Another look

Another look at the photo's I took of Zeke last weekend proved there were actually more "good" ones then I at first thought. Here are a few more that I finished up just now. I want to work more with angles, I think. The top 2 pictures 30 degree angle's were created post-production but I think if I remember to use it more while actually taking the pictures I will have even better results...

And I need to practice my photography more in general, but as soon as I get online and look at some people's REALLY good photo's I almost want to give up!! Oh the horrors of being an amateur photographer in a world full of people who not only own SLR's but REALLY know how to use photoshop!!

Lol, oh well. My kid's cuter then their kid! ;)

wfdw- easy chicken

I dont even know what to call this meal...except really really easy. I mean, even easier then a normal WFDW? meal. Which is sayin' somethin'.

All you do is cut up some potatoes and some zucchini. Put those and some diced chicken in a crock-pot. Add on top a little but of thyme (or whatever herb you like) and olive oil.

Leave on low for 5-6 hours.

Enjoy!



PS. I'm a contest entering fiend this week. Im also trying to win some first year pictures for Zeke HERE.

Photoshoot

The weather was finally nice enough to take Zeke out to the park to try to get some 9 month pictures done. Just in time too because by next weekend he will be 10 months! I have to admit that I'm slightly disappointed by how few really good ones we got :( But that's how it goes I guess. I will either call what we have good enough or I might try again at another location, it depends how my week goes. Here are a few of my favorites from today, though:Zeke is pretty cute, after all. Its a little hard to take a BAD picture of him.

I'm LOVING this warmer weather this weekend too. I've got every window in the house open, finally letting it air out after a long long loooong winter. It feels so nice to have fresh air in the house!

PS Zeke took his fist step last night!!! It was just one step before he fell down but we're going to have a walker any day now!!

Something Worth Doing

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!! It ends April 10th so there is less than a week left!!

Speaking of giveaways I'm trying to win a blog make-over here. It's not that my blog looks bad per se, I actually like the look of my blog. But it could certainly look better. I especially want little sidebar buttons. But alas this is about the height of my creative and technical abilities right here. Hence the trying to win a make-over. Anyone want to make me rad little sidebar buttons? Or maybe redesign me ENTIRE blog? Lol. I'd give you lots of props...and maybe cookies...

Anyways...now that I am done begging, I can actually get on to my subject. Which is: One thing I have learned/am learning is that my old motto of "Something worth doing is worth doing right" can really only be taken so far.

But this actually requires a back story. You see, I am a clean freak. Not only that but I am a clean freak with slight (and sometimes seemingly not so slight) O.C.D.

Truths about me:
-I cannot sleep if there are dishes in the sink. Let's be honestly, pretty much I cannot function at all if there are dishes in the sink. I always do them right after each meal.
-I sweep my kitchen floor at LEAST 3 times a day, usually more (as in every time Ezekiel eats in his high chair).
-I always make my bed in the morning, usually directly upon waking up.
-Once a week I clean the entire house, we are talking "company" "spotless" clean.
-Once a week I also sanitize ALL of Zeke's toys, switch out livingroom books with his bedroom bookcase and reorganize his toy shelves and baskets.

And that good old motto, "Something worth doing is worth doing right" always seemed to justify my actions. I don't just wipe off my counters after cooking, I have to move everything and clean the entire counter surface, along with the sink (drying it, of course, I cant stand water splashes on the stainless steel), and all the buttons and knobs on the oven. I don't just iron Josh's button-up shirts and our wrinkle-prone khakis on laundry day but I iron our jeans, my cotton t-shirts, and pretty much everything but our underwear.

But since having Zeke, and honestly even since marrying Josh (who supports corner cutting in all things), I find my standards relaxing. Because while something can and usually is worth doing right, it's not always worth the time it takes away from your loved ones. And while a clean home can SOMETIMES be a fun home, a fun home cant ALWAYS be clean.

So nowadays I've been known to sometimes skip making my bed and just avoid that room all day (so I don't see it). Or leave the dishes piled next to the sink to be dealt with in the morning so Josh and I can have an uninterrupted and relaxing hour before bed. I've even skipped ironing all together (gasp!) and just made sure to shake everything out and hang it DIRECTLY out of the dryer.

I still have to do my "company" clean once a week though. I mean...you cant let dust catch up on you.

Still snowing

This:
if you can believe it, is what my front yard STILL looks like. In APRIL. I have been buying groceries at every Cadberry Egg run buying Cadberry Eggs at every grocery run for weeks. It's spring!
(come on, you know you do it too...)

I even found artichokes that didn't look dead. I HAS to be spring! Someone, please, inform the weather.

After all, I dont think Ezekiel can take anymore of this...
(Ok, ok, this isnt Zeke's reaction to another 2 inches of snow this morning. I think this is his reaction to being told "no, he couldnt eat tape." if I'm remembering right...the tantrums tend to all run together... But I thought about doing the same thing when I looked out the window.)

Anyways, we subsequently had a stay-at-home day today. A fall-asleep-in-your-highchair-eating-avacado-and-mozzerella kind of day.

But the good news is I spent the time FINALLY finishing Molly's doll.
Because yes, this rather ugly little Amigurumi doll took me about 3 months to finish.

My excuses run thus:
I didnt have a pattern so I was making it up as I went along.
I dont have a lot of time for my crafts these days, you know, having a son and a blog.
I'm burnt out on crocheting anyways after the beginning of the winter and all the stuff I made for Christmas gifts and Zeke's winter gear.
And the hair took me at LEAST a month of that time. Sewing doll hair is tedious and time consuming work.

Zeke's doll...
which is a rather perfected version of Molly's that I am about half finished with (although I realized too late that I should have made Molly's the perfected version of Zeke's since Z probably wont care if its ugly and M will) is definitely wearing a hat.

PS when I finish my doll pattern (because I'm still a little lost on the legs) I will be sure to offer it up to anyone that crochets.

WFDW-Pulled Pork!

Don't worry, I didn't forget in all the Giveaway Excitement that today is also a Wednesday. I've got a Pulled Pork "recipe" coming right up!

This is a favorite meal in this house. Especially with Zeke. You would be astounded to know how much pulled pork and spaghetti squash this child can eat:

He was going at it long after Josh and I had finished eating. In fact I had put away the leftovers, and cleaned all of the dishes, counters, and sink when we finally told him enough was enough and he had to stop!

And as always with my W.F.D.W. meals, it is very easy to make!

Your first step is to put a pork (or if you prefer beef) roast in a crock pot or slow cooker along with an onion chopped into 1/4ths, plenty of salt, garlic, and about 1/4 cup vinegar. It can be pretty much any cut, and in fact I'd suggest a pretty cheap one because when you slow cook something for this long it really doesn't matter. Anyways keep it on "low" if you are using a slow cooker or at about 275* if your using a crock pot in the oven.

When you're done ( a good 6 hours later) its going to be fall apart tender. Just shred it with two forks.






You can stop right there and serve it as-is (this is the way Zeke eats his). Or if you'd like you can smother and mix it with your favorite barbecue sauce and slap it on a bun (Josh and I eat it twice, once each way). A great summer food. Or a wish-it-was-summer food. And Zeke thinks it goes awfully well with squash. ;)

April Giveaway!

Yep, that is right, its already April! And that means that its already time for another segment of my Zeke's Favorite Things Giveaway!!!

And if you've been paying attention (or entered my drawing last month) you already know that this month I am continuing my baby-wearing support and putting out a pouch sling from DrewBabyDesigns for YOU to win!

(Here's me and big Z with the pouch sling!)

I LOVE this pouch sling. I'll be honest and say that when I was trying to choose what type of carrier to buy while pregnant with Zeke I discounted pouch slings right away. I cant remember why anymore but I should have thought twice! They are by far the easiest type of carrier to learn to use, almost no learning curve on these babies. And even BETTER than that they are the easiest to fold up and carry around in your diaper bag. They are so small and because of their simple shape, fold right into a little square. And THIS pouch sling even comes with a handy little bag to put it in!

(See the little purple bag? The bigger green one is my "diaper bag" ps, anyone else notice that diaper bags are unanimously ugly and therefor use large purses?)

I also LOVE DrewBabyDesigns. Not only do I ALWAYS love to support crafty and creative work-at-home mama's but her prices are extremely reasonable and her product well made. In a world of 60 (or even more) dollar slings her's only cost $10-20. And if you don't like any of her (many) colors or designs she even gives you the option of sending her your own fabric! The sling she sent me was sized just right and feels very sturdy, even for a kid Zeke's size, and Zeke and I were both really comfortable. The material fanned over my whole shoulder to distribute the weight and the pocket I noticed had a nice curve to it, just perfect for Zeke's little rear!

Oh yeah, and she also has a sister business that sells pet carriers! How cool is that?

You totally want to win this one, trust me, and you only have until April 10th before I draw the winner out of a hat out of random.org! So here's the drill:

You get your first entry for leaving a comment on THIS post saying you want the sling.

And dont forget you can get more (bonus) entries for doing any of the following:
-Blog about this contest (of course linking to this post)
-Twitter about this contest (linky linky!)
-And TWO entries if you are my follower (gotta show love to my peeps)
(please leave a comment for each bonus entry you earn telling me why. IE if you are a follower leave 2 different comments saying "I follow you".)

5 total chances to win!! Good luck!!!

Swimming

Zeke had his first swimming pool experience today when Jen was kind enough to invite us on base to use their indoor kiddo pool (thanks!). He was pretty nervous about the whole thing and hung out on my lap almost the entire time. So much for my plan of just rolling up my jeans and not having to let everyone see me in my swim wear! (But then there I go posting a picture for the wide world to see! Just don't look at my little belly pooch, lol!) I was a little disappointed that Zeke didn't like it more, he enjoys baths so much. But he wasn't so bad that I'm not hopeful that he will come around by the end of summer.

Anyways, you can thank Kaitie for the picture and I'm off to bed. I already set my April giveaway post to go up at midnight!

New Things

Sorry my updates are pretty sporadic lately. It seems I think about nothing but buying a house, do nothing but look up info on houses, school districts, crime rates, ect. I am getting tired of it and want the ball to start rolling! As requested, here's the link to some pictures of the house I am in love with. Ooh and ahh away.

We are going to go look at it again on Saturday. But we are also going to look at another one that day on the (dun dun dun to Kim who will be REALLY mad) South Hill (Kim was ecstatic that I was planning on going NORTH). It looks gorg. but I'm not getting my hopes up. Its a good $10,000 more than we can afford and already about $40,000 under priced, I doubt they will lower another 10! But Josh wants to go see it anyways and I dont mind.

In non-house news Josh has taught Zeke some new things. How to whistle and how to roll a ball!

Houses houses galore

Ok maybe not GALORE. I looked at 20 or so on the 'net. Have driven by....oh 8? Got it down to only 3 to actually walk thru today.

House number 1, while BEAUTIFUL and really well laid out was decided by Josh to be too small. Not too small for our present but too small for our future. And I had to grudgingly agree, even though I loved the place. Yes, it was big enough for the two of us and our ONE little blessing, probably even for a SECOND little blessing...but THREE or FOUR blessings in we'd be getting cramped.

House number 2...well lets just say that I am ready to make an offer for house number 2 RIGHT NOW. I was actually not all that excited about this house before we saw it. The pictures really didnt show it off well and the layout sounded awkward. But I am IN LOVE. It's the cutest little cape cod, circa 1947 I think. Full of charm. And one of my facvorite parts is the partially finished basement. Room to grow. Room we dont need right now, room we may NEVER need. But if we do end up needing it, well there is is. Just waiting to be finished. Josh wants to keep our eyes open...:( He loves it too but you know Josh, practical, not going to jump into anything quickly.

House number 3 was.... bright purple, a true violet. It was also pink in places, and bright red, and orange. And while I CAN paint and I probably WILL paint I dont want to have to paint the entire thing the day we move in. Plus it was really outdated as far as the appliances went and a good 15,000 over our "wish" price. Let's just say house number 3 didnt make the final circle.

This week we finish the paperwork for our loan, keep our eyes out for other houses, maybe walk thru #2 again, and pray for the strength not to nag our husband.... :) wish me luck.

Im praying for a lot of things, actually. I am praying ALL the time it seems. For my poor friend Kait and her family who have the worste flu of the century, for even poorer MckMama (a fav blogger) and her little Stellan in NICU with SVT(?), I'm praying for Josh and I and this momentus decision of buying a house. Praying, like I said, for patience and for submission, things I rarely have under a LOT less stress and when Josh and I's personalities are a LOT less at odds.

C.S. Lewis famously said that there are two types of people in this world. Those that say "Thy will be done" and those to whom God finally says "All right then, have it your way."

Submission is not a strong point for me. Not in my marriage and not in my walk with God. Sometimes I wonder if that is why the Lord made me a woman, and further than that a woman destined to be married. (Because I was LED to be married. It's another story but I was all signed up to be a missionary in Vietnam for 6 months when I decided to marry Josh instead. I learned at THAT time the difference between a GOOD thing and the RIGHT thing. Between something that is Godly and something that is God-directed.) But anyways I see my marriage sometimes as good practice in submission. Submiting to my husband so I can learn better to submit to the Lord.

I fail quite often.

But so far in this adventure I am doing really well. This next few weeks will be the roughest part. Because I have decided and Josh hasnt. And its waiting. Which I am bad at. But I will pray and so will you, right?

I am blessed

I am blessed with not only 1, but 2 boys willing to help me catch up on laundry.

I am blessed with an amazing friend that is almost always up for going to lunch and never says anything about how naughty Zeke is behaving at said lunch...even when MY son spreads HER son's mac and cheese all over the table. (This isn't a pic from yesterday but hey, give me break, we look cute.)

I am blessed with this place, where I can always walk on a nice day....

...to get one of these, and I love Italian Soda's so much that I feel blessed just that they exist.

I am blessed with a God that brings Spring every year. And blessed with a tree in my backyard beginning to bud in proof that this year isn't any different.

I am blessed in so many ways every day. In small ways and in really really big ways. And I need to remember it more often.

WFDW- stuffed pork chops!

Stuffed pork chops. Wonderful served with pasta, or rice, or a salade, really with anything.

First cut your chops 3/4 of the way down the middle. Put some cheese, and some mushrooms in there. I used Gruyere because I had it in the house left over but usually I use mozzarella.


You can also put some delicious spinach in there and then tie the chops closed with twine. I didn't have any twine, and know from Bridget Jone's Diary that you cant use just any string for food.


Once they are tied dredge them first in egg with parsley, salt, and pepper, and then roll them in some bread crumbs.






Then bake 40 minutes at 375. Because I had no twine I had to wrap mine in foil to keep them together. I wouldn't recommend this, it almost doubled the cooking time and then my bread topping came off with the foil. :( Make sure you have twine in the house.

This meal can also be frozen ahead of time and then thawed and baked. I did that when I was pregnant and makign some meals for after the baby.

oh what to read...

It seems I'm at a wall in my reading.

I cant think of a single thing to read next and I HATE it when this happens.

You see, since Zeke was born I've been mostly working thru my own collection (which is fairly impressive if I'm allowed to say so, for a girl of 23, but by no means as large as I could want it to be) with just a few others thrown in because they were on everyone's lips, In Defense of Food- An Eaters Manifesto (LOVED loved LOVED it), The Twilight Series (couldn't stand it, or even finish it), Revolutionary Road (a much more appropriate and enjoyable read then it was as a young teenager, I hated it then but loved it this time), The Kiterunner (so good), Eat, Pray, Love (ick, so whiny) ect. I always insist on reading what everyone else is reading whether I think I will like it or not, its a vanity and a failing.

Anyways, Zeke and I started with Classics and continued that for as long as he let me read out loud to him. We hit Anna Karanina, The Three Musketeers, The Great Gatsby, and Tale of Two Cities, among others. Then he got too big to want to listen, and I started reading him picture books instead and went on myself to a Fantasy kick. I read all of my David Eddings, J. R. R. Martin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Phillip Pulman, and Lloyd Alexander. I got some Christmas books at this point and read those, including a gorgeous leatherbound collection of Jane Austin from my hubby, which I proceded to read in the order that she wrote them. That led me to regret yet again her death and read a bunch of trashy "sequels" to her novels. These kinds of things are never good, and I ALWAYS read them anyways. I dont know how to count how many Gone With The Wind or Pride and Predjudice sequals I have read...its a weakness and a sting to my vanity, lol.

Anyways, I want something NEW now, something I havent read yet but I'm at a blank. Its so hard because I'm such a freaking book snob. I used to be able to just go to the cart of books waiting to be put back on shelves at the library, I would pick the second row, seventh book over, and read it. But these days I never want to read anything that isnt a classic or a best seller. My tastes have either gotten picky or maybe its because my time is so much more valuable now. When you're reading several books a week you have time for some trash. When you are lucky to get 1 book a week in, well, then you want each one to be good.

I will probably either end up back in the arms of Harry Potter or re-reading Don Quixote. Classics and Fantasy, man, you cant beat 'em.

The sun will come out tomorrow....

It even came out for a little bit today. For a little while almost every day for the past few days, actually. I have been LOVING it, and its made me appreciate the extreme walkability of my neighborhood all over again, a blessing that goes mostly unnoticed in the winter. I have a library, a park, coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores all within a very easy 3 mile radius of our house. Its one of my very favorite things about this place and one of my top concerns when we buy a home. I love walking, but find that walking with a purpose actually gets done, while walking for walking's sake gets put off over and over.

Todays sunnyness (although it WAS fridgid I have to admit) allowed Zeke to take his very first swing! I think he enoyed it, how about you?

Ezekiel been working on his utensil use lately too, mostly with daddy honestly because mommy doesn't have the patience for it. But here's a picture of Zeke eating shells with a baby fork. I stabbed them on and let him feed himself with it.


Zeke has also been very busy drumming lately. He's very musical, my son. Or at least very loud.

His favorite drum, however, is now the Wii drum set. That's the one that he see's mommy and daddy playing and he's always loved watching us play Rockband. Well now he's decided that HE wants to play the drums when we play rock band. I dont think I have to say how much this has lowered our score, lol. He always climbs up on the couch and starts banging right away. Oh well, we will just have to teach him to keep a beat, right?

Verse of the Week

And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

Joshua 4:5-7

I've been noticing a pattern (and yes, I'm supposed to be reading the NEW testament right now...I promised myself I would really focus on the NEW testament this year...so sue me. I'm Jewish at heart and I cant help it.) Anyways. They are always building these stone monuments whenever God does anything for them, so that they can tell the next generation about all of His ways and blessings. I've noticed this before of course, but for some reason every time it comes up in my reading it really hits me lately.

I really like the idea. I mean, obviously I want to tell Zeke about God and about Jesus. I want to tell him and have him know all the stories, old AND new testament. But I also want to tell him something that I dont see shared very often. I want to tell Zeke about what God has done IN MY LIFE. I want him to learn about MY walk with the Lord just as clearly as he learns about Noah's and Paul's.

I think I am going to start a rock garden.

Two truths and some good news

Two truths about my life right now:

1. I LOVE how Zeke loves me. I love all the cuddles and kisses and hugs I get and that he always wants to be held by me. I love that he always wants me to play with him, and that I am his best friend. And I really try to enjoy it. Sometimes I hold him his whole nap, just because he lets me. Sometimes I put off housework and we just play together all day long while dishes and laundry pile up. I know that this time is short and that in 20 years its the fun we will both remember and not the dishes in the sink.

2. I cant wait...CAN NOT WAIT...for Zeke to develop a little independence. I want to shower by myself. I want to go 2 hours without anyone touching me. I want him to PLAY BY HIMSELF every now and then.

Motherhood is both the most rewarding and most tiring thing I have ever done.

Although its been a good few days, and he gets more and more independent and less clingy all the time. He's almost a freaking toddler, and it hits me strong now that he's constantly doing this:

Other than walking being just around the corner there is other good news,

*WARNING, personal and if you are male maybe uncomfortable info to come*

The backstory: Ever since Zeke was born, and even more so ever since Zeke slowed his breastfeeding down and starting eating a lot of solids I've been a hormonal mess. Severe cramping, random bleeding/clotting, ovarian cysts left and right, and a disposition that might qualify my husband for sainthood. Not to mention anxiety attacks. Which I've always had a problem with but have had under control for YEARS. I mean, I had a few during my first trimester what with the hormones and the stress of previous miscarriage, but its been even worse now that my hormones are dropping then when they were building up.

The good news: I am now on a regular cycle and far far less crazy...at least 3 weeks out of the month. I havent had an anxiety attack in 6 weeks and I've had 2 normal periods normally spaced. I am soooo happy. Also, I'm pretty sure that means I'm ovulating again? So maybe we will have even more good news soon!

Oh the hilarity....

Zeke apparently takes great joy in his mommy's defeat...



Yep that is right, "darnit" is officially the funniest word ever. It was first said when Josh wanted chocolate cake instead of my favorite, yellow. And it caused this kind of laughing over and over and over again after that.

And yep, that is also right, I dont know how to make the video go rightways....

Whats for Dinner Wednesday- Green Pepper Casserole

Did you think I forgot what day it is? Because I totally didn't.

Its...
And today for dinner is what I will call Green Pepper Casserole, because its really Stuffed Green Peppers disassemble and eaten casserole style.

Start some rice first but then get busy slicing green bell peppers. If you are stuffing them however (which is a bit prettier) just wash them, cut off their tops, and empty out the insides.





Next brown some ground beef with chopped onion and garlic and add it to the peppers along with your rice, fresh (or canned) tomato, basil, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Of course if you are stuffing your peppers then just mix all this up and stuff it in.

Top it all off with more mozzarella then is really good for you and bake it at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. If you are stuffing them I usually just cut some thick mozzarella slices and lay them on top like "hats".


Oh the deliciousness.

PS Taking requests was a good idea, and I am working on that recipe for you soon, Kim.

We're baaaaaack!

Yep, its true. We are back. And I am even caught up on all of my unpacking, dishes, and laundry blogs, e-mails, and forums. Because, yes, I rushed in the door, gave my husband a quick kiss and immediately started doing chores surfing the internet.

Speaking of my husband, I remain unconvinced that he missed me while I was away. He SAYS that he missed me. But let's face it, the dude called me ONCE the entire week I was gone. And he got to play an awful lot of WOW (World of Warcraft, yes I'm married to a Wower) with his buddies. I have a sneaking suspicion that he really enjoyed himself while I was away. Oh well. I missed him a ridiculous amount, and I supposed that just means that I am the weaker link of this marriage.

At least Kaitie missed me. She even wrote me a ballad, lol. THANK THE LORD for girlfriends right? I know that I do.

The trip went really well, though. Zeke was awesome on the plane, not nearly as shy with the family as he usually is, and slept like a champ up until the very end. The last night, and the last day there, got rough. A. Ezekiel was homesick, tired, and FED UP. B. He developed two red inflamed bulges where his top teeth are going to poke thru any day now.

He was happy happy happy to be home, though. He got the biggest smile when he saw Daddy at the airport. And when we got home he veered even right past daddy to say hello to his train, lol. The excitement proved too much to last however and he soon ate, got a bath, and passed out cold.

I of course barely took pictures, because I NEVER think to take pictures. Oh well. Here's to staying home for a while. Until June, at least. When Zeke and I go to Seattle!