2013 has come and gone

We are 30 minutes away from our home. We have been driving for 16.5 hours from Boise Idaho. This year has been full of so many memories and blessings! Our sweet boy Asher was born this year! And I accomplished my goal of reading through the Old Testament. I am so thankful God has given me a desire to spend time with Him and to read His word. 

I am so thankful for my family! I am thankful God has blessed me with such a Godly husband who leads our home! He is the best example of a Godly man! I do not feel fit to be his wife and the mother of his children. God has used Brian to grow me in many ways. 

This next year I plan to spend every single day in the word. I have a wonderful set of ladies who are in a accountability group with me. I also plan to be more active and continue eating healthier. I hope to grow in patience, love, and grace with all but especially my family! 

Praising God for all He has for this next year whether good or bad. 

3 MONTHS OLD!

Our precious baby is 3 months old today! I can not tell you the joy this little babe brings to my life! Asher smiles non stop. He is the calmest sweetest thing! He rarely cries except when he is ready to eat or sleep. He just hangs out where ever we set him and sleeps wherever. He is a very easy baby! He does not sleep great at night. Up ever two - three hours most of the time. Sometimes a good 4 hour stretch. He only wakes up quickly to eat on one side. He is such a big boy. He is in size 6 month clothes and those are getting snug! I praise the Lord for my sweet boy. I had no idea having a little guy could be so amazing. I LOVE YOU MY LITTLE MONKEY!

This was Collin. Asher and Collin look like twins

Collin

11 weeks

Oh my has time flown by! Asher is 11 weeks old in less than 2 hours. 

He is such a doll. I adore him to pieces. 

He is smiling so much when he is awake, which is rare. He is still sleeping too much during the day! And eating every two hours. Night times are still hard for

me. I am tired a lot!!! It's all worth it!!! 

This is a 6 month outfit! He is only 2.5 months old. He's my big gorgeous boy! 

He's a mini Brian and looks just like the kids too. 

Christmas Pics 2013

Kate did it again! Fabulous photos of the family. We love you Kate and appreciate your God given gifts you bless us with. This was probably her hardest session yet. Abby was not in the best of moods and for some reason Asher was fussy. We were not able to capture a family photo but that's ok!

Smiles for daddy

Asher is 2 months old

My little monkey turned two months old yesterday. He is so much more precious than I ever could have imagined he would be. He is such a sweet baby. He rarely cries minus his peak time in the evening he has had for an hour or two. But even then he is not screaming but wants to be held. The last couple days he has not had those times in the evening and has just been so sweet. He still pretty much sleeps all day and night. He eats every two hours which means I am still up a lot at night but I do think it is getting better. I just love our little buddy. He is so handsome, tan, has the biggest perfect round head, beautiful big bluish grey eyes, and he is a chunky man. He had his doctors appointment this week. He handled his shots so much better than my sweet Abby. He weighed in at 13 pounds 10 ounces which put him in the 90th percentile, he was 23 in long at the 56th percentile, and his head was 42 cm which put him at the 93rd percentile.
At two months Abby was 11 lbs 6 ounces and 22in long. She was in the 60th percentile for everything. So basically they are growing about the same. Abby was two pounds less than him at birth.

Thank you Lord for blessing us with these three amazing children and for allowing me to be home with the babes. I am so blessed!

Abby's first tea party

I have always loved tea parties! I have looked forward to my girls first tea since Abby was born. I found cute tea hats before Abby was even a year old. Abby's sweet friends joined us for this sweet time and Kate took amazing pictures as always! They got to hear a cute story about tea, eat yummy treats, and run around outside:)

Ruth Chris Sweet Potato Casserole

With Thanksgiving around the corner all I can think about is turkey, stuffing, and sweet potatoes! Oh my!!!!
Here is the best recipe you can find for sweet potatoes! Enjoy!

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/11/sweet-potatoes-ruths-chris-style.html

Halloween 2013

We had another chili cook off at our friends house with lots of our friends. It was so fun to see all the kids dress up and be so silly. Abby was such a ham. She had the best time of her life. I think we had more fun watching her excitement. She picked out her elephant outfit to wear. She had about ten at home to choose from. Each time she got some candy she would pull it our and say,"ooooooohhhhhhhhh". She was most excited for her bag of popcorn and her tiny lollipop. 

7 weeks

Brian and I have been a family of five for 7 weeks. It has been so wonderful and also very tiring and harder than I thought it would be mostly because I am just wanting and needing to sleep! God continues to sustain us and give us all we need daily. I love our family so much! Our kids bring so much joy to this home. Truly children are a blessing from the Lord!
Asher is a sleepy little guy. He sleeps almost all day still. He sleeps 2 hours on and then feeds and gets a diaper change. I have tried to keep him up more but I do not think that changes much of our night time. He is up every two- three hours and then a lot of nights I have to bring him into our bed around 330am. 

Brian has been such an awesome help as he always is. He knows when I can not handle much more and lets me sleep and takes the baby even though he has to be up so early. I am so thankful for my Godly, loving husband. He truly is my best friend and love of my life!!!!
Asher is so gorgeous and he is so huge! He sure is a chunky cutie! He is outgrowing size 3 month clothes!  He is starting to smile a little. He still is a loud babe and grunts and makes crazy noises. We have Asher in our room and will for a long time. God blessed my husband to not need much sleep:)
Abby is such a big girl. She is way too grown up! She still spends so much of her day singing all kinds of songs, she is in love with her babies who are all named Becca after a friend of ours that she loves:), she loves her brother so much. She kisses him all day and also screams at him when he is crying and say's "don't cry Asher." The way she say's Asher is just too much. She talks up a storm, she goes potty a lot but in the last couple days has decided she does not want too.

Collin is doing good in school and growing up way too fast. It's hard to believe he will be 13 next year and in 8th grade which means he will be in high school before we know it. He is the best big brother the kids could have. He loves the kids so much. I am so thankful for Collin and his help. 

Chili

I made a new chili today that I am really liking. It ends up almost being more of a taco soup. I took several recipes and made up my own.

Ingredients
3 cans of white beans
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of black beans
2 cans of diced chilis
1 can of diced tomatoes with most liquid drained
4 cups of chicken stock
1 or more tablespoons of chili powder
several sprinkles of each of the following: garlic powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
1 onion diced
1 green pepper
2 garlic cloves minced
1.5 lbs of ground turkey

I sauteed the last four ingredients together until the turkey was browned, added the seasonings, and then I added everything else and brought it to a boil and then simmered it for 20 minutes. Then I dumped it all in my crock-pot on low for an hour and then kept it on warm for a few hours. My warm is almost a low on most crock-pots. You do not have to do the crock-pot part but I needed to make mine during the kids naps so it would be ready and done before they woke up and I am bringing it over to a friend's house and love that my crock-pot has a lid that locks on.
Top with sour cream and cheese

Cornbread

I have always wanted to make cornbread from scratch so I found this recipe below. I made cornbread muffins and baked them for 20 minutes or so. They are very delicious and simple.
Next time I will add a can of cream of corn.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandmothers-Buttermilk-Cornbread/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=cornbread&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Original recipe makes 9 servings Change Servings

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

No more Otto!!!

Abby has not had her pacifier ( she calls it a otto like otter but with an o) for two days now! It is a huge milestone!!! I have been wondering if this day would ever come. She has only had it for naps and night time but it is her best friend. Naps have been harder without it but she is doing much better and much sooner than I thought. 

The other day she woke up and I realized it had fallen on the floor. Which made me think she obviously didn't need it so bad because if she did she would have started crying for it right when she lost it. She has been getting bribed with suckers and all kinds of treats! 

Good job sweet girl!!! So happy!!! 

A carving pumpkin=pumpkin bread

I bought a carving pumpkin for Collin to carve and to get seeds out and bake. But I burned the seeds so I bought a different pumpkin for 3.50 at sprouts and did not want to waste the flesh of it. So I cleaned out the insides and cut the pumpkin into several pieces and laid them flesh down on two baking pans at 350 for 90 minutes. Then I let it cool and cut all the meat out and stuck it in my kitchen aide to blend it all. From there I had four cups of pumpkin to do what ever I wanted. I made four loaves of this bread and it was a hit. I used this recipe below which I found on allrecipes but made some changes to make it healthier. I think you could use whole wheat flour and it would taste just as good. 

This makes three loaves 

Ingredients

• 3 cups canned pumpkin puree/ I used fresh pumpkin 
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce 
• 1.5 cups white sugar and 1.5 cups brown sugar 
• 6 eggs
• 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon/ I add more 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg/ i add more 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves/ i add more 
  
  Original recipe yields 3 - 9x5 inch loaves
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

3 year anniversary

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

I have been married to my best friend, husband, father to our children, and most importantly the spiritual leader to our home. God is so gracious to gift and bless me with this amazing man of God. I never imagined a marriage that could be so sweet! I remember the day I married Brian and the incredible love we had for one another but the crazy thing is I am more in love with him today than ever before. I used to think it was crazy when people told me they grew closer in love by the day or year. It is how Brian and I are. I am so thankful God blessed me with Brian. He is everything and more than I ever imagined. Thank you Jesus!

My friend Hannah and her sister came over to watch our kids. Asher takes bottles of my milk which is a blessing. The kids had so much fun while we were out. Brian and I went to Outback and then we went on a shopping spree just walking around and picked up a couple things and finished the night off at Claim Jumper for amazing desserts! 

Love you Brian