i should give this up

I'm sure no one reads this anymore with my sporadic posts.

But to those who do...

Ames' 9 month picture

I did something I said I would never do again...photograph a wedding. It was the most ideal wedding for a photographer: outdoors, small, and laid back...which is why I did it. I actually enjoyed it, but do not plan on doing one again because of the time it takes to edit. Plus, my baby is about to let go of the furniture when walking, so I need to be distraction free for her sake.;) 

one of my favorites from the day

non-camera photo dump

I love when people do their camera phone photo dump posts. Unfortunately my camera on my phone is absolutely horrible, so here's a just camera dump. 

On Halloween Jack took off work and we went to Skytop. We got there and thought it was closed because the doughnut station was boarded up. It could have been a really bad day, but we were just the first ones there on a day they probably weren't expecting many people...at least not at 9:30 in the morning, so they were slow to open. It was freezing, so we walked around for just a little bit, bought some apples and doughnuts, and headed back home.

I busted out the orange overalls for Ames' halloween pictures. I was supposed to be her farmer. It was very nostalgic putting those things on..I thought of my friend Kirkley;)

This may be hard to believe, but we made pumpkin pancakes the other morning and when I flipped one it looked like this! pretty crazy.

She hasn't made it to a Clemson game yet and probably won't for a while, but we dress up to support our Tigers..Thanks Bonnie for the outfit!

 

We did the mudrun for the first time this year. It was a lot of fun and we definitely plan on doing it again!

I made my very first pie...apple rhubarb. 

she's fantastic.

both cousins happy at same time...my child makes this a rare thing.

Jack made us cookies for when we got home from a weekend away without him. He missed us Ames so much.

My friend Megan's son Cooper. He is 3 months younger than Ames but already bigger.She is so little.

exploring

 

Benson is loving this girl now that she's eating some finger foods. He gets to clean up after her.

Last year we started a Halloween tradition. Jack and I each write down a few items on paper, ball them up, and then we each draw one and have to carve what we drew. We carve one pumpkin at the same time, opposite sides. Yes, it is slightly dangerous. I had to draw a wolf spider. It's a joke because apparently I pronounce "wolf" like "woof" and Jack discovered this when I pointed out a wolf spider in the pool one day.

He had to draw what he wanted for Christmas...It's a shotgun.

cannot be comfortable

After bathtime

cheesing.

8 months- for the grandparents

I'm a little behind these days and not sure how I'll ever catch up. We've been staying busy learning how to walk holding on to something, not eating our baby food, and wrapping ourselves around daddy's finger by babbling "dada" all the time. 

I saw this chick costume on Pinterest. There were no instructions on how they made it, so I improvised by hot gluing a boa to a homemade pillow case dress, stuffing rubber gloves for feet, and using some red felt glued to an old baby hat. Total cost around $8. She stayed in it for all of two minutes...she's between cries in this picture;) 

Happy late Halloween!

7 months

At 7 months she is loving to stand... 

and hating to be on her stomach.

treasure

I've just started reading the second book on a long list of parenting books. Dare to Discipline by James Dobson. He's discussing the importance of not saturating the child with materialism...

" Pleasure occurs when an intense need is satisfied. If there is no need, there is no pleasure. A simple glass of water is worth more than gold to a man dying of thirst. The analogy to children should be obvious. If you never allow a child to want something, he never enjoys the pleasure of receiving it. How unfortunate that such a child never had the chance to long for something, dreaming about it at night and plotting for it by day. He might have even gotten desperate enough to work for it. The same possession that brought a yawn could have been a trophy and a treasure."

 I'm so thankful that as a child of the Lord he has made us "wait" for certain things. Those times helped grow and strengthen our relationship with him. It's made us so much more thankful for his timing and his blessings. It's helped us chip away at our attitude of entitlement and realize what is truly important. Having to wait is a blessing in disguise.

our treasure.

contentment

"If we have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us than a golden slipper on a gouty foot." -- John Bunyan

her dad

 

She is going to have so much fun with him...

food

I've become pretty interested in food lately. I've always been interested in eating it, but lately I've been more interested in where it really comes from and what's really in it.

about a year ago, I saw an episode of Oprah talking about where our food comes from. They talked a lot about the book & movie Food Inc. I meant to read or watch it, but never did.

a few months ago my friend Melissa was telling us about the movie and basically how their eating habits changed. I finally rented it from our local library.

You need to watch this movie. Everyone should watch to know where their food is coming from and the deceitfulness behind it all. We cannot afford to buy everything organic, but we are taking small steps to get away from things that are contributing to this "fake food system". Jack and I both agreed that our food is something we look at as an investment. We are hoping to keep medical costs down by eating well. This has been really hard lately with food prices rising. I rarely get out of the store these days paying less than $80-120/week. Jack did make me feel better after breaking it down into meals and how many we were able to get out of it. We are able to get three meals a day plus snacks for about 5.5-6.5 days, and this is eating mainly good fruits, veggies, and meats. We usually only eat out if it's a date or if meeting friends somewhere.

This whole dilemma has forced me to start cooking and planning meals a lot more than I used to.  I'm actually really enjoying it and have started trying new things.

a few successes lately have been:

Zucchini Breakfast Casserole

This is really good. very lite compared to your casseroles loaded with meat.

(I added some extra hot sauce and some Chops seasoning. I also omitted the bread and just spooned everything into a pie crust).

Fruit & Spinach Smoothie

this is basically just a smoothie I make when i don't have time to cook anything. I usually don't measure anything out, but basically it's blueberries, strawberries, greek yogurt, spinach, some flax seeds, chia seeds, protein powder, and water and/or milk. In my opinion, the spinach enhances the flavor of the fruit.

 

Quinoa Protein Bars

These are actually really good. The first time I made them, I omitted things I didn't have (dates and chocolate silk greens). I also froze them in balls like she suggested, but will not do that again because it made them hard to eat. The second time I added protein powder and omitted the banana, and liked them much better. These are great for a guiltless chocolate craving.

Also, did you know you could be featured on a website and not know it?  I happened to find this after noticing a traffic source coming from Disney Baby. It was weird seeing it on there...i think mainly because I didn't know! Good surprise I guess;) Check your traffic sources!

half a year

I can't believe Ames is 6 months old already. Goodness. 

With 6 months comes solids. I don't care for solids much. I remember wishing for the day I would be finished with breastfeeding, but now I would much rather breastfeed than prepare food because of the cost and ease of it, not to mention the smell of her dirty diapers now..nasty. Yes, this picture is for real. Things got a little out of control to say the least. 

 

Ames was a trooper for her 6 month photo shoot. We only had one spill on the hardwoods, and it wasn't that bad.

This is her koala bear. I'm surprised we haven't named him yet. He sings "I come from a land down under." He's like our live-in nanny. With the press of his button she suddenly stops crying, and he can even get her to eat..it's really crazy. His battery is dying right now so he sounds pretty creepy, but she doesn't seem to mind.

I love this girl. thank you Jesus.

a glimpse

loves playing with her feet...and chewing on her toes.

I promise this isn't one of her toys;)

 

first time feeling the ocean

 

waking up

 

profiles are my favorite

 

likes to sleep close to the edge of her crib. Not quite sure how she gets over there because I've yet to see her crawl or scoot.

 

5 months!

 

chillin' with cuz

 

with Papa was one of her favorite places to sleep at the beach

 

about to see the ocean for the first time

 

 

hoping she loves the water this much next year.

four

I'm not a great blogger. I'm mainly posting this updated picture for Jack to look at when he's at work during his break. I can't seem to find time to do much these days other than tend to a baby and home. I've started a no TV rule from 9am - 9pm to keep from getting distracted. I do turn it on sometimes around 1pm to watch The Chew because I actually learn a lot of helpful cooking tips when watching. 

Our summer has gone by so fast, and our little girl is growing so fast. I'm realizing just how precious time is, and the Lord is really pressing into me the importance of spending it wisely. I struggle with hearing how he wants me to spend some of it. I feel a strong urge to serve and sacrifice in a greater way these days but I just don't know where or how. It feels much like not knowing what occupation you want to do in life so instead of going for something with uncertainty, you just stay where you are and don't do anything. frustrating.

Anyways, here's Ames at 4 months old, even though she's already 5 months. 

She's starting to cut another tooth so the fussiness during random times has started up again. She's also started waking anywhere between 2 and 5am and playing in her crib. I ignore her and she eventually goes back to sleep - thank goodness! We've tried out some solids: apples, bananas and sweet potatoes, but are taking it pretty slow. She's getting bored really quickly these days and wants to sit up and play with things, but she can't do it on her own and isn't a big fan of sitting in her bumbo seat for very long. She likes to bounce in her bouncer/exersaucer, but again, for only a short time. 

I'm starting to realize my "free/get things done time" is getting more and more limited with her getting older, but I'm learning it's ok to put off the dishes and laundry to play with my girl because she will be grown before I know it:(