Thursday, September 27, 2012

"Sauce"

My little man calls it "sauce," but I think the rest of the world calls it "applesauce."
There is something so nostalgic about that stuff.
Brings me back to being 5 years old...
wearing scrunchy socks, playing with my skip-it, taking naps whenever I wanted!
I remind my children on a regular basis that taking naps is a privilege!
Seize the moment. When you grow up and have children of your own, naps are hard to come by!

My mother-in-law gave us some lovely, green apples earlier this week, and we decided to cook 'em up and blend them into "sauce" this afternoon.


The house was oozing with the warm scent of steamy apples. Be jealous. It was delicious.


We just wanted some for fresh eating.
I will get back to canning some day! ...next summer!
I feel like I say that every fall. Sigh.

This was so easy and my two year old could help with every part.
In fact, I barely mashed this stuff together.
He and his wooden spoon were in business.


Chop apples & boil until soft
(Isaiah was QA. He supervised and took 3 or 4 samples to taste test. The punk.)

Add whatever flavors "do it" for you

We added cinnamon, vanilla, & maple syrup


Mmmmmmmm..... you want some. I know you do!

We put it in a jar, chilled it in the fridge, and then devoured it at dinner.


We probably need to do this again. Soon.
My little harvesters will be thrilled!






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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Baked Strawberry Oatmeal

This stuff makes me happy.
Serve it up for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or dessert after dinner!
I made some the other night for my brother-in-law and a friend...
but before we could "gift" this away, my boys and I were eating it straight out of the pan as a bedtime snack!

I tweaked this recipe to be dairy-free and ALMOST sugar-free.
It hit me TODAY that FRESH berries would have been a good alternative to the organic berry spread (that's where the sugar snuck in!).


1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt

mix together - then add

1 cup non-dairy butter (Earth Balance, my friends. Very nice alternative.)
1/4 maple syrup
1/4 honey
(the original recipes calls for 1 cup brown sugar - if you are not afraid of sugar, go for it!)

use a pastry-blender or fork to work the wet ingredients into the dry mix

separate the "oatmeal" for TWO layers

spread one layer into a non-stick 9X9 pan

top with 12 oz. of your favorite fruit spread. i went with strawberry!
*kicking myself for not using fresh berries*... i think it would work!

spread the remaining "oatmeal" on top of the fruit. only has to look perfect if you are Martha Stewart, right?

bake @ 350 for 30-40 minutes. you're looking for: lovely golden brown :-)




quick + easy = happy momma!



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Saturday, September 22, 2012

Top 10 : Our Favorite Dates


Hey guys- it's Brittany and Nathan! We're teaming up tonight to bring you our top 10 favorite date ideas.
We're actually making THIS a date!
Working together, sharing a cup of homemade (dairy free!) hot chocolate,
some lovely, caramel covered apples with toasted walnuts,
cute cute people.... mmmmmm romance!


It is not uncommon for us to get a phone call or a text from some random couple wanting us to give them a good date idea.
Like we're professionals! But seriously, we think we've come up with some pretty fun, budget-friendly, romantic, and even a few kid-friendly, date ideas to keep the flames burning!

We set aside Friday night as our official date night.
Now we can't afford a babysitter EVERY weekend so we usually have chaperones.
Their names are Isaiah and Judah. We make it work.
Bedtime is 7:30P.M. - the night is young!

But we think it is important to keep STUDYING and LEARNING
about the love of your life... before AND after you say "I do."

Anyway... If you are a "dinner & a movie" kind of couple, this probably is not for you.
I think we went to one movie together before we were married.


So here you have it!
Out of the box - not your average - budget friendly - date ideas for all you dating couples out there!
Steal our ideas or use them as creative energy to come up with some of your own unique date nights!

#1: Fondue by candlelight

Ever been to the Melting Pot? Fun. Pricey. And not exactly a place you want to bring your two year old! We were gifted a really cool ceramic fondue set for our wedding. Hey- fondue is cool! There is definitely something romantic about dipping your food into warm sauces by candlelight and sharing it with your favorite man/woman! To add to the scenery, a white-sheet canopy hung across the ceiling, suspended by ropes. Fondue in a whimsical tent with candles? Sign me up.

#2: Camping in the living room


Remember that post a couple months back? Totally set up the tent in the living room for a great evening under the "stars" (Christmas lights!). I think we played Scrabble and roasted marshmallows over the stove for s'mores! Later we watched a movie and even camped in the tent for the night!

#3: Drive-by water-ballooning

Now this is for those of you who are not afraid to live on the wild side! We have done this a couple times and get a kick out of it! This is probably illegal in some way - so please don't turn us in! We did it in a small town both times. That helps. Fill up a couple dozen water balloons and take turns throwing them out the passenger side window (NOT for drivers!) at random targets you spot along the way! Street signs are the target of choice. Very. Fun. Haha. One time we even ordered pizza and ate it out of the box along the way!

#4: Iron Chef @ home

REAL MEN WEAR APRONS!

Brittany is a great fan of the Food Network. So for Valentine's Day, I suprised her with an Iron Chef menu, making sure to select items with uncommon ingredients. Since I'm not much of a chef, and Brittany is, it wasn't much of a competition. Instead, it was more of an opportunity to experiment with new foods and work together as a team in the kitchen. Samosas, fried mozzarella, sweet & spicy cucumbers, chicken stuffed mushrooms, & pico de gallo shrimp salad were on the menu for us!

#5: Cowboys

Cowboy, take me away!!!! We wrote songs for each other. Nathan's was silly. Mine was serious. You can make this as hardcore as you want. We made a little bonfire out in the yard and took turns singing them to each other with our guitars. I also prepared macaroni and cheese to eat OUT OF THE PAN (because that's what cowboys do!) - and we had some bottled root beer too! Under the stars... music... food... firelight... we loved it!

#6: Retreat

Brittany planned this one. She selected Scripture & a devotional, from which we took turns reading. At the end there were questions, to which we responded by taking time to write down our answers, prayerfully considering what God was asking of us. To wrap up, we spent time with the Lord and each other, sharing our written thoughts out loud, and asking Him in turn to continue leading our marriage. (Some suggestions for devotional material would be: "The Love Dare", "Wild At Heart", "Authentic Beauty", "Heaven's Song" & of course, the "Letter" from the Author of Romance Himself....the BIBLE!!!!!

#7: Theme-nights

Some ideas...

Trip to Mexico:
Mexican food, salsa dancing, Mexican dice game, and a movie... The Mask of Zorro!


Harry Potter:
Hogwart's food (ideas online!), theme music, LOTS of candles (have you seen the dining hall?!?!), and one of the eight movies!

#8: Restaurant Riddle

This is not so budget-friendly, but WAY fun. You'll want a babysitter if you have kids. Nathan planned this for my 22nd birthday. IT. WAS. AWESOME. He chose 8 different restaurants in one of our favorite areas of Pittsburgh, PA. At each one we would sit down or take-out a "taste" of that restaurant. Something off the appetizer menu - or something small and yummy! I had to figure out why each of the restaurants was chosen. There was a common thread.


Bruschetta's (Italian)
Rita's (New York Style Pizzeria)
Ibiza(Spanish - Tapas)
Tom's Bar & Grill (American)
Thai Me Up (Thai)
Ali Baba's (Middle Eastern)
Nikama's (Japanese steak & sushi bar)
Yo Rita's (Mexican)

Can you see it?! I was SOOOOO confused until the very end. I kept thinking that we were going on a culinary adventure AROUND THE WORLD! He did good! So the answer to the riddle of restaurants - was MY NAME! The first letter of all the restaurants added up to BRITTANY.

You could totally do this with any "riddle" you want to create! All you foodies out there will love this as much as I did!!!

#9: Take a trip down memory lane

Simple, but wonderful. One night we grabbed a bottle of sparkling juice and sat down with our boxes of letters and little gifts we had given each other throughout our dating relationship. We took turns pulling items out of the boxes and reading them to each other. Brought up so many good memories and made us love each other all the more! Awwww. In the words of my little sister, "Vomit."

#10: Scavenger hunt

(Nathan says he has to drink his lemonade... so I have to write this one.) Perfect. You can pretty much do this one anywhere, but we chose the mall. Our mission was to find 3 items for under a dollar each that send the message: "I love you." We found a sugar cookie from the Tollhouse booth for Nathan, a large fountain Pepsi for Brittany, and a chair massage for the both of us! (Nathan says his lemonade is so good... drink Newman's.) We also created a list of funny things to hunt for along the way:

"something very dangerous"
"the perfect item for our moms"
"the last purchase we would make if we were dying"
etc.

P.S. Nathan says he has another great date idea. Drink all the lemonade and sniff the empty carton. Ohhhh my husband. Haha!


P.P.S. Nathan also wants to know why we are not including how he proposed to me in this list of date ideas. Sigh. That's a completely different post. We'll share about that some other time. Until then - go date someone!

Love,
Nathan & Brittany

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Celebrating Judah's Life



When I was growing up, time moved sooooo slllllloooowly.
Christmas took FOREVER to come around, it felt like I was NEVER going to get my driver's license,
I could NOT wait to graduate high school, and I just knew I was going to have grey hair before I finished FOUR years of college!

Getting married and having babies changed everything.

There are not ENOUGH hours in the day now.
I find myself begging God for more time with my children every night.
Why isn't there a happy medium?!

So this past Saturday we celebrated baby Judah's 1st birthday!
ONE YEAR.
Can't believe he was just a tiny, helpless, little thing 12 months ago.
Now he's a BEAST and can hold his own!
I guess he was a beast when he was born too. 10lbs.
Man, I love this child.

Here are lots of pictures of our day!
So blessed to celebrate with family and friends!!!

"LION" was the theme.
Just a few "lion-ish" details and lots of bright colors and shapes for my wide-eyed baby!
Had so much fun planning and partying!

pumpkin pancakes for my pumpkin



games



"pin the tail on the lion"
black sheet board from wal-mart = $2.98
white ink pen from wal-mart = $3.99
colored it in with oil pastels and made tails out of orange cardstock!

"lion hunt"
google images - "lion"
printed, cut, and pasted to orange cardstock
hid these guys around the house for the little guys to find!





decorations




I LOVE tissue paper pom poms. Made a bunch to hang in the dining room!
Learn how to make them here. Cheap + easy + cute = DONE!

food



Did a "Mac & Cheese" bar!
Kid friendly with a little flare to please the adults too!
Judah LOVES macaroni and cheese.
Made it from scratch like The Pioneer Woman taught me too! SO YUM.
Check out the recipe! When fresh mozzarella, fontina, and cheddar get together, something magical happens.

toppings included:
homemade chili
steamed broccoli with sea salt
pico de gallo
caramelized red onions

zebra cupcakes... because lions EAT zebras, right?!







Made Billie's Italian Cream Cake!
Good choice. I still have some in the freezer.
When the kids nap, they whisper my name. Seriously.
And I go to them. I don't want to, but I do.








We ended the day with motorcycle rides! Even momma got to ride!


... Dr. Seuss wrote a book about us. I think it is called "Hop on Pop" ??? Haha!


Here are my very tired party boys. They both slept for 12 hours straight.
Hmmmm... maybe we should have birthday parties more often!

p.s. the kid LOVES hats.
I don't know if you noticed, but he got FIVE hats for his birthday this year.
FIVE different head dresses for my little king of beasts... Jubee!!!





































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Saturday, September 15, 2012

a VBAC tale

You name it – I tried it! Squatting, miles of walking, pineapple, red raspberry leaf tea, spicy food, wine, pizza, cleaning things that didn't even need to be cleaned, etc., etc., etc... and you want to know what did it?!


Jesus.

On January 4th, 2011 we found out that we were expecting our 2nd child. With Isaiah and a c-section incision being only 6 months old, I cried out of fear. Nathan, my ever-so-faithful husband, was quick to remind me that GOD had my best interest in mind and that HE used us to bring this new life into existence for a reason. All I could see in my mind was my deformed (bicornuate) uterus on the ultrasound screen causing all kinds of complications for the children we conceived. It threatened little Isaiah's life – I knew that it would be no different with this child.

First OB visit and sonogram produced miraculous results that only God could have orchestrated. With my first pregnancy I had over ten sonogram pictures to confirm that my uterus was indeed shaped like a heart and could at any moment prove to be a death trap for our growing baby. I smiled at the ultrasound tech and bravely ventured to ask, “So how bad is it?” “What are you talking about it?” she replied. “My deformed uterus. Just tell me the baby is in a safe location.” At this point she turned the screen so Nathan and I could see the image. “Your uterus looks normal to me... the baby looks great!” My mouth dropped and Nathan started laughing and praising God for answering his prayer for my healing. Normal?!?! I can testify that the picture of my uterus I saw that day looked NOTHING like the ones we had seen over and over again with Isaiah. The doctors had no explanation, only medically inspired guesses, as to why my uterus appeared to be healed. I'm sure God was smiling.


This second pregnancy was nine months of joy! No complications. No anxiety. I was not labeled “high-risk” with my OB and quite frankly I felt a little put-off as the doctors barely noticed me! With Isaiah I had to go into the office every week after “17 weeks” to be given a shot of progesterone in my hip (to help keep me pregnant) and to be checked by a nurse or doctor. Every nurse and doctor at that time knew me by name and the 5th floor at Weirton Community Hospital felt like a second home. I am so thankful that this was NOT the case with our second baby!

From the beginning I was told that I was the perfect VBAC candidate. This was VERY exciting news for me! Bringing a baby into the world is exciting no matter how it is done – but I really wanted the chance to deliver a baby the way that God had designed. Due to my bicornuate uterus, Isaiah ended up trapped with this head upright in one of the horns of the “heart.” He was taken by c-section at 39 weeks on June 12th, 2010 – one of the happiest days of my life!!!

With this second pregnancy, a sonogram at 36 weeks confirmed that the baby was head down! I was so relieved that we didn't have another breech presentation on our hands and that the VBAC seemed very probable.


40 weeks came and went. Doctors and their due dates! They act like they were THERE when the child was conceived! Honestly, I was stressed and began trying to throw myself into labor every day. But deep down inside I knew that God could not have brought me this far, with so much healing, to let me not at least have a chance to deliver vaginally. We prayed and waited. I had an OB visit right before the 41 week mark and the doctor told me that they highly recommended that I schedule my c-section and have the baby before there were complications. They were concerned that the chances of uterine rupture were increasing as each day passed with pressure on my cervix and no effacement or dilation. SO DISHEARTENING! I scheduled the c-section for September 15th (FEAST OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS), a week after my due date, to appease my doctors, but on September 14th I told Nathan that I didn't want to go through with it until I had been checked one more time... and even then I felt like I was cheating God out of time to work His wonders! I had quit trying to throw myself into labor days before this at the recommendation of several God-fearing women I know. They suggested that I just calm down and relax. Sounded good to me! The night before my scheduled c-section I told Nathan that I wanted to try inducing labor one more time... by relaxing with Chicago-style pizza, a glass of wine, and a massage...

Just before midnight, September 14th, I was having consistent contractions that I could not sleep through. I didn't want to wake Nathan (I had a whole night of false labor the week before) – so I did laps around our condo and prayed the rosary a couple of times. At 2A.M. I decided to check in with my doctor and see if I should come in or just wait it out. The doctor asked how far away I was from the hospital and told me to get there as soon as possible so they could start monitoring me to make sure that the baby was safe as my body progressed into natural labor!!!!

Nathan and I had “that moment” - the one when you are half asleep – trying to shower – pack up some hospital essentials – jump in the car - “we're having a baby” moment!!!! It was very exciting as I breathed through contractions and we got stopped at EVERY red light. 2:30 in the morning... red lights?!?!??!

I was admitted... but at 3A.M. I was still not dilated at all. It was obvious I was in labor though. When my doctor got to the hospital a couple hours later I was finally dilated to 2 and she told me she wanted to break my water. “WAIT!” I panicked after a contraction passed. In that moment, the gravity of the situation and all the scary risk factors were staring me in the face. I asked her to give me and Nathan a moment. Then the doctor reminded us that the operating room was still booked for our 10A.M. scheduled c-section and that if I wasn't comfortable VBAC-ing we could still have the surgery.

Nathan... thank you, Lord, for a level headed husband! I love my husband with all of my heart. He is my CALM when I am a storm. The Lord has revealed so much of Himself to me through my spouse. Such a gift. He prayed with me and we went forward with our decision to VBAC – trusting in the mighty AWESOMENESS of God!

My water was broken and I continued to labor for another ten hours. After twenty-two minutes of pushing, our beautiful son, Judah Ignatius – our little 10lb. lion, arrived at 7:07P.M. on September 15th, 2011. I was able to deliver him vaginally, by the grace and help of God, with NO complications. We have much to be thankful for. Delivery, post-delivery, recovery – it was everything and MORE that I imagined. WOW – bringing children into the world is a such a joyful high!!! I have been blessed.




My pregnancy with Judah was one of MIRACLES AND HOPE!
I am FOREVER grateful to my God WHO HEALS and DELIVERS!
I love you Judah-boy. You'll always be momma's lion.

XOXO














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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Hands Full of Arrows

"You know where babies come from?"

"Haven't you learned your lesson?"

"Two kids. You got that over quickly!"

"Tell your hubby to wear a condom!"

and my all time favorite...
"You are going to try for a GIRL... and then you are done, right?"

I have heard it all.

People! We are just getting started!




I used to get all bent out of shape
when people said things to me about having my kids so close in age.
I would seriously lay awake at night coming up with harsh come-backs
to let people know that I hear them, but vehemently disagree with them.

Real charitable, huh?!

I've received my share of pity. Yes, pity.
When I was pregnant with Judah and toting around a 1 year old Isaiah,
people would stop me at the grocery store, park, bank, church and tell me:
"You poor woman!" You are going to have your hands full."
And they would say it like the HOLY SPIRIT was the driving force behind their words!
Or maybe the hormones imagined that?! A little bit? Lol.


Hands full. Hands full. Hands full.

Still rings in my ears.

Such a negative connotation. Hands full of chaos? Hands full of crazy?

HANDS FULL OF ARROWS.


Ya better run, my friend! Haha.


"Behold, sons are a HERITAGE from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb A REWARD.
Like ARROWS in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth.
HAPPY is the man who has his quiver full of them!" - Psalm 127:3-5




The big guy in Rome shouts out...

"The Lord gives the gift of children,
seen as a blessing and grace, a sign of life that continues
and of the history of salvation moving toward new stages...
procreation is, therefore, a GIFT bearing life and well-being for society."
- Pope Benedict XVI





Can I dismiss your pity and comments with a smile
(with the graciousness of Michelle Duggar!
Man, that woman can handle the storm!)
and just say that it is a PRIVILEGE to be the mother of
two babies that are 15 months apart!?
God chose these children IN HIS TIME for me... and I am still in awe.

I am constantly learning how to respond in LOVE
when the world pokes at me for being open to life.

How do you battle the culture of death?

"Did you plan that?!" a woman waiting next to me in the OB's office asked me one day. I was asked this frequently and was tired of smiling and beating around the bush with my answer. I just looked this woman in the eye and said,
"Yes - Me, my husband, and GOD all got together and PLANNED this baby :-)

I love my Judah (or Jubee as Zay affectionately nicknamed him)!!!

Not only is he a GIFT to me and Nathan, but a gift to Isaiah as well.

Brotherhood.

Such a cool thing!
They don't like being separated.
After times of being away from each other, they HUG a lot when reunited!
I refer to them as Brother & Brother.
They specialize in trouble.
And I LOVE THEM for it!


So the next time you run into a storm of crazy people
who want to shower you with pity and negative comments concerning your children... just smile and tell them about your arrows.












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