Gabriella's 1st Birthday

That's right! My daughter is officially a 1 year old!

Gabri is such a quiet laid back little girl. She's content just being held and carried around. She also enjoys trying to keep up with her busy brother.

I found out I was pregnant with Gabriella when Jayden was 5 months old. My pregnancy with her was so easy. I had morning sickness for about 2 weeks, which was nothing compared to the 2 long months when I was pregnant with Jayden. I craved fruit with Gabriella and only gained 30 pounds, compared to the 50 pounds I gained with Jayden. My pregnancy went by so fast with Gabriella, I remember at the end of it I told Jordan, if something happened and I wasn't able to get pregnant again, I would be so sad because I didn't take the chance to completely enjoy being pregnant with Gabri. In fact, I forgot I was pregnant on multiple occasions. I think chasing around a little toddler all day long had a lot to do with that.

Even my labor and delivery with Gabri was super easy. I was induced 1 week before my due date to prevent having a large baby (Jayden was 9lbs 8oz). We went in to the hospital at 8am and they started pitocin, at 11:45 I got an epidural (I wasn't in pain, but they were about to break my water and I didn't really care to experience hard contractions so I got the epidural early) at noon they broke my water, by 4pm I was fully dilated and I started pushing around 5:10 and she was born at 5:28pm. Gabriella Jael weighed 8lbs 7oz.... Gabri was still considered a large baby because she was born 1 week early.

While I was pregnant with Gabri I felt like she would grow up to be a preacher of the Gospel. It was the same feeling I got when I was pregnant with Jayden that he would be a worship leader. Gabriella means, "The Lord's messenger" and I think she will grow into the meaning of her name beautifully.

The week before she was born I was sitting in our living room playing with Jayden when I started to cry as I realized I would bring another child into this world and honestly, I didn't know if I would be able to truly love her like I love Jayden. There is such a special bond between a mother and her first born. The miracle of being a mother is that God expands our heart and we possess a deep love for our children.. no matter how many we have, 2 or 19. :)

24 hours after Gabri was born the nurse noticed a redness around her umbilical cord. The doctor was notified and before I knew it I had 2 NICU nurses sitting in my hospital room telling me that Gabriella would have to stay in the NICU on antibiotics for 72 hours to keep the infection from spreading into her blood system. I cried as I sat in the rocking chair holding her because I was so confused... I had already been discharged because I was anxious to get home to Jayden who I hadn't seen in over 36 hours, they offered to let me stay in my hospital room but Gabriella would have to stay in the NICU. I could only have 4 visitors, excluding Jordan. I wouldn't be able to see Jayden for another 3 days...

I left the hospital that night without my newborn in my arms. I cried uncontrollably all the way home. All I could think about was how I was failing at least one of my children. Gabri was only 24 hours old and I was already leaving her alone in a hospital over 20 miles from our house. Jayden was super sick with a sinus infection and he was getting his molars. Both my babies needed me but I couldn't be in 2 places at once.

Thankfully, the infection didn't spread to her blood stream and we were able to bring her home Monday morning. (She was born Thursday evening). Of course, I cried uncontrollably the first day she was home. Every time I saw both of my children together my heart would just overflow and I would cry... haha!!

One year later we celebrated this beautiful little girl. We had our families over for presents, chili and cake! My dad's birthday is 3 days after Gabri's so we celebrated his 57th birthday as well! It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed being able to spend this special day with the ones we love. I baked strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting (recipe by Sprinkles) for Gabriella and a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for my dad. I also made orange muffins and vegetarian chili. It was all very delicious!

Dad, Gabri and Mom :)

My handsome dad

I made Gabriella's tutu for her birthday

She got 7 baby dolls and LOTS of cute outfits!

New Year's Resolution... update

At the beginning of 2010 I made a couple resolutions...

1.) Not get pregnant
2.) Learn to cook

Those are the two that I actually remember. These were the 2 that I really took to heart and have tried to keep.

You might think the first one is kind of silly... or even a joke.. but it's not! It's a very serious thing! :) I realized the other day that this is the longest I have ever gone not pregnant since Jordan and I got married!!! I'm not gonna lie- I'm very happy that it's been almost a full year of having my body at a normal size! Now as soon as Gabriella is done nursing I will be completely free!!!

Now the second thing is also very serious! I've always wanted to be a good cook. My biggest challenge is being willing to try new things. I hate when you want to try a meal and you go out and buy all the food for it and it doesn't turn out right... or maybe you burn it and end up throwing it away. It's never a good feeling when you fail at something. Luckily for me, I was blessed with a husband (and kids) who don't mind eating food that is less than desirable.

My first few times ever cooking chicken I made Jordan completely sick!!! I made chicken enchiladas and didn't realize that you're supposed to COOK the chicken before you roll it up in the tortilla and put it in the oven.... yeah, not good! The next time I cooked it on a skillet and I'm pretty sure I didn't cook it very long because I thought it would finish cooking in the oven. By the third time Jordan asked me not to make him chicken enchiladas anymore. While we were in Guatemala I learned that browning beef is very easy and I am capable of doing it. I also learned boiling chicken is pretty easy as well!!! So if there is one thing I should probably work on, it's cooking meat.

I have a terrible habit of getting into a rut of always making the same thing, week after week after week. I have a hard time being creative and breaking out of the "norm". We eat a lot of pasta.. spaghetti, alfredo, and vodka sauce. Other stuff we eat/ate a lot is lasagna and shepherd's pie. Yep... pretty boring.

So this year, I broke out of that rut. Some of things I made were; taco soup, actual tacos, hamburgers, manicotti, chile rellenos, rice and peas, Mexican chicken casserole, cornbread corn casserole, chicken and rice casserole, homemade mac and cheese, stir fry, black bean soup, vegetarian chili and pot roast! Some of these turned out better than others and some I've only made once or twice. I'm pretty proud of myself for trying new things and experimenting and learning.

One website that I used A LOT is allrecipes.com

I've found that I really enjoy baking. Cookies are probably my favorite, as well as Jayden's! I've been a vegetarian for 12 years and there's one thing that has been consistent my whole life.. I love sweets!!! We eat dessert probably 6 out 7 times a week. Since I don't want to sit around and become a cow, I pass my "goodies" on to my great neighbors.

So what are some of your favorite recipes?? Please, pass them along!!!! The year is NOT over yet and I since the holidays are coming up I'm going to need some delicious dishes to share with family and friends!

Black Bean Soup

I've been wanting to use a bag of dry black beans that have been sitting in my pantry for a couple weeks and thought black bean soup would be a perfect solution with the cool fall weather we've been having. So I wanted to share the recipe with all of you! This was my first time make black bean soup and it turned out really well. Great flavor!

1 pound dried black beans
6 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1-1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 large carrot, chopped
1/2 cup each chopped green, sweet red and yellow peppers (I didn't have peppers so I left them out of my soup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon peper
3/4 teaspoon salt, optional
chopped tomato, optional

1) Place beans in a Dutch over or soup kettle; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1-4 hours or until beans are softened. Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid.
2) Return beans to pan; add broth and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until beans are almost tender.
3 Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the onions, celery, carrot, peppers and garlic in oil until tender. Add the tomato paste, herbs and seasonings to the bean mixture. Add the sauteed vegetables; bring to a boil.
4) Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until beans are tender. Discard bay leaves. Garnish with chopped tomato if desired.

Yield: 12 servings (3 quarts)
Nutrition Facts: 1 cup equals 191 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat) 0 colestrol, 484 mg sodium 30 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 10 g protein.

Lacrae

Jordan found this rapper awhile ago named Lacrae. The first time we ever listened to his CD we were both sitting in the car almost in tears at the lyrics to his songs. I should first tell you all, I am not a huge rap fan... but this guy has an incredible story and powerful lyrics!

Jord recently downloaded Lacrae's newest CD "Rehab". It is loaded with great music, I highly recommend it! My favorite song is #12 God is Enough.

Just in case you're wondering where this guy came from, here is his story:

This post might seem kind of funny coming from a white girl from the suburbs, but after doing ministry with Metro Ministries in the inner-city of Dallas I really got a heart for kids growing up in the projects. Lacrae not only gave his life to the Lord, but is truly making a difference with his music.

One step closer to being debt free!

Over 3 years ago when Jordan and I got married we entered our marriage in debt. Don't get me wrong, the only debt we had was a Kay's credit card we used to buy our wedding rings with. We paid off that credit card within the first 6 months that we were married, we paid our schooling as we went, we owned our cars outright, we didn't have a mortgage, we didn't have hospital bills, etc. We were doing pretty well financially.

The first couple months that we were married we didn't have couches and we couldn't get a credit card to buy them because we had no credit! There have been plenty of times that I wished we had a credit card so we could buy what we want or need. Instead we did things the old fashioned way - saved up and payed cash.

3 years late I'm proud to announce we still have no credit cards, however we do have debt. When I had Jayden we paid off our medical bill throughout my pregnancy and then after he was born we still had about $1,200 of debt which we paid off with my bonus from work. Unfortunately, we didn't have the same health insurance when I had Gabriella. We met our deductible of $4,000 when I had Gabri at the end of 2009, then 3 months later (January 2010) we met our deductible again when I was in the hospital for a kidney stone. Within 3 months we racked up $6,000 of medical debt.

My sister told me about this program called Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP) for low income families that helps pay off medical debt. I called the hospital that I was admitted to for my kidney stone and found out they use CICP and I was accepted. My bill went from $3,600 to $220!!! I can't express to you what a relief it was to pay off that debt. Unfortunately, we still had $2,100 of debt at the hospital where I had Gabri. I tried contacting the financial aid office, but no one ever called me back. I was told this hospital didn't accept CICP so I wanted to see if they offered another program.

Yesterday while the kids were napping I was watching TV when the phone rang, I let it got to the answering machine. The message started, "Hello my name is so-and-so and I am calling from a collection agency for Kortnie Wertzbaugher"... not exactly what I was expecting to hear! The idea of having a collection agency calling me doesn't settle well in my stomach! I quickly answered the phone and began speaking with a really nice lady. I explained to her that I had tried contacting the financial aid office and no one ever called me back and some how I mentioned that we have CICP. She put me on hold and when she came back she told me that I need to fax my CICP card to them and they will come up with our new amount that we'll owe the hospital! I told the lady that I was informed that hospital didn't accept CICP so she put me on hold again to double check, when she came back she said for sure they do! Now we'll be able to pay off our debt and be completely debt free (except for out home mortgage!)!!!

I love how God works out these details!! This is such a huge weight lifted off our shoulders! I'm very thankful for programs like this that help people get out of debt!

Tactics

One of the tactics the devil uses on us is isolation. I hate to admit it, but I fall for it more than I should.

Heres how I fell for this dumb tactic recently: We're out to dinner with Jordan's co-workers and we have both the kids. No one else has kids as young as ours, in fact the next oldest kid at the table is at least 12 years old. Jayden isn't in the mood to sit down and just color, it was cool for about 2 minutes and then he was over it. I brought toys as a back up, but of course he doesn't want to play with the toys, he'd rather run laps around the restaurant and dance to the music. Now he's screaming as we try to make him sit in the high chair and eat his dinner. Gabriella is screaming because she just wants to nurse... which isn't happening in the middle of a restaurant. After wanting to pull all my hair out we finish dinner and drive home. The WHOLE way home all I can think about it is what terrible parents we must be if we can't even control our children and sit down and eat dinner. I beat myself up pretty bad that night and into the next day.

Then at church I consult a few moms with children the same age as mine and come to find out.... I'm not alone!!!! Other moms struggle with these same problems! The more I talked with these moms the more I felt normal again and less like a terrible mother.

We can walk right into the devil's tactic and not even realize it. I'm so thankful for the body of Christ that encourages and strengths me when I need it the most!

Stop your cryin'!!!

I have this totally great friend who tends to be super honest and blunt..and her name is Lauren! :)

The thing I love about friendship is that people can see areas of your life that your family doesn't always see. And if you allow them to, these friends can show you those areas that might need a bit of improvement.

One area I can improve in is complaining and making excuses. When I was in middle school my school counselor called me the Queen of Excuses. It's true... I tend to justify everything with an excuse. BUT I'm working on it.. only 10 years later! :)

The other day I was about to write a Facebook status complaining about how I need a break from baby-world.. also known as my children. I started thinking about my status and then went back and deleted it. I have NO reason to complain about not having alone time with my husband. We have so many people who are always willing to watch our kids for free.

So I decided, this is not who I want to be.. I don't want to be that person that is complaining about something but isn't willing to do anything about it. It's probably one of the most annoying things in the world... I mean really. People get tired of hearing the same complaints, the same excuses from people who won't do anything to change their situation... I say this because I have honest friends who tell me what they REALLY think.. haha!

Anyways, my in-laws watched the kids on Sunday night and Jordan and I went out. We didn't do much, but the point is that we didn't do much together.. alone.. without the kids! Then I went over to his parent's neighbor's house and I visited a high school friend of mine. I got to spend the whole evening doing what I wanted without having to be "Mommy". It was great and rejuvenating!

I really want to apply this "Stop complaining and do something about it" thing to every area of my life.