Luke Lately: just under 11 months

I can't believe my little...ok big...boy will be 1 year in just over a month. In the past week it's like his brain has skyrocketed in development and I really need to write it all down before I forget. So instead of going to find a blank piece of paper & working pen, writing everything down, not having anywhere to put said piece of paper and then losing it...I thought I'd jot down some thoughts on here really quickly before little...big...boy wakes up from his nap.

Words:

He is talking like a crazy man. From the moment he wakes up til the minute he falls asleep he jabbers up a storm. Billy and I can usually get him going on the words he knows and last night he surprised me with two more as we were reading his favorite "Colors" book. Here's a running list...

Ball - "baw"

Dada - "dadada"

Mama - "mamama"

More - "mooow"

Hot - "haaahhh" - this is by far his favorite word. Anytime a timer goes off, the microwave is finished or the oven beeps he races to the kitchen and says, "haahh"

Go - "gogogo" Guess he likes the succession of 3's??

Wyatt - "woof"

Night Night - "nyny"

Bottle/Milk - "baba"

Banana - "nananananana..." he keeps going until he runs out of breath

Nana - "nana"

Papa/Grandpa - "PawPaw"

"All Done" - Waves his hands in the air and says a few jibbery words

And his two newest additions: Blue - "bubu", Yellow - "elloello", Cracker - "caca"

Favorite Foods:

My easy eater has recently become a little more picky. He's not very interested in ground meats of any sort. He loves most noodles, almost all vegetables and has a love affair with blueberries. I think his running favorite is still bananas. Or at least he just likes to say bananas. He's very into carbs and his new treat Graham Crackers. He also loves cheerios.

Favorite Activities:

He got a tunnel for Christmas from my cousin Nicole so he loves crawling in and out of it to get to Billy or I. He also loves sitting on the colored rug and looking at books. He loves going outside on walks and exploring cabinets of all kinds. He is still obsessed with any or all electronics that are NOT children's toys. He's also obsessed with keys.

Favorite Books:

Peek-a-boo Baby, Color Party, Goodnight Kisses. He finds it very entertaining to make kissing sounds and when the book reads, "Who likes ______ kisses? Meeee!" He responds with "Mama!" instead of "Me" :) It's true...I love snuggly, fluffy, happy, squeaky and goodnight kisses.

Favorite Person:

DADADA. I think I'm going to take a video camera with me on Friday when we drop Billy off at work so you can get an honest understanding of his love for his dada. Full. Blown. Meltdown. Any time Billy leaves the room, house or car crocodile tears are sure to follow. It was really sweet the first or second time. It's getting a little old now.

A New Year

A new year already? 2010 is finished? Where did 365 days go? It's hard to imagine that 2010, 2009, 2008, and so on are gone forever. I've been dwelling a lot on the fact that 2010 is now over and found myself wishing time would just slow down for a bit, fearful that life is moving a bit too fast for my liking. In the past 5 years I met the man of my dreams, fell in love, found an amazing church body and community, got married, bought a house, finished college, and had a baby. Don't get me wrong, I truly love it. I love my job and where God has me right now. I love this season of early mornings, tiny fingerprint-coated everything, lazy evenings with my hubs after a long day of running around with my little one. But I fear it's moving too fast. Candidly, it's been keeping me awake at night, fearing what the future holds for us, fearing that that sooner or later I am going to be 80 years old with zero kids in the house, no husband and wishing I was 20 again. Sad (and sinful), right? But in my sinfulness and conviction, God reminded me this morning exactly what I needed to cling to as we approach this new year. And every year.

In the wasteland, a howling wilderness, He encircled [Jacob], He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led them. Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and I will deliver you.

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death. Who teaches like Him?

Psalm 107:7; Deuteronomy 32:10-12; Isaiah 46:4; Psalm 23:3-4; Isaiah 58:11; Psalm 48:14; Job 36:22, emphasis added

So in this new year I am challenged once more to live purposefully. Here are my resolutions for 2011:

1. Love the Lord and His Word more - spend more intimate time alone with Him and carving out time regularly to memorize and cherish His word

2. Grow deeper in my knowledge of Christ - read through the Bible

3. Make my home a peaceful and worship filled place of refuge to all who enter

4. Read a book a month - Thanks Anne for some suggestions to add to my list!

5. Live fearlessly and freely in Christ - clinging to Scripture in times of doubt and trusting that He is sovereign and He alone is good.

6. Spend more time praying with my husband and son

7. Spend more time outside

8. Grow an awesome vegetable garden - I got 2 new books for Christmas and our composting is in the works...I'm very excited :)

9. Drink more water

10. Lower my grocery bill without sacrificing proper & natural nutrition

What are some of your New Year Resolutions? Leave a comment and share some, or link to your blog where you've posted yours!

The Greatest Gift

Merry Christmas, y'all! Hope this year has been blessed.

Billy had Friday off so we spent the entire day baking yummy desserts for our Christmas Eve dinner with my mom, step-dad, brother and sister. We love cooking together so it was a fun day for us. We made lemon and chocolate tartlets and the most sinfully. chocolate. cake. EVER. Chocolate is my happy place and this cake delivered. It's called an inside out german chocolate torte. And I'm finishing off a piece of it right now :D Saturday morning we spent time just the three of us and it was very sweet. And Luke was clueless. I made a big breakfast for us and we stayed in our pj's opening gifts. We only got Luke a couple of small items but several family members mailed him gifts....it looked like a day care through up in our living room! It was very fun and we are so blessed to have such thoughtful family members. Luke has enough new toys to last him until next year :) Later that afternoon we went on over to Billy's parents house and had a great time with them. Luke was SOOOO cranky, wouldn't eat and took forever to fall asleep. I was afraid he was getting sick. Today we realized that he's not sick, he was just working on cutting 4 teeth. Yes 4. At the same time. It was such a fun Christmas with our little family and I can only imagine how next year will go. Today the snow was fabulous and while it would have been fun to play outside or stay inside and watch movies all day, we went shopping instead :) Had Luke been able to walk or had he been just 3 weeks old and wanted to snuggle and sleep all day, we would have stayed home. But instead of carrying around a 26 pound child in the snow or trying to keep him (and us) from going stir crazy by staying inside all day, we ventured out and found some fun deals. I love spending days with my boys!!

So all in all, it was a very merry Christmas for us and a great first Christmas for Luke. We are grateful for many things this year. I am especially grateful for the gift of parenthood. Being a parent brings on so many new lessons, emotions, and opportunities for growth. God has used these past 10 months to stretch me in many new ways and I am thankful for the new and fresh glimpses of His character that He has shown me. We are often reminded that God delights in giving us such great gifts, much more than we delight in giving a good gift to a loved one. And being on the "parent" end of Christmas this year, I was just thrilled to share gifts with my little one. Though we didn't get Luke many gifts for Christmas (I think it was 4, if you count the 2 books I got him...and the other 2 came from yard sales :)), I was SO excited to give him something. I was looking forward to watching him learn how to play with it, explore what it does...I felt like a child, giddy with delight, knowing that I was giving him gifts. I got him those gifts because I love him and I find joy in giving him gifts. As I soaked in God's goodness on Friday night I was blown away and almost caught aghast at the idea that not only does God delight in giving us wonderful gifts, but imagine His excitement, anticipation, and astounding JOY knowing that He gave us the GREATEST gift. Nothing can top His gift of Jesus!

Snow day :)

Exploring new presents

Two sleepy heads on Christmas morning

Five Days of Favorites: Day 5!

This is the perfect day for my last day of favorites! We are a family that loooove soups. Soups make a day so cozy, you can make them in bulk and save them for another rainy or snowy day, and you can typically stretch them pretty far for low cost by just increasing the broth, noodles or potatoes. Here's to a lovely snowy and rainy day :)

Day 5: Chicken Florentine Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 c chopped onions

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

1 can (15 oz) Italian Style tomato sauce

5-6 cups chicken or turkey stock or 1 can (46 oz) chicken broth

1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey

1 1/2 c cooked orzo or other small pasta

1/2 lb fresh spinach, well washed and shredded

1/4 c fresh basil leaves shredded or 1-2 tbsp pesto sauce

1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

salt

ground pepper

1. In large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions, sugar, Italian seasoning & red pepper.

2. Saute 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent.

3. Stir in tomato sauce and stock; reduce heat to med-low and simmer uncovered 8-10 minutes until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally.

4. Stir in shredded chicken or turkey, orzo, spinach, basil, parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.

5. Cook 4-5 minutes longer until heated through.

6.. Serve with hot crusty garlic bread.

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Five Days of Favorites: Day 4

I'm on a blogging roll this week! Another great recipe that we love to use during football season and on lovely snow days. Here comes day four favorite, chip dip for a crowd (Compliments of Jenna Liberto :) )

Cream Cheese Dip:

1 can of stewed tomatoes

2 blocks of cream cheese

1 can of green chiles

1. Melt cream cheese in medium saucepan

2. Add tomatoes and chiles with juices - try to break up tomatoes if possible

3. Bring to a boil

4. Serve with chips!

Five Days of Favorites: Day 3

A staple in our house during Christmas...well, actually all year round, is chocolate. This next recipe is a fun twist on snickerdoodles and it makes for great gift boxes! I just sent off over 60 cookies to my relatives to enjoy over the holidays. Hope you enjoy, too!

Chocolate Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 egg

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp ground cinnamon to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup sugar, soda and cream of tartar until combined. Beat in egg & vanilla. Beat in cocoa powder and flour.

3. Drop by rounded tsps. about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

4. Bake 9-11 minutes until edges are firm and cookie begins to crack. Cool on wire racks.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees