Monday, March 28, 2011

The Next Food Network Star

Here is what our time looks like most evenings when I get home, now that I am not falling asleep at 7pm and feeding my family Subway or Mexican chain restaurant grub for dinner. First trimester and my kitchen were not friends. First trimester and anything but sleep was not my friend. I forget how much energy it takes for this whole creating life thing!

We grab our aprons (every good cook needs one);


spread out our ingredients (preparation is key in efficient cooking);



and eat at least one half of anything we are suppose to be putting on the pizza, (when you are cooking, tasting is a must).




And as we all know, no meal is complete without dessert. Brownies, specifically.

Please note the flour covering the right bottom half of the picture. When I say she wants to do it all, I mean it in the most egg-cracking, flour-flying, batter-slopping way possible.

But look at that face. She is so proud.



 For that, I would eat any amount of eggshells.



Also, a fun occasion this weekend -
Goodbye, crib! Hello, big girl bed!




A three-hour nap and two nights of no falling out, no getting up, and no mention of the crib later, she is officially in her new room and loving it.
Honestly, we were kind of in awe and counting our blessings that she made it so easy. 
Who am I kidding.

She was probably more along the lines of "Good grief, took you guys long enough! A girl needs her space! That crib was sooo cramping my style."




We love brownies and big girl beds,
xoxo dae

Friday, March 18, 2011

This has absolutely no direction

This second little one isn't even here yet, and I'm finding that time is a rare and valuable thing. One that I don't spend on here much. But since I don't scrapbook, I am trying desperately to keep baby book #2, and the pages on my written journal are pretty blank, it's time to log some life.

  • I'm having another baby. I'll let you know when this actually sinks in. It started to dawn on me yesterday when it was about 70 degrees and I was sucking in air and sweating like I had just run a marathon in August. 
Dear Tennessee Summer,
Please be kind to me. I don't do the swollen look well.
D

  • Kaelyn is turning two next month. I inflict self-torture by looking at things like this:

Day 1

First Birthday

I have ordered invitations, bought party favors, and infused it all with as much Mickey Mouse as I could handle because someone is obsessed. Like a maniac. I hover between excited and denial that I can't figure out where the last two awesome years have gone. I loved being this baby's momma, and she's not a baby anymore! She wants to get into bed herself, brush her own teeth, and crack her own egg for breakfast. Reign it in a little for Mom, sister.
But I also love an independent girl, so you keep on keepin' on.
And then I get all excited because I realize we are unconditionally blessed enough to have her. Amazing her who has taught us more about life than life did before her. And blessed again to have another one of those to cuddle and adore in a few months.
And since Kaelyn is already obsessed with babies, I'm hoping she doesn't ask me to take little one back to the hospital (as Ben did to his mom when his brother was born. Swear.)

  • We just booked our summer vacation. I cannot tell you the excitement when Lu called to tell me, a beach vacation makes me a whole new woman! Who's going to the beach at 8 months pregnant and most likely looking like a waddling walrus? ME!
  • Someone asked me over the phone the other day if I looked pregnant yet. HardyHarHar. I looked pregnant 6 weeks ago. My body just decided it knew what was coming and threw itself out there. I was too tired to fight it.  
  • I have been doing a lot of self-reflection and realized that I tend do what I call internalizing my joy. I know I won't make a lot of sense if I try to explain, but I have spent more time in the Scripture and in prayer than I have in a long time, and my Lord is good. So good that he doesn't give up and keeps working on me. And His grace is sufficient. I cling to this a lot.
  • If any one out there has a Sonic ice machine and would let me borrow it for a while, I'd be your best friend.
luv, dw

Monday, March 14, 2011

My Home Away From Home

I am still in some sort of shock over the news and pictures of the damage and destruction in Japan.

I want to go over, I want to help, and I'm sure like so many other people, I feel helpless. I pray, and I pray hard.
Of course my first thought was of my family, and praise the Lord over and over that they are all safe. My parents and Ian, my younger brother, were a few hundred miles inland and felt the quake and aftershocks, but not directly affected by the tsunami. My youngest brother, Zack, had just moved into his new college dorm room and is directly South of where the tsunami hit on the coast. They had damage from the quake and are closer to where the tsunami hit. 

I was talking to my sister on Friday after the news broke, after we got word from Mom that they were ok, and we were both at a loss for words. The news just kept getting worse, and we were stunned. But the one thing we said was, "That isn't some far away place that we are just seeing pictures of on tv. That was our home." 

(Heather and I in Japan. Thank goodness my outfit was hidden. Seriously.)

 Those are all familiar images. We know that place. We know that culture, and we love it. We were both feeling the heart ache. And we both said "I want to go help."
We aren't able to be there like we want to, but our family is. They are safe, and now they are there and able to help others. (To find out how you can help them help others, friend them on Facebook - Kim and John Baranski- they have set up a disaster relief fund that will go directly to relief efforts).



It's a place I'm sure many have found themselves in- desperately wanting to help, and not knowing how. More than just sending money, but wanting to go hug people, feed them, give them a blanket. Anything to ease their hurt or heartache.

It is unfathomable to me what place the victims of the earthquake and tsunami are in. I am humbly and personally asking that if you read this, please continue to pray for everyone affected. And for those over there that are able to help, that they may be led to everyone in need, and that they will be protected.

This link is aerial shots of the towns before and after the tsunami. Amazing.

xo, dae