Rearranging

Over the past two weeks I've realized how I need to rearrange my priorities. I've let so many distractions get in the way of my walk with God and my relationship with my husband and kids. I took some time off Facebook and realized just how much time I've wasted reading pointless status updates and looking through countless photos. Instead I turned up the worship music, opened my Bible and enjoyed a few days of just basking in God's presence. What a difference it makes when I decide to focus on Him.

There are two parts of Christianity that we need to have daily in our walk with God: Prayer and the Word. Both of these things must happen daily, not one or the other, but both. And not just the prayer before meals and before you drift off to sleep but the kind of prayer where you really take time to seek after God's heart. This has been my biggest down fall. I will take the time to read a couple chapters in the Bible but finding time to pray is not always as easy. The Bible says to pray continually.. without ceasing! I've been trying to make this a new habit.

There is something else I realized over the past two weeks. Jesus surrounded himself with a close group of other believers... I am REALLY lacking in this area. Proverbs 27:17 tells us, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." I want to surround myself with friends that challenge me and encourage me. And I also really want a mentor. I've forgotten how valuable it is to have someone that can really speak into my life and how I need that to continue to grow.

These are my New Year's Resolutions:

1. Surround myself with strong Christian friends (who I see more than just at church).

2. Find a mentor.

What A Week!!!!!!!!

In almost four years of marriage Jordan and I had never spent more than 24 hours away from each other, until this last week. He had a week long training in San Fransico for his work. I dropped him off at the airport on Sunday morning, and I pretty much cried off and on all day long! Jayden was really sweet and kept asking me, "It hurt, momma?" and I would reply, "Yes, my heart hurts." He loves his momma! :)

I tried to fill up our schedule as much as possible because I didn't want to get bored. We went to the library, play-dates, downtown Denver, AWANA, game night at the church, visiting family etc. We actually did a lot, but it was hard at nights being by myself. I brought Gabriella to bed with me almost every night. I wasn't interested in sleeping alone.

I definitely realized taking the kids out by myself so many times is just exhausting! I'm so thankful for Jordan and how much he does to help me. I am such a lucky lady.

As soon as Jordan got home we were going non-stop. We bought the kids their new beds and mattresses this weekend. We got Jayden's bed set up last night and he slept in it for the first time. He was so excited he could hardly fall asleep! We also decided to wean Gabriella off her pacifier, she went cold turkey Sunday night. I'm actually surprised she's doing better than Jayden did. She cried 30ish minutes the first night and probably 30 minutes again last night. Today will be a true test when I'm home alone and I have to lay her down for her nap.. I'm hoping by today she'll be completely over not having her "baby" (that's what she calls it).

I really just want to relax and hang out this week. I'm pooped!

First Baby Moments

I was watching the show "One Born Every Minute" on Lifetime tonight. This show always makes me cry and reminisce about my experiences with my first two children and what my 3rd experience will be like.

Both the experiences were very different. The "labor" was the same. I was induced and got an epidural pretty quickly. The delivery was completely different. With Jayden I pushed for about 2.5 hours and I was on oxygen and was so completely exhausted I tried talking the doctor into doing a c-section because I honestly didn't think I could actually push him out. There were like 10 nurses and my doctor along with Jordan and myself and it was very chaotic. With Gabriella I only pushed for 15 minutes and there she was. It was really easy and calm, 2 nurses, 1 doctor and me and Jord. So who knows what this next labor and delivery will be like. I have a new doctor and so far even my appointments have been very different. So it'll be interesting.

Moments after Jayden was born

Jayden getting his first bath

Meeting Gabriella face to face

After Gabri's first bath

(I think her and Jayden look alike as newborns)

Crafty Blogs

Okay this is my 3rd post in a row about crafts, but you don't understand how badly I NEED something to do for ME!

For the past couple hours (while the kids are napping) I've been entertaining myself by reading tons of blogs.. all about crafts! I have found so many things I want to do. Not all of them are crafts, one is a recipe for a cookies and cream ice cream cake.. check it out! (I may have to make this for Jordan's birthday)...

Another thing I want to do is a fabric flower wreath. I think this wreath is so cute and with the right color palette it will be perfect for Spring/Summer. Plus, with all the new flowers I'm learning to make from fabric I'll have lots of options to choose from.

I also found another blog called Diary of a Quilter and she has a lot of really cute tutorials on quilts and decorative pillows, but also baby stuff; like a diaper clutch and a nursing cover. I am not a very good sewer... my husband is better at using a sewing machine than I am. But after reading some of these tutorials I think I'd really like to try to make something.. maybe even a quilt?!

The next thing I am seriously going to make is an infinity scarf. I watched a youtube video by SecretLifeofABioNerd and after finding some blogs with more tutorials, I think it would be really fun to make, and really cute! I really like the way this blogger's scarf turned out. Take a peek!

The last blog I found was smile monsters. There are SO many cute things in this one blog alone.. you should really check it out.

As I complete these projects I'll post blogs with picturesl!

Fabric Flowers

So after yesterday's post I started searching the wonderful site of Youtube.com for some more tutorials on cute things I can make to keep me busy. I found some videos made by 'SecretLifeOfaBioNerd' on how to manipulate fabric into flowers. The girl does a really good job at explaining how to do it and I tried my first one today! I think I have a new hobby!! :) If you're interested in checking out her other videos go here.

Check out these 2 videos and try making one of the flowers. Don't bother going to the fabric store just use an old shirt you never wear.

Today I made the yo-yo flower and I used two different size circles to make it and then sewed both the flowers together. I think it will be cute on a headband for Gabriella! :)

Creative Girly Projects

Having a girl is a lot of fun because you get to dress them up in cute frilly things.

For Gabriella's birthday I wanted to make her a tutu so I looked up on youtube several different videos and found one that I really liked because it's super easy.

And here is Gabriella in her tutu

The next thing I wanted to learn how to make was a boutique style hair bow. I was super intimidated by these because the first time I tired I used a hot glue gun and it was a hot mess! This video showed a much easier way to do it.

(I don't have a "gator bite" I just used the little alligator clips and that worked just fine)

And Gabriella wearing her new bow:

The next thing is a fleece blanket. Jordan's co-worker made one of these for one of the families in the program they work with. He thought it would be a great gift for his nephew and made this all by himself. Go here for instructions.

We also made him swaddling blankets. When I had Jayden a good friend of mine passed down some swaddling blankets someone had given her. They are so easy to make! All you need is 1 yard of flannel material and a sewing machine. We just hemmed the edges using our sewing machine. If you have a serger it would save you a lot of time and energy, but honestly how many people actually have one?! (I had never even heard of a serger until my sister told me about them. Her in laws have one and so she used it on Gabriella's swaddle blankets.)

I couldn't find a picture of Gabriella's blankets.... oh well. They also make great cover-ups for nursing.

I am needing something to pass the time this winter so if you have any suggestions for creative projects please, please, please tell me!!!!

The Beloved Second Trimester

I blogged a little bit ago about my lack of desire to do pretty much anything, except watch TV. Thankfully, I've entered my second trimester of pregnancy and everything is back to normal.

I woke up yesterday and after I showered I actually put on real pants, not sweats, but actual pants! And.. I wore them ALL day! Not only that, but I cleaned my kitchen, did laundry, picked up clutter and vacuumed! And not because I was having someone over, but because it needed to be done! It felt great to just clean my house and not sit on the couch all day wishing I could fall asleep.

I read that in the first trimester of pregnancy many women feel exhausted and fatigued because the body is creating the placenta and that's a lot of work... whatever.. I don't know exactly why, but I'm just glad by the time the second trimester rolls around, I'm starting to feel really good again!

I still haven't felt the baby kick, but I have a feeling it will be happening soon. With Jayden I was 19 or 20 weeks the first time I felt him kick on the outside of my belly and with Gabriella I was 16 weeks. I thought maybe because this is my 3rd baby I would have felt it kick a lot sooner, but I haven't. Oh well!

I have a doctor's appointment on Friday and I'm anxious to hear the sweet heartbeat again! Then in another 4 weeks I will have the "BIG ultrasound".. where they spend a long time measuring all the body parts and making sure the baby is developing properly. It's also the ultrasound where you can find out the gender of the baby, however we have decided to wait until the baby is born, so let's just hope we can have enough will power to close our eyes when the ultrasound technician is looking "below the belt". :)

Some people keep asking if we have a "feeling" about if the baby is a boy or a girl and honestly at this point I have no clue! The morning sickness I had was nothing like when I was pregnant with Jayden and Gabriella, so who knows! I also carried both my kids very similar so I don't know if I'll be able to tell the bigger I get.

18 Weeks with Jayden

4 Months with Gabriella

(I don't remember what week I was here)

I'd like to do a better job of taking belly pictures with this baby, but so far I've only taken two. This stage I feel like I just look a bit chubby and not pregnant, so it's not very flattering! ha!

Transition

We are in a bit of transition right now. Gabriella is beginning to go from two naps to one nap... the dreaded time has come!!!! :(

And as we prepare for baby #3 (ahhh!!) we are looking into bunk beds for the two older kids. We won't set them up as bunk beds at first, just as two twin beds in the same room. Moving both the kids into one room is a little frightening for me. I'm not sure how they'll adjust to being roommates. We're going to be completely rearranging the bedroom situation. The office will become the kids' new bedroom and then either Gabri or Jayden's old bedroom will become the new baby's room and the other one will be the new office. It gives me a headache to think about it already. We need to decide on paint colors, re-paint the bedrooms, move all the stuff, buy new furniture, etc.

Over the weekend we went to Ross so Jordan could buy some new pants since it's been at least a year since he bought a new pair. While we were there I found a twin comforter for Jayden's bed for $10!! It has animals and footprints on it, so he thinks it's really cool. (He's really into footprints right now, thanks to Diego!)

Another thing I really want to do is transition most of the toys from the living room to the kids' bedroom. After seeing how organized my neighbor's kids' rooms are I really want to do the same. I've already started organizing Jayden's closet (I still have a long way to go, including figuring out where to store my wedding dress since it takes up about 1/4 of Jayden's closet!).

This year is going to be full of change as we welcome another member into our family, but I'm so excited about the things that are to come!

New Meal Ideas

So I'm always on the lookout for new meal ideas and I like to know what other people eat, so I thought I'd share some of the new meals we've had this past week.

TLC recently started a new show call "Kitchen Boss". The host of "Cake Boss", Buddy Valastro, is also the host of Kitchen Boss. I watched the first week and found tons of new recipes I wanted to try.

The first recipe I tried was Chicken Sorrentino Fusilli, I didn't do it exactly like this recipe called for.... actually I don't think I can even call it by name because it wasn't anything like what Buddy made on the show!!! I used canned spaghetti sauce and I didn't add the chicken or bacon. This is the first time I made breaded/fried/eggplant.. whatever you want to call it. And it was delicious!! I also made the baked asparagus. I've NEVER made asparagus in my life and I was really surprised how well it turned out.

The next recipe we tried was a Calzone. Again we didn't really follow this recipe, it was more of using the idea and making it our own. I used a different pizza dough than the one Buddy used. If you want to check it out go here. Then we sautéed green bell peppers and onions, browned Italian sausage, mozzarella and parmesan cheese and made a tomato sauce (diced tomatoes, garlic and dried basil). These calzones were SOOOOO good!!! And the best part is that you can stuff them however you want! The dough was perfect and the flavor of the stuff inside was incredible. If you're looking for something new to make for dinner try calzones!

Today I'm baking these soft chocolate cookies. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Lastly, if you have any meal ideas you'd like to share, please leave me a comment!!