It's been awhile!

Well, first, here's the boy. Doodlebug is just over two years old. He'll be 27 months tomorrow!

I've been exploring new recipes these last few weeks, and it's been really fun to expand the food repertoire. Healthy and creative, and tasty too, these have become fast favorites with our little family!

Recipe 1 - Baked Chicken and Orzo

Oh my goodness. What deliciousness! I made this because I was bored of my regular rotation and I had a house-full of people to feed (the in-laws were in town for awhile). Of course, with a toddler, food is always a challenge, but Doodlebug ate this one up, especially the orzo. He just loved it! It was hard to not overcook the chicken. I was easily phased by this one because you do not precook the orzo. It cooks while in the oven, so I set the timer for longer than suggested because I just wasn't convinced. But it turned out beautifully, aside from dry chicken. :) I will definitely be making this one again. And the fresh sage is a must. Really added great flavor to the dish.

Recipe 2 - Soy Sauce Drumsticks

Wow. Just Wow. First off, if you can, marinate this one over night. Make sure to, as the author suggests, score them once or twice on each side, because that marinade will just soak in and you have less of a chance of drying out the meat inside. 

This is so good! I served it with rice and a garden salad. It was a fantastic meal and again, we will add it to the regular rotation. Do make sure to turn them every 7 to 10 minutes or so so they don't burn. And they do taste better the next day!

Future recipes on the menu for the next week: 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Baked Chicken Fajitas

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Now, I am going to school for wine, so at some point I hope to tell you what wine I paired the meals with and how it tasted! For now, with summer, beer and hard cider have been tasting very good. And strawberry margaritas.

A better attitude

I was chatting with a friend online, and mentioned how I was done with 2013 already.  With financial stress, my back issues, and the three of us going round and round with colds and flus...

She responded with "You said the same thing about 2012, too.  There have been some really good things that have happened for you guys already in 2013!"

And you know what?  She's right.  April has been full of surprises, despite my back issues and Wesley's current cold.  It would be inappropriate to share online right now, but it's safe to say some really good things are happening.  And there's lots of potential for even more good things if Matt's next project takes off (more on that when the Kickstarter begins).

So, you want to know how I'm doing?  I'm really good.  Wesley only wakes up a few times a night and, when not sick, goes right back to sleep after a bottle.  He is very opinionated, interested in everything, and is trying to climb the furniture.  He is happy, healthy, and strong willed.  He is the best thing in my life, for sure.

Matt and I are doing well, too.  He surprised me with a date a few weeks ago - came home early, had lined up everything, from the babysitters to dinner and the movie.  It was wonderful to have some time for just us.

While one day of daycare is gone, I still can take Wesley to her house on Mondays, and then my sister comes on Friday afternoons to watch the boy so I can get work done, go to the gym, etc.  This will certainly cut down our childcare expenses!

So yeah, things are good.  Still hard, money is still very much a struggle BUT we have our health.  Our house.  Food on the table, and heat in our house.  Loving family and friends.  Really, we are truly blessed, and I need to remember that when the road of life gets bumpy.

Sick Sick Sick

I can't remember a year when I've been sick this much, and where so many of my friends and their kids are just as ill.

January and February was a stream of colds and the flu.  Wesley was sleeping through the night for a stretch, so that was helpful.

But then, one weekend in March -  last weekend - he threw up.  Just a couple of times and both were such isolated incidents that we didn't really think anything of it.

However.

Late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, I fed him a bottle, and as I was leaving his room, I got hit hard with overwhelming nausea.  Out of nowhere, I felt the need to throw up almost immediately.  But instead, I got some crackers and sparkling water, ate a little, and went back to bed.

Nope.  Throwing up ensued.  And our poor son had never heard this awful noise from an adult before so he totally freaked out.  At least the first two times.  By the time I ran the bathroom for round five, he was sleeping like a champ.

Around 3 or 4 am, Matt emailed his boss, said he'd be late to work.

At 6:30am, Matt got up to go to the bathroom.  I sat up, felt the need to upchuck again, and ran straight to the kitchen.  That's when Matt heard a thud and ran to find me on the kitchen floor.  I had fainted.  I woke up dazed and confused, sat up, and started throwing up again.  That marked seven times in seven hours, to which Matt responded "I'm taking you to the emergency room."

After seven hours in urgent care, including an ekg and a CT scan, 3 bags of saline to get me rehydrated, and some anti-nausea pills, the doctor still didn't know what was wrong with me.  I had to go see my physician the next day to find out.  It was Norovirus!

Needless to say, these last few days I haven't been very hungry.  I usually live to eat, but these days I have been eating to live.  I'm still pretty weak, and very tired.  My boys were absolute champs in taking care of me, I'm very luck to have them in my corner.

All in all, avoid Norovirus.  It's miserable.

Happy First Birthday, Wesley!

Every day the baby disappears, and the toddler is emerging...

Life Without Facebook

As most of you know, I gave up Facebook for Lent.  I had Matt log in for me once, and take care of something, and that was it.  I happened to see that I had 194 updates and 3 messages.  In just two weeks!  People, that's just crazy.  It's been clear to me for these last few weeks that I spend WAY too much time on Facebook.  After the end of March, I'm going to keep it off of my phone.  I'm spending more time getting things done, quality time with my family, and my life feels much simpler.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it's harder to keep in touch with people.  There are a few that I only connect with on Facebook, like Lena.  I miss sharing photos with those closest to me, especially of Wesley.  But Matt updates me on the big stuff, like our college acquaintance getting a new position in Seattle (Congrats, Louis!).  I continually tell him to be on the look out for an update regarding a friend of ours expecting a new baby.  I know I'm missing a lot.  But then, I also cannot keep in touch with 650 people. I think I'm going to have to remove quite a few people from my friends list, even though I know who everyone is, I don't talk to or keep up with all of them.

Wesley is doing great.  He's crawling all over the place, I spend much of the day just chasing after him.  He's interested in everything, pulls himself up wherever he can, and has started walking side to side when he's pulled himself up on the couch or coffee table.

I cannot believe I'm going to have a one year old as of Sunday.  CRAZY!!

Holiday Weekend

Last weekend was President's Day Weekend, and we headed to Aberdeen to visit our dear friends, Jeff and Tina, and their two daughters, Natalie and Alanna.  It was wonderful to get out of town and relax for a few days.  I took a nap every day, Wesley was well cared for whether it was me, Matt or his Auntie or Uncle looking after him.  Even his cousins liked playing with him.  Matt and I even got a lunch date, which was wonderful.

Sunday we finally made it out to the beach, which was supposed to be the nice day.  It was a bit blustery and rainy at first, but the weather finally cleared up enough to where we felt like we could take Wesley to the beach.  And he LOVED it!  Matt insisted on putting Wesley's hands and feet in the water, Wes couldn't get enough.  He was so excited to see the ocean, to feel the (icy) cold water on his skin.  We then quickly hurried back to the car and got his wet, sandy clothes off, at which time his lips turned a little blue.  We got warm clothes on his little cold body, wrapped him in blankets, and in no time he was back to his normal, happy self.  (Binkies help too.)

I can't wait to go back to the beach, and on our next family vacation.  We had such a good time!

I should also point out that he was fussier than usual.  Turned out he had a major growth spurt and sprouted two new teeth - the seventh one is out, the eighth is on it's way.

Wesley Pictures

I have our trip to the coast to write about and post pictures, but for now, I leave you with some super cute photos of my cute cute son.  :)

And if you can believe it, he'll be ONE YEAR OLD in just a week and a half!  I'm loving this age.  He's so interactive and responsive.  A little sponge, soaking up the big big world.