Blessings

The past couple weeks have been highly emotional for our little family. I think Matt & I were just both burnt out. We have been SO incredibly blessed by God in the past couple weeks though. It is amazing how He continues to care and provide for His children. I wanted to share some of the blessings that have been given to us lately, mainly so I can look back at them and remember just how good God is.

• A family at church that we don't even know gave us a gift card to Babies R Us, just as we were needing a high chair for Emma.
  
• A friend from church, knowing that we were stressed out, brought us a delicious meal & a Wal-Mart gift card from our church.
• A friend from church invited me over to hang out while Matt was working at the Pita Pit. This same friend also let us borrow some clothes for Emma (they have two girls) and gave us a gift certificate to www.diapers.com
• When I visited the doctor this week, to get a new prescription, he didn't charge me for the visit and gave me 2 1/2 months worth of samples of the medicine!
• The same doctor did not charge Matt for his visit today when he went to get his knee x-rayed. Extra blessing--Matt's knee is not broken or dislocated!!!
• The weather has been so wonderful that Emma & I have been able to go on lots of walks lately.
• A spot has opened up so that Emma can go to work with Matt (they have a nursery there), which leaves more opportunities for me to work wherever I need to!
  

"The LORD is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him."
[Nahum 1:7]

diapers.com

For you moms out there,

If you don't know about diapers.com, you should check it out! This website has been a fabulous resource for our family and many other moms I know. Order your diapers, get them at a cheap price, and have them delivered to your door in 2 days (with free shipping if your order is over $49)! They also have tons of other baby items: clothes, bottles, pacifiers, babyfood, toys, formula, etc. Oh, and they have cloth diapers!

If you want to try it out, you can enter the code: SARA8338 and get $10 off your first order.

That's my shameless plug for the day. :)

Prunes!

Not Me! Monday

This might be my best ever Not Me! Monday. Head on over to MckMama's blog to check out all the other Not Me! Monday posts.

Okay, here goes. I have to take a deep breath before writing this.

Emma most certainly did NOT leak poop on her pants this morning, which did NOT cause me to do a load of her laundry. I did NOT step outside to get her laundry going (our washing machine/dryer are on the back porch) and when I am finished getting the laundry in the washer find that the wind had NOT blown the back door closed and of course our back door does NOT lock when it closes. I was NOT stuck outside in my bath robe while my sweet Emma was hanging out on our bed in her boppy. I definitely did NOT freak out and contemplate breaking the window in the door to get back in. I then did NOT walk around front and pray that our downstairs neighbor was home so I could use his phone to call Matt. I did NOT call Matt and have him convince me not to break the window, but to have him rush home from work (which is NOT on the other side of town) to let me in. I did NOT sit down in my neighbors place playing with his dogs while NOT freaking out about Emma being upstairs. Matt did NOT make it home in record time--20 minutes flat. Matt did NOT open the front door and then find that the door between the living room/Emma's room was locked from the other side to keep it closed. Matt did NOT proceed to run around the back of the house (with a bum knee) when he heard Emma screaming. Matt did NOT kick in the back door when the key wouldn't work. And most definitely, we did NOT love love love on Emma when we finally got to her.

Oh my gosh--I really hope that this is the last Not Me! Monday that entails a story of this sort.

And just so you know, Emma is fine. She was still laying on the bed, just upset b/c she didn't know where everyone was. We are definitely going to make spare keys now and hide them somewhere!

Be sure to check out Matt's account of the excitment

Yummy

I think I will be trying this recipe this week. Sounds yummy. Anything with cheese & grits is yummy!

5 months

Dear Emma,

I cannot believe that you are 5 months old today! That means that in one more month, you will be half a year old! You continue to be such a happy baby and bring us so much joy. You smile ALL the time! You love to play with your toy duck and whooz-it...well, really you just like to eat them! If you do not have a toy in your mouth, you have your hands in your mouth! We keep waiting on that first tooth to come through! You are now successfully eating rice cereal. It took a little while for you to understand the concept of opening your mouth, but now you are doing great at opening right up! You have tried sweet potatoes once as well as apple sauce and loved them both, but both made your tummy upset. So, we're just sticking to the cereal for now. You have discovered a new game that entails you grabbing Mommy's nose and shoving your hand in her mouth! You think it is so much fun! You have been making lots of friends at the different playgroups that we go to. You love to look around at other babies and even hold their hands! You have a sweet little boy friend named Liam and he was born the day after you. You and Liam enjoy tummy time together and sitting in the grass at the park. You also enjoy swinging at the park and today I let you slide down the slide while I was holding you and you thought it was the greatest thing ever! You love to go on walks and look all around. You are such a content baby and we are so blessed by you.

Love,
Mommy

Baked Ziti

I have been cooking a lot lately. Once I got going, it became fun! And it makes me feel like a good housewife (because I sure stink at the cleaning/laundry part of that job). Last night I made Baked Ziti and it was so easy to make and delicious! Here's the recipe (from www.allrecipes.com):

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 ounce) package dry ziti pasta 1 pound lean ground beef 1 onion, chopped 2 (28 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce 6 ounces sliced provolone

cheese 6 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese 1 1/2 cups sour cream 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.	In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat. Add onions; saute until tender. Drain off fat and add spaghetti sauce; simmer for about 15 minutes.
3.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4.	In a lightly greased 2 quart baking dish, place about half of the pasta; top with a layer of provolone and mozzarella cheese slices. Spread on a layer of half the spaghetti sauce mixture and sour cream.
5.	Cover with remaining pasta, cheese and sauce; sprinkle a layer of Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
6.	Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until cheese and sauce are bubbly; serve.

*NOTE: I actually tossed the ziti with the sour cream in order to keep the noodles moist. I also put some of the spaghetti sauce mix on top of the ziti (before I put the cheese on) to keep the noodles moist. I don't like hard noodles! This is great with a salad and some french bread!

One more...

NOT Me! Monday

It's time for another Not Me! Monday!

*I did NOT walk into Emma's room one morning to find this in the middle of the floor!
Guess the cats had a party the night before!

*I did NOT give Emma a teething toy to chew on and then see that it had bite marks all over it...from one of the cats!

*I did NOT let the laundry pile up so much that my husband had to wear a dirty shirt to work.

*I did NOT cook 5 out of 7 nights this week and I am definitely NOT proud of it!

*I did NOT eat a sausage biscuit that cost $8! At least it had eggs and pesto on it too!

*I did NOT go out of the house multiple times this week thinking "I really hope I don't run into someone I know" because I looked so rough.

That's it for this week.

Pumpkin Patch

Weekend adventures

Today: Went and saw The Secret Life of Bees. Took Emma along and she did GREAT! Definitely recommend this movie!

Tomorrow: Going to a playgroup and then to the Bywater Arts Market. Hoping to stop by Coffea Cafe Bywater (a funky, cool coffee shop/cafe) as well.

Sunday: Church and then going to the pumpkin patch!

Should continue to be a fun weekend!

Just for fun!

Not Me! Monday

I've decided to play along with MckMama and make my NOT ME! confessions! If you want to join in on the fun, just click on the button above.

So, this week...

*I did not drive all the way to Gulfport, MS just to deposit some $ in the bank!

*I did not change a blowout diaper in the car and leave the stinky outfit in the car all week (yes, it's still there!)

*I did not go to a new playgroup and meet new moms without taking a shower. No, I would never leave the house without a shower!!!

*I did not tell my husband I was going to make him pumpkin pie and then not make it. I promise I'm going to make it today!!!

*I did not leave the dishes in the sink so long that there was mold on a bowl! We never see mold in New Orleans!

*I did not put Emma in the exercauser just to catch up on a few Momblogs...no, I would never forsake my daughter for a blog!

*My mom and I do not talk about blogs that we read, as if we know the people in real life! And I most definitely do not dream about people's blogs that I read! I'm not that stalkerish!

Come back next Monday for some "not me"s!

Angelina

Another reason why I love Angelina Jolie.

Jolie Nursing on Magazine Cover

One of Those Days...

"Well this day's been crazy
But everything's happened on schedule
from the rain and the cold
To the drink that I spilled on my shirt
'Cause You knew how You'd save me
before I fell dead in the garden
And You knew this day
long before You made me out of dirt."
[Caedmon's Call]

*Sorry, for some reason, Blogger won't let me take the italics off

Last night I began feeling a little sick. You know, the whole stomach bug thing. But life goes on as a Mom, no taking a sick day. This morning I had planned to drive to Diamondhead, Mississippi, which is about an hour away, to go to the Wachovia there. We have two bank accounts and most of our expenses still come from Wachovia (which there are none of in Louisiana). We needed to transfer some money from our Capital One account into our Wachovia account, but didn't want to wait the 4 days that it takes to do that online. So, I decided to make the 2 hour round trip to Diamondhead in order to deposit some money in our Wachovia account. Emma and I get up early, take Matt to work (his scooter is broken and that is another story in itself) and head to Diamondhead. We get to Diamondhead and I cannot find the Wachovia. After driving around for a while, I finally spot the Wachovia sign--lo and behold, it is just an ATM in a gas station. Know what that means? They don't take deposits. I call Matt up and ask him where the next closest Wachovia is. While he is looking it up, I decide to nurse Emma and get her out of the carseat. As soon as I got her out, I smelled IT. Yes, IT! She had a HUGE blowout and it got on her clothes as well as the carseat. I change her diaper and of course I don't have a change of clothes for her, so she has to sit naked in the carseat. I nurse her and all the while, she is very distracted and hot, so she doesn't eat long. Matt calls me back and the next closest Wachovia is in Gulfport, which is about 30 minutes away. I head to Gulfport. As soon as I get back on the road, Emma starts SCREAMING! I mean I haven't heard this kind of scream in about two months. I am freaking out wondering if the carseat is too hot on her skin (remember, no clothes!) or her skin got pinched in the carseat. Fortunately, by the time I get to an exit, she had fallen asleep, so I keep going. We finally make it to Gulfport and let me tell you, this Wachovia is not right off the interstate. I end up driving deep into Gulfport (like 20 minutes into a residential area) in order to get to the bank. But, we made it! As soon as I pull out of the Wachovia parking lot, Emma wakes up and starts screaming again. Oh, joy! I figure that she's still hungry since she didn't eat much earlier. I drive around for a while trying to find a place to park so I can nurse her. I finally end up in the middle of some random parking lot. Emma eats and we get back on the road. The rest of the story is good, but I was so exhausted and overwhelmed at this point, that I just want to cry. But, God is good! We got back home in time for me to feed Emma (yes, again) and take a shower (complete with hair washing and leg shaving!) before we have to leave again for a baby-sitting job. Whew! I sure do think that Moms need sick days!

What about you? Have you had any crazy days lately?

New Pictures

I added a bunch of new pictures here.

First cereal

Two weeks ago we gave Emma rice cereal for the first time. She did well with it the first and second time, but not so much the next two times (maybe because I made it a little thicker). We may wait a little while longer to continue...we'll see.

Random Things That Make Me Happy.

Got this idea from BooMama.

Random Things That Make Me Happy.

1. Pumpkin Spice Lattes/Pumpkin Spice Frappaccinos
2. Pumpkin Bread/Pumpkin Muffins
3. Okay...pumpkin flavored anything!
4. My daughter
5. Chubby baby legs
6. Cats (especially my cats)
7. Finding good deals
8. Coupons
9. Children's consignment sales
10. Fall (though there isn't much too it here in New Orleans)
11. My husband
12. Redeemer
13. Answered prayers
14. A good cup of coffee & a journal
15. Scrapbooking
16. Sitting on the porch and watching the people go by
17. Getting a real letter in the mail
18. Ice cold water (to drink that is)
19. Etsy
20. Pictures
21. Christmas
22. Walking into Whole Foods and smelling the flowers
23. A good walk around the neighborhood
24. Simply Limeade
25. Shopping local

What makes you happy?

Babbling

When Emma wakes up in the middle of the night, she doesn't cry, she just babbles and coos. It is the cutest thing ever. A few weeks ago Matt & I caught it on video.

P.S. She is now sleeping 8-9 hours at night, waking up to eat, and then going back down for another hour or two! Woo hoo!