Like Mother, Like Daughter

Since I've moved back to Edmond, I have noticed more and more how alike my mother and I are. But Friday night was eerie. Hubs and I had been prepping all week for Little Man's birthday party (it was amazing - more on that later this week). So when Friday night came, I was pooped and was not going to be cooking! We decided to hit up our favorite restaurant down the street. Just as we got situated in our booth (not an easy task with a 1 year old) who should walk in but my parents! We had to laugh that when we both decide not to cook, Interurban is the restaurant of choice. We enjoyed a nice meal and parted ways. There's a grocery store down the street which reminded me of a few last minute prep items I needed for the party. As I was walking through to the back of the store, cutting through some random aisle, I ran smack into my parents once again buying their last minute prep items as well!

I really am my mother's daughter...and proud of it! :)

Recipe: Balsamic Baked Tilapia

I made a fabulous tilapia recipe tonight that I thought I would take a moment to share. I meant to take a picture of how it turned out, but it smelled so good that we devoured it before I remembered to snap a shot! Woops. :/

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped (or 1 cup frozen onion)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tilapia filets

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and add onion and bell pepper. Saute until vegetables are soft (about 10 minutes).
3. Add salt & pepper to taste as well as balsamic vinegar. Heat another 1-2 minutes.
4. Place fish filets in 9x13 baking dish and poor vegetable mixture over. Bake for 30 minutes.

Super easy and super yummy! For those on Weight Watchers, this is about 3-4 points depending upon how big your filets are. Enjoy!

Family Photo Fun!

During the Thanksgiving holiday, we took advantage of the fact that we had everyone in one place for some family pictures by the wonderful Elyse Fair. Below are some of our favorites that I thought I would share:


This is my Mom's family. Great lookin' bunch.


Just our smaller family unit, which as you can see is continuing to grow!


My sweet grandparents...love this shot!


Love this man.


And this little man!


Be still my heart! This was our favorite from the day. Love!

And you may now return to your previously scheduled activities. Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Approaching

With Christmas just weeks away, Nathan and I have been discussing what Christmas will be for our family - what traditions do we want to start and what do we want to carry over from our families. It's amazing how little you talk about these things until you have children. I look back at my childhood and Christmas was always such a fun and special time. There are so many of my experiences that I want to give to Nash. But there are also new ones that we want him to have. I want Nash to know that we don't celebrate Santa and that Christmas is not about "me". It's about the birth of our Lord and celebrating the sacrifice he gave to us. While a big fat man coming down your chimney with presents may sound more magical to Nash, the true wonder is how our Lord came into this world and that he defeated death that we might live. But how do you teach that? How do we learn that and model that for our son? That is definitely my prayer this Christmas - that God would change Nathan's and my mindset so we could teach that to our son. I so desperately want him to be a better person than me!

Parenthood

Today has been one of those memorable days that Nathan and I have many exchanged looks that say, "Yes, this is parenthood." Here's what we have experienced in the past day:

• Baby waking multiple times through the night to babel, cry, and cough. (breaks my heart to hear that pitiful cough!)
  
• Diaper explosion that had poop up to the armpits, complete with Daddy accidentally flinging said poop onto my face. (Yes, that was disgusting.)
• Quickly running over to whatever Nash is getting into and yelling "No, Nash!" about 50 times.
• Baby almost pulling a bottle of red wine off the end table
• Baby almost pulling a glass of Scotch off the end table
• Pulling a dog bone out of Nash's mouth as he peeks up between your legs as you sit on the couch trying to enjoy that glass of Scotch
• Baby licking an outlet (yes, it had protective plugs in PTL!)

Whew...and we're loving every minute!

Change is good for the soul, right?

Once again, a lot has changed since my last blog post. I definitely have to mark 2011 down as the year I have seen the most change in my life - and there are still 3 more months to go! Since my last post, I have left my job at ONEsite, returned to Rockfish working remote from OKC, and our baby boy has started moving and grooving. When I stop and think about everything we've been through this year, it's no wonder I'm exhausted!

• We had our first baby.
• I returned to work.
  
• We moved to OKC.
• We sold our beloved custom-built house in Arkansas
  
• I took a new job.
• We bought a new house that we love even more, despite its quirks. ;)
  
• I put Nash into a new school, that lasted 3 days.
• I put Nash in a new in-home school.
  
• I left the new job.
• I returned to an old job, working remotely.
  

Whew. It has already been a year of change, of life lessons, and immense blessings. Now that my work life has leveled out a bit, we finally feel like we can focus on establishing our life here in OKC. I'm so anxious to build relationships here - we truly miss our friends from Arkansas.

Nash continues to change every day, it seems. He brings us so much joy. He is crawling and babbling now which makes him so much fun. He is such a blessing to our lives. Don't these pictures just make you want to squish him? :)

A Baby Changes Everything

Having a baby changes your life. We knew this, but the reality is so different, so much better than anything we could have ever imagined. Nash is almost 8 months old and by now, it feels like he has always been a part of our family and that our routine isn't a burden any more but just our lovely life. He has been doing so well - learning all sorts of new and exciting things. He wants to crawl so badly right now. As I watch him struggle to learn this new skill, I just want to help show him exactly how to do it but know that he must learn it on his own and in his own time. I know this is just the first of many times where I will want to jump in and show him exactly how to do it, but doing so would deprive him of the triumph he will feel once he accomplishes something himself. I'm sure I will learn this lesson again and again as a mother.

We are facing new challenges in this phase of his development, though. We are trying to get him onto table food, which he is less than happy about. You put a spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth and you'd think the boy had been fed poison. He gags and acts like he is just going to throw up! I'm hopeful that we will get over this hump soon so he can begin enjoying the flavors of the world...and so mommy and daddy's bank account can hopefully be a little less burdened by baby food! Whew - that stuff is expensive! I've been getting lots of tips from other moms that have been so helpful. I even got to be the "experience mom" in the grocery store the other day. A mom was there with her 7 week old and was looking at formula while I was grabbing some more for Nash. She stopped me to ask questions about what we used, if it seemed to be OK on Nash's tummy, etc. It was great to share my experience with her, and at the same time, realize how much Nash has grown since he was 7 weeks old. I remember being so frustrated when someone would tell me "They just grow out of it." But it is so true! I was glad to lend her a little comfort, though, knowing how much it meant to me to have another mom share their insights when Nash was first born. It was so overwhelming and I often felt so helpless. I finally get why moms need a network of other moms to offer support. I am anxious to find that here in Edmond as well.

I'll leave you with a few of our favorite shots from Nash's 6 month photo session. I might be biased, but I think he might be the most handsome baby I've ever seen. :)