he should stay in his crib anyway, until about 7am. Poor kid has no idea what time it is, but oh well. Mama needs some time to read and clear the cobwebs, little one! So today I got breakfast going and then read for about 10 minutes while he stood in his crib and alternated between crying, fussing, yelling, and babbling.


It's not really a huge problem to deal with (early wake-up) compared to what we've dealt with in the past (seemingly unending night wakings). So I'm definitely thankful for the pretty generous amount of sleep I'm able to get right now. Just not sure how to best help my boy get better rest, he's so tired by around 8:30am because he's waking up so early.

On a different note, we had a great Thanksgiving holiday, albeit different than in the past in that we didn't see family. We spent time with new and old friends, and ate copious amounts of great food. Every recipe mentioned in my last post was FABULOUS. I'll post the make-ahead-mashed-potatoes recipe if anyone is interested since I didn't have a link to provide. My Favorite New Recipe was a tie between the slow-cooker stuffing and the apple pie. But I think the stuffing wins, since most often savory food is more typically my choice of indulgence.

A few notes on the stuffing if you're interested: I decided to go the long route and make the bread cubes from scratch, but it ended up being quite healthy as I made bread using whole wheat flour. (Side note: Husband gets the Best Hubby award. Both my hand held mixers went kaput about a month ago so HE kneaded my bread dough for 20-30 minutes by hand! My hero.) I cut a loaf and a half of bread into 1/2 inch cubes, and toasted them on cookie sheets at 200 degrees for 30-40 minutes. I cut the amount of butter in 1/2, and added extra bread cubes and veggies. I used chicken stock I had made awhile ago that was in my freezer. After making this once now, I see that I could definitely have baked the bread and toasted the cubes way in advance (for instance, sometime the week before) and cut down on the work to do the day before Thanksgiving. Another great thing about this recipe for stuffing is that it cooks in your slow cooker, so there's one less thing taking up room on your stove or in your oven.

Did you try any new recipes this Thanksgiving? Or have any tried-and-true ones to share? I love getting cooking ideas from others. Please leave a link and let me know how your recipes turned out! And if you have any suggestions for our lovable-but-early-bird please leave those, too.

Last Week in Review - In Pictures & Thanksgiving Food Plans

Hello and welcome to my blog. I'm sure you've noticed by now that most of my posts are a random compilation of what's going on in our neck of the woods, in my kitchen, what toddler developments have occurred, and if you're lucky there's pictorial evidence of said things. I read some blogs where posts are beautifully written and stick to one main topic. This is not one of those blogs. I love those blogs, but this is not one of those. I was the type in high school and college to write a paper mostly in one sitting, with not much proofreading or editing. It worked for me. That is how I write my posts, too. I love efficiency and here it means that my posts end up being random. If you're still reading this paragraph and haven't moved on yet, you probably are a true friend because it has been very rambly and boring. Moving on...

BIGGEST NEWS: This is what Bram looks like after sleeping 12 hours without a peep!

Last night B-man got 12 hours and Mama slept for 8.5 hours straight. I think I hear angels singing praises to God on my behalf somewhere. It felt awesome. It was my first full night of sleep since Abram was born. It was the first time he's ever gone longer than 10 hours (not bad, he's only 15 months and 9 days). I know this isn't something promised to me every night, especially whenever we add to our fold, but I'm just relishing in the memory that I got a full night of sleep last night. Abram was so rested he opted for only one nap instead of two today. I am definitely okay with that.

 YUMMIEST NEWS:

I made that applesauce I was telling you I hoped I would. It's delicious and a nice pink color. We still have over half of the batch left in the fridge to consume this week. Yummy.

FALLIEST PICTURES TAKEN LAST WEEK:

 Here's Bram in our backyard studying a leaf as I worked on raking the thousands of other leaves.

Picturesque fall scene in the neighborhood

OLD ENDEAVOR REVISTED:

I actually got bored one evening this weekend (what?!) and for some reason my current read isn't doing it for me (The Iliad) and so I picked up my most recent knitting project to work on. I cannot even recall if I started this dish cloth before baby came or after baby came (...and baby is now a toddler). Needless to say, it's been awhile since I touched my knitting needles (other than picking them up to pack them in a box to move them from OK). But I'm almost done with this little project and hope to keep knitting. Knitting goes with cold weather like blankets and Christmas music and hot chocolate.

SILLIEST TODDLER THING OF THE WEEK:

 Auntie Sarah got Bram this little book with Safari animals that Velcro to the book. I was just cracking up this week when I noticed that Bram consistently carries the zebra around by the tail. And yes, it was about 7:30am when I took this picture so try to put my polar bear pj pants out of your mind next time you see me. I promise I wear real people clothes, too.

ON THE AGENDA IN MY KITCHEN FOR THANKGIVING WEEK:

I'm trying out these new recipes:

• Slow Cooker Stuffing
• Poultry Seasoning (to put in the stuffing)
• Whole Wheat Pie Crust
• Apple Pie Filling

I'm also planning on making an old favorite recipe for mashed potatoes. Don't tell anyone, but they have cream cheese, sour cream, and butter in them. Yummy!

Update: I forgot about this Easy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie recipe I saved a few weeks ago. Definitely adding it to the T-Giving feast dessert list!

What We Had For Breakfast & Random Thoughts

I haven't done much in the way of cooking this week, other than making sure we're eating three meals a day and trying to pull off a nice dinner. Breakfasts and lunches have been ... random. All that to say, I hope to get a lot of cooking done this weekend so we're no longer having to resort to finger foods (aka random stuff in the fridge) for lunch unless that's just what we want. I made a fresh batch of tortillas last night, and hopefully today or tomorrow I can turn the 5 lb bag of potatoes into ranch potato wedges and the 12 lbs of apples into applesauce. Oh, and I last minute declared that Friday shall be Laundry Day this week. Did I mention my husband is at a conference today and tomorrow? He will be home for dinner tonight, but he is leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Why have I  decided to tackle big projects when he won't be around to help me? I don't have a good answer to this.

But anyway, I got on the ball and cooked breakfast this morning, specifically this baked oatmeal recipe. I made it as called for but baked it in an 8x8 Pyrex dish instead of muffin cups. Toppings were chunks of apples and dried cranberries on one half, and chocolate chips on the other half. One guess if you know me even a little at which side was my topping of choice. I'm living up the days when I can eat chocolate for breakfast without my child knowing.

We have been singing The Lord Is King with Bram every night for the last week or so. We generally have been choosing one hymn from the Sunday morning service at our church to sing as a family every night. They end up ministering more to me probably than anyone else. I'm thankful that the LORD raises up saints that know biblical truths, know the English language well, and can winsomely set these truths to music (and even make lines rhyme and such things..what?!). I am amazed at the creative ability of the  musician/songwriter. All that to say, here's our fam's newest favorite hymn. I specifically have been encouraged by The Lord is King! who then shall dare resist his will distrust his care? Or murmur at his wise decrees, or doubt his royal promises? and Come, make your wants, your burdens known. Christ will present them at the throne. For he is at the Father's side, the man of love, the Crucified. The truth that God in his very nature is so trustworthy. And he is ruling and reigning as King over all the heavens and the earth and time and space. Why would I not cast myself before him in prayer more often than I do? For he is sovereign, and he is good. He is the Crucified One, who died so that I may live joyfully in him forever. Who is more trustworthy than that?

The Lord is King! lift up your voice!
Let earth and all the heavens rejoice.
From world to world the joy shall ring,
'The Lord omnipotent is King!'


The Lord is King! who then shall dare
resist his will, distrust his care,
or murmur at his wise decrees,
or doubt his royal promises?


The Lord is King! child of the dust,
the judge of all the earth is just;
holy and true are all his ways:
let every creature speak his praise.

Come, make your wants, your burdens known;
Christ will present them at the throne;
for he is at the Father's side,
the Man of Love, the Crucified.

One Lord, one empire, all secures;
he reigns, and life and death are yours;
through earth and heaven one song shall ring,
'The Lord omnipotent is King!'

Blessed Auntie

Eliza Grace, 4 months

Daniel, 3 months

Anna, 4 years

Justice, 2 years (1 month shy of 3 years!)

Liyla, 1 year

I'm such a blessed Auntie. I became an aunt for the first time 4 years ago and now have FIVE precious nieces and nephews! I can't wait to spend quality time with each of these kiddos this Christmas. I just felt like spreading a little family love across the Internet this morning.

Recent Recipes

I have recently found a few dinner recipes that we Marylanders have been loving this past month! I figured I would share. Ironically (or not) all four dinner recipes below are from the Heavenly Homemaker's blog. She is definitely not paying me for talking up her recipes (in fact, she does not know that I exist and probably never will!), I am just a sucker for wholesome dinner options that are also easy to put together, which is pretty much everything on her site.

Layered Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas - we have made these as written (with beef) and with shredded chicken from a whole chicken. Both versions were so good! And only 5 ingredients? Yes, please! I have been making this dish with tortillas made from my friend Emily's homemade tortilla recipe mentioned previously. If I have a batch of these tortillas already made up (in my fridge or freezer), this dinner is the ultimate convenience dinner! I have been getting different types of salsa but have been mostly buying varieties of Muir Glen salsa.

Rice and Veggie Stir Fry - we have made this dish as written with the addition of chicken shredded chicken from a whole chicken. Great way to get veggies into our dinner! I think it's great when veggies end up in the main dish...cuts out a little bit of work for me in making an additional side of veggies.

Pizza Casserole - I love pizza. There's no question why I am digging this recipe right now! I choose to make it with organic brown rice pasta instead of whole wheat pasta because of a taste preference.

Calico Beans (Crock Pot Recipe) - this is really the recipe I cannot get enough of. We have made it twice, and both times we had company over. It was definitely a crowd pleaser both times and  - bonus - it was made in the slow cooker, so I was not stressing about getting the main dish on the table at a certain time. Next week I am actually making it for us when we are not having company over, and I will get to enjoy this dish for two nights in a row! Yippee!

Other recipe news:

Wow! These Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits just came out of my oven and they are so yummy! I tried making homemade whole wheat biscuits once before and they were gross. These, however, turned out tasting delicious. Because my previous biscuit recipe ended up with dense biscuits that didn't rise, I decided that even though this was my first try at this recipe, I would go ahead and use 1 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour + 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour to make sure they had some fluff. The recipe calls for 2 cups whole wheat flour, but the combo of whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour turned out great. The dough was really sticky but I read that this is normal. I think I will oil the counter top, my hands, and the cup next time after reading some comments on the blog the recipe originally came from.

We have been loving this Better Than Butternut: Roasted Delicata Squash. It's a winter squash, so you could make this all winter! I am sad that summer squash is gone from the farmer's market, but I can get over that pretty easily when I pick up a few of these Delicata squash. It really does have a naturally buttery, potato-y flavor that is so delicious!

Do you have a favorite source for recipes? I get easily overwhelmed by the amount of food blogs and recipes online that I mostly stick to www.heavenlyhomemakers.com or www.100daysofrealfood.com. Anything else I make is either a family favorite, a friend's recommendation, or out of Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions cookbook. I have printed out all our favorite recipes and put them together in a binder where I can flip through them in my kitchen. They are in those clear page protectors, which has been great when I splatter on them while cooking! Do you have a particular method for organizing recipes?

Family Visit

 Whew! Tuesday was busy. Yesterday I spent the first part of the day hastily cleaning last-minute things in the house, spent an hour at the polls voting with my husband and son, ran by the grocery store, and hosted my sister, brother-in-law, and niece for the night while watching election updates. Here's a few pictures we snapped this morning before Julie, Patrick, and Ellie headed back to North Carolina to spend time with Patrick's family.

My niece is such a cuddly baby! She has the cutest little rolls 

that my A never had. He's always been such a string bean.

I loved holding this squishy baby!

I can't wait to watch these two cousins grow up together!

She's such a sweet, little girl. I'm looking forward to seeing both Ellie

and my nephew Daniel (my other sister's son) this Christmas in Oklahoma!

Cleaning Conundrums

More than ever, my house is in constant need of attention. My little guy loves walking around the house exploring and it's fun to watch his blossoming independence. Before he walked, he would mostly stick to the area of the house I was in. If I was in the kitchen, he wanted to be in the kitchen with me. Now for the most part, he's content to walk around our house while I'm cooking or cleaning and entertain himself with whatever his hands find to do (I just have to make sure the bathroom door is shut before I cut him loose!). This is GREAT news. What was my clingy whining child is now a babbling, walking, and curious little student-of-all-things-within-reach. The downside to this is that there are messes everywhere. You can follow his trail pretty easily with the way he can spread toys (and remotes and shoes and mail and laundry) across a room in two seconds flat.

To the point of this post, we are having company tomorrow. My big sis Julie and her husband and daughter are staying with us tomorrow night and I am so excited. I haven't seen my little niece Ellie since my trip to Georgia when she was three weeks old (see those pictures here).

Company always gets me in a cleaning frenzy. We seem to have people in our house relatively frequently which helps me get my act together. But all this to say, I really don't have a schedule or plan for what I clean when. All I really have are a few helpful tips I've gathered on keeping the clutter in check.

•  Every time you leave a room, make it a habit to take something with you that you can put away as you walk to your next destination.
• Do one thing every day that cannot be undone within 24 hours. So for instance, do something every day cleaning-wise other than dishes/countertops and general picking up. Examples are things like cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, or having a laundry day. Those other things will get done anyway. (This one I just heard today. Thanks, Mom!)
• In the kitchen, try to do more than one thing at a time. Wash a few dishes while sauteing veggies, for example.
• Always get your kitchen in order before you go to bed. Remembering that the dishwasher is full of clean dishes and that there are dirty dishes in the sink does not motivate me to pop out of bed to make breakfast (thereby making more dirty dishes). Intentional time spent the night before helps me keep my grumpiness in check (and helps me make breakfast faster leading to a happier toddler). 

Okay, that's all I've got for now. What is your cleaning routine? Any helpful tips on what keeps your home running smoothly?

Gotta go. My sister will read this so I better make sure the house is clean before she gets here.

Confessions of a Book Nerd...and Christmas Prep

I don't know if any of you knew this, but I'm the Queen of Amazon Wish Lists. Yep, I have earned the official title. Why do I love making Amazon Wish Lists? Amazon makes all my dreams come true. Amazon sells millions and millions of books! And millions of millions of other practical and impractical things. True confession, even my babe had his very own Book Wish List on Amazon before he was born. He still has it and, it has 57 books on it. I'm sure my parents are not surprised. Board books, beautifully illustrated hardcover books, chapter books (mostly from my year teaching 5th grade), Seuss books,  books with mathematical themes (thank you, Math Education classes), books from my own childhood, and books other moms have recommended. We may never own all these books, but a girl can dream, can't she?

Now let's bridge over to a different topic. Last year somewhere on the internet, I read about another family that had a fun tradition of present-buying for their kids' Christmas presents. They bought 4 gifts for every child, with each gift fitting into one of the following categories:
1. Something you want
2. Something you need
3. Something to wear
4. Something to read

Of course, the mention of something to read caught my attention right away, and the fact that the list includes practical things. I'm a bit of a pragmatist. I want my kids (the plural is hypothetical at this point) to understand that having new socks and shoes and underwear is a privilege! But I also appreciated #1, that you definitely pick something the child wants. I love the idea of buying gifts that people actually want. A no-strings-attached-you-asked-for-it-you-got-it kind of gift.

As I revisit this idea of present-giving a year later, I still love it. I just don't know if I will be able to constrain myself to buying only one book and only one fun toy. I'll update you all after Christmas and let you know if I stuck to this list. After all, our house is already full of fun toys, not to mention what it will look like after celebrating Christmas with Grammy, Grandma, Papa, and all the aunts and uncles in Oklahoma!

So, dear readers, what do you think? Do you like making ridiculously long wish lists for your child? Do you have a plan for buying your children presents for Christmas? Are you a fellow book worm?

Now, please excuse me as I put on my nostalgic Mom Hat for a moment. I just perused our external hard drive and pulled out all the pictures of Bram reading that I could find. Bear with me as I show them to you!

 

Newbie Bram and Grandma Peggy reading the classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

 "Sitting" in his rocking chair reading a favorite from my growing up years, God Is With Me.

 Who said reading can't be fun? Just lay in the middle of all your blocks!

 Reading with Aunt Sarah!

 Doesn't he look like a serious reader here? Birthday Monsters is quite the gripping tale.

Dinosaur Roar is definitely a page turner and a good travel companion.

  All opinions are my own in this post, I was not paid by Amazon, just gushing about their great wish list feature!

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

We woke up this morning with the power still on. Praise the Lord! It is a blessing to not have to worry about our food spoiling or our house getting too cold (it's in the 40's today) or how we will heat up our food. We have some friends in VA that did lose their power. Apparently NY and NJ were hit pretty bad, and the hurricane is still going. It's still raining here, but no more "hurricane force winds". It's been raining continuously and overcast since Sunday. Some water got into our attic (we think) as we noticed a wet ring on the ceiling around the light fixture in the master bedroom, but nothing is dripping. Our master smells like fish, though! We are not sure why. One question we have is that if the hurricane came from the ocean, is the rain we are experiencing salt water/water from the ocean? If so, then I could understand why our room suddenly has a fishy smell. If you have any knowledge of this aspect of hurricanes, please don't hesitate to enlighten me in a comment below.

Frankenstorm

We are smack dab in the middle of experiencing our first hurricane! Hurricane Sandy, dubbed "Frankenstorm", moved her way from the Atlantic to the northeast starting last night/this morning. All metros and public transportation in the DC area was shut down today, and the hub's work was shut down today and tomorrow, too. Every time the lights flicker, I expect them to stay out, but so far they have come back on! We have never prepared so much for a storm in our lives. We are used to tornados in Oklahoma, where you duck and cover for maybe ten minutes and you are good to go! Hurricanes, we're learning, stick around for much longer than that - like, days. Here's a funny list of all the ways we tried to get ready for Frankenstorm if she does her worst and knocks out our power for days:

-loaded up on canned goods - meat, soups, beans
-bought 4 gallons of water
-aired up our air mattress and stored it (off the floor) in the basement, "just in case" a tree falls on the house
-put the pack-n-play in the basement
-put sheets and blankets in the basement
-baked bread, 20 tortillas, and 30 empanadas in the past 24 hours
-loaded up on the important food groups, like Cheese-its and M&Ms
-filled pots up with water
-filled 2 Brita filters with water in the fridge
-bought 4 flashlights (we had none)
-bought a ton of batteries
-bought a solar-powered rechargeable crank emergency weather radio, that doubles (or triples?) as an LED flashlight and cell phone charger (what?!)
-kept our phones plugged in all day, just so they are on 100% battery if the lights go out
-made grab bags of all our food in case we need to take it with us downstairs
-put batteries in the baby's sound machine so he can continue to sleep peacefully if the power goes out rendering the AC adapter useless
-did all of our laundry
-washed all of our cloth diapers this weekend and switched over to disposables, in case we can't do laundry for several days

I can't believe all the work and prep we've put into this! All that to say as well, that I'm thankful for our technology that can forecast crazy storms like this. I've never had so much warning for a storm. We are living normally so far but are trying to expect the unexpected, or maybe I should say, expect the expected?

My Gems

Can you believe this cutie brought so much drama into my life last year? Here is a picture snapped of him this evening before a much needed bath. That hair was just a bit too greasy. This post is a reflection on some things God used last year to get me through my first year of motherhood.

Over the course of last year, whenever I came across a precious gem, I'd tuck it away in a safe place. No, I'm no antique dealer, I don't go to estate sales, and I know almost nothing about real jewels. These gems were internet treasures - blog posts written by the souls of men and women that encouraged me to press on in the trials of being a new mom and the mom of a crazy sleeper, crazy nurser, and overall colicky baby. Each time I discovered a new one, it was as if I saw a glimmer of hope, like light reflecting off a facet of a jewel in a dark room. In conversation, I typically refer to those first nine months of motherhood, specifically, as "that time when I was in a cave". I had difficulty orienting myself, a hard time seeing the big picture, and I felt trapped in my new role.

I printed each blog post out and kept them in a binder that for awhile, I leafed through every day just to renew my soul's perspective that was often too inward-bent.

I must mention one other thing. My "gems" also include five women who encouraged me regularly over the phone, through text messages, or in email conversations during this time. Praise the LORD for technology. These women faithfully kept up with me, prayed for me, and encouraged me over electronic means when we couldn't be in each others' presence. I still had a hard time going grocery shopping at this point, much less being able to pop on over to a friends house for a heart to heart. Some of these women didn't even live in the same town. God was so kind to care for me through these women during this time of difficulty. I praise Him that He cares for His people oftentimes through His people. Consider 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

All this to say, I don't want to keep these blog posts to myself, if in any way they may encourage you also. It is just so comforting to know you are not alone in a situation. I think that is one of the most powerful reasons why these women and blog posts meant so much to me. I was reminded that I wasn't alone. I wasn't a crazy person (or, maybe I was, but I had good company). Other people struggled, too! Other mothers had had similar struggles. Someone understood. Though I felt like I was in a cave in isolation, I was reminded each time I talked with one of these women or each time I read a blog post that I wasn't actually in a cave alone.

Without further ado, here are links to posts I found so encouraging for one reason or another. May they be a light to you when all other lights seem to go out (why yes, that was a LOTR reference). May they reflect Christ's beauty to you as a jewel only sparkles when it reflects dazzling light.

Cast Your Home Cares

The Question God Always Answers

Jesus Takes the Insanity Out of Parenting

The Littleness of Motherhood

To the Mother With Only One Child

Motherhood is Application

The Preeminence of Jesus is for Everyday Life

Praying Past Preferred Outcomes

The Long View

How To Be The Perfect Mother

The Open Eyes of Faith

How Eternity Can Influence a Mother's Daily Tasks

When School Starts

Don't Carpe Diem

Walking, Swag Bucks Update and Fall Fun

Bram is finally walking! Watch the above video for proof. 

He also says "Hi!" in this video. His 3rd word behind Mama and Dada.

Swag Bucks Update:

 Wow! I promised an update on this new venture, and here it is. I have been using Swag Bucks to do internet searches (instead of Google) for a little over a week and I already won $5 in Amazon giftcards! I am also almost half way to winning another $5 Amazon giftcard. If you are interested in trying it out, sign up using this link. It can be as easy as just changing your homepage and adding the toolbar. You could start winning, too, without changing anything about your online habits. I also learned during the past week that if you already do shopping at Target.com, Walmart.com, the online Apple store, Kohls.com, or even Drugstore.com, you earn lots and lots of Swag Bucks just by doing your usual shopping. How cool is that? My sis earned over $5 in Amazon giftcards when she made a normal Target purchase online. How awesome! I'll keep you guys updated as I get farther into this. Join me if you want, and let me know how it's going for you! I've already learned lots of tips on how to earn if you are interested.

Fall Fun:

We are enjoying trees turning around here. Bram enjoys studying the fallen leaves and when we are outside he loves watching the wind blow leaves around our cul-de-sac. It's pretty cute. 

Here are some pics of my cutie taken this past week:

Do Swagbucks With Me!

Hi friends,

I'm taking the plunge. A few minutes ago I downloaded the Swagbucks toolbar and search engine for our home computer. Why would I use this search engine over Google, you may ask? To put it simply, by using this company's search engine and toolbar I can earn points, called "swagbucks" that over time accumulate and are able to redeem very useful things, like Amazon giftcards and Starbucks giftcards. Now, money has been tight in our household nearly our whole marriage. God is a gracious and faithful God, and my husband and I have seen His grace in always providing us these last 3 years with what we need. And we even have been able to afford good, wholesome food. And we have seen the generosity of so many who have helped us out this time or that time. God is good and generous, no complaining here, only praise! But I was just thinking earlier this week, "If I had some extra money this month, I'd buy this gift for so-and-so, or  this for so-and-so". With Christmas approaching, I decided to try out Swagbucks in the hopes I will be able to have a little more freedom for gift giving.

Why am I telling you all this? If you sign up for Swagbucks through my link, we will both earn points, or "swagbucks". What I'm getting at is - if you don't care what search engine you use, then join me in joining Swagbucks and it will help us both earn Amazon giftcards and other such practical things!

Have I convinced you yet? Sign up here! I will update on the blog if this turns out to work well. I'm thinking that the Lord may be answering my prayers for wanting to give more gifts by bringing Swagbucks back into my mind today.

In all it took me about 5 minutes to get both the Swagbucks toolbar and search engine set as my new defaults on my computer.

Thank you, dear readers, for considering my plea for your participation in my new endeavor!

Don't forget to sign up for Swagbucks here if you want to try it out with me!

Bram, Balls, Bread, Burritos

Update on our life via iPhone photos:

Bram has been changing so much the past few weeks. He's have a "burst of development" like he did around 9 months. He's not walking but doing so much more with fine motor control. In the pic above he is signing "more". He doesn't always do it in the right context, but we think he knows that it means something. Other things:

• Things to Roll: He figured out how to roll a ball a few weeks ago, and now he rolls everything with a curved side (balls, cups, water bottles, pull toys, cars). He crawls around and amuses himself by rolling something then chasing it.
• He discovered how to bounce his basketball, and knows that the other balls we have don't bounce.
• He can turn knobs
• He can push buttons (in a couple ways, haha)
• He puts things into other things when he used to just take things out: For instance, he will take a bite of food out of my palm, and put it back in, and take it out, and put it back in. See picture below of where he decided to nest his water cup.

• He doesn't scream bloody murder when I clean out his nose with the nasal aspirator. This is big, folks. I think he understands what I'm doing, and that he'd prefer a clean nose over a snotty one. He still disapproves of the whole affair, but it's not near the protest he used to put up.
• He's starting to figure out how to blow his nose (I'm trying to encourage this!).
• He is actively trying to use his utensils at every meal. Just one day last week he decided he needed to actually use his fork and spoon instead of just flail them around. He's not very good at it, but he's internally determined!

 This is (part of) our backyard right now. If I had painting skills I know I could put them to use this fall. It's so pretty here!

I've been enjoying these beauties ever since we had a couple over for dinner last week. What girl doesn't like being surprised with flowers after a long day of prepping for dinner guests? Thank you, Matthew and Alanna!

These ingredients changed my bread forever! See the proof below. Thank you, Beth, for your help and your recipe. 

We ran out of tortillas, so I asked my friend Emily for her recipe. It was straightforward and easy and required no purchasing of special ingredients. Just flour, oil, salt, baking powder, and water. As long as I can make time for it, I hope to make these from now on instead of buying them. Previously, I was intimidated at the thought of making tortillas for a couple funny reasons: 1) I thought you had to have lard and, 2) I thought if you didn't have a tortilla press it would be a lot of work with a rolling pin. Wrong. I did use a rolling pin, but it wasn't hard. And I didn't have to buy lard, I just used my regular ol' coconut oil. Glad I can move on with life now...and tortilla making! And burrito assembling!

My boy is so happy when he gets to play with Mama's car keys. He had rummaged in my purse this night and found them, so we let him play with them for a few minutes. This pic was taken when Dada was dangling the keys in front of his face. Can't believe how fun car keys are!

Leaves Are Falling

So, this area of the country still doesn't really feel like "home", but it's just absolutely gorgeous up here. Trees are just beginning to turn and our neighbor's tree is dropping little orange leaves onto our yard this morning. Most everything else is still green and the temps are amazing (70s). It's pretty humid though. I've been learning more about this area and one thing I've learned is that the Capitol is literally a swamp. The Capitol building used to sit on the edge of the Potomac, and they filled it in with dirt to make DC. Crazy. No wonder there are so many mosquitoes here!

Anyway, the fall-ish weather motivated me to try some cooler weather recipes:

• Cheesy Bread in a Pumpkin (mentioned in the previous post - our guests asked for the recipe so they must've liked it - score!)
• Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
• Crock Pot Calico Beans (I loved this one, but I'm a girl who loves her meat and beans)
•  S'mores Brownies (combining two of my favorite things!)

Up next on the agenda:

• Crock Pot Italian Cream Cheese Chicken 
• Pizza Casserole 
• Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup (so excited to use this in my recipe for Chicken Broccoli Casserole)
• Rice and Veggie Stir Fry with chicken

Looking for:

• Baking recipes that call for pumpkin! Leave a comment if you have a good one!

More randomness:

I guess the morning-after a rainy evening combined with severe lack of sleep due to a toddler who is getting at least two molars (still waiting for them to erupt!) combined with singing the first hymn (Abide With Me) in our homemade hymnbook (that's in alphabetical order...I was too tired to even turn pages this morning, apparently) has got me in a mellow mood. But I'm loving the reminder that truly man's only lasting hope in this life is in God and in Christ, and I love how the final verse reorders my heart to look to heaven in anticipation of being with Christ.

Abide with me fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence ev'ry passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Thro' cloud and sunshine, O abide with me!

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness;
Where is death's sting? Where grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Reveal Thyself before my closing eyes
Shine thro' the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav'n's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

-Henry Lyte 

Update: The Crock Pot Italian Cream Cheese Chicken was really good! It is very, very rich. I almost couldn't finish my portion it was so rich! My husband said this one's going "in the rotation", though sparingly, as its richness makes it an indulgent dinner. Perfect for a nice Italian themed dinner night with your hubby or with company over. 

Snip, Snip and a Recipe

Yesterday, Bram had a little makeover. He started out looking like this:

 He had some cute little curls in back, but as you can see in the first picture, the strands by his ears were long and straight and crazy looking. 

 So, I did a little of this.

 And he ended up looking like this!

Pictured here playing with the woodpecker knocker on the bathroom door...stay tuned, this knocker will appear in Episode 2 of Abode Aberrations.

I'm pretty relieved that my first trim with hair scissors went well. I cut Jon's hair every month with an electric clipper, but I figured the buzzing would freak a toddler out. So we opted for hair scissors. He looks a little older now, and maybe he won't be mistaken as "such a cute, little girl" in the grocery store anymore. 

Oh, and since fall is definitely here in D.C., I'm trying this cheese fondue in a pumpkin recipe tonight. I bought a sugar pumpkin recently and have been excited about roasting it. I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm using Swiss cheese instead of the Gruyere called for. Thanks to my friend Whitney for pointing me to the recipe.

Photo credit: blog.streaminggourmet.com

Sleep, Elusive Sleep

Yep. This screenshot was taken a mere 2 seconds ago from my phone. As many of you know, our Lil' Bundle has never been one to sleep "like a baby". He was up and down and up and down tonight until around 1am I decided to give him a snack and rock him to sleep once and for all (famous last words). Hope with me that he is asleep for good tonight! Thank You Lord for the promise of eternal rest with Christ one day, and, thank You tomorrow for coffee.

Bram's Favorite Things - 13 months

A list...in random order

1. Board books - chewing on them (we call him our Little Goat), turning the pages, having stories read to him

2. Crawling - he finally figured out how to crawl on his hands and knees (versus the army crawl). It only took 12.5 months to "click". This guy does things in his own time, that's for sure.

3. Walking while holding onto one of Mama or Dada's hands

4. Trying to get the silverware out of the open dishwasher

5. Getting ash on his hands in the fireplace...he conveniently chooses to do this when I am in the restroom

6. Mama's car keys (this probably ranks #1!)

7. Taking each piece out of his puzzle and dropping them one by one onto the floor

8. Eating magazines and other paper advertisements...and yes, I did say eating

9. Eating/unrolling the toilet paper

10. Spilling water out of his cup and wiping it all over his tray

11. Babbling - saying Mama, Dada, and lots of random combinations of sounds; he sometimes will mimic us and that's fun! Just like his Mama, though, we have a hard time coercing him to do anything he doesn't want to do, so sometimes when we babble at him we just get the Blank Stare

12. Looking at himself in the mirror - he seriously lights up at his own reflection

13. Seeing dogs, anywhere - cue high pitched squeal

14. Putting sticks, leaves, dirt, and acorns into his mouth

15. His Mama - he's totally a mama's boy, and I'll just be honest, I love it. Well, if I'm being really honest here, I love it unless it's the middle of the night and he only wants me. Which is every night. Sigh.

Does that sound like a little boy toddler to you? It does to me! He's seriously a mess, and we love him.

 Bram somehow manages to twist around (strapped in) in the cart.

He just has to see what I'm seeing as we shop, apparently.

 My perfectly happy little contortionist.

 Abram's new friend, Mason, turned one last week and we got to go to his party.

 He loved his cake!

There are lots of little boys right around Abram's age at church.

Somehow we got most of the babies at the party to sit down for a quick pic.