Auntie Elleah For the First Time

This is my 400th post and what wonderful news I have to share! Most of you already heard on Facebook, but Jared + I became uncle + aunt for the first time today at 2:30 a.m. our time, or 12:30 a.m. my sister's time!! Sophia Grace was born at 12:30 a.m. their time (2:30 a.m. our time) and weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. and is 19 inches long. She arrived 10 days early and is healthy! I was on the phone with Jenene last night 3 hours before Sophia was born while my sister was in labor. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart while we were talking and not too intense yet. I am so thrilled for them! I am also a bit sad that I can't see the baby in person for quite a while. The soonest I might get to meet her is if they come for a visit in August, after our baby is born, and if not, then at Christmas. She was born at a birthing center in the water. My Mom is flying out in a couple of days to meet her and help them. I'm trying not be jealous! I went and bought some super cute girly clothes today for Sophia which I will send along with my Mom! Jared took the day off today and we all went to the chiropractor and then to the mall as Jared wanted to buy a blu-ray player and I bought the baby clothes. We went out for a late lunch after that and got home around 3:30 this afternoon. It was fun having a family day! :) Praise the Lord for a beautiful new family member, our kids' very first cousin!!!!

More Counting

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7

I am thankful for:

616. The mornings that I get to sleep in

617. Ducks (this was taken at a park in Dublin)

618. All of the worship times, Scriptures, prayers, words of encouragement, messages, and fellowship I experienced at our church’s women’s retreat

619. Just Dance 2 for Wii, which was played at the women’s retreat and was absolutely hilarious + so much fun (I could post videos, but I won’t) :)

620. My absolute favorite chocolate, which I had in England

621. Seeing the snow melt

622. Cherry cheesecake, which I very much enjoyed this past week-end

623. Baby kicks in my belly

624. Mashed potatoes

625. A quiet alarm in the morning, unlike the horribly loud beeping one we heard from another room at the retreat this past week-end

626. Blue raspberry kool-aid smoothies, which I made last week (they were actually red)

627. Our black suitcases which I decorated with bright blue fabric paint so that we would be able to easily tell them apart from all the other black luggage wherever we go (they look ridiculous and I like them)

628. Quiet van rides

629. The way skin heals after getting a cut or other small injury

630. Seeing Blake’s excitement over the cat (notice how the cat is ready to bolt)

Muffins Are Just Small Cakes in Doilies

I got the title off the internet.  I thought it was kind of funny.  After trying several times to bake muffins using different types of flour (like white flour and coconut flour) and none of them turning out, I now use regular flour and they turn out perfectly!  My friend mentioned last week that she would like this recipe, so here you go, Jamie!

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

1 cup flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

3 tbsp canola or olive oil

1 grated apple

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  I think this yields about 9 muffins.  I really like them!

An Answer to an Unusual Prayer

For the past I don't even know how long, at least a month or maybe 2, I've been getting up every night to go to the bathroom. Blake finally started sleeping consistently through the night after New Year's, but then I was up anyway. My bladder doesn't hold liquid nearly as long during pregnancy, so I was getting a bit frustrated and tired of being up night after night, no matter how much or little I had to drink in the evening. I finally decided I would pray about it. I felt a bit silly asking God to make my bladder hold out until the morning, but that's what I prayed because I knew He could do that. That was a week ago and with the exception of last night (Blake started crying), I have slept through the night every night and have not had to go to the bathroom until the morning! I am SO thankful and in awe that He cares about things like that! He makes me smile. :)

Exercise for the Body, Mind, + Soul

At about 10 weeks pregnant, I decided to start working out again. I was going to do Tae Bo, but for some reason, our laptop wouldn't play the disc. I wanted to work out in the morning before the kids were awake, so using the t.v. wasn't an option since Kiera's room is close to it and that would wake her up. So, I started looking online and I found Prenatal Pilates on YouTube! The great thing about it is that it's broken up into 5 10-minute segments focusing on different parts of the body:

1. Standing Pilates (uses small hand weights and works on balance + coordination)
2. Core Pilates (works on abs and you lie on 1 pillow, 2 pillows, or 3, depending which trimester you're in)
3. Pilates for Buns + Thighs
4. Total Body Pilates (uses small hand weights and works on strength + flexibility)
5. Pilates for Flexibility (my favorite one - lots of stretching, working on breathing + relaxing)

I normally only do one or two 10-minute segments, depending on how much time I have before Blake wakes up or how I feel. I also don't do it every day because sometimes I don't wake up before Blake does. I'm really enjoying it and the lady instructing it was 36 weeks pregnant at the time and of course looks amazing! I'm thankful I found a free pregnancy work-out broken up into smaller time frames!

Since January, I decided to move to a different book of the Bible for memorizing. Ann from A Holy Experience (blog) said a group of them are going to memorize the book of Colossians (4 chapters) by the end of the year. I decided I would join them, except my goal is to memorize it before the baby comes in mid-August. I am finding it WAY more challenging to memorize than the Psalms I was memorizing before! Psalms are written like poems and generally have shorter verses that make memorizing more simple. It took me almost 2 months to memorize Colossians 1 (26 verses). I'm also finding that I have to work harder mentally now that I'm pregnant. I seriously get pregnancy brain and become more forgetful. So, it's definitely a challenge and at the most, I memorize one verse a day and if I don't, I try to memorize at least half a verse a day. I heard a sermon recently about Christians in Asia who go to Bible School and it's normal to memorize half a chapter a day! That makes my half a verse look like peanuts, but it's still good and helpful and I will keep plugging away at it! I'm getting "soul food," so that's what's important! Well worth the few minutes a day that it takes! That's my exercise regimen right now and I plan to keep it up for as long as possible (although I will switch to a non-prenatal work-out after the baby is born)!

Baking Biscuits

On Sunday morning, I wasn't sure what to have for breakfast, so I decided to quickly bake a batch of biscuits.  I got this recipe from a friend and it's great and very easy!

Biscuits

2 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup milk

6 tbsp. butter (I use olive oil)

Mix dry ingredients.  Add butter.  Add milk + mix.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 min.

I had some with strawberry jam + some with Nutella.  The recipe originally called for 1/2 tsp. salt, but with a sweet spread, they were too salty for me, so I lessened it.  I finished the biscuits yesterday, so I need to go figure out what I’m having for breakfast today.  I think I’ll go bake some apple cinnamon muffins!

Le Week-end

This past week-end was another really fun busy one. We started the week-end with absolutely no plans. We got a call on Friday at supper from friends of ours asking if we wanted to come over right away so that we could visit and the kids could still get to bed at a decent time. So, we proceeded to pack up the kids and walk over there. Our friends live 2 blocks away, but it was -30 outside and it was dark. We've never done that before in those conditions, but we were all well bundled up, so it was ok. While we were there, their 3-year-old son could not get Blake's name right. He started off calling him Jacob, then Blakob, and then Jake. He also kept calling Kiera Karis and then Korea. Funny kid!

My Mom called me when we got home and mentioned that she wanted to come over on Saturday evening to see the kids. I asked her if Jared + I could go out then and she didn't mind, so we called up our friends and asked them if they wanted to come bowling with us. A while ago, I bought a package online that included an hour and a half of bowling for 4 people (and found out when I called to reserve a lane that it was actually for up to 6 people), shoes, a large pizza, and a pitcher of pop for $16. I had won $10 on this website, so it ended up costing me a whopping $6!! WOOHOO! So, we went out with them and it was fun! The pizza was really good, which I didn't expect for bowling alley pizza. We played 3 games and had enough time to start a 4th, but we didn't feel like it, so we left. We ended up going out for supper since a large pizza split between 4 people isn't a ton of food. I ended up having 4 slices, so I wasn't overly hungry. We all split an order of spinach dip with baked pita chips. They all ordered meals, but I ordered an appetizer since it was a smaller portion of food. I ordered pretzel garlic bread which was basically like a 3-cheese garlic bread cut into 6 rectangular strips. I was pretty stuffed by the end. They came over after and played Ticket To Ride with us, so I really enjoyed our evening with them!

On Sunday, we went to church and then picked up Subway for lunch. Both kids napped at the same time (Kiera has only been napping on Sundays) and Jared studied while I read a book. Then, I started getting supper ready and my parents came over for supper. I made sweet + sour chicken, rice, and a salad. That was our week-end. I'm finding I'm really enjoying the busy week-ends since I'm usually not busy during the week. I've sat at home A LOT this past winter, so that makes me appreciate even more the times when I can get out of the house. I can't believe it's March already! Yay, spring is coming!