catching up

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Did anyone else feel like December flew by?  It's like you blink and BAM! its 2013 and the holidays are over.  Crazy.
*We had a super fun Christmas vacation visiting with all our family and friends.  Lots of driving and traveling....but we were blessed with zero traffic everywhere we went and Jaden was in a great mood too.  It never is fun to leave family to come back home, but it definitely feels nice to be back to "my own".  I'll post Christmas pictures in a few!
*This morning Jaden ended up not having preschool so he helped me clean our house. And boy, does it feel good to have a clean house!  We also put away the Christmas decorations except the cinnamon pine cones...because they still smell so good. 
*This year I made one resolution: to keep track of the miles I walk/run.  I have a few friends that did that for 2012 and it sounds like a fun idea.  I figure this resolution I might actually stick to because I can write the miles on my calendar and I only have to remember one thing =)

a poem

My hubby is such an eloquent writer.  He wrote this in some journals we gave to his little cousins for Christmas:

You may at first begin to think,
This book is blank, there is no ink
But turn the page and close your eyes
Search your heart and search the skies

There you'll find the words in streams
To write down all your hopes and dreams
There's magic in the pen you'll find
Your goals will grow and soon you'll shine

Life won't always come with ease
But all is yours and yours to sieze
Never give up and always stay true
Never lose hope and always be you

"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

a jaden story

At my work this afternoon, I overheard the following conversation between Jaden and one of two of his friends:

Abby: Is your mommy going to have a baby?
Jaden: Yep!  But he won't be borned yet.  He won't come out until March.  That's a long time from now.
Gabby: I have a baby brother!  My mommy borned him at Halloween.
Jaden: I'm going to have a baby brother too!
Gabby: They cry a lot.  But I get to play with him sometimes.
Jaden: I'm going to play with my baby brother too!  I'm going to be a big helper!

<3  These five year old conversations are so sweet! 

Some thoughts that have been on my heart recently:

*It hits me a little bit more each day that I'm going to be a mother of TWO children.  What a huge blessing that is!  Sometimes I have little freak out moments....like, I can't even imagine how I'm going to handle life with two when I feel overwhelmed with one. But then the Lord reminds me that His grace is sufficient for me.  And then I calm down.
*I pray continually for baby Eli and for Jaden-that they would grow to love the Lord and know His love for them.  That they would walk the path the Lord has planned for them and not stray from it.  That they would hide His word in their hearts and keep their minds on Christ. 
*I pray for Derek and I-that we would continue to seek the Lord's will and direction for our family.  That we would raise these boys to be godly men.
*I love Christmas!  I'm very ready for vacation and taking some much needed time to visit with friends and family.

sopapilla cheesecake

Around this time of year, some friends of ours always get together and have a potluck dinner and white elephant gift exchange.  This year, we hosted at our house =)  It was lots of fun, good fellowship and yummy food! 
I tried out another new recipe....friends are beginning to be my guinea pigs for recipes I want to try out-lucky them! =) 

Sopapilla cheesecake

This yummy dessert disappeared very quickly!  It was fast to make, and pretty cheap too.

You need:
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 cans of crescent rolls (the regular size)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup of sugar 

Method:
Cream together the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
Grease a 13*9 dish.  Unroll one tube of crescent roll into the bottom.  Squish together the perforations as best you can.
Pour the cream cheese/sugar mixture over top, and spread around evenly.
Unroll the second can of crescent roll (it doesn't have to be pretty)
Pour the melted butter over top, and spread around as best you can.  Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup of sugar.
Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

**Notes**
-I cut back the sugar to 3/4 cup
-I added 2 tsp of vanilla and some cinnamon to the cream cheese/sugar mix
-I cut back the 1/2 cup of butter to 2TB of melted butter for the top of the rolls

walking treadmill workout

I love power walking.  I'm a huge fan.  It's easy on the knees, and usually I can chit chat with other moms while doing it and not sound like I'm dying.
I've shifted from jogging/walking to just power walking for the rest of my pregnancy (super, super sad about that...but I know it's better for my body this way).  So, I was on the hunt for some really good walking treadmill workouts. 
Lo and behold, I found some!  The one I did this morning absolutely kicked my tail, so I thought I'd share and let you guys try it out (if you like walking on the treadmill).  Let me know what you think!

Speed stays consistently at 4.0

Minutes                          Incline           

0-5                                 5
5-7                                 9
7-9                                 10
9-11                                11
11-13                             9
13-15                            10
15-17                            11
17-19                            9
19-21                            10
21-23                            11
23-25                            5

I added a few minutes of warm up at the beginning, and an extra cool down at the end.  Also, the speed staying at 4 was SUPER hard for me, so I did 3.8, then moved it to 3.9, then moved it to 4.0 at each 9 incline.  I did this circuit twice. 

chocolate chip cookie brittle

I came across this recipe one day, and have been craving it for a few weeks.  Today, I had some free time after church so I decided to try it out. 

DELICIOUSNESS.  

Definitely not a regular chocolate chip cookie, though.  And even though it's called brittle, it's not the "gona-break-your-teeth" hard.  It's more like a crumbly, buttery, crunchy shortbread cookie or biscotti kind of cookie.  Super yummy by itself, but also great with a tall glass of cold milk =)

Here's what you need:
2 sticks or 1 cup of butter (softened)
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 cups of chocolate chips, divided

Here's what you do:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Cream the first four ingredients together.
Gradually add the flour by 1/2 cup increments *while you stir, your arm will feel like it is ready to fall off, but it's worth it, I promise*
Add 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips

Press the dough down onto baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

When the dough is done, pour the remaining chocolate chips over top.  Let it sit for a few minutes.  Spread the melted chocolate chips around. 

Let the dough cool.  Once it is cooled off, place in the pan in your freezer for ten minutes.

You should be able to just lift the brittle off the pan and break it into pieces, but I just used a large knife and cut the brittle into pieces that had nicer edges =)

*NOTES*
-I added a little bit more vanilla, and a 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
-I decreased the salt to 1/2 a teaspoon
-Lining the baking sheet with parchment paper helped lift the dough out of the pan after I took it out of the freezer

slowing down

I am thankful for Saturdays.
This morning, I got up early and walked with a friend.  Then I ran some errands and we all cleaned house.  Laundry was (finally) done.  Derek and I went on a double date with some friends without our kids - and it was fabulous!
We have tucked Jaden into bed, and he *should be* sleeping.
The house is quiet.
My feet are kicked up on the coffee table.
Baby is kicking away, flipping and turning and doing whatever else he feels like doing.
I like this feeling at the end of a good, productive day. 
I am thankful for weekends like this.  They help me slow down and enjoy being home.  They remind me how nice it is to be together with my family.  But mostly, they remind me to take joy in the mundane, every day, stay at home moments.  They remind me to see God's grace and peace in the small things.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also were called in one body, and be thankful ~Colossians 3:15

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit ~Romans 15:13