Sneaky:)

Would you believe that these delicious looking muffins have butternut squash in them. It's all just part of my evil (okay maybe not evil) plan to get Jefferson and Jason to eat more healthfully. And it seems to be working. Yippppeeeee!

These are the applesauce muffins from "Deceptively Delicious". They are not very sweet, but warm with a little butter and they are great. And, hey, Jefferson ate squash this morning, which he wouldn't even do when he was a baby. Score one for Mom!!

Jefferson has a big problem with texture, due to an unfortunate sickness after eating masses of strawberries. So the only fresh fruit he really eats are apples. I have gotten the hang of the fruit issue. He will eat any dried or freeze dried fruit and I mix fresh fruit puree into his all natural applesauce and into other things. Plus, Fruitables juice is great. It's the vegetables that are still a problem. But as you can see, we are making some progress. Hey, I am not above trickery.

Of course, he felt he had to lick it first, even though he had been saying, "Mmmmmm yummy muffins" for about 15 minutes while he watched them bake.

Annnnnddddddd, success!!

The Next Best Thing

What do you do when it's still too cold to go outside and play and have a picnic?

You climb on the bench at the kitchen table, pull up the blinds, move your food to the windowsill, and watch for the airplanes that you keep hearing. He did enjoy himself. He kept telling me there were planes in the grass. He wishes.
Atleast he ate his lunch. We are making slow but steady progress in the picky-eating area. Thank Goodness. And yikes, these pictures make my kitchen look terrible.

Thanks Aunt Kelli!!!

So, Jefferson received a surprise present in the mail from his Aunt Kelli today. He saw it after his nap and excitedly proclaimed, "A Christmas present". All presents are Christmas presents to him. He's still getting the hang of various holidays.

He loves to unwrap! (with his trusty duck and turtle looking on)

The great lopsided smile. He immediately started counting all the "otter-cycles" he could find. Kelli is sure trying to make sure that my kid was "born to be wild". It's great!! Thank you Kelli, although, you left out the black bandana with skulls on it. And the chaps.

Ouchy!!!

Wow, that looks like it hurts!!

Jefferson decided to be a little too hands on when it came to helping Jason make strawberry pancakes on Saturday. Once he touched the burner he started screaming like a banshee. He knows not to touch the pan, but I guess he figured the burner wouldn't hurt. He knows better now. It was so sad. He cried for a good long while until Jason gave him a blessing and he almost immediately calmed down. He clutched his blankie in his burned hand to keep from using it all day and he would not let us touch it at all. He even ate left handed (which was pretty impressive considering it was beans and applesauce). Today he was better. As soon as he got up he was sticking his hand in my face. We have had this conversation about 25 times today...

j: Ouchy mama, have ouchy.

m: Yeah, how did you get your ouchy?

j: Touched a stove. (he said "snow" until he got the hang of the word "stove")

m: Really! Why don't we touch the stove?

j: Is hot, berry hot.

m: Yep.

j: Hand's hot.

m: Well, until it gets better I guess.

He actually has been really good about it. He hates bandaids (like his mother) so I was worried that he would try and pop it or something, but no need to worry. Even though it's big he seems to forget about it most of the time. He is back to using both hands and thankfully he was able to leave his blankie home during church. I guess it's just another teaching opportunity. Now hopefully he knows not to touch hot pans OR hot burners.

Decisions, Decisions

Ever since we found out that we are having a girl I have been trying to decide which baby quilt to make her. I was never a girly girl so I tend to want to stay away from lots of pink, but who knows. I want all of your opinions. PLEASE!!

This is Jason's favorite. It's a little more modern, but a little toned down.

I love red. It's feminine, but strong. But is it too strong?

I really like these fabrics because they are more old fashioned. It reminds me of a quilt my grandma would make. Together they are more quietly feminine without being pink.


Here's the pink, but with some greens. Once again, this is more old fashioned, but has more pink to it. What do you think?

Please, please help me decide.

A Heavenly Gift

Exactly a year from the date that Jason and I found out that our little James would not survive the pregnancy, we found out that we were expecting again. I did and still do believe that it was a gift that we found out on that day. I knew it was going to be a hard day and then to be able to have an equally great memory to share that day really helped me to see the miracles in life. Now, don't get me wrong, I was not and am still not (to a degree) the happy, carefree pregnant women. As much as I felt it was the right time to start trying again, and that I would be able to do it; it was nothing compared to when I actually had done it. I was absolutely terrified those first few weeks. My thoughts ran along the lines of, "What the heck am I doing, I can't go through that again" to "Please, please, please let everything be okay". I still am a bit nervous and probably will be until the baby is in my arms, but such is life for someone who has gone through a tragedy like ours. As of today I have been breathing a little easier because we had our big ultrasound. And YES, everything is where it should be, and functioning as it should be. You may say, "Well, of course it is", but as a parent of a child that passed away because things not being where they should be, it was a big concern. Don't get me wrong, I am TOTALLY happy, just nervous. Jason took a holiday so we could spend the day as a family and go out to eat and have some fun. It was great. I even got a few celebratory outfits.

Here is our little one's profile. It looks like my nose is dominant. I thought that maybe since both boys had my nose that this one would have Jason's, but nope. Mine. The technician said that our baby looked like a little "who" with the little button nose, but I love it!

We got a couple 3D pictures at the appointment. Sleeping as usual, although this kid has a nack for kicking my blatter-not fun. Jefferson was very considerate in that aspect.

Okay, before the suspense kills you....... it's a GIRL. Our very first. I am nervous to have a girl, but also very excited at the same time. I am due in late July and can't wait to have this new addition. I know this is silly, but all prayers are appreciated for the safe arrival of our little lady, and please don't forget those that are trying to bring more children to their families.