Lily Is Here!

Yesterday my beautiful daughter Lily Pearl was born via caesarean at 11:47 am. Oddly enough, I was born one day following (today!) at 8:47 am, also via caesarean! Happy birthday to us and everyone else in June!

We are so excited to welcome her to our family! However, we will have to wait a little while to take her home as she was born with a saccrococcygeal teratoma which looks like it will require surgery to remove. She's in the NICU for now, and is sedated so that she doesn't hurt herself by flailing too much - apparently she makes very vigorous movements otherwise!

I am sad that I can't hold her or nurse her yet, but am thankful for the technology that is available to help and most of all for the God who has brought her this far and will see her (and us) through the rest of this process. Pumping is going well so far - it's weird to see the small amounts of colostrum in the bottle, but every little bit will help! I was just surprised I was able to get any so soon - another example of God's excellent handiwork! The human body is truly amazing.

Well, I should probably go back to sleep for a while. All of the strange noises (leg cuffs, etc.) aren't really helping, but I need to rest and recover quickly! :) I've already been able to walk around some, which is crazy to me as I remember how it took me 24 hours to do that last time! Again, God at work, and the strong motivation of getting to go see our daughter!

Looking forward to posting some good news soon. Until then please keep Lily in prayer, and may you and yours be blessed!

Last Day

Well, I was going to write a post but I find myself pressed for time as I am going out to lunch with work friends on my last "official" day of work! Feels weird not to have a job anymore but I know this is a good change. 4 weeks to go until baby Lily is here and I sure won't be thinking about work anymore at that point! So TTFN!

Selling Stuff

Has anyone else tried selling stuff to increase their household income? Like, selling random items on eBay, or going a bit farther and becoming a drop-shipper?

I'm looking into drop shipping and was wondering if anyone else has had experience with it.

Long Post

Well, apparently I haven't updated this blog since January, so this post may be a bit long!

Joseph continues to grow and surprise us with his development. He's now 18 months, totally cute, and full of fun and activity! He's started singing the abc's and saying hi a lot. Looking forward to some more words soon. :) We went to the park today and had a lot of fun on the swings. It's close to 80 today which is very rare for Rochester in March! A nice break from the normal spring weather, and if it stays this warm through the summer I will be happy (although my pregnancy ankles might not be!).

We are still using cloth diapers, although today was one of the days I sometimes have when I don't like them as much. (3 messy poops... thankfully no leakages and my husband changed 2 of them... but still... gross!!!!) I am very thankful for the nose plug my husband got me when I was in the first trimester. Still using it!

I am home from work now, which has been rather weird. I was very used to the one day a week schedule, and kind of miss having a "job" besides being a mom. I am doing some consulting work on the side, but that hasn't been as regular so it's not a guarantee of something to do each week. I've been thinking about what I 'want' to do with all of my "free" time and have decided to focus more on being a better homemaker. Starting this week by getting out some books on organization (I'm pretty organized, but one can always improve!), parenting, and cooking (specifically, Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month).

I'm also working through the faith challenge of waiting and watching for our daughter's healing. I'm almost 28 weeks along (which reminds me... time to do the glucose test. blegh.) and am having a bit of a break from the near constant ultrasounds and OB visits (two more weeks with no visits! hooray!). I know I didn't go into too much detail on my last post, but basically what the doctors are telling us is that she has a pelvic cyst (saccrococcygeal teratoma, to be precise) that they think will be causing problems for her. Overall, they are saying that a) she will need surgery after birth, perhaps even immediately and b) that she may have a variety of problems, ranging from club feet to lack of use of her legs to lack of a working colon/rectum (depending on what the teratoma has been pressing up against).

Whew.

So anyway, we've been praying and believing that she is going to be just fine, regardless of if she needs surgery or not. (I however am really really wanting it to be not.) I think this situation has been harder for me than other things in the past because a) it's my baby girl! and b) there is absolutely NOTHING I can do to fix it. What I can do is: 1) Pray. 2) Have faith. 3) Read and listen to the Scriptures over and over. 4) Ask others to pray and believe with us. This is as much a reminder for me as it is a request for prayer. :) (And for patience with me as I'm sure more posts about this will be forthcoming.)

Right now it feels like I'm on a bit of a roller coaster. I have "good days" where I am able to speak in faith and feel positive, but those tend to be followed by "bad days" where I feel stressed, depressed, and would like to do nothing more than curl up on the couch, eat ice cream, and watch shows on Hulu until my eyeballs fall out. (The 18-month old tends to prevent that however. :) I like having definite projects to work on because it helps to distract me from thinking through all of the "what ifs" (I am a planner, so I try to plan for every possible scenario so I can deal with it better), but I am trying to avoid doing that because I know its not really going to help me in the long run.

I also have been avoiding talking about this with anyone but close friends/family, but lately it feels like if I don't have somewhere to write about this that I may just explode. So here we are!

Well, I've tired myself out with writing, so it's time for that whole ice cream/couch scenario I described before. Thanks for listening. :)

Grace for This Day

Ever have a day when it feels like you can't take it if there is anything else to do? Too many things going on at once, and if one more thing comes along it's going to overthrow the entire pile?

Welcome to my life lately! We have a lot going on, with Joe's job, my transition from being part-time one day a week to starting my night-time training/teaching job that will be one-two nights a week, a growing boy who gets into everything, a part-time consultant gig for a gas and energy company, and being the property managers/paperwork fiends for our real estate investment LLC that is adding a new property/tenant right now. Oh, yeah and we are also refinancing our home! Craziness! And Joe's car has been unusable for a week! No wheels! Bummer! :P

So what's the one more thing? Well, yesterday we found out that baby #2 is going to be a girl! :) Yay! However, we also found out that I will be transferred to the high-risk OB group because of placenta previa and some other concerns, which means lots more appointments than a normal pregnancy. Not cool! I was hoping to see the midwives (my first, and last, appointment with them was yesterday) and to have a VBAC awesome natural delivery. Instead, I now will likely have a planned C-section. :(

I guess the first human response is always "Why me?" But then really it should be about "OK, Lord, now what are You going to do with this/in this situation?" I'm sure He has good things in store, even if we can't see it right now.

So we will take it day by day, seeking the Lord and relishing the grace to make it through each day. And if you read this blog and are a believer, please pray for us and for our little girl that all would go well in pregnancy and beyond!

First haircut!

That's right folks, the curls are gone! (Still missing them... the new 'do makes him look so much older!)

Before

 

After

In other news: I have my first midwife appointment this week. I'm looking forward to it, but am somewhat nervous  because I am 20 weeks along and here I am seeing someone new! I finally decided to make the switch after reading as much as I could about VBAC and birth in general. I really enjoyed the book Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. The whole second section of the book talks about what the body goes through during labor and birth, as well as the effects of C-sections and the reasons why (in most cases) they probably wouldn't be necessary if the medical community embraced birth as a natural process that shouldn't be hurried or forced. I wish I had read this before my first birth, but am looking forward to putting this new mindset into practice this time around! And I look forward to having support for my choice to try for VBAC! :)

Anticipation

What am I anticipating? Let's see... could it be baby #2???

Yup! Joseph will have a sibling next year!

I'm due June 13, 2012, and am hoping to have baby sometime around the 9th (my birthday!). Every time I go in the doctor keeps asking me if I want to have another (this time planned) c-section. I'm thinking NOPE. So we will see.

Now if I could only get through the rest of the first trimester with my tummy and nose calmed down. This morning the smell in the kitchen (from Joe's cooking last night) made me upchuck the few crackers I had eaten. Great start to the morning. Thankfully Pop Tarts are easy to heat up. ;)

It's very frustrating to not know what is going to set off the super-sniffer. However, at least the baby is healthy (saw the heart beating on the ultrasound! so amazing.) and things are going along okay... I just want to sleep all the time and can't cook for myself. Lately even feeding Joseph his food has been iffy. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who takes good care of both of us and rolls with the punches as I gag my way through the day.

P.S. I'm thinking it's a girl... any predictions?

Joseph loves water

We started our Waterbabies class last Tuesday, and he had such a blast! I wasn't able to get a picture of him in his cute little swimsuit (thanks Auntie Lowie!) but I'll hopefully get one soon.

Joseph LOVES water, and he really, really enjoyed the pool. No fear here, and also no shut-the-mouth-underwater reflex - I think he drank at least a little of the pool because he was smiling while we were doing tummy swimming! He splashed a lot (and got me in the eyes a few times) but overall it was a big success! 7 more weeks to go. :)

However, Mom learned her lesson about needing an extra pair of hands: trying to get two wet people out of swimsuits, dried off, and dressed in a locker room is not easy to do, especially when one of them needs constant supervision! Next time I'm bringing the stroller in so I can stick him in there while I get ready. I was so exhausted by that alone that I was a grouchapotamus to my mom afterward (we go hang out at Grandma's on Tuesdays). Oh well. I learned something important: Have a place to pinion your child!

Things to do with a one-year-old...

Now that I am a (mostly) stay-at-home-mom (SAHM), I've been looking for ideas of things to do with a toddler. Joseph's not walking yet, but his ability to get into anything and everything that I don't want him to has made me realize that we need to get out of the house regularly for my sanity and to help him have fun doing things he's allowed to do (safe and fun! yay!).
In my searches, I came across a few things that might be useful to other Rochester-area SAHMs (or SAHDs!) and thought I'd post them up here:

• Library storytimes: Some libraries have age restrictions (i.e., 15 mo+), but quite a few allow babies of all ages. Check out the Monroe County Library website for more information! I've posted a few samples below:
• Baby Storytime
  Thursdays, October 13, 20, and 27 from 10:30—11 a.m.
  Henrietta Public Library - Community Room
  Age Level: Child (0 mos. - 2 yrs.)
  Storytime for babies and their caregivers! For infants to 23 months with an adult. Babies will experience books, nursery rhymes and songs with puppets and fingerplays. Registration required.
  
• Baby Story Time
  10/14/2011; 10:15 am - 10:45 am
  Ogden Farmers' Library
  Age Level: Child (0 mos. - 18 mos.) Bring your baby to the library! Join Miss Laura & Miss Sandi for stories, music, fingerplays and more. A great socialization opportunity for your little one. No registration required. 

• Community centers: Although I sadly live in a place without an abundance of good programs, there are lots of rec centers around the area that have kid- and baby-friendly programs available for non-residents! Two that I've heard good things about are Perinton and Webster.

• Indoor play places: I wasn't aware of these until recently. I've heard they are better for kids who are older (e.g., walking and able to climb safely), so look forward to checking it out in the future. One I've heard of is Kango Play Center, which is $80 for a year membership.

• Strong Museum of Play: This is a great place for kids of all ages (well, crawling and up). I was given a membership recently, so plan on going a lot! Joseph really enjoyed his first time there. A year-long membership for a family (2 adults plus all kids under 18 in the household) is only $96! Totally worth it if you ask me. Also, kids under 2 are free!

• Seneca Park Zoo: We still haven't gone to the zoo... but I'm looking forward to it when we do! A membership here is $75 year. Children up to age 3 are free!

• Other classes:
• Luvaboos has a variety of classes available: https://www.luvaboos.com/articles.asp?id=296

• Eastman School of Music (pricey, but if you're into music it might be nice): MusicTIME Toddler/Infant Music at Eastman - A unique program for infants and toddlers (ages 4 months to 2 years) and their parents/caregivers. MusicTIME features musical activities that include songs, rhymes, bounces, tickles, moving to music, and listening. Information and guidance on musical development in young children and home-based activities is also provided. Tuition: $136 per 10-week session

Other websites I've found with lots of information and ideas are:

• http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/content/indoor-fun-greater-rochester
• http://talesfromthecrib.blogspot.com/2007/03/things-to-do-with-one-year-old.html

Tell me if you have other ideas too! I'm especially looking for indoor or at home ideas as winter approaches!

One Year

My little guy turned the big number 1 on the 15! It's been interesting watching him grow and try to start to walk! Exciting and scary at the same time.

Here are some photos of the cake and such:

Big monkey cake for the grown-ups - recipe below!

Little monkey cake (w/ alternate frosting) for the birthday boy!

SMASHED!

I had a lot of fun making these! The cake recipe is one I found on Smitten Kitchen - I've included it below. I did one and a half times the recipe so that I had enough to make an extra 12 cupcakes and 3 mini cakes in my Pampered Chef one-cup glass baking bowls. (One of these was the little boy's cake shown above.)

Two-Layer Banana Cake from Smitten Kitchen
3 1/2 cups (14 3/8 ounces or 406 grams) cake flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) salt
3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces or 227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (7 ounces or 200 grams) sugar
1 cup (7 5/8 ounces or 218 grams) packed golden brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups mashed or pureed very ripe bananas (5 to 6 large)
6 tablespoons (3 1/4 ounces or 91 grams) sour cream or (weight will vary) plain yogurt
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of 2 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then coat the paper and sides of pans with butter and flour, or a nonstick spray. [You'll also want to butter and flour 3 muffin cups or ramekins.]

Whisk cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, then bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients in two additions just until combined. Divide batter among two pans; you’ll want approximately 5 cups of batter per pan. [Fill your 3 muffin cups or ramekins two-thirds of the way up with batter and divide remaining batter among your 2 9-inch pans.]

Bake cake until tester inserted into center of each layer comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. [Muffin cups should bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Please watch them carefully.] Cool each layer in its pan for 15 minutes before flipping out onto a rack to cool the rest of the way.

Buttercream Frosting - this was a French buttercream that my pastry chef sister made for me! I split the recipe into 2/3 and 1/3 - the 2/3 got an additional 5 oz of melted semisweet chocolate to make the brown, and then the 1/3 got 1 spoonful of the chocolate frosting and some drops of yellow food coloring to make the yellow part of the monkey face. The link above is to a similar recipe, although I can't promise the niceness of having someone else make it for you!

Alternate Frosting
I didn't want Joseph to have a ton of sugar, so I mixed cream cheese and applesauce together for the frosting on his cake. (Joe I says it tasted pretty good!) I then decorated with leftover chocolate buttercream.

All in all we had a good time. Joseph still went to bed at a reasonable time, even with staying up to 'open' his presents (ok, Mom and cousins might have helped him a bit with that). I'm so proud of him and of making it a whole year as a mom! (Without serious injuries! haha)

One year! (Almost!)

It is hard to believe but my adorable son will be the big number ONE tomorrow! Hooray!!!

We have come so far so soon - it seems like only yesterday that he was a smushy little ball of love, barely able to move, and today Joe told me that he saw Joseph start to take steps! CRAZY!

We rearranged the living room and dining room last night (since the projector bulb broke, there's no need to keep it in the layout we had before) so he now has more room to wander. It feels much more open now, and he has a little corner all to himself (already full of toys!). Pictures of the birthday boy and the new layout will be forthcoming once I find the card reader for the camera. ;)

So now the question is: do we replace the projector bulb ($200 and will last for about 4 years) or do we pony up the big bucks and buy a TV (probably in the $600-$800 range)? We haven't owned a TV since we got married, but with Joseph starting to be more into things it might be nice to watch some Veggie Tales or Sesame Street once in a while without having to set up a projector screen.

Mom-i-verse, what say you? Is TV good in moderation or better to just avoid at all costs?

Bacon-licious Corn Chowder

This weekend I made two soups with bases of bacon, onion and garlic. The corn chowder was so yummy that I had to post the recipe! (The other soup is awaiting taste testing in my fridge because we had a date night last night. :)

This is another 'use up things in my pantry' recipe, and I must apologize for those who can't tolerate dairy as it is most definitely NOT dairy-free! I am able to have dairy again, so have been relishing the taste of real cheese and milk. Milk by itself is not a good option all the time, but milk in things like soup is fine for me! Hooray!

Ashley's Quick and Easy Bacon-licious Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
1/2 lb bacon, chopped into bite-size pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced (or use a Garlic Press - I love my Pampered Chef one!)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken stock (or 1 tsp bouillon paste + 1 cup hot water)
4 cans corn, drained
2 cans whole new potatoes, quartered - reserve water from 1 can, drain other
1 can condensed milk (12 oz)
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Process:
Place large pot on stove, turn burner to medium-low. Add olive oil, garlic, onion, and bacon. Cook until onion is soft and bacon is at your preferred level of doneness (mine was medium, ~10-15 minutes), stirring often to avoid burning. Add corn, potatoes, chicken stock, and water from 1 can of potatoes. Stir and let cook for 10 minutes so that the corn and potatoes get the taste of the bacon (keep stirring every so often to avoid burning). Add condensed milk, cheddar cheese soup, Parmesan, and spices, stir until well-combined and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring periodically. Turn off burner and remove from heat. Let cool for 10 minutes (or you'll burn your tongue like I did!) and serve with garlic bread, cornbread, or rolls. Serves 8-10.

This was a great lunch on a cold, rainy Rochester day! My husband, brother-and-sister-in-law, and three nephews all liked it too. Enjoy!

In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms

While feeling down (due to PMS) and walking through Wegmans, I came across this book: In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I've been dealing with some mental/emotional issues with my decision to stay at home, so thought I might give the book a look-through and see what it had to say. I am so glad I bought it!

As a working mother with two college degrees, I have had a range of reactions to my decision to leave work. Some have supported my decision and said "That's great!" Others have been more negative and implied that I was going to lose my skills/intelligence/usefulness by leaving my job. Granted, the naysayers are fewer in number than the encouragers, but it can be hard to deal with when they are people you respect (or thought you respected).

This book was totally helpful to me in that it a) helped to validate my decision to stay home and b) offered wisdom on dealing with the changes that will occur and the various emotions that will come as I change my perspective. I also agree with Dr. Laura's assessment that colleges train women to think that their best contribution to the world should come from being 'career women.'

I went back to work after Joseph was born because I felt like I 'had to' for financial/benefits reasons, and, honestly, because I felt like I 'needed to' in order to prove that I could do both (since I'm so 'educated'). As a result, I've had more struggles with trying not to cry as I leave my son every morning--although thankfully I have had the privilege of having my sister, a very loving auntie, watching him instead of an institution--than I ever have had with leaving work at the end of the day. My entire life has changed, and I no longer want to put my energy into primarily supporting work instead of my family.

Don't get me wrong - I love my job, have a great boss and co-workers, and feel very blessed to have been able to earn income doing something I like for 4+ years. I know many other people would trade places with me in a heartbeat. However, my son is more important, and there is no one else in the world (not even my mom or sister or mother-in-law) who can be his MOM!

Here's to all the stay-at-home moms out there - HIP, HIP, HOORAY! I look forward to joining you soon.

Poopy Picasso

We have finally experienced one of the 'parenting horror stories' that are hilarious and a turn-off for potential parents all at once! Hooray! Below is my abbreviated reenactment of yesterday morning:

7:00 am - Wake up to baby crying, change his diaper and put him into a disposable because the cloth ones are downstairs, nurse. (I do not replace the pajama bottoms as I am planning to change him into his church clothes soon. This will be important to note in a few.)

7:30 am - Decide to go back to sleep for a few, hubby puts baby in crib. All is quiet on the western front, which was, in retrospect, unusual because Joseph screams when he's in his crib normally.

8:00 am - Joseph starts crying - we think, oh, he must need a diaper change. Hubby gets up to get himself and baby ready for church, while I stay in bed and am a bum because I don't feel too hot. He walks by the baby's room to go get a cloth diaper to change him into.

Suddenly, I hear "Ashley! Get the bath running!" I sit up in bed and say "What?" as I am still sleepy. "Joseph took his diaper off and there's poop everywhere! Start the bath!" Again, I say "WHAT?" as I am hoping this is a joke.

I get out of bed and walk down the hallway. Joe already has the baby in the tub with water running. I walk into the baby's room, smell poop, look at the crib, and see poop EVERYWHERE!

Somehow Joseph took off his diaper (either before or after pooping), and then decided it would be a good idea to smear poop all over his crib - all over the sheet, all over the toys in the crib, over some of the bars on the side. It was disgusting! I instantly grabbed the Clorox wipes and started cleaning gingerly, trying not to dislodge more of the stuck on fecal matter from the sides of the crib. GROSS!!!!

After about 45 minutes of elbow grease, order was restored. However, I now have to call the doctor's office and tell them that Joseph ate poop!

Any other 'parenting horror stories' out there worth sharing?

Overnight Diapering Problems...

Sigh... as all my loyal readers (all 5 of you ;) know, I am a cloth diapering user and proponent. However, this past week we've been having problems with our overnight diapering: My little man developed an irritation on his pee-pee that was bleeding!!! YIKES!!!

Thankfully it was just a little dot here and there, but it's been consistent every few days with a little drop of blood on his diaper in the morning. NOT what you want to see.

I'm not sure why it's been happening, but we took him to doctor and they gave us some ointment to put on it, and recommended either using disposables or "softening" the cloth diaper in some way so it wasn't so irritating. We've gone down to one liner during the day, which has seemed to help, but the overnight has been the issue.

For now, the plan is to switch to disposables for overnights until the irritation is gone, then to try some different cloth diapering solutions and see which one works best. I found this page on the Cotton Babies website that was helpful, so I ordered 3 BumGenius stay-dry diapers with some extra microfiber inserts and hemp liners to try. I also decided to try the hook and loop (aka Velcro) diapers instead of the snaps as a) we've only been using snap covers and b) they seem more adjustable, so we will hopefully be able to get a good fit.

Here's hoping this works! Anyone else have any overnight ideas for me to try?

Crazy Moms

 

Image credit: http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com/saf-seeking-emotional-deliverance/crazy-mom-twitter-facebook-stalking/

Top ten reasons why people think moms are crazy:

10.) Moms talk to themselves all the time. (It's only because the baby books say that talking around your baby is good for language development! No, really.)

9.) Moms cry at commercials. (Well, at least I do... must be those pesky hormones.)

8.) Moms wipe off boogers, snot, drool, spit-up, etc. with their hands and/or clothing like it's no big deal.

7.) Moms can understand toddler speak as though it's English.

6.) Moms talk about the condition of their child's bowel movements with anyone who will listen.

5.) Moms wake up in the middle of the night to check and see if their baby is still breathing. (Yes, I did this too.)

4.) Moms think that their baby is the most beautiful thing in the world, even when the baby looks like a squished up little old person.

3.) Moms sing songs about anything and everything... just to make it fun!

2.) Moms actually care if their child's clothing--which will inevitably be getting covered in food, drool, or worse--matches.

1.) Moms go through labor and, once it's over, would go through it AGAIN!

I hope you enjoy the list, and let me know if you have anything else to add!

Wanna-be Gourmet

As a busy mom--still working full-time until September 1!--when it's time to cook, I go for the fast and easy route. However, I've been reading Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family lately, and it has motivated me to go more 'gourmet' when I cook. If I don't enjoy making it/tasting it/eating it, then what's the point?

This brings me to the other night (now a week or so ago) when I was concocting the deliciousness below.

Ashley's Dijon Walnut Tilapia and Beet Salad
Ingredients:
1 onion, sliced into rings
2 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tilapia filets, thawed2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1 bunch large beets, scrubbed and quartered
1 bunch beet greens, washed with stems removed4 Tbsp balsamic vinaigrette
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese


Process:
In large frying pan, warm 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium low heat. Once warmed, place onion in pan and caramelize, stirring often, about 20-30 minutes. (Wait for them to really caramelize - tastes so much better this way!) While they are cooking, place a large pot with 6 cups of water on high heat. Bring to a boil. Place beets in water and boil, uncovered, for about 10-12 minutes (or until beets are able to be easily pierced by fork). While beets are boiling, use the steam from the pot to steam the beet greens! Take a steamer basket and place on top of the pot. Place 1/2 bunch of greens on top and cover with pot lid. Steam for 2-3 minutes until greens have wilted. Remove (carefully!) using tongs and reserve. Repeat with remainder of beet greens until all have been steamed. Once done with the greens, remove the steamer basket. If beets are done boiling, turn off the heat and strain out the water through a colander.

Place 1/2 cup cooked beets on top of 1/4 of the greens on a plate for a salad serving. Top with 1/4 cup feta and 2 Tbsp balsamic vinaigrette. Let this sit to cool while you finish the fish as follows: Once onions are done caramelizing, push to one side of the pan. Place fish filets in pan and brown on each side for 2-3 minutes. Once the filets are mostly cooked (each side browned), add the walnuts, mustard, 2 Tbsp olive oil, honey, and spices to the onions. Mix well, then spoon over the fish filets and stir together. (If the fish breaks up, no biggie - it will still taste great!) Cook for another 3-4 minutes until the fish is done (you can use a meat thermometer to check this). Spoon 1 filet with onions and walnuts onto the plates you made previously. Enjoy!

You need to be a bit of a multitasker to pull this off but it's worth the extra attention! Hope you like it.

Transformers and Strawberry Ice Cream

Not that these two things go together, but this is what you get from my brain today.

Joe and I saw the new Transformers movie last night. I would give it a B+ overall (as in, I saw it, it was cool, but I wouldn't watch it again). It was action-packed and full of cool special effects (including super slowdown fight scenes so you can see the awesomeness of Optimus slashing the bad guys with his sword). There was a group of young kids sitting in front of us (which I didn't understand since the movie was rated PG-13... but I digress), which was fun because they kept exclaiming over the cool parts. The joy of children for things they've never seen before is always a lot of fun to experience.

*SPOILER ALERT* However, the movie also made me sad (not because of the lack of acting) but because of the scene where all these children are running around with no parents in sight due to the Decepticons killing people right and left. That made me a) want to get home to Joseph as soon as possible and b) reflect on the sanctity of human life - killing people is so wrong. Even if it's fictional alien mechanical creature/robot things.

On to strawberry ice cream! I've been trying to use up things in my pantry/freezer, and the big bag of frozen strawberries I bought a while ago caught my eye. I thought of churning them up in the food processor to make a frozen treat, and came up with the following recipe:

Dairy-free Strawberry 'Ice Cream'
Ingredients:

• 3 c. frozen strawberries (or you could use fresh too with no greens)
• 1 c. So Delicious vanilla coconut milk
• 2 tsp. organic agave nectar (add more as desired)

Process:
Mix all ingredients in food processor (or super strong blender) until well-blended. Freeze until hardened, or (if using frozen berries) you can serve immediately. When frozen, the final texture resembles an Italian ice; fresh out of the processor is much softer like a soft serve ice cream. Serves 4 - 8 (if you follow the 1/2 cup serving size).

This is a refreshing treat for a hot summer day, and there is virtually no coconut flavor since the berries take over. It's also super easy to make!

New, new, new

What's new: Joe and I started a new business last week with Ambit Energy. We are pretty excited about the opportunity to help people save money on their energy bills and also to partner with other people who want to build their own business. If you live in Texas, New York, Illinois, Maryland, or Pennsylvania and want to learn more, visit our customer website or watch the introductory video! (Another cool thing: It's FREE to become a customer! And it really does save you money!)

What else is new is a firm decision in regards to my future. I have decided to leave my current job and become a full-time stay-at-home mom! (Otherwise known as an SAHM. Say it with me, saaahmmm.)

I will still be working part-time, either at my current place of work or on our own businesses (in addition to Ambit, I also do project management for companies who need graphic/web design or marketing, and Joe is currently in the process of purchasing our first rental property - yes, we do keep busy), but overall I am so looking forward to being able to focus on being a mom first and work second! Right now it's hard to keep it that way when I only see him for a few hours most days.

This is going to be a big change but it's a good one!

Nine months!

Joseph is nine months old as of last Wednesday. I can hardly believe it!

As he has grown, each stage has had some challenges, but mostly lots of fun watching him learn how to do new things: rolling over, scooting/crawling, sitting up, learning how to go from sitting up to crawling without banging his head on the ground, standing, 'dancing' (him stepping around in place while I'm helping him stand up), smiling, babbling, cooing, giggling, 'talking' (he does say mama and dada! although not directly to us).

One afternoon when I picked him up from auntie Lauren he crawled over to me on the floor! It was wonderful. :) He is such a determined little guy when there is something he is focused on.

However, I'm having some trouble figuring out his new feeding schedule. I'm trying to keep him on a 5 breastfeeding, 3-4 solid feedings/day schedule because I'm worried that my milk production will decrease otherwise. However, some days he doesn't really seem to want to nurse fully (he's focused on everything BUT nursing), and some days he skips breastfeedings. Anyone have any experienced mommy tips for me? I want to adjust to his needs as they change, but I still do want to keep some semblance of order in our feeding schedule as well.