Ellie Claire

There are so many little things I don't want to forget, things I am already forgetting. Ellie was 3 months old on Wednesday, and the amount of photos and documenting I've done has been woefully inadequate. Girl doesn't even have a baby book yet! What a cliche for child #4. (I will be buying her one this week.)

  

Nicknames: Ellie, Elle, Elles, Elphaba, Ellie-belle.

Stats: At 7 weeks, she was 13 pounds. She doesn't go for a check-up for another month. 97% weight and 97% height; she definitely belongs to us. ;)

At 3 months, she is in size 3 diapers and 6mo clothing.

Sleep: She is actually a pretty good sleeper now. She had a few nights about a month ago where she'd sleep 6-7 hours straight (!!!) but that didn't last; thankfully, I didn't have my hopes up very high after my last 3 mediocre-to-poor sleepers. She is usually up 2-3 times a night. I can usually squeeze one good nap out of her a day, and a couple catnaps. She usually wants to be rocked for a few minutes before I set her in her bed; usually that settles her down enough so that she can fall asleep on her own. Sometimes she falls asleep in my arms but she doesn't transfer very well (does any baby?)

Temperament: Ellie was born at 3:16am, spent the first day of her life eating a lot and being generally pleasant, and the first night of her life fussing and squirming and wanting to eat and be held. I finally came to the conclusion that she must be cold - the hospital room was pretty chilly and she was in that little plastic bassinet all by herself, just wrapped in a swaddle blanket with a thin hat. I added an extra blanket and that seemed to help. Second day, calm and chill; second night, lots of fussing and thrashing. I was thinking, "What am I going to do with this baby at home!?!?" Thankfully she mellowed out a lot once we were home and she could be in the cute warm pajamas I got for her. She is totally a summer girl and likes to be warm (it was August but with the air conditioner on everywhere we went, her head and arms were always chilly!)

She was a pretty fussy little girl her first couple months. Not colicky, necessarily, just not as calm as the boys were. She had a few evenings where she just cried and cried and I didn't know what to do for her. She is past that stage now, and it's funny that I've almost forgotten it; "momnesia" is totally a real thing. Every hard evening, rough night, tough pregnancy, difficult labor, etc, doesn't seem so bad when it's just a distant memory. Usually.

She also went through a period for several weeks where she would let out a sharp cry when she was picked up, almost like something in her neck hurt. I took her to the doctor and nothing appeared to be wrong. We then tried the chiro, which seemed to help a lot. I am a believer now!

She is still fussy sometimes now, but normal fussy, and is usually calm once she is picked up. ;)

Health: She has had her first little cold in the past week, but really the only symptom has been a runny nose. She acts like it annoys her and snuffles a lot, which is just pretty cute.

She also had a hip click at her 1 (2?) week checkup, and went for a hip ultrasound at 2.5 months to check for hip dysplasia. The u/s came back negative, and we were told she could resume her "normal infant activities." Like, laying around...?

Hygiene: This girl blows out of a diaper at least once a day. I have a perpetual pile of laundry soaking in Oxiclean... 

Likes: Bouncy seat, warm jammies and hats, the Boba, being sung to, being held, attention. She tolerates the swing.

Dislikes: The car (!!!), dirty diapers...

Siblings: The boys LOVE her. They were obsessed with her when we came home from the hospital; always wanting to "pet" her (gentle, like how you would pet a puppy...) Andrew tested a little bit and gave her a few heavy pats, but has pretty much gotten past that. They can frequently be heard saying things like "She's soooo cute!". Ben is usually the most interested.

She is such a mix of the boys. She has Ben's forehead, but I think she most resembles Nate. She definitely has his mouth; a less exaggerated prehensile lip ;) and she sticks her tongue out a lot.

 

We need to get to her nursery.... I spent hours cleaning it out one day, and now I have piles of summer clothes of the boys on the floor to go through. At some point, it will be finished and she will move in. ;)

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

{pretty}

(

So I kind of always do this - leave my blog for the last few months of pregnancy and then show back up with a couple-month-old baby. Here she is. Quite pretty, I think. :)

{happy}

Tonight we went to a dinner for Brian's work. He received an award for 5 years of full-time service. It was a nice evening, and of course we had to take a picture - but why do we always wait until the end of the night, when it's too dark to get a decent shot?

We took a field trip to the fire station on Saturday and we all rode in the fire truck. It was Andrew's first time and he was thrilled! Meagan has all the camera pictures, I just have the blurry phone pics.

{funny}

I stressed a lot about what to wear to this dinner tonight. Brian told me I had to wear a dress, of which I have NONE (at least, non-maternity ones!). He texted me this morning asking if I had figured out one, and I sent him this picture back.

 

Little Bo Peep. (I ended up wearing a skirt and a new striped sweater.)

 I am a big fan of Jennifer's but I assume she doesn't have any idea who I am. I sent this picture to a friend with the caption "a celebrity is following me on Pinterest!" ;)

 

This was the ad I got on my Brad Paisley Pandora station (my station of choice when I'm out walking or jogging.) Um, nope... wrong target market. Is Uncle Snoop the same as Snoop Dog? See how much I know about hip-hop music?

{real}

Did I mention we moved 7 days before my due date? Thankfully, baby came late, as they always do, and since we keep our babies in our room for several months, we kind of just piled everything in her future room with plans to go through it... soon. This picture was taken after several HOURS of work. It is actually almost completely finished now, just an empty room with a dresser and some brown walls. I am so excited to decorate a girl nursery! 

 

 

Oh, this is a whole lotta real.

7 Quick Takes Friday, v. i-don't-know-i'd-have-to-go-back-and-count

1. Well hello, blog! Life has been 7 kinds of crazy lately. Some hours I feel like I'm flying and then 16 puzzles get dumped out and we have a meal and pears get spilled on the floor and then at naptime someone undoes an entire rubber band ball (oh, twice! because Mom wasn't smart enough to remove it completely from their field of vision after the first time). And diapers and baths and laundry, and this is all just the normal routine! And it's all awesome. But whoa, it's hard to stay on top of, even when you try (now that I'm back to trying rather than surviving.)

2. I love my iPhone. I don't like that I feel a little bit like a snob with it, maybe because I feel like there is something about it (probably the $$$$$ monthly data package) that makes it seem a little bit like a status symbol? And maybe that's just a personal hangup (although I've heard other people say the same thing so it's not JUST me.) But still. Like whoa. I use it ALL the time to take pictures when I just want a snappie and don't want to pull out the big camera. GPS saved me when I had to go to jury duty. And Facebook and Words with Friends have increased my productivity significantly. (lie.) It's not indispensable, but it's nice!

3. Spring break does not exist for online students. Well supposedly it does, but each teacher kind of makes up her (her? I think all my professors are female this semester?) own schedule, one teacher that is observing spring break next week has this week's assignment due Monday, so... does that really count? When you don't get 7 (or even 5) uninterrupted days with NOTHING due, I say no.

4. These kids. They say the cutest and funniest things. Some of which I have recorded on FB and some I typed into my phone, all of which are insanely adorable and which make up for any misbehavior. Most misbehavior.

5. Oh, the weather! Glorious 75 degrees yesterday and today. Tomorrow's forecast says 46, and Sunday says 39, which is just poopy. But 2 days of a glimpse of spring - we'll take what we can get.

6. We put an offer on a house last week. I spent a weekend pinning house improvements that I wanted to do with this particular house in mind. They accepted a higher bid (we offered more than the asking price, even - we knew there were multiple offers and we heard they were expecting there to be 10 by the time they decided on one.) I am slowly getting over it but still disappointed. Oh, perfect house with the perfect 2.7 acres in the perfect location at a perfect price - maybe your twin could pop up down the street?

7. Brian bought a new suit this week for an important event he had at work. This is only newsworthy because he hasn't bought a suit since high school. He had two; one has been too short and small for years, the other one, he ditched the pants but the jacket still fit, so when he needs a jacket he wears it with his tan pants. Makeshift solution that was no longer a solution. So we all went suit shopping (why!?!? oh, because I thought it would be fun to go together) and while he got fitted and tried things on, the boys and I hung out, not so still or quietly. Oh, I can look back and laugh. Maybe if I weren't so concerned about what onlookers thought, that the word "rambunctious" might pop into their heads, I would have enjoyed it more. I struggle with that balance - keeping them calm enough to avoid stares and eyerolls, but letting them enjoy themselves and not expecting them to be little statues. Because they are little boys. And little boy does not = statue.
(We were in a regular department store, by the way, not some high-faluting fancy suit shop. Not a non-kid-friendly store.)

Ok, that was quick! Probably because I didn't have to try to mess with adding pictures and formatting that and centering them and figuring out why they won't become the size I want. I love pictures. But tonight, I'm tired.

Divine Silence

After two very busy days (Sunday: Mass, Aunt Lovey's birthday party, Grandpa's birthday party; Monday: tutoring/piano, afternoon playdate) and a Tuesday morning at Granny's because I had jury duty today (!), everyone was pretty much pooped this afternoon. Nate has mostly given up his afternoon nap, but Ben is not even close to being ready to do that, so 2 days of not napping AND going to bed late had taken their toll! I have been enjoying almost two full hours of silence. golden. Not doing anything terribly productive and it feels nice. ;)

I have a vague to-do list in my head, which includes getting pictures from Andrew's birthday party off Meagan's camera (I did bring my own but when I saw she had hers close by I decided to let her do the photos!), writing thank you notes, and taking Andrew's "1" picture for our wall! I haven't done a "professional" picture of him (I call them professional even though I take them because I use a nice background and have them printed at a professional lab, does that count?) since 5 months.

A few days off from homework is making SUCH a difference. I had a lot of work due last week and over the weekend, and I felt like I was struggling to catch my breath! Taking 12 credit hours was definitely not what I wanted, but I was hoping for a light fall semester (6 credits) and then I'd be DONE. Since I will have a newborn and all! School usually starts somewhere around August 15, and my due date is August 3. I just found out that I will probably have to take Composition 2 because they won't accept my freshman English from Christendom, despite the fact that I took a grad level English class 2 semesters ago and got an A. So, 9 fall credits. But then I will be dooooooone. Forever and ever! So even though I feel like I'm barely getting by this semester, it will be a good thing that I took all 4 classes, I think.

 

He enjoys climbing into things. And he can open the oven door. eek.

I finished my skirt that I ranted about the other day. When I pulled the sewing machine back out, it worked perfectly. (That seems to be the story of my life right now - my check engine light went on Sunday, was on all day yesterday, and this morning was off again! All my stuff is like "let's stop working long enough for her to get really frustrated but not long enough for her to get around to trying to fix us.")

When I went to iron the hem, my iron got a cute little rust spot on it! I don't know if this skirt was really meant to be. ;) But, it's done.

I realized that I do not have a full-length mirror (how!?) so I need to remedy that and then I will post a picture of it. It didn't turn out as cute as I anticipated, which is fairly normal, but it's good enough to wear, I think. ;)

This is my current "take a picture of myself" method - with the webcam! Doesn't it look kind of cloudy? This is my "what I wore Tuesday - jury duty" outfit (NOT the new skirt). A guy thought I looked familiar and asked me if I went to his church. Apparently he is Pentecostal, and he thought that I guess because of my skirt, maybe I was too? I am also wearing a headband (so like my 'headcovering'?). I don't know. I couldn't help but laugh. I was wearing makeup... and my skirt is not super long!

My period of golden silence is almost up - I hear chatter from the other bedroom. :)

The Monday Review v. 3 - Keep That Gut Bacteria in Check!

Most of us have probably heard about probiotics - bacteria that help maintain natural balance in our digestive tract. A lot of people recommend probiotics during and after a course of antibiotics - antibiotics kill off bacteria, including the "good" bacteria, so probiotics will replace the bacteria that was killed off. If our "gut flora" is out of whack, we can have all kinds of digestive problems, most of them issues that occur in the lavatory, which we will not discuss in detail but yeah. Not so much fun.

Since it is believed that 70% of the body's immune system dwells in the digestive tract, keeping the digestive tract healthy is important.

In comes Good Belly. Many probiotics are in pill form, and have to be refrigerated to keep the cultures alive. Good Belly is a liquid probiotic in the form of fruit juice. It comes in several different flavors, and 8oz a day contains 20 billion live and active cultures per serving. A LOT. (You really should go to their site and watch the short video that explains just how they work - it is cute.)

 

I was so skeptical when I decided to try this. I am a picky person. Not just about my food, but my drinks, too. I LOVE juice. I really like the Dole blends - orange peach mango, strawberry kiwi - anything fruity is good to me. And if this was going to be gross, or have a weird aftertaste - no thanks. I'll stick with probiotic capsules. (Which I take very unfaithfully because I'm forgetful.)

But I was not disappointed. I drove all the way to Whole Foods (15 min further than the grocery store) JUST to get Good Belly, and it was completely worth it. It is DELICIOUS. I have tried Pomegranate Blackberry, Blueberry Acai, and Mango, and loved them all. I usually have mine mid-morning as a pick-me-up drink. It's very sweet and tastes basically just like the Dole juices - not weird or "extra healthy." haha. They have a green kind that may be a little more leafy-tasting, but I'm going to stay away from that one and stick with the fruity flavors.

And thanks to that nice guy I married, the health market section of our Hy-Vee also carries it now! No more trips to Whole Foods. It helps to have connections in high places, but even if he hadn't asked for me, it never hurts to put in a word at your local grocery store. Their health market manager really tries to get the things customers ask for, and they'll never know you want it unless you ask!

The downside is that it is not cheap. A quart (pictured above) is $3.99, and 8oz a day means it's $1 a day. They encourage everyone to take the 12-Day Challenge - drink it for 12 days in a row (and they give you coupons!) and if you don't like the results, they will give you a full refund. So while it's quite a bit more expensive than capsule probiotics (about 2x the price for a HIGH-quality refrigerated probiotic), they stand behind it. And if you often drink juice with breakfast, you can replace it with this, which makes it even more worth it, because you don't have to spend the $3 on juice. So if you think of it as a 2-for-1, it's really not that bad.

I didn't complete the 12-Day Challenge. I did it for 10 days and then ran out (before Hy-Vee started carrying it, and I didn't have it in me to make a WF trip with the kids), but I have just started again. I did notice that my stomach was SIGNIFICANTLY more settled after I had been drinking it for several days. And some of the common pregnancy issues were helped by this. I definitely noticed a huge improvement, and less bloating/crampiness.

So I think it is worth a try! I love it.

Check out the Monday Review linky party here at The Champ Life - thanks to Andrea for hosting!

Sewing Fail

Does this ever happen to you?

Find inspiration for something cute on Pinterest. Think, "I HAVE to make this!" Click through to the tutorial. Super, super easy! Go to the store and buy fabric. Promise yourself you won't start til later in the week once you are caught up on _____. Pull out your scissors as soon as you get home, hoping to have a new shirt/skirt/dress to wear by the end of the afternoon.

And then.

Your sewing machine does crazy things like pucker the fabric, making it appear that your tension is WAY too tight, even though it is on the lowest setting, you have changed the needle and are indeed using the correct one, and re-threaded the top thread and the bobbin numerous times. With a normal cotton broadcloth - it's not like we're sewing taffeta here or something! You curse at the machine (in your head) and vow to move your "new treadmill" money into a "new sewing machine" account.

And then the puckering magically stops long enough for you to get a few stitches in. You look at the tutorial you found on Pinterest again to make sure you are doing the "ruffling/gathering" thing right. She makes it look so easy. "Now, sew two rows of basting stitches and gather!" She didn't mention that it might take 15 minutes, and that you will worry the whole time that you will break the thread because you are pulling SO HARD.

They you pin the "gathered fabric" to the waistband. You pat yourself on the back and even take a picture because this is the FIRST project you have ever pinned, because you are so incredibly lazy. But because you are actually pinning, the sewing angels must descend upon your project and make it turn out fabulously. You deserve it.

 

And then you sew it. And it just does. not. turn. out. Gold star for effort! But no gold star for getting other fabric stitched up in it accidentally. You rip out your work and try again, rolling your eyes and grumbling about how you knew pinning was a waste of time. You flip it inside out. It looks GREAT! Except that you didn't match the fabric up correctly that time, so the waistband is right-side-out and the rest of the skirt is inside-out.

You tear it out again and give up the idea of a different-colored waistband. A simple piece of elastic will do, you just need this skirt DONE, dang it! And then, your machine stops catching the bobbin thread again, and no amount of re-threading will fix it.

You come to the sad realization that you wasted your entire afternoon and got about 15 minutes worth of actual sewing done. And you still have to do that homework you ignored. You could cry, or eat too much chocolate, and you are thinking about how satisfying beating the sewing machine with a metal baseball bat would be right about now...

And then you see this Hey Girl meme.

 

And feel completely justified in your righteous anger. So glad he understands.

So, this happened to me yesterday.

7 Quick Takes - in which I reveal a SUPER BIG secret

1.  Okay, so if you are Facebook friends with me, you saw this the other day, and it wasn't really even a BIG SECRET before that. I just neglected to explicitly mention it here. ;) Supposedly August 3rd is the big day. If past history is an indicator, it will probably be more like August 10th with a forced eviction.

2. I find myself more worried about things going "differently" this time than I have before. You'd think by #4 I'd be a pro and anything that comes at me, I can handle... maybe? But as much as I'd love to go into labor spontaneously, since I've never done it, the thought of it kind of freaks me out! And the fact that I have pretty much NEVER had a *real* contraction until I'm in the hospital means that I know I'll be obsessing over every twinge. Oh, and the fact that my labors are fast & furious. I spent a lot of time agonizing over it with Andrew, too, and ended up being induced anyway. So I need to try to not stress over it and forget about the fact that my friend Martina delivered HER #4 in the front seat of her car. Cuz that will never happen to me!

Also, what in the world would I do with a baby girl!? (Not planning on finding out the gender til birth.)

3.

 

This was my favorite skirt. My blue skirt. I mentioned here that I wear it 6 or 7 days a week. It matches everything and is pretty much a substitute for jeans, since it's blue - if the shirt would match jeans, it would match this so-very-comfortable-and-forgiving skirt!... and, yeah. It got a giant tear in it, not on the seam, and a few other random little holes above it. I have NO idea how it happened, or when or where, I just noticed it when I took it off at night a few days ago, so now I'm obsessed with checking for tears in my clothing. I had been to the doctor's office and the store earlier that day, so hopefully it wasn't there then? I feel like it needs a funeral.

4. This is just a symptom of my larger problem. I need some clothes. I told myself that we would do no clothes-buying in February, and I would go on a spring shopping spree in March (both for me and the boys). I have my eye on some tops in super cute colors from Old Navy, and maybe a couple solid-colored knee-length jersey skirts for warmer days? I'm ALL about the daily uniform, and Hallie's post makes it look way cuter than "I have nothing to wear so I wear dark bottoms and a bright shirt every day."
(Side note, why are so many maternity tops SO super low? I usually wear a tank underneath, but it would be nice to have the option NOT to wear a tank without exposing way too much. Even a lot of the crew-necks sit too low for me.)

5. I just finished Little Women for the hundredth time last night. sigh. I know a lot of people don't like it, and think it's too sappy and the girls are too perfect, but it has always been one of my favorites - maybe because if you can see past the slightly loud moral message, they ARE real and relatable, I think. They aren't always happy with the hand they have been dealt, complain a lot, have tempers, argue with their husbands, get angry... but they are always trying to improve. I find myself relating to their struggles more than, oh, those of a girl who got picked to kill other people in a "game" in order to survive? :P

6. After some shenanigans at the grocery store today, I ordered some Hold-On Handles. I jokingly said I needed a leash, but this seems like a good compromise. I have a sweet, darling child who is totally absentminded and "hold on to the cart" means "hold on to the cart for 37 seconds and then get distracted by something delicious-looking", BUT he is a pretty good listener with constant reminders, and I think this being a tangible reminder rather than mom nagging will help. So I have high hopes for these.

7. No one is napping at our house today. That's cool, guys. It will be a fun party tonight that we're going to at 6, which means we won't be home til probably 9. Go ahead, just stay awake, and we can all melt down at the same time (I'll give them til 7?)

Time is Weird.

Today, we went back to our pre-holiday, pre-sickness routine. Just an ordinary morning, with no TV, no going anywhere. Just breakfast, playtime, books, "school", a few chores.

It was a good morning. A peaceful morning. But a slow morning.

Meanwhile, someone learned the art of climbing up on boxes.

Isn't it weird how some days seem to fly by? Afternoons fly. In general, time whizzes. It's February? Didn't we JUST have Christmas? Ash Wednesday is next week. How? I am already reaching my hand out to catch the first drops of spring. There is no more beautiful sight than sun streaming through the windows. We are hoping to be in a house by the summer - it's not set in stone, but the thought of having our own yard and my own little garden makes me giddy. A few more months of plugging along and hopefully it will become a reality.

The idea of this was to find the first letter of each word. Nate kept saying "g-g-grown-up drink!" Which is what we call anything in a can.

But sometimes, the day-to-day drags. Checking the clock and WOW, it's only 9:15... I dislike wanting to rush time. But sometimes, oh man, nap time is quite appealing.

I have this crazy thought that being able to spend some outside time every day would help on slow mornings. We could put on some jackets and run around for a little bit. There is something about being outside that makes time pass a little quicker. But on a 30* day, the thought of bundling everyone up and driving to the park is just a little exhausting. We could always go hang out on the deck, but the grass is greener in our own backyard that we don't have, I guess. (We do have a patch of grass in the front, but they are putting in Google Fiber and dug... the entire front yard up. A few weeks ago. Still a tunnel to China out there!)

I read a book last year called Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect With Your Kids. It was good. Thought-provoking. Reasons to take your kids outside EVERY day. I am really feeling drawn towards trying something like that. I am becoming more and more of a firm believer in outdoor, unstructured play.

 

We are phasing out the morning nap, so this was post-lunch.

I love the routine of today. It's nice to be back into a normal, quiet morning without one of us having a fever, feeling like we're going to throw up, or being totally exhausted and not wanting to do anything. 

Also, I take a million pictures with my new phone and probably post too many of them on Facebook! Oh well.

What a rambling, slightly incoherent post. I just want to remember the sweetness of the day, and the feeling of "normal" again. :)

The Monday Review v. 2 - Pizza is my favorite food. ever.

What a week it has been in our house. When mom is sick, things are no fun. But I am slowly on the upswing. I would write blog posts in my head but didn't have the energy to actually type anything coherent. To be honest, there is NOT a lot I want to remember about last week, except the fact that I felt so awful so that I can appreciate good health when it is here! Amazing what you take for granted.

I decided to do a review of something we have had for dinner 3x in the past week, including tonight. It's not really a new product to us, but it deserves a blog post, I think.

See that buffet table in the top left corner? PILED HIGH with papers and kajunk for weeks and weeks now. I got it mostly cleaned off, finally, except for a few random things that belong upstairs. That's about the extent of "stuff I accomplished" recently.

Back to the pizza. We discovered this little box of deliciousness about a year ago, in the freezer section at Target. I am kind of a pizza purist - meaning, the sauce must be marinara and it really should only have meat & mozzarella, and maybe veggies, otherwise, it's not REALLY pizza. But I took the plunge here and I am so glad I did.

This stuff is AMAZING. The sauce is BBQ, and it has chicken, onions, cheese, and some spices. When Brian and I first tried it, we were hooked. Neither of us are the kind to gush over food incessantly, and we kind of gushed over this pizza. It's a little more spendy than some ($5-6 depending on the store), and it's not as filling as something like DiGiorno because the crust is thin, but so worth it. They also come in personal pan sizes now. In the picture, that's one of our regular dinner plates (which is stoneware from Target, and admittedly slightly bigger than a "standard" plate.) So, the pizza is not huge - I think 12". And it only takes 11 minutes to bake.

A few weeks ago, Brian surprised me with a date to the California Pizza Kitchen restaurant. We had to order the REAL BBQ chicken pizza, and it was even better than the frozen kind (obviously!). The crust was more of a hand-tossed/regular, not thin. So, so good.

This is probably something that can easily be recreated from scratch but we haven't tried it yet. Usually we keep one or two of these in the freezer for "crazy nights", but to be honest, they never last more than a week in there. I always seem to find an excuse not to cook when we have them on back-up. Oh, and Ben loves it! On a night like tonight, he has a piece and Nate just has yogurt and a banana (he doesn't really like pizza, sometimes I wonder if he's really my child.)

Check out the linky party here at The Champ Life - thanks, Andrea, for hosting!

Now I'm off to write a paper on epidemiology for my medical sociology class that I've been putting off and that's due in 3 hours, hooray! My instructions say "pick one of the listed health problems" (in another place it uses the word "disease"), and pregnancy is an option. Funny disease there... I think I'm going to write about that since that's what I have the most experience with (over lung cancer, HIV, obesity...)

The Monday Review v. 1 - Chocolate, mmm.

So Andrea @ The Champ Life does Monday reviews of products she has tried and loved (or not loved), and I thought it would be fun to do a review of a product I love! She usually reviews beauty products, and I... don't buy many of those lately. (I am planning a trip in my head to Sephora but, hasn't happened yet.) So I thought, I like food... I'll review a food product! I've seen a lot of bloggers try a recipe to review, but I haven't been cooking a lot lately, and besides, wouldn't it be fun to review a prepackaged processed product that probably isn't very good for you? Okay.

These are a new product that our grocery store is carrying. Actually, this is Brian's department. He went to a General Merchandise show for the company last year, where all the vendors peddle their new products, and ordered a bunch of these at the show (they get case discounts if they order them there.) He also brought home a BUNCH of samples and random stuff from the show (for his wife, of course!) which included a package of these. I love chocolate and caramel, so, perfect for me. I devoured them. This was several months ago. The other night we stopped by the store and they were stocked on the endcap. I got very excited and bought a box. Impulse shopper I am!

One package has 120 calories, and usually 6 little pieces (I had already eaten one before I took the picture.) There are 6 packages in a box. No, I'm not doing Weight Watchers, BUT I like the fact that they are portioned out and I feel guilty if I open a second package. Usually. Unlike the Milano cookies where they are all just stuffed into one bag and you could mindlessly consume the entire bag in one sitting (never done that. I just mean, you PROBABLY could...)

These are good. Quite delicious. Are they the best chocolate you will ever eat? No. Did I eat a whole package for breakfast? Yes. They are KIND of like Rolos but not as rich. If you like candy bars like I do, I would rate them a 7 on a 1-10 scale. Some people don't like candy bars and prefer richer, fancier chocolate (Ghirardelli or Godiva or something like that). If that's you, you probably won't care for these.

They are not 100% natural or anything close, but they are pretty low in sugar for candy (9g) and high in fiber (6g). The main sweetener is sugar, but they do have a tiny bit of sucralose, which I DON'T like, but I really could not taste it at all (and usually I can tell immediately and it ruins the food for me). They are good for if you are counting calories and struggle with impulse control. They are 3 WW points - I don't do WW, when I am trying to lose weight I use My Fitness Pal, but I'm pretty sure 3 points is not terrible for a dessert. And you could just eat one at a time instead of the whole package. If you were self-disciplined.

I also like that they look like something that could be considered "bon bons." So I can sit on the couch and eat them in front of the laptop and feel like I'm living a real life of luxury. When Brian calls and asks what I'm up to... "eating bon bons while the kids nap." yeah!

In short - I like them. :)

Check out the linky party here. I am kind of fascinated by her review today because my hairdresser suggested I try [that product] and I haven't yet.

Journal, v.4

:noticing God's glory: 

Just under a year ago, this sweet little guy came into our lives. How fast he's grown, and how lovable and happy he is. His birthday is on Friday and I can't believe it!

:listening to: not much of anything.

:clothing myself in: black athletic pants, several lounge-y days in a row. I need to wash those so badly. So I can lounge in them again this week. I am not much of a yoga pants person, I try to get more dressed up in the morning, but we didn't leave the house all week... and I don't think Nate has gotten fully dressed for 9 days. Even though I've gotten clothes out for him every day! (I have made him change his jammies daily.) ;)

:thinking: about how unfun it is to be sick. The big boys are fiiinally better (10 days for Nate!), Andrew has an awful case of croup and I came down with it suddenly this afternoon. I wish we could have all gotten it at the same time!

:pondering prayerfully: Abandonment. Really, really good. I need to work on this.

:cultivating rhythm: once again, no rhythm. Far from it. I was hoping for a return to it this week, but the sicks hit me hard today, so, we'll see about that.

:creating by hand: nothing. BUT my friend Lindsey @ Happier Than a Bird Quilts posted this lovely quilt on her Facebook page and I fell in love. Then she mentioned that she was planning on selling it and just like that, it became mine. Er, Andrew's. A pop of color in his otherwise white corner of the world. Which reminds me of my informal resolution to make 3 quilts this year... good thing there are still 11 months left.

:learning lessons in: joy? A friend just posted something about the Joy Dare and I am really considering doing it. With the fancy app, of course, even though I love the way the printable list looks, because I know that I will keep up with it better on my phone, not misplace my sheet, etc.

:encouraging learning: I have decided we do not read NEARLY enough. We are taking a full 20 minutes a day to read this week, no matter what. And longer if they are up for it. Ben would read forever; Nate is not as interested. Too bad. ;) We read for quite a while this evening. Love the I-Spy books!

:keeping house: Barely keeping my head above. By next Sunday I want to have things in decent order. That gives me 6 days for some progress. (On the plus side, since we've spent so many episodes in our bathroom with the steamy shower for Andrew, I've gotten the counters/mirror wiped off a bunch while I'm in there holding him! Silver lining.)

:in the kitchen: I have done very little there this week (I did frantically call Brian to bring home Chick-fil-a one night, so, yeah). This week - a birthday cake for Andrew.

:loving the moments:

8 years ago (yesterday), that cute Brian guy told me he liked me... and it turned into a pretty good thing. ;) He brought me this. Yes, that man knows me so very well. The Butterfinger is already gone.

:planning for the week ahead: Possible playdate with our friends, depending on the health of everyone here. I do NOT want to pass along germs! 1st birthday party for Andrew on Saturday.

:funny things: Our garage is full of stuff that needs to be moved to the basement, so my car has been parked in the driveway for a couple weeks (which hasn't really been a big deal because, did I mention our 10 day quarantine?) But last week, before the sickness, we were running a few errands, and went out to the car to find it covered in frost. Something I don't normally think about! Today I took Ben with me to Mass so he could get out, since we were keeping the others home. It had rained overnight and the car had giant droplets on it. He kept talking about where is the frosting on the car!?!? I could not figure out what he meant. Then it hit me. Frost = frosting.

I got a summons for jury duty. Is that funny? :P It's actually for a Tuesday (weird?) and Brian usually has Tuesdays off, so I figure I will go and see what's up. If it's a long trial I will ask to be let go because of childcare issues, obviously, but if it's only a day or two, I can snag a sitter... if I'm ever going to do it, now is a pretty good time, since I don't have a nursling. Brian has gotten called 2 or 3 times since we've lived in this county (almost 4 years) and has always gotten cancelled the evening before, so that's a big possibility, too.

One of the books we read tonight. H is for chicken, he says.

"Sure" Means Yes

Testing out the camera on mommy's new phone today, early in the morning. Don't be fooled, they really are sick - see Ben's droopy eyelids.

I usually respond to requests with a "Yes, that's fine," "No, I don't think so," or "No, not right now, maybe later." Apparently lately I've been saying "Sure" a lot. The first few times I said it, Nate would give me a quizzical look, and then I would have to clarify, "Yes, you can do that." Then he started asking, "Does sure mean 'yes'?"

Now every time I say sure, he grins and says, "Sure means yes!" Variations include, "'Fine' means sure and sure means yes!" "'Okay' means yes!" Learning about synonyms early!

The Wedding at Cana and Filling the Jugs to the Brim

Don't you love it when the homily was just what you needed to hear? Very spiritually uplifting and inspiring. It works out even better when you are at Mass alone and get to hear the whole thing without being distracted by littles next to you in the pew. ;) (Unfortunately, they are still sick, but maybe on the mend? Fever-free so far today.)

Today's Gospel was the Wedding at Cana. In the homily, Father pointed out that the water jugs that Jesus told the stewards to fill to the brim were huge - probably 30-40 gallons, This meant they had to haul the water and it probably took quite a while to fill them (no hoses or sinks!). What if one of the stewards thought, eh, this is a lot of work, and we don't even know what the point is, no one wants to drink water (since they weren't yet aware of the miracle), so the steward just begrudgingly filled his jug, and only filled it about halfway to avoid doing so much work. He figured that no one would really care or notice.

Would Jesus still have performed the miracle? Yes. Would the water in that jug still have turned to wine? Yes. But there wouldn't have been as much wine in that jug as in the others - it would have had the same amount of wine as there had been water. So, less wine than what Jesus really wanted. Not because of any defect on the part of Jesus, but because the steward didn't do HIS part.

It's the same thing with our spiritual life - God wants to fill us with the "wine" of divine grace ALL the way. Often the reason we struggle spiritually isn't because there's something wrong with God or that He isn't giving us blessings, but because we haven't done our part - keeping the commandments, being kind and charitable towards our family and our neighbors, praying regularly, receiving the Sacraments, doing penance for our sins. We have to keep filling our spiritual "jug", and like filling the water jugs, it takes a lot of effort. God WANTS to give us grace, but we have to dispose ourselves to receive it - we have to fill ourselves with the "water" so He can turn it into "wine", metaphorically.

He also gave the example of a young child at the zoo. The child may throw a fit and decide he doesn't want to walk anymore. If it's been a long day, he may be legitimately exhausted and his parents may carry him because he just can't take another step. But sometimes, the fit happens early in the excursion. The child may be a little tired and grumpy, but he is still capable of walking - so his parents encourage him to keep walking and don't give in to his tantrum. It's good for him to keep walking, even if he doesn't really want to. We are like the child and God is like the parent - sometimes we really have been doing our part and spiritually exerting ourselves and we are just worn out. If that's the case, God will carry us. But we have to truthfully examine whether our problem lies with US - are we just tired and whiny, but haven't really been putting much effort into it?

I have heard people say after Mass on occasion, "Well, I didn't really learn anything from the homily today." I don't think the point is to LEARN something, much of the time - but mostly to be reminded of things we may be slacking on! Today's homily was a great reminder for me. Hugely encouraging to put more effort into my spiritual life, into being more charitable to my family, and to focusing more on prayer, which admittedly falls by the wayside often with the demands of small children.

We know in our every day life that we sort of lose the right to complain about certain things when we make certain deliberate decisions. If I decide to stay up super late playing on the internet, I can't really complain the next day about being tired. If I spend a bunch of money on eating out, I can't complain at the end of the month when the money is gone and the pantry is bare. In the same way, I really cannot get upset at God for not helping me with ___ problem if I haven't put in the effort to ASK for help, and to do things that will ease my burden. I can't complain about feeling impatient with my children if I'm not regularly asking for the grace, in prayer, to be more patient, and if I'm not putting in TRUE effort to BE patient.

So, it seems that a resolution to fill up my spiritual jug is in order. I can certainly think of a couple concrete ways to do that - the specifics of which I will ponder privately, but which involve showing more charity at home: more patience, kindness, and gentleness, and much more consistency and effort in prayer.

New Toy

The hubs bought me a present that I neither needed nor really deserved. It was just an oh-so-giant WANT/wouldn't this be a convenient thing to have/sometimes I get lost and need GPS?

I am pretty darn excited about the oh-so-great camera, but then I realized I can't take a picture of the phone WITH the phone... insert grainy Photo Booth picture.

So, splurge of the year. I really feel spoiled and not like it is quite justified... mostly because I spend most of my time at home and I have internet at home, do I really need it on the go, too? I feel very first-world, non-minimalist. (Not like I was kidding myself before - I love my modern appliances and my laptop and my car, but there is something about a smartphone that is so non-essential, for ME.) But I needed a new phone, regardless. My old phone kept having what I lovingly termed "pregnancy moments" - I would tell it to do something and it was like it couldn't remember what I had pressed.

I'm so excited about the camera/video camera. There are so many little moments I would love to capture (and sometimes tried to with my old phone and its terrible camera) but I don't always want to pull out my giant camera. I LOVE my giant camera, don't get me wrong, but "convenient" is not exactly a word I would use to describe it. I will bring it if we go someplace like the zoo, but it's hard to camera-wear AND baby-wear, and I'm always so worried about bumping it around. Hopefully this will allow me to capture more of the very ordinary moments I want to remember.

so my big camera is probably way more convenient than this thing... I guess it's all relative, isn't it?

Brian downloaded some apps he thought I might appreciate. Facebook, Dave Ramsey, Pandora, Hy-Vee... My Fitness Pal!? Hahaha. I can pretend to be offended but I did use it a lot on the old iTouch. I'm not actively using it now (They've been sending me "Colleen, we miss you!" emails.)

psst: I added a "Follow Me on Pinterest!" link on the right toolbar up towards the top -----> Who would have thought this girl would be able to click "Add HTML/JavaScript" on a Blogger gadget and actually know what to do? With help from Google. :)

Sicks

I just realized I've only taken pictures one time this whole year so far. January is slipping through our fingers!



We have the sicks around here this week. Andrew's cold has been ongoing for weeks and weeks now. I FINALLY took him to the doctor Monday. When they asked "how long has he been sick?" I couldn't even answer the question! That sounds terrible. He has just had some chest congestion and a runny nose for the longest time. At first I thought it was a cold, and then maybe teething... but from a conversation I looked back at on Facebook, it appears he's had this for a full month. Well, two ear infections and bronchiolitis! Poor baby. He is SO SO good-natured though, and really has been sleeping pretty well, there was no way to know it was really more than just a cold! I always hesitate to jump to antibiotics, but we had been doing home remedies that were not helping. We went ahead and did them, and he is FINE now. Within 2 days his chest was completely clear. This happened with him before, over the summer - so I have to wonder if it really was more than just a virus, and actually some kind of bacterial infection.

I feel like my babies always get sick really young! Nate had chicken pox at 2 months, Ben had a BAD case of bronchiolitis and we had to do a bunch of breathing treatments (and he still has problems with constricted airways when he gets sick because of that), Andrew had an ear infection & strep at 4 months and we did breathing treatments over the summer, and he's been sick so much since then. I guess they build up their immune system a lot that first year... they are pretty healthy as toddlers, so?

One of the hard things about being a parent that I never really thought about before having kids is that YOU make the judgment calls on these kinds of things. All of them. Do they need to go to the doctor? Does this cut need stitches? Is this ER-worthy? I hate making the final decision! I always worry that what I decide will be the wrong thing - either I should have taken him in earlier, or I overreacted. But usually whatever we decide ends up being the best thing. There is something to that "mom gut." (not the literal kind.) Moms know! Usually.  (And yes, I usually do call my mom and ask her what she thinks.) :)

this is from Christmas! he is always so cheerful and pleasant. always.

So Andrew is on the mend. But Ben. Oh Ben! He has had a bad case of the grumpies lately, which is unusual for him. I should have known something was coming. (And he says at least 47 times a day, "OH, I have a boo-boo! Kiss it!" with a sad face, sometimes tears. But that is normal.) He has had a fever on and off now for a couple days. Tonight he was pretty pleasant but his temp was 101.6.

Nate did not nap today (a pretty normal occurrence lately!) Normally around 7 he utters a "Oh Mommy, I'm tired..." tonight it happened at 5:30. He stayed up WAY too late playing in his bed last night so I wasn't surprised. But then he went from acting totally normal to acting sick. I took his temp and it was climbing. He acted like he really did NOT feel well so we gave him Tylenol (not really for the fever, it wasn't super high yet). Before Brian had even pulled the dropper all the way out of his mouth he said "OH, I feel really better now!"* and then went up and laid down in bed and crashed.

So, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe they will both wake up fever free? I know several people who have had a random fever day and then, fine. I also know some people with the flu (although I don't *think* we have been exposed to it), so this could go either way.

* The whole reason I started to write this post is because I wanted to remember this incident. SO cute and funny. Medicine is like magic to him. I caught him with the (empty) dropper one day. "Mom, I have to take this medicine so I can feel better." I love him.

Writing in my Diary, v.3

:noticing God's glory: We spent our last Sunday at our current church, as our community is getting its own church (which will eventually become an official parish). I am so sad to leave, because this church holds so many wonderful memories for me - including the church where we were married and where all of our children (so far) have been baptized. Our new church is nice, but it will just not be the same. We remodeled an existing (Protestant) church building - and they just don't build them like they used to. ;)

:listening to: A kid's Christmas CD over and over in the car. Obsessions: I Saw Three Ships, Here We Come A-Caroling. They sang We Three Kings at church today and Nate seemed pretty impressed that they knew "the song from the cd." Now that it's Epiphany, think I can get away with switching it out for Hug Me, Jesus? Or will we listen to Christmas music til March?

:clothing myself in: I think I wear my blue skirt 6 days a week. Sometimes 7. Wearing it right now. The waistband is just so... forgiving.

:thinking: About all the pretty things I found on a new blog today. Buying a house. How I am desperately yearning for a playroom/dedicated play area. How I'm excited to paint. White walls for almost 5 years = ready for color!

:pondering prayerfully: End of the Christmas season. Lent is in 5 weeks...!?!? Sort of a lull right now, but thinking about starting some kind of novena.

:cultivating rhythm: What is that? We are so out of whack. Too many sweets, too many shows, too many meltdowns and so much mom-and-children-tiredness.

:creating by hand: Thinking about making a felt food lobster for Ben, since he's really into the play food right now. And has this thing about lobsters (not that he likes them, but he's kind of fascinated by them and freaked out at the same time.)

the little people order I fulfilled around Thanksgiving - exciting!

:learning lessons in: humility, again? Mass meltdown today.

:encouraging learning: Still obsessed with calendars (thanks to our chocolate Advent calendar!) And now, days of the week. We got a few new games for Christmas - Chutes & Ladders, Dominos, the Lotto Game - will be playing those quite a bit.

:keeping house: It really isn't terrible. I just get to that point where the Christmas decor, as lovely as it is, become a nuisance. The tree is dry and needles are everywhere, and the pretty Christmas cards hanging on the wall start to make it seem cluttered - I am ready for a "fresh start." Packing it up this week, figuring out something clever to do with the cards so I don't have to pack them away.

:in the kitchen: Quite a bit of frozen pizza and simple meals lately. Cooking is not my favorite thing to do these days. I got this personal blender for Christmas and it actually works REALLY well, so I've been making smoothies with frozen berries, yogurt, and a little grape juice for myself. And "It's a mommy drink" seems to be a satisfactory answer when little people ask for a sip. (I rarely DON'T share!)

       the turkey cookies I made on Thanksgiving. Why won't this center?

:loving the moments: Our (very recent) new after-dinner routine is to go downstairs and play. Nate is very into the Wii. He doesn't play, but he holds the remote and acts like he's playing. He loves Wii Play games - the shooting; he announces which level is coming up next - "the targets!", "the grown-up drinks!" (the soda cans you have to shoot - haha), "the aliens!". He also likes the tank game, which daddy is great at and mommy stinks. Mario Kart is a new fave as well. He spends most of the time watching, while Ben serves us play food and Andrew crawls around in the toy area. We usually only play for 20-30 minutes, but now as soon as dinner is done it's "time to go downstairs!!!"

:planning for the week ahead: Catholic Sistas editorial board meeting, doctor's appointment Tuesday, new Bible study group meets Thursday - more on the calendar than normal! Also, GOODBYE, CHRISTMAS TREE.

:funny things: Last week we drove past the apple orchard and I explained that since there is snow on the ground, it's too cold for apples to grow this time of year. Today Nate said "Oh look, the snow is melting, it must be almost time to go apple-picking!"

:new years resolutions: I did not really make. I feel like my head has been a fog for the last several weeks. They would probably have had something to do with eating better exercising more praying more cleaning more being a nicer mom and wife. That's about as far as I got. Trying to accept this fog I'm in and do the best I can for now, in hopes that my sanity will return. :)

I am not in a creative mood today! This post feels super boring and like I'm forgetting a lot of details.

I'm thinking about changing my blog name... but I don't want to start a new blog, so would that mess things up? I would probably change the URL to go along with it. hmm.