Baby Fat

So I think everyone would agree that baby fat ON THE BABY is super cute! Here's an example!



Baby fat on the mommy....well....that's not so cute! As a mother of two...and post pregnant going on 4 months...this has been on my mind, or my hips rather! In an age where the magazines are plastered with skinnies and all the women's magazines have a new wonder diet, it's hard to think truthfully about my weight. But here are my thoughts.

First of all, if you are the kind of girl who looks better than before you had your baby, when you walk out of the hospital with your newborn, it's not encouraging to us girls that have to work at getting the weight off to hear about how quickly you lost it. I will work on being happy for you, you can work on keeping it on the DL about how fast your metabolism must be.

Second, it's not my job to be model-like but it is my job to take care of what God has given me...that includes my weight. I read a facebook post a girl had put up quoting Jessica Alba and how her post pregnancy diet was to basically starve herself. I don't know if Jessica Alba really said or did that or not but I know that it's my job to be healthy and feed my infant. I can't starve myself and expect to nurse for long...besides I could never starve myself. Some ways that I have decided to live healthily are to 1) Reserve eating sweets for special occasions, like parties. 2) Exercise 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week 3) Remember that food is fun(I really like to cook and bake) but that it is energy so what I consume must be used or turned into fat for later. This is helpful for me to remember when I really want to eat that sweet something. It's just poor stewardship to eat more than what my body needs. 4) Learn what is in your food. I was randomly looking at the nutrition facts for a cake that was sitting on the counter(by the way there is another person in the house that buys most of the sweets and I don't have any control over that...it's not Joshua!) and the serving was 1/16 of the cake and it was something close to 400 calories!!!!! WOW! The only useful thing that I could think of that I would be getting from that would be a grain serving...maybe! So it has helped me to just think more about what I am eating. 5) Eat things that are good for you and find things that will fill you up. It takes a lot more cookies to make you feel full as opposed to, say, an apple or carrots, and it's pretty obvious what's better for my body!

Third, as I want very much to get back to wearing smaller clothes and not feeling like a frump-o-la at times I have to remember (a lady at church has graciously reminded me of this) that it took 9 months for your body to make a baby so it's ok for it to take a while to go back to normal. That is so good for me to remember. As with most things in life the things that you have to wait for are usually worth that wait. So I can give myself a break while at the same time pushing myself to persevere in much of what I wrote in #2 because I guess like most people the weight is not going to fall off of me.

Fourth, much of these thoughts come from a very helpful book that I just read, "Loving the Little Years". Let me just say that this book was SO encouraging and convicting at the same time. I would recommend it for any mom with little kids. I would say don't read it before you have kids though...it might scare you off! Anyway the author talks about being joyful because your body is used and maybe even scared because you have had kids. I had never thought of this before, but that should be my response. I can be joyful in the fact that the reason that I have gross stretch marks on my tummy and that I weigh more than my husband is because of the HUGE, WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY WEIGHT BLESSING THAT IS MY SON AND DAUGHTER!!! This thought is at cultural odds. Our culture tells us to worry about number one and anything that we give of ourselves better be repaid to us because that's fair and we shouldn't have to suffer. Christ calls us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others (He calls us to do this in many ways) and one way he calls mothers to do this is to give up (for a season) being your ideal weight. Put that on a magazine cover and see how many copies you will sell!

I thought I had a lot more...maybe I do but it's getting late and I didn't take a nap today...it was too nice outside to stay in while the kids slept! I guess the only other thing I've thought about is to set goals. So for me. 1) Run a 5K in Sept. 2) Run a 5K in Dec. 3) Only eat sweets for special occasions. 4) Get back to pre pregnancy weight by the new year. 5) Remind myself often that while this is important it doesn't need to be consuming and there are more important things in life.

When your kids are sick

Anna is not feeling well tonight. I'm not sure what is wrong and where she may have picked it up but her tummy seems to be upset. So as I've been sitting here I've been thinking.

1. Be thankful for her cuddles right now since she is not normally very cuddly.
2. Be thankful that I even have a sweet baby girl to hold and take care of...some people don't have babies to take care of.
3. Learn to joyfully give up my own desires in order to serve my daughter. (I wanted to work out, among other things)
4. Learn to give sacrificially and do it without grumbling or complaining. (I expect to not get much sleep tonight)
5. Use this opportunity to teach Daniel to have compassion for his sister and teach him to serve his sister.
6. Look forward to the new creation, when there will be no more sickness.
7. Pray that Anna and Daniel will be saved so that they will experience life in the new creation.


That's as far as I got thinking last night about this, but I thought I'd share it for what it's worth!

*She's feeling better today

The Coolest 91 Year Old I Know

Just over a year ago we moved into a house with Betsy. She turned 90 the weekend we moved in and we have now lived here a year! I've been reflecting on the blessings of living here with her and thought I'd share them! I don't know any other 91 year olds but even if I knew more, she'd still be the coolest! Here's the list of what I've learned from her and how we've been blessed by her and funny things about her.

1. She lets us live in her house and loves our kids like they are her own grandkids. What 91 year old actually enjoys having a two year old tearing around her house and leaving toys around? And what 91 year old gets excited that we just added another kid to the mix?!

2. She doesn't worry. Or at least not much at all. She said to me once how much of a waste of time it is to worry about what you have no control over.

3. She is generous with what she has. Whether Betsy had much or little she would be generous with it. She enjoys giving people things that would be useful to them and she gives much. She has said more than once that she's not taking her money with her so she might as well use it here. I admire how willing she is to give it away.

4. She loves flowers! Betsy is a great admirer of flowers and she doesn't tire of marveling at how beautiful they are! One thing that she has taught me is the joy of giving your flowers away. I don't know why I had never thought of doing this but Betsy loves to cut the flowers in her yard and bring them in the house and also give them to friends. I had always thought the flowers are in the yard and we should keep them in the yard but Betsy is of the opinion that we can enjoy them more inside on our table! I agree. I also love how she has taught me to give flowers away. She will call her friends and tell them to come over and take a bloom from the latest flower gracing her yard. This is a simple act but brings such joy to her and others!

5. If you want to know the best place to get a particular food just ask Betsy! If you want a pork chop go to KT's, shrimp is at Longhorns, shrimp and grits are at Cafe Lou Lou's, any kind of seafood, go to Captain's Quarters. The list could go on and on!

6. She says really funny things. Here are some of the best.

1. In reference to Daniel, “He’s cuter today than he was yesterday.”
2. “The problem with all those liberals is they’re liberal.”
3. “How’d it get so late so early?”
4. “I don’t know how people could be against wine, after all, it all through the
Bible.”
5.“You do not pick on flowers; they are delicate – like me!”
6. “I’m not stubborn; I just know that when I’m right, I’m right.”
7. “We have a lot of frozen dinners; no one is gonna starve to death.”
8. “I repeat myself because I must believe you don’t remember too well.”
9. Just let him go out and play between the yellow lines
10. “Ya know, it just does not know whether to raid today or not.”
11. “You know, the problem with criminals is that they’re stupid.”
12. “Let me put my hearing aid in so I can see you.”
13. “If you are going to get by in this world, then you have to learn to get along with
liberals.”
14. “Speaking of peanuts, I don’t care too much for Jimmy Carter.”
15. “Only nice people camp.”
16. “The only good moth is a dead moth.”
17. “This knife would not cut hot butter.”
18. “I would rather have a piece of crust outside than a banquet inside.”
19. “Oooooo, wonderful!”
20. “Blessed are those who go in many small circles, for they shall be called big
wheels.”
21. “I never met a blueberry I didn’t like.”
22. “As I always say, ‘I would rather leave the house without my undies than my
earrings.’”
23. “I don’t feel like doing anything – and that includes everything.”
24. “Luck in cards, unlucky in love.”
25. “You know what they say, ‘Dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off.’”
26. “You know what they say, ‘If a man answers, hang up.’”
27. “Ya know, God doesn’t give us more than we can handle, but sometimes we wish he didn’t have so much confidence in us.”
28. “You'll recognize me in Heaven by my long legs and curly hair. I'll be on the dance floor.”

I am so thankful for Betsy and the time we have gotten to live with her. I look forward to more years!

Small Victories

Joshua and I were just about to fall asleep the other night when we woke up to Daniel coughing really hard. He just couldn't seem to stop coughing, so I went in there, picked him up and offered him water. As the coughing went on and I could start to hear him wheezing I could feel the vice-like grip of fear squeezing my heart. Daniel stopped coughing and we put him to bed but I could still hear the wheezing. I decided to sleep on the guest bed in Daniel's room so I could keep an eye on him...his breathing wasn't getting worse but it wasn't getting better either. There are a lot of awful things to listen to in this world and one of the worst I think is listening to someone struggle to breath...and it's 100x worse when it's your child. So while I am thinking of what I can do to help him that fear just begins to grow. "What if he gets worse?" "Do I know what to do to help him?" "What if we have to go to the ER?" "What if the ER is really full and we have to wait a long time, will he stop breathing?" "What if Anna gets sick?" "What if Anna or Daniel die?" Yes, that really is how my mind works.

The small victory is that even though I did ask myself all those questions, I realized I was being fearful and worrying and knew that I needed to pray and ask the Lord to take all that fear. Daniel has been memorizing verses and one of them is Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid, I will trust in You [God]." That verse helped me so much that night. I recognized that I needed to do what I could to keep helping Daniel, even take him to the ER if needed. But ultimately I could trust God for everything involved in this situation. As I put my trust in God that hold the fear had on my heart slipped away. God is kind because I can't trust Him without Him giving me the ability to trust Him. So it's small but encouraging to me!

I'll start blogging again....

I decided that I'll try to start blogging again some. A lot of my pictures get posted on facebook, but even though I have no idea if anyone reads this I thought I'd give it a shot.

So for my first post back I thought I would share two really yummy recipes that my friend Jena gave me. She is a great cook and baker and I don't ever have to worry that her recipes may not turn out so well! I'm not sure where she got the chicken recipe but I know she made up the rice one...both are amazing...I'm not pregnant anymore and I crave this meal often!

Honey Spice Chicken

3 lbs chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup mustard (I like to use stone ground)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
garlic to taste (1-2 cloves)

Mix together all ingredients besides chicken in a large bowl. Add chicken pieces and marinate at least a half an hour. Pour chicken and marinade in a foil lined pan with sides in ONE layer. Broil for 4-5 minutes on one side. Remove from oven and turn all pieces over. Broil for another 4-5 minutes.


Caribbean Coconut Rice

2 cups water
2 cups long grain white rice (I like Jasmine the best)
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp fresh chopped zest from one lime
1/4 green onion (in a pinch you can use onion powder)
1 generous tsp kosher salt or 1 regular tsp if regular salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2--3 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup sugar

Mix together in a medium pot. Bring to a soft boil and stir. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring half way through. Remove from heat and let sit for a couple minutes.

Sorry I don't have any pictures...if I did you would be drooling right now.

We had a Baby!!!

Her name is Anna!