16 months

I'm shocking myself by actually posting this on the right day. Today marks 16 months of Lydia's life. We are so thankful and see each and every day as such a blessing. We love this little munchkin more than we could have ever imagined.

We went on a walk this morning before Daddy had to leave for school. I snapped a few pictures in the early morning light.



Lydia has just begun climbing on everything. Or at least trying to climb on everything. The other night Patrick walked into the dining room to find her up in the chair. WHOA. We are entering a whole new playing field. I now have to follow her into the other room to make sure she doesn't end up on the table and then fall off...her depth perception still isn't the best. Sometimes I try and facilitate safe climbing. I'll take off one of the cushions from the couch so that she can easily climb up. This usually entertains her for 20-30 mins. I, of course, am right next to her the whole time. But still she's fallen off twice and hit her head. She's fine don't worry.



Lydia weighs right around 23 1/2 lbs. She has 4 teeth up top and 3 on the bottom. The 4th has just broken through and I think I can see the firsts of her molars about to pop through. All these teeth are great. I love being able to give her more things to eat with out having to worry so much about choking.



She is doing much better at drinking milk from a sippy cup. We still give her a bottle right before bed time but hope to end that soon. It's so tempting to keep it because she loves it so much and it allows for 20 min of cuddle time with our very active girl who doesn't cuddle that often.



I think she may be slowly transitioning from two naps to one. I think this will be a welcome change. A lot of our friends have slightly older kids and often do things in the morning when Lydia would usually be sleeping. Not taking this nap allows us to do fun things like go to the zoo or to the seminary and swim.



Lydia has started to say "alright", "lets go" and "yup". All of these crack me up! She says them very enthusiastically. I'll try and get a video up of her doing these soon.



We are having to discipline more often and a little more severe. She has begun testing us and is just generally more curious which introduces her to more things that could cause her harm or are just not appropriate and therefore we must discipline. This is a hard task and requires much pleading to the Lord for help! Help to be patient and consistent and loving. Thankful that He is able and willing to give that help!





Your mommy and daddy love you Lydia! Happy 16 months!

st. patrick's day party

Saturday we celebrated St. Patrick's day with a group of friends from church. I am in a bible study with all of these ladies (and many more). We try to get together with the whole family every once in a while. It was a great night to sit outside and let the kids roam.... until the storm came.













and then it became time for a photo shoot with Lydia and J... because we've already arranged their marriage.







I made the green shorts Lydia is wearing at the party and I also made these funky brown ones. I made some in more normal colors as well. I had some random fabric and wanted to make some shorts for her to wear while playing outside. Some that I wouldn't care if they got stains or tears. Also in the picture below is her first real pony tail.

outside

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before but Lydia LOVES being outside! Loves it. She asks often to go on walks and cries when it's time to come inside. Good thing Patrick and I also enjoy being outside!







and this is what happens when she's trapped in her stroller too long. ESCAPE

a full heart

Last night as Patrick and I were in bed trying to go to sleep (it was burning up in our house and we had all the windows open and a fan in one of them... yes it's only March but in the 80's) I smelled smoke.

My brain started working and I asked Patrick if he thought the smell was coming from outside. He said yeah, where else would it be coming from? Then I mentioned it could be coming from our house. We both just stayed in bed and didn't say anything. But both our minds were working. He couldn't stop thinking about it and neither could I.

Can Lydia breathe? Is the opposite side of our house on fire? Does our smoke detector still work? When (or have we ever) was the last time we checked that thing?

Patrick got up and checked the house. Everything was okay. Our house was not on fire. Someone in the neighborhood was probably having a bon fire.

When Patrick climbed back into bed he mentioned how that freaked him out. He couldn't stop thinking about Lydia and wondering if she was okay. Thoughts of grabbing her out of her bed and her not breathing.

Thinking about all of this as I'm trying to go to bed I wanted to go and wake up my baby and hold her in my arms. Kiss her and love on her and hold her tight. I thanked the Lord then and there for what a gift He has given us.

I'm thankful to have been reminded that everyday is a gift. It's not promised to us. As I wanted so badly to go and cling to my daughter and kiss her and love on her I stayed in bed and thanked the Lord. And then I asked him to help me to cling to him and not my daughter. I prayed that He would give me strength to love her and care for her with open hands. Like we should do with all things in this world.

I know that there is nothing that I can do to guarantee Lydia's safety and health. I can be wise and not foolish in caring for her but ultimately her life is in the Lord's hands. He gives and He takes away. Blessed be His name. I can rest in His goodness and know that He is a good God. He is good when our children are born healthy and live their lives until an old age. He is good when we have children who are born with disabilities. He is good when we miscarry. He is good when we never conceive and are barren.  He is good when we long for children but have never been given the gift of marriage.

In all circumstances and all things the Lord of the universe is good! Resting in His perfect love all fear is cast away.

I will be giving Lydia a few extra kisses and probably holding her a little longer before nap times and bed time telling her I love her over and over. My heart is full of thankfulness for today and the gift of life the Lord has given my family.

baby #2: 28 weeks

Hello third trimester. 9-12 more weeks of this baby tucked away in my belly. And then the fun begins :)

It has been beautiful weather here in KY lately and that means we are spending a whole lot of time outside. Lydia is becoming more of a little toddler and less and less of a baby. She loves to go on walks to the park. It's already getting hard for me to bend over and pick her up and carry her around. Thankfully this baby is due early June so I wont have to pack around my baby belly all through the extreme heat of summer!

I was 28 weeks on Monday and had my regular check up with my OB. Everything looks good.

I gained 6 more pounds. YIKES. Up to 20 lbs total now :) I was too distracted by how much I had gained in a month that I forgot to hear about my blood pressure. Guessing it was okay.

Babies heart beat was in the 140's and I'm measuring right on track at 28 cm.

Picture is 28 w 3 d.

big girl hair

Look who's hair can go into a pony tail. It could actually go into a bigger one but this at least keeps her hair out of her eyes.

family visit

This last week we had family in town. What a joy it was to get to visit and catch up. And one of them had never met Lydia so that was special. We spent a lot of time over at grandma and grandpas and since the weather was amazing we also spent a lot of time outside.

Lydia getting some loving from Daddy and Uncle John


Here's cousin Jessica (who we met for the first time...although she's seen her a million times in pictures:) ).




Aunt Brooke (book as Lydia says) and Aunt Anna


This next one cracks me up because even though that's the tinniest ledge Lydia would ask for help (which is what she's doing in the picture) getting down it.












Sunday was Grandma's birthday so we went out to eat after church and enjoyed one last visit with our out of town guests.



*sad I didn't get a picture of Lydia and her great Aunt Janet...*

kiel family photos

I had a lot of fun chasing around this 2 year old little boy and getting some shots of the whole family. Thanks Kiel family. It was great to meet you!

yummies

A month or so ago I had a little get together at my house for some girls. I found some great desserts that I wanted to try out. Thought I'd share the recipes.

Red Velvet Cake Balls:





These made a mess. My chocolate didn't melt like I'd hoped it would so the finished product was kind of sloppy and not smooth like all the pictures you usually see online. Oh well. They tasted good. These were also pretty labor intensive. I don't know that I'll be making these often.

18.25-ounce box cake mix
16-ounce container ready-made frosting
32 ounces (2 pounds) candy coating

1. Bake the cake as directed on the box, using a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Let cool completely.
2. Once the cake is cooled, get organized and set aside plenty of time (at least an hour) to crumble, roll, and dip 4 dozen cake balls.
3. Crumble the cooled cake into a large mixing. (The best technique is to use your hands! Cut the baked cake into 4 pieces. Remove a section from the pan, break it in half, and rub the two pieces together over the bowl until both pieces are crumbled.) You should not see any large pieces of cake. Add three-quarters of the container of frosting. (You will not need the remaining frosting.) Mix it into the crumbled cake, using a large metal spoon, until thoroughly combined. If you use the entire container, the cake balls will be too moist.
4. The mixture should be moist enough to roll into 1 1/2-inch balls and still hold a round shape. After rolling the cake balls by hand, place them on a wax paper-covered baking sheet.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours in the refrigerator, or place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. You want the balls to be firm but not frozen.

Indoor Smores:



These were amazing!! So so good. Ha Patrick swore there had to be sweet potatoes in them (because with the toasted marshmallows on top it somewhat resembles sweet potato casserole that we have around Thanksgiving).

2 Sticks Unsalted Butter Melted
18 Plain Graham Crackers
1/4 C. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Fine Sea Salt
3 Cups Milk Chocolate Chips
3 1/2 Cups Mini Marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Line the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper. You want to leave about 4 inches of overhang on the 2 opposite sides. These are going to serve as your handles to remove the bars from the pan in 1 piece, so make sure that there is enough of the overhang for you to have a solid grip. Grease the foil/parchment well with softened butter. 

Grind the graham crackers into a fine meal (you need 2 cups).  Melt your butter in the microwave. In a large bowl, combine your crumbs with the sugar, sea salt and melted butter. The mixture should look and feel like wet sand.

Set aside a heaping 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Evenly press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom the lined pan. Pop your crust into the oven and bake until it is golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool.

Melt the milk chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continuously until fully melted. (I do this a really simple way and I never burn my chocolate because of it.  I don't have a double boiler so I fill a saucepan with water, bring it to a boil, put my chocolate chips in a large glass bowl that is wider then the saucepan and put the glass bowl on top.  I slowly stir until all the chocolate is melted.  It's my "cheap" version of a double boiler) Do not turn up the heat to hurry this process, you must keep it on low.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled graham cracker crust. Spread the chocolate evenly over the crust with a butter knife. Sprinkle the marshmallows over the chocolate and press them lightly into the chocolate. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over and in between the marshmallows so that you cannot see the chocolate peaking through the marshmallows.  Refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened a bit.  About 20-25min.

Preheat the Broiler.

Broil the bars 6 inches from the flame until the marshmallows are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

Refrigerate the bars until the chocolate is completely hard, 2 hours or so.

To serve, grab the ends of the liner and lift the bars out of the pan in 1 piece. Move to a cutting board and cut into 24 pieces, or 12, however big you want your Smore.

Peanut Butter M&M Chex Bars:



These were yummy. Also kind of messy. I didn't follow the recipe to a T but they turned out fine. I think I cut back on the amount of chex and M&Ms. Still turned out good and were a treat for my gluten free buddies.

6 cups Rice Chex

1 (10.5 oz) bag mini marshmallows, divided

3 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 (11.4 oz) bag of peanut butter M&Ms ~ approx 2 cups

2 oz semi sweet chocolate to drizzle

 

Spray a 9×9 pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.

In a large pot over low heat melt butter.

When the butter is melted add 4 cups of your mini marshmallows.

Stir until marshmallows are melted.

Remove from heat.

Stir in you peanut butter until incorporated.  Add your Rice Chex.

Stir until evenly coated.

The mixture should be cool enough now to stir in the remaining marshmallows and M&Ms without them melting.

Now transfer to your 9×9 pan.

Press mixture evenly in your pan.

Melt the 2 oz of chocolate in the microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes (or until melted), stirring after each minute.

Drizzle the chocolate on top of the Chex mix.

Let cool until chocolate is set.

Cut into squares and serve.