Randomness

-We sold my car yesterday (finally!!)!! Now we have to look for a small SUV or a minivan! I want something family friendly and that won't hurt my back as much to get a carseat in and out of.

-M slept 5 hours straight last night!

-Josh and I got to clean house yesterday (we did the tag-team approach during M's 45 minute nap)!! It was getting so gross (Erin can vouch for me on this one!)!

-M is now 5 weeks old, 8 lbs 8oz and 191/2 in.

-We are going to Freshman Fanfare tonight! Josh and I try to make it each year whenever possible, because it brings back fond memories of September 2001, when we met during the show! Here we are 7 years later! My aunt, uncle and cousin are coming up, too, which should be fun!

-I feel like I'm finally beginning to get this "mom" thing down! I'm having so much fun and feel so blessed and content! I'm really starting to see how God's hand has guided our lives thus far. To think that 5 or 6 months ago we had our house on the market and were ready to move to TX is so crazy!! I thank God every day for guiding us to stay here in Edmond, blessing us both with great jobs and allowing us to help precious babies, like M. While the journey to where we are now hasn't been easy at all, I can truly see that God really does know what's best for us. While things like infertility have been so devastating the past 2 1/2 years, at this very moment, I can finally consider it a blessing, because now I get to love a baby, like M, who otherwise, I would have never known.

Have a blessed weekend!

Doing Great!

Well, we got through our little rough patch of sleepless nights and illness and everything is going great! M is beautiful and quite the little angel! She is sleeping about 4 hours at a time at night, which works great! Saturday night she went 5 hours without a feeding. Except for during the night, we have finally established a schedule, for the most part, that seems to work much better! By the way, the BEST product I have had so far with her is the Infantino Sling that I purchased at Target the day before we got her. Not only is it cute (black and cream toile), but she falls asleep in it every time and feels so much more secure. It keeps her from feeling so overwhelmed with people, etc. and she is able to stay close to me. Last night M especially enjoyed it while I vacuumed. Apparently she likes a clean house, because she screamed and screamed until I finally decided to try the old vacuum trick...worked like a charm! Anyway, things are going great and we're happy to have her for a while!! Thanks everyone for the kind comments, phone calls, emails, cards, donations of clothing/toys/gear etc., gifts and food! We truly appreciate our wonderful friends and family!!

Quick Update

I thought I'd do a quick update for you! Precious M (that will be her name on the blog, since I will not be disclosing information on the blog) came home with us on Wednesday and is absolutely beautiful and perfect! We are so glad to have her at our home for a while! She has enough hair for bows, so that has been super fun for me! I'm in love! She is the most precious and tiny little one! She sleeps most of the time, but we're still working on figuring out her little timeline!

We definitely feel like new parents! M is only 4 weeks old (as of yesterday), so we are working on getting a schedule and figuring out everything. A HUGE thanks to my husband for staying up with M the past 2 nights to change, feed and diaper her so I could get some rest. (I went to the doc on Monday, not feeling well (sore throat, etc.) and was told I had a virus, no big deal. So, by Tuesday afternoon I was feeling much better and Wednesday, I felt great, but started getting laryngitis. After getting a combination of maybe 3 hours of sleep for the whole night and then going back to school to teach, I started having a spiral down hill by Thursday night, which led me to go back to the doctor on Friday (thank you, urgent care clinic!!) to reveal that I now had an upper respiratory infection and last night that led into an ear infection and of course, after taking tons of prescriptions and over the counter meds all week, I felt so sick at my stomach.) I say all that to say, that my VERY precious and patient husband has sacrificed all of his sleep for the past 2 days for me and M. He is such a wonderful husband and "father"!! Thanks, Josh!!! I feel much better today, thankfully! So, I owe Josh big time! If you see Josh in the next few days, you'll know why he's tired, it's because he has been so incredibly selfless!
Oh yes, and thanks to my mom for the wonderful homecooked meal last night (italian tomato chicken, red beans and rice, cornbread, green beans, salad, strawberries and cherry cheesecake)...it was perfect!!!!

Josh is sleeping on the couch with M on the bouncy seat asleep next to him, so I'm going to see if I can snag a quick shower before they both wake up!

Last Free Weekend Fun!

~Sunday at the Lake (VERY beautiful day, but also very windy!)~
~Saturday night at the hotel~

Well, we got our fingerprints back last Tuesday and were told to expect a call next week (aka THIS week) about a baby! So, Josh and I decided on an impromptu date weekend. We didn't want to pay the gas to be out of town, so we went to Bricktown and stayed at the Courtyard, ate out, and just enjoyed hanging out together! Josh has Fridays off, so we spent Friday afternoon eating, watching a movie, drinking coffee and just enjoying the cable in our hotel room (since we don't have cable). Saturday we slept in, ate some more, went home and watched movies, went to Barnes and Noble, etc. Sunday after church we had a picnic lunch (Josh's idea:)) at Lake Hefner, followed by coffee and magazines at Barnes and Noble. It truly was the most perfect weekend! It was so relaxing and great for me and Josh to spend some quality time together. The past 2 weeks were full of evening activities for us both, so this was the perfect last weekend together before bringing home a baby.

I'm so glad we had the wonderful weekend that we did, because here we are exactly a week later and we get to go pick up an itty bitty baby tomorrow afternoon!!!! Sorry, I will not be posting specifics on my blog. Feel free to email me if you'd like information!!! We are super excited!!! SHE will be such a blessing to us and I hope we are to her, too!!

Book Club Brunch

It was my turn this go around to choose the book for book club, so I chose The Last Lecture, which was inspiring and a tear-jerker! I highly recommend it! So, I had all of the girls over for brunch! It was a fun 4 hour event with girls that I've just met over the past few months, all of us with different backgrounds and in different stages in our lives. It's fun to meet friends of friends and share life experiences with others! We enjoyed discussing the book, watching a clip of the lecture and eating, too! I'm excited about the next book: How Starbucks Changed My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else.

The brunch menu included:
-Green Chile Breakfast Casserole
-Cinnamon Rolls
-Sausage Balls
-Fresh Orange Muffins w/Strawberry Butter (which turned out dry this time...sorry girls!)
-Grape Salad
-Fresca Punch

Here are a few of the recipes:

Green Chile Breakfast Casserole (adapted from my mom's recipe....*=my variation)
-14 eggs
-1/2 c. flour
-1 tsp. salt
-1 larger or 2 small cans diced green chiles
-1 small container cottage cheese
*1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
*4 slices bacon, cooked (I bought the heat and serve bacon)

Whisk Eggs, whisk in flour, salt, chiles and cottage cheese. Pour into greased 9x13, top with cheese and bacon. May be made the night before and refrigerated.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Sausage Balls
2 cups Bisquick
1 pkg shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb sausage

Mix all ingredients together. Roll in balls and bake on cookie sheet (lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray) for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. (makes approx. 45 sausage balls)

Fresca Punch
(This is my mom's punch recipe that great for breakfast and was the same punch we served for our wedding)

White grape juice, chilled
Fresca, chilled,
Sprite, chilled

Mix equal parts white grape juice, Fresca and Sprite. I usually end up adding just a little more white grape juice for a stronger flavor.


Grape Salad Recipe

Cinnamon Roll Recipe


I'll post the orange muffin recipe and the strawberry butter recipe later. The muffins are best fresh out of the oven....that's when they are most moist!


Have a super Saturday!

Fresh Southwest Salad

Josh gets to come home for a brief dinner tonight, so I wanted to make something quick and healthy that required no cooking and would be ready when he gets home! So, I combined a few recipes and created my own version of a southwest salad. This one is low fat and is a good source of protein and fiber. I had everything on hand to make it, except for a lime. So, I just picked that up on my way home from school.

Fresh Southwest Salad
(recipe is for 2 people and is very easily doubled!)
(the following measurements are approximate...I pretty much just threw everything in!)

Lime Vinaigrette:
1 Lime, juiced
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. coriander (optional)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped

Whisk together and set aside.

Salad Mixture:
1/2 can chicken, drained and rinsed (grilled chicken would be best....but I was all about quick and easy!)
1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can corn, drained and rinsed
1/2 can diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed

Combine together in bowl and toss with lime vinaigrette.
(Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for optimal flavor.)

Top torn romaine lettuce (I use the bagged salad) with chicken mixture and serve!

Literal

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! We haven't been home much, therefore, I haven't been able to cook or do any fun crafty projects! We have been in town for the most part, but have had meetings and other events in the evenings. It will be like that for the next 2 weeks, too! I think Josh and I will be home for dinner on Friday this week, but that's all!

We had a good weekend, that started in Wichita Falls to see Josh's family! Josh's brother had a gig at a coffee shop down there, so we got to see him play! He did a great job! We drove back Saturday in time for the Heartbeat for Hope benefit concert and watched my brother play. We had a great time! After that, we went with my family to Chili's to hang out. Friday and Saturday were filled with wonderful music and time with both of our families!

Josh and I decided to take Labor Day literally today! So, we set our alarms, ate a yummy breakfast of donuts with sprinkles:), and headed outside to work in the yard for 3 hours! The weeds were horrendous! So, I spent 3 hours working in the flower beds in both the front and back yard, trimming bushes, pulling weeds, spraying for bugs, etc. Josh did the mowing, weed eating, disposal of tree limbs, etc. I feel very accomplished! It was the perfect day for yard work and as a bonus, I didn't see any bees or wasps! That made it MUCH nicer!! After that, we took showers, headed to Red Robin to split a delicious bacon cheeseburger and had their yummy Freckled Lemonades (strawberry lemonade). Then, we came home and took a 3 hour nap...nice!

I start Sonshine School tomorrow! I'm excited to be teaching in the toddler class! So many darling babies! I will try to have some more posts this week!