Foodie Friday!!

This week I tried to coordinate Dax's foods with what we would be eating, so here's a peak...

Daniel has been dying for me to make popsicles so I finally did and made some mini ones for Dax. I did a blend of banana, blueberry, and nectarine and for Dax I just used his ice cube trays that we freeze his food in and stuck a craft stick in the middle. These were the perfect size for him and the big craft stick made for easy holding for little hands. These were just ok. They were sort of icey.... but I'm not sure why? Maybe that's just how fresh fruit popsicles are since there's no added fruit juices or anything? If you have any tips let me know!  Dax wasn't the biggest fan of them. I think little piggy wants instant gratification when he's eating something and therefore the slow process of eating a popsicle wasn't up his alley.

One day for lunch this week I made this very yummy wrap for myself for lunch with whole grain tortilla, spinach leaves, balsamic vinaigrette, turkey, cheese, and capers. So for Dax I went with whole grain crackers, turkey, cheese, and threw in some peas for a veggie (plus they're dax's favorite finger food). Of course he loved it and cleared his plate!

So yesterday was my first full day at home without Dax and I was sort of in Susie Home-maker mode (I think it was my way of not being depressed about being away from Dax). Well on top of cleaning the house top to bottom, making birthday decoration, and doing 3 loads of laundry, I decided to get "adventurous"  and make something for dinner! Whoa... step back a minute!  Anyone that knows me knows I can not cook, at.all. I do the baking around the house, and Daniel does the cooking. But I found a very yummy recipes for a crock pot meal in one of my cookbooks and decided to tackle it.  Introducing Italian Chicken (check out the recipe here).

This was minus the chicken and dressing and soup. Looks soooo yummy! I used diced tomato's instead of whole.  And here is the finished product!

I thought it was delish!! I put it on top of some Basil Linguine and I'm not going to lie... was pretty impressed with myself. Plus, it was super, super easy. Basically everything was canned or prepackaged so all you had to do was wash the mushrooms, cut up the chicken, and poor everything in. So, so easy and yummy! For Dax I saved some of the artichokes and steamed them, so he had artichokes, basil linguine, strawberries, and tried a few mushrooms (which he loved!). This was a great, super easy meal that I'm sure we'll be having in the future!
And to end foodie Friday here's a pick of our boy double fisting it :)  I like to give him choices on what to drink... and apparently this day he wanted both milk and water. It was pretty cute.

and he's off....

Well I just got back from dropping Dax off at daycare for the first time in almost 4 months, and I"m not going to lie.... I cried all the way home, and probably will most of the time I type this.  Dax was in daycare for 6 months when he was little, but the majority of that time he was in a classroom right next door to mine and I could stop in and see him as many times as I wanted throughout the day.  At the beginning of May I quit teaching in order to make our move to Bixby and since then have been a full time stay at home mom.

It has been the absolute hardest job I have ever had, but by far the most fulfilling.

I have loved staying at home taking care of the baby and house more than anything. I love teaching, but have been my happiest and most fulfilled while staying at home. I know it's just not an option right now while Daniel's in med school but hopefully I'll get to do it again sometime in the future... and I can't wait for that day.

Monday I start student teaching. I'll do this for a semester and then will be certified to teach in Oklahoma (after I pass the OPTE & OSAT). To be completely honest I'm not really looking forward to this at all, which I know is an awful awful attitude to have (and I'm praying for that to change everyday). But like I said, I have felt more fulfilled staying with Dax than I ever have teaching, and I have never looked forward to teaching in public schools... it just doesn't go along with how I view education and learning.  I have also been doubting myself in my ability to teach more in the last few weeks than I ever have and that's not helping much with the attitude towards this student teaching experience. If I can make it through the first 8 weeks I think I'll be happier and look forward to it a little more.
My student teaching is broke into two separate experiences. The first 8 weeks I'll be working in a 2nd grade classroom at a HUGE (as in like 5 times as many students as I graduated with, and that's only through 4th grade) public school nearby.  The last 8 weeks I'm actually somewhat looking forward to. I'll be teaching a pre-k class in a private school that follows the Reggio Emelia approach to education (if you haven't heard of it, please, please check it out!). This is right up my alley and goes right along with everything I believe. We actually have Dax on the wait list for this school in hopes of starting him fall 2012.  I'm also looking forward to the fact that this is a Pre-K class because infants through Pre-K are my ideal ages to teach. If this was first I think the transition from being stay at home mom to teaching would be a lot easier.

Please continue to pray for Dax and I as we make this transition. I'm sure he'll love it and do just fine... so I guess most of the prayers should be sent my way. Pray for strength to do what's necessary for my family at this time, confidence in my ability to teach, and peace of mind and heart during all the changes this semester holds for us.
This was the verse in my devotional I got by email today from Parenting by Design.  So, so perfect.

Ps 27:13-14:  "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" (NKJV).

Happy Sunday!

Hope your Sunday was a wonderful as ours! Someone got his first swing today... I'd say it was a hit.

and then we ended the day with this....

I think I'll keep him around :)

Foodie Friday

So food this week was not very exciting for us. We were out of town last week and Monday took Dax to the doctor to find out he had an ear infection and asthma. So needless to say we were pretty much on survival mode this week so there wasn't much time to get creative with food.  But here are a few of our favs from the week...
Monday we had some sweet potatoes and peas we needed to use before they went bad so Dax had sweet potatoes, peas, and pasta seasoned with parsley.

Little man loved this. It's possibly 3 of his top 4 favorite foods so he cleaned his plate fairly quickly!
Wednesday I wanted to get Dax a variety of veggies in but also wanted to try and get some protein in. So we tried sliced chicken (think thin sandwich meat) for the first time. It was a BIG hit... and he quickly picked out all the chicken and then moved on to the veggies.

And a third big hit this week was done by me having nothing prepared for him ahead of time and just throwing whatever I had easily available together. But luckily, my little piggy thought it was delicious! We again went with the sliced chicken, threw in some shredded cheese, and broke some whole grain crackers up into bite size pieces. Yum yum

 

We have been slowly weaning Dax off of formula over the past couple weeks and we are now down to 2 bottles of formula a day, one first thing in the morning and one before bed. The rest of the time he is drinking organic whole milk from his sippy  (at all snacks and meals) and water throughout the day as he needs it. He's really doing so well with this and luckily has taken to milk and water really great. He's totaling about 10oz of whole milk a day and 3oz of water. And this has nothing to do with food... but he is officially a walker..... and it terrifies me! Yikes!
I promise this week we'll try to get a little more creative on our food..... try :)

Ten on Ten

We have a little boy that is teething... and has an ear infection. Our day started with lots of cuddling.

and then there was rain... lots of rain, like hardcore storms in the middle of the night that brought down trees in our neighborhood, kind of rain. We have been in a severe drought for like 2 months so we almost forgot what it looked like...

mmmmm.... I enjoyed mid morning snack just as much as Dax... coffee and catching up on blogs while it rains outside. Perfection.

Daddy actually didn't have to go to the hospital or clinics today!! Instead it was a stay at home day to use for studying but he made sure to come out and play every now and then

and someone did some major walking today.... and has successfully figured out how to turn

Don't worry... he's not trying to eat the dog. He just loves her, so much that he wants to kiss her all the time, but she's not so sure about that

He's pretty proud of his daddy... just like me.

The evil machine of death.... at least that's what Dax thinks it is... unless Nemo is on... which in that case he will sit completely still the entire 20minutes that he gets his breathing treatment.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights Daniel takes an hour study break and we watch Big Brother together. As sad as it is to admit... we're both addicted. But I really enjoy this time together and look forward to it each day!

And this my friends.... is the end to a good night. Daniel made some very yummy veggie, chicken, and rice stir fry... and if you can't tell, it was pretty good. We also wrapped up the evening with some ice cream because someone, "couldn't study without it".

And we'll wrap up this Ten on Ten with a little bonus video from today... who needs toys when you have an office chair?

The Greatest Gift

Luke 10:20:  "'Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven'" (NASU).

Christ sent 70 disciples out into Judea and they did great miracles in His name, winning many to Him.  They came back rejoicing in what God had done.  Imagine Jesus meeting and celebrating with them for the work they had done.  But, there was real potential for spiritual pride!
While Jesus wanted to celebrate their victories, he added the perspective that, as great as their victories were, an even greater cause for celebration was their own salvation.  He reminded them that what was done for them through Him was even greater than the work they accomplished.
It occurred to me that Jesus wasn't trying to lessen their accomplishments; He was celebrating with them a reward much greater than even their tremendous effort deserved.  Their greatest reward was something they could not earn.

We can get caught up in the work ethic of our culture, and there's nothing wrong with hard work.  But, we need to remind ourselves and our kids the greatest gift is free.

This was my email devotional today called Parenting by Design from Christianity.com . They're great, simple devotionals for parents and I encourage you to check it out!

Sneak Peek

In 19 days we'll be having little man's first birthday party! I'm way, way excited with how the decorations have come together so I thought I would give you guys a little sneak peek!

and he also got to open his very first birthday gift ever today from our favorite people in Kentucky...

He loved it (and mommy and daddy are going to love the teething tablets for sure)! I can't wait to watch him open so many more on his birthday.

also before I go..... say a little prayer for our little boy tonight. He went to the doctor today with a runny nose, cough, and sneeze, and turns out he has another ear infection in his right ear and also has some asthma (probably a result of his RSV he had when he was a baby). So we are on antibiotics and breathing treatments for awhile.  Include mommy and daddy on that prayer list too because holding a our little mans arms down while he screams for 20 minutes getting his breathing treatment is super, super tough but I know it's what's best for him.

Foodie Friday

Alright, so here's a look at a few of little mans favorite things this week…

So Sunday night Daniel & I had the yummy tilapia dish that talked about here for dinner. So from there I found this very yummy recipe in my Baby & Toddler cookbook that I decided to make for Dax… and then we also planned on letting him try a little tilapia for the first time as well. So Sunday night Dax had tofu with rice & avocado seasoned with fresh cilantro and a small piece of tilapia.

Sorry it's so blurry. My camera was dead so I had to resort to my phone camera.

He absolutely loved this! So much that I had to make him stop eating because I"m pretty sure he would have ate until he got sick. The rice did make quite the mess but it was worth it because he really loved it.

Tuesday Daniel had clinic until late so it was just Dax and I for dinner. I like to try and eat when he eats one, because dinner as a family is so important, and two, because if I don't eat while he eats then I don't get to eat at all because he is screaming at me wanting my food the whole time. We had quite a bit of tofu left from Sunday nights meal, Dax had some mixed veggies he had been eating on throughout the week that we needed to use up, and I had some frozen veggies in our freezer that I needed to use. So I decided on a tofu & veggie stir fry. Dax's was tofu, garlic, EVOO, peas, carrots, corn, and green beans. Mine was similar with some additional seasonings and different veggies.

This was another big hit. He LOVED, especially the tofu.

Wednesday for lunch I needed to use up some of Dax's pita bread before it went bad. I also steamed an orange bell pepper that day so wanted to use it as well. So I drizzled a little EVOO over the pita, added just a tad of shredded cheese, heated it until it was melted, and then diced up some orange bell peppers. Sorry no picture for this. But Dax really enjoyed it. But then again anything with a bread product is going to be a hit for him.

An Artist in the Making...

This is what we did yesterday....

We started with this....

did a little of this....

got paint all over us like this....

made a picture for the fridge that looks like this...

and a birthday card for Maw Maw that looks like this...

front...

inside.

Needless to say we had a fun day :)

Almost a toddler

Our little boy turned 11 months old a couple days ago. So now, in less than a month, he'll be one. He'll officially be a toddler and I don't think I'm ready for that. Here's a little run down on where he's at at 11 months...
* According to our scale yesterday he weighs 22.8lbs. He's fitting 12 month clothes perfectly right now and is in size 4 diapers. We usually have to move up sizes in pants in diapers sooner than usual because his little thighs are so fat everything gets super tight on them.
* Walking. He will walk a couple feet before he gets nervous and sits down. I really think he could just take off but I think he freaks out and decides to go back to the trusty crawling.
* He has always responded to signs when I've done them or just said the word but this month he actually signed "all done" to me when he was finished eating... without me even asking him to. :)
* His form of waving before was flopping his entire arm up and down but now he has the "open, close hand" wave down and it's super cute.
* He says a lot.  But my favorite thing is what he calls his daddy.... "gah gah".  He has yet to say the 'd' sound which has me sort of freaked out b/c that's usually the first sound a baby makes. It has me so freaked out that I plan on asking the doctor about being tongue tied when we go for his next appointment.
* His little personality is getting cuter and cuter. Has has the funniest facial expressions and he now thinks that he's the funniest thing there is. He'll be crawling around the house or riding in his car seat and just laugh and laugh at himself. It's really funny.
* Still no teeth.... sighhhh. But there is a pretty good bump on his lower right side so maybe one soon?
* The not having any teeth isn't stopping him from eating that's for sure. In the last week we have really up'd the finger foods and have been able to cut a bottle out. He's now doing 3 bottles a day and we're transitioning into whole milk by giving him a sippy cup with half formula, half milk at all of his meals. He also loves his water and likes going over to the table, getting it down to get a drink, and then putting it back up.
* His favorite toys are ball, cars (esp. dump trucks), blocks, books, stacking rings, the dog bowls, and playing in the pot and pan cabinet in the kitchen.
* He's fast... super fast. And disappears in the blink of an eye. I can usually find him in the bathroom or in my closet. He will also go back to his room and play on his own too which I think is so cute but sort of makes me sad that he doesn't need momma to play with him all the time.
* We're still at 2 naps and for the past week he has been putting himself to sleep at nap time. It is usually a pretty big process of me going in and out to lay him back down and comfort him but it's dropped from being a 45 minutes process to about 25 minutes. It's still a work in progress but I'm happy with how it's going and that we were able to do it without making him cry it out.
* He's super, super lovable and will randomly walk up to me and kiss me. He also loves to kiss his books... especially the pictures of monkeys and dogs.  He's a pretty big fan of mommy and daddy kissing each other too and will smile super big and then give each of us a kiss. I love it. :)
* Since Saturday he has been fighting a nasty summer cold and I'm afraid it may be starting to settle in his chest (everything he gets tends to do that ... the doctor said that's probably because of his TTN he got at birth that put him in the  NICU for a week). So his little cold has turned very yucky sounding.

Well little man starts back to daycare in 2 weeks and I'm super sad our time together is coming to an end. I could def do this stay at home mom business all the time.... maybe one day :)  Here's a picture of our not-so-little 11 month old playing in the rain/mud for the first time

We interupt the regularly scheduled blogging....

So excuse the look of the blog for the next few days! I'm trying to change things up and it's a complete learning process for me so bare with me until then!! Thanks!