Let's Celebrate!

WE MADE IT A YEAR!!!! It's amazing that it's been a whole year since our girl came into the world.

 It's hard to believe she was ever that small.

She's is the funniest, cutest little girl around...of course I'm biased.

She didn't really get into opening gifts. At first she was just going to walk past this one. Until I made the toy make noise, then she worked to get it out. 

I was talking with my mom and sister about whether or not we should have a party for her or not, I said it's more of a celebration for Victory and I that we made it a whole year! My sister laughed and said, you mean mom and Becky (Bekah's babysitters while I worked) made it a whole year. True, we definitely couldn't have done it without them . THANK YOU!  But to make myself feel better, I've been a stay-at-home-mom for six months if you include my maternity leave. It probably sounds lame but I'm still proud to say we have made it a year!

In the end, since our apartment is so small we just had family over to celebrate.

 She didn't really get into the whole cake thing. I ended up cutting a slice and she ate a little. I also stuck her hand into the cake and she just looked me like "what did you just do" and started crying because she had frosting all over her hands.

This was our cake. It looks much more amazing than it tasted. The frosting had 2 CUPS of butter.  IT tasted like chocolate butter. GROSS. If anyone wants cake, come on over, I've got half of it left over. Next time, I think I would make a cool whip frosting instead.

It was a fun birthday celebration! We're happy she's a part of our lives!

An almost perfect fall evening

Tonight Bekah and I got to go to a Halloween party. I was so excited to go to this party. I got to be with friends and have something to distract me from a lonely Friday night.  I used to not get into the whole costume thing but I've actually enjoyed dressing up these last few years-even though I figure it out at the last minute. This evening I was a 1950's housewife. I think it turned out pretty good-sorry no pictures. If my family has a get together I'll dress up and get some pictures. Bekah got to be a butterfly. I was amazed that she left all of her accessories on except her butterfly bracelet that I made for her.

Her little butterfly friend. I love the ribbons she put in her tutu. And the antennas! So cute! Need I say more?

I love this look on her face. She was so distracted with everything and everyone, I couldn't a very good picture.

 Look at this cute Peter Pan! Ca-ute! Their whole family dressed up as characters from Peter Pan.

She kept me busy following her around and around their house making sure she did't get into anything she shouldn't. It was an enjoyable evening with good food  (yummy chicken tortilla soup!) and cute costumes. I just missed Victory, thats all.

Victory was off at a football game in Kearney. The whole time I was away at the party I was hoping that they wouldn't make playoffs. Based off some wildcard point system they could win their game tonight and still not make it to playoffs....this would have been the best case scenario for me and more or less for Victory (He still really would have liked to make it to playoffs) Anyway. He just texted me annnnnnddddd .......wait for it...........they lost. Sad for them but YAY for me! That just means I won a week with my husband! :) 

Stranger no more

We're back! We've been without internet for a few weeks since the people who had a reliable open network connection moved. Bummer. We actually have to pay for the internet now. But that means I finally get to play again!!


We really haven't been up to too much exciting just everyday stuff. Victory is hopefully at the end of his football season. This is the last game unless they go to play offs. Is it terrible that I'm hoping his team won't make it to play offs so that we can have an awesome week long fall break?  I've already started making a list of things we can do to fill up the week. I think I'll be a disappointed girl if they actually make it to play offs.

(Her poor fat lip she got yesterday when she misjudged the distance between herself and the end table.) :(

She has been definitely been keeping me busy. She's been waking up mulitple times a night. If I don't just nurse her she absolutely loose it and I'll still end up feeding her. Sometimes she won't nurse so then I think she is teething, so I give her orajel. When that doesn't work I give her tylenol. And when that doesn't work I go back to trying to nurse her. She is Ca-razy! Sometimes she takes me to my wits end!

But then I get her fun, happy, silly side and I'm completely filled with joy and I can forgive her for going crazy and keeping me up for hours during the night. 

I hopefully won't be stranger anymore and be able to view and post on all of your blogs. I'll catch up, Promise! I have very much missed the blog world.

Birthday Fairy

I had a birthday. And I have to praise my husband because he did a fantastic job.

 Growing up my mom and dad were wonderful at making each of us feel special on our birthdays. It was like the birthday fairy came to visit while us while we slept so that when we woke up the kitchen would be decorated with ballons and streamers. Andyour gifts would be so beautifully placed in the center of the table and the smell of our favorite breakfast would fill the air. And that wasn't all, my mom would make our favorite dinner and dessert that evening.  It was a special day.

And even though I'm 27, I still want the birthday fairy to come and visit me in the middle of the night. Last year was a rough year since I was pregnant, Victory was extremely busy in his first year of teaching, and we started our move to our new apartment that day. So needless to say, it was a bummer birthday.

Victory tried especially hard to make sure that I had special day. He took the morning off so that he could take me to breakfast and spend sometime with me, which was lovely. We had another hour to spend before he went to school so went to the Children's museum since he hadn't been yet. I think he had more fun than Bekah did. :)

He wrapped my present, bought me a flower and a ballon and decorated the house with streamers. It was beautifully done.

I was extremely satisfied with my birthday celebration. Thanks dear for making me feel special!! YOU'RE THE BEST!

Chugga-chugga choo choo

Victory and I went on a date! Yes, an actual date! Babysitter and all! I know it's only been really only  a month that football has been in full swing but it seems like forever.

He took me on the Fremont Dinner Train. They serve a five course dinner during a three hour train ride. We didn't do the mystery dinner so we pretty much just had ourselves to keep us entertained...which was actually quite enjoyable until my sleepy eyes came upon me (darn those sleepy eyes) and all I could do was rest my tired head upon his shoulder.  Victory and I haven't had a solid three hours to ourselves for a long time so the three hour train ride was quite enjoyable. 

Waiting...

Hey, I'm just sitting here waiting for Victory to get home from his football game in Norfolk. I might give up soon and go to bed but I thought I might try and make the most of my time waiting and blogging sounded like a better idea than putting away that pile of clothes on the bed. :)

Ever since my second trimester of pregnancy with Bekah I have increasingly been enjoying cooking and trying new recipes. I usually stick to the simple but completely yummy recipes. I don't necessarily consider myself a good cook. I just TRY to follow the recipe. I think that anyone can cook if they want to. Don't get me wrong we all screw up sometimes and I most definitely have messed up my fair share of dishes...especially cookies. I think a good cook is someone that can improvise and be creative and make new dishes. I can only follow someone else's creativity. Anyways, there have been a few recipes that Victory and I have enjoyed this week that I wanted to share.

Creamy Chicken Alfredo (from Easy to Bake , Easy to Make)
This is the third recipe I've tried in trying to make a good Alfredo sauce. However, I didn't serve the chicken alfredo with noodles I served it with potatoes. I know it sounds weird, but there wasn't a lot of sauce... and it was just pretty good chicken and it didn't necessarily need noodles. p.s not necessarily budget friendly.

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves (about 4 oz each)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 T Olive Oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T minced onion
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 t coarsley ground black pepper
1 T coarsely chopped fresh parsley

1) Preheat oven to 375. Place flour in a shallow dish or pie plate. Sprinkle chicken w/ salt; coat with flour. Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken; cook, turning once until golden, 2-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from skillet; place in a 13x9 baking dish.

2) Heat remaining olive oil in same skillet over medium heat until hot. Add garlic an onion; cook until garlic is fragrant and onion is tender, 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high heat; add whipping cream, parmesan and pepper. Cook until sauce is bubbly and slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken in dish.

3) Bake Chicken 8-12 minutes or until done. Sprinkle with parsley.

Oatmeal Waffles (serve it with cinnamon syrup or my favorite fruit and whip topping or if you want to be healthy with yogurt which is good too.)

1 1/2 c. flour
1 c quick-cooking rolled oats
1 T baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 c milk
6 T butter, melted
2T brown sugar

IN large bowl, stir together flour, oats,baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside. In small mixing bowl, stir together eggs, milk, butter and brown sugar. Add to flour miture; stir until blended Pour batter on to grids of preheated, lightly greased waffle iron.
***
Victory is home now and waiting for me to finish typing up recipes. So Good Night folks!!

Its good.

I often get asked how I like being a stay at home mom. I'm never really sure how to answer it. I like it, I guess.  I really don't have a choice but to like it, do I?  :) It has its ups and downs like any other job. Victory often seems concerned about making sure that I feel appreciated being at home which honestly, isn't a problem. A baby can't say thank you for changing that yucky diaper, or feeding her despite her blowing raspberries as you place the spoonful of food into her mouth. But every giggle, cuddle and and smile is thank you enough!...as long as they aren't too far in between too many cries and mischief. :)

WHAT I LIKE
I like that I don't always feel frenzied and tired. It was exhausting every morning to try to remember EVERYTHING and get out of the door by a certain time. If I wrote out the to-do list for the mornings and the don't forget list, I would only bore you but it was just TOO much. I laugh at myself when I think back a couple of years ago when it was just me and I could barely get myself to work by 8:00. Oh, how pathetic!!!

My mind is much more relaxed. My mind was ALWAYS on hyper mode.  It was always thinking about what I needed to do next. I was trying figure out the details of home AND work. I would try listening to other people but in the mean time my mind was often searching, thinking of "what next?" AHHH.  I had almost forgotten about that feeling until just now.  I seriously felt that if someone had spent just ten minutes in my head they would have gone crazy. 

My heart feels more at peace. That could be the direct effect of the mind being calmed down. I feel like I can enjoy and love the time I have with my little girl and husband.

My body is feeling GREAT! I hadn't regularly exercised since I started dating Victory back in the summer of 2007 where I willing gave up any free time I had. :)  Now, I've been exercising and/or walking 5-6 days a week. Feels awesome! My goal is to get rid of the baby belly...does that ever go away or am I trying in vain?

 (ha ha! Laugh if you will, but I love exercising with Richard)

SOME OF THE DOWNS
My house is most definitely NOT cleaner. I thought it would be but who am I joking with a little girl out and about taking EVERYTHING off the shelves, out of the drawers and spreading toys, books, dvds, and anything she can get her hands on all through out the house. So when I decide to clean it is cleaning up those messes instead of other cleaning and organizing. Oh well. I'm not too worried unless I get an unexpected visitor. Then I might FREAK out. :)

It can get a little lonely.  It really hasn't been too bad so far. I attribute that to a friend who lets her son come over and play with Bekah for a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday while she is in class. And then she goes walking with me on Thursdays and then we go to the Children's Museum on Fridays.  It is SO helpful to get out once a day otherwise Bekah and I go a little crazy. She needs new things to explore and I need to feel like I have something to do each day.

THINGS THAT I LOVE
I love that I get to watch Bekah grow up. She is SO much fun right now...well, oft times a pill but so fun! She says "uh-oh". It is so cute! Another milestone, she took her first steps August 29th and has been working on improving it since. It is so cute to see her waddle around. She sometimes tries to go faster than her feet will take her and stumbles.  I think she is attempting to run before she has mastered the walk. :) I love that I just get to be there. Sometimes I don't think it's fair that Victory has to be the one that is off making the living so that I can stay at home. :(  Life isn't fair, is it.

I finally feel like there is time. There is time to breathe. Time to serve. Time to think. Time to plan. Time to sleep. Time to read. (yes read! I've already read two books! do you know how long it has been since I've read a book?!)  Time to learn. Time to become a better person. And most importantly, time for relationships.

I have come to believe that Satan tries to make us too busy that there little time for anything but the essentials (if even that).  I realize that at times that is how life is sometimes but hopefully only for a little while.  And even though it was hard to quit my job, I'm glad I did. I was tired of being too busy.

I guess that is how I'd really answer the question "how do you like staying home?" instead of my short answer, "its good."