Tuesday Ten

1. I am a horrible blogger. It has been months and at times, years between my blog posts. Mari is an inspiration at times, and at others I want to ask her if she is so incredible simply to make me feel inferior:) I am blogging tonight because of her. I love you Mari.

2. I am entirely and completely over the cold and snow! It feels like heaven at my mother's house where Spring has sprung. I just want to plant some herbs, and play with Jude in the GRASS! All the parks are still buried in snow and I am about to loose it. Winter in this place is entirely too long.

3. Garrett and I celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary this past weekend. We had a wonderful day together. Over the years he has not been the best at planning special events, so the stakes were pretty high. Lets just say, he scored and 8 out of 10. We went skiing for a few hours in the afternoon and both forgot to apply sunscreen. We looked like raccoons until this morning. He then took me to a surprise dinner in Bishop, and to see the local theatre group perform "South Pacific." We had a wonderful time. 

4. After the show, we talked about the strange phenomena that is the Musical. This particular genre tends to put happy little tunes to the most somber of subjects. Sometimes having a husband who likes to critically think about everything can be kind of a downer...haha

5. Jude seems to be changing everyday. He has started gasping with surprise and excitement when he notices something he likes. Say Elmo shows up on the TV, he will shout, "Mama, Ahhah, Elmo!" It sounds like he is sucking in his breath and each and every time he does this I think I might melt. 

6. I love living in a house. We have been in the house I was a teenager in for 6 months and I don’t know how I ever survived in a condo/apt. If only the snow would melt so we could enjoy the yard. 

7. I have been on a lazy kick for too many weeks. Garrett and I have a joke going where he asks me if I got dressed today... How pathetic. If getting dressed in an accomplishment what have I become...

8. We are starting a new home group study tomorrow. We are using some curriculum published by Desiring God entitled, "Why we Believe the Bible." I am really looking forward to it. We have had such a great time hosting this group. Garrett continues to amaze me as he grows as leader. And each week I somehow find something interesting to cook for dinner. I love having the opportunity to do this in our home. 

9. After two miscarriages in 2009, I am 17 weeks pregnant! What a roller coaster this pregnancy has been. Having felt the little one move the last week or so, has brought me great peace. I am so excited to be a Mommy again. 

10. Oh yeah, I am so over our dog. Gus is great at many things, however, being at home with me all day is not one of them. If you don't have a dog, don't get one. EVER!

Wednesday Morning

Today began as any other morning does... but thats where its ends.

I got up late as ususal, drank my vitamins, went and got up Jude who had already been awake for 10 minutes or so playing in his crib and began to make breakfast. Garrett works from Mammoth on Wednesdays so I try and make something more than a bagel for him... I boiled some water and poored in the Steel Cut Oats and then tended to Jude.

This kind of Oatmeal is Garrett's favorite but it takes almost 40 minutes to make. Having got up late I was in a hurry to have it ready for him so I had the heat on too high. It boiled over while Jude and I were playing with a puzzle.  Boiled over Oatmeal SUCKS!

By the time I had it all cleaned up and had the oatmeal simmering on the stove at the proper temp, Garrett had to leave for work, so he got a bagel... sorry honey.

Jude ate oatmeal though. As I was checking my email and drinking my coffee, I look over and find this...

And rather than scold him I run frantically for the camera to take a video and my iPhone because pictures are so easy to upload to facebook from the phone... Gosh get your priorities straight.

From the high chair we go straight to the bath. Jude enjoys baths in Mommy's big tubby so we headed into the Master bath. (P.S. We moved into the house I was a teenager in... More on that Later) From the bath we move back into the living room and look for a diaper. As I say, "Jude come over here to Mommy, I dont want you to pee on the floor." What do you think my son did... Thats right he peed all over the floor. And my son can pee. I think his bladder is the size of a grown man's. He often pees through a diaper and wets his pants once a day. So we saved money by needing one less diaper today, but I would have rather spent the $.39 or whatever is costs per diaper than clean pee up off the carpet. Geez.

From the pee ficaco, we move to the living room exlposion of toys. How is it that a small person can make such a huge mess in less than  one minute. Serioulsy, he can get out every toy  he owns in 60 seconds flat. I think we should have baby mess races. Who's kid can make the biggest mess the fastest... It would be worth a laugh at least.

I turn on a Movie and go to my room to get dressed, thinking this will give me the 10 minutes I need to get ready for the day. (Oh the days of taking a 20 minute shower and then taking 45 minutes to do  my hair and makeup... GONE FOREVER!) But no, Mommy cant even have 10 minutes. I hear a loud crash and run to the kitchen. Jude has gotten the dog's bowl full of water and has dumped it all over the floor. He is soaked and so is the floor. ARGH! I didn't take any photos this time I was mad. 

So its not even 10 in the morning, my kitchen looks like this:

The living room looks like this:

I'm having 25 people over for dinner tonight as we are launching our new home group tonight: Crazy Love by Francis Chan... ( More on that later too) and now Im cranky...


Im still not dressed, and I have about 4 cups of cooked Steel Cut Oatmeal that I have no idea what to do with... any ideas? Oh yeah and I never ate my breakfast...

Happy Wednesday:)

Meek's Bay 2009

Our family weekend in Meek's Bay at Lake Tahoe was wonderful. We went up for a long weekend in August to spend some quality Higerd time. Camping was great. Family was great. Relaxation was great. Reading was great. Well, it was really great.



Jude loved playing hide and seek in the clothes line of towels, dumping buckets of water on his lap at the beach, and digging in the sand!


I am so glad Jude was walking this summer. Had he been a crawler I dont know how I would have done. Last summer he couldn't hardly sit up so that was fine. But this year he was walking and up out of the dirt. He was still small enough that he wouldnt run off which was really nice. We shall see about next year?

I snuck away to South Lake Tahoe for an afternoon and saw a movie all by myself! 4 Hours alone... It was nice, although the movie wasnt great. Julie and Julia... I was disappointed. I had high expectations I guess.

Garrett loved swimming in the lake and took Jude out on Grandmomma's boogie board. Jude wasnt to keen on the cold water. But he was a good sport for his daddy.

I love camping at Meek's Bay!

Testing out posting via text:)

Miscarriage Sucks!

I should be 34 weeks pregnant and I'm not. I should be packing a bag for the hospital, nesting like crazy, and preparing a place for our new child and I'm not. I feel like I am grieving all over again, but this time its worse.

The first few weeks of April after we lost the baby, I cried a lot. I would cry after I got the clothes out of the dryer and realized I had to put away the new maternity clothes I had bought without ever wearing them. I cried because my baby had died, and because I was no longer pregnant. I cried. Many people listened to me cry and for that I was so thankful.

But as the weeks progressed, and my belly didn't get bigger the tears subsided. Then a few days ago, I realized how far along I should be. I felt robbed all over again. Babies are being born by others around me and I am still here grieving the loss of the baby Ill never hold.

Now rationally, I know that God is sovereign in all things. I know that He is good. I know that trials and suffering are a part of this Christian life. If Jesus suffered, why should I think I dont have to? I know that the promises of God are for me and not against me. I know Jesus' love for me is sufficient to endure all sitautions. But the knowing is somehow disconnected from the feeling.

I am not alone in my grief. Garrett understands me and is so gracious, loving and encouraging. Jude is still playing and laughing and getting into everything. In the small moments, the regular moments I find joy. But in the silent ones, I cry. Trusting God is easy when you don't "really" need to, but when its hard, trusting the Lord in all things is much more difficult.

Blueberry Peach Crisp

Recently, I stumbled upon a website entitled World's Healthiest Foods. I haven't spent a ton of time there, but I liked several of the recipes they provide. I think its some gimmick for you to drink their juice or something, and I wont be doing that; however, I did poke around enough which led me to make a few things for dinner.

One of the desserts stood out to me first. "Well of course it did ReAnnon." I can hear in my head, I have a thing for treats. Candy, Sweets, Coca-Cola, and all things bad for me. I like them. They make me happy. I am an emotional sweets eater... There I make it public, what a sigh of relief...haha

But seriously, I like desserts. But this Blueberry Peach Crisp hits the spot and is suprisingly sweet with out being sugary. I changed the recipe a but by not using the pitted dates, and once used dried plumbs since I had them around, and the second time I used rasins. I liked the rasins better. The plumbs made the crisp topping too dark brown. I also whipped some whipping cream and topped the servings with that. It made for a delicious dessert. You should try it...

Here is the Recipe from WHF:

Prep and Cook Time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 45 minutes Ingredients: 10 oz fresh or frozen blueberries 1 lb of fresh or frozen peach slices ¼ cup apple juice Topping ½ cup almonds ½ cup rolled oats 1 cup pitted dates 2 TBS apple juice ½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350. Place blueberries in the bottom of a square 8 inch baking pan. If you are using frozen, make sure they are completely thawed and drained of excess water. Place peach slices on top of blueberries. If they are frozen make sure they are also thawed and drained of excess water. Drizzle ¼ cup apple juice over fruit.
2. Remove pits from dates and place in the bowl of a food processor along with oats, almonds and cinnamon. After running for a minute and dates are blended with oats and almonds, add apple juice, and mix well.
3. Place mixture evenly over peaches and blueberries, and bake uncovered for about 45 minutes. Serve warm or cool.
   Serves 4-6
   
   

Enjoy!

Hammering not Hitting

Jude decided to wake up 4 times a night all last week, which lead me to be exhausted and therefore, not waking up at 5 am. Well lets say not staying awake at 5am. But the last two nights he has only woken up once around midnight so I am hopeful that the 5am club will resume.

But for now, here is the weekly Jude update:

I have been having so much fun with Jude lately. He learned to crawl on Christmas Day, and hasn't looked back since. He can now pull up on every piece of furniture in my home and goes as he pleases. He can entertain himself for what seems like forever, as he attempt to problem solve to get the toy or object he wants. The computer cords have become a favorite to my dismay, but we are working with "No, Mommy said you cant play with cords." Then a redirect... We shall see how this goes... But the funnest thing he has started to do is carry around this little purple and green hammer. Its become his favorite toy by far. He whines for it when he is eating, he crawls with it everywhere he goes, and it's the first toy he looks for in the morning. It's darling. I'll have to get a picture because I don't have one yet. He often gets frustrated when trying to pull up on the table, because he can't do it with the hammer in his hand, but he won't give up the hammer. It's funny! I have had to learn to be purposeful with my words. Hammering is okay, Hitting is not. So we Hammer the table, we hammer the blocks etc. I am thankful I didn't spend 6 months saying,"Yeah, hit the table. Good job son." Only to have to scold him for hitting... Man, the power of words... What am I in for?

Here are a few pictures from the week... Enjoy.

This is the Lion of Jude... See he is roaring.

Here he is crawling away

Uncle Grant teaching Jude to walk during the OU Florida game... So sad Sooners...

Contemplative Son at the Park, I'm not sure if he likes the swings...

Mommy and Jude on the slide... Is he having fun? Again I'm not sure.

Ok, now he is having fun. Finally, whats a Mama gotta do?

Jude and Nissi waiting to be attacked by the Park ducks.

And finally a "Shampoo-Hak"

His hair only curls with its wet. Perhaps Ill have a curly headed kid. But for now, it's stick straight and Blond... Who would have thought.