Travel

Thoughts on travel.   Travel is fun, exhausting, educational, relaxing, cultural, etc.  It's also EXPENSIVE.  If you can afford to travel on a plane, you are a wealthy person.  If you can afford to travel internationally on a plane, stay in accommodations, and feed yourself in Europe, you're extremely wealthy.  Not everyone has that luxury to afford international travel.  Not everyone can afford the time off work, the plane ticket, the hotel costs, and everything that goes along with traveling.  So consider yourself wealthy if international travel, or any travel, is part of your "hobbies".  Because that makes you an elite class of citizen who can afford to do those things.  If you have a trust fund, you're wealthy.  If you have ever lived in a gated community, you're wealthy.  If you don't have student loans, you're wealthy.  If you own a home, you're wealthy.  If you can change your situation easily, you're wealthy.  You have the luxury to decide what to do, where to work, when to work.  I am tired of people who can literally afford a lifestyle that isn't paycheck to paycheck complaining about how they can't afford things and need to scrimp and pinch.  Do you own a home?  Can you pay your bills?  Can you save money each month?  Then you're rich.  So stop telling people you are watching a budget. 

Funny stuff

Jensen was at church with me, and found some coins in our friend Kathy's purse.  She handed him some pennies and he told her "I don't need those, I need 20 dollars"

Thoughts

Sometimes I get super annoyed at social media.  I can't stand reading about how perfect people's lives are (and I know they aren't, social media is just the best of everything).  But can we please stop using it to brag or make ourselves out to be something we aren't?  Or turn ourselves into victims?  Or make cryptic posts just so people will wonder about you?  If you need attention, just say it.  Don't be cryptic and weird.

Some people think that they are so much better than others, and put on this front that I think is extremely fake.  And compound it on social media with how great they are, and how fantastic of a parent they are.  Oh, and how great their kid is.  I get being proud mom, but do we really need to post every time they are sick, or every time they do something you think is extraordinary but really is something every kid does?  Victimize yourself by saying how sick they are, and how they're sick for so long, and then turn around and tell everyone how great your kid is because they do ___.  Every kid gets sick.  Every kid likes helping parents.  I have stopped being on social media as often because it is such an irritant to me.  Whenever I try to say something nice, it falls on deaf ears.  I don't know why I bother, when it's radio silence for huge amounts of time until someone needs something again.  A friend is someone who communicates consistently and doesn't make you feel bad.  They act like they have met my children, when in reality they've never met my kids, and didn't ever seem to be interested in them until they had a kid of their own.  I have consistently tried to reach out, send cards, send gifts, be there, and it's always radio silence until they need something.  Ugh.  I'm so over it.  They has no idea what roads we have gone down with our kids, but they always makes their own situation extra dramatic, so that theirs must be the worst/best of whatever it is.  Baby is sick?  Oh, it's the sickest kid ever and has been sick for 2 weeks and on and on.

Reflecting

It's been quite a while since I've posted, but I would like to try again and maybe turn it into a therapeutic journal.   My babies are growing so fast.  Elise loves to sign "bath" and say "baa" for when it's bathtime.  Jensen loves to play zombies, hide and seek, freeze tag, dance, ride his bike, swim, and eat popcorn.  Popcorn and chips and salsa are his favorite foods.   He's learning to spell words and loves to spell his own name.  He also loves numbers and counting to 100, and asking everyone how old they are, and telling everyone how old he is "I'm still 4!"  He had so much fun at Uncle Phil and Cait's wedding.  He snuggled with Great Grandma a lot.  One time when she coughed, he exclaimed "oh no, great grandma's sick!"  He loves school, and his two best friends there are Ben and Harry. 

Elise had a rough go of it for her start to this life, and had such terrible acid reflux that she was on two types of medicines at 6 times a day from the time she was 2 weeks old until almost 6 months old.  She wasn't gaining weight from all the acid reflux, and luckily she started thriving and is our strong little girl now.  She's a beast.  She will throw her whole body against things, doesn't get hurt, and is a little brute.  She's the sweetest, snuggliest little girl, and LOVES to read books and sit in your lap.  Jensen loves music, Elli loves books.  She loves to wear hats and hairbows, and be outside.  She will walk around the grass, dig through the dirt, and eat chalk.  She is very curious and wants to touch everything (including the dog bowls....we have pulled lots of dog food out of her mouth). 

Missing you

i don't know if people read this anymore and that's fine with me. I just need to get my thoughts out. I've been missing my mom a bunch lately. I'm sure it's part of the PPD that I seem to get a bit of. I have so many things I wish I could tell her about the life that I've been living, and advice I wish I could ask her about. So many things. I want to know if she knows I have kids now. I wonder if she can watch over them. I want her advice when it comes to relationship stuff.   Elise will be christened soon along with jensen and I want to know if she sees the outfit I've chosen. I want nurse advice  when we are sick. Or even someone to complain to when I need to vent. I have an amazing support system of my best friend and other friends and neighbors, but sometimes all you want to do is talk to your mom, the one who knows you best. And as any daughter knows, you can't talk to your dad about things the same way. And lately, I don't know, I feel like it's harder for me to talk to my dad and know he's being himself with me. It's like he is filtering things and I can't say what I want to him when I want to. I miss my honesty with him.

Year 2

Jensen will be turning 2 tomorrow!  It is a great time to reflect on the past year.  I must say, year one was very difficult, and I think year two was very fun!  We had tantrums mixed in with the fun times, of course, and lots of teeth and late nights, but I have fully enjoyed this second year of his life.

He learned quite a vocabulary this year, and is learning more each day.  He is starting to string words together, and my favorite is Hi Mama (Eye Ma!).  He also has a new favorite activity, throwing rocks into the lake, and he loves to splash in the bathtub and swim at the pool.

Jensen and I flew to Virginia to visit with Maria for a couple days, and then we all went to New Jersey for my cousin's wedding.  He had a great time, and everyone thought he was super cute (I agreed).

Last summer was full of excitement with the baby pool and the hose, and his first vacation.  We went to the beach!  He absolutely loved it, he wanted to be in the ocean all the time.  It was actually calm enough for us to take him out one day too.  He got to see a baby sea turtle and go to the aquarium there.

We also had a very fun Christmas, visiting with cousins and meeting them for the first time, and playing at Top Golf back home.  He understood presents this time and enjoyed opening his gifts.  We got him pajamas and a book for the Christmas Eve, and a little chair his size for Christmas Day.  He also received lots and lots of other gifts from family and friends; he was quite the spoiled boy this year.  I think his favorite gift was the balloon though, closely followed by his new wagon.

A zoo trip was in order also, and we took him to the zoo one day.  He liked the reptiles the best, I think because they were close to his level and easy to see.

New foods he tried included popcorn, which is now one of his favorite snacks.  He also had pie for the first time, and that was a big hit too.  His favorite thing is to eat the salsa at mexican restaurants.  He dips his chip in to get giant bites, and then just licks the salsa off the chip and reuses it until it's too soggy to use again,

Learn to Crochet!!!

I did!  That means I accomplished my New Year resolutions!  The makings of a hat!

Crockpot Chili

A classic recipe

Grilled Chircken with Avocado Salsa

Mmmmm new recipe again!  I'm doing well with this resolution!

Crock Pot Lasagna

New Recipe again!

No Bake Lasagna noodles

Meat sauce with 1 cup water mixed into it

16 oz Ricotta with eggs, salt, pepper and basil

Mozzarella

Parmesan

Start with sauce on the bottom, then noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce, and more noodles.  End with sauce and mozzarella on top of the last noodle layer.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Yum!

 

Beef Stew in the Crock Pot

Tasty new recipe!

Stew Meat (2lbs)

beef stock

Stew seasoning packet (I was lazy)

Carrots

Onion

Celery

Potato

Cut it up and put it in the crock pot with seasoning, broth, and meat.  Low for 7-8 hours!

Street Tacos and Mexican Corn Salad

Mmmmm, new recipe!  I made street tacos with avocado, onion, cilantro and cotija cheese.  Then I made the Mexican corn salad with cotija cheese, paprika, chili powder, onion, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice.  It was very tasty.  

New Year, New Resolutions

Every year, people start anew with resolutions to lose weight, exercise, eat better, etc.  I think that most people should just strive to be the healthiest person they can be, no matter what time of year it is, beginning or end.  With that said, I have made a couple snon-fitness resolutions, since I exercise frequently anyway.

#1 Be more adventurous in my cooking.   I used to cook a lot before baby was born, and it's much more difficult to do that now, especially with working full time.  I would like to get back into it though.

#2  Learn to crochet.  I've always admired people who can make cute hats/scarves, and I want to try my hand at it.  

Advent Calendar

I made a cute advent calendar for Jensen.  It took FOREVER to sew it together, but I love it, and the patterns I chose for the fabric.  He loved putting it together this year also.  

Things I'm Proud Of

So, you aren't supposed to brag or gloat or anything, but I figure no one reads this anyway, so I am going to do just that.  If someone does happen to read this and gets upset with me, I am very sorry, this is nothing personal to anyone, it is just my proud moments.

What I am Proud of:

1. Adam graduating college with a Bachelor's Degree in Geology
2. Supporting ourselves through his college career - it was both a financial and mental sacrifice and we came out on top.
3. Supporting myself through college and graduate school.  I was very fortunate that my parents paid my undergraduate costs that my student loans didn't cover.  I was also very fortunate to receive a full scholarship and a teaching position in graduate school, so that I did not need a large loan during that time. That being said, I graduated with only ~$48,000 of student loans to pay back (and are still paying back).
4. Buying our own house to stabilize our life in Texas and to grow a family in.
5. Having a good career where I can grow as an individual, and also bring Adam to love my passion for geology too.
6. Surviving 5 weeks with a newborn and no husband (field camp).
7. Making all of my own baby food for Jensen.  Late nights of steaming fruits and veggies and blending everything was super hard, but I didn't give in and buy any (that's right, ANY) jarred baby food.  I am very proud of that, because it would have been easy not to do that and just buy the jars.
8. I am proud that I don't know what all these TV shows names other parents are telling me about are.  "Do you watch Chicka Chicka on Sprout?" Ummm, no, I don't know what you are talking about, and I don't even get that channel - hmmm secret benefit of having the cheapest option of TV???
9. Keeping our house clean!  Adam and I work as a team to keep the home clean and do the laundry.  We don't hire help, since it isn't within our budget, and we still have quite a clean house.  It might help that I am a little neurotic about clutter and throw everything away :)  I just don't like to see crap piled up everywhere!  Throw it out!
10. Staying focused on my career and my family - balance is everything!  It is always a challenge, but we are doing what's best for us, and it works.  We are happy!
11. Being strong through Jensen's surgery (wow, talk about tough, handing your baby off for an hour long surgery is the hardest thing we have ever done) and his recovery.  We had moments of pure pain for him following surgery and they took me to my breaking point.
12.  Adam being such a strong man.  I say this because that's exactly what he is.  He has a lifelong auto-immune disease, and he has pushed through every ounce of exhaustion and is a terrific father and husband.  Once we finalize his therapy with the iodine treatment, we are hopeful that things will only look up from there.

Words!

I had to write down some of Jensen's "words" and his pronunciations so that I don't forget as I get older!

Dog  - Daaaaaaaawg.  This is also how he refers to Coby.  

Mama - Ma maa!

Dada 

Boom Boom - Boo Boo

Yellow - Yee Yo!

Grampa  - Bubba

Uh oh

Oh No  - ooh noooooo

Bath  - bad

Snake - Nake - our new snake's name now

Turtle - Durdle

Jensen - Je Je

Eat - signs to his mouth and says Eee

Please - Meees and signs the word

Eye - eeeeyee

Ear - eaar

Mouth - ma

Nose - noo

Shhh - says Shh and puts his finger to his mouth

Fish - shh

Ee Eee - when he wants to give us something, he hands it out and says Ee Eee to us as a signal to take it from him

Blue - boo

Purple - burble

Outside - owdiiiide

Snack - nack

Bubble - baabaa

Balloon - baboon

Adding more 1/5/2016!
Sorry - Doddy
Shoe - doo
Coffee - Bobby
Coby - Boe-bee - he has improved!
Mike - Myyyk
Jo - Djo
Monkey - Mommy
Grandma - MeMaw

Things he loves right now: 

MUSIC!!!!  He loves the Clap Your Hands song and is always wanting to play the keyboard. We also found that it helps his screaming in the car! 

The dogs - both of them.  He loves to pet them and give them hugs

Skyping!

Outside

Eating his 'nacks

Figuring things out - he enjoys taking everything apart and then trying to figure out how to put it together again. Example  - sippy cups and light switches

Milestone Events

Big boy is 18 months and 23 lbs, 10 oz

First vacation to the beach in North Carolina.  He was a champ on the plane (3rd flight) and he LOVED swimming in the ocean and jumping waves.  Grampa taught him how to blow bubbles in the pool, and now he likes to blow bubbles in the bathtub.  He also did not eat the sand.

Charleston, SC

My bestie Maria and I went on a trip to Charleston, SC.  It was absolutely wonderful, we had a great time learning about all the history in the area, catching up with each other, enjoying fantastic meals, and beaching it.  Take a look!

Chicken and Waffles from the Early Bird Diner

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich from the Early Bird Diner

Sunset on the harbor 

We sat on the swings one evening and listened to a man play crappy banjo

We took a carriage ride from Mark, and two mules named Carter and Cash.  

Rainbow Row

Heyward-Washington House

Drinks, and our fave pic of the trip

Angel Oak tree

 My new friend, Shoulder Sweater

Beach!

Calhoun Mansion - it was in The Notebook

Fantastic meal at Pane e Vino

Birthday Boy!

We had a Little Blue Truck theme for Jensen's first birthday.  It was so much fun, and we were so thankful for all the friends who came out to celebrate with us.  Take a look at some of the fun DIY's we made for his party.  

Birthday Banners

"Chalkboard" of his first year

Photo Memories of each month

Party favors for the kiddos

Tablecloths and balloons

High chair decorations

'

Cupcake toppers 

Guests arrive!

Custom onesie and cupcake time!

Happy Birthday - A Reflection of the Past Year

Well, first off, let me wish Jensen the happiest of birthdays on his first one. You have brought your daddy and me the most amazing joy watching you learn, grow, and explore. My sweet little boy, Jensen, you are my life and first little boy love.

The past year has been one of the most challenging ones your dad and I have seen together. I consider myself a strong person, and you rocked my world. As a newborn, you were handsome, innocent, precious, and had an uncanny knack for peeing all over your changing pad. I saw your first smile, first coo, first laugh, and it made me so proud to see your new accomplishments. We also saw lots of crying and gassy fussiness, and it took a long time for sleep to become a normal thing for us :-)

One of the most challenging things was to say goodbye to daddy as he drove off for field camp in Colorado for 5 weeks. I have never been so scared. I was the sole person responsible for you for days on end. We had a lot of firsts while daddy was gone too. We had our first fever, when I called Tara crying that your fever wouldn't break and the nurse had to keep pricking your foot for blood samples. We had our first wonderful wedding, with Natasha and Trevor (you looked quite snazzy in your tuxedo onesie).  We also had our first pool visit, when you only wanted to be held in the water and not use your floatie at all. 

When daddy got back, I went back to work the following week. That presented new challenges for me. We had to have a schedule of wake up time and bedtime, and daddy was the sole caregiver during the day. Adam did a fantastic job, and made sure you had nap time, workout time (he had to teach you to roll over) and eating time.  All the while, daddy was eating like a mad man, losing weight, and was running on zero energy.  Eventually, after a trip to the cardiologist and endochrinologist, we found out that Daddy has Grave's disease. We got him on some medication and he is feeling much better these days, and hopefully continues to improve.

Soon daddy went back to school and you started your school too. You made friends, got sick, and generally had a fun experience I think.  The morning craziness began at 6 am, with a feeding, packing up the bottles and daycare necessities, and putting everything in the car, along with the breast pump and cooler for my day at work. We also crossed our fingers for no spit up or diaper blow outs on the way to daycare (twice that happened).  

Balancing a career, school, and a baby is not easy at all. I spent/d my nights and weekends doing laundry, cleaning house, washing bottles, storing pumped milk, and then finally relaxing if there is any time left before I'm up again at 5.  I don't need to have the perfectly crafted wreath for my door from a a pinterest post, or a fancy new recipe for dinner anymore (grilled cheese sounds great). This works for my family, and I would rather spend my waking hours soaking up precious time with you than making crafts (I never would have guessed that a year ago). Sure, I can't say I wouldn't wish for more flexibility with work, but we just can't afford that right now.  Plus, you are now a year old and have a super crush on a teacher at daycare, so I can't break up that relationship. 

Some of the most fun moments we have had with you the past year are reaching your milestones.  We were so proud when you finally decided to roll over instead of being lazy and just laying there because you got tired of trying to roll.  When we gave you food for the first time, you made the best scrunched up face before you decided that peas were tasty.  Your adventures in crawling began right after Christmas, and you soon became a pro in that sport.   Bathtime is a favorite time of the day, and you love to splash in the bathtub and chew on the washcloths.  You love to eat, and some of your favorite things are whole strawberries because you can take bites out of them, cottage cheese (you shove it in your mouth as fast as you possibly can), and green beans, they're so easy for you to grab.  Your best friend became Coby, who loves when it is time to eat because you are so nice and feed him every time.  We experienced the most stressful time in our lives, when you had surgery in January.  We are currently watching you pull up and take some steps, and it won't be long before you become brave enough to take steps without holding on to something. I taught you how to climb up the stairs (much to daddy's dismay) and it now is one of your favorite things to do when we get ready to go to bed.

One thing I have to mention of course is your Mormor (grandma in Norwegian).  I make sure we say goodnight to her photo every night at bedtime, because I want you to know her through me. I can't dwell on the "what ifs" because that doesn't change what it is, but I know that Mormor is watching you from heaven and sees everything you achieve. I would have loved to have my mom here to help guide me through how to raise a baby and have a full time career. She was an amazing role model and I miss her so much.  I always want to be able to pick up the phone and call my mom when he's sick and see what her advice is, because she would know exactly what to do. As I play guesswork through this mom thing, I know she is guiding me to the right decisions.  There is no one in this world a girl wants more than her own mom when becomes one herself, but that just wasn't in the stars for us. I love you Mom, and I hope I can amount to half of what you were with the three of us.

Kristin Tate, Tate Designs Photography is our photographer.  She is amazing, I recommend her highly.