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!