Time flies. How cliché.

So what's been going on you ask? Well alot of sickness in this house, er, apartment. About a month ago Abe and I got some flu-like illness that kept us home for 6 days. After 3 long weeks of getting my work schedule back in order he and I both got the "hand foot mouth disease". Yes, it's just as fun as it sounds. 36 hours of hardcore fever followed by a blistery rash on the hands feet and mouth. My poor baby got the rash way worse than I did. It barely seemed to phase him though. The fever was definitely the worse part. I feel awesome now though and I even lost 5lbs! I am finally back in the 130's. Totally worth the fever.

About a week ago my mom (Yaya) moved in with us. So far so good. She needed a place and we had the space. I think it'll be good for us all.

Abe's new tricks? Handing things to me and taking them back, getting down safely (safer at least) from the couch, stacking, pointing, and communicating in general is getting easier! I can tell that he understands more of what I say everyday. It is so wonderful to see his development. This little baby that Lucas and I created is turning into a person! Have I mentioned he is walking? Practically running actually. It's been about a month now since it was official. He doesn't fall and hit his head as often which is very nice. Worrying about concussions isn't fun.

He is cute and cuddly and full of personality. He brings joy into our lives all day long:)

One Year Checkup

Today I took my "little" baby to see Dr. Cheek for his one year well checkup. The doc said he is right on track! I wasn't surprised. He is 33" and 27lbs. That is about 3 times his birth weight! He is still in the top percentile for everything. I am so lucky and proud that he is doing so well.

A Whole New World

So all of a sudden I am the proud mother of a toddler. That happened fast! It seems like just yesterday that I was anticipating his arrival and now he is 1, starting to walk and occasionaly throwing genuine toddler tantrums. He sure wants what he wants when he wants it! Tantrums aside I am loving this stage so far! His motor skills have developed dramatically over the last month. He is watching us all for ideas of what to do next. Yesterday he took my phone and held it up to my ear for me to talk! I never would of thought he would know to do that since I barely talk on the phone. He also loves to play with Elijah, trying to feed him food or holding a toy in his face. That's going to be hilarious watching the 2 of them over the next few years!

One of the new challenges I am facing with toddlerhood is feeding time. I don't know what to cook or how to get it in his mouth. We are raising Abraham on a vegetarian diet and variety is important to make sure he gets proper nutrition. I work 4 days a week so preparing meals ahead of time helps. I've always liked to make casseroles because of how easy they are to prepare and store. Yesterday I got the bright idea to make one just for Baby Abe.

Before I give you the ingredients let me apologize for not following up on my first post with the chili recipe! It turned out to be mediocre. Edible, but boring. That's probably why I never found it worthy of documenting. I've decided I'm not going to blog about what I plan on blogging about. That way I can't let you down! Could that be a New Years resolution? I doubt it.

Anyway, here is the recipe! Abe and I actually ate a little for breakfast and we
both liked it!

1 1/2 c cooked quinoa
1 med zucchini
1 small onion
1 15oz can light red kidney beans
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 c shredded cheddar (approx)
1 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp flaxseed
2 eggs beaten

For seasoning I used a sample of "Braggs's all purpose seasoning". I got a sample from their website for healthy vegetarian cooking. It says on the packet that it can be added to almost anything.

Sauté the onion and zucchini in the olive oil then mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a small to medium casserole dish and bake for 35 min at 350. Yum!

I usually use recipes like this as a rough guideline rather than follow it to the tee. Use your imagination, and whatever you have in your fridge, to come up with whatever works for your tastes.

Abraham is one!

I just thought I'd write a little about Abraham's birthday so far. He is laying down for a nap right now. It's only 9:30am!

He woke up in such a good mood! I let him crawl around in the kitchen and go through his favorite cabinets. Then I let him serve himself cheese grits! It was the first time I let him use his own bowl and spoon. He didn't get much in his mouth but it sure was fun!

Later on we are having a big party. I can't wait to see what he does with his cake!

I love you Abraham Philip!

Christmas shopping in the USA

This morning Abe and I woke up a little late to the sound of rain. A couple of days ago Lucas told me a nor'easter was coming through. I have no clue what the full definition of a nor'easter is but I know it means total gloominess for a day or 2. Today was definitely the kind of day that makes you want to stay in bed, only to get up for food and a bathroom break. I had plans all day though so extra lounge time was not an option. Who am I kidding, it very rarely is.

Today we had plans to meet the a new babysitter. We met at her house to spend time with her and her 2 boys. We had a nice time over there! Hopefully it will work out. Abraham and the boys seemed to get along well.

Right after the "interview" I rushed back home to meet my best mommy friend Morgan and her 1 month old baby John Bryan. He is Abraham's best baby friend although neither one of them are aware of it yet. We loaded up the SUV with babies and strollers and off we went to the mall.

For a Monday it was pretty busy but there was no line to see Santa! Both boys even happened to be wearing argyle which made it look like we dressed them up like that on purpose for the picture.

Overall the boys seemed content while we pushed our less-than-awesome strollers from store to store. Inevitably though we had to pause every hour or so for diaper changes and bottle breaks. We were surprised how long it took us to get around! Babies sure keep you busy! They are so worth the effort though. It is so fun to see Abraham looking around at things.

On the way home Lucas texted me and said he was picking up pizza... So we never ate the chili I mentioned yesterday. I even cooked it on low for 24hrs! I'll have to bring it for lunch tomorrow.

I worked on a little Christmas project after dinner. I felt a little guilty about all the money I spent on mass produced gifts so I needed to hand craft something to make up for it. I wish I could write about it tonight! I can't have that kind of information floating around on the Internet yet though!

My husband and son

These 2 handsome boys are the light of my life. Before them I was incomplete. I have so much comfort in my life knowing how much love the three of us share. My life was not always this good.

First Post.

   So blogging seems to be the thing to do these days. I never ever ever thought I would actually start my own. My sister has a really good one:  http://perfectlytaylord.blogspot.com/. She is a pretty busy gal too and I figured if she can do it, so can I! Please forgive any misplaced commas or improper grammar. I figure I can get away with it if I warn you ahead of time. Ha. Unfortunately texting has been my main form of written communication for way too long.

   My goal here is to have an online journal that my son will be able to read one day. I love the idea of Abraham looking back and reading about his life and how much his father and I have always loved him. He is my darling angel and always will be!

    I will probably post some recipes and crafts here and there. I'm not the best cook and when I do make something good I can never remember how I did it to make it again! I've also recently become a fan of Pinterest which is full of crafting blogs! I would love to post a tutorial or two if I can come up with a worthy project.

   So here it goes.

   Last week I made a huge pot of the worst chili I have ever tasted. I threw out the entire pot. It was way too salty and just had no good flavor to speak of. Tonight I am going to try again. This is the recipe I am trying tonight. I will post tomorrow to let you know how it goes. I think my problem last time was that I used a vegetable boullion cube and a can of "chili starter", 2 things I had never done before. This time I am going to keep it simple.

3 Bean chili

3 16oz cans light red kidney beans
1 16oz can reduced sodium pinto beans
1 large can black beans
1 large can rotel tomatoes and green chilies mild
1 16oz can italian diced tomatoes...I didn't realize these had seasoning until after I poured them in..oops!
1 32 oz box swanson vegetable broth
3/4 c frozen corn
6 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne powder

Wish me luck! I'm cooking it in the crockpot overnight so we can eat it for dinner tomorrow after a long day of Christmas shopping.