Winter 2012-2013

Its finally spring in NJ! This winter was terribly long and cold (and we didn’t have nearly as much snow as I would have liked). When it’s cold outside and I’ve been cooped up in a messy house I find it difficult to find motivation to write about current happenings. However, my absence from the blog doesn’t mean that life stopped being interesting. This winter was by far the most eventful one of my married life. Perhaps I should begin at the beginning…

Over the summer I got a job watching two children during the school year, aged 2 and 4 months. Their mother hired me even though I was pregnant and would need a few weeks off when baby came. The extra income has been a huge blessing, God provides exactly what you need when you’re in need! The children are very good, and it’s been fun for R to have a friend over every day.

R and S doing one of their favorite things, taking all the toys out of the toybox for the sole purpose of just sitting in the toybox.

Making Rolos cookies for Christmas

Baby A

October brought with it a welcome visit from Liz and company!

Picking them up at the airport!

At a pajama birthday party.

The pajama party was for the kids. The guys didn’t get the memo.

While they were here we hired a photographer friend of mine, Jen Pavlov of Pavlov Photography to meet us at a farm so Liz and i could get maternity pictures done together. IT WAS THE BEST IDEA EVER! SO MUCH FUN!

So much love.

So much weird.

P and I got some cute family shots, too.

Liz and Dave got some cute family pictures too but I don’t have any of those at the moment (sorry Liz! Feel free to add some!).

The rest of October was fairly uneventful, I sold jams and syrup and relish and a few crocheted things at the schools annual Trinity Arts Festival. That’s always a fun event, there are food and games and lots of good music and fun to be had by all.

This is actually at a different craft fair I did at the end of October

In November I had planned on going to my church’s annual OPC women’s retreat, but because of Hurricane Sandy that devastated our area at the end of October the retreat center had power outages and was not able to accommodate our group. The retreat coordinator was able to pull together something for the ladies at the last minute at our church but my friend Brittany and I decided to take the money that we would have spent on the retreat and go out to Lancaster for the weekend. We had a good time, and I got most of my Christmas shopping done (which I’d wanted to do before the baby came).

We took a picture right before we left.

December brought a flurry of excitement! My baby was due the 24th and Liz’ the 9th! The morning of the 8th I was sitting at the breakfast table talking about Liz to our mutual (and very dear friend) Michele. My phone started ringing, it was Dave! The baby had come, and had made quite the dramatic entrance! River Grace was born at on December 8, 2012, delivered by her father in the bathtub after 45 minutes of labor!

I’ll let Liz do some more gushing and give you the whole story.

My due date was coming up, but not quickly enough for me. I felt huge, getting around was difficult and my whole body ached.

Thirty nine weeks

I had planned to babysit until baby came but at thirty eight weeks I broke down and just couldn’t do it anymore. I spent the next week and a half on the couch, only getting up when R needed something. I had an ob appt on the 20th, she poked and prodded a little to try to get things going. On the morning of the 21 I woke up with some contractions, nothing to concern me but I timed them just for fun. They were consistently 8, 7, then 6 minutes apart in the first hour. I called my mom to chat, and she knew I was in labor. She ordered me to call P, the doctor, and my mother in law to come watch R. I was trying to avoid calling P till noon, his Christmas party was in full swing and it would end then, but it no longer seemed like a good idea to wait, so I called.
No answer.
Are you kidding me? I called again.
Still no answer.
So I called the school secretary, she went to find P and I got in the shower.
P came home and found R covered in red nail polish. #momfail #heyiwasinlabor #iwishihadapicture #hashtagsareweird
My mother in law arrived and we left, sent off by a dozen or so onlookers gathered on the school porch. Instead of seeing anything interesting they got to see me waddle to the car in my pjs. Sorry, peeps.
After making a pit stop for gas then one at my ob office to confirm that I was indeed in labor (5 cm, yeah baby), we headed to the hospital where they slapped me in bed, placed all the necessary needles (including an epidural aka. euphoria), and Isaiah was born at 5:18, eight pounds, five ounces of squirming joy!
He’s now 6 months old and the happiest child I’ve ever seen! His sister loves him (she’s started flexing her bossy sister muscles already) and he watches her constantly. I love having two kids, the dynamic is amazing.
I’ll add more pictures when I can get on my computer! I wanted to get this up since its already too overdue.

Amy

Stringing Jalapenos for Drying

I love adding colors to my kitchen and home through natural means! There is almost nothing prettier than bunches of herbs and flowers and strings of peppers hanging from the ceiling.

Stringing jalapenos isn’t exactly like stringing popcorn for a Christmas tree.

You need a needle and a heavier thread (I used upholstery thread). I had about 15 peppers so I used about 3 feet of thread.

Tie a thick knot on the end of your thread and shove the needle through the thickest part of the stem.

Wrap the thread around the stem once or twice and stick the needle back through the hole. That will hold the pepper in place and keep the following peppers from crowding.

Thread the rest of the peppers the same way, keeping each one an inch or two above the previous one.

Yay! So festive!  🙂

~ Amy

Balsamic Sweet Potato Chicken Casserole

I. Am. So. Excited.

It’s noon.

And dinner is done.

And I washed the pots and pans.

And I invented an awesome recipe.

It’s a good day, and yes, I’m sharing.

~Balsamic Sweet Potato Chicken Casserole~

1 large chicken breast, cubed
5 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. thyme
2 cloves crushed garlic (or 2 Tbs. garlic powder)
4-5 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups cooked rice

In 2 separate pans heat 1 Tbs. olive oil each. Add chicken to one, veggies to the other. To the veggies add 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 clove crushed garlic, and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. To the chicken add 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon crushed garlic, and 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Saute veggies and chicken till done. Add a pinch of thyme and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar to the rice, spread into the bottom of a baking dish. Combine veggies and chicken, spoon over the rice. If you want you can sprinkle some cheese over the top, bake it at 350° till the cheese is melted.

I ate some of it for lunch, it was amazing. It didn’t take very long to make, about 20-30 mins.

I’m really excited to see what hubby thinks!  🙂

~ Amy

Rich Budgeted Living- tips

Growing up, my mom was always very frugal. She was a stay at home mom working with one salary and was a whiz at taking a little and making it go a long way! Once I was old enough she taught me everything she knew about bargain shopping and stretching food to make it last. It takes a lot of creativity and planning and a little extra effort, but the end result feels really good!

Several things that have helped me keep within our budget and still eat healthy are buying in bulk (Sams Club), buying less to no “convenience” food (granola bars, frozen dinners, frozen garlic bread, things like that), and buying dried beans and grains, all the way down to the coffee (beware, once you start grinding your own coffee you won’t go back to pre-ground! It’s so much fresher!)  🙂

I really like buying meat in bulk, after a shopping trip I usually throw it all in the freezer till I need it, then pull it out, thaw it, cook all of it at once and freeze what I don’t use in ziplock bags to just pull out next time I need it. It saves me some time and effort the next time I really don’t feel like making a huge production out of cooking dinner!

For chicken I usually don’t cook a whole pack at once, after I thaw it and take what I need for that night I put each piece (I usually get breast meat) into a ziplock bag and freeze them like that. The individual breasts usually thaw quickly when you pull them out of the freezer and put the bag into a bowl of hot water.

You can do the same thing with beans! I like keeping beans on hand to throw in soup and rice dishes, they add bulk and protein and kids usually love them! Just soak a bag of beans in water overnight, in the morning dump them into a colander, rinse, and pick out any crummy looking ones. Boil them covered either in water or chicken broth for 45 minutes to an hour till they get tender. After they cool put them into ziplock bags and freeze!

A couple of cheap, super easy meals I make with pre-cooked ground beef or ground turkey are:

Spaghetti with meat sauce

Taco salad (mix meat with some taco powder, serve with corn chips, salad greens, tomatoes, salsa, cheese, sour cream, hot sauce)

Mexican bean and rice bowls (toss meat with hot cooked brown rice, add corn and beans, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, some taco powder if you want. My hubby likes to eat his with chips, salsa, and hot sauce)

Chili

Here are a few easy chicken dishes I make:

Chicken noodle soup (put one or two frozen chicken breast pieces into a pot of water, cover and boil till their done, take them out and chop them up, put them back into the pot of water, add chopped onion, celery, carrots, salt, pepper and whatever other spices you want, simmer until the veggies are done and add any kind of dried pasta, cook till the pasta is done and enjoy!)

Chicken stir fry (cut a chicken breast into strips, saute in butter or olive oil, add a package of frozen mixed veggies, garlic, powdered ginger, soy sauce. Serve over rice)

Chicken salad (saute sliced chicken breast in butter with onions and green peppers, serve on a bed of salad greens with cheese, dressing, and a side of pasta)

A lot of different kinds of vegetables are freezer friendly as well, green peppers are my favorite! I wash, seed, and chop them, spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze them, then store them in ziplock bags. My hubby likes to throw them in his omelets, I like to throw them into spaghetti sauce and saute them with onions and butter and chicken to put on top of my salads. You can freeze them chopped or sliced, I usually freeze some both ways for different things.

The money that I save by buying less conventional foods usually goes towards fresh produce and healthier snack stuff. I always have salad greens in my fridge, along with yogurt, berries, apples, bananas, oranges, carrots, and whatever other fruit may be on sale that week. I’ve found that if the only things I have to offer my daughter are healthy then the less picky she is generally. If it isn’t in the house then it isn’t an option, and it works out for the whole family!

Let me know if you have questions or would like me to post about a certain topic concerning this!  🙂

~amy

After a *brief* hiatus…

Wow that gap between posts was way longer than I expected! This summer was, in a word, NUTS. But life is back to normal (define normal) now, and blog access had been made easier thanks to Android, so I’m hoping to be more dedicated (as a blogger, I’m already a housewife…)…

Recent picture…

Yep, Liz wasn’t lying! Baby boy due Christmas Eve! We’re very excited, and it’s been so much fun getting fat with Liz (so far)!

Recent picture of R..

Those are pumpkin pancakes she is very effectively mixing with her fingers. She loves helping me in the kitchen, I let her get messy as often as I can. She loved these pancakes, I froze what we didn’t eat and she has been eating them for breakfast for a couple days. This is where I got the recipe-
pumpkin pancakes
The only change I made was I substituted a cup of whole wheat flour for a cup of the white flour. They were amazing! 🙂
Stay tuned for more amazingness!
-Amy

Mmmm slushy

Time Flies!

Oh my goodness, it’s been a long time since either Amy or I have posted. There’s a very good reason for that, which many of our friends already know. We are both EXPECTING! And we did not plan this, even though it seems like it. Our due dates are only two weeks apart. It is so much fun for us to be going through this experience together. We’re on the phone often trading advice and experiences, and praying for each other.

My “guess date” as I like to call it, is December 9th. A Christmas time baby will be such a fun blessing! I don’t handle eating very well when I’m pregnant, so I’m hoping that by Christmas I’ll have my appetite back and be able to indulge in the deliciousness of the season.

And yes, I am indeed planning another home birth with my wonderful midwife and her fantastic team. What an amazing experience that will be! To have the same four women at my second birth that were at my first. It will keep the whole event so private and intimate, just like I want it (assuming there are no complications). The best part about that is since they were with me the first time, they all understand what I went through and will be able to really work well with me this second time.

On that note, I would also like to say that one of the best things about home birth is that is offers a safe alternative to women like me who are uncomfortable in hospitals. I think options in birth are important, since every woman and pregnancy is different. However, home birth is not the best choice for everyone. Some women need more help, feel more comfortable in a medical environment, or if a pregnancy has a complication, hospitals are wonderful, life-saving places! As long as someone is making an informed decision about where and how to birth, I respect and support whatever that may be. We need to be loving and supportive to every mama, no matter how she chooses to birth. We never know what someone else has been through that has influenced her decisions.

Amy and I are close friends, but two very different people. She thinks I’m nuts for doing home birth, but loves me anyway! I think she should be an organic hippie, but I love her anyway 🙂 Being pregnant at the same time is fun, and I’m thankful that God has blessed me with Amy as a friend!

Ever wonder….what to do with those pretty bottles?

I love reusing things, I’m not a packrat quite yet, but it never fails, the minute I throw something away, I have an awesome idea of what I COULD HAVE DONE WITH IT IF I HADN’T THROWN IT AWAY!!!

When I got married, I started saving bottles, wine bottles, oil bottles, beer bottles. I love bottles. Then the baby came, and I needed room for baby bottles, so I threw away my beloved collection of bottles. I SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT!!  Because today, as I was looking at the two beautiful, shiny, wine bottles sitting on the floor beside the trash can, it came to me!

Have you ever seen those commercials for Aqua Globes (or whatever they’re called)? The glass domes that you fill with water and stick into a houseplant? Well, I have one houseplant, and I can’t claim to be the one that keeps it alive. Thanks to my glass water globe thing, I’m able to boast a houseplant. It sits proudly on my kitchen table.

So, wine bottles as a glass dome watering thing? YES!  But not for mini houseplants….

For my herb garden! WIN!

I put some Miracle Gro in the water to give my plants a little jumpstart.

R supervised the process.  And then threw dirt at me.  I love her.

I’m surprised that my parsley and oregano survived the Jersey winter (even as mild as it was). My rosemary bush looks worse than they do.

Aren’t they cool looking? Now I have to save enough empty bottles for my vegetable garden. Heeeeeee 😉

 

~amy

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

See how cute?  A friend of mine posted this DIY  last week, as soon as I saw it I couldn’t wait to try it! I layered two different soaps to make it look pretty. It took about twenty minutes to make two, and I used stuff that was laying around. So fun!

~amy

Buzz word of the day: Crunchy?

So apparently I’m a CRUNCHY Mama and I didn’t know it. A crunchy mama is someone who supports natural and organic things, and takes a do-it-yourself approach to birthing and child-rearing. The term comes from when hippies were known for eating granola, because granola is all natural and crunchy.

I did a natural birth at home with a midwife (an amazing one, by the way), I use cloth diapers for my baby, practice baby wearing, support breastfeeding even though I wasn’t able to breastfeed, am cautious about vaccines, feed her mostly organic food, and a few other things that are a little too crunchy to mention. Karen also wears a baltic amber necklace that is supposed to ease the pain of teething. It wasn’t until I started making my own laundry detergent that a friend of mine told me how crunchy I was. Since then I’ve been having fun learning about what other crunchy mama’s do, and picking up house hold tips and baby advice.

I’m very fortunate to live close to an herb shop, where I’ve found several interesting products and learned how natural ingredients can be used in place of traditional medicines, and how much more gentle they are on the system (Desert Sage and Herb on Alma School road). Not that I’m anti-hospital or medicine! I think those things are wonderful. The past two weeks for me have been filled with NyQuil and nasal sprays, and I’m thankful for them. But I am rather a stubborn, strong willed person, and was not OK with the idea of a hospital dictating how my birth would go.

If I had been in a hospital, Karen would have been a c-section. I had a very long and difficult labor. Karen decided she really didn’t want to come out, and after 15 hours of labor and four hours of pushing, she emerged with her arms crossed and both hands on her head. She looked really cute actually, because her arms protected her face and head from being squished in the birth canal. Good for her,  not so good for mama. I did end up having to go to the hospital that night for stitches, at which time the on-call doctor in my co-care doctor’s practice refused to come stitch me up, stating, “I don’t do co-care with midwives.” I had to wait 7 hours until my doctor came on call to come take care of me. Needless to say, my hospital experiences are not usually pleasant. But read my previous post about when Karen got sick, because they were amazing that night!

Despite all that drama, in the end all I needed were stitches instead of having to recover from major abdominal surgery.

I’m really proud of my home birth, even though most people think I’m crazy. I have always thought of myself as kind of a wimp, but in reality, I’m made of tougher stuff than I realized. I would never have known what I could accomplish if I hadn’t tried.

Anyway, sorry about the birth tangent! I want to hear about what you other crunchy mamas do. Post your crunchy stories and tips.

~Liz