Happy Birthday!

Happy Third Birthday, Keziah!

Thank you for changing our lives forever. We love you so much!

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Three Years

All About Keziah

Keziah was the star of this blog for about two years. I've been posting a lot about Reuel and it's been a long time since I did a post just about her. Here is a little glimpse into who she is at two-and-a-half years old (with pictures of course).

We do not have a pet in the traditional since. But this peacock whom we named Penelope thinks she is our pet and Keziah has happily adopted her and feeds her sunflower seeds daily (shhhh! don't tell the farm next door.) Despite being bitten once, Keziah is not afraid of her and Penelope has become quite the nuisance always pooping on our front porch. I'm glad for winter because Penelope will not venture up into our yard near as much.

Keziah went on a camera strike at the end of the summer. Anytime we tried to get a picture, she would run away screaming. When that finally ended she learned the art of posing. Now we take adorable posed pictures like this:

She really mastered her tricycle at the end of the summer. Mostly because she was finally tall enough to reach the pedals. She loves riding and keeps up with the big kids on their bikes at the park. I absolutely love this picture. 

I wish I knew what she was thinking in this next picture. She was playing on the deck and Michael Paul and I were inside. We looked out the window to check on her and found she had put her giraffe tricycle on top of her sand box, climbed up on it and was staring pensively at the sky. I really wish I knew what she was thinking sometimes. Her imagination is huge. I am continually amazed at the games and pretend play that she comes up with.

She is really into Care Bears at the moment. As in we *have* to read at least three Care Bear books a day. I have all of them memorized. Michael Paul went and found his grumpy bear from his box of childhood treasures and gave it to her. To say she was giddy happy about this gift would be an understatement.

Football season started and we are missing seeing our TN Titans play. Our NC stations rarely carry the TN game so we just watch whichever one is on. Keziah knows that Sundays are football days. We come home from church and she asks me if we are going to watch "hot ball." Keziah started calling it hot ball a long time ago before she mastered the "f" sound. And for some reason she is still calling it that. I think it's cute. But not as cute as  running around playing football in mommy's high heels. 

Keziah is still really into her dolls. She's going to make an excellent mommy someday. She imitates everything I do with Reuel with her dolls. That's a sobering thought sometimes. There's nothing like watching her copy my every move that motivates me to do my best. My heart melts when I watch her nurse her babies. Or when she tells me her baby is crying and needs nummies. Or when she rocks her baby to sleep singing the same lullaby I sing to Reuel. It's sooo sweet. These are the moments I dreamed about when I always saw myself as a girls' mom. Here she is nursing 'Rosy' to sleep. All her dolls are named Rosy.

And I'll end with an action sequence. These cold days have forced us inside and Keziah has officially declared the couch her 'swimming pool'. So when she wants to go 'swimming', we jump off the arm onto the couch over and over and over. It's a great way to release energy indoors!

That'a a pretty good pike jump for a two year old!

I'll end this post with my favorite Keziah-isms. Here are some of the things she has said recently that simply make me adore her:

"I love my brudder" (She recently started saying this)

"Mommy, you forgot to pray for Daddy!" (nothing gets past her)

"tonight, to-later" (this phrase means 'tomorrow' in her language. she uses it all the time.)

"hold on. I need my coffee first." (I wonder where she picked that up!)

"chocolate goodies" (what she calls chocolate chips)

"meat cakes" (her word for sausage balls)

"I have a river" (spoken very dramatically with her hand on her forehead. Tranlation: 'I have a fever.' she hasn't been sick in a month but she's still trying to use this phrase to get everything from a hug to candy. It would be annoying if it wasn't so cute!)

A Happy Anniversary after all

On October 8th, Michael Paul and I celebrated our eighth anniversary. We had big plans to head on back to Chattanooga to celebrate. We were all sick the week before and somehow thought we could tough it out and make it happen. The morning we were supposed to leave we decided to quit fooling ourselves. The trip would have been miserable. We were all still sick. So we stayed home and rested. A rather disappointing anniversary. The joke was of course that the whole time we lived in Tennessee, we would head to the North Carolina mountains to celebrate our anniversary each year. Then when we finally live here and decide to go back to TN, sickness keeps us stuck here. 

But alas, the horrible anniversary has redeemed itself. Yesterday, all the stars aligned. Michael Paul was off work. We are all feeling much better and sleeping better. The kids were in fabulous moods. The weather was perfect. And this week is the peak of fall colors! So in a moment of spontaneity we decided to drive on up to Mount Pisgah for the day. It was beautiful and awesome!

We enjoyed a little hike

Took in the awesome scenery.

And by some miracle managed to get a last minute reservation for a window seat at the mountain top restaurant. The food was great. A cute kid and an awesome view!

So we officially declared it our anniversary celebration. Wow! Eight years. Ups and Downs. Highs and Lows. Sickness and Health. Infertility and now two amazing kids! Traveling all over the country. Job changes. Buying our first home. Selling that house to move to our heart's home. And many leaps of faith in between. When I think about all we've been through, I am amazed it all fits in the span of eight years. In some ways, it feels much longer. And yet even the bad has turned for good. Lots of good. It's been a good eight years. Here's to many more!

Fall Fun by the Fire Pit

It is gorgeous fall weather here. And we enjoyed a bonfire last night. These pics were too cute not to post. Enjoy!

Reuel at 7 months

Well, this picture is actually Reuel at 6 months but I never did a six month post. And I like this picture.

So we joke that Reuel is our little bowling ball. Because that is exactly what he feels like when you are carrying him around. So Michael Paul took him to a bowling alley so we would have a picture of him next to bowling balls. Hilarious, no?

I fear his chunkiest days are behind him. He started crawling a week ago. All his new activity might cause him to start thinning out. But as of now he is still a 20 pound chunky monkey.

 Michael Paul likes to take unflattering pictures of our children that he thinks are hilarious (yes he took the picture above to capture his fat rolls. My mom was horrified he would take a picture of him that didn't include his cute face.) 

Reuel got his first nose bleed. Not sure what caused it. But of course Michael Paul wanted a picture of it. He actually sent this one to his best friend with the caption, "the first rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club."

We do actually take cute pictures of our son. Like this one in his adorable little overalls.

oh wait, there's a beer bottle in that picture. Yes, we give our children beer bottles to play with. Both my kids loved glass bottles for teething. And those two bottom teeth finally did pop through!

He battled two horrible colds in the last month (actually we have all been pretty sick this month which is one of the many explanations of my failure to blog regularly). But despite that, he managed to hit many exciting milestones. Teeth, crawling, pulling to standing. This marks the beginning of one of my favorite baby stages. He is so much fun to watch crawling around and exploring.

I'm back ...

From my unexpected blogging break that is. The last couple of months have been quite busy. How any mom of small children has time to blog regularly still remains a mystery to me. But I have Reuel down for a nap and Keziah in front of the TV watching Sesame Street, so I will take a moment to fill you in on the last two months:

Mid July, we went back to west TN to see my family. The highlights of the week included Keziah's first gymnastics lessons at Aunt JuJu's gym. My sister and her husband recently became the owners of Glory Gymnastics Center. It's totally awesome getting back into the world of gymnastics.

 And when your Aunt and Uncle own the gym, you get to go play there anytime you want!

My sister enjoyed hanging out with her niece and nephew. She only gets to see them a couple times a year.

We also took a trip to the lake where I was impressed that I could still ski! I hadn't done it since before Keziah was born. But it all came back to me. I'm not as out of shape as I thought.

Keziah got her first tube ride! (with Daddy of course)

while Reuel helped Grandaddy steer the boat.

 It was fun hanging out with my family for a week, although it made me appreciate that I no longer live where the summer heat index stays in the 100s. Reuel had a heat rash the whole time!

On the way home we stopped at my Alma Mater, TN Tech University for the Wesley Foundation Alumni Picnic. It was fun catching up with all my old college friends and meeting all the new children that have been born in the last year. Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture.

 On the way home our van hit 100,000 miles! This is a first for Michael Paul and I. Every other vehicle we owned, we watched hit 200,000 miles! That tells you something about the vehicles we buy!

At home, Reuel turned five months old and started sitting up on his own real well. He is determined to crawl real soon!

Meanwhile, Keziah became obsessed with makeup. She does not have access to makeup but apparently a crayon works just as well!

Reuel sitting up on his own led to him spending a lot more time on the floor. Pretty soon he developped some pretty dark circles under his eyes and the occasional sniffles. I did a quick webMD search and the first thing that popped up was an allergy to dust mites and carpet mold. Needless to say the carpet had to go ASAP! We had always planned on doing hardwoods anyway. My dad came up and helped Michel Paul put them in. Reuel approves!

We also found time to do some hiking in the mountains. We went with hopes of blueberry picking but unfortunately the harvest is pretty puny this year so we didn't bother bringing any back. It was fun munching on a few as we hiked though. The highlight for Keziah was getting her very own backpack and carrying her own snacks and water.

Let's see what else has happened ... Keziah potty trained. Just as I was about to decide she was never going to be interested in the potty, she up and trained in a day. She had a few accidents in the first couple weeks, but for the most part, the whole experience was pretty painless.

 I guess those are the highlights of the last few months. In between, there were lots of sweet memories, hugs, and kisses...

 

Well I guess thats it for now. I do hope to get back to blogging on a more regular basis. No promises though!

Real Food Friday: Ice Cream and Chocolate Syrup

It's summer time and hot hot hot! I can't resist ice cream in the summer. A carton of ice cream use to last only 2-3 days in this house. I always bought Bryers because it seemed to be the most natural. But recently I noticed they changed their cartons from saying "all natural ice cream" to "all natural" and then in tiny letters at the bottom of the carton "frozen dairy dessert". The first ingredient in ice cream should be, you know, cream! Not skim milk. And then I read this blog post about antifreeze in ice cream and was horrified. This summer, I finally started making my own ice cream. And it is exponentially better than any store bought stuff. I honestly don't even like the taste of store bought ice cream anymore. There is still half a carton of Bryers in our freezer from a month ago that my dad bought when my folks were here for a visit. I tried it a few weeks ago and it tastes weird to me now. Like I'm tasting things that aren't food. And that is kinda scary.

And who doesn't love some Hershey's Chocolate Syrup on vanilla ice cream? The only problem there is that it is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Don't even get me started on how bad that stuff is for you! But enough venting. On to the recipes:

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups Cream
2 cups Whole Milk
2/3 cup Grade B Maple Syrup or 2/3 cup Evaporated Cane Juice (Sucanat)
1 TBS Vanilla
pinch of Salt

Stir your syrup or sugar into your milk until it is dissolved. (I do this in a pitcher so it pours easily in my ice cream maker) Add cream, vanilla, and salt. Stir well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Pour in your ice cream maker and follow your ice cream maker's directions.


Chocolate Syrup


1/2 - 3/4 cup Cocoa
1 cup water
1 cup Evaporated Cane Juice
1 cup Honey
pinch of Salt
1/4 tsp Vanilla 

Add cocoa to water in medium sauce pan and whisk over high heat. Use more cocoa if you like dark chocolate, less if you want your syrup more sweet. Add sugar and honey and continue stirring over a rolling boil for 3-4 minutes. (You can use 2 cups sugar instead of Sucanat and honey, which is at least a step above HFCS, but won't have the redeeming values that more natural sugars have.) Stir in salt and vanilla. I let it cool for a bit and then use a funnel to pour it into a squirt bottle. It will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Reuel is Four Months Old!

Reuel is four months old! I can't believe it. My mom and I were chatting on FaceTime this weekend and she commented on how toned my arms looked. No I am not working out. Hahahaha. That would require, you know, free time! No, my arms are looking so nice these days because I am carrying around my four month old baby who happens to weigh 17 and a half pounds. He's huge. He has the most chunkilicious thighs you have ever seen. In addition to being a kissable, squishable, hunk of love, here are a few more little things I love about him along with some pictures from the last month: 

When he nurses, he scratches the top of his head and plays with his hair. It's so adorable.

When we are in the car, he likes to grab the chest buckle on his car-seat and pull it up so he can chew on it.

Every time I try to change his diaper, he rolls over to his belly and giggles. I think he knows exactly what he's doing. It's his favorite game. 

"why yes, that is a cup of coffee on my butt!"

(mama couldn't resist this diaper)

He loves being outside. I can go out and put him in his bumbo under a tree and he is content to sit and watch nature for a long time. The fresh air has a calming effect on him. If he is getting cranky, all I have to do is walk outside and he calms down.

 Chillin' with Mousey and a Lego

 "How do I get music to come out of this thing?"

 Father's Day 2012

Real Food Friday: Squash/ Zucchini Mini Quiches

Here's an easy one. This is a recent recipe for us and I have to give my mom credit for passing it along to me. Sooooo yummy! And quick! And easy! But first a little background story (hey, you know I'm gonna have to talk a bit first). So my darling husband is somewhat of a picky eater. It's actually not because things taste bad to him. He has some sensory issues. And texture of food can really drive him bonkers. If anything is the least bit 'slimy' or 'mushy' feeling in his mouth, it's enough to drive him into convulsions (no, not really, but it really does get to him much like the proverbial fingernail on a chalkboard.) So there are a lot of vegetables that he will not eat cooked. For the most part, I adapt. If I want to serve broccoli or carrots, I don't cook his portion and he eats them raw. But two vegetables I have really missed are squash and zucchini. He swore that there was no way that I could cook them that he would eat them and they aren't really that good raw. So I have only had them a hand-full of times since getting married. I tell you all that so you will be amazed when I tell you Michael Paul gobbles these up like there is no tomorrow. That's how good they are. He still can't believe that they are made of squash or zucchini. And these are so versatile! There is no limit to how many variations you can make.

Squash/ Zucchini Mini Quiches


You will need:

A (medium sized) Summer Squash or a Zucchini (or you could do half and half)
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Garlic
2 Eggs
Spices

First take a large cheese grater and grate your squash into a bowl.

Next take your block of cheese and grate it into the bowl with the squash. You don't really have to measure. Just grate until it looks like you have almost as much cheese as you do squash. (Wait! You're not using prepackaged shredded cheese are you? You know that stuff almost always has additives like anti-caking agents and preservatives. And it doesn't taste near as good. Seriously, take the time to grate the cheese yourself! ;) You'll thank me for that tip!)

Add 2 eggs and a clove of pressed garlic. Or if you LOVE garlic as much as we do, go ahead and add more. I usually add 3-4 cloves. But that might be too much bite for some people.

Add spices. Here is where you can get creative. You can keep it simple and just add a little salt and pepper. You can give them a little kick by adding cayenne. The last time I made them I used Italian seasoning. Just use whatever strikes your fancy that day!

Stir it all together. Drop spoon-fulls into a mini-muffin pan. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until they just start to brown on the edges.

That's it! They are great for breakfast, brunch, a side dish to a meal, and the perfect snack. Keep them in the fridge. They taste great cold too and are an easy snack to grab and pop in your mouth. Of course, we usually eat the whole tray the day I make them. But I see no reason why you couldn't freeze them and then pop them in a toaster oven for a few minutes to serve at a later date. Summer squash is in season now so go out and try this recipe soon!

Real Food Friday: Pumpkin Coffee Cake (grain-free)

I've been needing some blogging inspiration - so I can post more than just cute pictures of my kiddos! So I've decided to join the Real Food Bloggers who post recipes on Fridays. We've been on our Real Food journey for several years now. We are certainly not perfect about it (and we don't intend to be). I have no desire to turn into one of the food snobs that this blogger recently vented about. But the truth is, we really do feel our best when we are eating real food!

Keziah and I are both sensitive to grains (for different reasons). I have blood sugar issues and grains tend to spike my blood sugar and then make it crash. They also throw off my hormone balance if I eat too many of them. Keziah seems to be sensitive to grains too. I suspect it is not gluten but the phytic acid in grains. I suspect this because she can handle grains much better when they are properly prepared (ie soaked, sprouted, or soured) because this reduces the phytic acid. Still, if she has too many grains, the same pattern emerges. It starts with lots of meltdowns. Then it progresses to night terrors, and eventually she breaks out on her face. When we fast from grains these problems clear up immediately. Keziah truly is a different child when we are off grains. I can tell she feels her absolute best because she is super happy and agreeable.

Well, yesterday Keziah had several meltdowns and seemed rather sluggish. I wrote it off. But when I was woken up at 2 AM last night to her having a night terror, I knew it was time to go back on a grain fast.

I had intended to start with a simpler recipe for my first Real Food Friday post. But since I needed to cook a grain-free breakfast this morning, I took pictures and decided to post this. I perfected this coffee cake throughout my pregnancy with Reuel. It was my go-to breakfast because it didn't spike my blood sugar (I had gestational diabetes) and yet it felt like I was getting to eat cake for breakfast! A win-win!

So here it is:
Grain-free Pumpkin Coffee Cake


You will need:
coconut oil
honey
1 egg
vanilla
pumpkin (You can use fresh when in season, but since it's not, I used canned this morning)
almond flour
baking powder
Spices: cinnamon, ginger, and ground cloves
salt
nuts (walnuts or pecans)

First, Cream 1/4 cup coconut oil with 1/4 cup honey

 Then, add 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, and about 1/2 cup pumpkin. (I bought a 15 oz can of pumpkin and scooped out half of it). Then you let your toddler stir it all together as your baby watches and giggles.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 + 1/2 cups almond flour, 2 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and your spices. I don't measure my spices. I just sprinkle them in until it seems like there is enough. But if I had to guess I would say I use about 2-3 tsp cinnamon, and 1-2 tsp each of cloves and ginger. I also might sprinkle some nutmeg in there.

Next, add your dry ingredients to your wet and mix well.
You can let your little helper stir while you prepare the nut topping!

For the nut topping, put 1/2 cup almond flour in a bowl (I use the same bowl I just mixed the dry ingredients in). Drizzle a generous amount of honey on top and add a large spoon-full of coconut oil. Then add a hand-full of chopped nuts. I prefer walnuts or pecans. Mix this all together.

Pour your cake mix in an 8x8 pan. Spread your topping on (it won't cover the whole cake, just drop little dollups around. It will kind of make a marbled look when it is done). I've also discovered that when cooking grain-free/gluten-free cakes, they seem to set up better in a dark pan as opposed to glass cookware. I'm not sure why, but that's my experience anyway.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

While it is cooking you can take cute pictures of your 

little helper licking the honey out of the measuring cup.

 And here is the finished product! Let it cool for a while before cutting.

Yummy Yummy!